Chapter 123. Maha Rukhadevata's Phantom, Judgment of Scholars!
All of you, death sentence!
As Nahida said those words, everyone's expression changed drastically, including Tighnari and Faruzan.
Cyno, on the other hand, remained silent. Having joined the Chat Group, he already knew the plan, so there was naturally no change in his expression.
Although he was the Matra and should have questioned Nahida's words, if he chose to do so, Lesser Lord Kusanali would likely face unimaginable scrutiny.
As expected, after hearing those words, the Matra, the Thirty, and the other scholars all turned to look at Cyno.
He was probably the only one in the arena qualified to question Nahida.
"Isn't this a little too arbitrary?!" At that moment, a scholar quickly spoke up. "We shouldn't be condemned to death!"
"We only knew about the God Creation Project, and we only did small things. We couldn't even interfere with the plan."
Hearing that they were facing a death sentence, other scholars also hurriedly began trying to defend themselves.
For example, they only handled things like transporting Shouki no Kami, The Prodigal's parts, assembling part of shouki no kami, the prodigal's energy, and figuring out how to make shouki no kami, the prodigal's energy run more stably, and so on.
As for using the Akasha to kill so many innocent people in Sumeru City, not a single scholar was willing to admit to that.
Nonsense! Admitting it means death!!!
Except for the Sages who were already beyond saving, and a few scholars in very high positions, everyone else refused to admit what they had done.
In their minds, although they had not personally wielded the butcher's knife to slaughter the people of Sumeru, they had known about it and done nothing.
Now that the reckoning had come, it was already too late to regret anything.
Faruzan could not bear it. If only the main culprits were to die, she certainly would not say much.
After all, she also knew that someone had to bear responsibility.
But involving so many Akademiya scholars was no small matter.
As one of the seniors present, she should have spoken up now. But then she thought of the residents of Sumeru City who had died tragically in their sleep, and of Lesser Lord Kusanali's five hundred years of imprisonment, and of the Akademiya inviting wolves into the house and working with the Fatui to carry out the God Creation Project.
Faruzan could not speak up for her juniors, because—were they truly innocent?
Tighnari was also silent.
The reason was simple: Cyno was silent too.
Logically speaking, with his personality and attitude, he would never remain silent at this moment just because Nahida was the Dendro Archon.
How noble the Great Sage had once been in Sumeru, and yet Cyno had dared to defy him.
So if Nahida were truly in the wrong now, he would definitely point it out.
But Cyno said nothing, so Tighnari thought for a moment and remained silent as well.
"I implore Lesser Lord Kusanali to reconsider."
At that moment, an older scholar stepped forward. He was the veteran scholar who had just stood firmly beside Faruzan and the others.
Although he was not as senior as Faruzan, he was still one of the highly respected scholars in the Akademiya, second only to the Sages.
He bowed slightly to Nahida and said very seriously,
"Because of Azar and the others, so many scholars are being sentenced to death. Then the Six Schools will likely lose a large number of true elites. They are Sumeru's future. That cannot be done."
Not only did this older scholar speak up, but other Akademiya scholars also began to plead.
Their general meaning was the same: among so many scholars, perhaps only a very small portion truly deserved death.
But many other scholars had been unable to resist Azar and the others, so they had been "forced" to go along with it.
Surely this should not result in a large number of excellent scholars in the Akademiya being executed.
Moreover, the Akademiya itself was a place for students and teachers, and with so many scholars dying, the relationships within it would become extremely complicated.
So almost everyone present was pleading on their behalf and did not want them to die like this.
Except for Azar, the other Sages also showed expressions of unbearable sorrow and similarly stated that they deserved death.
All the mistakes were theirs, and they should not drag the students down with them.
Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap.
At that moment, Futsu Mitama applauded.
He looked at the scholars below and said,
"Indeed. This is a very touching scene."
The others did not understand why Futsu Mitama would speak and applaud at this moment.
"You should know that Raiden Shogun recently abolished the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree, right?"
