As Sen'emon had expected, the Supreme Bishop's swordsmanship was unimaginably powerful. Even while controlling just one person, he could reach such a level. Sen'emon couldn't help but feel delighted.
However, precisely because of this, she was finally starting to get a little impatient.
"Alright, let's end the warm-up here. Next, I'll have some fun with the Supreme Bishop."
As she spoke, Sen'emon lightly licked her lips and then slowly sheathed her sword.
Themis floated in the sky, looking down coldly at Sen'emon, the power of the wind swirling around her.
And then...
Sen'emon looked at the Supreme Bishop, a smile on her lips, and walked toward him with a leisurely pace.
"Is this all you've got? How disappointing, Supreme Bishop."
Ye stopped controlling Themis, lowered his hands, and calmly looked at Sen'emon, speaking softly, "Impressive. What's the name of that sword technique?"
At that moment, Sen'emon happened to walk right under Themis, smiling as she replied, "Heavenly Sword."
As soon as the name of the technique was uttered, Themis's small body, which had been floating motionlessly in the air, suddenly plummeted to the ground.
Her pupils dilated, and she fell to the ground.
Utterly! Lifeless!
Yes, Themis was dead.
No, not just Themis.
It was as if time had skipped a beat.
No, wait, was it just a blink?
Still not quite.
In any case, no one noticed anything unusual.
One moment, Sen'emon was leisurely walking forward, heading straight for the Supreme Bishop.
The next moment, Sen'emon had walked past the Supreme Bishop and was now behind him, still strolling forward.
No one noticed anything amiss.
As for Sen'emon disappearing in front of her and reappearing behind her, Yae Miko didn't sense anything unusual. It was as if Sen'emon had always been behind her, so natural and seamless.
It wasn't until Sen'emon stopped after a few steps that Yae Miko finally realized what had happened, her eyes widening in shock.
This was undoubtedly the first time Yae Miko had ever felt such a profound sense of shock.
What... just happened?
It was as if a chunk of time had been missing. Her consciousness had experienced a gap.
No, it was more like her brain had chosen to forget something it couldn't comprehend.
Yae Miko turned to look at Ye beside her, and at that very moment, Ye's body collapsed backward.
Just like Themis, who had fallen from the sky, he was utterly lifeless.
"..."
Yae Miko's mind went blank.
This couldn't be real, could it?
What was happening before her eyes was something Yae Miko couldn't believe.
This was the legendary Supreme Bishop of Fontaine. Would he really die so easily? No matter how strong Sen'emon was, this scene looked more like an illusion, something that defied all common sense in Teyvat.
The Supreme Bishop was dead?
Killed in an instant?
If this wasn't an illusion, then what was it?
...Wait.
Yae Miko suddenly realized something.
What if... this really was an illusion?
Not just Yae Miko.
Sen'emon, who had just slain the Supreme Bishop with a single strike, showed no joy. Instead, she put away her usual smile, her expression turning serious.
Sen'emon turned to look at the Supreme Bishop's body lying on the ground. His posture was relaxed and comfortable, even in death. He had arranged himself in a princess-like sleeping position, with his legs and arms neatly folded, exuding an air of elegance and nobility, as if even in death, he had to maintain his cool demeanor.
Of course, all Sen'emon saw in this posture was pure "mockery."
Sen'emon's expression turned slightly cold, and without hesitation, she swung her sword at the corpse, intent on desecrating it.
The result? The corpse was cleanly split in two.
Yes, she had definitely struck it. So what was going on?
Sen'emon looked puzzled and somewhat curious. This was the first time in her life she had encountered such a strange phenomenon.
Though, unfortunately, this strange phenomenon didn't stump her for long.
Or rather, it couldn't stump her "talent."
Just a few seconds later, Sen'emon's senses evolved, and the once flawless illusion was now riddled with flaws.
Sen'emon frowned, swung her sword again, and completely obliterated the bodies of the Supreme Bishop and Themis. She shook her head helplessly, "They got away. Still, that illusion technique was quite interesting. Even I couldn't see through it ten seconds ago. Is this the power of the Supreme Bishop? I've never heard of him having such an ability before."
Yae Miko had already recovered from her earlier shock. Hearing Sen'emon's words, she couldn't help but smile, "He's always been so mysterious that no one can truly understand him. This isn't surprising."
