"Run! The beasts will return. Once they set their sights on you, you will never escape."
"We will protect Inazuma until our very last breath."
[Ningguang: The first thought they had was to tell the people to run.]
[Keqing: They stood by their duty until the very end.]
[Paimon: Just like Furina. Even knowing she was human, even knowing it was Primordial Seawater, she still reached her hand into it. Even if it cost her life, she kept the secret until the very end.]
[Furina: Of course! I am Fontaine's greatest star, Fontaine's deity!]
[Lumine: The Hydro element is beginning to surge.]
[Ei: They were true samurai.]
Lumine asked, "What happened?"
The phantom was shocked. "You do not know? Inazuma has been swallowed by darkness."
"Beasts are everywhere, and even more terrifying monsters. They have no emotion. They only devour everything in sight."
"Even the proof of our existence will be consumed by them."
Paimon spread her hands and looked around. "But there is nothing here."
The phantom continued, "Not yet. But they will return. Leave now. There is no time."
"Her Excellency the Shogun is gone. Lady Saiguu is gone. We can only rely on ourselves."
[Yae Miko: Back then, had Lady Saiguu already left? I wonder if her memories will appear. I truly wish to see her again.]
[Paimon: Could Lady Saiguu not defeat those monsters either?]
[Ei: Even my sister Makoto fell to those monsters. They were not easy to deal with.]
[Lumine: Yet those soldiers still stood their ground to give the people time to retreat.]
[Zhongli: They knew they could not win, yet they fought anyway. If they had retreated, even more would have perished.]
[Furina: Every single one of them is a hero.]
"I do not know how much longer we can hold on. But if we abandon hope, we will truly have nothing left."
Ei stepped forward. "Do not panic. I am here."
The phantom was overjoyed. "Her Excellency the Shogun!"
"You have returned?"
"Please, help us. I beg you, save Inazuma."
"Without your supreme lightning, this darkness cannot be dispersed. If this continues, all of Inazuma will become food for the beasts."
[Lumine: Why can we speak with these memories?]
[Nahida: Because memories are souls. They are memories, and they are also ghosts.]
[Hu Tao: Ghosts are usually invisible and intangible. They can only manifest in places where ley line power is strong.]
[Lumine: This is a conversation that spans five hundred years.]
Ei said, "Calm yourself. That war is already over."
The phantom looked incredulous. "Over? What are you saying..."
Ei continued, "Look around you. The grass is lush, the wind is calm. This is no different from the Inazuma in your memories."
"There are no monsters. Nothing that threatens your life."
The phantom was confused. "But why? They were just here moments ago."
"Just now, I saw my comrades' bodies torn apart."
Paimon said, "Calm down. Everything is alright now."
The phantom looked at Ei again. "I understand. Your Excellency, was it you who saved Inazuma?"
"Believing in you was truly the right choice. As long as you are here, Inazuma will endure."
"Thank you, Your Excellency. Thank you..."
With that, the phantom faded away.
[Paimon: Their obsession was to protect Inazuma. Once they saw that Inazuma was safe, they dissipated?]
[Ei: That seems to be the case.]
[Keqing: They are true heroes.]
[Ningguang: We did not even have time to ask their names.]
Paimon said, "I do not fully understand what just happened, but it felt very sad and despairing."
Ei explained, "If I am not mistaken, that scene was a memory left behind by a samurai in the soil. The Sacred Sakura can absorb and purify the filth in the ley lines. That filth leaked through the rip in the trunk and condensed into physical form. If the filth is immense, the entity it forms is highly aggressive. If the filth has been purified, it manifests as memories."
"Purified filth dissipates quickly, then reintegrates into the ley lines. In other words, they cannot exist for long."
Paimon said, "So the memories of those who passed away in the past are appearing now."