The shockwave was terrifying. If it could shatter an island, what could it do to a human?
In mid-air, Kujou Sara tried to twist her body, to find purchase in the wind, but it was useless. She was a leaf in a hurricane.
This helplessness… it reminded her of the time she was a test subject for that Witch. Her wings had been broken then, too.
Below her, in the inferno of the explosion, soldiers and workers screamed and fell silent. The sky itself was being dyed red by the fires of Tatarasuna.
Just as Sara braced herself for the impact that would surely break her bones, a solid arm wrapped around her waist.
"Are you alright?"
Sara looked up, stunned.
The face above her was familiar. It was the man who had defeated her in a single move.
Su Han.
"Cough..." She tried to speak, but the blood suppressed in her chest surged up, forcing a cough.
It took a long moment for the Tengu General to find her voice. When she did, it was trembling.
"Please... save them. Save the people below..."
Kujou Sara was a warrior of steel. She did not smile, and she did not beg.
But now, she was showing Su Han a side of her that no one else had seen. She couldn't bear to watch her soldiers and the innocent workers die. even if she could only save one.
If not for the shockwave injuring her, she would have charged back into the fire herself.
Su Han looked at her calmly. "We are enemies, aren't we? Why beg me? That doesn't fit your character."
Sara gripped his shirt, her knuckles white. "No... I know your character. A man who can save two nations, a man recognized by the Archons... you must be kind.
"I am begging you. Help Inazuma. I will repay you... I will do anything."
The situation was beyond her.
The Mikage Furnace's explosion wasn't just a blast. It would trigger the volcano. If the ley lines ruptured, the disaster would be unimaginable.
And this place was too far from Narukami Island. By the time the Shogun reacted, it would be too late.
Su Han smiled, a rare, soft expression. "Let's heal you first. You have internal bleeding. As for Tatarasuna... Yae Miko and the others are already there."
"No... my injuries don't matter! Please... go!" Sara cried. "Tatarasuna sits on a magma belt. The shockwave has shattered the rock layer. It's going to erupt!"
"What?"
Su Han's gaze snapped to the island.
The shockwaves were indeed getting more violent. The temperature in the air was skyrocketing.
"Damn those Fatui. They really want to wipe this island off the map."
He set Sara down gently near Nazuchi Beach.
Then, he turned and shot towards Tatarasuna like an arrow.
The air temperature had already reached sixty degrees.
Yae Miko and the others were frantically rescuing people. Hundreds of lightning fox spirits ran through the flames, dragging injured civilians out of the blast zone.
Su Han landed beside her. "Status?"
"We pulled out about five hundred," Yae said, her face grim. "But the rock layer can't hold. The magma is coming up. This island is finished."
As she spoke, a fissure cracked open, spewing a fountain of fire. Rolling black smoke rose into the sky, carrying the stench of sulfur and death.
"Kazuha! Mona! Fall back!" Su Han roared.
Their strength was good, but facing a natural disaster of this scale was suicide. Especially with the Tatarigami energy leaking from the ley lines. Saving this many people was already a miracle.
A moment later, the two of them retreated to Su Han's side.
Kazuha had used the wind to carry six people. Mona had done even better, using water bubbles to drag twenty to safety.
But even those rescued were in bad shape. Broken bones were the least of their worries. Still, they were alive.
"Master, I... I could only save this many," Kazuha said, looking ashamed.
"It's enough. Take them and retreat. There are Shogunate soldiers at Kujou Encampment. Get them to help."
"What about you?" Mona asked, looking at him.
The place was a hellscape. Surely he wasn't planning to go back in?
Su Han looked at the crumbling earth. "I want to try something. I want to suppress this place."
"What?!" Yae Miko stared at him, jaw dropping. "You... you're joking, right?"
Such a terrifying explosion. The volcano was erupting. And he wanted to stop it?
Su Han snorted at the fox's shock. "Are you expecting that shut-in Shogun to do it? By the time she gets here, the day lilies will be cold."
Swish.
He shot into the sky.
Since he had chosen to act, there was no need to hold back.
