In Genshin Impact, I'm really not Muzan.

Yae no Miko began to display her scumbag nature, which even Suzumiya Yu found somewhat overwhelming.

"I didn't trust you; I only did this as a precaution. Besides, who knows if you might suddenly change your mind halfway through and then attack me?"

"Oh? Then why did you come looking for me?"

"There's nothing I can do about it. You're her kin, so you know her abilities and weaknesses best. If I want to understand these things, I have no choice but to come to you."

Chapter 102 Judging Familiarity

"Hmm, that's a reasonable answer. However, I have no intention of doing anything to you, at least not until I change her mind." Yae no Miko didn't consider Suzumiya Yu a friend, just as Suzumiya Yu never trusted her.

However, what Suzumiya Yu said next surprised her.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: my plan is to defeat General Raiden and then replace her to become the true ruler of Inazuma. Now that I've said that, are you still going to help me?"

Suzumiya Yu revealed his ultimate goal, but he was merely testing the waters. He could discern the other's thoughts from Yae no Miko's reaction.

This is also one of the abilities of the Transparent World, which Suzumiya Yui discovered after obtaining it.

Judging a person's true thoughts and understanding the world through subtle facial changes is far more useful than one might imagine.

"I never imagined your ambitions were so great!" Yae no Miko's expression was one of utter shock, but Suzumiya Yu could tell that she was just pretending.

Just as Suzumiya Yu was testing her, she was also testing Suzumiya Yu.

However... it seems that Suzumiya Yui achieved an overwhelming victory in this mutual probing.

Because the other party remained expressionless, Yae no Miko was unable to discern his inner thoughts, and divination was useless against him.

"I stole her divine position, and this is your reaction?" Judging from the change in Yae no Miko's face just now, Ryouko could tell that she was not shocked by her words, but rather showed a hint of surprise.

What's going on here? They're supposed to be Thor's retinue, and this is how they react when someone says they want to take Thor's place?

Soon, Yae no Miko answered Suzumiya Yu's question: "Do you really think that gods would be willing to manage their people forever? Is it really something they have to do?"

Suzumiya Yu thought about this statement carefully and then realized that gods do not seem to govern their people indefinitely.

For example, Barbatos, the god of wind, is probably the most typical example. Almost immediately after the founding of Neo-Mondstadt, he disappeared under the banner of freedom, leaving all problems to his people to solve themselves.

He would occasionally appear at crucial moments, but would always disappear again afterward. This didn't alienate the people of Mondstadt; instead, it fueled their even greater reverence for him.

Suzumiya Yu sometimes wonders, if the people of Mondstadt knew that Barbatos was just slacking off, would they immediately go and join the Geo Archon in neighboring Liyue?

However, that's probably not possible now, since Morax, the Geo Archon, was "assassinated" during the Summoning Ceremony three years ago, and now Liyue has become a kingdom without a god in charge.

Next, let's talk about Morax, the Geo Archon. He has made a pact with the land of Liyue and will stand up for the people of Liyue when they are in trouble.

But most of the time, he stays in places where he cannot be found by humans, and even immortals have a hard time finding him.

Later, Morax would only descend once a year, and at other times, he would leave all affairs of Liyue to the Seven Stars of Liyue to manage, and even faked his death.

From this perspective, Morax's approach is not much different from Barbatos's; it's just that the latter's personality is more casual, which makes people feel that the former's management style is better.

In contrast, Baal, the Thunder God of Inazuma, personally controlled Inazuma until his death.

Even after his death, when he passed on his divine position to his sister Balzebu, she continued to manage all the affairs of Inazuma, though in a rather unusual way.

She created a doll that looked exactly like her to replace her work, while she spent all her time meditating in her sanctuary. To put it nicely, it was to avoid wear and tear; to put it bluntly, she was a complete shut-in.

After seeing these three, and then considering what Yae no Miko said, the answer seems obvious.

Gods do not need to constantly manage their people, nor are they willing to do so.

"It seems you already know the answer. In that case, why not think about it again? Is losing the position of Thor really a bad thing for her?"

“I don’t know if you know anything about her past, but if I tell you about it, you might understand.”

There was no need for Yae no Miko to say it, because Suzumiya Yu was very familiar with the past of the Raiden General.

One by one, the people he cherished left him. After inheriting his sister's divine position, he changed Inazuma's former pursuit of "fleeting moments" to "eternity".

Lightning is a fleeting thing, yet to pursue eternity, which is the furthest thing from its essence, is nothing short of a pipe dream.

But as the most supreme and terrifying incarnation of thunder in this world, would General Thunder not understand this principle? Of course she understands, but why did she make such a decision?

Five hundred years ago, she witnessed firsthand the annihilation of a nation striving for progress, which vanished overnight. It was then that she first witnessed the terrifying power of divine justice.

Those who strive for progress will ultimately perish; only eternity is closest to the principles of Heaven.

This is General Raiden's philosophy, a philosophy that arose after he lost his loved ones.

But she always overlooked one point: there is no true eternity in the world, and time is the greatest enemy of eternity.

For humans, time causes them to grow old, their abilities to decline, and eventually, they to die.

For the gods, however, time brings loss, changes in history, and even fatal wear and tear.

So General Thunder stopped his own time, trapping himself forever in his inner world, never leaving his home.

In this way, she will no longer lose it, nor will she suffer from wear and tear.

"Eternity" had long since become her own eternity, which was neither what she wanted nor what the people of Inazuma wanted.

"If she were to relinquish her divine status and look at Inazuma now, and feel the changes brought about by time, perhaps she would be surprised. Perhaps only then would she understand what eternity truly requires."

"Now you should understand why I reacted the way I did just now, right? Although it sounds puzzling, when you think about it carefully, do I really need to deliberately maintain the identity of being a member of the gods' family?"

