Nolan did have a point.
In her understanding, the forbidden knowledge that had become part of her memory could only be removed if she herself was erased along with it.
But just as she once relied on everyone's wisdom to purge most of the forbidden knowledge from the World Tree, she now knew—
Human wisdom is limitless. Even she, the Goddess of Wisdom, had times when she fell short.
So the Great Lord Rukkhadevata did not stubbornly insist on her own way. She nodded gently and said:
"Very well. If that's the case, there's no harm in letting you try."
"Mhm." Nolan turned her head to look at Lumine and asked, "Well? Can you sense the pollution of forbidden knowledge on the Great Lord Rukkhadevata?"
"If that knowledge is truly embedded in her as part of her memory, then I won't be able to sense it," Lumine replied, shaking her head slightly with a thoughtful look.
"Maybe... I'd have to enter her memory to perceive it. Only then could I find those forbidden fragments."
"Enter someone's memory? That's such a weird thing to say. How's a person supposed to do that?" Paimon looked confused.
"When I first met you, you became part of my memory—that's the same mechanism as the forbidden knowledge polluting me.
"You just don't erode and corrupt me the way that knowledge does.
"But forbidden knowledge is not just a cognitive threat. It also corrupts the soul.
"So, to come in contact with it, your consciousness must link with mine. But that presents a problem… That knowledge could seep into your memory too, polluting your soul.
"Just as it once infected me through the World Tree."
The Great Lord explained calmly.
That was also why she didn't want Nolan and the others to waste their efforts. Even as a god, she couldn't resist the influence of forbidden knowledge.
Letting others help would only lead to meaningless sacrifice—something she could not bear to see.
"If the forbidden knowledge is indeed connected to the Abyss, then even if I can't neutralize it, I can at least retreat unscathed. You don't have to worry about me."
Lumine didn't hide the fact that she could wield pure Abyssal power. She explained the situation briefly to the Great Lord.
"Let's get something clear—Lumine can use the Abyssal Enegry because of this guy's power, not because she has anything to do with the Abyss herself!"
Paimon quickly pointed at Nolan, trying to explain before the Great Lord or Nahida could form any misunderstandings upon hearing this.
"Hey, you little bratty Paimon!" Nolan gave her a deadpan look.
Sure, that was technically true, but did she really have to say it like everything was her fault?
"What? Is Paimon wrong?" Paimon crossed her arms with smug confidence.
Nolan raised an eyebrow, then smirked slyly.
Not planning to indulge this self-important, smug little mascot, she flicked her on the forehead before Paimon could react!
"Yah! Rude!"
Paimon clutched her forehead—not that it hurt, but she still kicked her feet angrily in midair.
"Sigh~"
Watching these two idiots, Lumine let out a helpless sigh, then turned to the Great Lord.
"You don't have to worry. I have no connection to the Abyss."
"Of course not. I can sense that you mean no harm," the Great Lord replied after a pause.
She hadn't found any records of Nolan or Lumine in the World Tree's database.
That alone was proof—they were visitors from beyond this world.
However, the little humanoid sprite accompanying them did have records. Through her memories, everything became clear.
Lumine indeed had no ties to the Abyss. Her ability to control Abyssal power stemmed entirely from Nolan's mysterious ability known as a "Soul Attribute/Spiritual Core."
"Mhm." Lumine nodded after hearing the answer. "Then you should have a way to link your soul with mine. I'll try to help you resolve this."
"Phew... Very well." The Great Lord saw no reason to refuse. She reached out her right hand to Lumine.
Nahida first glanced at the Great Lord, then looked at Lumine with worry in her eyes.
"I'll leave this in your hands… please be careful."
Lumine's fair face turned serious as she nodded and grasped the Great Lord's hand.
Nolan and Paimon also grew a little tense, ready to jump into action at the first sign of danger.
"It's about to begin." The Great Lord closed her eyes.
Seeing this, Lumine followed suit and shut her eyelids, covering her amber-colored eyes.
Before long, she felt her body grow slightly lighter. When she opened her eyes again—
She found herself in a gray, hazy space.
