The eternal lightning in Rani City never changes, and whenever the traveler steps onto this island shrouded in thunderstorms, they are always drawn to the purple figure atop the Great Shrine. General Balzebub, the god of lightning in the seven ruling figures of the mortal world, and the embodiment of eternal ideals. Her scythe slices through the sky, as if the thunder in the clouds resonates with it.
Those crimson purple eyes hold a century of solitude. People often say that the General is awe-inspiring, but few have witnessed her solitary figure under the god cherry tree. Petals falling upon her scythe turn into light points, like the old friends that have faded away with time. Eighteen Divine Princess once said that the shadow had turned itself into the sharpest blade, forgetting the warmth of the scabbard. When the traveler breaks through the blockade of the thunderstorms and sees the shadow without its imposing aura in “One-Heart Pure Land,” they realize that the compassion of the gods is hidden in the gentle rain behind the thunder.
The divine eye on Thousand Hand and Hundred Eyes flickers with a faint glow, witnessing the contradiction between her role as a guardian and executioner. The people of Rani City still devoutly pray under the Lockdown Order, but they do not know that their lightning general has already turned their flesh into puppets. In their对决 with the traveler, the grass-cutting lightning light draws every arc with the god’s confusion—what is eternal, to freeze time or find the unchanging essence in change?
The legend of the lightning general preserves the “Unthinking Cut,” a shocking martial art that decapitates the demon god Orobas. But when she uses this move to protect her people, the blade not only bears the power of lightning but also the memories of dancing in the courtyard with her sister True. During the God Cherry Great Exorcism, the traveler touches the softest wound of eternal watchfulness: the eternal guardian is actually the most afraid of losing what they cherish.
The legend of the lightning general in Rani City has two versions. Street storytellers tell the legend of the divine warrior slaying the dragon, while the light novels of the Eighteen Divine Princess depict the sweet food-loving doll general. When the traveler enters the Great Shrine with three-colored mochi, witnessing her crookedly wiping her lips, they suddenly understand that eternity is not a cold concept, but the heartfelt desire to linger over what they cherish.
The thunderstorms will eventually subside. After the Lockdown Order is lifted, the lightning general still sits high on the Great Shrine, but the lightning light in her eyes is no longer sharp. Occasionally, the shrine maidens discover that two cups of tea have appeared on the stone table under the god cherry tree, dancing in the air with the fragrance of tea and falling cherry blossoms. Perhaps this is the answer the shadow has found: in the fleeting beauty, there lies a worth being guarded for a thousand years.
The forge in Rani City echoes with the sound of hammering all night long, and the swordsmiths say this is the General in rekindling her dreams. When the traveler walks through the town again, hearing the children sing new songs, “Purple Lightning Ringing for Ninety Days, and the True Intent Appears in the Cherry Blossom,” they know that that lonely deity has finally found its anchor point in the human.