One-Shot
~
Genshin Impact: Guizhong and Zhongli
Morax fought long that day, lasting longer than his usual fights.
The sun was setting in the dusk sky, and the mountains cast a shadow over the plane.
The bloody bodies of the Onis’ who came from the land beyond the sea laid around Morax as he swung his rocky-golden club at the head of their leader, an Oni God who was fighting for a throne in Celestia just like himself.
His club shattered the Oni's horns first before it destroyed its head, after which Morax crossed his arms momentarily. That motion formed a shield around him and defended against the great flood of divinity the Oni God's death caused.
Morax, with his shield active, kicked the ground and escaped from that region since it would be chaotic for the next few days. After reaching a calm area close to his home, in a field filled with bloomed Glaze Lilies, Morax huffed while raising his head to look at the flying island in the far sky.
After catching his breath, he scoffed as he recalled the enemies he just fought.
"Weak bastard. He shouldn't have fought for the Archon Throne with his pathetic strength."
Morax spoke, his vowels a bit softer than what the people of this region are used to. That's because he only recently started learning the human tongue after hearing a rumour that this language was used vastly in Celestia too.
Celestia, that island flying in the sky.
A few years ago, it appeared in the sky, attracting many Gods and mortals alike. The ones who could fly went there and some were welcomed inside, while some simply couldn't pass that invisible barrier surrounding the land. Some tried to attack the barrier, but they met their end right then and there.
A while ago, beings came down from that flying island for the first time, beings 3who were far stronger than the strongest Gods Morax was familiar with.
Some fools tried to test their strength against those alien beings, which cost them their lives. The outlanders demonstrated their alien powers and quickly established the fact that they were the strongest.
Soon an issue was launched from them. Seven Thrones were opened in Celestia for anyone to take, and taking the throne will allow a God’s powers to reach beyond their own elements, and also allow them control over a large part of the world.
There were many criteria to get one of the seven thrones, but hot-blooded individuals such as Morax didn’t care about such criteria and were already fighting wars with the idea of ruling the world after gaining more power. So, in less than a week, a never-ending war started all across the continent of Teyvat.
It's already been a few years since then.
—**—
After roaming around a bit more, Morax picked a wild deer and brought it back to his camp, a cave, where he cooked it without even cutting or cleaning it.
In this cave he lived alone, such was the life of a dragon.
Only recently did he take this human form after getting injured by the current Dragon Sovereign, who only let him off because Morax gave him the ambition of a young dragon with a long future ahead.
But Morax didn't buy it.
That was humiliating. By letting him live even after he was defeated, that was clearly the Dragon Sovereign's way of humiliating Morax. He didn't like that at all.
So Morax was planning to attack him again, though first, he needed to heal his wounds. Dragons have great regenerative capability, but wounds from another dragon are harder to heal, more so a wound from a Dragon Sovereign. Morax's outer wounds were mostly healed, but he was still hurt badly internally.
Morax was chewing on deer meat, the scent was rusty and bad, but he hadn't tasted any meat better than this in his life, so he didn't react weirdly. Though he did sense something odd somewhere.
Beside Morax's golden horns, his ears twitched as he caught sound coming from somewhere close by. By focusing on it, he could hear two feminine voices…
"Hey, I don't think it's a good idea…"
"Oh, come on! It's a cave, and there's meat being cooked. It can't be a monster."
"But… what if-"
"Look, if we don't eat anything we will die! We have to go in there and beg for food."
Morax's chewing slowed down, his eyes narrowing.
'Who dares greed after my food.'
Morax slowly rose, grabbing his golden club from beside him, as he approached the entrance of the cave.
He saw two silhouettes approaching the entrance too, and when their eyes fell on the approaching Morax, their faces went pale.
"I-I said it's a bad idea…"
The girl on the left said, stepping back.
"H-how was I supposed to know?"
The other girl also stepped back.
