8 Game Conclusion

Ayo, totally not a late chapter or anything. This chapter may be a bit rushed, so not sure if there are any inconsistencies or how many there may be, but I just wanted to try and get a chapter out there as fast as I could.

In any case, I'll definitely try to see if I can boost the update stability for this story as much as I can. I am busy with quite a number of personal things, but I'll try my best!

Umu!

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As soon as that word left Isamu's mouth, they all watched as what looked to be a number of chess pieces of varying shapes seemed to materialize before hovering above Isamu's left hand. Each of them gave off a glow reminiscent of their respective colors.

Hearing the rather unfamiliar term, both Keqing and Ningguang couldn't help but give curious looks towards the chess pieces that now began orbiting in a clockwise direction above Isamu's palm.

Zhongli, on the other hand...

He unconsciously seemed to move his hand toward his chest, it didn't take him long at all to feel the absence of a certain item. It wasn't the fact that he no longer had said item, but the fact that it had disappeared that shocked him.

"Gnoses?" Ningguang muttered in confusion as she sat up from the bar. "I can't say that I am familiar with such a term..."

"There is still so much you don't know about your world, Lady Ningguang." Isamu smiled a bit as he moved his hand so that it was in front of his chest. The Gnoses moved over as well as Isamu looked at each individual one calmly. "These are called Gnoses, or Gnosis for singular. A status symbol of the Archons."

"A status symbol...?" Ningguang seemed to repeat his words as her gaze shifted between each individual item. Her intelligence network was nothing short of extraordinary, but not once had ever heard of such a thing. 'How does someone who is most likely not from this world know something that even I don't?'

It just didn't make sense to her, how would someone who wasn't from their world be more knowledgeable about something that a local wasn't aware of? Looking at each Gnosis, Ningguang could see clearly that each seemed to represent one of each of the seven elements of the world.

Anemo...

Electro...

Dendro...

Hydro...

Pyro...

Cryo...

"Wait..." Ningguang seemed to notice something strange, something that the other two above also picked up on. "You said that the Gnoses are representations of an Archon's status. However, where is the Gnosis of Rex Lapis?"

True to her words, there were only six Gnoses currently orbiting above Isamu's hand. Each of them coloured with respect to their given elements, however, she did not see any trace of the familiar golden-yellow colour of geo anywhere in sight.

"I wonder why." Isamu chuckled a bit as he slightly glanced up to where Keqing and Zhongli were. The two women didn't seem to notice, but Zhongli seemed to catch Isamu's glance. "Time's ticking, Lady Ningguang. You better make your move."

"Of course." Although she had many questions she wanted answered, they were in the middle of a game with a ticking clock. She could always probe for answers after it was over. "If your words from earlier are true, then I suppose drastic measures are needed. Samachurls."

A samachurl, one of the variations of Hilichurl monsters that roamed this world. Unlike most normal hilichurls, the samachurls were certainly a far more difficult opponent. From what was known, they were the shamans and spiritual leaders of different hilichurl tribes.

Soon after the word came out of Ningguang's mouth, they watched as three short humanoid creatures with dark skin and skinny figures appeared near them. With an intimidating mask and large mace-like staff in its hand, the creature swung said staff around while crying out unintelligible words.

From a single glance, Isamu could see that the three summoned were Geo Samachurls.

The samachurls seemed to immediately focus their attention on Isamu, given the fact that he was the closest to them and who they noticed first. Without hesitation, they immediately seemed to attack him.

"Be careful!" Keqing cried out before looking down at Ningguang. "Ningguang, I know he said we'd all return unscathed, but this is...!"

"It's fine." Isamu seemed to interject as he jumped back to avoid a geo spike that was summoned from the ground. He also easily avoided two swings from the two samachurls that had decided to rush him. "We must really like the letter 's' though. In any case, sword."

A simple yet clean steel sword appeared in Isamu's right hand as his other was still holding onto the Gnoses, and without hesitation, Isamu began slashing down the samachurls with precise and clean movements.

The thing about these samachurls was that they took some time to actually cast their spells or whatever, and with the fast striking speed he attained from befriending a snake, it became that much easier to deal with them.

Although his strength hadn't increased by an incredible amount after befriending a few animals, it was still enough for him to at least have the physical strength comparable to that of your average hilichurl, which was usually a bit stronger than normal humans in terms of physical power.

"Desert!"

Ningguang had a few reasons to do this, one being that she wanted to test the limits of what this game could do. She wasn't disappointed when the entire grassy plain around them was instantaneously changed into that of a vast endless sea of sand, even the sun above was blazing with heat.

"An entire desert was created...?" Keqing couldn't help but widen her eyes at the drastic change in scenery. Beside her, even Zhongli couldn't help but give a small look of shock as he turned his head to look around. "What does she want to do with this though?"

"Hmm, only time will tell."

"I'm impressed that you even considered changing the environment, not many would even have that cross their minds." Isamu was slightly surprised by this, it seemed that Ningguang really wasn't a simple thinker, though that was a given. "A bit too hot though, no? Water."

