Facing this kind of opponent, Traveler Aether was grinning in his sleep. He was a finesse fighter—tank-types gave him headaches, but speedsters? No sweat.
Sure enough, within a dozen exchanges, the samurai clan head was thoroughly outclassed.
The remaining samurai, seeing the rout, looked hopeless. He struggled a few rounds before Aether's kick sent him flying, taking ages to get up.
With the samurai down, the opposing scholars surrendered on the spot.
Revival, the head referee's projection, declared, "Pro debaters win."
The other judges chimed in, "No objections."
The crowd below thought the match ended too fast.
"What the—ain't this supposed to be the 'Sage's Debate'? How's it over after one brawl? Previous rounds at least had some arguing before flipping to fists. This one just started swinging!" a spectator griped.
"Not what I meant. I mean, the side that attacked first lost. That's embarrassing," Sangonomiya Kyouen quipped.
"That blond sword guy's too strong," Yae Miko said, unaware the "blond kid" was a Descender older than her.
"Everyone seems pretty tough," Kyouen said, clueless.
"You haven't seen the Shogunate Duel," Miko scoffed.
"Shogunate Duel?"
"Let me tell you…"
Truth is, Inazuma's Shogunate Duel wasn't just a stage for young samurai to shine.
It was mainly for settling policy disputes.
If a powerhouse disagreed with a policy, they could challenge via the Shogunate Duel, with the Raiden Shogun as judge and enforcer.
The ruling side sent a champion to face the challenger.
Win, and the Shogun might tweak the policy. Lose, and divine punishment erased you—physically.
Recent years were calm, but during Raiden Makoto's era, every year or two, someone launched a Duel.
Those were folks pissed at Reisen Riou's reforms—some lost status, others lost profits. Legalizing Vitalist groups stripped nobles of their shady enforcers.
Without those, and with weak skills, their fortunes tanked.
Those years saw heaps of deaths, including top-tier fighters.
Even two LV80+ and two LV70+ elites bit it.
They didn't have to die, but Raiden Ei, fighting for Reisen, one-shotted them.
Reisen was gutted. Good thing human powerhouses were like leeks—cut down fast, regrow fast. Those deaths didn't slow Inazuma's growth.
The real pity was the LV80+ old samurai. At that level, barring dumb moves, they could live to 150. Those two had decades left. And LV80+ wasn't just talent and effort—it needed resources to blitz early stages and time to clear hurdles.
Now, Inazuma's youngest LV80+ was Kombumaru, in his sixties, now Takamine Kombu after joining the Takamine clan and marrying Asase Hibiki.
His luck beat Reisen's subordinate, Banjiao Nisei, by miles.
Nisei was reaping the cost of slacking young. Stuck at LV80 for a decade.
Even that was with tech and alchemy boosts. Without them, at over seventy, he'd be done—looking ancient already.
Still, the Banjiao clan was a big deal now.
When Nisei's brother, Banjiao Isshin, died years back, Kombumaru mourned openly.
Nisei, a nominal hatamoto in the Tenryou Commission, also held a Shogunate title—a rare perk, tied to salary. Only his diehard loyalty and merits earned that.
Otherwise, he'd be stuck with a Yashiro Commission post like others.
The Rock-Shadow-Thunderlight Brigade operatives ranked as temps, junior, mid-level, senior, and brigade leader.
Temps got no titles—just subsidies for missions or intel.
Junior operatives were town samurai, mid-level and senior were Tenryou-titled—mid-level as yoriki or doushin, senior as hatamoto.
Reisen, as brigade leader, held a daimyo title, but he hooked close, capable subordinates with Yashiro posts.
The Yashiro Commission loved it—titled allies drew their salary and synced better.
The Yashiro's Final Watch and the Rock-Shadow-Thunderlight Brigade were tight partners.
Their styles differed, but their core techniques, tactics, and martial arts overlapped.
Back in the day, the Final Watch trained Brigade grunts. Recently, with Final Watch losses, they'd recruited Brigade washouts.
The Final Watch, while covert like the Brigade, had lower standards. The Brigade demanded frontline combat skills.
The Final Watch didn't, and their outer ranks had bled heavily lately.
Trained washouts were prime recruits.
The Brigade's outer ranks? No need for refills. Mostly Vitalist groups, the Brigade's brass wished they had fewer.
But that was a pipe dream. Inazuma's "more kids, more blessings" culture held firm. Even Reisen's "quality over quantity" pitch got traction, but folks would rather skimp on resources than have fewer kids.
Reisen was speechless.
Good thing Teyvat was a wild place—endless monsters, Inazuma's evil spirits even weirder, and solid resource development kept population growth in check.