[ I remember now. Second Brother keeps practicing swordsmanship because he wants to light this Vision, but in the end he was never able to. This is also Second Brother's only regret. ]
[ There really is a knife, and it's stabbing my Second Brother. ]
[ Not just Second Brother. Even Kazuha — the writers didn't plan to let him off either. ]
"So Sir is the same as me. You were also entrusted with a Vision by someone important." Kaedehara Kazuha suddenly understood.
"My father died from the erosion of a god's remnant. Before he passed, he placed this Vision into my hands."
"It's just a pity that I have never been able to light it."
"It is precisely because we have similar experiences that I can understand why you used the Vision as a reward, hoping that someone else would light it." After Jun Mo Li finished speaking, he put away the Soaring Firmament Sword.
Kaedehara Kazuha looked at the Vision in his hand.
"Whether an extinguished Vision still has the possibility of reigniting — this is something I have wanted to know ever since I received this Vision."
"That is why I used it as the tournament reward."
"Since I cannot make it light up, then I will let others try — especially those with strong wills who have never obtained a Vision."
"But even someone like Sir cannot reignite a Vision. It seems there really is only that one method after all."
Kaedehara Kazuha actually did not know Jun Mo Li or Storm, but a Vision allowed him to perceive things that ordinary people could not detect.
Right now, in Kaedehara Kazuha's perception, the only normal people present were himself and Beidou...
Jun Mo Li's swordsmanship was exquisite and his bearing extraordinary. Storm also carried the heroic spirit of the Millelith. Moreover, Kaedehara Kazuha did not sense any lies from either of them.
This was enough to prove that what Jun Mo Li and Storm had said was true.
Since it was true, then what Storm said — that only the same wish could light an extinguished Vision — was naturally also true.
Furthermore, Kaedehara Kazuha had indeed seen this method recorded in related legends.
Wanderer observed Kaedehara Kazuha's Inazuma-style clothing and felt that this Vision was probably related to Inazuma's current situation.
He was definitely going to Inazuma, so he needed to understand Inazuma's present circumstances.
Wanderer tentatively asked:
"I assume the Vision in your hand was also entrusted to you by someone extremely important to you."
"Would you mind telling us about it?"
Kaedehara Kazuha nodded and gave a bitter smile. "Then I'm afraid I have no choice but to mention an old friend..."
——Reality
After Kaedehara Kazuha's bitter smile, the screen transitioned into a story cutscene.
[The writer has brought out his knife.]
[No, there's no need for this. It's just a memory. Just talking about it would've been enough. There's no need to specially make an animation!]
A watercolor-style 2D animation appeared.
Kaedehara Kazuha and a youth wearing an orange samurai outfit stood with their backs to the camera. Kaedehara Kazuha's voice rang out:
"He was once my closest friend."
"That day, he asked me if I had ever heard of the Musou no Hitotachi."
The camera zoomed in on the distant pavilion until it filled the entire screen, then entered the interior of the pavilion.
A folding screen appeared in the frame.
"I said of course. That strike can only be witnessed when [Divine Punishment] descends."
The folding screen slid open to both sides. The figure of the Raiden Shogun appeared within the screen.
It was the silhouette of a woman wearing a kimono, with flowing long hair, holding a sheathed long blade with both hands.
[We can't even see her appearance. We're about to reach Inazuma, and they still won't show us what the Raiden Shogun looks like?]
[Even though we can't see her face, her figure is pretty good. With the 2D attribute bonus, her face definitely won't be bad.]
[After Guizhong, this is the second god to appear in female form! Looking at that figure, she's clearly an adult woman!]
"That strike is the pinnacle of the Raiden Shogun's martial arts."
"It is the symbol of the strongest."
The Raiden Shogun's figure did not move, but lightning flashed in the background behind her, forming the symbol of Electro. In the end, the Electro symbol shattered, leaving only the Raiden Shogun's silhouette.
"But he said, [That strike may not be impossible to reach]."
The Raiden Shogun's figure faded away.
The side profile of Kazuha's close friend appeared in the frame. Under the twilight trees, he revealed a confident smile.
