As the three Ancient Gods drew closer to Liyue, everyone's hearts sank into a frozen abyss.
When they entered range, fifty Guizhong Machines unleashed a storm of fire, their attacks raining endlessly upon the three giants.
But operating the Guizhong Machines came at a terrible cost—the elemental energy drained far too quickly. Within moments, some operators collapsed, fainting from exhaustion.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The three Ancient Gods began to ram against the protective barrier.
To everyone's shock, the fifty Guizhong Machines suddenly seemed to malfunction. No matter how fiercely they fired, the three giants barely took any damage—completely different from the one they had slain before.
As more cracks spread across the barrier, their firepower grew weaker and weaker. Ningguang, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, furrowed her brow tightly, frustration welling up inside her.
She racked her mind for a solution, but the more anxious she became, the less she could think clearly.
Pacing back and forth atop the Jade Chamber, she could no longer contain her impatience.
"Lady Ningguang... maybe... maybe we should drop the Jade Chamber itself. If we don't, Liyue will be completely destroyed," Baiwen whispered hesitantly.
Those words struck Ningguang like a bolt of lightning, illuminating her thoughts in an instant.
"You all, get below! I'll control the Jade Chamber!"
"Lady Ningguang…"
"Now!!!"
Ningguang's sharp command made Bai Shi flinch in fear, and the attendants hurriedly ran for safety.
Without hesitation, Ningguang took full control of the Jade Chamber and guided it high above the three Ancient Gods.
The others seemed to understand what she intended. Their eyes widened, all hope resting on the floating palace suspended in the heavens.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
As the Jade Chamber reached its mark, Ningguang showed no hesitation. She brought it crashing down.
A massive cloud of smoke and dust instantly swallowed the sky.
Everyone craned their necks, desperate to see through the haze.
But before the smoke had even cleared, the result became painfully clear.
A massive, shadowed figure slowly began to rise.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As the dust dispersed, violent impacts echoed once again. Two of the Ancient Gods were pinned beneath the wreckage of the Jade Chamber, but the third had narrowly escaped.
The crowd could only watch helplessly as that remaining giant pounded relentlessly against the already cracking barrier.
Crack...
Crack...
More fractures spread across the shield.
Everyone stood there in silent despair.
The Yakshas were gone. The Millelith had fallen. All mortals who bore Visions had drained their elemental power and fainted. Even the last hope—the Jade Chamber—had been sacrificed.
They had given everything, and in return came a single, shattering sound.
Boom!
Liyue's protective barrier broke apart.
Piercing screams echoed through the city. People ran. People fled. Panic engulfed all.
And beyond the towering Ancient God, countless monsters swarmed into the city.
The fifty Guizhong Machines, meant to handle these creatures, had all been diverted to fight the gods. Now, with the barrier gone, the monsters flooded in like a dark tide.
"Someone... please, someone save us!"
"Daddy... Mommy... where are you..."
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me—ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
"Lord Emperor... please save us... Liyue has fallen..."
Screams came from every direction. The once-prosperous port of Liyue had become a land of death.
A young girl, her eyes swollen red from crying, ran home. Following her parents' last words, she hid inside the wardrobe.
"This is... a Mingxiao Lantern...?"
Opening the door, she found a lone lantern tucked away inside.
She remembered what her parents had told her—that if you wrote your wish upon a Mingxiao Lantern and released it, Lord Morax would make it come true.
Thinking of this, she quickly grabbed paper and pen and wrote: "Lord Emperor, please make Liyue return to how it once was."
She wanted to write more, but through the window, she saw a dark shadow drawing near. She knew—it was one of the monsters. The kind that ate people.
Terrified, she hid the paper and pen. Her mind went blank. Should she stay hidden, or release the lantern?
After a brief hesitation, she chose the latter. Lighting the lantern, she rushed out the door.
But the moment she stepped outside, a monster lunged at her, biting into her neck.
Crimson blood sprayed across the lantern, staining it like spilled ink.
...
Morax's eyes burned red with rage as he fought desperately to break through the onslaught and reach Liyue.
But the Ancient Gods and monsters surrounding him were too many—and too powerful. He couldn't advance. He couldn't even catch his breath.
He could only watch as Liyue burned beneath waves of fire, powerless to intervene.
Then, amidst the chaos, he saw it—a Mingxiao Lantern drifting slowly up from Liyue.
Morax's eyes widened. Even as he fought, he shifted his stance, and the lantern seemed to sense him, floating closer through the storm of battle.
When he saw the blood smeared across its surface, despair struck him like a crashing tide.
He wanted to reach it. He wanted to see what was written inside.
But even that small wish was beyond his grasp.
The relentless assault left him no room to breathe, no time to think. The monsters attacked from all sides, unending, unstoppable.
Morax was drowning in an endless, lightless abyss—no hope, no escape, not even a flicker of light.
BOOM!!!!
Suddenly, a deafening thunderbolt tore through the heavens and struck the ocean. In an instant, every Ancient God and monster in the water froze, paralyzed.
The sudden turn left Morax momentarily stunned.
Then, a bolt of lightning streaked across the horizon, racing toward him at impossible speed.
"Zebul...?"
"Your body..."
The newcomer was none other than Zebul of Inazuma.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Even with your great support, Inazuma has fallen..."
"I've been infected too. Sister Baal is dead. My followers, my people—all gone..."
"And you? Do you still have something left to hold onto?"
Her voice was calm, almost mechanical. Her face blank as she stared toward Liyue, now engulfed in flame.
At that moment, the monsters and Ancient Gods—momentarily paralyzed by lightning—recovered, surging toward them once more.
"Liyue is gone, the protectors are dead... but my wife might still be alive. Please—"
"Go," Zebul interrupted softly. "Leave this to me."
Morax nodded, dodging the incoming attacks.
"Thank you..." she whispered.
Under Zebul's cover, Morax broke free from the battlefield and vanished into the distance.