"I'm sorry, Ei. I… never meant to hide it."
Seeing the shadow of disappointment on her little sister's face, Raiden Makoto could only sigh with apology.
In her original plan, only when Ei earned Musou Isshin's full recognition and drew out all its power would the will Makoto left behind be acknowledged and awaken. But now, an accident had happened. Ei had not yet grown to that critical step. She had received Musou Isshin's preliminary approval, but… that was all. The time still wasn't ripe.
And the will Makoto left behind existed only in this one copy. Once triggered, even if awakened, it would disperse completely. There would be no second chance.
"It won't come to that, onee-sama."
"I only understand part of this, but I know you must have your reasons. I'll listen quietly."
Facing her sister's apology, Ei had begun to grasp Makoto's ideal and had steadied, a little more mature than before. She did not know if there were more reasons behind it all. But if her sister did this, it must have been to protect her, and to protect Inazuma. Those two points were enough. The rest didn't matter. Not at all.
Because her sister was about to return. Everything else could be handled later, step by step. Surely onee-sama wouldn't refuse her… right?
"…"
"!!!"
"???"
Makoto, the nearby Shogun puppet, and even the currents of the space seemed to catch a faint scent of… yandere vibes.
Uh-oh. Was this child about to go dark? Break down after repeated blows?
That would be… convenient.
But the whiff of danger came and went. The little sister was still the same little sister. No "blackening."
What a pity, Taro thought. He had been curious what a blackened Raiden Ei would look like.
"Sir," Makoto said, gaze sharp. "You just thought something very rude, didn't you?"
She couldn't help the jab—this man's thoughts could not be anything good.
"Nothing of the sort." Taro waved it off. "I was only thinking that a certain someone should be showing up soon."
Topic neatly changed.
Makoto understood. The one who had awakened her was likely this man who looked harmless on the surface. Where had Ei found him? Makoto's authority had long fallen silent, her power faded with death, and what remained here was only a will; naturally she could not gauge Taro's depths. But he could awaken this will, and his words sounded like he intended to trouble Istaroth. He was no weakling.
"Mr. Taro, do you need me to do anything? Or…"
Ei glanced at Makoto's lingering will, then turned to Taro. This was not the time to reminisce. When her sister revived, they could talk as much as they wished. The urgent task was still to ask Mr. Taro to act and bring her sister back. She had watched the Liyue adeptus revival with her own eyes—done with a book. But whether reviving an Archon worked the same way, she did not know.
"Not yet," Taro said, shaking his head. "Your sister's entanglements aren't settled. Her pact with Istaroth isn't complete. The loop in time hasn't been closed. Reviving her now would mean resisting the fate of all Teyvat. At minimum we'd have to cut out the entire timeline Istaroth constructed and guided."
He glanced at Ei. "And that, Ei, is something you absolutely must not do."
Taro hadn't finished before Makoto interrupted, urgency breaking through her calm:
"Ei, this is absolutely not allowed."
If the loop was broken, the past would be overturned, the stabilized present would be forcibly corrected, and the fixed future would never arrive. If the loop shattered, all efforts would turn to bubbles. The Sacred Sakura would never appear. And Inazuma—which survived by relying on the Sacred Sakura—would be overwritten by an even broader, heavier tide of time.
What would Inazuma be without the Sacred Sakura?
Recalling the future Istaroth had shown her, Makoto went cold just thinking about it.
"This must not happen."
Her silly little sister was willing to move heaven and earth just to bring her back. No. Truly, no.
"Onee-sama, this is the one time I won't listen to you," Ei said, shaking her head without hesitation. "Please forgive your imouto's willfulness."
The sister who had always trusted Makoto without question… rebelled at last.
Five hundred years ago, they were deceived once, dragging Makoto into Khaenri'ah. When Ei rushed to save her sister, she failed to protect anything. Her sister died. Kitsune Saiguu was swallowed by encroaching blackness. Chiyo lost her reason to abyssal taint and raised a blade against Ei. Everything was gone.
And now she was supposed to watch the only remnant of her sister disperse completely from this world? She had already lost her sister once. Did they really want her to endure that cruelty a second time?
No. Absolutely not. No matter what anyone said, no.
"Haah…" Makoto exhaled softly.
The space before them rippled. One scene after another unfolded in the air, drawing every eye. It was Inazuma—or rather, Inazuma without the Sacred Sakura.
Corpses. Bones. Monsters. Ruins. Silence. Black smoke billowing. Purple miasma everywhere. A deadland.
In that despair stood a lone, razor-cold silhouette, like a stone statue, motionless. The body lived. The heart was dead.
"Forgive me, Ei. I hadn't planned to show you this," Makoto's voice came gentle and even. "This is the future Istaroth showed me. A future without the Sacred Sakura. As you can see, it is a barren grave."
"Ei," she added, "as the one who bears the sword, I cannot accept that reality. I will not allow it. Never."
"So before the calamity broke out, after Istaroth came and showed me this vision, I made a deal with her. It was the only thing I could do for you, for Inazuma."
"Be good, Ei. This is my only request as your onee-sama. Don't let that future happen. Please?"
Ei bit her lip. The vision burned.
Makoto looked at Taro and bowed her head a fraction. "So… for now, we keep the loop intact. When it closes on its own, revive me then."
Taro gave a short nod. "Understood."
Ei drew a breath. "I'll protect the loop. And I'll protect you, onee-sama."
The Shogun puppet stood silent, eyes lowered. "Orders received."
The space dimmed, the visions fading like ink in rain—yet the chill of that "other future" lingered long after the light returned.
(End of Chapter)
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