18 Girl's of Scarlet Devil Mansion

The ground beneath the Scarlet Devil Mansion shook as a giant dust cloud rose from the destroyed west wing of the mansion.

Protection against projectiles, shock, heat, cold, thunder, explosions, piercing, and several more such protective spells were weaved into the mansion's material to make it more resilient.

In addition to all the magical protective measures, the brick's placement in regular spacetime was tampered with so its properties would never change or deteriorate.

The mansion itself was practically, virtually indestructible. Very possibly able to stand the test of time itself.

Yet, despite all of the protective measures in place...

"Fufufu~, there is no kill like overkill, daze~☆?"

...a hole was burned into the walls of this invincible mansion.

As the whirled-up dust gradually started to settle, the state of the library was revealed, as the heat from the molten stone still radiated from the building.

Luckily for Patchouli Knowledge, her collection of books was practically unharmed.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she was glad, to say the least, that the giant laser beam missed the bookshelves that returned after the disruption of the spacetime warping spell was released.

"Lady Patchouli!"

Jumping out from the cover of the smoke, Sakuya Izayoi threw a couple of knives towards the black-white magician, who easily dodged them by tilting her head out of the way.

The intruder was unfazed by that attack, to say the least.

"Lady Patchouli, as grateful as I am that you used your silver dragon spirit to block the attack. As the maid of this mansion, I can hardly stand for letting one of my mistress's precious guests get wounded. Honestly, I would have almost preferred for you to leave me behind and hide somewhere, especially knowing your frail condition."

Indeed, what was left of their combination spellcard was just a large hunk of molten silver that was still melting.

Seeing the result of their enemy's attack, Patchouli Knowledge could only muster a soft laughter.

"This is nothing, Sakuya..."

The purple-haired magician reassured the maid, even if she still required Sakuya's help to stand up and dust off her clothes.

"Despite everything that happened to us in the past moments of this heated battle, this is still my magic atelier. Simple magic like this only requires slightly more than average effort for me to block here."

Patchouli Knowledge bluffed when she faced the new intruder. She hoped she wouldn't get called out on her bluff because blocking that last attack exhausted all the resources she gathered inside her atelier.

It could take years before her library returned to the same state it was even yesterday.

"O-oh-. That's quite impressive. To think you can withstand that spellcard without injury..."

Hearing her opponent's confident declaration, Marisa Kirisame was quite shaken.

Dammit! That was my very best trump card!

Still, the output of this magic tool is quite impressive. To think it would change so much after changing its steel core with one made of Hihi'irokane...

Thinking about it, Marisa Kirisame couldn't help but flash a big grin.

Thanks, Kourin!

Nervousness spread throughout Patchouli's body, seeing the big smile on the other party's smile, as she couldn't read what that sudden smile meant.

Was she taunting them? Or was she just that confident?

"I don't think I remember asking for your help, Marisa."

While the steam just started to settle down, Reimu made her way to stand beside her friend.

"I have my own reasons, Reimu. After all, the sooner this incident is resolved, the faster my laundry can dry."

"Is that why you smell like smoke then?"

Hearing Reimu point out the results of her failed experiment, Marisa felt embarrassed to think that drying her clothes above a fire was a good idea for even a moment.

"Oh well, since you are finally here, I'll leave things to you then. Good luck."

"Huh?!"

Before Marisa could even attempt to stop her friend, Reimu already disappeared. She was probably on her way to dealing with the perpetrator of this mess in the first place.

"Geez, disappearing on me just like that... how rude of her, ze-."

Meanwhile, while Reimu and Marisa had their usual exchange of words, Patchouli Knowledge could only observe the situation.

Feeling frustrated in her inability to do anything, for the first time after decades, the magician felt her blood boiling from rage.

"Patchouli?"

"Yes, Remilia?"

"I trust you to know better than my subordinates, but..."

"Remilia... what's going on? You usually aren't that listless."

Just a light smile. That's all Patchouli received from her best friend before Remilia stood up.

"Patche, take care of Meiling and Sakuya. They both can get a bit... overeager."

As her best friend's words rang through her ears, Patchouli Knowledge's boiling blood settled as a familiar warmth spread through her heart.

"Sigh..."

Time passes so quickly. The day she stood at the stake was centuries ago, yet it appeared as fresh in her memory as if it happened yesterday.

Both times of conflict and times of animosity were all too familiar to the witch.

Whether it was getting chased by the church or being chased out of the village you settled into, Patchouli Knowledge got used to being ostracized, hated, and betrayed by humans.

The same counts for every other resident living in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Whether it was the Maid Sakuya Izayoi, the Gatekeeper Hong Meiling, the Witch Patchouli Knowledge, the Vampire Remilia Scarlet, or even her Little Sister...

Even if their past shared no similarities, whether it was their country of origin, the social position they were born in, or even just simply their species...

Under normal circumstances, none of them would have ever seen, let alone met, another. Yet, due to the whims of fate, they gathered in one place and lived as a family.

It was a precious peace none of them could have ever thought was possible to obtain.

When her best friend covered the sky, Patchouli was already ready to once again leave the place they settled in.

Living as a refuge wasn't something she was unused to. Yet...

"Pft-"

None of the people that came here because of the mist problem took further issue with them. Their actions were all what was judged, not the very nature of what they are.

"Hahahahaha...!"

Geez, to think Remi's choice was correct after all.

Gone after beating us in a small playfight...

Gensokyo...

To think that they finally found the place they could settle down on.

Wiping her tears away, Patchouli met Marisa's eye with a determined gaze.

"So, what are you going to do now? Will you take both of us on just like your friend did?"

Hearing that, Marisa took a step back. Taking two opponents on in a Spellcard battle at the same time.

She didn't have the confidence to pull it off like Reimu did. Not to mention, but...

"Ah, geez. As I already said, two vs one is against my policy, ze~☆!"

Patchouli scoffed. She remembered plentiful. Still, there is nothing wrong with disrupting your opponent's mental state before the fight.

"Sakuya, it seems like the black rat intends to play with me one-on-one. So, you should go chase after the Miko that just disappeared."

"But Lady Patchouli! After that battle, you must be exhausted-"

Patchouli pressed her book cover against Sakuya's lips to stop her from speaking.

"Don't worry. I'll use that. You don't have to worry about me afterward. Go chase the red rat to your heart's content."

