"Is this… Komore Teahouse?"
Paimon looked around, then turned her gaze to Themis.
"Themis, thank you… Huh? Wait, no? Are you Rea?"
In the room, aside from Paimon, there were four others: Thoma, Ye, Lumine, and Astrea.
That's right, it wasn't Themis, but Astrea, who looked utterly confused. Their outfits made it clear they were two different people.
"This… where is this…? Huh? S-Supre Bishop?"
Astrea looked around in confusion, and when she saw Ye, her face instantly turned pale.
"W-Why are you here? No, wait… Where is this? What's going on? Huh? Traveler? What happened to you?"
Astrea was clearly very disoriented.
Ye, holding Lumine in his right arm, pressed his left index finger to her forehead. A faint blue light continuously flowed into Lumine's body as he healed her. While healing, he glanced at Astrea and spoke calmly: "This is Inazuma. I ran into so trouble here, so I summoned you."
"Oh… I see…"
Under Ye's gaze, Astrea shrank back slightly.
"Um… Supre Bishop, is the Traveler injured? Please, let handle it."
"No need… I'm fine now…"
It was Lumine who spoke.
She broke free from Ye's embrace and rubbed her forehead.
"Even though Ei did hold back, your body is surprisingly tough," Ye said, perhaps in admiration. "Taking a direct hit from the Electro Archon and not suffering major injuries… I don't think she held back to that extent."
"Ei?" Paimon asked, confused. "Is Ei the Raiden Shogun?"
"The current Electro Archon's divine na is Beelzebul, and her other na is Ei."
"Ei?" Thoma looked at Ye. "The Supre Bishop is truly knowledgeable. Even I didn't know the Raiden Shogun had such a na. But… isn't the Electro Archon's divine na Baal?"
Lumine also looked at Ye in confusion and asked, "The person I t in that strange space…?"
Ye nodded slightly. "That was the true Electro Archon, Beelzebul. As for Baal…"
At that mont, Ayaka suddenly burst into the room.
"Ye, Traveler, Thoma, Paimon, is it really you? Why are you here? Thoma, are you okay? What exactly happened?"
Ye glanced at Paimon, and Paimon understood—it was her ti to shine.
So, Paimon explained in detail what had happened earlier.
Lumine also added her experience of eting another Raiden Shogun in a strange space.
Then… everyone turned to Ye, as he seed to know everything.
And Ye, of course, had no intention of hiding anything. He started with a shocking revelation.
"Inazuma has actually had two Electro Archons. The current Raiden Shogun sitting on the throne is the second Electro Archon, Beelzebul."
"Two Electro Archons?!"
Both Ayaka and Thoma were the most shocked, as…
"How is that possible? I've never heard of the Electro Archon's position changing!"
Ayaka asked in disbelief:
"Our Inazuma has always only had the Raiden Shogun!"
As the young lady of the Kamisato Clan, which oversees the Yashiro Commission, Ayaka had never heard of such a thing.
"Most people think so because they don't know one thing: the original rulers of Inazuma were a pair of twin gods."
Ye explained nonchalantly:
"The elder sister's divine na was Baal, and the younger sister's was Beelzebul. Later, during the Archon War, they beca the final victors of Inazuma. The elder sister, Makoto, ascended to the throne of the Electro Archon, while the younger sister, Ei, beca the Raiden Shogun's shadow warrior—Makoto wasn't skilled in combat, so it was always Ei who fought on the frontlines."
"In the myths and legends you know, the god who led Inazuma to countless victories in war is the current Electro Archon, Ei."
"As for the previous Electro Archon, Baal, she perished in the cataclysm five hundred years ago."
"After Makoto's death, Ei naturally inherited the throne of the Electro Archon, becoming Inazuma's second god. However, no one in Inazuma even knew the throne had changed hands."
"On the other hand, both the divine na 'Baal' and the title 'Raiden Shogun' can be seen as referring to both Makoto and Ei. So, your belief that the Electro Archon's position never changed isn't entirely wrong."
"Because they have always complented each other's shortcomings and ruled Inazuma together."
"—Until five hundred years ago."
"This…" Ayaka looked stunned. "This actually happened…"
Ye continued: "After the god of 'Transience' perished, Inazuma was ruled by the god of 'Eternity.' Ei, not wanting to lose anything else, began to obsessively pursue 'Eternity.'"
"But even the god of 'Eternity' cannot withstand the erosion of ti."
"To avoid destroying the nation of 'Eternity' due to her own erosion, she created a puppet to act as the Raiden Shogun. She herself abandoned her physical body, placing her consciousness into her sword and retreating into the 'Plane of Euthymia,' where she ditates endlessly to maintain her 'self.'"
"As for the Plane of Euthymia, it is a space akin to Ei's 'inner world,' which normally only allows the existence of the 'self.'"
"Sealing herself in her 'inner world,' leaving all external matters to the puppet that blindly pursues 'Eternity'—this is the path to 'Eternity' that the current Electro Archon has chosen."
At this point, things were quite clear.
In other words, the Raiden Shogun that people see is actually just a puppet. The true Raiden Shogun resides within the puppet's sword, sealed away in her inner world.
All of this is for the sake of the Raiden Shogun's vision of 'Eternity.'
"Wouldn't that… be too lonely?"
"Huh?"
Astrea's sudden remark drew surprised looks from everyone.
Under their gazes, Astrea grew flustered and waved her hands: "Um… sorry… I didn't really understand what's going on, but… isn't it too lonely for the Electro Archon to seal herself in her inner world and ditate to resist erosion?"
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