Genshin Impact: Awakening in the Darkness

"My lord, Ausel and the others have given their orders, and the plan can begin soon," Jin Yu said respectfully to the dragon hidden in the shadows.

"Alright, as allies, we should also give them a big gift."

—Liyue—

Many years have passed since the incident at Guyun Pavilion, but Morax still often sighs by the window. The immortals try their best to distract him, but to no avail.

"Heavenly Lord, if the other demon gods find out about the Emperor's behavior, wouldn't..." Ping'er whispered in Xuan Yue's ear.

"That's not the case. The war between demons and gods is coming to an end. There aren't many demons with that ability. Look at me."

"You? Heavenly Lord, have you forgotten that you are still a demon god who has been around for less than 200 years?" Ping'er said dismissively.

"So what? At least I can attack and defend, fight and heal, I have a full range of skills." Xuan Yue was a little proud. Although his combat power was far inferior to Xuan Qing's, he was still a top-tier existence among the demon gods.

"Oh, you're getting all proud of yourself." Gui Zhong joined their conversation, saying, "In the last battle, if the Emperor hadn't stopped you in time, you would have been fighting on someone else's territory. You couldn't even kill a snake, hehehe~" As he said this, the timeline shifted back to a battle 20 years ago, when the Demon God Aurobas attacked Liyue and clashed with the Xuan Yue forces at the time. Xuan Yue personally joined the fray and fought with him.

Knowing he was outmatched, Orobas tried to flee, but was relentlessly pursued by Xuan Yue, even reaching Inazuma's territory. He nearly clashed with the local guardian demon, but Morax arrived in time to pull Xuan Yue back, resolving the situation.

"Still laughing at me? So many years have passed. Besides, those who offend Liyue will be punished no matter how far away they are. Even if he escapes to Inazuma, he cannot escape his sins!" Xuan Yue was still very angry when he talked about this. That snake was too slippery. Every time it tried to strike him, he could dodge it. If Xuan Qing hadn't been there and the spatial restriction hadn't been ineffective, he could have killed that snake on the spot, and he wouldn't have been laughed at for so long.

"Alright, alright, Gui Zhong, you know our Heavenly Lord is easily embarrassed~" Ping'er laughed, while Xuan Yue could only sigh helplessly, sitting to the side drinking tea, feeling utterly dejected...

"Alright, you still have time to spare? The later the battle goes, the more dangerous it becomes. Pay attention!" Liu Yun sighed, holding the report. Xiao Ganyu was also diligently organizing and classifying the documents.

"Alright, alright, I'll go check on the front lines. Oser has been unusually quiet lately; I have a feeling something bad is going to happen." Xuan Yue put down her teacup and left Mount Aozang.

"He's gone," Li Shui said to the Emperor.

"Yes, I understand." Morax sighed heavily. Recently, Xuan Yue had started some nonsensical actions, which he had investigated and vaguely sensed were related to the sky.

"This body is a witness to the times, a chronicler, and also a transgressor." That's what Xuan Yue said that day. Morax had been burdened with worries all these years, not only because of the death of his friend, but also because of a sense of impending disaster, which forced him to make extra preparations.

Xuan Yue gazed at the sea, where many fishermen risked their lives to salvage the waters, for the ocean was Ausel's territory.

"It's coming soon, very soon. Order will be reshuffled, the borders of another world will open, the war will end, and the era of the wicked will come to an end..."

—Deep in the Ocean—

"Darling, is it really necessary?" Ba Che asked, wrapped around Osel. "If so, those humans will be in big trouble, hahahahaha."

“My dear, you’re so smart. You understand me best. If the people of Liyue are afflicted with illness and it spreads indefinitely, even Morax would probably be helpless.”

"Darling, you're so mean, but I like it." Puller tapped Ausel's head, expressing his affection.

"Me too, baby~"

The fishermen knew all too well what they had done.

"Dad, what's wrong... Mom..." The little girl looked at her father on the bed with concern. Her mother was also pale and coughing incessantly. The filial little girl immediately went to find the uncles and elders in the neighborhood. To her shock, almost all of the dozens of adults had contracted an unknown illness.

"Woo woo... Mom..."

"Daddy... Waaah, Ruru is scared..."

The cries of the children around him startled Jodo, who was resting with his eyes closed. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately went back and told Morax.

"This matter is not simple. So far, all the accidents have been involving fishermen, so it must be related to Ausel."

"what to do."

"I just communicated with Gui Zhong and asked the doctors in the city to come and treat him. I should have an answer soon."

Before the two could finish speaking, the next second—

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!" Minghai flapped his wings and cried out in a panic, "All the doctors who went to provide assistance have also fallen ill! Many people have already died, and preliminary evidence suggests that the disease is contagious. Your Majesty, please give instructions."

"Isolate them immediately! Separate the sick from the rest of the population to stop the spread of the disease! Have Liu Yun, Gui Zhong, and Mark Hughes develop a treatment for the disease, and notify Ruoyavis to find the source of the disease immediately!" Morax's expression became solemn.

"Yes!"

"I am coming too!"

"Wait!" Morax stopped Jota. "There's something important I need you to do."

"What."

“Keep an eye on Chi. Oser is allied with him; he won't stand idly by. I'm afraid he'll do something behind the scenes, and…” Morax whispered to Jothu, drawing her close.

"How did you..."

"I don't know either. I've been experiencing frequent heart palpitations lately, and I have a feeling that something big is about to happen, so I have to be careful."

