'How dare you!'
Raiden Ei scoffed disdainfully in the Isshin Pure Land. Immediately, the Raiden Shogun in the outside world flashed directly through the girl.
In an instant, time seemed to stop for a moment. Several terrifying electro element-infused sword lights enveloped the girl's figure. As the Raiden Shogun twirled her katana, switching from a reverse grip to a regular grip, a dazzling purple light pillar instantly engulfed the girl.
The dense electro element dyed the ground a dazzling purple. This was the Raiden Shogun's strongest martial art—Musou no Hitotachi.
The girl's body turned into specks of fire and dissipated with the wind, just as she herself had said, leaving nothing behind but the mourning mask she wore, not even ashes.
'Musou no Hitotachi…'
Fujiwara's eyes widened as she watched the Raiden Shogun. Today, she finally witnessed the strike she had pursued her entire life.
However, she felt that the Raiden Shogun's blow was inferior to Tsubame Gaeshi.
Although its momentum was vast and uniform, it was ultimately traceable; if one could see it, one could block it.
But Tsubame Gaeshi was completely untraceable. Fujiwara believed that if Shiki possessed the same power as the Raiden Shogun, then Musou no Hitotachi would inevitably be defeated by Tsubame Gaeshi!
At this moment, the Raiden Shogun aimed Musou Isshin at Shiki. As space shattered, darkness gradually enveloped the girl. The ground, marked with the Mitsudomoe crest, expanded beneath her feet, followed by the sudden appearance of a colossal Otorii Gate and a blood-red moon in the sky.
Outside, everyone only saw the Raiden Shogun point the divine weapon in her hand at the girl, and then the girl vanished.
"Eh? What's going on?"
"I don't know!"
"How did she just disappear into thin air?"
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves. Ayaka, seeing this, wanted to rush forward but was held back by Thoma.
"Young Miss, calm down!"
"Do you remember teleportation? Ryougi might have just teleported away!"
Thoma comforted Ayaka. He knew his Young Miss had a deep relationship with Shiki, but the current situation made it unwise to act rashly.
"…I understand. You can let go of me, Thoma."
Ayaka sighed. The duel had just ended, and it was indeed inappropriate to rush in before the situation was clear.
In the Isshin Pure Land, Raiden Ei sat cross-legged in mid-air. She had maintained this meditative posture for five hundred years until the appearance of this person who had inherited her sister's power.
"We meet again, Shiki," Raiden Ei said, slowly descending from the air, her eyes complex as she looked at the girl.
"You inherited her power. In a sense, we share the same bloodline."
"Did…she tell you these things?" Shiki asked.
"Yes." Raiden Ei nodded, "The other you within your body has a very peculiar relationship with you."
"And through this performance, I've seen your talent in strategy. Perhaps you are more suited to govern this nation than I am."
"However, I have already resolved to lead Inazuma towards eternity, so, do not force my hand."
"…"
"I'd like to ask, in your eyes, what is eternity?"
After speaking, Shiki didn't wait for Raiden Ei's answer and continued on her own, "In my opinion, there is only one kind of eternity in this world, and that is the state of constant change in things."
"Our daily lives are a spiral composed of countless changes and miracles. This spiral will continue to extend, and stopping it will only lead to its collapse."
"You can go outside and see how Inazuma has changed compared to Five hundred years ago, but can you say that an Inazuma that has changed is no longer Inazuma?"
"No, Inazuma is still Inazuma, just like a person. From infancy to adulthood, the cells in their body have long since been replaced over and over again, but he is still himself."
"There's nothing wrong with pursuing eternity, but it shouldn't be this stagnant kind."
Shiki was not confident she could persuade Raiden Ei from her misguided path with words alone, so she could only try her best to express all her views. What if it worked?
And her view on eternity came from a famous philosophical problem—the Ship of Theseus.
The Ship of Theseus refers to a ship that sails forever on the sea. Whenever a plank rots, it is replaced with a new one. And when all the planks have been replaced, is it still the original Ship of Theseus?
Shiki's view was that it was not the original, but it was still the Ship of Theseus.
It took hundreds of years to replace all the planks, and the crew changed generation after generation, but as long as their most fundamental beliefs were passed down, then it was the Ship of Theseus.
Inazuma could completely be seen as a Ship of Theseus, and even any nation could. The people changed generation after generation, but she was still Inazuma.
"What you said, I already know. But as long as one pursues, one will inevitably lose. Therefore, only by stopping time to achieve eternity will one not lose."
"But, has Inazuma lost little during this period?" Shiki retorted.
Raiden Ei paused. Yes, Inazuma could truly be described as a mess during this time. She had to admit the other's point was valid; at least, she couldn't find a counter-argument.
Or perhaps the girl carried her sister's aura, so she wouldn't refute her?
But she still clung to her own view, or in other words, she was stubbornly Unyielding.
"These are all necessary sacrifices on the path to eternity. On the road to eternity, something must always be given up."
Shiki laughed instantly upon hearing this. Wasn't this giving her an opening to refute!
"General, you are refuting your own point!"
"What?"
"You said that as long as one pursues, one will lose, so one must pursue a stagnant eternity to prevent people from losing."
"But then you just said that pursuing eternity always requires losing something. Aren't you contradicting yourself?"
"On the contrary, you have in some sense affirmed my viewpoint, because moving towards eternity is also a kind of change!"
"..."
Raiden Ei fell into contemplation. If it were anyone else disturbing her state of mind and denying eternity like this, she would have long since cleaved a mountain with a single strike. Unfortunately, there was no 'if'.
"eternity should not be a material eternity, but a spiritual one."
"For every Vision holder, they are practitioners on the path to eternity, because the Vision represents their path, and those who are favored by the Archons will surely walk steadfastly down this path."
"Constantly walking on the path one pursues, isn't that also a kind of eternity?"
"So, General, why don't we try a different kind of eternity? Let's see whether my viewpoint or yours makes Inazuma better in the future."
"You know, experimentation leads to truth."
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