"…Where am I?"
The gates of the Plane of Euthymia had slammed shut.
Her link to the Shogun was gone.
In the midst of meditation, Raiden Ei immediately sensed the crisis.
But without the door opening, no matter what happened outside, she could not respond.
All she could do was wait— wait until the path back to reality reopened.
Fortunately, that day came sooner than she feared.
Though what awaited her beyond the gate… that, she could not know.
To step out was a risk.
But to remain was to do nothing at all.
At last, Ei chose to face the unknown.
"Ei? You're finally awake!"
"…Shogun? Is that you?"
Slowly, Ei opened her eyes.
Dazed, she looked up at two towering figures.
"Yae…?"
"Why are you so… enormous?"
Her words made Yae Miko cover her mouth and giggle.
Something was terribly wrong.
Ei stood— only to find that, even upright, she was shorter than the two kneeling before her.
"…"
She looked at her hands.
Touched her head.
"…Something's off."
No—something was very off!
"Pfft—hahaha!"
Yae Miko could hold it no longer.
She collapsed, pounding the floor in laughter.
Even Kamisato Ayaka at her side failed to stifle a smile.
For Ei's consciousness, her power, her entire being— had all been placed inside a tiny armed doll.
A two-headed-tall puppet, absurdly adorable.
But if this was Inazuma's Raiden Shogun… what a joke it would be.
"…What is the meaning of this?"
Why had she become like this?
Who was responsible?
Yae?
Or perhaps the white-haired stranger standing nearby?
Ei had shut herself away in the Plane of Euthymia for five centuries.
She had never seen the outside.
Naturally, she did not recognize Kamisato Ayaka.
"Isn't it obvious? Our dear Ei looks just like a little baby now. Want me to fetch you a candy, hmm?"
Were it not for the divine power still radiating from this tiny form, Yae Miko truly might have scooped her up and cuddled her.
"Quit joking! If nothing's wrong, then turn me back!"
Ei was certain this was some trick.
Some unknown power had warped her body.
"Ahem… Ei, tell me—before your link to the Shogun was severed, you… knew nothing?"
Yae Miko's expression turned strange.
Had the Shogun truly fallen, without Ei even realizing?
"I knew nothing. Why was the gate suddenly sealed?"
Ei's mind swirled with questions.
No one but herself and the Shogun could close that gate.
Unless someone wielded power even greater than hers.
Yet she had sensed nothing before it happened.
Ayaka pointed her small finger behind Ei.
Yae's smile faded, her face grave.
Unease prickling her heart, Ei turned.
There sat an unfamiliar man.
At his side— another Raiden Shogun.
And scattered around them, the wreckage of broken bodies… remnants of puppets like the Shogun herself.
"So, you've awakened."
The Shogun approached the tiny puppet body.
"You… are the Shogun? Why was our bond severed?"
Ei stared at the form she herself had crafted long ago.
Her own hands had built it.
There could be no mistake.
Could it be… the work of Celestia?
Her eyes flicked instinctively to the man.
"Do you see those remains?"
The Shogun gestured at the wreckage littering the floor.
"My former bodies. Broken by his hand."
Ei stepped closer, her heart heavy.
She recognized the fragments instantly.
The words were true.
Which meant— a great enemy had come to Inazuma.
"What is your purpose here?"
At once her suspicion fixed upon the silent man.
Ayaka was still mortal, despite her Vision.
Only this man was different.
She could not see through him.
Not shrouded in mist— but as if she could perceive only his surface, nothing deeper.
"My purpose? Does Kamisato Ayaka count? Does Yae Miko? Or perhaps… the Raiden Shogun herself?"
The man smiled at the doll-sized Ei.
"…What do you mean?"
Assassination?
But he had already broken the Shogun.
That was assassination enough.
Then why repair her?
Why free Ei from her Plane?
"Isn't it simple?"
Yae poked Ei's tiny cheek.
"Because, little Ei… the three of us are destined to serve the same husband."
"…"
Ei slapped her hand away, face hard.
"This vessel holds but one wish— to pursue eternity.
I will suffer no bonds, no burdens to hinder my path.
Not even this man."
She would never tie herself to him.
No matter how strong.
Unless… he himself were eternity.
"Uh… wait. Did you think I was after you?"
The man looked genuinely baffled by Ei's confidence.
"…Not me?"
The denial caught Ei off guard.
Had she overestimated her own importance?
But she was the Raiden Shogun. Was she not?
"It's me."
The Shogun spoke.
"For saving my life, I have nothing else to offer— so I shall give myself to you."
"But the one who broke you… was also him!"
Ei nearly believed her words,
until the wreckage at their feet reminded her otherwise.
He had destroyed her.
Then restored her.
How could that be considered a debt?
If anything, the scales tipped toward sin.
"Yet he freed me from the mission of eternity itself."
The Shogun's eyes burned with conviction.