On a distant mountain, several figures lay in hiding.
They quietly watched the scene below. After a moment, one of them exclaimed:
"Miss, they're about to fight again! What should we do?"
The one addressed as "Miss" wore a delicate face now clouded with tension.
"Thoma, the Death Omen Star hasn't arrived yet?"
Here gathered were Kamisato Ayaka, eldest daughter of the Kamisato clan, her retainer Thoma, along with Yoimiya and Sayu.
Beneath these four fighters stood dozens of ninja loyal to the Kamisato family.
Days ago, Ayaka received word from her brother Kamisato Ayato, learning that the resistance army had been pushed to the brink of annihilation.
For some reason, Kujou Sara had suddenly increased the tempo of her assaults, leaving the resistance with no way forward or back.
Ayaka decisively called her people to aid them.
But upon seeing the battlefield below, she could not help but falter.
Tens of thousands clashed in a brutal war—how could a handful of people like them turn the tide?
Ayaka understood her brother's true intention:
when all else failed, they must rescue Kokomi.
So long as she lived, the resistance would not die.
Yet looking at the armies below drenched in blood, Ayaka's eyes burned red.
The elegant Kamisato lady struck the ground with her fist.
"Why? Why must General Kujou drive everyone to death's door?
Are the resistance soldiers not also Inazuma's people?"
Thoma spoke lowly:
"Miss, now isn't the time for this. We must prepare.
Captain Beidou hasn't made her move yet, and the resistance has fought too many battles—their supplies can't keep up. This time they're doomed to lose.
We need to be ready to get Lady Kokomi out."
Truth be told, he wasn't confident either.
This was a battlefield of tens of thousands. Their small band could barely make a ripple.
Even wielders of Visions, unless ascended to godhood, were still human.
And human strength has its limits.
Yoimiya leaned close, whispering:
"I'll set off fireworks on the other side, cause some chaos in the battle. Then it's up to you."
Sayu, for once not dozing, gazed at the bloody battlefield with sorrow.
"Ayu, I'm counting on you all. Please, be careful. I'll support from here."
Ayaka would hold position—if she personally struck, the consequences would be dire.
Sayu nodded and glanced at the other ninjas, who each drew their weapons.
Ayaka cast one more pained glance at the battlefield before closing her eyes.
Both sides were Inazuma's people.
The resistance had committed no atrocities—they merely resisted the Vision Hunt Decree, fighting to protect the people's dreams.
Why must they suffer slaughter at the hands of their own kin?
"General… is this the eternity you truly desire?" Ayaka asked silently in her heart.
On the battlefield, Gorou led his men in maneuvers, splitting the Shogunate's ranks.
But their enemies were too numerous.
And though weary from days of battle, the Shogunate's men still ate their fill.
The resistance, starving, faltered with every step.
Kokomi clutched her banner in pain at the sight.
Kujou Sara, cold-eyed, loosed an arrow that slew several resistance fighters, her gaze locking on Kokomi.
Though her own heart burned with anguish at these deeds, she could not disobey the Shogun's orders.
The Shogun was dissatisfied with the execution of "eternity."
Sara gritted her teeth, raising a hand.
"Tenryou Commission—advance!"
Hundreds of elite soldiers surged forth.
The battlefield stilled as both sides froze.
On the mountain, Ayaka's eyes went wide.
"Why… why is it the Tenryou Commission's guard…?"
"The Shogun… have you truly resolved to exterminate them all?"
Yoimiya quickly restrained Ayaka, while Thoma's face grew dark.
"Miss… we cannot act.
The Shogun's guard are her personal elite—they never leave Tenshukaku.
For them to appear means this is divine will.
Forget saving anyone; if they see us act, even the Kamisato clan will be doomed."
"Why…?" Ayaka's eyes closed in despair.
"Shogun… do you truly wish all the resistance dead?"
On the battlefield, Kokomi and Gorou were stricken pale at the sight of the Shogun's guard.
Sara's attacks could have been her own will.
But these men…
Only one person in all Inazuma could command them—Raiden Shogun herself.
Their arrival meant one thing.
"Shogun… you wish us dead?" Kokomi laughed bitterly, her banner trembling in her grip.
What use was resistance now?