Hearing her mistress's friend with such resolution in her voice, as a maid, Sakuya could only step back and follow her orders.

Taking a step back, Sakuya gave Patchouli a quick curtsy before-

"Sakuya. I was enjoying myself. You, too, should quickly decide whether you'll have fun or do your job. After all, whatever you do, doing half-measures is just no good."

-she, too, disappeared like the wind.

"Huh. So your place's maid lacks as much common sense as Reimu does."

"We pride ourselves on that."

Both of them locked eyes with each other. Resolutely gazing at each other without so much as blinking.

After all, despite everything, the conflict was still far from over.

"Well then, my fellow comrade in the arts... Welcome to my humble atelier! Our thirst for knowledge is as deep as the abyss, but unfortunately, the night will be short."

"Sigh, and I thought you had already burned through all your mystics. I fear the night will be a long one."

Hearing Marisa's exasperated voice, a sinister smile spread on the face of the lilac magician as she started to chuckle.

"Oh, don't worry. There is still one wonderful toy I can present to you."

The moment she finished her words, the dormant library started to rumble as countless magic circles flared up, only to lose their glow.

"I, too, will show you my trump card."

[Awaken. Awaken, great Key of Solomon.]

The previously stagnant and burnt mana started to gather in one place, rapidly revolving around the chanting Western magician.

[I command thee, with the power of the Great Five Elements, the Sun, and the Moon...]

As the mana revolved, piece by piece, it started to separate into the mana five elements, and both the mana of the sun and the moon also gathered.

[Halphas, open now the locked gates of Babylon and reveal thy stored treasures.]

Then, as the rotation halted, the seven manas gathered in this room...

[Come now...]

Formed a seven-coloured key.

[Crimson-tinted stone.]

The key disappeared. For a split moment, the world seemed silent. As if it observed the events that transpired in the library.

Then, as if it remembered to breathe again, space rumbled as a bright gate opened, a crimson-colored stone rising out of it.

"D-Do-Don't you t-te-tell me..."

Marisa was familiar with the stone. How couldn't she be? After all, it represented the end goal of a branch of thaumaturgy.

"Don't you tell me that's-!"

"Fire Water Wood Metal Earth Sign: [Philosopher's Stone]"

"That's the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Oh? So you know about it? Indeed. And other than those pale imitations that circulated in the thirteen hundreds, this is the genuine consummation of the finest Ars Magica. I don't intend to hurt my partner in such a wonderfully fun Danmaku play, but..."

Seeing the real Philosopher's Stone in front of her, Marisa Kirisame couldn't help but swallow back a bunch of dry salivae.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't nervous.

"If you are not careful, you might end up dead by the time I stop~."

"He~. Things have just started to get really exciting, da ze~☆."

...

Cause and effect.

To summarize causality quickly: Cause is an action or event, and effect is the result of that action or event.

To summarize it even more, if you do something, something will happen.

And if it isn't the consequences of my own actions.

If you are wondering, this isn't the usual Rin telling you the story right now.

Let's call me Emergency Rin. 

Hm? Why it's me here instead of the usual narrating Rin?

So, do you still remember all the emergency notifications she received in the last chapter?

Great if you do. If you don't, it's not such a biggy. It's been over a month, after all. You know how it is here.

Not to mention that it was a pretty long chapter, and it happened near the beginning.

Anyway, I am drifting off the main topic. The reason why I am here instead of the usual Rin is pretty simple.

It's cause she's bordering on falling unconscious and being in so much pain that all her seven senses are not working.

The point is, she wouldn't have the remaining brain capacity to tell you what is happening in either case.

Hm? If Rin is in so much pain, she isn't aware of anything, and I am also supposed to be Rin... isn't someone lying here?

(A deep and ominous grin spreads on the female figure's face)

It's actually pretty simple. You see, Rin Satsuki, or should I say, Idora Dea, is an entertainer at heart, to be specific, an idol.

So, I am here for the same reason as to why she's in the fetal position on the ground right now.

To entertain you. So, higher beings, enough of my introduction. 

It's time for me to tell you what happened after my battle with Cirno, the strongest ice fairy~.

Let's return to our talks of cause and effect. 

If you do something, something will happen. It only makes sense.

If you breathe in, some air will be in your lungs.

If you pour water over a cat, it will be a wet cat.

If you pull the trigger of a safety-off, loaded gun, a bullet will be shot.

If you thrust a spear through someone's chest, they will have a new hole.

Anything and everything you do has an effect. Even in the case where nothing happens, it's still an effect.

So, don't you think it's only expected that Rin would receive this effect for the cause of repeatedly ignoring her system's warning signs?

"ZZZYYYYYRAAAHH!"

It's being in bone-chilling pain, of course.

Still, that scream just now didn't actually happen. Well, for one, Rin's in so much pain that even moving her body is out of the question.

Her heart actually stopped. Don't tell anyone, though.

But even if Rin could move her body, she wouldn't have screamed.

Why?

Cause she's an idol, duh. 

It would ruin her image as she did something as disgraceful as scream at the top of her lungs.

However, if you are still here and not with the other two, you must be curious about what the actual Rin is doing right now, aren't you?

And don't tell me you are not!

You always have the option to scroll past, don't you!

So, Rin is in pain. There isn't much to say to it other than-

It's painful.

Everything was screaming.

Getting burnt alive could only start to describe how much pain I was in.

Why?

Because every fiber of my being was in pain.

It felt like I was on fire and somehow drowning at the same time, frozen, minced into meat...

It felt as if someone had ripped out my nervous system and submerged it in something like acid.

If there was a pain to be felt, I felt it.

Constantly, incessantly, mercilessly.

It wasn't pain a mortal should handle. Anyone would have broken thrice over being subjugated to this burning sensation meant to torture an immortal itself.

It wasn't pain anymore.

It was something beyond.

There were only so many signals your flesh could send, so much space your body could occupy, and only so much the mind could endure before giving away to the eternal relief of oblivion.

This was the pain one would receive when [your] immortal object was at risk of getting damaged.

The feeling of pain was something Rin was closely familiar with. A good example would have been the start of her journey in Gensokyo.

Or did you think she wasn't in constant pain controlling her dead body like a flesh puppet?

