After returning from Seirai Island, Raiden Ei had been in Tenshukaku searching for the remaining materials from back then to repair the Raiden Shogun.
What she never expected was that Raiden Mei would show up at her door at this time.
She had fought against the opponent before, and at that time, the other party's strength was slightly inferior, and she ultimately escaped.
But now, given the Raiden Shogun's physical condition, this battle would probably not be too easy.
Raiden Mei gripped the sword blade in her hand, naturally pointing it diagonally toward the ground, and slowly said.
"Sorry, please hand over the Mark on your body to me."
"I know you were seriously injured in the battle with Persephone, which is why I came to find you."
"The current you would not be my match."
After hearing Raiden Mei's words, Raiden Ei snorted coldly and said.
"You underestimate me a bit too much, words are useless, if you want the Mark on my body, then just come and take it."
Raiden Ei placed her hand over her chest, gripped the Musou Isshin, and slowly drew it out, as a blindingly bright purple light instantly filled the entire Tenshukaku.
The thunderclouds in the sky began to rapidly gather, and an incredibly heavy pressure made the people of Inazuma City feel like they couldn't breathe.
At this moment, Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato, who were suppressing the internal rebellion in Inazuma City, both felt a jolt of surprise, then turned their gazes toward Tenshukaku, where they sensed a terrifying lightning power.
"The Almighty Shogun has returned?!"
Neither of them knew when Raiden Ei had returned to Tenshukaku, nor did they know what had made her so furious.
And just at this moment, they sensed another lightning power emanating from Tenshukaku, one that radiated a dense aura of destruction, as if it were the incarnation of lightning itself, and its aura was equally terrifying.
Two Raiden Shoguns?!
Both Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato were somewhat bewildered, although there was a slight difference in their auras, these two auras were simply too similar, just like twin sisters.
At this moment, Raiden Ei swung her sword at Raiden Mei, and the next second Tenshukaku was split in half by this single strike, as the dazzling sword light flew high into the sky, cutting through the pitch-black thunderclouds, and bright sunlight poured down to the earth through the gap, but was quickly covered again by the re-gathering thunderclouds.
Raiden Mei was forced back by Raiden Ei's sword strike. Then, Raiden Ei transformed into a streak of purple light, appearing directly in front of Raiden Mei and swinging her sword at her.
Although Raiden Mei reacted quickly and raised her sword to block, she was still sent flying high into the air by the immense force.
At this moment, Raiden Mei was slightly shocked. Raiden Ei's strength was clearly beyond her expectations.
Although Raiden Ei's speed and agility were not as great as before, the Electro Elemental Power she wielded had become more aggressive and destructive.
But it was precisely because of this that the two of them seemed even more similar.
They were simply too alike, even their convictions at this moment were so similar.
Neither of them needed to ask the other what they had to do, because they could feel that the thing they were willing to achieve even if it meant destroying themselves was the same.
Because they understood themselves, both Raiden Ei and Raiden Mei knew that the other was not someone who could easily change their mind through words. All that remained was to compare their strength and convictions.
The winner would continue to accomplish what they must, and the loser would lose everything!
Their strength was only slightly different, and the battle immediately entered a white-hot state. Even though Raiden Ei had tried to move the battlefield to the sky from the very beginning, the aftershocks generated by their fight still had a huge impact on Inazuma City.
The powerful impact of clashing swords caused buildings to collapse and civilians to cough up blood.
Countless people fled in panic toward the gates of Inazuma City, desperate to escape this now extremely dangerous place.
Even though Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato promptly dispatched men to help the people of Inazuma, they could not quell the chaos.
For ordinary people, a single shockwave from the battle between gods was enough to crush them to pieces. Although the Shogunate Army was much physically stronger, they were still just ordinary people. Often, instead of helping others, they themselves were deeply mired in crisis.
Yet, even in the face of such a perilous situation, few in the Shogunate Army disobeyed the orders of Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato, throwing themselves without hesitation into the rescue of the ordinary civilians who needed help.
"Head of the Kamisato Clan, the people must be evacuated from Inazuma City as soon as possible!"
Kujou Sara spoke to Kamisato Ayato with some anxiety, while keeping a constant eye on the movements in the sky. She aimed at the terrifying lightning and shockwaves falling from above, raising her hand to shoot an arrow to neutralize them at any moment.
"I have already ordered the City Defense Barrier of Inazuma City to be activated, but because the city was previously conquered, the barrier was also damaged. Although it has been partially repaired now, I am afraid it will not hold for much longer."
