The moment Ei sensed the tiny, pitiful amount of elemental power in Lumine's body, both she and Zhongli fell silent.
For the first time, they understood something—
This… this must be what mortals call courage.
Weak, fragile, powerless yet still daring to stand against a god?
Where did this absurd courage even come from?
Surely not from Su Ran… right?
"Why are you two not saying anything?"
Lumine felt awkward under their silence.
A reaction—any reaction—would've been better than this.
Ei, however, answered in her own way.
With Musou no Hitotachi.
A single world-cleaving slash, aimed directly at Lumine.
As she watched the apocalyptic blade descend, Lumine cursed every ancestor of the Raiden clan in her mind— and then cursed Su Ran's ancestors too.
He knew how strong Ei was! And he still sent me?!
If she didn't know she couldn't die in the dream, she never would've been "brave" enough to come.
Even so—
When Musou no Hitotachi hit her, the pain nearly made her black out.
She shot through the air like a lightning-soaked rag doll, crashed into the ocean, and immediately suffered near-lethal electrocution.
Being a Traveler without Electro or Hydro attunement meant— no reactions.
No amplifications.
Wind and Geo?
Isolated attributes.
About as useful as hitting someone with a stick.
The little "interlude" didn't disrupt Ei and Zhongli's battle at all.
If anything, Ei seized the opening and hurled another Musou no Hitotachi— this time straight at Kokomi's location.
But Childe intercepted her again.
Every attack she launched— blocked.
Every attempt to punish the rebels— denied.
The resistance, hearing their own cries echo inside the crumbling dream, felt hope surge.
For the first time— they could imagine defeating a god.
And Ei heard it too:
the cracking sound of a dream fracturing.
She panicked.
Her strikes turned messy;
her rhythm broke.
And Zhongli—normally matching her evenly— suddenly found far more openings.
She knew very well:
The longer this dragged on, the worse it got for her.
So she made a decision:
Ei clenched her teeth, threw away defense entirely, and took one of Zhongli's heavy blows head-on.
Zhongli faltered in surprise.
Ei didn't hesitate.
Another Musou no Hitotachi fell toward the people below—
a massive, merciless slash.
If she could not stop them one by one, she would stop them all at once.
But—
Two weapons clashed against her blade.
This time both Childe and Lumine blocked it.
One on the left, one on the right.
"It's all thanks to YOU!!!"
Lumine screamed as she braced her shaking arms.
Electro gathered around her sword, turning the dull traveler's blade into a crackling thunder greatsword.
With a roar, she pushed Musou no Hitotachi back—
Dreams of a Thousand Cuts falling from Ei's hands and embedding into the ground.
She had actually— blocked it.
Lumine felt invincible.
She completely forgot that Childe had absorbed half the force.
Her entire body trembled.
Her stamina was gone.
Her limbs were jelly.
She had reached her absolute limit.
Ei kicked Childe aside like a stray dog and seized Lumine by the throat with one hand.
"Why… must you stop me as well?"
"…"
Why?
What did she mean "why"?
Lumine wasn't trying to stop the Raiden Shogun.
She was simply—
desperate to get out of the dream.
If she didn't beat Ei, she'd be stuck in dream-Inazuma forever!
"Be…cause…
you're… out of… time…"
Ei stared at Lumine with calm eyes.
She knew.
Of course she knew.
Dream-fractures spread all around her.
The dream was ending.
Yet Ei was oddly calm.
Because the solution was simple:
After returning to reality— she would throw Morax and that Harbinger out of Inazuma,
restart the dream, and do it properly this time.
The device still existed.
The dream could be reborn.
And next time, she would surround Inazuma with an impenetrable Thunder Wall—
blocking every living thing from entering the nation.
As for the people of Watatsumi Island?
In her heart, they had already been sentenced.
Enemies of Eternity.
All must be erased.
Not even ashes will remain.
The fractures widened.
People all over Inazuma panicked at the apocalyptic scene:
the sky breaking, the ground splitting, reality tearing apart.
Fear, chaos, confusion— all accelerating the collapse.
But a few people remained calm.
In Inazuma City, Su Ran casually patted the trembling Yoimiya's shoulder.
"It's fine.
Just the world ending.
Nothing major."
Yoimiya: "…"
NOTHING major??
"Shouldn't we… run?"
Su Ran pointed to himself.
"I'm here."
Then he pointed to Ei.
"She's here."
"Is there any place in Inazuma safer than this?"
Yoimiya froze.
"…Oh.
That… does make sense."
"What should we do now, O mighty god?"
"Wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for the world to be destroyed."
"…"
On Watatsumi Island—
Just before the dream shattered completely, Ei tightened her grip on Lumine's throat, eyes cold enough to freeze thunder.
"When we return to reality…
I will bury you inside the Statue of the God."
Lumine: Can we NOT bury me? Please??
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