Zhongli: …
Childe: "It wasn't me!"
The golden whirlpool spun high above Yujing Terrace, sacred and awe-inspiring.
But then, before everyone's expectant gazes, the light shuddered.
As if something had torn into it, blackish corruption seeped into the pure gold, spreading like ink in clear water.
"What's happening?!"
Cries of alarm rippled through the crowd.
The Millelith on duty stared wide-eyed at the sky, hands tightening around their spears.
Gold and black twisted together violently. The radiant vortex warped, then collapsed into a dark, devouring "sun" that blotted out the light and pressed down on every heart.
A heavy, suffocating pressure descended — ancient and mournful, making it hard to breathe.
And then—
"BOOM!!"
A deafening crash shook heaven and earth.
The pillar of light collapsed into a massive beam and plummeted straight down toward Yujing Terrace, like a god's wrath descending on the mortal plane.
The shrine shattered.
Shockwaves blasted across the square, ripping up stone and sending people stumbling and screaming. Amber fragments exploded outward like a rain of shooting stars.
And from the sky, a colossal shadow fell.
The first thing everyone saw was a dragon's head.
Majestic and terrifying, its whiskers like streams of molten gold, its eyes closed like two extinguished suns. Its entire body was clad in layered stone-like scales inscribed with ancient patterns, each line carrying the weight of ages.
The dragon's corpse crashed across Yujing Terrace like a fallen mountain.
Black and gold scales were cracked and broken, exuding a faint aura of decay. One massive claw was buried deep into the stone platform, leaving spiderweb fissures radiating outward; even in death, its presence was overwhelming.
Its tail dragged across the stone, carved with faded sigils that still faintly shimmered with lingering geo energy.
Liyue fell into stunned silence.
Then the screaming began.
"This… this is…!"
"Rex Lapis… has fallen?!"
"That's impossible!"
Many collapsed to their knees on the spot.
Tears streamed down faces that had grown up under the god's protection. The mere idea that their eternal guardian could die shattered something deep inside them.
The god of Liyue, the pillar of their faith, lay before them as a lifeless dragon corpse.
The sky felt lower.
The world felt wrong.
Even the wind seemed to mourn, howling through the broken stones.
High above, the star barge trembled slightly under the shockwave.
Paimon stared down at the dragon corpse, swallowing hard.
"This… this is way too much, right?" she whispered. "Zhongli, isn't this a bit over the top?"
"Not particularly," Zhongli said calmly. "It's just a shed husk. I merely slowed its fall so you could see it clearly."
Ying glanced at him, hesitated… then asked:
"Then… can we have the husk afterward?"
Zhongli: "..."
Paimon: "???"
Kairo almost choked on his own breath.
He had not expected Ying to say that out loud.
"What do you want it for?" Paimon yelped. "It's just a big corpse!"
"No," Ying said seriously, eyes fixed on the dragon's scales. "It's extremely rare alchemy material. As armor, it'd be priceless."
Paimon: "…"
Zhongli: "…"
Kairo: "…"
Down on the deck, Barbara and Fischl finally snapped out of their shock and followed Kairo's gaze to the scene below, then to Zhongli.
"That whole spectacle…" Barbara muttered, voice unsteady, "was… staged by him, wasn't it?"
They'd heard about the Rite of Descension. They knew about Rex Lapis.
It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together.
Their eyes moved back to Zhongli — composed, hands behind his back, as if the chaos below had nothing to do with him.
Their hearts thudded in their chests.
So that's the rock god…?
And he's standing up here casually chatting with our man?
The two girls exchanged a glance, then quietly looked at Kairo again, eyes shining with a complicated mix of pride and disbelief.
Is this really our man?
Below, Yujing Terrace was in complete turmoil.
Citizens cried and shouted, some begging the fallen god to wake up, others sobbing that Liyue was doomed. Terror, grief, and raw confusion rippled through the gathered crowd.
But the chaos didn't last long.
A clear, commanding voice rang out over the terrace:
"Millelith! Seal off Yujing Terrace at once!"
Ningguang stepped forward. Her black-and-gold dress swayed with each measured step, phoenix-like ornaments glinting in the dimmed light. Her amber gaze was cool and sharp; in this disaster, she stood like a needle anchoring silk, holding everything together.