Kamisato Ayato quickly spoke up.
"I have already ordered the immediate evacuation of the city's residents, but it will still take time!"
"I have also gathered some Vision users, but against this level of power, I fear even ordinary Vision users will be unable to withstand it."
Hearing Kamisato Ayato's words, Kujou Sara's heart sank. This meant that once the City Defense Barrier was breached, the vast majority of the people would truly be left to their fate.
And that was only if no other unexpected situations arose. For example, right now, they were only facing the shockwaves from the battle and the lightning striking the ground indiscriminately, which they could still manage to withstand to some extent.
But if they faced a direct attack from a god, a Protective Barrier of this level would be destroyed in an instant.
At this moment, the City Defense Barrier of Inazuma City finally slowly opened. Seeing this Protective Barrier, which gave people a great sense of security, the civilians felt a bit more relaxed. They were no longer as anxious to push forward, and instead followed the orders of the Yashiro Commission samurai, moving forward in an orderly line.
Only then did Kujou Sara finally have the spare energy to think about other matters. What shocked her greatly was that, besides Persephone, there was actually another being capable of fighting Raiden Ei to such an extent.
Moreover, although she had only caught a glimpse before, Kujou Sara had also seen the enemy's appearance. Both her features and aura were almost identical to Raiden Ei's, leaving Kujou Sara's heart unable to calm down for a long time.
Suddenly, a blinding sword light struck the City Defense Barrier of Inazuma City, and the thing Kujou Sara feared most finally happened.
Sure enough, under this single strike, the purple barrier in the sky instantly caved in a large section. Immediately after, a tooth-grinding sound continuously echoed, and the barrier became covered in a dense web of cracks.
Seeing this scene, the people of Inazuma City first froze for a moment, then let out ear-piercing screams. The order that had just partially recovered instantly collapsed. Countless people desperately surged forward, while those in front were forcibly pushed further ahead. Some accidentally fell to the ground midway, quickly being submerged in the crowd. At first, some miserable screams could still be heard, but soon there was no sound at all.
This scene unfolded on many streets. Crying, cursing, and shouting filled all the alleys and main streets of Inazuma City, creating a scene like the end of the world.
Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato's faces both turned grim. As things had developed now, even they were powerless to stop it. Although the barrier enveloping Inazuma City had not yet shattered, one must not forget that Inazuma City was constantly enduring the strikes of lightning and the aftereffects of battle.
Visibly, the cracks on the purple barrier in the sky grew more numerous. Without much more time, the barrier finally couldn't hold on and completely shattered.
This basically announced that Inazuma City was now in an undefended state.
Kamisato Ayato and Kujou Sara simultaneously activated the Marks on their hands. The explosively increased power allowed them to resist those terrible impacts for a short time as they rushed about to save the endangered people of Inazuma. Without sparing a moment to respond to their grateful words and gazes, they sped to the next location.
Besides them, a few powerful figures also appeared sporadically in Inazuma City. Although everyone was already trying their utmost, compared to the vast area and the Inazuma populace one hundred thousand times their number, their efforts were completely a drop in the bucket.
People were dying at every single moment, and those who died would in turn cause even more terrible chaos, and the chaos would lead to even more serious casualties.
In truth, only a small number of people were directly killed by the attacks from the sky. The vast majority died in the ensuing chaos, and the streets near the gate of Inazuma City were stained a dark red with blood.
Even now, explosions could be heard echoing from other parts of Inazuma City. It seemed that some people had realized how extremely dangerous it was to leave through the main gate, so they blew open the city walls in an attempt to flee Inazuma City from other directions.
Yet, another group of people were also in a hurry to leave, but their faces showed little worry, and some even wore faint smiles.
"Chaos... Chaos is good!"
"Only when there is chaos will that damned Kamisato Ayato and Kujou Sara never again have the chance to trace this back to us."
"Did everyone destroy most of the things before we left?"
"After this incident, everything we did before can be completely wiped clean!"
Hearing the screams from above, someone spoke even more maliciously.
"More people should die. The more, the better. With this, even if the Almighty Shogun wishes to hold us accountable, she probably won't have the heart to do so."
"Hahaha, how could we ever compare ourselves to the Almighty Shogun? We planned for so long, as did our ancestors before us, yet in the end, only a few of our people died. But when the Almighty Shogun made her move, she effortlessly killed more than ten times our number."
