The group, with Childe's help, finally managed to lure Osial away,

Yet Beisht barely budged, adamant about continuing her assault on the barrier...

*The same barrier that Morax was using all his energy for to keep up,

If Barbatos could strangle the annoying monster, he would have done so by now!

...

But Beisht was a Hydro sea monster, so strangling her probably wouldn't work...

*But even so, he would gladly help others freeze her solid, which was the current plan,

With Kaeya already spamming his elemental skill on her, all the while Ganyu elemental charged her from afar...

...

As for the rest of the attackers...

-A touch of frost! -Chongyun soon used a skill, as he struck the area near Beisht with his greatsword, creating a big AOE frost field. -This should help you out, Xingqiu, Childe.

-Before that, nephew. Unleash! -Shenhe suddenly said upon rushing towards the AOE frost field together with a talisman spirit, sending a Cryo attack towards Beisht and partly freezing her. -Now everyone's Cryo attacks should be stronger.

-Many thanks for the help, my friend and Miss Shenhe. -Xiangqiu gratefully said upon floating within the frost field's boundary, his sword soon getting infused with Cryo. -Know my sword!

He performed twin strikes towards Beisht with his sword, dealing huge amount of Cryo damage,

The elemental skill soon creating four frost swords, which started orbiting around him...

-Hoh, so this is what those skills did, not only infusing the weapons with Cryo, but even increasing the damage dealt. -Childe couldn't help but admit in amazement, as he floated towards the frost area and got into a battle stance, charging for an attack. -Celestial Voyager! -He suddenly unleashed a huge horned humpback whale-shaped attack on Beisht, which, due to the Cryo infusion, made her even more frozen than she already was. -Hehehehe~ This is quite fun~

...

-Don't relax yet! Until she is fully frozen, we can't take any chances! -Jean soon yelled out, as she flew nearer to Beisht and went into a battle pose, as well. -Go as one!

-Into the wind. -Kazuha activated his skill soon after, as he now floated by Jean's side, both of their Anemo skills spreading the ice on Beisht. -Until the battle is over, until peace returns to Liyue, I will gladly help you out.

-Nicely said, Kazuha, Jean. -Barbatos soon admitted, as he looked at the ice spreading, which almost enveloped Beisht now. -...I am already using the "Power of the Thousand Winds" to help everyone stay afloat, yet, shouldn't I help out a little more...? Don't worry, I wouldn't use too much power. -He couldn't help but mumble soon enough, both in some guilt, as well as reassurance. -Brace yourselves! -He used his elemental skill, sending more wind towards Beisht, which spread the ice even faster around her body, finally enveloping it whole. -Looks like we managed to incapacitate her for the moment. If we continue with the current plan, she should stay like this for quite a long time...

"Hopefully until Osial is fully dealt with.", was left unsaid, but still understood by everyone present,

As soon enough, they resumed using their previous skills on the already frozen sea monster...

*And while Barbatos was glad that their plan worked, he still couldn't help but worry about how the second group was doing...

...

Partly because Osial was naturally a lot stronger than Beisht, even before the corruption took hold of him,

And partly due to the fact that with his "target"/Childe now gone, he must be quite aggravated by this point...

...

-...Hopefully, everyone is doing alright...-Barbatos couldn't help but mumble, wishing that this was really the case. But if it wasn't...-...I should probably keep "an eye out", just in case...

He soon added, knowing that the Winds will help him with this,

Before he returned to helping everyone with keeping Beisht frozen...

...

...

And just as the Archon feared,

Things were quite different with Osial...

-I hate you! Hate you! Hate you! You big meanie! -Klee was quickly attacking Osial with her bombs, looking and sounding very mad. -Not only did you interrupt the fun Klee had with everyone, you also hurt the weird grown-up! He is Klee's friend and you hurt him, you meanie! Jumpy Dumpty go!

She threw a big Jumpy Dumpty on the "sea monster", which bounced thrice,

Before splitting into a bunch of mines and exploding on top of Osial, all the while hurting him with Pyro...

*The small Pyromaniac clearly saw the "big meanie" getting hurt, but she didn't care for its feelings and proceeded to throw more bombs towards it!

...

-You should be fine now, Mister Diluc. -Barbara told him upon making her healing power disappear, as she couldn't help but look towards Klee in worry. -...Klee got so mad. I know she is powerful, but she is still so little. She might get badly hurt and not even...

