Noelle: Nine-Headed Dragon Flash!**
Seeing her two teammates land solid blows, all traces of fear that had initially surfaced in Eula's heart vanished completely.
"So even a demon god is just this much!"
Her confidence surged to an unprecedented level.
She lightly stomped on the sea surface.
In an instant, countless ice shards condensed and stretched outward, lifting her hundreds of meters into the sky.
Strike while it's weak—finish it while you can.
Looking down at Osial, who had been momentarily dazed by the trio's relentless assault, Eula raised her ice-blue greatsword and swung downward with full force.
A terrifying pressure descended from the heavens.
Osial's two uninjured heads snapped upward.
They saw a colossal sphere of ice, tearing through the clouds like a falling meteor, crashing down with unstoppable momentum.
"Divine judgment from the heavens!"
Even though Eula had not yet reached the level of the original wielder of the imperial relic, she could still unleash over half of its true power.
The ice sphere—over one hundred meters in diameter—slammed down, forcing two of Osial's heads straight back into the depths of the sea.
The resulting tsunami rose over a hundred meters high.
"Hmph! That's payback for ignoring me earlier!"
Standing proudly in midair, the aristocratic ice maiden gazed down upon the demon god like a queen passing judgment.
On the Jade Chamber
Keqing and Ningguang stared in shock.
These three… they're absurdly strong.
Even Lumine couldn't help but feel amazed—and excited.
"I'm going to help them!"
She took a step forward, only to be stopped by Luoli.
"Stay here and watch. This battle is their trial."
"…?"
For once, Lumine was told to not fight.
The realization left her feeling strangely uncomfortable.
I'm… really allowed to just stand here and do nothing?
Luoli paid no attention to her inner turmoil, his gaze fixed on the battlefield below.
Despite this being their first time fighting together, the three showed remarkable coordination.
They covered one another flawlessly, managing—for the moment—to restrain a demon god.
Of course, this was largely because Eula could face Osial head-on.
If she fully absorbed the demonic essence, Luoli had no doubt she could duel a demon god alone.
Not a top-tier one, perhaps—but Osial would be well within her reach.
Raiden Makoto nodded slightly, smiling.
"Osial hasn't fully broken free, and his strength has declined. Still… for three humans to reach this level is impressive."
Luoli agreed.
"In fact, they're doing better than I expected."
Then he added calmly,
"But Osial is about to counterattack."
A demon god being suppressed by mere humans was a humiliation it could not tolerate.
Its rage had already reached its boiling point.
The Tide Turns
As Luoli finished speaking, the battlefield changed abruptly.
Osial seized control of the ocean currents, raising a wave hundreds of meters high.
The overturned sea blotted out the sky, swallowing Eula, Noelle, and Shenhe whole.
When water turned violent, its destructive force was beyond imagination.
A wave like this could shatter a mountain—tens of thousands of tons crashing down like divine punishment.
Eula's expression sharpened.
She immediately froze the incoming wave.
But the divine power driving it was far beyond what she could suppress alone.
The ice melted rapidly—its power reduced, but far from neutralized.
At that moment, Shenhe stepped forward.
The red cord binding her silver hair loosened.
Her hair danced wildly in the storm as she formed hand seals, activating adeptal arts.
Her Vision blazed at full brilliance.
Ice energy gathered madly, merging with Eula's power.
In the blink of an eye, both the sea and the wave were sealed—
a frozen apocalypse, like the dawn of an Ice Age.
The sheer mass was too great.
Dozens of thousands of tons of ice shattered moments later, collapsing under their own weight.
Osial's eyes flared crimson with fury.
It hadn't expected three humans to block its advance.
The mighty reduced to humiliation…
Enraged, Osial dragged its two injured heads back out of the depths.
All four heads converged, elemental energy surging wildly.
No longer aiming carefully—it prepared indiscriminate annihilation.
These humans were too agile, too slippery.
If precision failed—
then brute force would do.
Lightning cracked across the sky.
Elemental power surged through the clouds.
Demon gods were not limited to a single element—
they commanded all of them.
Meteor-like bolts of lightning rained down, denser than any storm.
Facing the falling "meteor shower," Noelle sheathed her blade and took a deep breath.
All her presence vanished.
Spirit. Will. Body.
Unified.
Then—
in the instant she drew her sword—
everything exploded.
"Flying Sword Style — Nine-Headed Dragon Flash!"
Nine slashes erupted almost simultaneously, striking from different directions.
Ordinarily, such a technique was impossible to block—or evade.
This time, it wasn't aimed at Osial.
It was meant to tear open the sky itself.
The ninefold strike obliterated the lightning barrage, carving a clear corridor through the heavens and shielding the momentarily drained Shenhe behind her.
Eula, meanwhile, remained composed.
Only now did she truly realize how terrifying the power Luoli had given her was.
Power enough to clash directly with a demon god.
Osial stared coldly at the three women.
It understood their goal now.
They were trying to stop it from reaching Liyue Harbor.
Then I'll do exactly what you fear most.
If it kept fighting them, victory was inevitable—but time was uncertain.
And if the talisman's effect ended…
It could be sealed again.
So Osial made its decision.
All four heads turned toward Liyue Harbor in the distance.
It abandoned the duel.
Killing three humans was nothing—
destroying a city would be far more satisfying.
With vengeful glee, Osial summoned an oceanic torrent, smashing through Guyun Stone Forest and charging toward Liyue Harbor with unstoppable force.