"Alright, I'm finished eating."
"Let's go. We shouldn't keep Lady Lumina waiting."
Though March 7th had vehemently insisted she wouldn't agree to Nahida's request, in the end, her physical desires triumphed over her spiritual instincts. Together with Stelle and Little Swarm, she dutifully accompanied Nahida on a full day of sightseeing through Sumeru City.
It was now nearly six in the evening. In a simple yet impeccably clean restaurant, Nahida took dainty bites of her meal, wiped her lips with a napkin, glanced through the window at the setting sun, rose, and spoke softly to the trio before her.
"Why do I have such an ominous feeling?"
-
"It's like Nahida is savoring her last day..."
In the real world, during the live stream, Little Bear, controlling Stelle as she accompanied Nahida throughout the day, couldn't shake off an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
At first, Little Bear couldn't quite place this feeling of déjà vu. But now, as he watched Nahida's serene expression and calm tone in the game, he instantly understood what it was.
This is exactly like the last day of someone facing death—either someone about to die or someone going to meet their doom!
[Alright, we've fully established Nahida's innocent little girl persona. Time to write her out of the story!]
[Noooo! /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~! Nahida, don't die! Without you, I don't even know how to live my life anymore! (sobbing hysterically)]
[Where's my wife Lumina? Wife, save her! Family safety is more important than anything! (crying)]
[Is it possible—just a thought, mind you—that Nahida will ultimately die by Lumina's hand?]
[Impossible! Absolutely impossible!]
"Ahem, maybe we're overthinking things. According to Lumina's earlier introduction, Sumeru is a top-tier power rivaling the Xianzhou Alliance and the Interastral Peace Corporation. How could they so easily lose such a prominent figure?"
"Nahida is one of the elders of the House of Daena, and she's also the Headmaster of the Akademiya, a top-tier institution! She can't possibly die so easily, she just can't!"
Although Nahida's actions strongly resembled a death wish, and the sense of déjà vu was eerily real, Little Bear and the viewers in the live stream remained convinced that she couldn't possibly kill Lumina.
After all, Lumina was there... Her combat prowess was legendary, capable of instantly maxing out everyone's sense of security.
Then again, the weekly boss introduced in Version 1.7 was Lumina herself...
Could it really be that Lumina would personally kill Nahida in the end...?
No, no, Mihoyo, you can't be this cruel!
Little Bear recalled the various details revealed during the Preview live stream, and the hope he had clung to finally died completely.
Huff...
"No problem at all, ha. In fact, you could say there's absolutely no problem, okay?"
Little Bear didn't dare think further, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to appear calm as he spoke.
"Stop trying to guess what Mihoyo is thinking."
"You think she won't die, but she inevitably will."
"You think she will die, but she inevitably won't."
"That's just how Mihoyo is. As players, we only need to follow the story. Mihoyo has far more to consider."
[There's a third possibility: You think she will die, and she does... You think you'll never see her again, but she miraculously returns. Just when you think everything's perfect and you're about to make dumplings, she dies again...]
Just as Little Bear's comforting words faded, a striking comment appeared in the Comment Section, instantly capturing everyone's attention:
"Where are the mods? Ban this person immediately!"
Seeing this, Little Bear's brow twitched, recalling an unpleasant memory. Without hesitation, he ordered the mods to ban the commenter.
It was clear Little Bear had been slightly triggered...
-
"Hmm... Even though it's called the back mountain, it's so vast. Where are we supposed to find Sister Lumina?"
After leaving Sumeru City and arriving at the back mountain, March 7th gazed at the endless expanse before her, lost in thought.
"Don't you close to Lady Lumina? Why not just ask them?" Nahida remarked calmly, observing March 7th's bewildered expression.
"Oh, oh, oh! That's right!" March 7th's cheeks flushed slightly as she scratched her head awkwardly, pulled out her phone to send a message to her beloved Sister Lumina:
[March 7th: Sister Lumina, we've brought Nahida to the back mountain. Where are you? We're coming to see you! (!)]
[Current network status is poor. Please check your network connection!]
"Huh? What's going on?" March 7th stared at the red exclamation mark next to her message, utterly puzzled.
