Dehya and Nilou exchanged a long glance.
To be honest, if she could choose again, Dehya wished she had never come here tonight.
But if she hadn't, she would never have learned what the Akademiya was plotting,
never have discovered Alhaitham and Cyno's counter-plan,
and whatever happened next might have swept the entire nation into ruin.
The desert would not have been spared.
With a frustrated tug of her hair, Dehya organized her thoughts.
"Anyway… no matter what happens, the reason Nilou and I came out tonight was for one thing, my lady's Eleazar."
"We'll go to Gandharva Ville first and confirm it for ourselves.
If Collei's Eleazar truly has been cured, then we'll head to Liyue."
Alhaitham nodded without comment.
The more cautious Dehya was, the better.
They were about to challenge a political system that had stood for over a thousand years.
If Dehya were the careless sort, Alhaitham would never dare involve her.
"As for the Sabzeruz Festival…"
Dehya glanced at Nilou.
Nilou shook her head gently.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali isn't here… but the Sabzeruz Festival belongs to her alone."
"If your plan succeeds, this year could become the grandest celebration in five centuries."
"Once the Akademiya is dealt with, the festival should have no obstacles left."
Alhaitham inclined his head.
"There's no conflict.
As long as Azar falls, Cyno, Tighnari, and I will stabilize the Akademiya.
The Sabzeruz Festival can proceed as usual."
Nilou finally allowed a small breath of relief.
"That's good… truly good."
Dehya continued:
"We'll return first.
I'll speak with my lady, and Nilou will settle her own matters.
We'll leave tonight, first to Gandharva Ville."
"If everything checks out, we'll go to Liyue, find the cure, and bring back the Traveler."
Alhaitham paused briefly.
"In that case… we can consider ourselves temporary allies."
Dehya snorted.
"If possible, I really wouldn't choose to ally with someone who schemes every waking moment."
Alhaitham ignored the complaint.
"As allies, I have a warning."
"When you leave Sumeru City, do not wear your Akasha Terminals.
Do not let your behavioral patterns or personal data feed into the system."
"Otherwise, the Akasha will predict your every move."
Dehya laughed coldly.
"The Akasha?
You Akademiya types think desert folk don't deserve it.
Why would it even store my data?"
Nilou added:
"People from the Grand Bazaar aren't acknowledged by the Akademiya either.
Even if we had Akasha Terminals, the knowledge we can access is limited, which proves the system barely keeps records on us."
Alhaitham and Cyno exchanged a knowing look.
"Another unintentional stroke of luck…"
"In any case, my second warning."
Alhaitham's expression sharpened.
"You must move quickly.
We have to eliminate Azar before the Sabzeruz Festival."
Dehya frowned.
"There's not even a month left.
Going to Liyue takes time, you're cutting it way too close."
Alhaitham sighed.
"I know. But there's no helping it."
"First,
The Sabzeruz Festival is Lesser Lord Kusanali's birthday.
She has been imprisoned for five hundred years.
There will be resentment in her heart."
"And her friends are displeased with us as well.
If we handle this poorly, the Archons will not look kindly upon Sumeru."
"Restoring the festival is the least we owe her."
Dehya and Nilou nodded quietly.
Even if it wasn't their fault personally, Sumeru had wronged Nahida,
they should be the ones to make amends.
Alhaitham continued:
"Second…"
He drew a handwritten document from his cloak.
"Azar plans to use the Akasha on the day of the festival,
to tap into the collective consciousness of every citizen in Sumeru City
and compute 'divine knowledge.'"
The meaning was unclear to both women, but nothing about it sounded harmless.
Accessing the minds of the citizens…
How could that ever benefit the people?
"I acquired this through… certain methods from the Akasha's hidden archives."
Hearing that, Dehya glanced at Cyno with raised brows.
"Your scribe is committing crimes right in front of you.
And the great General Mahamatra just watches?"
Cyno remained expressionless.
"Exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures."
Dehya clicked her tongue.
"Fine then.
Just tell me, what's the danger?"
Alhaitham's voice dropped.
"Tapping into the citizens' consciousness through the Akasha puts severe strain on their bodies."
"Healthy individuals may suffer exhaustion or cognitive weakness."
"But for Eleazar patients,
someone like Dunyarzad at her current stage,
it is absolutely fatal."
"Her body cannot withstand the burden."
"If Azar is not stopped before the festival, the experiment will proceed."
"Every late-stage Eleazar patient in Sumeru City… will die."
