"Alright, it seems I should listen to The Rooster."
Tartaglia shook his head, then looked at Arlecchino and spoke again.
"But for you to actually deliver a message for The Rooster, that's quite rare."
"Don't you usually ignore the other Harbingers?"
"When you do something contrary to your usual behavior, could I assume you have some other ulterior motive?"
Tartaglia gazed deeply into Arlecchino's eyes. He hadn't even settled the score with her for setting him up before.
Although Tartaglia loved fighting, he wasn't some idiot who only knew how to fight.
Arlecchino had clearly been active in Fontaine, yet she had deliberately kept him in the dark about the situation, letting him take the fall for something without knowing who it was. Ultimately, he had lost all his face in front of everyone, and to this day, the "one-second legend" of his still circulated in Fontaine.
While part of the reason was his own desire to come to Fontaine and cause trouble for Arlecchino, how could he accept such a huge loss? The only reason he hadn't confronted her before was that his strength at the time would have only brought him humiliation.
"It doesn't matter what you think. In any case, I have delivered the message."
After leaving behind these words, Arlecchino turned and walked away with a flourish.
However, before she had gone far, Tartaglia suddenly spoke.
"You seem a bit strange today."
It must be said that Tartaglia's intuition was quite sharp. Hearing his words, Arlecchino's body paused for a moment, before she continued walking forward.
"It seems your intuition is a bit off."
Shortly after, Arlecchino's figure vanished from in front of Tartaglia.
And after she disappeared, Wriothesley came before Tartaglia with his arms crossed.
"Is the catching-up between friends over?"
Hearing Wriothesley's words, Tartaglia smiled.
"She and I can hardly be considered friends. The word 'rivals' better describes the relationship between us."
"But doesn't Mr. Wriothesley have anything he wants to say to her?"
Wriothesley waved his hand.
"According to my duties, I should have arrested that lady immediately."
"So to avoid this situation, it was still better if I didn't appear."
"As long as the security of the Fortress of Meropide is ensured."
"Haha, with Mr. Wriothesley's status, it would be fine even if you didn't follow the so-called rules," Tartaglia smiled.
"Mr. Tartaglia, you've misunderstood me here. I am very willing to follow the rules that I have formulated myself."
Wriothesley and Tartaglia looked at each other and smiled.
"Come, let's practice?"
Tartaglia cracked his knuckles, looking expectant.
"I heard your equipment was upgraded again."
"Then let's practice."
Wriothesley knocked his fists together, his gaze on Tartaglia filled with immense fighting spirit.
-
Within the Plane of Euthymia, Raiden Ei sat cross-legged in the air. Her face showed nothing, but the plane itself was shrouded in gloom, the atmosphere stifling.
Raiden Ei tried hard to calm herself, but her heart had fallen into chaos the moment she saw Higashiyama-no-Ou appear.
At first, Raiden Ei hadn't taken the events in Inazuma seriously. She had never imagined someone would possess the power to bring the dead back to this world.
Although it wasn't a physical resurrection, those souls lived in this world in a special form, nearly indistinguishable from ordinary people.
If one were to ask if this counted as resurrection, it would have to start with how death was defined.
Was the death of the body truly death?
Once she realized this, Raiden Ei's inner turmoil reached a fever pitch.
This meant her past friends and her own sister were actually still alive.
Since they were still alive, she would bring them back to this world again. She would bring them home!
However, to achieve this, she would have to stand by and watch as a vast number of innocent Inazuman people suffered casualties, which caused her immense pain.
These were the people who respected her, believed in her, and swore loyalty to her!
And yet now, she had no way to meet their expectations, no way to raise her sword to protect them. This made Raiden Ei feel a powerful sense of suffocation and despair surging in her chest.
If only she could avoid seeing these scenes, just as the Raiden Shogun had handled everything for her during the period when the Sakoku Decree and Vision Hunt Decree were in effect.
But now she did not dare to completely seal off the Plane of Euthymia, because the Raiden Shogun's underlying logic was to protect Inazuma and its people. Therefore, when the Raiden Shogun discovered an external enemy invading, she wanted to appear and slay the enemy, but was suppressed by her.
