Sangonomiya Kokomi stared at the light screen with eyes full of disbelief.
One hand hovered near her lips as her mind struggled to accept the image before her—
In the future… I actually have the right to challenge the Raiden Shogun head-on?
A strange thrill crept up her spine, her legs unconsciously pressing together.
"So this is what power bestowed by the Fifth Descender looks like," she murmured.
"The confidence… the courage…"
Her gaze filled with reverence.
But suddenly—
A chill ran down her back.
"Wait… what if the Raiden Shogun is also watching this future?"
Her face paled.
"If she comes for me before Aerin even reaches Inazuma… I'll really die."
Tenshukaku
"Hmph."
A cold snort echoed through the grand hall.
Above Tenshukaku, thunderclouds churned violently, lightning gathering in thick layers.
"Enemy of eternity… I will—"
The Raiden Shogun, seated in meditation, suddenly opened her eyes.
Lightning flashed across her pupils.
Just as she prepared to descend upon Watatsumi Island and erase Sangonomiya Kokomi—
A voice echoed within her consciousness.
Raiden Ei.
"So… you want to temporarily reclaim control?"
"You wish me not to eliminate the enemy of eternity on Watatsumi?"
Within the Plane of Euthymia, Raiden Ei pressed her temples.
The Shogun possessed independent awareness, but her core directive was immutable:
Protect Eternity.
Nothing else mattered.
Yet the arrival of the Fifth Descender had shaken Teyvat's balance.
As Inazuma's true Archon, Ei could no longer afford total indifference.
"She is a Valkyrie chosen in the future by the Fifth Descender," Ei said quietly.
"If you kill her now, you will be declaring war on him."
"When he truly arrives in Inazuma, the consequences will be beyond calculation."
The Shogun understood her meaning—
Yet the law of Eternity, engraved into her very foundation, could not be overturned.
Still… there was another way.
"Ei," the Shogun replied calmly.
"Has your resolve begun to waver?"
"Do you intend to oppose me?"
"If you wish for change… then before I finish my battle with that Valkyrie—"
"Let us settle things between you and me first."
"Let me test your will."
⚡ Duel Ignites ⚡
The Raiden Shogun stepped forward, Musou Isshin in hand.
In the instant her eyes flared—
Her body became a streak of lightning.
She pierced straight through Sangonomiya Kokomi at a speed beyond mortal perception.
Stopping midair, she sheathed her blade.
A pillar of thunder erupted like a geyser, completely swallowing Kokomi.
Nearby, Kujou Sara collapsed to the floor, utterly paralyzed by fear.
She couldn't see what Kokomi was enduring inside the storm—
But as a fellow Electro wielder, she felt it.
The power within that thunder was absolute.
No being should have survived it.
Yet—
As the lightning faded, a figure still stood.
And from within the dying glow, a mocking voice rang out.
"They say there are always mortals who dare face the might of thunder."
"Yet most believe the Raiden Shogun to be unmatched, her Musou no Hitotachi invincible."
"What a pity… in my eyes, your blade is utterly ordinary."
Kujou Sara froze.
That voice—
It couldn't be Kokomi's.
It had to be an illusion.
"No… impossible…"
But when the lightning finally dispersed—
Sangonomiya Kokomi stood there, completely unharmed.
Sara's mind shattered.
"You're not Kokomi!" she screamed.
"Who are you?!"
"I am Sangonomiya Kokomi," she replied calmly.
"But no longer merely the leader of the Resistance."
"I am now Valkyrie Sangonomiya Kokomi."
She raised her hand.
"This is the power of the Stigmata granted by my Master."
"Once, I could only wield Hydro through a Vision."
"Now… I carry the might of the boundless ocean within me."
She looked at the Raiden Shogun.
"Tenshukaku is too cramped."
"Let us move somewhere more fitting for a duel."
With a wave of her hand—
The Raiden Shogun was suddenly trapped inside a conjured bubble.
A brilliant blue vortex spiraled beneath her feet.
BOOM!
A surging column of water blasted through the roof of Tenshukaku, carrying the Shogun straight into the sky.
Before leaving, Kokomi glanced at the trembling Kujou Sara.
"You were kept in the dark by Kujou Takayuki."
"This time, you chose justice over blood."
"At least… your heart still leans toward Inazuma's people."
"Do not return to the Kujou Clan."
"It is finished."
She stepped onto a rising wave and vanished into the heavens.
Across Teyvat
Shenhe frowned slightly.
"That girl… endured a god's strike unscathed—and carried the god away."
"Walking upon waves…"
"There is something… familiar about her techniques."
Cloud Retainer nearly lost her balance mid-flight.
"She didn't use the sea."
"She created the waves herself."
"That… is on an entirely different level."
At Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko finally broke.
"That ornamental fish has gotten far too arrogant!"
"To speak so mockingly after gaining power—how could Aerin allow her to become a Valkyrie?!"
Yet after venting, she sighed.
She understood.
This humiliation… was intentional.
To defeat the Raiden Shogun—
And to trample both her power and pride.
At Sea
Water crashed back into the ocean.
Thunder erupted in response.
The Raiden Shogun burst from the waves, hovering high above.
"You…" she growled.
Kokomi stepped across the sea's surface.
"I no longer wield a Vision."
"My Vision shattered long ago."
"And yet… I have become the greatest threat to your so-called Eternity."
The ocean roared.
Water dragons rose skyward, spiraling toward the Shogun.
Within the Shogun's mind—
Raiden Ei opened her eyes.
"So this is no vendetta for Orobashi…"
"She has accepted another's power… to deny Eternity itself."
"Then we must act together."
The heavens answered.
Lightning annihilated the water columns midair.
Then—
The Shogun's form changed.
A skeletal construct manifested behind her.
Violet lightning surged through bone-like arms.
Musou Isshin was seized by a massive skeletal hand.
Raiden Ei stood revealed.
"Intruder," she commanded.
"State your true purpose."
Kokomi blocked the incoming blade arcs with cascading water.
"Raiden Ei… you know the name Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto."
Ei's gaze sharpened.
"Aerin told you?"
Kokomi smiled faintly.
"At your strongest… this is all you amount to."
She spread her arms.
"Now, I will get serious."
"My Master ordered me to capture both you and the Shogun—alive."
Ei's fury ignited.
"Traitor!"
But—
Invisible force erupted from Kokomi's body.
The skeletal hands shattered.
Rain froze mid-air.
Then—
Every drop became a blade.
Ei screamed as her defenses collapsed.
Blood mixed with rain.
Her consciousness blurred.
"I cannot kill you," Kokomi said calmly.
"My Master wants you alive."
"End of this—Universal Gravitation."
Ei was suspended above the sea—
But in the next instant—
A black blur snatched her away.
A mocking voice echoed.
"Sorry, little fish."
"This one isn't for you."
Scarlet eyes gleamed.
Bella.
She smirked.
"Calling someone 'Master'… that stench of servitude is unbearable."
"But I'm busy."
"Until next time, little slave."
And with that—
She vanished.
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