Across all of Teyvat, the sky split with wonder. A golden pillar of light rose from Shadowed Mountain above Narukami Grand Shrine, climbed through clouds, and seemed to touch the stars. People from every coast and cliff could see it.
"The beam covers the whole mountain! What is happening?" someone cried in Inazuma City.
"Fool, who else could do this? It must be the General!" another answered, pointing up with both hands.
"The path is magnificent, and the god eternal!" the crowd shouted. Their voices rolled through alleys and courtyards, and the whole city answered them with the same cry.
At the Kamisato Estate, Ayato paused mid-sentence while speaking with his sister. He turned to the window, stunned by the light that turned the sea bright as noon.
Ayaka stepped beside him, calm but fierce. "Brother, the General has cut out the rot that hurt Inazuma. We will follow her will for eternity. We will rebuild our nation. We will make Inazuma strong and prosperous—stronger even than Liyue."
Ayato smiled softly. "It will happen. The Kamisato clan will stand steady, and the land will heal. If Father and Mother could see this day, they would be proud."
---
Far to the southwest, the Qunyu Pavilion in Liyue drifted like a jade ship above the sea. A woman with long white hair and a golden cheongsam watched the horizon where the beam climbed.
"So, it begins," she said, a hint of delight in her tone.
Beside her, a sharp-eyed girl with a tidy bun shaped like cat ears folded her arms. "If His Excellency Morax had not spoken of it himself, who would dare imagine such a thing?"
On Mt. Aocang, Morax clasped his hands behind his back and gazed toward Inazuma, amber eyes reflecting the distant gold.
"The turning of Teyvat has started," he said quietly. "May it move without breaking."
Behind him, the adepti traded crisp words as old friends do. Mountain Shaper sniffed. "Inazuma is fortunate to take the first step into another world."
Moon Carver nodded. "This first target is not the hardest. Even our Qixing could carry it if given leave. Inazuma was lucky to move first."
Cloud Retainer let out a long, musical sigh. "Your tongues are quick. The duty was measured by myth and nature, not by envy. Fontaine received the world of holy trials because its God of Justice suits that place. And the realm of dog-spirits and ancient curses falls to Liyue, where stone and patience are strongest."
Morax smiled to himself. Their bickering sounded like pebbles in a stream—bright, harmless, and somehow soothing. Still, a question tugged at his heart: if Teyvat anchors a third world and learns the cycle of rebirth, could old friends be seen again?
In Mondstadt, Venti (Barbatos) lay on a wind-touched roof and squinted at the spear of light. "Oh? A door in the east and a song I do not know." He grinned, then fell quiet, as if listening to a far bell.
In Fontaine, judges and inventors looked up from papers and gears. Some smiled, some frowned, but none looked away. The shape of law itself seemed to tilt and then steady.
Three nations that did not know of Celestia's plan—Sumeru, Natlan, and Snezhnaya—stared with mixed feelings: fear, awe, curiosity. Whispered prayers spread. So did rumors.
Down on the docks of Liyue Harbor, a blond traveler had just stepped through the gate towers when her floating companion tugged her hair with both hands.
"Look! Look, look! A giant sky-beam! It lights the whole world!" Paimon squealed.
"Ow—don't pull!" Lumine winced, then shaded her eyes. "Across the sea… Inazuma. That power must be a god's. Venti can play tricks with the wind, but this? This is thunder and rule." She paused. "I wonder how strong Morax is compared to that."
---
At the same time, in another world—the Demon Slayer realm—night broke like glass.
A deserted, weathered mountain—once home to a forgotten thunder god's shrine—suddenly stood under a vast blue column of light that fell from the stars. Purple lightning flickered inside the beam. The rumbles shook birds from trees and rattled shutters in faraway towns.
Boom… boom… BOOM—
The dark turned to day. People woke and rushed to windows. On a village street at the mountain's foot, a demon sank its teeth into a night watchman's shoulder—only to scream as the beam washed over them both.
"Help! A demon—!" the watchman cried, blood on his collar.
"Lightning—! It burns—! I'm going to die—!" the demon shrieked.
Blue-white arcs crackled from within the demon's flesh. Smoke poured off its skin. It staggered and clawed at the ground, but the lightning chewed faster than it could heal. In moments, it crumbled into gray ash, mouth still open in a soundless howl.
The watchman fell to his knees, sobbing with relief. "The big thunder mountain… Lord Thunder God! Thank you for your protection!" He pressed his head into the dust and wept like a child saved from a flood.
From the barracks nearby, demon slayers poured into the street, swords half-drawn—then froze at the sight of the ash drifting like snow.
"Sis!" cried a young huntress with a crisp voice and steady stance. "Did a god descend?"
