Act 3, Scene 1

8th of the 4th Cycle

They had run into pirates north of the Jinren Islands.

The pirates had enough wisdom to flee the moment they saw the Deicide on the horizon, but the wind was against them. And wind was never against the Deicide. They caught up quickly.

There were three ships in the pirate flotilla, two of them turned to engage the Deicide, the largest one continued to flee. The Deicide ripped through them.

Their chaser guns shot orbs of water, punching holes into the pirate ships' hulls, but it was the figurehead hydra that did most of the work. It woke up from its nap, and chose violence. The hydra roared, five heads spitting torrential waters in rays that tore through their hulls.

In less than a few minutes, the Deicide was sailing over their wrecks. Mona looked overboard, the pirates were in the water, begging for mercy. The ship's yard ropes lashed at them, picking up ten of the pirates. The rest were eaten by the hydra.

Unfortunately, the lead ship of the pirate flotilla had managed to escape. But as Mona looked at the soaked pirates kneeling on the deck, she decided that they had already gotten what they had come for. Aether strolled over and began to ask them questions about the current situation in Inazuma.

The pirates didn't answer, probably to spite them. Aether threw them below deck. The Deicide picked up speed, and continued on its way to Narukami Island.

10th of the 4th Cycle

They arrived at the northern coast of Narukami Island, the Araumi Cliffs greeted them. Sheer rock faces rose from the sea, whatever few beaches there were had no route up to the top. Nevertheless, they dropped anchor.

Mona opened the hatch and entered the gun deck. They had thrown ten pirates down here a few days ago, there were only four left. Mona couldn't even find the bones of the other six. The remaining pirates cried when they saw her, and hastily followed her back up. Their eyes were wide, and horror was permanently etched in their faces.

They weren't willing to speak about what had happened to their companions. But they were willing to speak about Inazuma. Soon enough they had a rough grasp of the current situation in the country. The Sakoku Decree, the Vision Hunt Decree, the Civil War.

Mona threw the four overboard afterwards and let them swim to the nearby beach. How were they going to scale the Cliffs? She didn't know, not her problem.

The Deicide turned to port and began following the Cliffs, travelling north. They passed by Araumi Point, which hung over the sea, casting a shadow over them. Turning starboard there, the Araumi Cliffs ended, and the beaches looked much more welcoming.

They decided to disembark there. The Deicide, now unmanned, turned on its own and sailed off.

Act 3, Scene 2

14th of the 4th Cycle

Port Ritou was the largest harbour in Inazuma, and the only harbour that allows foreign ships to dock.

"Peace. Stifle. Hide." Mona murmured under her breath. Once the words of power were spoken, a little output of mana, and the two of them were effectively invisible from the guards' eyes. With that, they snuck into the city, bypassing the Kanjou troops with no issue.

Inside, Mona immediately got to work, selling their mainland goods and exotic plants and animals from the Haar Islands to the International Trade Organisation. The reason for this is that Mora is largely useless in Inazuma. The Sakoku Decree had cut off Inazuma from the mainland economy, as such, new Mora isn't getting introduced to the Inazuman economy.

This is no issue for the Shogunate, as they wanted to distance themselves from the mainland anyway. Thus the official currency in Inazuma is the Inazuman Kin, coins made of copper, silver and gold. Now that Aether thought about it, Inazuma must be the first nation in Teyvat to introduce their own national currency.

As Mona split up with him, Aether got to work locating the Statue of the Seven on Ritou Island. For some reason, the Statue was located behind Suzume Castle - the seat of the Hiiragi. Without Mona's expertise in magic, Aether had to rely on sneaking around the Castle, hugging its curtain walls and jumping from bush to bush, all the while taking great care to stay out of the view of the sentries.

The Statue of the Seven sat on a cliff, at the highest point of the island, and overlooked the city. Somewhat expectedly, Paimon appeared from a dimensional rift behind him as he was about to put his hand on the Statue.

"Something isn't right."

"What?"

"Nothing."

After that strange interaction, Aether placed his palm on the Statue. Similar to the Statue in Liyue, Electro didn't automatically flow into him, so he'll have to pull it out himself. He did so, tugging at the string of power.

Paimon suddenly jerked,

"Stop!" She cried out.

Too late. To his surprise, it was as if he unplugged a pipe, and Electro came pouring out.

Something shifted, and a wave of energy washed over them. It wasn't Electro.

"Kghh," Paimon grunted, "Beelzebub played us like a fiddle."

"What happened?" Aether asked concernedly. Taking a closer look, he realised Paimon's form was fading just a little bit. Something was wrong with her.

"Everything is take and give. Inazuma's isolation isn't just a mortal lockdown, but a divine one as well."

Aether stilled, dread pulled in his gut, "That means…"

"Yes, Inazuma is a closed system, functionally separate from Teyvat. And the both of us are foreign influences."

Paimon's once-powerful Authority over Void was fading at an alarming rate now, like a leaking pail. She disappeared from the mortal realm completely, intent on slowing down the 'leak.'

Her voice still resonated, "You didn't take Electro, she gave it to you. Thus we must give something in return, to ensure Inazuma remains a closed circuit."

It dawned on Aether just how severe the situation has become, "She took your Void powers in return."

"No," Paimon's voice was cold and grim, "Beelzebub has fooled everyone, even Celestia. The purpose of the Sakoku Decree was to hide the fact that she was no longer a Storm God, but a Void God. She isn't taking just my power, she is taking my Authority over the Void itself."

"Beelzebub has become a claimant. She is challenging my seat as the Lord of Void." Paimon took a deep breath, "She has essentially declared a Divine War."