Seeing Morax walk slowly, the two girls cried out and turned around to run outside the cave. Seeing they were out of the cave, running on the glaze lily field that was fully bloomed under the moonlight Morax finally moved, knowing his home wouldn't get unnecessarily bloody.
He kicked the ground and disappeared from his spot before reappearing in front of the two girls with his club raised.
He didn't even bat an eye seeing the two girls' wide and horrified eyes. But before his club could hit the girls and shatter the girls' heads into paste… an elegant woman appeared between him and the girls.
She had a golden talisman in her hand, and she raised her hand in a fast motion to come and press the talisman on Morax's weapon. Upon contact, the talisman burst into light particles, and the club turned into dust particles.
Morax's eyes looked surprised as he jumped back from this unknown threat.
"It's our lady!" The two girls from behind yelled in relief from behind the woman, seeing which Morax frowned
"Grr, who are you?" He growled like a beast, flashing his teeth.
The lady covered her mouth with her sleeves, her other hand holding a fan, and cleared her throat. "Erhm, hello there gentleman. I am the ruler of the Guili Planes, Guizhong–the Lord of Dust." She moved her sleeves to reveal a smile. "I am terribly sorry if my people have offended you. I will make it up to you, so please forgive them."
Morax raised his guard and narrowed his eyes at the woman. Ruler of Guili Planes… and she was also a God. Weak Gods rarely had regions under them, meaning there’s a high chance that she’s pretty strong. After all, she did turn his weapon into dust particles.
Morax was internally injured and since this God was not only strong enough to block his attack but also cause his weapon to become dust, she wasn't a nobody. He needed to be careful in their fight-
"Gentleman." The woman interrupted his thoughts, looking into his eyes. "I am not here to fight, please lower your killing intent, these two behind me would die otherwise."
Morax's eyes flinched at her words as he looked at the two girls shaking greatly behind the woman who introduced herself as Guizhong.
He scoffed in disdain. "Why do you protect humans? That's pathetic."
"Oh my," The woman covered her mouth again, shaking her head. "Looks like I was mistaken… You're no gentleman, you're a brute. A barbarian."
At that, Morax's lips twitched in anger. "Are you disrespecting this Dragon God?"
At his words, the woman's eyes locked on his longhorns coloured with a scheme of gold and black. "Indeed, you're a dragon. Is that why you hate humans? Because you're a stronger species?"
"Of course-"
Morax couldn't finish his words as the woman walked from her spot, she walked slowly and didn't radiate any danger, so Morax was caught off guard when she appeared in front of him, and with the fan in her hand… She softly hit him on the head.
"Barbaric."
"..."
"Come with me, alright? I will teach you… the beauty of humans."
—**—
“Since we disturbed you during your mealtime, please eat your fill.”
Guizhong said, smiling softly as she pointed her hand fan at the food server in front of Morax.
Morax looked at the food with a weird expression.
‘Why did I even come here…’
After the woman hit him in the head, Morax was about to throw a mountain at her. But she softly apologised and promised him good food because apparently, the meat he was eating was the worst thing she ever smelled.
He reluctantly accepted her invitation, since he was quite interested in human civilization. What’s so special about humans that a majority in Celestia used their language?
‘But look at this so-called food.’
Morax had scorn on his face as he looked at the plates of food in front of him.
‘All shiny and good smelling… But does taste really matter?’
Morax, being an adepti, had stayed out of human civilization most of his life. The few times he came to see the outside world, humans didn’t seem interesting to him as barely any human reached divinity. So one reason he accepted Guizhong’s invitation was that he wanted to see what human civilization is about. But he should have expected this. Humans simply exaggerate useless things, like food for example. They make it all good smelling and tasty, but in the end, does it give any practical benefit?
"First, try this out. This will enhance the taste of the food you'll eat next," Guizhong said, pointing her fan at a glass of red wine. "This is Osmanthus Wine, my speciality actually."
'Specialty… well, she's a God, so I think this must be better than the other ones on the table.'
