What lay beneath Cider Lake was not the long-theorized corpse of the "God of Storms"—but the body of a colossal dragon.
And it was truly massive.
Victor Wang had seen the remains of Orobashi and Durin with his own eyes, but this skeleton dwarfed even Durin. With the Day Pearl activated to its ninth layer, its 100-meter radius turned pitch-dark depths into broad daylight—yet even that only illuminated the dragon's tail tip.
It was tragically pitiful.
Whether it had been alive or dead when sealed here, no one could say. But it had, at the very least, remained in this lightless abyss for 2600 years—since New Mondstadt was founded around then. Back when people first stepped onto the island, they couldn't have imagined what monstrous thing lay beneath their feet.
Now, countless bass clung to its fractured bones like bloodsucking leeches, greedily consuming its marrow.
It was also incredibly strong.
Even without knowing its feats in life, the wind-blue hue of its bones had retained their luster after all this time. Victor Wang was sure that wasn't due to discoloration—the transparency neared that of gemstone.
Excluding the areas that had been clearly severed by blades, its skeleton was strong enough to support Mondstadt itself, stubbornly propping open a space beneath the lake. The image reminded Victor Wang of Atlas bearing the heavens.
He activated elemental sight—but unfortunately, no elemental energy remained. After so many centuries, perhaps its power had finally faded.
["Wow!"] Even Little Wen, well-versed in unusual sights, gasped in awe. ["There are more slimes here than outside!"]
Wait, something's not right.
Victor Wang snapped out of it and saw the truth—there really were more slimes here. The ground was densely packed, so crowded they couldn't even move freely, some even bursting from the sheer pressure.
The bass that made it here all ignored the masses of slimes. Instead, they swam straight for the fractures in the dragon's skeleton.
Victor Wang also drifted that way, compelled to touch the bones. Once he did, he couldn't help but strike them with Erosion Blast—and found it left not a scratch.
"If I could make a weapon out of these dragon bones, it'd definitely be stronger than the Wentian Sword!"
The background of the Skyward Blade suggested it was forged from Stormterror's tooth—a "tooth blessed by an Archon." But whether that was lore or literal remained uncertain.
["Hmm?! Master, you're not thinking of replacing me, are you?"]
"Hmph."
["Absolutely not! That's not allowed!"]
To forge a weapon from the dragon bones, one would first need to cut them. Victor Wang couldn't. He just chuckled without replying.
Orobashi's corpse had given rise to crystallized bone marrow—yet even then, no one forged weapons directly from its bones. It was... complicated.
Within the marrow cavities of the broken bones, some bass who had spent their whole lives reaching this place gorged themselves endlessly—only to suddenly drop dead.
Victor Wang watched closely. He had no wish to die suddenly, nor to turn into something like Washizu.
This dragon skeleton could be seen but not used—and that was the cruelest torment.
He wandered around, searching for a 'scrap'—a detached bone or claw—but everything, from toenails to teeth, remained firmly embedded in the skeleton.
"Damn! I'm going home for dinner!"
Seeing her master defeated, Little Wen cheered, ["Yay!"]
Clang!
The Wentian Sword struck the dragon bone with a sharp crack. "Hah, yay my ass!"
["Yay my ass! Yay my ass!"] Little Wen didn't know what it meant, but she liked how it sounded.
Victor Wang laughed despite himself. "…Even if I did make a new weapon from dragon bone, I wouldn't abandon you. After all, no other weapon can talk."
["Yay! Yay my ass!"]
"'Yay my ass' actually means something bad."
["Eh? Really?"]
The dragon's 'tomb' had many exits—gaps formed when Mondstadt's island smashed down imperfectly onto the original terrain.
Tired of that claustrophobic path he came in through, Victor Wang picked a much wider tunnel to ascend. Just as he emerged from the mud-shrouded passage—he came face-to-face with a Consecrated Bass.
Both froze—then, in the next moment, the bass that had once avoided Victor Wang became violently aggressive, inflating its swim bladder to send out a signal.
Victor Wang immediately understood. He had slain one of their own—an equal in strength. They had sensed danger and avoided him. But now, seeing him emerge from their 'sacred ground,' they could no longer hold back.
He had touched their forbidden scale.
That bass was calling reinforcements.
Run!
