The days following the liberation of Lesser Lord Kusanali passed in a blur of swift, decisive justice. The Akademiya, once the ivory tower of unchecked ambition, was turned inside out.
Cyno, the General Mahamatra, was a terrifying force of nature. He swept through the halls of the Sages, his polearm gleaming, his silence far more intimidating than any shout. Grand Sage Azar and Sage Khajeh were apprehended in their offices, stripped of their robes and their dignity. The complicit guards of the Corps of Thirty surrendered without a fight.
The innocent Sages—Naphis of Amurta and the others who had been imprisoned for refusing to participate in the blasphemy—were released from the dungeons, blinking in the sunlight, greeted by a relieved Tighnari and Alhaitham.
The judgment, when it came, was swift.
In the main hall of the Akademiya, Nahida sat not on a throne, but on a simple chair, surrounded by the Matra. She looked at the men who had imprisoned her for five hundred years. There was no hate in her eyes, only a profound, disappointed sadness.
"Wisdom is not a tool for domination," she told them, her voice soft but echoing with absolute authority. "It is a light to guide others. You have lost your way in the dark."
She decreed their punishment. Not execution, and not imprisonment in the very cages they had built.
"You will go to the Avidya Forest," she commanded. "You will live among the trees, tend to the earth, and learn the value of life from the bottom up. You will learn that wisdom comes not from the Akasha, but from the world itself."
It was a merciful sentence. Perhaps too merciful for some.
Ningguang stood off to the side, arms crossed, watching Azar being led away in simple traveler's clothes. She stepped forward, blocking his path for a brief moment.
"You are fortunate, Azar," she said, her voice a low, cold purr that made the disgraced sage flinch. "Your Archon is kind. Had this been a Liyue court… the price for targeting the Tianquan, for imprisoning a diplomat, and for threatening my ward…"
She let the sentence hang, unfinished and terrifying. She smiled, a sharp, predatory expression. "Enjoy the forest. And pray you never cross paths with Liyue again."
It was a small, petty satisfaction, but watching Azar pale and stumble as he was dragged away was a balm to her indignance.
A few days later, a gathering took place on the stage of the Grand Bazaar, specifically booked for the purpose. It was a victory celebration, but the mood was contemplative.
The group was an eclectic mix of nations and stations. Ningguang and Lisa sat with tea. Lumine and Paimon were devouring a plate of Baklava. Cyno and Tighnari stood near the edge, discussing the restructuring of the Akademiya. Alhaitham sat in a corner, reading a book, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. Nilou was chatting happily with a very nervous Collei, who looked around the gathering of powerful figures with wide, anxious eyes, feeling distinctly out of place until Ren gave her a reassuring wave.
And in the center, Nahida and Ren sat together.
Ren recounted the events inside the dreamscape of Irminsul to everyone. He described the illusion of the burning tree, the younger Dottore, and the desperate battle. He spoke of the scythe of ice and the terrifying speed of the Harbinger.
When he finished, a hush fell over the terrace.
"The Second Harbinger," Ningguang murmured, setting her tea down. "Our intelligence designates him as a monster. A being who, in his prime, possesses power comparable to that of the gods themselves. For you to face him, Ren, and survive… it speaks volumes of your growth."
Ren shook his head, looking down at his hands. "He wasn't serious, Lady Ningguang. He was… playing. Testing data. If he had wanted to kill me instantly, he probably could have. He underestimated me, and he was distracted by his own experiment."
"Still," Cyno rumbled, his arms crossed. "Surviving a Harbinger is a feat few can claim."
"But there is something else," Ren said, his brow furrowing. "Something about the fight with Scaramouche. Lumine… you said he was weak. Sluggish."
"Yeah," Lumine nodded, wiping crumbs from her mouth. "It was weird. Big robot, big speech, but when it came to fighting… it felt like he was running on fumes. His shields broke easily. His attacks were slow."
"That's because he didn't have a Gnosis," Ren said. "The Electro Gnosis is with the Tsaritsa, that would have been his ideal heart. And we now know Dottore stole the Dendro Gnosis before the fight even started."
He looked at Nahida. "So what was powering that machine? A god-suit that big requires an immense energy source. Ley lines alone wouldn't be stable enough."
Nahida's expression turned grave. She waved her hand, and a small, holographic projection appeared in the air. It showed the wreckage of the Shouki no Kami.
"We analyzed the core," Nahida said softly. "The power source… it was a mechanism. A large, intricate lattice of crystal marrow and noctilucous jade, designed to siphon ambient elemental energy and amplify it."
Ren felt the blood drain from his face. The description. It was familiar. Too familiar.
"It was a Conduit," Ren whispered, horror dawning on him. "My design."
The realization hit him like a physical blow.
"Dottore," Ren said, his voice trembling. "While he was there… while he was in Liyue… he must have seen my designs. Or atleast deduced them. He reverse-engineered the man-made Vision technology."
He looked at Ningguang, his eyes wide. "He took my idea—a device meant to help people wield elements safely—and he upscaled it. He turned it into a giant engine to power a mechanical god."
Silence descended on the terrace.
"That explains the inefficiency," Alhaitham spoke up from his corner, closing his book. "Upscaling a device designed for micro-regulation to macro-output without the proper stabilizing agents… it would result in massive energy loss. That is why the Balladeer was weak. The engine was leaking power faster than it could generate it. It was a crude imitation."
"So," Tighnari said, his ears flattening. "The fight… it was all a show?"
Ren nodded slowly, the pieces falling into place. "A distraction. The entire thing. The Samsara, the God Creation project… Dottore didn't care if Scaramouche succeeded. He just needed chaos."
He looked at Nahida. "While we were fighting the younger segment in the tree, and while Lumine was fighting the robot… the Prime Dottore had already left. He knew Nahida could track the Dendro Gnosis as long as it was in Sumeru. So he created a massive, flashy diversion to keep the God of Wisdom occupied while he smuggled the Gnosis out of the country."
"He sacrificed his own segment," Nahida said, her voice sad. "He sacrificed the Balladeer. All to secure the Gnosis and… verify his hypothesis about the Irminsul."
She looked at Ren. "He is a man with no heart. Pure calculation."
Ren clenched his fists. His invention had been stolen, twisted, and used as a weapon. And the enemy had escaped with the prize.
"He won this round," Ren murmured. "He got what he came for."
Ningguang reached out, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "He won a battle, Ren. Not the war. And now, we know his methods. We know he watches you. And we know he respects your intellect enough to steal from you."
She looked at the horizon, her eyes cold. "Next time, we will be ready."
Ren nodded. The victory felt hollow, tainted by the Doctor's shadow. But as he looked around at his friends—at Lumine, victorious; at Nahida, free and smiling; at Collei, safe among her peers—he realized that Dottore hadn't taken everything.
Dottore may have taken a chess piece. But Ren and his friends had saved the board.