Azhdaha raged like thunder, four elemental powers pouring out madly.
Sealed here for thousands of years, Azhdaha's already eroded and worn-down mind grew even more unhinged.
Moreover—
His tail had fused with the Dragon-Queller. In the past, there were always some short-sighted adventurers who mistook the Geo crystals on the tree for treasure and laid their hands on his tail.
Some even went too far and threw things into the Dragon-Queller.
Wouldn't that mean they were tossing things into his a— his butt?
After this happened many times, Azhdaha awoke more frequently, and his unstable mental state became increasingly deranged. He would curse Morax in the mountains for no reason, venting the anger in his heart.
Now that the seal had finally loosened, how could Azhdaha let the chance slip?
Even though Xiao had rushed here straight from Liyue Harbor to reinforce the seal, in Azhdaha's eyes a mere yaksha was not worth mentioning.
"Morax… I shall break free today!"
"Once I'm out, rivers of blood will flow to quell the flames of my centuries-old wrath!"
"..."
The curses echoed without end, and Xiao frowned repeatedly.
Azhdaha, who once followed the Lord of Geo through countless campaigns, had been worn down into this state, with no affection for Liyue he once protected and spewing filth at his former lord—this was shocking. Beyond anger, Xiao felt mostly sorrow.
Heaven's erosion upon the world might not take the lives of immortals, yet in such a cruel and humiliating way it tormented the gods who once protected their people. How absurd, how brutal.
Even so, Xiao did not relax in the slightest.
Azhdaha must not break free.
At least not now.
"You cannot stop me… You cannot stop me…"
"Break free… I will break free. I will see the sky again!"
As Azhdaha's furious roars continued, the four elemental powers hammered the seal.
Even with Xiao pouring out his strength, it was still hard to prevent the seal from collapsing.
Xiao's face grew grim. He knew this couldn't go on.
But unless the Archon himself came in person, who could stop Azhdaha's return?
"Hahahaha…!"
Sensing the violent trembling of the seal, the Dragon King Azhdaha grew ecstatic. He threw his full might against it. The golden seal shuddered violently, then shattered into fragments, breaking apart in an instant.
Azhdaha's mountain-sized body heaved, and the ground of the entire Nantianmen seemed to tremble with him.
The monsters that once rampaged at the Nantianmen all cowered and slunk back to their lairs, not daring to move an inch.
Majestic valleys split with spreading cracks.
The long-lost light and taste of freedom drove Azhdaha into wild joy.
Overwhelming elemental force shattered the Geo seal. Azhdaha's roar shook the heavens. He did not strike at Xiao immediately, but tried instead to separate his tail from the Dragon-Queller and gain complete freedom.
"I shall make this land taste my fury!"
Azhdaha's theatrically edgy voice echoed all around.
He hadn't cursed Morax so freely in ages. On the brink of absolute freedom, he seemed to already see the thrill of crushing Morax.
But just then, a familiar aura descended from above, and Azhdaha's insults cut off abruptly.
He sensed that familiar presence.
That presence he had hated for centuries!
"Morax… get out… get out!!"
"Morax… get away from me, get far away!"
Sensing Zhongli's aura, the Dragon King Azhdaha grew even more enraged. He was about to break free completely, yet at this critical moment he detected Morax's presence. Panic crept in.
After waiting centuries, he was finally going to escape.
Was Morax going to stop him again?
The radiant sunlight on the ground, the misty fragrance of grasses and flowers… that was the smell of freedom. It had been less than a minute since he'd smashed the seal!
No! He would not accept this!
"Has the Archon arrived?"
Xiao, too, sensed that familiar pressure. He looked to the sky, joy lighting his face.
Back at the Jade Chamber, because of the elemental power Ken had displayed, which felt very familiar to him, he had suspected the Archon might not truly have passed.
He hadn't expected the Archon to still be in the world.
Xiao was overjoyed. With the Archon here, surely Azhdaha could be stopped from seeing the light of day again.
"Xiao."
Zhongli's voice came from high above.
Xiao vanished from where he stood and in an instant appeared in the sky, dropping to one knee before Zhongli's figure: "Xiao, at your summons."
Though the Archon now wore Zhongli's appearance, the unmasked pressure was proof enough of his identity.
"Let us handle it."
Looking at his former yaksha guardian, Zhongli spoke softly.
Xiao bowed again and then stood properly behind Zhongli, casting his gaze toward Ken.
At first he had suspected Ken might be the Archon. Now it seemed Ken was not the Archon, but had a good relationship with him.
…
High in the air—
Ken and Zhongli looked down at the violently shaking Nantianmen. The three figures descended from the sky and landed steadily above the Dragon-Queller.
Which is to say… above Azhdaha's butt.
A powerful sense of danger and humiliation made Azhdaha freeze for a split second.
Then, even greater fury.
"Morax! Get out! Morax, get out!"
Worn down by erosion, Azhdaha had long since lost his reason.
A storm of rage surged up from the lightless abyss. The vast sound waves, laced with violent elemental power, set the winds and clouds roiling overhead.
The clear blue sky vanished, replaced by thunder and lightning.
To the unknowing, it would look like the Raiden Shogun had arrived.
"Azhdaha…"
Unlike with Osial—who was always an enemy and thus only earned a harder beating when cursing—Zhongli felt guilty about Azhdaha.
