Paimon asked curiously, "Ei, what is wrong?"
Ei said painfully, "I cannot move my body. It seems the situation is more serious than I thought."
[Paimon: What is happening?]
[Ei: It is the Shogun. The Shogun is refusing to let me use her body.]
[Lumine: Is that not your body?]
[Ei: This body belongs to the Shogun. After I transformed my own body into a puppet, this body no longer belongs to me. Although I can still use it at any time, the Shogun has the right to prohibit me from using the body.]
[Lumine: Then can you take your body back?]
[Ei: I cannot take it back from within the Shogun, but I can from another place.]
Lumine suggested, "Perhaps we should go back first."
Ei shook her head. "No. She is calling out to me. Now is the best time."
"Lumine, can you help me? I need to go to the cave beneath the Grand Narukami Shrine."
Paimon asked, "The cave? What is in there?"
Ei replied, "A battlefield where I can cut ties with the past and move toward the future."
Upon arriving at the cave, purple mist accompanied by sakura petals formed a gateway.
Ei said, "This is the entrance to the consciousness space of the late Raiden Makoto, which I sealed with my own hands."
[Paimon: Makoto has already passed away. Will her consciousness space not dissipate?]
[Ei: The purpose of the seal is to prevent the consciousness space from dissipating.]
[Lumine: Inside that consciousness space... is Makoto still there?]
[Ei: No...]
"Given the current situation, she no longer allows me to use this body as I please."
Paimon was confused and asked curiously, "Who are you talking about? Raiden Makoto?"
Ei did not answer. Instead, she opened the door and led Lumine and Paimon inside. Within was a pale blue world—the sky was pale blue, and the ground was pale blue as well.
Lumine looked around. "This place looks very similar to the Plane of Euthymia."
Inside the space stood another Ei.
The second Ei greeted them proactively. "Traveler, we meet again. This body serves as the internal assistant and also the guardian of the rules."
"If the internal self wishes to change the rules, then this body shall become a shura."
Paimon, still confused, offered a guess. "Is the second Ei the puppet Shogun?"
The Shogun continued, "You have traveled the world in my body, believing you have grasped the true essence of eternity."
"You think you are more firm now than in the past, so you believe the current you is correct, do you not?"
"Have you truly developed new thoughts, or are you suffering from an irresistible erosion?"
[Paimon: The Shogun's pressure is overwhelming.]
[Ei: The Shogun is different from me.]
[Yae Miko: The Shogun is more like an embodiment of rules, devoid of any human warmth.]
[Paimon: I remember Ei said that if it were the Shogun, she would have executed Kujou Kamaji.]
[Ei: Yes. According to the Shogun's rules, the consequence of failing a challenge is death.]
[Paimon: The one who killed Signora?]
[Ei: That was the Shogun.]
Ei said calmly, "I came here to answer you. We are both warriors, and the only way to converse at this moment is through combat."
She then turned to Lumine to explain. "All the earlier discomfort was because the Shogun refused to let me continue using her body."
"As she said, once I develop any intention to change, she will regard me as an enemy. Now that we have entered this consciousness space, I can exist independently from her without interference. Though the Shogun is a puppet, she has her own self-awareness. When necessary, she will appear here to confront me."
Lumine asked, "This is what you once called eternity's self-defense mechanism, is it not?"