After finishing his latest diary entry, Su Xuan leaned back lazily, one leg casually crossed, looking at Ei—who was stiff, flustered, and clearly desperate to look, but too afraid to turn a page.
Her expression was priceless.
"You can read it," Su Xuan said with a grin. "I told you—there's nothing to worry about."
"You've seen me drag the 'god chosen by the Heavenly Principles' away with my own hands. If the Heavenly Principles were awake, or still capable… do you think I'd be here drinking rainwater soup with you?"
Ei's fingertips trembled slightly.
Yes—but also, maybe he's scarier than the Heavenly Principles.
Which would make him the real danger.
"…So, truly, there will be no consequences?" she asked in a much smaller voice than before.
Su Xuan spread his hands.
"If punishment were coming, whether you read the diary or not wouldn't change anything."
"You're already bound to it."
Ei: "…"
That was… unfortunately reasonable.
If doom was coming, it was coming for everyone.
So she inhaled—uncertain, tense—and finally opened the diary.
And her face steadily turned red.
Su Xuan hadn't spared her.
Not in the slightest.
Especially the last line:
[Inazuma is basically just a fishing village worrying about the apocalypse.]
He wasn't even hiding it—he was laughing at Inazuma.
Ei lowered her head like a child being lectured.
Su Xuan tilted his head, voice slow and unhurried:
"Count your islands."
"Narukami. Kannazuka. Yashiori. Seirai. Watatsumi. Tsurumi."
"And aside from Narukami, Ritou, and Watatsumi—which is starving—how many of them can people actually live on?"
Ei's breath caught.
"Yashiori is cursed.
Seirai is barely habitable.
Tsurumi is… what it is.
Watatsumi relies on imports to survive."
"Your Sakoku Decree was a death sentence.
A slow one. But a real one."
Ei could not argue.
"In the pursuit of Eternity," Su Xuan continued, "you nearly stopped your own nation's heartbeat."
Ei's voice was soft, almost fragile:
"Then… Makoto was right…?"
Su Xuan didn't even look at her.
"I already told you. So long as you don't tear apart the leylines or grasp at the Abyss, the Heavenly Principles don't care."
"And right now?
The Heavenly Principles are asleep."
"You could drop the throne into the sea and crown the first Hilichurl you see as the new Shogun, and nothing would happen."
Ei took a long breath. Something in her shoulders loosened.
Silence settled… then she looked straight at him:
"You once said you wished to explore my secrets. If you have time now—I am willing."
Su Xuan blinked.
Ah.
So this was about the warding stones on Yashiori.
"You haven't forgotten about the Warding Stones," he said flatly.
Ei didn't deny it.
She simply rested her chin lightly in her hand, calm and composed:
"I cannot recreate the warding devices. They were designed by my sister, Makoto. Ritual magic was always her domain, not mine. So—if you can restore them—then yes."
"I will give you everything I know. Even regarding my puppet body."
Su Xuan managed not to laugh.
He had no interest whatsoever in the puppet's engineering.
But he kept his tone serious.
"Correct. I want to study how you and the puppet share the same vessel."
Ei nodded, unbothered.
"In that case, I will cooperate fully," she said. "If you help me repair Yashiori's seal."
"We'll see how cooperative you are," Su Xuan replied.
He raised a hand.
Telekinetic force wrapped around Ei like invisible ribbons—lifting her cleanly off the ground and laying her horizontally in the air.
Light bands locked her wrists and ankles, holding her suspended.
A second layer of telekinetic shielding sealed the two of them away from the storm.
Ei didn't resist.
But when Su Xuan's hand touched her—she shuddered involuntarily.
A shock ran down her spine like lightning from within.
A soft sound escaped her—half breath, half trembling.
She spoke through it:
"You… are searching for the switch that awakens the Raiden Shogun?"
Her voice was thin, but steady.
"The puppet's core is not located in the body. There is no mechanical switch."
But Su Xuan sighed.
"No. I'm just testing something."
"Testing… my…?"
"Your tolerance," he said simply.
"And the effects of neural contact under telekinesis."
His fingers glowed faintly.
He pressed a point near her collarbone—
And Ei's breath caught entirely.
Lightning burst from within her like a thunderstorm erupting beneath her skin—
BOOM—
Crackling violet light flooded the room.
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