They said they would beat Azar for ten minutes, but in reality, the beating dragged on for over half an hour.
Every single member of the Eremite mercenary band got their turn.
Only after that did Lumine finally have Scaramouche carried along and Azar dragged back toward the Akademiya.
Scaramouche, at least, was technically Lumine's grand-nephew. Dehya and the others neither had the authority nor the desire to interfere. Carrying him back was no problem.
Azar, on the other hand,
The Eremites were willing to touch him while beating him, but once it came time to move him, they didn't want to lay a finger on him. Two mercenaries tied a rope to him and dragged him along the ground like a dead dog, scraping across the stone streets the entire way.
Along the route, countless scholars and Sumeru citizens stared in shock.
But Alhaitham had already uploaded Azar's crimes, and the accompanying evidence, into the Akasha. No one tried to defend him.
At most, people were just momentarily stunned to see the once-lofty Grand Sage reduced to this state.
The people of the Grand Bazaar, however, had been waiting along the road for a long time.
When they saw Azar, they froze for a second, then rotten vegetables and foul-smelling eggs began to fly.
Some even stepped forward to spit on him.
With Lumine's permission, a few went so far as to kick him.
Azar's crimes, cannibalism and the wanton torture of victims suffering from Eleazar, had all been exposed. He had become a sewer rat, hated by everyone.
If anyone despised Azar the most,
Aside from the desert folk, it was undoubtedly the people of the Grand Bazaar.
Art and the Zubayr Theater were not merely entertainment to them; they were their livelihood.
Thanks to the theater's fame, the people of the Grand Bazaar could make money and survive.
Azar had repeatedly tried to cut off their means of living. Cutting off someone's livelihood was no different from killing their parents.
Some of them wanted nothing more than to skin him alive.
The distance from the Sanctuary of Surasthana to the Akademiya wasn't long, but with waves of furious citizens stopping to vent their anger, the journey took over an hour.
By the time they reached the Akademiya, Azar was once again half-dead.
Lumine thought it over and decided this wouldn't do.
After pausing at the entrance, she ordered Azar tied to a pillar and placed a full crate of Life Restoration Potions beside him.
She then summoned over a dozen Eremite mercenaries and gave her instructions:
"Dragging him around is too troublesome. Everyone wants to beat him anyway, there are probably plenty inside the Akademiya who want to take a swing too."
"You stay here and watch him. The box contains life-restoration potions, the same ones you drank before."
"If someone beats him, don't stop them. Just don't let them kill him."
"When he's about to die, feed him a potion and restore him."
The moment they heard their job description, the Eremites lit up with excitement.
Several even volunteered to work overtime.
Once everything was arranged, the group finally headed inside the Akademiya.
Before long, furious shouting and Azar's screams erupted behind them, shattering the usual quiet of the scholarly halls.
They hadn't gone far when they ran into a large group of stern-looking scholars storming toward the entrance.
Lumine froze for a moment, then hurriedly said,
"Sorry, sorry! Azar's tied up outside, people are venting their anger. Did we disturb your research? We'll move him later."
At the front were two middle-aged scholars with rigid, disciplined expressions. One adjusted his glasses and looked at Lumine kindly.
"You must be the Traveler. Thanks to your efforts, this land of academic purity has finally been cleansed of that filthy parasite."
"Tighnari should have mentioned me. I am Naphis, Sage of the Amurta."
Lumine's eyes widened in realization.
"You're Tighnari's teacher, the scholar who was imprisoned?"
Naphis nodded awkwardly.
Lumine asked curiously,
"The Akademiya must be busy right now. Why are you all coming out?"
Naphis coughed lightly, looking a little embarrassed.
"We heard that Azar had been captured and was being escorted here, so we came out to… ahem…"
Lumine instantly understood. They were here to vent their anger too.
Pointing toward the entrance, she said cheerfully,
"He's tied up over there. If you want to beat him, hurry, if more Sumeru citizens arrive, you might not get a turn."
"Oh, and don't kill him. Ryen still wants Nahida, your Little Lucky Grass King, to vent her anger too."
"As for how you beat him, listen to the Eremite guards at the door. They can heal him."
"Killing him in one go won't be satisfying."
Naphis's eyes filled with fury.
"We understand. That wretch defiled the purity and sanctity of scholarship, and even sullied the divine."
"For someone like him, death would be far too merciful!"
"Traveler, Alhaitham and Tighnari are inside, as are your friends from Mondstadt. I won't waste any more of your time."
He turned and raised his hand.
"Move out! Collect our debt!"
Over a hundred scholars surged forward en masse toward Azar.
Lumine shook her head and sighed.
"In a way, Azar's ability to offend the entirety of Sumeru all at once is kind of impressive."
Rahman and the others burst out laughing and followed Lumine deeper inside.
Along the way, they saw Matra officers everywhere, questioning scholars, arresting some of them on the spot.
It was clear that the Akademiya was undergoing a massive purge.
No one stopped them. Evidently, Alhaitham had already made arrangements.
Soon enough, they regrouped near Alhaitham's office.
The moment they entered, Venti waved cheerfully.
"You're so slow, Lumine! We finished ages ago."
