Grand Narukami Shrine.
Cherry blossoms drifted through the air like soft pink snow.
Beneath the sprawling Sacred Sakura, a crowd of shrine maidens looked on in horror.
Standing under the sacred boughs was a perfect replica of the Raiden Shogun—one of Ei's newly acquired Three Thousand Thunders, Musou Isshin drawn, the edge of the blade resting lightly against Yae Miko's pale throat.
Yet the Guuji herself looked utterly unfazed.
Please.
As if that socially-awkward shut-in goddess would ever have the nerve to actually kill her.
She was, after all, Ei's last remaining friend.
Miko sat lazily beneath the Sacred Sakura with one hand propping up her cheek, the other scrolling through the livestream as she let out a slow sigh.
"Ahh… that idiot Ei really stepped in it this time. Look at this—every nation in Teyvat's tearing her apart. Tsk, tsk."
Could the Raiden Shogun remain calm under such a storm of public outrage?
Of course not.
But Yae Miko wasn't in any rush to save her.
Let the Kujou and Hiiragi clans panic first.
After all, they were the ones who'd twisted the Vision Hunt Decree for years, lining their pockets while feeding Ei carefully filtered "reports."
If anyone started tugging at that knot of corruption…
Hehehe.
They'd all go down together.
But political filth bored Miko to tears.
If Ei had decided to "refuse to work" and hide in the Plane of Euthymia, then why should a humble Guuji bother trying to save the country alone?
Miko had lived several centuries—mortals scheming for power didn't move her in the slightest.
If humans wanted to deceive one another?
Fine.
Let them claw each other to shreds.
She would simply curl up under the Sacred Sakura, tug a blanket over herself, and reply to everything with a lazy
"Mm-hmm, you do that."
"This Guuji is here purely for entertainment."
In-game, when the Traveler asked her to hand over the Raiden Shogun's Gnosis, Miko had sold it off with the casualness of someone trading trinkets at a flea market.
No shame. No hesitation.
Now, thanks to the global chaos caused by Bai Hao's livestreams, Inazuma's waters were… thoroughly stirred.
And things were finally getting interesting.
Bai Hao's newest fan creation had solidified Ei's international image as an unreasonable tyrant.
Ruthless with his editing, that boy—almost too talented at causing trouble.
Miko's lips curved in appreciation.
She was getting curious about the mastermind behind the chaos.
Plane of Euthymia.
Across all of Teyvat, citizens cried out—petitions from Watatsumi, the outrage of foreign nations, calls for peace.
Raiden Ei ignored them all.
Her amethyst eyes were fixated on a single scene:
Kaedehara Kazuha blocking her Musou no Hitotachi.
"The Musou no Hitotachi… was deflected?"
She touched her chin with a slender finger, her brows pulling together.
As someone wholly obsessed with martial mastery, Ei's dedication to the blade bordered on religious fanaticism.
To see her ultimate strike—her very concept of "eternity"—challenged by a mortal…
It stirred something fierce within her.
She wanted to know what came next.
So she had messaged the streamer—many times.
Read.
Ignored.
Tsk.
Just then, the quiz round began.
[Ding! Question: What is the Raiden Shogun's most powerful sword technique?] Blade of Celestial Principles
B. Blade of Eternity
C. Musou no Hitotachi
D. The Milky Blade
[Amber: The quiz is starting!]
[Xingqiu: Hm… this one seems straightforward. Which means it probably isn't.]
[Itto: HAHAHA! Straightforward? This one's as easy as chopping radishes!]
[Childe: Agreed—couldn't be simpler.]
[Keqing: Anyone who watched the video knows this. Too easy.]
[Yanfei: A textbook freebie!]
[Bennett: Freebie? Nice! I'm answering!]
[Lumine: Time for my reward! (sparkling eyes)]
Across Seven Nations, everyone chose confidently.
One minute later—
[Ding! Correct answer: D — The Milky Blade!][Ding! Rewards have been distributed to: Kaeya, Lisa, Venti, Lumine, Paimon, Xingqiu, Chongyun, Yelan, Ningguang, Beidou, Heizou, Yae Miko, Dori, Tighnari…][Ding! Penalties applied to: Raiden Ei, Itto, Sayu, Ayaka, Gorou, Diluc, Amber, Eula, Bennett, Keqing, Qiqi, Xiao, Nilou, La Signora, Childe…]
The VIP chat exploded into chaos.
[Keqing: WHAT—WHAT DO YOU MEAN "MILKY BLADE"?!]
[Raiden Ei: ???]
[Sayu: NOOOO!! I SHRANK AGAIN! This cursed stream—uwaaah!]
[Thoma: Sayu… didn't you say you'd stop answering…?]
[Yelan: Heh. And yet gamblers always come crawling back.]
[Xiao: Lost two centimeters. …Unpleasant.]
[Eula: This humiliation… I will remember it.]
[Kaeya: Diluc, messed up again? Free drinks at Angel's Share?]
[Diluc: (￢_￢)凸]
[Bennett: HELP!! I got teleported to Dragonspine Palace!! There's a giant Cryo Hilichurl chasing me!!]
[Gorou: What kind of "freebie" is this?!]
[Diona: How did the people who got it right even figure that out?!]
[The Mishearing Maniac: Seriously! I tried to set a trap—but you people are getting too smart!!]
Even Bai Hao hadn't expected so many correct guesses.
Apparently, Teyvat's populace was adapting to his trolling.
[Keqing: You're not even pretending anymore! This is pure sabotage!]
[Yae Miko: Fufuh~ Did you really think the answer would be "Musou no Hitotachi"? Too obvious, my dears~]
[Heizou: Exactly. After yesterday's Xiangling question? We should've known the quiz is NEVER serious.]
[Venti: Ehe~ but "Milky Blade" really does sound the most logical!]
[Lumine: I thought everyone already knew that!]
[Paimon: Yeah! So obvious!]
[Lisa: Ara~ such confident smiles. So none of you actually knew the real answer, hm? (smirks)]
[Those who got it wrong: …]
Pure destruction.
Absolute shame.
[Sayu: @The Mishearing Maniac EXPLAIN!! WHY "MILKY BLADE"?! Why do I keep shrinking!?]
At Wangshu Inn, Bai Hao rubbed the back of his neck.
Poor girl.
She'd lost six centimeters so far…
Any more and she'd have to be registered as a stray pet by the Tenryou Commission.
Out of pity—and to soothe Ei's bruised pride—
Bai Hao queued up a new clip.
A certain video of the Raiden Shogun unsheathing her sword…
The kind of clip that explained
exactly
where the "Milky Blade" meme had come from.
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