Above the sea, the water was as pitch-black as ink.
High in the sky, a translucent formation floated, while opposite them stood the hundred-headed God.
Carrying the rage and hatred of a thousand-year seal, Osial polluted the entire ocean.
On a distant cliff, Tartaglia was thrown violently, his back crashing heavily against the rocks at the summit.
He didn't know what had happened; after he pulled out the [Pseudo-Black Hole Rune], Lumine had turned and fled, so he followed suit. After all, despite being a battle maniac, he knew he couldn't contend with a God and certainly wasn't going to stay there and seek death.
Just as he had returned to prepare the teleportation equipment and sent his soldiers to distract the Qixing and the Adepti, he was suddenly grabbed by the collar and whisked away by a large, dark figure that had lunged out of nowhere.
Now, enduring the injury to his back, he slowly raised his head, only to see a figure he had been searching for.
White clothes, white hair, and those red eyes.
"Master?!"
Childe hurriedly rose, only to meet Skirk's incredibly cold gaze.
The words stuck in his throat, and for a moment, Childe didn't know what to say.
Instead, it was Skirk who acted first, pointing toward the massive sea beast on the ocean: "You released that?"
Childe looked over and his eyes widened. He had indeed attempted to release Osial, but... by any account, the seal looked completely broken! How was that possible? Was the power of that black hole really that great?!
"Do you know what that is?" Skirk narrowed her eyes, her tone nothing but stern. "Did you leave your mouth in Snezhnaya? Tell me, what is that?"
"The God... Osial," Childe said with a trembling voice. He had always thought the thick pressure in the air came from the battle between the Adepti and Osial; only now, facing a deity directly, did he realize it was merely the 'presence' radiated by a God simply by existing there.
The Tsaritsa was perhaps too compassionate toward her subjects, never truly displaying the pressure of a God to them.
But compared to the pressure of a God, what was more terrifying was the coldness in Skirk's voice.
"Ajax—oh no, I should call you Tartaglia. You're supposed to be the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbinger, Lord [Childe]."
"What are you trying to say..." In this rare encounter, the coldness in his teacher's voice, like steel needles piercing his bones, made it impossible for Childe to face her honestly.
Skirk's expression didn't change in the slightest: "Do you know how much of a disaster this thing you released will cause?"
"I am a Harbinger!" Tartaglia mustered the courage to glare back, but there was a stubbornness in his tone, like a child refusing to admit a mistake:
"I... I must be responsible for the Tsaritsa's orders..."
But as he finished, his momentum faded; it seemed there was a hurdle in his own heart he couldn't quite cross.
Skirk stopped looking at him: "Did I teach you how to fight so you could go to other nations and release the Gods their own deities sealed?"
"Morax isn't dead at all! As long as he comes out..."
"And has he come out?"
"..."
Looking at the speechless Childe, Skirk pointed toward Liyue Harbor behind them: "Guess whether, under the pressure of a God, there will be elderly people, newborn babies, weak pregnant women, and those suffering from illness who will die from exhaustion because they cannot endure it?"
"Guess again how many old, weak, women, and children in Liyue Harbor can withstand such high-and-mighty meddling from you, Lord Harbinger!"
Childe did not argue back.
He wasn't good at thinking about complex power plays; he preferred direct confrontation. Thus, in his mind, if a powerful enemy appeared, it was only natural for the God to step in and handle it.
Skirk looked at him and gave one last piece of advice: "The name Ajax is the name of a hero from the storybooks. 'Hero' is an honorific people use for a savior.
How many families in Liyue Harbor will your actions tear apart? If Tonia and the others died before your eyes, what would you think?
You truly bring shame to your name."
Childe finally couldn't hold on; his back leaned heavily against the rock, and the heart in his chest throbbed violently.
He looked at the incomparably powerful God on the sea, his lightless eyes darkening even further.
"Then what should be done... should we Fatui go and fight Osial together?"
