At that moment, Osial suddenly let out a scream.
This roar was no longer the churning of water—it was a dissonant shriek that tore at sanity itself. The cry was so loud, so powerful, and so drenched in corruption, far surpassing any roar it had made before it was frozen.
The sonic wave slammed into the shore like a solid wall.
From that scream alone, the wind around you instantly became a full-scale typhoon. The remaining half-standing buildings in the harbor were flattened like houses of cards, swept away entirely. Stone and wood debris flew like stray bullets. The Millelith still trying to evacuate the last citizens on the outskirts were hurled backward by force; many were flung into the air before crashing into rubble or falling into the sea.
In the middle of the plaza, Ganyu—still in an extremely weakened state, her muscles torn by the agony of zero defense and her strength completely drained by that ultimate shot—could only watch in horror as her comrades were sent flying.
SYUUUUSH! The violent wind slammed into her. Thankfully, with the last of her Adeptus reflexes, she instinctively froze the soles of her feet, creating ice stakes that anchored deep into the cracks of the stone plaza.
The ice held her body so she wouldn't be hurled away by the gale!
Keqing, on the other hand, held on with stubborn determination. She drove her sword deep into the gaps between the stone tiles, dropped to one knee, and gripped Ganyu's hand tightly for extra anchorage. Her purple twintails whipped wildly behind her, eyes narrowed against the stinging dust and water.
When the roar finally subsided, leaving only a ringing silence in their ears, Keqing caught her breath.
"I never expected…" Keqing's voice trembled. Her eyes fixed on the black-water giant out at sea. "I never expected it could still survive after every drop of water in its body was frozen and shattered from within. That… that should have been impossible."
"No," Ganyu cut in softly. She endured the pain still pulsing through every nerve, eyes tightly shut. "I'm certain it was already dead. My arrows destroyed the elemental core that formed its body. Its divine consciousness… should have been extinguished the moment the ice exploded."
It took Ganyu about ten seconds before she could open her eyes again. The agony from the side effect finally faded completely, leaving her body feeling strangely light.
"If that's the case…" Keqing's eyes trembled, her oval pupils widening as she slowly turned toward Osial, now standing deathly still after its scream, its black water churning slowly. "The thing in front of us now… is it just a corpse being controlled by something else?"
"I believe so," Ganyu nodded slowly, face deathly pale. "That purple corruption… the Abyss. It's using the remnants of the water and Osial's power as its shell."
Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of your hurried, dragging footsteps approached. You rushed to their side, descending the rocky hill while gasping for air, clutching your trembling knees.
"Hey, are… are you two alright?" you asked between ragged breaths, looking at them in turn.
"For now, yes," Keqing forced a crooked, cynical smile—the smile of someone who knew they were on the edge of a cliff. She then glanced at Ganyu, who was still sitting with her feet embedded in ice. "But it seems our half-qilin here won't be able to move for a while. Her strength was completely drained by that junk item of yours."
Hearing the jab, you immediately lowered your head deeply. Guilt stabbed your heart again. Both hands clenched tightly at your sides, nails digging into your palms.
"I'm sorry," your voice came out barely above a whisper, almost drowned by the waves. "I… I failed. I thought that one strike would finish it."
Ganyu, despite her exhausted body, forced herself to shake her head gently. She lifted her face and looked at you with eyes full of gentleness and understanding.
"It's not your fault," she said softly, trying to comfort you. She paused, and a sincere—though fragile—smile curved her lips. "Our plan actually worked. The attack landed, and Osial really was destroyed."
She fell silent, shifting her gaze toward the black-water monster.
"It's just… this resurrection caused by external energy… that was something none of us could have predicted. Even a god probably wouldn't have foreseen it."
Hearing Ganyu's validation eased you a little; at least the weight of failure didn't rest entirely on your shoulders. But seeing the monster that was now ten times more lethal before you, anxiety quickly took over again.
You stood straight, drew a deep breath, and tried to summon what remained of your sanity and logic.
