Location: The Jade Chamber (Battlefield Orbit)
Current Form: Human → True Dragon
Status: Ready to dine
The sky over Liyue Harbor was a swirling nightmare of black clouds and torrential rain. In the distance, the five heads of Osial, Overlord of the Vortex, roared, churning the ocean into massive tsunamis that threatened to swallow the city whole.
On the floating deck of the Jade Chamber, the atmosphere was desperate.
"The Guizhong Ballistas are loaded!" Ningguang shouted, her usual calm cracking slightly. "Adepti, pour your energy into the mechanisms!"
Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, and Mountain Shaper stood at the three ballistas, channeling their Adeptal energy.
"Fire!"
Three beams of concentrated golden energy shot across the sky. They slammed into Osial, creating massive explosions of steam. The ancient god shrieked, one of his heads recoiling, but the water simply regenerated.
"It is not enough!" Cloud Retainer squawked. "He draws power from the ocean itself! Unless we sever his connection to the sea, he is immortal!"
"Fatui!" Keqing yelled, cutting down a portal-summoned skirmisher. "They are attacking the ballistas! Protect the Adepti!"
Aether and the Millelith were holding the line, but they were overrun.
Suddenly, a sonic boom shattered the thunder.
Raiden landed on the Jade Chamber's main deck, creating a crater in the expensive floor tiles. He dumped the unconscious body of Childe at the feet of a Millelith guard.
"Tie him up," Raiden ordered. "And don't steal his wallet. I need that later."
"Raiden!" Paimon cheered, flying over. "Osial is huge! Bigger than Dvalin! How are you going to eat that?"
Raiden looked at the massive hydra.
"Analysis. Target: Osial. Composition: Condensed Hydro, Divine Will, Hatred. Energy Density: Planetary Threat."
"He's big," Raiden admitted, taking off his scale-woven coat and handing it to Ganyu, who stood nearby freezing in shock. "Hold this, Secretary. It's dry-clean only."
"U-Uh, yes!" Ganyu stammered, clutching the coat.
Raiden walked to the edge of the platform. The rain soaked his shirt, but steam rose from his skin as his internal temperature spiked.
"Cloud Retainer!" Raiden shouted. "Remember the maglev upgrade I showed you?"
Cloud Retainer looked over. "One has not tested it at full capacity!"
"Test it now! Overcharge the central array! I'm going to buy you time."
Raiden stepped off the Jade Chamber. He didn't fall. He hovered.
"Great Sage. Disengage safety limiters. Release [True Dragon] form. Output: 100%."
"Notice. Releasing seal. Warning: Mass expansion may cause tidal disruption. Proceed?"
"Do it."
BOOOOOOM.
Black lightning struck Raiden from the heavens. The space around him cracked like glass.
From the center of the black void, a roar erupted - a sound so deep it vibrated the bones of everyone in Liyue Harbor.
The small human figure vanished. In its place, expanding rapidly, was the Obsidian Dragon.
He grew. And grew. And grew.
He surpassed his previous size in Mondstadt. Fueled by the consumption of Delusions, Jade, and Divine Energy, Raiden's dragon form was now colossal - over 200 meters long. His scales were absolute black, absorbing the light. His veins glowed with star-silver mana. His wings blocked out the storm.
"Is that..." Keqing stared, her sword lowering. "...him?"
Xiao, standing on the roof, watched with wide eyes. "The pressure... it rivals Rex Lapis."
Raiden dove.
He didn't use magic. He used physics. He was a meteor made of dragon scales.
He slammed into Osial's central head.
CRASH.
The impact created a shockwave that flattened the waves for a mile. Osial roared in confusion as this new, black dragon bit down on his neck.
"SIT DOWN, SQUIDWARD!" Raiden's voice boomed telepathically.
Osial thrashed, his other four heads snapping at Raiden. Hydro beams capable of cutting mountains fired point-blank.
Raiden took the hits.
"Notice. Hydro Damage detected. [Abyssal Nullification] active. [Water Resistance] active. Damage negated."
Raiden laughed—a terrifying, guttural sound. He released his grip and spun, his massive tail slamming into two of Osial's heads, shattering their watery forms.
