"Should I be saying something cool at a time like this?"
If this were the modern world, such words would sound painfully chuunibyou(cringey).
But this was Genshin Impact's Inazuma, a land lagging behind the times. Here, maybe it would even come off as domineering.
Su Ran fixed his gaze on the Doctor, and on the confused Fatui soldiers clustered behind him.
Up in Tenshukaku, the Tenshukaku Troops noticed the sudden gathering of Fatui as well.
Their formation snapped into place in an instant.
Any unidentified military force appearing before the Shogun's residence could be executed on the spot.
Su Ran, however, had been coming and going from Tenshukaku often of late.
The Tenshukaku Troops naturally had little reason to doubt him.
Compared to the Fatui standing here, he was infinitely more trustworthy.
"It's a pity," Dottore said at last, voice calm yet resigned, "that I'm not the strongest of my segments. Facing you like this, I don't stand a chance."
He had already tested the waters.
As only one fragment—and not his strongest one at that—he had no possibility of victory.
Their difference in power was simply too vast.
And here, inside another man's domain, that gap grew even wider.
"You could bring as many as you like," Su Ran said coldly.
"Even if you gathered every last one of your fragments, you still wouldn't be my match."
Troublesome though Dottore was, the fragment here lacked the most selfish one among them. That meant Su Ran had no need to worry about interference in his plans.
"I see," Dottore murmured. "You're even more arrogant than I am.
But perhaps… I won't live to see the day you pay for that arrogance."
He had accepted his fate.
Already, he could see the power gathering in Su Ran's hand—a force surpassing anything he had ever witnessed.
A thought flickered in his mind: even if the Tsaritsa unleashed the entirety of her divine might, would it measure up to this?
"Then take your leave."
Since Dottore had surrendered all struggle, Su Ran wasted no more words.
The power in his hand, enough to equal ten full-powered strikes from Ei, erupted into countless thorned vines.
They wrapped around Dottore's consciousness, binding and erasing it utterly.
Even in his final moment, this fragment had wanted to probe that power's strength.
Yet he had no chance to resist. Erasure came swiftly and without ceremony.
In the waking world, the fragment's body fell into irreversible brain death.
The flesh still functioned, but even if the dream unraveled, there would be no revival.
For Su Ran, eliminating a Dottore fragment wasn't even a fight.
Compared to his clash with the Raiden Shogun, this was far simpler—merely a one-sided purge.
Behind him, the Fatui fell silent.
They had just witnessed the Doctor's death with their own eyes, slain by a so-called genius. Uncertain of the situation, they stood rooted, stunned.
"Stand down," Su Ran said. "You still have tasks to fulfill.
Or do you mean to stand here mourning Dottore's death?"
He had no intention of harming the Fatui soldiers—in fact, he even considered making use of them later.
But that could wait until the Traveler arrived.
"This… Lord Genius, we have no current assignments," one Mirror Maiden stammered, stepping forward when none of the others dared speak.
"Then continue lying low. Wait for the coming storm!" Su Ran barked.
The Mirror Maiden flinched. I get it, but did he really have to shout that loudly? The Tenshukaku Troops were already staring at them like they were criminals.
"Yes, sir!"
The Fatui withdrew quickly from the gates of Tenshukaku, though they would never escape suspicion.
Today's incident had been too blatant—foreign soldiers gathering openly before the Archon's residence.
Both the Tenryou Commission and the Tenshukaku Troops would shoulder heavy blame.
Raiden Ei might overlook the Tenshukaku Troops, but Kujou Sara would surely discipline the Tenryou Commission's soldiers.
Su Ran, meanwhile, turned casually and strode into Tenshukaku, the Tenshukaku Troops's conflicted stares following him.
Should they apprehend this man, who might be a Fatui operative? Or wait for the Shogun's orders?
The commotion soon drew the Raiden Shogun herself back to the palace.
"What happened here?" she asked, her gaze sweeping over the uneasy Tenshukaku Troops.
"Reporting, my lady," one guard said stiffly. "Su Ran killed a Fatui envoy just now."
They could not hide the truth from their direct superior. Unlike Su Ran, they answered only to the Shogun.
"And?" Ei prompted.
"He ordered the Fatui to continue their infiltration… and to wait for the storm."
The words sounded sinister. Yet their speaker could only stand awkwardly, for Su Ran's ties to the Shogun were murky at best.
"Continue your post," Ei said flatly.
She had no further comment, merely turned and walked back into Tenshukaku.
She had no time for these squabbles—her focus was still on studying the dream, on pursuing eternity within it.
Her indifference quieted the Tenshukaku Troops's doubts.
If even the Shogun herself didn't care, why should they waste their strength worrying?
High above, Makoto and Ei watched the scene unfold.
Especially the moment Dottore was utterly slain—something Ei could not ignore. Unease crept into her heart.
"Wasn't this dream supposed to be free of death?
Weren't there no such things as life or death here? Then why… did death appear?" Her hands clenched. "This is not conducive to eternity!"
"Ei," Makoto sighed. "Don't forget who created this dream. What's wrong if he has a few privileges?"
To be rattled by something so minor—her sister's immaturity exhausted her.
Did Ei still not understand whose dream this was? Or worse, did she actually think it was her own?
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