Think. Think. How do you kill something that's already dead?
Not long after, a memory surfaced in your mind. Your eyes glinted with a spark of resolve. You looked at both of them in turn.
"Listen… earlier tonight, I once fought a creature that had the same purple Abyss energy," you said quickly, voice low and serious.
Both Keqing and Ganyu looked shocked. They stared at you, giving you their full attention, waiting for the information that might turn the tide.
"When that creature had that energy, it mutated. It became incredibly strong, immune to normal attacks—until it nearly scared me to death and left me helpless," you swallowed, remembering your powerlessness on the beach. "But in the end… it stopped. It truly died when I managed to stab and destroy its core. Right in its chest, where the purple light originated."
You slowly turned your body, staring straight at the massive chest of Osial, where the purple veins were thickest and glowed brightest.
"I think this god… Osial… is already dead." You looked back at them, eyes narrowing sharply. "But that Abyss energy is operating like a parasite. It's forcing the remains of the god's body and power to keep moving and destroying. In other words…"
You paused, letting the implication of your plan sink in.
"If we can find and destroy the core of that Abyss energy controlling the water… it will stop moving forever."
Hearing the hypothesis, Keqing's face turned deadly serious. Her brows furrowed deeply; her brilliant mind immediately began calculating tactics.
"It makes sense," Keqing muttered. "Elemental corruption always needs a focal point to radiate its energy. But…" Her eyes swept over the massive hydra body. "…where in this gigantic ocean of water are we supposed to find something that small? Blindly attacking will only drain our strength again!"
Ganyu, who had been listening intently, tilted her head slightly.
"If it's a parasitic core… then for its own survival, it should be in the deepest, most protected place, right?" Ganyu reasoned. "In a spot completely sealed off from external attacks."
Keqing fell silent for a moment, processing Ganyu's words. Then her eyes suddenly widened. Her mouth opened.
"You mean…" Keqing's voice rose slightly in disbelief. "The core is deep inside its body? In the middle of that corrupted water pressure?!"
You also thought for a moment, imagining the monster's anatomy, and felt that conclusion was the most logical. "I think so. Just like a human heart protected by ribs and flesh."
"That's ridiculous!"
Keqing suddenly shouted at you. Her hand slashed through the air in frustration.
"How are we supposed to enter the body of a god made of high-pressure, dense water without being crushed?! Especially when that water is now toxic with Abyss! If we try diving in, we'll be pulverized or contaminated before we even reach the core!"
Hey, does she really have to yell right in front of me while glaring like that… you grumbled inwardly, feeling slightly intimidated by the Yuheng's outburst. It's like she's blaming me for the monster's anatomy… though yeah, technically my plan does sound like suicide mission phase two.
You could only sigh, conceding. "Yes, that's the hardest part. But at least we now know what we theoretically need to do. Now we just have to find a way to open it up."
You narrowed your eyes, looking back at Osial still out at sea.
The monster had been silent for too long. That was never a good sign.
"Watch out," you said quietly. "It looks like it's about to attack again."
At that moment, far out at sea, all five of Osial's gigantic mouths began to open slowly. The air around them distorted once more. Thick purple energy gathered, swirling and shining blindingly in its throats.
It was preparing to unleash another deadly projectile barrage!
Seeing that, you, Keqing, and Ganyu instinctively tensed every muscle. Your bodies readied to dodge in different directions, seeking cover behind coral rocks or building debris.
Three… two… one… You counted in your head, preparing to leap.
However, instead of firing water bullets into the air… Osial suddenly stopped gathering energy. Its mouths closed for a moment.
Something extremely strange happened. The monster's hunting instinct had changed drastically!
Instead of shooting from afar, the gigantic hydra launched its entire massive body forward. It moved across the sea at an absurd speed for its size, cleaving through huge waves and charging straight toward the harbor plaza where the three of you stood!
The tidal wave generated by its movement swept away the remaining dock in front of you.