Not wasting a single second, Victor Wang kicked off like a torpedo, rocketing upward.
The Consecrated Bass chased him relentlessly.
Other bass, hearing the signal, swarmed from all directions. Under their King's command, they were ready to fight anyone—regardless of strength.
In mere seconds, a dense fish wall formed once again. This time, not surrounding him—but blocking his path above.
"Out of the way!"
He raised the Wentian Sword, wind spiraling around its tip like a drill, piercing through every enemy in his way.
The overwhelming stench of blood and fish returned. More Consecrated Bass rushed in from afar—preparing to surround him.
"Anyone can do a straight-line sprint!"
Fleeing didn't require fancy moves. Just speed.
Victor Wang extinguished the Day Pearl, clenched his jaw, shut his eyes, and focused all his energy into his sword tip and his feet. His body launched like a rocket.
Half of Cider Lake's bass had gathered, a black tide blotting out the sky—all shattered by a single thrust.
Below him, more than a dozen Consecrated Bass chased with their fastest speeds—but still couldn't close the gap.
…
"Brother Albedo, the lake just lit up!"
"?"
Having just returned to the lakeshore after gathering wildflowers for pigment, Albedo heard Klee's excited cry and looked toward the water—but saw no light.
"Klee, was it one of your new bombs?"
Today was their usual sketching trip.
Truthfully, he'd already painted everything near Mondstadt. With talk of the Knights and Adventurers restarting the Dragonspine expeditions, he hoped they'd hurry. Otherwise, he'd be dragged out to the lake by Klee under the excuse of 'painting' just to blow up fish…
"Nope! My bombs are still in my bag!"
"…Strange." Klee never lied during their talks.
Albedo closed his eyes and focused. A powerful Anemo signature was darting across the lake.
"Klee, get your bombs ready. We're doing the fish-blasting segment early today."
"Huh?" She didn't know why—but she was thrilled. A bomb that doesn't get used overnight is a bad bomb! Time to detonate them all!
Seconds later, a figure burst from the lake and soared over ten meters into the air—Victor Wang.
He glanced nervously at the dark shape below him.
Thanks to his incredible speed, the regular bass had long fallen behind. Even the blood covering him had been washed away. But the Consecrated Bass still chased him like devils—bone blades aimed upward, itching to skewer him.
Even above water, they refused to give up, furiously flailing their tails as if trying to fly.
But then—splash—round, red objects rained down on their heads.
With a massive BOOM, Cider Lake erupted in a giant spray. Under the Spark Knight's special bombs, the Consecrated Bass were blasted into fragments, their remains tossed skyward, then fell into the lake.
Victor Wang turned toward the shore—it was Klee and Albedo. He immediately tugged his cloak's brim down.
His mask had shattered. If someone saw even half his face, he'd be exposed… After all, only Hilichurls had seven eyes in this world.
This was just north of Springvale. On the game's map, this body of water appeared as a shaded area—not visibly connected to the massive northwest shadow. But through the dragon's tomb, they were one and the same.
That's why he hadn't found that huge passage earlier—he'd never been to this side.
"Too bad… they were so far away, the fish didn't get to eat them…"
Klee had only seen a dark mass far from shore. When Albedo gave the signal, she threw every bomb she had, thinking it was just a school of ordinary fish.
"Looks like Dust is carrying a big chunk of fish meat," Albedo nodded toward Victor Wang.
"Ah! It's Dust!"
Victor Wang, intending to go back and find a replacement mask, had no choice but to fly over. "Ahaha, yeah—it's a very big piece. Definitely enough for three people!"
"Dust's grilled fish is so tasty!"
"Don't go spouting embarrassingly true facts! But… I've never seen this kind of fish before. I'm not sure if it's poisonous…"
He slapped his forehead. He'd nearly forgotten—they didn't even know if Consecrated Bass meat was safe.
"I recognize the species. It's safe to eat." Albedo remained expressionless, his eyes unreadable—but his words made Victor Wang pause.
"Well then, let me show off a bit. I haven't grilled much, but if I've earned Klee's praise, it can't be too bad!"
"Okay! I'll go gather firewood."
"Then I'll set up the grill!"
As Albedo walked off, Victor Wang sighed toward his back, then finally unstrapped the huge chunk of Consecrated Bass meat. He shaved off the outer, grimy layer… and began slicing.