The Shogunate army withdrew amidst thunderous cheers.
The situation had taken an unexpectedly strange turn. The Shogunate had the upper hand in numbers, equipment, and launched a surprise attack—on top of that, the fearsome Raiden Shogun herself had descended upon the battlefield. So how had the fight ended before it even truly began?
Yet, that's exactly what happened. To the stunned disbelief of the resistance forces, the dark wave of Shogunate soldiers turned and began their retreat.
"General Gorou, should we... pursue?" one of his personal guards asked, confused.
Gorou shot him a look like he'd lost his mind. "Are you insane? With Raiden Shogun and another powerhouse here, they could wipe us out in an instant. Go relay my orders—immediate retreat! Full withdrawal back to camp!"
"Yes, sir!" the guard replied quickly.
Not long after, the rebel side also began to fall back from the beach.
The battle had come and gone in a flash. The southern coast of Yashiori Island soon returned to silence.
Smoke drifted away slowly, leaving behind scattered corpses, broken blades, and arrows embedded in the sand—the only proof that a war had just taken place here.
...
In the Shogunate camp.
Lu Chen and Ei returned to camp with Kujou Sara in tow—or rather, she followed behind the two of them.
"So..." Kujou Sara's voice trembled with disbelief. "The Raiden Shogun in Tenshukaku is a puppet created by you... and she's currently being manipulated by the Fatui?"
"Correct." Ei nodded slightly.
"I can't believe it..." Sara still found it hard to wrap her head around. For a moment, she even doubted whether the person before her was truly Her Excellency.
But that pressure—the overwhelming aura she'd just experienced—was impossible to fake. The woman before her was undoubtedly the real Raiden Shogun.
So it was all true. Sara wanted to ask more, driven by curiosity, but those noble violet eyes made her hesitate. She didn't dare press further, afraid of crossing a line.
"Hm? You don't believe me?"
"I do..." Sara lowered her head.
Lu Chen listened to their exchange and noticed how formal Ei remained in front of her subordinates.
She was far more approachable than the puppet, her tone deliberately gentle when speaking to Sara, but even so, Sara remained deferential, not daring to speak out of turn.
Seeing this side of Ei, Lu Chen couldn't help but find it hard to reconcile her with the woman who once pouted because her cookies wouldn't bake. This sense of distance—this natural regality—must be something born of high status and long-standing power.
Whenever her violet eyes swept over soldiers sneaking glances at her, they flinched like frightened animals. Yet when she spoke to him, that imposing aura seemed to vanish.
"Lu Chen, what are you observing?" Ei asked.
"Nothing." He shook his head, then turned to Kujou Sara. "Who's currently leading the Shogunate forces on the front lines?"
"Er..." Sara hesitated, unsure how to address him. "The front-line commander is Kujou Masahito. He's stationed at the Kujou encampment in Tatarasuna."
"Kujou Masahito?"
"He's the eldest son of Kujou Takayuki, current head of the Kujou clan," Ei explained softly.
"I see." Lu Chen nodded thoughtfully.
Sara had never seen her general interact with a man so intimately. She was initially shocked, but soon, something clicked in her mind.
After a moment, she looked at Lu Chen, hesitant. "May I ask... could you be—"
"Hm?"
Sara's eyes lit up as she stared at him, excitement flooding her expression.
"Could you be the legendary top warrior of Inazuma, chief advisor to the Bakufu, the first presiding judge of the Evaluation Bureau, founder of the Three Commissions, victor of the Archon War, one of the founders of Inazuma City, the most powerful mortal, and the prince who grew up alongside the gods!?"
"Okay, okay, that's enough..." Lu Chen looked helplessly at Ei. "Since when did I have so many titles?"
"Of course you do." Ei smiled, clearly amused. "I've said it before—you're the uncrowned king of Inazuma. Even if the history books record your death, even if most people have forgotten you, countless Inazumans are still benefiting from your legacy."
"You really are Prince Lu Chen!" Sara exclaimed, and immediately tried to bow—but Lu Chen quickly stopped her.
"No need for that. There's no such formality here. Just treat me like any other traveler," he said, exasperated.
"I couldn't..." Sara looked at him with awe.
When she saw him wield power rivaling the gods—and how familiar he was with Her Excellency—she immediately recalled a legend that had circulated in the upper echelons of the Shogunate.
It was a tale of a mortal hero who built Inazuma City alongside the Shogun.
She had stumbled across ancient records in the Kujou archives that confirmed the hero's existence, and she learned more about the grand epics lost to history.
He was a warrior blessed by the heavens, a mortal who stood shoulder to shoulder with gods. With the Shogun, he had repelled rogue Archons, subdued oni, youkai, and tengu, suppressed disasters and malevolent spirits, and carved out a path for the people to survive in the harshest of times.
She had admired heroes since childhood. Aside from Her Excellency, the one she revered most was the legendary Prince Lu Chen.
Now that this great hero stood before her in the flesh—how could she not be overwhelmed?
"Prince Lu Chen..."
"Please don't call me 'prince'..." Lu Chen felt a little awkward. That term was usually reserved for the queen's husband... how had the history books even labeled him?
"Then... Lord Lu Chen," she corrected herself.
When they arrived at the Kujou encampment, word had already reached ahead of them. The entire army stood in formation, officers lining up respectfully at the entrance to welcome the Shogun's return.
With Ei's presence, Lu Chen had no trouble establishing full control over the army.
He had underestimated how deeply rooted the reverence for the divine was. If Ei ordered them to take their own lives right now, most would likely obey without hesitation.
In a world where power determined rank, and overwhelming power meant absolute authority, this was the natural order.
After returning to camp, the first order of business was stripping Kujou Masahito of command. The second was rooting out the Fatui agents embedded in the army.
"The Fatui... how dare they be this brazen!" Sara hadn't expected that even the head of the Kujou clan—her adoptive father—would be in collusion with the Fatui. Nor had she imagined they had spies hidden among the troops.
"Of course. Instigating war between the two armies was their goal from the start," Lu Chen said from the second seat, looking toward Ei seated at the head. "I suspect the information leak about Gorou's disappearance came from the Fatui as well."
"I'll launch an immediate investigation," Sara responded without hesitation.
Lu Chen waved her off. After she left, the room fell quiet.
"Now that the ceasefire is in place, we'll need to lead the army back to Inazuma City..." He paused, then muttered, "I wonder how things are going on Miko's side..."