With the Qiankun Mirror in hand, restoring the Warding Stones was effortless for Su Xuan.
A sweep of telekinesis located each site.
One glance into the mirror —
Time rewound.
Broken stone returned to its first forging.
As each Warding Stone was restored, the storm above Yashiori Island weakened — thunder fading, lightning stuttering.
When the final stone was renewed, the long-tormented island finally breathed.
The Tatarigami's curse was suppressed.
The air — once thick with malice — slowly cleared.
At the coast, Su Xuan now stood before the enormous skeletal remains of Orobashi — the serpent god long slain upon this land.
He lifted the mirror and let its reflection fall over the bleached fangs and hollowed bone.
[Interesting discovery.]
[The Qiankun Mirror does not require the living to restore the past.]
[Given a corpse or skeletal remains, I can still trace back the timeline of its existence.]
[Just now, I reversed the serpent's remains, and I can confirm — I could pull Orobashi himself back into the present. Alive.]
Watatsumi Island — Sangonomiya Shrine
Kokomi froze mid-breath.
Her pupils trembled.
"…R-Revive… the Great Omikami…?"
The god her people revered, whose death had shaped their history—
He was saying it so casually.
But the next lines hit even harder:
[However, I have no reason to do that.]
[Bringing him back would only lead to killing him again.]
Kokomi: "Huh???"
Her entire worldview felt like it had been overturned, patted on the head, and told to sit quietly.
[With the Warding Stones restored, Yashiori Island is quiet once more.]
[Originally, I considered restoring the Musoujin Gorge to its original form.]
[But I decided to leave it — history should remain visible.]
[However… while I was searching for the Warding Stones, I found something interesting.]
[The Fatui's Delusion Factory in Inazuma.]
In the temporary residence, Ei's hand halted mid-movement.
Even the puppet Raiden Shogun had never been informed of such a place.
Which meant—
The Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission had been dealing with the Fatui behind the Shogun's back.
Ei's gaze lowered, shadowed with cold clarity.
"…They concealed this from me…"
CRACK—
A bolt of thunder erupted from the heavens without warning.
Su Xuan flinched.
[The hell was that!?]
[The curse is gone — so where did that lightning come from?]
[Was that Ei? Did that woman just try to scare me?!]
[If so, she clearly needs to be taught some discipline.]
Ei: "???"
Meanwhile—
Nine in Tenshukaku dropped like a rock.
"General!? General—!"
Ayaka rushed to support Kujou Sara, who had fainted from sheer emotional overload.
Yae Miko pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Honestly… brainless loyalty is the most exhausting kind."
Then her eyes narrowed, fox-like amusement glimmering.
"But Su Xuan is correct.
Shadow really does need firm discipline.
Ideally somewhere private. For a long while."
Her tail almost flicked with satisfaction.
And Su Xuan continued writing:
[Delusions require Crystal Marrow to craft — and Yashiori is full of it.]
[So the Fatui chose this island as their production base.]
[A Delusion functions similarly to a Vision — but without any divine selection.]
[Anyone can use one.]
[The problem is, without the willpower required to control the power, every usage drains the user's life.]
[Until death.]
[Of course, to test this, the Fatui needed volunteers.]
[And during the Vision Hunt and Sakoku Decrees, desperation was abundant.]
[So they supplied Delusions to both sides of the war.]
[Especially the Resistance.]
[In other words — Watatsumi's soldiers were used as live experiments.]
[The Fatui played the entire nation.]
[Two Commissions took the bribe and proposed decrees that served the Fatui, not the Shogun.]
[Whether they knew the full plot or not — is irrelevant.]
[They betrayed their ruler in the moment they put themselves before her.]
Narukami Shrine
Yae Miko exhaled slowly.
A faint smile — bright and cruel — curved her lips.
"Very good. Very strong.
With just a few sentences…
the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions are finished."
Her tail swayed.
Her ears flicked.
Her mood was delighted.
"Shadow, my dear… lock him down.
Grab hold of that man's thigh and never let go."
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