Rahman's faith crumbled.
"How can this be? The Dendro Archon's followers—they were supposed to be..."
Paimon also snapped back from the vision. "That was the previous Dendro Archon? She became so small at the end."
Lumine said, "The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata reached out to King Deshret and his people. But eradicating forbidden knowledge cost her so much power."
"In the end, the followers of both deities ended up hating each other, seeing one another as enemies. No one expected they were so intertwined in life and death."
[Furina: What dramatic irony! The deities themselves were the closest of friends, yet their people were enemies for so many years.]
[Paimon: The people of Fontaine put their own god on trial.]
[Furina: Stop. Paimon, please don't bring up my painful memories.]
[Lumine: Yes, what dramatic irony. If only more of this history had been passed down.]
[Dehya: Much of the desert people's resentment toward the Dendro Archon's followers comes from the Akademiya. They discriminate against us, oppress us. Every child of the desert carries that injustice in their heart.]
[Cyno: The Akademiya tore the desert and the rainforest apart. They have committed a grave sin.]
[Alhaitham: Perhaps records did exist at some point—only to be destroyed by certain people.]
Alhaitham looked at Rahman. "Even if you believe the Akasha deceives people, you should at least trust King Deshret's own technology."
"These are the final words of King Deshret's own priest."
Rahman's expression was blank. "I... I've never heard anything like this anywhere."
"In the past, all the survivors among King Deshret's people gathered in Aaru Village. Our deity could not have made a mistake. We refused—and still refuse—to believe those rumors."
"King Deshret's death, the near-destruction of our civilization—it was all because the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata descended upon us."
"To us, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was nothing more than the one who stabbed us in the back during our time of calamity. Like humans do—fighting, struggling, and making enemies of each other in the desert."
[Yae Miko: Accepting this information all at once is still too much for him.]
[Paimon: Yeah. Even I felt shaken and sad after seeing it. The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata became so small.]
[Madame Ping: That's a sign of power nearing depletion. If she had expended even more, she might have been forced into a deep slumber.]
[Dehya: I will remember this kindness.]
Cyno shook his head. "Your perspective is too narrow."
Rahman laughed—almost maniacally, as if unable to bear the weight of this revelation.
"Hahaha! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, if my own eyes, ears, and heart hadn't truly felt those final words—how could I have ever believed such an incomprehensible deviation from what I knew? How can you expect me to accept that I raised my blade against my own benefactor, and kept doing so for all these years?"
Dehya scolded, "Rahman, that's enough."
"Stop talking. Don't make yourself look like a fool."
Rahman stared intently at Dehya. "Dehya, tell me—what have I and my company been fighting for all this time?"
[Lumine: In the past, perhaps you fought for revenge. Now, you should fight to repay that kindness.]
[Dehya: Well said. We should fight to repay that kindness.]
Rahman rested for a long time before he could recover.
For any believer, this information was simply too much to accept in such a short time.