Hold over Myriad of Worlds

Monsters are slowly closing on the city. I walked to the edge of the wall and started taking control over nature. The ground started to quake.

My tails swayed as the earth shifted outside the walls. Dust was stirred by waves of earth that started moving toward the monsters. When they collided, countless beasts were buried underneath.

As the earth bears metal, innumerable spears rose from the ground, impaling oncoming monsters on their phalanx.

As the metal collects water, gazers explode amidst enemies, flooding and dragging them with the current.

As the water nourishes wood, sprouts emerge from wet soil, growing in the blink of an eye and entangling the remaining foes.

As the wood feeds fire, with a single spark, the entire new forest is consumed by the flames, incarnating everything inside.

As the fire produces earth, to compile the cycle, earth emerges from beneath the embers, returning to a state similar to before the battle.

The whole battle lasted not even minutes, and yet observers on the walls had their worldview overturned. Especially gods, who saw my power over nature for the first time, understood why Ouranos declared me equal to the god.

Stunned silence lasted until battle on the other side erupted. Jing Yuan, inheriting a no-nonsense stance in battle from Jingliu, instantly manifested the avatar of Lightning-Lord. A giant figure started towering over the city. Only the tower of Babel could be compared with its size. 

Taking glaive in both hands, Jing Yuan made a wide swing, which was copied by his avatar, plunging the weapon into the oncoming horde. With a rumble of thunder, enemy momentum was shattered, and only a handful of strugglers remained.

After completing the show of Hold's power, only clean-up remained. I looked over to Zald and Alfia, whose tense atmosphere reflected relief for choosing to sit and talk.

-"Now, will you continue your act with Evilus or go your way?"

-"Evilus is doomed. I'm not interested in dying."

-"Me also. I want to see the future of my cute nephew, after all."

-"Then I suggest either leaving now or handing yourself to Astraea and Loki."

-"We will leave, Orario have no place for us."

-"Then I wish you luck."

-"Thanks."

I teleported to Jing Yuan's side. He was already waiting for me.

-"Until now, everything went according to your plan."

-"Indeed. It's time to use their own strategies against them."

-"All ready and on positions?"

-"Yes. We are only waiting for the signal."

-"Then we also better get going." 

-"Right, so meeting of gods again."

-"This time, we don't even have to tolerate them. Just make sure none of them leaves or makes trouble."

We made our way to the tower where gods gathered again and were talking about Evilus. Most of the gods were somber and tried to come up with some ways to prevent a repeat of the same tragedy. Sadly, some become assured of thier infallibility and want to take more control of the city in order to 'prevent' any bad things from happening.

-"Yue, you are back."-Astraea was the first to see me coming, calling to me and also letting others know of my arrival.

-"Yes. Allow me to join your discussion."

-"You, as mortal, have no place here."

-"Heh, we will see that. Jing Yuan, seal all the exits. None may leave until it comes to an end."

-"Alredy did. Knights are ordered to detain all who don't comply, but if it's not possible, they are allowed to kill."

-"What?"

-"Blasphemy!"

-"No, just ending what we began. Loki, Astraea, sorry for not informing you, but your acting natural was necessary to fool the others."

-"No harm done, just explain what is going on."

-"You see, yesterday I became a Diviner, and to commemorate that, I did my first divination."

-"What?"

-"I saw some interesting things, mainly about who members and followers of Evilus are. Of course, it by itself is not evidence of anything, but we can gather those."

-"So why are you stopping us?"-Shouted some god.

-"After all, we don't want someone to escape or tamper with evidence?"

-"Are you accusing us?!"

-"Yes."

-"How dare you!"

-"It's not your place to judge us gods!"

-"I'm not the judge. Ouranos is. I'm your prosecutor. Now, sit and wait. Lady Freya, would you mind using your Divine Mirror to show some places?"

-"Why not? Just make sure to visit me in the future."

Freya showed places where Cloud Knights were stationed. 

-"Allow me to narrate what's going on. Those places are exits to Knossos. As some of you already know, Knossos is a man-made dungeon and base of Evilus."

-"So that's why they can move around the city unnoticed."

-"Indeed. We, with cooperation from Ouranos and Hermes, send some personnel to entrances to Knossos from inside the dungeon. Using a similar technique to Evilus to control monsters, we lured them through those entrances, effectively allowing them to run amock inside."

