Lumine followed the familiar path toward the Restricted Zone to find Nahida. If she wanted to dismantle the Akademiya, she needed Nahida to keep Dottore occupied. Otherwise, it would be a suicide mission.
Even though they had braced themselves, when Lumine and Paimon arrived at the Restricted Zone and saw the mountain of corpses, they still shuddered violently.
Only a handful of people were on the road, their movements stiff and silent. Like walking corpses, they mechanically repeated the task of transporting bodies.
Lumine and Paimon stood frozen, staring at the scene, unable to process what they were seeing.
It wasn't until someone set the pile of bodies ablaze that they noticed Lumine and Paimon's presence.
"Are you... Dr. Edward's guards?" a man asked, stepping out from the crowd.
Lumine and Paimon were both wearing masks. They had originally intended to conceal their identities, but now the masks served another purpose.
Even with the masks on, the acrid stench in the air was overwhelming—a smell that made them want to flee immediately.
"Yes, we are," Paimon said, fighting back the urge to gag. "Is the Administrator here?"
"He... didn't make it," the man replied. "I'm the temporary Administrator now."
Hearing this, Lumine and Paimon's expressions turned somber. In just a few days, the Administrator had already been replaced twice. The title felt like a death sentence.
Lumine was the first to shake herself free from the grief. After all, she had witnessed mass deaths in the Restricted Zone during her previous dreams.
Wallowing in sorrow was pointless. The top priority was to find Nahida.
Lumine had Paimon describe Nahida's appearance to the man. After Paimon finished, the man pondered for a long moment before slowly shaking his head.
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen the person you're describing."
"In fact," he added, "all the elderly and children here have tragically perished. If the person you're looking for had appeared before us, we would have definitely noticed."
His words caught Lumine completely off guard. Nahida had been consistently caring for patients in the Restricted Zone. Her sudden disappearance left Lumine feeling lost.
"Traveler, it seems Nahida isn't here," Paimon said, her voice laced with worry. "What should we do now?"
"Do we just storm the Akademiya?"
Lumine: "?"
Are you telling me to go on a suicide mission?!
Lumine scratched her head, trying to figure out where Nahida could possibly be.
Just then, the man in front of them couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, is Dr. Edward alright?"
"Dr. Edward is fine, you don't need to worry," Paimon reassured him. Hearing that Dr. Edward was safe, the man sighed in relief.
"As long as Dr. Edward is okay... He must be okay," he murmured. "We still need him to find a complete cure for COVID. Otherwise, today's tragedy will happen again."
Paimon stared at him, stunned. "Do you actually believe the Akademiya's lies? That all these people died from COVID?"
"Does it matter whether I believe it or not?"
A look of utter despair crossed the man's face. "Believe it, don't believe it... what can worthless people like us do? It's easier to just accept it. At least then our hearts can rest a little easier."
Hearing his words, Lumine and Paimon felt a bitter taste in their mouths.
"Traveler, we have to teach those Akademiya bastards a harsh lesson!"
Lumine nodded in agreement.
"But where could Nahida be?" Paimon wondered aloud. "Or maybe the Akademiya has her confined, and she can't meet us."
Lumine nodded again. It wasn't an impossible scenario. This was the first time she hadn't been able to find Nahida.
Wait... If all this is real, then maybe... maybe this isn't a continuation of the dream!
The thought sent a jolt of excitement through Lumine. She had finally broken free from the Loop!
But then, her excitement faded as she heard the faint, muffled sobs nearby and saw the bodies turning to ash in the roaring flames.
If everything now was real, then these people had truly died.
Lumine had desperately wanted to escape the dream Loop, but now, she found herself wishing with all her heart that this was still just a dream.
Suddenly, the man in front of them seemed to see something, and his face contorted in panic.
"This is bad! You two, please go back immediately! Dr. Edward might be in danger!"
"Just now, the Akademiya issued a new notice through the Akasha: Dr. Zachariah from the Bimarstan has been convicted of illegally hoarding Akademiya-controlled medicinal materials and has already been arrested!"
"When Dr. Edward hears this, he'll definitely rush to the Akademiya to try and save Dr. Zachariah!"
The man blurted out the news in a panic. Lumine and Paimon exchanged a shocked glance, then quickly bid him farewell and sprinted toward the Bimarstan.
"Traveler, hurry!" Paimon urged from Lumine's shoulder, her face etched with anxiety.
Lumine was in no mood to argue. She pushed herself to her limits, racing toward the Bimarstan.
But the long run took a heavy toll on her body, already drained by the Akasha Terminal. A thick layer of sweat beaded on her forehead, but she didn't even have the energy to wipe it away.
I should have realized, she thought grimly. If the Akademiya wants to completely cover up their dirty deeds, they'd never let Dr. Edward have a chance to speak.
On the surface, they arrested Dr. Zachariah, but the Akademiya's true target was Dr. Edward all along!
This had never happened in the previous dreams, so Lumine had subconsciously overlooked it. It also didn't help that she was still unsure if everything happening was just another dream.
If this wasn't a dream, and her carelessness led to Dr. Edward getting hurt, Lumine didn't know how she could face him.
"It's just ahead!" Paimon cried out.
When Lumine and Paimon saw the Bimarstan completely surrounded by Matra and Fatui soldiers, their hearts sank.
Just then, they saw Dr. Edward and Dr. Zachariah emerge from the Bimarstan together.
"If you two would be so kind as to accompany us to the Akademiya for a cup of tea," the lead Matra said mockingly.
"You'll face retribution for this sooner or later!" Dr. Edward retorted.
The lead Matra's expression darkened at his words. "Gag him!"
A Matra quickly stepped forward and stuffed a cloth into Dr. Edward's mouth.
The lead Matra glanced at Dr. Edward, then at Dr. Zachariah, and spoke again.