Although this choice was incomparably painful, if she truly had to choose between the people of Inazuma and Raiden Makoto, she would choose the latter without hesitation.
No matter how much pain or self-reproach she felt, she wanted to see her sister again.
Even if her sister were to scold her or strike her for this, she still wanted to embrace her once more.
So, she really wasn't fit to be the God of Inazuma, was she? Indeed, this kind of matter should be handled personally by her sister, while she only needed to become her sister's blade again.
"Sister, please forgive my selfishness..."
Raiden Ei slowly opened her dark purple eyes, which contained a very complex surge of emotions.
Her gaze seemed to span across hundreds of thousands of meters, looking toward a certain place.
"Kujou Sara, surrender the governing authority of the Tenryou Commission, and then reflect in your cell until Her Excellency the Almighty Shogun delivers the final judgment upon you."
The other faction of the Kujou Clan, which had been utterly suppressed because the matter of their collusion with the Fatui had been exposed, seized this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. They immediately brought the Kujou Clan's samurai to surround Kujou Sara and demand an accounting.
Seeing their appearance, Kujou Sara did not feel much surprise. This was how the great clans were: when you fell from power, a crowd of people would always emerge, eager to trample you to climb higher.
Not just her, even the situation of the two Kamisato siblings was not good.
After all, a large part of Inazuma City's security was the responsibility of the Yashiro Commission, yet with such large casualties this time, someone was bound to be held accountable.
Of course, if blame truly had to be assigned, her decision to deploy a large number of manpower to the front lines, leaving the rear vulnerable, was the most serious issue.
Kujou Sara calmly looked at this middle-aged man with a gloomy appearance in front of her. His name was Kujou Ittou, a marginal figure in the Kujou Clan with little power in his hands, which was why he had luckily escaped during the previous purge.
However, she never expected that he could actually gather the support of most of the Kujou Clan in such a short time. It seemed he had been hiding too deeply.
"Hmm."
Kujou Ittou signaled the samurai beside him. After receiving the order, they moved forward to suppress her, preparing to use force.
However, the Vision on Kujou Sara's body flashed, and suddenly purple lightning erupted, and a powerful lightning strike pushed back all the samurai by a good several steps.
"Kujou Sara, are you trying to rebel against the Kujou Clan?!"
Seeing Kujou Sara's actions, Kujou Ittou's face twisted into an exaggeratedly furious expression, but inside, he must have been overjoyed. After all, he now stood on the side of the prevailing tide, and the more Kujou Sara struggled and resisted, the smaller her chances would become.
Kujou Sara looked deeply at him, then calmly spoke.
"You alone are not qualified to represent the Kujou Clan."
"I will personally go and plead for forgiveness from the Almighty Shogun. If the Almighty Shogun truly wishes to relieve me of my duties, I will willingly submit."
Upon hearing Kujou Sara's words, the man let out a mocking laugh.
"Kujou Sara, how clever you are to plan things out. Who doesn't know that the Almighty Shogun has entered seclusion, refusing to see anyone or allow anyone to disturb her?"
"After you have left Inazuma trampled and riddled with holes, what good will it do even if the Almighty Shogun relieves you of your duties? Can this wash away your crimes? Can this bring the dead back to life?!"
"Do it! If Kujou Sara dares to resist, then it shall be considered treason against the Kujou Clan and betrayal of Inazuma!"
Upon hearing Kujou Ittou's words, the surrounding samurai closed in on Kujou Sara once more, though their pace was slow. Everyone knew her strength; if she fought seriously, everyone present combined wouldn't be enough to defeat her, so naturally, no one was willing to be the first to step forward.
"What's going on over there? Why are there so many people?"
"It seems Kujou Sara's poor decisions led to so many innocent deaths in the city. The new head of the Kujou Clan has brought men to reclaim her military authority."
"Good, it should be this way! My older brother's second sister-in-law's younger brother's older sister's mother's grandson's wife died in the last incident. It's all the fault of the useless Kujou Clan!"