The distance between Osial and you—which had been hundreds of meters—was cut down to mere dozens of meters in seconds.
The main hydra face now loomed directly above you, blocking the moonlight and casting an absolute shadow of death.
And then its gigantic jaws opened. Not to shoot.
But to devour!
The Abyss-controlled monster had realized one thing: its water bullets could be deflected, frozen, or dodged. These slippery little creatures in front of it were too dangerous if left alive to keep making plans.
Therefore, it would not shoot. It would swallow you alive!
"H-Huh?!"
The sight of the gigantic jaws with rows of sharp water teeth descending made all your brains freeze. This was completely outside your tactical predictions!
The three of you were too slow to process what was happening. Your dodge reflexes activated a fraction too late.
At that moment, your eyes widened in terror as the darkness inside the monster's throat grew larger.
Keqing, with the fastest physical movement among you, was the first to react. "Move!" she shouted. Using Electro power in her legs, she instantly shot sideways, rolling out of the giant mouth's reach.
Ganyu, also utterly shocked, forced herself to yank her feet free from the ice stakes she had created and tried to stand and leap backward.
But her strength was completely gone. Her leg muscles cramped!
"Ukh!" She lost balance, knees buckling, and fell back to the stone floor. The shadow of the giant mouth was now directly above her, ready to close.
On the other side, your position was actually advantageous. If you leaped backward right now with all your strength, you still had a high chance of escaping the grip of those gigantic teeth.
Your survival instinct screamed at you to run!
But as you were about to leap, your peripheral vision caught Ganyu falling helplessly. Her eyes were closed, accepting her fate.
At that moment, the world seemed to move in slow motion. If I run… she will die. The thought was so simple, so clear, and somehow far more terrifying than your own fear of death.
You bit your lower lip until it bled, discarded every rational instinct you had, and recklessly chose not to leap backward.
Instead of running, you used your momentum to surge forward, moving at full speed, and positioned yourself standing upright directly in front of Ganyu, back turned to her, facing the gigantic jaws head-on.
Your right hand shot straight upward.
"Protect me, o sword!" you roared, calling the only ally you had left in this world.
The soul connection resonated. ZRAAAASH! In a split second before the water teeth could close, the air cracked. The Blade of Insatiable Ego manifested right in front of you and Ganyu. The black sword floated horizontally, trying to act as a pillar to keep the gigantic jaws from closing completely.
KRAAAANG! Osial's gigantic teeth bit down on the black sword. The force of the collision was tremendous. Your sword hummed loudly, black and purple sparks flying everywhere.
But Osial's current power was too overwhelming. Your sword could only prevent the jaws from crushing you instantly.
The jaws did not shatter, but they also could not close fully.
At that moment, with unstoppable forward momentum, Osial's mouth swallowed the space around it. You, Ganyu, and your protective sword… were swept into the giant hydra's maw.
Cold, wet darkness instantly swallowed your vision. The sound of the outside world cut off, replaced by the roar of rushing water all around you.
…
"H-Hey!"
"HEY! Ganyu! Wake up!" The voice echoed strangely in the wet chamber, bouncing off the slowly pulsing water walls.
Ganyu felt her shoulders being grabbed and shaken hard. The sensation forcibly pulled her from a comfortable void, dragging her back to agonizing reality.
With a suppressed groan, Ganyu slowly opened her heavy eyelids.
Her slightly blurred vision, covered by a layer of water and lingering tears, gradually cleared. The dim purple light radiating from the strange walls around her provided just enough illumination to see the silhouette in front of her.
Before Ganyu, the Wanderer knelt. The man let out a long sigh—a breath that seemed to empty every ounce of fear from his lungs. He rubbed his own chest, feeling his heartbeat finally slowing, then a wide, pure smile of relief spread across his soaked face.
"Thank goodness… thank goodness you're awake!" he said softly, voice slightly trembling.
