Unraveling the Tale of Genshin Impact: Narzissenkreuz Institute - Part 3

The twists of fate have pushed the childhood friends of Narzissenkreuz Institute far apart, only to reunite them once again at Fontaine's Academy of Natural Philosophy. But now they are no longer carefree children, but must face the grim news that the world may be in its final stages.

• Genshin Impact Storyline: Narzissenkreuz Institute (Part 1)
• Genshin Impact Storyline: Narzissenkreuz Institute (Part 2)

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The Madness Preceding Catastrophe

Stunned by his latest discovery of the world's impending doom, Rene resolves to establish a clandestine organization within the heart of the Academy, hoping to find a way to avert the disaster. Thus, the Narzissenkreuz Society was born. While Rene invites his closest friends to join, both Alain and Mary-Ann disagree with Rene's research direction and refuse to contribute to the Narzissenkreuz Society.

So what does Rene intend to do to prevent the catastrophe? As we know, Rene and Jakob turned to Elynas' corpse after this colossal creature committed suicide to pursue their new research. Rene aims to create a new, powerful 'human' strain capable of resisting the apocalypse by continuously digesting Elynas' flesh and blood.

During this research, Carter's health deteriorates rapidly. Rene decides to be honest with Carter and proposes to treat him similarly to Jakob. Carter agrees, but instead of being successfully treated and becoming a superhero-like being, Carter's body collapses into a mass of gooey flesh emitting gruesome sounds. Rene severs Carter's vocal cords, but in vain – Carter now possesses an immensely powerful regeneration ability, and this wound may heal within a few days. It seems Rene attempted to reverse his 'treatment' plan but failed.

Knowing what happened to Carter, Alain and Mary-Ann decide to sever all ties with Jakob and Rene. But the failure of Carter's treatment not only causes Rene to lose his closest friends. It also makes him realize that the plan to turn humans into superheroes to counter the apocalypse is entirely unfeasible – what happened to Jakob was an exception, not the norm. Rene and Jakob devise a new plan: to harness the power of the Origin Sea.

To achieve this, the two researchers return to the ruins of Narzissenkreuz Institute submerged deep underwater. Here, they encounter the Water Spirit Lyris and successfully persuade her to assist them. Rene seeks to create a new 'Water Spirit' with the ability to preserve the intellect and personality of all Fontaine's people to survive through the apocalypse. Jakob leaves behind a feather, a cherished memento of Mrs. Basil, atop the ruins of Narzissenkreuz Institute.

Rene's new research plan involves finding a way to utilize the Origin Sea to dissolve human bodies while retaining the soul, freeing them from the constraints of fragile flesh and blood. Rene volunteers as the first experimental subject, shedding the burden of his humanity – including the pocket watch gifted by Alain. He's even unsure of the experiment's outcome but believes that if it fails, it would mean liberation from worries about the future.

Scientist Rene is completely dissolved after the ritual's conclusion. However, he doesn't perish. Instead, he merges with Lyris to become the 'Master,' the new leader of the Narzissenkreuz Society. Not content with just that, the Master continues to absorb the knowledge of many others to continually grow stronger, hoping to eventually absorb all of Fontaine's people, assisting the nation in overcoming the impending doom. Among those absorbed are Alain and Mary-Ann's foster father, Emmanuel Guillotin, as well as Marfisa – Fontaine's Representative Duelist at that time.

During these experiments, the Master realizes that he can implant the thoughts of those dissolved into machine bodies, such as those crafted by Alain. Thus, the Narzissenkreuz Society once again approaches Alain, hoping he'll craft machine bodies to house the souls of the dissolved, but Alain flatly refuses.

The Final Reunion

'The Master,' Jakob, and other members of the Narzissenkreuz Society continue their research within Elynas's body, believing that the only way to completely prevent future disasters is to dissolve all the people of Fontaine into water. They begin preparations for the final ritual, but Alain and Mary-Ann timely thwart the Master's ambitions by leading the Dimensional Breakers into Elynas's body to destroy the Narzissenkreuz Society.

However, the battle within Elynas's body still wreaks irreversible consequences. Mary-Ann dies in this battle, but perhaps it's because of this that Lyris changes her mind and decides to abandon the Narzissenkreuz Society. Lyris absorbs Mary-Ann's consciousness and creates a Water Eidolon named Mary-Ann and the Annapausis region we encountered in the Ann mission of Narzissenkreuz. This is perhaps a tomb carrying a part of Mary-Ann's consciousness, with the wish to return to carefree childhood days.

In addition to absorbing Mary-Ann, Lyris also triggers a tremendous explosion, killing all members of the Narzissenkreuz Society, causing the 'Master' to disintegrate. This explosion blows apart the machinery, injuring Elynas's body, and the Melusine species is born from Elynas's flesh and the scattered machinery – the 'tokens' they hold within them. Elynas sees this new race as her daughters, but the Melusine gradually lose the ability to heed the voice of their 'father.'

After the battle, Alain stands as the sole survivor of the once close-knit group of friends, and the grief drives him to immerse himself in his own projects at the Fontaine Institute of Science. Alain dedicates his entire life to research, and by the time the revered scientist passes away, he leaves behind legacies whose true utility remains unknown to present-day Fontaineans.