Venti and Zhongli had also lost many, but not to the exaggerated extent of Ei; for Ei, the people around her had died until only a pet fox remained.
Now, Ei's protectiveness was unprecedentedly strong, so she had come to Sumeru.
She had come at the right time; she hadn't expected such a scenario... interesting.
Unfortunately, God Scaramouche still couldn't beat Martial Raiden Shogun.
"Hahahahahaha!!!" The "Shouki no Kami" had just sent the Traveler flying and was laughing heartily.
However, the Traveler was very tanky; with a sit-up, she stood back up.
"Shouki no Kami": "Fall for me!"
Ei watched, sighing; she bore responsibility for the current scene, and there was no need to shirk that.
At the time, Ei's mentality had issues, making her unable to accept a puppet with a 'heart' as her proxy.
Because she herself had been heartbroken, seeking a proxy; if the proxy was also this 'fragile,' how would it be then?
She couldn't hide in the Plane of Euthymia crying together with the puppet she created, could she?
So Ei chose to abandon Kunikuzushi and instead recreate a 'heartless' Shogun.
Perhaps it was the difference between having a heart and not; Scaramouche was the only one in the Kunikuzushi family aside from the deceased Makoto who could cook.
But now, the heartless Shogun who couldn't cook was slowly gaining a heart, gradually integrating into the Raiden family.
While the heartfelt puppet who could cook wanted to discard 'human heart' to ascend to godhood.
The God of Cooking was already invincible—why borrow her human heart?
If one truly saw Ei as the mother of both, then Ei was truly a 'failed mother,' because neither child had grown as expected.
The Shogun was originally heartless, a tool that wouldn't cry, but now the Shogun was slowly developing more 'human' emotions, gradually becoming part of the Raiden family.
Scaramouche was originally heartfelt and would cry—a 'person,' but he always thought he wasn't, chasing after that 'human heart.'
Now, Scaramouche had instead cast aside the 'human heart' for a 'divine heart'—completely backwards.
As a 'puppet,' his performance had been maximized by the Doctor and others, then powered by the Gnosis to ascend to godhood.
'Human' replaced by 'puppet,' 'human heart' replaced by 'divine heart'—everything now went against Scaramouche's initial ideas.
Yet this replacement wasn't complete; Scaramouche was still Scaramouche, so though he had god-level strength, he lacked god-level mentality.
The Doctor outside the door was also pondering—should he switch to a 'heartless' tool?
If a heartless one ascended to godhood, would it directly gain a true 'divine heart'?
The Doctor frowned: "This power is somewhat affecting my thinking."
Unfortunately, even detecting it was useless; breaking the dream would be difficult for him, and now he couldn't even leave.
The Doctor had been thinking constantly, thinking and thinking, and in this way, who knows how many dream cycles had passed.
At some point, he noticed his thoughts seemed to suddenly vanish.
This vanishing, interruption, and déjà vu of it having happened before caught his attention, and only then did he discover the 'dream.'
Ei was different; she hadn't thought at all, purely discovering it while fighting, and quickly—faster than anyone else.
Ei had stayed in the Plane of Euthymia for five hundred years, then fought in her sister's Plane of Euthymia for another five hundred; her mental strength was exaggerated even among gods.
The purple eggplant wasn't just bigger than the white radish in every aspect; it even had a bit of restraint in power.
But this time, it wasn't Ei fighting; Lumine still wasn't a match for the "Shouki no Kami," no matter how many sit-ups she could do—there was still a limit.
At this moment, Lumine was finally knocked down, and Scaramouche even breathed a sigh of relief.
The "Shouki no Kami" looked toward Lucian: "And now? Your turn? Prophet."
Lumine wanted to stand and protect Lucian, but she couldn't muster the strength.
Lucian turned back—didn't see Mona either; calling him prophet?
"Ah, sorry, though I'm always called a prophet, there really aren't many who call me that to my face..." Lucian scratched his head.
He was too much of a shut-in; he didn't go out much, and when he did, it was with sister Lumine to those godforsaken places where within ten kilometers, there was no one alive except him and Lumine.
The people around him wouldn't call him 'prophet' either; they called him by name, at most some different nicknames.
"Better call me Lucian; it's kinda embarrassing." Lucian said.
The title was indeed cool, but unfortunately Lucian was a fraud, so being called that always made him a bit shy—'virtue not matching position' and all.
No wonder Lucian helped Furina; he was a fraud too, and water belonged under Furina's purview.
The "Shouki no Kami" was speechless; in such a serious scene, you still had the mood to mess around?
I thought Tartaglia that simple-minded guy wouldn't even write intelligence reports properly, but turns out you're really like this?
Thinking back, last time they met, Lucian had been quite the prankster too; it was just that they hadn't fought then, so the atmosphere wasn't that serious.
He thought with things more serious this time, Lucian would be more proper—unexpectedly, still the same.
"He says you're not serious." Nahida 'tattled.'
Scaramouche's godhood power came largely from the void, allowing Nahida to faintly hear some of his thoughts.
Thus, she could also sense a self-destructive wish at the bottom of Scaramouche's heart.
Fighting with self-destructive intentions—this made it unclear who was truly not serious.
"What words! What do you mean not serious? Don't you see whose hall master I am!" Lucian said righteously.
"In our house, this is serious!"
The ancestral laws cannot change! Whoever breaks the ancestral rules loses their head~! (Eunuch voice).
Nahida: "...Mm, that does make some sense."
She thought to herself: better avoid mind-reading Lucian in the future; it'd pollute me.
But... would I be influenced by the boss? Real or fake?
"Then, if I were your boss, would you change?" Nahida looked at Lucian.
Lucian recalled Nahida's line from the game back then: 'You'll get smarter.'
"Haha, who knows, maybe I'd get smarter?" Lucian joked offhandedly.
Nahida pondered, but the "Shouki no Kami" couldn't endure it anymore.
Do you even see me here? Chatting right in front of me like this? Think time stops when you chat?
The "Shouki no Kami," annoyed, directly smashed a fist toward Lucian.
Ei wanted to draw her blade—hold back.
The "Shouki no Kami's" fist smashed down, directly shattering Lucian, splattering blood... something's off; why is this blood blue?
One could only say Ei was still Ei; you could question her IQ and EQ, but you absolutely couldn't question her combat IQ—she saw through Lucian's water clone in one glance.
Clearly, Lucian hadn't even used this move when sparring with her, but she still spotted it instantly.
"See, getting impatient again." Lucian reappeared to the side, making a soothing gesture.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Line · Scaramouche: About Lucian · Part Two
"I told you, be careful when dealing with that guy—you'll get played! Damn it! Don't ask me for details!"