There were several dozen soldiers gathered at the dock.
They were clearly stationed here for one purpose: intercepting outsiders. Whether those outsiders would be shaken down or locked up depended entirely on the soldiers' mood.
Seeing no reaction from the people on the ship, the leading soldier gave a sharp whistle.
Two nearby batteries creaked as they swung into position, black iron muzzles turning to track the Melly.
It was obvious this was not the first time they had done this.
"You on the ship, get down here—now! If you don't come down for inspection, we'll open fire!"
"I'll count to three. If you're not off that boat, we attack!"
…
Farther along the pier, the merchants watched with sympathy.
A little ship like that, having somehow made it through the offshore thunderstorm to reach Inazuma… and now it would be seized before it could do a single deal.
Bad luck.
These past few days, patrols off Inazuma's coast had multiplied. Today's arrivals had simply stumbled into the net.
The gangplank rattled down.
Footsteps sounded as a group of figures appeared before the soldiers.
At their head walked a man with a long blade at his waist. His silver eyes were cold, the pressure he gave off like a god descending from nine heavens, crushing the air around him.
The captain who had been shouting threats a moment ago finally saw Su Han's face clearly.
His body began to shake.
"Captain… what do we do? Do we attack?" someone asked.
"Captain?"
"Captain…"
They called to him again and again.
He did not answer.
The ground beneath his boots grew dark, then wet.
The once‑arrogant captain had been frightened to the point of losing control.
"Y‑you… you're…"
He never finished the sentence.
Su Han stepped off the ship.
Each footfall on the wooden rungs echoed in everyone's ears.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
All around, the soldiers who had gathered at the dock rolled their eyes back and dropped in place, one after another.
A rabble like this did not even qualify to stand before him.
The soldiers posted farther off didn't know what had happened. All they saw was their comrades collapsing.
Panic flared.
Horns blared out across the harbor. The cannons boomed as both batteries spat fire.
Two shells, trailing flame, howled toward the Melly from left and right.
"Clear wind," Kazuha called.
He leapt, sword flashing twice in quick succession.
The first arcs of steel sheared the shells apart in midair. The trailing force cut straight through the distant batteries, slicing them into twisted scrap.
The soldiers manning the guns stared at the smoking wreckage.
Then they threw down their tools and scattered, clutching their heads.
Only now did the onlookers on the wharf truly react.
Whoever had come to Inazuma this time… they were not people to be trifled with.
…
Inside the Kanjou Commission estate, a soldier burst into the hall in a panic.
"Bad news, my lord! A foreign ship has entered the harbor. They destroyed our cannons and defeated our soldiers."
"What?" the head of the Commission snapped. "Send more men. Arrest every last one of those pirates!"
Hiragi Shinsuke's face was twisted with anger.
Someone had come to cause trouble on his own turf. To him, that was nothing short of a slap in the face.
The soldier only looked more miserable. "My lord, those people are very strong. We didn't even see them move before our men were down. They're not ordinary."
"Hmph. So what?" Shinsuke scoffed. "Send out the Ten'u Corps. Have them seize these foreigners."
"Yes, sir!"
As the soldier hurried off, Shinsuke's eyes narrowed.
"So what if they have Visions?" he muttered to himself. "I have the Fatui at my back. The Ten'u Corps can crush anyone.
"And if they're that strong… maybe I can tame them."
As head of the Kanjou Commission, he had never been chosen by a Vision. But once he tied himself to the Fatui, he had gained power enough to rival one. The Ten'u Corps was his trump card.
…
At the harbor, Su Han and the others had already disembarked.
They didn't spare a glance for the unconscious soldiers, simply walking straight toward the island's interior.
On the roadside, a merchant called out in a low voice. "Hey… masters, you should leave. The Ten'u Corps from the Kanjou Commission will be here any moment. You can't beat them."
"Oh?" Su Han asked, amused. "The Ten'u Corps? What's that?"
The man wore a mask and had half‑hidden himself behind branches, making it hard to see his face clearly.
He looked around nervously. Only after confirming that no patrols were nearby did he lean a little closer.
"The Ten'u Corps is a terrifying unit where every soldier can wield elemental power," he whispered. "People with Visions have stood up to them before.
"But they all lost. And their Visions were taken."
As he spoke, a large group of troops poured out from the island's streets.
They carried long spears and swords, armor clattering as they advanced in formation.
The masked merchant turned pale at the sight.
"Th‑they're here," he stammered, then spun on his heel and ran.
"These are the Ten'u Corps?" Shenhe watched them approach, brows knitting. "Their life force already feels so weak."
