Yae Miko and Inagi Hotomi walked side by side, eventually arriving at the town street.
At that moment, Inagi Hotomi suddenly caught sight of a figure lying on the roadside.
Startled, she cried out, "Guuji-sama, look—there's someone lying over there!"
Hearing this, Yae Miko immediately looked in the direction Inagi Hotomi pointed, and upon seeing clearly, murmured to herself, 'Kujou Sara?'
After confirming that the person lying on the ground was indeed Kujou Sara, Inagi Hotomi rushed over and knelt beside her.
Gazing at the lifeless, deathly pale face, Inagi Hotomi's voice trembled as she called out, "General Kujou, please wake up!"
No matter how she shouted, Kujou Sara remained unresponsive. Her eyes were blank and vacant, with strands of messy hair falling over her face, conveniently covering the bullet wound on her forehead.
Yae Miko stepped forward with heavy footsteps, her gaze first landing on the dried, dark-red bloodstain.
Then, peering through the strands of hair, she stared at the hideous, terrifying hole in Kujou Sara's forehead. An indescribable sorrow welled up in her eyes.
Finally, Yae Miko gently patted Inagi Hotomi's shoulder and spoke in a low, grief-stricken voice, "It's no use. Sara is dead…"
Hearing this, Inagi Hotomi instinctively covered her mouth, her face filled with disbelief and utter terror.
Yae Miko took a deep breath and cast her gaze toward Tenshukaku in the distance. Clenching her teeth, her lips trembled slightly.
Then, without a word, she turned and strode briskly in that direction.
…
Time passed slowly, and before long, Yae Miko led Inagi Hotomi to the front of Tenshukaku in a hurry.
At that moment, Shao Yun was sitting calmly by the gate of Tenshukaku, leisurely lighting his second cigar.
When he noticed the figures of Yae Miko and Inagi Hotomi approaching, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He casually waved at them with the hand holding the cigar.
Seeing this, Yae Miko's heart suddenly sank. In that instant, she understood—everything was already over.
She walked heavily to Shao Yun, doing her best to suppress the surging fury within her so she could speak to him calmly.
"How is Raiden Ei?"
Though she knew the truth deep down, Yae Miko still clung to a sliver of desperate hope. Perhaps Shao Yun had only knocked Ei unconscious. Maybe… just maybe… there was still a chance she was alive?
Shao Yun slowly raised his arm, extended a finger, and pointed to Tenshukaku behind him. Lifting his chin slightly, he answered in an abnormally calm and indifferent tone.
"You tell me."
That line struck Yae Miko like lightning. Her whole body trembled, as if every ounce of strength had been drained from her. An overwhelming despair and anguish surged from the depths of her soul.
She suddenly widened her eyes, clenching her teeth tightly as she screamed in utter rage.
"You… you bastard! I'll kill you!"
Like a rampaging beast, Yae Miko lost all reason. She flailed her arms madly and lunged at Shao Yun with all her might, as if she wanted to tear him apart with her bare hands.
But Inagi Hotomi, standing nearby, wrapped her arms tightly around Yae Miko's slender waist, using all her strength to hold her back while pleading desperately.
"Guuji-sama, please calm down! Right now, Inazuma needs your leadership more than ever! If you fall as well, Inazuma will be plunged into an unprecedented crisis!"
"The disaster brought by the False God has already caused catastrophic damage to Inazuma. Without your command, we're truly doomed!"
Despite Inagi Hotomi's desperate cries, Yae Miko struggled violently, still trying to charge at Shao Yun for a final battle.
But when she accidentally caught a glimpse of the cold, emotionless look in Shao Yun's eyes, the raging fire in her heart was doused in an instant, as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over her. In its place, there was only sorrow and heartbreak.
In the end, she gave up her resistance, falling to her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks like floodwaters breaching a dam. Her cries were filled with unbearable anguish.
"Couldn't you have just waited a little longer for me? Even just a little while… at least let me leave this world before Ei!"
At that moment, Shao Yun pointed at Inagi Hotomi, who was still tightly holding Yae Miko, and said expressionlessly:
"Just like she said—Inazuma needs you now more than ever. So, stop making pointless sacrifices. There's no need to die for Baal's sake."
His words pierced straight into Yae Miko's already shattered heart, leaving her in utter agony.
She took a deep breath, her nostrils stinging.
Her beautiful, grief-stricken eyes stared firmly at Shao Yun as she asked in a trembling voice, "Did… did Ei leave any final words? Can you tell me?"
Shao Yun frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then nodded with a rare hint of generosity and replied softly, "She said, 'The Pure Land… fades.' Just those four words."
Upon hearing this, Yae Miko bit her lip hard, restraining her emotions.
