Though they had not found Kitsune Saiguu, Yae Miko and Raiden Ei happened to encounter Sangonomiya Kokomi.
"Guuji Yae, I never expected to meet you here."
"Heh, I also never expected to meet the leader of Watatsumi Island here."
Looking at Sangonomiya Kokomi, Yae Miko spoke with a light smile.
Within the Plane of Euthymia inside Yae Miko's body, Raiden Ei suddenly realized she seemed to have completely forgotten about the existence of Watatsumi Island.
The Shogunate had suffered such tragic losses, so what was the current situation on Watatsumi Island?
It had probably already fallen...
After all, even the Shogunate had suffered such enormous casualties, and with Watatsumi Island's military strength, they would basically have no choice but to be steamrolled.
Don't be fooled by how Watatsumi Island had held a slight advantage when fighting the Shogunate in the past; that was because a portion of the Shogunate Army was suppressing internal rebellions at the time, and Watatsumi Island's tactics leaned toward guerrilla warfare, with very few head-on confrontations.
If the two sides truly fought a head-on battle, Watatsumi Island would only be steamrolled.
Sangonomiya Kokomi had most likely escaped Watatsumi Island only after exerting all her strength, and the people beside her were the last of the island's remaining elite forces.
Although Raiden Ei did not sense any sorrow from these people, she trusted her own judgment completely; they were likely suppressing their inner grief and refusing to let it show.
At this moment, Raiden Ei's gaze upon Sangonomiya Kokomi was somewhat complicated. Although the people of Watatsumi Island did not worship her, they were still the people of Inazuma after all, and for such a situation to occur was her dereliction of duty.
Now it was Watatsumi Island; perhaps before long, it would be the Shogunate.
"And you've stopped calling me Sister Yae so soon? Sister Kokomi."
Yae Miko's expression suddenly became quite smug as she spoke teasingly.
Hearing Yae Miko's words, Sangonomiya Kokomi's body trembled slightly, and a blush crept across her face.
Especially when she felt the strange gazes of the soldiers around her, Sangonomiya Kokomi felt as if her face were on fire.
"Y-Yae Miko, please don't joke around."
Although Sangonomiya Kokomi was grateful for Yae Miko's previous rescue, calling the other "Sister Yae" in front of so many people was still too difficult for her to bring herself to do.
Furthermore, given Sangonomiya Kokomi's status, calling her that in private was fine, but doing so in front of so many soldiers from Watatsumi Island would severely undermine her authority.
After all, Yae Miko was the retainer of Raiden Ei, and if she were to call Yae Miko "Sister Yae," her own position would become very awkward, especially considering the deep hatred between the Shogunate and Watatsumi Island.
"Yae Miko, I just so happen to have some questions I would like to ask you."
"Did you all retreat to Tatarasuna? Where are the civilians being gathered in Tatarasuna now? Or have they already been evacuated by the Shogunate?"
Yae Miko also knew that Sangonomiya Kokomi needed to maintain her image in front of her own people on Watatsumi Island, so she stopped making things difficult for her and explained.
"Of course I had to run away. After all, Ei charged in furiously. If I were caught, wouldn't I be severely taught a lesson by her?"
"Yae Miko, you must be joking. With your relationship with the Raiden Shogun, she certainly wouldn't punish you too severely."
Hearing Sangonomiya Kokomi's polite words, Raiden Ei in the Plane of Euthymia couldn't help but blush.
She hadn't expected her image in Sangonomiya Kokomi's eyes to be so good. This made it a bit difficult to bring up her earlier secret act of retaliation against Yae Miko.
However, Yae Miko saying such things obviously had her own little schemes involved.
This wretched fox, she wouldn't learn her lesson without being severely taught a lesson, and Raiden Ei couldn't swallow this anger.
"As for the civilians and workers here in Tatarasuna, they have all been evacuated by the Shogunate in advance. They were previously taken to the Kujou Encampment for centralized protection. As for where they are now, I'm not very sure."
"Actually, I just returned to Tatarasuna myself, so I don't know much about the situation here, let alone the Kujou Encampment."
After hearing Yae Miko's words, Sangonomiya Kokomi hurriedly shared all the information she had obtained so far with Yae Miko, and then continued to ask.
"Yae Miko, did you go somewhere else before?"
"Didn't I just flee in a panic to the sea?"
Yae Miko's eyes flickered rapidly several times, but in the end, she decided not to inform Sangonomiya Kokomi of Raiden Ei's presence.
