Just as Lin Mo noticed Rosalyne.
A dense barrage of arrows rained down from the sky, right on schedule.
Sizzle!
Sizzle! Sizzle!
...
The entire Jade Chamber was instantly shrouded in billowing white mist from the clash of fire moths and arrows.
Through the fog, Lin Mo could see swarms of fire moths pierced by the arrows.
Each one pulsed with immense pyro energy—not from a Gnosis or a Vision, but from Rosalyne's own life force as a witch, sacrificed to fuel her blazing summons.
Even as they were skewered, the resilient moths held on desperately. As one fell, another surged forward to take its place.
The sight was breathtaking, like moths drawn inexorably to the flame they feared, plunging in without hesitation.
"The arrows are losing power! Strike now!"
Lin Mo barked the order.
"Trail of the Frostflake Arrow!" Ganyu murmured softly.
A chill frost spread across the sky.
Icicles rained down, colliding with the onslaught of the ancient god's watery arrows.
Keqing leaped into the air, channeling electro energy through her veins.
"Sword to the Shadows!"
"Thundering Penance!"
Above the Jade Chamber, countless bolts of lightning flickered back and forth.
Each one was Keqing herself, transformed into raw electro, arcing toward the divine arrows plummeting toward the pavilion.
"Boom boom fireworks!"
Klee's delighted cry rang out.
A barrage of self-tracking pyro bombs launched skyward from the Jade Chamber.
"Hmph! How could I miss out on something this thrilling?"
With those words came Hu Tao's bounding footsteps.
She dashed forward, Staff of Homa in hand, toward the Exuvia.
In the next instant—
"Up!"
With a spirited grunt, the delicate staff in her hand ignited with searing crimson flames from the other shore.
She planted one foot on the Exuvia and vaulted high, landing amid the descending arrow rain above the Jade Chamber.
"Spirit Soother!"
At Hu Tao's fierce shout, the sky filled with butterflies of flame.
The arrows vaporized into clouds of steam amid the blaze.
As the fire moths and butterflies danced together in a fiery symphony—
"Cloudstrider, Swallow's Cry!" Lin Mo called out.
A raging gale whipped through the Jade Chamber, sweeping up every moth and butterfly.
Whoosh!
A massive wall of crimson flame enveloped the entire structure.
Each arrow that struck it hissed into harmless mist on contact.
"Ah! We did it!"
Paimon squealed in delight, pointing at the sky.
Under the onslaught of the flame wall, the last spear-like divine arrow dissolved into rising vapor.
Roar!!!
A whale's bellow shook heaven and earth.
The sea boiled in turmoil.
Everyone felt the fury in that cry—Osial's rage.
An attack fueled by the power of five heads, and it hadn't scratched the Jade Chamber.
How could it not be furious?
At that moment, Rosalyne—still wreathed in brilliant flames—descended onto the Jade Chamber.
"Ah! It's her! The woman who beat up that street singer at the cathedral!" Paimon spotted her immediately.
Her little face twisted in anxiety.
"The Fatui..."
Ningguang's brow furrowed slightly.
Not just her—the Qixing, the adepti, and even the Knights of Favonius—all eyed her warily.
They had no idea this catastrophe was a trial prepared by their Archon for Liyue.
To them, Rosalyne's intervention had saved the Jade Chamber from the god's grasp, but the disaster itself was the Fatui's doing.
"Rosalyne, what do you plan to do?" Lin Mo asked with a smile.
She stepped forward and pulled him into an embrace.
"Rustan."
"I couldn't watch you fall in disaster again, like you did back then—become another regret etched in my heart."
Rustan!?
Everyone froze.
They'd all grown up on tales of Mondstadt's tragic romance: the valiant knight who perished defending his homeland from a dragon's claws, and the singer who wept until her tears ran dry, her body twisting into a nightmare under the endless sky.
"Ahem, everyone."
Lin Mo cleared his throat, sensing the need to clarify.
He turned to the group with a gentle smile. "Five hundred years ago, I was that fallen knight. Rosalyne is one of us."
"This crisis... it has other causes. I'll explain everything in time."
"Please, trust me—and trust her."
His earnest words eased the doubts in their hearts, even if questions lingered. They nodded slowly, their wary gazes toward Rosalyne softening.
But the looks they shot Lin Mo? Pure resentment.
"Ahem, don't give me those eyes, folks~"
Lin Mo felt a pang of guilt under their stares and scrambled for a distraction.
"Ah! Xiao! He's out there in the sea, fighting that endless horde of hydro phantoms all alone!" He turned anxiously toward the ocean. "Everyone, we have to help him somehow!"
"The sea beasts are mine to handle."
Yae Miko's voice had barely reached their ears when the Jade Chamber glowed with dazzling violet light.
From the maw of her colossal kitsune form, another terrifying orb of electro energy coalesced.
