°

°

°

°

It's cold.

I'm used to the cold. I never had a problem with the breeze before.

But this...

This is a different cold...It's not going to go away. I feel so light but I can't move. I'm not going anywhere, I've failed and I've trapped myself.

...

...

I'm sorry.

I won't be seeing those fireworks together with you Ei...

Liyue Harbor....

Crowds poured over to the docks. People dropped their activities and acts of celebration to take witness to the horror that has been risen again.

Light yelling and pointing fingers were the sirens of panic but not in the usual manner as people would respond to such an incident.

The bright figure of Osial was a distance away from the city, only this time it's appearance was different from the last many times. On each of it's many heads was a purple crystal tip that would shine with each roar the monster let out.

"No no no...what the hell is this?! Where are those idiots!?" Yan'er yelled as she saw their plan crumble before them.

Osial shot at the small shores and destroyed the ballistas the treasure horders manned.

"Damn it..!" The woman snapped a torch and lit it on fire as a red flame shone with thick smoke. She waved it in the air.

Soon the Crux fleet came roaring by as the canons fend off the monster's attacks and assisted the horders to board the shop again. Beidou yanked Yan'er, who got on last, on deck and yelled.

"What happened?! This thing wasn't supposed to surface this much!"

"I don't know! Maybe they-"

Osial's sudden shriek of anguish caught the attention of the fleet as they watched various flashes hitting each head of the beast.

Childe, armored by his foul legacy swung and frisbee'd his blades at the God with unrelenting determination, to the people it seemed like he was doing significant damage, but it was mere scratches in the face of a God.

"Why did we even think this would work...- GAAHH!!"

The monster fired a ball of energy precisely when it saw an opening. Directly hitting Childe, the beam launched the man away in a flash. A strike so strong it began breaking his armor away as he flew.

He went so far as to reach land and in his barely stable consciousness, expected to hit a mountain with this velocity. But he was stopped.

The man felt the wind. A strong but gentle breeze that acted as a cushiony wall that slowed and halted his speed. Soon he was swept from the sky and brought to a safe landing.

"It would be best for you two to conceal yourself, Ei and I shall take this from here.." a deep voice mumbled.

Childe struggled to look up as he laid on the grassy ground. He saw two tall figures looking down at the man, a radiant and somewhat illuminated aura about them.

"..aghh..Ha!...Hey Mr. Zhongli.." he coughed. "Who's the lovely lady...?"

"Childe, what is happening out there?" Zhongli inquired without delay.

The harbinger did his best to try and get up, powering through the pain but in the end only managed to sit right up before falling back down.

"...The Abyss Order...weaponized Osial, they're controlling it in order to destroy Liyue...agh..."

"Why are you in the midst of this conflict?"

"Courtesy of Ningguang's little investigator..."

Ei's ears perked up at the sudden mention. She finally decided to speak to the man.

"Ningguang...? Hadeki is the only one who she had tasked an expedition to-"

"Hadeki is dead."

...

...

The cold breeze of the sea was the only sound that could fill the air, nature doing it's best to quench the dreadful silence.

Suddenly, Ei stepped forward and pressed her heel down on the nape of Childe's neck, pinning him down to the ground.

"Do not. Toy. With me." The dark clouds that spanned over the sea slowly began to creep onto the mainlands as she spoke. "Who are you to declare such an assumption?"

"Ei." Zhongli only spoke her name, yet that was enough to have a thousand meanings to her.

"...I'm sorry...ngh...Osial got the upper hand..." Childe struggled to breath as the pressure of her shoe stung his throat.

Zhongli saw a darkening change the woman before him but remained unresponsive. He then knelt down beside Childe.

"Nahida...if you will.." He whispered.

Just over the man's shoulder, a small leaf glowed and soon materialized into a miniature version of the Dendro Archon who jumped down and placed a hand on Childe's head.

"It's okay...You can take a rest now." She said with a smile. With that, the harbinger suddenly fell into a deep sleep.

When he was out cold, Nahida grew to her original form and Venti reappeared with the gust of the wind.

"Ei, heed my words. I promise we will find the truth of this matter, Osial is a being that we cannot leave uncheck-"

Ei brushed the man's hand off of her shoulder and turned around with a strike of lightning slamming down next to them.

"I will....rain down the deepest wounds possible, carve my blade into the very foundation of this nation and reduce those who've dared to take away all that I have left...I will perform every act of violence imaginable that will forever scar these lands for a century to come...that is MY promise!"

She screamed at his face.

"Your words are misguided." Nahida reached for Ei's hand. "Do not let your thoughts be clouded, we have yet to see the truth of the matter...I know what you're feeling but acting on your emotions will not benefit you in anyway."

As the tiny God did her best to bring comfort to the enraged Electro Archon, a booming roar caught their attention, Osial's presence was eminent.

The being's presence in itself was hard to ignore now, now that it was gradually making it's way to the shores. While Ei's cooling anger boiled up again, Zhongli stood there in confusion as he saw the Sea God's appearance. It seemed that one of Childe's claims were true. They just hoped that everything else was a lie.

"You..." Ei grunted before blasting off to the seas.

