"Are you very strong?" Ruu couldn't help but ask curiously after hearing Ember, Childe, and Balladeer's conversation and seeing the latter two nod like little followers.
"Hm?" Ember stroked his chin, turned his head, and looked meaningfully at Childe and Balladeer, saying nothing.
"Very strong. He's the kind of expert that even I wouldn't have the desire to fight," Childe replied helplessly, his old face drooping.
If Ember wasn't strong, he would have run off to cause trouble long ago. Why would he have come to this broken Tsurumi Island?
Although the experience on Tsurumi Island had indeed left a deep impression on him.
"He is very strong, probably stronger than your Thunderbird," Balladeer said, holding back, considering Ruu's worship of the Thunderbird.
Otherwise, he would have directly removed the "probably."
"Really?" Ruu's eyes began to gleam.
"Something like that," Ember said modestly, waving his hand.
"Then can you help me make sure the festival goes well?"
"What's with you always thinking about your broken festival?"
Ember immediately stopped Ruu when he saw him start to prattle about his festival again.
"I ask you, what is the relationship between Kapatcir and the Thunderbird? And what is the relationship between Kapatcir and you?"
Ember cast his gaze into the distance. In his line of sight, a shallow beach appeared.
On the shallow beach was an illusion identical to Ruu, and opposite the illusion was a giant purple falcon with lightning leaping all over its body.
"What an interesting melody. You, tiny human, are you not afraid of thunder and storms?"
"The adults in the tribe say that children like me can calm the lightning and turn storms into sweet rain."
After a brief conversation, the illusion of Ruu in his vision began to sing, and the lightning leaping on the great falcon's illusion began to subside.
"Alright, they're smitten," Ember said, slapping his cheek when he saw this scene, feeling that he had figured it out.
"Kapatcir... it is the Thunderbird! That's the name I gave it."
"As for my relationship with Kapatcir, I consider myself Kapatcir's good friend."
By the end, Ruu even scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
"Good friend? And you're still willing to be sacrificed?" Ember stroked his chin. It seemed this 'good friend' was not just Ruu's unilateral belief; that great Thunderbird probably also considered Ruu a friend.
However, due to the Thunderbird's arrogant nature, it simply didn't say it directly.
"Of course I'm willing. Kapatcir looks at me more, so it should like it even more if I'm the sacrifice."
Ruu nodded. Being the sacrifice was both a decision made by his father, the priest, and his own choice.
As long as it could bring good weather to the tribe, he would pay any price, including his own life.
"That went well. What was the result? Look, can anyone live in this place now? And you've turned into this ghostly state."
"Before you became a sacrifice, did you know that you might have been considered a friend by the Thunderbird?"
Ember clapped his hands. This sacrifice went so well that it became the last one. Tsurumi Island would never have to hold another sacrifice ritual again.
Ruu shook his head at the words.
"I'm not sure, because Kapatcir didn't come every time I sang, and it didn't change after listening."
"Then you should understand now, shouldn't you? And you've seen the consequences of being treated as a sacrifice."
Ruu fell silent. Although his mind was stuck at the moment he lost consciousness, like a child's.
But even a child, through thousands of years of reincarnation, would know what had happened here.
Ruu nodded silently, answering Ember's question with his silence.
"Then you're still determined to complete the festival?" Ember reached out and tapped Ruu's forehead. His finger broke through the illusory and the real, truly touching Ruu's forehead.
The long-lost sensation made Ruu stunned. Ever since Tsurumi Island fell into reincarnation, he seemed to have become an outsider.
When his familiar tribesmen reappeared before his eyes, he could do nothing. He couldn't touch them, couldn't talk to them.
The tribesmen simply repeated the actions of Tsurumi Island's last three days, day after day. Joyfully preparing for the festival, hurriedly worshiping the perch, and reverently offering themselves.
Ruu didn't know how many times he had seen this scene.
From the initial fear when he saw himself covered in blood to the current expressionless numbness, only Ruu himself knew the journey of his heart.
Now, he just wanted to complete the festival and then sing the song he hadn't finished for Kapatcir back then.
Ember withdrew his arm, and the disappearance of the touch brought Ruu back to his senses.
"Holding the festival... I just want this land to recover. Maybe... if Kapatcir sees how much effort I'm putting in, it will give up punishing the tribesmen?"
Ruu's face darkened. His mind was still at a childlike stage. With his small brain, this was the only solution he could think of.
"Have you ever succeeded?" Ember asked.
"No, many people have come to Tsurumi Island before, but they either ran away or nothing changed after they completed the festival."
"You all... I originally thought this was the closest we'd ever been to success. I didn't expect it to be like this."
Ruu looked up at the black hole devouring lightning in the Sky, filled with shock and disappointment.
"Do you think I did something wrong? Kapatcir isn't willing to forgive me?" Ruu wanted to cry, but no matter what, he couldn't shed a single tear.
"You did something wrong? No, not really. The one who's truly wrong should be that chick with its eyes on top of its head."
"Everything stems from the arrogance of that Thunderbird. Because of its arrogance, your blood sacrifices could continue."
"The key is that its arrogance wasn't thorough enough. It would be attracted by your singing, and then like a mute, it wouldn't say anything."
"Arrogant, but also unable to take a loss. When its friend was sacrificed, and it swallowed the bitter fruit of its arrogance, it began to rage impotently."
"Like a ruffled chick, it only flapped its wings and stirred up a cloud of dust."
Ember looked at the gradually cooling lava flow on the ground. Although it was just 'dust' to him, to the people of Tsurumi Island, it was a complete disaster.
"Oh, and those who forcibly threw people up for sacrifice are the same."
Thinking of the people of Tsurumi Island, Ember added. If the blood sacrifice was voluntary, Ember could barely accept it, but if it was forced... then this current scene could only be described as a deserved death!
It was just a pity for the normal people on Tsurumi Island. Although they remained silent, they didn't deserve to die, let alone accompany Ruu in reincarnation for thousands of years.
Fortunately, only the illusion of the Ley Line was reincarnating. The only one here with a hint of a soul was Ruu before him.
This might have been a small effort made by the Thunderbird at the end, or perhaps Ruu's own regret had played a role.
"There's no need to hold the festival. Reincarnation is easy to solve; just eliminate the power left by the Thunderbird."
"As for you wanting to sing to the Thunderbird?"
Ember pondered for a moment, then asked Balladeer and Childe behind him, "Is there a Thunderbird like this in Inazuma? How come I've never heard of it?"
This Thunderbird could cause such a stir on Tsurumi Island; its strength was probably the greatest in Inazuma apart from the Raiden Shogun. The every move of such a powerful being could be said to stir up the winds and clouds.
"I don't know, I'm from Snezhnaya, don't ask me." Childe shook his head like a rattle. His knowledge of Inazuma's history was not entirely blank, but it wasn't far off.
Balladeer, however, pondered for a moment after hearing Ember's words. Then, as if he had thought of something, he spoke:
"Yes! In the legends of Inazuma, a large purple bird once rampaged on Seirai Island, and was later killed by the Raiden Shogun with an arrow on the island."
"The soaring resentment on Seirai Island is what transformed from the great bird after its death."
"Alright, it's dead!" Ember clapped his hands, he was very happy. He had originally planned to take Ruu to sing and then secretly make bird soup for the Fatui to drink. But plans change, and now there was no bird soup.
"Ka... Kapatcir is dead?"
"Wah—" Ruu immediately burst into tears upon hearing the news of Kapatcir's death. He was in great pain.
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