"The gap in strength between the Shogunate and the Watatsumi Army was so obvious, yet they fought for so long. Now that they've suffered a major defeat in battle, I suspect she's just all show!"
"I also heard that Kujou Sara was pinned down by a Fatui Harbinger at Tenshukaku with just a single finger. She's simply bringing shame to our Inazuma!"
The commotion here was considerable, naturally drawing the attention of many people.
Kujou Sara had no intention of waiting for death, yet after hearing the people of Inazuma's assessment of her, her mind briefly went blank, and she even began to doubt herself.
Was she truly a good-for-nothing failure?
While Kujou Sara was lost in thought, the samurai seized the opportunity to swarm her, and soon over a dozen samurai swords had her completely surrounded.
"Hahahaha, you can keep acting arrogant, Kujou Sara!"
Kujou Ittou had his subordinates bring him a stool, and standing atop it, he looked down at Kujou Sara and spoke with triumph.
"You used to despise me, and you never imagined that I would be the one to bring you down today, did you?!"
"From now on, I will be the new head of the Kujou Clan, while you and that weak, incompetent guy can only rot in prison for the rest of your lives."
"Of course, since you're different from that waste and actually have some skill, if you're willing to become my blade, I can give you the position of Clan Head's Personal Guard. Hahahaha..."
Kujou Ittou ignored Kujou Sara's murderous glare, waving his hand while laughing loudly.
"Take her away."
Soon, Kujou Sara was taken back to the Kujou Clan and imprisoned in the family's private dungeon, with even her Vision confiscated.
Meanwhile, internal strife was erupting within the Kamisato Estate.
Because the Yashiro Commission carried less responsibility than the Tenryou Commission, and because Kamisato Ayaka and her retainer Aoba had made significant contributions in repelling the enemy, the Kamisato Clan was not completely purged like the Kujou Clan. More than half of the clan still supported Kamisato Ayato.
However, Kamisato Ayato had slightly underestimated the ambitions of those clan members. They knew that openly fighting for power would yield little result at most, they could only disgust them, so they actually wanted to seize power by force!
Caught off guard, Kamisato Ayato was separated from his supporters, leaving him unable to receive any reinforcements.
Now the enemy had already invaded the Kamisato Estate, and inside the estate, only a few retainers and guards were making a final, desperate stand.
"My Lord, take Milady and escape!"
A retainer wiped the blood off his face and shouted to the two figures standing nearby.
At this moment, Kamisato Ayato and Kamisato Ayaka performed remarkably well. Because of their immense strength, the Kamisato Estate had been able to hold out until now. Otherwise, they would have long been defeated by the dozenfold difference in numbers.
"Escape? Where do you think you're escaping to?"
Kamisato Ichiman snorted coldly at the edge of the battlefield before speaking.
"Whoever captures our Lord or his sister will be appointed Commander of the Yashiro Commission!"
Hearing these words, the samurai present rushed toward Kamisato Ayato and Kamisato Ayaka like they were injected with adrenaline.
Seeing this scene, Kamisato Ayato exchanged a deep glance with Kamisato Ichiman in the distance, then the thought of retreating arose.
If it were just him alone, he might have entangled with the opponent for a little longer, but his sister was also here, so he couldn't take too much risk.
How could Kamisato Ayato, a veteran sister-connoisseur, be willing to let Kamisato Ayaka take even the slightest bit of risk.
"I underestimated you too much. I never expected that in the end, it would be you who integrated the other factions of the clan and even set such a huge trap for me."
"You arranged someone by my side, didn't you."
Kamisato Ayato spoke while swinging his sword to block the weapons in front of him.
"Let me guess. The inside mole is actually you, right."
Kamisato Ayato took several steps back, came to the side of the retainer who had just shouted for him and Kamisato Ayaka to retreat, and placed his katana horizontally across the man's neck. In an instant, the man's body tensed up.
"The number of people who know my whereabouts and arrangements is very small. It can only be you."
