Chapter 162 A group attack on Lei Jun, the most fun for the stragglers...

Paimon is becoming increasingly confused about the current situation.

"You said you were Balzeb's good friend... wait, you, you've betrayed me! You've absolutely betrayed me!"

"Oh dear, don't put it so harshly! Everything I've done is to save the gods and my beloved kingdom!"

Miss Fox smiled slyly on the surface, but cursed inwardly.

[utterly ...

[Slash! Slash! He chopped off Sumeru's precious hand with a single stroke! Goodness, Inazuma already had internal troubles, and this damned general has added an external threat. Is he afraid the people are having too much fun?!]

"Your arrival is truly in accordance with the will of the people, and my joining you can only be described as following the will of Heaven, not as betrayal..."

"Although you have a good attitude and have brought us a lot of information, I still don't trust you because you seem dishonest."

With one hand on her hip and the other pointing, Paimon, who had gained the upper hand, suddenly became arrogant:

"Foxes are masters of deception! Quick, we need to figure out a way to gain our trust!"

"This little thing..."

A faint grid pattern appeared on the back of Yae no Shinji's head.

The traveler chimed in, “Paimon is right. In a foreign land, people who are overly enthusiastic are either fellow countrymen, scammers, or both.”

"Oh dear, how can you say that?"

Facing the traveler, the fox's attitude softened considerably, though it remained glib as ever, "You must believe that there is still true love in this world. Losing your childlike innocence too early will prevent you from growing into a healthy adult..."

Seno spoke softly from behind them, "The Traveler and Paimon are right, I don't believe you either."

Yae Shenzi: "..."

“Not only do I not trust you, but my guns and my men, my fists and the weapons on my ships don’t trust you either.”

"Sir! Commander! A wonderful gentleman from Mount Sumeru!"

Yae no Miko's posture immediately became extremely upright, her face filled with loyalty and sincerity.

"Please follow me, and I will prove my trustworthiness with facts!"

Three people, three different attitudes; Little Paimeng, who saw through the situation, stomped his foot and shouted:

"You wicked fox! He's completely playing favorites against you!"

She had only stomped twice when she was interrupted by a chilling laugh.

"Ha...haha...hahaha..."

"Ugh! Former, former CEO, why are you laughing even colder than Little O?"

The soldier didn't answer, but simply held his forehead, his face showing a look of utter despair.

"Yes, that's the expression... All that arrogance is gone, replaced by a fawning look... Hahahaha! I came to Inatsuma just to see that expression! Hahahaha! It was worth it!"

After his wild laughter subsided, he immediately and impatiently bypassed Seno and rushed to the front of the Eightfold Divine Child:

"What? A non-human monster? You have a heart to protect? You'll even stoop to beg for salvation for the helpless? Hahaha!... No, that's not right! All you really care about is pleasure and the gods! Thunder's lackey! Speak!"

"What's wrong with this guy? His expression is so ferocious... Is he happy right now...?"

Startled by the stragglers, Paimon fearfully hid behind the traveler.

"But why does it feel like...it's completely different..."

*

Seno ignored the stragglers, letting them vent their frustrations as they pleased. Yae no Miko didn't utter a single word, only looking at the first puppet with pity throughout.

"Damn it! Damn it! Are you mute? Or are you a real dog?"

He cursed for a while, then suddenly noticed the red highlights in Wan Ye's hair and fell into a quiet daze again.

The traveler arrived silently outside Inazuma Castle, seemingly without incident... but not quite.

"hiss--"

"Little Ao! Let go of the traveler, he's suffocating from being choked!"

First, the little rock snake bestowed by Zhongli inexplicably started wriggling wildly at the back of a pink-haired girl, and then Seno and his group were surrounded by a group of Inazuma people.

"Yae!" Dixia clenched her fists. "These are the ambushes you set up?"

"Please," the fox rolled its eyes, "Even if I were heartless, I wouldn't send unarmed civilians to the battlefield!"

"Calm down, Dixia. These people are unsteady on their feet; they are definitely not martial arts practitioners."

Seno stepped forward and calmly negotiated with the leader, Inatsume, "Why are you stopping us...?"

