Valyrie Palace/ New Throne room.

5 days later.

Nito looked at the newly built throne room of the royal palace. He walked and sat in it before seeing a group of people in front of it. Rather builders "You have done a great job, I am very grateful to you."

(Imagine the group of builders in the center).

The builders nodded as Nito settled into his throne "You may retire, once outside at the entrance you will be given your compensation for all your hard work." The builders nodded as they withdrew from the throne room.

He then heard the Porte Di Lux activate from the distance as he couldn't help but smile "Hehe.... Today your training will be very different.... Ritsu."

Training room

The dark haired boy was waiting on the battlefield along with Leon. "Where's Nazu, I've been waiting for 5 minutes?"

A pair of footsteps could be heard from across the battlefield as a woman emerged from the hallway. Ritsu could tell she had Japanese style attire. But what he feared most was the immense aura of Electro elemental energy. He knew she was no ordinary person. In the throne room Nito smiled "Huhuhu.... I left Ritsu in your hands.... Ei..."

Leon immediately walked away not before wishing him good luck. Knowing that this time he would be training with an Archon, a very good one being a warrior.

"So you're the new Archon that Nito told me about."

Ritsu swung his huge scythe "Who are you?"

"I'm the Raiden Shogun...." Her voice echoed with power throughout the training room. Ritsu's hair stood on, Nito had told him about the other Archons, and he knew that Nito was the second strongest above Archon Anemo. But he couldn't let his guard down in front of her either. He knew she was a Kagemusha and fought in many, many battles.

The Electro Archon stopped in the court as she stood upright turning her weapon "Your training will not be here.... I will train you in a place so there will be no damage."

A dimensional dome wrapped around him as he disappeared teleporting him to a location. The Plane of Euthymia.

Ritsu opened his eyes seeing a scarlet sky and huge Torii around him. "Sakuma Ritsu... Welcome to the Plane of Euthymia." Hearing that Ritsu looked where the voice came from. "..."

Ritsu approached on guard as the almighty Raiden Shogun opened her eyes "..."

"I will introduce myself once again. I am Raiden Ei, the Electro Archon of Inazuma. The goddess of eternity. In the name of Lord Nito... Today I will be your teacher but don't expect me to hold back. Show me that you are willing for this training."

Ritsu took a battle pose "And I am up for it." Ei summoned his Mussou Isshin and they charged at each other.

Back to reality.

Nito was reading the reports on the enemy ship's technology "Camouflage.... That's why we didn't see it coming, and Sieghart saw it too late." Nito found it strange "Why did they attack just for our resources? Nothing made sense."

The blond heard the sound of footsteps as he watched a man approach "Morax.... Thank you for lending me some of your time."

"I was surprised when I read your letter. A new Archon with no ties to Celestia like you, but don't expect an attack in the heart of the very continent itself." Zhongli crossed his arms "He is training with her aren't he?"

Nito nodded "Ritsu is still weak, I don't want Zarina to take advantage of him and end up losing his Gnosis just because he just ascended as an Archon."

Zhongli agreed as the blond stood up "We have the whole day to ourselves. Shall we take a walk through the palace gardens?" they both left the throne room to one of the palace's rest gardens.

They both stopped at the pond while Nito looked seriously at his reflection "Morax.... You were the God of Contracts and the God of War. You received the respect of Liyue and made your enemies tremble with your strength. Therefore, I want some advice... Should I declare war?"

Zhongli looked serious "That depends but Ritsu's appearance is no coincidence, think about it he appears one month before the attack against your nation. In sense there is something strange. I would recommend seeing what land this Archon resides in and why he hasn't made contact with the others. We always thought there were eight of us, but... A ninth... It doesn't make sense, Ritsu has powers that resemble darkness."

Nito was still staring at his reflection "That's why I will personally visit the continent. Kreist is investigating the wreckage of the ships. Sooner or later we will find where they came from."

Zhongli looked out at the garden scenery "You asked me to train him as well." Nito turned with a smile "You have experience in contracts, I think you could teach him how to make political or commercial contracts."