Exhaustion, back pain, hip pain, spinal pain, headaches, lack of appetite, blurry sight, bone aches, heavy breathing, hard of hearing, faint smell, cold limbs...

Even after her "revival," Rin was still in a constant state of pain, enough for any ordinary man experiencing it to wish they were dead instead of alive.

In truth, Dea forgot what a pain-free and well-rested body felt like.

She has just gotten so used to being tired that she stopped thinking about what being fully rested meant.

In exchange for working so hard, instead of falling over dead here and there, both her own soul and the gods granted her a body that could always keep going, no matter what.

You see, for Rin, it was never a question of how much it would cost her when using her magic. Rin could have used all her abilities until she grew grey and old.

No, her problem was that she did not know how to sit down and rest.

Her body? What a joke.

Her mind? Not worth mentioning.

Her soul? The price she's paying for her own choices.

Or, that's how it should have been. 

Her body has been long run into the ground, and her mind has long shattered into something that barely resembles what it once was. The price she paid for pushing her will has reached her soul.

She should have, in all measures, died from exploiting her very being to this point.

Even gods and eldritch monsters as old as the universe itself need time to lie down and rest, yet in the far reaches of everything, one being refuses to sit down and be a bore.

The pain?

Let's forget about boring things like "paying the price." 

Here and now, Rin will devour the "price" she is paying.

Leaving the stage? End of her role?

I'll bend and twist everything that stops me from being an idol!

...

"Once again, I am so sorry for Cirno's stupidity," Daiyousei said, glaring at the ice fairy, "I would have never thought it would come to a fight between you and her when I asked you three to save her from danger!"

"But Dai-chan-"

It was ironic, seeing the once fearsome ice fairy that struck terror into my heart shrink back when her wife-

I mean her lover-

I mean girlfriend-

I mean... friend.

Yeah, her friend glared and scolded her.

Seeing the situation, I couldn't help but feel a certain warmth spread through my entire being as I observed the endearing situation.

"It's no problem. I can't blame Cirno for attacking us with the way we acted. So, act as if we just received what we deserved."

"But-"

Seeing Daiyousei's concern, I just roughly patted her head.

"No buts. The incident is far from over, and during times like this, little cuties should be hiding away in their homes, tugged in their beds. If you feel bad about the situation, help me pick flowers sometime."

"Really? Just picking flowers?"

Seeing Daiyousei look at me with big, shiny eyes, my heartstrings tugged as I felt guilty for tricking her, planning to exploit free fairy labor to gather my herb samples.

For her, it was probably something she'd do daily to pass the time, so it wouldn't make a big difference.

Still, that didn't stop me from feeling bad.

"If it's just picking some flowers, I can do that!"

Argh-

That pure gaze almost hurts.

"Hurry along now. Go to sleep, and tomorrow will be a better day!"

With that said, Daiyousei nodded along before grabbing Cirno's hand and flying off to somewhere with the ice fairy.

Of course, I did not forget to grab Marisa's hat off Daiyousei's head while my hand was still on it.

[1* Did you really think I would forget about this plot point?]

[Return the magician's hat to her.]

Sigh, so much work still left to do.

And...

[Oblivion Correction (Introductory Level)]

[Living beings are creatures that forget many things, but you do not. Though, that begs the question, not forget what?]

Seeing the cryptic description of my new skill, I wondered what it meant.

As ironic as it sounded, it felt like I was forgetting something.

So, it wasn't a skill that boosted my memory similarly to, for example, Akyuu.

Still, if I didn't realize what I was not forgetting right now, I was assured it must have been something subconscious because I felt something at the back of my head.

The fact that I don't consciously remember must be why the skill is only at the introductory level.

Still, now wasn't the time for staring at my skill list for too long.

Putting on Marisa's hat, I slowly approached the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

And for your info, no, I did not forget about my pain.

My pain is not that something that I remember yet do not.

...

"Sigh, you know that obnoxious women aren't attractive, right?"

"Oh my, but you are hardly a guest of this house. So, there is no reason for me to receive you with hospitality."

"You could have at least kept up appearances. Welcoming me with a half a battalion is a bit much, don't you think so too? It's much more shameless than fighting with me 2 vs 1."

"It's true I tried to get rid of you within the confines of my lady's orders to the best of my abilities, but now..."

After escaping from the library, Reimu followed her intuition as she rushed past countless, seemingly infinite, hallways, approaching the culprit of this incident ever more closely, but...

"I will only concern myself with the formalities after throwing your cold body out."

Upon entering a room Reimu could only describe as the main entrance hall, she was again greeted by the ever-so-perfect and elegant maid, Sakuya Izayoi.

And about 500 fairy maids armed to the teeth with halberds and longswords.

"Won't your mistress get mad at you for disobeying her orders?"

"It's kind of you to worry about me, Miss Hakurei, but..."

Sakuya lifted her hands up, seemingly readying a command to send the hundreds of fairies after Reimu.

"I already prepared myself to get scolded for my transgressions."

A dangerous red glint flashed in the maid's eyes.

Her hand fell, and with it, countless knives and fairies towards Reimu.

...

Meanwhile, in the library, there was silence.

Not in the sense that it wasn't noisy but because the lack of words thickened the air so much that it would electrify anyone entering it.

Despite the inside of this room being unbelievably loud right now, the silence between the copycat and the one-week girl was deafening.

At first glance, it might appear to be a simple fight between a homeowner and her intruder, but for the parties involved, so much more was on the line.

It was a fight between an "Eastern-style Western magician" and a "Western-style Eastern magician."

A fight between someone who was born a natural and someone who was born ordinary.

A fight to prove who loved magic more between the two of them.

In a sense, these two were the antithesis of each other. Natural enemies, so to speak.

Oil and water that couldn't mix.

Ordinarily, that is.

After all, this was Gensokyo, the land of fantasy.

The common sense of the outside world should be thrown out of the window if you are here.

And right now, the usually easygoing ordinary magician and the listless, unmoving great library were wearing expressions of bloodlust, scowls indicating that they won't show any shred of mercy towards their opponents, no matter what.

"PATCHOULI KNOWLEDGE!"

"MARISA KIRISAME!"

...

Crouching down, I was gently poking the unconscious body of the scarlet-haired beauty in front of me.

Hong Meiling.

Her title was rather unfortunate, simply being "Chinese Girl."