"No need." For once, a hint of tenderness entered Skirk's voice.
Childe looked at her in disbelief. Only then did he realize that today, his Master was angry, she had lost her temper, and yet she had suddenly become gentle.
She wasn't as cold as ice like before.
What had happened? What had changed her?
Childe asked, "But, is there any way..."
"I said there's no need." Skirk looked toward the sky: "He's here."
Above the sea of clouds, light erupted.
A Giant Spider Burning with blue flames descended from the heavens. The moment it fell into the sea, the ocean began to boil!
Childe watched this scene in disbelief. Storybooks often spoke of Burning mountains and boiling seas, but while Burning a mountain was easy, boiling a sea was difficult. Just what kind of high temperature could make the entire ocean like a pot of boiling water?
Childe couldn't imagine it; his voice trembled slightly: "What is that thing?"
"He is Lumine's Master."
"So it's... huh?" Childe was stunned by Skirk's answer, but he quickly noticed something else: "You know him?"
Skirk gave a simple answer, her tone carrying a rare sense of ease and security, which finally turned into a tease: "You can call him Master-in-law."
Childe's expression became even more spectacular, his mouth hanging wider and wider.
"Huh??!!?"
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Above the sea, though the sounds of wind, thunder, and waves were constant, a strange and eerie silence somehow persisted.
On the surface of the water, two colossal entities were quietly staring each other down.
One was a thousand-meter-tall, hundred-headed God of the sea; the other merely resembled a spider in appearance, though no one would truly mistake it for one.
A body composed of blue flames, a silver carapace turned black by the reflection of the sea, and that UFO-like object carried on its back with three glowing discs.
It didn't just look non-biological; it didn't even look organic.
The ORT, grown to five hundred meters, just stood there silently facing Osial, showing no intention of making a move.
Finally, Osial could hold out no longer. His hundred heads let out a world-shaking roar simultaneously. Thirty snake heads gathered energy at once, driving the water Elemental Power to its limit as it condensed before Him. Then, a massive and incredibly fast high-pressure water blade swept across the sea, the immense pressure nearly splitting the ocean apart!
"Beep—Beep—Beep—Beep-beep!"
The UFO flashed with light. Two of ORT's sickle-legs touched, and from that point of contact, as if striking a spark, a fireball shining with a fierce white light formed instantly and was immediately launched toward Osial.
The moment the fireball formed, a brightness enough to burn the eyes and a heat that instantly curled hair spread out. Grandma Ping immediately sensed something was wrong; she used the Yaotai Technique with maximum speed to move backward, only stopping once her surface temperature cooled. Even so, there was still a smell of Burning protein in the air.
In the distance, Skirk immediately summoned an ice wall, but the ice wall began to Melt the very instant it was summoned!
Skirk and Childe's gazes froze. Childe had never seen such power, while it was Skirk's first time seeing Orion use this much strength.
Looking back at the sea, the massive fireball collided head-on with the water blade. The blade was vaporized the moment they touched, while the fireball continued unabated, crashing directly into Osial!
Osial felt a terrifying sense of crisis. He made an immediate decision, forming a wall with ten of His snake bodies, intending to take the hit head-on!
The fireball detonated upon contact with the divine body. A pale light erupted, illuminating almost the entire ocean, and water vapor rose into the sky like a high wall.
Once the atmospheric temperature returned to normal and everyone looked again, the ten heads Osial used for defense were all severed! Even parts of the body behind them hadn't been spared; a third of the divine body had been vaporized in an instant!
A single strike had dealt Osial unimaginable and terrifying DMG.
But Osial would not sit and wait for death. He withdrew the severed heads to the rear, and they were actually slowly regenerating!
"He's absorbing the power of the sea!" Ganyu cried out, but everyone was helpless; no one could separate Osial from the ocean.
Osial concluded that no living creature could fire such a terrifying attack repeatedly—the proof was that the Giant Spider's sickle-legs were glowing red from the heat!