-"You did what?"

-"Won't the monster flow into the city?"

-"Don't worry, that's why we stationed knights on the surface. Now monsters are filling inside, flushing mice from their burrows. Let us see what kind of vermins hide inside. Knossos itself is a forbidden place, even more so in this situation where it is confirmed as the main base of the enemy. Anyone found inside can be considered a member of Evilus."

-"..."

-"Oh, some of you look uncomfortable. Well, it would be bad if the captain of someone's familia was found inside. Worry not. I won't consider gods responsible for members of their familia, but what Ouranos or other gods will think is beyond my power."

-"You, I won't stand this! I'm leaving."

-"Rudra, right? I suggest you don't do anything stupid."

He did not even look back, trying to leave. He was stopped by the knights, of course.

-"Move, mortals!"

-"Last warrning, Ruda."

He did not heed my warning. After slightly unleashing divine aura, not enough to send him back to heaven, to pressure Lapis Knights stationed by the door, I had to step in.

Using the power of Nihility, I eliminated his aura. Creating a crystal chain that I also infused with Nihility, I bound him and hanged him in the room.

-"Release me! I order you!"

I just smiled at him and turned my eyes to images showing the first arrests by the exits of Knossos.

-"Captured people will be left to the Guild. I believe their trial will be fair."

-"Yes. We will make sure to bring all those responsible to justice."-The voice of Ouranos sounded.-"No matter if it's mortal of god."

-"Then let's continue the seans."

It took over six hours until no more people were coming out. After that, we let knights clear inside from monsters. Jing Yuan left to command them from the field.

In total, over a hundred adventures were apprehended, and another fifty were killed during their capture. Among them were members of thirteen different familias. 

The Guild has already made those gods stay in the tower until they are cleared of any suspicions. Sending nine gods back to heaven on the first day made Ouranos furious, so he treated this matter with even greater scrutiny.

Our job was done. Clearing the whole Knossos will take some time, but I left that to Jing Yuan and Loki. I once again apologized to Astraea for not involving her in plans. She didn't mind, but we still settled on me making her meal as an apology later.

After today, not only did Hold become known as a force equal to gods, but I also received attention from all sides. Most civilians simply considered me as some kind of spirit of nature, but my reputation among adventures and gods was in stark contrast with each other.

I left Orario and returned to Hold to continue working on the Express. For the next three days, I locked myself in the workshop to finally complete the core for it. After finishing, I joined the rest at the now half-built terminal, where first trial tests were already being conducted.

-"You were able to do it in time. I heard you were busy and might miss the deadline."

-"Yes, sorry for worrying you Vill-V. Here is the core of the warp jump technology."

-"Thanks, I'll go and assemble everything."

-"Yue, how is it in Orario? Thank you for taking care of my familia. I heard from Tsubaki that, thanks to you, there were no casualties. Even losses were minimal."

-"No need to thank me, after all, you are my right-hand woman. Ouranos is taking care of gods, while Guild is cleaning mortal messes. Nothing new, I guess."

-"Still, thank you."

We smiled at each other and returned to work.

-"Most of our analyses were proven correct. Only two things remain now."

-"Building working model and completing terminals it will operate on."

-"Yes. Because of the situation in Orario, the terminal there won't be ready in time. Liyue one is going to be used for testing instead. Aranyani went there to assist. We also have to build stations in Sumeru and Mondstadt as its leader also wanted to become part of our project."

-"Oh? Their offer was so quickly accepted by Ningguang. They must have offered something interesting."

-"Yes, they sent two people over, Albedo and his pupil Sucrose. Both are some of the best alchemists out there, so Ningguang accepted if they join us with their knowledge."

-"I have to thank her then."

-"She already told me that this is a reward for the System and an investment for the future."-Said Tingyun, who approached us.

-"Good to see you again, Tingyun. How's your working under Ningguang?"

-"I'm very happy here. As deputy of Avarice, I'm quite busy, but seeing my job making a difference makes it rewarding."

-"Happy to hear that."

-"I would be happier if someone invited me on a date..."

-"Hmm... In the near future, I plan to go to Nobunaga's world for some time. How about you join me then?"

-"Splendid! I'll make some time to go with you."

I looked as Tingyun went back with a jump in her steps.

-"Somone is popular."

-"Jealous?"

