The Traveler's exodus into despair

by EndouInazuma

The Traveler is not as kind and courteous as he once was, for his patience has been sorely tried on his travels through the regions, and he is beginning to tire of solving everyone's problems. Shortly after one gruelling mission, he snapped, went into exile and took it out on everything he could, leaving nothing but despair in his wake, causing concern among his friends.

17. Chapter 17

Hello everyone!
Here's a new chapter in the story, with a lot of violence, so I'm just warning you in advance, there's going to be a lot of blood and tears, because from now on, Aether's patience has reached its limit.

As for the Genshin update, there's one thing I can't stand. I did Arlecchino's story quest, which I thought was excellent, by the way, Arlecchino is an excellent character and I think she's easily my favorite Fatui.

But what I didn't understand was the claim that Traveler was a "fraud" because he lost his first fight in a long time. In itself, I don't mind the defeat, on the contrary, I think it's better because it shows the margin of progress he has to achieve to continue his research and fight the problems on his way, knowing all the more that Arlecchino is the 4th Harbinger out of 12, it's normal for her to be very strong, as the story progresses he faces more powerful enemies.

What's even funnier is that when Traveler has lost before, there hasn't been as much controversy. When he lost to Raiden Shogun the first time, there was none of that. What's more, in the game's introduction, Aether and Lumine together lose to the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.

So calling Aether or Lumine "frauds" is crazy, it's like saying that Goku in Dragon Ball is a fraud because he lost to Boo, Beerus, or Hit for exemple. Goku has lost an insane amount of times, but that doesn't mean he's not strong, he's still a great fighter who gets better as he goes along. And you hardly ever hear people say "Goku is a fraud" or something like that about a lot of anime characters, but when it comes to Aether and Lumine, it's easy to criticize, whereas I don't see what the problem is with losing.

Especially since they progress as the story goes on, and let's not forget that it's not their real power, since they both lost their powers when they arrived on Teyvat.

Also, I didn't understand why neither Lyney, Lynette, nor Fréminet used their elements. I liked that the siblings used a three-way group attack, but at the time it would have been better if they had used their elements with their weapons. Also, why Aether (or Lumine) didn't use elements?

Well, I think I've said a lot of things, but I wanted to express my point of view on this clowning.

Besides, this chapter will show the power of Aether, so it's a timely follow-up to what I just wrote.

With that said, happy reading.

---

As Aether watched, apathetic to the Archons, and most of his former friends crying of being reminded of their past sins and failures. He didn't even bother to try and comfort them because he was done doing that. Aether began to finally walk away from the entire group, he had nothing more to say to them.

The Archons despite all of their tears and heartache from Aether's brutal, truthful words. They couldn't afford to let him go. The Archons wanted to redeem themselves in the Traveler's eyes, but also stop him before his anger could cause everlasting consequences for himself and Teyvat. Aether's elemental blast that ravaged Mondstadt's landscape in their attempt to murder them was proof of that.

"No, please don't go…"

Nahida didn't want to give up and lose one of the people dearest to her heart as his rage, resentment, and madness consumed him. She wanted to show him that he was wrong and that this time she would look after him as he had always looked after her. Especially as Nahida didn't want him to come into conflict with the rest of Teyvat if he continued on his way to Fontaine. The Dendro Archon didn't want to think what the Traveler would do to Furina de Fontaine with how much of a ticking time bomb he was now.

Nahida knew that the Aether she knew was still there buried underneath all that darkness in his heart. All they needed was a push, just one push to make him finally see that they do care for him. Aether stopped for a moment to give Nahida the courtesy of him hearing her out one last time.

"Listen Aether... You don't have to forgive us, but we can at least support you...You need love, and we haven't shown you enough how grateful we are to you. You may think we've forsaken you, but we haven't. You have constantly risked your life for us, and we haven't forgotten about that. Let us prove ourselves that we do care about you. We will find your sister, you can share your burden, especially as it's a very heavy one to bear, please Aether..."

Nahida shed more tears again, a sign that she really didn't want Aether to sever ties with her. Raiden Ei came up behind Nahida and caressed her head to comfort her.

"I...I don't think I have the right to talk, especially after everything I've done to you... But, you don't have to give up on everything...I'll do anything to make amends, I know how distressed you are, and you deserve the best after everything…" Ei spoke, her face remorseful like the rest.

Venti and Zhongli hoped he would understand, adding their own opinion to back up what Belzeebul and Buer had previously said. Venti, his jaw was trembling, and wiping away his tears, hoping that Aether would give in, finally forgiving them.

"Aether, I understand that problems don't go away like petals on a dandelion. This time I want to assure you that we'll do everything we can to change for the better. You're right that so many people have suffered because of us, you included for our negligence. Even though the damage has already been done, we can at least try to make amends." added the Anemo Archon.

"Venti is right, as are Nahida and Ei. I know it will take time to regain your trust, but we'll show you that we do want to help. Everyone here is here for that same reason. We all know how hard it is to lose a loved one, but we thought we could honor them through our obligations. It's undeniable that we lost our way, and now we see it. Especially as we had not only disrespected you but also the people of our respective nations. But, I want to believe, as Nahida said, that it's possible to make up for it, and that you don't have to walk this lonesome road...After all, I know you'll see her again and be reunited with her. Every journey has its final day. Don't rush." Finished the Geo Archon, thinking that talking about Lumine in this way might reason with him.

….

…

…

"...You crossed the line!" Aether snarled before drawing his sword, and swinging it to Zhongli's direction.

Fortunately for the Geo Archon, he had anticipated this, wasting no time in forming his Geo shield around himself. Indeed, he blocked Aether's first strike, while protecting the other Archons behind him, leaving enough time for his colleagues to react to the situation. All of them lamented that they now had to resort to using physical force if they wanted to stop the Traveler before he could hurt anyone else in his rage.

"You know with the exception of Ei, I never did fight the rest of you, Archons. Don't think of this as me lashing out, I'm simply finally settling a score I have with all of you."

However, Aether infused his sword with Geo just as his sword had slammed into the shield again, the power of his strike having increased tenfold, and he succeeded in shattering the shield once and for all. It had only lasted a few seconds, enough for Zhongli to dodge, as well as the other Archons.

Morax was stunned, his eyes wide at the fact that he had managed to break his shield so easily, and realized that he couldn't afford to hold back. Aether made it clear that he was going for the kill now.

Venti, Ei, and Nahida looked at each other briefly, all three realizing that they had no choice, but to fight the Traveler now. Their words failed to get through to him, and now resort to physically knocking some sense into him.

But like Xiao earlier, they had forgotten one essential thing; Aether didn't remain the same as before. His fighting skills have leveled up exponentially, his control over the elements were much more refined, and combined with his rage and madness made him that more dangerous.

As for Zhongli, he was clearly struggling against Aether. The Geo Archon sent a barrage of masterful spear strikes, but only for Aether to parry or dodge every single one. Seeing that wasn't working, Zhongli tried something a bit unorthodox. Morax kicked his spear toward Aether only to be caught when the Traveler mimicked his move by tossing his sword. The two weapons clashed until Zhongli's spear was sent right back to its owner. Eyes widening, Zhongli barely had time to dematerialize his spear before it could cave his ribs in.

However, Aether had taken advantage of the opening with him behind Zhongli. Just as the Geo Archon turned his head, he received a powerful Anemo-empowered punch to his face that sent him reeling back. Not letting up, Zhongli received multiple Anemo punches and kicks toward his sternum, femur, ribs, and face. Any normal human would have broken immediately, but Geo Archon wasn't made of frail material. It still didn't change the fact that the sheer power of the blows hurt. Aether had finally ended the brutal combo with a Anemo-empowered roundhouse kick sending Zhongli to a nearby boulder that nearly shattered completely.

Aether stopped his movements for a moment to sneer in disgust at the Geo Archon struggling to stand.

"How disappointing, Zhongli. Not only are you trying to beat me with moves, I have seen you done plenty of times. This is proof of what I was saying to Venti earlier. You never bothered to change or learn more in favor of being comfortable. The fact I'm beating you right now means two things: Either you have gotten so pitifully weak or I have grown so much stronger than you."

