A secluded, desolate island—
hidden deep within Teyvat's seas.
Manic laughter echoed endlessly across the waves.
"Hahahahaha—!"
Dottore's face twisted into something barely human, as if his mind had finally shattered.
"He… he… he stomped Teyvat apart with a single foot."
With Scaramouche's god's-eye perspective laid bare, the truth finally surfaced.
The shattered fragments of "sky" he had witnessed before his death—
were nothing more than the false firmament of Teyvat, torn apart by Aerin's sheer presence.
Paimon had been right.
That golden, steel-flat radiance descending from the heavens—
was not a weapon.
It was Aerin's sole.
A pitch-black void.
The Shouki no Kami, tiny as drifting sand.
The massive rocks floating around it—
were the broken remains of Teyvat itself.
And behind Aerin—
that impossibly distant, blazing sphere of fire—
was no illusion.
It was a star.
True cosmic space.
A realm Teyvat's people had never seen,
never touched,
never even imagined.
"Above heaven and below—one rider stands supreme…"
"What… are you?"
"A god?"
"Or something that transcends gods?"
"Hahahahaha—!"
Dottore laughed again, voice hoarse and unhinged.
"To witness something so beautiful before death…"
"…my life was worth it."
Across Teyvat, others had finally grasped the truth as well.
They didn't know how Aerin did it—
But they understood one thing clearly:
He had become larger than Teyvat itself.
And when his foot descended—
the world shattered.
[Yae Miko]:"Ancestor—ancestor—calm down! You really don't need to stoop to someone like Scaramouche!"
[Cloud Retainer]:"I agree. Please do not anger yourself over such a person, exalted one."
[Eula]:"Huh?"
[Lisa]:"You 'huh' what? Lord Aerin just stepped on Teyvat."
[Eula]:"…Huh?!"
[Hu Tao]:"Seriously—can't that brat just die alone? Why drag the entire world down with him?!"
[Lumine]:"Everyone, stay calm. Master always acts with restraint. He wouldn't harm innocents over someone like that."
[Navia]:"Fifth Descender, please—he's ignorant and mentally unstable!"
Fontaine — Palais Mermonia
"Teyvat…"
"…blew up?"
Furina felt the world spin.
She had never been brave to begin with—
how could she withstand something like this?
From everyone's reactions, it seemed Aerin had simply been irritated by Scaramouche calling him "small."
So he let Scaramouche see what "big" truly meant.
"C-Could he… in reality…"
"…also let Scaramouche see a body larger than Teyvat?"
"Clorinde…"
Her voice faded.
Her eyes rolled back—
and she collapsed on the spot.
"Lady Furina!"
"Lady Furina!"
Clorinde snapped back to reality, checking Furina's pulse before shouting toward the door:
"Quick—fetch Sigewinne!"
Meanwhile
Skirk, already awake, had caught up with Aerin and Raiden Ei.
Both women stopped abruptly.
Neither dared look at the figure walking calmly ahead.
Skirk shot Raiden Ei a sharp glance.
This is all her fault.
Creating puppets for no reason—useless except for causing disasters.
Raiden Ei felt her scalp tingle.
Her interface kept chiming nonstop—
all messages from Yae Miko.
"…?"
Aerin sensed the hesitation behind him and glanced back.
"Why did you two stop?"
Only then did Raiden Ei and Skirk snap out of it, hurrying after him.
Space warped again.
Several graceful figures hurriedly emerged.
"Mas—Master…"
Every Valkyrie had rushed over, shaken by the vision of Teyvat being crushed beneath his foot.
"Please don't take someone like that seriously…"
Paimon flew up behind Aerin, floating near his shoulder, rubbing it with all her strength.
"That guy's brain is definitely broken!"
Lumine nodded furiously.
"Master, Paimon's right. Scaramouche is seriously unwell."
Eula and Kamisato Ayaka stepped forward together.
"If you're angry, we can help you cool down."
"Vent however you like—just don't bother with someone like him."
Alice took a step forward—
then immediately retreated.
Fire element… bad idea.
The scene made Aerin pause.
He looked genuinely puzzled.
"The others aren't panicking."
"So why are you, of all people—the ones with access to Imaginary Space—this scared?"
The Valkyries exchanged helpless looks.
Is there anything scarier than the world exploding?
Everyone else could only panic from afar.
They, at least, could reach him.
Their message alerts were already sounding like bomb countdowns.
"Relax."
"The projection hasn't even finished."
"Honestly—no patience at all."
Aerin waved toward Raiden Ei and Skirk.
"Let's keep moving to Sumeru."
Then he turned back to the Valkyries.
"If I didn't call you, go do your own work."
"Stop crowding."
The women shrank back, chastened.
We were just trying to soothe you…
And got scolded instead.
Imaginary Space
The silver-haired girl walked slowly toward the gravely injured Bella.
"It's over, Bella."
Bennett—no.
Bennett is wrong.
