Chapter 45: Raiden Goes Mad

The cold yet seething will of Raiden Shogun suppressed the inner desire to perpetuate eternity, leaving not a ripple behind.

After the outburst, Raiden Shogun’s face was chillingly cold—save for her still blood-red eyes, her entire being radiated a coldness colder than the frost of Fontaine.

Raiden Shogun became a bolt of lightning and returned to the Tenshukaku.

“Kamisato, come to the Tenshukaku at once.”

Kamisato Yae, in the shrine, suddenly heard that familiar voice and her eyes widened sharply.

The gloom in her heart instantly lifted.

“Shogun, Itachi’ve finally emerged! Did Itachi finally remember your servant?”

A joyful expression spread across Kamisato Yae’s face, and her steps grew light.

Yet.

That lightness vanished the moment she faced the long-absent Raiden, Baalzebub!

The moment she met the blood-red eyes of the Raiden, eyes on the verge of weeping crimson.

The unprecedented, seething malice made Kamisato Yae’s fur stand on end…

Kamisato Yae had ultimately misjudged.

She was the Raiden’s devotee, a great fox spirit of Inazuma, a kitsune!

But she had never fully grasped the deep-rooted love in the heart of the god.

She never imagined the Raiden would use the Authority of the Emissary to painstakingly review every single moment of Inazuma’s five hundred years.

She never imagined that in the Raiden’s blood-red eyes now lay the dying screams of millions—even tens of millions—of her cherished subjects…

They had died while desperately praying to her, the Raiden, for help!

These memories nearly drove the Raiden to madness.

Had it not been for Baalzebub’s position as Emissary of the Mortal Realm…

Had it not been for Baalzebub’s unyielding will, forged over a thousand years of sharpening her blade…

Had it not been for Baalzebub’s mastery over the power of Eternity…

These factors forced Baalzebub to suppress her raging emotions and enter a state of absolute coldness.

The Raiden of Inazuma, Baalzebub, had already raised her blade and unleashed a cataclysmic slaughter from top to bottom!

“Yae, Itachi’ve come.”

Raiden Shogun’s tone seemed as calm as ever, utterly devoid of fluctuation.

Yet as the Raiden’s devotee, Kamisato Yae now felt as if immersed in a sea of blood.

The words she had intended to speak—her complaint, her plea for acknowledgment—vanished from her lips.

“Shogun, what has happened?”

Kamisato Yae asked cautiously.

“What has happened…”

Raiden Shogun closed her eyes slightly, attempting to calmly explain the chain of events to her sole devotee—but…

“Hehehe… Hahahaha…”

The words caught in her throat as her spirit plunged fully into the dying resentment of millions of Inazuman subjects; her expression twisted into madness: “Five hundred years! Five hundred years!”

“The people of Inazuma, the children of Inazuma—tens of millions—they screamed in agony, pleading to me as they died!”

“But in the Pure Land of One Mind, I heard nothing!”

“I gave them no reply. I betrayed their trust!”

Blood tears finally streamed from Raiden Shogun’s eyes: “...I deserve to die a thousand deaths!!”

Kamisato Yae was frozen in place by the sudden outburst of the Raiden, crushed beneath the weight of a collapsing sky.

At that moment, seeing the blood tears in the Raiden’s eyes, Kamisato Yae finally understood—the situation was beyond dire.

The Raiden…

Had gone mad!

In her youth, when the previous Raiden and many of her teachers died suddenly, Kamisato Yae lost much guidance and missed many hidden transmissions.

And among them, the most crucial was this—

The God’s Love.

…

A sudden thunderstorm that swept across the entire sky of Teyvat left countless beings stunned.

The power of Raiden, Baalzebub, was unquestionable.

She was a true victor forged in the War of the Gods.

Her strength was beyond the imagination of second-generation Emissaries like the Hydro or Pyro Archons.

In the past, she had needed to expend much of her power to resist the erosion of the cosmic laws.

But now, in her madness, how could Baalzebub care for such minor erosion?

“Puff!”

While troubled, Barbatos jolted and instantly transformed into a gust of wind, soaring into the sky.

Feeling the mad will within the thunder, the fine wine he was about to sip spewed from his mouth.

“Why has Baalzebub suddenly gone mad?!”

“Lord Barbatos, Itachi say the Raiden has gone mad?”

Diluc, rushing out of the tavern, had been horrified by the apocalyptic lightning—now, hearing the Anemo Archon’s shock, he drew a sharp breath.

He had never felt so acutely the terrifying authority of an Emissary of the Mortal Realm!

A single bolt of lightning could kill him instantly, even from distant Inazuma!

And it would take only one bolt!

Yet.

What now filled the sky was far more than a single bolt!

Diluc could feel that if this Raiden willed it, Mondstadt could be erased in an instant beneath this boundless sea of thunder.

And now, this Raiden—who could erase Mondstadt at will—had lost her mind!

…

In Liyue, Morax, amid a meeting of the Immortals and the Seven Ministers, looked up at the thunder in the sky and remained silent.

Unlike Barbatos, who had just awakened from slumber,

Morax, whose injuries were not severe, had spent most of his time awake.

Though he had not actively monitored Inazuma, he understood much of its affairs.

Therefore,

Morax had his own suspicions about the cause of the Raiden’s rage.

“I only hope this old friend can control his emotions, lest he delay the great matters soon to come…”

Morax felt deep concern.

…

Unlike the Anemo and Geo Archons, who were merely startled by the cause of the Raiden’s fury,

The Cryo, Hydro, and Pyro Archons trembled at the overwhelming might.

As fellow Emissaries, the power wielded by the Raiden was worlds apart from theirs!

Even though the Cryo Archon’s power was slightly stronger, having inherited much of her predecessor’s strength, her expression was now grim.

The Hydro Archon, Focalors, and the Pyro Archon, Mavika, were both heart-pounding.

“If I had this power, why would I ever need to devise a suicide plan?”

Focalors, sensing the overwhelming thunderstorm, twitched at the corner of her eye: “What good are any Funtian prophecies? Just cut them down!”

Mavika, the Pyro Archon of Natlan, fell silent.

Before becoming an Archon, Focalors had been one of Eula’s strongest Pure Water Spirit devotees, her strength at least Immortal-tier.

But Mavika, before ascending as Pyro Archon, had been merely an ordinary Vision-bearer who passed a ritual.

Now, comparing them, she felt they were not even on the same level…