Meanwhile, in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, while Lumine and the others made their way to the Great Sage's office, Silaya sat cross-legged before the device imprisoning Nahida, her eyes closed and her breathing barely audible.
Her consciousness had already entered the Akasha, where she was executing her plan.
Since the Doctor captured her consciousness within the Akasha, Nahida had immediately sealed her mind to prevent him from extracting any further information.
This very precaution prevented her from sensing Silaya's consciousness entering the Akasha.
Silaya had been brought here by the Doctor two days ago. When she first saw Lesser Lord Kusanali imprisoned, she was shocked, and her first instinct was to rescue her. But Silaya quickly regained her composure.
As long as her plan succeeded, neither Lesser Lord Kusanali nor Greater Lord Rukkhadevata would come to harm.
Inside the Akademiya's Confinement Room:
"Waaah—don't lock us up! Let us out!" Paimon wailed at the top of her lungs. "Waaah—!"
Lumine's head throbbed from the noise. "...Alright, alright, Paimon. The guards can't hear us anymore."
Paimon: "Ah, really? Ehehe... I got a little carried away with the acting. Was my performance impressive earlier?"
Lumine: "A bit below mine."
Paimon: "Ehe, so far, the operation's going smoothly. We made it to the Confinement Room. Alhaitham must have taken care of his part by now, right?"
According to the pre-arranged plan, the group would be discovered by the Great Sage upon arriving at the Akademiya. During the ensuing argument, Alhaitham would seize the opportunity to replace the Canned Knowledge containing the Art Ban in the Great Sage's office with information about Lesser Lord Kusanali's escape.
Afterward, they would publicly violate the Art Ban. Coincidentally, today was Jnagarbha Day, and the Great Sage would inevitably use the occasion to formally enact the Art Ban.
This would trigger the issuance of orders to hunt down Lesser Lord Kusanali, drawing away the Akademiya's guards and making her rescue infinitely easier.
Lumine and Paimon, confined to the Confinement Room, weren't idle either.
Their mission here was to awaken Lesser Lord Kusanali's consciousness, facilitating her subsequent rescue.
The Akasha Terminal Lumine had been wearing all along had been specially modified by Alhaitham. The Confinement Room was located very close to Lesser Lord Kusanali's place of imprisonment, making it an ideal location to awaken her consciousness.
Lumine circled the Confinement Room, testing the signal strength.
Finally, she closed her eyes at the spot with the strongest signal and focused on awakening Nahida's consciousness.
In a pitch-black void, Lumine saw Nahida.
She was about to rush over when she realized an invisible barrier separated them. Lumine shouted at the top of her lungs, but Nahida showed no reaction whatsoever.
"Nahida!"
Lumine pounded on the barrier, desperately trying to get Nahida's attention, but Nahida seemed completely unaware of her presence.
"Hey, Nahida!"
Nahida couldn't hear her words, but Lumine could hear Nahida's voice:
"When did it begin...?"
"...Oh, right. It started the moment I was born."
"I wanted to become a worthy God."
"So I studied tirelessly..."
"Listened endlessly to the voices of my people..."
"Searched relentlessly for a way to save Irminsul..."
"Yearned to catch up to that figure..."
"To catch up to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."
"Yet I was confined to the Sanctuary of Surasthana..."
"The Sages created a new God to replace me..."
"And I was forced to seal my consciousness in boundless darkness."
Nahida's voice was filled with grievance, utterly different from the composed tone Lumine had heard earlier. Now that she knew what the Sages had done, Nahida must be heartbroken.
I've been trying so hard to be a good God...
[The Sages have committed countless atrocities! The Great Sage deserves to die!]
[Poor Nahida...]
[Don't worry, Nahida! We're here to save you! Let's beat the Great Sage to a pulp together!]
[It's not your fault, Nahida. It's the Sages' fault...]
Viewers in the live stream were indignant on Nahida's behalf.
How could such a cute little God be treated like this?
"It's so quiet here..."
Just as Nahida was sinking into endless self-doubt, a voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
"Since you're the God of Wisdom..."
"You've known the answers to those questions all along, haven't you?"
Nahida: "Who... who are you? Whose voice... it sounds so familiar..."
The voice fell silent again. Nahida sighed. "...But you're right. I won't... ignore my own voice any longer."
Outside the barrier, Lumine attacked the barrier with Anemo Elemental Energy, causing a dense network of cracks to spiderweb across its surface. "Nahida—!!!"
With Lumine's shout, the barrier shattered completely. Nahida finally noticed Lumine's presence.
"Traveler? Did you wake me up? Thank you. What are you doing here...?"
"We're here to rescue you. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, but... thinking about everything that's happened to me lately, I just feel so angry."
A smile crept across Lumine's face as she crossed her arms. "...You should have been angry sooner."
Once Nahida's consciousness cleared, she returned to her physical body.
"Is that... Silaya?"
Nahida quickly noticed Silaya sitting cross-legged below her, her eyes filled with confusion.
How did Silaya get here? she wondered. And what is she doing? She seems to be in some kind of trance.
"No, the Akasha... Silaya is using the Akasha, but how could she...?"
A look of concern spread across Nahida's face. She now desperately hoped the Traveler and her companions would rescue her soon.
Meanwhile, Nilou danced the Dance of Sabzeruz in the plaza, her movements light and graceful, captivating scholars and passersby alike. Even the guards were entranced.
Sumeru City hadn't seen such a public performance in ages—a truly rare sight.
The Great Sage, upon learning of this, ordered the Canned Knowledge of the Art Ban to be uploaded to the Akasha, ensuring the guards would know how to react.
What he didn't realize was that Alhaitham had secretly replaced the original Art Ban with another set of information.
The message now circulating through the Akasha read:
Lesser Lord Kusanali had escaped the Sanctuary of Surasthana, and guards were immediately dispatched to search the city.
Upon receiving this news, the guards dared not delay. They mobilized at once and rushed into the city.
Once nearly all the guards had left, Chu Xi stealthily returned to the Akademiya.
As a native of Liyue with a Geo Vision, Azar hadn't imprisoned her with Lumine and Paimon earlier. Instead, he had the guards escort her out.
Now that the guards were gone, she planned to sneak in and free Lumine and Paimon.