Then again, "Sister of Scarlet Devil" was also a title unfit to describe a particular individual.

Then again, titles for any given person depend on the point of view of the person telling it.

Just as Reimu Hakurei is commonly known as the "Shrine Maiden of Paradise" among the villagers, for Kasen Ibaraki, Reimu Hakurei was just the "Freewheeling Human."

So, for me, Hong Meiling isn't the "Chinese Girl," but the...

[Lvl. 49 Colorful Rainbow Gatekeeper, Hong Meiling]

You know, out of every eye color I thought she could have, the last one I thought she had was a deep aqua-blue.

How do I know her eye color?

She just woke up and threw a punch at my face.

As expected of a martial artist! Or did it come more from her sense of duty as the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion? 

Case in point is, she's tough as nails. Not the average person, or youkai as a fact, could wake up and be ready for a third battle after getting their ass handed to them by Reimu and Marisa back to back.

"Good morning, sunshine~. I hope the nap was a fruitful one."

"A-ah, yes. I feel much better after sleeping my exhaustion away."

For Meiling, it was probably awkward silence that followed, but for me, well, let's say I tend to ignore my surroundings when I look at a beauty.

"...You can't enter."

Came awkwardly out of Meiling as she slowly adopted a fighting stance.

"Really? I just saw a Miko and a Witch enter. Why can't I?"

I said teasingly, knowing well the answer to my questions.

I could see how Meiling's teeth clenched for a second, probably frustrated from her failure at guarding the gate, but that was the extent of her hostility.

"These two beat me fair and square in a Spellcard duel. I can hardly ignore the customs of these lands. So, I don't have much of another choice."

In her voice was...

...kindness, to describe it as, for lack of a better term.

There was a certain warmth to her reply. A gentle politeness everyone passing the gate would receive from her. That is, everyone that's not actively planning to break into the mansion.

Still, since this was the Scarlet Mist incident, she couldn't afford to be her usual cheerful and wholesome self and had to be on guard more than regularly in case intruders arrived.

Not that it helped. Meiling still got beat up in the end.

"If you want to enter the Scarlet Devil Mansion too, you have to do so over my unconscious body!"

[3* China-]

NO!

I am not fighting Hong Meiling after what I went through with Cirno!

I am not in less pain since the fight ended, and you think I have any fight left in me after that?

No, I do not.

In fact, I think I contributed enough to this incident. Even without my presence, Marisa and Reimu were enough to deal with this incident.

Especially when they were already in the mansion.

So, why am I here and not screwing off, back to Akyuu's mansion?

"Oh, no! No, you misunderstand! I am only here to watch. I am honestly too tired to help out more than I already did."

Meiling looked at me with confusion, then suspicion. She seemed to be confused as to what I meant.

"Watch? There isn't much to watch here, especially with the mist everywhere..."

True, the mist was still obscuring pretty much everything. But shiny lights can't be covered with only mist this thick.

"My~, did you forget where we are right now? After all, even if Spellcard Duels are combat, don't "beauty and thoughtfulness stand above all"?" 

It seemed Meiling immediately realized what I meant when I told her that.

After all, Danmaku were still beautiful fireworks.

"Oh-. You are here to watch the Danmaku."

It seemed that Meiling pondered my words for a moment before fully accepting them.

"Now that I think about it, that black-white's Spellcards were quite beautiful..."

She couldn't comment much of Reimu's, especially since she could only tickle one of her's out during their battle.

However, the form of the summersault kick certainly was a beautiful one.

"But I don't think you'll see much from here. After all the fights are happening inside..."

I just gave Meiling an all-knowing, gentle smile. Deciding to not give her a proper answer.

*grumble*

Before things could get awkward, a large rumble saved me from being questioned further.

Meiling was blushing furiously upon hearing that large rumble.

What could that rumble have been to make her react with blushing out of all things?

Well, the answer was quite simple. It was Meiling's stomach that grumbled.

"Hmm, someone sounds quite hungry to me."

Meiling face turned a deeper shade of red when I pointed it out.

"P-Please act as if that never happened-"

*grumble*

Another rumble. It seemed Meiling's stomach decided to take the last of Meiling's dignity here and now.

It was almost cute-

No, it was cute seeing Meiling hunched over, clenching her stomach as if trying to suppress her base need for a supply of nutrients.

Looking at the gatekeeper, I started to feel empathetic about her situation.

Guarding the gate, she got beat down twice. Both times must have been quite painful, especially if she got knocked unconscious. Her body was still riddled with the signs of her hard-fought battles.

Both of which she failed. She'll receive no praise. After all, even if she fought valiantly, she still failed her duty.

She'll get scolded, and then probably a punishment.

I wondered what kind of punishments she had to go through daily. Was it going hungry like right now?

Then again, all of it was just my assumption. I knew nothing about the Hong Meiling in front of me, just like I knew nothing about the Cirno behind me.

So, if I wanted to get to know her better, I would need to...

"Hey, want to eat dinner with me?"

...be the one to reach out.

Meiling eyes were filled with suspicion upon my question, likely wondering if any strings were attached to my offer.

"I didn't receive my dinner yet-"

*rumble*

"From the sound of it, you also didn't receive your dinner..."

"Can we stop talking about the noises my stomach makes-!"

Meiling turned silent pretty quickly just from seeing me eat a riceball.

"W-Were did you get that?"

"Hm? I brought it with me. I thought all this incident business would take a while, so I packed for something on the way."

Seeing me slowly savor my Onigiri, Meiling was drooling jealously, seeing me fill my stomach with each bite.

Still, never did she try to attack me over it or make a request for my food. It seemed her honor as a gate guard prevented her from doing so.

What strong willpower.

"Hm? You know you can ask me to share some if you are that hungry. I don't particularly enjoy people staring holes at the back of my head while I eat."

You know, looking at Meiling right now, it seemed that she was in her third life-and-death battle for the day.

It seemed ironic that suppressing her desire to eat was on the same level as fighting off Reimu or Marisa.

"I can't. As a gatekeeper, I can't receive food from strangers. After all, you'll never know what's inside the food you'll receive!"

"If that's the case, I am Rin Satsuki. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Ah- Hong Meiling, the pleasure was mine meeting you."

It should hit her any second now.

"Ah- no! Why did you introduce yourself all of a sudden?!"

"You said that you can't receive food from strangers. Now, I am not a stranger anymore."

