Chapter 287

The taste of divine power is wonderful.

At least for Luo De, it's like that.

He knew that mortal power mixed with wish was very strong.

But he had never imagined.

Just by combining the wish power provided by the Inazuma resistance, he and Xingyue actually gained the strength to match a peak martial god like the Electro Archon.

And they actually defeated Thundershadow.

Recalling that feeling of lightness throughout his body, where a single strike released ten or a hundred times his own strength, Luo De still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

But Thundershadow had already conceded.

The wish power that had originally lingered around Luo De also dissipated on its own; that power comparable to a deity's was ultimately just an expired experience card.

「Tsk—」

Watching the golden light on his hand gradually fade, Luo De pouted disappointedly.

At the same time, he also understood.

Why, in the original timeline, the first thing Sanbing did after becoming a god was to win over followers.

The faith power provided by followers.

This is also a form of wish power.

In other words.

The stronger a god's faith power, the more, even if his divine power is extremely weak, he can, under the blessing of faith power, reach a divine power level far surpassing his current strength.

And the reason Luo De and Xingyue could defeat Thundershadow.

This is not only because the wishes of Inazuma's people resisting the Electro Archon gathered upon them.

Another important factor.

It is the oppression and chaos under the two magistrates.

The Inazuma people no longer have the steadfast faith they once had five hundred years ago in the Electro Shogun, who has always turned a blind eye.

One side has strong wish-power support, while the other side sees a decline in faith power.

Under this waxing and waning.

Luo De and Xingyue's victory over Thundershadow thus seems natural.

As for convincing Thundershadow to lift the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree after the battle, that was left to Xingyue and Yae Miko to resolve.

Luo De, meanwhile, was preparing to return to Sumeru.

And to take a look at the festivities.

Thundershadow was moved by the people's wishes, ultimately had a change of heart, decided to respect the people's wishes, and lifted the two bans.

For the Inazuma commoners and the Kamisato clan.

This is a great joy.

But for the Hiiragi clan, who oversees the Finance Magistrate, and the Kujou clan, who oversees the Heavenly Rule Commission, these two colossi of Inazuma.

This is a catastrophe.

Especially the Kamisato clan seized this hard-won opportunity and began to heavily publicize the sins of the Hiiragi and Kujou clans.

Kamisato Ayato doesn't even need to exaggerate or embellish.

He only needs to faithfully recount what those two clans have done, and that is enough to make the Inazuma people erupt with divine wrath and public resentment against them.

Thus another dilemma was thrown at Thundershadow's feet.

Kill.

Or not kill.

Anyway, in Luo De's view.

The chief culprit is surely deserving of death.

Besides, the Hiiragi and Kujou clans, having already committed treason, at least should be stripped of most of their privileges, preventing them from continuing to wield power in the Finance Magistrate and the Heavenly Rule Commission.

Of course.

This is merely Luo De's personal opinion.

The true decision-maker still has to be Thundershadow.

Not even Yae Miko can interfere in this; when Thundershadow returns to replace the Shogun and begins making decisions, no one can overstep her regarding any Inazuma affairs.

「Thank you for your help this time as well. 」

The Kamisato clan, as the sole victor of this struggle, Kamisato Ayato naturally invited Luo De to the Kamisato residence after the battle and set up an extraordinarily lavish family banquet.

That's right.

It is a family banquet.

This is what Kamisato Ayato himself said.

Those able to attend this feast, counting Luo De, total only four people.

Besides Luo De's old acquaintances Kamisato Ayato and Thomas, the only other is Kamisato Ayaka, Kamisato Ayato's sister, whom the Inazuma people honor as the White Heron Princess.

In fact, even before Luo De first arrived at the Thunder God Shrine.

Shenli Lingren knew he had also come, and under Yae Miko's arrangement, he joined the faction opposing the Electro Archon.

Although during his time in Liyue, Luo De played him a trick.

This prevented him from successfully winning over Ying.

But Shenli Lingren did not therefore take out his anger on Luo De.

And after Yae Miko issued the order to publicize that Luo De and Ying would soon rise up against the Electro Archon for Inazuma, stirring the people's rebellious sentiment, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to handling this matter as best as possible, not only ensuring that the people's will erupted to the extreme, but also letting the opportunity mentioned by Yae Miko arrive earlier.

That can be said.

Without Kamisato Ayato's assistance, there would be no hope of winning this battle against the Electro Archon.

Of course.

That doesn't mean the Kamisato Clan's victory banquet afterward has to be held as a family dinner.