Isamu calmly took a sip of the glass of water that materialized in his hand, he seriously was never a fan of hot environments, he preferred places that were colder in nature. In any case, Ningguang didn't respond to his words, instead saying her next answer.

"Ruin Guard!"

[A/N: I had actually used Ruin Guard initially but changed it to Robot, then I realised that fucked with the rest of what I wrote. So, we move with two words]

Watching as a large bulky humanoid machine appear in front of him, it didn't take a genius to know what this robot was. It was one of many ruin guards. Isamu narrowed his eyes before jumping back as it slammed both its arms down at him.

The attacks didn't end there though, the ruin guard continued its assault with various forms of attacks ranging from various punches, swipes, and even constant spinning that made it look like a massive beyblade.

Soon enough, Isamu found himself running circles around it as a number of missiles seemed to fire out from the ruin guard's back. To make matters even worse, it seemed that the missiles were even locked onto him.

"I see!" Keqing seemed to realize something as she watched Isamu dodge. "Ningguang must have created the desert to make it difficult for Isamu to move around!"

"Indeed." Zhongli also came to this conclusion as his eyes focused on Isamu's legs as the male in question continued dodging the incoming attacks. "The exhaust of one's energy upon the desert surface is far more severe compared to the field of grass. Movement is restricted due to the nature of the sand."

"Ningguang may actually win this game...!"

"I wonder about that..."

Zhongli wasn't sure if he agreed with Keqing on that one, he had noticed the look of nonchalance on Isamu's face that the male kept on throughout the entire ordeal. Not only that, he doubted someone like Isamu would lose like this.

"Deluge!"

As soon as that word left his mouth, they all watched as a large wave of water came pouring down from the sky, quickly flooding the desert surface faster than it could absorb. With the sheer amount of water that was coming down, it was highly unlikely the sand could even absorb it all.

Fortunately, both Ningguang and Isamu were standing on higher areas within the desert, so any water that flooded over both of them rushed down into the lower spaces. For the ruin guard, it didn't take long for it to eventually be consumed and buried underneath the rivers that the flood created.

"Electric!"

"Oh~?" Isamu narrowed his eyes slightly when a flash of purple lightning soon flashed above them. 'I see, so I guess the terms electric and electricity may not differ much in the Teyvat vocabulary. A ruthless one she is...'

He could already see Ningguang forming a geo shield, obviously to protect her from the upcoming attack. Isamu could already tell what her plan was with this, she most likely intended to create an elemental reaction by having him hit with electro after being soaked.

"You're pretty brutal, Lady Ningguang. Trying to shock me in such a manner, something like that might actually get you a victory... 'might' being the operative word." Isamu smirked as he saw the electro sparks starting to branch outwards in every direction. "However, you won't be winning this."

"I find that hard to believe." Ningguang smirked slightly. "Your situation doesn't appear to be in your favor."

"Then why don't we change that?" Isamu chuckled slightly before raising his free hand and snapping his fingers. Just as the strands of electro energy were about to reach him, he had announced one single word. "Celestia!"

Instantly, the desert they stood upon disappeared without a trace, and the electro energy that was going to strike Isamu suddenly fizzled out of existence after striking what looked to be a dense electro-powered shield that formed around Isamu.

Silence was all that could be heard as everyone was now gazing around at the new environment, Isamu was looking with curiosity while the other three had their eyes widened as much as possible as they speechlessly looked around.

If Isamu were to compare the room they now stood in to something, he'd have to compare it to a panopticon. The room itself was massive and both the roof and floor were covered in a blanket of dense mesmerizing light, which the light that covered the roof prevented them from seeing just how tall the walls were.

At the very center of the room was an elevated podium, along with a strange hovering mass that Isamu honestly couldn't describe floating directly above the podium. Isamu recognized this room, it was the place that Venessa herself was shown walking within.

It seemed that since he didn't have a clear image of what Celestia looked like as a whole, the place they were brought to was the very room where he had a good image of what it appeared like. After all, this room itself was directly shown in the manga.

The room aside, he was honestly surprised that his idea worked. It seemed that after calling forth Celestia into this blank world created by the System, he was capable of manipulating mass amounts of elemental energy through the use of the gnoses.

[A/N: I don't know if that's actually how it works, I'm just rolling with it]

He was honestly uncertain as to whether or not he would've been able to utilize the gnoses, there were still many mysteries regarding them that he had no idea about. In other words, his actions now were more of a gamble than he would've liked.

In any case, it worked, that's all that mattered.

After taking in his share of the view, Isamu turned his attention back to the other three to see that they were still silently staring at the surroundings in a daze. Even Zhongli, who had most likely already been in this very room in the distant past, was staring speechlessly.

"So, Lady Ningguang. Will this game continue?"

Isamu didn't receive a response to his question, only silence. 'Hearing' this, Isamu merely closed his eyes with a small smile as the remaining time for this round ticked away. It was only silence for the next few seconds until everything around them began to disappear.

『Game Over』

『Winner: Takazawa Isamu (Host)』

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After returning to Teyvat, the silence continued for a few moments as Isamu waited patiently at his desk for them to recover. Well, Ningguang and Keqing were still trying to process everything while Zhongli had already recovered.

