"Akio," Raiden Ei looked at Akio and asked, "The artificial god from Sumeru… that's Kunikuzushi, isn't it?"
"When will he officially ascend to godhood?" she added with a hint of anticipation. "I'm curious—after all that arrogant bluster, let's see if he can withstand a single strike from me once he's a god."
"Just a mere insect," Akio scoffed. "Relying on the power of a Gnosis and thinking he can challenge real gods?"
"Tch, poor kid," Yae Miko clicked her tongue in mock pity.
"But honestly, if I had taken care of him behind your back back then, we wouldn't be dealing with all this now," she added with a tinge of frustration.
"…" Raiden Ei remained silent. Back then, she had seen a flicker of emotion in Scaramouche and, in a moment of weakness, spared him. In the end, that act of mercy had allowed the root of so many future problems to survive.
"If he goes too far, I'll strike him down myself," Ei said flatly. "He won't continue to exist in this world."
"As it should've been from the start," Yae Miko huffed.
———
After finishing breakfast at Tenshukaku, the women returned to their duties. Guizhong and Havria, however, were invited to stay behind and chat about girl stuff.
Akio, meanwhile, headed toward the nearby Divine Coronation Festival.
Though it was already noon, the festival was still packed with people.
"Master, please enjoy some tea."
Seated at a roadside tea stall, the shop owner came over respectfully, topping off Akio's tea and offering a plate of snacks.
Akio nodded in thanks, taking a sip as he quietly watched the bustling crowd.
"System," he asked in his mind, "I returned to the past before I even reached the level of the Imaginary Tree. I went through all that just to save Guizhong and Havria… but forcing them to experience such pain, was I wrong?"
"Why would Master think that?" the system replied, puzzled. "Isn't everything perfect right now? History remains unchanged, no one's been altered, and though Guizhong and Havria 'died' in recorded history, they're alive and well here in the present."
"Nothing has been disrupted. The world continues to function as it should. Isn't that the ideal outcome?"
"But I made my women suffer through near-death experiences," Akio sighed. "It makes me feel guilty… like I still owe them something."
"Master must let go of that thought," the system said.
"History is history. Even if you reach or surpass the level of the Tree, if you want to save them without altering the timeline, you would still have to go through the same process."
"If you ever gain the power to forcibly compress and rewrite the timeline—yes, even if the world collapses from the changes, you could easily repair it. But the course of history would be rewritten."
"You'd be forcefully inserting that change into all of existence," the system explained. "But with that, everyone would change too. Events in history are inevitable."
Akio fell silent. It was true. Even if he didn't directly tamper with the timeline, changing the records of the Imaginary Tree would still reshape the world.
Take the game, for example—when Nahida erased Greater Lord Rukkhadevata from the Tree's memory, she made everyone forget her. And even though Nahida inherited everything Rukkhadevata had done, even believed it herself, she was no longer the same person.
She had once been a pure branch of Rukkhadevata. But the moment Rukkhadevata was erased, Nahida stopped being Nahida as she once was.
The saddest part? Even she believed that everything from before had been her doing.
Her birth, her first sage, her escape from the cage with her own body—everything that once belonged to Rukkhadevata vanished the moment she was forgotten.
And that was just from modifying the Tree. Altering the timeline itself would be even more extreme.
Unless the women he loved could transcend Teyvat, become beings independent of this world—but was that even possible? Even the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles couldn't do that.
"If you someday reach the level of the Tree," the system said, "and if you're willing, you could elevate your lovers beyond Teyvat's bounds. Then, history could no longer affect them."
"I understand." Akio nodded. The key was to help them transcend—to become true beyond this world. That was the only way to rewrite history without harming them.
Ding~ Congratulations, Master, for achieving clarity of thought and freeing yourself from worldly troubles. You've unlocked the SSS-Rank Herrscher of Thunder template and its Core Amplification ability.
Master can now amplify the pseudo-Herrscher cores granted to others. Current maximum amplification: SS-Rank—equivalent to peak Archon level.
"!" Akio inhaled sharply. With the core amplification ability, all his women could wield power on par with peak Archons. If combined with Honkai energy, they might even surpass Ei in strength.
As the power of the Herrscher of Thunder flowed into him, the Imaginary Leaf within his body grew more solid—almost as if it were about to sprout and take root.
———
"Akio! Akio!"
As Akio sipped his tea and admired the festival, two familiar figures approached.
"Oh? Lumine, Paimon—you're here?" Akio smiled as they came into view. "Haven't seen you two in a while."
"Hehe, Lumine and I had a blast at the Coronation Festival!" Paimon grinned, floating over. "We bought so many fun things and ate a ton of good food!"
"Oh? Lumine, do you still have enough Mora to feed this little glutton?" Akio teased.
"I've got enough." Lumine nodded, taking a seat beside him. "We've done a lot of commissions lately, so there's still enough to keep Paimon fed."
"Hey, hey, hey! What's that supposed to mean?! Are you calling Paimon a glutton?" Paimon crossed her arms and huffed.
"Isn't that exactly what you are?" Lumine rolled her eyes. This little troublemaker was eating 300,000 Mora worth of food every month now!
"Ugh! Paimon helps too, you know!" she pouted, then zipped over to whisper in Akio's ear. "Akio, wanna hear what Lumine says in her sleep?"
"Paimon!" Lumine shot to her feet, face flushed as she tried to stop her.
"Akio, save me!" Paimon dove into his arms, hiding from Lumine's wrath. Lumine glared at her, cheeks burning.
"Pfft, come on. We've already talked about this stuff—what are you so scared of?" Paimon stuck out her tongue playfully.
"Akio, I'm telling you, Lumine's called your name in her sleep so many times," Paimon giggled. "And it always sounds so sweet and soft—it even makes me feel all gooey inside. Here, I'll mimic it for you."
"Akio~~ don't move~~" Paimon imitated in a syrupy voice.
Lumine looked like a steaming teapot, face crimson and unable to meet Akio's eyes.
Paimon, you little menace… you're gonna pay for this!
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