"Flames... and a great tree... uh... symbolizing..."
Kimiya rubbed the back of his head, flipping rapidly through the book in his hands. Before he could find the answer, Aether spoke up.
"Symbolizing the beginning of all things and the cycle of reincarnation, right?"
Kimiya froze, then stared at Aether in disbelief.
"Wow, you're well-versed in this kind of divination too?"
Aether only felt an inexplicable discomfort.
When Kimiya spoke, an overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over him—as if Aether already knew exactly what Kimiya was about to say next.
"I... don't know..."
When Aether's group arrived at the stall of the actor playing Farris the shopkeeper, Paimon excitedly urged Aether to pick a box of candy.
"I'm sure you'll pick the one with the Sunsettia flavor..."
Before Paimon could finish, Aether interrupted, "Number four."
He pointed directly at the fourth box with uncanny precision, as if he already knew the answer.
"Oh? It really is the fourth box! You've got some incredible luck today, my friend."
The shopkeeper handed Aether the fourth box of candy. Aether stared at it for a moment before turning to Paimon with hesitation.
"Something's wrong... I feel like I already know what's going to happen next..."
Paimon was baffled. She wanted to argue but then remembered all the unexplainable things Aether had just done. Reluctantly, she followed his train of thought.
"You mean... we've already experienced all this before?"
Aether nodded, then looked at Dunyarzad.
"This afternoon, you'll be harassed by mercenaries, and then Dehya will step in to help."
Dunyarzad was equally shocked. Carrying this inexplicable feeling, she later witnessed exactly what Aether had predicted.
"So... we've been stuck in some kind of time loop!?"
Paimon finally understood—but another question formed in her mind.
"Why is it that no one else notices, but you can?"
Aether raised his hand, revealing the glow of Dendro energy.
"Probably because I've come into contact with divine power—the power of Dendro. That's why I feel this way."
Aether sat on a bench, deep in thought.
Time reversal? He had considered it, but true time reversal...
He glanced at Dehya.
"Are you hurt?"
Dehya checked herself in confusion before shaking her head.
"Then it's not time reversal. In the first loop, Dehya did get hurt. That means the more likely possibility is that we're all trapped in some kind of illusion, forced to repeat the same cycle over and over."
Paimon offered another clue.
"I remember hearing a beeping sound this morning..."
Aether and Dunyarzad exchanged glances before quickly removing their Akasha Terminals.
But nothing changed. Aether pondered again. Maybe this wasn't an illusion created by the Akasha Terminal...
If they seemed to have removed the Akasha Terminal but hadn't actually done so, only one possibility fit.
"It's a dream."
…..
"Abby, are you sure?"
Rover looked up at the massive transparent green sphere floating before him, countless runes and symbols swirling around it. Inside, a small figure hovered silently.
Abby nodded.
"I'm certain. That's the Dendro Archon."
Rover frowned. The Dendro Archon... imprisoned? It was unthinkable.
After all, among the other nations' gods—not counting those they hadn't visited yet—just taking the three nations they'd traveled to as examples, which Archon wasn't revered as an unquestionable sovereign?
This also indirectly proved that the mastermind behind this dream trap wasn't the Dendro Archon. By process of elimination, only one answer remained.
The Dendro Archon sensed movement outside and opened her eyes. Seeing a stranger observing her, the Akasha provided no information about this person—but based on appearance alone, there was a 99% probability that this was Rover.
Then, it displayed Rover's legendary exploits across three nations.
"Ro... Rover? Hello, I'm Nahida."
Nahida tilted her head slightly, pressing her hand against the glass sphere as she studied the legendary figure before her.
Rover glanced around at the unfamiliar machinery surrounding them.
"I'm Rover. Tell me—why has all of Sumeru City fallen into a dream?"
Nahida hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Could you... put on the Akasha Terminal? I can't move freely..."
Before she could finish, a slash of dark energy shattered the container in front of her. Nahida blinked in surprise.
"Now you can move."
Nahida slowly climbed out, then pointed toward a distant corridor.
"The Grand Sage Azar is using the Akasha to harvest the dreams of everyone in the city."
This time, Rover's brow furrowed slightly.
"I thought the people of Sumeru didn't dream."
Nahida shook her head, speaking softly.
"Dreams are always wondrous, intricate, and full of imagination. Moreover, when people dream, their minds are at their most active. In other words, dreams are a convergence of human wisdom.
The Akasha keeps human minds in a constant state of dreaming while separating their consciousness from their original dreams. These stripped-away consciousnesses are gathered into the collective dream of the Sabzeruz Festival, while the empty, ownerless dreams are harvested by the Akasha.
Without realizing it, a day in the dream ends, and a new cycle begins."
Nahida meticulously explained the entire mechanism by which the Akasha stole people's dreams.
This conclusion, entirely different from what Khvarena had suggested, forced Rover to process the information quickly. Finally, he pointed out the core issue.
"Then... what's their goal?"
Nahida uttered these words.
"To create a god."