"You know what I meant! I still can't trust you-"

*grumble*

Once again, her stomach interrupted her before she could end her sentence. At this point, her insistence on not wanting my riceballs was getting to me.

Not that I didn't understand her point, of course. But sometimes you can't help but feel annoyed at some things.

"Look, this is my own dinner. It would be pretty stupid of me to lace it with anything, especially when I didn't expect I would need to share it with anyone today. Besides, what would be the point of me helping you right now? If I wanted to, I could wait until you collapse from hunger before I enter the mansion."

"Over my unconscious body."

*rumble*

Her stomach still made horrendous noises, but it seemed that her determination wasn't any less just because her stomach was empty.

"Woah, calm down. It was just a hypothetical. Look, my point is that I am offering you half of my dinner out of the goodness of my heart. And if that doesn't convince you, I am giving it to you so your stomach can shut up! I don't enjoy hearing a starving person during my fireworks!"

"But still-"

*grumble*

It seemed that was the final nail in the coffin. 

Meiling's reasoning deteriorated, and she reached for one of my onigiris.

It seemed her hunger really was that much stronger.

Taking the riceball, Meiling greedily devoured it until not even a grain of rice was left.

"Ah~, that hit the spot-"

*rumble*

Obviously, not enough if her stomach was still making noises.

"Don't worry, I brought another leaf wrap with four more. You can have this one."

Blushing furiously, she nodded as she accepted the food.

It seemed that I finally got to enjoy a dinner with Meiling.

Not that it was romantic, or anything for that matter. There wasn't much charm in sitting on the grass and eating cold riceballs with the sun below the horizon and the moon not yet up.

There wasn't much to say about two people eating plain rice in darkness.

Still, what was important was what came afterward.

After finishing her four riceballs, Meiling yawned. It seemed her exhaustion was finally getting to her.

With a surprising lack of resistance, Meiling's body easily bent backward onto my thighs.

"Huh, what?!"

It seemed Meiling was still on guard, but with a tired body and a relaxing mood, it appeared Meiling couldn't show much resistance in the face of my hospitality.

"Meiling, is your work as a gatekeeper any fun?"

No answer. I could visibly see Meiling's hesitation to relax on her face. Her loyalty to Remilia must be great if she didn't want to slack to this extent.

Just like with Cirno, this surprised me a lot, actually. Because I was sure that Meiling was a big slacker who enjoyed napping whenever she had an opportunity.

Once again, shame crept up inside me.

Here I was, acting as if I knew all about Gensokyo's residents when all I did was read a bit about them somewhere.

After a while, Meiling asserted that I wasn't a threat, nor was there a threat close by, so after much hesitation, Meiling sighed and decided to humor me.

"How I feel about my work does not matter. Well, that's what I said, but I don't quite mean that you should keep doing your job, even if it's making you all depressed and miserable, a moreso meant-"

Once again, Meiling sighed and went into silence, but this time, it seemed for the purpose of thinking about how to express herself better.

"I meant that no matter what profession you choose, there will be ups and downs. No matter how starry-eyed you start out with your job, it's inevitable that your passion will erode, and you'll see the reality that work can't always be fun."

Another stop. It seemed that Meiling was reflecting on her life.

"I mean, how can it be? You are expected to do your job every day for the rest of your life, and even if the routine of doing the same thing doesn't bother you, the change certainly will do. Maybe not now, but it will sooner or later. After all, the world moves and constantly changes, and so does your job. It's unrealistic to expect no hardships."

Meiling touched her chin, jumping in pain as Reimu's summersault kick left quite the mark on her.

"Having said that, I am still happy being the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gatekeeper. Just because you struggle doesn't mean you have to be unhappy. Of course, you should speak up if the struggle is unnecessary, but some of it comes with the profession. Like me getting beat up while guarding the gate, or a doctor having to give sad news to the family of someone deceased, or how a mortician having to make a corpse presentable, or a teacher getting screamed at because a child is supposedly an angel that can't do anything wrong. A job will come with struggle and hardship, but no matter how much you'll suffer, if your job fulfills you and manages to feed you, is there any reason left to complain? Don't you think that's a good job for you?"

"Then why work yourself so ragged? Is it necessary to do more than is expected of you? It's not as if someone will be thankful because you did more. Instead, they'll expect you to keep doing more."

Meiling scratched her cheek. This is an expected reaction for a(n anime) person when they receive a question they don't have an answer to.

"You see. I have a co-worker... Well, she is my direct superior, but still, with how close we are, I sometimes forget about that fact."

I could see warmth in Meiling's eyes when she mentioned that person. Only someone she's very fond of should be able to trigger a reaction like that.

"She's the hardest worker in the mansion. She wakes up earlier than anyone else in the mansion and retreats to her room later than anyone else does. She's the head maid, yet she's the one who cooks, cleans, buys the groceries, does the laundry, and manages the finances for the entire mansion."

"But just because she does, doesn't mean-"

"Let me finish. That girl is so hardworking that, just like you are with me right now, I constantly worry about whether she's overworking herself. Seeing her be so earnest, I can't help but work harder myself to decrease her workload. Work harder so I can be the pillar she can lean on and rely on if she ever needs help."

"You lovesick fool! Even she has times where she rests and recovers!"

"L-Love-?! It's not like that! Besides, I said that she starts the day earlier and ends it later than anyone else does, but I think she doesn't actually go to sleep."

"WHAT?! Where is she? Lead me to that fool right now! It seems someone needs a lecture about the critical dangers of not sleeping as fast as possible!"

Seeing me agitated like that, Meiling started to panic, probably because she didn't expect it.

"Wait, why do you care so much! It's not as if you know her-"

"I am a nurse! Of course, I'll rush to a patient if I hear about her! Even if she doesn't think she needs it!"

Of course, I knew that Meiling was talking about Sakuya Izayoi. Elegant maid, illusionist, and time manipulator.

I already theorized that Sakuya probably slept when time stopped, but Meiling didn't know that I knew.

Not to mention, I didn't actually know if Sakuya could sleep when time was stopped.

So, there was all the reason for my concern about Sakuya Izayoi!

"Wait, wait, wait! I don't think she needs it!"

"How would you know?! Are you a medically trained professional?"