Facing Kamisato Ayato's somewhat cold gaze, the opponent's body shivered, and he immediately began to explain.
"My Lord, I am being wronged. I have always been fiercely loyal to you!"
"Doesn't Aoba know all of this too? He's the real mole!"
Hearing this, Kamisato Ayato shook his head.
"No, Aoba isn't. You are."
Hearing these words, the man's eyes widened in fury.
"My Lord, I have served you for a full ten years. Could it be that in your heart, I am worth less than that young brat?!"
"So this is why you betrayed me."
Kamisato Ayato shook his head, his eyes filled with profound emotion.
"Indeed, you have served me for too long. If the reality weren't staring me in the face, I would never have suspected you."
Just as the man opened his mouth to speak, Kamisato Ayato interrupted him again.
"Aren't you curious where Aoba is right now?"
"Isn't that useless fool hiding in his room..."
Before the man could finish his sentence, a firework shot high into the sky.
"It's finally over."
Kamisato Ayato watched the fireworks in the sky, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
"In truth, you had already set a trap on the retreat path you deliberately left open, hadn't you?"
"After all, to avoid being purged by the Almighty Shogun, you wouldn't dare execute me privately. And if you wanted to capture me alive, you would pay an unbearable price given my strength."
"So that's why you wanted to strike me with an unexpectedly heavy blow while I was off guard. Unfortunately, Aoba has already seen through this scheme."
Kamisato Ayato fixed his gaze on Kamisato Ichiman, then spoke again.
"Aoba has already found someone to help. Now that the signal has appeared, it seems things over there have been completely settled..."
"That's impossible! You have no one left to use!"
Kamisato Ichiman's face was filled with disbelief. Yet at this moment, Kamisato Ayato appeared too calm, too confident. He had even found the traitor. Who knew when he had discovered him? If he had known all along, today's events might have been a carefully laid trap.
"Escort Ayaka away!"
"Yes, My Lord!"
Upon hearing Kamisato Ayato's order, the vassals and guards, who were already at the end of their rope, mustered their last strength to surround Kamisato Ayaka. At that moment, a thick white mist suddenly erupted in the courtyard.
"Go!"
Kamisato Ayato commanded the group to retreat in an orderly fashion. The surrounding white mist grew denser and denser, until they could barely see each other's faces even from a distance of one meter. Soon, Kamisato Ayato and the rest of the group vanished into the white mist.
"Pursue them! After them! Don't let them get away!"
Seeing the situation, Kamisato Ichiman immediately led his men to chase them in the direction of the trap he had set.
However, when Kamisato Ichiman reached the location of the trap, he found that the scene was not what he had envisioned. Everything was completely intact.
Only then did Kamisato Ichiman realize he had been fooled by Kamisato Ayato's bluffing demeanor!
"Damn it, go back!"
When Kamisato Ichiman led his men back to the Kamisato Estate, he received the news that the others had already completed their breakout. Infuriated, he violently struck the wall beside him.
Only now did Kamisato Ichiman realize that Kamisato Ayato hadn't spoken so much out of excessive confidence, but had done so to make him believe the other had already laid everything out and was merely waiting for him to fall into the trap.
Even if he hadn't been completely fooled, he would have at least diverted many men for the sake of precaution. With Ayato having planned against him while he was unaware, it was simply impossible for him to stop the breakout.
"Useless bastard!"
Fuming with rage, Kamisato Ichiman directly slapped the vassal who had betrayed Kamisato Ayato across the face.
"You were so close to Kamisato Ayato just now! Why didn't you make your move?!"
"If I'd made a move, I would have been dead..."
"Bastard!"
Kamisato Ichiman backhanded him again, slapping his face so hard it was perfectly symmetrical.
"Such a useless piece of trash! What good are you? Drag him away!"
"No, you can't do this! You promised me..."
The man tried to struggle, but he was pinned down and dragged away like a dead dog.
Kamisato Ichiman then ordered his subordinates to pursue them. The news spread quickly, and Inazuma began to fall into panic due to the internal strife between the two great clans and the currently disadvantageous war situation...