"This was quite the opening experience for me, Isamu." Zhongli spoke as he placed both hands behind his back. "I shall take my leave for now, though do expect me to return at a later date. Those boxes of yours are truly intriguing."

"Sure, have a good rest of the day, Zhongli."

"That I shall."

With that, Isamu watched as Zhongli walked. Even though Zhongli may not have expressed it clearly, Isamu could tell that the guy was having some rather complicated thoughts. Not surprising considering what had transpired a few moments ago.

"M-My apologies, Boss Isamu." Ningguang shook her head after finally recovering from whatever dazed state she was in. Keqing also seemed to snap out of her funk next to her. "It was my clear loss, the game was at the palm of your hand the entire time."

"I wouldn't say that, a bit of it was luck after all."

"I see, then we shall leave it at that." Ningguang gave a small smile. "It's rather unfortunate that I have not brought any more mora with me. Had I known that such treasures could be attained even from the Bronze Boxes, I would've brought along more. In any case, I have gained much today, I shall return tomorrow to open the rest."

"Then I'll be eagerly waiting for you, have a safe trip."

"Thank you. Let's go, Keqing."

"R-Right." Keqing responded after Ningguang had already begun to head for the door. Before following after her, Keqing gave a small bow to Isamu. "Thank you for today, Isamu."

Isamu gave a simple nod as Keqing quickly ran after Ningguang, and considering the fact that the crowd was even bigger than when before the game they just played, it seemed that the outside world was perhaps unaffected whilst the game was going on.

As Ningguang and Keqing made their way to the door, there were a few millelith guards already helping control the crowd to have them open up a path for them to walk through. They both ignored any questions that the crowd was throwing out, instead making their way quickly back to the Jade Chamber.

"Keqing." Ningguang spoke up as Keqing caught up and was now walking beside her. "Have two of the millelith guard the entrance of the shop, and have a few others station in the surrounding areas."

"Are you sure?" Keqing frowned a bit after hearing this. "What if Isamu takes it the wrong way?"

"I wouldn't be too concerned about that, someone like him will understand. I can assure you that." Ningguang responded with a tone of certainty in her voice. "Today has made it very clear that Boss Isamu is someone we need to keep on our side, his very influence can very well affect all of Liyue, and perhaps even all of Teyvat in the future."

"I understand, then I shall arrange the guards as soon as possible."

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Zhongli had already left prior to both Ningguang and Keqing, and he was currently taking a small walk through the harbor. He was doing so while thinking about everything he had come to experience in the past hour.

He really came to fully understand the meaning of never judging a book by its cover, Isamu held far more secrets than he could ever possibly believe. Today was more than enough to prove that, and he was certain that many more would come in the future.

The main question he had was just what kind of changes someone like Isamu would bring to Teyvat, good or bad?

The last few moments of that game really did surprise him, especially when they had been transported onto Celestia. Although it had been a very long time since he last saw that place with his own eyes, its image was still clear in his mind.

And in regard to the gnosis, he felt the presence of the Geo Gnosis return to him after the game ended. The feeling of it simply disappearing without notice was a bit concerning to him, but it seems that it was only temporary for that game.

'Isamu, you truly are an enigma. Just what changes will you bring to Liyue?' Zhongli couldn't help but have this thought pass through his mind as he continued walking. 'I suppose that only time will be able to tell.'

"Zhongli!"

"Hm?" Zhongli's thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice called out. "Director Hu? Is there perhaps something troubling you?"

"There sure is!" The person who had called out to him was none other than Hu Tao, who had rushed over to him from the other end of the street. She had her hands on her hips as she looked up at him with an anything-but-pleased look on her face. "Do you have any idea how many bills we received?!"

"Ah." Zhongli seemed to widen his eyes a bit as he seemed to come to realization. "I apologize, Director Hu. I had forgotten to bring any mora with me at the time, please settle the bills if you please."

"I already did!" Hu Tao threw her arms up as she gave a tired deep sigh. "I just came back from paying the bills to Xiangling! What in the world do you do every day that we get such big bills sent to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?!"

"It is not much. A majority are for a few meals."

"Why don't I believe you...?" Hu Tao felt her eye twitch after hearing his words. When she first saw how much was needed to be paid, she honestly almost died on the spot. "If you weren't good at your job, I swear... ah, I was going to use that money to open those boxes!"

"Boxes? Do you perhaps mean the ones that Isamu sells?"

"Huh?" Hu Tao seemed to raise an eyebrow after hearing this. "Do you know about the shop, Zhongli?"

"Indeed, I have just returned from it in fact. I had the honor of witnessing a splendid game between Ningguang and Isamu, it was quite the spectacle if I may add."

"Wait, they had a game against each other?!" Hu Tao widened her eyes before she displayed a look of both frustration and envy. "Damn you, Zhongli! If I hadn't had to go pay for those bills, I could've witnessed that game too!"

"..." Zhongli could only give an awkward look on his face as he heard this. "Ah, before I forget. Director Hu, I was hoping to open a few of those boxes for myself, so please have those payments be made using the funds of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor."

"..."