"Gag him too."
Dr. Zachariah: "???"
"Take them away!"
Seeing the guards about to drag the two doctors away, Lumine broke into a run. Paimon, right on cue, yelled at them.
"You're not going anywhere!"
"Let them go!"
As Paimon's words faded, Lumine leaped into the crowd, Dull Blade in hand.
"Tremble!"
She stomped her foot, unleashing a powerful shockwave that sent the nearest guards flying.
Lumine swung her Dull Blade horizontally, blocking the path of the Matra escorting Dr. Edward and Dr. Zachariah.
At the sight of Lumine and Paimon, both doctors' expressions lit up with a flicker of hope.
But the lead Matra, far from being flustered, simply smiled knowingly.
"So you finally showed up. I was starting to think you wouldn't dare."
"Perfect. Now we can finally put Lord Dottore's little gift to use."
The Matra raised his hand and beckoned. Instantly, four Electro Cicin Mages emerged from different directions, surrounding Lumine and Paimon.
Just as Lumine was wondering what trick the enemy would pull next, she suddenly caught a whiff of a strange fragrance. A wave of dizziness washed over her.
Thud.
Lumine dropped to one knee, leaning heavily on her Dull Blade. Large beads of sweat trickled down her neck.
Her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and her consciousness began to fade.
Paimon, meanwhile, had already passed out completely. She tumbled stiffly from Lumine's shoulder, hitting the ground with a thud that raised a large bump on her head, yet she showed no sign of waking.
"Hahaha! Couldn't you have just stayed hidden with your tail between your legs? To think you'd dare challenge Lord Dottore's authority."
"Lord Dottore didn't even need to lift a finger. You're no threat to him at all."
"Since you're so attached to these two, you can all be our guests at the Akademiya."
With that, the Matra gestured to his subordinates. Two Fatui soldiers cautiously approached Lumine. At the same time, the men holding Dr. Edward and Dr. Zachariah began to move away, even taking the unconscious Paimon with them.
As Lumine watched Dr. Edward, Dr. Zachariah, and Paimon grow smaller in the distance, her sluggish mind failed to grasp the gravity of the situation. It wasn't until the two Fatui soldiers closed in to restrain her that her eyes widened abruptly. An overwhelming aura of death erupted from within her.
In an instant, the area several meters around Lumine was suffused with a grayish-white hue. The two Fatui soldiers, in that same moment, lost all color from their faces, their bodies freezing mid-motion. Their expressions remained locked in utter horror for a mere three seconds before their bodies disintegrated into dust, scattering into the air.
The scene plunged the remaining onlookers into chaos. Just then, an even denser aura of death erupted from Lumine, instantly expanding the affected radius from several meters to tens of meters. Another twenty or so people, unable to escape in time, were immediately drained of color, their bodies turning the same deathly gray.
Death spread silently. Watching their former comrades die so inexplicably, the survivors were gripped by overwhelming terror.
"Monster!"
The remaining soldiers fled without hesitation, abandoning any thought of waiting for Lumine to calm down before trying to capture her.
At that moment, Lumine felt as if her body was about to burst from the immense energy surging within her. Though her mind had cleared, she could do nothing but focus all her will on suppressing the power threatening to erupt.
In truth, if she hadn't been desperately holding back the energy, preventing its full release, no living creature would have survived within a thousand-meter radius.
No!
Lumine reached out toward the direction where the others had been taken, her hand clenching into a fist of bitter helplessness.
Then, as Lumine fully contained the power within her, a thunderous crash echoed in her mind, and she lost consciousness.
With a soft thud, Lumine collapsed in the center of the Death Domain. The moment she hit the ground, dust billowed up from the earth.
A gentle breeze swept through, and the surrounding gray-white landscape began to crumble like quicksand...
When Lumine awoke again, she found herself looking at a familiar face.
"You're awake?"
Katheryne?
Lumine squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her throbbing temples, struggling to recall what had happened.
Suddenly, she became aware of the comfortable sensation beneath her head. Realizing she had been resting on Katheryne's lap, she immediately sat up on the bench.
Lumine stared blankly at Katheryne, wondering why she was here.
"You fainted earlier," Katheryne explained with a faint smile that somehow felt unfamiliar to Lumine. "Your condition was quite poor, so I used a little of my power to help stabilize you."
"Although we've met before, allow me to reintroduce myself."
"Hello, Traveler. I am Nahida."
Nahida!
It was only then that Lumine understood why Katheryne had felt so strange to her.
Seeing Nahida using Katheryne's body, Lumine quickly deduced that Nahida's own physical form must be confined within the Akademiya, unable to move freely.
Wait... just now?
Oh no, everyone was captured!
Panic seized Lumine. The situation was no dream—the others were in real danger!
"Please calm down, Traveler," Nahida urged. "First, assess your own condition."
"You're in terrible shape right now. If you act recklessly, you won't be able to save them, and you'll only get yourself captured too!"
Despite Nahida's words, Lumine remained resolute.
If Nahida can just stall Dottore, even in my current state, I can rescue the others from the Akademiya!
When Nahida heard Lumine's plan, she was utterly dumbfounded.
Is she overestimating me or underestimating Dottore?
If Dottore were that easy to stall, she would have acted long ago. She wouldn't have let the Akademiya run rampant, committing such heinous acts that defied both heaven and humanity.
Even with her physical body, multiplied by ten, she'd still be no match for Dottore, let alone with just her spiritual power.
Although she was Sumeru's Dendro Archon, she had very few followers, so her power was far from that of a true Archon.
To put it bluntly, she couldn't even defeat Lumine right now. Asking her to stall Dottore was just sending her to her death.
After hearing Nahida's embarrassed explanation, Lumine finally grasped the vast difference between her dream and reality.