Slowly, he grabbed the glass of wine and took a sip just as his eyes went wide in a pleasant surprise.
"This is quite good."
He said once before savouring the excellent wine with no delay.
Guizhong giggled and inclined her head, telling him to try the other ones.
Morax was reluctant this time. The other foods were made by humans, after all. They wouldn't be that good, obviously.
Slowly, he grabbed the bowl that was filled with a few shrimps and a liquid called soup–something he never had before. He raised it to his face and poured the contents down his throat.
“Wait, it’s very hot!”
Guizhong yelled from the side, but Morax didn’t care. No, he couldn’t care less about a whiney woman when he was feeling this divine liquid in his tongue.
Morax gulped the liquid like a maniac, streams of soup trailing down from two corners of his lips, while he munched on the juicy and tender shrimps. Guizhong and the few servant humans around the room watched him with surprised eyes.
Morax finally finished drinking, putting the bowl down with a loud thud as he turned to Guizhong with his eyes shining. “More. Bring me more!”
Guizhong, seeing his reaction, covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “Oh my, what a barbarian. Ahh, you’re giving me a funny feeling. What’s your name, mister?”
Morax was about to yell to bring him more food, but seeing the smiling people around him… He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
Looking at Guizhong, he answered her question. “Morax, a Warrior God.”
Guizhong hid her surprise and nodded. ‘I expected him to be a God… but a Warrior God huh. I would probably be dead by now if I didn’t use my best talisman back then.’
From her observation, this Morax guy was an adepti just like her, but he seemed to have a traditional mindset–that humans are garbage. He was also more barbaric than the Adeptus she’s familiar with, so she couldn’t even predict what he’d do the next second.
‘Maybe it was a bad idea to bring him here… What if he hurts the people around.’ Guizhong contemplated in worry, though she maintained a smile on her face.
“Hey,” Morax spoke again, scratching the back of his head. “Can I have a bit more?”
Guizhong blinked at his question, and even though his expression was stony hard, she understood something.
‘He’s just an innocent little barbarian… Hmm, maybe I can turn him into a gentleman.’ Slowly, as the thought crossed her mind, Guizhong smiled with her eyes turning into crescent moons.
“Someone, bring a bit more Shrimp Soup please,” said Guizhong, and a servant left immediately. She then leaned over to point at a few other foods on the table. “While she is preparing it, why don’t you try these out? Trust me, they are as good as the Shrimp Soup, if not better.”
Morax, who was initially about to reject her offer, stopped upon hearing her last words. Slowly, he turned to the other foods on the table and couldn’t help but gulp his saliva.
Reluctantly, he reached out to the plate where dumplings–which were just pieces of dough wrapped around a gap to Morax–were served. He grabbed one piece and threw it inside his mouth.
Just like before, his eyes widened and he made no delay before eating each and every dough he had on him.
By the time Morax was finished eating, Guizhong almost regretted bringing him here again.
—**—
Guizhong finally went to rest in her room inside the massive palace that was built in the newly found Guili Planes.
She set a room for Morax too, not far from her own in case he caused a scene and she needed to go to him.
But, Guizhong couldn’t sleep even as she lay on the soft bed.
‘Using that talisman cost me quite some divinity… it’d take a while to heal myself off that.’ Morax’s club swing was enough to crush mountains into the ground and to stop such an attack of that calibre, she clearly had to spend some power. Meaning, if some hostile gods decided to attack now, the situation would be bad. ‘Haah, sometimes I just wish all this war never started. It’s because of that bloody island in the sky.’
A deep sigh left her lips as Guizhong finally closed her eyes, feeling the gentle curtain of the moonlight that fell from the window look after her like the embrace of a mother.
–Boom!
At one point in the night, Guizhong was startled awake from her sleep when a loud boom sounded out just beside the castle.
‘Is it Morax?!’
Guizhong was scared as she jumped out of the bed and went close to the window. She looked outside, trying to find the cause of the explosion.
