After failing her thirty-sixth attempt to defeat the four Ruin Drake: Skywatches, Lumine found herself contemplating the three philosophical questions:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
With her extensive combat experience, defeating these Ruin Drakes shouldn't have been difficult. The crucial problem, however, was the time limit.
If not for the time limit, Lumine had even devised a "Spinning Takedown Strategy": she would use ranged attacks to strike the Ruin Drakes' wing weak points, causing them to crash to the ground. By spinning, she could quickly switch targets.
If she could chain this—downing the last Ruin Drake just as the first one recovered its flight—she could easily clear this stage.
But there were no "if onlys." So, Lumine had to brave the danger of being locked on by dozens of tracking missiles and unleash her full power.
The result? She was blasted into a stupor. Once launched into the air, she couldn't get back down, trapped in an endless aerial combo.
Lumine's morale completely shattered.
She used to be unimpressed by Khaenri'ah's technology, but now she was utterly convinced of its power. The missiles never stopped, from start to finish. How was she supposed to fight this?!
Even more terrifying, this was only the second half of Chamber 3 on Floor 11. Floor 12 was still ahead. How could she possibly beat that?
Lumine had lost track of how much time she'd spent here, and she had no idea how Nahida was faring. A knot of anxiety tightened in her chest.
No, I can't keep getting stuck here, she thought desperately. If this continues, I might as well start carving Nahida's tombstone!
With this thought, and knowing she couldn't achieve a significant power breakthrough anytime soon, Lumine decided to draw upon the other, dark power within her.
Although she had only successfully controlled it before with Nahida's support, she could still try to harness a portion of it for herself.
Besides, in this place, any injury—even death—would be completely reversed. This made Lumine a little bolder. Watching the countdown timer tick toward zero, she rose to her feet, Dull Blade in hand.
As four Ruin Drakes suddenly appeared in the sky, Lumine charged forward.
Ruin Drakes, I'll fight you to the bitter end!
Today, either you die, or I do!
-
Nahida suspected her senses might have failed her, so she remained still for the moment, carefully trying to pinpoint Dr. Edward and No. 2's locations again. Yet, she still couldn't feel them.
She had already connected with Irminsul and could draw upon some of its power. If even that couldn't locate them, there were two possibilities: either Dr. Edward and No. 2 had used some method to conceal their presence, making them undetectable...
But that was absolutely impossible. Never mind how Dr. Edward and No. 2 could have done it—they had no reason to!
If Dr. Edward wanted to carry out his plan in secret, why would he have announced it?
So, only one possibility remained: Dr. Edward and No. 2 had never corrupted Irminsul, which was why she couldn't sense their presence.
This possibility also struck Nahida as strange, but no other explanation made sense. She had to accept it for now.
Setting aside her doubts, Nahida focused her power on stopping Scaramouche.
-
"Hmm?"
Scaramouche, who had been lost in thoughts of how to slice and dice Dottore, suddenly felt the influx of knowledge slow down. He snapped out of his boundless rage and hatred.
"You two insects!"
"I'm in a terrible mood right now. Scram if you don't want to die!"
Although some of his inner turmoil had been resolved, it was wishful thinking to expect Scaramouche to engage in a calm conversation.
"Get him!"
"He's so arrogant!"
"Lesser Lord Kusanali, hurry up and beat that little brat to a pulp!"
Upon hearing Scaramouche's words, the people of Sumeru erupted in fury.
In the minds of most, Nahida was the one who had cured Eleazar and cleared the Withering Zones. Her prestige among the Sumerians now surpassed even that of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness standing beside her. They couldn't stand by while Scaramouche insulted their god so brazenly.
Nahida, however, saw no point in wasting words. At this stage, mere talk—even the legendary "Talk-no-Jutsu"—wouldn't solve anything. The only path to resolution was to drag the mastermind into a fight and beat some sense into him.
Without hesitation, Nahida unleashed her power, pulling Scaramouche into a dreamscape of her own creation.
Although Scaramouche was still disconnected from the network, Nahida was no longer the same. Her "internet connection" had been upgraded to a quantum entanglement model, allowing her to forcibly reconnect him.
Instantly, Scaramouche's expression went blank, and his corruption of Irminsul ceased completely.
But before Nahida could even breathe a sigh of relief, an overwhelmingly terrifying aura erupted from Scaramouche.
Behind him, the colossal phantom of the Shouki no Kami materialized. This image was broadcast through the Akasha, visible to everyone. The people of Sumeru City immediately recognized it as the entity that had nearly destroyed their city and annihilated them all. Their fury toward Scaramouche intensified.
Never before had the people of Sumeru been so united. In the past, conflicts had been rampant—between the Akademiya and the common folk, between the desert dwellers and the forest people...
But now, the vast majority shared a single, unwavering conviction: to help Nahida win this battle, a battle that would decide the fate of countless lives in Sumeru.
Feeling the continuous stream of emotionally charged willpower flowing in to support her, Nahida calmed herself. She rallied her strength and unleashed her most powerful strike against Scaramouche.
Behind her, the phantom of a towering tree materialized—an image strikingly similar to Irminsul.
The battle erupted instantly. Even though Scaramouche's power had grown many times stronger than before, he was immediately pushed onto the back foot. This was a reality his pride could not accept.
If I can't even defeat a weakling like Nahida, how can I possibly seek revenge against Dottore?!
At this thought, Scaramouche cast aside all concern for the consequences and fully unleashed the Void's power within him. In an instant, grayish-white flames completely engulfed his body.
The Void's power was also corrosive, but it eroded a person's very existence in this world—the price one paid for wielding such strength.