As soon as Yae Miko finished speaking, she saw obvious fear spread across the faces of the soldiers around Sangonomiya Kokomi, and even a hint of wariness appeared on Sangonomiya Kokomi's own face. This made Yae Miko curious.
"What terrifying thing did you all see?"
Hearing Yae Miko's question, Sangonomiya Kokomi hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Yae Miko, did you not encounter it on your way back from the sea?"
After hearing this, Yae Miko became even more confused.
"What happened at sea before?"
At this moment, Sangonomiya Kokomi was even more bewildered than Yae Miko. She couldn't understand why Yae Miko seemed completely unaware of the terrifying tsunami that had just swept through, but she didn't dwell on it and instead began to explain.
"While we were traveling here, a wave about a hundred meters high appeared on the sea. If we hadn't reacted in time, I'm afraid there would have been heavy casualties."
Upon hearing Sangonomiya Kokomi's words, Yae Miko and Raiden Ei's expressions suddenly changed.
The previous battle had actually caused such a terrifying disaster?!
Seeing Yae Miko's expression, Sangonomiya Kokomi also realized that she was truly not lying.
If Yae Miko had indeed not noticed that massive tsunami that had swept across all of Inazuma, then there were only two possibilities.
The first possibility was that Yae Miko was at the center of the tsunami's formation, which was why she hadn't noticed it.
The second possibility was that Yae Miko was lying and was concealing her whereabouts.
Sangonomiya Kokomi assumed it was the second case, after all, she couldn't imagine any reason why Yae Miko would have taken the initiative to get right into the middle of that battle that toppled mountains and seas.
Oh no!
At this moment, Raiden Ei, who was still in the Plane of Euthymia, suddenly thought of the other people of Inazuma. Such a disaster was an absolute calamity for them!
Even if she had been present at the time, she wouldn't have been able to completely protect Narukami Island, let alone now when she had yet to return.
As the main city of Inazuma, Inazuma City had been built with a lot of effort and was located on higher ground, so the impact might not have been particularly severe, but other places...
Raiden Ei's hands clenched, her heart filled with regret and a chill, and a pained expression appeared on her face.
Although this disaster was caused by the actions of another god, it was also closely related to her!
Raiden Ei was already sufficiently alarmed that their previous battle had been exploited to drastically increase the Electro Elemental Power's erosion of the ocean, but the results shown this time were even more obvious.
It was fortunate that the Raiden Shogun was unaware of this matter; otherwise, her programming would most likely have completely malfunctioned.
The aftermath of the previous battle had cleared away some [Heroic Spirits], and the Raiden Shogun could still avoid them through another set of logic and programming. But this matter could no longer be bypassed by her programming, unless the Raiden Shogun could independently break through her own underlying code.
At this moment, Raiden Ei wanted to rush back immediately, but she soon realized it was already too late, far too late.
Now she had absolutely no face to go back, no face to continue serving as the revered Raiden Shogun, the Narukami Ogosho.
Under the influence of Raiden Ei's emotions, the environment around the Plane of Euthymia grew darker and darker, even emanating a faint aura of destruction.
Sensing Raiden Ei's current emotions, Yae Miko couldn't help but feel some worry in her heart.
However, with outsiders present, Yae Miko found it difficult to directly counsel Raiden Ei.
Yae Miko thought for a moment, then asked Sangonomiya Kokomi.
"Faced with such great power, do you still wish to struggle?"
After saying those words, Yae Miko was surprised to see not a hint of hesitation on anyone's face. Instead, their fighting spirit seemed to be steadily rising.
This left Yae Miko somewhat puzzled. Sangonomiya Kokomi was one thing, but the others were mere ordinary people. Their original homes had even been occupied, and they had been driven into Enkanomiya, a place they were not accustomed to living in, suffering heavy casualties during the retreat.
In such a desperate situation, these soldiers had not lost their courage to resist; on the contrary, their morale remained remarkably high, as if they had glimpsed some kind of hope.
Hearing Yae Miko's words, Sangonomiya Kokomi smiled faintly, speaking with a hint of resignation and a sense of freedom.
"Though the path ahead is difficult, the people of Watatsumi Island have always endured."
"If we were to give up resisting simply because the enemy is far stronger than us, we would never have dared to raise the banner of resistance against the Raiden Shogun in the first place."
"As long as we can unite our strength, a miracle will surely occur."
After all, since Yae Miko had already defected to the enemy, Sangonomiya Kokomi did not reveal everything. She kept the success of the Dragon Blood Potion and Daphne's existence a secret.