However, He had a full hundred heads! The advantage was His!
He took advantage of ORT's cooling phase to attack, countless snake heads coiling around, intending to use His own vortex to crush this Giant Spider!
However, the moment His body neared ORT, the silver carapace on the Giant Spider's body suddenly began to grow wildly as if mutating!
ORT's true body was actually the disk on its back; the spider-like body was a metabolic keratin structure, so it could naturally be controlled to grow frantically!
Countless hard tentacles collided with Osial's body like blades, easily blocking Osial's approach.
Osial accelerated the swinging of His snake-like body, and ORT also sped up the sweeping of its tentacles. Sonic booms rang out one after another in the air as the supersonic physical exchange between the two caused the ocean waves to become restless.
But one must know that before ORT descended upon Teyvat, it had absorbed the divine Authorities of many planets. However, this was not another planet; without the blessing of a planetary will, these Authorities would not only have their effects weakened, but using them on too large a scale might even draw a counterattack from the powers of this world. Yet, ORT did not truly need to use its Authorities.
Its two scythe-legs closed together and then were raised high. In an instant, golden lightning leaped continuously upon its scythes, and a giant blade composed of roaring thunder pierced straight into the sky!
ORT finished charging, and the blade of lightning slashed straight down along with the scythes. That golden lightning, cutting through the dark clouds, seemed almost physical. The lightning blade spanned fifty nautical miles, and as the massive blade pierced down, Osial immediately used His divine power to resist, but the result was not ideal.
Not a single bit of Authority was used in this strike; it was pure stats. The lightning blade slashed into the sea like Moses parting the waves, causing the ocean to boil once more. Countless marine creatures were charred and cooked, floating on the sea surface like a layer of white film.
The air where the blade had passed looked as if it had been blurred with a Gaussian filter. Electric arcs leaped continuously in the scorched air, and the atmosphere had already become plasmaized.
Looking back at Osial, that hundred-headed snake body had once again been severed by a full third, and He was now struggling to recover.
"Great! Keep up the pressure, we can win!" On the formation, everyone cheered, but then a sudden change occurred.
Countless dark shadows suddenly flitted beneath the sea surface. Suddenly, a slender blue water snake lunged out from the ocean, the giant snake actually biting toward the disk on ORT's back from behind!
Ningguang's face paled with shock: "That is Osial's wife, Beisht!"
She had always led Osial's followers, lurking in the seas near Liyue, waiting for the day her husband would break the seal. She had waited a thousand years for this day!
Although she didn't know where this Giant Spider came from, how could she allow this monster to harm her husband!
Beisht opened her massive maw and bit toward ORT, determined to tear a piece of flesh from this monster even if it cost her life!!!
At that moment, ORT suddenly turned around!
Beisht was horrified. How was it possible? Hadn't she attacked from behind? Wasn't there only a giant disk on its back?
But this question became her final thought.
The Giant Spider raised its scythe and performed a swift horizontal slash, slicing her in two with incredible smoothness along her open snake maw, from head to Tail.
The giant snake, cut in two, fell into the sea. Blood and internal organs rained down like a downpour, dyeing the ocean red.
This scene happened right before Osial's eyes.
In that instant, the world went silent.
The snake head, its jaw no longer visible, slowly floated in front of Osial due to inertia. Osial's gaze was dull. One of His heads lowered gently, wanting to touch His wife, but suddenly met empty air.
He looked up; His wife's corpse was continuously receding.
No, that wasn't right.
It was the Giant Spider. A strange mouth had opened on its chest, and it was using its limbs to continuously stuff Beisht into its belly, starting from the Tail!
At this moment, the sea was enraged.
"ROAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
A pressure several times greater than before descended upon the sea, and the boiling ocean turned ice-cold in an instant!
The seawater surged continuously. Osial healed all His injuries in an instant, while simultaneously drawing in seawater! Fifteen hundred meters, two thousand meters, five thousand meters! Osial's divine body continued to grow!
