No matter what was happening with Azar and Sumeru, it had nothing to do with Ryen.
He had already taken Nahida and Xiao back to the house at the foot of Mt. Tianheng.
After arranging a room for Nahida, he prepared to take her to the MC world.
Yet Nahida kept glancing toward The Chasm—or rather, toward Sumeru.
Ryen chuckled as he walked over, patting Nahida's head.
"As a hostage, you should have the awareness of one. Right now, you should be worrying about yourself, not about Sumeru."
"Besides, weren't the sages so sure they could handle things on their own? Well then, let them deal with it."
Nahida pouted, looking up at Ryen with a hint of grievance.
"If that's how you see it, then as a kidnapper, shouldn't you have the awareness of one as well? Why are you even giving me a place to stay?"
"Unless... you plan to keep me here forever and have some sinister designs on me?"
Hearing this, Ryen acted as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
He shook his head, laughing, and didn't bother responding. Instead, he gestured at Nahida's height and teased,
"If we ignore your actual age, we probably look more like father and daughter."
Nahida's little face instantly scrunched up, her cheeks puffing as she glared at Ryen.
"That's so rude! Even if I'm the youngest among the Archons, only five hundred years old and still quite young, I'm still much older than you, am I not?"
Unfortunately for her, such reasoning didn't work on Ryen.
After all, he was purely an appearance-based creature.
In his eyes, Ganyu and Ningguang—despite their differing lifespans—were the same age.
Zhongli and himself? The same age.
Nahida and Klee? Also the same age.
Wandering around Teyvat, he could run into an eternally youthful immortal at any given moment.
Age wasn't really something worth paying attention to.
Besides, Nahida had been imprisoned for centuries, with little chance to gain the wisdom that time should have granted her.
In his dream, he had already seen it clearly—Nahida was truly just an innocent, adorable little girl at heart.
Ruffling her elf-like ears, Ryen reminded her,
"In a moment, I'll take you to my world. But right now, Liyue's base is under attack, so we'll save the introductions for later."
"The flower chariot and garden I promised you—I've got the materials, so we can plan it together later."
"And one more thing... The Geo Archon, Morax—who now goes by the name Zhongli—is also there."
Nahida instantly tensed up, worry flashing in her eyes as she looked at Ryen.
After all, strictly speaking, she had violated the contract between the Seven, using her divine power to probe into Liyue's domain without permission.
The oldest Archon of them all, the God of War himself—even Barbatos had to show him some degree of reverence.
Let alone her, a young god of only five hundred years, who had spent those years imprisoned.
She quietly reached out and grabbed Ryen's hand, a little nervous.
Ryen smiled and glanced at the now fully-formed interdimensional portal, speaking softly,
"Zhongli's a good guy, just a bit old-fashioned and overly serious. He knows your situation and has already said you can stay in Liyue temporarily."
"What I really need to tell you is—he's completely immersed in his new identity as 'Zhongli.' So whatever you do, don't go exposing his true identity."
"Dragons are very petty creatures!"
Ryen put on a serious expression as he mocked Zhongli. Xiao, standing nearby, looked a little uncomfortable.
Honestly, if Ryen weren't both Zhongli's close friend and benefactor, Xiao would've definitely stepped in to remind him to respect the Lord of Geo.
But since Zhongli himself had acknowledged Ryen as an equal, Xiao decided it wasn't necessary to interfere.
He just pretended not to hear anything.
After all, it wasn't the first time Ryen and Zhongli had bickered—especially over that fishing competition.
Xiao had long since come to realize that his Archon enjoyed having someone who treated him as an equal, someone who wasn't afraid to speak their mind.
He didn't understand why, but if that was what the Lord of Geo wanted, then so be it.
The portal stabilized completely, and Nahida had no choice but to temporarily set aside her worries about Sumeru.
She followed Ryen into the mystical world beyond.
The moment she stepped through, she realized this place was just as beautiful as the dream she had seen before.
The square-shaped trees didn't surprise her—after all, she had seen them in her dream.
Still, stepping into this world was undeniably fascinating.
Not far ahead, a massive fortress-like city stood tall.
Strange stone walls stretched high into the sky, and two enormous iron constructs patrolled outside.
The scenery here made Nahida feel an unexpected sense of warmth—almost like coming home.
"Ryen!"
Before she could take in more of the view, an excited voice called out from a watchtower.
A beautiful young woman leaped down, spreading her wind glider as she sped toward Ryen.
Ryen grinned, opening his arms just in time to catch Ganyu as she landed.
With practiced ease, he rubbed her horns and gave her a kiss.
In an instant, the cheerful energy that had been building inside Nahida crumbled.
Her expression soured, becoming even gloomier than when she was imprisoned for five hundred years.
Her little face scrunched up in displeasure.
"How's the situation at the base? Have the attackers arrived?"
Hearing this, Ganyu happily narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"No! Everything's fine! The fortifications are nearly complete. Everyone's just been waiting for you to come back and inspect them."
Ryen didn't say much more—he just pointed at Nahida, gently introducing her,
"This is Nahida, the good friend I've told you about."
Ganyu turned to look and found herself facing a petite girl with delicate elf-like ears.