Luo De is not an idiot.

When he saw that only a handful of people were attending the banquet, he realized what Kamisato Ayato was up to.

This guy.

He clearly wanted to introduce his sister to me, thereby curry favor, and see if there was a chance to bring Luo De over to the Kamisato Clan's side.

He had said that before.

Kamisato Ayato, the current head of the Kamisato Clan, when he took over as head, the Kamisato Clan was already beset by troubles: externally, powerful enemies eyed it; internally, the lord was weak and the ministers strong; whether the Kujo Clan or the Hiiragi Clan, even those small families within the Magistrate's office, all were watching covetously, ready at any moment to take a bite out of the Kamisato Clan.

Under such circumstances.

Being able to stabilize the Kamisato Clan and let it regain its footing, becoming the rightful Magistrate, his skill, vision, and ability to assess the situation are self-evident.

And now.

Taking advantage of the moment when the thunder movie began to pursue responsibility.

Kamisato Ayato, with a very shrewd publicity method, stirred up public opinion, and without offending the thunder movie, made it difficult for the Hiiragi and Kujo clans to regain a foothold in this criticism.

And his vision and ability to assess the situation.

Kamisato Ayato placed all of that on Luo De.

Gaining the favor of Yae Miko, a retainer of the Electro Archon, and, while bearing the wishes of the Inazuma people, he truly managed to make the supremely exalted Thunder General, as seen by these Inazuma subjects, change his mind.

In Kamisato Ayato's eyes,

without a doubt is the most worth winning over.

Especially since Luo De is a man.

And Ying is a woman.

This gave Kamisato Ayato an idea of how to bind Luo De to the Kamisato Clan.

That is to have Luo De become his brother-in-law.

On this matter,

Kamisato Ayato also asked Kamisato Ayaka for her opinion.

This family banquet was therefore held for this reason.

Regardless of how single-mindedly she is devoted to the clan, when it comes to a major matter concerning her own future, Kamisato Ayaka does not want to simply give away her future so easily; she must see with her own eyes what kind of man that guy, whom her brother has hyped up to the heavens, really is.

As for Kamisato Ayato previously saying that Luo De has a woman in Sumeru,

Kamisato Ayaka actually doesn't care much about that.

In Inazuma,

Polygamy is written into the law. A strong man can have multiple women, and this is also ingrained in the Inazuma people's perception.

However,

At this so-called banquet, which is actually a matchmaking meeting, Luo De never once gave her a proper look, and the words he spoke went from one extreme to another, not even giving her a chance to interject.

Just like now.

Luo De directly threw out this question: "What about Sea Blessing Island?"

Such a sensitive topic involving national policy.

Given Kamisato Ayato's personality, he consistently either diverts to other topics or speaks vaguely; in short, he absolutely cannot let himself say anything that could be used against him.

But Luo De, as an outsider, is different.

After throwing out that unanswerable topic, he gave Kamisato Ayato no chance to deflect, and directly began to pour himself a drink and speak.

"In my opinion,"

"Rebellion means a dead end."

"The General has already given them one chance."

"Back then, the Sea Blessing Great Divine God raised troops in rebellion, slaughtering countless Inazuma civilians, and even a shogunate general fell."

"Afterward, the General not only did not blame them, but also, in the name of the Electro Archon, granted them protection and even allowed them to continue worshiping the Sea Blessing Great Divine God."

"This can be called a tremendous favor."

"But they were still unsatisfied, rebelled again against the General, and destroyed his seal on Eight Ale Island, causing the whole island to remain stormy to this day, turning what was once a prosperous island into a place no longer suitable for human habitation."

"Truly hateful!"

Luo De said, slamming his cup hard on the table, raising his voice several pitches: "If you ask me, they should all be killed!"

"!!!"

This sudden harsh shout startled Kamisato Ayato, Kamisato Ayaka, and Tuoma, making them all shudder.

The atmosphere was instantly thrown off by Luo De's words.

And Luo De's outpouring of genuine feeling also made Kamisato Ayato and Kamisato Ayaka glance askance.

Kill them all.

Those three words were said so lightly.

But the people of Sea Blessing Island number more than a million.

Even during the most intense period of the Archon War, no Archon ever committed such a mad act comparable to exterminating a small nation.

Even the devastating black disaster of five hundred years ago, Sea Blessing Island endured and was not wiped out by those violent black monsters.

So whether Luo De's words are sincere or he's deliberately bringing up a topic to spout nonsense,

When the words about exterminating the Sea Blessing Island rebels left his mouth,

Kamisato Ayato and Kamisato Ayaka then tacitly chose to remain silent on the matter, not daring to utter a single comment.

