They stayed in Gandharva Ville for more than an hour. During that time, Nilou and Dehya learned about Sumeru's recent, almost imperceptible changes from Collei, while Lumine also gained a clearer picture of the overall situation.
To be honest, things were not good, but neither were they utterly disastrous.
The citizens of Sumeru City, and even places like Port Ormos, were largely unaware of what was happening behind the scenes.
People continued their academic research, went to work as usual, and lived their daily lives.
No matter how turbulent the undercurrents were, at the very least, they had not yet directly affected ordinary Sumeru citizens.
From that perspective alone, Sumeru's situation was already far better than Inazuma had been back then.
However, for those who did know the truth, people like Cyno, the current state of Sumeru was anything but optimistic.
No one knew how far Azar's experiments had progressed. Even though Cyno was stationed at the Akademiya day after day, he still had no idea where their laboratories were hidden.
Azar's habit of "consuming people" had not changed at all, and the prisoners in Sumeru's jails would, at most, last another half month.
When that happened, no one knew who Azar would target next.
Overall, based on what Collei knew, there was simply no good news.
The only piece of information that could barely be considered positive was that Alhaitham seemed to have obtained Divine Knowledge Capsules, and then disappeared entirely.
But that was Collei's personal assessment. In the eyes of Cyno and Tighnari, a single Divine Knowledge Capsule did not play a particularly crucial role in the grand scheme of the plan.
Even so, it was still the only tangible gain the resistance had achieved so far.
The way information was currently being exchanged only made things more frustrating.
Alhaitham had vanished without a trace, maintaining only a single-line contact with Tighnari.
Tighnari was hiding in Pardis Dhyai, keeping remote contact with Collei.
Collei, meanwhile, was stationed at Gandharva Ville and remained in contact with Cyno.
In short,
Roundabout, convoluted, and extremely troublesome.
"So why is even passing messages this complicated?"
Lumine rubbed her temples, clearly developing a headache, and spread her hands helplessly.
Collei looked troubled as she explained:
"My mentor said… there's no data related to him or Mr. Alhaitham inside the Akasha Terminal right now."
"But Mr. Cyno's movement patterns have already been almost completely locked by the Akasha. To prevent it from tracing them through Mr. Cyno…"
"Cutting off direct contact is the best option."
Lumine froze for a moment, her expression turning suspicious.
"This sounds… oddly familiar…"
"Mass surveillance? Data privacy leaks? Looks like your Grand Mahamatra doesn't really value personal privacy."
Collei looked awkward, pursed her lips, and muttered softly:
"Mr. Cyno is stationed long-term at the Akademiya and handles academic crimes, so he interacts with the Akasha Terminal far too often."
"Besides, normally speaking, Matras and scholars are always on opposing sides."
"So… this might be why the sages designed things around Mr. Cyno from the start."
After finishing her explanation, Collei saw from Lumine's expression that she probably still hadn't fully understood, but she didn't press the issue.
Instead, she took out another letter and handed it to Lumine.
"Um… this is about the issues I handled in Gandharva Ville recently. You're heading to Pardis Dhyai to find my mentor, right?"
"Could you help pass this along to him? I want him to see whether my handling was appropriate."
"To be honest, this is my first time taking responsibility for something this important, and… I'm not very confident."
Lumine accepted the envelope with a cheerful grin and casually patted Collei on the shoulder.
"Have some confidence! You've already done an amazing job."
"At least from my perspective, Gandharva Ville is running perfectly under your care."
"Keep it up, you'll definitely grow into a reliable adult who can stand on her own!"
Hearing that made Collei beam with joy. She narrowed her eyes and nodded rapidly.
"Thank you, Lumine!"
Dehya carefully noted everything Collei had said, then stood up.
"We've delayed long enough. It's time for us to move on."
"Collei, take care of yourself and protect Gandharva Ville."
"And just like Cyno said, don't go to Sumeru City. No matter who asks, find a way to refuse."
Collei's expression turned serious, and she nodded firmly.
"Don't worry. I understand. You all need to be careful too, my mentor sent word a few days ago that the Fatui have become active again."
Hearing that, Lumine and Dehya exchanged glances. They both understood immediately.
Most likely, that Harbinger, Il Dottore, had arrived.
"Pardis Dhyai is the core research area of Sage Naphis from the Amurta Darshan, my mentor's teacher," Collei added.
"My mentor said that if even Pardis Dhyai falls, then the entire Sumeru rainforest region probably won't have any safe places left."
"So you can relax a little. As long as my mentor is still there, it means Pardis Dhyai is at least safe for now."
"But if you're riding dragons, you must keep a low profile."
Lumine nodded with an expression that clearly said I totally get it.
"Got it, got it! It's Sage Naphis's territory, and other sages want to seize control."
"So if my dragons stir up trouble there, the other sages would have a perfect excuse to intervene, right?"
Collei looked at Lumine with a strange expression.
"That logic… is correct. But why does it sound so weird when you say it?"
"Hehe, it's basically a gang war over territory!"
Lumine blinked, then left with Nilou and Dehya.
They mounted the dragons, and amid Collei's final reminders, the great beasts spread their wings and soared into the sky, vanishing into the clouds in moments.
