These words made Ei slow down her sword-swinging motion by a fraction, the layered Recital attacks dealing considerable damage indeed.
Fortunately, Ei was truly stubborn; once she set her mind on something, she would not allow it to be changed.
The sword in her hand swung out swiftly once more, cutting down the Raiden Shogun again.
However, it was still useless; the Raiden Shogun would still recover to her original state and stand up again.
[Raiden Shogun: "It seems your martial prowess has not regressed."]
["But how long can your will persist?"]
The readers were also worried. Yes, under the Raiden Shogun's successive Recital attacks, could Ei really persist forever?
To be honest, if it were me, I'd be completely broken! No, I already am broken! There's this feeling of powerlessness like my hand can't reach into the book.
Facing the Raiden Shogun, who could stand up no matter how many times she was defeated, the Traveler also felt powerless.
An enemy that couldn't be killed no matter what—is this some "Abundance" abomination?
Where's "The Hunt"? Hurry up and fire one! Didn't you become an Aeon just to shoot "Abundance" Yaoshi with one shot (fire one)?
I mean an arrow. Fire one arrow.
[Ei: "This is the Plane of Euthymia; her existence is indeed hard to shake."]
["She is a product born to resist erosion. In terms of will, she surpasses all living beings, including you and me."]
Ei explained to the Traveler that in this Plane of Euthymia, consciousness was everything.
And the Raiden Shogun, as a machine, had a will that was almost pre-programmed. Devoid of emotions, she even surpassed the gods in this aspect.
Now it wasn't just the powerlessness of a hand that couldn't reach into the book; this time it was genuine powerlessness.
How do you defeat an enemy like this? This was fundamentally a battle where victory was invisible, and an end was nowhere in sight.
If it were an ordinary person, they would have lost the desire to continue fighting at this moment, right?
Fortunately, Ei wasn't an ordinary person; she was the Raiden Stubborn Donkey! In terms of stubbornness, she was in no way inferior to the emotionless mechanical general.
[Ei said firmly: "I must prove to her that my will at this moment is not a product of erosion. I will forge a future, one that can withstand erosion."]
["If I do not, the general's laws cannot be changed, and Inazuma will have no 'progress'."]
["This is my responsibility. No matter how long this battle lasts—months, years, decades, centuries... no matter how many times, I will defeat her."]
Her meaning was that the Raiden Shogun wanted to fight for as long as she liked, and she would accompany her for that long.
Whether ten times, a hundred times, ten years, a hundred years—no matter how long, she would keep fighting!
So during the time she was fighting, Inazuma would have to be left to the humans.
["If the 'dreams' she spoke of truly are the true eternity, then the 'ephemerality' that the general deems nonexistent is not to be feared."]
["For Inazuma's infinite future, no matter how prolonged my battle, it would be but an instant in 'eternity'."]
The people of Inazuma were dumbfounded. What did that mean? Was Her Excellency the Shogun planning to leave us for a few centuries?
Though Her Excellency the Shogun's trust made us happy, wasn't this a bit too much trust?
Moreover, a few centuries as "ephemerality"—was this the time perception of an immortal species?
To Her Excellency the Shogun, it was indeed an instant in eternity, but to humans, it was too exaggerated.
Five hundred years—five hundred years ago, Earth was still in the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing era.
Who knows, when Ei emerges, the people of Inazuma might have started swiping on Douyin.
["I promise the people of Inazuma that I will return. This vow, witnessed by you."]
["During my absence, everything will be left to Yae Miko and the others."]
Yae Miko watched helplessly. Giving me more work again! What an unpeaceful divinity.
Which family's god is like you... Huh? On second thought, all these old gods seem like this... one after another, all dumping their work on their subordinates.
One pretends to be dumb, acting like the god has long vanished, and he's just a pure bystander.
Another goes even further, directly playing dead, acting like the god is already gone, and he's just an ordinary office worker.
Thinking about it this way, Miko felt relieved, her heart yearning even more to meet Ganyu-jie and Jean someday.
Last time Lucian had gathered everyone with great difficulty, but those two were ridiculously busy, with no time at all to help out, so they had to let others do it.
Back to the story, Paimon was very worried about Ei, after all, Ei had said before that the Raiden Shogun's will was stronger than hers. What if something unexpected happened?
However, Ei was a domineering (sword-drawing) CEO, unceremoniously and domineeringly sending Paimon and the Traveler out of the Plane of Euthymia.
[Ei: "Relay my words."]
After doing all this, Ei drew her sword and charged toward the Raiden Shogun.
This fight had to happen because the current Ei had no physical body; she had to alter the Raiden Shogun's 'underlying code' to freely use her body.
She couldn't very well use a body that might glitch and freeze at any moment, right?
What if during a fight with someone, she made a certain move and suddenly glitched, giving the opponent a 'golden opportunity'?
It was also fortunate it wasn't Keqing's 'Ass-Slant Swordsmanship'; otherwise, glitching while twisting her butt would be something else.
On the other side, the Traveler and Paimon, expelled from the Plane of Euthymia, exchanged a glance, both feeling they couldn't just leave Ei and the general to keep fighting like this.
Mainly, both of them were too stubborn. What if, in the heat of the moment, their stubbornness flared up and they forgot why they were fighting in the first place, obsessing only over winning or losing, and never came out?
But now, even if Lumine wanted to go back to stop it, she couldn't, because when Ei chased them out, she had conveniently locked the door too.
Now, only the two of them remained in the deduction space, just as Ei's original goal was— it wouldn't open until the Raiden Shogun acknowledged who the true master was.
So at this point, they could only seek help from the wondrous Yae Miko.
Inside the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko saw the Traveler rushing over with an anxious face and knew something had come to find her again.
The trouble-averse Yae Miko was the only one unafraid of the troubles brought by the Traveler.
Even though the Traveler always gave her work every time they came, she still enjoyed the Traveler seeking her out.
Perhaps because, compared to her love of slacking off, she liked the Traveler more.
[Yae Miko said with a smile: "It's fortunate you're the one who came; if it were anyone else, I wouldn't bother smiling at them time and again."]
[Paimon retorted: "But I see you've been smiling the whole time!"]
[Yae Miko emphasized: "That was just a figure of speech, okay? Don't nitpick my words."]
There was never a time when I, Yae Miko, retorted at others; no one retorted at me.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Yae Miko: Regarding the Shogun's Decision
"Such a dangerous thing... I truly hope she won't do it like this next time... at least inform me first, sigh."