After being blown away several times and finding her attacks utterly ineffective against Lumine and the others — even Musou no Hitotachi was blocked — Ei finally erupted with righteous fury.
She raised her intent and the sky answered: thousands of bolts of lightning roiled at her command, the storm clouds forming a giant vortex. Flashes of thunder danced inside that whirlpool.
"If you've got the nerve, try blocking this!" Ei's gaze was ice-cold. In the next instant, a pillar of lightning descended from heaven to earth like the roar of the world itself, filling the sky with a suffocating, overwhelming torrent of thunder.
Under that lightning-made firmament, Lumine leapt up again and flew straight into the storm. A clear crack rang out as a shield shattered — and then Lumine landed safely back on her dragon's back.
She urged her mount onward, glanced back, and made a silly face as if nothing had happened.
The last thread of composure inside Ei finally snapped. She could not understand it. First, a shield had withstood Musou no Hitotachi; then a fan had forcibly blown her away. What else did this world have in store?
At some point Ei doubted herself — had her Musou no Hitotachi already become outdated during Inazuma's isolation? And if she could start doubting her own strength, then Yae Miko would begin to doubt the reality of this world. No one but Ei truly knew Ei's power. For Yae Miko to suspect things were off meant something fundamental had shifted.
If someone suggested calling upon the Geo Archon or the Anemo Archon to intervene, Yae Miko thought that would be sensible. But these two little outsiders — one taking the Musou no Hitotachi, another repeatedly blowing Ei away — how could that be explained?
Yae Miko liked interesting things, but she wasn't fond of impossible nonsense.
Lumine glared at the storm and spurred her dragon. Finally, they burst through the thunderclouds; the six dragons and three of them slipped out of Inazuma's storm boundary.
Safe.
Lumine exhaled in relief. Looking out over the open sea, she had never felt the world so bright. In the distance they could already see the outline of Guyun Pavilion — they were now clearly in Liyue's sphere of influence.
Perhaps, before Liyue's rapid rise, there had been neutral waters between Inazuma and Liyue. But ever since Liyue's acceleration, Ningguang and company had quietly treated this stretch as Liyue's domain.
The monsters around Guyun were already cleared; Xiao had gone deal with the lingering embers of that region's abyssal threat. Guyun now hosted many firearms units — if anything happened, they would be there in an instant.
They were home at last. Lumine glanced at the two remaining shields circling her and felt grateful. This time, the Lich Barrier had truly saved her — without it, she wouldn't have stood a chance against Musou no Hitotachi.
Paimon waved cheerfully.
Yae Miko snapped back to attention, glanced at the storm, and said helplessly:
"Safe… that's not quite accurate yet."
Before she could finish, lightning flashed, and Ei reappeared in front of the three of them, her face dark. Her gaze lingered on Lumine — especially on the only two remaining shields surrounding her.
"No need for a Vision to use multiple elements, yet you have shields that forcibly negate all attacks…" Ei's voice was low, almost mournful.
"You really are the greatest variable threatening eternity."
"But now I understand your shields' limitation. After negating two of my attacks, what will you use to face me?"
Lumine raised an eyebrow, utterly unconcerned about revealing her cards. In Inazuma, she had only two staves as backup for her life — but once she left Inazuma… she had far more.
"See? But it's too late!" Lumine smiled and spread her hands, pulling out another staff.
"Guess what — does this staff have a shield spell?"
"And besides, this is Liyue's land. If you dare to use your divine power here, aren't you afraid the Geo Archon will hold you accountable?"
Ei frowned slightly. She had already noticed this without Lumine needing to point it out. The area they were currently in already pulsed with dense Geo divine energy — ancient, overwhelming power that only the Geo Archon could wield.
The problem was…
By rights, this area should be open sea, unchanged for thousands of years.
So why now…
Liyue seemed to have expanded its territory?
Using divine power on Liyue land was dangerous. If she broke the Seven Archons' pact first, the Geo Archon's punishment would be severe. Ei didn't think she could withstand it. Even if all of Inazuma believed her Musou no Hitotachi could cleave the heavens, she would never forget the time when Morax pierced the storm clouds and restrained her Musou no Hitotachi with a single spear.
After all, gods of war are still gods of war. Contracts cannot be broken.
"Hmph!" Ei glared at Lumine, her voice low and menacing:
"Even without using divine power, taking you down would be no challenge!"
"No divine power?" Lumine held a staff in each hand. Seeing her shields nearing expiration, she waved the other staff and immediately restored five shields around herself.
"Want to try again?"
Seeing the shields she had barely destroyed restored to full, Ei felt a headache coming on.
This… was utterly absurd. Even knowing that each shield forcibly negates any damage, one could try to chip them down slowly. But this… this was ridiculous.
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