At the same time in Jueyun Karst,

Moon Carver had felt a most shocking presence...

-An old vanquished foe and his partner had thus reappeared, the essence of evil amplifying their strength. -He couldn't help but mumble soon enough, looking and sounding serious and slightly concerned. -By the grace of Yánwáng Dìjūn, a great tragedy has been momentarily avoided. Yet, the crisis hanging over Liyue Harbor has not fully passed. -He added in even more seriousness, seemingly ignoring the two others who just arrived in his domain. -As mighty and illuminated Adepti, is it not our duty to see the danger removed? Albeit one does not often enjoy the company of mortals, one still remembers one's contract with our lord. -He continued, this time sounding a little disappointed. -Mountain Shaper, Cloud Retainer, one will not have guests of Yánwáng Dìjūn fight on our behalf. The Land of Contracts is one's home and one will join in its protection.

He soon added in rising determination and without waiting for a reply,

Used his Adeptus powers to levitate above the ground and gallop towards the Harbor...

*The other two Adepti looking at his retreating form for a while, as if in the middle of a dilemma,

Before Mountain Shaper soon followed the retreating Adeptus, Cloud Retainer doing the same moments later...


The city was currently in chaos, with people shocked about what happened,

As Ningguang was frantically giving orders to the Millelith and the Vision users around,

With Jean helping her out, as Mondstadt's people already put up the Wind gliders and told the rest to do the same...

*And all of this to the sounds of the waves relentlessly hitting the Geo shield...

...

Barbatos was truly glad that the Winds informed him of the initial attack when they did...

*If they were even a few seconds late, he would be too late to tell Morax of this and his friend wouldn't have put up a shield in time...

...

The Harbor itself could have become a watery grave for many people...

...

...

But even if they were safe at the moment and had some time to prepare,

He couldn't help but feel worried about what was going to happen next, especially...

-Morax, since you don't have your Gnosis anymore, how long do you think you can maintain the shield...? -He soon asked the other, both in seriousness and also concern. -...Seeing as it's already been hit a few times, are you really going to be...?

-There is no need to worry about me, my friend. Even if this continues for a while longer, I wouldn't fall so easily. -Morax answered him in reassurance, before his expression turned thoughtful, even when a big wave hit the shield again. -...But it's true that I wouldn't be able to keep the shield up forever, especially considering how much stronger the corruption made them. The Abyss Order truly planned it all this time...-His words soon cut off, as his expression turned concerned, with him being eerily silent for a few seconds. -...Truthfully, I am unsure how long I would be able to maintain a shield of this size. If the Harbor wasn't continuously attacked, it would have surely been easier, but as things stand...

-We would be sure to lure them away from the city, Yánwáng Dìjūn. -Ningguang promised, as she walked towards, stood by and bowed to her Archon, before turning towards Barbatos. -I heard that you can get us close to those...Monsters, Lord Barbatos. I apologize for asking this of a distinguished guest, one who already helped us enough, but if you would...

-I will be glad to help you out, Ningguang. There is no need to ask. As long as you are ready for the battle to come, I will be sure to take you all to the sky. -Barbatos soon interrupted her in reassurance, before he turned to look at everyone gathered around them, all of them already wearing the Wind Gliders on their backs. -...Morax, if you would mind making an opening at the top of the barrier for us to fly through at a specified moment, that would help a lot...

He added upon turning to glance at the other,

Still quite worried about his friend's wellbeing...

-I promise to let you through when you get close enough. -Morax answered, before slightly winching at the wave onslaught on the barrier, his expression turning a little annoyed afterwards. -...Just do something about these two, preferably fast...It's bad enough that I still have some..."Unpleasant" memories from last time...

He added with a small shudder, soon becoming quiet once again,

As he clearly decided not to elaborate about what those "unpleasant memories" were...

*Barbatos already knew that the event was so traumatic for his friend, Morax now hates seafood...

...

...

But this didn't really matter now, anyway,

As the priority was to stop the two from attacking the barrier...

*And so, he soon activated the "Power of the Thousand Winds" on those around,

Sending them all into the sky, before joining in himself, adamant to…

-Hey, mind if we join in, as well...? -A somewhat familiar voice was suddenly heard from nearby, one coming from a certain Abyss Lector now floating on the side. -I was having so much fun and they ruined it, so I have to pay them back, right...?~

Enjou soon continued, looking and sounding more amused than anything,

As he was secretly anticipating the fight against two corrupt gods...

*Besides, considering how chaotic it was at the moment, no one will mind him helping out, right...?

-Likewise, I also decided to help out with the fight. It does look like a lot of fun~ -Childe was the one to say next, as he was also floating nearby, already in his Foul Legacy form. -Besides, I am pretty sure that the resident quintuple tentacle "Sea Monster" must have already recognized me after a certain "failed" plan, so I am the best person to lure him away.

He explained in more seriousness and evil glee,

Just as a hole opened up in the barrier and everyone started flying through…

-You are free to join in the fight. Considering the situation, we would be glad for any help we can get. -Barbatos soon said in seriousness and slight worry, as he couldn't help but glance down for a moment, before flying through the opening himself. -...The faster we take care of this, the better. I just hope that Morax will be able to hold on in the meantime.


"This is quite the worrying situation, I am uncertain if we could resolve it.",

Was what Ningguang realized a while ago, yet couldn't say aloud...