Lumine coughed and replied seriously,
"Well, you know… Scaramouche, the pseudo-god, and I did battle for over three hundred rounds."
At those words, Scaramouche, bound like a rice dumpling, snapped his head up and stared at Lumine in disbelief.
Three hundred rounds?
How could she even say that out loud?!
It was obvious to everyone that she had spent the entire fight humiliating him with shields!
Scaramouche struggled, trying to say something in protest, but Lumine immediately pulled out her staff and shot him a vicious glare.
His eyes went blank at once, and he stopped moving entirely.
Jean and the others immediately noticed what was going on. They exchanged amused glances and quietly laughed, choosing not to expose Lumine.
Other people might not know Lumine's true strength, but they certainly did.
Three staffs imbued with Lich's Barrier, six dragons, and more than a dozen RPGs.
Three hundred rounds?
Scaramouche wouldn't even have ashes left.
No,
he wouldn't even have screws left.
It was obvious that Lumine's shameless trash talk had already dealt Scaramouche a critical mental blow, and that she was deliberately exaggerating the fight because she was worried Makoto might scold her later.
Naturally, Jean and the others had no intention of calling her out.
"You've worked hard,"
Alhaitham said with a light smile, looking noticeably relaxed.
The Akademiya was undergoing a massive purge, and four sages had fallen. The turmoil was immense, but it was already obvious that Sumeru was about to regain its vitality.
"It was just our duty,"
Lumine waved her hand casually, then looked curiously at Jean.
"So… the Doctor is dead?"
Diluc nodded.
"Yes. That should have been his strongest segment. Losing one like that won't sit well with him."
"Our revenge has only just begun. I'll make him experience pain beyond description, little by little."
Lumine originally wanted to ask about the situation in the MC world, but then remembered that Jean and the others had rushed over right after the new mod opened. They probably didn't know much either.
So she turned to Alhaitham instead.
"What about you? What's the plan going forward? The Akademiya looks like it's being completely reshuffled."
Alhaitham nodded.
"Under Azar's rule, many so-called scholars didn't deserve the title at all."
"We plan to purge those people first and restore the Akademiya's academic purity."
"And then…"
He glanced at the plan he had just written and rubbed his temple, clearly getting a headache.
"The Akasha Terminal must be shut down temporarily. Of the Six Sages, aside from the two who weren't involved, all positions must be reselected."
"There's also the matter of handling Azar and his faction, and issuing public notices."
"And most importantly…"
He paused.
"The Sabzeruz Festival is less than a week away."
"To welcome back the Lesser Lord Kusanali, we must hold a grand Sabzeruz Festival. That requires careful planning."
"At present, the top priorities are stabilizing Sumeru and completing the festival."
"Everything else can be discussed afterward."
After a brief pause, Alhaitham looked around at everyone present.
"As for the alliance, that can wait until the Lesser Lord returns. We also need to coordinate personnel stationed in Liyue."
"Many members of the Corps of Thirty were complicit with Azar and must be purged as well."
"And as Mr. Rahman pointed out, the Corps has grown complacent, its combat effectiveness has severely declined."
"If nothing changes, we'll likely need to recruit new forces."
Just looking at the long list of tasks in his notebook was enough to make Alhaitham's head ache.
Any one of these issues alone would take weeks to resolve. And yet the Akademiya was severely understaffed, forcing everything onto Alhaitham and a few others.
He had originally planned to visit that world again.
Now…
that likely wouldn't be possible until after the Sabzeruz Festival.
But according to Lumine and Jean, Ryen's world had already opened new mods.
Missing out on those would make it even harder to catch up.
They hadn't even fully explored the Overworld, the Nether, the End, or the Twilight Forest yet.
If new mods widened the gap by four entire worlds,
That wouldn't be easy to make up.
For once, Alhaitham genuinely felt overwhelmed.
He had anticipated trouble, but never imagined it would be this complicated.
With a sigh, he closed his notebook.
"For now, let's focus on the Sabzeruz Festival first."
Lumine nodded blankly.
To be honest,
she hadn't understood a single word Alhaitham said.
Nor did she want to.
She turned to Jean instead.
"Acting Grand Master Jean, when are you heading back to Liyue?"
Jean smiled gently.
"In a moment. Ryen is waiting for us, the new mod still needs attention, and we don't plan to stay away too long."
"Since you've finished your business here, you can come with us."
She paused, then looked at Scaramouche.
"You're bringing him back, right?"
Lumine shrugged.
"Obviously. Makoto and Ei are both in Liyue. No matter what, he's still Ei's child, he should go see them."
"How he's handled after that depends on Makoto's wishes. And the Cryo Archon probably has questions too."
"Scaramouche's a lone wolf, but since he worked with the Doctor, he likely knows something about the Doctor and Pierro."
"If we can get a breakthrough from him, all the better."
Jean nodded in agreement.
Scaramouche, meanwhile, had understood perfectly.
In Liyue, not only would he face the person he least wanted to see, Ei,
But also the Cryo Archon.
He immediately began struggling again.
Lumine raised her staff and shot him a sharp glare.
"Don't make me beat you up again."
"..."
The once-proud Scaramouche,
knelt again.