As promised, it's time for some action. Liyue is not ready for what is about to happen.

So one slightly annoying thing about how this site works (besides notifications being completely broken for a month) is that I have zero way of interacting with guest reviews...and the guest reviews I've received have been some of the most thought-out and informative ones! Like, a full paragraph of what they think about the story, good or bad! I bloody love those, even when they disagree with something I'm doing with the story. So I feel compelled to respond to some of them here.

So one question I got frequently was, paraphrased of course, "yo, why is this tenno such a hardass? Aren't they supposed to be the good guys?"

And the answer is yes, of course, they are the good guys. This does NOT necessarily equate to the "nice guys". Tenno have an immense capacity for human empathy and kindness...and an equal amount for cruelty and callousness. This should make sense—they are, after all, child soldiers who have been changed into something beyond human by some eldritch entity they know almost nothing about for reasons unknown, who's first victims were their own parents driven insane by the void, were brainwashed/erased/deliberately inflicted with dissociative identity disorder because hey, that turned out to be a convenient way to control them. And the Orokin had to control them, because they were seen as literal devils from hell...which may not be entirely wrong.

They are now being led by a compulsive liar who means well and probably saved the tenno's lives (after first endangering them), but who's leadership and past baggage has been a source of enormous hardship for the tenno (and who's story is one series of table flips and reversals/retcons after another throughout her entire run), and who basically runs a mercenary army of superpowered monster children with massive abandonment issues and the blood of literal millions on their hands. Since the New War, she's had some big character development, but it doesn't erase her past mistakes, at least in my opinion.

So tenno are a paradox, in many ways, but certainly in terms of their character and personality. Bottom line, tenno have issues.

But that's not the only thing going on here in the story. It's not done. I haven't revealed all the information. The characters, the Tenno included, are not stagnant—they will grow. This attitude he has adopted IS for a reason, and it may not be what you expected. This is all planned. Now, how you feel about what I've planned may or may not change when I reveal it, which I will happily read about in any review you write, positive or negative.

Don't worry, when it comes to Warframe, I know what I'm doing. :D I have an alarming number of hours in that game, and am an eager and nearly rabid consumer of any lore I can get my eyes and ears on. My Genshin lore knowledge is so-so, and I usually require the wiki up to check to make sure I get things right, but my Warframe lore knowledge is profound. No wiki required.

One review specifically mentioned the Holdfasts, who are indeed void constructs, the ghosts of the people who died on the Zariman in as literal a sense as possible. This is of course a difference between them and the people of Teyvat; the Holdfasts were real people, people he knew, whereas as far as he's concerned, the citizens of Teyvat are more or less fiction come to life. The Tenno helped the Holdfasts, but remember what he said when Quinn told him that the Zariman was his inheritance?

"I'm not afraid of responsibility. But this is where everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Once we're done here, I'm done here."And when you finally defeat Kira who has turned into a Void Angel, Lotus asks you what happened, and what you found. Remember our Tenno's response?

"Just...ghosts. I think we all lost here today."

Our Tenno helps because that's his nature. But he's not necessarily nice about it. Even then, he grows and changes. Your progression through the various syndicates is as much about you learning to trust and work with others as much as it is them doing the same with you.

And our Tenno, despite knowing what he knows (and what you, my dear reader, don't know yet, though you may have guessed), still chose to help Ganyu...at cost to himself. He is, after all, a Tenno. And even though a Tenno is a terrifying monster that can punch the soul of his enemies out of their body, impale some poor bastard on bone talons to heal your allies from their spilled blood, devour them with scarab beetles/infested maggots/a giant belly-mouth thing, mind-control them to shoot their friends, and an unending list of horrific ways they end every living thing that dares to raise a weapon to them...they are also honorable warriors who will protect the innocent, even if it costs them everything. They do care.

I truly thank you for these questions and engagement you've given my story. It shows you are equally as passionate about the lore as I am, and that gives me joy. But trust me on this; I've got a plan.

