When Aether woke up again, he saw the Wanderer smiling at him from the side...
But that smile somehow sent a chill down his spine.
"Traveler, you’re awake..." the Wanderer said.
"Where’s Paimon? What about Raiden Ei and Su Yuan? Are they okay?" Aether asked anxiously.
"Traveler, you can’t even protect yourself right now, and you still care about others? What does their life or death have to do with you or me?"
"Wanderer, what exactly is your goal?" Aether glared at him, cutting straight to the point.
"I thought after learning the truth, you would’ve changed somehow. But in the end, you’re still so arrogant, doing whatever you please!" Aether said.
"I can only say, a leopard can’t change its spots. How could someone’s personality be so easily changed?" The Wanderer chuckled dismissively.
"But now that it’s just the two of us here, I’ve already achieved my goal. Naturally, I can tell you everything..."
"Traveler, what I want is your bones—specifically, your remains after a special treatment."
"Bones? Special treatment? Remains?" Aether looked utterly confused at the Wanderer’s words.
What on earth was he talking about?
"Connecting to the Irminsul was originally the domain of the Dendro Archon. But the reason I’m able to use it too... is actually very simple."
The Wanderer continued speaking:
"I believe Buer has already explained it to you—how I, who nearly became a new god, was once granted the authority to link with Irminsul..."
"Although I later lost my Gnosis, there still remain traces of that connection ability within me..."
Aether noticed that when the Wanderer mentioned the words "Gnosis," his tone grew noticeably heavier.
"Even though I’ve long known that using Irminsul can never truly change the past..."
"At the very least, I can use Irminsul to locate Dottore, to deal with Dottore..."
"If your goal is Dottore," Aether asked in confusion, "then why did you bring me here alone?"
"I already told you earlier, the reason I can link with Irminsul is because there is still residual power from when I was a ’god’..."
"But this residual divine power is limited. I can’t regenerate it, and once it’s used up, there’s nothing left..."
Aether quickly understood, speaking up: "So, Wanderer, you want to become a god once again?"
"Exactly." The Wanderer nodded, replying, "However, the reason I wanted to become a god back then was just to prove something to Beelzebul..."
"But now, I only want to use the power of Irminsul to dismember that bastard Dottore, to utterly annihilate him!"
"But if you want to become a god, why come to me? If the Gnosis is a necessary condition, I don’t have a Gnosis either..." Aether still expressed his confusion, as he still couldn’t understand what the Wanderer was trying to do.
"Traveler, if I’m not mistaken, you should be the Fourth Descender of Teyvat, right?" The Wanderer suddenly turned to look at Aether and spoke.
"Yeah, I am indeed a Descender..." Aether replied—then his expression suddenly changed, as if he’d just realized something!
The Gnosis... Descender... Remains...
"Traveler, looks like you’ve finally figured it out..." the Wanderer said with a smile.
"Of course, I know you don’t have a Gnosis on you—but the Gnosis is ultimately just a refined product..."
"You must know by now: the current seven Gnoses were all created using the remains of the Third Descender..."
"The remains of a Descender are the most precious raw material for crafting a Gnosis."
"Wanderer... are you trying to kill me?"
Aether stared at the Wanderer warily—so that was his real goal after all.
He had come with ill intent...
But if the Wanderer’s goal was to kill him and take his remains to create a Gnosis, then why did he save him earlier?
"If it were really as simple as just killing you, taking your remains, and crafting a Gnosis from them..."
"If only it were that easy!" the Wanderer said with a trace of helplessness in his voice.
"From what I’ve learned, a Descender must willingly accept death for their remains to be usable in the creation of a Gnosis..."
"After all, anyone worthy of being called a Descender possesses a will powerful enough to rival an entire world... even in death, that will lingers in their body and bones..."
"If a Descender were simply killed and their remains used to craft a Gnosis, then the resulting Gnosis would likely be extremely unstable—completely unfit to serve as a medium for godhood..."
"That’s why, Traveler, I arranged this moment alone with you—to discuss and negotiate how I might get you to willingly accept death, so that I can use your remains to create a Gnosis, become a god once more, and regain the power to connect to Irminsul..."
Aether looked at the Wanderer in shock—so this was his true goal all along...
But fortunately, the fact that crafting a Gnosis from remains required such a condition might be the only thing keeping him alive.
Otherwise, he might’ve been killed without ever knowing why...
"Wanderer, I will never help you achieve that goal..." Aether declared firmly.
"Even though I also want to defeat Dottore... I haven’t reunited with my sister yet."
"I’m not noble enough to ignore that longing in my heart and sacrifice myself for your sake!"
"Besides... you were the one who got Nilou killed—I will never help you!"
"Killed Nilou?" The Wanderer chuckled and said, "Perhaps death... is actually a form of release."
"Since Buer has already succumbed to the Eerie, the people in Sumeru City are probably suffering fates even worse than death..."
"But your refusal—it was within my expectations."
In response to Aether’s answer, the Wanderer showed not the slightest hint of surprise.
"Though I truly loathe Dottore, what I hate most is being the one who was deceived, oppressed, and tormented..."
"But sometimes, in certain ways, learning from Dottore can actually yield significant results..."
"To defeat magic, you must use magic. To defeat Dottore... one must learn to use Dottore’s methods."
"Traveler, this is your last chance. If you choose to willingly die now, it might still be the right decision..."
"Isn’t it simple? Just getting you to die of your own free will?"
"I just have to keep tormenting you, make you suffer unbearably, and you’ll be begging me to kill you!!!"
"Doubt Dottore... Understand Dottore... Become Dottore... Surpass Dottore!!"
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