Deep within the abandoned mine, a vast natural grotto stretched open before them—its walls glimmering with rare ores untouched for ages.
And there, coiled in its heart, was the legendary Primo Geovishap long believed lost to history.
Moments ago, it had been sleeping. But the arrival of Futsu Mitama and his companions roused the ancient beast from its centuries-long slumber.
Its eyes snapped open.
A thunderous roar erupted.
"ROAR—!!!"
The cavern trembled under the deafening bellow of the awakened earth dragon. The shockwave alone made Kuki Shinobu's expression tighten, while Aila's face paled.
A monster like this—its sheer presence was incomparable to anything they had faced.
And its size…far exceeded expectations. Yae Miko and Raiden Makoto had warned them, but witnessing it in person defied imagination.
To Azhdaha, this might have been a small lizard.
To them, it was a calamity given form.
"It's coming!"
A flicker of Electro lit Futsu Mitama's eyes. Seizing both Kuki Shinobu and Aila by their collars, he moved—Chakra Desiderata flashing.
In the next instant, all three vanished from the spot.
A booming crash followed as the Primo Geovishap slammed into the ground, pulverizing the entrance they had entered through. For its massive frame, it moved with startling speed—no trace of clumsiness at all.
"This thing…really is hostile to humans," Futsu Mitama said as they landed a short distance away. His gaze locked on the mountainous beast before them. Its earlier attacks on the surroundings suddenly made sense. Those hatchlings, those lesser Vishaps—likely its commands.
"Roar…"
The Primo Geovishap let out another guttural call—unintelligible, but unmistakably filled with intent. It pivoted and raised a colossal arm, bringing its claws crashing down.
"Clang—!!"
Aila shot forward. In one fluid motion, she drew her tachi, the Hydro Vision at her hair ornament glowing faintly.
Hydro welled across the blade.
Her slash painted the air with a sweeping arc of ocean blue.
"Haah!"
Her voice was soft, yet resolute. The brilliant Hydro slash struck the Geovishap's claw head-on. The monster's movement paused for a heartbeat—but the blow wasn't enough. Its massive arm continued its descent.
"Move!"
All three dodged, scattering away as the claw smashed into the ground, carving an enormous crater into the grotto floor.
"So tough…" Aila murmured. She glanced at her tachi—she had used sixty percent of her strength in that test strike, yet it only managed to slow the beast, not pierce it.
I'm still…not enough again?
The thought stung.
Though Aila always appeared calm, she had her own quiet pride. Even if she couldn't defeat the enemy, she had to contribute. Otherwise—she was failing in her duty. After all, the perfect maid could not allow her master to face danger alone.
'Should I use the new technique…?'
Before she could decide, Kuki Shinobu moved.
She sprinted up the Primo Geovishap's body with electrifying speed and reached its head.
"Quiet down!"
Drawing power from her Delusion, she unsheathed her tachi—Electro crackling along its edge.
"Boom—!!"
A column of purple lightning tore down from the cavern ceiling, slamming into the Primo Geovishap. Compared to Aila's earlier strike, Shinobu's lightning dealt noticeable damage. The monster roared again—whether in pain or rage was unclear—and slapped its own head. Shinobu leapt away, Electro crackling at her blade's tip.
"It's really tough…far tougher than any hatchling or lesser Vishap." Even Shinobu felt the pressure. No wonder, according to legend, Millelith alone couldn't defeat a Primo Geovishap—they needed The Adeptus.
Aila landed beside her.
"Shinobu—use Electro. I'll use Hydro. Let's try an elemental reaction."
She had seen how effective Shinobu's strike was. Perhaps her Hydro simply lacked destructive force alone. Together…she might break through.
"Got it," Shinobu answered, already preparing talismans.
Aila steadied her breathing. She rested her hand on her tachi's hilt.
It was time.
The move she had been developing ever since realizing her weakness. The technique inspired by Raiden Ei's martial mastery—skill refined to its utmost limit.
The technique Beidou herself praised.
The technique she called—
Mirrors Reflection of Tranquility.