"I see." The Ex Geo Archon looked on with a smile "Teaching makes me very young, I'll be sure to teach him what I can."

"Thank you Zhongli."

???: "EH! You thought you could ignore me EHE~*"

Nito and Zhongli:

"... Barbatos... How the hell did you find out..." Nito grunted as a breeze blew by his side before see the Anemo Archon land. "Winds always come to any place in the world~* But I'm serious.... Are you alright? I'm saying this because your people's morale has dropped a bit."

"You know we suffered a surprise attack yesterday. It's been almost 2000 years since we've suffered attacks. It seems we got a little soft on ourselves and got overconfident."

Venti played his lyre letting out soft sounds of a melody "From mistakes you learn~* By the way, I'm here because I want to train him as well."

Nito looked on in disbelief "You? Train him? You'd be a bad influence."

"Aw~* You're saying you don't want me to train him to be a bow master~*" The two of them just stood there as if he had just had a revelation to them. Nito as much as he wanted to deny it he couldn't. Venti in the era of the Archon war was the best archer among the deities.

Nito relented as he looked serious "Alright, I'll let you train him but." He held up his index finger "If you dare you.... At the very least... Get him drunk. I swear I'll come after you, beat you up and send you back to Monstadt with a kick. Got it?"

"Got it~*"

Unbeknownst to him, the blond would regret it later, because he was Barbatos after all.

Dusk.

The dome reappeared a few seconds before disappearing revealing Ei standing without a drop of sweat while Ritsu was lying on the ground breathing heavily "You're.... Very strong..."

Ei smiled as she walked towards the Rookie Archon "I admire your determination, Sakuma Ritsu." She held out her hand as he took it helping him to his feet. Ritsu noticed from the windows that the sun was already setting on the horizon as the stars began to appear.

They both walked into the corridors of the golden palace until they arrived directly at the dining hall. The Knights opened the door to the entrance and they were greeted by the large golden dining room.

Ei entered along with Ritsu who saw Nito with two other people along with Nito who welcomed them with a smile "Welcome back! How was the training?"

Ei smiled sitting on the chair while Ritsu went next to her "Ritsu has a lot of potential, but his body is not yet used to his power completely. We must keep training him."

Nito nodded as he looked at the dark haired boy "Ritsu, meet two other friends of mine. Although they don't look like it. They are actually retired Archons." He pointed to the Ex Geo Archon "This is Zhongli but his real name is Morax or Rex Lapis. He was the God of Contracts and the God of War. And he is the oldest of the existing Archons."

The former Geo Archon greeted with a nod to and finally introduced the other "He is Venti, also known as Archon Anemo, Barbatos."

"Yahoo~* Nice to meet you Ritsu."

Ritsu felt a chill, hearing Venti was like hearing a certain annoying pink haired boy again. "It's nice to meet you."

Nito replied seriously "Venti will teach you how to use the Bow and Zhongli will teach you about politics." The black haired boy groaned in exhaustion "I didn't know the life of an Archon would be full of responsibilities."

Zhongli crossed his arms "You'll get used to it in time. Ritsu Sakuma." Weeks passed as the three trained Ritsu, each time he adapted and grew stronger.

At the same time Nito was waiting for results from the royal academy investigation. The elves were so stubborn that even with torture they weren't going to get anything out.

Nito was sitting on his throne serious "..." At that moment a pair of hurried footsteps caught his attention as he looked up "Kreist, calm down."

The yellow-haired boy with rabbit ears and tail came in front of him exhausted. "We've got it, get us a fix on the continent, we've got a complete map!"

At that Nito looked serious "Are you sure?" Kreist energetically as Nito stood up. "Gather everyone." Kreist nodded as he left the palace.

An hour later...

Everyone was on the throne while two people were missing. Zhongli looked around "Where are Venti and Ritsu?" Enciodis looked confused "They should have arrived by now."

