The Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal, unleashed a lightning strike, but for the Trio—who had accumulated 168 combat experiences and possessed the combined wisdom of all Sumeru—this move was old news.
The lightning strike proved ineffective. Lumine charged straight at Scaramouche, while Angie flanked from the left and Tartaglia from the right.
Unlike their previous encounters, this time the Shouki no Kami found it nearly impossible to land a blow on the Trio, no matter how it attacked.
They seemed to anticipate every combat technique, as if they had foreseen its every move. Realizing this, the Shouki no Kami abandoned its usual tactics, redirecting a punch aimed at Tartaglia toward Angie instead.
Angie dodged the blow with ease, taunting, "Didn't see that coming, did you? We've already predicted this strike too."
Scaramouche, trapped within the Shouki no Kami's core, seethed with rage. That bastard!
Angie once again drew most of the Shouki no Kami's firepower. After all, Scaramouche remained as predictable as ever.
Seizing this rare opportunity, Lumine and Tartaglia focused their attacks on the Shouki no Kami's joints and the Electro Core in its chest.
Under the Trio's relentless assault, the Shouki no Kami's movements grew sluggish, its attacks increasingly feeble.
"Hah, someone like you talking about recreating a fragment of the Archon War? You'd just be cannon fodder!"
Angie's words pierced Scaramouche like a needle, his eyes blazing crimson with fury.
Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal, raised its massive hands, and a colossal force coalesced above its head.
"Shut up... just shut up...!!"
Lumine seized the opportunity, delivering a decisive cross slash that completely paralyzed the Prodigal.
"Now's our chance!"
The trio unleashed their most powerful attacks simultaneously. Tartaglia struck the joints connecting the Prodigal's upper and lower limbs, Lumine targeted the Electro Core in its chest, and Angie aimed for the back of its head.
After this coordinated assault, the Prodigal collapsed completely, unable to rise again.
Inside the Prodigal, Scaramouche gnashed his teeth in rage. "Humans... humans!"
Nahida flew up to the Prodigal's chest, used her divine power to shatter the barrier there, and retrieved the Electro Archon's Gnosis.
"No! Wait! Not that—not the Gnosis...!"
Scaramouche's emotions surged wildly. He violently wrenched open the hatch atop the Prodigal's head and desperately lunged toward Nahida, tearing the connecting tubes behind him in the process.
"That's mine... You won't get it! I absolutely... absolutely can't go back!"
The Gnosis ultimately fell into Nahida's hands.
Seeing this, Scaramouche knew it was too late to turn the tide. The tubes behind him couldn't support his weight any longer, and he plummeted from the head of Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal.
He fell headfirst, closing his eyes just before impact.
Scaramouche crashed heavily to the ground, landing in the crater Shouki no Kami had stomped out.
Angie sighed, ran over, and poked Scaramouche's face with her finger. "Dead yet?"
Tartaglia approached. "Not dead, but his spirit probably is."
Angie: "Take him back for the Tsaritsa to decide his fate? Or..."
Tartaglia: "We'll deal with that later. We have more pressing matters to attend to now."
Tartaglia glanced at Nahida hovering high above. Angie instantly understood.
Scaramouche's problem was resolved, but the Gnosis issue remained far from settled.
Now both Gnosis were in Lesser Lord Kusanali's possession...
Holding the Gnosis, Nahida descended and addressed the group. "Irminsul hasn't been saved yet. With the power of another Gnosis, we might finally be able to decipher Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's final memories."
Tartaglia was about to step forward and say something when Angie yanked him back.
Angie shook her head at him.
The Electro Archon's Gnosis glowed in Nahida's hand, then coalesced into a golden-yellow Canned Knowledge before them.
"Indeed," Nahida said, "this is that God's... final memories."
As Nahida finished speaking, Angie felt a sudden blur before her eyes. When her vision cleared, she realized Nahida, Lumine, and Paimon, who had been standing in front of them, had vanished.
Angie gasped aloud. Watching Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's memories... without us? Nahida, did you forget something?
Angie glanced at her brother. Tartaglia shrugged, his palms upturned, indicating he didn't know either.
"Let's go," Tartaglia said. "We'll head out first and find Nahida later. After all the help we've given her, she can't possibly refuse us the Gnosis."
"Alright, but... Little Sister..."
"What is it?"
"Next time, please don't pull stunts like that again. My heart can't take it."
Angie wore an innocent expression. "You mean..."
Tartaglia: "Your eighty-one fake deaths in the dream..."
Alhaitham, having finished assisting in the search for the False God's weaknesses, approached Silaya.
Alhaitham gently placed his fingers near Silaya's, her breathing steady as before. It seemed Lesser Lord Kusanali was indeed channeling vital energy into her.
"Mr. Alhaitham, when will Silaya wake up?" Chu Xi had been waiting here for hours, not even stopping to eat.
Alhaitham shook his head, unsure himself.
After leaving the Workshop, Nahida, Aether, and Paimon found themselves in another realm, filled with strange, jet-black vines.
Paimon: "This isn't what I expected... Shouldn't we be in that Consciousness Space with Irminsul?"
Nahida: "That's our final destination, but I hadn't realized the remnants of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness had been so severely corrupted."
"Corrupted...? Could it be... Forbidden Knowledge?"
Nahida: "Forbidden Knowledge? You know about a concept I barely understand myself... Can you explain it in detail?"
Lumine immediately recounted their discoveries at the Desert Temple to Nahida. The priest's dying words were lengthy, but thankfully Paimon's memory was sharp, and together they pieced together the full story for Nahida.
After listening intently, Nahida paused to reflect before saying, "Your deduction is not without merit. A thousand years ago, the Desert experienced a contamination by Forbidden Knowledge. It was only through Deshret's self-sacrifice and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's exhaustion of her power that we were able to successfully repel it."
"It's not hard to believe that the Cataclysm of Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago brought about a second contamination by Forbidden Knowledge. This time, however, the situation is likely far more dire, as it now threatens Irminsul itself."
"Then if this place—as a remnant of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness—has also been tainted by Forbidden Knowledge," Paimon asked worriedly, "does that mean Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's death..."
"Yes," Nahida confirmed somberly. "She most likely sacrificed her life in the battle against the Forbidden Knowledge. Though she couldn't completely eradicate it, if not for her efforts, the Forbidden Knowledge contamination would undoubtedly have spread far more extensively over the past five centuries."
Nahida gazed ahead at the ever-spreading tendrils of inky darkness.
"Let's keep moving while we talk."