By the void, that was quite the rant. So before Morax decides that he will have order and drops a meteor on me for dilly-dallying and keeping him from his Osmanthus wine, let's get on with the show:

Ruins of the Orokin Throne Room, Lua

The Lotus was worried. A strange emotion, one like many she had to come to terms with when she chose to mimic Margulis to infiltrate the Tenno order back in the days of the Old War, an emotion she was never born to have. Was it a result of an all-too-perfect mimicry? Could love blossom in a stolen heart, feelings for those she was programmed to destroy be birthed within her simply because Margulis loved them so, and Natah had to truly become Margulis?

Perhaps at times the question of how her affection for her Tenno began disquieted her mind—but there was no doubt now. She loved the Tenno of her own free will, something that, ironically enough, her Tenno helped her gain back. This she was sure of. She had made many mistakes over the centuries, but the identity crisis she had undergone had been resolved once and for all. Natah, Margulis...they were there inside, still, shadows and voices. But it was her voice, the voice she chose that now spoke for her: she now stood as the Lotus, the adoptive mother and leader of the Tenno.

But now she was worried. She rarely truly feared for the lives of her Tenno. They were extremely capable warriors—terrifyingly so, having brought low both her own species and the ones that created her. It was highly unusual for them to be in any permanent danger. But their mental states were an entirely different matter.

In this, she ruefully admitted to herself, she was out of her depth. She did not know how to counsel traumatized children. She knew, in an academic sense, that having fought multiple wars and killed literal millions was, to put it mildly, hard on a child's mind. She knew of the nightmare that was the Zariman—but she also knew that the true effects of it were beyond her. Her children had been touched, changed, by a power that was poison to her. No matter what she did, no matter how much she cared, she could never truly understand what it was that they went through in those hellish moments.

All of these things weighed upon her mind at all times, but now she worried for a specific reason. Two of her children had not heard her call. They were still adrift in the Second Dream, wandering the sea of the Void in places she could not follow.

And the brave Tenno that had gone in after them was struggling. Oh, she wasn't worried he wouldn't accomplish his mission. "Competent" was far too tame a word to describe his abilities; he was a force of nature, as if the universe bent to his will. He had been the first to awake. He had brought her back from the brink of Ballas's total control over her mind. He had saved the Sun, and the entire Origin System with his efforts. Finding and bringing back the twins was well within his abilities.

But should the time come that he had to do what must be done, she knew that the cost on his soul would be...exorbitant. And she felt powerless to help.

"Ordis," she spoke, and by her will a line of communication opened to the Cephalon.

"Lotus! How nice it is to hear from youuuǎ̵̜̹̟̒̓̚n̸̢̘̥͉̾͊d̴̘͍̭̊̑ͅ ̶̦͇̳̥͎̋́͌͝i̷̗͆̄͆̒͘ẗ̸͔̰̂͜'̷̭̪̩̔̽s̸͇̲͆̚ ̴̡̾̑a̸͕̘̭̓͋̂̈́b̶̳͔̻̳̀o̴̼͕̍̓̎u̸̢͇̔͂͂ͅt̶̨̏ ̵̺͂͑t̸̮̮͙̟̉̀̏͘ī̸͕̥̄m̶͓͈̣̮̍ę̷͔͉͗̆͂͜͝͝! What can I do for you?"

"I'd...like to monitor your operator's progress in the conceptual embodiment. He has constructed communication lines for such purposes, correct?"

"Of course, Lotus! I'll inform him that you—"

"No! No...don't tell him, please. I don't want him to feel...pressured."

"I see. I shall comply, of course, but what should I say should he ask what you are doing?"

"If he asks," the Lotus paused, the line between her and the Cephalon falling silent for several long seconds.

"...tell him I'm always thinking of him."

Jade Chamber, Liyue

Well now the mood was an entirely different sort of uncomfortable. The Tenno found it grating. They didn't need to feel all weird and guilty; all they had to do was tell him what he was after, and he'd leave them alone. But ever since he had pulled that mental substitution method to cure that lady's—Ganyu apparently was her name—void exposure, Ningguang and the rest of the assembled members of the Qixing and Millelith had been walking on eggshells around him.