Yae no Miko smiled at Suzumiya Yuu, a smile that seemed to exude a thousand charms, and even someone as composed as him couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

But just as Yae no Miko said, she didn't need to deliberately maintain her status as a member of the gods' family.

Just like a deity, being a member of the deity's family can also bring her troubles, such as becoming the high priestess of Narukami Taisha.

Chapter 103 Special Training for the Anti-Lightning General

"It's unbelievable. Although I used to think you were a bit unpredictable, I never expected you to have such a sophistical idea."

"Really? Then you'll have to get to know me better from now on. You'd better bring some fried tofu with you." Yae no Miko chuckled mischievously, then turned to look at Rai-sakura.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how Inazuma develops in the future. Although your methods are a bit too extreme, I always feel that you are not as evil as you seem on the surface, at least in terms of governing the country.”

Suzumiya Yu's humanity is much stronger than before, but he still doesn't think of himself as a good person, and he has never even considered things like governing the country.

He has always been pursuing his goal but has never thought about what to do after he achieves it. Perhaps he can think about this question, but for now, defeating General Thunder should be his top priority.

"Come with me. I've prepared a special device to help you get to know her."

Led by Yae no Miko, Suzumiya Yu arrived at the foot of Mount Kagekō. No one usually comes here, and since it is still night, there is even less worry about being discovered.

On the grass not far from Suzumiya Yu, there was a device that looked very familiar to him.

"【Anti-Lightning General Special Training】I'll treat it as a magical artifact that can reproduce the Lightning General's moves. I made it from memory, assuming her martial arts skills haven't deteriorated."

"Although you fought her before at the Thousand-Handed Hundred-Eyed Statue, you should know very well, right? She didn't use her full strength at all, otherwise the scene wouldn't be like that, but would have been turned into ruins."

The Anti-Lightning General Training is a device that has also appeared in the game. The rule is that it cannot be hit by attacks, and even if you are wearing a shield, it will be useless. It can be said to be a rare dark training in the main storyline.

However, although this device can reproduce Raiden General's moves, its power is indeed far inferior to her own. Yae no Miko prepared this device only to let Suzumiya Yuu get used to it in advance.

"If we cut that thing, there shouldn't be any problem, right?" Ryou asked, tilting her head.

"Eh, let's not. It took me a long time to make that. It would be such a waste to just ruin it like that." Yae no Miko's answer was of course no, and this time she wasn't pretending; she was truly expressing her inner thoughts.

Suzumiya Yu sneered, then drew her weapon and stepped forward.

He walked up to the device, gently pressed the start button, and quickly stepped back, assuming a fighting stance.

The next second, a wave of lightning elemental swords shot out from the activated device at a speed that was too fast for the naked eye of an ordinary person to detect.

Even Suzumiya Yu was somewhat surprised. Why was the attack launched so swiftly when it was just a man-made device?

Moreover, this magical device does not reveal any killing intent, so the compass becomes useless, and Suzumiya Yu can only rely on her own reactions and the blessing of the Transparent World to deal with each attack.

He dodged the first wave of sword energy with ease, and the second and third waves followed suit as well.

However, starting from the fourth sword wave, the attack frequency became somewhat strange.

It should have been a single sword wave, but this time, the device actually emitted a full seven sword waves!

This greatly alarmed Suzumiya Yu. He wanted to turn around and see the expression on Yae no Miko's face, but he didn't have the time.

"Breath of Flames - Fourth Form: Vortex of Blazing Flames!"

With the blade spinning in his hand, Ryoujiro Yu unleashed a vortex of fiery slashes centered on himself, directly deflecting four of the seven sword waves, while the remaining three grazed past him.

However, this was not the end. After launching seven sword waves at once, strange sounds rang out from inside the device.

Suzumiya Yuu finally had time to see Yae no Miko, but he discovered that she had already hidden far away and was covering her mouth and chuckling as she looked in his direction.

Finally, Suzumiya Yu realized that something was wrong.

Just as he was about to step forward to destroy the device, the next attack came first.

This time, the device unleashed countless sword waves, an attack that was not only all-encompassing but also had no cooldown.

Faced with the overwhelming waves of swords, Suzumiya Yu could only resort to her sword skills to defend herself once again.

"Water Breathing - Eleventh Form - Nagi!"

Entering a state of perfect stillness, Ryoujiro destroyed all the sword waves that approached his slashing range, while many more sword waves hit the air and eventually disappeared.

However... even though Yui Suzumiya had been defending for a long time, the device's attacks showed no signs of stopping.

That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that as more and more sword waves are destroyed, Suzumiya Yu's sword skills are almost unable to withstand them.

Seeing that the surrounding domain was about to shatter, Suzumiya Yu gripped the blade tightly once more.

"The Breath of Water, the Form of Gathering, the Flow of Life!"

Spinning and wielding his blade like a ceaseless water dragon, Suzumiya Yu continued forward, deflecting every wave of sword energy that was about to strike him.

Finally, it took him a great deal of effort to get to the device and raise the weapon in his hand high.

"Water Breathing - Form 8 - Takitsubo!"

The next second, the weapon raised high swung down with a fierce slash, striking the device that was still emitting sword waves and creating a huge column of water.

When the water column disappeared, the device had stopped operating and was completely destroyed by Yui Suzumiya's knife.

The crisis was finally over. Yui Suzumiya, who was holding a weapon, took a deep breath and then looked at Yae no Miko in the distance.

Upon seeing his disheveled appearance, the other party couldn't help but burst into laughter, which made him furious and even gave him the urge to rush forward and chop her down.

Yae no Miko only wanted to tease Ryoumiya Yuu by creating such a bizarre device. If she wanted to kill him, the device's attacks wouldn't have been so random.