Using the teleportation anchor once more, Lu Chen transported everyone instantly to the base of Mt. Yougou.
Miko retraced the path from memory, leading the group to a cave halfway up the mountain.
"This is it."
She stopped, and all eyes turned forward.
Inside stood an Inazuma-style torii gate. Beneath its crossbeam churned a mass of chaotic void, mysterious and unsettling—like a gateway to the deepest reaches of the abyss.
"After the Battle of Khaenri'ah, the true consciousness space was brought back here by Ei and sealed away," Miko murmured. "As you can see, step through, and you'll enter that space..."
"Then let's go in!" Lumine said without hesitation.
"Hold on." Miko's tone turned cautious as she looked to Lu Chen. "You should know—time in the consciousness space isn't linear. It flows like a turbulent current..."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Paimon blinked in confusion.
Miko continued, "Without strong willpower, you could be swept away by the current and lost forever in time..."
Lu Chen's expression hardened. He already understood.
Within that space, time was nothing but chaotic turbulence, countless branches of the past growing wildly, and shattered fragments of time and space drifting endlessly.
That was why one could witness every moment in the past—and why Makoto's final consciousness could be preserved there.
"Now that you say it... I'm kinda scared to go in," Paimon admitted nervously. "We're not gonna get lost in there, right...?"
"That depends on your resolve." Miko kept her gaze on Lu Chen as she gave her final instruction. "Once you enter, keep repeating your wish in your heart—don't let it go, not even for a second."
"I'll find Ei." Lu Chen nodded firmly. "I'm ready."
He turned to Lumine and Paimon. "Even knowing this, you're still coming?"
Lumine nodded. "It's the last step."
Lu Chen hesitated briefly. Taking her along was dangerous, but in the original course of events, Lumine had been a witness to it all. He didn't want to deviate too far from that path.
Only after this was resolved would her journey truly continue.
"All right. Once we're inside, hold on tight to me."
"Got it." Lumine didn't waver. She and Paimon both grabbed onto his clothes.
Without another word, Lu Chen fixed his eyes on the dark, endless gate and stepped through without looking back.
...
The cave vanished instantly. Lu Chen found himself standing in the vast void of deep space.
The three of them stared in awe as the surroundings shifted. Endless specks of light stretched into the distance, everything else rushing backward at impossible speed.
A strange sensation washed over Lu Chen—he felt as though he were watching all of Inazuma from the eyes of an unseen observer, silently witnessing its changes.
Seeds sprouted. Trees grew, aged, and withered. Inazuma City rose from nothing. Oceans became fields, and fields became oceans again...
Through it all, Lu Chen kept silently repeating Ei's name, again and again, as the chaotic current of time and space threatened to tear him apart.
At last—he felt her presence.
"Hold on!" Lu Chen called through gritted teeth.
"I—I know!" Lumine clung to his clothes as if her life depended on it.
Paimon was practically wrapped around his leg. "Just don't send us somewhere weird, okay?!"
"We're close!" Lu Chen saw the endless lights ahead converging into a single point. The glow at its center blazed so bright it was almost impossible to keep his eyes open.
After an unmeasurable span, the light faded.
Solid ground met his feet again. Squinting, he found himself in an endless, alien space.
"So this is it..." Lumine whispered, scanning the surroundings.
Their sudden arrival made both Ei and the Puppet General pause mid-battle.
"You?" the Puppet General said, frowning.
Ei turned to Lu Chen in surprise. "You came? Did you handle things outside?"
"Sara has the city's defenses under control. You're the last one left." Lu Chen approached, noticing Musou Isshin in her hand flickering faintly. Sweat beaded her brow.
She told him she had fought the General here for what felt like centuries—defeating her countless times—yet the battle never ended.
Lu Chen understood why. In a space ruled purely by consciousness, the Puppet General's existence couldn't be permanently undone. No matter how many times she fell, she would always return at full strength.
To keep a battle between gods from spilling into Inazuma City, Ei had chosen this—the endless, unwinnable fight.
"She was my creation to resist erosion. In willpower, she can surpass anything—even you and me," Ei said quietly. "But I have to prove that my will isn't born of erosion—that no matter how long we fight, I won't change."
"I'll be here with you," Lu Chen said.
In the original story, Ei and the General fought within the consciousness space for five hundred years—a timescale beyond comprehension. If it were him, he'd likely have gone numb long before.
Even if only a moment passed outside, he didn't want Ei to fight alone for eternity.
This time, he would stand with her.
Ei's lips curved into a faint smile, no further words needed.
"All right."
The Puppet General slowly tightened her grip on her naginata. Facing them both, her gaze was steady, untouched by emotion.
"This body," she said,
"contains all that is Raiden Shogun—along with the pain Ei lost along the way, and the resolve to reach eternity.
Everything exists to fight erosion.
Determination, courage, love, hatred—all are twisted and corrupted by the flow of time.
Only law remains unchanged."
Her words drew Lu Chen's thoughts back to Ei's original purpose.
After seeing everything she cherished fade away, and the nation she had fought so hard to protect stripped bare under the laws of Celestia, Ei had been shattered. She wanted to stop time itself.
To keep her will from eroding, to ensure Raiden Shogun could guard Inazuma forever, she had used technology from Khaenri'ah to create the Puppet General now before them.
The Skyward Blade in Lu Chen's hand gleamed faintly as he stepped to Ei's side.
"Eternity is the goal—not the method," he said.
"As long as we keep chasing it, keep yearning for it—that is true eternity."
The Puppet General's face didn't change.
Lu Chen smiled. "In that case—come."
"We'll show you the strength of our resolve."