Chapter 96: Chapter 96: The Red-Hot Keqing

To Raiden Ei, none of this was particularly surprising.

The man before her could kill the Shogun herself if he felt like it— what effort, then, would it take for him to crush a freshly unsealed demon god?

Yet that single finger strike still shocked everyone else.

Osial’s death had been so abrupt— so clean and final— that there was no denying it: Su Ran’s power far surpassed the demon god’s.

But the one most shaken wasn’t the Adepti or the Qixing— it was Tartaglia.

He had believed his new strength made him mighty.

But to see the “Genius” casually erase a demon god like an insect— that was true terror.

And he wasn’t naïve enough to think he could have handled Osial alone.

“Genius… what about the Gnosis?” Tartaglia finally asked.

The demon god’s death wasn’t the issue anymore.

What mattered now was Morax’s Gnosis.

He hadn’t forgotten that was the whole point of this mission.

And if Su Ran had already found it— that would explain why he’d intervened so easily.

Su Ran arched an eyebrow.

“Wasn’t that your job?”

That single sentence left Tartaglia speechless.

Wait—what?

So all his effort was for nothing?

“You’re the one who ruined my plan!” he snapped.

“If you hadn’t killed that demon god, Morax might’ve shown himself!”

If not for the fact that the man who’d empowered him was the one standing there, Tartaglia would’ve already lost his temper completely.

Even so, he was boiling inside.

His backup plan was ruined, his hard-earned magic beast was dead, and the god he’d hoped to fight was still nowhere to be seen.

Now he looked like the fool.

Su Ran waved a hand casually.

“Relax. You’re not that much of a clown.

Actually, thanks to me, you’re no longer the biggest clown here.

Morax isn’t even in Liyue—how were you planning to find him?”

The words calmed Tartaglia a little, though only because of the subtle logic embedded in them—

logic born from the power of Erudition Su Ran had granted him.

Without that, he would have already lost control and gone berserk atop the Jade Chamber.

“Wait—!”

Keqing suddenly interrupted them.

“Morax isn’t in Liyue?”

Her eyes widened.

This entire year, she’d endured the blame of the Adepti, their cold accusations that her words had driven the Geo Archon away.

She’d stayed silent through it all.

But now— now it turned out he hadn’t abandoned them at all.

He just… wasn’t here?

At that moment, the Adepti who had been fighting Osial returned, landing upon the Jade Chamber.

They saw Tartaglia and Keqing, both red-faced and furious— yet somehow both directing their anger at the same man.

The Adepti were utterly confused.

What in the heavens had happened?

Even more baffling— despite Tartaglia’s fury, he still hadn’t attacked.

“Answer me, Genius!” Tartaglia demanded.

“Tell me the truth, damn you, Suran!” Keqing shouted at the same time.

The Adepti exchanged glances.

Tartaglia and Keqing… yelling in unison?

Was this some new alliance?

Their bewildered gazes turned to Ningguang, hoping she’d explain what in the world was going on.

“It’s about the Geo Archon,” she said simply.

Su Ran gave Keqing a cold look.

“The one who made a deal with me was Ningguang,” he said flatly.

“Why should I tell you anything?”

You spy on me, you don’t even offer your little cat-ear head to pat— no sincerity at all.

Keqing was so angry she could barely speak.

She turned pleadingly toward Ningguang.

“Mr. Su Ran may speak freely,” Ningguang said.

“What I purchased was the truth—and the truth should be shared, with the Adepti and with all of Liyue.”

After all, it was ignorance that had turned the Adepti against them in the first place.

If she was the one who made the deal, then she had the right to reveal what was bought.

Su Ran shrugged.

“Fine. Morax left for Inazuma some time ago.

For certain reasons, he can’t return.”

“What reasons?” Keqing pressed immediately.

Her heart pounded.

Why would their god go to another nation?

Suran tilted his head.

“You really want to know?”

“Of course!”

Keqing’s molars were grinding from how hard she clenched her jaw.

After all the scolding she’d endured, how could she not want to know?

She’d finally reached the truth— and now he was teasing her.

“Not telling you.”

Suran burst out laughing.

The sound made Keqing’s face burn red with fury.

Her temper boiled over.

“AAAHHH—!! Swordlight, cleave through all impurity!”

A brilliant flash of violet struck out— and hit nothing but empty air.

It did absolutely no damage.

Suran didn’t even blink.

“Fine,” he said lightly.

“Morax went to Inazuma to rescue someone.

As for who that is—well, it’s not hard to guess, is it, Miss Ningguang?”

Ningguang’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“Someone who went to Inazuma… and never returned?”

She understood immediately.

Of course.

The Geo Archon’s heart had always been with his people.

To risk everything—even during the Rite of Descension itself— just to save them… that was exactly who Morax was.

“Correct,” Su Ran said.

“But Inazuma’s situation is… complicated.

Once he went there, he ended up trapped— just like the others.”

A murmur rippled through the Adepti.

“A demon god trapped?” one whispered.

“Impossible,” said another.

But Suran only smiled faintly.

“No matter how strong a demon god is, they’re nothing compared to a Messenger.”

For all their long lives, to the Messengers of the Aeons, they were little more than long-lived ants.

“To put it simply,” he added, “even the weakest Messenger could shatter a world.

The only one who doesn’t count is the one called Bliss.”

“That’s impossible!” cried Cloud Retainer, her feathers bristling.

“The Geo Archon’s might is vast.

Even if the god Baalzebul herself struck him, she could not have held him!

How could he be trapped in Inazuma?”

“Baalzebul…?” Ningguang echoed, memorizing the unfamiliar name.

Few mortals knew that Inazuma’s Archon was one of two twin gods.

Suran smiled thinly.

“You think Baalzebul could simply leave Inazuma?”

He stepped closer to the great crane.

Cloud Retainer refused to back down, meeting his gaze head-on.

“Without me,” Su Ran said softly, “even Baalzebul cannot leave that land.”

His words struck the Adepti like thunder.

Then Raiden Ei nodded once in quiet confirmation.

“Indeed,” she said.

“Even I… cannot return to Inazuma.”

Her tone was calm— but the weight of her admission silenced the sky itself.

If the Shogun herself could not go home, what hope did a god of stone have of returning to Liyue?

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