The Akademiya's Judgment Day
The dome of the House of Daena trembled under crackling Electro light. The holographic projections of the Six Sages hung shackled in the defendant's dock. Cyno's cloak billowed as his Electro spear morphed into a scepter of judgment, each strike against the floor igniting violet arcs that lit the Virtual Court like a storm-wracked sky. The gallery overflowed with consciousness projections of Sumeru's citizens, their faint glimmers resembling desert stars.
"Defendant Azar," Cyno's voice cleaved the silence, "under the guise of scholarship, you've poisoned history and life itself. Did you truly believe the Akademiya's experiments would stay buried?"
The Grand Sage's projection twisted grotesquely, black mist oozing from his robes to form venomous spikes. "We were birthing a new god! Only a power beyond Celestia can lead Sumeru to eternity!" The mist coalesced into a serpent lunging at the gallery, scattering citizens' projections into digital shards.
Nahida touched the void. Dendro vines ensnared the serpent, revealing horrors within the mist—hundreds of incubation pods deep beneath the Akademiya, each holding a Nahida-like homunculus. Their limbs fed into Scarlet King relics repurposed as conduits, all leading to a core engraved with the Akademiya's bastardized emblem.
"Watering false gods with children's dreams…" Nahida's eyes glowed jade. "You even perverted the Scarlet King's covenant into betrayal!"
Azar's laughter rent reality. Crimson barriers descended—reverse-engineered from the Scarlet King's defenses, devouring elemental energy. Cyno's lightning empowered the barrier instead, thickening the mist until it consumed half the court.
"You poisoned not just history, but civilization's roots!" Kazuha hurled the Scarlet King's star-etched tablet. Its hologram revealed the truth: Five centuries past, the Scarlet King and Greater Lord stood united beneath burning skies, their joined hands weaving Dendro and stellar energy to seal Forbidden Knowledge's tide.
The barrier cracked under truth's weight. Azar howled inhumanly as machinery roared—Scarlet King artillery unearthed itself, obsidian barrels aimed at Sumeru City, energy channels pulsing like veins.
"History belongs to the victors!" Azar merged with the weapon system, his skin glowing with alien circuitry. The charging cannon dyed the sky apocalypse-red.
Jeht crashed through the dome, grappling hooks latching onto the cannon. She flung the Scarlet King's edict—Nahida's Gnosis resonated, unleashing a Dendro tsunami. As the barrier shattered, Cyno's spear pierced Azar's form. The Akademiya's databases vomited evidence:
Records showed battle murals replaced with groveling figures. Surveillance footage revealed Dunyarzad clones withering in pods. Holograms exposed Azar kneeling before a stellar shadow, offering a stolen core: "Three thousand more dreams..."
The people's fury became a data storm, shredding the Sages' consciousness. Nahida stood amidst the collapsing court, cradling a rescued homunculus embryo. Dendro fireflies embraced the fragile life as its lashes fluttered to her whisper:
"True gods do not tower over life," her voice echoed across Sumeru, "they guard its infinite possibilities."
Sunlight pierced the shattered dome, illuminating the edict's final line: **"When stellar shadows return, the pact-bearers shall kindle hope's flame."**
Thirty days later, Kazuha buried the star-etched tablet behind the blind box shop. Moonlight revealed a sprouting Padisarah, its petals shimmering with starlight.
Deep in the Akademiya ruins, an unregistered pod leaked green fluid. The homunculus within opened eyes swirling with Nahida's Dendro sigils. Her fingertip touched the glass, etching the Scarlet King's star map onto its surface.
Desert winds swept judgment scrolls across rubble. Their faded seals bore half a strange emblem—a star-wreathed eye gazing coldly at Teyvat's night.