Standing at the top of Tianheng mountain, Ruby looked at Liyue Harbor below, "Now that I'm here in person, Liyue Harbor feels much bigger. Xiangling is just as cheerful as I imagined. It's a pity her burst costs eighty energy in-game." She smiled and looked at the sky. The heavy rain hit her body, but it failed to make her wet.
"Mother asked me to bring a few people back with me if I ever came into this reality." Ruby murmured.
"I'll just take one. She's omniscient and omnipotent anyways, why does she need so many people for?" She shook her head and teleported away. Even in all of creation, the number of people who deserved to receive her salvation was too low.
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In the sanctuary of Surasthana in Sumeru, a little girl was suspended in air, confined by an orb that periodically pulsed with the Dendro element. She was the current Dendro Archon, Lesser Lord Kusanali. Unfortunately, she was confined by the sages of Sumeru as soon as she was found.
Suddenly, the orb confining her started cracking and the surrounding dendro element became violent. The orb vibrated and finally cracked, freeing Kusanali.
She opened her eyes and looked at the surrounding area suspiciously, 'I broke free from the confinement? How could the sages be this negligent? Is this a trap?'
But before she could analyze the situation, she was teleported away.
Kusanali appeared beside the Luhua pool in Liyue. Seeing the change in scenery, and feeling the abundant dendro element under her feet, she was dazed, "I'm free? This isn't a dream?"
She went ahead and sat down, touching the crystal blue water in front of her. The cold sensation of water was transmitted to her hand, the impact of raindrops on her body, the soil, and mud under her feet, everything felt surreal. Her eyes glistened with tears.
Suddenly, a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see a girl smiling at her kindly. Kusanali stood up and hugged the girl and started crying. Ruby rubbed her head and let her cry to her heart's content.
After a few minutes, she stopped crying, "Thank you, for freeing me." Kusanali composed herself and let go of Ruby, and wiped her tears, "I'm sorry you had to see such an embarrassing scene."
"It's okay, in my eyes, you're still a child. You can call me Ruby."
"Hmm." Kusanali nodded.
"But why did you bring me here? This isn't Sumeru." She asked.
"Yes, this isn't Sumeru. The reason I freed you is to take you away, a place far far away." Ruby smiled.
"This…" Kusanali was stunned. She wanted to immediately refuse. But she couldn't say this right in the face of her savior, could she?
Ruby pinched Kusanali's cheeks, "I know you won't abandon the people of Sumeru. In that case, I'll guarantee that Sumeru and its people will prosper for the next ten thousand years, avoiding all catastrophes. Far better than you could ever dream. How about it?"
Even after hearing this kind of proposal, Kusanali still couldn't accept it. Since the time she gained consciousness, all she thought about was the betterment of Sumeru.
Suddenly, she was asked to abandon it. This was impossible for her to do so no matter what.
"Still not convinced? Fine, I'll just transport you in two versions of the future, one with and one without my intervention." Ruby sighed. She really admired this little lass. Kusanali was prepared to sacrifice every bit of her existence for Sumeru, even if the result was negligible.
Kusanali disappeared and then reappeared just after a moment. But in this split second, she spent hundreds of years as a spectator of the current timeline, everything passing by her like a violent river. It took her a few moments to regain her senses, "I agree. I'll do anything. Please, save Sumeru… save this world." Kusanali's face was ashen.
"Do you want to see the future with my intervention?"
"I'm… I'm not sure. I just want to remember the destruction of the world, the end of everything, so that I'm constantly reminded of my failure and powerlessness." Kusanali clenched her little fists.
"I disagree. You're much better than you think. Be confident with yourself." Ruby sent her to the future again. But now, she sent her to the altered timeline.
This time, when Kusanali came back, her face was much more relaxed. She approached Ruby and whispered, "Thank you, for letting me realize my mistake."
"The world itself owes you for how much you've done for it. So naturally, you deserve all the happiness in this world." Ruby smiled and then pointed a finger at Kusanali.
A white light appeared and plunged into her, removing her connection to this world.
She could no longer feel the Irminsul tree, nor the leylines of this world. A deep sense of loss and sadness enveloped her.
The position of the Dendro Archon ceased to exist from this day forward.
"Kusanali… you won't need to carry this burden anymore." Ruby consoled her, "We'll leave whenever you're ready."
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Ruby and Kusanali teleported back to the vicinity of Liyue Harbor.
"It seems the Qixing prepared well. Sensing Keqing who was hurriedly ordering a few people to decorate a courtyard above the cliff of the Golden House, Ruby was pleased.
Everything in this world was under her dominion. Ruby could observe, control, and dominate entire realities and the countless cosmos and universes in them with her power. And compared to those, the world of Teyvat was barely a particle of sand.
Ruby held Kusanali's hand and walked towards the bustling roads filled with people, "This is Liyue Harbor, the most prosperous and busiest place in all of Teyvat."
"Hmm. This place is magnificent. Though I already know most of the information about it through the Akasha Terminal, the scale of this place is much grander than I initially assumed." By this time, Kusanali was quite composed, having a demeanor befitting the 'former' God of Wisdom. But her curious eyes that kept darting left to right betrayed her act.
As they approached the swarms of people, her composure crumbled. She never saw so many people face to face. She was nervous, tightly clinging to Ruby's arm with both hands.
"You'll get used to it in a few days. You're free now, nobody will make you suffer ever again." Ruby reassured her.
She manifested a bucket of chicken nuggets and handed them to Kusanali, "You never ate anything till now. Here, eat this."
Kusanali put a nugget in her mouth and chewed it. Her eyes lit up. Although she knew the sensation of eating, it was virtual. This is the first time she truly ate something since she gained consciousness.
Looking at Kusanali's expression, Ruby curled up her lips in satisfaction. Sure enough, the scene of the cute little Radish Archon enthusiastically eating nuggies was very pleasing to the eye.