Nahida took a deep breath and looked at Lora.
"At the very end of that scene, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata transformed into the form of a child... Was... that me?"
Lora shook her head.
"No, that wasn't you."
Upon hearing that, Nahida suddenly let out a sigh of relief.
"That's good..."
"What's wrong? You seem very reluctant to be the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata," Lora asked.
Nahida nodded.
"Of course. To me, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is a great deity, the sun in the heavens. She is my goal. If someone were to say that I am the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, that would indeed be something I could hardly accept."
"You will become a great deity just like the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. Strive toward her, but you don't have to become her."
Lora ruffled Nahida's hair as she spoke.
Nahida glanced back over her shoulder.
"Are they all right?"
"They're fine. With Alhaitham and Cyno there, they'll be just fine."
Lora wasn't worried about their safety. With those two around, danger would simply keep its distance.
Lora and Nahida waited outside the pit for a while before Rahman and the others came out. She waved and asked,
"Well? Have you made up your mind?"
Rahman looked at Lora, let out a long sigh, then bowed deeply.
"Thank you for revealing the truth of all this to me. As a child of the desert and the leader of the Eremites, I will not run away! Tomorrow, I will hand over everyone involved in the kidnapping of the mad scholars to you!"
"Very well."
Lora nodded slightly.
On the way back, Lumine quietly asked about the relationship between the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Nahida, but Lora denied any connection.
The mad scholars had been kidnapped by two men from Akademiya, Morghi and Judar. When Rahman brought them before the group, they were trembling with fear. The moment they saw Cyno, they completely broke down.
"Their emotions are highly unstable. I doubt we'll be able to get much out of them," Dehya said helplessly.
"It's fine. You don't need to question them."
Lora shook her head, her gaze settling on the two men.
"The Sages extract Canned Knowledge from deities for a very simple purpose. To create gods."
Even Alhaitham, who was usually composed, looked slightly surprised. Cyno and Dehya stared at her in shock.
"Miss Lora, are you serious?" Dehya asked.
"Of course. The Sages want to create a new god for Sumeru, don't they?"
Lora looked at Morghi and Judar.
"You… how do you know that?" Morghi asked in disbelief.
Hearing his confirmation, Alhaitham turned his gaze to Nahida, who stood beside Lora with an unreadable expression.
"Why?" Cyno demanded.
"Ever since the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata departed, Sumeru has appeared prosperous on the surface. But over the past five hundred years, there have been almost no real academic breakthroughs. At the same time, Irminsul's withering has grown worse. The Sages have tried nearly every method, yet nothing has worked. They often say that if the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata were still here, things wouldn't be like this..."
Lora paused, then asked,
"Do you know why Sumeru has seen no real academic progress for five hundred years?"
Morghi and Judar froze, staring at her blankly.
"Because you have lost the ability to think for yourselves. Simply put, Akasha has turned both you and those Sages into useless fools. No... you turned yourselves into useless fools."
"We turned ourselves into useless fools?" the two repeated in disbelief. "How could that be..."
"Akasha was established by the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata as a system to coordinate human wisdom through divine power. It was never meant to be a caretaker that fosters laziness and foolishness.
"But ever since her passing, you imprisoned the new Dendro Archon, seized control of Akasha, and step by step turned yourselves into beings dependent on it. You only seek answers from Akasha and no longer think for yourselves.
"The lack of academic progress is not because the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is gone. It is because you have lost the ability to seek truth. You blindly trust Akasha."
After hearing this, both men lowered their heads, unable to refute her words.
For the people of Sumeru today, whether ordinary citizens or scholars of Akademiya, whenever they encounter a problem, they instinctively rely on Akasha. If even Akasha cannot provide an answer, most simply give up.
Just as Lora said, they had indeed lost the ability to think independently.
"But then, how did Akademiya create a god? Do they really have that kind of power?" Cyno asked.
"It was the 'Fatui' who helped Akademiya," Morghi answered. "About half a year ago, a Harbinger of the 'Fatui', a 'Dottore', came to Sumeru and proposed cooperation."
"We don't know what method he used, but he did create a core capable of bearing a god's power. So Akademiya used Akasha and the cycle of the Sabzeruz Festival to supply energy to the new god. The Canned Knowledge was also meant to give that newborn god true divine wisdom."
"What about the Lesser Lord Kusanali? What happens to her? Sumeru already has a god. Why would Akademiya create another?" Cyno pressed.
Morghi looked at him.
"Akademiya has never treated her as a god."
"Bastards," Cyno muttered.
"An utterly foolish notion."
Nahida, who had been silent, finally spoke.
She lifted her head and looked at the two scholars with a serious expression.
"The Sages have lost their respect for knowledge and ignored Sumeru's safety. By cooperating with the 'Fatui', do they really think they can come out ahead?"
"This is the arrogance of today's Sages," Alhaitham said with a sigh.
"So then, raise the banner of rebellion."
Lora looked at everyone with a smile.
"Sumeru needs a revolution. A revolution from the bottom up, against the corrupt and incompetent Akademiya and the arrogant Sages!"