The throne in the heavens was-

The difficult thing about creating a god was that, before it succeeded, even the sages who insisted on pursuing the project, let alone ordinary researchers, had no idea whether this path was viable.

Failure after failure had long since driven the project's participants to near despair. Otherwise, in the original story, they would never have brought the Fatui into a project that concerned Sumeru's future, much less on such a massive scale that they later lost control of the god-creation project without even realizing it.

It was like before the Americans created their first weapon of mass destruction. Even the scientists leading the project could not guarantee whether it would ultimately succeed or how to make it succeed. Even the power of the atomic bomb they finally produced differed from their calculations.

But once the first atomic bomb had been built, its greatest contribution was telling the world that this path was definitely viable. All they needed to do was work toward it without wavering.

The same applied now. This video had already told them that, at some point in their near future, the god-creation project had succeeded. They had successfully created a powerful god belonging to the people of Sumeru themselves. That was the greatest gain of all.

Afterward, they just needed to make sure the Fatui's influence did not extend too far, put sufficiently powerful safeguards in place to prevent the artificial god from going out of control, and find a way to keep the Gnosis sustaining the Akasha in their hands. Then they could avoid the future shown on-screen, where this weak god gave away the Gnosis...

Uh, this plan did seem to have rather a lot of problems.

The Grand Sage wiped away his cold sweat and decided to thoroughly revise the plan for cooperating with the Fatui shortly.

Just as almost every viewer watching Scaramouche reach for her heart believed that the young Lesser Lord Kusanali would, like the Anemo Archon Barbatos outside the Cathedral of Favonius, helplessly have her Gnosis forcibly stolen by a Fatui Harbinger inside her own Akademiya-

An earth-shattering reversal occurred on-screen.

Nahida, her head lowered as though she had suffered a heavy blow, seized Scaramouche's thrusting right arm with her left hand.

"I've collected almost enough data."

Nahida raised her limply hanging head, opened her eyes, which shone with divine light, and looked straight at Scaramouche.

"Do you know how many times you've tried to take my Gnosis?"

[Lumine: H-holy shit. This feels like a final boss revealing their next form.]

[Lumine: So Nahida was Sumeru's true final boss all along?]

Watching her brother lying on the ground in the video, with the utterly genuine look of sudden bewilderment on his face at Nahida's astonishing reversal, it was clear that the Traveler on-screen had not expected this development either.

[Yae Miko: She is a god, after all. Rashly drawing conclusions about a god based on their outward vessel would be foolish.]

[Venti: She is the god who governs wisdom, after all. If her Gnosis could really be taken so easily, she wouldn't be one of The Seven.]

[Lumine: Uh, Venti, aren't you actually the last god who should be popping up to say that right now?]

[Venti: Ehe, I'm the weakest now, after all.]

[Alice: Yes, the weakest. If the snowstorms in Mondstadt still hadn't returned to this day, and if my sisters hadn't been mercilessly toyed with and teased by a certain shameless Anemo Archon, I really might have believed that.]

[Lumine: Keep spinning those tales. Go on.]

[Venti: Uh, I haven't gone that far, have I? The ladies of the Hexenzirkel really are a handful.]

[Mona: Huh? The old ha- Ahem, cough, cough, cough, cough.]

[Xiangling: Whoa! Noodles suddenly shot out of Mona's nostrils?! But I clearly made rice???]

[Nahida: I see.]

[Lumine: Huh? Little Nahida has already figured it out?]

[Nahida: Yes. I imagine I'll explain it later too, so I'll just say it here. I must have used my authority over dreams, so this Mr. Scaramouche should still be dreaming.]

Nahida's explanation helped everyone understand what this astonishing reversal on-screen was all about.

So the Dendro Archon's authority was over dreams?

That truly surprised most ordinary people of Teyvat. Even someone as powerful as a Fatui Harbinger had unknowingly fallen under the authority of the Dendro Archon, who was rumored to be immature and lacking in power, with the Akademiya temporarily governing Sumeru on her behalf.

Was that really weakness?

[Lumine: Pfft, Scaramouche, can you do that bit again?]

