Fortunately, Luo Li truly had no intention of deceiving anyone.
Since he had come all the way here,
He was intent on persuading the people of WA Tatsumi.
If long-standing enemies were to unite,
It would only be because a common threat forced them to.
And conveniently, Kaneria's provided exactly such a stage.
"You're correct," Luo Li continued evenly,
"But let me add one thing.
It isn't just Inazuma. All Seven Nations are affected.
This disaster will sweep across the entire continent
no one will remain untouched."
He spoke lightly, but every word chilled the room.
"Of course," he added,
"If you prefer to return underground, to the depths where your ancestors once lived
you might survive the coming calamity unscathed."
Those behind the Divine Priestess felt their stomachs sink.
They had assumed Inazuma's increasing monster attacks were already difficult enough.
Never had they imagined the threat spanned the entire world.
Even the Divine Priestess was shaken
WA Tatsumi's limited intelligence network meant
She knew far less than other nations.
If they failed to act quickly,
then once the disaster truly descended,
Their casualties might be catastrophic.
One by one, their expressions grew complicated.
For years they had viewed the Shogunate as enemies…
yet the warning came from the enemy's own prince.
They did not even know what to say.
After a deep breath, the Divine Priestess asked:
"…May we know the cause?"
"I can only say this
it is tied to the ancient nation of Kaneria's,
which still stands beneath the earth."
Again Kaneria's.
At that name, the entire WA Tatsumi delegation erupted in whispers.
If there were anyone they hated most in recent years,
it was undeniably Kaneria's.
They had come to Enka Omiya under the guise of peaceful exchange,
but in truth marched in with mechanical guardians, ruin graders, hunters, and soldiers
and launched an attack when no one expected it.
The people of Enka Omiya suffered immense losses.
Countless structures were destroyed.
Their hostility toward the Shogunate arose partly because
They suspected the Shogunate had cooperated with Kaneria.
Why else would Kaneria suddenly assault them without cause?
But reality rarely follows reason
the guilty need not always be guilty;
Sometimes merely possessing something makes you a target.
As the group fell silent,
Luo Li delivered yet another blow:
"The attack on you was merely one step in Kaneria's long-laid plan.
Had you yielded to their request back then…
things might not have ended this way."
The Divine Priestess bit her lip.
For the sake of a book
even if forbidden by ancestral decree
Was it truly worth launching a war?
"For a single artifact? Was it necessary…?"
Her doubt lingered.
"So," Luo Li pressed,
"You answered?
I don't have time to waste here."
The Divine Priestess bowed apologetically.
"Forgive me, Your Highness.
May we discuss this briefly?"
Even as the living priestess,
She still had to consider the views of her people.
Moreover, the ruling structure of Enka Omiya involved
three clans entrusted by the Great Serpent.
"You have half an hour," Luo Li said generously.
"Thank you."
A short while later
Luo Li found himself wandering the palace,
guided by the Divine Priestess herself.
He was surprised.
"So, you're not joining the discussion? Something this important?"
Noticing his expression, she smiled.
"The final decision is made by voting.
After that, my own vote is added,
and the result is determined."
"My stance has already been decided.
So, while they deliberate,
I thought I might show you places I personally find beautiful."
Luo Li wondered if all women raised in watery lands
were naturally gentle.
This priestess, like the future Kokomi,
was soft-voiced and calm.
With the priestess personally guiding him,
no place in the palace was off-limits.
Ordinary envoys would never receive such privilege
but Luo Li was no ordinary envoy.
"When the Great Serpent first established my Sangamonian clan,"
she said as they reached the inner sanctum,
"Legend says the very first Divine Priestess
hatched from within a pearl."
She gestured to a massive, radiant shell
the size of a bed
gleaming softly like moonlit waves.
There was a shallow depression,
as if something had once lain within.
As Luo Li stepped closer,
he noticed at the center a massive, semi-transparent pearl,
as large as an adult's torso.
When he gazed inside,
His vision was torn apart by swirling currents of water.
Nothing within could be clearly seen.
"There is… a hint of life circulating inside," Luo Li murmured.
He stepped nearer.
His eyes—capable of seeing through the heart
pierced the chaotic waters
and reached the secret at the very core.
Inside was a life being formed.
Running a hand lightly over the pearl's surface,
he glanced at the priestess
but she seemed completely calm.
She clearly had no idea.
"Don't you know?" Luo Li asked casually.
She blinked.
Her expression didn't change
clearly unaware that something was gestating within the pearl.
Intrigued, Luo Li discreetly extended his Herrscher-born spiritual sight.
"A baby girl…?
So, the legend is real. Interesting."
As if sensing warmth,
the curled-up life shifted softly,
absorbing the strands of energy he sent in.
Luo Li paused.
After absorbing it,
the lifeform grew
though only by an infinitesimal amount.
"At this rate, she'd need centuries to be born…"
Curious, he decided to offer her
a trace of Honkai energy.
His system-granted Herrscher powers did not erode him,
and the connected Honkai space was not the same destructive domain
He could choose whether it was harmful or harmless.
As the Honkai energy flowed in,
thin red-black lines traced along the infant's body.
She absorbed the essence with near-greedy hunger.
Gradually
a faint, sky-blue symbol formed
at the back of her tiny neck.
Luo Li froze.
"…A Stigmata?"
Shock flickered through his eyes.
This unexpected development left him silent.
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