-She should be just fine, Miss Barbara. Klee is truly very powerful and wouldn't give up without a fight. -Yaoyao soon reassured, as she was looking towards the ongoing fight, as well. -Besides, Miss Beidou and Miss Noelle are still there. They would shield her if she is ever in danger, the same way they did with Master Diluc. -She continued in even more reassurance, before looking around the place. -And don't forget about Master and the others manning the Guizhong ballistas. Then, there's also the Crux fleet helping out and...

-Enjou and...Hu Tao are also there. They could get his attention, especially Hu Tao. She is very annoying. -Qiqi was the next to reassure, sounding a little miffed at the name "Hu Tao", before she suddenly got quiet for a few seconds. -...Qiqi is glad I could stay in the back. I don't like how the two "sea monsters" feel. I don't know why, but they make Qiqi feel scared.


-I am alright, there is no need to worry. I might not have the Geo Gnosis anymore and the foes trying to attack Liyue are quite formidable, yet similarly to an unmoving rock, I would not yield. -Morax reassured the people around him once more, as he was still busy maintaining the barrier around the Harbor. -All of us Archons have something we are proficient in, myself included. Even with the intense and continuous assault, I assure you that the shield wouldn't break so easily and neither would I.

He added in more reassurance, hoping that it sufficed,

As the Archon also wished for this whole situation to end soon...

*Having the people worry for him like this, concerned that he might die,

Even though he already lived through so much in the past, having to kill enemies and friends...

...

He already lived for more than 6000 years, so something like this,

It was truly not even close to the worst he experienced...

*Even Azhada and Guizhong, he had to...

...

...

How did Guizhong die again...?

Surely, he still remembered that, right...?

...

Honestly, he was truly glad that Ningguang made those Mingxiao Lanterns based on his recollections,

As recently, he started to forget people and events...Including his memories of Guizhong...

*Considering how old he already was, he was not surprised that Erosion started catching up to him,

Still, to forget Guizhong, his companion and the one who taught him so much...

...

He didn't want that...

...

...

Was this why he put all those Glaze Lilies around the Harbor before Barbatos' arrival...?

-...I am not starting to get overly sentimental, am I...? Sometimes I still wish I could see her again, even for a moment...-He couldn't help but sadly wonder, his voice going unheard by the others due to the ongoing chaos and the waves hitting the barrier a few times. -...But considering the current situation, rather than simply seeing her, perhaps I might join her soon...

He calmly continued, secretly partly hoping for it to be the case,

That before he forgot everything due to the Erosion...

...

...

He should still do his best to survive, at least for the moment,

It would not do for him to die so tragically, as the people would not take it well...

*It was bad enough the last few times his people thought he was dead,

And hearing/seeing how Mondstadt's people reacted to his friend's many near death situations...

...

He was truly glad to have Barbatos here with him, helping him and his people out,

First by informing him of the danger and then using his power over wind to help with the fight...

*Even if he was usually such a menace, Barbatos was still a good friend to him...

...

...

He couldn't help but wonder how did the Abyss manage to corrupt both Osial and Beisht,

Yet soon realized it was due to the order's previous last year's experience with corrupting others:

First it was the former Dragon of the East and one of Barbatos' oldest companions, Dvalin,

Next was Beelzebul's Raiden Shogun puppet, one she made to withstand Erosion,

Qiqi was the next one they successfully corrupted, with him seeing it firsthand,

Lastly, Barbatos was corrupted and from what he heard, it was quite bad...

...

...

The Abyss Order now had enough experience to corrupt two gods at once,

And taking from the current situation, the corruption had a firm hold on their minds...

*His old foe, Osial and his wife, Beisht, were not the same now as they were in the past,

And the former was even successfully lured away from the Harbor by Childe!

...

Osial shouldn't even know who Childe is, so why did he follow the Fatui so eagerly?!

*Why did it feel like Osial and Childe had some kind of special connection between them...?!

...

Just what did Childe do to...?!

...

...

...

It seems that his thoughts wandered a lot more lately,

Though thankfully still not at a frequent pace,

Which also sometimes made him have weird thoughts...

...

...

The effects of the Erosion on his mind seemed to be even worse than he initially expected...