Several guards as well as the one known as Keqing had gently carried Ganyu off to some room in the palace, presumably to put her to bed. When they came back out, they reported that she was sleeping comfortably, and now an awkward silence reigned as they alternated between looking at him to see what he would do and averting their eyes in some sort of self-imposed contrition.

He really wasn't very good at dealing with this sort of thing. He could wipe out an entire crew of a Corpus Pillar ship in minutes flat, but negotiations were rough. The most annoying thing was that he could completely understand why they were so cautious around him, but he knew he could do nothing about that. All he could try to do was attempt to channel a bit of Teshin's firmness, Onkko's calm, and maybe a bit of Konzu's lightheartedness. He sighed. Being a Tenno doesn't make you good at everything, he thought. Good thing he had plenty of examples to learn from. He'd start with trying to understand their situation a little more. After taking all of...that into his mind from that poor woman, he wanted to know just how bad the incursion was getting anyway.

"You mentioned 'misfortune' had been happening which made you wary of me. Was this...sickness the only thing?" he asked of Ningguang.

"Unfortunately, no. As grateful as we are that you have cured our beloved secretary of her affliction, it is only a single boulder on a very large mountain of threats we are facing," Ningguang explained somberly.

"Tell me."

Ningguang looked at the Tenno speculatively. "It would be presumptuous to impose upon your good graces further, Sir Tenno," she said with as much apprehension as courtesy.

"Think of it as a contract. I came here seeking information. You are having problems, problems I may very well be able to fix. An exchange of information for services rendered seems a fair trade, don't you think?" He couldn't help but feel a bit proud of that line.

Ningguang smirked in amusement in spite of the tenseness of the situation. "I must say I find such a deal agreeable, Sir Tenno. Though perhaps you would like to hear the details before making such a large commitment?"

"Sure. I need to know what's going on anyway."

Ningguang's smile grew solemn. "The first alarm we had came from some miners in the Chasm yesterday. A handful of them came rushing into the city from the western gate in a complete panic. They were inconsolable, frantic. We questioned them as best we could without causing them undue distress, but their explanations were very short on details. All we could really gather was that someone or something had become active in the chasm and had driven the workers insane. Some of them had even apparently turned upon their fellows and killed them in their madness."

The Tenno managed to keep his expression level, despite the memories her description dragged up from the dark corners of his mind.

"We sent out scouts to assess the situation, but yet again, only a handful returned. They were terrified, but hadn't quite fallen to whatever madness took hold of the workers. They reported that an army was moving in the chasm, consisting of not only known monsters such as hilichurls and Abyss mages, but other things they could not recognize. Even mentioning these things nearly drove the surviving scouts into a frenzy, so we were unable to get any sort of description out of them. That was all we could gather about the situation up to now. We were assembling a major force to deal with the situation when we heard the other threat to our existence."

Ningguang paused and gestured out to the ships in the harbor, and in particular to one large vessel in the distance.

"The captain of the Alcor, Beidou, reported something to me that shouldn't be possible. O—"

She was interrupted by a tremor that caused the sea to ripple like a stirred pot. There were sounds of scared voices coming from the city as citizens flooded from shops and stalls and made a fragmented but somewhat organized dash to higher ground to the west. A bright red flare fired off from the deck of the large ship Ningguang had pointed out earlier, burning bright over the harbor and, to one of an active imagination, momentarily made the water appear to be running with blood.

The Tenno looked out over the sea. "What was that?"

Ningguang's face fell.

"...the other threat. Osial is breaking his bonds and is coming again." Her voice ran cold.

"Osial?" the Tenno questioned.

"An ancient god of the sea, one which had been imprisoned on the ocean floor by Rex Lapis ages ago. He and his mate, Beisht, had both recently broken free and attacked Liyue harbor. Lumine was present for the defense of the city both times. Indeed, had it not been for her, perhaps the defenses would not have held."

The Tenno smiled, a truly genuine smile. "That does sound like something she would do."