Even in the dim light, Ganyu could see something sparkling at the corner of the man's eyes. Tears? Had he nearly cried from fear of losing her? The realization made Ganyu's heart flutter gently.
Ganyu blinked several times, clearing her vision, then turned her head to look around.
"Wh-where… where are we?" she asked weakly, voice hoarse. Her eyes widened at the transparent walls that moved slowly like living things.
Ganyu tried to move, tried to support herself with her hands. But instantly, an overwhelming stab of pain shot from the tips of her toes to the base of her neck. Her nerves screamed.
"Ah—!" Ganyu winced, her body slumping back down.
"Hey, hey, you shouldn't move yet," the Wanderer quickly steadied her shoulders, stabilizing her so she wouldn't hit the hard floor.
Then he slowly released her, making sure she could sit balanced, and looked around more carefully himself.
This was an extremely strange place, even by Teyvat's magical standards. The chamber had no ceiling or stone walls. Everything was water, but not flowing water. It was far denser, almost gelatinous, like clumps of crystal mud holding their own shape. Even the ground they stood on—though it looked like a dark puddle—felt solid and hard beneath their shoes, as if they were standing on thick glass. The air here was stifling, smelling of seaweed that had rotted for thousands of years and rusted iron.
"It seems…" the Wanderer muttered, analyzing the organic structure around them. "It seems we're inside." He looked at Ganyu, face serious but not panicked. "I mean… we're now inside Osial's stomach."
"I see…" Ganyu lowered her head, her blue hair falling to cover part of her face. Her ears drooped slightly. "So we were eaten…" her voice grew smaller.
They had failed to stop the monster, and now they had become its dinner.
"Well…" The Wanderer scratched his dirty cheek, trying to find words that didn't sound like a farewell. Then a spark of an idea flashed in his eyes. He remembered the plan they had discussed on the roof earlier.
"Let's look at the bright side," he said, tone suddenly becoming a little more optimistic.
Ganyu looked up at him with tired purple eyes, confused how anyone could see a bright side to being inside the stomach of a raging sea god.
The Wanderer continued, gesturing to emphasize his point. "Think about it, Ganyu. Weren't we just discussing how to reach that Abyss parasite core? We were stuck on how to penetrate its protective corrupted water from the outside, right?"
He paused, meeting Ganyu's eyes to check if she was following, then nodded firmly.
"By being inside its stomach… we've already bypassed its strongest defensive layer. We're already inside! That means we can search for the Abyss energy core directly from in here, can't we? To me…" The Wanderer gave a crooked, daring smile. "…getting eaten like this sounds like an infiltration tactic—a golden opportunity."
Hearing that bold and slightly insane perspective, Ganyu fell silent. She processed the words. From a strategic viewpoint, the man was right. The logic, though born from near-fatal recklessness, calmed Ganyu down. The despair that had begun creeping in slowly evaporated.
She slowly smiled—a very sweet smile amid the darkness of the monster's belly.
"You're right," she whispered, eyes regaining a spark of determination. "This is an unplanned shortcut."
"Great! Then let's—"
Ganyu tried to stand again, ignoring the earlier warning. She pushed herself up with both hands. For some reason, her body felt far too heavy, as if her bones were made of lead. Her legs refused to support her weight.
She had only risen halfway when her body swayed, lost balance, and she fell forward again.
"Ganyu!"
The Wanderer reacted instantly. He reached out and caught her waist and shoulders, stopping her face from hitting the dense water floor.
"I told you not to push yourself," he scolded, tone a mix of worry and slight anger at her carelessness.
"B-But…" Ganyu's lips trembled. She tried to free herself from his hold, feeling useless. She looked at him with pleading eyes. "We don't have time… Liyue…"
The Wanderer shook his head firmly. He looked down, unable to meet her pleading gaze, then slowly looked back at her. His eyes trembled with deep regret.
"I'm sorry… this is all my fault," he said softly. He turned his face toward the pulsing water wall, feeling unworthy to look at Ganyu's exhausted face. "If only I hadn't forced you to use that monocle effect… you wouldn't be suffering like this."