Kaedehara Kazuha stood beside him, looking at him in profile.
[The artist is really good! That smile is truly confident. It's exactly the same as Second Brother back then.]
[Even though we can't see his face, we can still imagine that spirited and heroic feeling.]
[Another mortal like Second Brother who wants to challenge a god? Although this one does have a Vision.]
At this moment, the voice switched to another youth's voice:
"[There will always be living beings on the earth who dare to face the might of lightning.]"
Thick dark clouds appeared in the frame, followed by a bolt of lightning striking down from them onto the earth.
Kaedehara Kazuha's voice rang out again:
"Later, the Vision Hunt Decree arrived unexpectedly. The wishes of the people gradually became bricks used to build [Eternity]."
Countless praying citizens gathered together, maintaining the same posture, before finally sinking into darkness.
When viewed from the outside, that darkness turned out to be a divine statue, with the Raiden Shogun's figure standing in front of it.
[Inazuma main story enemy confirmed: Raiden Shogun.]
[Decided. If we really have to fight the Raiden Shogun, I'll throw Yiya out and let Jun Bai deal with her.]
[To the person above, be careful when pulling. This line might offend Boss Jun.]
"While I was helplessly wandering around..."
Kaedehara Kazuha, wearing a bamboo hat, wandered the streets.
"I heard that he had challenged the enforcers of the [Vision Hunt Decree] to a [Duel Before the Throne]!"
"A [Duel Before the Throne] is solemn and cruel."
"The loser faces Divine Punishment. The winner may seize a turning point."
The scene changed. Kazuha's friend stood in front of Tenshukaku holding a tachi, his back straight yet desolate.
"Perhaps he thought that he was the most suitable person to stand up."
The camera zoomed in toward Tenshukaku. The Raiden Shogun stood in front of the gate. Below the stage was a woman carrying a blade at her waist — she was the opponent in the Duel Before the Throne.
"To face that [Musou no Hitotachi]."
"That was his lifelong wish."
The camera zoomed in again, focusing on the Raiden Shogun's upper body. Then the broken strands of hair on her forehead moved without wind, revealing eyes flickering with a fierce light.
[Alright, all silhouettes. We can only rely on imagination.]
[So Kazuha's friend challenged the Raiden Shogun and then died?]
[Do you see the woman carrying a blade next to the Raiden Shogun? She's the one fighting in the Duel Before the Throne. That's what makes it a true "Duel Before the Throne."]
The Raiden Shogun's silhouette blurred, and finally the screen turned white.
"But when I arrived at [Tenshukaku]."
"The duel had already ended."
Kaedehara Kazuha climbed up to Tenshukaku. A broken blade flew toward him, obscuring his figure. The blade's reflection showed his friend's fallen body.
At this moment, a youth wearing black samurai attire walked past Kaedehara Kazuha. In the reflection on the blade, it showed him kneeling and bowing toward the Raiden Shogun.
[Boss Jun's friendly cameo.]
[It's not Boss Jun. There's no voice here, so it should be said that it's one of Boss Jun's allotropes.]
[God™ allotropes. My high school biology knowledge is starting to attack me.]
"I only heard [after Divine Punishment]."
"The sound of his broken blade falling to the ground."
"That must have been the light he wanted to witness."
The blade shattered. The Vision flew backward. His friend collapsed on the field filled with broken blades after facing the [Musou no Hitotachi].
"In the final moment."
"What kind of expression would have been on his face?"
The Vision flew out and was then caught by Kazuha's outstretched hand.
"There was no time to guess."
"I could only rush forward and seize that Vision whose light was fading."
Kaedehara Kazuha held his friend's Vision and quickly fled from Tenshukaku. The camera zoomed in on his face — it was an expression of gritted teeth.
"I only knew that I could not let his blazing wish——"
The light of the Vision in Kaedehara Kazuha's hand continued to fade.
"Be built into the cold divine statue."
The Vision lost all its light in Kaedehara Kazuha's hand. Finally, the screen turned completely dark.
The cutscene ended here.