Ch 198 : Statue of a Thousand Arms and Hundred Eyes

After leaving Ritou, the group headed southeast.

After crossing a stretch of beach and tidal flats, they arrived at the open fields near Konda Village.

When Aether and Paimon saw the fox statue not far ahead, they couldn't help but think of an old acquaintance...

"Traveler, wasn't it right here where we first met the masked shrine maiden?" Paimon said with a hint of sadness.

"No, wait, she had a name... Her name was Hanachirusato…"

"Yeah… Hard to believe so much time has passed…" Aether sighed.

Inazuma was the third nation he had visited, then came Sumeru and Fontaine… in the blink of an eye, it had already been two or three years…

"Yeah…" Paimon also seemed ready to get nostalgic, but in the next moment, she suddenly looked ahead in shock, rubbed her eyes, and said in disbelief:

"Traveler, am I hallucinating…?"

"Why do I see Hanachirusato again—standing right by the fox statue?"

"I think I see her too…" Aether said in surprise.

"We see her too…" The others chimed in one after another.

Su Yuan was equally puzzled.

Hanachirusato… hadn't she already completely faded away?

Why would she appear here?

Suddenly, Su Yuan recalled the warning from the rule on his right hand earlier that morning:

[If you see someone you shouldn't, no matter what they say—don't believe them.]

"Everyone, do you remember the information I shared with you this morning?" Su Yuan asked.

"Yes," Aether said, firmly nodding as he watched the figure of Hanachirusato.

"Let's avoid her for now. We'll meet with Kujou Sara first, and then we can figure out what's going on with this situation."

The group nodded, then carefully bypassed Hanachirusato, passed through Konda Village and the White Fox Fields, and successfully arrived at the entrance to Inazuma City.

"We just passed through Konda Village, but I didn't see many people around…" Kazuha mused.

"But judging by the signs of life around, it seems like they're still living there; they've just been staying indoors and not going out."

"Inazuma as a whole feels a bit stifling right now…" Aether agreed.

"We need to rescue Inazuma once again from the Vision Hunt Decree!"

"By the way, is wearing sunglasses the standard for officials in Inazuma now?" Paimon pointed ahead at a few Inazuma guards stationed at the entrance to the city.

"Better be cautious," Su Yuan reminded.

"Something feels off about Inazuma City right now."

"You there, stop!"

Not far ahead, one of the guards seemed to notice the group and slowly approached, speaking:

"I am Okuzumeshuu guard Andou from Inazuma City. Please cooperate with the inspection and show your identification!"

"Don't worry, we've already paid the handling fee and have the proper documents!" Beidou said, handing the official documents given to them by Yuriha to Andou.

Andou took a look at the documents, nodded, and returned them to Beidou, saying:

"Your documents are in order. From your attire, it seems you've come to Inazuma from abroad?"

"However, right now, I would advise against traveling in Inazuma..."

"Due to the enforcement of the Vision Hunt Decree, Inazuma has become more stifling again. You should find a way to leave Inazuma as soon as possible."

The group nodded.

It seemed like they had met a normal person…

"Hey, buddy, take a good look. Do you recognize me?" Aether stepped forward and spoke to Andou.

"You are..." Andou looked at Aether as he stepped closer, took off his sunglasses, and finally saw Aether's face clearly.

He then spoke with surprise, "It's you, Traveler!"

After Andou took off his sunglasses, the group noticed that he seemed to only have one eye.

"Apologies... As the lowest-ranking members in Inazuma, we are required to offer one of our eyes as a sign of loyalty to the Shogun..."

Andou scratched his head, looking somewhat apologetic as he said,

"Since I only have one eye left and still wear sunglasses, I didn't recognize you, the famous Traveler, at first!"

"But now that I know it's you, I have no right to stop you..."

"Please, once again, change the Shogun's mind and save Inazuma!"

With that, the group successfully entered Inazuma City.

However, just like the deserted islands and Konda Village they had passed, the streets were nearly empty, and shop doors were tightly closed.

When they passed by Nagano-hara Fireworks, they didn't see Yoimiya or her father.

The only place still open was the Adventurers' Guild.

Perhaps because Katheryne is a mechanical automaton, the Raiden Shogun had no interest in her eye, and since she didn't experience fear, there were no issues with her.

After some more time traveling, the group finally arrived at the gates of the Tenryou Commission.

First, what caught everyone's eyes was the massive statue of the Thousand-Armed Hundred-Eyed Deity...

However, the current statue looked a bit bloodied, as it had many things embedded in it...

In the last Vision Hunt Decree, only the Visions were embedded in the statue...

But this time, not only were many eyeballs embedded in it, but there were also many arms...

It was clear that the Raiden Shogun intended to create a true, literal Thousand-Armed Hundred-Eyed Deity statue...

"Oh, it's you."

At that moment, a voice rang out as a figure emerged from the Tenryou Commission building—it was Kujou Sara.

Upon seeing the group, Kujou Sara seemed somewhat surprised.

"You've come at a bad time. The Shogun has set her sights on the eyes of Arataki Itto, a member of the Oni tribe."

"As one of the last remaining Red Oni in Inazuma, his red-orange eyes with diamond-shaped pupils are quite rare."

"I was just about to go to Hanamizaka to capture Arataki Itto and take his eyes, so I don't have time to entertain you right now..."

"Please... please don't try to stop me from carrying out my duties..."

Kujou Sara said, leading the Tenryou Commission personnel away from the area.

But everyone could tell that the way she emphasized the word "don't" was unusually heavy.

"Do you think Kujou Sara is trying to make us stop her, or not stop her?" Paimon asked, somewhat confused.

"Whatever, let's just follow and see what happens!" Su Yuan said, "If things go wrong, we'll act immediately!"

"Arataki Itto is one of our allies in the fight against the Eerie. How could we let him lose his eyes here?"

Before leaving, Su Yuan glanced back at the unsettling Thousand-Armed Hundred-Eyed Deity statue, which already had many eyeballs and arms embedded in it...

Surely everyone has played those games where you guess characters based on their eyes, right?

Su Yuan couldn't shake the feeling that some of those large eyeballs looked strangely familiar...

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