-"Well, I read books from Nobunaga's world where my namesake appears. Being married to a literal goddess of beauty, do I need to envy you?"

-"Beuty is such misleading divinity. I've seen Freya, and while she was beautiful, in my opinion, both you and Astraea are even prettier than her. Rather than beauty, it should be called charm divinity."

-"Ehh... if you see my eye, you will change that opinion."

-"Believe me, I won't. Also, didn't I already promise to heal it? In the future, it will be just a memory."

-"That is indeed a nice thought. Time to go and help them with the train. Let's go."

We continued our work. Some mistakes were made along the way, but in the end, we succeded. Copy of Astral Express, named by Vill-V as 'Under Dimensional Multi World Transitional Train of Progress', but as just hearing this name for the first time given Alhaitham a stroke, we decided to simply call it an Express, where Astral Express is original one.

Warp jump was tested only on short distances, as terminals are necessary for jumps between worlds. If everything goes right, Liyue terminal will open in ten days. 

Until that time, I decided to continue training my divination techniques. Going to Divination Commission, I started using some smaller Omniscia rather than Matrix of Prescience.

They give less precise readings, but for the purpose of training, were enough. Starting from reading about less complicated events, I slowly started grasping the workings of my 'eye'.

Fu Xuan also gave me a few pointers, so by the time the last of the Express tests were scheduled, I was able to use a limited range of divination without the assistance of Omniscia.

I still decided to build a great Omniscia similar to Matrix of Prescience in Hold. After talking to Tingyun about it, she promised to secure some funding from Ninguang. 

Gathering the whole Progress gang we slowly started preparing for the final test. Having completed the checklist, everybody but me left the Express. Because the risk of being thrown into chaos between worlds still exists, only I will be on the first ride. With the path of Trailblaze, I'm able to return if needed.

-"Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, this is your conductor speaking. Hold's Express is about to depart. Please stay clear of the ramp. The jump will begin in ten seconds. All passengers are asked to remain seated for the duration of travel."

-"Great notice. I see great talent in you, Yue. I suggest you change your career path."

-"Thanks for the encouragement Aranyani. Now for real. All measurements are within the predicted range. All systems are green. Initiating warp in 10, 9, ..., 2, 1, jump!"

Express started accelerating, and it quickly cleared the terminal. Next, a sense of weightlessness enveloped everything, and the world seemed to blur until it disappeared. 

Outside the Express, there were no stars, and yet it was bright. Everywhere I looked, countless lights flickered. I finally understood why it's called 'Chaos' as each of these lights was a 'Law' governing existence. When they mix, worlds are created, but most of them are quickly destroyed.

My travel hasn't lasted long. Not even five minutes later, the surroundings again blurred. Objects started appearing, and soon, Teyvat came into my eyes. Express started slowing until it stopped in the terminal. But just as everything was ending, I felt a gaze from high above.

-"What are you?"

-"Tianli?"

-"You know of me"

-"Yes, Morax explained some things."

-"I see."

-"Are you going to oppose us?"

-"No. As long as you don't embrace the Abyss."

-"We will not"

After that exchange, the gaze disappeared. Exiting the Express, I met with Ninguang. After performing some more checks, I initiated the return journey, this time with her on board.

We arrived safely in Hold.

-"Thank you, Yue."

-"I warned you to sit."

-"Treat this as a bonus. You were able to hold me after all."

-"Yes, precious memory to be remembered."

-"Hmm, maybe I should ask you to take responsibility for me now? After laying hands on an unmarried woman, you won't simply throw me away, right?"

-"Slow down a little. Your words are starting to be more and more misleading. But the vision of a joint account with the rich woman Ningguang is not bad at all.

-"Well, I always wanted to keep a pet. Fox is not a bad idea."

We exited the Express and met the waiting crowd. Diagnosis later, and the test was a full success. Now, all that is left is training crew and building more trains. Terminals were already planned, and as such, Hold's Express will start operating soon.

We left to celebrate the success, grabbing more people on the way. This time we couldn't fit into reception, as such we moved some tables into [Great Hall].

Looking at all the people gathered, I couldn't help but think about how it was before. I decided to do everything not only to keep those people but for this room to be full one day.

While I was lost in thought, Jingliu approached me and took my hand. Smiling lightly at her, I changed my mind.

⌊ We all will work for that future.⌉