"You're right."
Sophia nodded slightly, understanding what Lora meant.
Among the returning gods, very few still had their own believers and people. There might not be any left at all.
Those gods could not be calmed down the same way Amon had been awakened.
Killing them might be the only choice.
At the edge of the mirror-like glass, the sages and Eremites were all running toward them, watching the four figures at the center with grave expressions.
Sophia and Lora glanced back at them. Then Sophia said to Amon, "There are still quite a few matters in the desert that need you to handle. Once things here are settled, come to the Akademiya for a meeting, all right?"
"Has Paransa not returned yet?" Amon suddenly asked.
"Not yet. In all of Teyvat, you are the first to come back," Lora said, shaking her head.
"Paransa... the Goddess of Flowers..."
After hearing Amon speak that name, Apep sighed and said to him, "Nabu Malikata paid with her very being to open the path to Forbidden Knowledge for you. If she returns, what she brings back may be Forbidden Knowledge."
Hearing Apep's words, everyone fell silent.
Forbidden Knowledge.
To Teyvat, it was an utterly terrifying term.
But...
"Perhaps in the past, Forbidden Knowledge was an extremely terrifying thing. But now, with Lora here, it is no longer something to fear," Sophia said, shaking her head to reassure Apep.
"Hmm? Why?" Amon did not know about these things yet, so after hearing Sophia's words, he asked in confusion.
Sophia said to him, "Because Lora is now able to eradicate Forbidden Knowledge completely!"
"You've become that powerful?" Amon looked at Lora in surprise.
"From your tone, are you saying I shouldn't be powerful?" Lora frowned and asked.
Amon coughed lightly. "My apologies... It is just that when I saw you in the past, you always looked gentle and compassionate, carrying sorrow with you every day. It was difficult to associate that with strength."
"That's all in the past. My mental state is terrifyingly strong now," Lora said earnestly, waving a hand.
"Uh... in that case, that is good too..." Amon looked at her, blinked, and nodded politely.
"Perhaps you have overlooked one matter. Strictly speaking, Nabu Malikata does not belong to the ranks of gods," Apep reminded them when she saw how confident everyone looked.
"In other words, this Ley Line anomaly will not bring her back?" Hearing Apep's words, Amon froze for a moment. Then he looked at Lora and Sophia, his expression somewhat unsettled.
"Why are you panicking..." Lora blinked at Amon's expression and asked with a smile.
"I..."
Seeing Lora's gaze, Amon paused, then replied, "I just... feel that if all of us have come back to life, but she cannot return, it seems a little unfair."
"Oh! A little unfair, is it..." Lora nodded in understanding, then reminded him, "You really shouldn't talk about fairness and unfairness in front of the Hydro Archon. I can't stand that sort of thing..."
Hearing that, Sophia knocked her on the head. "Enough joking. Say something serious."
"Oh, come on. I was just trying to lighten the mood..." Lora rubbed her head and muttered a few words.
Apep and Amon both looked at Lora, waiting for her explanation.
Lora put away her smile, straightened her expression, and said to everyone, "In fact, you have fallen into a misconception. Do you think only gods return to the Ley Lines after death? That is not the case.
"Any life born through the power of the Ley Lines will return to them after death. Paransa is indeed not a god, but the Seelie clan was also once a race created by Celestia to guide humanity. After they perish, they too return to the Ley Lines."
In the end, the Ley Lines were Teyvat's cycle of reincarnation.
"Then wouldn't that mean many beings who are not gods will also be revived?" After hearing Lora's explanation, Amon asked instinctively.
Lora looked at him helplessly. "Do you think just anyone can come back to life? Weaker energy has long since been assimilated and absorbed by the Ley Lines. Only energy on the level of a god is too vast for them to fully assimilate."
"That is a relief." Amon let out a sigh.
As long as not everything could be revived, it was fine.
"All right, we're heading back to Sumeru City. After you finish dealing with things here, come find us," Sophia said, bidding farewell to Amon.
Then she looked at Apep and asked, "What about you?"
Apep looked at Sophia, then at Amon, and said, "I will stay here and watch the show for a while."
"Watch the show?"
After hearing Apep's words, Lora finally reacted. She quickly pulled from her pocket the most advanced Kamera she had requested from The Steambird and said to Amon, "Come on, Amon. Strike a good pose. I'll take a few close-ups for you."
"Close-ups?" Amon looked at Lora's actions in confusion. "What are you doing? And what is that thing?"
"Tsk... You're behind the times, aren't you? Don't worry about what it is. Just listen to me." Lora urged Amon on. She had already gotten into position to take the photo.
Amon did not understand what was happening, but both Apep and Sophia had moved away from him, leaving the space to him.
At Lora's urging, he still struck a few poses.
Lora quickly pressed the shutter. Looking at the photos she had taken, she nodded in satisfaction and asked the others, "Mm! Great, very nice! What do you think of this headline? 'Shocking! The King of Red Earth Returns, but His Temperament Has Changed Drastically! Is This the Distortion of Divinity or the Decline of Morality?'"
"It has a pretty good hook," Sophia said with a nod.
Apep looked at her and said, "Is all Fontaine news written in this style? It is rather sensational."
"But I'm telling the truth!" Lora blinked, indicating that she had not lied at all.
She was not some clickbait writer.
Her content was explosive too, all right?
Across all of Teyvat, aside from her, who would dare report news about a god?
Lora patted Amon on the shoulder again and said to him, "Once it's published, I'll send you your appearance fee. Don't be shy! These days, even gods can hardly move an inch without Mora!"
"Uh... all right." Looking at Lora's serious expression, Amon actually nodded.
Only after they left did Amon and Apep step away from the mirror-like glass and set foot on the desert beside it.
Amon looked at the desert people waiting for him in the wind and sand, then turned to Apep and asked, "Is this... the outskirts?"
...
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