"Actually, I am licensed as a surgeon, but that isn't the important thing! I moreso meant that you don't need to worry about Sakuya being sleep-deprived!"

"Sakuya? Is that the name of the fool who thinks they are above sleeping?"

Meiling stopped as if she realized she said something she shouldn't have.

"That's beside the point! My argument is that she doesn't need it, Miss Nurse!"

"And why should I believe that? Every living creature has some form of a rest period where the brain powers down. If it isn't the entire brain, it's at least half their brain, and if the creature doesn't have a brain or centralized nervous system in the first place, its body still powers down for some periods to rest. A mental or physical recharge is necessary for everyone. So excuse me if I think your words are a stretch!"

Seeing the nurse so resolutely care about the health of someone she doesn't even know, Meiling sighed as she reevaluated her priorities.

She was the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, so if she could prevent someone who lacks permission to enter by just holding a conversation with them, wouldn't that be for the better?

"Sakuya has the ability to manipulate and stop time. She probably sleeps during the stopped time. That's why it appears to us that she doesn't sleep. She's probably taking all the time off she needs while we aren't aware of it."

Hearing that, Rin stopped in her tracks as she stared at Meiling.

"Stop... time? Oh, alright..."

The moment she heard that, she gave up all actions of trying to stand up, and it appeared that she sunk into deep thoughts.

Seeing that, Meiling breathed out in relief. Spellcard battle aside, as a gatekeeper, she still felt ashamed about letting two intruders in. Adding a third to the mix, and she would feel great shame.

"Alright, she can stop time. I assume it's a field that she applies once, and then it's done, and not something she needs to constantly focus on to maintain."

"Yeah, it's like that! Sakuya is really incredible! She also manipulated the space inside the mansion to make it more spacious than it actually is! So, you don't need to worry about her health being at risk because of sleep deprivation, Miss Nurse!"

"Aren't you the retarded one then for trying to keep up with someone who can stop time?"

"Argh-"

"I mean, it's one thing trying to reduce her burden, but isn't it an impossible task if the party in question has infinite time, as opposed to your 86400 seconds a day?"

Meiling averted her eyes from Rin. She had no counterargument.

"It's admirable of you to try, but compared to Sakuya, you can't rely on "time" if you want to support Sakuya. After all, the thing she isn't lacking is time. Your time is only a drop in the ocean compared to Sakuya's time."

To think that someone needed to point it out for her.

Meiling bit her lip in frustration as she heard the nurse's words. It was so obvious, yet why did it never cross her mind?

"So, no working yourself to death just to keep up with a time-manipulating maid."

Having her forehead flicked, Meiling pouted. That was unbecoming for a gatekeeper to get her head flicked. Especially when she was receiving a lap pillow. Especially when she was still working.

"Well, that was a productive conversation. If you excuse me now, it's time for me to get back to work."

But for some reason, Meiling couldn't stand up. To be exact, Rin Satsuki was holding her down.

"Rin-san-?"

For some reason, her smile seemed very menacing.

"What did I say about working yourself to death?"

"B-But I still have to guard the gate!"

"Oh, really? After sunset?"

At this moment, all her nerves screamed at Meiling that it wasn't a good idea to provoke the nurse on whose lap she was resting her head.

She had working hours well past sunset, but Meiling thought it was a good idea to not mention it now.

"Oh? Has the sun set already? I didn't notice."

"That's right, the sun has set. So, it's time to relax and let your body rest. Your muscles are screaming in pain, and it's not only from the beating you took today but also from chronically overworking it every day."

Not that Rin was the right person to say that. She was the number 1 person in Gensokyo right now for overworking herself.

"So, lie down and rest up, and tomorrow will be a brand new and better day."

For some reason, Rin's words seemed really persuasive right now. Not to mention it, but she also started to notice the pain and exhaustion her body was in right now.

Her spine felt like it was constantly getting squeezed, her head was droning in a constant but annoying rhythm, and her body felt abnormally warm, yet internally felt like she was freezing.

"Oh my. I didn't think a Youkai could come down with a fever. Geez, how much did you abuse your body to get like this?"

Meiling felt tired-

No, tired didn't cut it. Meiling was exhausted to death.

"I understand your loyalty. Your speech about work was really moving in a sense. If you feel fulfilled in your job as a gatekeeper, that must mean that your mistress means that much to you. Still, you should know your own limits. I bet you often take quick naps on your job. Standing around and doing nothing can be quite dull after all."

A soft chuckle came from Meiling. Rin took it as confirmation.

"But, an afternoon nap can't compensate for a proper sleep at night. So, lie down, relax and-"

Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

It seemed that Meiling fell asleep.

"Geez, that took a while."

Standing up, Rin patted her own lap. If her body was working as intended, she was sure they would have fallen asleep, but with her body, as it is right now, she didn't feel much difference.

"Sorry, Meiling. I lied a bit. But I will be entering the mansion."

As much as she preferred turning back right now, leaving Marisa and Reimu to deal with the incident, she still had things left to do.

Things outside of the system, things outside of her fangirling. For once, Rin decided to treat herself to something good.

"I wonder who is fighting who right now~."

...

The ability to manipulate time.

In a sense, it was an unbeatable ability.

Any action requiring quick and precise decision-making in split instants would be trivialized by simply stretching time beyond its intended frame.

On the topic of frames, you are aware of frames in video games, correct?

For any video to appear smooth, dozens of images need to be played in a single second.

One image is a frame, so to say. So, with today's standard of 60 images per second, how long do you think one of those images, one of those frames last?

The answer is around 17 milliseconds. For 30 frames per second, it's, of course, 34 milliseconds.

For reference, the average reaction time of a human is between 200 to 250 milliseconds.

If you are in the top 1% of humanity, your reaction time would be around 100 milliseconds.

It's physically impossible for a human to catch a frame through reaction alone. The reason why it's possible for speedrunners to perform frame-perfect tricks is that they have tricks and set-ups they can rely on to increase the chances of catching that 34-millisecond window.

But for Sakuya Izayoi, things like frames are trivial. 

For something people need hours upon hours of practice to reliably pull off, Sakuya Izayoi only needs to slow down time by a thirtieth.

By stretching 1 second into 30 seconds, Sakuya can easily catch those "instantaneous" moments.

That, of course, also counts for reality itself. 

Do I really need to explain how easy a fight would be if you fought someone at only a fraction of their speed?

