The dream ended.
Raiden Ei opened her eyes and saw the Raiden Shogun kneeling before her, silent and expressionless.
Ei looked down— She was back in that small, childlike body again.
After adjusting to the tiny limbs, she stood up and glanced toward the Dream Machine behind the Shogun.
As long as that thing still existed— the dream could be remade.
She had another chance.
Ei passed the Shogun without a word, walking straight toward the machine.
"You failed," the puppet said coldly behind her.
"You failed to protect Eternity."
The Shogun didn't stop her.
That machine required activation privileges.
Once upon a time, only Su Ran had that authority.
Now, there were two.
Ei was not one of them.
All she could do was watch helplessly.
"Was I not strong enough?" Ei muttered.
"If Su Ran had given me the authority to kill dream-beings, I wouldn't have failed!"
If she could've erased the rebels, the dream never would've broken.
Hatred boiled inside her— but she forced herself not to explode.
Yet.
"The hearts of mortals united… are indeed a terrifying force."
The Shogun rose to her feet, watching Ei climb the machine.
"Your dream is shattered.
It's time to face reality.
Do you remember the promise Su Ran made you?"
Ei's small body stiffened.
She remembered.
If the dream collapsed, he could still help her…
bring back Makoto and the others.
In reality.
If that was true…
then—
Ei suddenly realized something was wrong.
Why could a consciousness born inside the dream appear in reality?
And that time she went to the space station with Makoto— how did Makoto leave the dream?
Was it because she had a real body to inhabit?
Had Makoto… actually been revived?
Ei swallowed hard.
"Shogun! Makoto—is she inside you?"
Her voice trembled.
Hope and dread tangled in her chest.
"This body contains only one consciousness," the puppet replied.
Ei's expression collapsed instantly.
If Makoto didn't return with her… did that mean Makoto vanished with the dream?
For an instant, even in this tiny form, Ei felt terrifying enough to make grown men kneel.
"Where is Su Ran?"
If Makoto wasn't here, there was only one person she could cling to now.
Without the immortality of the dream, she absolutely could not defeat Morax in the real world.
She needed Su Ran.
Her only hope— the one who could grant any wish.
"I don't know."
The Shogun was different from Ei.
She didn't rely on Su Ran for everything.
So her answer carried no emotion.
Ei stared for a second—
Then stormed out coldly.
A few half-awake Tenryou Commission soldiers saw her emerge, tiny and furious.
Thinking she must be the Shogun's child, they scrambled to straighten up despite their lingering panic.
Ei ignored them completely.
She shot into the sky— headed straight for the Grand Narukami Shrine.
If he wasn't there— she'd march into Liyue and raise hell.
She didn't believe Su Ran would sit still while his precious protégé suffered disaster.
And indeed, as Ei wished—
Su Ran was at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
Along with Yelan, Kujou Sara, Yae Miko, Ayaka, Kokomi, Beidou— and even Lumine and Paimon.
Normally, these people would've been left in Tenshukaku.
But after the dream collapsed, Su Ran moved them here, just so none of them woke up dead.
Behind the shrine, the most eye-catching thing was— a massive cocoon-like Breeding Envoy, nearly ready to hatch.
Perfect timing.
A celebratory birth right after the dream ended.
Su Ran nudged Yelan's arm with his foot.
"Get up. If you keep pretending to be unconscious, I'm gonna start touching you."
Yelan's eyes shot open, full of resentment.
She planned to stay "unconscious" until everyone left, then quietly slip away.
So much for that plan.
"…What is that?" she asked, staring at the giant cocoon.
"A bug capable of destroying the entire continent of Teyvat in seconds."
Yelan: "…"
Okay.
Definitely cannot afford to offend this man.
And why must his explanations start with "destroying Teyvat"?!
Paimon shrieked and hid behind a pillar.
"What—why don't you get rid of it then?!"
Lumine clutched her aching neck.
In her final memory of the dream, Ei was choking her to death.
Even now, she felt phantom pain.
"Because I made it," Su Ran said.
"So of course I'm not destroying it."
A few people's impression of him instantly darkened— straight into the "untouchable taboo being" category.
Yelan suddenly felt a strong desire to return to Liyue.
Even if she couldn't bring many people back, at least Beidou was enough.
"I've fulfilled my end of the deal, right?"
Lumine gazed at him pitifully.
Surely this meant the 1,200,000 Mora debt was wiped clean… right?
"Of course. You were amazing," Su Ran said, patting her head.
"You blocked Musou no Hitotachi!
Even I've never done that."
Lumine puffed out her cheeks.
"Don't do that… It'll stunt my growth…"
She leaned away.
But she didn't notice— Ayaka's eyes darkened slightly at the sight.
"You're at least five hundred years old," Su Ran said casually.
"You really think you're still growing?"
Lumine froze.
Instant psychological defeat.
Just because she didn't grow in five hundred years didn't mean she wouldn't grow in a thousand, okay?!
"Oh right!! Save me!!"
Lumine suddenly panicked.
"Ba—Barbatos—no, Ba—Ba—Baal—
Raiden Ei said she's going to cement me into the Statue of the God!"
Su Ran blinked.
"Well, you're a bit late. She's already here."
Then he smirked.
"But Hu Tao from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is my fiancée.
She can arrange a cenotaph for you."
Lumine stared at him, scandalized.
"W–why a cenotaph?!"
"Because," Su Ran said kindly, "you might not even leave ashes behind."
Lumine: "CAN YOU NOT SAY IT LIKE THAT?!"
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