*It already took some time and effort to calm down the frantic people...

...

Though she couldn't fault them for this reaction, as even with a previous warning,

No one expected the danger to be two corrupted old gods, who nearly sank the Harbor...

"MORAX, QUICK! TRANSFORM INTO YOUR ARCHON FORM AND CREATE A BARRIER AROUND THE HARBOR!"

...

"...Osial...? Beisht...? Is that really...? And that purple mist completely enveloping their forms...

...Corruption...? By the Abyss Order...?"

...

Even the Archons didn't expect for this to happen,

Yet she was grateful they acted as fast as they did...

*If not for Yánwáng-dìjūn's and the Anemo Archon's actions...

...

...

But even with the initial attack stopped, she still couldn't help feeling worried,

Her Archon was keeping the barrier up, but seeing how powerful and relentless the attacks were...

*This Geo shield is what was keeping the Harbor from getting hit by a sneak attack or even area damage from the upcoming battle itself,

And seeing the sheer scope of the area it covered in addition to that, as well as considering how Yánwáng-dìjūn didn't have his Gnosis anymore…

"Morax, since you don't have your Gnosis anymore, how long do you think you can maintain the shield...?

...Seeing as it's already been hit a few times, are you really going to be...?"

"There is no need to worry about me, my friend. Even if this continues for a while longer, I wouldn't fall so easily.

...But it's true that I wouldn't be able to keep the shield up forever, especially considering how much stronger the corruption made them. The Abyss Order truly planned it all this time…

...Truthfully, I am unsure how long I would be able to maintain a shield of this size. If the Harbor wasn't continuously attacked, it would have surely been easier, but as things stand…"

-...We really don't have much time to lose...-She couldn't help but mumble in some sadness, as she finally approached the top of her Jade Chamber and activated the Guizhong Ballistas formation. -...All of us have already agreed that Liyue started a new age, the "age of humanity". We might not necessarily need the help of gods anymore, but for Yánwáng-dìjūn's life to be in danger while protecting the people...

She sadly continued, realizing once again what could have happened if the barrier wasn't there,

And they even had their guests and another nation's Archon help them out, as well...

*But how would they have been able to predict the arrival and stop a tsunami of this magnitude...?

...

They actually couldn't, could they...?

...

Even after deciding to protect Liyue by themselves,

They were still...

-One has come to find out of the ongoing crisis, so one came here to fulfill one's contract with Yánwáng-dìjūn. -A familiar, yet slightly annoying voice was soon heard, as Moon Carver galloped towards and stopped before her. -One realized that mortals such as yourself are too weak to vanquish foes of this magnitude and so one decided to offer one's help.

The arrogant deer continued, before proceeding to operate one of the ballistas,

As Mountain Shaper and Cloud Retainer soon arrived, as well, offering their help...

*Ningguang only half listened to their words, before officially thanking them for the help,

As she tried not to show it on her face, that she realized why exactly they decided to volunteer their help...

...

While the Adepti indeed had a contract with Yánwáng-dìjūn to protect Liyue, one they would follow due to their loyalty to the Archon,

This decision was mostly made out of pride, as they are supposed to be Liyue's most powerful defense and attack line and will not be outdone by mortals...

...

...

Right, their smug attitude was the main reason why she and the rest wanted Liyue to be led entirely by the people...

*The Adepti's help was much appreciated at the moment, yes, but only due to their two foes being literal gods, whose power was strengthened due to corruption...

...

If not for that, she and the rest of the Vision users could have protected it just fine!

*Even Yánwáng-dìjūn agreed that the people should be more self-sufficient and less dependent on the Adepti!

...

...

It was so foolish of her to get worked up about this now, akin to a small and immature child...

*While everyone has put aside their differences and were working together against their common foes,

With even a Fatui Harbringer and one of the Abyss Order's members helping them out...

...

...

Yes, she made sure to calm down the masses, ordered Keqing, Yelan and the Millelith to help the people and Dr. Baizhu to take care of anyone who got hurt during the panicked scuffle,

She also, together with Mondstadt's Acting Grandmaster, decided on every Vision user's special role during this crisis:

From the shielders, such as Beidou and Noelle, who would be on the front of the group, defending everyone else from attacks,

To the attackers, such as Diluc, Enjou, Hu Tao and Klee, who are staying just behind the shielders, attacking the two gods with all they have,

To the crowd controllers, such as Jean, Kaeya, Childe, Ganyu, Shenhe, Xingqiu, Kazuha and Chongyun, who would be in the middle of the group, helping the attackers,

And to the healers, such as Qiqi, Barbara and Yaoyao, who were staying in the back, on the ready to heal others when needed…

*She also asked the Crux crew to help out from the sea…

...

And currently, it did look like things were proceeding mostly as planned,

With Osial already getting lured away from the Harbor and enough of Beisht's attacks getting frozen...

...

...

...

But this was still not enough,

She should do more as Liyue's Tianquan,

She should be doing more as a citizen of the Land of Contracts...

...

She should be prepared to give away everything in order to protect Liyue and its citizens...

...

Even if it's the Jade Chamber, her life's work,

She should be prepared to sacrifice it if things turn dire, right...?

If everyone, including her Archon, put their life on the line,

Then sacrificing the Jade Chamber would be a small price to pay…