The other Archons were quite shocked to see how one-sided Aether's fight with Morax was. Also feeling the sting of Aether's words regarding their own stagnation, and consequences because of it. As for the people who were watching all this, they couldn't believe that Aether was overpowering the Geo Archon with ease. Was Aether actually right? Have the Archons somehow gotten weaker or has Aether truly grown strong enough in his travels to surpass the gods?

Paimon, for her part, was dumbfounded by what she had just seen, not knowing how to make sense of the situation, but above all fearing for both sides. Worried for both Aether's and the Archon's wellbeing. She really didn't want to pick sides.

Aether made a high leap into the air before descending downwards, sword raised at Zhongli for a plunge attack, but his coup de grâce was prevented by the interference of the other Archons. Venti created an air current, preventing Aether from continuing his dive at the same time as Ei gave a surprise kick to the Traveler's back. Knocking him towards the ground, and loosening his grip of his sword, separating it from its owner. As Aether attempted to get back on his feet, Nahida created a Dendro cage restraining the Traveler. She told herself the best way to stop Aether was to cover each other's backs, not give him time to react and land a single powerful hit to end it all.

Aether created a large Anemo orb and kicked it with his foot as if it were a soccer ball.

"AIR BULLET!"

The Anemo orb slammed into the Dendro cage and shattered the bars that were restraining him. Pieces of the cage broke into shards that scattered throughout the wind. Much to Nahida and the rest of the Archon's surprise, Aether broke free so easily.

To their dismay, the Traveler spoke up, cracking his knuckles together.

"Ok, if you all want to join in, that's fine with me."

Aether ran at full speed and picked up his sword again, taking advantage of the surprise before attacking Zhongli and Ei again. Aether held out his sword, glowing with Anemo energy. Most of the mortal spectators were moved by Xiao, Ganyu, and Shenhe to the parapets encircling the city of Mondstadt to avoid being blown away and to have a safer view of the disaster unfolding before their eyes. Most of them wanted to accompany the Archons in their fight but knew they would be only getting in their way.

Aether raised his sword before stabbing it towards the ground. A powerful AOE attack in the form of large wind blades propelled forwards creating deep trenches into the ground, slicing the nearby trees like butter.

"BEAST WAVE!"

Ei and Zhongli looked at each other, a wordless message to coordinate their attacks in the face of this. Both Archons hoped side-to-side avoiding the wind blades. As they continued to move forward, Ei sent a signal to Nahida to perform her Dendro application on Aether, which she did. Aether felt a slight itch, understanding that it was necessary at all costs to avoid a certain Elemental Reaction involving Electro.

Ei and Zhongli approached him having avoided the Anemo blades, and planned a pincer maneuver. Confident it would give them the advantage over whatever Aether decided to do. Either attack one of them and give the other an opening to attack or defend against them both, slowly overwhelming him.

As they ran towards him, Aether stood on one leg while the other leg moved in a complete blur wailing on both deities in a barrage of lightning-fast sidekicks. Both Zhongli and Ei's eyes widened as they instinctively tried to defend themselves. The two Archons grunted as they were getting bombarded by extremely fast and powerful kicks. Although to both Archons, Aether's attacks were invisible in their eyes. Eventually, Zhongli and Ei were sent skidding back a few meters away, panting from the beating they took.

What Aether just did was quite simple by itself, it was a one-of-two unique fighting style that he invented himself during his self-exile. A fighting style that focused on delivering lightning fast blows aimed at the target's blindspots. In their eyes, the attacks themselves were invisible. A fighting style that Aether called Invisible Attacks.

Venti and Nahida didn't even realize what was happening, because it had all happened too quickly for them.

"How did he do that?"

"Aether's attacking Ei and Zhongli's blind spots at superspeed!"

They were both on the edge of their seats, just like the people watching what was happening, and their hopes disappeared more and more as Aether's insane speed and strange fighting style made it difficult to keep up. Although the concept of Invisible Attacks was simple by itself, no one could make sense of it, and that was Aether's aim to make them realize they didn't stand a chance.

In fact, he immediately turned around when he sensed an attack coming from behind, or rather two attacks, one Cryo and one Anemo. A masked Xiao went skywards while Shenhe stayed on the ground. Aether grunted blocking Xiao's Anemo Plunging Attack before knocking him back to Shenhe who immediately caught him.

"What are you doing?! I have no interest in both of you, so get out of my way!" Aether shouted at both of them.

"We've come to give them our aid! It's all our fault, and I want to make amends, even though I lost to you last time!" replied Xiao.

"Do you really think this will be any different like last time?"

"Because I'm not alone, Shenhe, the Archons, all the people you've helped so far. Don't you see, I know you think we wronged you, but you're wrong. We only want to help you even if it means we have to use force to do so!"

"Xiao's right, I don't want you to get hurt, Aether...You don't have to fight, there's no reason to fight..." added Shenhe begging him to stop.

"You don't understand a thing. If you want to fight, go ahead, but I'm not going to hold back... "

Aether infused his sword with the Electro element while the light indicated on his clothes was green for Dendro. The two polearm users advanced towards him with Aether swinging his sword at the same time, green energy began to gather in his free hand. The Traveler blocked a stab from Shenhe before redirecting it at just the right angle to intercept a hit from Xiao. Aether pressed his foot against the shaft of Xiao's weapon to backflip away only to skid back further away than intended after blocking a twirl of Shenhe's spear.

They moved without stopping, but the two Liyuians understood that he was trying to do something with his orb of energy. Trying in vain to find an opening, but extremely difficult with Aether's speed and swordsmanship. However it gave Zhongli and Ei to recover from their wounds, and their incomprehension at what had happened a few moments earlier.

They saw Aether's unprotected back knowing that he was busy fighting Xiao and Shenhe head-on, even if the word fighting was being generous as he was clearly just toying with them.

The two Archons launched themselves at him, but to no avail, because when they reached him, Aether gained momentum and jumped quite high, also surprising Xiao and Shenhe in the process. They found themselves in front of the two Archons, all four of them looking up as they realized he'd built up enough energy, charging towards them, his electro-infused sword generating an electrified aura as he threw the orb containing Dendro cores along with his weapon across the ground towards them, the reaction between the two entities creating an Aggravate reaction on a large scale.

Aether, still in the air, was watching the massive explosion. Hundreds of Dendro cores exploded due to the shock of the electrical power, and he hoped that in the face of this attack, they would be down for the count. He was careful that it didn't kill them, only wound them extremely badly, and that's what he saw when the dust cloud dissipated, returning to the ground.

As the smoke cleared, all of the polearm users were on the ground, severe wounds appeared on their bodies as well as their clothes torn and bloody, blood was running down their faces (except Ei who couldn't bleed at all). All of the spectators watching never imagined that Ei, Zhongli, Shenhe, and Xiao could be pushed this far.

Venti and Nahida had seen this with their own eyes, were shaking with fear and amazement, not wanting to end up like them. All the polearm users were still clutching their weapons and slowly getting back on their feet. Everyone wanted to stop Aether, but the sheer difference in power and skill between them made the goal even more impossible.

Aether grunted, before taking off again and running towards them, quickly picking up his sword in the process. Suddenly, he felt something pull him in the opposite direction, a powerful vortex was trying to draw him in. When he turned around, he saw the Anemo Archon, firing a concentrated Anemo arrow toward the opposite side where he was, trying to bring him in the other direction with his Elemental Burst: Wind's Grand Ode. He had a feeling that Aether would be able to counter it, but at the very least he could buy a few seconds for the others to get their bearings.

Aether felt himself being sucked in from the other side, and even though he had been taken by surprise, he prepared a special countermeasure just for Venti. Holding his hand, Anemo, Geo, Electro and Dendro gathered together in the form of a sword-like construct floating right over his head. Aether launched the elemental sword into the center of the vortex, piercing it right through.

A multi-colored explosion was formed destroying the vortex that left both Barbatos and Buer in a state of total incomprehension, but it still allowed the others to recover and continue the battle, running at full speed towards Aether.

Shenhe's Cryo Avatar constantly sent Cryo attacks at him. He tried to repel the attacks by blocking them with his arms, infused with the Geo element, creating smaller shields around him like a certain Shield Hero from another world. However, it gave time for the Archons to take a breather and formulate a new plan.

"Any ideas on how to beat him?" Venti asked out loud, looking nervous.

