"At the time, our bubble world was already in crisis, leaving every faction unable to provide support. In the end, that allowed the Ferryman to reach the Irminsul—the Ether Anchor—without any obstruction."
Buer sighed deeply as she spoke.
As the Ether Anchor of the Teyvat bubble world, the Irminsul itself possessed immensely powerful abilities. Modifying the world's rules or even altering past history were merely trivial matters to it.
And as its incarnation, Buer, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, was also the guardian of the Irminsul—the Ether Anchor.
However, the Ferryman possessed hundreds of Ether Anchors.
Faced with such an overwhelming numerical disparity, once a battle began, both the Irminsul and Buer were guaranteed to lose.
And furthermore...
Buer herself had been in a "contaminated" state at the time.
She could barely protect herself, much less protect the Irminsul.
In the end, she could only allow the Ferryman to take away the Irminsul—the Ether Anchor—of the Teyvat bubble world.
"I see. So that's roughly what happened. I understand the general situation now, but as expected, I'll still have to personally visit your bubble world before I can understand the details."
Elias nodded. He could tell that Buer wasn't lying.
But... not lying didn't mean she had told him everything!
"Continue. What else is there?"
"M-My lord..."
"Didn't I already say it just now? Your existence isn't complete. It seems... you're missing more than half of yourself."
As Elias spoke, he looked toward the Irminsul, which was also Buer's true body and the Ether Anchor of the Teyvat bubble world. He could sense that the tree wasn't complete and was missing a considerable portion.
Buer fell silent and struggled internally for a moment before ultimately deciding to tell him everything honestly, because her instincts told her she couldn't hide anything from him, nor could she do anything to resist.
Although the person before her was asking "politely," that was only because a quality known as morality was restraining his power. In reality, if this man truly wanted something,
then even if she refused to speak, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata believed Elias would definitely have some way to pry the answer out of her mouth!
"Your insight is truly extraordinary, my lord. In truth, I did not hand the entire Irminsul—the Ether Anchor—over to the Ferryman, because it was far too important to my world."
The Ferryman had never expected an Ether Anchor to develop self-awareness and deceive him. If it had been a fake Ether Anchor, then with his abilities, he naturally would have been able to distinguish it.
However, what Buer handed over truly was the Irminsul. Although it was only one portion, she successfully deceived the Ferryman into believing he had taken Teyvat's complete Ether Anchor.
In fact, right up until the Ferryman died, he never realized that the Ether Anchor he had stolen back then was merely a small portion deliberately given to him.
"Even now, the Teyvat bubble world still has an Irminsul. And... there is also another me serving as the Irminsul's new incarnation. Her name is Nahida."
"Haha~ You handled that pretty well."
Elias couldn't help applauding Buer. Then he raised his hand and patted the little girl's head, instinctively marveling at how incredible the sensation was. It was easily enough to rank among the top three in his personal records!
Luna, Rosemary, Ai, and Himeko beside him also politely applauded, and the atmosphere instantly became harmonious.
"My lord, you praise me too highly."
Buer inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. In truth, she had already sensed that Elias and the others weren't bad people. After all, back in the Teyvat bubble world, she had once borne the title of God of Wisdom.
Knowledge was not equal to wisdom, but wisdom was power, while power was not equal to wisdom. For Buer, who had been called the God of Wisdom, distinguishing whether someone was good or evil was quite easy.
Therefore, she could tell that Elias' slightly stern attitude just now had only been meant to scare her. He had never actually intended to harm her. And besides... his head pats were quite comfortable.
"Then, do you want to come with me?"
"Huh?"
Buer looked at the hand Elias suddenly extended toward her in invitation and momentarily didn't know what to do.
"I recommend coming with me. To be honest, with your current strength, you're nowhere near capable of surviving in the Sea of Quanta. And besides, I plan to visit the Teyvat bubble world later."
"What?! M-May I ask what you intend to do..."
"Don't be nervous. I'm simply going there to help solve your problems. After all, putting everything else aside, I probably bear a tiny bit... around one percent of the responsibility for the Honkai problem."
"Y-You mean that energy that drove the Heavenly Principles into madness?! You know what it is?"
Buer's eyes widened. Her soft little hand grabbed Elias' clothes as she eagerly questioned him.
"Mm-hm~ Back then, a friend of mine accidentally fell into your bubble world and forgot her weapon there. That weapon contained an enormous amount of Honkai energy. Your so-called Heavenly Principles was probably corroded by Honkai energy."
As Elias spoke, he touched his chest.
The more powerful the Honkai energy within a weapon, the stronger that weapon became. And the World-Destroying Divine Spear had been powerful enough to pierce his heart. Even a tiny amount of Honkai energy leaking from it would be more than enough to completely corrode a mere bubble world.
"In short, I'll save your world. When the time comes, I'll bring you along too, so you can return to Teyvat. Return home."
"Return to Teyvat... return home..."
Buer staggered back a few steps in a daze, crystalline tears spilling from her clover-patterned eyes. She raised a small hand and wiped them away.
To this Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, she was like a leaf that had fallen from a tree, only to be accidentally blown into a river by a gust of wind, drifting farther and farther away with the current.
She had indeed seen many things beyond her world.
But every fallen leaf yearned to return to its roots.
