Lora understood the implication behind his words, but now wasn't the time to address it. She looked away instead. Another knight was still standing there, yet instead of attacking, he suddenly vanished from everyone's sight.
"Hey! He disappeared! And he didn't attack us!" Paimon cried in disbelief.
"That black knight... it felt like he wanted to say something... Why?" Lumine frowned, looking between Lora and Dainsleif in confusion.
"The Black Serpent Knights were once the royal guard of Khaenri'ah. They were... all my subordinates." After a brief silence under Lumine's searching gaze, Dainsleif finally spoke.
"But how has he managed to retain his consciousness after all these centuries? Could it be a miracle?"
Lora spoke calmly. "Isn't it a good thing to believe miracles can exist, Dainsleif?"
Hearing that, Dainsleif smiled faintly and nodded. "Perhaps it is. Traveler, Paimon—let's take a look inside the inverted city."
The group soon found a path leading up into the inverted city, but as they approached, they discovered obstacles blocking the way. Just as Lumine and Paimon were about to search for a mechanism to open the path, Dainsleif easily cleared the obstructions.
"Huh?" Paimon stared at him in astonishment.
Dainsleif said calmly, "Khaenri'ah's technology and the aura of the Abyss are things I'm intimately familiar with. Opening mechanisms like these is hardly difficult."
"So this is a ruin of Khaenri'ah?" Lumine asked curiously.
Dainsleif shook his head.
"No. It doesn't seem so. The closer we get to this city, the more certain I am that it comes from an even older civilization. The Abyss Order simply arrived here first. It doesn't belong to Khaenri'ah, and it doesn't belong to the Abyss either."
"Let's keep investigating," Lora said.
After entering the inverted city, Lumine and Paimon split off from Lora and the others to investigate on their own. Dainsleif had originally intended to take another path, but in the end he followed Lora.
After walking for a while, Lora stopped and turned to look at him.
"You're still following me? If you're not going to say anything, are you just going to keep trailing behind like this?"
Seeing Lora's faint smile, Dainsleif sighed.
"You can still smile at a time like this, Hydro Archon—Egeria."
"Would you rather I cry for you instead?" Lora replied lightly. She continued, "Ever since you brought up the fall of Khaenri'ah and the Hilichurl curse earlier, your eyes have kept drifting toward me. Do you think I should bear responsibility for it?"
"The gods destroyed Khaenri'ah. Shouldn't you bear responsibility?" Dainsleif said slowly, meeting her gaze.
Lora shook her head, dismissing the accusation.
"Khaenri'ah destroyed Khaenri'ah. Not us. Your accusations against the Seven are baseless—they're nothing more than resentment shaped by your own perspective."
Dainsleif fell silent.
Lora continued, "If Khaenri'ah hadn't introduced the power of the Abyss and triggered a catastrophe across the entire continent, do you think the Heavenly Principles would have summoned the Seven just for amusement, simply to destroy your nation?"
"Khaenri'ah paid a price, yes. But did the other nations not pay one as well? How innocent were they? And the Seven—how innocent were they?"
If not for the Abyss incident back then, the Seven would never have ended up in the half-ruined state they're in now.
"You only remember that the Seven destroyed Khaenri'ah," Lora continued with a soft sigh, "but you never consider that if Khaenri'ah hadn't been destroyed, Teyvat itself—the other seven nations—would have been the ones destroyed."
She paused, then added quietly, "To be honest, I never intended to argue with you. Debating this here is meaningless."
"Yes... things have already reached this point. Our arguments truly are meaningless." Dainsleif nodded.
The conversation fell silent—then Paimon's startled cry suddenly echoed from somewhere in the distance.
The moment Lora heard it, her body transformed into a streak of flowing water and shot toward the sound. In the blink of an eye, she was beside Lumine and Paimon.
"What happened?" she asked.
Paimon pointed ahead in panic. "Look over there! There are so many Knights!"
Following her gaze, Lora saw them as well. Several Black Serpent Knights stood there—but instead of attacking, they seemed to be protecting something behind them. Their stances looked unusual.
They appeared to be shouting something.
Lumine couldn't understand what they were saying.
But Lora could.
They were shouting for them to run—telling the Hilichurls behind them to escape. It was the ancient language of Khaenri'ah. Long ago, when she had descended upon Khaenri'ah, she had heard the Knights shout those very same words.
Dainsleif arrived moments later. Seeing the condition of the knights, he seemed to realize something.
But before he could say anything, the knights suddenly charged toward Lora.
They completely ignored Lumine and Paimon. In their eyes, there was only Lora.
Lora showed no mercy. She sent them to join Khaenri'ah's former kings.
After the Black Serpent Knights were dealt with, Lumine and Paimon finally noticed the Hilichurls the knights had been protecting behind them.
Paimon stared at the scene in confusion. "These are all Hilichurls... but why would the Black Serpent Knights protect them?"
Lora glanced back at Dainsleif.
"That's a question for this 'Sword of the Last Light' to answer."
Dainsleif remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking to Lumine and Paimon.
"As I said earlier, the Hilichurls are the cursed people of Khaenri'ah. During the catastrophe, I once issued an order: 'Inform all Black Serpent Knights—no matter what happens, protect the people of Khaenri'ah.'"
"So even in this state... they're still protecting the people of Khaenri'ah..." Lumine fell silent.
Behind them, even more Black Serpent Knights began to gather. But they were quickly driven back by the same knight who had appeared earlier. Afterward, he too left the area.
Dainsleif's gaze followed the departing knight. Then realization dawned on him.
"I remember now. That was Halfdan—an elite among the royal guard. It seems that even after hundreds of years, he still remembers his duty... even though Khaenri'ah is no longer Khaenri'ah."
Lora withdrew her gaze from the Hilichurls and said calmly,
"Let's go. We should continue deeper."
Dainsleif cast one last look at the Hilichurls sitting on the ground, slowly accepting the approach of their deaths. He sighed softly, then turned and followed Lora deeper into the city.