These words, which could be considered treasonous against Raiden Ei, caused a violent tremor in her heart, and her eyes even grew moist.
Watatsumi Island was like this, and how was the Shogunate any different?
When the Khaenri'ah disaster struck five hundred years ago, even she was powerless against the catastrophe that threatened to destroy Inazuma, and the Shogunate's soldiers were even more desperate, yet almost no one retreated.
In the end, only through the sacrifices of Kitsune Saiguu, Torachiyo, and Raiden Makoto did Inazuma barely survive this calamity.
Too many people died in this disaster, and what she was doing now was to completely erase the meaning of everyone's efforts back then, in exchange for the chance to bring Raiden Makoto back to this world, which made Raiden Ei feel like a traitor.
But if this opportunity were placed before her, she could not give it up, she really could not...
Various complex emotions intertwined and mixed in Raiden Ei's heart, giving her a suffocating feeling. In the Plane of Euthymia, lightning and thunder raged, and countless terrifying bolts of lightning continuously struck around Raiden Ei, creating a scene that seemed like the end of the world.
Sensing that Raiden Ei's state was getting worse and worse, Yae Miko hurriedly took her leave from Sangonomiya Kokomi.
"Sister Kokomi, let's end our chat for today. Next time there's a chance, I'll listen to you call me 'Sister Yae' a few more times."
Even before leaving, Yae Miko did not forget to tease Sangonomiya Kokomi a bit. Not seeing Gorou's figure made her a little regretful, otherwise, things would definitely be more interesting.
Watching Yae Miko's departing figure, Sangonomiya Kokomi did not immediately take her people and leave.
Sangonomiya Kokomi frowned her brows, just now she actually felt a terrifying aura from Yae Miko that made her heart tremble.
In that instant, Sangonomiya Kokomi almost mistook Yae Miko for the Raiden Shogun.
If Yae Miko's speaking style were not so different from the Raiden Shogun's, Sangonomiya Kokomi would have even doubted whether the other person was the Raiden Shogun wearing the skin of the Yae Shrine Priestess.
Combined with Yae Miko's previous words about not seeing the tsunami, it was obvious that there was a big problem with the other person right now.
"I hope this matter will not make the situation even worse."
After a long while, Sangonomiya Kokomi shook her head. She did not press Yae Miko for her thoughts, as she knew the other person would never say them.
Fortunately, this time was not without gains. On one hand, it was confirmed that all the ordinary people in Tatarasuna had already evacuated, so they did not need to waste time here.
On the other hand, it was confirmed that most of the enemies had already withdrawn due to the previous battle between the Raiden Shogun and that unknown entity. In other words, they basically did not need to worry about the possibility of encountering strong enemies.
Thinking of this, Sangonomiya Kokomi immediately arranged for others to pass the message to Thoma and Gorou, telling them not to continue searching for survivors according to the previous plan and to go directly to the designated meeting place.
"Yes, Lady Sangonomiya!"
After receiving Sangonomiya Kokomi's arrangements, the four people immediately responded and then hurriedly left.
As Sangonomiya Kokomi watched their departing figures, a strong sense of unease suddenly filled her heart, as if she had forgotten something.
After thinking carefully for a long time, Sangonomiya Kokomi's expression suddenly changed. She remembered.
Oh no, Gorou is in Tatarasuna right now!
Under normal circumstances, Gorou would at most be teased a couple of times by Yae Miko. In any case, this kind of thing had happened many times, so Sangonomiya Kokomi was not worried about anything.
But this time, Gorou was appearing in Miss Hina's image!
If it were an ordinary person, they might think Inazuma really had a Miss Hina. But Yae Miko would definitely be able to tell at a glance that this living Miss Hina was actually Gorou himself!
No wonder Sangonomiya Kokomi felt so uneasy. It turned out that the direction Yae Miko left in was precisely the area where Gorou was leading people to search for survivors.
Thinking of this, Sangonomiya Kokomi immediately arranged for another person to take the news of Yae Miko's appearance to Gorou. After doing this, her heart settled down a little.
She hoped Gorou's luck wouldn't be so bad. Even if he really encountered her, she hoped he wouldn't completely lose the will to live after the truth was discovered. She had already done everything she could.
What Sangonomiya Kokomi did not know was that shortly after the last person she sent out had left, several pale arms suddenly reached out from the ground, dragged him down into the earth, and buried him, without making a single sound...