Her tone was not loud, yet impossible to disobey.
The Millelith snapped to attention.
"Seal the area!" a captain barked. "Form a perimeter!"
Lines of armored soldiers surged inward, forming a living wall around the terrace. Spears crossed, streets blocked; nobody was allowed to leave.
"No one is to exit Yujing Terrace!" the captain announced. "Liyue is under maximum alert. All must remain for investigation!"
The citizens were terrified, but they did not resist.
They were Liyue's people — and if their god had fallen, then all the more reason to obey the Qixing.
Ningguang walked step by step toward the dragon's head.
Her expression grew heavier with every pace.
Standing before the massive stone snout, she reached out and laid her fingers against a broken scale.
Cold.
Lifeless.
Her heart sank.
She closed her eyes and felt for any lingering geo energy. What she sensed was only a faint, fading echo — no spark of true life, only residual power dissipating like smoke.
"Rex Lapis…" she murmured.
When she opened her eyes again, they were sharp as blades.
"The Archon has been slain," she declared.
She turned, raised her hand, and golden light flared at her fingertips as she spoke with the weight of a death sentence:
"Seal all of Liyue Harbor. Hunt down the culprit."
In the crowd, Acting Grand Master Jean's pupils shrank.
"Liyue's Archon… is dead?" she whispered.
The idea rattled her so hard her thoughts stalled. Her fingers clenched into her palms until her nails bit skin.
She'd once heard Venti say lightly, "Mortals die. Gods do too."
At the time it had felt like an abstract philosophy.
But seeing a god's corpse land in front of her…
That sentence suddenly became crushingly real.
Can gods really die so easily?
Her gaze flicked instinctively to Keqing.
The Yuheng Xing's face was as composed as ever, but her fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly. She'd clearly been shaken as well — but she didn't let it show.
"Everyone, maintain order!" Keqing commanded. "We must not let chaos spread!"
Jean snapped back to herself. Whatever she was feeling, she was still the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.
She stepped forward with Keqing to help calm the crowd, directing people to stay put, to breathe, to avoid stampedes.
Then Keqing suddenly paused.
"…Wait."
A thought flashed through her mind. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the terrace.
Where were the out-of-country guests she'd personally notified?
Where were the Traveler, Paimon, and Kairo?
They'd come to Liyue. They'd talked about attending the Rite.
Yet at this crucial moment… none of them were anywhere to be seen.
Her brows furrowed deeper.
But then she remembered how close they'd been to Zhongli these last few days. If they were with him — if all of this was part of his arrangement…
"Still," she thought, "I'll have to confirm it."
Once the immediate crisis was contained, she would have to visit Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and speak to Zhongli in person.
Before she could move, the crowd's mood lurched again.
A new commotion was spreading.
Standing not far from the dragon's head, a man with orange hair and easy smile was watching the corpse with unnervingly bright eyes.
Childe.
His heartbeat kicked up, but his expression remained mild, even amused.
"So it really happened," he muttered. "Things got this far even before I made my move…"
He hadn't expected such a spectacular disaster before he'd done anything himself.
"Then the Gnosis should still be inside the body, yes?" he mused. "When would be the best time to take it?"
Before he could decide, a ring of killing intent closed in around him.
"Fatui Harbinger Tartaglia!" a Millelith officer shouted.
Dozens of spears locked onto him at once.
The captain glared at him with open hostility.
"We have long been aware of your activities in Liyue," he declared. "Now that the Archon has fallen, you — as a high-ranking member of the Fatui — are under heavy suspicion. Surrender immediately and cooperate with the investigation!"
Citizens around them gasped.
"The Fatui… of course it's the Fatui!"
"It must be them! They've always coveted Liyue!"
"Arrest him! Make him confess who did this!"
Childe, however, didn't look nervous in the slightest.
He sighed softly, then raised his hands in a harmless gesture, the same relaxed smile on his face.
"It wasn't me," he said calmly. "I am a Fatui Harbinger, yes. But my actions in Liyue have been strictly within the bounds of the law."
"Northland Bank pays its dues to the Liyue Qixing on time, every year. I have never done anything… overtly improper."
He tilted his head, still smiling.
"Even for the Rite of Descension, I'm here purely as a simple spectator."
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