Chapter 141

Barnabas stepped out of the icy blue light.

Looking at the six executives who were loyal to her, she felt a sense of relief mixed with regret.

In order to find a way for the people of Snezhnaya to avoid punishment, she had made the decision to absorb the geniuses of powerful people from the seven nations unconditionally. How could she have known that Phanes would be succeeded by the powerful and benevolent New Heavenly Law?

Now, Snezhnaya's importance in the eyes of the New Heavenly Law must have plummeted, and it might even become a target of caution. With this "record," even if she were one of the Seven Rulers of the World, she would still be at the bottom in the eyes of the New Heavenly Law.

The 'Loom of Fate' now seemed like a joke.

Although she felt regret and remorse, she was also grateful that Lord Tianli did not directly drop the 'Nail of Punishment' on Snezhnaya. At least this gave her and the people of Snezhnaya the opportunity to prove themselves to Lord Tianli.

Barnabas passed all the information they needed to know into the minds of all the Executives loyal to her. At the same time, her divine power and 'Gnosis' were temporarily connected to their bodies, allowing them to temporarily possess god-level strength, even if only at the weakest level of a demon god.

Although Ice God Barnabas could only be considered middle-tier among the Seven Archons, she was much more powerful than the average demon god during the Archon War.

"Go and capture Dottore, Piero, and the Skirmisher within three days, and also eliminate all the evildoers among the Fools."

The six Fatui Harbingers bowed respectfully to the Tsaritsa and answered in unison.

"As you command!"

After the six Fatui Harbingers, who had temporarily gained god-level power, left the hall, they began their mission to hunt down the 'sinners.'

Meanwhile, Dottore, who was conducting experiments in a laboratory in the Sumeru Desert, sensed something. He frowned, pacing slowly.

"Why did the Tsaritsa change from resisting Heavenly Law to obeying it now? Is it because the Heavenly Principles have awakened?"

He laughed as he thought of this.

"Haha, as expected, in this world, the Heavenly Principles are supreme. Just by waking up and showing a glimpse of power, even a god who was determined to oppose them has become obedient."

"Even the Tsaritsa... is this the extent of their resistance to the Heavenly Principles?"

He sighed.

As a god-level human, his clones were spread across Teyvat. He had witnessed all the changes in the world and had seen the Nail of Punishment fall from the sky in the desert a few days ago.

It all indicated that the Heavenly Principles had awakened and become more powerful than before—powerful enough to transform Teyvat completely.

Dottore shook his head. "I can't save the clones in Snezhnaya, but it doesn't matter. There are plenty more. As long as my strongest, original clone is safe, I can always create more of the others."

Rumble, rumble...

Just as he was thinking this, the door of the laboratory was violently destroyed. Purple lightning and blue water jets poured into the lab, destroying equipment in the blink of an eye.

Snap!

Dottore didn't seem panicked, as if he had anticipated this. He clapped his hands.

"So, you have temporarily obtained the Ice Queen's divine power and Gnosis. I've always wanted to study this Gnosis, but I've never had the chance. Let's see if you can satisfy me, Tartaglia."

Although he had become a god, he had never been exposed to the divine knowledge granted only to gods, and he was looking forward to it.

In his hands, Tartaglia held a pair of blades formed by mixing the elements of Electro, Hydro, and Cryo.

"Hmph, Dottore, I won't waste words with a madman like you. Just die!"

"Evil Law: Devouring Whale!"

Boom!

Deafening explosions echoed across the desert, accompanied by the cries of a whale.

A merchant caravan from the Gilded Brigade, passing through the desert, was shocked to see a massive blue whale—over a thousand meters long—leaping out of the desert.

Rumble, rumble...

The moment the whale crashed down, thousands of meters of water miraculously appeared in the arid desert, forming a lake as the impact waves swept across.

"Get down!"

"Ahhh!"

The merchants screamed as the sandstorm caused by the impact swept them away.

Tartaglia held Dottore's body and threw it onto the sand, his expression annoyed.

"Really, how many clones does Dottore have? Even I, who loves a good fight, am getting tired of dealing with these. I've already taken down six of his clones. Could there really be hundreds more?"

He looked at the compass the Ice Queen had given them. It could mark the location of the 'sinner' they needed to eliminate.

"I hope the others have managed to deal with more of Dottore's clones."

Meanwhile, Rosalyne was the first to find Scaramouche, the Sixth Harbinger, also known as the 'Balladeer.'

Scaramouche looked at the 'La Signora' who surrounded him with a group of Fatui agents and sneered.

"Haha, it's truly laughable. I thought joining the Fatui would bring me some hope, but once again, I've been deceived. It's really funny."

Rosalyne looked at Scaramouche, who neither fled nor resisted, and mocked him, "Afraid of being wanted and facing punishment? You're just a puppet after all. It's time for you to be scrapped."

Scaramouche was not angered but rather smirked, opening his arms arrogantly. "A sinner, am I? Yes, we're all sinners here. Do you think you're any nobler, witch?"

"Enough talk. If you want to deal with me, let's see if you can do it."

Rosalyne snorted. "A witch, huh..."

She unleashed her god-level power, a potent mix of Cryo elemental energy, combined with divine power, crushing towards Scaramouche.

The puppet's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking as he realized what he was facing. "The power of the Cryo Archon?"

Rosalyne, infused with power directly from the Tsaritsa, was more powerful than Scaramouche had imagined. It was no longer a fight he could win.

The Harbingers, empowered by the Tsaritsa's Gnosis, hunted the traitors with unrelenting resolve, knowing that the survival of Snezhnaya depended on their actions in these critical three days.