Hearing the guilt-laden confession, Ganyu's heart ached. Far more than the zero-defense side effect she had endured.
It's not your fault… You were trying to save Liyue… Ganyu wanted to say it. She wanted to convince the man that he was a brave hero, not the cause of her suffering.
But for some reason, when she saw his devastated, guilt-ridden expression, her throat tightened. Her slightly open mouth closed tightly again. She didn't know how to string together the right words to erase the regret in his eyes.
Ganyu could only shake her head quickly several times. Then, driven by stubborn determination, she tried to stand once more—to prove she was fine so the man would stop blaming himself.
But no matter how hard she tried, her muscles refused to cooperate. She fell again, this time sitting limply while panting heavily.
"Hah… hah…" Ganyu lowered her head, her blue bangs covering eyes now filled with despair. "It seems I really can't move anymore right now."
She slowly looked at the man, lips trembling as she held back tears of self-disappointment. She felt like a burden.
"Wanderer…" she whispered, voice nearly breaking. "Just leave me here. You… you have to go find the core. We have so little time. Please, ignore me."
Hearing that resigned, self-sacrificing sentence, the Wanderer's eyes widened instantly. He froze for a moment, as if doused with ice water.
Then he stared sharply at Ganyu. "What do you mean leave you here alone?!" he shouted, voice echoing loudly off the water walls.
"I won't!" he continued. "No matter what, I will never leave you behind!"
The moment he declared that promise, the man suddenly turned around. He crouched in front of Ganyu, back facing her, offering his back.
Ganyu tilted her head in confusion at the sudden action. Even her tears stopped from the shock.
The Wanderer glanced back over his shoulder, giving a short, awkward but commanding instruction.
"Get on."
In the dim purple light, for some reason Ganyu saw the man's face… slightly flushed. Even his ears looked red.
Ganyu was silent for a second. In her thousands of years of life, she had always been the one supporting, protecting, and working hard for others. Very rarely—no, almost never—had anyone openly offered their back for her to ride on.
With slow, slightly hesitant movements, Ganyu raised both arms. She gradually leaned forward, wrapping her cold, slender arms around the man's neck. Her chest pressed against his back.
Feeling the surprisingly light weight of Ganyu's body, the Wanderer placed both hands under her knees, supporting her slender thighs.
With one deep breath, the man stood. His knees trembled slightly from his own exhaustion, but he held steady. He planted his feet firmly on the dense water floor and began walking down the long corridor inside Osial's stomach.
As he walked, Ganyu's face was right beside his head, resting on his right shoulder. She was so close. Ganyu could smell his strong scent. The scent of Liyue soil, rubble dust, now mixed with the sweat of a man risking his life. Yet for some reason, that combination didn't disgust her sensitive Adeptus nose. Instead, it felt… incredibly comforting.
Unconsciously, Ganyu tightened her arms around the man's neck, seeking warmth from his body in the cold monster's belly.
At that moment, feeling the soft, prominent, and very real pressure against his back with every step, the Wanderer's face flushed even deeper, like a boiled crab.
CALM DOWN, ME! his mind screamed hysterically, desperately trying to recall complicated math equations to distract himself. This is NOT the time for your brain to process indecent anatomy! Focus on the path, idiot!
Truthfully, when he had seen Ganyu fall earlier, his first instinct had been a romantic princess carry. But when he imagined holding Ganyu from the front, faces so close, bodies facing each other… he felt his heart might explode from embarrassment. So, for the sake of his sanity and the success of this world-saving mission, he had chosen the "safer" piggyback ride instead.
Even so, he was still incredibly embarrassed!
Cold sweat the size of corn kernels began rolling down his temples—not from Ganyu's weight, but from overwhelming mental pressure!
Ganyu's scent—the sweet, cool fragrance of Glaze Lily—seeped into his senses and somehow slowly calmed his panic. He felt at peace.