"Could it be that there's no network coverage in this part of the back mountain?"
"But didn't they promise universal coverage? Is this false advertising?"
March 7th stared at the red exclamation mark on her phone, feeling a twinge of unease. Anyone who didn't know better would think Sister Lumina had given me the full delete-and-block package...
"I don't think this is a network issue," Nahida said calmly, looking up at the pitch-black night sky and shaking her head.
"Huh? Then what's the problem? Nahida, did you notice something?"
"It's around 6:30 PM right now. Given Sumeru's usual weather patterns, it shouldn't be completely dark yet."
Nahida explained to the group, pointing to the fully night-darkened sky.
"Nahida, what do you mean?" March 7th had no idea what Nahida was getting at, but that didn't stop her from pressing further.
"We've likely entered a barrier," Nahida said, her gaze sweeping across the surroundings, solidifying her theory.
"A-a barrier? Not... not like the Ambrosial Arbor, right...?"
Hearing Nahida's words, March 7th recalled a less-than-pleasant memory, swallowed hard, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and began to tremble visibly.
"The Ambrosial Arbor? The Xianzhou's Ambrosial Arbor? I never imagined you'd even been there," Nahida remarked, giving March 7th a newfound respect.
Observing March 7th's fearful, trembling state, Nahida shook her head and said, "The Ambrosial Arbor is one of the Abundance Aeon's creations. If this barrier is equivalent to the Ambrosial Arbor's space, we might as well lie down and wait to die."
"Hey, we're trapped here! Can't you say something encouraging?" March 7th muttered, frustrated.
"See? Once the atmosphere lightens up, you're not scared anymore," Nahida said with a gentle smile, watching March 7th's fear vanish completely.
"..."
March 7th fell silent, at a loss for words. Observing Nahida's calm demeanor, she asked curiously, "Nahida, have you figured out a way to break this barrier?"
Nahida nodded slowly. Under the expectant gazes of the group, she extended two fingers deliberately. "The first method is outsmarting."
"No Domain or barrier is without weakness, absolutely unsolvable. If it seems so, it's because the one trying to break it lacks the intelligence."
"Um... let's stick with the second option." Hearing the word "outsmarting," March 7th glanced at Stelle, then at the little swarm perched on her shoulder, and immediately felt all hope drain away.
Nahida, exasperated by March 7th's blatant dismissal of herself, glared at her before continuing dryly, "The second option is brute force—overwhelming power to shatter all obstacles."
"Forget about the barrier or the Domain. As long as your strength exceeds their critical threshold, they're no match."
"Um... brute force, huh?"
At this, both March 7th and Stelle instinctively turned to look at Little Swarm.
Even though she seemed a bit dazed and ditzy, she was undeniably an Emanator...
Since this barrier wasn't on the scale of the Ambrosial Arbor, surely the power of a single Emanator would be enough, right?
Besides, they still had the ring Sister Lumina gave them. A mere little barrier? A single strike of brute force would shatter it!
Nahida's reminder jolted March 7th's memory. She realized that, as someone possessing the Power of The Emanator, she had nothing to fear from the unknown.
"Little Swarm, Little Swarm! Unleash your power and blast this barrier to pieces!"
Though she possessed Sister Lumina's power, March preferred not to use it unless absolutely necessary, reserving it for life-threatening situations or desperate straits.
"Blast it to pieces? I'll try," Little Swarm chirped. She scratched her head with a claw, then nodded. With a gentle flutter of her wings, she detached from Stelle's shoulder, steadily growing in size, her power and oppressive aura intensifying.
"Are you all idiots?" Nahida couldn't help but massage her forehead, observing the group's antics.
Lumina had long wanted to comment on their personalities... but as the revered goddess, she couldn't bring herself to say anything that might hurt a beautiful girl's feelings.
But now, as Nahida, she could openly voice her scathing remarks and criticisms without restraint!
"If you want to attract the attention of all of Sumeru City, then by all means, let her unleash her full power," Nahida said dryly, sensing the Little Swarm's gathering energy.
If the Little Swarm unleashed this attack, the barrier trapping them would shatter, but simultaneously, a massive crater brimming with the aura of Propagation and Abundance would scar the mountains behind Sumeru City...