Bennares's voice was calm, cold.
Bella sneered.
"Heh…"
"You know you can't kill me."
"Even if you do, I'll return."
"Is that so?" Bennares smiled faintly.
Golden light flared in her hand.
Bella froze.
Her pupils shrank violently.
"Xuanyuan…?"
"You have good taste."
"Then you should know what it means."
"Even if I can't wield its full power—"
"I can erase you."
"Along with the unknown force clinging to you."
"You're finished, Bella."
"BENNARES!" Bella screamed.
"You're nothing but a slave kneeling beneath Aerin!"
"Without his power, you'd never beat me!"
She lunged forward in a final, desperate counterattack.
Bennares didn't argue.
She only said calmly—
"But I do have my master's power."
"Farewell, Bella."
The sword flashed.
Blackness was swallowed by gold.
Far away in the cosmos—
a dark core of unknown energy detonated in blinding light.
When the radiance faded—
the universe fell silent once more.
One sword.
Even the mysterious cosmic substance was erased.
Yet no one celebrated.
They were still trapped in the nightmare of a shattered world.
Especially those who noticed the inconsistencies.
Scaramouche's visions of the Archon War—
felt wrong.
Like dreams.
Like illusions.
Combined with Nahida's Infinite Dream Corridor—
the conclusion became unavoidable.
Scaramouche had been trapped in a dream from the very start.
Which raised a terrifying question:
If Aerin could do all that in a dream—
Could he do it in reality?
And if the dream showed a shattered Teyvat—
Would reality follow?
Fear spiraled.
Bennares sheathed her sword.
Bella's Imaginary Space began collapsing.
She opened a rift and stepped through—
arriving at a vast, clean platform ringed by experimental equipment.
"It's done?"
Aerin's voice drifted over.
Bennares hurried to his side.
"Yes, Master. Bella and the force bound to her have been completely purified."
"Well done."
Aerin smiled, patting her head.
She leaned into the touch, content.
Then her gaze fell—
upon the enormous mechanical head nearby.
A boy hung from it.
Scaramouche.
"Master… he—"
"He's dreaming," Aerin said lightly.
"I let him glimpse my Heaven-Piercing state."
"…What?!"
Bennares stared at him, then glared at Scaramouche with undisguised disgust.
"That insect doesn't deserve to see that form!"
"His power is far inferior to Bella's!"
"I could tear this thing apart with one claw!"
"Why show him that state?"
"May I rip him apart?"
At that moment—
the last hope died.
The clever ones understood.
Scaramouche had never fought Aerin.
He had never even truly used the Shouki no Kami.
Everything—
was a dream.
And Bennares' fury confirmed it.
Aerin truly possessed the power Scaramouche saw.
Power enough to dwarf Teyvat itself.
"Lord Rex Lapis," Xiao asked quietly, "why is Bennares angry?"
Zhongli's voice trembled slightly.
"She worships him too deeply."
"She rarely witnesses that form."
"To know that Scaramouche saw it—even in a dream—"
"…provokes jealousy."
Cloud Retainer swallowed hard.
"H-Heaven-Piercing…?"
"Will he… in reality—"
Zhongli exhaled slowly.
"…I don't know."
Blame Barbatos.
He once bragged that Aerin avoided the projected future because of him.
Now—
the future showed Teyvat unbroken.
But who could guarantee reality would remain the same?
"Ah…"
"My old friend must be losing his mind right now."
The Shouki no Kami — Awakening
A soft murmur.
Scaramouche slowly opened his eyes.
"…Where… am I?"
No one answered.
But a familiar voice made his blood run cold.
"How was your sleep?"
"Tragic, really."
"All that effort—just to experience it once in a dream."
Scaramouche looked up.
When he saw Aerin—
his eyes nearly popped from their sockets.
"It's you—!"
"No… you're not human."
"What are you?!"
He could never forget.
The endless abyss beneath his feet.
The terror of being less than dust.
The giant—
so vast his edges couldn't be perceived.
"No… don't come closer…"
"Don't—DON'T—!"
He screamed himself hoarse.
Bennares frowned and waved her hand.
His madness stabilized slightly.
Then—
CRACK.
His expression twisted again.
"Gnosis—!"
"No—my Gnosis—!"
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Seven Gnoses shattered simultaneously.
He struggled wildly, but his body wouldn't move.
"NO!"
"The Gnosis!"
"Only the Gnosis—!"
Aerin watched calmly.
"I thought that once you overcame your fear of me…"
"…you might regain your arrogance."
"But losing the Gnoses shattered your will again."
"How pitiful."
"So you do understand the pain of losing something precious."
Aerin paused.
Then shook his head.
"No."
"You're not the same."
"You're just a coward who refuses to face himself."
"You feared Ei's power."
"So instead of facing her…"
"You vented your hatred on innocent Inazuman civilians."
"Wrongs have their owners."
"What kind of revenge is that?"
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