Countless memory fragments floated in the air around her, densely filling the space.
There was no doubt—these were the memories of the Great Lord Rukkhadevata.
Each fragment represented a different period in her life. Some were a little blurry, likely less significant memories.
The kind that you'd have to think hard to recall. Others were crystal clear—obviously recent or important.
At this moment, Lumine was fully connected to the Great Lord's consciousness.
As long as she focused her attention slightly, she could access the memories of the Great Lord Rukkhadevata. These memories ranged from the very moment she became conscious of her existence all the way up to the present.
What Lumine needed to do now was locate the memories connected to the forbidden knowledge, and then see if she could simulate and convert it using pure Abyssal power.
After all, no matter what kind of knowledge it was, in theory, it was just a summarized rule or truth derived from objective reality.
Normally, the content of such knowledge shouldn't be inherently harmful.
The reason it could corrode and pollute others had to be because it carried some kind of power—one that could hide within the knowledge itself!
And that was exactly the kind of power Lumine was trying to simulate and convert.
As long as she succeeded in using pure Abyssal power to replicate the corrosive and polluting force hidden in the forbidden knowledge, she could assimilate and control it.
If she could extract the corrosive force from the forbidden knowledge and take it away, everything should be fine.
That was exactly how she had dealt with Collei's Eleazar before.
By assimilating and absorbing the power instead of violently purging it, she could heal the patient without any harm—an ideal form of treatment.
Just as Lumine began searching through the Great Lord's memories for traces of forbidden knowledge, it seemed the Lord's earlier warning had already proven true.
—Forbidden knowledge would contaminate her through the linked consciousness.
Before Lumine could even start looking, the forbidden knowledge surged forth from the Great Lord's memory on its own, attempting to erode and infect her.
But Lumine didn't panic. She protected her consciousness using pure Abyssal power. Perhaps due to its superiority over the pollution of forbidden knowledge—
It could do absolutely nothing to her while she was shielded by that power.
Seeing this, Lumine breathed a sigh of relief and began utilizing the authority of the "Abyssal Princess," which allowed her to interfere with external Abyssal forces.
She began trying to influence the power of the forbidden knowledge's pollution.
It wasn't long before Lumine clearly sensed the energy within the forbidden knowledge through her "Abyssal Princess" authority.
She then started applying her influence to it.
However, there was a small disappointment: the corrosive force of the forbidden knowledge was indeed similar to that of the "Withering" and "Eleazar."
It could be influenced by her authority.
But perhaps because it was a more advanced force than either the Withering or Eleazar, Lumine found it extremely difficult to interfere with.
If she wanted to fully comprehend the power of the forbidden knowledge the way she had with the Withering and Eleazar, it was clearly going to take more time.
Lumine thought about it. Since she wouldn't be able to handle it in a short amount of time, she decided to voluntarily disconnect her consciousness from the Great Lord and exited the memory space.
"So? Can you fix it?"
As soon as Lumine's consciousness returned and she opened her eyes, Paimon, who had been watching her the whole time, couldn't hold back and blurted out the question.
Nahida also looked up slightly, her eyes filled with hopeful anticipation as she nervously stared at Lumine.
Lumine smiled. Not wanting to keep them in suspense, she nodded gently and said:
"No problem. I can effectively deal with the corrupting power of the forbidden knowledge—but it might take a week or two."
Judging from how long it took her to comprehend the power behind Eleazar—around one or two days—Lumine figured that fully grasping the force behind the forbidden knowledge would take no less than a week.
But at most, two weeks should be enough.
"Yay! That's great!"
Paimon, floating in midair, spun around excitedly upon hearing the clear answer.
"Phew~" Nahida patted her chest in relief, letting out a small breath as joy lit up her eyes.
Looking toward the Great Lord, she said:
"This is amazing—really amazing! Now no one will have to forget you!"
Warm feelings bloomed in Nahida's heart toward Lumine and Nolan:
[Nahida Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 900 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.6 (420/600)]
"Mhm."
