"I-I feel like I'm completely healed!"
Buer looked at her hands in delight. She could clearly sense the contamination from Forbidden Knowledge disappearing, and a lightness she hadn't felt in centuries spread throughout her entire body.
The exhilarating relief of finally being freed from that suffering was simply too wonderful. For a moment, even Greater Lord Rukkhadevata couldn't help letting out a soft moan, so happy that crystalline tears shimmered in her eyes.
However, Elias immediately poured cold water on her excitement.
"No! You're not healed yet!"
"Huh?"
Buer froze. Then she looked down and discovered that dense purple patterns had somehow appeared across her body.
A power far stronger, more extreme, and more tyrannical than Forbidden Knowledge was corroding her entire body, instantly sending the little white-haired girl plummeting from heaven straight back into hell.
"W-What's happening?!"
"Don't panic. Right now, you're merely being corroded by my Honkai energy. After all, you could say this treatment uses poison to fight poison."
Elias smiled and spread his hands as he spoke.
Although he didn't take Forbidden Knowledge seriously, Elias genuinely didn't know exactly how to treat something so unknown. So he simply decided to use his own Honkai energy to fight poison with poison.
And the effect could be described as remarkably obvious.
The omnipotent Honkai energy effortlessly eradicated every last trace of Forbidden Knowledge, then... replaced it, corroding Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's delicate body instead.
This was perfectly normal. After all, even the Heavenly Principles couldn't withstand Honkai energy. There was no way Buer could endure it.
If left untreated, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata Buer would soon turn into an adorable female zombie. No, wait, more accurately, an adorable little zombie girl. If her potential was high enough, she might even awaken as a Pseudo-Herrscher or something similar.
"P-Please save me!"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata pleaded with Elias, her small face deathly pale.
At the same time, she couldn't help thinking that she would have been better off without treatment. Even though Forbidden Knowledge had caused her immense pain, she could still endure it. After all, after several centuries, she had already grown accustomed to it. But this Honkai energy...
Time until death: ten, nine, eight, seven...
"Don't worry. You'll be fine."
As Elias spoke, he extended a fingertip toward Luna. Understanding immediately, the vampire girl opened her mouth and bit down.
"Slurp... slurp... Delicious. Human blood... I haven't tasted it in over ten thousand years. Let me drink a little longer."
"Be good, Luna. You can drink as much as you want later."
Elias raised a hand and stroked Luna's head. The vampire girl obediently nodded, then reluctantly gave Elias' fingertip one final suck and swallowed several drops of scarlet blood.
She cupped her cheeks in bliss. Experiencing this ultimate delicacy for the first time in ten thousand years left Luna feeling unbearably thirsty for more.
Elias then extended his bleeding fingertip toward Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. His Holy Blood of Salvation was the natural nemesis of all Honkai energy. Even a single drop applied to the body could make Honkai corrosion disappear.
He might not know how to cure Forbidden Knowledge, but Elias' blood was the perfect antidote to Honkai corrosion.
However...
"Nom!"
"Uh... what are you doing?"
Elias stared at Greater Lord Rukkhadevata in astonishment. She had actually taken his fingertip directly into her mouth and begun sucking on it just as Luna had moments ago. All he could say was that her learning ability was impressive.
As expected of the God of Wisdom. She was actually pretty good at licking.
"Huh? Wasn't I supposed to do this?"
"Ahem. Applying it externally is enough. Taking it orally... works too."
"S-Sorry. I thought..."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's face instantly turned red. Luna had licked his finger so decisively and with such obvious enjoyment that Buer had assumed she was supposed to lick it too. Though admittedly, this method really was more effective.
The Honkai corrosion patterns that had previously spread across her entire body had now vanished without a trace. This time, she was truly free.
At the same time, the Irminsul nearby also burst back into vitality. Because it was closely connected to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, once she was successfully treated, the tree itself was purified in tandem.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata Buer had now genuinely been saved. Even if she returned to the Teyvat bubble world, she would no longer contaminate the world. She... could finally go home!
"Thank you for your grace, my lord."
The little white-haired girl tightly held Elias' hand. Her clover-patterned eyes glistened with tears, overflowing with joy and gratitude.
"It was nothing. Consider it your reward."
"My... reward?"
"That's right. You relied on your own wisdom to protect your world's core from the evil invader, the Ferryman, and you even helped your world resolve a major crisis. Of course you deserve a reward for accomplishing something so incredible."
Elias smiled faintly and very unceremoniously pinched Buer's soft cheeks. Their incredible texture actually surpassed even Griseo's when she was little, leaving him genuinely astonished.
Although Elias knew perfectly well that Buer was probably a legally aged little girl several centuries old, who cared whether she was legal or not?
As long as she was cute!
Cuteness was absolute justice, eternal and unchanging!
Of course an adorable little girl deserved to be protected!
In any case, faced with such an adorable Buer, Elias instinctively treated her the same way he used to treat Griseo. Put simply, pat her head, pinch her cheeks, and praise her often.
"..."
Buer's heartbeat quickened slightly.