It was… indeed Morax, but the way she was expecting him to be. He was attacking, he was defending the humans from the attackers.
Guizhong jumped out of the window and used her power to attract dust particles from the ground, which came flying to under her feet and allowed her the ability to fly.
Guili Plane was a small town filled with people. Guizhong created this town only recently and has been keeping it safe from attacks from other territory bosses until now. But from the looks of it, this time it would be hard to keep the place fully intact because five Gods were attacking at once.
A flying white tiger, a huge spider with a half-human body, an enormous white anaconda, a humanoid man with qilin horns, and finally a humanoid witch.
Guizhong was familiar with all of them and knew how strong each of them was. So she was more surprised seeing Morax handle all of them by himself. He wasn't exactly enjoying his time, but he wasn't being pushed back either.
Humans were hiding behind a half-transparent golden barrier he put around the area, while he stood in front of the barrier to stop the Gods.
"Morax!" Guizhong yelled, finally reaching close to the fight and jumping down beside Morax. "You should have informed me before coming out yourself!"
Morax, huffing, only scoffed. "But… you were… sleeping."
"..."
Guizhong was about to protest, but she held herself back, and instead looked at the Gods in front of her, they were also out of breath.
She looked at the shield protecting the humans. "Hah… Your shield is pretty weak, let me take over. Can you handle them by yourself, then?"
Morax, who was enraged hearing his shield was weak, nodded grumpily. He never needed to use a shield anyway, so he never focused to strengthen it because all fights ended in a few blows.
"Yes." Morax nodded, releasing the shield just as Guizhong clasped her hands which immediately formed a barrier of gold dust particles around the people.
Morax, rolling his stiff shoulders, used his power to summon a club from within the ground. He grabbed it and with a hap, he leapt at the enemies whose eyes widened in his sudden increase of power.
—**—
The fight ended with all the Gods fleeing with their limbs broken and their bodies bloody, but Morax was upset.
"Haah, that was a long night." Guizhong sighed, lying on the ground with her arms spread while dawn sunlight shone on her face.
"Tch," Morax grumbled, sitting beside her. "Why did you stop me from killing them?"
"Because the flood of divinity from their death would cause this town to get destroyed, duh." Guizhong said, sitting up. "You know, humans are fragile creatures and not like us Gods. They would have died because of that."
Morax simply stared at her face for a while before turning his gaze in the sky. "You really care for the humans."
"I do." Guizhong chuckled. "You also saw why, didn't you? The moment the enemies left, how they treated us. They are beings who would be gratified if you help them just a little."
Morax didn't reply.
Silence stretched in that area for a long time as Morax kept staring at the sky while Guizhong sat beside him.
"You know, Morax." She spoke, attracting Morax's attention. "Wanna make a promise?"
"What?"
"A promise," Guizhong said again. "You don't know what a promise is?"
Morax frowned. "O-of I do… I-it's food, right? I have eaten it before, yes."
"Pfft~" Guizhong burst into a peal of laughter, leaning over on Morax's shoulders who frowned but didn't protest. "It's a thing… Hm, by bookish definition it's a declaration or assurance that one will do something or that a particular thing will happen."
"Oh…" Morax seemed interested. "That's an interesting concept. Do people actually abide by this 'Promise' thing?"
"Well, not always. But one shouldn't break a promise."
"Why?" Morax was confused.
"Because…" Guizhong went ahead to explain the concept of promise, its pros and cons, why one shouldn't break a promise and what happens when one does break a promise. But…
"I still don't get it…" Morax scratched the back of his head. "This is annoying."
Guizhong looked at him dryly for a long time before her eyes lit up with an idea. "Ah, I know."
She clasped her hands, and following that motion, dust rose from the ground and rushed to her castle. The dust returned soon, but it wasn't alone. It brought a strange cubic thing on top of it.
Morax looked quite impressed at the shape of the object. It was a polymorphing stone dumbbell with interchanging cubical shapes that revealed endless transformations as though morphing in tune with the memories and secrets they held within.