"Indeed? I'll have to ask about her life before Teyvat later, should we survive this. Right now—"

Ningguang was once again interrupted, this time by a rather singular character bursting through the door of the main chamber to join them on the terrace. She was a tall woman with long, flowing dark hair, an eyepatch over one eye, and bearing a very large claymore. She had a fierce expression, though her urgency tamed it somewhat as she sprinted towards the both of them.

"Ningguang! It's happening! He—"

She stopped and stared upon seeing the Tenno and his warframe standing behind him. Yet despite how crazy the situation was, she processed her surprise in a matter of seconds and decided to leave questions for later. She tilted her chin back in a friendly, almost flippant greeting.

"Hey."

The Tenno just nodded back. He had to admit, he kind of liked this one.

Ningguang ignored the woman's surprise, and turned to face her. "Report, Captain Beidou."

Beidou caught her breath and addressed the Tianquan. "There's no doubt about it. It shouldn't be possible, but he's somehow broken loose again. He'll be out and in our harbor in a matter of minutes."

"The Jade Chamber should have kept him pinned down there for centuries," Ningguang muttered worriedly. With a bitter resignation in her countenance, she called out to her Millelith guards. "Prepare to detach ground anchors. If we have to, we will drop it on his head again."

She faced Beidou once again. "Return to your ship, captain, and prepare for the worst."

"Don't have to tell me twice." With a curious glance back at the Tenno, she ran back the direction she came.

"So, not to interrupt your defense planning, but if I'm understanding correctly, a sea god is about to attack your city, right?" The Tenno inquired with a distinct lack of urgency.

"Yes. I'm afraid our information exchange will have to wait, though I will regret leaving a contract unfulfilled should I die without being able to tell you what I know. Forgive my moment of gallows humor, but I must attend to the defense of my home." She made for the balcony of the terrace to take command of the forces about to face a god.

"Or—"

Ningguang stopped and looked back at the Tenno. And for a moment her heart quailed, for he bore a
feral grin that could strike terror in the heart of an Archon. He continued.

"—I could take care of it. Then you'll be free to share everything you know to your heart's content. Or, well, my heart's content, because I'm going to have you tell me everything."

"You...you will help us defend Liyue? I—"

"Help? No. Not 'help'. I will take care of the problem. Simple as that."

Ningguang's urgency battled with her confusion. "Tenno...it's not that simple. We are faced with a god for an enemy."

"Yeah. So?"

Her confusion won, and became total bafflement. Was...was this Tenno claiming to be able to fight a god?

"So...so gods cannot be killed, and the amount of effort to merely contain one is—"

"HA!" The Tenno laughed, a sharp and snide laugh. Ningguang felt herself stomach quiver slightly at the sound. "Heard THAT one before."

His golden eyes met hers, and more so than ever she found it difficult to maintain eye contact with him. It was like staring into the Abyss itself.

"So what'll it be? Deal?"

Ningguang didn't have time to simply stand there and consider. She knew that, but her body wouldn't move. A million calculations all ran through her head at once, but none gave her the answers she sought. This Tenno was a complete unknown. Leaving the fate of her homeland to him was a gamble—and she never truly gambled. Sure, she would play the odds, when she knew exactly what those odds were, and she always made sure they were in her favor.

The odds on fighting Osial themselves were not encouraging. They were not nearly as ready as they were last time. Even if they managed to drop the Jade Chamber on him again, even if that worked a second time, the devastation would be far more severe.

But this would be a true gamble, tantamount to an act of, well...faith.

Liyue was as secular as a nation of Teyvat could be these days, as secular as one could dare to be after the disaster that was Khaen'ria. Faith was something they had left behind in favor of statistics, data, calculation, and the excitement that came from the freedom of forging one's own destiny. Was she ready to set that aside on the chance that this being from beyond the stars could fend off a god?

She placed her hands together and gave a shallow, but exquisite bow to the Tenno.

"Deal."

The Tenno's frightening grin grew wider.

"Excellent." He turned as if to speak to someone else, though there wasn't anyone where he was looking.

"Cephalon Cy!"

The assembled members of the Qixing and Millelith once again found themselves stunned into silence when a shape of light appeared beside the Tenno. It resembled an inverted pyramid, broken into regular segments floating apart from one another, and it glowed with a deep red light from within. A dark, rich voice spoke from the light.

"Command Cephalon Cy, reporting."

The Tenno's grin threatened to split his face.

"Bring in the big guns."

"I thought you'd never ask. Translocation cogitators calibrated. Preparing for inter-dimensional void translation.

3…

2…

1…

Punching. Hold on to your hats."

The Tenno looked to the sky, and with a mix of curiousity, fear, and fatalistic acceptance, the rest of the people on the Jade Chamber terrace followed his gaze upward.

They all witnessed the sky split open. A tear formed in reality, leading to an incomprehensible realm of swirling colors, colors that the mind had no way of processing the information the eyes sent it, wavelengths of imaginary numbers and non-euclidean angles that burned the retinas just for looking at them. Mercifully, the gap in the sky closed quickly, but not before a massive flying ship raced through the hole and tore through the air at high speed. The winds trembled at its approach and the ground quaked at the mighty sound of its engines as it floated down towards the city with a grace and ease that belied its size.

The ship's design was utterly outlandish. It's sleek fuselage was flanked on either side by very large nacelles from which the immensely powerful thrumming sound was coming from, and above it was some large tubular propulsion unit. It was still coated in flecks of the unreality that the ship had emerged from, shedding them like an anchor sheds water when raised. For all the shock and awe its arrival inflicted upon the citizens of Liyue, none could deny that it really was a beautiful ship as it hovered down a few hundred feet above the seagate. The sea boiled and rippled at the swirling winds the ship's arrival caused, boats tossing and bucking in the turbulent harbor waters.

"Sigma series interceptor, designation: Railjack, on scene. Ready for boarding," the red-lit shape spoke once again.

The Tenno vanished from sight, his warframe suddenly appearing where he stood. The warframe then leapt into the air, a prodigious jump that took him far above the Jade Chamber where he suddenly seemed to sprout wings of metal. Surprise gave way to numbness for the witnesses in Liyue; perhaps nothing the Tenno could do would surprise them anymore. They would be wrong.

The Tenno then shot through the air faster than an arrow, his flight heading straight to the underside of the vast flying ship currently hovering above the harbor.

Ningguang shook her head and snapped her mouth shut, realizing she had been standing there, jaw agape like a small child at the Rite of Descension festival. Keqing, who had posted herself off to the side near the door where they took Ganyu, approached her.

"What are your orders, my lady?"

Ningguang regained her composure. "We stand ready."

The Railjack's hatch hissed open as the Tenno boarded.

"Tenno on deck. The crew has stayed home for this one; their physiques aren't as well adapted to jumping dimensions. You'll have to multitask for this mission."

He sprinted towards the pilot's controls, and not a moment too soon—for in the distance, his target had made himself known.

The sky grew dark as the clouds blotted out the sun in a matter of moments, swirling into a giant storm, with only one spot of daylight breaking through—the eye, the center of the unnatural tempest, a hole in the dark sky shining light down upon the one who had come to destroy Liyue, the land of his most hated foe, Rex Lapis:

Osial—a monstrously huge five-headed hydra reared himself out of the water, waves from his movement alone so large they crashed into the harbor, swamping the smaller boats and breaching over the docks. His flesh was like unto water itself, as though he commanded the seas themselves to form his body. His heads stretched unto the sky, rising on pillars of water that formed his necks as he extended to his full length above the crests of the mountains. Lightning lashed the waters around his colossal form, illuminating his skin of water in flashes, highlighting his terrifying stature.

His heads drew back and roared his fury at his imprisonment to the skies, rippling the clouds above him with the force of the sound...but to those witnessing who knew Osial from days past, they could sense something else in his roar:

Fear.

Osial was not merely angry—he was afraid. Of what, they did not know, but he was here not to destroy, but to escape.

Of course, the Tenno knew nothing of this.

"Well, would you look at that. A big ugly in my scope.

I do not wish to see a big ugly in my scope.

Rectify."

"With pleasure, Cy. The big gun ready?"

"Tunguska Forward Artillery Cannon primed. Dome charge chambered and ready. Acceleration coils spun up and charged. Ready to fire, on your mark."

The Tenno grabbed the piloting controls to give himself more altitude and distance from the harbor.

"Cy, get on the horn and warn the citizens. The forward artillery wasn't meant to be fired in atmosphere. They'll need to take cover."

"Understood."

As the Tenno guided the Railjack out over the sea, a massive projection of Cephalon Cy's holographic form appeared beside the ship, large enough for all of Liyue Harbor to see clearly.

"Citizens of Liyue:

Things are about to get loud. Prepare for shockwave. Batten down your hatches.

Ears plugged. Mouth open. Eyes shut.

Pray to your gods if you must.

And don't. Forget. To duck."

His voice boomed out over the harbor, piercing through even the calamitous noise Osial's approach was making. Citizens who did not make it to higher ground in time put aside their shock at seeing a giant red shape of light speak to them to get indoors and duck behind whatever cover they could find.

The Railjack, despite its large size, was as light on its proverbial feet as a dancer. And the Tenno knew how to make it dance. He dipped and dodged massive beams of elemental energy and enormous blasts of water the beast fired at him. Osial's attacks splashed harmlessly into the air as the Railjack drew to its optimal firing position: right above the water, lining up as many of the heads in the sights of the forward artillery as possible.

In a mad dash, the Tenno released the piloting controls and turned to drop down into the artillery's fire control turret. In the brief moment the Railjack was stationary, several of the monster's attacks struck home. The shields weathered the blasts, but could not do so for much longer.

The Tenno clutched the aiming and firing controls. "Charging forward artillery!"

For those still standing guard over the Jade Chambers, and those brave members of the Millelith who held their posts against an enemy they had no chance against, they would witness something truly spectacular that day. Though it was only a matter of seconds, it seemed to take an eternity.

First came a deep electric whine from the bowels of the Railjack, rising in pitch, the sheer power and urgency in the sound setting teeth on edge.

Next came the magnetic field. Even hundreds of yards out to sea, the power field from the charging cannon could be felt back in the city, tingling in the mouth and in the eyeballs as the force of the magnetic field energized the free radicals in bodily fluids. So intense was the power buildup that the water itself began to rise upward in tendrils, briefly becoming magnetized from the stimulated current flows, reaching and grasping like fingers for the underside of the Railjack before dissolving under their own weight and splashing back down to the sea. The people noticed medallions, buttons, belt buckles, and any other metallic items of clothing twirling and flipping about in the alternating magnetic field. The soldiers and citizens flinched and cringed from the sensation of raw energy the ship radiated.

Then came the beams of light. Two by two, until six brilliant laser beams shone from the belly of the Tenno's ship, converging on Osial's center head. The vast creature paused in a brief moment of suspicion and alarm, the other four heads turning to look at the excruciatingly bright pinpoint of light aimed directly between the eyes of the fifth head.

Less than a second to full charge. Osial had stalled his attacks momentarily in surprise, a fatal mistake, one which the Tenno would capitalize on. He had a fleeting moment to consider his target. It was, for all intents and purposes, an elemental god, one who's spirit had endured millenia. Well, he knew what to do with a target like that. At the last moment, he gripped the firing controls tight and let his own energy flow into the weapon, charging the shot with the reality-defying power of the void itself.

Lohk—Return to the Void

The high-pitched whine of the charging weapon reached its zenith and fell silent.

"FIRING!"

The Tenno released the trigger.

The Tunguska Cannon fired in atmosphere.

The sea and sky split open.

For the unlucky few who had kept their eyes upon the battle without blinking, they would have a spear of light brighter than the sun sear itself into their vision, blinding them for minutes. Bubu Pharmacy would be sold out of eye drops for days on end.

Then came the shockwave. The Tunguska Cannon was an anti-capital ship weapon, meant to pierce the armor of the massive Sentient Murex ships to hit vital areas, all from many kilometers away across the vacuum of space. In atmosphere, the effect on the immediate surroundings was nearly as devastating as the shot itself.

The cloud cover was blasted back along the direction of the shot, sunlight blazing down upon the sea in a golden line in an instant. The sea divided, walls of water forming a massive canyon, splitting before the power of the forward artillery as if by a prophet of old commanding them to part. The water formed two long mountain ranges on either side of the Railjack, cresting high in the air above the plume of the ship's dorsal void engine, the trench in the water carved so deep that dry ground could be seen in spots. And for a breathless second, the heaving water held, suspended high in the sky by sheer momentum as the waves reached zero velocity…

...then crashed back together with a thunderous clap. The gout of foam shot above the cloud layer, then lazily rained down, scattered by the wind across the harbor and the Guyun Stone Forest, drenching the land with its mist.

The shockwave itself ripped through the harbor, tearing shingles off of roofs, upending carts, tables, crates of goods, and anything not tied down through the sheer force of the blast. The resounding boom would have shattered eardrums had it not been for Cy's warning to the citizens, but it did break some glass windows, and some highly valuable vases were damaged, much to the consternation of several wealthy collectors. Fortunately, it had dampened enough over the distance to minimize any real harm to the city.

And what of the artillery's intended target?

When the haze and mist from the tumultuous seas finally settled enough for the Tenno to see out his canopy again, he was greeted with a gratifying sight.

All of Osial's heads were gone, vaporized in an instant by the passing of the shot. Five stubs of necks barely breached the surface of the water, held in place as the body processed the fact that its heads had been utterly destroyed. For a moment, the watery flesh of the necks began to swirl as the divine power within the monster attempted to heal the catastrophic damage—but the Tenno had accounted for that. Pure void energy washed down through Osial's system, contaminating, erasing, breaking down his elemental power into nothingness.

The last-ditch swirling effort of Osial's flesh to mend itself stalled out as his power faded into the infinite void. Then with a great hissing sigh, all that remained of his body dissolved into the water from which he was formed, settling into the ocean with a subdued splash as the waters returned to level.

"Whew," the Tenno said with a roll of his shoulders and a stretch of his arms.

"Nice shot. Big ugly eliminated. Damage from shockwave to harbor city: cosmetic. They will recover in no time."

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I shou—"

Blaring alarms interrupted the Tenno's thought process.

"WARNING: exotic particle radiation spike! Massive elemental energy release imminent! Brace!"

What?!

The Tenno exited the forward artillery turret and made a mad dash to the controls. He gazed out with a horrified look as an immense ball of hydro elemental energy began to form where the corpse of the slain god was. Was the body rigged to blow somehow? Or was this just the consequence of killing a god?

No time to think. He yanked the flight controls to pull the Railjack back away from the incoming surge of hydro energy, and just in time as the sphere exploded outward.

The Tenno felt the rush of hydro slam through his body, passing through the Railjack shields and fuselage as if they weren't there. Every cell in his body felt like it was about to dissolve, liquify, melt into nothingness. He grit his teeth and channeled his own power through his flesh, and as he had hoped, the existence-denying power of the void overruled the hydro burst that threatened to turn him into a puddle. He panted with the sudden effort from resisting the dying throes of a divine being, slumping in momentary relief, leaning on the controls of the Railjack. But then his head snapped up as a terrible thought struck him.

Oh no.

The citizens of Liyue had no such protection.

He spun the Railjack around on a dime and punched the thrusters forward in a hard boost back towards the harbor. The ship ate up the intervening distance in a flash, and just as it arrived over the city, the Tenno dropped the controls mid-motion and shot towards the exit hatch.

"ORDIS! I need the Trinity Prime loadout now! Marking location!"

"Affirmative, Operator! Package inbound!"

The Tenno dropped out of the hatch, hundreds of feet above the central plaza. He immediately dropped a waypoint onto the pavement for Ordis to target.

No time!

He didn't wait to fall the distance. He stepped out of his Ash Prime and into the fold between worlds that he walked at will, reached out his hand at the point far ahead of him, and slung himself across the gap instantaneously.

No time!

