In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

As a result, just as she discovered the forbidden knowledge, she was severely injured by the sky nails that fell from Sky Island, and even the rainforest that served as her habitat was turned into the yellow sand that is now.

If it weren't for the Grass Dragon's unparalleled adaptability and regenerative abilities...

This one celestial nail was enough to ensure she could never rise again.

From then on, Apep went into hiding.

Until the Red King obtained forbidden knowledge with the help of the Flower Goddess.

Upon smelling the odor, Apep ran out of his hiding place.

Using Ahmar's attempt to establish a powerful kingdom on his territory as a pretext, he made a deal with the Red King by picking a fight.

Specifically, Apep would tacitly approve of the Red King's territorial expansion, but after the Red King's death, all the knowledge he possessed would belong to Apep.

When the Red King's kingdom was finally destroyed because of forbidden knowledge, Apep, who bore the title of one of the Seven Sages of the Red King, arrived as promised. In front of the other seven sages, he swallowed the Red King's corpse whole, thus absorbing the Red King's elemental power and the forbidden knowledge within him.

This is what Apep said about the deal she made with the Red King.

However, Rhodes had some different opinions about the deal.

According to his Sumeru history in the Church of Christ.

An era of tripartite governance.

Sumeru was not in its current state of being divided into rainforest and desert, but was a complete and powerful kingdom, where the Red King, the Flower Goddess, and the Tree King shared power equally.

Waliwege.

This is the name of that great kingdom.

The Flower Goddess's Birthday celebration for the Tree King originated from that era.

This oasis kingdom, which could be called the paradise of Sumeru, remained so until the Flower Goddess perished. The alliance of the three gods collapsed, and the Red King and the Tree King drifted apart due to their differences. Sumeru then experienced a hundred years of chaos and confusion until the Red King and the Great Compassionate Tree King gathered their subjects and rebuilt the oasis garden, thus ending the chaotic era of feudal separatism.

Then the problem is coming.

If Apep really cared about the Red King establishing a kingdom in her territory, then during Valivege's heyday, shouldn't she have used force to expel the Three Gods and prevent them and their people from bothering her? Why did she wait until after the Flower Goddess died to cause trouble, and even get forced to negotiate to obtain the Red King's forbidden knowledge?

"So Apep is actually all bark and no bite, and doesn't have the strength of the Dragon King at all?"

Rhodes came to a conclusion.

At least during the Age of Gods, Apep was somewhat wary of the Red King, or rather, she might not have been able to defeat him.

If she can't even defeat a demon god, then it's hard to say how much strength she, the primordial dragon king, has left after being repeatedly severely injured.

"Do not."

"Appepp is still very strong."

Nasita had a different opinion on Rod's words: "I have read through many histories about the Red King and found a record in a very ancient book that says that before Ahe Apep became one of the Seven Sages, she, like the other Seven Sages, had a tremendous battle with the Red King. At that time, Apep and her offspring made the desert churn like boiling water. Under her attack, even the most fortified city walls were easily blown away like falling leaves. Wherever Apep went, mountains were shattered, rivers flowed backward, and life was ravaged. Many canyons in the desert today are traces left by Apep's chaos back then. Until the Red King made peace with her, the dragon named Apep finally chose to withdraw from the power struggle in the desert and became one of the Seven Sages, Ahe Apep."

"Huh?!"

Rod's mouth was slightly open, and he had only one thought in his mind.

Is this Crimson King really that fierce?

The meaning in Naxi Da's language is very simple.

The reason why Red King and Appepp were able to reach a reconciliation was not because Appepp's strength had regressed to the level of a demon god, but because Red King was simply too powerful, so powerful that even Appepp was helpless against him, and in the end, he had no choice but to choose reconciliation.

"Does forbidden knowledge really provide such a significant boost to combat power?"

"Or."

"Is the Crimson King really that powerful?"

Having never witnessed that history, Rhodes simply couldn't imagine, based solely on Nasita's account, just how powerful this deity, revered by the gods and the people of Sumeru as the King of the Four Directions of the Earth, truly was.

