Ningguang's decision shocked not only Keqing but even Ganyu couldn't believe her ears. Having watched Ningguang build the Jade Chamber piece by piece, Ganyu understood better than anyone what it meant to her.
Sensing their shock, Ningguang smiled faintly and said calmly:
"I may be a merchant, but that identity is built on the foundation of being a citizen of Liyue."
"If Adeptus Su Bai could risk his life to protect Liyue Harbor, then a mere Jade Chamber is nothing."
Her words left everyone present somber. But Cloud Retainer was puzzled. The life-saving talisman she had given Su Bai didn't seem to have activated. That shouldn't have happened.
Could it be that Rex Lapis had intervened? The thought surfaced in Cloud Retainer's mind. If so, everything would make sense.
"Everyone, let's focus on getting through this first. Osial seems to have completed his final attack."
Ningguang raised the Jade Chamber higher. Osial aimed his attack at the floating platform. He was confident in this last move. Unless Morax himself stepped in, it would wipe out all these insects.
Bracing against the seal's pull, Osial launched the black sphere of condensed divine energy toward the Jade Chamber. As his body was slowly dragged back into the seal, he could already see Xiao and the others perishing.
Wait. When had his attack gotten so fast? It seemed to be closing in on that floating rock in no time. Osial's heads exchanged confused glances. What was happening? Had he suddenly grown stronger? What terrible timing for a power boost.
Just as his secondary heads were lost in confusion, Osial's main head noticed something off. He didn't sense any life signs on that floating rock.
"Oh no. They ran!"
Following the main head's gaze, several streaks of light were flying toward Liyue Harbor. Osial's main head was livid. Weren't they supposed to face him head-on? Was this any way to treat a god who had lived for millennia?
Before Osial could curse them out, the seal's pull intensified, dragging him back inside. The turbulent sea gradually calmed. Only the mushroom cloud rising from the waves and Ningguang's twitching mouth revealed the intensity of the battle.
"It's finally over."
Lumine looked at the mushroom cloud and sighed. Then a wave of sorrow hit her. Su Bai, her closest friend, was gone. The joy of victory vanished instantly.
"Lumine, Lumine, come help! I found Su Bai! He's buried under the sand!"
Paimon, who had regained consciousness at some point, had accidentally discovered something fluffy under the sand. When she dug it out, she found a fluffy fox tail pinned beneath her.
At Paimon's shout, both the adepti and the humans rushed over. Forgetting their formalities, they dug through the sand with their bare hands.
Within a minute, they had unearthed a perfectly intact Su Bai. Seeing his steady breathing, Cloud Retainer let out a long breath. Good. Rex Lapis had saved him.
"Leave the aftermath to the Conqueror of Demons and the others. I will take little Su Bai to recover."
"Perhaps we should leave with you. Liyue Harbor's 'reinforcements' have arrived."
Xiao put away his weapon. The prolonged battle had taken its toll, and he still needed to conserve energy to deal with the lingering karmic debt in Liyue Harbor. The rest of the fight could be left to others.
Reinforcements? Ningguang and Keqing exchanged puzzled looks. They hadn't asked for help from outside, and even if they had, help couldn't have arrived this quickly.
Inside Liyue Harbor, after impaling a Whopperflower, Fengyan noticed the monsters' assault had weakened significantly. The creatures seemed to be thinning out. Were they tiring?
Puzzled but relieved, Fengyan took a deep breath and shouted:
"Brothers, the big monster at sea has been dealt with by Lady Ningguang and the others! The remaining monsters are nothing. Let's push them back and..."
Wait. Where had all these young Geovishaps come from? And that Geovishap... how was there one here? And why was there a child sitting on top of it?
Fengyan's eyes went wide. He saw a little girl in red sitting atop a Geovishap, directing the creatures to help them clear out the monsters.
"Everyone, keep fighting! Sister Toto said that after this battle, we'll find jobs with food and housing included."
"Even though Klee doesn't know why, Sister Toto would never lie."
Hearing Klee's words, the Geovishap let out a roar. Behind it, countless Geovishaps surged toward Liyue Harbor. To anyone watching, it looked like they were attacking.
Some monsters were initially confused by the sudden appearance of the Geovishaps. But when they saw them charging, they charged back. The result? The Geovishaps, with their Geo-infused toughness and sturdy scales, rolled into balls and plowed right through the monster ranks.
If you had to describe it, the Geovishaps were like cavalry tearing through a line of infantry. Some of the adult ones even stood at a distance and rained elemental attacks from afar.
In Lumine's eyes, it was cavalry and mages against infantry and archers. Was there even any contest? The outcome was already decided.
And she was right. Though the monsters had been empowered by Osial's divine energy, the Geovishaps Azhdaha had chosen and Klee had brought to Liyue Harbor were elites. Many had come from The Chasm and were seasoned veterans.
This was the final step in Azhdaha's plan. She had known Zhongli would try to stop her, so she had sent Klee with her token to rally the Geovishaps to help Liyue Harbor against the monsters.
Her plan was solid. The Geovishaps' combat prowess, combined with the Millelith, should have been more than enough. She had just forgotten one thing. Geovishaps were not known for their speed.
To keep Zhongli from noticing her little scheme, she had stationed them far from Liyue Harbor. That caused them to waste too much time on the road. Still, they had made it in the end.