The Supreme Archbishop of Fontaine

Listening to the Supreme Bishop's words, Kokomi fell into deep thought.

As the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island, she was well aware of how powerful the wishes of the people could be.

During the Archon War, mortals were able to participate in the battles between gods precisely because the gods' methods of ruling over mortals were tied to their divine authority and power.

Through proper governance, gods could gather the wishes of the people they ruled and use them as their own strength.

For example, Barbatos of Mondstadt, whose divine authority is "Freedom," could transform the people's longing for freedom into his power.

Morax of Liyue, whose divine authority is "Contracts," could draw strength from the people's adherence to contracts.

Buer of Sumeru, the God of "Wisdom," could turn the people's wisdom and knowledge into her power.

Focalors of Fontaine, the God of "Justice," could draw power from the people's faith in justice.

At its core, all of this power stems from one thing: the power of wishes.

The wishes of the people.

"The strength of a person's wishes determines how much power they can contribute to a god," the Supreme Bishop said calmly.

"The Seven Archons grant fragments of their authority to those with strong wishes not without benefit. The stronger the wish, the more power the Vision can unleash. And when a Vision holder fulfills their wish, the power of their wishes that they can return to the god far exceeds the god's initial investment."

The idea that a god's rule over their people is the source of their power isn't just something Venti made up to deceive people—it's a fundamental truth of this world. The part where Venti deceives people is that he never mentions that not ruling is actually the source of his power as the God of Freedom.

Morax's strict adherence to contracts is the core of his rule, because the stronger the people's sense of contracts, the more power he can accumulate.

As for Venti... the more the people pursue freedom, the stronger his power becomes.

The same is true for Focalors.

Why is it that Focalors, a second-generation Archon who only officially became a god 500 years ago—just like Nahida—was able to accumulate enough power in just 500 years to even destroy the thrones of the Seven Archons?

Because of Furina.

Yes, it's all because of Furina.

Five hundred years!

Can you imagine a god appearing before their people every single day for 500 years, tirelessly performing and embodying the image of the ideal, most desired God of Justice in the hearts of the people of Fontaine? Can you imagine what that kind of concept even means?

Furina's performances had no reference point. She didn't know what a true God of Justice should be like, so she couldn't imitate one—she could only perform. And the God of Justice she performed as... was the God of Justice that the people of Fontaine idealized.

Furina would adjust her performances in real-time according to the wishes of the people of Fontaine, constantly embodying the image of the God of Justice that they most desired and admired.

Even if you placed Focalors and Furina side by side, the people of Fontaine would still believe that Furina was the true God of Justice, and Focalors was the imposter.

And this ideal God of Justice, who appeared before the people of Fontaine every single day, perfectly embodying the image of the most beloved, most idealized, and most worshipped God of Justice—what kind of concept is that?

The power of wishes Focalors accumulated in a single day was equivalent to what other gods accumulated in ten days. In a year, she could accumulate what other gods took a decade to gather—and that's a conservative estimate.

The Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, a creation of Focalors using the authority of the God of Justice, accumulated the people's faith in justice as power. After 500 years of Furina's tireless performances, this thing... well, let's just say no god would want to be on the receiving end of its power.

In fact, Focalors created this thing mainly to make a weapon capable of killing herself. Otherwise, she could have simply absorbed all that power for herself.

That was her power as the God of Justice.

And at the same time, it was the power of the people's wishes.

"Wishes strong enough to reach the heavens—such power of wishes is something even gods cannot ignore."

"The gods grant Visions, and when Vision holders fulfill their wishes, their powerful wishes also become the gods' strength. This is a form of exchange. Although not all Vision holders can fulfill their wishes, even if only a small portion of them return their wishes to the gods, it is still a net gain for the gods. Although the gain may be small, it still exceeds the initial investment. Over time, even without ruling their people, the power of the Seven Archons will continue to grow."

Of course, as one of the Seven Archons, accumulating power like Focalors—or rather, like Furina—is much faster. As for Nahida... let's not even go there. The more you think about it, the sadder it gets.

"The reason why the gains are small is ultimately because most Vision holders fail to fulfill their wishes. Therefore, not all Vision holders return their wishes to the Seven Archons—only a small minority can achieve their wishes."

As the Supreme Bishop spoke, Kokomi's heartbeat quickened.

She was beginning to understand what he was trying to say and couldn't help but speak up: "The Raiden Shogun has already hunted down dozens, nearly a hundred Visions. Each of these Visions contains wishes strong enough to reach the heavens and make even gods take notice. And now, they are all concentrated in one place... and undoubtedly harbor unified hostility toward the Raiden Shogun."

"If..."

"If someone could resonate with these Visions and gather all their wishes, then even facing one of the Seven Archons, victory might not be impossible."

Faced with Kokomi's excited words, the Supreme Bishop nodded calmly and said, "Vision holders all possess the potential to become gods, precisely because of their powerful wishes that can shake the heavens. The stronger the wishes, the more power the Vision can unleash. Reaching the level of a god... this is something that has been achieved by quite a few people in Teyvat's history."

The wishes of ordinary people can only be utilized by gods, but the wishes of Vision holders are entirely used to power their own Visions.

In a way, Vision holders share similarities with gods.

The difference is that gods gather the wishes of many people, while Vision holders gather only their own wishes.

—And yet, even in such circumstances, there have been those who ascended to godhood solely through the power of their own wishes.

This alone shows how incomparable the wishes of ordinary people are to those of Vision holders.

And now, the Raiden Shogun has hunted down dozens of Visions, approaching a hundred, and has concentrated them all in one place.

If such terrifying power of wishes could be fully utilized, defeating one of the Seven Archons would be no challenge at all.

Well, this is exactly how Yae Miko ultimately defeated Ei.

So Ye wasn't lying—this is indeed a method to change the Raiden Shogun's will.

And... since he's already provided this method and diverted Kokomi's attention, it seems there's no need to reveal his true purpose anymore.