Location: Tenshukaku (Ruins), Inazuma City
Current Form: Human (Hybrid Dragon Mode)
Status: Fighting a robot god, worried about the repair bill
The roof of the Tenshukaku Tenshukaku didn't just collapse; it disintegrated.
Purple lightning and black void energy spiraled upward into the sky, creating a vortex that terrified the citizens of Inazuma City below.
Inside the debris, the Raiden Shogun hovered. She had activated her Baleen Form - massive, spectral arms holding giant swords, floating behind her in a halo of Electro dominance.
"You are strong," the Shogun's mechanical voice boomed. "But you are finite. I am Eternal."
She swung a spectral katana the size of a building.
Raiden Ragnvaldr stood on a piece of broken tatami mat. He didn't look finite. He looked annoyed.
"Finite?" Raiden scoffed. "I'm infinite hunger, sweetheart."
He raised his left arm. His skin was fully covered in obsidian scales now, his fingers tipped with claws that tore through the fabric of space.
[Ultimate Skill: Uriel — Absolute Defense: Aegis].
A hexagonal barrier of golden light appeared. The Shogun's massive sword slammed into it.
CLANG.
The sound shattered every window in the city. The barrier cracked, but didn't break.
"My turn," Raiden growled.
He punched the air. [Void Impact].
A shockwave of compressed gravity hit the Shogun's spectral armor. The giant energy arms flickered.
"Great Sage! Target the battery pack!"
"Analysis. The Shogun draws power from the Chakra Desiderata—the halo behind her. It is stored Resolve. Edibility: 100%."
"Bon appétit."
Raiden leaped. He bypassed the swords, phasing through them with [Shadow Step], and landed directly on the Shogun's floating armored shoulder.
He grabbed the purple halo of lightning.
[Gluttony: Energy Siphon].
CRUNCH.
Raiden bit a chunk out of the Shogun's halo. The construct shuddered violently.
"Warning. Energy levels dropping. Resolve depleted. Error. Error."
"Tastes like static and bureaucracy!" Raiden shouted, tearing off another piece of the divine construct and swallowing it.
The Shogun Puppet froze. Her eyes dimmed.
Then, they flared to life again - not with the cold light of the machine, but with the sorrowful, burning glow of the Creator.
Ei had taken the wheel.
"Get off my puppet!" Ei's voice rang out, filled with genuine anger.
A burst of Haki blasted Raiden backward. He flipped in the air and landed on the ruins of the throne.
"There she is!" Raiden wiped purple sparks from his mouth. "Welcome back to the real world, Ei. Look at the mess you made. The roof is gone. Who's going to pay for that?"
Ei floated down, her naginata humming. She looked around the destroyed throne room. She looked at the fear in the eyes of the guards cowering at the gates.
"This destruction..." Ei frowned. "It is necessary to purge the threat."
"I'm the threat?" Raiden pointed to himself. "I just saved your country from a Fatui plot, cleaned up your nuclear waste on Yashiori Island, and stopped your pet Scaramouche from gassing the population. If I'm a threat, you have a funny definition of 'Ally'."
Ei hesitated. "You consumed the Tatarigami?"
"I ate it. It was spicy. Now, are we done fighting? Or do I have to eat your naginata too?"
Before Ei could answer, the main gates were blown open.
Gorou, Kazuha, and hundreds of Resistance soldiers stormed the courtyard. Aether stood at the front, his sword drawn.
"Charge!" Gorou roared. "For Watatsumi!"
They stopped dead when they saw the scene. The Shogun and Raiden, standing amidst the rubble of the castle, radiating energy that made it hard to breathe.
"Raiden!" Aether shouted. "Are you okay?"
"I'm having a snack!" Raiden waved. "Stay back, Aether! This is a domestic dispute!"
Ei looked at the soldiers. She looked at Kazuha.
"Rebels," Ei stated coldely. "You dare invade Tenshukaku?"
She raised her hand. The sky turned black again. She prepared to unleash a Musou no Hitotachi wide enough to wipe out the entire army.
"No!" Kazuha screamed.
The wind gathered around the Ronin. The dead Vision of his friend - the one that had been dormant for years - suddenly flared to life. Electro and Anemo resonated.
Kazuha sprinted. He was a blur.
As Ei brought the blade down, Kazuha leaped.
CLANG.
He caught the blade. A mortal samurai, blocking a god.
Raiden watched, his eyes widening. "Hah. The Power of Friendship. Classic trope. Good job, Kazuha."