Then, with the backing of the entire Cosmos, the Interastral Peace Corporation could use this Propagation clue to freely invade Sumeru...
This was precisely what Nahida wanted to prevent.
"Withdraw your power," she said calmly, shaking her head. "I'll handle this."
For reasons unknown, even to the Little Swarm herself, upon hearing Nahida's words, her body moved instinctively, obeying her innermost desires before she could even consciously react.
Her body acted before her mind could process—as if Nahida, the person before her, were her Great Creator.
Little Swarm shook her head, dismissing further thought. Her form shrunk back to the size of a fist as she settled onto Stelle's shoulder, obediently fixing her gaze on Nahida.
"Nahida, do you think you can handle this?" March 7th sized up Nahida, who stood at barely 1.3 meters tall, her face betraying her doubts.
"I'm an elder of the House of Daena and the headmaster of the House of Wisdom at The Akademiya," Nahida replied flatly. "Do you really think I can't handle this?"
"When it comes to dealing with creatures like this, I have far more experience than you all."
"Eh? Nahida, do you know who created this barrier?" March 7th asked, her curiosity piqued by Nahida's almost senior-like tone.
"Without a doubt, this is the Abyss's work," Nahida replied, walking toward a specific spot as she spoke.
"The Abyss? What's that?" March 7th and Stelle exchanged puzzled glances, both unfamiliar with the term.
"It's a symbol of Corruption and the sworn enemy of Sumeru."
Nahida crouched down, fiddling with something. In the next moment, the barrier shattered, and the golden light of the setting sun bathed the group.
"This... is it gone already?" March 7th glanced at the sunset, then back at Nahida, her face instantly etched with confusion.
If you could break the barrier so easily, why did we waste so much time inside, just laughing and goofing around?
"Here, this is an Abyssal Creature," Nahida said, ignoring March 7th's unspoken thoughts. She pointed to a pitch-black, unidentified creature that had materialized after the barrier shattered.
"What... what is that thing? It feels... strange?" Following Nahida's gaze, they saw a bizarre, sinister creature writhing on the ground, its body entirely black.
"That's a Nightmare, a type of Abyssal Creature. They specialize in creating barriers that trap people in eternal dreams, where they linger until death."
Nahida offered no further explanation. A green glow emanated from her hand as she gently brushed it against the Nightmare.
The next moment, the green light touched the Nightmare's body, instantly and completely purifying it.
"Alright, let's go. We shouldn't keep Lady Lumina waiting too long." Having finished her task, Nahida showed no intention of lingering. She glanced at the setting sun and shook her head.
"Do you know where Sister Lumina is?" March 7th asked.
Hearing this, March 7th pulled out her phone and sent a message to Sister Lumina, but the reply remained a red exclamation mark. She didn't think much of it, assuming it was just poor signal in the mountains.
"Since the Abyss is present, heading in the direction of Irminsul should lead us to her," Nahida said with a yawn and a casual wave of her hand.
"Wait!"
But the next moment, Nahida seemed to have noticed something. Her eyes narrowed sharply, and her expression shifted dramatically. A series of emotions—horror, confusion, shock, and bewilderment—flashed across her adorable face in rapid succession.
"Nahida, what's wrong?" March 7th asked anxiously, observing Nahida's distress.
"Irminsul... has vanished?" Nahida grew flustered, glancing around frantically, but the colossal tree that pierced the heavens was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh?" Hearing this, March 7th glanced around as well. The unmistakable Irminsul, the World Tree that connected heaven and earth, had indeed vanished.
"Wait..."
Nahida took a deep breath to calm herself, lowering her head in thought.
"I understand now."
She quickly arrived at a conclusion. Looking up at the sky, then running her fingers over the trees and grass, her expression gradually turned grave.
"Nahida, what have you discovered?" Ever since the Irminsul disappeared, March 7th had been frantically texting Sister Lumina on her phone, but all she received was a red exclamation mark.
"If the Irminsul is truly gone, then Apricot Grove should no longer exist either..." Nahida murmured, her gaze darting around as if searching for something.
"So the answer is clear."
"We're still trapped within the Abyss's barrier..."