To keep frames as an example, if you slow down world athlete Usain Bolt by a factor of 30, his world record speed of 37.58 kilometers per hour would be only a brisk 1.25 kilometers per hour.

To make you understand how slow that is, you (should) walk faster than that.

So, the result of a fight with Sakuya Izayoi should be a foregone conclusion.

"Fairy Maid Squad, advance! Live up to your obligations and show your loyalty to the mistress! All squads, ADVANCE!"

But, of course, her ability didn't come without limitations.

For example, if she were to speed herself up by 30 times, her muscles would also undergo 30 times the usual strain.

Of course, it wasn't as if she didn't train herself to withstand higher muscle strain, but too much is still too much.

So, what would happen if she were to slow her opponent by 30 times? Nothing much to her, really.

If the opponent didn't have significant resistance to magic, slowing someone down by 30 times is a cinch.

But, of course, with each successive higher rank in magic resistance, her ability would stick less and less.

And, of course-

"As expected. Not even a second."

Hakurei Reimu's rank in magic resistance could be described as EX.

Of course, Reimu would notice that Sakuya tried some funny business with her.

Turning around, she found a way through the hundreds of fairies and swung her gohei at the maid.

"Curses-"

8-times.

That's the limit of how much Sakuya could accelerate her own body before her muscles tear apart.

To think that it was necessary to go all out to dodge the shrine maiden's attack.

She was truly dangerous.

But if she ignored the consequences to her body, she could increase the acceleration to 16 times.

Any more, and she would fry her brain, forcefully stopping her.

Still, this wasn't a one-on-one.

This was a rigged game from the beginning. Even if Sakuya failed to restrain the shrine maiden with her ability, her back faced the 500 fairy maids without defense.

"Check-"

And leaving your back undefended, surrounded by enemies, is as good as a death sentence.

"-mate."

...

Magic.

The power to create miracles and make what is perceived as impossible possible.

Theoretically, a magician can recreate almost any effect if they sufficiently understand how that phenomenon works.

Still, there are inherent limits to it. After all, since it's reenacting preexisting phenomena, true miracles like creating a soul from nothing are impossible.

However, there exists a power that can make those true miracles happen. An actualization past the wall of common sense.

Since magic itself was seen as the power to make miracles happen, mages from the outside world felt it inadequate to keep calling the power that was unable to create miracles as magic.

And so, the power beyond the realm of ordinary magic was called "True Magic," and what was known as magic was renamed magecraft.

However, how the outside world operates is of no importance to Gensokyo.

Inside Gensokyo, supernatural powers were all treated as the same Youjutsu.

Whether it's magic, the sorcerous methods of magicians, dharmic arts from Buddhists, a hermit's arts, the way of Yin and Yang Onmyoudou, which Reimu employs, or even the mysterious secret arts of Esoterica, inside the boundaries outside of common sense, all abilities that are outside the ability of ordinary humans, carries the same potential.

So, if for Gensokyo, the distinction between magic and magecraft doesn't matter, why did I establish it?

The reason is simple: ignoring all science, all research, all mystery, and all common sense, the ability to cast magic has six components.

First is the caster's personal ability.

If you don't have the passion, determination, or will to suffer hardship, you are a lost cause.

Simply speaking without using any fancy words, if you suck at elementary-level maths, how can you expect to learn anything more complicated?

Second is the temperament, the potential of their soul.

The shape of everyone's soul is solely unique to the person. Their strengths, weaknesses, potential, everything a person is is engraved inside their soul.

To say it in simpler terms, it's your talent, and to go deeper on the topic, magic, or your talent in a field of magic, is predetermined to your origin as a person.

The very root of who you are.

Third is the substance. The materials and tools available to you.

Just like in natural sciences, conducting research in any field requires equipment. In chemistry, you need chemicals. In biology, you need biological material. In physics, you research the very fundamentals of the world.

For all of them, you need the knowledge of your predecessors and highly specified equipment to research those topics in the first place.

Magic, in a sense, is the same.

If you don't have the necessary materials and tools, reaching your goal is just a pipe dream.

With the fourth component, we split up from the regular academic disciplines. 

The fourth component is the space in which the magic takes place.

To describe it in broader strokes, if you conduct your magic ritual on a power spot where the dragon veins cross and the planet's natural magic circles, the leylines, converge, you could naturally perform more powerful magic rituals since you have more spiritual energy available to use.

To expand on the topic, it's also important to consider what type of element the mana in the atmosphere is for spells. For example, water magic would be strengthened near the ocean, and fire and earth magic near a volcano.

Fifth is the time at which a spell is performed. 

In places where there are distinct seasons, ice magic is almost effortlessly cast in winter. In summer, however, without a strongly ice-associated catalyst like Water Dragon scales, it's near impossible.

And lastly, the arguably most important component of magic is your fortune.

Fortune can compensate for a lack of ability in all the other five components.

If you are fortunate enough, you can cast a spell despite not having the ability to manipulate mana in the first place.

If you are fortunate enough, you can overcome your own fate.

If you are fortunate enough, you can replace professional tools with your own.

If you are fortunate enough, neither time nor space matters when you cast a spell.

After all, if magic's purpose is to recreate miracles, and you are already a walking miracle, isn't it like putting the cart in front of the horse if you tried to recreate something you already have?

Ability, temperament, substance, space, time, and fortune.

That's the essence of magic, something both Marisa Kirisame and Patchouli Knowledge had in one way or another.

Yet, their views on magic set them apart. They couldn't be more different from each other, even if they tried.

"What a pest."

Patchouli Knowledge's eyes were cold when she stared at the black-and-white witch.

There was no appreciation or consideration for the finer structures of spiritual energy.

Instead of utilizing each ounce of mana with utmost efficiency, it was a crude approach of just pouring more mana into the spell as long as the result was that it was strengthened, even if efficiency was lost in the process.

Such an unrefined way of using magic.

"Grand Moon Sign: [Artemis Affliction]"

The philosopher's stone glowed a bright cyan when Patchouli activated her spellcard.

With the most potent catalyst in her hand, things like time and place were almost laughably unimportant. Still, now that she cast it inside her atelier, below the light of the shining scarlet moon, the god of fortune smiled upon the lilac magician as the consequences of Marisa's actions dawned upon the black-white.