The several people chatting strolled as if walking in a quiet garden, with no one around to force their way through. This was because they were currently using a secretly excavated underground passage.
Although this group, including their guards, numbered only a few dozen people, the underground passage was immensely wide, enough to accommodate ten thousand people fleeing.
But they would never tell anyone else about this place; the lives and deaths of ordinary people were of no concern to them.
"Sigh, we must have been possessed by demons. Clearly, the Fatui's strength this time was so much greater than before, so why were they as flimsy as paper, only to get us sold out?"
At this moment, someone couldn't help but complain, and his words also resonated with others.
"Those useless fools. We provided so much intelligence, yet they still let Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato escape, and were even taken down by them in turn!"
"The Fatui's mouths are just ghosts who lie! They told us they now had power that could rival the Almighty Shogun, and this was the result?!"
"It's not enough that they are done for, they even harmed us too!"
"Not only did we fail to make a profit and line our pockets, but even our original assets suffered huge losses."
"Sigh, I will absolutely never believe the Fatui's bullshit again in the future!"
"Who was it again? That brat named Scaramouche, right? Foul-mouthed and useless, just a little clown!"
"Yes, you are absolutely right, he's a real trouble-maker!"
"And Kamisato Ayaka and Kujou Sara, how dare they investigate our background, they must be tired of living!"
"Once we get out of here and completely rid ourselves of our worries, we will have some real fun with them!"
The group continued to walk forward while talking.
Because they were so focused on their conversation, they didn't notice that at some point, no sound was coming from above.
After walking for a long time, someone finally couldn't help but shiver, pulled their clothes tight, and said to the others.
"Have you guys noticed it's getting colder and colder?"
"It does seem to be getting a bit cold!"
After hearing his words, the others also felt a hint of strangeness.
"Wait a minute, why is it so quiet?"
Someone finally noticed this point and let out a terrified cry.
And at this moment, the others also immediately discovered that the surroundings were quiet to an incredibly eerie degree.
Even if the ordinary people above had all died, the lightning in the sky was still falling non-stop, yet now they couldn't even hear the sound of thunder.
At this time, because even they themselves were no longer speaking, the surroundings were so quiet that they could even clearly hear everyone's breathing, and their moods grew heavier and heavier.
"By the way, how far have we walked?"
After hearing this sentence, the group first froze for a moment, then after calculating it in their minds, a bone-chilling coldness surged through their bodies.
Since they entered the secret passage, they had already walked for about half an hour, but given the length of this secret passage, they could completely reach the end in twenty minutes at most!
Thinking of this, a massive fear enveloped them all, and the bright lights in the distance could not bring them a shred of security.
The endlessly extending passage seemed like a bloody maw, waiting for them to walk right into it.
Gulp
No one knew who swallowed, but the sound was extremely clear in this underground passage.
"How about we go back?"
Someone suggested, and it was quickly agreed upon by everyone.
Although going back was a little dangerous, even if they had shelters underground that could withstand a general impact, they absolutely could not withstand a single sword strike from the two warring parties.
But the current situation was simply too eerie, and they completely lacked the courage to keep going.
However, after they turned back and walked for about an hour, they still could not return to their starting point, and the fear in their hearts grew stronger and stronger.
"Where is the exit? Where is the exit?!"
"Why is this happening?!"
"Quick, everyone, dig upwards, we'll go straight back to the surface!"
Hearing these words, they felt the plan was indeed feasible. The others calmed down slightly and immediately ordered the equally panicked samurai to dig a passage to the surface.
However, when the samurai's swords, which could cut through iron like mud, struck the passage walls, they produced a crisp sound like refined iron clashing, and sparks even flew from the points of contact.
This scene stunned everyone, and they immediately and frantically ordered them to start from other locations, but the result was the same.
Just then, several lights in the distance of the passage suddenly went dark.
At first, no one noticed, but as time passed, more and more lights went out, and they finally noticed.
Looking at the passage dozens of meters away that had completely turned pitch black, they screamed and shouted in despair, and the scene fell into complete chaos.
But their reactions could not stop the lights from extinguishing. Soon, under everyone's desperate gaze, the last few lights also completely went out, and their vision went black as they were completely enveloped by darkness so thick they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces.
In this instant, everyone fell silent, even deliberately suppressing the sound of their breathing, as if there were some terrifying creature in the darkness, their inner tension reaching its peak.
They held each other's hands tightly, for only this could bring them a shred of comfort.
Some time passed, and the lights relit one by one, returning light to their side.
