Although Su Yuan didn't know why he had such a feeling, there was an intense premonition deep within him — that once he learned the condition required to see the words carved into his palm, something extremely bad would happen...
So, even knowing that with his current strength he was most likely no match for Dottore, Su Yuan still charged straight at him without hesitation!
In Su Yuan's mind, if he could die in battle and trigger a death rewind, that would be the best outcome...
However, judging from how Lumine had been controlled and killed by Dottore earlier, it was highly likely that he would also lose control of his body and be rendered immobile under Dottore's manipulation.
Seeing Su Yuan ignore his words and launch a direct attack, Dottore frowned slightly, his tone tinged with displeasure and helplessness.
"Su Yuan, really now… I've been nothing but sincere, and yet you still treat me like this?"
As Su Yuan's attack was about to land, Dottore willed the hidden Eerie power he had planted within Su Yuan's body to suppress his movements.
Seeing Dottore's calm and confident expression, Su Yuan's heart sank.
As expected — he couldn't resist Dottore after all…
But the next instant, both Su Yuan and Dottore were utterly shocked — Su Yuan's body showed no sign of being restrained or controlled.
His attack, infused with Abbys power, struck Dottore's forehead squarely, blowing open his entire skull!
Su Yuan froze in disbelief.
What's going on? Didn't Dottore use his Eerie power to control me?
How did my attack hit him so easily?
Although half of Dottore's head was blown apart, it was well known that his body had undergone countless modifications — he couldn't possibly die that easily.
Opening his mouth, Dottore asked Su Yuan:
"Su Yuan… could it be that, when you faced the Falling Rock Trap earlier, your premonition wasn't just coincidence?"
"You were able to sense the presence of my hidden Eerie power?"
Su Yuan looked completely bewildered — he had no idea what Dottore was talking about!
When facing the Falling Rock Trap, he had only felt a vague sense of foreboding, not the actual aura of Eerie power!
Still, even though that wasn't the truth, Su Yuan deliberately said,
"That's right, Dottore. I saw through everything about you."
Dottore gave a faint chuckle, clearly unconvinced.
"Su Yuan, you've never been good at lying. You can't deceive me."
"You're far too kindhearted. If you had truly seen through everything, how could you have allowed Lumine to die?"
"So, in the end, it was just coincidence…"
"Who cares if it was coincidence?!" Su Yuan snapped back angrily, unleashing another flurry of fierce attacks at Dottore.
He wouldn't feel at ease until Dottore was hacked into pieces, smashed into paste!
Yet even as Su Yuan's attacks tore into him, Dottore didn't resist or fight back.
He merely spoke calmly:
"Enough, Su Yuan. Consider this your victory for now…"
"Since you don't wish to hear the truth yet, I'll save this secret for next time."
Before long, under Su Yuan's relentless assault, Dottore was reduced to bloody fragments — dead beyond recovery.
Looking at the situation now, Ningguang and Qiqi were both gone, and Lumine hadn't survived either.
It seemed inevitable that a death rewind would soon occur…
Su Yuan then went over to where Aether lay unconscious, trying to wake him and Paimon up.
He knew full well that once Aether awoke, Lumine's death might trigger his Eerie state.
But that was exactly what Su Yuan wanted — he needed to find a way to die, to trigger the rewind.
Most importantly, he wanted to confirm something: now that he had reached the stone gate near Liyue's border, leaving Mondstadt's territory, would the rules of his death rewind change and return to their previous form?
However, a new and far graver thought quickly struck him — if the mechanism reverted to its old form, he might once again need additional rewind counts just to perform a single death rewind…
Without the real-time prompt from the markings on his left palm, how was he supposed to know how many death rewinds he had left?
It seemed that heading to Natlan, the Kingdom of the God of Night, could no longer be delayed — he had to restore the information display on his left hand as soon as possible!
Seeing that no matter what he did, Aether wouldn't wake up, Su Yuan resorted to the most primitive and foolish method — he went to the riverside, scooped up a handful of cold water, and splashed it right onto Aether's face.
Sometimes, the simplest method was also the most effective.
With that splash, both Aether and Paimon instantly woke up.
Then, the moment Aether saw Lumine's lifeless body lying in a pool of blood, an intense surge of Eerie power erupted from within him.
He shouted angrily, voice filled with grief and fury:
"Lumine… Why is it that when you finally appeared before me, it was only as a corpse!?"
"Who… who did this!?"
"Ah—Traveler!!!" Paimon cried out in terror as she saw Aether's body slip into an Eerie state.
Su Yuan looked at Aether solemnly and said,
"Aether, although I wasn't the one who directly caused Lumine's death… I can't deny that I bear responsibility as well."
"If someone must be held accountable… then strike me down."
"Su Yuan, what are you doing?!" Paimon exclaimed in panic.
"Why would you say that? You're just throwing your life away!"
Hearing Su Yuan's words, Aether glared at him fiercely, rage blazing in his eyes.
"You're right, Su Yuan… you will pay the price for this!"
"Because it was you—who failed to protect Lumine!!"
As he shouted, Aether gathered Eerie power in his hands and hurled it straight toward Su Yuan!
Su Yuan didn't dodge or resist — he simply stood there, letting Aether's attack pierce cleanly through his abdomen.
"That's it… next time, we'll change everything… we'll turn it all around…"
With those final, fading words, Su Yuan whispered to Aether — as his life slipped away.