"Ding—"
A ripple like a drop falling into water echoed. The world in Aila's eyes shifted.
She stood upon a boundless sea—serene, silent, infinite. Her mind was calm, her thoughts perfectly still. In this state, every strike she delivered would reach its theoretical peak. Aila could only maintain it for three slashes.
But even so—three slashes were enough to carve open the impossible.
"Ready?"
Shinobu lifted her talisman, forming a hand seal.
"…Ready." Aila's tone was tranquil, almost ethereal.
Shinobu infused the talisman with Electro. With a thunderous crack, the paper adhered to Aila's blade.
Hydro, Electro, and Cryo now coiled upon the tachi's edge—held stable only by Aila's perfect control within the Mirrors Reflection of Tranquility.
The group chat erupted:
[Raiden Makoto: "She's advanced this much already?"]
[Azhdaha: "A human girl wielding three elements on a single blade… fascinating."]
[Zhongli: "This talent borders on Adeptus and its Disciple."]
[Yae Miko: "Ahh~ Shinobu's talismans aren't getting enough credit~"]
And the topic derailed, as usual.
But Aila paid them no mind. Her focus was absolute.
The Primo Geovishap, sensing danger, gathered Hydro within its maw—scales glowing blue.
Primo Geovishap's Roar! Hydro breath surged toward them.
Aila did not move.
Because Futsu Mitama stepped in front of her. Musou Isshin gleamed with fierce Electo.
"Baleful Omen!"
A vast Electro eye tore open in space, swallowing the Hydro breath whole and spitting it out far across the grotto—exploding against the stone wall.
It looked effortless.
It was not.
Futsu Mitama exhaled sharply. "Haa…harder than it looks."
The Geovishap growled again, charging its next breath. But Aila's blade finished charging.
"Bang—!!"
She leapt.
"Clang—!!"
The slash she released illuminated the entire cavern—Hydro, Electro, Cryo weaving together into a single devastating arc. The Geovishap fired its breath—but Aila's strike cleaved through it like fragile mist.
The slash tore into the Primo Geovishap's chest.
"BOOM—!!"
Scales shattered. Blood misted the air.
Kuki Shinobu quickly gathered the fallen scales and quietly sent them to Kokomi via gift function.
The Primo Geovishap's roar shook the cavern.
Enraged, it dove into the ground like water—vanishing below.
Aila inhaled softly.
"One slash…two remaining."
Her heartbeat was rising. Her thoughts remained tranquil, yet she knew her limit was approaching.
She needed to make the next slash hit its mark.
Meanwhile Futsu Mitama prepared, predicting the Geovishap's next target.
It lunged from underground—right where Kuki Shinobu stood.
"Lightning Strike!" Shinobu retaliated, but her lightning barely slowed it.
Futsu Mitama appeared instantly, carrying her away as Musou Isshin released another Electro slash—dispersed by the Geovishap's claw.
Its patience snapped. The constant teleporting was driving it mad. And in that moment—
"Opening."
Aila moved again.
A second slash—Hydro and Electro entwined—sliced toward the beast's exposed underside.
The Geovishap twisted mid-air, defending itself with Hydro energy.
It no longer underestimated her. But it had forgotten one thing.
"What are you looking at?"
Futsu Mitama appeared behind it—Musou Isshin raised high.
"Even if this technique is only a prototype…it's enough for you."
Purple lightning surged.
He prepared to strike.
The Chakra Desiderata behind him flared, releasing a brilliance of violet lightning that carved harsh silhouettes across the cavern walls. A pressure—vast, oppressive, and unmistakably divine—rolled out from Futsu Mitama like a silent storm front. Even the stone beneath their feet trembled.
This moment was their opening.
The Primo Geovishapwas airborne. Futsu Mitama was positioned above. Aila stood grounded below, her charge reaching its final peak.
Their attacks aligned—three vectors converging into a single instant when the Primo Geovishap could not possibly defend against all of them.
Futsu Mitama's earlier "reminder" had been intentional. After invoking the Electro Archon's authority, even a creature as primitive as a Geovishap would realize the truth: a god's aura stood before him.
Would he panic and flee?