Tell the truth.

If Nasita's account of history wasn't just boasting by the Red King's historian, then Apep during his battle with the Red King actually retained the power to overwhelm even a demon god. The fact that the Red King could force such a powerful being to reconcile with him through force is truly absurd.

What made it even harder for Rhodes to discern was...

Is the Red King's immense power due to his inherent strength or to forbidden knowledge?

After all, it was through forbidden knowledge that the Nibelungen king, who defied the laws of nature, went from being thoroughly defeated by them to being able to challenge them.

If the Red King became so powerful because of forbidden knowledge, it would be a reasonable explanation.

But if the Crimson King is indeed that powerful, well, that's a bit scary.

We chatted about the story of Appepp and the Red King the whole way.

Nasita and Rhodes found a group of fungus that matched Rhodes' description in the rainforest.

Some fainted, some were confused and dazed, and some showed strong hostility.

However, before the god of plants and trees.

Especially after Nasita healed the unconscious mushroom beast, the hostility stemming from the monster's instinct completely disappeared.

This awakened fungus is a fungus that can speak human language.

But her very first words made Rod raise an eyebrow, secretly glad that he had been prescient.

That's what the mushroom beast said.

"Your power is very similar to that of the King of Grass."

"But you are not the king of grass."

"who are you?"

really.

Since Naxida did not inherit the past of the Great Tree King, she was seen as a grass dragon by this person who had once made a pact with the Great Tree King.

Nasita was merely a deity who resembled the Great Tree King, but not the real Great Tree King.

There is another point.

That is, Nasita's figure was much smaller than the Great Tree King at that time.

This is also different from the memories of the people of Caolong.

Although this grass dragon citizen had lost many memories and was somewhat confused,

However, he only lost memories related to forbidden knowledge; he still remembered the promise he made to return home with the Great Tree King, and he still firmly remembered that he wanted to go home.

The only thing that can't be explained.

He simply didn't know where his home was.

In order to deal with this amnesia problem and to quickly gain the trust of these grass dragon people.

Before leaving, Rhodes and Narcida made a point of bringing the Great Tree King, which had transformed into Patishalan, with them.

This trick really worked.

The grass dragon people before them quickly accepted that the Great Tree King had passed away and that Naxida was the new grass god who had come to fulfill the promise and succeed the Great Tree King.

Next.

Led by this grass dragon, Rhodes and Nasita searched far and wide for its kind.

Before heading to Appepp.

The more of this special group that is closest to her gathers, the better.

After a conversation on the way.

Rhodes had a very good impression of the Grass Dragon People.

Don't be fooled by their mushroom-like appearance.

But in terms of speech, they are even more human than many humans.

At the same time, Rhodes also made a subtle suggestion.

The Grass Dragon is unfriendly to gods and humans. If the Grass Dragon does anything rash when they meet, they hope they can help dissuade it.

Anyway.

As for Apep.

These grass dragon people were all born from the elemental power within her body. In a physical sense, they are equivalent to Apep's children, and are the ones most likely to evoke Apep's goodwill.

The people of the Grass Dragon were somewhat puzzled by Rhodes' request.

But they readily agreed to it anyway.

It took another day or so.

Rhodes and Nasita gathered together all the grass dragon people they could find.

There are only a few dozen scattered here and there.

The horrific scene caused both Rhodes and Narcida to frown.

Even with strong adaptability.

Over the long years.

Ultimately, many of the Grass Dragon's people could not withstand the pollution of forbidden knowledge and were eventually transformed into the dead zone that spread throughout Mount Sumeru.

Next came the journey to find Appepp.

There is a spark of fire guiding it.

The direction we are heading in is still very clear.

Nasita walked in front, with Rhodes beside her, and the people of the grass dragon followed closely behind.

Compared to Rhodes and Narcida.

The closer they got to Appepp's location, the stronger their desire to return to Appepp's body became.

that's it.

They traversed rainforests, crossed deserts, and finally arrived deep in the windswept desert.

Through fire.

Nasita was able to clearly sense the fluctuating strength of Apep.