"Back to the main topic—weren't you asking where Khaenri'ah's outpost is located?" Enjou casually pointed in a direction and continued, "Just keep heading south. Since I'm not very satisfied with your answer, I won't give you anything more specific. Find it yourself."
"South of Byakuyakoku…" Victor Wang murmured. The Khaenri'ahns who once tried to steal the [Before Sun and Moon] had been captured just south of the Serpent's Heart. That made Enjou's answer fairly credible.
"Since I've answered so many of your questions, I have one more to ask. Did you happen to see a particularly special book in Byakuyakoku?"
Victor Wang shrugged. "I can't even read the script of Byakuyakoku. How would I know which book is special?"
"That's true… Then hand over any books you took from there and let me check them myself."
"I didn't take a single book."
"Not even one?"
"You were with us almost the entire time, weren't you?"
"But that book is in Byakuyakoku, and I couldn't find it… It doesn't have legs—unless someone helped it, it couldn't have gone anywhere."
As the two stood at an impasse, the Dainichi Mikoshi suddenly began to rotate. Its three shattered corners realigned and emitted a blinding light. Byakuyakoku transitioned from Evernight back into Whitenight.
To obtain the fragment of the Reins of Resurrection in The Narrows, someone had to toggle the mechanism—and besides the people here, only Lumine and Paimon could have done so.
Victor Wang understood immediately, while Enjou appeared to be in thought.
"Forget it. Seeing as you also belong to the Abyss, I'll believe you this time."
"I've already told you, I don't belong to the Abyss."
"Heh. Keep walking this path—you'll understand eventually that 'the Abyss is the true reality of the world.'" Enjou's smirk was wickedly confident as he took off, flying toward The Narrows.
"Acting like you're the one letting me off…" Victor Wang muttered under his breath and then flew toward the Evernight Temple.
The mechanism concealing the Reins of Resurrection fragment within the Evernight Temple was the most complex among the three locations, but since it had already been solved once before, it posed little challenge to Victor Wang.
He easily retrieved the fragment. Just as he was preparing to return to the Dainichi Mikoshi, Lumine and Paimon arrived.
"As we mentioned before, we went back to the surface," Lumine reported, sharing what she'd learned. "Tsuyuko's attitude toward the Bathysmal Vishaps is… delicate. She said that if possible, we shouldn't disturb them—but in critical moments, our safety should come first."
"That matches what that nameless notebook said."
"We also asked about the clerk. Tsuyuko said she's never even heard of anyone named 'Enjou.' And apparently, Enjou has already left the Dainichi Mikoshi. There's definitely something off about him."
"He came looking for me—demanded a book I've never even seen. Ridiculous… Anyway, since the trial's nearly done, there's no need to deal with him anymore."
"Speaking of the trial, we've already obtained one fragment of the Reins of Resurrection."
"I got two, so that makes all three."
"You're so fast?!"
"Ahem. Then let's head back to the Dainichi Mikoshi and finish this trial."
…
When the world switched back to Evernight again, Aru's spectral figure appeared beneath the Dainichi Mikoshi. "It seems you've gathered all the fragments. Allow me to reforge the Reins of Resurrection for you."
"I wonder if, during your journey, you noticed anything unusual. What I'm about to say—please, do not be alarmed." As Aru worked on merging the fragments, he continued speaking. "The Bloodbranch Coral must be harvested from a special type of Bathysmal Vishap—and those Vishaps dwell right beneath this Dainichi Mikoshi."
"So that's what Tsuyuko meant by 'critical moments'…" Lumine thought to herself, remembering the nameless notebook, Tsuyuko's cautious words, and even Enjou's earlier lectures about Byakuyakoku.
Once the Reins of Resurrection were reassembled, Aru went on.
"The Vishaps confined below were a deliberately modified strain—capable of accepting grafts of the Bloodbranch Coral from Orobashi without rejection. But because of these adjustments, they became incredibly powerful.
"And now, you must prove your valor before them—sigh, even saying that feels wrong to me.
"You seek the Bloodbranch Coral grafted onto their bodies. Naturally, they will not greet you kindly; they will only unleash centuries of pent-up fury toward humankind. There's no doubt—it will be a fight to the death."