"I do," Nahida said, making everyone turn their attention towards her. "But we'll need a sacrifice."

"A sacrifice? What do you mean?" Ei questioned already not liking whatever plan the Dendro Archon just came up with.

"We need someone who still has a lot of stamina left and is sturdy enough to endure a hit."

Nahida turned her head towards Xiao and Shenhe.

"Lesser Lord Kusanali…why are you looking at us?" Xiao asked as he and Shenhe felt a sense of dread.

Aether had finally dealt with Shenhe's Cryo Avatar, and was able to make his move towards the Archons before he saw Xiao and Shenhe intercepting him. The Traveler expected either another physical or Elemental attack, but was caught off guard when Xiao and Shenhe latched onto his arms followed by Shenhe's new Cryo Avatar behind him to do a chokehold. Aether growled trying to break free, giving him a case of deja vu when a certain firemoth bitch took Venti's Gnosis. He noticed something off as the area turned bright green.

"Good job keeping him at bay. We're ready now. Keep a tight hold on him. If you let him go, we're doomed."

The entire area glowed bright green followed by a beautiful phantasmal greenhouse formed right over everyone's head. This made Aether panic knowing how fucked he was now.

"It's time for the Archon's Combination Attack!" Nahida declared as she used her hand to form a kamera hand gesture at Aether.

'There's only one way to defeat him. All four of us need to give him everything we've got.'

Venti made the first move, circling the Traveler midair pelting him with dozens of Anemo arrows. Right after that, strong gusts of wind knocked Aether right off his feet, spinning him around again and again.

Anemo Archon

Zhongli created multiple stone pillars, slamming them into Aether's body followed by a massive boulder the size of a house falling right atop of him.

Geo Archon

Ei's body glowed with Electro as she quickly crossed the distance towards the pile of rocks Aether was buried under. With a powerful horizontal Electro slash, all of the rocks were destroyed and Aether burned by the electricity with Ei delivering more slashes to his body.

Electro Archon

Nahida launched numerous Dendro orbs and whips that exploded on contact, rocking Aether to his core.

Dendro Archon

It was on that day marked the Archon's first ever combination attack.

"HYAAAAAH!" All of the Archon's gave out their battle cry.

Aether was completely at the mercy of the Archon's power and teamwork. All four elemental deities worked in unison, not giving him a chance to strike back. Not a single part of his body was left unscathed from the godly beating. Completely helpless, Aether lay on the ground bloodied and defeated.

All of the Archon's panted for breath, exhausted and guilt ridden that they had to work together to hurt the Traveler. At the very least, they could try to make it up to Aether in his hospital bed when he finally calms down.

All of Aether's friends who watched Aether brutally beaten down by their Archons were either in tears or looked away altogether, not wanting to watch it. Even though everyone was hurt by his cruel rejection of their apologies and love, they still didn't want him to get hurt. Paimon was the most upset by this as she was sobbing her eyes out.

"It's finally over…" Kaeya closed his working eye, not wanting to look at the defeated Traveler anymore.

"Oh Aether, it didn't have to come to this," Ningguang lamented.

"Why couldn't he have just listened to us?! We just wanted to help!" Collei sobbed, overwhelmed with sadness and confusion.

"Maybe, this is for the best. Words wouldn't get through to him at all." Tighnari sighed, not happy with this outcome.

"What's done is done, let's go pick up Aether…" Jean said before turning to Barbara. "Barbara, we need your healing…?"

Jean couldn't help but notice that her younger sister looked extremely pale and was shaking. Confused, Jean turned her head at what she was staring at just as rattled as her when her brain was processing what she was seeing.

The entire group including the Archon's watched in shock and disbelief at the sight of Aether sitting up straight and fully conscious despite the beating he took. Even with his clothes ruined, and blood pouring down his head and nose, he just looked annoyed.

"What a truly shitty day. Then again, I should have expected this from all of you…" Aether said as he began to stand up.

"Aether, please surrender. You're in no condition to keep fighting." Nahida implores him to admit defeat while feeling a chill down her spine.

"How disappointing, Nahida. Aren't you supposed to be the intelligent one? I'm just getting started." Aether stated as he stared at the Archons with his eyes glowing a menacing light. "Thanks to all of you, I just learned some amazing new things."

Instantly, Aether quickly crossed the distance between himself and the Archons, right in front of them with his leg reared back. All of the Archons tried to defend themselves, only their instincts telling them this kick was different from the last. Instead of blocking it the Archons dodged it which was fortunate for them as Aether's kick left an enormous hole that shattered the stone walls that surrounded Mondstadt.

Everyone's jaws dropped in sheer disbelief that Aether did that damage from a simple kick.

'Oh no! He's growing in real time!" Nahida panicked, never expecting such a thing to happen right now.

Aether leaped in the air with his fist heading towards Ei. The Electro Archon made a mad dash to the left as Aether's fist cratered the ground. Despite missing the muscles in Aether's bounded arm bulged before lifting himself up to propel himself forward, legs extended for a dropkick. Ei could do nothing as the dropkick connected to her stomach sending her flying. Just before Aether could chase after her, he noticed a massive shadow looming over his head.

A giant meteor dropped down from the sky courtesy of Zhongli. The Geo Archon didn't want to resort to it, but he had no choice. Aether had proven much stronger than anyone could imagine, and combined with the longer the fight went on helped him grow even stronger. He needed to end this now!

From Traveler's point of view, he wouldn't deny that it was a good move on his part, but it was a rather pointless one. Elemental energy gathered around his fist before doing the absolutely unthinkable. Aether PUNCHED the meteor with his fist. Cracks began to fill the meteor as multi-colored energy began to leak out of it, its appearance similar to a balloon filled with too much helium, ready to explode! Zhongli's meteor popped like a balloon, a shockwave of elemental energy forming as its rocky remains began to form smaller meteorites as they fell to Teyvat below.

Aether walked nonchalantly behind the clusters of meteors that shattered or exploded behind him. A fierce look in his eyes as he removed his torn cloak that was tattered from the previous violent attack. Shenhe, Xiao, Ei, Zhongli, Nahida and Venti watched with despair and amazement after witnessing the impossible.

Cloud Retainer's disciple knew that if Aether decided to get even more serious, they might lose their lives, or at very least suffer major injuries.

Shenhe took the risk and tried to trust her ability to restrain herself, which she had managed to achieve over time, thanks precisely to the Traveler she had come to appreciate so much. It wasn't that she feared losing herself to her homicidal urges, but rather the opposite. She knew how much she loved Aether and didn't want to lose him. So Shenhe decided to use all her power to stop that from happening. Much to Xiao's dismay, who warned her when she touched her red ropes.

"Wait, Shenhe, don't do that!"

"If I have to, I don't want to see him suffer like this anymore! It's not a problem if I suffer, if that's the price I must pay so that Aether can finally get the rest he deserves!"

"Shenhe..."

Shenhe removed the red ropes holding her back, hoping that her sacrifice would pay off, but Aether wasn't afraid. Even with her eyes glowing, a powerful white aura surrounded Shenhe that was radiating power. The entire area of Mondstadt became unbearably cold, much similar to Dragonspine. Every step Shenhe took left a trail of ice and frost in her wake until she was face-to-face with Aether.

The two stared at each other with tears falling down Shenhe's face while Aether looked apathetic. As soon as her tears and the blood pouring down Aether's face both hit the ground, it acted as an impromptu signal for both of them to start.

Aether and Shenhe slammed their fists against each other's faces at the same time causing both of them to reel back before continuing their assault. No weapons or techniques were used, foregoing it for raw, destructive power. Shenhe tried to knock Aether back with a push kick, but only for him to catch it while taking the hit. Aether grabbed her ankle, lifted Shenhe up, and swung her around like a human ragdoll, slamming her into the ground repeatedly, cratering it. He finally let go in favor of trying to stomp Shenhe's skull only for the woman to roll away just in time.

Shenhe grabbed Aether's by the hair trying to violently slam his face against one of the meteorites that was now scattered around the area, keyword tried. Just before his face could kiss the space rock, Aether placed his forearm against the rock stopping it. Aether elbowed Shenhe in the ribs sending the woman flying a few meters away giving him some breathing room.

