Barbatos & Morax: "When we arrived… only this blade remained."**
On the other side of the cataclysm
"This is bad."
At the very center of the storm, Luo Li finally realized he might have overdone it.
The sheer violence of the combined explosion created internal pressures so monstrous that even the powers of the Herrscher of Void could no longer transfer the force away.
Space itself shattered
Revealing a pitch-black, horrifying glimpse of the world's underlying void.
The land beneath them collapsed, and the Abyss fully awakened gaped open in an instant, swallowing both him and Raiden Makoto whole.
In this frozen world where even time seemed to halt,
even Luo Li could not resist.
As the collapsing Abyssal rift engulfed them, Makoto's expression held no fear.
She must have prepared for the worst long before coming here.
"…Sorry. I dragged you into this."
The Thunder Goddess whispered, guilt softening her tone.
"I came because I wanted to. It has nothing to do with you."
Luo Li replied calmly.
"At worst, we'll just punch our way out of the Abyss. We'll return eventually."
He spoke as if discussing a stroll.
He wasn't even concerned about dying in the Abyss
Even while bringing Makoto with him.
In fact, the idea of being forced into a two-person world…
He didn't find it unpleasant at all.
After all, capturing the Thunder Twins together was difficult.
But individually?
The odds weren't bad.
Makoto glanced toward the torn landscape, feeling he was trying to comfort himself.
"…What a shame. I won't get to see Ei grow up."
With a soft murmur, she removed the Electro Gnosis from her body, pressed it against her divine armament Musou no Hitotachi, and
Just before the Abyss closed—she hurled it outward with all her might.
"A little apology gift… for disappearing without saying goodbye.
Ei, Inazuma will be yours now."
Her scattered words faded into the void.
The next second
Both Luo Li and Raiden Makoto were swallowed entirely by the Abyss.
The broken world stitched itself closed, erasing every trace of the rift.
Outside the storm
When the destructive maelstrom finally weakened, the surviving Archons immediately rushed toward the center.
How desperately they wished to see those two figures still standing
Whether smiling, arguing, or quiet anything would do.
But when Barbatos, Morax, and the others arrived
They found nothing.
Nothing but a single violet blade glowing faintly in the air,
and one of the seven irreplaceable Gnoses, suspended quietly beside it.
Silence fell over the gods.
None of them spoke for a long, suffocating moment.
At last, Barbatos reached out, drawing the blade and the Gnosis into his hand.
He gazed up toward the sky with dim, sorrowful eyes.
"It's done…
Barl and Luo Li's belongings…
I will deliver them back to Inazuma."
Morax exhaled slowly.
"I will accompany you."
Watching their companions depart
Watching even Luo Li, the man stronger than himself, vanish
Left Morax with a strange, hollow fatigue.
The remaining gods exchanged glances.
Each needed to return to their own nations, where chaos surely waited after such a long absence.
There was no need for all six to travel to Inazuma together.
The decision was made in silence.
After verifying that no monsters remained nearby, the Archons quietly parted ways.
Only Barbatos and Morax remained, standing side by side in the ruins.
"…What a mess."
Barbatos forced a laugh.
Among all present, he had known Luo Li the longest
And cared the deepest.
Morax came second.
"Come. After we deliver these, you have your own disasters waiting at home."
Morax's voice carried a deeper weariness than usual.
Even as gods, their hearts had to remain strong.
Even after losing friends, they had to move.
Inazuma — Tenshukaku
Kneeling among scrolls and reports, Raiden Ei carefully reviewed the incoming dispatches from across the nation.
Though the number of monsters continued climbing, defending Narukami Island remained manageable, and losses were within acceptable limits.
Beside her, Yae Miko explained what she had personally witnessed, cross-checking the field reports for hidden discrepancies.
As the two discussed matters, a tense cry came from outside the hall:
"Lady Shogun, the Geo Archon and Anemo Archon request audience!"
Ei and Miko simultaneously froze.
Geo Archon?
Anemo Archon?
Here?
Their eyes met
A terrible premonition sank into both hearts.
But regardless of suspicion, they needed answers.
Ei immediately ordered they be received and stood up to greet them herself.
She was not the true Electro Archon—Makoto was.
There was no reason to posture.
Moments later, Morax and Barbatos entered the hall.
They looked as Ei remembered from the Seven's gathering a year prior
But Ei stopped breathing when she noticed what floated in Barbatos' hand.
A blade. Her sister's blade. And A Gnosis.
Her world cracked.
"That's…
Sister's sword.
And… her Gnosis—!"
No one needed to explain.
Ei recognized them instantly.
That blade—the bladeless sword—was the incarnation of her sister's divine authority.
The Gnosis was her symbol of rule.
Makoto would never relinquish those two things.
Not unless—
Something irreversible had happened.
"…Where is my sister?
And Luo Li?"
Even though her heart already knew the answer, Ei clung to the smallest hope—
That the two gods before her had come bearing good news.
Barbatos swallowed.
His voice was hoarse.
"...I'm sorry.
Barl and Luo Li… perished in the Abyss.
All we could recover were these."
He hesitated, then added what he and Morax had agreed on beforehand:
"Before her passing…
Barl wished for you to inherit the position of the Electro Archon."
The words struck her harder than any blade.
Ei's vision blurred.
She was unprepared—utterly unprepared
To lose the sister she adored
and the man she cherished
in the same breath.
Even if she had the might to cut down demons…
She was, at her core, still a girl sheltered beneath her sister's wings
Far from ready to stand alone.