Before it had been war with the Shogunate.
Now… it was war against the Shogun herself.
These few hundred guards alone could wipe out the resistance.
And to resist them was to brand themselves traitors against the Shogun.
"Kokomi, surrender now. The Shogun may yet pardon you."
Sara's voice trembled with reluctance, but remembering the Shogun's words, she steeled herself.
"Persist, and only annihilation awaits."
The resistance wavered, lowering weapons in despair.
The mere name of the guard spelled their doom.
If they resisted, would the Shogun herself strike them down with Musou no Hitotachi?
Kokomi smiled bitterly, staring at Sara.
"So… Inazuma's people may never have dreams?
For 'eternity,' must we abandon our hearts?
Shogun, do you truly turn a deaf ear to your people?
General Kujou, is the Vision Hunt truly right? Must we live as hollow shells?"
Her words stabbed like needles into Sara's chest.
Clenching her fists, Sara forced herself to answer:
"The Shogun's will is Inazuma's will!
Yield, Kokomi. With the guard deployed, you know what this means.
This is your last chance."
Kokomi stared at her long and hard. At last she raised her banner high.
"If this is truly the Shogun's will, then let me use my final breath to carry the voice of the people.
We desire a present full of dreams—not a lifeless eternity!
Come, Kujou Sara! Take my life!"
The banner blazed like the sun amidst the darkness.
Even Shogunate soldiers felt their hearts twist.
"Kokomi…" Sara whispered.
Then she nocked an arrow of thunder, voice heavy.
"Forgive me. The Shogun's will is Inazuma's will. Farewell."
Lightning surged.
The guard advanced, merciless as machines.
But suddenly, a green light tore across the sky.
In an instant, a vast pressure descended. All froze in place, unable to move.
Sara's arrow dissolved. She looked up in shock.
A figure, ethereal as an immortal, stood upon his sword in the heavens.
His gaze swept the battlefield, hardening at the sight of the bloodstained sea.
Kaedehara Kazuha's fury boiled over. His voice thundered:
"Three breaths. Any who do not lay down arms—die!"
His voice, backed by spiritual might, crashed down.
Both armies shuddered, instinctively dropping weapons.
Sara's eyes widened.
"Kazuha…?
Didn't you flee?"
Kazuha did not answer. His eyes fixed on the guards.
"Three!"
The word chilled every heart.
Sara suddenly remembered Yae Miko's words upon her departure.
Cultivation…
Kazuha… had become an immortal cultivator?
"Two!"
Sara panicked.
"Guards! Drop your weapons!"
But the guards, mindless, marched forward undeterred.
"Obey! Drop them! Drop them now!" Sara shouted desperately, rushing toward them.
Kazuha closed his eyes.
"One!"
Forming a seal, countless flying swords flared behind him.
"If slaughter is the only way to still you…
then I shall bear that blood."
"Sword-Control Technique!"
The sky fell with blades.
In an instant, the guards were nailed lifeless to the sand.
"Kazuha!!!" Sara's anguished cry tore out.
Kazuha shut his eyes, forcing himself to ignore the massacre he'd wrought.
He didn't know if the Hall of Discipline would punish him later.
But he had no choice.
The guards were too far gone. To spare the resistance, they had to die.
Kill, to end killing.
Kazuha did not regret it.
He opened his eyes again, facing Sara's broken gaze.
"General Kujou, I came today for one thing only—
to win Inazuma a moment of peace."
"Peace?!" Sara loosed another arrow.
But before it could touch him, it shattered against his protective aura.
Her eyes brimmed red.
"This is your peace? Slaughter for slaughter?
Kazuha! Fugitive! You return to butcher the guard—what do you take the Shogun for?"
Kazuha's voice stayed calm.
"Leave, General Kujou. I do not wish to kill further."
"You dream! Even if not for the resistance, I'll arrest you, butcher!" Sara raged.
But Kazuha only shook his head.
"My aim is peace, not blood. You are not my match.
Not you, nor all your armies.
Withdraw. Do not bring more meaningless strife."
Sword intent flared from him, rending even the thunderclouds above.
Alone, he seemed to encircle the tens of thousands below.
The sight left Kokomi, Gorou, and Ayaka's group upon the mountain utterly speechless.
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