A former companion in war, now twisted by erosion into this state—Zhongli felt wretched. In those dark-gold eyes flickered sorrow and regret.
If he could, he wished to help Azhdaha heal the torment of erosion.
But the erosion decreed by the Heavenly Principles spared not even the Seven Archons.
He himself could not escape its fate, let alone help Azhdaha.
The only reason he'd come to the Nantianmen today was Ken's invitation.
Ken said he had developed a potion that might restore a mind tormented by erosion and call back lost memories—he wanted to try it on Azhdaha.
After a brief hesitation, Zhongli agreed.
Azhdaha's lifespan was as long as mountains and seas; if the mind-restoring potion worked, it would be salvation. If not, given Azhdaha's essence, it would not cause too much harm. The worst outcome wouldn't be any worse than now.
So why not try?
He just hadn't expected that, on arriving at the Nantianmen, he'd come upon Azhdaha's breakout.
Fortunately, he was in time. With Liyue's current strength, there was no way to deal with a Azhdaha who had lost his reason.
Zhongli glanced at Ken. "Let's begin."
If the potion failed, he and Ken would reseal Azhdaha.
If it worked, all would be well.
"Mm."
Ken took out the mind-restoring potion from his storage.
The blue potion wasn't much—only the size of a thumb. Compared to Azhdaha's massive body, it was like an ant.
Zhongli felt a bit concerned.
Not that he distrusted Ken, but such a dose, for Azhdaha, was like a tiny ant… Would it really work?
"Splash—"
Ken twisted off the cap and tilted the bottle toward the opening beneath the Dragon-Queller.
The potion only needed to touch the target's body.
The Dragon-Queller was Azhdaha's tail, which meant below was Azhdaha's butt. As for that hole…
"Hm? So much?"
To Zhongli's surprise, although the glass vial looked no larger than a thumb, once poured its contents flowed like rivers and seas, unendingly into Azhdaha's butt.
"Mm, the bottle is just small," Ken explained.
Immortals tormented by erosion could assume human forms, but that didn't mean their true forms were human-sized.
So the potion quantity wasn't small.
But as the potion flowed into Azhdaha's butt, after a brief stupefaction below, Azhdaha exploded with rage.
"Morax! Shameless! What are you pouring into my butt?!"
"Morax, are you sick?!"
His rolling roars echoed on and on.
The Dragon King Azhdaha was livid. When he sensed Morax approaching, he knew things were bad—he might be resealed today.
In terms of raw strength, he did not fear Morax.
But Morax was cunning and insidious!
Still, Azhdaha never imagined that instead of striking at once, Morax would be pouring some kind of liquid into his butt.
If it were any ordinary liquid, Azhdaha's massive body wouldn't have noticed at all.
But now he could clearly feel a cool liquid pouring through his butt, sometimes icy, sometimes warm.
It drove him insane with rage.
After thousands of years, Morax had developed such a kink? Taking advantage of Azhdaha tearing free from the Dragon-Queller to do this to his butt!
"What is this… What are you doing to my butt?!"
"Morax… damn you!"
The more he thought of his butt being defiled, the more Azhdaha nearly burst with fury.
A man may be killed but not humiliated.
Even if he were to be beaten back into the lightless depths today, he would not let his butt be so defiled.
Wild power surged upward, ravaging and collapsing the surrounding mountains. If not for his tail being joined to the Dragon-Queller, he would have flown up already to fight Morax to the death.
Ken and Zhongli stood firm, their expressions different.
Zhongli's mouth twitched endlessly. He hadn't expected Ken to choose to pour the potion into Azhdaha's butt, nor that Azhdaha would suspect him of doing something filthy.
The dignified Geo Archon—would he do such things to his own vassal?
Zhongli felt insulted.
Even the ever-calm, expressionless Xiao's mouth was twitching… Azhdaha, are you okay? You can actually say things like that.
As for Mr. Ken—unconventional indeed… Whatever this potion does, you could have chosen another method. Pouring it into Azhdaha's butt—no wonder he's losing his mind.
A man's rear is his dignity.
"Why don't you take a leak in there too, to live up to the reputation?" Ken suggested lightly.
Zhongli: "..."
Enough!
Ken was having the time of his life watching the spectacle.
Fortunately there were no outsiders here—just Ken and Xiao—or Zhongli would have had nowhere to put his old face.
"Piss? How dare you overstep!!"
"Morax! You brought an insect here to take a piss—damn you!!"
"Morax!!"
The Dragon King Azhdaha went berserk. Ken's words completely broke him.
A moment ago, in his rage, Azhdaha had been wondering what the liquid was. Hearing Ken's offhand remark, in his deranged state he truly believed it was urine.
At first, Azhdaha had ignored Ken entirely, focusing all his attention on the one he "thought of day and night"—Morax.
Only now did he realize there were others with Morax.
All the more hateful—Morax had actually brought another person to piss on his butt.
Such humiliation must never be forgotten as long as the world endures!
"AAAAAAA—"
With a mighty heave, Azhdaha finally tore his tail free from the Dragon-Queller, roaring as he rose from the abyss.
But just then, that cool sensation at his rear spread up through his massive body to his head.
Morax's piss… that much?
Rage flared for an instant, but under that cool feeling, Azhdaha's fury was subtly soothed. His previously unstable mind gradually steadied.
Countless memories, like shattered fragments, came roaring back in an instant—