Genshin Impact: I, Heavenly Principle, Will Make Teyvat Supreme

Chapter 138 - Lumine: My God, This World Is Unfathomably Deep

"Hurry, hurry! Waaaah, I'm scared that Lumine will be killed by that unknown god!"

Paimon was frantic, her tiny hands pushing against Noah's shoulders as tears streamed down her face like pearls.

Noah grabbed hold of Paimon's starry cloak, lifting her up like a dangling fish. "Panicking won't help. Let's go, little Paimon."

Then, he turned his gaze toward Sangonomiya Kokomi. "Ornamental fish, lead the way."

Kokomi quickly straightened up and nodded. "Yes, Lord Noah." Hearing his unique nickname for her, she couldn't help but recall their previous interactions. Back then, she had foolishly speculated that he might want her to become his shrine maiden.

But he had said that only those who ascended to godhood would be eligible... Yet she was just an ordinary human. Becoming a god was out of reach.

As Noah casually strolled down from the Grand Narukami Shrine, Paimon fidgeted anxiously. "Hey! You're taking your time! What if Lumine—"

Before she could finish, Noah smirked and interrupted, "Paimon, Lumine isn't here to protect you right now. If you don't behave, I just might eat you."

Paimon clamped her hands over her mouth, shaking her head furiously. "Mmmph! Mmmph!" Now she remembered—last time, he had nearly eaten her! Lumine had reassured her it was just a joke, but... she wasn't so sure anymore.

Waaah, Lumine... hurry back! This is too scary!

Watching Noah tease Paimon, Kokomi stifled a giggle. Lord Noah is just as mischievous as ever.

But then... her thoughts took a strange turn. Surely, he wouldn't actually eat Paimon, right? No... but then again...

Her cheeks burned as her mind spiraled into absurd thoughts. Wait, Paimon is so tiny, how would that even...?

Before she could drown in her own imagination, she suddenly felt Noah's gaze on her. His golden eyes shimmered with amusement, and she froze, her entire face turning as red as a cooked shrimp.

Oh no, oh no! He can read thoughts! I was thinking nonsense again!

Noah chuckled. "Not bad. You're about to unlock your fourth Stella Fortuna. If you complete a couple more missions, you might ascend. At that point, I'll take you as my shrine maiden, ornamental fish."

Then, his smirk deepened. "I'd like to see you swim."

Kokomi's mind went completely blank, steam practically rising from her head. Her eyes spun in circles. W-what is he saying?! He wants to see me... swim?!

She had yet to be informed about the World Assimilation Plan and had no idea what he meant by Stella Fortuna or missions. Her brain only registered his last sentence, and it nearly short-circuited her entirely.

Paimon, meanwhile, wiped her tears, watching Kokomi spiral into a meltdown. She swallowed nervously. I'm better off staying quiet. If I make him mad, I might really get eaten...

...

After descending from the Grand Narukami Shrine, Noah's group reached Inazuma City, where they spotted Nahida talking with Kamisato Ayaka.

Nahida had been curious about Inazuma's culture and had asked to learn more about it.

Since she looked like a child, she had drawn Ayaka's attention. The noblewoman had assumed she was a lost child and, upon noticing her elf-like features, mistook her for a young youkai.

As a result, the two had quickly become friends.

Nahida had already met Barbatos in Mondstadt and learned from his example. She chose not to reveal her divine status and instead let others make their own assumptions about her identity.

After all, while gods were numerous in Teyvat, they still remained somewhat distant from the everyday lives of the people.

...

Noah wasn't actually walking at a leisurely pace. In a flash, they arrived at Watatsumi Island, specifically at the entrance to the ancient Byakuyakoku ruins.

A massive vortex had formed there, slowly rotating. Its speed was sluggish—anyone who accidentally fell in could likely swim back up without trouble.

From within the vortex, eerie howls echoed, sending a chill down their spines.

"Aaaaaaah...!"

Noah grabbed Paimon and leaped into the vortex, causing the tiny companion to scream in terror.

Beneath the swirling maelstrom lay what was once Enkanomiya, now transformed into a gateway to the Underworld—an eternal resting place. The once-feral Bathysmal Vishaps had become denizens of this realm, no longer attacking intruders but instead preying on wicked spirits attempting to escape the Underworld.

Their deep, guttural roars echoed throughout the cavernous expanse, reverberating off the stone walls. This, then, was the eerie sound that had unsettled the people of Watatsumi Island.

