"Ah, you've finally discovered me! Let me guess—standing before me must be Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Lesser Lord Kusanali, the Traveler Lumine, and her best companion, Paimon. Am I right?"
That familiar voice instantly evoked memories in Lumine's mind.
It was the same righteous, cunning girl who had thrown stones at the Scholars in Vanarana, the same girl who radiated such a comforting sense of security.
Only... Nahida didn't seem to...
"Uh... Nahida, when did you get here?"
Nahida stared blankly at Silaya, replying absently to Lumine, "I came in right after you did."
Paimon: "Lumine, is this Sumeru's... Pure Soul?"
Lumine nodded, her gaze fixed on the transparent Silaya.
"My presence here means you failed to stop Chu Xi... but don't feel guilty. I never told you the whole truth back then either..."
The group split into two sides, with Silaya addressing the empty space opposite them. Combining this with her previous appearance in the Desert, the Dendro Archon reached a conclusion.
The Silaya before them wasn't a living person either, but a pre-recorded projection from long ago.
As expected, Silaya's next words confirmed Rukkhadevata's suspicions:
"I'm sure you clever folks have already figured out—I haven't truly returned. This is an image I recorded five centuries ago. Of course, I added some new bits recently, just in case your minds wandered and you missed what I'm about to say. So listen up, because what I'm about to tell you is extremely important."
Hearing this, Paimon, who had been about to ask Lumine something, quickly clamped her mouth shut.
Rukkhadevata, Nahida, Venti, and Zhongli also pricked up their ears.
They were all well-acquainted with Silaya's deeds and knew her extraordinary nature. If she was emphasizing the importance of her words, there was no doubt that what followed would be crucial.
Silaya continued, "First, I need to answer the questions of the Dendro Archon and Lesser Lord Kusanali. When I replaced the Dendro Archon as the being integrated with Irminsul, I learned that Irminsul's deletion process works by 'tracing back from the present world to overwrite the past.' This is precisely why I chose to return to the past."
"In that space five hundred years ago, which Irminsul would consider a 'temporal anomaly,' I never imagined that my soul-state would acquire a Vision. This Vision, born in a distorted timeline, perfectly compensated for my Plan."
"I calculated that even after self-deletion, a residual portion of Forbidden Knowledge would remain. By exploiting the surging Forbidden Knowledge from five centuries past, I purged the Forbidden itself, leaving only the Knowledge. With this Knowledge, I shaped a physical body and used the Vision to anchor my consciousness. Thus, when Irminsul fully erased me five centuries later, I could use it to return..."
"What I didn't anticipate was that the body I created would develop its own consciousness and, five hundred years later, become my closest friend. Fate had played a cruel joke on me—this outcome had been predetermined all along."
"I abandoned my Plan, but that was far from the end. Chu Xi's essence is the energy of Forbidden Knowledge. If she were to learn the truth, the Forbidden itself would be reactivated, and the last lingering trace of it in the flow of time would resurface. The snowball would grow relentlessly, inevitably threatening the safety of Teyvat."
"Teyvat is my homeland, and Chu Xi is someone I created. She's also my best friend, and I would never abandon her, no matter what."
"I asked Lumine to help stop Chu Xi from investigating that Vision. I trust Lumine, but there's always a chance she might fail..."
Hearing this, Lumine's spirits sank, her face etched with self-reproach.
Paimon gently patted Lumine's shoulder with her tiny hand in a gesture of comfort.
Silaya continued, "By then, I had already returned to reality. All I could do was revive a plan I had completely abandoned. I needed time, but not real-world time. I left a trace within Irminsul, a trace that would guide whoever discovered it to the Stone Tablet's location."
"Activating that Stone Tablet would essentially add a protocol to the Vision. This protocol can only be unlocked and activated by the purest Dendro Divine Power. When you add the protocol to the Vision, that's when I'll transmit the next piece of information back."
"To put it simply, when you pressed the Vision against the Slate, its very essence transformed. By 'rekindling the abandoned plan,' I mean reactivating the Vision as a temporary vessel for consciousness. This time, however, it won't house a soul, but rather a piece of information—a method for saving Chu Xi and completely defeating the Abyss!"
The moment Silaya uttered these words, Venti and Zhongli's calm expressions instantly vanished, their eyes fixed intently on her.
Meanwhile, Silaya, standing at the center of the group, flickered as if about to disappear at any moment.
Paimon gasped in alarm. "Why now, just when it's getting good?!"
Venti and the others felt their hearts leap into their throats.
Fortunately, after a long moment of flickering, Silaya's form finally stabilized. Yet the Silaya standing before them now was utterly different from the one they had known before.
Her once-vibrant hair clung limply to her pale forehead, her lively eyes now bloodshot and unfocused, her signature mischievous smile replaced by a bitten lower lip and a tense, strained smile.
Seeing Silaya in this state, Rukkhadevata's heart trembled violently, and Nahida's small hands clenched tightly.
Lumine: "What... what's happening?"
Rukkhadevata's emotions surged: "This is... the information she transmitted..."
-
Live Stream
[ Holy crap, Silaya looks terrible. What happened? ]
[ The Dendro Archon said the information was sent back during the Desert incident, right? ]
[ Yeah, that's right. It was when the Vision turned into a seed. ]
[ But Silaya was already deleted then! How could she have sent anything? ]
[ Someone completely erased should have vanished. Could it be...? ]
-
In the Sanctuary of Surasthana,
Silaya exhaled deeply. "Yes, I'm the one transmitting this message. I apologize for appearing in this state. I know you have many questions, but don't worry, I'll explain everything gradually."
Her voice was thick with profound weariness.
"Where do those who have been completely deleted go? This question is as uncertain and yet as alluring as asking where we go after death."
"I was different from others, even before I was deleted. By then, I had already understood everything. Forgive me, but I can't reveal it. My Soul's Abyss yearns for what lies beyond the world, where the influence of Irminsul is minimal, even for a Deleted One like me."
"Just as I suspected, deleting myself couldn't completely erase the Forbidden Knowledge, nor could it completely erase me. A wisp of my soul drifted beyond Teyvat, gathering considerable information. I will now share with you what I can."