Sen'emon finally turned her gaze to Yae Miko, narrowing her eyes slightly and smiling again. She asked softly, "Lady Guuji, may I ask you a question? Have you betrayed the Shogun?"
Yae Miko's expression remained unchanged, and she smiled as well, "I would never betray her."
"Is that so? Good. I have great respect for you, Lady Guuji. I really don't want to cross swords with you—but if one day the Shogun orders me to cut you down, I won't hold back."
"If she can truly bring herself to order my death, then I might finally accept her pursuit of eternity."
Hearing Sen'emon's words, Yae Miko instead put away her smile and sighed softly:
"It's precisely because she can't, because she can't walk the path of eternity, that I must stop her."
Ye walked along the road to Watatsumi Island with Themis and another girl.
The so-called "other girl" was naturally a new character Ye had created using the popularity he had gained.
A cute girl with maple-colored twin tails that reached down to her legs, dressed in a maple-colored kimono.
The Ninth Knight of the Sacred Knights, the Phantom Knight.
It was through her abilities that Ye had managed to escape from Sen'emon.
—Indeed, "escape" was the only way to describe it.
Ye was now feeling a bit of regret. What kind of monster had he created?
He couldn't win. There was no way he could win unless he unleashed Astrea. Otherwise, he stood no chance.
Her rate of growth was just too absurd.
After Ye took control of Themis and fought Sen'emon, Sen'emon seemed to grow stronger with every passing second. Her "talent" was simply outrageous.
Ye had expected that Sen'emon's talent would be strong, but he hadn't imagined it would be this strong.
After all, the world Sen'emon originally came from wasn't particularly powerful.
Could it be that her "talent" had been influenced by that [Original] and thus mutated?
How shameless!
Ye inwardly cursed that woman. After all, he was trapped in this world partly because of her. He would settle that score eventually.
But that was a matter for the future. Right now, he needed to focus on his current survival crisis.
It seemed that in the 2.2 storyline, Ye would have to perform some serious multitasking. Otherwise, Sen'emon, his alternate account, might accidentally end up killing Ye, his main account.
Therefore, it seemed Ye would have to stage a complete self-directed performance.
Well, that was fine. After all, Ye wasn't particularly skilled in combat, but in the upcoming storyline, there was a planned battle between him and Sen'emon. Only by holding off Sen'emon could the Traveler seize the opportunity to defeat the Raiden Shogun. So, this plot point was necessary... Adding some drama for himself and his alternate account wasn't a bad thing.
Everything was for the sake of popularity. Ye felt he was really putting in the effort.
Speaking of which, here's a question: Were the players playing him, or was he playing the players?
Ye thought about it and concluded that, overall, he was in the position of the chicken being roasted, right? So, in reality, he was the one playing the players. That made sense, didn't it?
Yes, it made sense. Time to turn up the heat.
He hadn't even officially "killed" a player yet. Ye's sense of satisfaction was far from fulfilled, and that simply wouldn't do.
Kill, he must kill. How could it be called miHoYo if there was no killing?
Even though the miHoYo outside was just a shell, it was still miHoYo, wasn't it?
A miHoYo that didn't kill players wasn't a good miHoYo. Ye felt he needed to guide them back on the right path. This was his way of repaying them for keeping him company in his dreams for so long.
Ahem, thinking about this made him feel a bit guilty, but that was another world. They couldn't find him, so it didn't matter. It didn't matter.
Feeling a bit too guilty, Ye quickly shifted his focus.
In version 2.2, the Raiden Shogun would appear in the first half of the banner, while Ye would appear in the second half. From Ayaka to Ye, a total of six popular characters would be released in succession, which would be quite harsh on players' wallets. By the time Ye's banner rolled around, it was hard to say how much his banner's revenue would be affected—but that was irrelevant.
If Ye were only concerned about banner revenue, he would have entered the banner long ago. He wouldn't have waited until version 2.2. For Ye, popularity was the most important thing. Revenue didn't matter at all.
Therefore, for his banner, Ye decided to unleash his long-prepared trump card.
This trump card could only be used once, so Ye didn't use it on his alternate account. Instead, he decided to use it on himself.
After all, the popularity Ye gained could be used for himself or his alternate accounts, but the popularity his alternate accounts gained could only be half-used by Ye. The rest had to be used to strengthen the alternate accounts themselves. Therefore, the strongest trump card had to be reserved for Ye himself.
Hmm? You ask what the trump card is?
Isn't it obvious? It's...
Becoming the players' godfather!