Collei glanced around at the people of Gandharva Ville.
Ever since problems arose in Sumeru City, very few people from the city had come here.
As Lumine put it, everyone in Gandharva Ville was part of Tighnari's circle.
Letting them handle confidentiality posed no issues at all.
Collei gazed into the distance for a moment, then withdrew her eyes and resumed arranging forest patrols.
Tighnari was away.
Her Eleazar had been cured.
During this period, Collei had grown remarkably.
….
Twilight Forest
This time, the portal once again opened in the Firefly Forest.
Even though everyone had already seen the scenery of the Firefly Forest before, stepping into it again still made them instinctively sigh at its tranquil beauty. The forest was quiet and ethereal, bathed in soft, glowing light.
If there was any flaw at all, it was the lack of cicada calls and birdsong, which made the place feel a little too still, almost lifeless.
Ryen took out the magical map and glanced at it. It was still usable, but all the previously recorded regions of the Twilight Forest had been completely reset to zero.
"In simple terms…"
He closed the map and spread his hands.
"We have to explore everything from scratch again. It'll probably take even longer this time."
Before Ningguang or the others could respond, Guizhong suddenly started shouting excitedly.
"So pretty! I love this place!"
"I want to build a dream house here! I want to live here!"
She ran around noisily, sometimes stopping beneath towering canopy trees to marvel at their height, sometimes crouching by the roadside to gently poke the glowing firefly lanterns.
Keqing withdrew her gaze and looked thoughtfully at Ryen.
"If the entire Twilight Forest has been reset…"
"Then will that druid mage we met before, the one wielding a master-level lightning staff, appear again?"
Ryen froze for a moment, then frowned slightly.
"Hard to say. It's probably down to probability. Don't get your hopes up."
"But no matter what, the goblin inside the Final Castle will definitely still be there."
"That means, at the very least, we're guaranteed one master-level staff, a full set of Witchery equipment, and one katana."
As soon as he said that, everyone's spirits lifted.
If it were just a master-level staff tied to Twilight Forest magic, it wouldn't be especially important to them at this stage. What really mattered was the elemental power amplification that came with such a staff.
But if it was a Witchery master-level staff,
That was a whole different story.
Just the sheer variety of master-tier spells alone was enough to make anyone excited. And then there was the katana…
If that katana happened to possess spatial attributes, then this run would be an absolute jackpot.
"Let's move," Ryen said, putting the map away.
"Don't forget, this is a speedrun."
He looked at Ganyu. She nodded in understanding and, following her intuition, pointed in a certain direction.
No one wasted time. Zhongli and Azhdaha moved ahead with shields raised, Ryen brought up the rear, and the group advanced forward at full momentum.
Ei gripped her katana tightly, staying close to Makoto, her body tense and alert, constantly scanning the surroundings for danger.
Makoto couldn't help but feel a little amused.
"There's no need to be this nervous, Ei. Ryen said the Firefly Forest is the safest area in the Twilight Forest. No monsters can spawn here."
Ei shook her head, her expression serious.
"You may have arrived in this world earlier than I did, but you were revived here, you don't fully understand it yet."
"The Twilight Forest is filled with unimaginable dangers. Our strength is heavily suppressed here."
"You're not good at combat, Makoto. If something really happens, it could be dangerous."
Makoto puffed out her cheeks and shot Ei a dissatisfied look.
No matter what, she was still a god. Even if she wasn't combat-oriented, she was carrying several Totems of Undying and an advanced-tier staff. It wasn't that easy for her to get into trouble.
Still, seeing Ei's concern, Makoto decided not to argue.
Meanwhile, Guizhong was still fiddling with the firefly lanterns. Ryen walked over and casually knocked her hand away.
"Keep up. This place isn't Teyvat or the Overworld. If you fall behind, you'll get yourself into trouble."
Guizhong pouted.
"I know, I know! You're more rigid than Moraxas! You could've just said it, why knock down my streetlight?!"
Ryen chuckled and flicked her forehead lightly.
"You don't appreciate kindness. Don't you like these things? Knock it down now, when we get back, I'll put it in your room as a night lamp."
Instantly, Guizhong beamed. She grabbed Ryen's arm, looking delighted.
"I knew you were the best, Ryen!"
Ryen shook his head, saying nothing more. He guided Guizhong back into the main group and reminded her:
"You and Makoto aren't suited for direct combat. When we encounter powerful monsters later, stay outside and watch over Klee and Nahida."
"What do you mean 'not suited for combat'?!"
Guizhong glared at him indignantly.
"Don't you trust the combat effects you designed for me?"
Ryen shrugged.
"Honestly, we both know the truth. Those skills are art, but not the kind of art that defeats enemies."
"If you had my level of strength, I wouldn't mind letting you fight."
"Even just standing there using visual effects would be enough to decorate the battlefield."
Guizhong stuck out her tongue, laughing.
"I'm just joking! I don't want to fight anyway! Your world's monsters are way too ugly. Who knows how terrifying the powerful ones in the Twilight Forest are!"
Ryen shrugged again. On that point, she wasn't wrong.
Just the first enemy they'd face, the Naga, was already hideous enough.
Even hanging that thing on a wall as a trophy would probably give him nightmares.