Just as she couldn't imagine what Musou no Hitotachi looked like.
The Raiden Shogun rarely made a move; at least, she hadn't in the past few centuries. The world only knew Musou no Hitotachi was the strongest in Inazuma, but they didn't know why it was strong.
However, at this moment, the Raiden Shogun, who never made a move, transformed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared into the Tenshukaku.
Shiki, who had just sheathed her Kujikanesada, suddenly felt a stinging sensation from behind, as if someone was holding a knife to her back.
A purple lightning bolt emerged from behind her, immediately forming an eye.
Divine Transformation: Ominous Eye Opening!
A katana first emerged from the eye formed by lightning, followed by the Raiden Shogun's entire body.
!!!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment. The purple katana continuously magnified in Shiki's eyes. It was too fast, there wasn't enough time!
Shiki's consciousness plunged into darkness, as if she had lost all breath.
But in reality, she did not die. Instead, a smile gentler than ever blossomed on her face, and then she unhurriedly drew her Kujikanesada to block the strike.
The entire process gave off only a sense of contradiction; seemingly gentle and slow movements, yet capable of blocking the Raiden Shogun's unstoppable blow.
That's right, Shiki had fallen asleep, and in her place was Ryougi.
At this moment, everyone present except for the Raiden Shogun had fainted, and their memories only extended to the moment Fujiwara lost the duel.
The Raiden Shogun was somewhat surprised by the girl blocking her slash, but as she was about to launch another attack, Raiden Ei came online.
"You are... Sister?"
Raiden Ei believed that nothing could disturb her meditation, until she felt the power from her sister, Raiden Makoto.
Doubt, confusion, disbelief—three emotions intermingled on Raiden Ei's beautiful face. Anyone could make a mistake, but only her sister's lightning, she would never mistake.
"I'm afraid I am Ryougi, not your sister, you know."
Ryougi's smile remained gentle, as if she offered the greatest tolerance to all things in this world.
The girl's face overlapped with the image of her sister in Raiden Ei's memory, mainly due to their extremely similar smiles.
"Your Shogun seems to have a bad temper, doesn't she? She just struck Shiki with a sword right away. That child couldn't block it, so I had to step in."
Ryougi said softly, then moved gracefully to Fujiwara's side, reaching out to touch her face. All her injuries vanished without a trace like melting ice and snow, as if they had never appeared.
"But within your body, there is power almost identical to my sister's," Raiden Ei said.
"It's merely what was left behind in the Sakura Tree..." Ryougi shook her head, "Shiki saw your sister's remnant soul there. She didn't want to see you go astray, so she entrusted her last bit of power to Shiki."
"However, she probably didn't expect that the faint lightning from back then could grow to this extent, did she?"
Upon hearing this, Raiden Ei carefully observed the girl in front of her again, then she caught the most important point in her statement: "Aren't you Shiki? Why do you say 'that child'?"
"Could it be that she's also an consciousness created by you?"
Just like her Shogun, Raiden Ei didn't say the rest of her words, because although her Shogun was created by her, she wasn't actually under her control.
In order to forever pursue eternity, the target the Shogun needed to contend with even included herself.
erode is a very terrifying thing; it makes a person gradually stop being themselves. Raiden Ei could not guarantee that she could always avoid erode during meditation, which is why she set up the Shogun's consciousness.
When Raiden Ei changed her mind, the Shogun would be her greatest enemy.
"An consciousness? No, Shiki was not created by me. On the contrary, it would be more accurate to say she created me," Ryougi said, extending her fair, soft hand. "Yes, how could something that inherently has no consciousness create an consciousness?"
"This child has many peculiar thoughts in her mind, so I created myself based on her descriptions of me in her mind."
"Sounds strange, doesn't it? But that's the truth."
"I am another self that Shiki cannot perceive. So please don't speak of me, or else I would be very troubled," Ryougi's expression was slightly distressed. She had to be discovered by Shiki herself!
"I can pretend today's events never happened," Raiden Ei nodded and said.
"That would be wonderful!" A beautiful smile blossomed on Ryougi's face again. "However, Shiki promised Makoto's request, and she also wants to change the current situation in Inazuma."
"Do you need me to do anything?"
"Hmm... thank you for your kindness, but no, you just need to maintain the status quo."
"According to Shiki, Inazuma is like a person gravely ill, needing a bone-scraping cure to be reborn."
"She already has a plan, and it wouldn't be good for me to disrupt her arrangements."
Ryougi rejected Raiden Ei's kind offer. Shiki is a very diligent child; she can offer some help at appropriate times, but not too much, or else it would be like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, wouldn't it?
For example, hmm... that sword skill called Tsubame Gaeshi, why Shiki was able to intuitively strike those three blows, there was indeed Ryougi's contribution in that.
Of course, she only gave a gentle push; most of it was still due to Shiki's diligent practice.
"Alright, I'll do as you say."
For some reason, Raiden Ei felt completely unable to raise any dissenting thoughts in front of the girl, just as she had thousands of years ago.
Whatever her sister said, that's what it was; she only needed to follow suit.
Although her sister was weak in combat, she was much better at management than she was, and most importantly, she could cook very well.
And she, on the other hand, specialized in fighting, using Musou to clear all unstable factors in Inazuma.
Now, events from thousands of years ago seemed to be replaying before her eyes.
'Indeed, you are just like Sister.'
"Then let us part ways here. Don't worry, the people here won't remember anything after they wake up."
Ryougi erased a portion of everyone's memories, except for Shiki's, but she believed Raiden Ei would handle the explanation well.
Ryougi went to sleep, and Shiki woke up. However, for her, it was just a moment of darkness, and then the Raiden Shogun appeared before her.
"Huh? Hmm!"
The image of the Raiden Shogun swinging her sword at her lingered in Shiki's mind, but now the other party was just standing quietly in front of her, with no aggressive movements.
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