Jiu, consumed by rage, transformed into a torrent of energy and plunged into the Dragon-Queller Tree. The entire valley began to echo with thunderous, heartbeat-like sounds.
Fish in the river leapt from the water in panic, birds flapped desperately from the treetops in an attempt to escape the space, squirrels, frogs, lizards… swarms of small creatures and masses of insects all instinctively fled, away from here, away from the foot of Mt. Hulao.
Only the Hilichurls in the distance danced with the tremors in the ground. Some even tried to approach the source of the quake out of curiosity.
"Who is meddling with the seal here?!"
From the summit of Mt. Hulao descended a massive brown bird—Mountain Shaper. In only a few breaths, it landed atop the Dragon-Queller Tree.
"There is no need to worry."
"Hm? Is… is that you, Rex Lapis?"
Zhongli did not answer. He crouched down and pressed his right hand to the earth. A layer of dark-yellow energy rippled across the ground, and the quakes slowly subsided.
"Rex Lapis! It truly is you!"
"Remain here on guard. I must go confront Azhdaha directly."
Leaving Mountain Shaper behind, Zhongli walked toward the side roots of the Dragon-Queller Tree.
Jiu had yet to direct the miners to carve out a path to the seal, but with a single gesture from Zhongli, the stone layers bent to his will, reverently opening a passage. Reaching the great door covered with floating talismanic phantoms, he turned to Victor Wang and instructed, "Stand behind me."
Then, he stepped into the seal.
Inside, Azhdaha was already prepared. He seized the leaking energy that had manifested as Jiu, and taking advantage of Zhongli's breach, attempted to force his way out from within. But Zhongli stood firm and stopped the eruption completely.
Shielded behind him, Victor Wang escaped the devastating force that could have shattered mountains and sundered the earth.
The inner seal's space was not much different from memory. Yet before Victor Wang could take in the details, a familiar, furious roar shook the ground.
The colossal Azhdaha, eyes burning red, shattered the pillar that had confined him.
That too was a seal. Though far from true freedom, it granted him liberty to move about within this space.
"Morax… the time has come… to settle everything!"
"Azhdaha. My purpose here was merely to seek fragments of your scales, but I did not expect the seal to have weakened so much."
"No more words. Hand over your life!"
"If you still remember that this fate was never our choice…"
But enmity burned hotter than reason. Usurped, betrayed, sealed away—the endless wrath in Azhdaha's chest left no room for talk.
He lashed out immediately. The tail of the Dragon-Queller Tree, now a part of his body after millennia, swung with destructive force. A massive meteor of pure Geo essence hurtled toward Zhongli.
Rumble! The earth quaked as stone collided with stone.
When Victor Wang regained his senses, a shell-like barrier encased both him and Zhongli. Outside, the ground had collapsed into a vast crater, replaced by crystalline Geo fragments gleaming like jade.
"Do not step outside this shield."
Victor Wang nodded rapidly, like a pecking chick.
With another deafening roar, Azhdaha raised his left claw and smashed it down together with his massive jaw. The crushing pressure and shockwave tore through the ground, while three colossal stone spikes surged toward Zhongli.
Leaping upon the fragments of rock, Zhongli soared upward. He pressed his palm against the central spike, twisted sharply, and from Azhdaha's own power, forged a spear.
Without pause, Zhongli spun it like a windmill, shattering the other spikes into rubble, and launched a counterattack.
To Azhdaha, the spear looked no more than a toothpick. Yet each strike carried a spectral afterimage, magnified dozens of times. When it scraped against his rocky scales, the clash of hardness against hardness produced piercing screeches.
"You betrayed me once before! Do you mean to betray me again?!"
"If that is how you wish to see it… then so be it. But I cannot allow you to escape the seal."
"Hmph! Facing me alone—do you truly think you can prevail?!"
Azhdaha's enormous form twisted. With a sweeping motion, he wielded the Dragon-Queller Tree itself as a weapon and lashed it brutally toward Zhongli.
