Player World
The moment Yuna was taken away by the black-robed figure, the players' hearts nearly stopped. A torrent of curses against the black-robed figure filled the chat.
If any players had previously found the black-robed figure cool, now they were unanimous in their hatred and disgust.
[You Black-robed bitch, you motherfucker! If you dare harm Yuna, I'll go after Mihoyo! You son of a bitch!]
[Why are they doing this to my Chu Xi? Aaaaaaaah!]
[Yuna, don't die! Waaaaah!]
[Abyss! Abyss! I swear vengeance upon you!]
[It's over... she's been taken away...]
[The Abyss extracts souls in excruciating pain. Little Yuna has never suffered much before. How much torment must she be enduring?]
[Why do such good people always suffer so much?!]
-
Narukami Island.
The battlefield outside Inazuma City was nearing its end. All five Abyss Gates had been destroyed, and the Shogunate Army had achieved a resounding victory.
Ayaka and her companions stood wearily in the center of the battlefield, each bearing minor injuries.
Sayu's steps were unsteady; she had been darting across the battlefield, spinning in circles until she felt dizzy.
Boom—
A deafening roar shook the ground, jolting the momentarily relaxed soldiers back to full alert.
The sound came from the direction of Yashiori Island. A towering pillar of Electro energy pierced the heavens, dispersing the Black Fog and revealing a dazzling spectacle.
Kujou Sara's eyes blazed with fervor, her entire being trembling with excitement.
She recognized it instantly: that lightning was the Raiden Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi, the pinnacle of the Shogun's martial prowess. No one could escape its fatal strike.
"The Path Eternal, the Moongod Everlasting!" Kujou Sara declared.
Her words ignited the Shogunate Army's already high morale, fueled by their overwhelming victory. They roared in unison:
"The Path Eternal, the Moongod Everlasting!"
-
The Serenitea Pot.
Paimon didn't wake Lumine, so she went to rouse the others.
Kuki Shinobu was the first to stir.
"Yuna!"
Just regaining consciousness, Shinobu shouted in all directions, desperate to find her sister.
Paimon, her eyes swollen from crying, flew over and said, "Shinobu, Yuna... she was taken by the black-robed figure!"
"What?!"
Taken?!
That black-robed figure wanted Yuna's life. If it had taken her...
Overwhelmed with fear, Shinobu's breathing faltered, and she began coughing violently.
She forced herself to stand, nausea, revulsion, and heartache surging through her like a sudden tide.
Gazing at Itto, Chu Xi, and Lumine sprawled on the ground, Shinobu's terror spiraled, her pupils trembling.
They...
Suddenly, Itto stirred and pushed himself up from the ground.
Shinobu let out a long sigh of relief. She'd feared...
As if on cue, Chu Xi and Lumine also stirred and rose to their feet.
Shinobu and Itto, their minds racing with worry for Yuna, rushed over.
When they had lost consciousness, they remembered Chu Xi fighting the black-robed figure. Since the Traveler was also lying here, she must know what happened.
Chu Xi rushed over, her face streaked with blood, making her look particularly eerie.
"Chu Xi, you..."
"I'm fine. Yuna is the priority now!"
Chu Xi plopped down in front of Lumine. "Traveler, are you alright? Where did Yuna go?"
Lumine recalled the earlier events, her expression darkening.
"She was captured by the black-robed figure! Quick, we need to leave here and find Ei and Yae Miko!"
Chu Xi opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Despite her efforts to suppress her emotions, tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to wipe them away.
Itto's face flushed crimson with rage, his eyes burning like a demon's from hell. An unprecedentedly powerful aura surged from him, obliterating even the pain in his body.
"Hurry! We have to find Yuna immediately!"
After a brief exchange, Lumine exited the Serenitea Pot and used the Teleport Waypoint to return to the Grand Narukami Shrine.
She released Kuki Shinobu and the others, and the group hurried deeper into the shrine.
They didn't find Yae Miko, but they did spot Ei beneath the Sacred Sakura Tree.
Nearly everyone in the group, except for Paimon, bore serious injuries.
Ei's expression grew grave. "What's the situation?"
Lumine took a deep breath and recounted the key events that had transpired since Ei's departure.
"The black-robed figure intended to kill us, but Yuna sacrificed herself. She willingly offered her soul in exchange for our lives..." Lumine finished, and Kuki Shinobu staggered, nearly falling before Chu Xi caught her.
"Miss Shinobu!" Itto whimpered softly, his fists clenching tightly.
Ei had believed her heart wouldn't waver much after enduring so much, but now she realized she was wrong.
Hearing that Yuna and the others had been attacked and severely injured by the black-robed figure—and that Yuna had even been captured, her fate now unknown—Ei pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes like sheathed blades.
She had underestimated the black-robed figure. Even gravely wounded, it was beyond the capabilities of the god-child and her companions.
"Ei!"
Yae Miko arrived at the Grand Narukami Shrine, supported by another young girl-like yokai. Noticing Ei's disturbed state, she cautioned, "Calm yourself."
"Miko."
Clutching her chest, Yae Miko withdrew from Yumemizuki Mizuki's support and approached Ei.
"The more critical the moment, the calmer you must be. Think carefully—where would the black-robed figure take Yuna? Where is the Abyss's presence strongest?"
"Miko, are you alright?"
"It's nothing," Yae Miko assured her. "Mizuki saved me."
Itto glared at Yae Miko. "That fox woman! Where in Inazuma is the Abyss's presence strongest? Where would that black-robed figure most likely take Yuna?"
Itto was frantic. Yuna hadn't been killed outright but taken alive, meaning she might still be alive.
Every second they wasted here could directly lead to Yuna's murder.
This was something Itto absolutely couldn't accept.
This truth wasn't lost on Itto alone; Ei and Yae Miko understood it too.
Yae Miko lowered her head in deep thought, trying to pinpoint the black-robed figure's possible location, while Ei closed her eyes, as if sensing something.
"I've found her!" Ei declared.
Everyone turned to Ei, and Yae Miko asked, "She hasn't gone far?"
Ei shook her head. "The life-saving trump card I gave Yuna wasn't so simple. It contains a fragment of my power. It didn't activate earlier because it knew it would be futile. But just now, it sent out a signal..."
"Amakumo Peak! Let's go!"
Ei surged forward, vanishing from sight in an instant.
Chu Xi, Itto, Kuki Shinobu, Mizuki, and Yae Miko immediately entered Lumine's Serenitea Pot. Lumine wasted no time, sprinting to the Teleport Waypoint and teleporting directly to Amakumo Peak...
Earlier that day, the black-robed figure arrived at Amakumo Peak, carrying a portion of Yuna's body.
Amakumo Peak was not the only destination; It had already visited other locations.
If someone were to stand high enough and know the six places the black-robed figure had visited, they would realize that these locations formed a massive hexagram when connected.
The Abyss had now collected three Pure Souls, with Yuna's having been offered willingly.
It was time to deliver some extradimensional shock to Teyvat.
Although this would undoubtedly make Jiang Mumu's task of collecting the remaining souls more difficult, it was a necessary sacrifice for the sake of the plot.
Besides, there's a type of person who can't be saved: those marked for plot-induced death.
Since forcibly intervening was impossible, It would simply let them walk to their doom.
The next stop was Fontaine. The Pure Soul there was unaware of her own birthday, and the characteristics of her soul were far less obvious. Lumine would likely never realize she was a Pure Soul, even if she died.