And... facing such a disaster, he felt a surge of desire in his heart. A desire to conquer.
Su Han reached the high sky.
His body began to change.
Azure scales erupted from his skin. His eyes turned into vertical slits.
Dragon-Hybrid Form.
Far below on Nazuchi Beach, Kujou Sara clutched her abdomen, staring up at him in dumbfounded awe.
"He... is he a dragon?"
While she was still in shock, the sky began to churn.
Countless dark clouds gathered rapidly, swirling around Su Han.
"Call the Wind... Summon the Rain!"
Su Han roared.
The power of the Azure Dragon flooded the sky above Tatarasuna. The celestial phenomena bowed to his will.
A terrifying rainstorm descended, covering the entire island.
Hiss...
The explosion continued, but the temperature began to drop.
It was a battle of elements. The magma heat turned the rain into scalding steam instantly, creating a sauna of death.
The earth tore open.
The aura of the Tatarigami—the resentment of a dead god—surged from the underground.
It was a sinful, heavy aura. Only those with high-level strength could feel it.
Countless streams of magma erupted from the ground.
Tatarasuna was done for. Even if everything calmed down, the island would be destroyed, never to return to its former state. It might even become a forbidden zone of radiation and heat.
Inazuma would lose an island.
This was an irreconcilable feud.
The rain poured down.
Some of Kujou Sara's soldiers were moving the injured, while others rowed boats to her side.
They knelt before her, their faces wet with rain and tears.
"General... what should we do..."
Their voices choked. Even if their own families weren't inside, watching their homeland burn was unbearable.
Sara didn't look back. "Prepare yourselves. If this disaster is stopped, we rush in immediately to find survivors."
"What? General... Tatarasuna is gone. The people inside must be..."
Slap.
Sara turned and slapped the soldier across the face.
"Bastard! The envoy from Liyue is in the sky, using all his strength to save our island, and you want to give up?! If you're afraid of death, get out of the Shogunate! You don't deserve to be my subordinate!"
"I'm sorry, General! It was my mistake..." The soldier knelt, head bowed to the sand.
...
Meanwhile, in Inazuma City.
Across the sea, people had seen the anomaly in the sky above Tatarasuna.
"Did something big happen over there? Why is the sky so weird?"
"Is it a battle?"
"Please, no... Inazuma has suffered enough..."
"But that... that doesn't look normal. Maybe it's the Tatarigami..."
The people's expressions were grim. The Ritou incident a few days ago had already scared them. Now Yashiori Island was like this. It was chilling.
At this moment, Sara's messengers finally arrived. They sprinted towards Tenshukaku.
Perhaps because it was the rainy season, or perhaps because of the events, it began to rain heavily in Inazuma City as well.
The soldier, carrying the wooden box with Takayuki's head, reached the gates of Tenshukaku and shouted, "Let me in! I must report to the Shogun!"
"What is it? Why such panic?!"
"My lord! The Fatui have blown up Tatarasuna!!!"
"What did you say?!"
The guards were terrified. Tatarasuna. Wasn't that the most important factory in the country?
They didn't dare delay. They quickly opened the door and let the messenger in.
Inside, the Raiden Shogun, who was meditating, opened her eyes. "What is it?"
The soldier, soaked to the bone, choked out, "Shogun... please save Tatarasuna... The Fatui detonated the Mikage Furnace. General Kujou and the others have already gone..."
Swish.
The Raiden Shogun vanished from the room.
In the next instant, she stood atop the highest roof of Tenshukaku.
She looked towards Yashiori Island. Her body transformed into a streak of purple lightning and shot towards the horizon.
Her speed was extreme. Like a tearing rainbow.
The closer she got to Tatarasuna, the grimmer her expression became.
And the more uncomfortable her heart felt.
Yes, uncomfortable.
In the past, Ei had lost all her friends, until finally, her sister and Kitsune Saiguu had left her too. She had become alone.
To avoid losing anything else, she had chosen "Eternity" and secluded herself in the Plane of Euthymia.
But now, she was about to lose something precious again.
The Inazuma her sister loved was having an accident in her hands.
No.
She would absolutely not allow it.