80: The water god actually used otherworldly gold coins to forcibly buy an iPhone.

Meanwhile, night had fallen.

In the Magic City under the cover of night, atop the roof of a skyscraper.

Furina looked down at the golden river formed by countless car lights, the evening breeze blowing through her silver-white hair.

By her side floated three small figures.

Lord Uther in the form of a Ball Octopus, Madam Heivima in the form of a Bubbler Seahorse, and Miss Xebelda in the form of a Cherubic Armored Crab.

They were Furina's loyal Hydro familiars, quietly awaiting their master's command.

"This stage is far more magnificent than the Opera Epiclese."

Furina spread her arms as if to embrace the entire city.

Her voice carried a flourish, much like an aria.

"But an excellent actor must first understand their script and their audience."

Furina turned to look at her three familiars.

"Go, fetch me a terminal that can connect to this world's 'information network.'"

The command was given.

The three familiars instantly transformed into three nearly invisible streams of water, descending vertically from hundreds of meters in the air without making a sound.

Their target was a brightly lit large commercial center below, Global Harbor.

The water silently seeped into the building's ventilation ducts, navigating through the complex network before quietly dripping from a fire sprinkler on the first-floor ceiling.

This was an official Apple Store.

Under the bright lights, brand-new electronic products were neatly displayed on white pedestals.

The three familiars reformed their shapes.

Inside the store on the first floor of the mall, they locked onto the latest model of mobile phone.

Miss Xebelda acted first.

In her small armored crab form, she silently climbed onto the display stand and aimed her pincers at the black anti-theft cable connected to the phone.

Click.

With an extremely faint snap, the tough anti-theft cable was precisely cut.

Lord Uther followed immediately.

His octopus tentacles nimbly reached out and coiled around the newly freed phone, the entire process smooth and rapid.

Finally, it was Madam Heivima's turn.

Her Bubbler Seahorse form spun gracefully in the air, leaving a metallic coin emitting a faint golden light in the phone's original place.

Engraved on that gold coin were special patterns belonging to another world.

mora.

Having completed their task, the three familiars turned back into water and returned the way they came.

A few minutes later, a clerk in a blue uniform noticed something unusual while tidying the display stands.

"Eh? Where's the demo unit here?"

He saw the empty base and the cut anti-theft cable, then discovered the strange gold coin.

The clerk immediately reported the situation to the store manager and the security department.

The mall's security personnel quickly reviewed the surveillance footage.

On the screen, a blurry water shadow flashed across the display stand, and the phone vanished.

A gold coin had appeared in its place.

The entire surveillance segment was filled with a bizarre sense that could not be explained by science.

A young security guard secretly recorded this 'supernatural' video with his own phone and uploaded it to a short-video platform.

Atop the skyscraper.

The three familiars returned to Furina's side and handed the brand-new phone to her.

Furina took the phone.

Knowledge regarding the usage of this metal creation and various aspects of modern technology automatically surfaced in her mind.

This was the basic understanding granted by the Holy Grail upon her summoning as a Servant.

Furina felt no sense of unfamiliarity.

She pressed the power button on the side.

The screen lit up, and a logo of an Apple with a bite taken out of it appeared before her eyes.

Standing at the edge of the roof, the phone automatically searched for and connected to an open public Wi-Fi.

She opened the browser app.

In the white search box, Furina typed her name letter by letter using pinyin.

The search results loaded instantly.

Millions of pieces of information related to this name appeared on the screen.

Furina saw countless images of herself.

Some were exquisite drawings, some were so-called game screenshots, and many humans were dressed in her attire, performing imitations.

Her finger slid across the screen, clicking on a link for an entry titled 'Genshin Impact Wiki - Furina de Fontaine'.

The page redirected.

It detailed her identity: 'The former Hydro Archon of the Fontaine region in the game Genshin Impact'.

Her height, birthday, character story, and skill mechanics were clearly listed one by one.