She quickly followed up, "Nothing else? That's all she said? Did she really leave nothing behind about Inazuma's future? Nothing to entrust to me?"
She desperately wanted more information about Ei from Shao Yun.
Shao Yun took a slow puff of his cigar, letting the smoke swirl around him as he fell into thought.
After a moment, as if recalling something, he said, "Oh, right. I did ask her how she managed to repair the Shogun…"
Then, he recounted in full the conversation he had with Ei at that time and the answer she gave.
But once Yae Miko heard the story, her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Shao Yun.
Then, without realizing it, her hands clutched at her hair, and she screamed in hysteria.
"Ah! Why did I tell you to wait three days?! Why?!"
In that moment, she finally understood—everything, every misfortune and calamity, stemmed from that seemingly trivial decision she made. Because she had asked Shao Yun to wait three days, he had arrived just in time for the Vision Hunt Decree.
She couldn't accept this cruel reality, overwhelmed with regret and pain.
She cursed the damn coincidence and loathed the merciless fate that always toyed with Inazuma.
Seeing Yae Miko fall into despair, Shao Yun offered a bitter truth.
"This world is absurd—a 'reasonable' world built upon countless coincidences. Just like why someone eats noodles for breakfast instead of congee. There's no reason behind it."
Hearing this, Yae Miko cried even harder. Her soul-wrenching sobs echoed into the sky.
Shao Yun stared at the sky dyed deep violet by the power of the False God and murmured sadly, "We need to find a way to fix this sky… It should be a brilliant blue, like a jewel."
Yae Miko wept for a long time until her tears dried up. Her eyes, once capable of enchanting all beings, were now swollen and puffy.
She looked straight at Shao Yun, her face twisted in grief and resentment, and choked out, "Can you kill me too?"
With Ei gone, she had no desire to live.
Shao Yun slowly shook his head and spoke with gravity.
"No. Don't force me to hurt you. As your shrine maiden said, Inazuma needs your protection."
"You… why are you like this…" Yae Miko had been ready to lash out in fury and argue with Shao Yun.
But when the memory of her deal with Scaramouche surfaced in her mind, the words caught in her throat and wouldn't come out.
Right now, all she wanted was release, but deep inside, she couldn't let go of Inazuma—her homeland and its people. She simply couldn't bear to see the nation fall into utter ruin.
Holding back her tears, trembling, Yae Miko sobbed quietly for a moment before speaking again.
"I know Ei made countless mistakes. For five hundred years, she ignored Inazuma's plight—issuing the suffocating Sakoku Decree and the cruel Vision Hunt, leaving the nation in dire straits."
"Not to mention the brutal war with Watatsumi Island that brought untold suffering to the people… And worse, Ei wounded Lumine. She made unforgivable mistakes… but couldn't you have just waited? Waited for a better ending?"
Upon hearing this, Shao Yun let out a cold, bitter laugh, as though he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
He tossed his cigar to the ground and crushed it beneath his foot.
Then, he stood and stepped closer to Yae Miko, speaking in a voice devoid of emotion.
"To me, the most pathetic and cowardly thing in the world… isn't watching Lumine get hurt by Baal…"
His tone suddenly shifted, and his calm expression twisted.
"What enrages me most… is watching Lumine suffer, knowing I had the power to avenge her, and yet doing nothing. Just watching… and praying to the Archon that this damned Baal would suddenly repent and change her ways?"
"And then Baal turns to Lumine and says, 'I'm sorry, I was wrong,' and it's all over? To hell with that! That kind of pain is worse than any torture this world can offer—it tears my soul apart a hundred times over!"
As soon as he finished, Shao Yun reached for his waist and swiftly drew an aged revolver—"Micah's Revolver."
His eyes locked on the inscription carved into the gun's body, and through gritted teeth, he read aloud:
"Vengeance is hereby mine!"
Yae Miko stared at the worn revolver in Shao Yun's hand, overwhelmed by a wave of sorrow and regret.
She bit her lip, her eyes welling with tears, and whispered, "I… I truly regret it all."
Countless words surged to her throat, yet all she could say in the end was—
"Regret."
Shao Yun slowly lowered "Micah's Revolver" and returned to his seat, his gaze fixed firmly on the horizon.
Softly, he said, "Go now. I still have to wait here for Lumine to return."
As she was about to leave, Yae Miko couldn't help but look back at Shao Yun one last time. Her eyes were filled with pain and hatred as she asked with a trembling voice:
"You're not afraid of death?"
The meaning behind her question was clear—You dared to kill the Raiden Shogun. Aren't you afraid of karmic retribution?
"If my sins are unforgivable, then let me be imprisoned forever… in the seventh circle of hell."
With those words, Shao Yun felt he had said everything that needed to be said.