The two clenched their fists, and charged at each other once again.

"AETHER!"

"SHENHE!"

Both Aether and Shenhe traded blows with each other in what could only be described as the most ferocious brawl anyone had ever witnessed. Everyone knew if anyone tried to interfere in that fight, they would be done for. Craters and shattered ice littered the landscape as the two continued to fight. Shenhe wasn't using any of the training or techniques she learned under Cloud Retainer, she was using the fight-or-flight moves when she was left to fend for herself against that monster. Shenhe was diving back to old habits long since buried, but now resurfacing.

In comparison, Aether decided to use the other fighting style that he invented for himself. The complete opposite of Invisible Attacks as it was more rough and brutish in nature. It didn't deserve to be called a martial art as it was just innate strength.

"Aether! There's no reason to do this or push everyone away! We just want to help you!" Shenhe shouted stomping on the ground, creating a wave of ice spikes towards Aether. The Traveler in a burst of superhuman speed immediately got behind Shenhe for a sneak attack. Only to be caught off guard when more ice spikes sprung up from the ground underneath Shenhe, staggering him and drawing blood.

"You want to help me? What a joke! Look how weak you are." Aether delivered a barrage of rapid-fire punches destroying each of the ice spikes with just the air bursts of his punches.

"You can't even beat me." Aether sent a powerful downward punch that sent Shenhe flying and shattering the ice she was creating. "If you think I'm bad, you couldn't imagine the terrifying monsters that are lurking in Teyvat. You'll just be deadweight if you insist on tagging along!"

"Then we'll get stronger!"

"None of you are strong or brave enough to stand against The Heavenly Principles, The Abyss Order, and The Fatui. So how can you help me in a dying world when the odds are stacked against you from the start, life continues to flourish off the back of people being the martyr, evil continues to fester, and profits of the victims whose pleas for help go unanswered, and so called brave guardians are too ignorant of the rot that festers around them! So I ask you again how can you help me when you can't even help yourself?!" Aether seethed remembering the faces of the people who didn't deserve to suffer.

Teppei...

Kazari...

Ruu...

Zhiquiong...

Arama…

All of the Archon's and the rest of Aether's friends were in tears as they continued to listen to Aether venting about his frustration the way Teyvat is now. Knowing he was completely right the only reason their homes were still standing was from the sacrifices made from their loved ones. Except it didn't change the fact the festering rot within them threatened to topple them at any time, no matter how beautiful the exterior was.

All of the Archon's hearts clenched remembering the people they lost, and how they dishonored them despite their sacrifice.

The Nameless Bard…

Guizhong…

Makoto. Sasayuri. Chiyo. Kitsune Saiguu

Rukkhadevata

Aether sent a low kick to Shenhe's left leg that nearly made her lose balance, but she endured it. In retaliation, Shenhe clawed at Aether's face with her fingers coated in ice-forming claws. The Traveler bent his back as if he was doing the limbo avoiding the claws before straightening it to do a headbutt that staggered Shenhe.

"I'm aware of your struggles, but don't give up hope. You'll find yourself lost and sealing your heart to the world. Never trusting anyone again. Believe in us. Believe in Paimon. Believe in Mondstadt. Believe in Liyue. Believe in Inazuma. Believe in Sumeru. I did it. I overcame it. All thanks to you. If I did it, so can you." Shenhe staring into Aether's eyes filled with determination.

Shenhe closed her eyes, and began focusing all of her power. Her Cryo Vision glowing intensely as if it was a star going supernova. A powerful vortex of snow and ice emerged with Shenhe in the center of it. The surrounding area was covered in snow and ice, it was so unbearably cold that everyone shivered, even the Archons were affected by it. Aether kept his guard up as Shenhe emerged out of the vortex looking the same except her eyes glowed in such a powerful light he had never seen before.

Faster than anyone could blink, Shenhe quickly crossed the distance between herself and Aether, her Cryo empowered fist slamming into his gut making him cough blood.

"Aether! Believe in us!" After that single line, Aether barely managed to raise his arms, infused with Geo to guard his face from another Cryo punch!

"We will defeat The Heavenly Principles, The Abyss Order, and The Fatui!" Shenhe's Cryo Avatar appeared beside her to join in overwhelming Aether's defenses with powerful Cryo strikes.

"We will help you on your journey to reunite with your sister!" This time, Aether tried to knock Shenhe back with his Elemental Burst: Gust Surge. Only to be caught off guard when the tornado that should have consumed Shenhe was sent right back at him, this time empowered by Cryo. The now icy tornado flash freezed Aether.

"We'll save you! Believe in everyone that loves you!"

Shenhe lashed out with a brutal claw strike to Aether's sides, drawing blood. Just before he could counterattack, he found frozen solid again courtesy of Shenhe's Cryo Avatar. Shenhe went absolutely wild with Aether receiving countless punches, kicks, and claw strikes with tears flowing down her face. She finally ended the brutal combo with a powerful chilling gust of Cryo that blasted Aether away leaving him buried underneath a ton of ice and frost. Shenhe panted for breath exhausted, adrenaline leaving her, and guilt eating her that she had to hurt the man that she loved.

She didn't even get a minute of rest as Aether leaped out of his frozen prison with his fist cocked towards Shenhe. Cloud Retainer's disciple was ready to meet him head-on, her own fist overflowing with Cryo energy. Only to be caught off guard when Aether smashed fist against her right foot making her face contorted in agony.

"Did you know the top of the foot is a vital point?!"

Helpless, Shenhe could do nothing as Aether slammed his fist into her gut. Everyone flinched as they swore they heard the sound of a massive explosion exiting out of Shenhe's back. The white haired woman vomited blood from the powerful punch. It was pain she never experienced before in her life.

"That's enough, Shenhe. You did your best," Aether said in a gentle tone.

With shaky arms, Shenhe managed to muster the strength to wrap them around Aether, hugging him. It gave the woman a small sense of comfort despite her emotions going wild from everything that had happened. She leaned into his ear:

"I love you," She whispered

Shenhe lamented this turn of events, everything went to hell the moment Aether believed everyone never cared about him.

If things played out differently…

If Aether only just confided in anyone they would have helped…

Aether not being so obsessed with finding his sister…

Any of the women that loved him had just confessed their feelings…

They could have lived together as a happy family…

Despite this epiphany, it seemed impossible for such a wonderful dream to become reality.

Aether said nothing before slamming his fist into Shenhe's face, knocking her unconscious as he stood over her. His bangs covered his eyes making it impossible what emotions were going through his eyes.

Ganyu was in tears watching the man she loved beat Shenhe senselessly. She never imagined Aether would go so far. It was bad enough that they couldn't reason with him, but to go so far as to use violence without hesitation made it more heartbreaking. Even with the Archons and Shenhe at her strongest, nothing seemed to be able to stop him. He seemed invincible.

Paimon watched, she understood the importance of what was happening, and the seriousness of the consequences of everyone's actions. She would never have thought that her best friend could go so far and be so strong in such a short span of time, But she would never think that he would brutalize one of their friends just like that.

As Aether approached the Archons and Xiao, they felt any hope they had crumbling. Aether had just defeated Shenhe without hesitation doing her damndest to stop him. Zhongli didn't want anyone else to suffer as he had let Shenhe sacrifice herself for them, for Aether, and for all the people who were there.

"If you don't want to end up like her...I'd advise you to leave right now...And if you don't..."

Aether sighed briefly, creating more tension, before finishing his sentence, more like an order than a piece of advice.

"This will be the end of you..."

The atmosphere was heavy and tense about everything that had happened with Shenhe. They were beginning to hesitate about what to do next.

However, Zhongli walked in his direction, under the gaze of the others, looking determined to save everyone and especially the person in front of him. His spear in his hand while his allies watched him advance without trembling, worried what was going to happen next.

"Morax, what are you doing? You saw what he did to Shenhe, and you're in no condition to fight..." asked Xiao worried for his Archon.

"Aren't you afraid of what's going to happen?" questioned Venti, wondering how he could go on after the crushing blow of Shenhe's defeat.

"Yes, I'm afraid...But that doesn't mean we should stop. If you give up now, it will all have been for nothing. All this time, all these regrets, and above all, Shenhe would have sacrificed herself for nothing. I want to honor her, Paimon, and Aether himself. If there's one thing I'm more afraid of than taking a beating, it's seeing our friend here suffer even more because of us, and losing him for good..."

