The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings: Denouement

You're actually Nahida, aren't you! Paimon felt like Katheryne was acting weird when we met at the Sabzeruz Festival.

And Dunyarzad... Did you save her?

It's a really long story. We shouldn't disturb her. Her consciousness is still weakened.

Let's chat somewhere else. How about by the Traveler's favorite bench?

Let's talk about Dunyarzad first. It's such a relief that she's all right!

Hmm-hmm. After we parted on the last day of the Sabzeruz Festival, I left the city and saw what the Traveler had described.

Among the countless dreams, I found one that was growing fainter and fainter. This proved my suspicion.

Once Dunyarzad could no longer bear the Akasha harvesting her dreams, her consciousness began to dissipate — but this also meant it escaped the Akasha's control.

Such a small fragment of consciousness can't last for very long, though. It will return to its original dream...

Where both will gradually fade until they completely disappear.

I used all the power I had to keep her dying dream alive as long as possible, but it still wouldn't have lasted for much longer if it hadn't been for you two breaking the samsara.

So it looks like we did manage to save Dunyarzad in the end. And not a moment too soon!

Oh? Why are you two smiling so happily? I thought you'd be so moved that you'd start crying... Hmm... I need to spend more time observing human emotions.

Both are fine! Everyone reacts differently!

Alright, you two must have a lot of other questions for me, right? After all, you saved my faithful believer. As your reward, I'll answer any and all questions.

To be accurate, I'm using the Akasha as a medium to occupy Katheryne's consciousness.

H—How did you do that!? Poor Katheryne! Uh, does this mean you can also occupy other people's consciousnesses?

Theoretically, I can enter anyone's mind as long as they're wearing their Akasha Terminal.

The Akasha is the legacy of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. As Lesser Lord Kusanali and The First Akasha Terminal, my consciousness has always been linked to the Akasha.

I've always respected my people's free will, so I've never actually occupied their consciousness. When necessary, I just borrow this bionic Snezhnayan puppet.

Oh... Uhh, hold on, did we just learn some deep, dark secret? So Katheryne is... No wonder Paimon felt something was off about her...

What about your own body? Why do you need to borrow other people's? Don't you live in the Sanctuary of Surasthana?

...That story begins a long time ago. After Greater Lord Rukkhadevata disappeared, the Sages found my newly born self and took me back to Sumeru.

At that time, I was young and weak. The sages kept me in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, ostensibly for the sake of "protecting" me, but I've hardly heard from them since.

However, I do understand that they had hoped to find Greater Lord Rukkhadevata instead of me, a symbol of her passing.

So... the sages basically put their new archon under house arrest? How dare they... Why don't you teach them a lesson, Nahida!?

In some ways, they aren't wrong. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was omniscient and omnipotent. Even after her death, the Akasha is still empowering this nation.

And I... I'm still really far away from being able to call myself the God of Wisdom. Moreover, the Akademiya is also far more proficient at governing this country. My existence has little meaning.

To me, you're already an excellent archon.

Yeah! You've got a lot of believers. Just look at the Sabzeruz Festival! Everyone who showed up truly loves you.

Hehe, thank you for the kind words, but I honestly don't need physical freedom as long as I can connect my consciousness to the Akasha.

Trying to find a way to save Irminsul is my life's mission and top priority. I will work on that, and try to live up to being a deity in the meantime...

...Every once in a while, I will also take up the duties of the God of Wisdom, and enlighten a lost soul here and there. Doing all that... should be enough.

Got it. I hope my answers were satisfactory, seekers of knowledge.

To be honest, maintaining Dunyarzad's fading dream took a lot of mental energy... I think I may need to rest for a while.

Oh, and you don't need to worry too much about the Sages' activities for now. The Akasha won't be able to conduct another project on the scale of the Sabzeruz samsara in the immediate future.

Go and get some sleep. Leave everything to us!

Hehe, what a relief. *yawn* This is truly the most exhausting birthday I've ever had.

Hmm... Traveler? Paimon? Why am I here? Do either of you know?

Uhh... Maybe you were sleepwalking? You know, you can't wake up a sleepwalker. We, uh... We happened to walk by, so we thought we'd wait for you to wake up!

I see. Huh... I should visit my maintenance personnel sometime. Oh, I'm fine. I better go. Thank you.