Some of the soldiers' hair had gone almost entirely white.
"Side effects of Delusions," Su Han said. "They eat away life.
"The low‑grade ones do, anyway. High‑grade Delusions shouldn't be this vicious.
"But Scaramouche would never hand out the good ones to Inazuma."
In the blink of an eye, the troops had formed a line in front of them.
The officer at their head raised his blade and shouted, "Advance! Arrest these lawbreakers!"
"Yes, sir!"
A rain of arrows, each one wrapped in fire, arced through the sky toward Su Han's group. The rest of the soldiers split into three prongs and rushed in.
"Don't bring toy weapons to a real fight," Su Han said.
He walked forward as he spoke.
The arrows disintegrated in midair, shredded by an invisible force.
A crushing pressure rolled out across the field.
The Ten'u soldiers, the ones in front most of all, dropped to their knees as if their legs had been cut from under them.
Conqueror's Haki burst outward.
Black lightning laced through the clouds.
The weight of his will slammed into the charging men. Those who tried to push through coughed blood and flew back as if struck by a physical blow.
The Delusions on their bodies shattered one after another, torn apart by that same invisible pressure.
The officer at the front stared as the man walked toward him, realization dawning far too late.
His face went ashen.
"C‑cough… you… you're… you're Liyue's national treasure," he forced out between breaths. "The one who sealed demon gods…"
Su Han looked down at him, gaze steady. "You've got a bit of backbone," he said calmly. "You could still stand under my presence.
"Shame you chose the wrong master."
Kazuha and the others caught up behind him.
The garrison troops watching from a distance hardly believed their eyes.
The "invincible" Ten'u Corps, who had crushed every Vision bearer they'd faced, hadn't even withstood a single glance from the foreign man.
Panic broke like a wave.
"Monster… that man's a monster!"
"Run!"
"The Ten'u Corps has been defeated!"
The news raced across the island in moments.
…
Back at the Kanjou Commission, the report hit Hiragi Shinsuke like a bucket of ice water.
"You said… the Ten'u Corps lost?" His face drained of color. The teacup in his hand slipped and shattered on the floor. "Impossible. They're a full hundred elites."
"Master, you must flee," the servant urged. "If those monsters come here, they'll kill you for sure."
The words jolted him awake.
Without another thought for his daughter or anyone else, Hiragi Shinsuke bolted for the back door.
At the same time, he snapped at the servant, "Contact the Tengu General. Tell that woman to deal with this. Say there's a powerful Vision holder for her to seize. Hurry."
"Yes, master!"
The servant loosed a special messenger crow, the kind that could carry word swiftly to the Tenryou Commission's general in Inazuma City.
As the bird vanished into the sky, Shinsuke ground his teeth.
"What humiliation," he spat. "Driven out by a pack of foreigners.
"Fine. Once the Tengu General arrives, I'll make you all regret this."
…
At Byakko Plain, a woman on horseback rode patrol, a column of soldiers trailing behind her.
"Lady Kujou, all quiet in the area," one rider reported. "No signs of ruffians."
"Keep the perimeter tight," Kujou Sara said. "Don't let anything slip through."
"Yes, my lady!"
The wings of the formation peeled away, scattering to cover more ground.
A crow cut across the sky toward her.
"Urgent contact?" she murmured. "Has something happened on Ritou?"
The emblem on its leg belonged to the Kanjou Commission.
Sara's brows drew together.
She lifted her arm, and the bird settled neatly on her wrist.
One glance at the scroll tied to its leg was enough. Her expression hardened.
"Form up," she called loudly. "There's fighting on Ritou. All units, to assembly!"
The scattered soldiers wheeled back at once, falling into line behind her.
A moment later, the whole unit was thundering toward the island.
…
By then, Su Han had already arrived at the Kanjou Commission estate.
The place was all but deserted.
He stood in the courtyard and let out a low laugh. "See that, Kazuha? A man who bullies the weak and flatters the strong turns into a paper tiger the moment his lackeys fall.
"Hiragi Shinsuke only knows how to squeeze merchants dry. He's useless for anything else.
"The instant his Delusion troops went down, he ran so fast he didn't even bother to take his family."
"My lord, you're not wrong," Kazuha said quietly. "My clan fell because of him. That old fox speaks of justice and righteousness, but in the shadows he does things that would make anyone sick.
"I just gathered some information. The foreign merchants stranded here have been pushed so hard they can barely eat.
"To survive, some of them have even been forced to go into the mines and dig ore with their own hands."
On the maps, Ritou was only an outlying port.
In the eyes of those merchants, it had long since become an island that swallowed people whole and left not even bones behind.