"Wait!!" The wind was strong enough to throw Ei off balance, soon after, Venti appeared before her and grabbed her wrist.

"We need to think this through carefully...! That thing has already caught the attention of the people, which means we cannot act without being noticed." He explained.

"Do you really think you're an obstacle in my path?" Ei snatched her hand from his grasp. "I could blow you away like a leaf. Begone"

"But you won't."

"I said, begone--!" Ei was ready to strike the bard down but another firm grasp stopped her immediate. The strong unmovable hold Zhongli's hand kept her from moving at all.

"The implications of your presence here and along with the others will lead to dire matters." Ei could not find the power to release herself from his hold unlike Venti's.

"You will have your chance, but we need to take caution first."

Meanwhile...

The Crux was barely making out their navigation while trying to flee the wrath of Osial.

Their two most powerful assets were knocked down in an instant and now they were left with nothing but the choice to flee.

Beidou, through her frantic shouts of commanding and running around, found Yan'er sitting at the center of the ship, leaning against the mast. She seemed almost unmoved by the chaos around her.

She looked at the emptiness in her eyes, the unshaken coldness of her expression, the Captain knew this behavior all too well. The Boss of the Treasure Horders was at the brink of losing all hope, she was sitting there ready to accept her end.

"Captain! We're set!" One called out.

"Right...R-right! Call in a full retreat! We don't have the same offensive as last time, we can't beat him like this...!"

The fleet paced as best as it could to turn and make haste towards land. But their doom was closely tailing them without even trying to move. Osial's sheer scale made it seem as though they made no progress whatsoever.

A loud bang followed.

The crew along with Beidou were flung to one side of the ship. "What in the world was that?!"

"Captain!! We've been hit! The beats blew a hole in the lower decks!!"

"No no no...!" She ran to view the damage from the side of the ship, but as she was examining, another blast of energy was making it's way towards them.

In a mix of rage and panicked reaction, Beidou jumped on to the edge of the ship and summoned her claymore. A violent scream followed her as she used every last bit of her electro to stop the attack.

Her muscles were burning, her throat was ripping and her heart was having irregular beats. The powerful ball of energy was suspended between her blade and the ship and the thought was enough to rip past her limitations as she managed to parry it and launch it right back at the beast. It staggered barely.

Once it was gone, the woman slumped forward and nearly fell into the sea but a few hoarders managed to grab her and yank her back into the ship. It was apparent, she was now out cold.

"The Captain is down! She gave us an opening, USE IT!"

Yan'er yelled as she held the unconscious pirate. Addressing the crew to get back to work and flee.

...

...

...

At the Harbor, Keqing and Ganyu were at the steps of Commerce Guild, and even from there, the looming threat was visible.

"It is true... it's happening again." Ganyu muttered.

Keqing, at the sight of anything threatening, sprung into action as she commanded the Mileleth and jumped to the streets of the Harbor.

"Send out an emergency announcement, all ships must return to the harbor immediately, make sure none leave either!"

"Yes, lady keqing!"

"The rest of you, guide the people, keep everyone away from the dock side." She said as she ran forward and pressed past the crowds and festivities.

She happened upon the main attraction which was Hu Tao and Xinyan's event and immediately stole the stage.

"Yoooo! What's the rush Yuheng!?"

"Osial has returned! We need to alert the people as soon as possible!"

"Wait, Huh?!" Hu Tao stumbled.

Due to the extreme and loudness of this show of theirs, not many people were able to take notice to the panic outside.

"Hurry! It's getting closer the more we waste time-!"

Keqing's panic was halted once a loud shine caught the attention of everyone. She turned along with the population to see a bright yellow and tall wall that began growing.

It scaled all over the front of the city, there was an elegant pattern about this wall as it rose. It seemed to curve and span the entire city as it enveloped and guarded it against the sea side.

"Is this...?"

"A protective barrier?! Did Lady Ningguang already prepare defenses for this?"

...

Up in the skies, the Tainquan silently observed this light show and mumbled.

"This is not my doing nor the jade chambers..." She looked forward at the sea, the beast was clearly visible and intimidating all the same. "Just how much planning have you done under my nose, Hadeki?"

...

Back in the pavilion, Zhongli and Venti stood within their reserved room where there were no disturbances.

The bard kept watch while the tall man stood at the center of the room with his arms crossed and a glow of gold around him as he whispered a chant.

"This is pretty risky to pull of you know?" Venti said worriedly.

"Worry not, given the extreme of the situation outside, the people will likely consider my protection as the act of the Qixing." The man answered.

"And you think they can handle that monster?"

"It was the humans whom had brought down Osial the last time and along with his destructive wife, who is to say they cannot do it again?.... Especially since there's a being far more powerful within their aid." Zhongli smiled with one open eye.

....

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"It doesn't matter anymore."

...

...

The Crux was barely making it out as they did their best to leave the area while also firing back at Osial

Their movements were slowed by the damage caused to the ship but they could not care less about it.

As the people on board shouted and manned every possible corner of the ship, they only saw the face of death hovering above them, ready to strike and end their lives.

Until an ear ripping bolt shot right at one of the beast's heads and sent it swaying back a few meters into the sea.

