No one knew how much time had passed before Elliot finally stood up again. He had made his decision—his choice was clear. He would take responsibility for his actions. Even if it meant giving up his chance to return, he would still try.
At that moment, the mask on his face shifted from its half-smiling, half-weeping expression into a full smile. He activated the mask's power once more, drawing upon the strength of the malevolent spirits. This time, he could clearly feel a strange sense of comfort radiating from the land around him. But he no longer had the heart to care about such things.
"I will stake everything I have..."
Elliot slowly raised his hand. Within him, the power of malevolence surged violently—a force beyond the realm of the Seven Elements. Chaos, Omen, Death, Corruption, Fear, Filth, Abomination... They were the embodiment of all evils in existence.
Now, all of them gathered in Elliot's palm, forming a dark, swirling sphere. He didn't know how much destruction it would cause, but it was a gamble he had no choice but to take. From the moment he activated the mask, retreat was no longer an option.
"Success or failure—it all comes down to this."
Elliot hurled the black sphere forward. It drifted slowly through the void, hovering in the air. Then, it began to shrink—smaller and smaller—until the fist-sized orb compressed to the size of a fingernail. With one final pulse, it seemed to vanish completely.
Crack...
Crackle...
Crackle...
Fractures began to appear in the void all around—thin lines stretching from the ground all the way to the heavens. Under Elliot's gaze, the cracks multiplied rapidly, spreading like a spider's web, splintering like shattered glass.
They spread faster and faster until they enveloped him completely. He could even see his own hand fracturing like glass, though he felt no pain and saw no blood.
As confusion filled him, the fractures continued to surge outward, covering every inch of the surrounding void.
BOOM!!!!
With a sharp, echoing crack, the entire void exploded. In an instant, Qingce Village and all its surrounding flora transformed. The once-vibrant flowers and trees had withered away. Towering trees became dry, hollow trunks—no green leaf remained. The lush grass turned into endless yellow sand. The living forest had become a desolate wasteland.
Everything was steeped in the aura of death. Even the sky had turned a dim, ghostly green. It felt as though Elliot had stepped into a parallel world—one utterly disconnected from Teyvat, a landscape belonging to some distant, alien realm.
But this was only the beginning. From every direction, unseen spirits began to surge toward him.
Elliot could clearly sense them—souls, countless and restless—and could feel their submission to him. As if... he was their king.
"So... I actually succeeded?"
Elliot stared at the vast transformation before him, murmuring in disbelief. The immense karmic debt and abyssal energy within him had made him the Ninth Dark God. The darkness of that debt and the Abyss contained the essence of death itself.
On a greater scale, Elliot now held dominion over death. In simpler terms—he had become the god of the Netherworld.
The reason Qingce Village had drawn him so strongly was because it had once been drowned by Chi's flood, turning the region into a land of plague. Bones lay scattered everywhere, each belonging to someone who had died unjustly. Their souls refused to depart, wandering endlessly, filling the land with heavy Yin energy.
Karmic debt thrived in such a place of pure Yin. When it arrived here, it became restless, almost joyful. As the Dark God, Elliot too felt an instinctive connection—a powerful sense of belonging.
He had searched long for the reason, but found none. Only when the cup shattered earlier did understanding finally dawn upon him. In that instant, he remembered—after the Archon War, all but the Seven Archons had been erased. That meant Guizhong and Marchosius would surely be judged by the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.
They would die.
Realizing this, Elliot finally understood the true purpose of this place. Yet he had long feared to confirm it, afraid to act. To open the Netherworld, he needed to activate the mask and borrow the power of malevolence—something he had long avoided, fearing its backlash would consume him completely.
But now, with everything clear, Elliot chose to cast aside all hesitation—
and bet everything on this final act.
And indeed—he succeeded.
By wielding the immense power of malevolent spirits, in this land of ultimate Yin, he had opened the Gates of the Netherworld.