Chapter 529

"Even now, I still don't understand the true intent. I am not clear on which path, Eternity or the Moment, is the best."

"But I only know... if things continue like this, Inazuma will perish!"

"I will not allow Inazuma to reach that point!"

"I will protect with my life what Makoto left for me!"

"I love her, and I love Inazuma! If only change can save Inazuma, then..."

"The Moment is also Eternity!"

352. This move is called the Divine Sword Art of Thunder

Seeing the persistence in Ei's eyes, the Shogun said nothing more.

She understood that just as she would not reverse her own will, neither would Ei.

"Then come."

The Shogun walked toward Ei step by step.

"Use your blade to tell me the difference between Eternity and the Moment, between the past and the present!"

Ei did not reply, but like the Shogun, she approached her step by step. Lumine had wanted to step forward to help, but seeing Ei's gaze, she ultimately stopped.

Now, it was her own battle.

It was the current Ei correcting her former, cowardly self.

Powerful blade lights collided, and the sword techniques, pushed to the extreme, clashed. Even having seen sword techniques as mysterious and unfathomable as those of Keqing and the others,

Lumine had to admit that the sword techniques of these two had already transcended the human level.

With Ei and the Shogun erupting with their full power, even Lumine dared not rashly join the battlefield.

She was, after all, only at the middle stage of Essence Refinement.

The space was filled with exploding thunder. With Paimon's strength, being hit by this kind of thunder would be no less than Ningguang striking her with a Five-Thunder Talisman.

Therefore, Paimon had long since hidden on Lumine.

"You said that Inazuma's future can only be guaranteed by Eternity!"

The Shogun parried Ei's attack with one slash and backhanded a strike toward her fatal point.

"That's right! But that was what the cowardly me of the past thought!"

Ei blocked with her hand and deflected the Shogun again.

"Even now, I still don't understand what Eternity is, or what the Moment is, but I know that Eternity cannot protect Inazuma! I just want Inazuma to survive!"

"Absurd! You are questioning your own power!"

"If I truly had invincible power, why did Makoto die back then, and why did I lose to the Conqueror of Demons?"

"You have lost the confidence of being invincible!"

"So-called invincibility was just my own wishful thinking back then! I was never the strongest! The current me cannot protect Inazuma! This crisis can only be solved by change!"

"Spiritual energy recovery can also be suppressed by Eternity!"

"What I need is not suppression, but Inazuma's future! It is the ancient dream I promised Makoto, promised the subjects!"

Ei seized an opening and pierced the Shogun's heart with her blade; the Shogun died once again.

This was the umpteenth time the Shogun had died at Ei's hands since the battle began.

Ei, who had spent so many years in seclusion honing her swordsmanship, was ultimately stronger than before.

The Shogun was, after all, the embodiment of all her own strength from back then.

However, seeing the Shogun defeated at her own hands, Ei became increasingly enlightened in her heart.

"There is nothing in the world that is immutable. In these five hundred years, I have been growing stronger. I myself have already broken Eternity!"

"The me of the past was cowardly and selfish. To avoid seeing tragedy again, I sealed Inazuma with childish means!"

"I thought that as long as everything remained unchanged, Inazuma would always be Inazuma..."

"But in reality, I myself have been growing stronger. Eternity has never existed—at least, it does not exist in me!"

"I don't know if the current me counts as strong, but Shogun..."

Ei looked at the brilliant Musou Isshin in her hand and smiled with relief.

"I choose to look forward..."

"Even if the road ahead is not perfect, even if I continue to experience loss, I think..."

"As long as Inazuma can continue, this is the best answer I can give to Makoto and the people of Inazuma."

"I am still cowardly, but this time, I don't want to shrink back!"

Looking at the Shogun who had re-condensed, a faint smile appeared on Ei's face.

"Come, let's continue the battle!"

"All the faults were born from me, and they should be ended by my own hands."

"One year, ten years, one hundred years, one thousand years..."

"Until I can change you, until I can let Inazuma survive in the way the subjects want."

"Continue, Shogun!"

"I don't have the courage to face the past, but I should have the strength to move forward!"

The Shogun stared at Ei. This time, she did not directly rush forward to fight.

After a long silence, the Shogun said softly:

"Is this the will that the current you possesses?"

"Yes."

Ei's gaze was firm. The childish mindset of the past gradually dissipated. At this moment, she had already decided how to shoulder the responsibilities of a god.

"This will was given to me by Makoto, and it is what I should bear, what I must bear."

"She represents the Moment, and I represent Eternity. We have always been one. If I force Eternity upon Inazuma,"

"then I have stifled the last will Makoto left for me."

"She perhaps never left; she just changed into a way I never wanted to admit, continuing to leave her shadow by my side."

"Inazuma is her treasure, it is my treasure, and it is your treasure."

The Shogun's gaze was somewhat dazed, and for some reason, her heart trembled.

"Must Inazuma change?"

Sensing that the Shogun was wavering, Ei hurriedly said:

"Yes, Shogun! You, I, we cannot save the current Inazuma."

"The only way out lies with Lumine, lies with the Shushan Sect."

"Spiritual energy recovery is not just our own business; it is the trend of all Teyvat."

"Protecting Inazuma is not just our own business; it is the mission of every Inazuman."

Seeing this, Lumine also hurriedly spoke up:

"Shogun, you don't know the terror of spiritual energy recovery."

"Do you remember Kaedehara Kazuha who blocked your attack that day? He is a Shushan disciple and also an immortal cultivator at the early stage of Essence Refinement."

"Spiritual energy recovery will bring massive amounts of fierce beasts. Nowadays, fierce beasts at the early stage of Essence Refinement have already appeared in Liyue, and Foundation Establishment fierce beasts are countless."

"You are indeed strong, and so is Ei, but how can you guarantee that you can protect Inazuma during the future spiritual energy recovery?"

"You are ultimately just one person. How can the power of one person resist the wind of the world?"

"Can you guarantee that you alone can resist all the fierce beasts?"

"You might say you can relocate all Inazumans to Inazuma City for protection."

"But... what about the other regions? Will you just abandon them?"

The Shogun was silent. Lumine's words were true in her judgment.

"Even if fierce beasts at the early stage of Essence Refinement are no match for you, Teyvat is evolving. In time, fierce beasts at the peak of Essence Refinement will inevitably appear."

"By then, you won't be a match for them, and everyone gathered in Inazuma City will die!"

"Not to mention these things, rejecting the trend of the era is rejecting the possibility of continued development."

"Shogun, nothing is truly eternal. If there must be something, it should be the future."

"An infinite, possible future is what is eternal!"

In fact, the Shogun had not changed her pursuit of Eternity, but...

Lumine's words hit the core of her programming.

If many fierce beasts comparable to Xiao were born in the future, she absolutely could not stop them.