The battle in the skies raged on.
Lu Chen was gradually gaining the upper hand against the two massive constructs.
Though these artificial gods of anemo and geo wielded powers on par with true divinity, they were simply too slow.
With the Power of Time at his command, Lu Chen could fight them with ease. Despite their overwhelming strength, they had yet to land a single decisive blow.
What troubled him, however, was their seemingly limitless energy. With Gnosis as their cores, the mechs had near-infinite reserves.
"This is it—Purify All Illusions!"
"Again..." Lu Chen muttered as countless matrices appeared behind the two mechs. Beams of anemo and geo shot out like guided missiles, filling the skies.
He opened a temporal rift, slipping into overlapping timelines to evade the storm of attacks.
When he reappeared in the hall, the God-Making Workshop had already been reduced to rubble. Broken stone and shattered beams lay everywhere, smoke billowed thickly, and the entire upper layer of Sumeru City looked even more devastated than Tenshukaku had once been.
"They're destroying the place..."
He glanced in Nahida's direction. When the war ended, the reconstruction was going to be a nightmare for her to deal with...
"But now, it's my turn!"
Light Realm power surged in his hand, condensing into a brilliant sword dozens of meters long. Without hesitation, he swept it at the two mechs.
Both giants staggered back from the force.
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, gauging the results.
The Geo mecha piloted by the young Doctor was wrapped in layer after layer of thick jade shields, as impenetrable as a turtle's shell.
That move, which was normally so convenient, was now nothing but a headache.
But the Anemo mecha was in far worse shape. The boyish Doctor had tried to raise a wind barrier to blunt the strike, but Light Realm power was a tier beyond it. One slash had left the giant creaking like rusty metal, its movements visibly sluggish.
Lu Chen made his decision: finish off the Anemo mech first, then deal with the Geo shell later.
His gaze locked onto his target, and in the blink of an eye, his figure vanished.
"You're first!"
The next instant, he appeared above the Anemo mecha's head, repeating his earlier technique at close range.
"Let's see if you can withstand this one!"
The boyish Doctor felt a chill of dread. He frantically manipulated the mech, summoning a raging hurricane to drive Lu Chen away.
But Lu Chen only sneered. To him, the Anemo mech was no more protected than an unarmored target.
His blade of light cut straight through the storm, pierced the wind barrier, and drove toward the cockpit with unstoppable force.
Explosions rocked the skies. Inside, alarms blared.
[System interruption... System interruption...]
[Overload detected... Overload detected...]
The young Doctor in the Geo mech tried to intervene, but it was too late.
Lu Chen flickered in and out of sight, like a phantom. At last, he breached the cockpit.
Face-to-face with Lu Chen's cold smile, the boyish Doctor froze in terror.
"Wait! Wai—"
"Thinking of last words?" Lu Chen sneered, driving the Lion's Roar straight into his chest.
The young Doctor's eyes widened, disbelief etched on his face even as life fled.
"What... kind of monster... are you..."
The Anemo mech shuddered and went still. Countless parts rained down from above, but at its core, the Gnosis continued to glow faintly.
Lu Chen's figure reappeared above Nahida and Scaramouche.
He tossed the delicate Gnosis down toward them.
"When you're done, make sure to return this to Venti."
"Got it!" Nahida carefully cradled the Gnosis in her hands and exchanged a look with Scaramouche.
"I still don't have enough power to enter Irminsul on my own. But with two Gnoses..."
Scaramouche instantly understood her intent. His expression hardened. "You'd better take me with you!"
Nahida nodded, then closed her eyes. The two Gnosis shone, their lights intertwining.
"At last... I can see..."
"Her final memory..."
In the next moment, both she and Scaramouche appeared within a corrupted, foul space.
"So this... is inside the Irminsul?" Scaramouche muttered. It was nothing like what he had imagined.
"It's been polluted badly..." Nahida's face tightened as she scanned the surroundings.
"Is this related to the disaster five hundred years ago?" Scaramouche asked.
"Yes." Nahida nodded. "The corruption from the Abyss was never eradicated. And now, with the Great Sage colluding with the Fatui, the Akasha's computing power has been drained even faster. That's why the withering has spread so rapidly."
She stepped forward, her frown deepening as she took in the filth and decay surrounding them.
"The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata likely gave her life resisting this corruption..." She pressed a hand to her chest. "I can feel her pain here. The pollution of consciousness is overwhelming—madness, chaos, and suffering everywhere. Did she really endure this, fighting forbidden knowledge until the very end?"
Scaramouche knew how deeply she revered the former god of Sumeru. Seeing her like this, he didn't know what to say.
All he could manage was: "Then let's move quickly. Maybe once you see the final memory she left for you, she can finally rest in peace."
"Mm."
Suppressing her grief, Nahida pressed on, step by step, along the path into the Irminsul.
When they reached its roots, the world shifted. The filth was gone. The pain was gone. Everything became breathtakingly beautiful, dreamlike.
"This is the place. We—"
Her words froze in her throat.
Standing before her was a girl who looked exactly like her. The figure had clearly been waiting, and now offered her a gentle smile.
"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata..."
"She looks... exactly like me..."
Scaramouche hadn't expected this either. He studied the two identical girls, thoughtful. "So... Little Dendro Archon, are you... the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata herself?"
The projection smiled and shook her head. "Yes... and no."
Her gaze was warm as she explained patiently. "Because you and I share the same essence, we appear the same. Because..."
"You are my reincarnation."
"Reincarnation?"
"As the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, I was the embodiment of the Irminsul. You are the purest branch broken off from it."
"It is like this... even if a tree dies, a branch can one day take root, sprout, and grow anew—continuing its life in another form."
Scaramouche's eyes widened in realization. "Ah, you mean like cuttings? Grafting? I remember hearing Zhongli mention asexual plant propagation while tending flowers..."
The Greater Lord chuckled softly. "Your friend is an amusing one."
Nahida's voice trembled as she asked urgently, "Then why did you create me? Are you truly gone? What really happened back then?"
The Greater Lord's eyes softened. "Though I used the Akasha to purge the forbidden knowledge and protect the Irminsul, my consciousness was bound to it. And so, the corruption of Irminsul also reached me..."
"From the very beginning, my existence had already been tainted."
"I see..." Nahida whispered.
"Even if I die, my existence—and everything connected to me—would remain stored in the Irminsul as memory. Which means the forbidden knowledge can never be completely eradicated."
Her gaze fell gently on Nahida. "And that is why you have a mission."
"My... mission?" A heavy unease sank into Nahida's heart.
"Yes. Your mission... is to make the world... completely forget me."