Calamity vs. Eternity

The Raiden Shogun was taken aback for the first time in centuries.

The woman standing in front of her attacked with full force.

No hesitatio, Just pure bloodlust and the dirty, instinctive fighting style of someone who had grown up believing violence was the simplest and most honest answer to any problem.

Shenhe went for the eyes first — a blinding thrust that forced the puppet to lean back. Instantly she dropped low, targeting joints with brutal precision. She used the throne room itself: kicking over ceremonial stands, using pillars for leverage, throwing debris to create openings. Every movement was aggressive, constant pressure, never giving the Shogun a moment to reset.

Feints. Sudden closes. Elbows. Knees. Savage, animalistic intent.

The Musou Isshin flashed again and again, but Shenhe refused to give ground. Emboldened by the raw need to protect the man behind her, the mere human pushed the Electro Archon’s puppet further and further back across the polished floor.

A feral berserker against the embodiment of Eternity.

Lightning scored the walls. Cryo and raw calamity energy cracked the stone beneath their feet. The Shogun’s cold expression finally shifted into something closer to genuine seriousness as this unrestrained woman continued to close distance and force her toward the corner of the throne room.

Shenhe’s face was alive with exaggerated, passionate fury.

“Stay away from him!” she snarled, voice rough and human in a way it had never been before. “He is mine!”

The puppet Shogun was being pressed into a corner by pure, protective bloodlust.

The rest of the party watched in stunned, growing horror.

Not at the Raiden Shogun.

At Shenhe.

Aether, Rosaria, Ganyu and cloud retainer felt a cold wave of “what the fuck did we just unleash” roll through them. The blank, quiet woman who normally stood silently at Aether’s side had transformed into a pure engine of protective violence, and it was terrifying to witness from this close.

Her masters usually composed face had gone pale.

She was quite certain that, even in her human form, she would not be able to take Shenhe in this state. The sheer drive to protect Aether had pushed her disciple’s already monstrous power far beyond its previous limits. The curse of calamity and raw strength that Cloud Retainer had spent years carefully restraining were now fully online and burning at a level she had never allowed before.

Cloud Retainer herself was still stronger in her crane form — but she was not stronger than the Raiden Shogun. That was exactly why she had not stepped forward to face the puppet. A clean, measured duel against the Musou Isshin was not what they needed.

They did not need to defeat the puppet.

They only needed to force it to briefly retreat — to create an opening, to disrupt its perfect composure long enough for the real Archon to take notice and emerge.

And for that specific goal, Shenhe’s current chaotic, feral, all-or-nothing style was far more suitable than Cloud Retainer’s elegant and controlled power.

The ancient adeptus watched her student press the Electro Archon’s creation harder and harder into the corner of the throne room, a complicated mix of fear, pride, and reluctant acceptance on her face.

The Raiden Shogun was faster.

That was never the problem.

Every time Shenhe closed in, the puppet’s blade was already there to meet her. The Musou Isshin moved with perfect, calculated precision, intercepting strikes that should have been impossible to read. Speed was not the issue.

The issue was that Shenhe never gave her anything consistent to calculate.

The moment the Shogun began to form a pattern or a counter, Shenhe had already abandoned the previous tactic and switched to something dirtier, more unpredictable, more savage. A feint toward the eyes became a knee toward the joint. A wide slash turned into a sudden grab for the wrist. An overhead strike became a low sweep that used a fallen ceremonial banner as an improvised weapon.

She never used the same move twice. Raiden’s methodical counter based fighting stile was a bad matchup against this thoughtless savage. she also could not release the Musou Isshin fully without endangering the entire city.

The puppet’s defense held — flawlessly, endlessly — but that was all it could do. Every ounce of processing power was forced into pure reaction. There was no room left to shape a meaningful counterattack.

And the presence radiating from Shenhe only made it worse.

The bloodlust pouring off her was no longer simply human. Combined with the animalistic, lightning-fast shifts in her assault, it made her seem less like a woman and more like an oni or a demon that had clawed its way out of some ancient battlefield. The throne room itself felt colder and heavier under the weight of that unrestrained killing intent.

The Raiden Shogun needed only half a second.

Just half a second of distance to collect herself, recalculate, and reset the perfect defense that had been forced into pure reaction for too long. With a sharp motion of the Musou Isshin she tore open a rift in space — a brief, controlled path back into the Plane of Euthymia where the true Ei waited to escape the assault of this woman briefly.

It was the exact opening they had been playing for.

Before Aether could even process the swirling violet portal, Shenhe was already moving.

Her bloodlust vanished in an instant. The demonic, exaggerated fury melted away as she turned to him. In one fluid motion she pulled him into her arms with surprising tenderness, one hand cradling the back of his head. She kissed him — deep, emotional, and full of everything she still didn’t fully know how to express with words.

When she broke the kiss, her eyes (still burning with residual power) met his for a fraction of a second.

Then she threw him like a ragdoll into the rift.

Aether tumbled through the tearing space before he could protest or even catch his balance. The last thing he saw of the throne room was Shenhe’s unleashed form standing faceing the closing portal, red eyes locked on the puppet Shogun, ready to keep the fight going alone if necessary.

The rift sealed behind him.

He landed hard on the other side — inside the still, endless Plane of Euthymia.

And standing there, waiting, was the true Raiden Shogun.

Ei.