Throughout the history of the Archon War in Inazuma, Ei had relied on her ultimate martial skill and the Musou no Hitotachi to defeat and slay countless powerful gods. At the mere mention of the Musou no Hitotachi, people trembled. No one dared to face that strike directly. No one dared to face the brilliance of that divine lightning.
But now, this human warrior named Higashiyama-Ō, knowing he could not win, knowing he would die, still bravely rushed forward. For the god of Enkanomiya, the god of Watatsumi Island, for Lord Orobashi, he took that terrifying strike.
But even a powerful god could not block that strike, let alone a human warrior who had merely trained in martial arts. The moment it touched the lightning, Higashiyama-Ō's entire body split in two. His two halves fell onto Orobashi's claws, instantly staining them with blood.
Even Orobashi himself froze.
Why? Knowing you could not block it, why did you still charge forward? Knowing you had a chance to live, why did you throw your life away?
Watching his favorite human boy cut in half before his eyes, Orobashi broke down. Tears fell again, streaming down his ugly, scarred face, dripping onto his claws, onto Higashiyama-Ō's body.
He turned his head slightly. On the distant battlefield, he saw the warriors of Watatsumi Island being driven back step by step by the Inazuma army, already in disarray.
"Kill me. Invading Yashiori Island, bringing disaster to Inazuma—all of this is my fault alone. It has nothing to do with these mortals. After I die, I beg you to let them live."
Orobashi's heart was already dead. Clutching Higashiyama-Ō's body, he begged Ei for death.
Seeing this, even the undefeated Ei was slightly moved.
"You knew you would die. Why did you still invade? You knew you would die. Why did you still bring these innocent mortals with you? Your crime is unforgivable."
In all the years of the Archon War, this was the first time Ei had encountered a god as incomprehensible as Orobashi. A god who came to die. It was inexplicable. It made her suspicious.
His behavior made her wonder if someone was forcing him to do this.
After her first strike was blocked, even Ei hesitated. Should she strike again and kill Orobashi for good?
Ei could hesitate. But Orobashi could not. He could not watch his people fight any longer. He could not leave Yashiori Island alive. He had to die by Ei's blade, as he had promised the Heavenly Principles.
"Little purple girl, I was already a god when you weren't even born! I've had enough of you. If you won't kill me, I'll kill you."
With a great roar, Orobashi charged at Ei again, attacking her with his blood-soaked claws.
Faced with this sudden attack, Ei no longer hesitated. She raised her blade, Engulfing Lightning, and began to gather Electro power.
Instantly, heaven and earth were engulfed in endless lightning. Countless bolts of lightning gathered on her blade.
Then, Ei slowly swung an even more powerful strike. This time, she did not hold back. She used her full strength.
This time, even if someone blocked the strike for Orobashi, the remaining lightning would still kill him. After this strike, Orobashi was doomed.
The moment Orobashi saw the even greater lightning power, the even greater strike descending, he knew he was going to die.
In his final second of life, he still worried about his people. He turned his head and saw the defeated warriors of Watatsumi Island in the distance, the body of the slain shrine maiden Kumoromo, and Amefuri fighting desperately to protect her comrades.
Orobashi shouted his last words:
"Watatsumi Island has lost—"
"Retreat—"
He shouted desperately for his people to retreat. But as he shouted, his voice was cut short. Because the blade had struck him.
The terrifying lightning mercilessly pierced through Orobashi's body in an instant. This powerful god, who had once fought Ei for an entire day and night without falling, had his enormous body cut in two by Engulfing Lightning.
And not only Orobashi. Ei's full-power strike was so powerful that after piercing Orobashi's body, it only weakened slightly before striking the land of Yashiori Island.
With a deafening crash, the once-intact Yashiori Island was carved in two, a massive canyon split by a single strike. Heaven and earth trembled.
Ei looked at Orobashi's severed body before her and said expressionlessly,
"A thought turns to good. A thought turns to evil. A thought becomes a god. A thought becomes a demon."
"I may never know the truth. I may never understand your thoughts. But your evil should not have involved those mortals. After you die, I will not touch that island."
She said this without emotion.
The moment Orobashi had begged for death, Ei had sensed something was wrong. Orobashi, who had always feared death, had brought a group of humans to Yashiori Island to die without any hesitation. No matter the reason, it was deeply abnormal. Incomprehensible.
When Orobashi's severed body rolled down the hill to the shore, the warriors of Watatsumi Island finally saw his corpse.
They wept. They wanted to rush forward to pay their respects to Lord Orobashi's spirit. They wanted to avenge him.
But among them, some warriors shouted, "Do not forget Lord Orobashi's command. Retreat. Leave Yashiori Island."
Before the Inazuma army, they had no power to fight back. The retreat was chaos. They fled in a swarm toward the warships on the shore.
It was over. A war that had been prepared for over a month, a war that had been grand and sweeping, was over.
Lord Orobashi of Watatsumi Island, dead. Higashiyama-Ō, the leader of Watatsumi Island's warriors, is dead. Shrine Maiden Kumoromo, dead. Shrine Maiden Amefuri, missing, fate unknown.
More than half of the warriors who had set out died on the shores of Yashiori Island, never to return to Watatsumi Island, never to see their families again. Even those who escaped did so only because the Raiden Shogun had been lenient enough to let them go.