“Alright, leave it to me.” Jodo solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute to Morax before leaving.

—Xuan Yue's Perspective—

"Hmm?" Xuan Yue looked at the rising and falling of the sea and said as if she had a feeling, "The fish is about to take the bait."

"Your Majesty!" Minghai shouted from the air, "An unknown illness has appeared on the beach. The Emperor has ordered you to go and investigate the cause of the illness."

“Okay.” Xuan Yue didn’t hesitate for a moment, changed into her divine armor, and headed to the place where the disease was rampant.

When the plague struck, suffering and misery ensued, making life worse than death. The cries of children, the helplessness of adults, the pain of humanity, and the ruthlessness of God.

This is Xuan Yue's current mood and thoughts.

"Ugh!" As soon as Xuan Yue had this thought, a wave of pain surged in her heart, and she felt that Xuan Qing had the same thought.

"Hehe...really, cold-faced but soft-hearted, you rascal." Xuan Yue muttered to herself softly, looking around at the utterly quiet surroundings, a quietness that sent shivers down one's spine.

"The important matter comes first." Xuan Yue stretched out her hand, and clusters of silvery-white orbs fell to the ground. "Time—Rewind."

In an instant, the world shifted between yin and yang, and time seemed to be rewinding wildly, constantly changing, until a voice rang out.

"Violator." A phantom of [Time] (?) appeared behind him: "You have entered my dimension."

"Oh? I only went back in time to check the authenticity; I didn't change the original ending. That's also against the rules." It seemed like a question, but the words carried an undeniable skepticism.

"Don't rush to refute, you can look around." [Time] (?) wasn't angry, still patiently reminding her, knowing that none of this was Xuan Yue's doing.

The person looked around in confusion. The flowers, plants and trees seemed to be forbidden, and although the color scheme was black and white, it felt strangely familiar.

"This isn't Liyue, it's..."

"For you, this should be the former Dragon's Rest Valley. You didn't come here in a physical form; you bear the mark of 'Order,' so I can be certain you come from the future. This is not your dimension," explained 'Time' (Past) without a flicker of emotion.

"Since you are 'Time', how can I go back?"

"I don't know." The past remained completely unmoved. "To you, I am the past, not the future. Every little thing here could lead to a different future, so I can't send you to the corresponding point in time. Perhaps, I need the coordinates of that future time to help you."

"So, I won't be able to get out anytime soon."

"Yes."

Xuan Yue remained silent, then sighed and resignedly accepted that he was trapped in this static space-time dimension.

"We really got tricked. I never expected them to have such methods. Morax, it's up to you now." Xuan Yue muttered to herself with her eyes closed.

[Time] (Past) Somewhat puzzled: "Aren't you in a hurry?"

"I'm in a hurry. So many people in Liyue are in danger, but I'm trapped here. There's no use in being anxious."

(That seems to make sense, but why does it still feel off?) [Time] (Past) I still don't quite understand.

—At this moment, Liyue was in complete chaos—

"What on earth is going on!" Morax was unusually furious. On the bed in front of him lay Xuan Yue's body, her eyes closed as if she were asleep, but there was no spiritual fluctuation in her body. To a demon god, this was a sign of death.

“This…we don’t know either. Mark Hughes and I were gathering herbs when we saw Xuan Yue lying in the middle of the road. We…” Gui Zhong was already sobbing uncontrollably and couldn’t finish the sentence.

“We went to investigate and found this is what happened to Joavis. Neither Xuanqing nor Xuanyue’s souls were there, but their bodies were still there. My intuition told me that something was amiss, so I brought him back.” Mark Hughes’ words improved the expressions of the immortals and gods considerably, but Morax’s brows remained furrowed.

“If what you say is true, we will be attacked from both sides, and the situation in Liyue is probably not optimistic.” Morax led the immortals to the model sand map on the side and said, “If Yavis’s position is close to Chi, and now that Xuan Yue and Xuan Qing are in trouble, Chi will definitely take action. Ruo Tuo is guarding Liyue, and I am confronting Osel. The immortals and Yakshas on Chi’s side can hold out for a while, but I’m afraid they won’t be able to hold out until our reinforcements arrive. The plague is spreading, and we also need manpower.”

“If we send Ruoda, the enemy might take advantage of the situation. But if we withdraw him from the human side, the epidemic will become even more serious.”

“Morax, okay,” Mark Hughes said.

"What? Wait!" Xiaoyue was still in shock.

"I have some ideas about the human plague. I am enough as a god. Let Gui Zhong and the others go to the northern front to provide support. At least that will stop you from going to provide support."

"Mark Hughes, how confident are you?" Morax asked seriously.

"At least eight out of ten. People call me the God of the Stove. I protect not just five meters of smoke from cooking fires, but the lights of every household. Therefore, Your Majesty, I, the Demon God of the Stove, volunteer for battle. I alone can handle this plague. Those who break their promises will be punished." This was the first time Mark Hughes addressed Morax as Your Majesty, and it was also his act of volunteering for the people. This heroic deed was still praised a thousand years later.

"Alright, then Liu Yun, Li Shui, and Xiao Yue will stay with me to guard the sea. Ruo Tuo will remain unchanged, Gui Zhong, Ming Hai, and Yi Xiao will join the other Yakshas to defend the northern front to the death!"

"Yes!"

Amidst the smoke and flames of war, in Liu Yun's words, this battle was one of the most brutal in Liyue's history...