Fontaine's Grand Stage: Come If You Dare! (Genshin Impact)

Having recovered from her recent fright and with the perpetrator of the serial suicide case now dead, Hydro Archon Furina felt herself again. Even her blueberry cake tasted sweeter lately, and she resumed her public appearances.

"My beloved citizens, long time no see! Have you missed me?"

"It's Lady Furina!"

"I'm so lucky! I just stepped outside and got to see Lady Furina!"

"Protect Lady Furina, the cutest in the world!"

Having been away from her beloved people for quite some time, Furina happily greeted the crowd, who responded with enthusiastic cheers.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted.

"Let me through!"

"I have urgent business with Lady Furina!"

Due to recent events, Clorinde had repeatedly reminded the Maison Gardiennage officers protecting Furina to remain vigilant and fulfill their duties meticulously.

With Clorinde coincidentally absent on other business, the officers were on high alert during this public appearance. Spotting a suspicious individual attempting to break through the crowd, they immediately moved to intercept him.

The man, roughly in his thirties, wore a mask of terror and desperation. He struggled fiercely against the officers' blockade, desperate to reach Furina, but they stood firm, refusing to let him through.

"Monsieur, cease this disrespectful behavior towards the Archon immediately, or we will be forced to detain you."

Ignoring the Maison Gardiennage officers' warnings, the man continued to shout at the top of his lungs:

"Lady Furina! Lady Furina!"

"I really have something important to tell you!"

When Furina first saw the man, a flicker of panic crossed her face. But then she remembered that the perpetrator of the serial suicide case was no longer at large, and there shouldn't be any danger.

Clearing her throat slightly, Furina addressed the officers:

"As the Archon of Fontaine, I should listen to the concerns of my people."

"Let him approach further and state his request."

"Yes, Lady Furina," the officers replied.

Hearing Furina's command, the Maison Gardiennage officers released the man, though they continued to watch him intently.

"Alright, Monsieur, please speak," Furina said.

"If you're here for my autograph, that's impossible. I only give them away for free during monthly events. Everyone must follow this rule."

Hearing Furina's words, the man stumbled, his figure unsteady. But he managed to reach a spot not far from her without further incident.

"Lady Furina, this is terrible!" he cried. "Just now, right before my eyes, my friend suddenly turned into water and vanished into thin air!"

Furina stared at him in disbelief. "A person turning into water?" she scoffed. "That's impossible! That's the kind of trick you see in magic shows—how could it possibly happen in real life? What you're saying is utterly ridiculous."

The crowd chimed in with their own opinions.

"Exactly! How could someone just turn into water and disappear?"

"Monsieur, are you hallucinating?"

"Still half-asleep, maybe? Ha ha ha!"

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

"You... you all!" the man shouted, his face flushed crimson with agitation. "Would you only believe me if it happened right in front of you?!" His voice cracked as he glared at the skeptical faces.

"Monsieur, please calm down," Furina quickly interjected, trying to soothe him. "It's not that we don't believe you, but what you're saying simply isn't scientifically possible."

The man couldn't believe his ears. An Archon wielding extraordinary powers was trying to convince him to believe in science!

"Fine! You all refuse to believe me, do you?" he roared. "You won't believe it until you see it with your own eyes, will you?"

"No, even if you witnessed it firsthand, you fools still wouldn't believe someone could vanish into thin air!"

"I curse you all! I'll make you personally experience the sensation of your bodies turning into water!"

The Maison Gardiennage officers sensed the situation escalating and moved to restrain him.

But the man merely glared at them, let out a furious roar, and then, to everyone's horror, his body dissolved into water!

Everyone stared at the pile of clothes left on the ground as an eerie silence descended upon the scene.

"Bravo! What a spectacular magic trick!"

Suddenly, a burst of applause shattered the tension. It came from a young woman, her face flushed with excitement as she clapped enthusiastically.

At that moment, everyone finally snapped out of their daze.

"So it was just a magic trick!"

"You scared me half to death! I thought we'd encountered something supernatural!"

"I knew it! People can't just vanish into thin air!"

"I have to admit, that was a truly spectacular magic show!"

Soon, the applause grew louder and more enthusiastic.

The crowd felt lucky to have stumbled upon such an extraordinary magic show for free—it had made their day!

"I-I knew it was a magic performance all along!" Furina declared, tucking her slightly trembling hands behind her back and forcing a calm facade.

"I never expected Monsieur to treat us to such a unique magical display. Today's events have been quite dramatic!"

Hearing Furina's praise, the applause swelled once more.

Before long, the clapping subsided, and the audience began glancing around with puzzled expressions.

"That's odd," one murmured. "The show's over, but why hasn't the magician come out for his curtain call?"

"Monsieur, you can come out now! Everyone loved your performance!"

As the minutes ticked by and the man failed to reappear, an unsettling atmosphere descended upon the crowd. Their mood grew increasingly somber.

"P-perhaps Monsieur wishes to maintain his mystique a little longer," Furina stammered, sensing the growing unease in the room.

"Very well, that concludes today's gathering. I eagerly await your formal requests for future audiences."

"You will soon have the privilege of beholding the visage of Fontaine's most noble and elegant Archon up close..."

Just as Furina was about to offer some polite closing remarks and slip away, a collective gasp erupted from the crowd.

It was the woman who had led the applause earlier. Now clutching her right hand, she let out a heart-wrenching scream.

"My hand! My hand!"

Under the horrified gaze of the onlookers, the woman's arm began to dissolve before their eyes like melting ice cream, transforming into a stream of liquid that flowed onto the floor.

