"Who exactly are you?" Azar asked with a frown.
"Lora, or if you prefer, Mistress of Amrita, the Adeptus of Purifying Water and Judgment, whatever you want to call me," Lora replied casually as she looked at him.
"Amrita? Purifying Water..." Azar took a step back and stared at Lora in disbelief. "Water... You're the Queen of Waters!"
"Azar, you'll soon understand just how foolish your attempt to create a god truly is. But before that, you will be judged in the presence of a god," Lora said, still looking at him.
Nahida called out behind her, "Cyno!"
Cyno, the General Mahamatra, walked in from outside the Sanctuary of Surasthana. Looking at Azar, he said slowly, "Long time no see, Azar. You once said I had no standing to judge you. But now I do. In the name of the gods, I will pass judgment on you here."
"You..." Azar's expression darkened the moment he saw Cyno.
Cyno continued, "You will be stripped of your position as Grand Sage. And just like you, every Sage in the Akademiya will be stripped of all titles and imprisoned. Once all your crimes have been fully investigated, your final sentence will be decided."
Nahida turned back to Lora and said, "Auntie, let's go. We need to deal with that new god."
"Alright."
Lora gave a slight nod and left the Sanctuary of Surasthana with Nahida. The entrance to the place where the new god resided had been set up by Azar inside the Akademiya itself, so there was no need for them to search for it.
They arrived in an underground hollow. There, they saw the enormous mech with its upper body exposed, and at its core was Scaramouche, his back covered in tubes.
"So it's him. I saw him once in consciousness, but this is my first time seeing him in person," Nahida said as she looked at him before turning to Lora. "Auntie, do you need my help?"
Lora shook her head. "No."
As soon as Lora and Nahida stepped inside, Scaramouche slowly opened his eyes. His gaze fell on the two of them as he said in an even tone, "Have you already become so impatient for my birth? Buer, God of Wisdom, and Egeria, God of Justice."
"And what should we call you, then? Scaramouche, Shouki no Kami?" Lora shot back.
Scaramouche looked at her and said softly, "Looking back now, Scaramouche was nothing more than an empty codename. The past known as Kunikuzushi was pitifully insignificant. Who I am now is a great and eternal existence. Beneath the seven leaves, I alone endure. Egeria, calling me Shouki no Kami is quite fitting."
"..."
Lora looked at him and could not help feeling that this kid was being far too theatrical.
Can't you just talk normally?
Does he think all gods talk like this? What a joke. Gods are not nearly that serious.
"I have a question. Once I'm done asking, we can start fighting," Lora said.
Scaramouche gave a quiet laugh. "God of Justice Egeria, what is it you wish to know?"
Hearing that, Lora's mouth twitched. She clenched her fist and asked, "You don't have a Gnosis, so how are you sustaining divine power? What is the core of your power? Ordinary things can't support the status of a god, even if you still don't count as a true god."
"Hah... not a true god?"
Scaramouche laughed. "How arrogant you gods are. Even now, you still refuse to admit that I've become a new god? Or perhaps, in your eyes, anyone who never took part in the war over the Gnosis doesn't qualify as a god at all? As it happens, I regret not being able to take part in the Archon War myself..."
Lora blinked, then turned to Nahida. "Did what I just said sound anything like that?"
Nahida shook her head. "He seems to have completely immersed himself in his own world. The joy and excitement of becoming a god seem to have overwhelmed him."
Lora let out a helpless sigh. "Looks like there's no point asking anymore. I'll just have to beat you down first."
"Hahahaha..." Scaramouche laughed loudly and spread his arms. "Come, then! Let us recreate one corner of the Archon War here and now. Let my birth as a god be justified through it!"
"One corner of the Archon War..." Lora smiled at his words, then turned to Nahida. "Stay back. Be careful."
"Auntie, you should be careful too," Nahida said worriedly as she looked at Lora, now wearing a faint sneer.
It was not that she thought Lora would lose to him. She was worried that in this state, Lora might end up killing him by accident.
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Lora said.
Only after Nahida had retreated did Lora turn her gaze back to Scaramouche in the distance.
She spoke slowly. "I can't tell whether you're fearless because you're ignorant, or whether you're simply brainless. You're five hundred years old, and you think you've already seen through everything?"
Scaramouche frowned at her words.
Lora continued, "What do you think the Archon War was? A game? A competition to seize a Gnosis? You never truly experienced it, yet you dare talk about recreating one corner of it based on nothing more than scraps you heard from others? Then... I'll show you just how laughable those words really are."
Lora raised a hand. Countless currents of Hydro elemental power swirled around it, and a barrier of water formed around both her and Scaramouche, ensuring that the battle here would not affect the city.
As an azure radiance descended upon Lora, a pure white divine robe clothed her body. At that moment, despite Shouki no Kami's enormous size, he was completely crushed by her presence alone.
"You have never truly understood what a god is."
Lora walked toward him as she spoke.
"You think becoming a god and gaining a god's power makes you strong? I wonder if you've ever heard of a god in Liyue known as the Salt Goddess. She, too, was a god..."
A mirror-like surface of water formed beneath Lora's feet, and step by step, she ascended into the air until she stood level with Shouki no Kami.
Looking straight at him, Lora continued, "And a god like her did not meet a good end in the Archon War. No... in the Archon War, not a single god met a good end. In that war, there were no victors. None..."