Brother Luo De.

We should.

Realizing the topic was veering toward losing control, Kamisato Ayato immediately prepared to divert this topic that could easily drag him into trouble.

However, before he could finish speaking.

Luo De, however, seemed to be getting carried away, continuing to chatter on.

And there's the Hiiragi family and the Kujo clan, those traitors.

I heard from the Divine Priestess that the Shogun only intends to remove Hiiragi Shinzuke and Kujo Takayuki from their posts, while their families can still serve as the Finance Commissioner and the Realm Commissioner.

Hah—

Your Shogun is really merciful.

Luo De again made a throat-slashing gesture and said harshly: 'When I was in Sumeru, people like this who disobey and wholeheartedly sell out the country for profit—I always chop them off first and talk later. Even after treason, they still get to keep their original posts—hah—'

Now Kamisato Ayato's expression could no longer be maintained.

It involves colleagues, and it's a decision personally made by the Shogun.

If he dares to interject on this.

The next day, there's no way he can keep his post as Community Commissioner.

Inazuma is a country with an extremely strict hierarchical system, where superiors have absolute rule over inferiors; the system of the three commissioners has never changed since the nation's founding, and the three great families are deeply entrenched—even when the Kamisato family was at its most difficult, the Hiiragi and Kujo families had long been nibbling away at them through various affairs, nearly toppling the Kamisato family.

Under such circumstances.

What Luo De said is completely unrealistic.

Furthermore,

The Vision Hunt Decree and the Seclusion Decree were actually permitted by the Shogun for the Hiiragi and Kujo families to carry out.

Even if the Hiiragi and Kujo families committed unforgivable grave sins in this.

The Raiden Shogun also bears an inescapable responsibility.

Therefore, the punitive measures Luo De mentioned are simply impossible to implement.

Kamisato Ayato, realizing he couldn't let Luo De continue speaking, had to give up his previous thoughts; now it's proper to make Luo De shut his mouth quickly.

But just as Kamisato Ayato was about to say something.

A calm voice quietly sounded in his ear.

At the same time.

Several others also heard this voice.

Oh? You seem to have a lot of objections to me.

Upon hearing this familiar voice.

Luo De's just‑risen smug expression was instantly overtaken by cold sweat covering his face.

It's Raiden Ei!

Not that Raiden Shogun!! How did she get here!! Luo De's body suddenly stiffened, and he mechanically turned his head to look behind Kamisato Ayato.

There.

A purple‑clad figure had somehow been standing there; at that moment, she calmly looked at Luo De.

An expression that showed neither joy nor anger.

It made Luo De feel an urge to slap himself hard several times.

"Make your mouth pay!"

"Make your mouth pay!"

Luo De kept cursing himself in his heart, and without realizing it, his palms were soaked with sweat.

He just wanted Kamisato Ayato to give up lobbying for this matchmaking event!

What wrong did he do!!!

Shogun!

Compared to the dazed Luo De, after realizing it was Raiden Ei who had arrived, Kamisato Ayato immediately turned and knelt; the slightly slower Kamisato Ayaka and Toma also promptly paid their respects, everyone sharing Luo De's sentiment, fearing that Raiden Ei would blame them for what just happened.

Fortunately.

After saying that, Raiden Ei had no intention of assigning blame; instead, she sat in the seat Kamisato Ayato had vacated and earnestly explained: 'These matters were decided by the Divine Priestess; I am merely responsible for issuing the orders. If you have any objections, you can go talk to the Divine Priestess.'

Luo De: '.'

Kamisato Ayato: '.'

Kamisato Ayaka: '.'

Toma: '.'

The Chief Priest is helping the Shogun make decisions on national affairs.

This isn't a secret that just anyone can hear.

Kamisato Ayato and the others now share the same expression: regret for inviting this disaster star Luo De into their home.

Oh, right.

The Divine Priestess sent me to summon you to the Narukami Grand Shrine; she said she has something to discuss with you.

If you want to talk about these things, you can tell her.

After saying that, Raiden Ei stepped forward without further ado, grabbed the dazed Luo De, and vanished into the Kamisato residence.

Until long after her and Luo De's figures disappeared.

Only after kneeling on the ground did Kamisato Ayato finally dare to stand up, and then, still uneasy, he told Kamisato Ayaka: 'Sister, give up; this person is not someone our small shrine can accommodate.'

(End of chapter)