But Kazuha was struggling. The blade was pushing him down.
"Alright, that's enough drama," Raiden sighed.
He vanished and reappeared next to Kazuha. He placed a hand on the Shogun's blade, adding his strength to the samurai's.
"He blocked it, Ei," Raiden said softly. "A mortal ambition just stopped your Eternity. Doesn't that tell you something?"
Ei's eyes widened. She looked at Kazuha's glowing vision. She felt the heat of his friend's desire to brave the lightning.
"Ambition..." Ei whispered. "It transcends... time?"
The clash of energies was too much. Reality shattered again.
Raiden, Aether, and Ei were pulled back into the Plane of Euthymia.
This time, the mental world wasn't empty. It was filled with the voices of the people outside. The prayers. The wishes.
Yae Miko appeared beside Aether.
"You've backed her into a corner," Yae smiled at Raiden. "She's wavering."
Ei stood alone in the center of her world. The red sky was cracking, revealing a blue sky of ambition underneath.
"I..." Ei gripped her weapon. "I promised them a world without pain. Without loss. If I let go... they will wither."
Raiden walked forward. He didn't attack. He reverted to his human form completely.
"Ei," Raiden said gently. "Look at me."
He tapped his chest.
"I am a Dragon. I live forever. I have seen worlds born and die. And let me tell you a secret about Eternity."
He pointed to Aether.
"It's not about freezing the moment. It's about making the moment matter so much that it feels like forever. Makoto didn't want you to be a statue. She wanted you to be the tree that shelters the people while they grow."
Ei's lip trembled. "Makoto..."
"You're lonely," Raiden stated. "And you're hungry. And you're tired of fighting."
He reached into his inventory. He pulled out the last bottle of Dango Milk.
"Put down the sword, Ei. Have a drink. Let's talk about how we're going to fix Inazuma."
Ei looked at the sword. Then at the milk. Then at Yae Miko, who was nodding encouragingly.
The Shogun's resolve shattered.
The red sky dissolved into cherry blossoms.
Ei dropped the naginata. It vanished into sparks. She took the milk.
"You are... an infuriating dragon," Ei wiped a tear from her eye.
"I know," Raiden grinned. "It's part of my charm."
Location: Tenshukaku Courtyard
Status: War Over
The group reappeared in the real world. The oppressive atmosphere was gone. The storm clouds over Inazuma City broke, revealing a clear, starry night.
Ei - in control of the Shogun body - stepped forward to the balcony.
The Resistance soldiers and the Shogun's army were staring up, waiting for judgment.
"People of Inazuma," Ei's voice projected, no longer robotic, but regal and calm.
"The Vision Hunt Decree... is hereby abolished."
A silence. Then, a roar of cheering that shook the ground louder than any thunder.
Kazuha fell to his knees, weeping silently. Gorou hugged his soldiers. Aether high-fived Paimon.
Raiden leaned against a broken pillar, watching the celebration.
"Good job," Yae Miko appeared next to him. "You actually did it. You fixed her."
"I just gave her a sugar rush and a reality check," Raiden shrugged. "But hey, mission accomplished."
"So," Yae slid closer. "Now that the war is over... surely you have time to visit my shrine properly? I have some... manuscripts... that need reviewing."
"If by manuscripts you mean fried tofu, I'm in," Raiden said.
The Aftermath: 3 Days Later
Location: Tenshukaku (Under Repair)
Raiden sat in the main hall, which was currently being rebuilt by carpenters. Ei was sitting opposite him, looking awkward.
"So," Ei said, fiddling with her hands. "About the roof repairs."
"I'm not paying for it," Raiden said immediately.
"I... I was not going to ask for payment," Ei blushed. "I was going to ask if you could... teach me."
"Teach you?"
"You consume energy," Ei said intensely. "You turn chaos into power. My puppet construction techniques are advanced, but they lack that... adaptability. If I am to protect Inazuma, I must evolve."
Raiden blinked. "You want me to teach you how to eat magic?"
"I want you to teach me how to be... free," Ei admitted softly.
Raiden smiled. He stood up and patted the Archon on the head (risking his hand, but she allowed it).
"Lesson one, Ei. Let's go get some real food. No desserts. We're getting Ramen."
Raiden looked out the window toward the ocean. Toward Sumeru.
"Next stop, the land of wisdom," Raiden thought. "I wonder if I can eat the Internet?"
"Notice. Irminsul is a tree. Trees are high in fiber."
"Don't tempt me, Great Sage."