Such bulk, such weight—Zhongli had no choice but to brace his spear before him, fortifying himself with a Jade Shield. His body endured, but he was flung far across the battlefield.
Azhdaha pressed on, launching volleys of jagged spines from his back. Twin barrages of Geo spikes streaked like fleets of warships, unrelenting and explosive.
These constructs, being parts of his body, bent wholly to his command. Even Zhongli's earlier transmutation techniques were powerless against them.
The battlefield shook as though under hours of bombardment. Craters scarred the ground. Zhongli's Jade Shield flickered, growing ever thinner.
"Hahaha! Morax! Without your Gnosis, you are no match for me!"
"…"
Sensing weakness, Azhdaha unleashed the outer rows of golden spines as well. Each one guided with precision, they cornered Zhongli step by step.
Meanwhile, Azhdaha sank into the ground, circling like a predator. At the decisive moment, he burst forth, surging high with Geo energy, and brought down his forelimb, the jade thorns upon his elbow gleaming with murderous weight.
Clang!
Zhongli's spear caught the blow—but snapped within a second. Forced to clasp the thorn between his palms, his Jade Shield shattered piece by piece, and his legs sank deep into the ground under crushing force.
"Absorb… everything."
With a calm exhale, the Jade Shield reformed—only to shatter again within seconds.
"Solidify!"
The shield manifested once more.
"Morax, what trickery is this?!"
Taking his struggle for mockery, Azhdaha slammed his other claw into the ground.
In that instant, Victor Wang saw it—the veins of the earth, the breath of stone. Every inch of land, every shard of rock lent its strength to Azhdaha. Ripples coursed across the battlefield.
"Farewell… Morax!"
Azhdaha's hulking body rose high. Spines rained down in unison, sealing off Zhongli's escape. Explosions shook the cavern, rockfalls thundered. And then—a dragon's roar. Zhongli stood, unscathed.
But it was only the prelude.
Azhdaha descended again, bearing the might of the earth itself. He was like a second continent. Heaven and land prepared to crash together—force greater than moving Dragonspine itself. Dust filled the air, pressed down by his sheer mass.
Victor Wang's heart hammered. This is it… this is the blow that will end us.
Crack!
Zhongli's barrier splintered under the sheer weight of Azhdaha's descent. Fissures crept downward, inch by inch.
If I lay flat… maybe I'll survive? No—better to dig down, escape underground…
His instincts had already dropped him to a crouch. But there was no time.
"Zhongli!"
Victor Wang's eyes widened as Azhdaha loomed above.
And then—he stopped.
Zhongli, arms raised high, braced the beast's belly, standing unshaken. Like an ant holding food a hundred times its size, he bore Azhdaha's weight.
"Unyielding… as stone."
The earth answered. From below surged countless golden Geo spears, vast as mountains, impaling Azhdaha and piercing through his back. No blood flowed—only golden ichor, like molten metal.
"No! I am Azhdaha! Born of elemental crystal, the vessel of the earth's strength and memories, destined to endure as long as the mountains and seas! Why… why does the earth betray me?!"
His aura withered swiftly.
"Morax… without your Gnosis, you have grown stronger still… You truly mean to destroy me?!"
"…I only wish to seal you once more."
"Impossible! Traitor! I will never consent!"
"…"
Neither yielded. The lances of Geo thickened, lengthened, raising Azhdaha high into the air.
"You killed him?!"
Victor Wang sobered instantly, yet what he saw left him dumbfounded.
"Azhdaha, born of elemental crystal, vessel of the earth's strength and memories, destined to endure with the mountains and seas… he has only been wounded." Zhongli's gaze lifted to his ancient comrade.
Victor Wang pointed at the massive form, skewered like a string of meat. "This… is just a wound?"
"Correct. A mere scratch."
Azhdaha's breath grew faint. His body, along with the spears impaling him, turned pale gray stone. When at last he stilled, the rocky shell cracked away. In the air gathered visible arcs of Electro energy.