Since Raiden Ei's return, she split her time between checking on Reisen Riou's repairs to Makoto's soul in the Serenitea Pot and battling troublesome Beast Realm Hound packs.
Inazuma's hounds came in two flavors: those boosted by Abyss power and those weakened by the Sacred Sakura.
Ei tackled the former on Inazuma's outskirts, while Yae Saiguu led teams to clear the latter.
The hounds clearly noticed the Sacred Sakura's effect, often ganging up to wreck its roots. They met armies of youkai, shrine maidens, and samurai.
But the Sacred Sakura was massive, and despite Inazuma's efforts, many roots went unprotected.
"We need to curb the ley line pollution, or even the Sacred Sakura won't give us the edge," Ei said, turning to Saiguu. "Any ideas?"
"No great ones. We could borrow the Sacred Sakura's power for a Narukami Island-wide purification, but that'd only briefly suppress the Abyss's pollution," Saiguu replied. The Abyss's power outranked them. Reisen's long research yielded nothing, and she had no better solutions.
"Then scale it up. A Grand Purification across all Inazuma," Ei declared. "You may not know, but the Sacred Sakura's branches span all Inazuma. Using it as a foundation, it's theoretically doable."
"Let's try," Saiguu said, gritting her teeth.
Her biggest ritual was a Narukami Island purification. Scaling it up was uncharted territory.
But limits are found by pushing. Youkai were no different.
Saiguu rallied senior shrine maidens, spending six months planning, three months surveying, and recalculating. They mobilized a third of Inazuma's Vision-wielders and youkai as ritual anchors.
Using Ei's authority and her newly acquired Gnosis, they completed a Grand Sacred Sakura Purification covering all Inazuma, including Watatsumi and Seirai.
This massive ritual amassed nearly all Inazuma's malice, spawning two Golden King Beast shadows at its climax.
But no beast, however strong, stood a chance against a serious Ei. She obliterated them instantly.
Smaller purifications also birthed hound pack shadows, easily dispatched by nearby forces.
At this point, everyone in Inazuma—except scheming Khaenri'ahn spies—was united. The hounds' terror was real: a whiff of their aura could sicken civilians. Samurai below hatamoto rank or regular soldiers were doomed with one scratch unless elite armored units or purification-skilled shrine maidens intervened fast.
…
Yushin Seinosuke stepped off a naval ship, dazed. He'd returned on an Inazuma Navy vessel.
When the dark calamity surged from the depths, he was studying spells with Liyue's adepti.
He'd faced the dark tide in the Chasm, fighting alongside adepti to quell it.
Later, the adepti revealed the calamity engulfed all Teyvat, so he rushed back to Inazuma by ship.
Though Shogunate hatamoto assured him Inazuma was fine, he wasn't convinced and insisted on returning.
It wasn't distrust in the Shogunate but his firsthand experience with the dark beast tide. Liyue's elite Thousand Rock Army and mighty adepti barely contained it in the Chasm's depths. He wasn't sure about Narukami.
Having studied at the Grand Narukami Shrine, he knew unorthodox, quick-learn spells from his training.
If Inazuma faltered, he planned to train a resistance force.
In the original timeline, Ei would've been missing now. He'd have trained the first Kairagi, only to languish in obscurity when Ei returned, crushing all beasts with Archon-level might and suppressing the calamity.
But now, that wasn't needed. Narukami Island's monsters were nearly cleared by his return.
"Didn't expect this…" Yushin Seinosuke muttered, walking to the Grand Narukami Shrine, spotting Kombumaru mobbed by admirers.
Kombumaru always had a knack with women. Beside him were Takamine no Hana and Asase Hibiki.
"Planning to hog all the ladies?" Seinosuke teased.
Kombumaru blinked, then recognized him. "Seinosuke?"
They'd been friends in their youth, a bond broken when Seinosuke left for Liyue.
They caught up, mostly Kombumaru and Hibiki talking, Seinosuke listening.
"Inazuma's changed that much?"
"Yeah, thanks to Lord Reisen's command and the General's timely return. Shame we don't know where Reisen's been lately—supply chains are a mess," Kombumaru griped.
Now an Okuzumeshu general, he was Narukami Island's Guerrilla Commander, tasked with clearing monsters. He was at the shrine on duty.
"Heard my Shadowchaser Trio's finally complete. Congrats!" Yae Saiguu's voice rang out.
"Greetings, Lady Guuji," they bowed.
"Pity you returned late, Seinosuke. You could've shone in this calamity," Saiguu said regretfully.
"You jest, Lady Guuji. I'm just a humble onmyoji…" Seinosuke gave a wry smile. In the Chasm, he'd tangled with those things. Even in logistics, he'd fought multiple times. He couldn't imagine the front lines.