Just as Aru seemed ready to finish his explanation, Victor Wang interrupted. "Can I ask a question?"
"Of course. Please, ask."
"Do we have to kill those Vishaps—or just retrieve the coral from them?"
Aru sighed deeply, his tone tinged with sorrow.
"If you have the power, then there's no need to kill them. In fact, that would be ideal…
"We imprisoned dozens of Vishaps down below. According to the plan, we would take one branch of coral every few centuries—enough to sustain Watatsumi Island for generations.
But as you'll soon experience, every retrieval requires a battle to the death. And such battles never end until one side yields—or falls.
You… a hero, will not die. But the Vishaps that perish will carry the coral with them into decay. The coral can no longer regenerate, and its depletion is far faster than expected.
This is a struggle for survival—both for Watatsumi and for the Vishaps. It's a fight to the death. I will not urge you to hold back."
Victor Wang nodded, a quiet thought forming in his mind.
"Then, allow me to open the path to your final trial." The completed Reins of Resurrection descended onto the lift that led to the base of the Dainichi Mikoshi, powering it. As Aru chanted, his solemn words echoed: "Within this sea of sin lie four transgressions of name and form, and eight deceits of life… Upon this rock that seals the Evernight, the sins of the past may not be pursued."
When the ritual was complete, Aru added, "I have one last request. After you leave Enkanomiya, please do not speak of this trial. All previous participants abided by this, and I hope you will do the same."
Lumine, Paimon, and Victor Wang nodded, then stepped onto the lift, descending toward the final test.
"Lumine, I have a simple plan for the fight…"
After quietly listening, Lumine replied firmly, "We came together so we could rely on each other's strength. Trust me."
After descending for nearly twenty seconds, the narrow vertical shaft opened up into a vast cavern.
Below lay a circular platform surrounded almost entirely by water. How deep that water went was impossible to tell—but something within it sensed their presence. A dorsal fin broke the surface, cutting ripples as the creature swam restlessly.
From the cracks along the shaft walls, Victor Wang realized these were probably caused by the Vishaps themselves. Which meant everything below this height was within their attack range.
But perhaps because they had waited too long—or because they knew humans would not flee—the Vishaps did not strike immediately. They only circled in the water, restless yet restrained.
After another twenty seconds, the lift reached the platform.
In that instant, the creatures in the surrounding waters could no longer hold back. Excluding the old and the young, more than a dozen adult Vishaps lunged up onto the platform.
Just as Aru had said—the rage of a thousand years, the fury of being treated as tools and livestock, and their innate hatred of humans—all converged at once. They had only this single chance in centuries to release it. How could they not erupt?
"Victor!"
"That one!"
Victor Wang locked onto his target. From the indestructible circular platform—tested by countless trials and the Vishaps' wrath over the ages—rose massive chains, tough as stone, binding a purple-skinned Electro Vishap.
The chains tightened, pulling the creature down with immense force, pinning it against the floor and giving it no space to move its limbs.
In the next moment, it felt itself surrounded by three figures—then enclosed within a golden-yellow barrier inscribed with floating runes.
It struggled, discharging arcs of lightning from its body, but the barrier warped into an inverted concave shape—still trapping it, yet isolating most of its body outside.
"Haah!"
With a flash of lightning, its back—where the parasitic coral had fused over the years into flesh and bone—was cut open. The pain made the Vishap let out a piercing roar.
The others, furious at the sight, launched frenzied attacks against the barrier. It flickered with each strike—but refused to break.
"That one!"
The shield dispersed on its own, and another Electro Vishap outside the barrier met the same fate. Bound, shielded, separated, and its coral sliced away…
Two Vishaps, shrieking in agony, lost their will to fight and retreated into the depths.
The rest froze in disbelief. Two Bloodbranch Corals taken—in just twenty seconds?
"Let's go!"
Using the power of Anemo, Victor Wang and Lumine soared upward while Paimon, who could already fly, followed close behind. The Jade Shield held strong beneath them as the three swiftly escaped the battlefield.