However, at this moment, not a single person's face showed an excited smile, for the flames around them were a cold, eerie blue, rendering this passage with an incomparably strange atmosphere.
Moreover, they didn't know when it happened, but a cold, massive gate had appeared dozens of meters in front of them, and the appearance of that gate struck horror into their hearts.
"Sh... Should we go in and take a look?"
After an unknown amount of time passed, someone finally couldn't hold back and asked for everyone's opinion.
The others pondered for a long time and ultimately chose to enter that gate, which looked abnormal at a glance.
But they had no choice. Should they continue walking in despair through the endless passage, or explore the gate behind which there was a 1% chance of an exit? They obviously chose the latter.
When everyone worked together to slowly push open this heavy gate, what met their eyes was a desolate land.
The light here was all an eerie blue, and the air temperature had dropped below zero, so they could exhale a large puff of white mist with every breath.
However, they could no longer pay attention to the harsh environment. They discovered to their shock that countless transparent souls were wandering all around!
"Welcome, welcome to the final stop."
"Namely, the Kingdom of Souls!"
At this moment, the soul of a young man appeared before them and spoke in a relaxed and comfortable manner.
"Here, you will face the reckoning for everything you did in your past life."
"You're Kujou Ittou!!!"
When everyone saw his face clearly, they burst out in waves of incredulous exclamations.
"So it was you who brought us to this place?!"
"Damn it, you actually betrayed us!"
"Don't forget who brought you to a height you could never reach in your entire life?!"
"You dog-like creature, how dare you scheme against us?!"
"Let us leave this place quickly!"
Faced with the crowd's intensely emotional remarks, Kujou Ittou simply watched them quietly, his gaze deep and full of pity.
Only after everyone gradually stopped did Kujou Ittou slowly speak.
"I never said I was on your side, did I?"
"And don't forget, you're all in my hands now."
After hearing Kujou Ittou's words, everyone's faces turned incredibly ugly, and they had no choice but to compromise.
"Kujou Ittou, speak. What exactly do you want?"
"Money? Status? Women? As long as you let us out, we can give you anything!"
Hearing their words, Kujou Ittou sighed deeply, his gaze mocking as he looked at them.
"You can't get out."
"Although there is indeed a path back from the World of Souls, you will never reach it."
"Because there are quite a few guests who want to entertain you properly."
Just as Kujou Ittou finished speaking, a large group of transparent souls gradually gathered around him.
Those souls had originally been just individual spheres of light, but after coming to Kujou Ittou's side, the spheres suddenly blurred, subsequently forming the faces of the people before them.
Most of these faces were completely unfamiliar to the crowd, but there were still a few they recognized, and instantly their hearts filled with horror.
Because those people were all ruthlessly killed by them, and many were even tortured to death. As they looked at them, their faces bore an unerasable hatred.
"No, Kujou Ittou, you can't do this!"
"You were one of us, and you did similar things to what we did!"
Hearing this, a slight smile appeared on Kujou Ittou's face.
"Yes, you're right."
"That's why I'm already dead, and now it's your turn."
As Kujou Ittou finished speaking, the souls immediately pressed forward toward the crowd, their overwhelming hatred pinning everyone down until their bodies could barely move.
At this moment, the samurai in the crowd, while holding their swords on guard, spoke to Kujou Ittou.
"Wait, Kujou Ittou."
"Every grudge has its source, and every debt has its debtor. The ones you're looking for are them, not us. Let us go!"
Hearing the samurai's words, the high-ranking officials and nobles immediately turned pale, their eyes filling with despair.
They wanted to escape this place, but the souls were closing in from all sides, leaving them with no way out.
And now, a strange smile appeared on Kujou Ittou's face as he slowly spoke to the samurai.
"Not related to you?"
"Let you go?"
"Hahaha, I went to so much trouble to gather all of you together. You should just stay here obediently and enjoy yourselves!"
"Look closely, there are acquaintances of yours here too!"
At this, the samurai's expressions suddenly changed. After searching around, they indeed found many innocent people who had died at their own hands.
The samurai, knowing they had no escape, swung their katanas at the souls. Yet they couldn't budge them in the slightest. Instead, the moment they touched the souls, the points of contact immediately went numb, as if frozen solid.
After a brief initial struggle, the scene soon echoed only with screams and pleas for mercy.
These sounds would not end quickly. Although their bodies were fragile, their souls were not so easily extinguished. They could still savor this for a long time...