The funeral consultant had made them remember their mission. They had not come for nothing, and the words of wisdom had motivated them, putting aside their apprehension.

When Aether saw the black-haired man walking slowly towards him, he could see in his eyes that he was still convinced that he could still help him, that there was still hope, even after the show of force he had performed earlier.

"Oh, you're approaching me? You haven't got a chance, I warn you, have you seen the state you're in?" chuckled Aether.

"Don't worry about that... I'll be fine, but I won't leave while you're suffering..."

"You're wrong, I'm not suffering at all. I just finally woke up from the pitiful delusion I have been trapped in ever since I started my journey. The journey filled with wonders and everlasting friendship. Only to realize it has been nothing more than a nightmare filled with deceit and heartache!" Aether snarled as a single tear fell down his eye.

"The only one deceiving you is yourself, Aether. You refuse to believe that everyone here doesn't appreciate you for everything you've done for us…"

"Shut up! The only thing they value is how useful I am in solving their problems for them! Every single person here always wanted something from me. It always involved my time and putting my life on the line. I always hoped it would pay off in the end on finding Lumine except it never did! With the exception of Liyue honoring my request for putting up posters and Nahida giving me some shocking revelations, no one ever tried looking for her! None of you gave me the decency of saying you've hit dead ends on finding her. You all just went on with your lives while ignoring the one thing I've ever asked from any of you!"

"Aether, you have to understand. We have responsibilities of our own…"

"Responsibilities?! You Archons are the last people to talk about responsibilities?! You mean burning through Hu Tao's Mora and sipping tea, Venti drowning in alcohol while singing, Ei and Nahida never doing anything meaningful when it suits them! I'll say it again, I can finally see why Celestia never bothered to punish all of you. It's because you're not even worth the effort. You fools were already doomed, and you were too oblivious to notice!"

"..." Zhongli couldn't do anything to respond to that.

"Forget it, we will never understand each other. Even though I'm the one who instigated this, I'm gonna give you and the rest of you Archon's something no one had ever given me: The chance to walk away. Just walk away now, and we will never see each other again. You all can go back to back living the life you were all content with, and I can finally go to Fontaine." Aether offered although he knew the choice Zhongli was going to make, he at least tried.

"That's not going to happen, Aether. We all came to help you in your time of need. We're not going to make the same mistake of leaving you alone to suffer." Zhongli answered firmly.

"Yeah, that's what I thought…"

Aether rushed towards Zhongli with a shout, sword in hand, and Zhongli was ready. Repeating the same trick as before, deploying his elemental energy shield once more. Although he knew it wasn't going to hold out for long as he had used a considerable amount of energy from his Elemental Burst earlier.

Aether created more Anemo blades, this time infusing them with Electro for more destructive power.

Zhongli grimaced as he saw the attacks coming, having no time to dodge, concentrating his energy on his shield, stopping the first blade with much difficulty, leaving a large crack in his defenses. He grunted slightly, feeling the power of his attacks increase. It wasn't long before he was no longer able to hold back the assault, because with the second blade of electric wind shattered the shield leaving him defenseless. The Geo Archon saw the dozens of Anemo-Electro blades coming towards him again, unable to dodge as his speed failed him due to his recent injuries.

He closed his eyes reflexively, waiting for pain only to feel nothing. When he opened his eyes again, he could see a figure standing in front of him taking the attack, and he recognized who it was immediately. His mask over his face, his Vision to surround his body with the power of wind to limit the damage he was taking although it was obvious it wasn't doing much.

"Xiao?!"

"Don't worry about me! ...ARGGH! Get up quickly and keep attacking!"

"What about you?"

"Go for it! ARRRRGGHH!"

Zhongli didn't waste any time getting up as quickly as he could, he couldn't bear the fact that Xiao had chosen to sacrifice himself for him. First Shenhe, now him, he didn't want to see more people he cared about getting hurt, so he started running towards Aether, a tear running down his cheek. A sign that he was starting to become emotionally overwhelmed. The more he ran, the more he heard Xiao's screams of pain before the attacks stopped, and this gave him the motivation to keep going with Ei and Venti beside him who had come as reinforcements.

While Nahida helped Xiao to his feet, recovering from the full impact of the electrical burns and the gashes on his chest. She felt powerless to do anything more, Aether realized that there would be a combined attack between the three Archons running towards him, and he was ready for anything.

The Traveler raised his sword when he saw that Ei was attacking first, Engulfing Lightning drawn, her weapon failing to hit Aether once. He was fighting one-handed with his sword, parrying all her attacks, and even managing to leave cuts on the face and body of the Narukami Ogosho. Ei knew he was toying with her, the fact that he was only fighting with one hand while the other was behind his back was proof of that.

Venti created air currents all over the place to destabilize Aether, sensing that with every jump he made to defend or attack, he could risk losing his guard and fly off, so he had to be careful of his positioning and the space he was in. Aether didn't think that a simple trick would be the action that would bring him down.

The Electro Archon tried in vain to hit him, but she couldn't understand why she couldn't get the better of him like she had the previous times they'd fought. She knew he had gotten stronger, but she just had to stall until Zhongli was ready to launch a three-pronged attack.

Zhongli was still in position, concentrating for one final attack. Xiao with Nahida had just arrived next to them via the short teleport of the Yaksha. Even though he was clutching his torso, the wound was serious enough that he still had difficulty moving and breathing. They both understood what the other Archons wanted to do after they had explained, and while Ei played the decoy, even though she was using a significant amount of power. Nahida offered to help them, because even if she couldn't actually attack, she didn't want to stand by and do nothing as the loss of Shenhe was demoralizing enough.

Meanwhile, Aether was beginning to get fed up, putting his sword away much to the surprise of the Raiden Shogun. She tried to take advantage of the situation, rushing towards him, her naginata supercharged with the Electro element, but just as she was about to strike with her weapon. Aether stopped the parry with his two hands, taking the weapon, before exerting enough force to break it in two much to the shock of the Electro Archon.

Aether was about to confront her with his bare hands, trying to crush with his bare hands, but Ei had countered it. Her hands joined his as he exerted pressure on her, pushing her back, but Ei tried her hardest to remain firmly on her spot. Ei took advantage of the situation to talk.

"Aether! Please, everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is to recognize them and try to make amends..."

"You can't be serious! It took you five hundred years to recognize your mistakes only because Miko used me as a pawn to finally make you see the truth! You're so called eternity, you selfishly being forced into Inazuma was nothing more than a slow dying death!"

"I know that now! I really want to make amends for all the pain I've caused everyone, starting with you!"

"There are certain things you can't redeem yourself from! You've killed countless people for nothing while trying to justify it. Just like your fellow Archons, you swept their pain under the rug, pretending you couldn't see or hear them while they prayed for salvation that was never going to come!"

"I know there are things that can't be fixed, but I have to try, it's better than doing nothing at all! And that's what I'm trying to do, Aether, it's not too late, I don't want to keep fighting you!"

"Spare me, Ei! I loathe you like everyone else here. When this is over, go back to the Plane of Euthymia doing nothing. It's the only thing you're good for anyway!"

"Aether..." She whispered his name in a voice full of sadness, feeling even guiltier about what she had done. Ei wondered if she should even try and regain his trust, trying her best not to break down sobbing.

However as soon as their conversation was over a familiar mosque dome appeared, covering the space in which they were both standing, tinged with green clearly signifying that the elemental energy was Dendro. Both Aether and Ei recognized who was the instigator of this. The violet-haired goddess almost managed to wring a smile out, happy that this unexpected event was here while the blond-haired man grunted slightly not liking this one bit. What's more, he felt a slight itch again as Nahida had once again applied the element of Dendro to him in the distance while he was fighting Ei.

Nahida signaled to Zhongli and Venti that she was ready, giving out the thumbs up to both Archons who nodded as they started executing their plan. Xiao wanted to take part in the assault too, but was too wounded to be of any use. Nahida, Venti, and Zhongli prevented him from doing so, feeling that he had done enough and that now it was their turn to take responsibility for their actions.