She allowed Elias' large hand to rest on her face and the top of her head, gently stroking her, while finding the entire experience incredibly strange and wonderful.
This was something she had never experienced before.
Within the Teyvat bubble world, she was the Goddess of Wisdom, a symbol of benevolence and omnipotence, the god who guided her people.
As the incarnation of the Irminsul, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had always been the one who protected others, guided others, and saved others. In that sense, she had been almost exactly like Elias before he encountered Luna.
Yet now their positions had been reversed. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was experiencing what it felt like to be cared for, protected, saved, and rewarded by someone else. The Goddess of Wisdom felt an indescribable warmth filling her heart.
She wanted... to experience more of it.
"So, have you decided to come with me now?"
Elias once again extended his hand toward Buer in invitation.
"Mm! Please allow me to travel with you, my lord."
This time, she took Elias' hand without the slightest hesitation, her clover-patterned eyes filled with intense anticipation.
The corners of Elias' lips rose high as he cheered inwardly.
(Yes! Super-cute elf-eared little girl acquired!)
Truthfully, Buer appealed strongly to his tastes.
White hair, elf ears, bare feet—even Griseo back then hadn't possessed such an outrageous combination of traits!
In the past, Elias had naively believed he was absolutely not some kind of lolicon. But after meeting Bronya, Griseo, Luna, and Buer, he was starting to think that maybe being one wasn't so bad after all!
After all, humanity's preference system was just like the Ultimate Chimera, possessing limitless possibilities for evolution!
Elias: (Cute girls are wonderful beings. I shall fight for all that is beautiful in the world! Ura!)
Rosemary: (Please count me in too, Captain!)
His convictions seemed to be strengthening in a rather strange direction.
Another companion joined the party, an unbelievably adorable girl from a mysterious bubble world. Although it seemed unreasonable to expect much from her in terms of combat strength, the value of an adorable team mascot was immeasurable!
"By the way, Buer, there's something I'm a little curious about."
"Hm? Although I believe my knowledge is fairly extensive, compared with yours, Elias, the difference is probably like clouds and mud. Therefore, I don't believe I have the ability to answer your questions."
"Ah, stop calling me 'my lord.' It sounds kind of awkward. My name is Elias, so just call me that. Besides, I only wanted to ask why you're called Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."
"H-Huh?"
"After all, there's nothing 'greater' about you..."
Elias stared at Buer and spoke with complete honesty. Looking at the tiny white-haired girl before him, he couldn't help feeling that the title Greater Lord Rukkhadevata didn't fit her at all.
What part of her looked like a great tree? She clearly looked more like a tiny sprout.
"Oh, this actually isn't my original appearance. I used to be much bigger. It's just that I expended too much power stopping a catastrophe in the past, and that caused my body to shrink."
Buer scratched her head as she explained. She glanced at the other four women present and wanted to say that in her original form, she could actually be counted among the largest of all the women here.
She missed it a little herself. Although her current tiny appearance was certainly adorable, having short arms and legs was genuinely inconvenient!
Not to mention she always had to tilt her head up to look at people. At only 1.28 meters tall, she was twenty centimeters shorter than Luna had once been. Sitting on Elias' lap, she really did resemble an oversized doll.
"Hmm... You shrank because you used up too much power?"
Elias stroked his chin and thought for a while, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Buer. In the end, he still couldn't suppress his curiosity. He really wanted to see what Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had originally looked like.
"Buer, would you mind if I performed a little experiment?"
"Uh, an experiment? As long as it doesn't violate human nature or morality, I'm basically fine with it."
"Good. Don't worry, nothing will go wrong while I'm here. And if it succeeds, you'll benefit quite a bit too."
As Elias spoke, he placed a green gemstone into Buer's hand. Her eyes immediately widened.
Looking at the gemstone in her palm, Buer sensed an incomparably terrifying power. It was several times stronger than the Gnosis she had possessed back when she served as the God of Wisdom in Teyvat!
"Elias, w-what exactly is this?"
"A Pseudo-Herrscher Core. Even if I explained it, you wouldn't understand. In short, it can grant you power. I specially made this Core for you so it doesn't require Honkai energy adaptability."
Moreover, this was a Pseudo Core containing the power of creation. Elias had divided the Authority of the Herrscher of Rebirth into two halves, then selected one half and specially strengthened it to create this customized product.
Although the Authority of withering had been removed,
the Authority of creation had been developed to its absolute limit.
If Greater Lord Rukkhadevata could use it to become a Pseudo-Herrscher...
"If you can become a Pseudo-Herrscher with this, then perhaps you should be called—the Herrscher of Life. How does that sound? Isn't it an excellent title? It makes you sound like a proper hero!"
Elias smiled as he spoke. Most importantly, this Pseudo-Herrscher Core should be enough to replenish Buer's lost power and restore her to the... original appearance she had just mentioned.
Just imagining it filled Elias with anticipation! He wanted to see it! What exactly did Buer mean when she said she used to be bigger?
Would she become a young woman? A mature beauty? Would she retain her current adorable style? Or would she become elegant and mature?
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven