"Liyue is under attack, right behind Tianheng Mountain..."
Morax frowned deeply and immediately rushed to Liyue's aid.
At that very moment, dozens of sharp, dark purple spikes erupted from the sea, lunging directly at him. Morax soared through the void at breakneck speed, yet those things pursued him relentlessly, as if equipped with tracking devices—impossible to shake off.
He could only counterattack immediately, but four of the spikes still struck him. Fortunately, they only left two cracks across his shield.
Beneath the azure waves, a massive shadow stirred.
BOOM!!!!!
In an instant, a huge, fanged beast burst from the sea, sending up a torrent of spray as it lunged toward Morax, jaws wide to devour him.
Spear in hand, Morax was about to hurl it when more dark purple spikes shot toward him from every direction. He had no choice but to pull back and retreat.
The shield protecting Liyue was under constant, ferocious assault from the gods. Morax's heart burned with urgency, but he couldn't reach them in time. Handling over a dozen gods at once was already exhausting; he was completely pinned down, unable to break free.
During the Archon War, every god had been a proud being, challenging him one-on-one. Only once had multiple gods joined forces—to attack Liyue together. Those seven nearly destroyed both Liyue and Guili Plains.
Now, the gods that had broken free from their seals had lost all pride and reason, reduced to nothing but mindless engines of destruction.
Faced with the united assault of over a dozen gods, even Morax could do little to counter them.
...
Within Liyue Harbor.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each impact from the gods struck like a giant hammer, and with every blow, the hearts of Liyue's people felt as though they were being crushed.
Behind Tianheng Mountain, twelve gods were battering Morax's protective barrier.
Crack... crack...
More and more fractures appeared on the golden shield. The people of Liyue, who had been elated moments ago, now stood frozen in dread.
They were stunned.
None of them had ever seen a god before—only heard the tales told by storytellers in passing. Never had they imagined creatures that could truly rival mountains in size.
Those towering silhouettes, vast enough to blot out the sun, were seared into their minds. Before these beings, humanity was as insignificant as ants.
In peaceful times, the largest monsters they had seen were barely the size of trees. Never had they faced something larger than a house—yet now, each of these gods was as terrifying as a living mountain.
The sheer sight of them shattered all courage and will to fight.
Even the Liyue Qixing and the Millelith stood paralyzed, unable to muster a trace of resistance.
"Your Imperial Majesty... why isn't he coming? They're about to break through the barrier!"
"The Emperor's being held back by sea monsters... we're done for!"
"Where did these monsters even come from? How did they get so huge?"
"It's over... we're finished... no one can fight creatures this big! The Emperor's trapped—we're doomed..."
The crushing pressure of the gods' presence suffocated everyone in the harbor.
As the last glimmer of sunlight sank behind the mountains, darkness swallowed the land. The night was so deep they could no longer see the gods' faces—only dozens of colossal feet like giant pillars looming in the dim light.
Crack... crackle...
Cracks spread like a spiderweb across the barrier. One or two more strikes, and it would shatter completely.
"It's over!" Morax's face darkened. He could already see the barrier fracturing in his mind's eye.
He could sense its condition perfectly—two more hits, and it would collapse.
Yet, the sound of breaking never came.
Morax blinked in disbelief and turned to look. The lights of Liyue still glimmered below, and though the barrier was riddled with fractures, it remained standing.
"It didn't break...? Did those gods retreat?" he muttered, confused.
Still, it was a good sign.
He didn't know why the barrier held, only that it had.
Moments earlier, the people of Liyue had stared, wide-eyed, at the barrier that seemed about to burst. Three colossal gods had reared back, preparing to deliver the final blow.
But then, three streaks of light—green, purple, and red—shot out from the dark forest.
Moving faster than the eye could follow, they tore through the dense trees as if running on open ground, reaching the barrier in an instant. The three lights slammed into the earth with tremendous force, carving a deep crater before leaping skyward.
"Blazing Lotus!"
"Piercing Demon Spear!"
"Thunderclap Fist!"
BOOM!!!!!!!!
A thunderous explosion rang out. The three gods about to break the barrier were sent flying backward by the devastating strike.
"Thousand Gates Seal!"
From high above, at the center of the gods' formation, an enormous stone slab descended like a torrential storm, crashing down upon them.
"The Boundless Sea."
At that moment, a woman hovered in midair.
As she raised her hand, countless streams of water materialized out of thin air. The streams multiplied rapidly, swelling until the colossal torrent rose to meet Tianheng Mountain's height—vast enough to engulf all of Liyue Harbor.
BOOM!!!!!!!!
The flood roared to life, its force terrifying beyond measure. Even gods as large as mountains could barely stand against it.
Yet still, some clung stubbornly to the ground, fighting against the raging current.
"Thousand Thunder Summon!"
Bosacius channeled his skill into the water. Bolts of lightning coursed through the flood, paralyzing the gods' bodies. Unable to withstand it any longer, they were swept away by the current.
The battle ended so swiftly that before anyone could react, the massive horde of gods had already been washed far into the distance.
When the people finally came to their senses, five figures stood suspended in the sky above.
"It's the Adepti! They've come to save us!!"
"They're... so powerful! Is this the strength of the Adepti...?"
"Those terrifying monsters, as big as mountains—they actually drove them back!?"
"Their strength... could it rival His Majesty's!?"
"I never imagined the Adepti were this powerful... this completely changes everything I thought about them!"
"Usually they seem no different from ordinary people—eating, drinking, laughing, and joking like anyone else... but when they get serious, they wield the power to destroy all of Liyue!"
The hearts of Liyue's people rose and fell like a rollercoaster—each time they thought the end had come, salvation would arrive.
And all of it came from Morax and the others' love and devotion to Liyue.
Liyue wasn't just home to its people—it was home to Morax and the Yaksha as well. They weren't merely protecting its citizens, but the very land itself.
Now that their home was in peril, they could never stand by and watch.
"Drive them off! The Emperor's barrier can't hold much longer—we can't let them reach Liyue!"
Bosacius charged forward first, the other four Yaksha following close behind.