At Morax's request, Barbatos launched several arrows simultaneously on both sides of Aether, while at the same time creating an air current near them, aimed at evacuating the Raiden Shogun from the scene. Leaving Aether surprised by her sudden retreat, before seeing that he was surrounded by four Anemo Vortexes, which were designed to take him in all directions as each force drew him towards a precise location.

Fortunately for him, he knew how to remedy this, using the Geo element to create the large Geo blocks he used to access high places, but using them differently. He made two of them appear, one in each hand, throwing one and the other into two of the four vortexes. Having deliberately created these rock formations big enough to block the air currents as if they were a cork closing a bottle.

Afterwards, he did the same thing again to close the two remaining vortexes, no longer feeling any air currents trying to suck him in anywhere. He noticed the amber glow coming towards him in the sky which again was another meteor summoned by Zhongli. When he saw this, Aether was confident that he could deal with it, but when he looked closer, he saw several amber glows. A sign of their arrival in the atmosphere and he realized that there was more than one.

Venti, Zhongli, and Xiao were watching diligently hoping that it would be enough, especially as they were surprised when they saw Aether manage to deal with Venti's consecutive Elemental Burst. Morax knew it was risky as he had really used everything he had in that final attack. He knew that Venti wasn't powerful by himself, believing that Ei would be able to have the maximum power needed, enhanced thanks to Nahida's support. As for whether the meteors would cause any damage to Mondstadt or the surrounding people. He had planned ahead using what energy he had left to create a fairly resistant dome that would only last long enough when it was over, given that he was running out of energy due to his weakened state over the centuries.

Aether could see the giant meteors coming towards him, a look of anger in his eyes at this attack. Unsheathing his sword, he condensed the power of the elements inside it, creating a kind of extension on the sword, making it appear longer and sharper. Wasting no time venturing onto the first meteor that came at him, jumping high enough to reach it before starting to scream in rage, taking his sword with both hands and slicing it in two like butter. The now split meteor falls to the ground, producing two separate but joined together craters.

He didn't stop there, though as during the cut he jumped onto one of the two parts of the severed meteor to leap even higher and project himself towards another meteor, cutting it in the same way, once again causing the same damage to the ground.

Aether continued in this way for three, then four, until the dozen or so meteors were effortlessly eliminated by the Traveler, in full view of everyone, who was more than stunned by this feat. Not only because he was not just dodging, he was charging headfirst into the attack, not afraid to take a hit, confident enough to know he was going to win.

However, when Zhongli saw that Aether had managed to deal with the first meteors thrown at him, he motioned Ei to go towards him. The Electro Archon had enough buffs before she intervened via Nahida, and used the wind current that Venti had previously created at her request to get closer to Aether in the air.

Once Aether had finished with what he considered the last of the meteors, he realized behind him that Raiden Ei was behind him. When he turned around, he saw her draw her sword from between her breasts, a move he was very familiar with.

This time, however, the indifferent stare she had seen before had been replaced by a look of compassion and sadness, small tears running down her cheek, this time for a different reason.

More and more lightning flashed up as she withdrew her sword, before using it to make a final cut with a large Electro slash, as she normally did to Aether's body.

Ei didn't want to do this, but she wanted Aether to stop, especially as she knew that Nahida had previously affected Aether with the Dendro element, and knew that it would do even more damage to him.

In a calm, but sad tone, while crying and closing her eyes, not wanting to see the end of her attack on the person who had given her a second chance, she said a few words:

"Sorry... You gave me all your trust, and I never repaid it back... Forgive me Aether..."

An explosion of Dendro and Electro created a large smoke cloud that obscured everyone's vision of Aether and Ei. They knew Aether would survive given everything he had endured so far, but they hoped he would calm down so they could talk to him again. No one could speak after that, there was a deathly silence that seemed to last for eternity.

As the smoke finally began to dissipate, everyone's jaws dropped to the ground as they were seeing the impossible, especially to the Inazuman's.

Aether on his knees with his clothes heavily torn, his body heavily burned from the electricity, and blood pouring down his face…was holding back the infamous Musou no Hitotachi with his bare hand! Even with the blood gushing down his hand leaving a very deep cut, Aether gave a look of boredom as opposed to Ei watching with wide eyes. Ei tried to pry free her sword, but Aether kept it underneath a monstrous death grip.

"Ei…You haven't changed at all." Aether stated simply before finally releasing Ei's weapon.

The entire group, especially to the Archons and Inazuman's had heard and seen the incredible prowess of the Raiden Shogun and the Musou no Hitotachi. An unstoppable force of nature that couldn't be stopped with the exception of Kazuha empowered by two Visions. Yae was the most stunned by this as she couldn't compare what she was seeing to Aether empowered by countless Visions in his previous battle against Ei because he wasn't relying on the power of Visions at all, just himself. Could it be that Aether had grown so strong in his journey that the gap between himself and Ei was that large?

"How should I put this?"

Aether leaned back avoiding a powerful diagonal slash, then another slash, and another.

"You're still strong…"

Aether parried a slash from Ei aimed at his stomach.

"...But you aren't scary anymore."

Aether parried another slash before he saw an opening, sending a roundhouse kick to Ei's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. The Traveler grabbed her by the neck as the two's faces were inches apart from each other.

"Hey. Do you have any idea how much crazy bullshit I had to face?" Aether snarled before headbutting Ei. "Let's get this over with!"

Ei staggered from the blow but quickly regained her composure. The Electro Archon raised her blade with Aether doing the same. One is supercharged with Electro energy and the other is empowered by four different elements. A powerful shockwave shook all of Teyvat when both of the blades were intertwined in a blade lock.

Both former friends locked eyes with each other with Ei's eyes with tears flowing down her face while Aether's eyes had nothing but animosity. They pulled back their blades…

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Both gods and mortals alike witnessed a truly godlike battle of swordsmanship that was beyond any mere mortal could produce in their lifetime. The shockwaves produced from their blades were calamities of their own that rattled Teyvat to its core. The earth shuddered in agony, the surrounding trees and wildlife disintegrated, the mountains were ripped apart and the seas were parted.

Zhongli, Venti, and Nahida formed a massive barrier surrounding Mondstadt to shield the inhabitants from the brunt of the shockwaves. However, it took a toll on them as sweat poured down their foreheads, and exhaustion started to kick in.

All of Aether's friends watched the sword duel with both awe and fear at the surreal sight before them. Although all of them were experienced fighters who had seen and experienced their fair share of sword duels, it couldn't compare to what they were seeing now. The speed. The ferocity. The power. It filled all of them with terror and amazement until they remembered that Aether was in the center of it all.

"This is insane!" Mona shrieked in fear as her eyes were glued to the sword fight in front of her.

"Is this what a battle between gods looks like?!" Eula shuddered at the display of power.

"I knew Aether was strong, but I never imagined this…" Yelan said with a shaky breath, wanting nothing more to run away, but her legs refused to move from the terror overwhelming her.

"This is something I haven't seen since the Archon War!" Ganyu spoke out loud with fear and awe.

"Holy hell!" Beidou cursed out loud.

"Dammit!" Diluc swore. "At this rate, Monstadt will be wiped off the map if this keeps going!"

Ayaka and Keqing couldn't stand doing anything, knowing full well that was the catalyst of Aether's fall from grace. Even though both women were terrified, they had to do something. Just as both of them were about to run out through the barrier, Ningguang, and Yae Miko gripped both of their wrists tightly to prevent them from doing just that.

"Let go! We need to stop him!" Keqing shouted trying to break free.

"She's right! This has to stop before the Almighty Shogun and Aether could get seriously hurt!" Ayaka pleaded, but Yae wasn't having it.

"Ayaka, Lady Yuheng. You cannot get between something like that! You will die if you do!" Yae warned them which unphased both young women.

"So, you want to do nothing?! The very thing Aether accused us of and the reason he's like this in the first place!" Keqing shouted in disgust at the cowardice.

"There's nothing we can do…" Ningguang lamented as she continued watching Ei and Aether still going at it.

As for Paimon, she was floating motionless, too devastated by everything that was happening in front of her. She was overwhelmed with so many emotions with tears streaming down her face, the glow she had in her eyes was almost gone. Paimon knew Aether well, after all, he was everything to her. She knew that when he got that angry, that was the end of it, but she couldn't take her eyes off her best friend.

