Istaroth attempted to open a passage to other points in the past.
As the Ruler of Time, she couldn't claim dominion over everything, but from the present back to the era after the War of the Burning Flames, the timeline should have been freely accessible to her.
But it didn't work.
This time, Istaroth could no longer remain calm.
Because this meant that Teyvat had, for no apparent reason, developed the concept of a "current node." The present had become the only reality.
Yet Teyvat's concept of time was supposed to be that past, present, and future coexisted simultaneously.
She tried again.
This time, adhering strictly to the principle of "observation without interference," she attempted once more to access another point in time…
Still nothing.
Her expression darkened further.
This meant that not only had a "current node" appeared, but the entire timeline had been locked.
The present was now singular. The past had become fixed—unchangeable, untouchable.
At least, even she, the Ruler of Time, could no longer interfere with it.
Then what about the future?
She recalled what she had seen in the river of time and took a deep breath.
The future hadn't been completely fixed yet. The new branches had taken shape, but she still retained the ability to interfere.
Though she was the Ruler of Time, not its absolute master. In a disturbance of this magnitude, one wrong move could cost her everything.
But if she steeled herself…
Was it worth it?
She thought of her colleagues' past experiences.
The breath she had drawn was slowly released.
Arriving at a patch of grass, Istaroth simply collapsed onto it.
Normally, she cared about appearances.
But the recent upheaval had left her mentally exhausted. And with no one else around, it didn't matter.
"Sigh… This point in time is really quiet. It's hard to even find someone to talk to."
"Naberius is busy trying to delegate work, Asmoday is nowhere to be found…"
"At least… Ronova is still around."
As one of the Four Shades of Heaven, invoking the name of another on Celestia was no different from making a call. Unless the other party was in a special state or deliberately avoiding contact, they would respond.
"Haa… ah. Istaroth? What do you need?"
A massive, dark crimson eye appeared silently, accompanied by a familiar voice that should have been comforting.
But…
Istaroth was fairly certain she had just heard a yawn.
My dear colleague… you didn't just wake up, did you?
Do you have any idea something huge just happened?
Before she could speak, Ronova seemed to have read her thoughts.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm very diligent… You do know something big happened, right?"
"Just a few hours ago, the other half of the Authority of Fire suddenly reappeared. I thought the second-generation Pyro Dragon King had been born, so I spent quite some time searching—but couldn't find anything…"
"You really didn't notice? That kind of disturbance at the level of laws—it's completely different from the birth of the other second-generation Dragon Kings. I was actually hoping you could help me figure it out."
Istaroth blinked, momentarily stunned.
When Ronova first spoke, she had been thinking you stole my line.
But after hearing everything, she felt… speechless. Complicated.
So you searched for a few hours, found nothing, and then went to sleep because you were tired?
You're the Ruler of Death. You didn't even fight anything—just looked around for a few hours—and that tired?
Fine. For the sake of being colleagues, I'll accept that.
But you want my help?
Istaroth thought that under normal circumstances, this would have been no problem.
Even in the past year, she had only lost full control over the future.
If she really wanted to, she could sift through the countless newly formed possibilities in the river of time. Whatever information she sought could eventually be found—it was only a matter of time.
And as the Ruler of Time, time was the one thing she never lacked.
But coincidentally…
Just a few hours ago, more than half of the future had become completely unreadable to her.
Including the part Ronova was asking about.
Of course she had heard that resonance of laws loud and clear. How could she not know?
Others might not care, or might choose not to intervene.
But she?
She simply couldn't.
Silence.
Not a single word of these thoughts left Istaroth's lips. She merely stared quietly at the crimson eye manifested before her.
And yet, everything had already been conveyed.
"Ah."
"Then forget it."
Ronova hadn't really expected Istaroth to help anyway. She brushed past the topic casually, her tone growing even more languid—like a worker waking up at six in the morning, thinking only of going back to sleep.
"If there's nothing else, I'm heading off. I'm really tired."
Istaroth was speechless.
So you're not even hiding your laziness from colleagues anymore?
But she didn't say it.
Even if she had, Ronova wouldn't have heard it.
The connection had already been cut.
…
Another stretch of silence followed.
On Istaroth's usually composed and delicate face, a rare trace of complexity appeared.