The Great Lord was also a little surprised. Lumine had truly found a way to deal with the forbidden knowledge embedded in her memories.
No matter what else, even in death—no one wanted to be forgotten.
A dozen days or so—after enduring five hundred years, this little bit of time was nothing to her.
With that thought in mind—
Great Lord Rukkhadevata found herself growing quite fond of Nolan and the others, who were doing their utmost to help her:
[Great Lord Rukkhadevata Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtanied 820 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.4 (220/400)]
Nolan glanced at the notification on his character panel. Both Nahida and the Great Lord had given a substantial amount of affection—it was a pretty good haul.
Smiling, he said,
"Ten days will pass in the blink of an eye. Great Lord, your remaining consciousness should be able to hold out until then, right?"
From his experience with dramas, just when the plot hit a high point, there was often some sudden twist. He wouldn't be happy if something like that happened here too.
Rukkhadevata, who still bore Nahida's appearance, gave him a look and nodded her little head.
"Previously, this thread of my consciousness was able to persist inside the Irminsul for hundreds of years. Now that I've left the Irminsul, I do weaken faster—
"But lasting another ten or so days is no problem at all."
"That's good. In that case, there's no time to waste. The sooner we resolve this, the sooner we can rest easy. Lumine, why don't you get ready and resume your work on understanding the power of forbidden knowledge?"
Nolan suggested.
"Mhm, but this time, you have to stay and help me too."
Lumine had no objections, but this time she was going to bring Nolan along with her.
His role as a "power bank" let him replenish her energy in real time—especially mental and physical stamina.
Focusing deeply on comprehending something took a heavy toll on mind and body, so with Nolan replenishing her, her efficiency would improve greatly.
"Of course."
Nolan nodded lightly.
It's not like he had anything important to do anyway. Spending ten days here wouldn't be a problem.
"Then I'll be counting on you."
Great Lord Rukkhadevata once again expressed her thanks to Nolan and the others for helping her wholeheartedly.
[Great Lord Rukkhadevata Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 230 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.5 (50/500)]
The next ten or so days unfolded like this:
Each morning, after stepping out of the Wonderland, Lumine would enter Rukkhadevata's memory once more to comprehend the Power of Forbidden Knowledge.
Whenever she began to feel mentally drained or physically exhausted, Nolan would place a hand on her back and replenish her expended energy.
Then, she'd continue focusing on the forbidden knowledge.
At noon, they would return to the Wonderland space to eat and rest. During this time, Rukkhadevata would also return to the Irminsul—
—to preserve her last sliver of consciousness as much as possible. She wasn't going to be foolish enough to let a carelessness destroy her one chance at survival.
In the afternoons, Lumine would re-enter the Irminsul space and resume her enlightenment, continuing until evening for dinner.
Even after dinner, she would come back out and continue working until it was time to sleep.
Her entire day was packed from beginning to end. Lumine truly gave it her all to help the Great Lord, without a shred of slacking.
Seeing that, of course Nolan couldn't let Lumine do all the hard work alone. So during those nights—
He would sleep with Lumine, using Harmony Energy to help her relax, and also to level her up.
After all, increasing her level meant improving her mental strength, comprehension, and cognitive abilities.
That would help her grasp the Power of Forbidden Knowledge even faster!
And so, the ten days passed in no time. Thanks to Nolan's full support, Lumine quickly rose from Level 85 to 86.
With the level-up, her comprehension improved significantly. What was originally estimated to take one or two weeks—
Was now completed much sooner.
On the tenth day—this very morning—Lumine successfully comprehended the Power of Forbidden Knowledge.
Now, she could use pure Abyssal power, convert it into forbidden power, and begin "purifying" the forbidden knowledge from Rukkhadevata's memory.
Upon hearing the news, Nahida—who had been eagerly awaiting this—was overjoyed, even happier than Rukkhadevata herself.
Unable to wait, she pleaded for Lumine to begin immediately. Lumine nodded and got to work without hesitation.
[Nahida Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 220 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (40/700)]
(End of Chapter)
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