Futsu Mitama looked at the scholars and smiled.
"Although the national conditions of the two countries are different—But you all know very well what I and the Guuji did at that time, and what happened inside Inazuma."
Most scholars were stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then a flicker of excitement flashed in their eyes.
They naturally knew what had happened in Inazuma. The events from half a year ago were considered the biggest scandal on Teyvat.
Basically, nothing was more sensational than what had happened in Inazuma.
Raiden Shogun was resisted by her own people, and a force called the Resistance rose up against the Sakoku Decree and the Vision Hunt Decree.
And among the Resistance were two of her retainers: one was the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine, and the other was Futsu Mitama, standing right before them.
Of course, at that time Futsu Mitama had still been one of Raiden Shogun's retainers, but after that battle he became Inazuma's next Raiden.
The reasons, besides his display of divine power, were also that he fought for the people and corrected Raiden Shogun's mistakes.
He told the world that even an Archon can make mistakes, and that to avoid divine error, someone must stand up and tell the Archon: "You are wrong."
So, in the eyes of the Akademiya scholars, Futsu Mitama probably also felt that this "slaughter" was a bad thing, which was why he had come to persuade Lesser Lord Kusanali.
The scholars quickly began to speak.
"Of course, we know, Lord Futsu Mitama. You stopped Raiden Shogun's Vision Hunt Decree and Sakoku Decree."
"You saved Inazuma from internal strife on the brink of civil war and corrected the Archon's mistakes."
"You fought Raiden Shogun, made her understand her errors, and abolished the Vision Hunt Decree and Sakoku Decree."
Perhaps because Futsu Mitama had "stepped forward," everyone began talking about how he had corrected an Archon's mistakes.
The implication was that Lesser Lord Kusanali was wrong, just like Raiden Shogun had been half a year ago.
"Yes, Raiden Shogun abolished the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree."
Futsu Mitama nodded slightly, as if recalling past events, and slowly said,
"But do you know something?"
"Back then, Raiden Shogun did not know the harm the Sakoku Decree and the Vision Hunt Decree would cause. The reason those two decrees were enacted—was because the Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission jointly submitted them. Raiden Shogun, after briefly reviewing them, agreed out of trust."
"But who would have thought that the Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission at that time had their eyes blinded by the Fatui's dealings."
As he said this, Futsu Mitama looked at the scholars before him with a half-smile.
It was as if he were asking, "Doesn't this scene look a little familiar to you?"
"You mean...?"
The first, most senior scholar who had spoken earlier now felt a deep sense of unease, because Futsu Mitama's tone had become rather hostile.
Everyone present was intelligent, and they had already guessed somewhat why Futsu Mitama was saying these things.
"Are you suggesting—?"
At that moment, Kaveh could not hold himself back any longer.
He tried to step forward and speak, but Alhaitham, who was beside him, directly grabbed him and used physical means to silence him.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
Kaveh could only make muffled sounds and do nothing else.
"Indeed, my meaning is very clear."
Futsu Mitama looked at the scholars before him, his voice growing colder.
"I once questioned the head of the Tenryou Commission, Kujou Takayuki."
"Now I will repeat those same words to you. I want to ask you scholars of the Akademiya in Sumeru: is it you who call the shots, or is it the divine?"
"Furthermore, when you see those Sumeru citizens who died because of the so-called God Creation Project, you are still pleading for the 'culprits'?"
"What's wrong? Are your lives precious, but the lives of those who died in the God Creation Project experiments not worth mentioning at all?"
"Is every mistake the leader's fault? Where is your knowledge? Where is your wisdom? Are you mute? Are you pretending not to see?"
"Or rather, are you Akademiya scholars, not Sumeru scholars?!"
As these words were spoken, some of the scholars who had originally stood up for their friends now looked ashamed.
Some of the older scholars, upon hearing Futsu Mitama say, "Are you Akademiya scholars or Sumeru scholars?" could not help but have their expressions change drastically.