"What the...?! What was that!?"

"Don't care just go go go!" Yan'er truly could not care less about their savior to even check as they put as much distance as they could from them and the sea God.

Another blot struck the monster, and then another and another. Infact it wasn't multiple bolts but a single one that kept coming back after every hit. Breaking the sound barrier multiple times in one move was Ei who had engulfed her entire presence with pure lightning due to her speed as she sliced across the beast.

'If I keep moving at this speed, they can't see me....I need to make this quick and find him.' She thought to herself after bursting through the body of the monster.

Everytime she sliced through it, the body would seemingly regenerate itself. After all, it is made up of watery materials.

'I can't feel it...I can't sense his presence...!' Ei recalled always feeling Hadeki's aura whether he'd be miles away or standing by her side. Now, ever since the shock she felt in the restaurant, it's gone. 'Where is he...? Where is he where is he where is he where is he!'

"WHERE IS HE?!"

She screamed a thunderstorm as now her attacks came with the assistance of the weather striking down on the monster, the damage being done was heavier than before and it was truly causing Osial to stun.

"You never had a choice in your life. You always lived with expectations on your shoulders."

"I know."

"But you never fulfilled those expectations. You never once listened to what fate wanted you to be and tore your own path into the world."

"..."

"So why stop now?"

The agonizing screams of the woman causing this destruction upon the beast were louder than the aftershocks of lightning.

Ei could have ended this beast in one strike, but she wanted to keep this barrage going, she wanted this monster to feel every fraction of the pain it has caused her for now she had truly come to accept the truth. That alone should spell disaster.

The purple crystals were shot off or blown to bits by every strike the Goddess could rain down. Osial had regained most of it's sentience and in that very moment attempted to flee.

Ei did not let than happen.

She quickly moved to the other side of the creature where it had turned to make an escape back into the sea. Her eyes burst open with a bright hue, the sky behind her tears open with a dark purple pulsation.

"The darkest pits of the Abyss will not protect you from me....I will bury the strike of death 10 times deeper than what you have cost me...YOU-"

In the midst of her emotional disorientation, Osial managed to get a hit in itself as he struck Raiden out of the sky with one of it's heads, this caused the tear in reality to fade away.

Caught up in her own despair, she couldn't see the attack coming and therefore caused her fault in battle.

"Why hold such stubbornness? Why remain quiet when you know your work isn't complete."

"I will not."

"Why do you show so much resilience when you're faced with a fact of life?"

Ei was not one to be struck down so easily, she remained in the air and regained her focus, she was aware that the more she dwelling on mourning, the longer this will take. She made a resolve but that still didn't stop the thick streams of tears to run down her face, mixed with the rain drops that defiled her presence.

She prepared herself, ready to end this.

"Why are you so eager to cling to your story when it's done nothing but strike you down?"

She charged forth while Osial used all five of it's heads to combine one single ball of energy, a ball that was nearly the side of the Jade Chamber itself.

"Because I defy this world."

Before Ei and the Sea Monster of old could clash.

Right between them, the sea ripped open and a violent ray of energy sliced through, a beam so dense and destructive that it burst through Osial's attack, popping it like a bubble.

Soon followed a large bright purple beacon that ran up to the skies, only that this wasn't a beacon. The cylinder of light suddenly curved and shaped itself until a giant serpent, completely made out of electro, took form.

The being was twice the size of Osial itself, it's presence so mesmerizing that the people at the Harbor were left quivering and even fell to their knees at the sight of it.

"W-what the hell is that...?" Beidou's eye twitches as she sat there and held her stomach.

"Another Sea God? What do we--"

"This being is not of these seas...Whatever it is, it's come to reign judgement upon an old foe that Morax refused to cut down." Ningguang corrected Yan'er's remark.

The serpent faced upwards and screamed to the heavens as the pitch black clouds were dusted away by it's roar. The clouds were gone but the lightning within them remained as the behemoth consumed it all and fired it directly towards Osial.

An attack so deadly, Osial was now known to own four heads rather than five.

Ei could do nothing but stare at what was towering before her. Nostalgia, anguish, dread but even excitement filled her heart.

The serpent began it's assault by swiftly charging forward and coiled itself around Osial's being. It's very presence was causing an electro infusion that was effecting the sea monster the worst way possible.

It was like multiple pangs of poison touching it's body. The hydro mixing with electro spelled countless agonizing hits onto the beast's body but it couldn't do anything about it.

The giant serpent sank it's teeth into one of Osial's heads, this causing the purple hue of it's own body to leak into the sea God.

Ei could see.

The element before her courses through her veins, she knows and sees everything through it.

And through it she saw indeed.

She saw the man that held the promise of her love, in the head of the giant serpent. He had his golden blade jammed into the head of the Sea God.

The serpent had bitten off the head it had engulfed and now only three remained. Ei, now regained with more resolve, charged forth with her aid and sliced off another one. And soon another was cut off by the serpent.

Only one remained, it was already a staggering mess of it's former glory as a sleeping body of destruction beneath the sea.

Ei shot up to the sky where she called upon her sword once again. As if reading her mind, the electro serpent