The Little Tanuki understood immediately and darted into the nearby forest, disappearing in a flash.
Yoimiya cheerfully retrieved the food and presented it to Yuna with a grin.
"Yuna, look! Our spoils of war! Come on, dig in!"
Yoimiya glanced around but couldn't find anything handy to use as a makeshift fork.
Yuna conjured two forks from her personal space. As a chef, carrying utensils isn't excessive, right?
Moments later, large chunks of braised meat were skewered on both forks. Yoimiya offered the largest piece to Yuna.
Yuna, genuinely hungry, accepted without hesitation, knowing Yoimiya's outgoing nature.
Although they hadn't found the decisive item, Yoimiya already felt satisfied just having this braised meat.
However...
Yuna was also a first-round winner of the Test of Courage, making her eligible to compete for the grand prize.
For Yuna's sake, Yoimiya had to give it her all!
Yuna, barely halfway through her meal, was abruptly pulled into a jog by Yoimiya. She wanted to tell her she didn't care about the grand prize, but seeing Yoimiya's unwavering enthusiasm, she swallowed the words on her tongue.
Well, a competition needs rivals to be fun. I might as well try a little...
-
Lumine, Paimon, and Sayu easily found the fan. Just like in the previous round, a larger portion of braised meat sat beside it!
The trio had already found three portions earlier, most of which had ended up in Paimon's stomach.
None of them were particularly hungry, so instead of sharing the braised meat as before, they placed it in Paimon's magic food storage pouch.
"Yay! We won the second round of the Test of Courage! Just one more victory and we'll get that super special grand prize! Hehe, I wonder what it is? I can't wait!"
Lumine interrupted Paimon's daydreaming, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We could end up with nothing."
Paimon grinned, "Right now, we're the only ones qualified for that mysterious grand prize! And I always believe in you, Lumine!"
After saying goodbye to Sayu, Lumine and Paimon headed to Akitsu Yuugei's stall by the beach.
Here, they encountered the same woman they had met earlier.
Lumine, assuming she was another yokai like Kappa and the others, felt no wariness and even invited her to join them in playing Akitsu Yuugei.
Paimon proposed a competition to see who could complete the game in the shortest time, with the winner getting to make a wish of the loser.
Lumine went first.
Lumine always excelled in such strange competitions. Her gaming skills seemed innate, as if she had maxed out her skill points from birth, effortlessly mastering any game she tried.
She completed the game in an incredibly short time.
Seeing how quickly Lumine had completed the game, Paimon instantly felt confident of victory.
"We've practically won this! Come on, it's your turn!"
The woman nodded reluctantly. "...Alright, watch closely."
Before Lumine and Paimon's eyes, the woman completed the game at an unimaginable speed.
Paimon stared in stunned disbelief. "Almost every strike hit the crucial spot! She finished even faster than Lumine! This dazzling display is making my head spin! Lumine, did you even see that clearly?"
Lumine conceded, impressed, "You... are a cut above."
"Even if the rules change, I won't lose to you novices," the woman declared, placing her hands on her hips, seemingly confident in her mastery of Akitsu Yuugei.
Paimon exclaimed, "Wait, you're right! Now that I think about it, you're a little yokai too, and Akitsu Yuugei is your game!"
"In that case, you really must be good... Okay, Paimon keeps her promises. You can make a wish. But just so you know, we won't grant anything impossible or anything that would make us do something bad."
The woman pondered for a moment, then said, "A wish? I wish... I wish we never meet again."
Lumine and Paimon were stunned. They had been having so much fun just moments ago...
A sinister aura emanated from the woman's body as she warned them that their souls would be taken upon their next encounter.
After the woman departed, Lumine and Paimon were left standing there, questioning the meaning of life.
-
Enkanomiya.
The black-robed figure walked alone atop the Dainichi Mikoshi.
Jiang Mumu, when playing Genshin Impact, had been deeply moved by Enkanomiya's story, especially the achievement "The Children of God Shall Dance."
Once, this place had been the Evernight Nation.
Sage Aberaku, seeking to bring light and the Sun to his people, created the Dainichi Mikoshi.
But even the darkest eternal night couldn't withstand the darkness of the human heart.
Aberaku was framed and executed. The newly appointed Priest conjured an image of the Sun God above a bonfire, claiming it had descended with the Children of the Sun.
Seven innocent children were falsely proclaimed as the Children of the Sun, and upon reaching adulthood, they were thrown into the Dainichi Mikoshi to be burned alive.
The so-called "dancing" was nothing more than the contorted movements of the Children of the Sun as their bodies were consumed by flames.
The black-robed figure hadn't come here to reminisce.
The Deepsea Dragonheir Vishaps lurking beneath Enkanomiya harbored deep malice toward humanity, especially the two at the very bottom.
Confronting the Electro Archon directly would mean certain death for the figure. Fortunately, such a confrontation was unnecessary.
The Black Serpent that fell in the Desert and the White Serpent Orobashi that fell in Inazuma could be exploited. The figure didn't need to overpower Ei—merely stall her long enough.
Then, It would open several Abyss Gates across Inazuma, unleash the two Vishaps, and plunge the nation into chaos.
As for the black-robed figure itself...
Its sole objective, from beginning to end, remained the same: to kill Yuna!
In Mondstadt, It had relied on ambush. In Liyue, encirclement. In Sumeru, It had failed. But in Inazuma... It would resort to a direct, brutal confrontation.
This time, It would abandon cunning schemes and appear before Lumine and her companions in open confrontation.
Though its power had diminished significantly, it still retained the might of a top-tier God. If It couldn't defeat the Electro Archon, surely It could overwhelm mere Vision holders?
Even Yae Miko posed no threat in its eyes.
Arriving at the location of the two Vishaps, the creatures, which had been roaming nearby, sensed the intrusion and swiftly converged from afar.
The black-robed figure extended its right hand, and tendrils of purple-black Abyss Energy erupted from its palm, splitting into countless strands that coiled around the Vishaps.
Roar!
The Vishaps thrashed violently, but the Abyss Energy relentlessly infiltrated their bodies. Their eyes turned bloodred as they collapsed to their knees before the figure.
The black-robed figure drew a longsword and slashed open a rift in space.
It stepped through first, the two Vishaps following closely behind.
-
Narukami Island.
Chinju Forest.
The second round of the Test of Courage had just concluded, and the third round was scheduled to begin the following evening.
This time, Shikanoin Heizou actively sought out Lumine and Paimon, hoping to team up with them while also investigating the strange woman from the previous rounds.
When the trio arrived at the venue, they didn't spot the miko who had appeared in the first two rounds.
Instead, they noticed red lettering on a nearby notice board:
Third Round... Item... Hagoita...
-
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