Crackle!
She spat the lightning sphere downward.
It snaked through the air toward the sea, finally plunging into the waters of Liyue Harbor.
The next moment—
Boom! Rumble!!!
A muffled thud echoed with a deafening roar.
Where the orb detonated, seawater erupted in a column hundreds of meters high, accompanied by towering waves rolling outward—each one crackling with blinding arcs of electricity.
The entire sea seemed to turn purple from the sheer force of the electro surge.
Thousands upon thousands of hydro phantoms vanished in the receding waves—not from the water's crush, but from the devastating lightning coursing through it.
"Ah! Big fox sis!"
Klee squealed, hugging the fluffy paw of the kitsune tight.
"Can you take me along next time you go bomb-fishing...?"
She gazed up at Yae Miko's majestic form.
In that instant, the Guuji had become the undisputed queen of fish-blasting in Teyvat—at least in Klee's eyes.
Yae Miko lowered her massive head, nuzzling Klee's hat gently. "As long as your dad says yes."
"Daddy?"
Klee whipped around, her big eyes brimming with hope.
"Fine, fine, sure~"
Lin Mo chuckled and nodded.
With Yae Miko watching over her, he'd rest easy.
As long as that sly streak of hers doesn't rub off on Klee...
Just then, Cloud Retainer, perched on the Exuvia, spoke up. "Ahem, if you would kindly pay attention."
The group on the ritual platform turned to look.
The two Exuvia hummed with energy leaking from their forms. At some point, they'd gathered a terrifying surge of power.
"Going all-in, are we...?"
Lin Mo frowned.
As their creator, he knew the Exuvia couldn't handle that much at once. If it all fired at once...
The machines would shatter from the backlash the instant the beam launched.
But with no other choice, it might be their only shot against this abyss-corrupted ancient god.
Lin Mo quickly tugged Klee's hand aside, clearing a firing line for the platform.
As everyone stepped back with him—
Hummm... Hummm...
The Exuvia reached critical charge, trembling with a shrill whine.
It was clear the structures were at their limit.
Then—
Boom! Rumble!!! Boom! Rumble!!!
Twin pillars of energy pierced the darkened sky, shattering clouds and mist.
Carrying everyone's hopes, they hurtled toward the whale-like behemoth, Osial, vast as an island.
Under the weight of every expectant gaze—
Boom... RUMBLE!!! A thunderous explosion lit the heavens.
The blast's glow banished the gloom in an instant.
Even the sea surged with tidal waves thousands of meters high from the shockwave.
"Did it work?!"
Paimon asked frantically.
No one answered.
No one knew if Osial could withstand such a devastating blow.
But the adepti and Lin Mo could confirm: any ordinary god struck like that would be gravely wounded at minimum.
As they watched, the direction of Guyun Stone Forest rose in a haze of smoke and fog from the earth-shaking blast—only the faint shadow of a colossal form visible within.
"Its vitality is too stubborn..."
Lin Mo shook his head helplessly.
Osial's size reflected its strength.
Even after the Exuvia's desperate volley, through the drifting mist, Lin Mo could tell it wasn't critically hurt.
The beast was once as massive as Inazuma's islands.
Now, it had only shrunk to about three-quarters its original form.
"The Exuvia are damaged—we can't mount another real counterattack."
Cloud Retainer's words stirred a wave of helplessness in the group.
"Have you considered evacuating?"
Rosalyne asked curiously.
"But... the Jade Chamber is our last line of defense..."
Ganyu's gaze dropped. "If we lose it, we're abandoning Liyue..."
At that moment—
"Everyone, I have one more idea." Ningguang spoke up.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Ganyu looked up, puzzled.
"I'm abandoning the Jade Chamber."
Ningguang gazed into the distance.
At the same time, she steered the floating palace onward toward the sea.
"What do you intend?!"
Cloud Retainer demanded.
When the Jade Chamber halted directly above Osial's island-sized bulk—
Everyone...
Seemed to grasp her resolve, feeling the depth of her will to safeguard Liyue.
The Jade Chamber was no mere palace—it was a superweapon in its own right.
Its self-destruction could rival the Geo Archon's full might.
In that instant, radiant light bloomed from every corner of the structure.
"Lin Mo, Keqing—lend me your aid."
Ningguang's voice told Lin Mo exactly what he needed to do.
Simply drive his sword into the central platform.
And the Jade Chamber would lose its levitation, plummeting into the depths.
"Understood." Lin Mo nodded.
He walked steadily to the heart of the Jade Chamber's floating array.
As he reached the core and raised his Skyward Harp high—
Ningguang slowly closed her eyes.
"Farewell, old friend."
"Parting today... so we may reunite someday."
The sword sang as it struck.
In the moment the array shattered—
The Jade Chamber bloomed like a golden rose in the night sky, radiant and eternal.
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T/N:
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