Ei nodded "I think we should look for them." Everyone nodded as they split up to look for both Archons.

Nito and Kreits went east while the rest went west of the palace. As they passed through the golden corridors Zhongli and the rest saw a certain bard running scared "I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble!"

He saw Zhongli and the rest as he ran to them "Guys, good thing I found you all." Ei could sense the panic in his voice "What have you done this time Barbatos..."

Leon smelled something "Wait a minute.... Why do you smell Dandelion Wine?" Venti denied in fright "That's the least of it. I have to find Ritsu before Nito does!"

Leon then knew why "Venti.... Don't tell me you-" Venti yelled in fright "There's no time! I have to find him before he does-

Nito: "BARBATOOOOOOSSSSSS!"

Venti was now scared to death as he heard Nito call him by his Archon name. He know if he calls him in his Archon name he knew he was very fricked up. "I'm dead... I'm dead..." The Knights general patted him on the shoulder "Good luck Venti."

"Zhongli, Ei!" Venti pleaded to both Archons who denied, they were not going to defend him, they would rather be in one piece than instead get in the way of an enraged Nazuna Nito. Zhongli crossed his arms "This is only your business, and assume your actions disgrace of the art."

Venti at that moment began to sweat as he felt the Lux Archon's presence getting closer and closer.

"I have to get out of here before it's too late..." Venti started to run as a voice behind him was enough to send a chill down his spine. "YOU! I WARNED YOU!"

Venti looked back only to see two pairs of glowing scarlet eyes.

Nito began to chase him "Don't think you can get away from me..." Venti screamed in terror as he ran for his life. Nito wasn't about to give in as they both disappeared down the hallway leaving the rest standing.

"I need help." They all looked to where the voice came from and saw poor Kreist carrying a drunk Ritsu. Leon sighed as he walked over to the poor boy "I'm coming."

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A scream of horror from Venti echoed throughout the palace followed by several thumps and small tremors felt throughout the royal palace.

Zhongli denied annoyed "Stupid Bard..." Ritsu spoke drunkenly "Hic.... Hehehehe... More wine... HIC!" Enciodis sighed in annoyance "We'll have to cancel the meeting Kreist. We'd better save it for tomorrow."

The rabbit-eared, rabbit-tailed boy growled "Why does Archon Anemo always give us trouble every time he shows up!" Zhongli shook his head uncomfortably "Well.... Technically Barbatos won't listen to us.... He is after all a freedom itself..." Ei laughed in amusement as she looked at the dark haired boy. "But to see the growth of an Archon.... It's an honor to be a part of it."

Zhongli smiled looking at Ritsu before looking serious "But.... We still have a serious matter to discuss." Ei looked serious "The attack of Arcaic City."

Next day.

Nito and the rest were in the throne room standing in front of the golden throne. "Achlyss... Is that the continent where the Shadow Archon resides?" Kreist nodded as he showed the continent that contained a huge map of a continent.

Nito hit his Rab*it Vanquisher hard.

CLANK!

"Then it's time to organize a trip." The blond looked at everyone "I'm afraid I have to do it on my own." Enciodis looked on incredulously "Are you crazy!!! You alone!!! Are you listening to yourself!!!"

Zhongli agreed "Nito, that's risky. I know you're partly furious about the unprovoked attack but going alone in another Archon's lands without permission is a high risk."

Ei agreed "We don't know how strong this Archon is." The discussion grew louder as Ritsu approached the map "Achlyss..."

Like a pang in his head hundreds of voices began to be heard in his mind causing him to scream in pain clutching his head "GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone stopped as they heard Ritsu scream in pain as. Nito quickly ran towards him "Ritsu! What's wrong!" Zhongli, Venti and Ei approached worried to the dark haired Archon "Make them shut up! AHHHHHHHH!"

Kreist pulled out a golden tablet began scanning it "I don't know what's wrong with him, his brain looks like it's hearing.... Echoes in real time."

"Save us!"

"Great Shadow Archon.... Please give us food..."

"Please remove