"He has gone mad." On the Yaotai Technique, Grandma Ping watched this scene quietly, as if pronouncing a death sentence for everyone: "In the form of a living God, He has turned into a monster similar to the remnants of a god. He has cursed Himself.
A God has cast a curse upon Himself, at the cost of losing all sanity, in exchange for briefly wielding the power of the entire ocean, all just to bring absolute death upon the enemy before Him."
At this moment, on the opposite shore of the sea, a pink-haired fox-eared shrine maiden's ears twitched as she looked toward the ocean in disbelief.
"This is..."
... "What's happening? Lady Kokomi, look quickly!"
In the Watatsumi Island resistance camp, Gorou, noticing something wrong with the sea, hurriedly asked a Damselette as beautiful as a mermaid.
Sangonomiya Kokomi just stared blankly at the sea.
"The sea... is angry..."
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Atop Tenshukaku, a woman full of heroic spirit watched the dark sea in the distance, her braided hair dancing in the gale.
"Locking the country was indeed the right choice..."
She was ready to draw her blade at any moment
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In the Court of Fontaine, a white-haired judge appeared near the sea in an instant following a sonic boom, squinting toward Liyue without saying a word
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"If it really comes down to it, I'll just live as a woman for the rest of my life."
Venti sat at Starfell Valley, watching the restless sea in the distance.
"It's too late to go back and reclaim my own power now, but fortunately I have this 'Venti' power given to me by Orion."
Saying this, he touched his chest: "Only... I'm sorry, my friend. By then, this body might..."
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And at the center of it all, on the sea of Liyue Harbor, even the Giant Spider that had fallen from the stars appeared like a helpless arthropod drifting with the waves in the face of such divine wrath. It tossed and turned with the rising and falling tides, emitting "du du du" cries of sorrow while trying its best to maintain its balance.
It was as if it were afraid of something. But with such power, what could possibly make it feel afraid?
In the air, everyone grew more desperate as they watched the ocean come alive and Osial, with His hundred heads merged into one, swell to a scale of tens of thousands of meters.
Unless Osial was isolated from the sea, He would be immortal and indestructible.
But no one could scoop every drop of water out of the ocean.
It was an unsolvable situation.
"Something is wrong with Orion!" Lumine shouted loudly. "Can we find a way to talk to him? He shouldn't have exhausted all his power yet!"
Although the others didn't believe Orion really had any other options, they gritted their teeth and decided to try!
"Let me do it!" Cloud Retainer said. "I am most skilled in the [Empathy Technique]. Let this immortal try to communicate with him."
After saying that, he turned into his human form and attempted to communicate with Orion's consciousness.
Orion's consciousness was not guarded. He quickly connected to Orion's soul, but the massive flood of information nearly made him lose himself.
However, Xianyun soon stabilized his mind. If he fell here, what would happen to Liyue Harbor outside? What would happen to his disciples?
Outside, everyone looked nervously at Xianyun, and soon saw him suddenly take two steps back, opening his eyes and panting heavily.
"Master!" "Adeptus!"
Shenhe and Ganyu hurried forward to support him. Once Xianyun's breathing had evened out, Moon Carver could finally not help but ask, "Cloud Retainer, are there any results?"
Xianyun nodded, then shook his head.
Moon Carver was confused: "What does this mean?"
"There are results... but..." Xianyun said slowly, "I couldn't talk to him. His soul is too vast; I couldn't move freely within it. But I heard him talking to himself, only three sentences.
I could understand the first two and knew what he was afraid of. But the third sentence... I understood the words, but I don't know what they mean."
Everyone looked at each other. Mountain Shaper asked, "Which three sentences? Say them for everyone to hear. What was the first?"
"The first sentence was... I hate water."
"And the second?"
"The second was... I can't swim."
"Then, what about the third?"
Xianyun looked up and spoke that third sentence, the one whose meaning he didn't understand.
"[Crystal Valley]."
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