Her elder sister wore a butterfly-patterned haori. Lavender eyes lifted to the mountain wrapped in blue, and to the ruined shrine at its summit, now bright as morning. She had told herself for years that gods were just old stories. But now—
"Yes," she whispered. "A god has come. Tell our leader at once."
Bold, sharp fear and bright hope flashed through their squad as they sprinted to relay the news.
---
Not far away, a small town buzzed with the joy and lies of the Eternal Bliss Sect. In the main hall, incense hung thick. A follower pushed aside the curtain. "Master Founder! A miracle—! A beam from the heavens! The whole earth is gold!"
On the mat sat a man whose hair looked splashed with dried blood. His irises were a mix of colors, too bright to be human. He smiled gently, like a schoolteacher. "I understand. We shall take a look."
Inside, he laughed to himself. Gods? He had crept through countless shrines and eaten countless "gods." He was still here. The believers loved him as if he were divine. And their true lord in the shadows—the first of their kind—was a god if anyone was.
He stepped outside—and his smile vanished. The beam struck the clouds like a spear. The ground hummed. The air itself pressed on his bones.
A strange prickle ran across his skin.
Szzzt—
Tiny purple bolts crawled over his arms. They bit. They burned. Smoke rose.
He tried to heal. Nothing happened. Panic tightened his throat. His muscles locked. He could not move. He could not breathe right.
"What is this? Some slayer trick? Some new poison?" His voice broke. Fear climbed from his flesh to his soul.
"It's the light," he gasped, finally understanding. "This… this light—"
The beam dimmed at last. The thunder softened. The pain eased. He straightened slowly, shaking. Across the sky, the fading column of blue folded into a vast shadow of a torii above the mountain's crown—as if a gate to Takamagahara, the land of gods, had slid into place.
He stared, skin still singed, jaw tight. A god he could mock was one thing. A door that changed what was possible was another.
---
Back in Teyvat, the pillar over Narukami Grand Shrine narrowed from a flood to an arch of light. The World Gate stabilized. Sailors in the Inazuman harbors fell quiet, faces washed gold. Priests in roadside shrines felt bells sway on their own. Fisherfolk crossed themselves with both hands, whispering thanks to the Raiden Shogun. Children chased drifting sparkles through the alleys, laughing as if it were a festival night.
Yae Miko, standing at the shrine with Mathew, watched the gate pulse. She felt the gentle push and pull between worlds—like two tides touching for the first time. "It breathes," she said. "It lives."
Mathew nodded. "It accepts us. The path is open."
Below, Ayato led officials through the new policies the Shogun had set that morning. Names of corrupt clans were erased from records. Their lands were seized for public works. Work crews were paid in food and coin to repair roads and canals. Inazuma moved forward. The sound of hammers began to match the rhythm of waves.
On Mt. Aocang, Morax turned from the light and set a hand on an ancient pine. "Stone holds. Thunder travels. Both can protect." The adepti behind him fell silent, accepting that this was not a moment for complaint but for resolve.
In Mondstadt, Venti rolled onto his side and cupped a hand to his ear. "New thunder, new song," he murmured. "Don't get jealous, old wind. The stage is large enough for all of us."
In Fontaine, a judge closed a ledger and said to no one, "If law must cross worlds, then our scales must learn a wider balance."
---
Back in the Demon Slayer world, the butterfly sisters reached a hillside where they could see the mountain clearly. The elder's eyes narrowed as she studied the falling glow.
"Look," the younger breathed. "Do you see it? A gate. Like a shrine's gate—but… not of this world."
"I see it," the elder said. "And I feel it. The air is different—cleaner where it should not be. A hand has brushed the sky." She slid a talisman from her sleeve and tied it to a branch. "Pray. Then we move."
"To the leader?"
"To the leader. And then to the mountain." She looked at her sister. "Be brave. If this is a god, our blades cannot judge it. But our choices still can."
They bowed their heads for a heartbeat—one quick prayer—and ran.
In the town of the Eternal Bliss Sect, the "Founder" wiped at the burn marks on his arms and watched the gate's shadow hover. His gentle smile returned, thinner now.
"Call our faithful," he said. "Tell them a god has come—and that we will offer a welcome."
Inside, his thoughts were knives. If a god truly walks, then we must learn its law—or break it.
---
Night deepened again, but neither world felt the same. On one side of the sea, Inazuma hummed with a new purpose. On the other side, the mountain of thunder waited beneath a torii-shaped shadow, and even demons watched the sky.
A bridge had been built.
A test had begun.
And somewhere between a shrine's sakura and a ruined altar on a distant peak, thunder smiled.
---
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