While with Aether and Ei, the battle was taking its toll on them. Various cuts adored their faces, chests and arms. While Ei was extremely concerned with everything around her, Aether was apathetic to it all.

"Aether…You…have to…stop… this madness!" Ei said between gritted teeth as she couldn't afford to talk and fight at the same time.

"Oh no, we're settling this on my terms!" Aether said. "I have made it clear that I can't trust you or anyone else here. It's for that reason that I'm cutting ties with all of you and this…"

SCHLICK.

"...will be the very first step!"

Ei's left arm fell down with a dull thud.

Both Archon's and mortals alike watched completely stunned, especially Yae who was the most horrified by this. Ei clutched the stump of what used to be her left arm, she wasn't bleeding. Her body didn't have such a thing, instead, it radiated a purple glow with sparks emitting from it.

"History repeats itself Ei except it's you at my mercy…" Aether said before looking disappointed. "This isn't as cathartic as it should be thanks to your puppet body."

"A-Aether, y-you…" Ei gritting her teeth, trying her damndest not to scream in agony. The Electro Archon looked at the Traveler with a mixture of shock, pain, betrayal, and hints of fear in her eyes.

Aether decided to finally end this, one and for all.

"You know…"

Starting with Ei, Aether slammed an orb of Anemo right into her midsection forming multiple wind blades. The wind blades created deep lacerations all over Ei's body and reduced her kimono into rags. Not done yet, Aether created a growing green plant vine that wrapped around Ei's neck like a noose. As the Goddess of Eternity struggled to pry free, Aether tossed Ei all over the area violently slamming any nearby trees, ice spikes, and meteorites.

Aether tossed his make-shift Electro Archon Flail right into the barrier that Venti, Zhongli and Nahida were hiding behind. Ei crashed face-first into the barrier heavily cracking it with the three Archons stunned seeing Ei barely conscious. Aether was right behind her, violently slamming his knee onto the back of her head, destroying the barrier with the Archons reeling from the aftershock completely at Aether's mercy.

"...ever since I came to Teyvat. Everyone here wants me to do their dirty work. I've finally had enough!"

Grabbing Venti by the face and slamming his face onto the ground. Aether moved at full speed with Venti in his hand plowing through every obstacle in his way, destroying countless boulders with Venti taking the brunt of it all. Eventually, the violent race eventually led them into Mondstadt's stone walls. Aether drove Venti's face deep into the stone and continued to run forward. The God of Freedom could only cry in agony as he was forced to endure his face carving into the rocks at blinding speed. The Traveler eventually let Venti go when he ran out of walls, he dropped to the ground with his face hideously disfigured from all of the blood, cuts and bruises.

"It's always the same. I solve your problems, and we're all best of friends. Except it's all nothing but lies!"

Aether punched Zhongli in the gut over a dozen times, coughing blood and heavily bruising his torso. Drawing out his sword, Aether stabbed Zhongli's right hand only to supercharge the blade with Electro frying the arm and nerves. The Geo Archon screamed in pain before Aether grabbed his jaw with his hand crushing it. Zhongli let out a muffled scream only for it to reduce to gurgles when his jaw was dislocated. To add even more salt to the wound, Aether soccer kicked Zhonglis injured jaw that nearly caused him to pass out from the pain.

"I was nothing but a pawn for everyone to use at my own expense! You think what I'm doing is cruel? You give humanity the false hope that their deeds and efforts will be acknowledged and awarded by you, but you don't even spare them a glance. You all sat around doing nothing and trying to justify it when there was no excuse when you were just lazy and apathetic of their suffering. That is true cruelty!"

Xiao, unable to do anything because of his wounds, was punched repeatedly in the face by Aether. For even more damage, Geo Element was channeled into his fists. A series of rocky blows were delivered to Xiao's face, destroying his mask and blood pouring down his face. Grabbing Xiao's spear, Aether stabbed it right through Xiao's left leg making him cry out in agony only to be silenced with a stomp on his face.

The Traveler now approached Nahida, who was sobbing, her body shaking, knowing full well that she was completely helpless. The person she cherished most in the world like an older brother, ready to rip her apart.

Aether continued what he had to say, wanting it to get through to their skulls:

"We're not friends, family, allies, or anything meaningful. I've always been alone except for Paimon, and you know what? That's fine with me because it's better to be alone than relying on false friends that will never have your back!"

"Aether..."

"Shut up! There's nothing else you can say to me, Nahida."

Aether grabbed Nahida by the collar, the Dendro Archon no longer feeling her feet touch the ground, as she clasped her hands together to plead to the blond-haired man for redemption. She and those who saw the brutal beatdown caused by Aether, listened to what he had to say. They didn't know he saw things that way, reinforcing their despair and guilt more and more, the pressure growing all the stronger on their shoulders.

"Aether...I'm sorry for everything! I beg you; I don't want to see any more pain...I don't want to see you like this...I've never thought of you as a stranger, you're the person I love most in the world, and I don't want to see my closest family disappear for good!"

Nahida's eyes showed just how real her love for him was. Aether did not bother to reply to this, which he considered a foolish provocation on her part, throwing her close to the others.

Aether had made sure they were all in the same place for a very specific reason because he definitely wanted to put an end to all this. They all hardly dared to breathe as they were all so surprised at how, in such a short space of time, Aether had bested four Archons and the Conqueror of Demons. A feat no one dared thought possible.

The Traveler again created a new Anemo sphere, this time a larger bigger than before, before placing it on the ground and cracking his knuckles as if preparing for something cataclysmic. Then he tapped the orb upwards with his foot to launch it upwards, as everyone watched and wondered what was going to happen, they knew that the worst was to come.

Aether jumped as high as where he had sent the sphere, before transferring the energy of his rage, his disappointments, his despair and hatred. As time went on, the energy around the sphere was no longer simply the standard mint green for Anemo, but large flashes of red were gradually taking shape, as the color of the sphere itself became darker and darker.

"Gaze upon this attack, because this will be your end. Reflect upon your final moments as you were the catalyst for this neverending hell."

Aether rubbed both of his feet on either side of the Anemo sphere, creating even more friction, to add more of the final blow he was set on delivering. To definitively destroy their pathetic and hypocritical visions of their idea of redemption, because for him the damage is done, and has been for a long time.

Once he had done so, the orb transformed into a sort of giant spear colored bloody red and black, covered in lightning, as Aether screamed at the top of his lungs to vent his anger.

"DEATH SPEAR!"

What he called a "spear" was the embodiment of all he had endured, spreading a considerable gust of wind around him as he drew ever closer to the Archons and Xiao, watched by all who had never seen anything like it.

Venti looked on in horror, knowing full well that there was nothing he could do about it, his eyes alarmed by the situation even though he no longer had the strength to do anything about it. The pain of what he had received earlier had not been extinguished, and he didn't even know why he was crying anymore, understanding that it was all over for him. He knew he hadn't been a good Archon, but his eyes were wide at the technique used by the man he considered a great friend, all because he was a failure as an Archon and as a friend.

Zhongli couldn't keep calm anymore, his eyes showed how disgusted he was at having failed in the task he had taken on. He had made a contract with Paimon to save Aether, and was unable to fulfill it, understanding that he was not worthy of being the Archon he was. He was terribly angry at himself for having done virtually nothing for some time, and what he was most afraid of was not the attack itself, but for Aether. The dark path he had chosen for himself was set, and the future was truly frightening now. He told himself that he deserved to take this attack, so he closed his eyes, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it.

Ei, for her part, was crying all the tears she could compared to the pain she felt at losing someone like Aether. She told herself that she'd been powerless all those years, despite her incredible power, because she couldn't handle the grief. She would have liked to start all over again and be more sociable with him because she understood the position he was in when he fought her the first time. To understand him better and be the person he could rely on, but unfortunately, she realized it was too late.

Xiao couldn't believe what was happening to him but accepted the punishment. He knew he deserved it like everyone else, and preferred to make amends by helping him rather than taking a good beating, but as this was how his punishment should be, he accepted it. Aether had suffered too much, and he hadn't been taken into consideration. A small tear was running down his cheek, a sign that he would have liked to do more, and not rest on his laurels, leaving him to manage everything out of a surge of pride.

