Cold sweat poured down Surtalogi's back.
What was the meaning of their continued existence?
The answer had always been simple—
the pursuit of power.
Himself.
Rhinedottir.
The others as well.
If not for their obsession with strength, how could they ever have been tempted by the Abyss?
And yet—
Aerin did not kill them.
Instead, he condemned them to live on,
worse than ordinary humans.
What Aerin wanted was not their lives.
He wanted to erase the very value and meaning of their existence.
"With his methods… he can absolutely do it."
The more Surtalogi thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
A life without power—
a life where even the desire for power was stripped away—
was far crueler than death.
With a sudden motion, Surtalogi drew his blade, intending to end it all himself.
But—
The thought of Aerin's ability to reconstruct existence itself made his hand freeze.
"…Heh. Even if I kill myself, what then?"
"He'd just drag me back again—
and let us suffer endlessly within our own minds."
"You—!"
Surtalogi stared at Aerin in sheer terror.
Nearby, Dainsleif was equally shaken.
"The Black King… is reclaiming its power?"
He muttered, then suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hahahaha—so what did we even accomplish in the end?"
"We gained power—
yet failed to protect Khaenri'ah, failed to protect our people!"
"And now—
even that power is being taken back!"
"No—this is impossible!" Surtalogi screamed madly, pointing at the others writhing in pain.
"This space isolates all forces! How can the Black King affect us here?!"
Aerin looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"This space is my space."
"Who it affects, and how it affects them—
that's decided by me, not you."
"…Have you been scared stupid?"
"No—no—no!" Surtalogi panicked, looking toward Vedrfolnir, who was clutching his head in agony.
"Vedrfolnir's prophecies never mentioned the Black King's return!"
Aerin shook his head, no longer interested.
"His prophetic power was limited to begin with."
"Did you really think he could foresee something beyond his own level?"
The moment Aerin turned away—
Surtalogi felt the Abyssal power inside him surge violently.
Just like the others.
Threads of black energy were forcibly peeled from his body.
"My power—what's happening?!"
"It's leaving me—!"
"That's mine! Give it back! Give it back!!"
He clawed desperately at the black mist escaping his body, screaming in agony.
Aerin glanced at him and snorted.
"Pathetic."
At the Same Time
A vortex tore open in space.
A white figure rushed out in panic.
"Master—something terrible has happened!"
Buer's face was pale.
"The False Sky surrounding the world has shattered!"
Aerin raised one hand calmly, signaling her to steady herself.
"I sensed Nibelung gathering beyond the world long ago."
"…You already knew?" Buer was horrified.
Aerin nodded.
"Someone extracted the residual consciousness within its Abyssal remnants and reassembled it."
His eyes sharpened.
"That bastard… came back again."
Buer froze.
Who came back?
Who revived whom?
The very idea of resurrecting Nibelung through leftover Abyssal will was unthinkable.
Yet Aerin looked completely unfazed.
Wise as she was, Buer chose not to ask questions she couldn't comprehend.
Instead, she looked at the figures shrouded in black smoke.
"Master… what about them?"
"Leave them," Aerin replied flatly.
"When this space dissolves, they'll return to Teyvat."
"Without power. Without the ability to pursue power."
"If they can maintain sanity, they should thank the heavens."
He glanced sideways at Surtalogi, who was laughing incoherently.
"See? One's already gone mad."
Mondstadt
Skirk stared fixedly at the screen.
Her master… had lost his mind because his power was stripped away.
She had never imagined such an ending.
She had once believed Aerin would simply crush the Abyss utterly—
and grant them death.
What happened instead was far worse.
"…I'm incredibly lucky," Skirk murmured.
"Huh?" Paimon pointed at her.
"I see black mist coming out of you too—you're the same, you know!"
Skirk shook her head.
"That's not what I meant."
She pointed at herself.
"I'm still me."
"I never imagined your master would end up like that…" Lisa said seriously, abandoning her teasing tone.
No matter what, Surtalogi had been Skirk's master.
There was no need to mock his end.
Skirk waved it off.
"He pursued power to the extreme. Losing the pursuit itself is worse than death to him."
"His ending wasn't unexpected."
"It only proves one thing—"
"No one can show off in front of Master."
"If Master wants you well, you'll soar higher than anyone."
"If not… your fate will be worse than anyone's."
"Poor Dainsleif…" Paimon sighed.
"He might as well have died in Stormterror's Lair."
"Master spared him to let him complete his revenge—
but then Nibelung's reclamation happened."
Suddenly, Lumine widened her eyes.
"Oh no—Aether still has Abyssal power in him!"
Skirk rolled her eyes.
"You're literally right next to him."
"With your strength, you can cleanse his Abyssal power when the reclamation happens."
"He'll just lose that power—nothing more."
"Right!" Lumine put her hands on her hips proudly.
"My Void Sword Aura purifies all forces!"
Court of Fontaine
Neuvillette led the Maison Gardiennage in repelling the dragonkin, with Focalors's help.
Yet the people of Fontaine were far more distracted by the sky's transformation.
No one noticed the difference between Focalors and Furina.
"What exactly went wrong…?"
"Why wouldn't the dragonkin obey me?"
"And that voice in my mind earlier…"
As the Hydro Dragon Sovereign, Neuvillette should have absolute authority.
But this time—
nothing worked.
In the end, Focalors sealed all dragonkin in water spheres.
Even so, she felt no relief.
She dared not kill them.
If this was part of Aerin's trial—
Fontaine could not afford his displeasure.
"We must find Master and clarify everything first."
Only then could they act freely.
She turned toward Furina.
Furina felt a chill down her spine.
"Oh no—she's going to make me do something terrifying again."
As expected—
"Furina," Focalors said gently, just like before.
"You can sense Master's location, right?"
"Could you travel there through imaginary space?"
"…Me?" Furina pointed at herself.
"You want me to go?"
Focalors nodded sweetly.
"You can go too—so why me?!"
Inside Furina's mind, another version of herself screamed:
You're afraid of getting scolded!
Like I'm not afraid of that!
She stared at the screen in disbelief.
"She… she actually refused me."
Chat Group Chaos
Hu Tao: "HAHAHA—this is priceless! Valkyrie Furina refusing her own creator!"
Cyno: "There's an inexplicable sense of comedy here."
Beidou: "Power goes to your head that fast?"
Furina: "Hey! I'm not arrogant—I'm just scared of being yelled at!"
Focalors: "Sigh… it's like everyone thinks I always trick her."
Lisa: "Clearly didn't study enough—if Master wanted to test Fontaine, he'd summon mutant dragonkin."
Jean: "Dragonkin aren't even tests. They lose to mutant hilichurls."
Yae Miko: "Seems the people of Fontaine still don't understand Master. Even as Valkyries, you lack resonance."
Focalors: "Inazuma's fox—your thoughts are vicious."
Navia: "She's just scared Master might accept us instead."
Clorinde: "A scheming fox."
Furina: "If I gain Master's approval, the first thing I'll do is drag you to Fontaine and judge you myself!"
Yae Miko: "Calling him 'Master' already? A bit early, little Furina~"
Yelan: "I thought the Hydro Archons would fight—turns out it's Fontaine vs Valkyries."
Xianyun: "Hmph!"
"These people are utterly shameless!"
"They're embarrassing Adeptus!"
"They think they're the master's lovers?"
"They're subordinates!"
"SUBORDINATES!"
Xianyun flared her wings in fury, startling Shenhe and Ganyu into leaping aside.
"Why are you two running?" Xianyun snapped.
"Am I wrong?!"
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