The apocalyptic, god-level duel raging in the skies above Inazuma was a terrifying, mesmerizing spectacle. But as Ren stood at the window of the Grand Narukami Shrine, watching the flashes of divine, purple fury, his thoughts were not on the two battling deities. They were on the people below.
He saw the city, his city of friends, cowering under the violent, celestial storm. He saw the flashes of the Shogun's lightning, the shockwaves from the Balladeer's power, and he knew, with a sick, sinking certainty, that even with the city's defenses, there would be collateral damage. There would be fear. There would be people in danger.
A familiar, unshakeable resolve hardened in his glowing azure eyes. "I have to go down there," he said, his voice quiet but firm.
Ganyu, who was standing beside him, her face pale with a reflected terror, immediately shook her head. "No, Ren. Absolutely not. It is the most dangerous place in the world right now. You are still recovering. You will stay here, where it is safe."
"The people aren't safe," he countered, turning to face her, his expression a mixture of gentle pleading and unyielding determination. "I'm not going to fight. I have no intention of getting between… that," he gestured to the raging storm in the sky. "But the people on the ground… the families, the children… they are innocent. And they are in danger. I can help. My shields… I can protect them from the falling debris, from the shockwaves."
He looked at his big sister, his eyes full of the same, simple, compassionate logic that had always guided him. "I can't just hide up here and watch."
Ganyu looked at his determined face, and she knew, with a weary, reluctant certainty, that this was a battle she was going to lose. He was no longer just the small, fragile boy she had to protect; he was Liyue's Azure Savior, a hero with a sense of duty as vast and as unshakeable as the mountains of their home.
"Alright," she conceded, her voice a soft, resigned whisper. But her eyes hardened with her own, absolute, and non-negotiable condition. "But you will not leave my side. Not for a second. You will stick to me like a shadow. Is that understood?"
"Understood," he promised.
He then went to a corner of the room, where, amongst his other belongings, lay his hoverboard. Ganyu had, in the two days he had been unconscious, found the time to not only heal his injured body, but to also search for his broken machine. She had retrieved it from the forest floor, and to their mutual surprise, while the frame was scratched and dented, the core propulsion and control systems, a testament to Xianyun's masterful craftsmanship, were still miraculously intact.
Carrying the hoverboard, they descended the mountain, the sounds of the celestial battle growing louder and more terrifying with every step.
They reached the base of Inazuma City to find a scene of organized, controlled chaos. The city's own heroes, its own guardians, had already assembled, forming a last line of defense for their people.
Near the main bridge, under the watchful, worried eye of Ayato, a small, powerful group was coordinating the civilian evacuation and defense. Ayaka was directing the Yashiro Commission samurai. Yoimiya, her usual bright smile replaced by a grim, determined look, was helping to douse the small fires that had been started by stray bolts of lightning. Thoma, no longer a fugitive but a hero in his own right, was using his own Pyro shield to protect a group of frightened children. And Lumine and Paimon were there, their faces turned to the sky, watching the battle with a mixture of awe and grim resolve.
And Yae Miko stood slightly apart from them all, her arms crossed, a strange, complex, and deeply unreadable expression on her face as she watched the god she knew so well unleash a fury she had not seen in five hundred years.
The moment they saw him, the grim, focused atmosphere of the command post shattered.
"Ren!"
Ayaka, Yoimiya, and Lumine all cried out his name in a single, unified voice of pure, unadulterated relief.
And then, in a rush of silk, festive fabric, and otherworldly white, the three of them were on him. They converged, their individual worries and fears for him erupting in a single, spontaneous, and slightly chaotic, group hug. Ayaka held him with a desperate, noble relief. Yoimiya's hug was a tight, joyous, and slightly soot-smelling embrace. And Lumine's was a firm, solid, and deeply grateful gesture of a comrade-in-arms.
Ren, for his part, was once again in the familiar, if slightly overwhelming, position of being the beloved, cuddled center of a group of very powerful, and very worried, young women. Though he did grimace as some of his phantom pain was still there.
They released him, their faces a mixture of relief, joy, and a hundred unspoken questions.
And then, the sky screamed again.
BOOM!
Another, massive blast of pure, divine energy erupted from the heavens as the two purple blurs clashed once more, the shockwave so powerful it made the very stones of the bridge tremble beneath their feet.
The reunion was over. The battle for Inazuma was still raging. And its heroes, both old and new, still had work to do.