Paimon clung to Noah's sleeve, her voice trembling. "Waaah! That sound is so scary! When I ran out of here alone earlier, I was terrified!"

Noah smirked. "Did you wet yourself?"

Paimon immediately puffed up with indignation. "Of course not! Paimon would never do that!"

Noah clicked his tongue. "Lumine is really reckless. This place is called the Land of Rest—it's one of the few surface connections to the Underworld. Even gods must follow the Underworld's laws to enter."

Paimon shuddered. "The Underworld? You mean that place where everyone goes when they die?!"

Noah's smile turned mischievous. "Exactly. And if you follow me in there, and I happen to be in a bad mood, I might just leave you behind."

Paimon's grip tightened as she clung desperately to his sleeve. "I-I'll be good! I'll be really, really good! Please don't leave me there!"

Noah rolled his eyes. "Compared to my Istaroth, you're not obedient at all. She always listens to me without question."

For some reason, Paimon suddenly felt competitive. "T-That's not true! I'm way more useful than that little troublemaker! I'm the best!"

Noah's smirk widened. "Oh? Prove it."

Paimon froze, her confidence instantly crumbling. Wait... how do I even prove that?

...

Meanwhile, in the Underworld...

The capital city of the Underworld was vast, rivaling the size of any of Teyvat's seven great nations. Its architecture bore the influence of all seven regions, divided into separate districts, each responsible for governing a different segment of the Underworld's domains.

At the city's center lay a colossal, multicolored vortex over a thousand meters wide—the Cycle of Reincarnation.

Beneath this vortex stood the Palace of the Underworld, the residence of the realm's Primary Gods.

To maintain order, Malikata had enlisted scholars from each of the seven nations—deceased individuals who had been granted a sliver of divine power to serve as record-keepers, akin to officials of the afterlife.

Furthermore, Malikata had brought the Pari into the Underworld, appointing them as emissaries to deliver her decrees.

Any particularly virtuous souls who had died with great merit were given a choice: they could either be rewarded with reincarnation or remain to aid in the development of the Underworld.

At this very moment, Lumine was among those unwillingly recruited, forced to assist the Pari in managing records of the deceased from various worlds.

With her head spinning from exhaustion, Lumine groaned, "How did this even happen?! Even if they're making me work to atone, did they really have to seal my elemental powers?!"

She had, once again, been stripped of her abilities by an unfamiliar god.

Is this some kind of joke?!

Not only had they sealed her power, but they had also sentenced her to a thousand years of labor before she would be released.

A thousand years?!

Her head throbbed just thinking about it.

Although she was immortal and had no idea how long she would live, a thousand years was simply too long.

She never expected that beneath Watatsumi Island lay a passage to the legendary underworld, an actual realm of reincarnation. Even with all her travels across countless worlds, she had never encountered a place with a functional afterlife system like this.

Not even the vast universe she had explored before had anything remotely similar.

Though she hadn't been violently beaten upon capture, her powers had been sealed. Now, she was forced to work alongside the Pari, carrying records of the dead to the god overseeing reincarnation. She had already been moving stacks of these records for an entire day. When she got hungry, all she was allowed to consume was dew from the flowers, just like the spirits.

No, this can't be happening—at the very least, can't they give me some real food?

Gurgle...

Thinking about the feast she had enjoyed in Inazuma, Lumine's stomach rumbled in protest, her expression one of sheer despair.

While she wouldn't die from starvation, the hunger was unbearable.

"Golden-haired Traveler, these are the death records from Parallel Earth 1 and Parallel Earth 3, East Asian Region. They must be delivered to the Great Lord of the Underworld."

A pink Pari fluttered in front of her, carrying a large stack of records. The spirit's tone was serious.

"Golden-haired Traveler, under no circumstances should you lose or damage these records. They document the deeds of the deceased—their virtues and sins."

"The Great Lord will determine their reincarnations based on these documents."

"If a single record is lost, it could affect the fate of tens of thousands of souls."

"Though we could rewrite them if necessary, once a soul is wrongly reincarnated, the consequences are severe."

Lumine sighed in resignation. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. If I lose them, I'll be thrown into the Abyss, right?"

Back in Mondstadt, she had believed the Abyss was simply the enemy faction of Teyvat. But as more of the truth was revealed, she realized it was far more terrifying.

The Abyss was the world's dumping ground for everything unwanted—the prison, the purgatory, the ultimate void.

And her annoying older brother was locked inside it.