"I am surrounded by idiots.",

Was what Diluc realized soon enough...

...

After getting hurt by one of Osial's water beam attacks and soon being healed by Barbara,

Diluc returned to the frontlines of the battle, where everyone else was seemingly in a crazed frenzy...

...

-Kaboom! Boing, boing, boom! Boing, boing, boom! Sparks 'n' Splash! Die die die, you big meanie! -Klee was madly attacking Osial with all she had, from her normal bombs, to "Jumpy Dumpty" and finally to that laser beam attack of hers, before repeating the circle again and again.

This made Diluc wonder about just how many bombs Klee had with her at the moment...

*Though seeing as she was Alice's daughter and strived to be just like her mother...

...

He couldn't help but start to feel bad for the sea monster...

-Pyre, pyre, pants on fire! -Hu Tao yelled out for who knows which time, as she summoned a fiery ghost and smacked Osial with it until it disappeared. -Chi!

She then used her elemental skill, setting her polearm on fire,

And promptly kept kicking Osial with it, before summoning the ghost once again...

*Honestly, as much as Diluc saw this exact "scenario" repeating over and over,

He still couldn't help but wonder where did she get that ghost from,

It wasn't one of her ancestors, was it...?

...

-Burn! Burn! Burn in the fires of the Abyss! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! -Enjou suddenly yelled from nearby, as he kept bombarding Osial with every attack and skill he could think of. -Hahahahahahaha! Feel the unstoppable power of this magnificently hot Abyss Lector! Whahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

He continued upon throwing fireballs of all sizes, flame blasts, infernal waves and even fiery meteors at Osial,

Cementing once and for all that he was the most unhinged of the already berserk group...

...

Diluc supposed that this is why he and Childe were such good friends, those battle maniacs,

Though he also wondered whether it could also be due to him somehow getting affected by Osial's corruption...

...

...

-...I am truly the calmest person here...Burn! -Diluc couldn't help but mumble soon enough, before sending a phoenix towards Osial. -...Hmph.

The redhead then enveloped his claymore with fire, soon proceeding to bash Osial with it,

As he decided to ignore everyone's insanity for now and focus more on the fight itself...

...

And seeing how annoying Osial was to fight against, with those 5 heads of his he could fire water beams separately fro...

"OH, NO! BARBATOS IS IN DANGER!", the Winds suddenly yelled out, sounding very frantic, "DON'T LET OSIAL FIRE!"

They yelled out even more frantically, but before Diluc could as much as blink,

Osial's five heads suddenly fired water beams into the distance, towards the other group and...

"HE NOTICED THAT BARBATOS IS KEEPING EVERYONE AFLOAT AND TRYING TO GET RID OF OUR FAVORITE ARCHON!", the Winds yelled out some more as Osial kept firing towards said Archon, with Barbatos now trying really hard to evade each attack, "DAWN WINERY'S DILUC, DO SOMETHING!"

Diluc didn't need to be told twice, as he soon proceeded to float towards the sea monster's heads,

To try and stop even one of them from attacking, together with some others, who must have noticed what was happening, as well...

*From the corner of his eyes, Diluc also noticed the Jade Chamber's Balistas keep charging up and really hoped that they would make it in time...

...

...

-...Oh, how did I get into this...?! And I didn't even try this time...! I was busy keeping Beisht frozen...! -Was what Barbatos kept repeating to himself over and over, as he was desperately evading the sudden attacks. -...Why does he seem to have such a huge vendetta against me...?! I am keeping everyone afloat with my power, yes...But still...!

Honestly, if he didn't know the reason for this sudden assault, he would have surely cried by now,

And he was indeed a good flier, but having to bolt all over the place to evade those attacks...

...

It felt like a huge and angry bull kept relentlessly charging at him!

*And moreover, he also noticed some of the attacks hitting the barrier and Beisht,

So now Morax was under fire again and the sea monster "lady" got free from her frozen confines!

...

...

And just when everything was going so well!

Why did everything suddenly turn bad?!

...

Why?

...

Why?!

...

WHY?!

...

...

HE INITIALLY ARRIVED TO LIYUE TO CELEBRATE LANTERN RITE WITH EVERYONE!

WHY DID IT HAVE TO TURN OUT THI...?!

BAAAAAAAAANG!