If their combined assault failed to bring him down…then they would be the ones forced to flee instead.
"RROOOOAARRR!!"
Sensing doom, the Primo Geovishap bellowed and flicked his gaze between sky and earth. The aura gathering below grew increasingly volatile. The threat above only intensified.
A fatal hesitation.
Then—instinct overcame thought. The Primo Geovishap abruptly lunged toward the ground—toward the threat he deemed weaker—because in that very instant, the Raiden Shogun's Authority surged through Futsu Mitama technique.
Dark clouds gathered aboveground in response, coiling in the sky like an omen. Distant thunder rumbled as if acknowledging the descent of a familiar power.
Outside the cave, Xiangling and the Millelith halted mid-stride as the heavens dimmed.
"Eh? The sky…why did it suddenly turn dark…?"
"Lulu!!" Guoba's cry rang out, carrying a strange familiarity.
Across Liyue, Adepti lifted their gazes.
At Mt. Aocang, a red-stringed woman paused. "Master, something is happening near South Gate. Should we intervene?"
"Leave it be," Cloud Retainer replied evenly. "Such changes stem from the Electro Archon's authority. No threat to Liyue."
Elsewhere, a short Adeptus holding a green spear narrowed his eyes. "A retainer of the Raiden Shogun?"
In Liyue Harbor, Madame Ping merely smiled into her teacup. "Using divine authority so openly… such an impatient child."
Whether the "old folks" were watching or not mattered little.
Deep within the cavern—Futsu Mitama moved.
Memories flashed through him. Countless duels against the Raiden Shogun, countless defeats, countless lessons carved into body and soul. Every night he had willingly sought them out—a masochistic disciple chasing a god's shadow.
Through pain, he had grasped a fragment of her most feared technique:
Musou no Hitachi. A strike without hesitation. A blade with no thought or intent—only inevitability.
He whispered to himself.
"No thoughts… no intentions… one strike to sever all."
The Primo Geovishap lunged toward Aila. Futsu Mitama struck. For a heartbeat, the world drowned in violet. The cavern lost its color as a blade of pure lightning carved reality apart. The Primo Geovishap's Hydro-hardened scales withstood the first instant— and then shattered explosively.
"GRRRAAAAH!!"
A roar of agony filled the chamber. Fear—true and primal—finally surged within the beast.
No mortal could withstand the judgment of a god. Even if the power came from the Electro Archon rather than Morax, divinity was divinity.
The thunderclap vanished as quickly as it came, leaving the Geovishap reeling.
"Flash!"
Seizing the opening, Aila pressed the cracked pocket watch at her waist.
The world folded.
She disappeared—then reappeared overhead in a streak of light, tachi already descending toward the exposed flesh where scales had been blown apart.
Futsu Mitama had already broken the armor. Aila simply needed to finish the job.
Her blade, radiating intertwined Electro and Hydro, carved downward.
"Shhk—!!"
A spray of blood arced across the cavern.
"ROOOAAARRR!!!!"
The Geovishap shrieked, collapsing. Instinct overrode pain—like a wounded fish diving for refuge, the beast plunged into the earth itself, tunneling deep into the stone until not even its shadow remained. Only silence—and the dripping of blood—remained.
"Well then." Kuki Shinobu crouched immediately, collecting the scattered droplets and broken shards. "Dragon blood isn't something we can just leave lying around."
Aila landed heavily, face pale but posture ready, wary of a counterattack.
The ground rumbled.
"Let's go." Futsu Mitama descended, lifting a severed chunk of Geovishap flesh. "The cave won't hold. He's too large—any movement from him might collapse the entire place."
"Gather what you can. I'll handle the exit."
They moved quickly. Minerals were crushed everywhere—victims of the Geovishap's earlier thrashing—but even shattered ore had value. Once the last of the salvageable pieces were gathered—
Futsu Mitama raised the Chakra Desiderata.
Space distorted. A violet gate tore open, humming with divine power.
"Let's move."
With Aila and Shinobu at his side, he stepped through—leaving the collapsing cavern to crumble behind them in thunderous ruin.
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