The transformation spread relentlessly, consuming her shoulder, then half her body, until finally she completely dissolved into a puddle of liquid on the ground, her clothes soaked through.

Before vanishing completely, the woman screamed in terror, "It's a curse! A curse upon us all!"

"No one here can escape!"

The suddenness of the event nearly shattered everyone's minds. How could people vanish into thin air? Wait... the terrifying realization struck: they themselves were among those trapped!

Panic erupted as the crowd, now fully aware of the danger, scattered wildly in all directions.

Furina swallowed hard, desperately trying to maintain order, but then a fresh wave of screams tore through the crowd.

Right before everyone's eyes, people began dissolving into puddles of water, one after another, like a chain reaction. The number of victims grew exponentially, their bodies dissolving at an accelerating pace.

Even Furina couldn't maintain her composure. Overwhelmed by terror, she stumbled backward until her foot caught on the crate she'd been using as a platform. She fell heavily to the ground with a startled yelp.

"Ouch!"

"Lady Furina, this place is too dangerous! I'll escort you to safety immediately!" A Maison Gardiennage officer rushed forward, his voice urgent.

"Ugh..."

Furina's face flushed slightly as she realized someone had witnessed her embarrassing stumble.

"O-okay," she stammered.

Like a well-behaved child, Furina allowed the officer to help her to her feet. Together, they hurried away from the scene.

For some reason, no other Maison Gardiennage officers appeared along the way. Were they maintaining order at the site?

Furina gazed at the officer's incredibly young back leading the way, feeling an overwhelming sense of security.

Even if the other officers had chosen to prioritize crowd control, Furina wouldn't blame them. But the fact that this particular officer had remembered her and rushed her out first warmed her heart deeply.

She hadn't paid much attention to him before. He'd been practically invisible, rarely speaking, and when he did, his words were stiff and awkward. Yet, in this crisis, he was the first to think of her.

As expected, my charm is simply irresistible.

Being loved by the people—that's precisely what an Archon should strive for.

At that moment, Furina dared not dwell on how the man before her had suddenly dissolved into a puddle of water. Her legs were already trembling. If she kept thinking about it, she feared she might have to be carried the rest of the way.

The clamor of the scene had faded into near silence. Furina sighed in relief and turned to the Maison Gardiennage officer.

"We're out," she said.

But as soon as she spoke, she noticed the officer had stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concern creeping into her voice. "Were you injured earlier?"

The officer slowly turned to face her, his face a mask of utter despair.

"Lady Furina, we haven't truly escaped."

Furina froze, then said in confusion, "But we've already left that place. All that's left is to hand things over to the Court of Justice..."

"No, Lady Furina," the officer interrupted, his voice filled with despair. "What I mean is, we haven't escaped the curse."

Under Furina's horrified gaze, the officer's body began to dissolve into a puddle of liquid.

"There's no escape... none of us can survive."

"This is a curse upon us all."

"Or perhaps... a punishment."

"This... this is the fate that awaits us all..."

With those cryptic words, the young officer vanished completely before Furina's eyes, leaving only his uniform silently soaking in the puddle of liquid.

"Ah—!"

Terrified, Furina fled in disarray, her panicked screams echoing through the streets, each shriek punctuated by a sob.

"Is she crying?"

Lofan, now in his spectral form, floated into the air, staring dumbfounded at Furina's retreating figure. He had never imagined the Hydro Archon would be reduced to tears.

Seriously? How utterly pathetic! Is she even a real Archon?!

Doubt gnawed at Lofan. He began to suspect that the true Hydro Archon might be someone else entirely, with Furina merely a puppet thrust into the role.

But as he watched his Points rapidly increase, he quickly dismissed the theory.

There must be some hidden reason I'm not aware of. I'll need to probe Furina later.

After mentally outlining a plan to harvest more Points while simultaneously probing Furina's true nature, Lofan materialized a new body and dove back into the narrow alleys of Fontaine, resuming his relentless "fusion" experiments.

Through his research, Lofan had discovered that purified Sinthe's ability to transform Fontainians into water wasn't due to any corrosive agent within the Sinthe itself. Rather, Fontainians' bodies possessed a unique composition, containing an unknown fluid that reacted with the Sinthe.

This liquid could extend the lifespan and enhance the physical abilities of Fontainians, but unfortunately, it had been severely diluted, making its effects barely noticeable.

However, when this liquid was extracted from the body or actively stimulated, the body would dissolve into water.

Purified Sinthe could activate this special liquid, and having understood the underlying principles, Lofan could even achieve the same effect without relying on Sinthe.

Still don't believe me?

After today, who could possibly doubt that Fontainians can turn into water?

Points flowed out like water, but each dissolved body also brought Lofan a substantial influx of Points, ultimately resulting in a slight net profit.

Since each body only needed to be exchanged to instantly dissolve into water among the crowd, Lofan didn't even need to consciously control them, making the process remarkably simple and convenient.

With this task completed, Lofan prepared to transfer his consciousness to No. 2 to proceed with his next objective.

Lofan hadn't expected the Sinthe-related case and the Serial Disappearance Case of Young Girls to actually be connected. Now that the two cases were highly likely the work of the same perpetrator, he could confidently escalate matters.

He planned to blow things out of proportion, creating overwhelming pressure!

Once the culprit buckled under this pressure, they would inevitably make a move, allowing Lofan to follow the trail and expose them.

With that thought, Lofan didn't hesitate. He shifted his consciousness to No. 2.

In a room in Poisson, a middle-aged man with a vacant expression suddenly regained his focus. Outwardly, he bore a faint resemblance to No. 1.

After stretching his stiff limbs, the man retrieved a strange device from under the bed, strapped it to his arm, and left the room.