"Heh." Dottore chuckled lightly. "The experiment was a success. And now it seems they can barely contain their enthusiasm."
Lumine held her sword, unsure of what to do. After all, the people crowding toward her weren't enemies—they were citizens.
Nahida stepped in front of Lumine. "You two go first. Get out of the city quickly."
Paimon said anxiously, "But that's a Fatui Harbinger! How can we just leave you behind?"
Nahida looked up, her voice filled with unwavering determination. "I can't abandon the people of Sumeru City either."
[Nilou: Believing in the Lesser Lord Kusanali is absolutely the right decision.]
[Paimon: No way. Lumine and I aren't going to just run away, are we?]
[Nahida: The top three Fatui Harbingers possess power rivaling that of gods. Lumine can't defeat him.]
[Paimon: How can that be? She defeated Ei.]
[Yae Miko: That was just Ei's will. The true Musou no Hitotachi can split mountains.]
[Paimon: So the Musou no Hitotachi Lumine blocked was fake?]
[Ei: It wasn't a fake. But I did hold back considerably to prevent the power from endangering Inazuma City.]
[Paimon: So Ei didn't want to harm the people.]
A surge of powerful Dendro energy burst forth, and the people all stopped in their tracks.
Nahida said, "It's alright. I'll meet you outside the city."
Lumine and Paimon nodded, not wasting Nahida's sacrifice, and turned to leave.
Dottore descended step by step from above. "You used your own consciousness to occupy all of their thoughts. Such a powerful consciousness... you must be..."
"The God of Wisdom, I presume."
[Paimon: Ah, that's terrifying!]
[Lumine: Dottore's presence is indeed overwhelming.]
[Tartaglia: I haven't fought Dottore before. But I know he's a complete madman who loves research and manipulating people.]
[Dottore: Badmouthing your own ally in front of outsiders doesn't seem appropriate.]
[Tartaglia: That's an accurate description, not badmouthing.]
Lumine and Paimon ran far away in one breath.
Paimon sighed, "Do you think Nahida will be okay? Thanks to her, we were able to escape."
Lumine said, "I'm not sure about that either. The enemy is indeed formidable. But Nahida can jump between consciousnesses."
Paimon spread her hands. "I never expected to run into a Fatui Harbinger we've never seen before in a place like this. And he's the Second Seat—ranked very high."
"Dottore... I've heard that name before. Setaria mentioned a exiled scholar who returned to the Akademiya."
"Even the Sages are wary of him. It seems that exiled scholar must be Dottore."
Lumine sighed, "We underestimated the complexity of this situation."
Paimon rested her chin on her hand. "Yes. That means this isn't just about what Sumeru's Akademiya is doing anymore. Are the Fatui and the Akademiya working together to do something bad?"
"But what exactly does the Akademiya want? Is the Gnosis still their goal?"
[Paimon: The first time, the Fatui worked with Fontaine's Spina di Rosula to save Fontaine. The second time, the Fatui worked with Inazuma's Tenryou Commission to start a civil war. The third time, they're working with the Akademiya to harm the citizens of an entire nation.]
[Lumine: The order is off. The order we're watching these videos in isn't the chronological order of events. We went to Inazuma first, then Sumeru, then Fontaine.]
[Paimon: Ah, let's just follow the livestream order. I'm getting confused. Are the Fatui good or bad?]
[Lyney: We're definitely good. Father and we have never harmed ordinary people.]
[Ningguang: Each Harbinger should be judged individually.]
Lumine said, "Right now, we need to find a way to meet up with Nahida."
Paimon nodded. "Mm, with Nahida's abilities, things will be much easier."
"But Nahida said to wait for her outside the city. We can't just sit around doing nothing."
Lumine said, "We can continue investigating now. Find other relevant people."
"For example... Tighnari."