Furina continued to scroll down the screen.

She saw collapsible sections for 'Character Voice-Overs' and 'Character Stories'.

She clicked them open.

Inside were recorded words she had once spoken and things she had experienced that she thought only she knew.

At the very bottom of the page was an area titled 'Player Comments'.

"My heart aches for Fufu, she endured too much."

"Furina is the cutest in the world! I won't accept any arguments!"

"For her, I didn't hesitate to top up a 648 pack!"

...These words were filled with a passion and kindness she couldn't quite comprehend.

Furina closed the wiki page and searched for her name on a video website.

A video titled '9 Minutes to Watch Furina's Five Hundred Years' was at the top of the search results.

She clicked on the video.

Familiar music belonging to Fontaine flowed out from the phone's speaker.

A 'story' belonging to her, narrated from a third-party, omniscient perspective, began.

The 'she' in the video was a virtual image with an exquisite face, composed of countless data points.

Furina looked at that 'self' on the screen.

She listened to the narrator recount, in a calm tone, her grand lie of salvation that had lasted for a full five hundred years.

Holding the phone, Furina watched the entire video.

In the video, she saw every trial she held as a 'deity,' and every time she forced a smile in front of the people.

She also saw every moment when she was alone, weeping silently before her reflection in the water, nearing a total breakdown.

The climax of the video was the collapse of the Hydro Archon's divine throne.

It was the final confession of her divinity, 'Focalors'.

It was the complete shattering of Fontaine's ancient prophecy.

She saw that the people of Fontaine were not dissolved by the waters of the Primordial Sea.

The entire nation was ultimately saved.

At the end of the video, as an ordinary human, she sat in the audience of the Opera Epiclese.

Watching others perform on stage, her own real tears fell down her face.

Furina put down the phone.

The video had finished playing, and the screen automatically dimmed, reflecting her own somewhat dazed face.

That five-century-long burden, heavy enough to crush a god, was completely stripped from her soul at this moment.

She had succeeded.

She had protected Fontaine and everything she loved.

A massive, unprecedented sense of relief surrounded her.

But following closely behind was an even greater emptiness.

The goal she had struggled for her entire life had been achieved.

Her life, her play, had reached its final curtain call.

Furina looked down at her hands, then looked up at this brightly lit, completely foreign world.

She was no longer the Hydro Archon Focalors, nor was she the Furina playing the role of the Hydro Archon.

She was just Furina.

The wind blew across the rooftop, carrying a hint of chill.

The city below was brilliantly lit, forming a magnificent stage that now seemed distant and lacked any sense of reality.

The performance was over.

The applause had faded.

What then?

Just as that massive emptiness was about to completely swallow her, a piece of knowledge that did not belong to her five hundred years of memory—one that had been forcibly implanted—became clear in her mind once again.

The Holy Grail War.

Seven Servants, a battle to the death for the ultimate wish.

The final victor could make a wish to the omnipotent wish-granting machine.

A wish... Furina's breath hitched for a moment.

Yes, the Fontaine in the story was saved, and her people escaped the fate of being dissolved.

But those five hundred years of loneliness, that resolve of 'Focalors' that was crushed along with the divine throne... those were all very real pains.

Salvation did not equate to perfection.

A brand-new idea, one even more 'selfish' than saving Fontaine, sprouted in her heart.

If... if the Holy Grail's wish could give Fontaine's future a truly perfect beginning, without any sacrifice or any tears?

That massive sense of emptiness was instantly filled by this newborn desire.

Light reignited in her heterochromatic eyes, which had previously dimmed.

In this play called the 'Holy Grail War,' she would not only participate but also seize the final reward reserved for the protagonist.

Furina held up the phone, her face reflected in the black screen.

She performed a flawless curtsy to her own reflection.

"Well then, members of the audience, as well as the actors of this world..."

"Please enjoy the encore performance presented to you by me—Furina de Fontaine."