"Heh… Idris, do you see it now? This is the price for betraying me!"
"With that mortal body of yours, there won't even be ashes left!"
The Balladeer cast a contemptuous glance toward the crater where Idris had crashed, then turned to Nahida with a cold smile.
"But don't feel lonely, Grand Sage."
"Very soon, all of Sumeru will go down there to keep you company."
"And we'll start with you—the god of this nation."
"You're a mere projection right now, I know. But your true body is housed in the upper levels of this Sanctuary."
"So… die."
He looked down once at the hole in his chest where the sword had run him through. He had no heart—but the fury in his hollow ribcage hadn't diminished. Lightning flared. He lunged for Nahida.
Nahida's face paled, yet she didn't retreat. If she fled, he would vent his rage on the people next. She gathered herself to risk everything—
—and Idris stepped out of the dust, walking, unhurried.
Layer upon layer of golden radiance flowed around him like a ward. He looked… untouched.
"You—how are you not hurt? Impossible!"
The Balladeer's eyes widened, as if he'd just realized the "final blow" had been thrown at a mere decoy. Nahida, meanwhile, quietly exhaled. This man… he keeps aces up his sleeve. It seemed she wouldn't need to worry today. Perhaps she would once again have to play the villain by his side—but so what?
"I did underestimate you," Idris said. "You're the first to force me to open my Divine Shield."
"You can close your eyes now."
He flicked Frostmourne; tough, verdant vines surged up, bearing him into the air to face the Balladeer once more.
"What's there to brag about? If I knocked you down once, I can do it again!"
Rage flushed the Balladeer's face. The previous clash hadn't killed him thanks to his special body, but his systems had taken a hit.
Idris drew a finger along Frostmourne's edge and smiled. "How many times do I need to remind you? If you weren't a puppet without a heart, you'd already be dead."
"And for the record—I never betrayed you. That was your own wishful thinking."
"Now, it's your turn to fall."
"Senluo Sword Domain."
He gripped the blade, Dendro power blooming in tandem. The once thorny Senluo Dead Domain unfolded again—but this time, honed by a hundred years of sword insight, the ghostly vines shed their thorns and unfurled as countless flying demon-blades.
Nahida couldn't help a silent gripe. No wonder people call you a demon king—call you a tyrant. Only you could make the life-filled Dendro element look this… wicked.
The Balladeer's face darkened to purple. He knew the tide had turned. Yet arrogance didn't allow hesitation; he charged while Idris gathered force.
"Senluo Sword Domain—move at my will! Cut!"
Idris's slash fell.
The demon-blades moved as one, a storm of swordlight tearing into the Balladeer. He tried to guard, but his diminished systems couldn't keep up. Dozens of tainted cuts raked him from the sky. He slammed into the floor.
At the same time, one demon-blade lanced from the flank and neatly pried a chess-piece-like core from his side. Lightning snarled within the little object; holding it made Idris's arm thrum.
The Electro Gnosis—Raiden Shogun's heart of godhood—was finally in Idris's hand.
"Gnosis… mine…"
The fallen puppet stretched out a hand, helpless. Nahida, seeing this, looked away on cue. Mercy was her nature, her divinity—but she would not let it spoil Idris's design.
With the prize secured and the Balladeer maimed, Idris rode the vines down, then with a casual gesture floated the puppet's body into Shouki no Kami's cockpit.
The Balladeer could no longer resist. Face ashen, he still managed to ask, "Grand Sage Idris… why are you doing this?"
"If today is our first real meeting… Why betray five centuries of cooperation between me and your Akademiya? Why lay hands on me?"
"Many have wished me dead. You're the first to truly try."
He wasn't begging. Only confusion burned in his eyes. Even if past Grand Sages were fools, even if Idris was unlike any before him—surely there was no need to kill him?
Idris answered evenly. "In this life of mine, I will never let another god rule Sumeru—unless that god is a puppet entirely in my hand."
"You want to become a god of people. I need a god for people."
"I won't dress it up as justice. It's our private desires, nothing more."
"Because I am the last Sage of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata—and the first Sage of Lesser Lord Kusanali."
He had many reasons to erase the Balladeer. This was the one he chose to speak: Sumeru.
Nahida's head snapped toward him, eyes bright with surprise—then joy. You finally said it. You finally admitted it. You're my first Sage. Even if he'd said it merely for momentum, she would etch it into memory for life.
The Balladeer didn't notice her delight. He stared at Idris and laughed thinly. "So that's it."
"A god born for himself is a god no one needs… I recall a Liyue saying like that. I'm starting to suspect—you're from Liyue."
"No," Idris said. "I just like that nation."
"Prison Circle."
His hand seal changed. The puppet was slammed back into Shouki no Kami's chassis and sealed tight. The Circle's binding made escape impossible; the Balladeer strained and found he could not move an inch. Ten times Idris's strength? He didn't have even one.
Three pills appeared between Idris's fingers—the Soul-Loss Pill, and the Soulbind Mother–Child Pills.
With a body this durable and a will this stubborn, the Balladeer had to be broken before the alchemy would take. Now, he was ready.
"Before you leave this world," Idris said mildly, "anything to say?"
"You were the first to force out my life-saving trump. I'll acknowledge your strength. Consider this a chance for last words."
"Heh… pity? From the man about to kill me? How quaint."
He laughed—at himself more than Idris—and began to speak: of being made and abandoned, of being used as a human, of butchering noble houses in Inazuma, of becoming a Fatui Harbinger, of killing for goals that were never truly his…
A life riddled with betrayals. This latest one, in his mind, wore Idris's face.
Idris shook his head. "Whether as a villain or a good man, you never managed to be yourself."
"A life spent fleeing the word 'puppet'—and a life lived as one. All that remains is centuries of feral spite."
"Your sins won't be forgiven. Pray that your next life is kinder."
"I don't need the pity of the man who's going to end me," the Balladeer rasped. "Do it. Ending this wretched life… might be best."
"As you wish. Rest easy—Il Dottore will go down after you."
Idris flicked a vine; the Soul-Loss Pill slipped between the Balladeer's lips. A white haze drifted from his eyes; his gaze dimmed. Three souls and six spirits scattered; memories unraveled at pill's command.
Nahida sighed at the sight—and after the story—but joy still outweighed sorrow in her heart. She drifted closer to Idris, watching quietly.
"Cruel means," she murmured.
"Cruel," he agreed. "But some things must be done, once or twice in a lifetime."
"For Sumeru."
Sumeru lacked top-tier force. Idris, as the Human King, couldn't act personally every time. Letting Shouki no Kami rot would be a waste. The Balladeer had delivered himself. No point second-guessing; once chosen, finish the work.
He pressed the Child Pill past the puppet's teeth and swallowed the Mother Pill himself. A thread of connection bloomed in his mind, ready to tug at will.
In the cockpit, conduits and reservoirs snaked into the Balladeer's body. The hatch sealed. Under pill and Circle, both puppet and machine fell under Idris's hand.
He gave the first order.
"Shouki no Kami, heed my command—kneel."
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