Therefore, Elias' words just now had overwhelming emotional and tempting power for Buer!
However...
"Thank you for your kindness, my lord, but please don't take me back with you. I... I cannot return."
Buer lowered her head and spoke sadly.
When such an adorable little girl showed a sorrowful expression, merely looking at her made the others feel sad as well.
Even Elias couldn't help feeling an urge to protect her.
"You can't go back? Why?"
"Didn't you say it yourself? I've been contaminated."
Buer looked bitterly toward her true body, the sickly Irminsul—the Ether Anchor. Judging solely from its appearance, it was difficult to imagine that it was the core of an entire world, possessing the power to alter the bubble world's rules, history, cognition, and more.
"In truth, back then, I deliberately allowed the Ferryman to take part of the Irminsul and myself away from Teyvat."
"The cause dates back a very, very long time ago. A friend of mine attempted the great feat of resurrection and tried to create an immortal paradise. To accomplish this, he touched power from beyond the world. But the power he drew in from outside the Teyvat bubble world not only failed to fulfill his ideal, it instead became a terrifying calamity that polluted the world."
"I called this power Forbidden Knowledge. While cleansing it, I myself was also contaminated."
Buer sighed again. Elias and the others exchanged strange expressions.
Good grief. Where had this Ferryman knockoff come from?
He had desired to create a paradise, only to bring destruction instead.
"So what happened to that friend of yours? I recommend cutting ties."
"...He's already dead."
"Oh, good. Deserved!"
As Elias spoke, he constructed a party popper and fired it. Countless streamers burst out with a loud bang, celebrating the end of yet another clown. People who meant well but caused disasters were the most frustrating kind.
Buer could only smile bitterly. Sometimes, she too wanted to give that friend of hers a harsh lecture. After all, even now, she was still enduring the torment caused by that Forbidden Knowledge.
"Back to the main topic. Because I am the incarnation of the Irminsul—the Ether Anchor, the instant I was contaminated by Forbidden Knowledge, the Irminsul connected to me was contaminated as well."
And since the Irminsul was Teyvat's Ether Anchor—in other words, the world's core—its contamination meant that the entire Teyvat bubble world would also be heavily affected.
Countless people, lands, and other living creatures died because of this contamination.
Buer's original plan had been to create another pure version of herself, "Nahida," and have her take control of the Irminsul—the Ether Anchor. Then, using the Ether Anchor's power, which was essentially a world-editing device, she would completely erase her contaminated self.
That way, she could thoroughly eliminate the harm Forbidden Knowledge had brought to the Teyvat bubble world. As the price, she herself would disappear completely, as though she had never existed in the first place.
But Greater Lord Rukkhadevata Buer believed it was worth it.
If sacrificing her own existence could save the world she loved, she was willing to accept such an ending.
However, the Ferryman's arrival changed the situation.
Buer modified her plan.
She completely separated the contaminated portion of the Irminsul—the Ether Anchor—from the uncontaminated portion, allowing her other self, "Nahida," to control the pure half.
As for her remaining contaminated self and the contaminated portion of the Irminsul, she allowed the Ferryman to take them away. In the end, when the Hyperion carried the contaminated Irminsul—the Ether Anchor—and Buer away,
Forbidden Knowledge disappeared from the Teyvat bubble world.
"Beautiful!!"
After hearing the whole story, Elias offered his praise without reservation.
What an intelligent girl!
Faced with the invading robber Ferryman, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata Buer had actually managed to drive him away using this method while simultaneously saving her own world.
By using the Ferryman to take away the contaminated Irminsul and herself, she not only avoided the destruction of the Teyvat bubble world, but even solved the contamination caused by Forbidden Knowledge.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had used her wisdom not only to protect her world, but also to save it!
Still, Elias could only give her seventy-five points, because Buer had failed to save the most important person of all, so twenty-five points had to be deducted.
And that person was herself!
The Teyvat bubble world might have been saved, but even now, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was still being tormented by Forbidden Knowledge, and she could no longer return to her own bubble world.
But that didn't matter anymore.
"Buer, your story was excellent. As a reward, I'll solve your contamination problem."
Elias smiled and patted Greater Lord Rukkhadevata on the head.
"Huh? You can even do that?"
"Hehe, I can do anything. I still don't know exactly what this Forbidden Knowledge of yours is, but it looks pretty easy to deal with. Anyway, let me take a look."
As Elias spoke, he picked the little girl up and placed her on his lap, then began examining her physical condition. He wasn't boasting.
From the very beginning, Elias had sensed a murky and twisted aura inside Buer, constantly eroding her body and will. But... it didn't seem particularly impressive.
This contamination she called Forbidden Knowledge wasn't anything especially powerful to him.
At most, it merely countered the energy inside Greater Lord Rukkhadevata that seemed to be called "elemental power." But before Honkai energy, something of this level wasn't even worth mentioning.
Sure enough.
The moment Elias injected a tiny amount of Honkai energy into Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's body, the so-called Forbidden Knowledge was instantly obliterated, melting away like snowflakes falling into lava.
Elias didn't even need to use any Herrscher Authority.
This could only be described as...
Elemental power, powerless!
Honkai energy, omnipotent!
"I-I feel like I'm cured!"