The dust handed the object to Guizhong and dissociated into the air. Guizhong meddled with the object for a while, her tongue coming out of one corner of her mouth. She inserted energy into it, her divinity, while Morax watched from the side dumbfounded.
After a whole five minutes, she handed it to Morax. "Here, take it. This is the Memory of Dust."
She said as Morax accepted it. "What am I supposed to do with it?"
Guizhong smiled gently. "Well, try to open it. I have put some of my memories into it, it will help you understand what Promises are."
Morax, scratching his chin, tried to open the object but he couldn't do it even after half an hour.
"...Oh well." She sighed. "Looks like you have never seen such a puzzle before, eh? How cut are you from civilization exactly?"
Shrugging, she reached out her hand and touched the surface of the object just as more of her divinity entered it, in the form of memories.
"Considering that, I guess you'd need help understanding how humans work, too. How society works, how emotions work, and all that." Guizhong explained. "Keep trying to open it, as only the person who opens it can see the memories so I can't help. How long would it take anyway? Even if it takes a century, seeing those memories would still be faster than learning it manually for you, you brute."
"Hey! You're being disrespectful now!" Morax protested.
"Oh am I now?" Guizhong giggled. "Then I apologise. Let me treat you to some good food as an apology."
Morax acted as if he reluctantly agreed, but Guizhong easily saw through him and giggled mentally.
—**—
Days turned into months and months became years. It's been a few decades since the first meeting of Guizhong and Morax, and they have properly established the Guili Assembly. Now, it was a huge city where lots of humans lived.
Morax and Guizhong sat side by side on a long rock that came out of the rooftop of their castle.
"Guizhong, I still don't understand all these humans, you know," Morax spoke, silently staring at the starry night sky while Guizhong rested her head on his shoulders.
"Well, you never try to open my Memory of Dust anymore~ your fault. Guess you have to manually understand them over time." She said, smiling as she watched the moon. "Did you know that the moon is a dead body?"
"What?"
"It's nothing~ I am just hallucinating."
Morax eyed her suspiciously but she just giggled again.
"Morax," after a long time, Guizhong spoke. "Do you really want to join Celestia?"
"Why such an obvious question?" Morax asked in a curious tone.
"Well, I heard Celestia is issuing different kinds of orders to a few Gods, and people are saying the ones being picked to complete the orders are the ones who would have the most chances to become one of the Archons. But here you are, haven't been contacted by the Celestia at all~" Guizhong said. "I don't think you're strong enough."
"Are you questioning my strength?" Morax asked in an arrogant tone. "Come, let's fight and find out who's stronger."
"Hey, learn to take a joke or two, you brute."
Morax tried to protest… but his mouth was stolen for a kiss before he could say anything.
Morax stared with wide eyes, as Guizhong drew her face back and stared at him with a blush.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Not like this was our first…"
"Uh…" Morax came back from his daze, clearing his throat. "Well, nobody expects a kiss all of a sudden."
"What do you mean? This climate is quite romantic, though I guess you can't understand it~" She giggled. "Anyway, what do you want to eat for dinner?"
Morax was about to speak, but right then… the romantic surrounding changed. The night sky went bright as the clouds parted in two to reveal a single being hovering towards them.
Morax and Guizhong immediately jumped onto the solid floor of the roof, but they didn't prepare for battle. They knew the person coming wasn't here for a fight, and they knew that even if the person was here to fight, they wouldn't be able to do anything against the person.
Soon, the elegant blonde woman with white wings descended and floated just over the roof, radiating a bright golden light as she looked down at Morax with a soft, kind smile.
"Battle God Morax, we have a job for you."
—**—
A few days later, following the order of Celestia, Morax travelled outside Teyvat for the first time and got to see things that he had never seen before.
Teyvat is a continent, Morax knew that already. But he didn't know how huge the planet this continent was located in was. Certainly, he didn't get to see every corner of the world, but the parts he saw blew his mind away.