Nahida said nothing more as she got down on all fours, a sign that she had come to terms with the fact that there was no way out. She raised her head in the direction of the mass of energy coming towards them, this was the end. He had to learn to live without her, and that his smile would only be in her memories from now on. The Aether she knew was gone for good, replaced by a man with a heart of stone, for his heart had been broken so many times by them. She continued to cry non-stop, and dreaded the excruciating pain she would feel when her "big brother's" attack struck her and the four others next to her.

The mass of energy finally came down on them, without them having the time or strength to move to avoid or counter it, not that they could have done so anyway. The power of this manifestation of all Aether's negative emotions swept all five of them away as if they were nothing but dust. When the "spear" hit the ground, a gigantic explosion followed by the massive mushroom cloud appeared. Moreover, the bridge linking the city to the rest of the country no longer existed having been totally destroyed.

Aether was back on solid ground, calm and unperturbed, after his attack from the air, as he approached the damage he had now caused. Even if it was still difficult to see everything, due to the dust that was gradually being blown away.

No one dared speak of what could not be called a battle, for it was all one-sided, despite everything the Archons had done to try and convince him to calm down. Their mouths and eyes were hidden with their hands for almost everybody, dreading what they thought they had understood after this attack.

When they could see more, the cloud of dust having dissipated, they could see the results. Everyone was in shock, their eyes wide with the carnage they were seeing. No one had the words to describe it, as Aether walked past to see that he had finally finished with what he considered to be the finale.

The bodies of the four Archons were lying motionless. Zhongli, Venti, and Nahida were lying on their backs, unconscious, their eyes closed, their clothes torn all over, even more wounds and gashes, blood flowing, their faces somewhat disfigured. The same was true for Xiao and Ei, who were on their stomach, but with the same wounds as the other three, and just as unconscious. They were still breathing, but just barely.

As for the others, they saw everything they didn't want to see, and the tears flowed again, but they didn't know why. Was it because Aether was still stuck in his decision to go it alone? Is it because they've seen their deities blown up and beaten to a pulp by one man, and they can no longer trust them to protect them? Is it because they couldn't convince him, and that they have regrets because Aether will leave with the idea that they lied, when they were saying what was in their hearts all along? They didn't know, but they didn't want to ask themselves the question, because quite simply, they were crying because from now on, this day will mark them definitively, as well as all the nations affiliated to them.

Having passed his inspection, Aether slowly approached those who had been watching all this from the start, raising his head upwards as they were still battlements that encircled Mondstadt. The part that had obviously not been destroyed by the confrontation.

He stared at the others, but there was none of his usual light, on the contrary, you could swear his gaze was even more wary and piercing than before, and that unsettled them all, especially when he spoke again.

"Now you know what I'm capable of...Make no mistake, if I see any of you again…I will kill you."

There was a renewed sense of fear as Aether gave out his threats, and everyone knew that he would follow through with his threat.

"That being said...Paimon!" He said, calling to the little fairy, who was looking at him, a tear rolling down her cheek, not understanding why he was calling her.

Paimon was still frightened by what had happened, everyone else was looking at her, and Aether had turned the conversation to her.

"Yes...Aether..."

"I know it must have hurt you when I wasn't there, and I know I probably should have warned you. However, as I said earlier to everyone, I'd like to know if you want to go on my journey with me, like in the good old days? I'll understand if you don't after everything I've done, but I'm not going to change my way of seeing things, and I've made that quite clear..."

"Yes, Paimon accepts."

"HUH?!"

Everyone was stunned by Paimon's immediate response, even Aether was surprised at how easily she had accepted. The entire group were beginning to panic that the person who started the quest to save Aether from himself decided to join him the way he is now. Venti, Hu Tao, Zhongli and all the rest... Hearing this sentence was an alarming twist that nobody wanted to hear.

Keqing was the first to be alarmed, panicking and crying:

"Paimon! Do you really agree?!"

"You've got to be kidding me, Paimon!?" asked Hu Tao, who thought she was going to go mad with everything that was happening in front of them.

"No..."

"And may I ask why? You've seen the way he is now and you're fine with that?!" Mona asked, shedding tears as she couldn't bear all the stress and the moment of incoherence she thought the little fairy was having.

"It is precisely because Aether is Paimon's best friend that I accept." Paimon spoke in a voice that was almost dark, trembling, as if her soul had been drained, while her eyes became increasingly dull.

"Because Paimon has understood, by listening from the beginning, all the atrocities you've done. Paimon had never seen it because Paimon didn't see things that way. All these deaths, all these problems, you've created, and you want Aether to do the same thing over and over again, cleaning up after you, because you're weak, both mentally and physically. Aether's right, if he wants to get his sister back, it'll be better this way, it'll go quicker and there won't be any more problems. Paimon doesn't want Aether to suffer any more. He gave you too many chances, now it's too late, you've seen it well... Paimon... Paimon wants to do what you've never done for him, CONTINUE TO SUPPORT HIM TO THE END!" She said, with anger and tears streaming down her face, but they weren't the same as before. It wasn't sadness, but disgust at what she thought were good people.

Not everyone could believe Paimon's words. They already had the guilt and regret of not having been able to do anything to protect what was dearest to them, i.e. the Traveler. Hearing this from the person they thought was the most carefree and innocent really hurt them, and they wondered whether they were really good people.

Aether was actually touched by Paimon's decision to stay with him despite everything he had done. He missed the fairy's presence while he was all by himself. It gave him a small sense of comfort with Paimon around. Even with just two of them now that was fine with him.

Keqing wanted to argue it as if to convince herself that what Paimon was saying was false and convince her to stay with them. However, Ganyu behind her stopped her, a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were bloodshot from the constant tears she was shedding, the secretary was emotionally and physically drained. Keqing turned around to see that everyone was more or less in the same state as her, as if they no longer had a soul, that everything had been lost, and even the most cheerful of the group were depressed.

When Keqing looked back in Paimon's direction, she saw that she was glowering at them all, and the small spark in her heart had been extinguished for good, as she dropped to her knees on the stone floor in despair.

Paimon flew towards Aether, and even though she was still struggling to speak, she could see Aether flashing a very faint but sincere smile as he gently patted the little fairy's head, and that cheered her up a little.

"Paimon, thank you for continuing to work with me..."

"No need to thank Paimon. Paimon doesn't know what she would have done on her own..."

"Don't worry about that anymore, we started this adventure together, and we'll finish it together."

"Yes, thank you..." replied Paimon, wiping away her tears.

Aether looked again in the direction of the others, his face showing a solemn expression.

"I made my choice. Whatever happens next is up to fate. Life is all about consequences."

Aether turned his gaze away from his former friends, and looked ahead, heading south, where he learned when he was in Mondstadt that there was a quicker way to reach Fontaine, via Liyue, by the Chenyu Valley. He set off, with Paimon following behind him, in silence, before the eyes of all who saw him walk slowly and progressively towards the horizon, until he was no longer visible, not knowing what to do or say, a stifling silence lingered.

They knew one thing though, that all their hopes had now vanished. There was no longer any chance that Aether could forgive them, or even that they could forgive themselves for what they had done to him. So many brutal truths and revelations revealed, all of which made them question everything they thought they knew about the world and themselves.

Not a single person was unaffected by what had happened, some had even collapsed on the floor distraught, others were crying silently, some wanted to believe it was a nightmare, but unfortunately for them, it was reality. What hurt the most was that they might never have the chance to see Aether again, and they really dreaded that happening.

However, no one had noticed from the start, but near the entrance to the city, a certain woman in red clothes and pink hair with a Cryo vision. She had watched the entire thing from the confrontations to the Traveler battling all of the Archons. The pink haired woman never watched taking pictures with her Kamera. She herself cried from all of the heartbreak and angst that lingered in the confrontations, taking off her monocle to wipe her tears, almost forgetting why she had come to Mondstadt.

"I wasn't expecting this...Aether had lost himself...what's going to happen, now?... I hope this isn't a bad omen for the future..."

---

I hope you enjoyed the battle-filled chapter, and now Aether is definitely on his way to Fontaine, and he won't hesitate to fight anything that gets in his way.

Also, Death Spear is a hissatsu from Inazuma Eleven, so this hissatsu belongs to Level-5.

Until next time!