[Lumine: Beelzebul, I have ascended to godhood!]

[Scaramouche: Tch!]

[Tighnari: Whew, what a relief.]

[Dehya: Yeah, the young lady nearly fainted just now.]

[Nilou: As long as Lesser Lord Kusanali is all right.]

[Faruzan: There seem to be more believers in Lesser Lord Kusanali in this era than there were in ours. Is that my imagination?]

[Nahida: My believers probably just happen to make up a larger proportion of the Sumeru users who can speak in the discussion area. It's a classic illusion caused by a small sample size.]

[Faruzan: I see. Thank you for the lesson.]

Just as everyone once again thought this video was about a god staging an astonishing reversal, the images on-screen shattered their worldview again.

Behind Nahida, whose eyes and the leaves by her temples had begun glowing green, space seemed to split into shards of broken mirror. More and more cracks appeared before it abruptly shattered.

After the dream broke, their surroundings suddenly became Inazuma's Tenshukaku. Scaramouche's hand froze in midair as he stared in disbelief at the "Dendro Archon" he had impaled.

No, that was not the Dendro Archon. It was Shouki no Kami, who had appeared before Scaramouche at some unknown point, now the size of an ordinary person.

[Lumine: This image quality... so it's turned into a fan work again, hasn't it? A parody, too?]

[Tighnari: The image quality is completely different from before.]

[Tighnari: Does the being behind this screen have something against Sumeru? Why do I feel like they're targeting us?]

[Childe: I have an ominous feeling. Is the image of us Fatui Harbingers about to go up in flames too?]

[The Doctor: I've already spotted myself. So which me is this?]

[Collei: ... (seething with rage)]

[Amber: Collei.]

[Collei: I'm fine, Amber.]

The Doctor clearly had not even thought of Collei, his former test subject, at this point. He watched the version of himself on-screen, whose face was a little too round, as though he had put on weight, displaying an astonished expression.

"Interesting. Even a so-called fan work should contain some useful information. Let me have a look, then."

This Doctor was clearly very magnanimous about being parodied. After all, this segment of him had a researcher's personality. Unknown information fascinated him more than damage to his reputation.

In the video, after Scaramouche discovered that he had impaled Shouki no Kami, the next shots showed the horrified faces of the Doctor, La Signora, Scaramouche, and Childe.

[Childe: Why am I involved in this too?]

[Kaeya: Oh my, this really is a spectacular sight you'd rarely see in reality.]

[Yelan: Indeed. I can hardly imagine several Harbingers wearing those expressions at the same time. I feel like this clip alone would be enough to help me put away two big bowls of rice with Jueyun Chili tonight.]

[Chongyun: Hiss, Jueyun Chili with rice... How terrifying.]

[Barbara: That sounds really spicy. Just hearing it makes it sound delicious.]

[Paimon: Wow, Miss Barbara looks so, uh, how should Paimon put it? It just feels like that preference is so different from her image.]

[Barbara: Hehe, I wasn't used to it at first either. But the more I tried it, the more addictive I found it. After singing practice, taking a big gulp of my own special spicy drink is quite nice.]

[Paimon: Uh, h-hard to imagine.]

[Lumine: Strange. I feel like I've seen this scene somewhere before.]

[Yoimiya: It's like that Yae Publishing House novel I read last time, where a character I originally thought was on the protagonist's side suddenly turned out to be the mastermind.]

[Lumine: Yes, exactly. It does seem to be heading in that direction.]

[Nilou: Huh? Lesser Lord Kusanali is on the villains' side?]

[Nahida: Hmm, the real me should still be one of the good guys?]

[Tighnari: Uh, though I don't think people normally discuss whether they're one of the good guys or the villains.]

[Lumine: That's right, Miss Nilou. This is just a fan work.]

As the people in the discussion area speculated, the video continued.

The horrified Childe seemed to notice something and shouted, "Bastard!"

Elsewhere, hearing Childe's warning, two Fatui realized something was wrong, but only had time to turn around. The next instant, a blade flashed, and the debt agent and Anemoboxer vanguard fell straight to the ground.

