Inazuma.

While Ryen and the others were enjoying a banquet in the Jade Chamber, Kujou Sara had already returned to Tenshukaku.

Along the way, Sara's heart was heavy, especially after witnessing Inazuma's people starving, fields left barren, and monsters running rampant.

Elders well into their seventies and eighties, who should have been enjoying the warmth of family, were instead forced to take up hoes and till the land themselves.

In large villages, only the elderly, the weak, the sick, and women and children remained.

What struck Sara the most was that when these Inazumans saw the army she led…

The people, who should have shared a bond of unity with the shogunate's troops, looked at them as though they were tigers and wolves—

One by one, they shrank away, fleeing into their homes the moment they caught sight of them.

Sara once tried knocking on a door to deliver food supplies, but the old woman inside, tears streaming down her face, told her…

That just three days ago, their food had already been seized, and they had nothing left to give.

Sara's chest tightened painfully.

She couldn't understand—

How had Inazuma…

Become like this?

Her people couldn't even survive.

Even the shogunate soldiers she led were weighed down with guilt, their morale completely shattered.

They had thought themselves heroes, guardians of Inazuma.

But now… they looked more like devils tormenting their own homeland.

For the first time, they felt disgust at their own identities.

It was worse still for the soldiers who came from the same villages—

Seeing the once-kindly elders of their hometowns trembling in fear at the sight of them…

Many shogunate troops broke down in tears on the spot.

Sara herself remained silent the whole way, continually distributing the supplies Ayaka had given her.

Whenever they passed through a village, she would drop off a large heap of goods without saying a word, then leave.

By the time she returned to Inazuma City, the supplies were all gone.

Sara even emptied out her own savings, sending people to purchase more goods for distribution.

This was the only thing she could do for them.

Standing before the imposing Tenshukaku, Kujou Sara could not help but ask herself—

Was all of this…

Truly what was meant by Eternity?

If this was Eternity, wouldn't it be kinder to simply grant the people a swift end?

To live forever in suffering and despair—was Inazuma a civilization, or a living hell?

"Your Excellency, Shogun… is this truly your Eternity?"

Sara had to admit, for the first time, she began to doubt the Raiden Shogun's commands.

Taking a deep breath to press down her inner anguish, she spoke in a solemn voice:

"General, Kujou Sara requests an audience!"

After a moment of silence, the great doors of Tenshukaku opened.

Sara stepped inside.

Before her sat the noble woman with violet braids, eyes never once opening, cross-legged as though she had sat thus since ancient times.

The cold, indifferent air she exuded pressed down upon the hall like a suffocating weight.

"Where is Kamisato Ayaka?"

After an eternity of silence, the Raiden Shogun finally asked in a faint voice.

Sara drew in a deep breath and knelt on one knee.

"This subordinate has failed. Kamisato Ayaka was not successfully apprehended…"

The Shogun's expression remained unchanged; her eyes did not so much as stir.

"Why?"

"Kamisato Ayaka returned with the captain of the Liyue ship Alcor, Beidou, and they brought back a Traveler…"

Kujou Sara paused, then said in a low voice, "My lady, Liyue's strength right now seems extremely strange. The weaponry carried on the Alcor is powerful — a few dozen of them could even annihilate one of our thousand-man units."

The Raiden Shogun paid no heed to Liyue's growing might. She pursued Eternity; she did not care about the affairs of other nations. The reason she wanted Kamisato Ayaka captured was not only that Ayaka, as a high-ranking Inazuman, had left the nation without authorization. Her divine instinct had also told her that Ayaka's departure introduced the single greatest variable capable of breaking Eternity.

A variable… an enemy of Eternity, a target that the Shogun's order must eliminate.

"The Traveler…"

Suddenly the Shogun understood — that Traveler was likely the variable. For the first time, the Raiden Shogun opened her eyes. Lightning, cold and merciless, gathered in them as she said dispassionately, "Summon the troops. Capture Kamisato Ayaka and that Traveler."

Kujou Sara was aghast and immediately protested, "My lady! No — you mustn't!"

"Why not?" the Shogun asked with a frown.

Sara pressed her lips together and said in a grave tone, "That Traveler has ties in both Liyue and Mondstadt; she is very close to the Anemo Archon and the Geo Archon… If you harm her, Liyue and Mondstadt will hold Inazuma accountable, and the Geo Archon and the Anemo Archon may come themselves. At the same time, that Traveler also has relations with Sidera — the Fatui — and the Harbingers would heed her. Most importantly… her brother is the ruler of the Abyss Order."

The Raiden Shogun fell silent; the expression on her face visibly shifted.

"The Abyss Order…"

Kujou Sara nodded solemnly. "Yes. The scouts tracking the Kamisato carriage have reported back. Since that Traveler appeared, on their way back to the Kamisato residence they encountered seven Abyss mages. Those Abyss mages seemed to appear by chance, but in truth they were lying in wait along the travelers' route. After the skirmish, they disengaged and left. It's quite possible that the Traveler's brother really is the leader of the Abyss Order.

"My lady, Inazuma is already in a perilous state: internal rebel forces and the outer threat of the Fatui. If we anger the Abyss Order as well, I fear they will bring a great host and imperil Inazuma!"

For a moment the Raiden Shogun did not know what to do. Though rigidly devoted to her ideal of Eternity, she was not without judgment. Indeed, the Traveler represented the largest variable; the Shogun wanted to eliminate her preemptively. But…

The cost would be enormous. To act against the Traveler — leaving aside whether she could be killed or the reactions of the Three Nations — the Abyss Order alone could, in an instant, shatter Inazuma's claim to Eternity.