Fatui Harbinger Conference Chamber
A suffocating silence gripped the room.
Bella killing Barbatos in a single strike had already shaken everyone present to their core.
Yet what followed was even more disturbing—
She casually produced a Wind Gnosis, one that had already been destroyed.
"Is she bluffing?" Arlecchino broke the silence first.
Replicating the form of a Gnosis was one thing—but the authority within it? That should have been impossible.
"The question itself is meaningless," Pierro said wearily.
"That witch, Bella, already surpasses the Third Descender in raw power. Compared to her, a mere Gnosis is trivial."
Arlecchino frowned. "What about Rosalyne? She was still in Mondstadt last I heard."
Anyone with even basic judgment could tell—
Bella was the most dangerous variable of all.
Anyone who accepted her power and stood opposite Aerin would be erased in reality, no matter their past sins or innocence.
Mondstadt Borderlands
Rosalyne had just withdrawn from Mondstadt when sheer disbelief struck her.
Someone who could casually recreate a Gnosis…
How powerful that was needed no explanation.
"What's wrong with her?" Rosalyne muttered, utterly dumbfounded.
"She hates Aerin's Valkyries—so why kill me?"
Death itself was nothing unusual.
But dying for no reason at all?
That was humiliation beyond words.
[Rosalyne]: "I'm genuinely furious."
[Arlecchino]: "Careful. What if she tracks you down again?"
[Rosalyne]: "I said nothing."
[Eula]: "What does Bella mean by calling Valkyries 'machines'?"
[Eula]: "We have complete personalities and free will."
[Amber]: "Eula, you…"
[Eula]: "We're not afraid of her. She doesn't dare confront us directly—that's why she hides in the shadows and strikes elsewhere."
[Lumine]: "I agree."
[Hu Tao]: "So… both of you became Valkyries?"
[Eula]: "It's an intoxicating power. I'm shaping my Imaginary Space into a world of ice and snow. Honestly, I think Bella wanted to become a Valkyrie herself and got rejected by Master. Then she snapped."
[Lumine]: "That makes sense."
[Nilou]: "Still… she's terrifying. Replicating a Gnosis like it's nothing…"
Meanwhile, far from Snezhnaya—
Dottore, already preparing to disappear, smiled faintly.
Bella was dangerous.
Unstable.
And precisely the kind of chaos that could interfere with Aerin's grand design.
"How fascinating," he murmured.
"Show me… what kind of power exists beyond the world."
"A true witch."
Inazuma — Storm Approaches
Thunder roared across the heavens.
Dark clouds churned, heavy with rain.
At Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko gazed up uneasily.
"Why do I feel so restless…"
Tenryou Commission Estate
Kujou Sara burst through the gates, breathing heavily.
Her heart felt as heavy as the storm clouds above.
"That man—Aerin—must have been lying," she muttered.
"The documents… they must be fake."
Earlier, when she had been captured, she had believed her life was over.
Instead, Aerin had handed her a stack of documents.
Read them. Carefully.
They were letters.
Correspondence between Kujou Takayuki and the Fatui.
In exchange for vast benefits, the Fatui demanded assistance in enforcing the Vision Hunt Decree.
For Sara—who had devoted her life to carrying out the Narukami's will—
It was devastating.
The Vision Hunt Decree… manipulated by Snezhnaya?
"Lady Sara?" Kujou Takayuki said calmly as she entered.
"I heard you were captured by a mysterious man. What happened?"
Sara ignored him.
She steadied her breathing and asked coldly,
"Head of the Kujou Clan. These documents—your correspondence with the Fatui. Are they real?"
Takayuki's brows furrowed.
"So he took them…"
"Tell me where he is," Takayuki demanded.
That single sentence shattered Sara's last hope.
"So it's true…" she whispered.
"Did the Tenryou Commission betray Inazuma?"
"Betray?" Takayuki scoffed.
"All we did was assist with the decree and reap its promised rewards."
"Using foreign powers to weaken rival clans was… efficient."
Efficient.
Sara stared at him in disbelief.
"And the Fatui's goal? Promoting Delusions?"
"Hmph. What does that have to do with us?"
Her mind went blank.
Betrayal meant nothing to him.
"You call this… nothing?"
Takayuki laughed.
"The Fatui were merely tools. Once the lightning falls, they're nothing but trembling insects."
"We have the Raiden Shogun. The peerless Musou no Hitotachi."
"And I—Kujou Takayuki—have always upheld Her Excellency's eternal will."
Sara finally understood.
This wasn't devotion.
It was greed, disguised as eternity.
Plane of Euthymia
Raiden Ei's expression finally shifted.
Through Yae Miko's explanation, the truth became undeniable.
In Aerin's judgment, the crimes of the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions fell upon her.
Because she had chosen inaction.
Tenshukaku
When Kujou Sara entered the Grand Hall—
Someone was already there.
A slender figure stood at the center.
White, scale-like skirts.
High white armored boots.
And unmistakable pink twin-tails.
"You…?" Sara hesitated.
"General Kujou," the woman smiled calmly.
"Did you forget your old adversary so quickly?"
"…Sangonomiya Kokomi?!"
The leader of the Resistance.
"What are you doing here?!" Sara shouted, instinctively stepping between her and the Shogun.
Kokomi remained unhurried.
"You've already learned the truth from Kujou Takayuki, haven't you?"
"How did you—"
"You heard it from Aerin, didn't you?" Sara asked sharply.
Kokomi raised a finger.
"Shh. I must call him Master."
"…Master?"
Ignoring Sara's confusion, Kokomi turned her gaze upward—to the throne.
"The Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions colluded with the Fatui."
"And the puppet Shogun did nothing, clinging only to her so-called eternity."
"I stand here today under my Master's command."
"To issue a duel before the throne."
"If you refuse to govern Inazuma," Kokomi declared,
"Then I will defeat you… and rule in your place."
Sara felt as if struck by lightning.
Kokomi—brilliant strategist, capable administrator—
But to challenge a god?
Had she lost her mind?
"You're insane!" Sara cried.
"Stagnation is death," Kokomi replied calmly.
"Only by shattering false eternity can Inazuma have a future."
"Enough," a cold voice echoed.
The Raiden Shogun stepped forward, Musou Isshin blazing with violet light.
"Resolve, courage, love, hatred—"
"All decay with time."
"I am the unchanging law."
"I am eternity."
As she passed Sara, a chill ran down the tengu's spine.
The Shogun's gaze locked onto Kokomi.
"You—enemy of eternity."
"I will personally seal you into my statue."
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