[Raiden Ei: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm (chewing). Hmm, Sumeru's new Dendro Archon is also an expert with a blade?]

[Yae Miko: No (exasperated), Ei, you haven't read a single thing everyone said earlier. This is just a parody. It's fake.]

[Raiden Ei: So she isn't (confused)?]

[Yae Miko: Uh, I couldn't really say. I don't know whether Lesser Lord Kusanali herself is skilled with a blade.]

[Nahida: Hmm, how should I put it? As the God of Wisdom, fighting in person is a little...]

[Raiden Ei: Oh (understanding), so she's similar to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.]

Recalling that delicate god who was on par with her sister, Raiden Ei, who had once accompanied her sister to Liyue to attend a gathering of The Seven, showed a rare trace of nostalgia.

-She was one of the few kindhearted gods who would feed her sweet treats at just the right moment.

In the video, after instantly taking down the two Fatui grunts, Nahida stood before everyone with her hand extended like a blade. Her face was expressionless, and only her eyes glowed faintly green, making her look quite intimidating.

The close-up of that expression, which seemed both a smile and a sneer, immediately made many viewers feel the enormous contrast.

Was this the same being as that weak god who had been helplessly lifted off her feet earlier?

Childe looked toward the Dendro Archon in shock, anger, and panic. "Since when... Since when?!"

[Childe: No, I refuse to admit that's me. Even if I were knocked down for a moment, there's no way I'd make that face!]

[Skirk: Huh? But didn't you used to make that face all the time?]

[Skirk: When I was putting you through special training.]

[Childe: Master?!!!]

[Lumine: So what exactly are you asking "since when" about?]

Before Childe could reply to Lumine, the Lesser Lord Kusanali's low voice came from the screen.

"Since when... Since when?"

"What a ridiculous question. You should know, shouldn't you?"

"The ability granted by my authority over dreams is complete hypnosis. I can completely control all five senses at any time."

"I can make people experience illusions under any circumstances."

[Lumine: ...Honestly, I'm a little scared now.]

[Nahida: Uh, well, although my authority does work that way, um, I should only be able to reach that level in theory.]

[Nahida: In fact, I'm still very immature right now. I probably couldn't take it that far... probably.]

As she spoke, even Nahida herself grew a little uncertain.

[Paimon: Whoa, does that mean Paimon might one day think she's eating a feast, when she's actually just chewing on air and hasn't eaten anything?]

[Paimon: But that seems like it would let Paimon ignore how much her stomach can hold and keep eating all kinds of delicious food. Hmm, such a hard choice.]

[Lisa: Dreams? I remember that people in Sumeru stop dreaming once they become adults.]

[Kaveh: That's right. Most people in Sumeru are quite proud of it, though I'd actually really like to experience a pleasant dream.]

[Dori: Ha, even if you really do dream, you still have to pay every bit of this month's interest!]

[Kaveh: ...]

Seeing this authority over dreams, Alhaitham, along with Tighnari and Cyno, who had occasionally spoken earlier, looked rather solemn.

Unlike ordinary people in Sumeru, they would not truly take pride in being unable to dream.

Being rational, they knew this was abnormal. But because everyone was like this, and no obvious negative developments had appeared, they had set the matter aside for the time being.

But now, considering the Dendro Archon's authority, then thinking of the Akasha's existence and the major moves they had vaguely sensed the Akademiya making in secret, the few of them could not help drawing quite a few connections.

Coming back to it, a fan work, a fan work.

A so-called fan work should still be a creation based on the original, shouldn't it?

Then did that mean the original creator of this fan video believed the Dendro Archon's authority was extremely frightening?

Or did they know something the viewers did not?

Honestly, this disparity in information really was tormenting. At times, it even left them dazed enough to entertain the absurd suspicion that the Dendro Archon might be evil.

However, Teyvat's gods were very peculiar beings. At their core was "love for humanity."

Although they loved humanity in different ways, a god like Lesser Lord Kusanali should have nothing to do with evil.

Rather than pondering such absurd things, they would be better off carefully considering how to resolve Sumeru's problems.