The Duel Before the Throne had concluded, with Lumine emerging victorious and La Signora defeated.
The Raiden Shogun, sword in her left hand, descended the steps one by one, her dignified face utterly expressionless.
Lumine and Paimon were on edge. Lumine tightened her grip on her longsword, staring directly at the Raiden Shogun as she retreated step by step.
Even though she's not the real Electro Archon, that's what makes her even more terrifying, okay?!
Under their watchful eyes, the Raiden Shogun bypassed them entirely. Her target had always been La Signora.
Of course, once La Signora was dealt with, Lumine would be next.
By now, La Signora was finally starting to panic. Despite her bravado, seeing the Raiden Shogun approach her with her blade raised, how could she not feel a pang of fear?
"I am an envoy of Snezhnaya! Do you understand the consequences of attacking me?" La Signora spat as she scrambled to her feet, glaring at the slowly advancing Raiden Shogun.
"I swear, if you dare strike me with that blade, I will make your nation... the Fatui will make your precious Inazuma..."
"Stop! I command you to halt!"
"You... and all of you..."
Seeing that the Raiden Shogun showed no sign of stopping, La Signora completely lost her composure.
She actually charged at the Shogun herself.
"I! How could I..."
With the final moment approaching, Snezhnaya would truly be taking a half-day off if she didn't intervene now.
Angie, who had been timing her arrival perfectly, arrived at that very moment.
Her reason for not hiding in the tenshukaku beforehand was simple: even though the Shogun was a puppet, Angie knew it would easily detect anyone concealed there.
Moreover, hiding there all along would make others suspect she had known about everything happening here all along. By arriving at the last moment, she could avoid such suspicions.
Besides, Angie wanted La Signora to shed her arrogance and stop looking down on others.
She believed La Signora would learn a valuable lesson from this incident.
Whoosh—
The Cryo Claymore, charged with energy, slashed at the Raiden Shogun's face with blinding speed.
This was Angie's strongest attack. Against the Raiden Shogun, she dared not take any chances.
After unleashing the attack, Angie didn't even wait to see the result. She grabbed Rosalyne and dashed backward out of the tenshukaku.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, too fast even for Lumine and Paimon to react.
"Impudence!"
With a single stroke of her blade, the Raiden Shogun extinguished Angie's attack. Even the puppet's face now radiated a frost-like chill.
Do they truly think they can waltz into my tenshukaku whenever they please and leave just as easily?
With a flash, the Raiden Shogun vanished from the tenshukaku.
Lumine and Paimon stood momentarily stunned.
"That person just now... was..." Paimon squinted at Angie, who looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't quite place her.
Lumine: "It's the person we met back on Dragonspine. She's likely another Harbinger, and it seems her relationship with Tartaglia is... complicated."
"Paimon, let's get out of here! This isn't a safe place to linger!"
The Raiden Shogun had left in a furious mood, and those two intruders were likely facing dire consequences. Moreover, Lumine sensed that the Shogun had no intention of letting her escape either.
Staying here would be suicide.
Supporting Kujou Sara, Lumine and Paimon swiftly fled the tenshukaku.
-
Outside the tenshukaku, Angie dragged Rosalyne away at top speed.
"You really need to lose some weight!"
"Hmph!"
Angie felt the surging Electro energy behind them, her scalp tingling instantly.
Is this girl really a puppet like Scaramouche? How can there be such a huge difference in power?!
Rosalyne also sensed the oppressive energy, her face draining of color in an instant.
Seeing her fear, Angie couldn't resist teasing, "Heh, finally scared for once?"
"You..."
Rosalyne had no patience for Angie's taunts. The most important thing now was to escape their pursuer.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Angie abandoned her teasing and dragged Rosalyne back toward the tenshukaku.
"What are you doing?!" Rosalyne exclaimed, startled, thinking Angie was suicidal. "If you're not confident, I'll distract her while you escape. I don't want to owe you any favors."
Angie's expression flickered momentarily before she pulled Rosalyne along even faster.
"I have a plan," she snapped. "Just shut up. You saved me in Liyue, and I don't want to owe you either. Consider this payback."
Lumine and Paimon were already fleeing the tenshukaku. Since La Signora hadn't been killed this time, most of the Raiden Shogun's fury remained focused on Angie and La Signora. As a result, Lumine didn't enter her strange altered state.
Lumine carried Kujou Sara on her back, with Paimon fluttering beside her.
As they ran, Lumine suddenly noticed two figures approaching from the side—Angie, who was also carrying Rosalyne on her back.
"Hey, didn't you two escape already?"
"The Shogun's Domain has enveloped the entire tenshukaku," Angie explained. "This seems to be the only way out." She did not want to be misunderstood as someone who had brought trouble to Lumine and her companions.
Soon, the group ran out of the tenshukaku.
At that very moment, the Raiden Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi struck from behind the five of them—a blow that seemed intent on resolving all five with a single strike.
Everyone watched in terror as the blade fell, Angie included.
She didn't know how the strike against Lumine in the original story had been, but in this blade, Angie felt the Raiden Shogun's full fury.
Kazuha, hold on!
The Shogun's descending blade was witnessed by the group of Resistance fighters Yuna had just brought.
As for why Yuna had been the one to bring them...
This time, Lumine and Paimon hadn't lingered but had bolted out immediately. If Yuna hadn't gone to bring them, a slight delay could have been fatal.
The massive blade hurtled toward Lumine and the others, and at that moment, Electro light shimmered in Kazuha's eyes.
The Electro Vision belonging to his deceased friend, which he always wore at his waist, suddenly blazed to life.
Angie seemed to hear a young man's resolute and confident voice:
"There will always be those who dare to brave the lightning's glow."
Kazuha's Vision blazed brightly as he surged forward with lightning speed, drawing his sword to block the Raiden Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi.
This strike was far more powerful than in the original story. Kazuha was sent flying backward, landing in the arms of the Resistance fighters who caught him.
But at least he had blocked it.
"Kazuha, are you alright?"
"Cough, I'm... fine!"
The Raiden Shogun seemed momentarily surprised that Kazuha had managed to parry her strike, but she didn't dwell on it, immediately unleashing another, even more devastating attack.
Angie's mind went numb. What about the cooldown?!
Each strike stronger than the last?!
No choice. Time to unleash our iron-headed warrior.
Seeing her friend in danger, Yuna leaped forward, summoning her Claymore. The blade instantly expanded to dozens of meters long, which she swung down at the Raiden Shogun.
Angie and Lumine unleashed their own attacks in unison.
The moment their attacks met the Shogun's blade, they were shattered. Yuna, standing at the front, bore the brunt of the assault.
"Yuna!"
Lumine immediately stepped forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Yuna, raising her longsword to block the Shogun's next strike.
In that split second, unnoticed by anyone, a flicker of Pyro energy flashed across Lumine's blade.