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"Heh, looks like everyone's here already."
Even when facing the very people who shattered his dream of godhood and took away the Electro Archon's Gnosis he had long yearned for, Scaramouche still appeared utterly indifferent to the world, his demeanor light and dismissive.
That the others could still remain silent upon seeing him surprised him somewhat.
Nahida spoke up. "What we're doing today is an attempt. Let's try cooperating first, and then decide the future course based on how it goes."
Even with the Dendro Archon proposing cooperation, none of them raised objections? Scaramouche found it mildly boring. "I'll act according to the agreement."
Nahida then looked toward Lumine and Victor Wang. "Everyone, are you ready?"
"It shouldn't be much different from last time, right?" Victor Wang asked.
"Yes. With the contamination gone, this time will be much easier than before."
The last time he entered Irminsul, Victor Wang had experienced a death of the mind—he had truly died once. His body was unharmed, but the murderous persona and baleful aura within his psyche vanished entirely. To this day, he still didn't fully understand what had happened.
Was it because I got too close to the ley lines and Irminsul, and was automatically absorbed into the Hilichurl-exclusive death space?
Still, the cost of that death had been low—just a bout of mental shattering pain. It didn't hinder him from descending into Irminsul again—he still had things he needed to do.
So, he replied, "I'm ready."
Lumine answered as well, "I'm ready too."
"Good. I'll send you to Irminsul now. Although I won't go with you, I'll accompany you in the form of external navigation, guiding you through Irminsul."
Darkness fell before Victor Wang's eyes, and when he came back to his senses, he found himself standing atop Irminsul's roots together with Lumine, Paimon, and Scaramouche.
Compared to the blood-red skies, withered vegetation, raging sandstorms, and monsters from when Irminsul was corrupted… that dreadful environment, the surroundings now were serene and tranquil, wisps of clouds drifting like an immortal realm.
"It seems everyone arrived safely."
Nahida's voice rang out from nowhere.
"There's something I must emphasize—if we are to conduct a deeper search, you must go one step further and enter Irminsul's interior."
"Unlike these outer regions, Irminsul's interior consists solely of torrents of informational data. Movement there must be carried out with extreme caution, avoiding all unnecessary actions."
Everyone naturally nodded in agreement.
Then Scaramouche said with a hint of mockery, "More precisely, you don't need to do anything at all."
"According to my agreement with Nahida, once we enter Irminsul's interior, I'll walk at the front. I'll handle scouting and eliminating dangers. All you need to do is obediently follow behind, keep your eyes open, and watch."
"Hah! You make it sound like you're even better at exploring than we are," Paimon, the god of chatter, retorted.
"Finally, can't hold it in anymore? The looks you give me are full of vigilance and suspicion, yet you've managed not to speak up—must've been quite hard on you, right?"
"You—! Ugh, I'm so mad! Considering everything you've done in the past; this is already us trying our best to endure it. And you still have the nerve to mock us?"
"I'm well aware that I'm not likable." Scaramouche crossed his arms, calm and indifferent. "So what? I wasn't born to be liked."
"Let's all calm down," Nahida intervened. "Scaramouche, your mission this time does not include provoking conflict."
"Hmph… then let's hurry up and get to work."
Nahida didn't wish to delay either. Her voice sounded again. "Permission to access Irminsul granted. Link procedures initiated…"
Upon Irminsul's roots, a sapling grew forth—its branches formed from arcs of light, its canopy suffused with warm radiance. Scaramouche was the first to touch it and entered Irminsul's interior, with Victor Wang and the others following behind.
Within Irminsul stood another tree—towering, its entire form glowing with a deep azure light, as if composed of pure energy, strikingly eye-catching.
As Victor Wang withdrew his gaze, he realized that not just that tree, but the entire space before him shimmered with blue luminescence. Though there were no stars or moon, it was still brilliantly lit.
Most striking of all were the inverted "auroras" spread across the ground. They should have hung in the sky, yet instead grew along the earth, their flowing light outlining winding pathways.
"So, this is Irminsul's interior… it's a bit different from what I imagined."
"So—so special… and it feels almost sacrilegious…"
Lumine and Paimon voiced their awe in turn. Scaramouche stared at the distant great tree, while Victor Wang carefully examined the ground beneath them.
The ground inside Irminsul—
It looked as though it was covered by a layer of solid liquid, faintly reflective, allowing one to see the "land" beneath the "surface."
That "land" was uneven, mostly reflecting the same blue light of the surrounding space—but not entirely blue. There was also purple, a shade close to the black mire of The Chasm.
To others, such observations might seem like grasping at straws.
But to Victor Wang—who stood between the Human Realm, the Light Realm, and the Void Realm, who had transformed from human into Hilichurl, and was now progressing toward becoming an elemental being—these were all suspicious clues.
Unfortunately, the "surface" layer obscuring the "land" beneath seemed difficult to break through… and his resonance with the Abyss didn't respond either. Perhaps that was because only his consciousness had come here, leaving his abilities incomplete?
"Nahida, let's conduct the information search at Irminsul's center."
"You should still be able to sense the location of the core, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I grant permission."
After exchanging a few words with Nahida, Scaramouche urged them on without looking back. "We're moving out. Stay close and don't wander off."
The "center of Irminsul" as Scaramouche called it, and the "core" Nahida mentioned, was precisely that striking tree in the distance.
The straight-line distance wasn't actually far, but the aurora-formed paths twisted like a labyrinth. In some places, crystalline saplings would sprout once approached. These saplings were data within Irminsul and could not be touched lightly. Yet even if left alone, they would dissipate on their own—teleporting everyone to a different location.
In short, reaching Irminsul's center took quite some effort. Afterward, Scaramouche called out to Nahida once more.
"You've arrived already. How's the preparation?"
"We can begin at any time."
"Then… prepare to access the consciousness torrent. Establishing anchor point… The rest is up to you. Be sure to share any new discoveries with us."
Scaramouche responded with a sound and began focusing intently on searching for the information they had come for.
Paimon spread her hands. "So, we really are completely idle… Do we just wait here until Scaramouche finishes searching?"
Nahida's voice suddenly echoed directly within their minds. ["We can chat."]
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