"It's been a long time." Lora looked at the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata before her and let out a soft sigh.
Although they had already spoken when she first entered Sumeru, this was the first time they had truly met face to face.
"Our last meeting was five hundred years ago," the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata said with a smile. She turned to Nahida beside her. "It's our first meeting. Hello, Nahida."
"Hello... Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, but... why do you..." Nahida stared at her in shock.
"Why do I look exactly like you, is that what you mean?"
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata voiced the question Nahida had not finished asking.
"Although Irminsul has taken physical form here, this is still a space of consciousness in essence. Since you and I share the same nature, it is only natural that we appear the same."
"But why... do we share the same 'nature'?" Nahida asked at once.
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata looked at Nahida and smiled as she spoke words that left her utterly stunned.
"Because I am you. You... are my 'reincarnation.'"
She continued:
"As the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, I am the incarnation of Irminsul. You, meanwhile, are the purest branch broken from it. Just as... even if a tree dies, one of its branches may someday take root and grow, continuing its life in another form."
"The me standing before you now is only the consciousness I left behind here as the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The real me must have passed away long ago. Judging by how you look now, I have likely been dead for five hundred years."
She spoke of having died five centuries ago with complete calm, as though it were nothing of importance.
Lora immediately said, "Perhaps... I have a way..."
"No, Egeria, don't do that!"
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata quickly shook her head and looked at Lora.
"You must not do such a thing. I am already dead. Unlike Baal, I cannot be pulled back into this world. If you try, you will place yourself in great danger, and you still have things you must accomplish. So promise me. Please do not put yourself in danger again, all right?"
After hearing those words, Lora fell silent. She did not know what to say.
"Irminsul has no need for a second incarnation. Nahida alone is enough."
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata turned toward Nahida again, her expression gentle.
"Nahida, remember this. Everything in existence has its own destiny. You do not need to cling to mine, just as you do not need to make me your goal."
"I don't need to make you my goal?" Nahida froze for a moment.
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata gave a slight nod.
"Yes. You should surpass me and become a god different from me, the god of Sumeru. Once a branch grows into a new tree, it can never be identical to the tree it came from."
"I still have one question..." Nahida was silent for a long while before speaking again. "I want to know what really happened back then. Why did you die, and why did this terrifying 'Forbidden Knowledge' appear?"
"That is a long story," the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata said with a faint smile.
She began explaining slowly to Nahida.
"Five hundred years ago, the sky turned this shade of purple. All Seven gods except me were summoned to the nation called Khaenri'ah, while I was left with an even more important duty."
"To protect Irminsul."
"The disaster arrived together with the corruption of 'Forbidden Knowledge.' At nearly the same moment, I, whose consciousness was linked to Irminsul, sensed that something was wrong. Agonizing pain began to torment my mind. By the time I reached Irminsul, it had already been invaded by the 'Forbidden Knowledge.'"
She sighed softly before continuing.
"If I had not once dealt with 'Forbidden Knowledge' alongside King Deshret a thousand years earlier, I might have been helpless then as well."
Nahida continued to ask, "What exactly is 'Forbidden Knowledge'?"
"It is knowledge that does not belong to this world. A 'truth' that cannot be understood. It comes from the depths of the Abyss. Even I cannot comprehend what it contains. Irminsul constantly rejects it. If it were left untreated, all of Teyvat might have been destroyed."
"I knew then that I could not resolve it through my own power alone, so I created the 'Akasha' to unite the wisdom of humanity and deal with the Forbidden Knowledge."
She continued describing how she borrowed the dreams of the people through the Akasha and used the power of those dreams to combat it.
"Thanks to the wisdom of Sumeru's people, I removed the 'Forbidden Knowledge' from Irminsul. However... things did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. Because my consciousness was linked to Irminsul, I had already been contaminated by it from the very beginning."
"And I realized that even if I died, my existence, and everything connected to me, would remain preserved within Irminsul. That meant the 'Forbidden Knowledge' could never be completely eradicated. And I... could never erase myself. So this became a paradox."
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata paused and looked at Nahida.
"So I broke off the purest branch of Irminsul and gave birth to you, waiting for the day you would arrive and completely erase my existence from Irminsul."
"But that also means everyone will forget you. Even... I might as well." Lora stood there, looking at her with sorrow in her voice.
"I'm sorry, Egeria."
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata looked at Lora and smiled apologetically.
"Back then, I was the one who saw you off on your final journey. Now it is your turn to see me off. Life truly is dramatic."
"I fulfilled your final wish by placing the Amrita formed from your divine body in the desert to suppress the pollution. And now, please respect my final wish as well. What I am doing now, just like what you did then, is for the sake of Teyvat."
"But this isn't fair!" Nahida shouted.
"This world was never fair. Some are born as gods, while others are mortals. But that is not what matters..."
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata looked at Nahida and slowly shook her head.
"As gods, we possess power humans could never reach. So this is how it should be. For humanity, for Teyvat. That is the closest thing to fairness."
"But... that's too cruel!"
Nahida looked at the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, her voice trembling with tears.
"I don't want to... I don't want to forget you!"