Luckily, Guizhong managed to teach him some manners so he didn't pick fights everywhere he went. After all, he would most certainly die if he was careless in this unknown land where people were far stronger than where he resided.
The job he was given was… a dirty one, by human standards. But by his standards, it wasn't anything bad. Though it did take him a long time, years even, to complete the job.
He also knew his value to Celestia had increased because of the completion of this job.
Finally, after 4 years, he got permission to return to his homeland, where Guizhong waited for him.
"Are you excited, Xiao?" Morax asked, flying through the clouds in his dragon form while the young Yaksha laughed cheerfully from on top of his head.
"Of course, I missed aunty Guizhong too. I can't wait to see her again!" Xiao laughed, musing with Morax's own laugh.
Xiao's real name is Alatus, but Morax and Guizhong like to call him Xiao and he didn't mind at all. After all, these two were almost like parents to him. Guizhong protested like a worried mother when Xiao wanted to accompany Morax on his journey, but luckily Morax decided to let him tag along.
Both of them chatted, discussing what they'll do after reaching home as they flew by the clouds for days.
After what felt like an eternity to them, they finally reached the sky of Guili Planes but… something was wrong.
"What's that, lord Morax?" Xiao asked softly from Morax's back, looking down on the Guili Planes where elemental energy was so dark that it was pitch black from even this height encircled around the area.
Morax narrowed his eyes, focusing his vision to zoom in and see just as his eyes went terribly wide.
"Xiao, Guizhong's in trouble!"
"What?!"
"You still have the Cleaning Bell on you, right?” Morax asked in an agitated voice.
The Cleansing Bell is a magic bell that was prepared specifically for adepti, by Guizhong herself. Its sound rings through the air and does not fade quickly, but most importantly it can be used to purify the mortal realm and help Adepti purify from corrupted energy too.
"We need it, that energy right there is the abyss we saw outside Teyvat!" Morax yelled again, causing Xiao's eyes to widen.
"A-abyss?! How did the abyss reach Teyvat?!"
"That's not important!" Morax roared, diving downwards. "If you have the bell, bring it out and hand it over to me when I reach the ground."
"Alright…!"
Xiao, grabbing hard on Morax's horns to not fall off, yelled in affirmation as he used his Anemo powers to bring out the Cleansing Bell from within his backpack.
He clenched on it firmly but softly, to not break it, as Morax transformed into a humanoid upon reaching the ground.
Xiao jumped from on top of his head and landed on his legs while Morax dropped to the ground too. They dropped a few hundred metres from the tornado of black dust that choked the heaven.
"Oh no…"
"What is it?" Xiao asked worriedly, seeing Morax's reaction.
"She's been like this for a long time already, for months… Why didn't Celestia tell me this?!" Morax growled. "Those damned bastards!"
Morax growled loudly, grabbing the bell from Xiao's hands and dashed to the tornado.
"Stay back, Xiao!"
Morax said, leaping in the air and entering the tornado.
—**—
Xiao could only wait outside the tornado because of Morax's orders but he was very worried.
After almost half an hour, the tornado dissipated. Even though black dust still floated over the area, falling down like rain, Xiao still felt optimistic about it and then ran to where the tornado's centre was just a while ago.
But what he saw there wasn't anything pleasing.
"Come back to your senses, Guizhong!"
Morax yelled, slamming his club on an odd-looking woman's head. The woman had fair skin, but there was a sign of corruption on parts and parts of it, like the beasts corrupted by the abyss.
Xiao couldn't help but feel his heart bleed seeing two of his parental figures fight amongst themselves.
"Yhouuu!" Guizhong, her eyes pitch black, screeched. "Dhieeee!!"
She tried to attack Morax, but he dodged, stepping to the side and slamming his weapon on the back of her head again. He noticed Xiao and threw the bell at him.
"Keep ringing it!"
He said, to which Xiao nodded and caught the bell before starting to ring it.
