After the young Doctor finished speaking, Scaramouche stood silently where he was.
Nahida's eyes flickered with worry. She feared that Scaramouche might actually be swayed by the Doctor's words.
Ever since Lu Chen had brought him back to the modern world, she had been trying to help him open his heart—but she had never succeeded. This eccentric boy always carried resentment within him, especially toward Lu Chen and Ei.
And now, this situation truly was the perfect chance for revenge.
But Lu Chen had no time to consider such things. He had already ascended high into the air, weaving through the space between the two colossal mechs as he fought.
Another deafening explosion rang out. Lu Chen's Light Realm power tore through the body of the anemo mecha, leaving deep, terrifying cracks across its frame.
The metal groaned under the strain, and the Doctors' voices grew increasingly frantic.
"How is it?"
"Scaramouche!"
The young Doctor's voice, magnified many times over by the mecha, echoed across the vast hall.
"As long as you return to the Fatui, I will plead with the Empress on your behalf!"
"For the sake of our great cause! Now! Turn your weapon on those two—this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
At those words, Scaramouche's gaze drifted toward Nahida, meeting her bright green eyes for the briefest of moments.
"Scaramouche, you..." Nahida frowned slightly.
Scaramouche said nothing. His face remained blank as he turned his eyes away.
"Heh..."
He tilted his head toward the sky.
"Dottore."
"Since when did you become so talkative?"
"Oh, I get it." A sharp laugh escaped him. "So you were just as much of a pretentious brat in your youth? A 'great cause'? An 'immaculate dawn'? Those words don't even sound like something you'd say."
"Hahaha! Absolutely ridiculous!"
Clutching his stomach, he laughed harder and harder, until tears welled up in his eyes.
"You fool! You're pathetic!"
The Doctor's furious voice roared from above. Controlling the mech's enormous limbs, he raised four massive palms high into the air.
The Geo Archon's Gnosis glowed brilliantly as the machine gathered power, and in the air above appeared a pair of colossal golden rock spears.
Scaramouche's laughter faded.
The sight reminded him of Zhongli's Heavenly Star, and for a moment, death itself seemed to press down upon him.
But even then, he couldn't resist sneering.
"Getting desperate already?"
"Heh. So even you can lose your temper. Looks like you weren't so different when you were young after all."
"Die!"
The rock spears crashed down with devastating force, engulfing nearly the entire area around Scaramouche.
The hall of the God-Making Workshop was torn open with a gaping hole, exposing the structures of Sumeru City below. Cracks spread rapidly in all directions, and the entire workshop groaned under the threat of collapse.
Through the dust and shaking earth, Scaramouche and Nahida emerged at the far end of the hall.
"Thank you..." Nahida clutched her chest. If not for Scaramouche's quick reaction, she would have been caught in that indiscriminate strike.
"Nothing to it." Scaramouche waved it off casually.
Their eyes turned back to the sky. The Doctor had intended to continue his devastating Geo assault, but the massive motion had exposed openings—and Lu Chen had seized on them. Now, the Doctor had no choice but to focus solely on Lu Chen.
"So you did that on purpose?" Nahida's eyes curved with a faint smile. She was genuinely pleased with Scaramouche's choice.
Not only had he not betrayed them, he had even drawn the Doctor's attention away to help Lu Chen.
"Don't overthink it." Scaramouche curled his lips. "I'll side with whoever wins. I don't believe those two self-important clowns could ever beat a monster like Lu Chen."
"Alright, alright..." Nahida smiled helplessly. She knew his nature. Even if he wanted to help, Scaramouche would never admit it out loud.
Scaramouche's gaze fixed on the battle above, his thoughts tangled and restless.
The Doctor's words had struck a chord—he couldn't deny it.
He had dreamed countless times of taking revenge on the one who had humiliated him. And for a fleeting instant, he had thought: this was the perfect chance.
Even someone as powerful as Lu Chen couldn't end the battle quickly against two false gods. If Scaramouche used his trust, waited until he was trapped in the struggle, then struck at his back...
The opportunity was right there.
So why hadn't he taken it?
Was it really his conscience holding him back?
"Have I really changed..." His eyes grew distant. "Am I... becoming weak?"
"Why should kindness mean weakness? Can't kind people be strong too?" Nahida asked softly.
"No!" Scaramouche lowered his head, the strands of hair on his forehead shadowing his eyes.
"Kindness is humanity's most worthless emotion. I've seen countless people die because of it—and every one of them deserved it."
"I swore long ago I would cast off every lowly human emotion..."
He seemed to steel himself, lifting his head again, his eyes dark and resolute. "The person I am now exists only because of that vow."
Nahida's emerald gaze softened. "I once said I understood your past, but now I take that back. Because everyone's fate is different—it's impossible to truly feel the same as someone else."
Scaramouche didn't understand what she meant, but her gentle eyes made him instinctively look away.
Nahida went on, "So, let's make a bet."
"A bet?" Scaramouche blinked. "On what?"
She smiled. "That kind people can be strong too. I want you to understand that human emotions aren't as useless as you think."
"Tch." Scaramouche crossed his arms. "That's it?"
"What's wrong?" Nahida chuckled. "Do you think you can beat Lu Chen?"
"..." Scaramouche fell silent.
"Is Lu Chen kind?"
Scaramouche knew exactly what she was trying to prove. He snorted. "That guy? Kind? Did you not see how many people he killed when he went back to Inazuma?"
"That's a poor example," Nahida said with a sly smile. "After returning, he led a coup at minimal cost. Think about it carefully—has he ever killed anyone who didn't deserve it?"
Scaramouche still looked unconvinced. To him, Lu Chen was nothing but a hypocrite who believed brute force was the only truth.
Just remembering how he was beaten to a pulp in Tenshukaku made his throat ache—it was a memory that still haunted him.
"In any case~" Nahida continued, "since you want revenge, why not defeat him fair and square first? Then you can tell me all your philosophies. Otherwise, who would believe you?"
"Revenge is certain, but can't you at least give me an opponent on equal footing?" Scaramouche muttered, realizing she was deliberately goading him.
"You're not backing down, are you?" Nahida widened her eyes.
"Who's backing down!?" Scaramouche clenched his fists.