------

As a puppet vessel created by Beelzebul to carry the 'Heart of God,' Scaramouche was extremely sensitive to divine power.

Though he was fashioned to carry the 'Heart of God,' he never truly obtained divine power. Despite that, he had confidence that no existence below a god could be his match.

However, against a god... it was impossible for him to resist.

Even if it was just a human temporarily granted divine power, no one knew better than he did how overwhelming that power was.

Scaramouche, as a puppet made by Beelzebul using divine craftsmanship, could temporarily rival gods even without possessing divine power. After all, his form was based on Beelzebul's own divine body.

The ice elemental power, infused with divine energy, swept across like a cold wave, instantly engulfing Scaramouche, who had barely regained consciousness. His mechanical body creaked under the icy pressure. It wasn't that his body was destroyed; rather, it was being frozen solid. Ice rapidly spread from his feet to his chest.

Scaramouche's systems ran at maximum capacity as he mockingly said, "You think you can destroy me? Ridiculous!"

*Crack!*

The ice holding him shattered, fragments scattering into the air.

"Take this!" he shouted, a ball of crackling thunder elemental energy gathering in his hand. He hurled it toward Rosalyne, the Eighth Harbinger, with lethal force—enough to shatter a mountain.

In a blink, Rosalyne vanished. Scaramouche's eyes widened; he sensed divine power behind him, but before he could react, his vision blurred.

Damn it! This was just a witch temporarily empowered by divine energy!

*BOOM*

It was as if a meteorite had fallen. A deafening explosion echoed for kilometers, and massive ice spikes, hundreds of meters tall, erupted from the ground in every direction.

*Crack, crack, crack*

A harsh, freezing noise spread out. The cold air seemed to freeze everything in its wake. Lifeforms caught in the cold were immediately turned to ice.

Rosalyne walked towards the center of the icy crater, her high heels clicking with each step. There, a puppet was frozen inside an enormous ice spike. Scaramouche's systems had completely shut down, frozen by divine energy.

She raised one of her high heels and brought it down hard on the ice spike, shattering it. Scaramouche's limp body tumbled out, landing amidst shards of ice.

Rosalyne kicked him without hesitation, sending his body flying like a broken puppet, shattering several more ice spikes.

She stood over Scaramouche, placing her heel on his head, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Hmph. A mere doll dares call me a witch?"

Her current body had been transformed by her hatred and obsession into something fueled by fire elemental energy. Once she lost control, she and everything around her would burn to ashes. But so what? Why should she care if others called her a monster?

Five hundred years ago, if she hadn't sacrificed herself and been transformed, the ungrateful people of Mondstadt would have been swallowed by the "Tide of Dark Beasts."

They called her a monster, just like they labeled the dragon, Dvalin. When he served their purpose, they called him the East Wind Dragon. When he didn't, they called him the Wind Demon Dragon.

Hypocrites.

Rosalyne kicked Scaramouche again and again, her breath heavy with rage.

"Hmph. After all, you are just a puppet made by the Electro Archon. No matter how much I kick you, it won't destroy your body, but I will erase your soul."

With that, she unleashed the Ice God's power directly into Scaramouche's mind.

The puppet's fragile soul was instantly obliterated by the divine energy.

Afterward, Rosalyne grabbed Scaramouche's lifeless form by the arm, dragging him like a ragdoll.

"The puppet's body still has its uses. After all, it's a doll crafted by a god. I'll take it back to the Queen."

In the past two days, the Harbingers had been continuously hunting down Dottore's copies across the Seven Nations of Teyvat.

The compass in their possession was given to Barnabas by Takumi. Anyone Takumi deemed deserving of death would be marked by the compass, prioritizing the target based on the depth of their sins.

The greater the sin, the higher the priority for assassination.

Dottore's actions—seeking to understand the secrets of the world, the gods, and Sky Island—had inflicted great harm. He even attempted to burn the World Tree to see if Teyvat could exist outside the constraints of its divine rules.

In Takumi's eyes, this was a greater sin than even that of the remnants of Khaenri'ah.

Since Takumi only gave Barnabas three days, the Harbingers focused on eliminating Dottore, while Barnabas personally sought out Pierro, the Khaenri'ah Court Mage.

Pierro, seeing the Ice God approach, knew he had no means of escape. When the "Nail of Punishment" appeared over Winter City, he had fled as fast as he could. He had hoped to use Abyssal technology to open a portal to escape, but something prevented him from accessing the Abyss's power. He couldn't understand why.

This was the first time in history something like this had happened.

He realized that everything changed with the colorful aurora two months ago. The world of Teyvat had shifted, and there was no doubt—the Heavenly Principles had awakened, far stronger than recorded in ancient Khaenri'ah history.

As the Court Mage of Khaenri'ah, he understood all too well what this meant.

The awakened Heavenly Principles were settling old accounts, and the Ice Queen, who he thought would resist, had become obedient under the threat of punishment.

Pierro looked at the Ice God mockingly. "I thought I was a player in this game, but it turns out we are both merely pawns. My Lady, you are truly pathetic. You know I wield the Abyss's power, so think carefully before facing me."

With that, Pierro unleashed his Abyssal energy, the ring on his finger glowing with the ominous energy of the Void.

*Buzz, buzz, buzz*

The space behind him tore open, revealing a gate to the Abyss. The dark energy spread out, staining the sky a foreboding purple-red.

Ten massive wolf heads, each the size of a building, poked through the portal, their growls echoing ominously.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."