Dong… dong… dong!
"The first opponent the challenger shall face—Kujou Sara!"
Kujou Sara appeared from the opposite side of the arena.
Of all possible opponents, starting with the Raiden Shogun's most loyal follower—a woman as serious as she was unyielding—was by far the worst draw. Even though Victor Wang had learned her name two days ago from Yae Miko, he couldn't help but sigh.
Dong… dong… dong!
"The first match of the Duel Before the Throne begins now!" announced an Okuzumeshuu officer, his voice solemn as he represented the will of the Shogun herself.
No trace of hesitation existed in his tone. Even with one of the Shogun's own generals stepping onto the dueling platform, the Okuzumeshuu's loyalty to the Shogun was absolute. And as his words fell, the restless murmuring of the crowd died instantly, leaving only tense silence.
"Kujou Sa—"
Thwip!
Before Victor could finish speaking, a lightning-formed arrow grazed his cheek.
"I despise when people talk during the Duel Before the Throne," Sara said coldly. "Opening your mouth like that makes it sound like you're about to surrender."
"Don't worry. I'll never surrender."
"Nor will I. Let's fight seriously. If you defeat me, you can move on."
"If this were my only fight today, I'd love to go all out. But I still have others waiting. So… how about we change the rules?"
"Change the rules?"
"Like, decide it with a single strike?"
"I specialize in sustained combat," she replied curtly.
"Then how about turn-based? You strike once, I don't dodge; then I strike once, and you don't dodge. Whoever can't go on loses."
"You think I'm stupid? How's that any different?" Impatience flared in her tone—lingering too long before the Shogun was almost an offense. "Enough tricks. I'm coming!"
He couldn't afford to use too much elemental power. To achieve his true goal, he would have to draw on that power again. His eyes began to glint crimson, his presence shifting entirely.
"Haa… fine. Come then. Don't blame me if you get hurt."
"In a battle where our lives are at stake, who cares about getting hurt? You'd better take this seriously too!"
With a shout, Kujou Sara released three lightning arrows in a triangular spread, her tengu wings flaring open as she lunged forward.
The last time they fought, Victor had constrained her with seawater and geo constructs. But here, without the sea, mere rock wouldn't be enough—and this small arena limited her greatest advantage, speed. She would have to break through his defense head-on to win.
Wreathed in faint black-and-red energy, Victor cut through the converging lightning arrows with his sword. Fighting physically meant draining stamina, not mental strength—vital for what lay ahead.
Still, lightning wasn't something easily met with steel. He coated his blade in a thin geo membrane to block the current, slashing the bolts apart.
Sara was already closing in. The dueling stage was too small for proper archery, but she was tengu—strong, swift, and rigorously trained for close combat.
Her special bow, gleaming like a violet crescent moon, swung toward him. He deflected it, only for feathers of lightning to rain down. When his blade sliced through them, they exploded, crackling with thunder that engulfed him.
Sara wasn't done—her bow flew back to her hand, its string flashing like a blade aimed at his knees.
When vision is obstructed, instinct protects the head first.
Victor's "Killer Instinct" personality raised his sword to guard, but even in this state, he couldn't ignore the importance of keeping his clothes intact—especially in front of this crowd.
He raised a geo pillar to block, if only for a heartbeat, but that was enough to read her movement. Little Wen intercepted just in time; blade met bowstring, neither yielding, as raw force pressed toward his knee.
"Glory to the Shogun! Storm the front!"
"TenguJuurai!"
Her wings turned to pure lightning, her aura flaring. The crowd gasped—the Shogun's general was no ordinary warrior.
Sara's bow crackled with power, arcs of lightning crawling along the blade and toward Victor himself.
The sting of electricity made his grip falter. His sword was forced downward, the dull edge pressing to his knee.
Then her massive, lightning-wreathed wings folded around him, a prison of thunder.
Victor broke free—launching himself skyward on a sudden geo spire, shaking off both electricity and Sara.
"You can't beat me! My techniques outnumber yours a hundred to one!" she called.
"Hmph."
Sara took several steps back, assessing her options. This duel allowed no ties, no retreats—only victory or death.
Victor raised his hand. From the ground, chains of half-golden, half-stone material erupted, locking around her feet.
"Fourfold Earth Dragon Lock!" he shouted a heartbeat too late.
She tested the chains with her bowstring—she could cut them, but it would take time. Victor lunged, blade flashing.
She stomped, detonating a thunderclap beneath her. The blast shattered the floor, freeing her. She slipped aside easily.
"That all you've got?"
The jab seemed to sting. Before he could retort, Sara made her choice. She drew a tessen—a fan made from tengu feathers, each one personally significant. To gift one was a rare honor. To use it in battle meant she was done holding back.