As Scaramouche fully unleashed the power of the Void, he immediately felt an agony as if his entire body were being torn apart by ten thousand ants.
"Damn insects!"
Scaramouche directed the Void's power to spread toward Nahida. In an instant, her expression changed. She hastily pulled Greater Lord Rukkhadevata back a great distance, yet the overwhelming sense of crisis didn't diminish in the slightest.
Just then, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, still held by Nahida, leaned close to her ear and whispered.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali, when did you fall under the illusion that you hadn't been caught?"
Nahida's body instantly stiffened, and a look of utter horror spread across her face.
Crack!
The illusion shattered.
By now, the Void's power controlled by Scaramouche had already reached the massive phantom of Irminsul behind Nahida and begun to devour it. Tendrils of the Void's power had also crept onto Nahida and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, relentlessly eroding their very existence.
Nahida's heart sank. She had never imagined being so utterly defeated in the very domain she excelled at—so completely that she hadn't even realized when she'd fallen into the trap.
Although the opponent's influence on her was channeled through Irminsul, it also meant their mastery in this domain surpassed even hers, the God of Wisdom!
So this was the kind of monster Fontaine had been fighting all along?
The fact that Fontaine had managed to restore peace made Nahida admire Neuvillette's immense power even more.
Nahida immediately unleashed all her strength, purging the Void's power from her body before rushing to aid Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
Despite Nahida's swift reaction, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness began to fade again.
Without hesitation, Nahida started infusing a substantial amount of the Power of Faith into Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness, but she was stopped almost immediately.
"Conserve your strength."
Seeing the serious expression on Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's face, Nahida bit her lip and ceased the infusion.
She then glanced to the side and saw the figures of Dr. Edward and Number Two.
Their forms were completely shrouded in the Void's power. Even though she could see them with her own eyes, she couldn't sense their presence through Irminsul at all.
"How is this possible?"
Nahida's pupils dilated in shock. Irminsul, the foundation of Teyvat, recorded the fate of all beings. Nothing could hide from it.
Unless... they don't belong to this world!
A puzzled expression also appeared on Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's face.
"Could they be new Descenders?"
"Or have they broken free from the shackles of fate?"
The first possibility seemed unlikely. The past decades of everyone from that mysterious faction could be traced through Irminsul. However, their subsequent actions had deviated drastically from their predetermined fates. It appeared they had found a way to escape the bonds of destiny.
As for how they had accomplished this, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had no idea.
In her prime, she might have had the power to investigate. But in her current state, it was out of the question.
At that moment, the people of Sumeru, watching the scene unfold through the Akasha, began to panic. Had Nahida just been defeated?
And... was that man Dr. Edward?!
How could this be?!
Even seeing it with their own eyes, the people struggled to accept it. Dr. Edward's reputation had been so high; countless people had considered him their savior. Now, learning he was the mastermind behind a plot to sacrifice millions of lives, their minds shattered, and a torrent of curses erupted.
"Damn you, Edward! What did you take us all for?!"
"I was worried about you just a while ago! I must have been blind!"
"Lesser Lord Kusanali, you must eliminate this traitor for us!"
"But I remember Edward is from Fontaine, isn't he?"
"Then let's declare war on Fontaine and make them compensate us!"
"But the Mr who saved us before is also from Fontaine, and he's their Chief Justice."
"..."
My brain just fried!
With Dr. Edward's reputation shattered, the people of Sumeru pinned all their hopes on Nahida to wash away the humiliation of having revered a villain. In an instant, Nahida's prestige in their hearts soared to new heights.
"Go, Lady Greater Lord Rukkhadevata! Go, Lesser Lord Kusanali!"
"I'd sacrifice my best friend's love life to ensure Lesser Lord Kusanali's victory!"
"Hey, you bastard! You'd curse me to be single forever? Just you wait at home, I'm coming for you right now!"
"Give it up, you two," Edward said calmly.
"You can't stop my plan."
"That is absolutely impossible!" Nahida retorted with unwavering seriousness.
"Everyone in Sumeru is my people. Not just millions—even if it were just one person, I would stop you, even at the cost of my own life!"
Nahida's words struck a chord in many hearts, especially in Sumeru, a nation where the Akademiya had deemed the vast majority of its people "useless." Yet now, Nahida was saying that even sacrificing her own life to save theirs would be worthwhile.
Many Sumerians were deeply moved. Their god had personally told them they were not expendable. Instantly, the unity of all Sumerians strengthened once more.
"Sigh... It seems we'll have to settle this with force after all," Dr. Edward said, shaking his head with a sigh as he observed Nahida.
"Indeed, medicine can't save the world. In the end, it all comes down to... fists."
"It's your turn, Scaramouche," Edward continued. "I've granted you this power. Don't disappoint me too much."
"Otherwise, whatever I've given you, I can just as easily take back."
Scaramouche, who had begun to dismiss Dr. Edward, trembled violently at these words.
He stared at Dr. Edward's meaningful smile, unsure if the threat was real or a bluff. But he couldn't afford to gamble. He couldn't lose this power. He had to get his revenge on Dottore.
"I understand."
Scaramouche spoke with a hint of reluctance, lowering his head to Dr. Edward once more as a storm of violent emotions raged within him.
Just like that, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the figures of Dr. Edward and No. 2 vanished along with the power of the Void.
The moment they were gone, Scaramouche erupted.
"Anyone who dares stand in my way—I'll tear them to shreds!"
After briefly familiarizing himself with the power of the Void, Scaramouche unleashed it with all his might. Instantly, the surrounding space was dyed black and white. A massive black hole materialized at the boundary between the two colors, its powerful suction pulling them together. The swirling hues merged into a grayish-white substance, which was then violently expelled.
Domain Expansion!