In the Plane of Euthymia…
Surrounded by darkness, Lumine anxiously scanned her surroundings.
Scarlet torii gates sprung up from the ground, enclosing her. A crimson moon hung high in the sky, casting a deep red hue over the land.
Suddenly, feeling an overwhelmingly powerful presence behind her, Lumine spun around.
Under the blood-red moon, a figure floated mid-air.
She looked identical to the Raiden Shogun, yet the aura she exuded was far more dangerous.
Behind her, two large bookshelves stood to the left and right, filled with an assortment of light novels. In the corners of the shelves lay discarded dessert boxes, incongruously littered amidst the oppressive atmosphere.
“Is this…?”
Lumine muttered to herself, looking up at Ei, who was engrossed in a light novel, only deepening Lumine’s confusion.
Hearing Lumine’s voice, Ei furrowed her brow, slowly closed the book, and placed it back on the shelf.
“A wielder of elemental power without a Vision, just as he said. So, you have appeared.”
“He?”
Lumine was bewildered.
Feeling the intense killing intent from Ei, Lumine gripped her dull blade tightly and attempted to summon elemental power, only to find it impossible—none of the elements responded to her call.
“I can’t use elemental power… How can this be?”
“As a disruptive force, you… belong sealed within the statue.”
With those words, Ei’s Musou Isshin materialized in her hand, and in a flash, she lunged at Lumine.
Caught off guard, Lumine raised her dull blade in front of her, barely blocking Ei’s strike. Yet the sheer force of the blow sent her tumbling to the ground.
There was a vast chasm in power between a weakened Lumine and the God of Thunder.
Ei, unhurried, held her blade steady and walked slowly toward the fallen Lumine.
Though she might seem like a shut-in otaku when Luo Qing was around, that was only because of their high mutual fondness level.
But with Lumine, whose fondness level was currently at zero, Ei had no qualms. She considered Lumine an anomaly that had to be eliminated, showing no mercy.
Enduring the pain in her arm, Lumine forced herself up once more, gripping her sword tightly.
“Hmph.”
Ei scoffed, her figure flickering like a bolt of lightning. In an instant, she was beside Lumine, flicking her dull blade away with a casual swipe, sending Lumine sprawling to the ground.
One high, one low—locked in a tense stare, Lumine felt a sense of helplessness for the first time as she looked into Ei’s glowing eyes. A thought crossed her mind.
Am I going to die here?
But… I haven’t found my brother yet…
In front of her, Ei raised her blade, poised to deliver a fatal strike.
As if rooted to the spot, Lumine found she couldn’t move, watching helplessly as the blade descended.
Just as she expected to be sliced down, a spear suddenly thrust between them, intercepting the blow.
“Really? You were seriously going to cut her down?”
A familiar voice spoke up. Lumine turned her head to see Luo Qing holding a spear, blocking Ei’s purple blade.
“Luo Qing… Why are you…?”
Lumine’s eyes widened. She couldn’t comprehend why he was here.
So… the “he” that the Raiden Shogun mentioned earlier, was Luo Qing?!
“Your Paimon begged me to come. So, you owe me a huge favor now!”
Luo Qing replied casually, inwardly relieved that he had chosen to enter the Plane of Euthymia to check on the situation.
If he’d been even a moment later, Lumine might have been cut down, and by tomorrow, the Abyss Order would probably be wreaking havoc across the surface.
“Hey, you.”
Luo Qing turned to Ei, frowning. “You knew I was testing you that day, so did you really have to cut her down?”
“Move.”
Ei’s brows furrowed, surprised that Luo Qing had chased her all the way to the Plane of Euthymia for this blonde-haired traveler.
Ei wasn’t in the mood for idle chatter with Luo Qing. After all, today, she had firmly decided to take Lumine down.
“How about sparing her… as a favor to me?”
Ei: “?”
Lumine: “?”
“Move.”
“Not moving. If you want, you can cut me down too!”
Luo Qing stood in front of Lumine, arms crossed defiantly.
“Are you really not going to move?”
“Not moving. Go ahead, cut me down if you dare!”
“…”
Lumine watched the two, feeling an odd sense of dissonance.
It was as if they weren’t discussing a matter of life and death, but merely squabbling over something trivial…
“Hmph, don’t think I won’t…”
Ei was at her limit, unused to such brazen defiance.
Tightening her grip on Musou Isshin, she swung the blade at Luo Qing.
In the next moment, the blade struck empty air, leaving a deep cut in the ground.
“Holy—”
Luo Qing ducked the blow, eyeing the gash on the floor. He swallowed nervously and turned to Ei.
“A-Ei, you’re serious?!”
“I told you not to call me A-Ei!”
With that, Ei’s blade flashed again, slashing toward Luo Qing.
Since Lumine couldn’t escape the Plane of Euthymia without her permission, Ei decided to deal with Luo Qing first!
In an instant, Luo Qing and Ei began flickering through the Plane of Euthymia, their movements so swift that Lumine could only see blurry afterimages.
Oddly, they both seemed to deliberately avoid the central bookshelves, as if unwilling to damage them.
“…”
Lumine stood up, picking up her dull blade, watching the figure locked in combat with the God of Thunder.
She didn’t know why Luo Qing was helping her, but she couldn’t just remain a passive bystander.
“Luo Qing, let me help you!”
Lumine called out, preparing to join the fray, but was cut off by Luo Qing’s shout from amidst the shadows.
“Help? Stay out of this!”
“…”
Lumine was at a loss. If she didn’t help him, what else was she supposed to do…?
“See that toilet over there!”
Luo Qing’s voice echoed again from the blurring figures.
“Sit on it, press the button, and get out of here!”
“Huh?”
Lumine was momentarily stunned.
Sure enough, not far from the bookshelves was a strange object, which seemed to match Luo Qing’s description of a toilet.
“What are you standing there for?! Go, I can’t hold her off much longer!”
Luo Qing’s voice carried a hint of urgency.
Barely managing to fend off Ei using Time-Zero and his long spear, he knew he couldn’t keep up for long.
Hearing his words, Lumine finally understood that Luo Qing was buying time for her. She hurried to the strange-looking toilet, sat down, and after some fumbling, found the flush button.
Pressing it, she felt a bizarre pulling sensation from beneath her.
“Hmm~ Ah~”
In the next moment, Lumine’s figure vanished from the Plane of Euthymia.
As her vision brightened, she found herself back in front of the Vision Hunt ceremony platform.
But this time…
She was sitting in the middle of the platform—on the toilet.
With everyone in the crowd staring at her and murmuring in hushed voices.
…
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