"Have you ever heard of the Wild Wanderer? Have you ever heard of Hisakimura? Have you ever heard of the Tsurugi? Have you ever heard that the Eye-Hunting Edict and the Seclusion Edict were carried out by the Fools?"

The head of discipline had barely opened his mouth when he was shut down by a barrage of questions.

"!?"

"Is this information that commoners should know?!" Seno turned back in shock to look at the unresponsive Yae no Miko, then cautiously answered the commoner leader:

I've heard a little about it.

"Then what are you still standing there for! Get moving!"

Unexpectedly, the man roared, grabbing Seno's hand and dragging him outside: "Having heard all this, don't you know that Inazuma is doomed! Two-thirds of the upper echelons should resign! And commit seppuku!"

"??? What do you mean by that?"

Of course, he couldn't stop the senior discipline officer; instead, he was held even tighter in place.

"What are you trying to do by telling me all this? No, what are you trying to do?"

The commoner leader was initially startled by such strength, but then roared back without showing any weakness.

"Can't you see what I'm planning? We're going to rebel!!"

"No way!"

Yujin exclaimed in shock, "I thought the Grand Master had always been invincible among the common people?"

After all, that's a god, a god who has protected Inazuma for thousands of years!

"How did you come to have such blasphemous thoughts?" Wan Ye couldn't help but wonder.

"Blasphemy? Hmph, if pointing out mistakes is blasphemy, and doing things for the better of the country is blasphemy, then I'll just call it disrespect."

Someone in the crowd gave a light snort, looking rather nonchalant.

"Lord of the Imperial Palace, Lord of the Imperial Palace, the thunder among thunder, the warrior among warriors."

"Today I will betray you, like a fish betraying the sea; I will betray you, like a child betraying its mother."

"Gods, gods, take my life, but please don't forget, my rebellion is not for wealth, nor for fame..."

"Just so that more good people, like gods, and the villages they care for, can live healthily in the world."

After the poem was finished, the group stopped and went to stop a group of people entering the city.

"Hello, have you ever heard of the Wild Wanderer?"

...

After a moment of silence, Youren suddenly laughed.

"No matter how they try to rebel, whether they threaten General Thunder with a knife to force him to retract his orders, or they massacre the other two executors to force peace through bloodshed, they will likely fail."

"yes."

Wan Ye laughed, "No matter what, death is inevitable, because the general's will is unwavering, and her blade will not hesitate."

The stragglers cursed at them: "Idiots, what are you laughing at? This isn't a good thing."

"How can it not be a good thing? My friend, look at the Eye of God on the leader's waist."

Wan Ye softened her features.

"Compared to when we were hiding and fleeing when we left the country, they are now fighting for their own dreams."

"Just lining up to die," the stragglers scoffed.

"You can't say that, because we're already here."

The traveler stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Manyo, his voice calm yet containing a resolve strong enough to sever fate:

"Now that we're here, we'll shatter that thoughtless blade and forever keep the death that should have befallen them outside of fate!"

...

"However, there is still something strange."

While shocked, Paimon didn't forget to pay attention to the details.

"Why is the information about Hiki Village known to everyone? In Ishi's memory, it was clearly a remote little village. Even if it was completely wiped out, I doubt anyone in the city would know."

"Someone deliberately spread the information."

Seno easily concluded, "But why, even though the Wise King's prestige in Inazuma is higher than Elhesen had anticipated, should an organization so quickly spawned that is fiercely loyal to him..."

"Loyal to the Wild Wanderer? No, rather than saying I'm loyal to the Wild Wanderer, it's more accurate to say that we're both loyal to the pursuit of... a peaceful nation."

Light footsteps sounded behind Seno. Everyone turned around and saw a man with light blue hair slowly approaching with his Mondstadt subordinates, a smile on his face similar to that of Yae no Miko.

"Nice to meet you all, I am Ayato Kamisato, an ordinary magistrate."

"I...I've seen you inside the stone!"

Paimon exclaimed, "You're the one who helped put the crown on the armless Mainkun, and you did it very carefully... But you're actually an envoy? What a big shot!"

"He's not just a big shot, he's the only big shot in Inazuma! And he's the culprit who made Inazuma Castle so chaotic!" Yae glared at him, annoyed.