Each time he rang it, he felt his own mind going calm, but there was barely any effect on the woman.
—Bam!
Morax punched Guizhong on her face, causing her eyes to roll back and her legs to shake. But he didn't let her fall down and grabbed her by the waist.
"Guizhong!" He yelled. "Are you still in there?! Guizhong!"
Guizhong's pitch-black eyes changed back to normal, as she blinked at Morax.
"Mor…ax?"
Xiao, who was still ringing the bell, sighed in relief as Morax smiled stiffly and laid Guizhong down on her back.
"Yes, yes, it's me. I am back, Guizhong. Tell me what happened… No, tell me how can I save you?"
Guizhong might have regained her senses, but the corruption was still present in her skin. In his trip outside Teyvat, Morax never bothered to look for a way to clean abyssal power, and he simply killed anyone corrupted by it–as that was his job.
Guizhong revealed a small smile. "Oh… I don't think there's any way to reverse this."
"No, there must be–"
"It's impossible, you little barbarian." Guizhong said, releasing a still laugh. "Anyway, did you enjoy your trip?"
"That's now important, Guizhong!"
Guizhong coughed out, black blood coming out of her mouth. She wiped her lips and continued.
"How so? I am just… curious what you saw there. You seem to be familiar with what happened to me… Did you meet people with cases similar to mine? What did you do to them?"
"I…" Morax bit his lower lip, blood coming out of it. "I had to kill them, that was my job from Celestia."
"Oh…" Guizhong's smile faltered for a while before it returned. "I see… Then I guess you have to do that to me as well… I can't bear the pain… the pain inside me, eating me out from within… I-It hurts so much. It-"
"Guizhong, stop talking. I-I think I have one more way." He said with a shaky smile. "I had a perfect score in this job, so Celestia is impressed with me. I will ask for their help."
Guizhong seemed to try to say something, but Morax didn't let her and turned his head to the sky instead, yelling with all his voice. "Celestia! Help me! Send someone! I know you have healers who can cure her! I have yet to get my rewards, right?! T-this will be my reward, come down and help me! Please!"
He yelled for a whole minute but… he could only see the black dust floating around him, with the chiming of the Cleansing Bell hitting him in the ears.
"Celestia…" Morax sighed, his shoulders dropping as his eyes looked dry.
Then, he heard Guizhong's voice again, causing him to look down at her face.
"Oh, Morax… I don't think you realise what type of people Celestia is ruled by." She said with a soft smile and raised her hand to stroke his cheek. "Don't worry now… Gods don't die. Maybe I will come back as a Wrath to hunt people?" She giggled in a weird way. "Heh, that was a bad joke wasn't it?"
Morax's lips twitched as he barely held his tears back. Gods indeed don't completely die, but Gods corrupted by the abyss… they have no such future.
"Eh… anyway, Morax." Guizhong spoke. "You haven't been able to solve my Memory of Dust puzzle, have you? Mhm… maybe it's better if you don't use it since it's made from the memory of a failure such as me… Maybe it's better to learn things by yourself, Morax."
"Guizhong, what are you saying?" Morax spoke, his voice shaky. "Don't talk as if this is the end. You have to hold on, you have yet to teach me so many things. You can't go yet."
Guizhong's smile was everlasting as she opened her mouth another time… but this time… no matter how long Morax waited… no voice left her lips.
In the end, Morax was forced to flee from the flood of corrupted divine energy that the death of a corrupted deity caused. Morax would be fine inside this storm, but Xiao wouldn't be. So… he grabbed Xiao and ran from his love, his beloved, and the woman he gave his heart to. Running, without even knowing how she ended up in this position.
.
.
.
.
Several millennia later, Zhongli stared at Celestia, standing lonely on the destroyed planes of Guili Assembly with a glass of wine in his hand.
"Osmanthus Wine tastes the same as I remember…. But where are those, who share the memory?"
[The End]
~Discord ID: 754988817253007381
