Reisen Riou had fully repaired Raiden Makoto's soul, down to the tiniest cracks.
Lying there, her soul looked so lifelike that, without close inspection, you'd think she was just sleeping, not a mere spirit.
After checking the instruments and confirming they were running smoothly, Reisen and Raiden Ei left the Serenitea Pot.
"This is a secret chamber? The Shogunate has a place like this?" Reisen said, marveling.
"It's where I usually practice forging alone. Forging needs space, so I built this chamber," Ei explained. "Yae Saiguu turned it into a fox den, so it's probably bigger than you'd expect."
Ei channeled her divine power, and the Sky-Veiling System's smart lock opened the door.
For entry and exit, Reisen had designed it like a space station from his past life.
Mist enveloped entrants, cycling them into the internal system. It wasted energy, but the benefits—preventing information leaks, stabilizing the system's cycle, and protecting users—outweighed the cost.
Thick mist swirled as they entered.
Reisen's brow furrowed. "That's some heavy miasma."
Miasma, or dark haze, was a sinister aura, often found by rivers at dusk. In Inazuma's tales, too much miasma could spawn youkai or malevolent spirits.
Spirits, sure, but youkai? If they were that easy to create, things would be simpler. Youkai were often ley line guardians, dealing with miasma issues.
Logically, a place with proper youkai shouldn't have miasma buildup.
"You two didn't think to clear this miasma?" Reisen asked, eyeing Saiguu and Chiyo.
"Miasma? Is there any?" Saiguu scratched her head, clueless.
Reisen glanced at Ei, who shook her head—she couldn't sense it either.
Reisen scratched his head, realizing the Sky-Veiling System's mist had dulled their perception.
He waved a hand, clearing the miasma, and handed them a scroll. "This is the Mistveil Technique's principles and spells. I tweaked it so you don't need Hydro to use it. Learn this, and you can sense through the mist."
"Unless you're cool with an Electro shock, you can also use Electro to activate it," he added.
"Enough small talk. Tell me about Chiyo's curse," Reisen said, cutting off their urge to dive into the scroll.
Ei and Chiyo weren't great with words, so Saiguu took over explaining.
"So someone's really targeting you two?" Reisen frowned. "Any suspects? Who's most likely?"
"In Inazuma—no, among all Seven Archons—taking the throne pissed off a ton of gods. Plenty could pull this off," Ei said with a wry smile. "But my top guess is…"
Reisen nodded. "The Abyss behind Khaenri'ah? Makes sense. We hit Khaenri'ah hard. If the Abyss didn't react, that'd be weirder."
Reisen began inspecting Chiyo's horns.
"Oni horns, huh? Weird texture," he muttered.
"Damn it, Reisen, just check them—keep your hands to yourself!" Chiyo growled.
After examining, he said, "Not bad. The curse is behaving."
He pulled out a Thunder Elixir to start treatment.
"Thunder Elixirs didn't work," Saiguu pointed out.
"You guys didn't use them right. Doesn't mean they're useless," Reisen replied.
His elixir glowed faintly, and a drop of red curse energy appeared in his hand.
"This curse is born from high-grade bloodlust, hatred, and slaughter—really high-tier stuff," Reisen said, frowning. "Faith energy can neutralize it at a three-to-one ratio."
"But it's rooted in desire. What you trapped is just the surface," he added.
Reisen began setting up an array. "My spellcraft's not perfect. Saiguu, help me out. Let's purge this curse in one go."
Saiguu assisted, marveling, "As expected of the magical Reisen, solving what we couldn't so easily."
Reisen shook his head. "It's just the substitution method. Use Thunder Elixirs right, and it's manageable."
With the array ready, Chiyo sat at its center. Reisen explained to Saiguu.
"See, do it like this, and you're set."
A large glob of blood-red curse energy was extracted and sealed in a bottle—a Geo construct Reisen whipped up.
"This thing's got some smarts, but it can't resist this method. Thunder Elixirs are great carriers—human-friendly, dense energy, insanely complex structure. Pop one in, control the force, and squeeze the curse out."
"Simple, right?"
"Y-yeah, sure," Saiguu nodded rapidly.
Reisen gave a "teachable kid" look, then left with the curse-filled bottle.
"Did you actually get that, Saiguu?" Ei asked skeptically after he left.
"No way. That's not simple at all," Saiguu griped. "It breaks all spellcraft logic!"
"You were all 'yeah, yeah, yeah'!" Chiyo, now curse-free and feeling lighter, joined the griping. "That's just lying!"
"What was I supposed to do? It's impossible to learn!" Saiguu shot back.