Which raised the question: What exactly had he done to deserve that?

Rumor had it that the Abyss had been completely sealed by Celestia, with no possible way in or out.

So that meant her brother was trapped inside—possibly forever.

Had she been told this back in Mondstadt, she wouldn't have believed it. But after witnessing the sheer scale of power in Teyvat, she had no choice but to acknowledge the terrifying reality.

When she was in Liyue, she had thought that if she had her full strength, she could probably take down one or two of the Seven Archons.

But then she arrived in Inazuma and felt the raw power of its twin gods.

Good heavens, even at her peak, she wouldn't stand a chance against them. The sheer disparity in strength was absurd—ten, maybe twenty times her power. They could likely cleave an entire continent in half with a single swing of their weapons.

So... Zhongli and Venti had been humoring her all along?

And now, after being captured and dragged into the underworld, her worldview had been shattered yet again.

Teyvat wasn't just a world—it was an entire universe. And not just any universe, but one that contained parallel dimensions.

Most shocking of all, these parallel universes had Earth in them.

Multiple parallel Earths.

What the hell—?!

The depths of this world were truly unfathomable.

Lumine held the stack of records, nearly as tall as her own body, with a look of utter despair. "I'm doomed. I'm just like my stupid brother—I got myself into trouble."

She figured her brother must have gotten into a similar situation, unknowingly breaking some kind of rule, and then being sentenced to hard labor.

And knowing him, he must have thought he could just fight his way out. But he had underestimated the depths of this world. Before he could even escape Teyvat's main world, the so-called Sustainer of Heavenly Principles had slapped him right back where he started.

...

Underworld Divine Palace

This palace was built entirely by Malikata's divine power. It was immense, even larger than the King Deshret's pyramid tomb, and bustled with the spirits of the dead who had been granted minor divine authority to serve as underworld officials.

Pari flitted in and out, carrying stacks of records, ensuring the smooth operation of the cycle of reincarnation.

At the highest level of the palace, Malikata, now donned in her full divine regalia, sat reviewing and processing the records. Each document determined the fate of the departed—who would be rewarded, who would be punished, and who would be granted a new life.

Every day, over a hundred million souls arrived in the underworld. For a being embodying the very essence of divine order, this task, though vast, was effortlessly manageable. As the universe stabilized, the strength of the gods grew accordingly, steadily approaching the limits of Teyvat's expanding cosmic equilibrium.

Lumine looked up in awe at the mountain of records—hundreds of meters tall—spinning in an intricate vortex around the Underworld's Supreme Goddess.

She had witnessed this sight twice now, but it was still utterly mind-blowing.

And every single day, such mountains of records were processed, documenting the countless souls passing through the cycle of death and rebirth in Teyvat's universe.

Even the most advanced supercomputers would pale in comparison to this level of efficiency.

Lumine shook her head, deciding to just accept the overwhelming reality before her. "Alright, I'll just pretend I understand what it means to be a god who embodies the fundamental laws of existence."

The processed records were then collected by a veiled maiden, who redistributed them among the underworld officials responsible for guiding the souls into reincarnation.

The entire process was seamless.

Though she had only been here for two days, Lumine had already figured out how the Underworld operated.

Lumine hesitated for a moment before speaking awkwardly, "Um, Lord of the Underworld , I really didn't mean to break into the underworld. I had no idea what it was. I'm willing to work off my sentence, but could you reduce the time just a little?"

Malikata looked down at Lumine with a cold gaze. "Hmph! Trespassing in the Underworld—according to the laws set by the Lord Heavenly Principle, your punishment should have been eternal banishment into the Abyss, never to reincarnate."

"However, you carry the presence of the Lord Heavenly Principle. I don't know what your connection to him is, which is why I have only given you a 'light' punishment of a mere thousand years."

Deep inside, though, Malikata felt a little resentful.

"Ahh... Lord Heavenly Principle, when will you visit me?"

"Even if it's just to say a single word to me, I'd be content."

As Malikata indulged in her grievance, the sound of footsteps echoed through the divine palace.

Both she and Lumine turned toward the source.

But that was odd—everyone here was either a spirit or a floral entity. There shouldn't be any footsteps.

When she saw who it was, Malikata's expression instantly changed to one of pure joy. The space around her shimmered, blooming into a sea of radiant flowers reflecting her overwhelming excitement.

Lumine, on the other hand, widened her eyes in sheer disbelief.

"It's you! And—Paimon?!"

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