"You all want to know who spread Hikimura's information around, right? It was him. He caused chaos in the country, with rebels everywhere, forcing me to take action personally..."

"!!"

The traveler slightly widened his eyes as he looked at Ayato Kamisato, "The only magistrate..."

"Are you asking me if I want to throw the country into chaos?" Ayato Kamisato, putting himself in others' shoes, enthusiastically explained, "When a wandering spirit opposes the shogun, she won't be moved, because one person is really nothing to eternity. But what if all the people of Inazuma oppose the shogun? Even a stone should reflect on its own actions..."

Sora: "No, that's not what I wanted to ask."

"I'm all ears."

"What I want to ask is..."

The traveler looked at the samurai, the fox priest, the sole magistrate, and the growing commoner rebels outside the city.

"Does Inazuma still have anyone on the general's side?"

...

"Croak!"

The stragglers held back for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter, letting out a frog-like croak.

*

General Thunder opened his eyes from his daily meditation.

Today's meditation was not going well. I tried several times but still couldn't get into the state. There was a bad feeling that was interfering.

This is unusual, because dolls are devoid of emotion and thought, so their minds should not be shaken in any way.

Thinking too much was useless. After finishing his meditation, General Thunder and Lightning, as was his custom, was about to review the memorials submitted by his subordinates.

But when the time came, no one came in with the documents.

"Someone come here."

Inside the castle tower, all was silent. General Raiden stood up.

"Kujo?"

A few tattered feathers remain where the Tengu often stands, as if it were the aftermath of a surprise attack.

"..."

Releasing their divine sense, they found no one inside the Sky Guard Pavilion, but faint sounds of wild laughter could be heard coming from afar.

No, it wasn't just laughter; there was also...

"boom--"

The reaction was only slightly slow, and the elemental orb of lightning and grass exploded on the castle tower, causing a burst of intense damage!

Hahahaha!

General Thunder immediately took to the air, and in front of the ruins, she saw a purple and green mecha standing in mid-air, its arrogant voice resounding through the sky.

"Barzebu—I have ascended to godhood!!"

The voice was filled with endless pleasure and joy, but before General Thunder could figure out what was going on, she heard a helpless voice coming from the mecha's shoulder.

"You did not ascend to godhood. The Scattered Soldiers and the Heart of the Grass God belong to Lady Nasita. The First Machine was modified by the Great Tree King after he recovered, based on the Doctor's blueprints. These two can only be considered as being lent to you. You will have to return them after this battle."

"Shut up, Seno!!"

Are they eternal enemies?

General Thunder silently reached for his naginata.

"Ugh! Damn it! The main machine is too big, it's overshadowing us! Traveler, charge! We can't lose to it!"

"I want to pilot a mecha too."

The traveler muttered something, wielding a rock and a wind elemental form in one hand and activating dual-elemental mode.

How can one use elemental power without the Eye of God?

General Thunder frowned.

This is the enemy furthest from eternity.

"Go! Let the Great Lord see the will of our Wild Wanderers!"

"Swordfish Team Three, don't miss this opportunity!"

Seeing the chaos, the rebels grabbed their weapons and rushed forward. Among them, General Raiden saw ordinary Inazuma residents and the familiar sea general.

They are eternal enemies.

She had just turned to face the mortals when she heard a mournful hiss of a snake. A slender black shadow sprang from the traveler's neck, landed, and transformed into a towering rock serpent, protecting the human beneath the naginata.

"Little, Little Ao!?"

The serpent god blinked at the night-blooming stone, looking at the pink-clad priestess behind the army.

"Black... Lord Auro... Bass?"

A snake, a snake that protects itself. Although the color was wrong, this was the only thing Coral Palace could think of.

The fragment of Orobas flicked its tongue, seemingly satisfied.

General Thunder remained expressionless. "Yet another eternal enemy."

She reached out and began to wield her sword, but a strong wind would always rise, preventing her blade from striking a vital spot. Occasionally, earth and rocks would fall from the sky, obscuring the warriors' movements.

"..."

"There are quite a few eternal enemies today."

"Stop talking nonsense! Everyone, give it your all and wake her up today!"

The traveler charged forward with all his might, his one-handed sword aimed directly at General Thunder's neck.

"Otherwise! Mainkun will start crying again when he wakes up!"