"Koukou Sendou!"
Lightning burst forth with every sweep, but Victor sliced through the arcs effortlessly. "That all?" he mocked.
"Tengu Juurai: Titanbreaker!"
One feather detached from her fan, flew skyward, and turned into a bolt of divine lightning.
Victor frowned. This was the hard part. With Sara's nature, she would never hold back. Avoiding injury completely would be disrespectful.
So, he raised a shield—around her.
The audience gasped as he took the full brunt of the lightning himself, smoke rising from his shoulders.
Before the next strike could fall, the shield shrank, cutting off her spell.
Trapped briefly within the barrier, Sara tried to think of an escape. She decided to fly upward, breaking free as Victor dispelled the shield himself.
"Don't use that move again," he warned. "It's dangerous."
"What…? Worry about yourself."
She folded her fan, spreading her wings. Her form blurred into three mirror images, the air swirling violently around them.
The Tengu's Dance. If this didn't win, nothing would.
Wind roared. Lightning flashed. Four Saras descended in unison, blades of thunder crossing paths.
Victor closed his eyes. There was only one true Kujou Sara—and there was wind of his own within this storm. When her movement dipped to its lowest point…
Got you.
Chains rose. A dome of stone sealed the air.
The tengu became a caged bird.
His blade grazed her shoulder, blood blooming.
Another slash skimmed her neck, cutting a lock of hair.
A third nearly struck deeper—but his "Killer Instinct" resisted his restraint, trying to finish the kill.
"I yield."
The arena fell silent.
Sara turned to face the Raiden Shogun, closed her eyes, and awaited her punishment.
No one had ever escaped divine retribution in a Duel Before the Throne. Not once.
But the crowd couldn't accept it.
Could the Shogun truly execute one of her most loyal generals?
Dong… dong… dong!
"The defeated: Kujou Sara!"
The Raiden Shogun stepped down from the Tenshukaku.
Was she hesitating? Regretting? Would she strike?
Her face was unreadable.
The tension was suffocating.
From the ranks of the Tenryou Commission, Sara's comrades stood frozen. Kokomi and Gorou exchanged uneasy looks; Lumine and Paimon clenched their fists.
"Sara! You still owe me that sumo match!"
At the familiar voice, Sara's lips curved faintly.
"Boss?! What are you—Boss, don't—!"
"I'll take that strike for her!"
Seeing someone trying to rush the stage, the Shogun finally frowned. She drew her blade from within herself—lightning gathering silently.
Musou no Hitotachi.
The blade descended. No spectacle. No flourish. Only a terrible, focused inevitability.
Victor Wang and Kujou Sara were the only ones who could feel the weight of it.
Like a mortal facing the wrath of heaven—utterly hopeless.
Arataki Itto burst forward, body glowing ochre, his frame swelling as geo energy coursed through him—but even at full speed, he couldn't outrun lightning.
"Mountains—Rise!!"
At the last moment, Victor's body blazed with the same golden hue. His left arm shone brightest, his hand like glowing amber, ancient runes swirling inside.
They spread—across his body, the ground, even into the air—forming a vast pattern of rune-stone seals.
A mountain of runes rose, burying Kujou Sara beneath its protection.
The air thickened, nearly solid.
The Raiden Shogun blinked in surprise at his intervention—but Musou no Hitotachi could not be stopped once unleashed.
Lightning met stone.
Layer after layer of rune shields shattered. Each one splintered sent pain lancing through Victor's mind.
Fortunately, the Shogun herself was not in peak form.
After being awakened by Lumine, Ei had sealed away parts of the puppet's functions. The resulting imbalance had already caused the lightning storms off Inazuma's coast.
Victor had chosen this exact timing for that reason.
And not only that—Ei and the Shogun's internal division was growing. In time, it would culminate in their five-century battle within the Plane of Euthymia.
For now, though, the divide merely weakened the strike.
Even so, Musou no Hitotachi shattered the entire rune mountain and cleaved into Victor's elementally transformed left hand—but no further.
To the stunned crowd, it looked as though he had caught the divine strike barehanded.
The duel's divine judgment fell only once.
The Shogun sheathed her blade. Victor withdrew his hand, trembling. His spirit burned, his body screamed.
He'd once used this technique—elemental embodiment—during the Khaenri'ahn "God's Descent," surviving by turning his flesh to stone.
It wasn't truly complicated, but few could manage it: gathering one's elemental particles into concentrated form, temporarily mimicking an elemental being.
The result was pain, dislocation, and internal injury—but survival.
His mind and body were both collapsing. Time was short—five seconds, maybe less.
He reached into his cloak and turned the hourglass.