Those words were truly piercing. They practically implied, "Is your Akademiya so high and mighty that you have completely forgotten you are people of Sumeru?"
It is well known that although the Akademiya is a school, almost everyone inside it comes from all parts of Sumeru.
Most of those who come from other nations to study are here to gain knowledge and wisdom, then take those things back to their own countries.
After all, on Teyvat, people's faith in their own Archons is unimaginably firm.
Faruzan's expression also held a hint of shame at this moment, because she had almost stood up to speak for her juniors.
She had almost forgotten: if their lives were precious, then could the lives of others simply be ignored?
As he spoke, Futsu Mitama stepped forward once more, and a powerful divine force erupted from him, with emerald-green light bursting forth.
The next moment, a phantom image of Maha Rukkhadevata, condensed from Futsu Mitama's power, appeared before the scholars.
This shocked them. They suddenly felt a deep sense of dread, knowing things would not end well.
"In the name of Maha Rukkhadevata."
Futsu Mitama swept his gaze over the people before him and said in a very cold voice,
"You may swear that you were unaware of the God Creation Project, that you were forced into it, and that you are innocent."
"Of course, you can lie against your conscience, but Maha Rukkhadevata is watching you!!!"
The scholars lowered their heads. None of them dared look directly at the phantom image of Maha Rukkhadevata.
Even though they knew it was merely a figure condensed from Futsu Mitama's power, that mighty divine presence and the eyes of Maha Rukkhadevata filled with wisdom—
Made them unable to look directly at the God of Wisdom.
In their hearts, they knew exactly what they had done in the God Creation Project, but—once they admitted it, they would face the death penalty.
Thinking of this, one scholar tremblingly raised his hand.
Looking at the phantom image of Maha Rukkhadevata, his voice shook as he said,
"I was unaware of the God Creation Project, and I was forced to join it. I had no idea this experiment would kill people!"
He seemed on the verge of collapse, like a drowning man clutching his final straw.
"You are lying."
Nahida's eyes glowed with emerald light. Looking at the man, she said calmly,
"You were responsible for adjusting Shouki no Kami, The Prodigal's energy. You once remarked that so few people had died, and that the energy collection plan had been completed."
"This was much easier than expected."
As she spoke, Nahida waved her hand slightly, and under the emerald light, a projection screen appeared, showing the first person who had "confessed."
He was currently drinking wine and enjoying fine food, chatting with other scholars about whether, if the God Creation Project succeeded and the new Archon appeared, that Archon would bestow new knowledge upon the Akademiya.
"!!!"
Seeing this scene, the confessing scholar's face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground.
Not only him, but the scholars appearing in the projection also turned pale, not expecting that the other person's lie would expose them so directly.
Many other scholars also wore very expressive faces. They looked at Nahida with awe and fear, her previously unassuming appearance now seeming infinitely larger in their eyes.
This was an Archon.
This was Lesser Lord Kusanali.
An Archon, no matter how weak, was beyond the imagination of mortals.
"Matra, arrest him."
Cyno said calmly, giving the scholar no chance, and instructed the Matra to arrest him.
The Matra had also regained their composure. They knew this was truly a turning point, but as Matra, they had to maintain order.
So two Matra stepped forward and dragged away the scholar who had slumped to the ground.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!! WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG!!! THIS IS THE GOD CREATION PROJECT!!! A GREAT PLAN TO CHANGE SUMERU!!! AH!!!! AZAR!!!!"
The scholar roared.
Azar had painted for him, or rather for them, a beautiful future after the God Creation Project succeeded.
But that future was not beautiful. It was a desperate abyss.
Azar heard the scholar's roar. He did not speak, but only stared intently at the phantom image of Maha Rukkhadevata.
Once, when he looked at Maha Rukkhadevata, his heart was full of longing for wisdom and reverence for this benevolent God of Wisdom.
Now, he was to face judgment under "her" gaze.
No, that was not quite right. Not judgment.
The fate of others was still undecided, but his own fate was already sealed.