Dehya's brows drew tight, her eyes flickering with cold rage.
"A bunch of animals…"
There weren't countless late-stage patients,
but the number still reached into the hundreds.
Hundreds who could survive,
who could be saved in Liyue,
would instead be sacrificed to some deranged experiment.
"They've completely lost their minds,"
Alhaitham said quietly.
"We'll prepare a second plan.
In the coming days, we'll try to move late-stage Eleazar patients out of the city ahead of time."
"I hope this contingency never needs to be used."
Alhaitham paused for a moment, exchanged a brief glance with Cyno, and after the General Mahamatra gave a slight nod, he continued.
There was a hint of resignation in Alhaitham's tone.
"This isn't something I particularly want to tell you… but since we're allies now, you deserve to know.
It concerns the people around you as well."
"When Lesser Lord Kusanali was taken away by her… 'godly friend,' something else happened.
That being delivered a curse upon Azar."
"Azar has become a man-eating monster."
Dehya's expression stiffened.
"You mean, "
"Exactly what it sounds like," Alhaitham said, looking away.
"Azar is literally eating humans."
"His secretary was already devoured. Recently the prison has been quietly transferring death-row inmates under the excuse of 'cooperating with research.'"
"All of them were fed to Azar. Cyno has found evidence."
"But Sumeru doesn't have many criminals sentenced to death.
Soon, he may go after ordinary citizens."
"So be careful.
Don't spread this news, but warn the people close to you."
"During this period, refuse any invitation from the Akademiya, unless it comes from us.
Especially if it's from the Matra or the Corps of Thirty."
A cold shiver crawled up both Dehya's and Nilou's backs.
"Eating people… he really has…"
"He really has become a monster!"
Dehya steadied her breathing.
"I understand."
She exchanged a heavy glance with Nilou. There was no longer any point lingering.
"We'll return and make preparations. We leave immediately."
Alhaitham handed her a crystalline anchor.
"Use the Teleport Waypoint. Time is precious."
The two women accepted it silently and vanished into the darkness.
Only Cyno and Alhaitham remained.
The night wind swept across the cliff edge as they stood looking out toward Sumeru City, glowing like a lantern suspended in the great tree's boughs.
Neither spoke for a long while.
Eventually, Alhaitham murmured:
"Tomorrow morning, I depart.
By then, I'll likely be secretly placed on the wanted list.
I won't be coming back."
Cyno inclined his head.
"I'll watch Azar from within the Akademiya.
No need to report your movements to me.
If anything changes, I'll send word to Tighnari."
"From now on, he's the only one who can contact you."
Alhaitham shook his head.
"Don't rely too much on that. Since your data has been recorded, Azar has already marked you."
"He won't trust you.
He trusts the Akasha."
Cyno did not argue. After a while, he said quietly:
"When they return… should I keep Nilou in the Grand Bazaar and escort Dehya out of the city?"
"You'll have to judge for yourself," Alhaitham replied.
"Just don't meet within Sumeru City's range."
"The Traveler must not have her data recorded in the Akasha.
Ideally, the system shouldn't even realize she exists."
Cyno's gaze cooled.
"Then… there will be far more 'academic criminals' in the coming days."
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary methods," Alhaitham said without looking back.
"You don't need me to teach you that."
He stepped into the darkness.
"If anything happens, contact Tighnari directly.
We should not meet again."
"Your role is critical.
I'm counting on you to manage the Akademiya from the inside."
"If things fall apart… and Azar targets us both,
you can fight your way out, yes?"
Cyno did not turn around.
"The Corps of Thirty can't stop me."
"Good."
Alhaitham's footsteps halted briefly.
"Remember the timing.
No matter what happens, everything must be resolved before the Sabzeruz Festival."
Then:
"And beware the Fatui,
especially the Doctor.
That madman never plays by the rules."
"He's far beyond anything the three of us can confront directly.
Until the Traveler arrives, avoid any encounter."
"I'll tell Tighnari once I retrieve the canned Knowledge of the gods.
We'll divert the Doctor's attention however we can."
"One more thing.
Track down the two sages who didn't participate in the God-Creation Plan."
"After we overthrow Azar, we'll need them to stabilize the Akademiya.
I don't want to be stuck doing that kind of bureaucratic nonsense."
Cyno's voice was low, almost amused.
"You're quite confident."
Alhaitham's faint smile appeared in the darkness.
"What else is there to be?"
"Aside from victory…
we have no other choice."
~~----------------------
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