Celestial, Garden of Everlasting...

As he finished the bottle of Dandelion wine in one go, the dark blue haired young man with aqua blue highlight on his braids wiped his mouth while smacking it the table. Though the fragments scattered everywhere, his companion didn't seem to mind as they continued to enjoy the drink of their choice.

"Well, someone's in a happy mood. Care to share what got you so excited, Barbatos?" Asked the topaz eyes man sitting on his left.

"It's nothing really." He replied while crack opening a new bottle. "I was just taking a stroll earlier, and one of the humans managed to snitch me out."

"After you destroyed a couple of buildings and took several lives no doubt." Said the purple haired lady on the right as she took another bite of her delicious dango.

"Exactly! How did you know, Shogun?" He smiled while her gaze landed on the trace of dried blood on his right cheek.

"...Lucky guess."

"So what happened next? Don't tell me you killed him already?" The white haired lady with green highlight at the far end raised her voice.

"He fought well...for a mortal. So naturally, I just have to bring him home! Though I did have to cut off one of his arms during the battle. Can't have him waving that stupid claymore at my face everyday, teehee~"

"You should have ended him."

"Oh? Are you perhaps Jealous, Morax?" Barbatos leaned his way before forcefully climbed on his lap and he unconsciously hugged his waist. However, the man remain silent and avoided his eyes. The next second, he felt something warm against his lips. By the time he realized it, that person's innocent smiling face filled his vision. "Don't worry, you'll always be my favorite ~"

"You--"

"Save it for later." He winked. "Now then, I bet you didn't know this, Shogun."

"Hmm?"

"One of the twins highjacked your newest puppet and went for a little adventure. To think he would obtain the ability like our dear Dendro Archon, isn't it exciting?"

"And you know this how?"

"Oh, come on. Whether it's the scorching dessert or the icy land far faraway, the winds will always blows. They also told me you haven't been eating your vegetables, Lesser Lord Kusanali."

"W-what? Of couse I have!"

"It's no use lying. It's written all over your face. And to think you actually finished off Greater Lord Rukkhadevata--"

At that moment, she slammed her hands on the table as her face grew dark.

"Shut up..." The second she lifted her head up, red corrupted veins could be seen while her once beautiful emerald eyes turned bloody red, her hair slowly took the form of darkness "...before I shut you up for good!"

Yet, instead of being disturbed by her sudden transformation, the young man smirked as he too, flipped the switch.

"I love to see you try--" Simultaneously, they felt a chill running down their spines as that person raised his voice.

"If you two wish to fight, do it outside. However, if you insist on doing it here.." Morax took another sip of his tea before crushing the cup with his barehand. "...I will have order."

"Maybe they should call you "God of Discipline" rather "God of Contract"."

"I never knew you could joke about such thing, Shogun. Truly, as humans said, you learn new thing everyday."

"I'm merely stating a fact. The pressure you gave off alone is enough to bring one to their knees or worse. Anyway, back to the matter at hand." She turned toward him. "You said one of the twins, Barbatos. What about the other?"

"I will leave the honor to her." His gaze landed on Lesser Lord Kusanali. "I'm too thirsty to go on right now."

"Tsk! You good for nothing s--"

"Watch your mouth." Morax kindly reminded her.

"...According to my observation, she has attained the power of Ameno, Dendro, Cyro and Hydro. However, she doesn't seem to possess any special ability and is constantly causing troubles. Just this morning, she violated several rules from the handbook."

"Lucky for her you weren't there, right, big brother~?"

"..." Morax stared at him coldly.

"Ahem!" Shogun coughed. "It can't be helped. She just a child, after all. We will have to wait for till she's old--"

"That won't be necessary. Their fates had already been decided the moment they're separated and handed to the puppets. We have no use for those half-hearted."

"It would have been so much simpler if you would just let me kill off the girl." Barbatos said as an ball of Ameno energy formed in the palm of his hand.

"But then, where's the fun in ending her early? Wouldn't it be better to sit back and watch those two slaughtered each other? To see her downed in despair when she finally realize she never has a chance in the beginning?" A wicked smile appeared on his lips.

As the conversation progressed, Shogun lowered her eyes drowning in thoughts. She only snapped out of it when the youngest among The Sevens, Barbatos brought up another critical news, the twins' mother, after five years of roaming the wide Teyvat, finally settled down a few days ago with another man's baby growing inside her belly. At that moment, even the usually cool head Morax couldn't keep his calm and broke the table in half with his bare hand.

"My wine!!!"

"You should have seen that coming, idiot." Lesser Lord Kusanali let out a satisfying laugh before snapping her finger, fixing it with the power of Dendro. "Don't leave us hanging. Please, continue~"

Yet, just when he was about to open his mouth again, from the shadow, a bloody masked figure emerged. Upon seeing him, he smiled.

"Welcome back, Xiao. Do you have what I asked for?"

As a response, he threw the woman who he was holding by the hair forward. Despite the big hole in her stomach and the massive blood lost, she was still alive. The second she saw who she was dealing with, she cowered in fear.

"Long time no see, Maria. I trust you've been well, huh? Oh come now, don't make such a face. We wouldn't want people to think we're bullying, would we?" The young said said while tucking the loose hair behind her ear. "In fact, we feel so awful for not being able to attend your big day that we decided to hold a feast in your honors."

It was then Xiao finally dropped the other thing he's keeping alive with his Adeptus' power on the table while vines shoot up from the ground and tied her tightly to a chair. The next second, without any hesitation, Morax ripped off a piece despite the shrilling screams, and held it in front of her mouth.

"Open up." His eyes glowed bright.

"Please... Spare me..." Tears filled her eyes. However, that wasn't enough to make him stop as the young man grabbed her chin, forcing her to open her mouth before stuffing it down her throat one after another while the others watched in amusement. The night was still young, after all.