He landed hard on the ground and in the time he took to lift his head, saw the people who hadn't managed to get out of the city in time collapsing all around him, their flesh flowing like liquid, their forms fluid and losing integrity fast.

No time!

Trinity Prime warped into being directly in front of him, as his Ash Prime faded back into the void to be collected by Ordis later. He transferred himself into her, feeling her healing power flow through himself once again. He opened her right hand and raised it far above her head, gathering void power within it.

No time!

In a fraction of a second, the citizens of Liyue would succumb to the elemental burst of a slain god. The Tenno stretched, overextended Trinity's power to cover as much area as possible, clenched her right hand—

NO TIME!

—and SLAMMED it into the ground. A healing wave flowed forth from the point of impact in an instant, Tenno power defying death to the end.

Blessing.

Trinity Prime's eyeless helmet snapped up to view the situation, and with a surge of relief, the Tenno saw the forms of the people around him stabilizing. He didn't wait around to see what would happen. He bolted down the thoroughfare to the south, leaping into the air to bound off the second story wall of a building, propelling himself like a missile across a wooden bridge to land next to a fountain in the small business district. He once again cast her Blessing to ensure that the entire city had been covered. No one would die because of his oversight. Not today.

With nothing else he could do, he now took his time to look around at the results of his efforts. Slowly, painfully, people were picking themselves off the ground, climbing out from under tables and behind buildings, looking extremely shaken and more than a little sick...but alive. By the Lotus, they were still alive.

He was glad he was still within his warframe, for he did not want the citizens of Teyvat to see him gasp in an overwhelming sense of relief. His warframe did not tremble with emotion, but the Tenno within certainly felt like doing so. It took several deep breaths to regain control of himself.

He clenched his fist.

This wasn't what he was here to do. He knew what would eventually happen. He KNEW he shouldn't get attached.

But that didn't stop his mistake from tearing at his conscience. It couldn't. He wouldn't be a Tenno if it could.

He took a few more deep breaths.

Poise.

He once again activated his Unairu skill, and this time, it seemed to help somewhat. Having re-established his equilibrium, he realized it was time to take stock of the situation. He launched himself into the air once again, activating his archwing launcher and flew back towards the Railjack. He didn't have time before to inspect the craft for any damages that burst of energy might have caused, so he had better get in there to check it over before Cy gave him the third degree.

As he popped up through the hatch, he was greeted by dripping water everywhere. Somehow the interior of the Railjack was drenched, despite there being no hull breach. Puddles formed in low areas, and the odd circuit here and there sparked as it shorted due to the damp. The ship was designed for space combat, not for getting wet.

"Hydraulic contamination throughout the vessel. Unacceptable. Water is supposed to be on the OUTSIDE of the ship, not the INSIDE. Cleanup required," Cy's irate voice sounded in the ship's speakers.

"Yeah…I can see that," the Tenno grunted tiredly.

"And it appears you have left the domestic drones at home…

Shame.

For now, you will have to make do with a mop and bucket."

The Tenno groaned.

As promised, explosions. Well, one big one. Even more action in the next chapter, should you feel inclined to continue this journey with me.

And yeah, I felt a little clever sticking in range mod names for when the Tenno was casting Trinity's Blessing, despite knowing that range mods do not affect that ability. It is locked to affinity range...though for some void-forsaken reason, firing off a firework (fosfor blau or rahd) quadruples affinity range, and therefore Blessing's range as well!

Also, Cephalon Cy is hilariously fun to write. The man (or cephalon) is a total savage. I did my best to capture his unique vocal cadence in writing, so I hope you could "hear" his voice while reading his lines.

Thank you once again for joining me in this story. I hope you enjoyed the more action-heavy chapter this time, and I hope my efforts to make it seem epic came through. Forgive me for the lengthy author's notes at the beginning, but as I mentioned, I really wanted to respond to some of these great reviews—and I mean "great" as in "well-written and with a detailed opinion with reasons", not necessarily just telling me I'm great.

There are plenty of surprises to come, ones I do believe you will find interesting. So until next time, we all lift together!