[Storm Magic: Black Lightning].
Black lightning erupted from Raiden's body, turning the ocean into an electrified death zone. Osial shrieked as the electricity boiled his hydro form.
"I'm done playing with my food," Raiden thought.
He pinned Osial's main body against the seabed, the water displacement creating a temporary valley in the ocean.
"BEELZEBUTH."
Behind Raiden, a tear in reality opened. A massive eye—the eye of Gluttony—opened in the sky, larger than the Jade Chamber.
The vortex began to spin.
It didn't suck in air. It sucked in water. It sucked in magic.
Osial tried to reform his heads, but the water was being pulled away. The ancient god panicked. He felt his very essence—the divine divinity that kept him immortal—being dragged out.
"NO... WHAT ARE YOU?! CELESTIA DOES NOT WIELD THIS POWER!" Osial screamed.
"I am not Celestia," Raiden roared, opening his own jaws. "I am the Hunger."
The Eye of Gluttony descended.
SLURP.
One of Osial's massive heads was ripped from his body and sucked into the void. Then another. Then a third.
Osial wasn't just being defeated; he was being harvested.
Seeing his imminent demise, Osial played his final card. He gathered every ounce of remaining power into a single, concentrated ball of catastrophic Hydro energy. A bomb that would wipe Liyue off the map, regardless of whether he survived.
"He's going to self-destruct!" Ningguang realized. "I have to drop the Jade Chamber! It's the only way to contain the blast!"
She began the sequence to overload the float-stones.
"Goodbye, old friend," Ningguang whispered, touching the pillar.
Suddenly, a black claw gently tapped the Jade Chamber's window.
"Don't be stupid, Tianquan," Raiden's voice echoed in her head. "Do you know how much this house is worth? I'm not letting you throw away billions of Mora."
Ningguang froze. "Raiden?"
Raiden abandoned Osial's body and flew directly toward the energy bomb.
"Great Sage. Can we eat that?"
"Analysis. Energy density is critical. Consumption may result in temporary indigestion and a 3-day food coma. Probability of survival: 100%."
"Worth it."
Raiden flew into the energy bomb.
He didn't attack it. He wrapped his wings around it, cocooning the explosion.
[Unique Skill: Gluttony — Void Stomach].
The bomb detonated.
But instead of an explosion outward, the light collapsed inward. A black hole formed in the center of Raiden's chest. The white light of the explosion spiraled down the drain of his infinite stomach.
The sky turned white, then black, then clear.
Silence.
The rain stopped. The clouds parted.
Osial, reduced to a tiny, regenerating puddle without enough energy to maintain a form, sank back into the Guyun Stone Forest, sealed by fear alone.
In the sky, the massive Obsidian Dragon began to shrink.
Black mist swirled, depositing a human figure onto the deck of the Jade Chamber.
Raiden landed face-first.
"Oof."
He rolled over, clutching his stomach.
"I ate too much," Raiden groaned. "I feel like I swallowed a swimming pool."
Aether, Paimon, Keqing, and the Adepti rushed over.
"Raiden!" Paimon squealed. "You're alive! You didn't explode!"
"Of course I didn't," Raiden burped. A small bubble of hydro energy floated out. "But I think I need some Tums. And maybe a nap."
Ningguang walked over, her heels clicking on the stone. She looked at her intact Jade Chamber, then at the saved harbor, and finally at the man groaning on the floor.
She smiled—a genuine, rare smile.
"Mr. Ragnvaldr," Ningguang said softly. "You just saved me an astronomical amount of money. I believe Liyue owes you a debt we can never repay."
"Start by giving me a permanent discount at Liuli Pavilion," Raiden mumbled, closing his eyes. "And tell Ganyu to bring me my coat."
Far below, Zhongli stood on the docks, watching the sky clear.
He took a sip of his tea.
"Impressive," Zhongli murmured. "He consumed the vortex itself. It seems my retirement is truly secure."
He turned to walk away.
"Although," Zhongli paused. "Feeding a dragon of that appetite... might bankrupt the Qixing faster than Osial ever could."