For some reason, though, that girl's gaze toward her seemed... a little resistant.
Ganyu didn't think much of it, assuming it was just her imagination.
As for the idea that Nahida might be jealous…
That was simply absurd!
No matter how you looked at it, she was just a little girl who hadn't even come of age yet! How could she possibly have such thoughts?
Ganyu crouched down, her face adorned with a warm smile as she gently ruffled Nahida's hair and said softly:
"Hello, Nahida. I'm Ganyu… I've heard Ryen mention you many times before. Since you're his good friend, that makes you my good friend too."
Hearing this, Nahida's mood improved slightly.
No matter what, gaining another friend was always something to be happy about in her five hundred years of solitude.
But still…
She couldn't help feeling a bit displeased.
Nahida didn't respond immediately, and Ganyu simply assumed she was shy.
Curious, she turned to Ryen, silently inquiring about where he had brought Nahida from.
Ryen chuckled and said:
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention—Nahida is the current Dendro Archon, the Little Lord Kusanali."
"…"
Ganyu froze, glancing at her own hand, which was still resting atop Nahida's head.
"Ahhh!!!"
….
Inside the temporarily constructed war conference room of the base.
Everyone sat around wooden sofas, their gazes shifting back and forth between Ryen and Nahida, who was quietly sitting on his lap.
Among them, Ganyu looked the most awkward.
She had just…
She had just ruffled the hair of the ruling deity of Sumeru, the Little Lord Kusanali…
This was probably an even bigger moment than when she nearly choked on her own food and almost ascended to Celestia right then and there.
"So…"
Ningguang rubbed her temples and said in a calm voice:
"You went out earlier, smashed the Akademiya, tossed three zombies at them, and then… kidnapped Lady Nahida?"
Before Ryen could say anything, Nahida spoke up of her own accord:
"Ryen did it out of concern for me… Everything happened because of me. Also, if possible, just call me Nahida."
"You are Ryen's friends, so you are my friends as well!"
Ryen couldn't help but chuckle.
Just moments ago, Nahida had been sulking at him for destroying the Akademiya, yet now, when Ningguang brought it up, she had immediately stepped forward to defend him.
But to Ryen, there was no need for any kind of defense.
He simply nodded with an easygoing smile and said:
"That's right. I smashed the Akademiya, completely destroyed the Grand Sage's research base, and whether or not he's still alive is up in the air."
"But that was the right thing to do."
As he leisurely combed through Nahida's soft hair, he added in a relaxed tone:
"A bunch of fools who neither appreciate nor reflect upon the knowledge bestowed upon them, who only know how to demand more from their god instead of seeking wisdom themselves, and yet they call themselves the 'people of wisdom'."
"That's just plain disgusting."
"I don't see any issue with leveling the Akademiya. Worst case scenario, I was just avenging my friend."
"I believe that in Teyvat, the rule of 'might makes right' is still widely accepted, isn't it?"
Ryen grinned and playfully flexed his fist.
"In that case, this is just divine retribution."
Upon hearing this, Ningguang and the others merely shook their heads with wry smiles.
None of them had any intention of criticizing Ryen's actions.
In fact, deep down, they all felt that he had done the right thing.
After spending a little time with Nahida, they quickly realized that she was nothing more than a kind and adorable girl.
Setting aside her status as the Dendro Archon, just the fact that such a gentle soul had been imprisoned for five hundred years…
That was already a crime of the highest order.
Those so-called sages deserved nothing less than death a thousand times over.
"So that's why you were so angry a few days ago, Ryen… You had just learned about what happened to Nahida."
Ganyu sighed, her gaze toward Nahida now carrying a hint of sorrow.
"Nahida never mentioned any of this to me."
Ryen simply smiled and shook his head, pinching Nahida's cheek.
"Of course she didn't. In fact, this little dummy even kept thinking that it was her own fault, that she was unworthy of being Sumeru's god, and that she deserved to be locked away for five hundred years."
"Otherwise, how could a mere group of sages possibly have the power to imprison a deity? Even with the residual divine power of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata lingering in the Sanctuary of Surasthana."
Hearing this, the others all nodded in agreement.
They knew better than anyone just how powerful an Archon was.
Even though Nahida wasn't one of the original Seven, a god was still a god.
Even a being on the path to godhood would never be the same as a true deity until they fully ascended.
It was a matter of divine hierarchy—no amount of mortal tricks could change that.
Nahida… had truly sealed herself away of her own volition.
Upon realizing this, everyone's resentment toward the Akademiya deepened.
"No wonder the Akademiya has been drastically increasing its procurement of various materials lately… So this was what they were up to."
Ningguang let out a cold scoff.
"From now on, I'll have Liyue renegotiate all business dealings with them. Any materials they purchase will be sold at three times the usual price!"
Nahida opened her mouth, wanting to persuade Ningguang otherwise.
After all, even if the Akademiya had done wrong, it was the work of only a select few.
It wouldn't be fair to penalize the entire institution.
But before she could speak, Ryen said in a quiet, almost ominous voice:
"They weren't just increasing their supply lines because they imprisoned Nahida. The Grand Sage was conducting an even more blasphemous experiment."
"He wanted to create a god…"
~~----------------------
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