In the middle of his echoing footsteps in the organic silence, Ganyu's voice returned.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered, so close to his ear it felt like a warm breath. "I… keep troubling you. From the time you helped me carry documents, until this very moment."
The Wanderer smiled faintly and shook his head gently so as not to disturb her resting position.
"Actually, it's the opposite," he answered, voice now calm and certain. "I'm the one who keeps troubling you. I'm the one who keeps dragging you into my problems. And just now, you were the one who endured all the suffering from my crazy plan's risk."
"But… I didn't do anything except freeze its heads, and even that failed because it rose again…" Ganyu denied, tone still colored by feelings of uselessness.
"Just freezing? Ganyu, wasn't that an extremely important role that held back the apocalypse for several minutes?" the man cut in quickly.
He paused, stepping through a twitching water membrane, then continued. "Look at me back then. I was just running around like a headless chicken, hiding behind rocks. I only played a support role, the cheap buff-giver. I didn't do anything except distract this monster with that poor slime and seagull."
The Wanderer chuckled softly. "To me… what you did, your arrow shot, your courage leaping from the window… that was all really cool, you know," he said honestly, without any flattery.
Hearing the sincere, genuine praise from the man's mouth, Ganyu's eyes slowly widened. Something warm bloomed in her chest. Slowly, a real smile formed on her face. Her self-deprecation vanished.
"Heh, you call becoming a damage-ten-times target 'cool'?" Ganyu shook her head gently against his shoulder, replying with a teasing tone she rarely used. "Human thinking really is illogical."
Hearing Ganyu's playful remark made the Wanderer laugh freely too.
Ganyu felt so comfortable, so at peace, able to hear his small jokes even while they were inside the digestive tract of an ancient god.
At that moment, as Ganyu rested her head more relaxed against the man's back, for some reason she felt her own heart suddenly beating wildly. Thump. Thump. Thump. The rhythm was chaotic.
Not from fear of Osial. Not from pain. But from something far more complicated.
Ganyu's pale face slowly flushed on its own. She felt embarrassed by her own accelerating heartbeat. Quickly, she buried part of her reddening face into the crook of the man's shoulder and neck, hiding.
Oh no… I hope he doesn't hear this… Ganyu prayed inwardly, of course referring to the sound of her heartbeat pounding like a drum against the man's back.
The two of them sank into a comfortable silence for the next several minutes, walking through the winding water-flesh corridor.
At that moment, after going deeper down the slippery organic slope, the Wanderer's steps suddenly stopped abruptly. In an instant, both their eyes widened and trembled in horror.
That peaceful moment was shattered!
Before them, the narrow corridor opened into an enormous chamber. This room was no longer like a water channel but a gigantic dry underground cave. But that wasn't what froze them.
In the middle of the vast chamber lay a gigantic dead octopus monster, its body torn apart and pale. And piercing out from the torn stomach of the destroyed octopus… was a person.
It was the muscular man with a hole in his chest. His right and left arms and legs were stretched straight out, forcibly posed like a star. His large body was tightly bound by dark-purple tentacles growing directly from Osial's stomach walls, making the man float suspended in the air, the center of everything.
In the center of the man's chest, exactly where his heart should have been in the gaping hole, a thick purple energy crystal pulsed rhythmically. Thump… Thump… Exactly like a horrifying heartbeat.
It was the Boss!
As they stood frozen, staring, the man who should have been a corpse responded to their presence. Slowly, accompanied by the sound of cracking broken neck bones, he lifted his previously limp hanging head.
Then he opened his eyes—entirely glowing purple. And he stared straight at the two of them.
…
A/N: Alright, that's it for this chapter. We're heading toward the end soon. But it might be a bit slow to update because I'll have a lot of real-life busyness ahead. We'll see if I get free time to write or not. Please look forward to it! See you in the next chapter. By the way, if you can't wait for the next one, feel free to check my Patreon—I write much faster there than on this platform!