In an instant, crimson-tinted arrows of condensed moonlight rained down the library, leaving Marisa no room to breathe.

Or did they rise from the ground up? Marisa couldn't tell.

"Perish in ignorance as you lament your foolishness in hell."

Typically, moon magic was more passive, used as an impregnable defense to retreat to retaliate and repay the enemy tenfold.

But whether she calculated with it in mind or not, under the influence of the crimson moon of her friend's making, it turned into a vicious offensive spell.

Patchouli smiled gently upon the realization, having her best friend in mind when she started to turn around upon her expected easy victory.

Marisa Kirisame's fists clenched as she saw the retreating back of the lilac-witch.

Gritting her teeth, Marisa was pissed at her opponent's behavior.

She had everything Marisa didn't have.

Whether it was the talent of an average one, someone who was blessed by an affinity to all the elements, with the addition of the elements of the sun and moon, the time she received from being a naturally born youkai magician, the space of being able to set up such a fancy magic atelier, or even having all those catalysts, grimoires, and tools surrounding them.

Patchouli Knowledge had it all, all she didn't have.

In temperament, substance, space, time, and fortune, Patchouli Knowledge beat her in all of them.

Of course, Marisa knew how fortunate she was. If her fortune didn't shine on her, she wouldn't have been able to set foot into the world of fantasy when she was just born an ordinary daughter of a merchant.

Yet, looking around her, it was clear which of the two was the more fortunate between the two of them.

She was jealous. Jealous to the point that her liver turned green. Being looked down upon and not seen as an equal despite all the "ability" she had. Despite all the insurmountable effort she had put in.

Not that she would ever admit it in front of everyone, not with Reimu around.

Her eyes flared red when she saw herself being so blatantly disrespected.

Just because she stood upon her monolith of hard work doesn't mean she had the right to look down upon her hard work!

Magic was all about power! And if it didn't work, you clearly didn't use enough power!

"Magic Sign: [Stardust Reverie]"

So, what if she had a fancy stone like the philosopher's.

Under the onslaught of crimson-tinted arrows, all her 100 magical circuits flared up as her Mini-Hakkero glowed red hot.

In an instant, Marisa covered the distance between her and Patchouli Knowledge.

The lilac magician barely noticed when she turned and looked behind her, shocked to see the rat that invaded her home rush past the curtain of arrows.

Suffice it to say, but that was the most brutal crash Patchouli experienced in her entire life.

...

To see is to believe.

In Gensokyo, this saying counted double, especially when faith and belief turned things into reality here.

Yet, Sakuya Izayoi saw something that she couldn't believe in front of her. Or, the lack of seeing a certain someone made her doubt herself.

In an instant, Reimu Hakurei disappeared in front of her.

Her, whose brain was accelerated tenfold, couldn't follow the movement of a person who couldn't manipulate time.

"-mate."

Came from behind her.

Turning her head slightly, she could see the silhouette of a shrine maiden in the corner of her eyes.

Realizing her situation, Sakuya Izayoi smiled a slight and mysterious smile as she saw her imminent defeat.

Shrine Maiden behind, dozens of halberds in front.

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

She had to admit it.

She underestimated her opponent a bit too much.

"Illusion World: [The World-..."

Sakuya shook her head as she whispered those words under her breath.

[Sakuya's World] was a much more fitting descriptor.

The world was frozen in place, and all the vibrant colors of the Scarlet Devil Mansion were tinted in a dull and mundane grey.

This was her world. 

A frozen, lonely place that was like a snapshot of the "present."

The landscape of her mind and how she perceived reality through her eyes.

Her inner world materialized and projected into the real world.

"My world. My reality marble."

This is where all of time begins and all of time ends.

Pulling out her pocket watch, she opened it and started the timer.

"1 second."

There was no particular reason why she did so. After all, if she wanted to, she could deploy her reality marble indefinitely.

But if you tried to force a reason out of her why she kept track of time, it would be because her mistress commanded her to pay attention to her own lifespan.

After all, even if her reality marble stopped time, Sakuya wasn't immortal.

But even among reality marbles, hers was a bit of an outlier. Time perceived for her might seem like several weeks, but for the rest of the world, her world existed but for an instant.

It wasn't enough time to react and try to correct it because it seemed it was corrected the moment it appeared.

For the world, Sakuya's world was but an instant, but for Sakuya, it could be years.

But now that time stood still, she was invincible.

Turning around, Sakuya stared at the face of the shrine maiden for a while.

It was a beautiful, youthful face, fitting for that of a maiden. Despite the entire situation, there was no hint of bloodlust on that blemishfree young face.

If she had to describe the expression, it was one of annoyance. As if this was just a major inconvenience for her, but only that.

An inconvenience.

Sakuya chuckled as she caressed the face of the girl in front of her. Sakuya wondered how she would react if she knew what was happening to her right now?

Not that she would ever find out.

Taking out one of her knives, she twirled it around elegantly before driving it into the shrine maiden's chest.

Or that's what she wished to do. After all, since time around her was stopped, she couldn't affect anything around her.

The exception was the air around her, in which atoms were apparently dispersed far enough from each other that she could push them aside even when the time was stopped.

All her knife did was 

*tink* 

one time disappointingly against the shrine maiden's chest, getting slightly chipped in the progress.

In this world where time stood still, she was invincible. But so was everything around her.

In this frozen world, nothing could affect her, but she couldn't affect it in return. Solid things became unbreakable, liquids became as hard as the ground she stood on, and even the air resisted her as if she were walking beneath the water.

It was a world isolated from life, a twisted mindscape created by the world abandoning her.

The flow of time was meant to be shared with everyone, yet she was the only one who didn't receive its grace.

Whether it was when she was a little child abandoned by those around her because of her ability.

Whether it was when she was a genius school girl.

Whether it was when she was an ordinary maid.

Whether it was when she was a murderer veiled in shadows.

Whether it was when she was a renowned vampire hunter.

Whether it was when she was a benevolent goddess.

Whether it was when she saw the death of the universe.

The flow of time always escaped her, and then she was all alone again.

In her world, while she could pull inanimate objects into the time flow of her own world, living things were excluded.

It was the fate someone who was abandoned by the world received.

"1 minute."

One minute has passed.

Sighing, Sakuya could only chuckle at herself for getting so cornered that she had to stop time.

Jumping back, she made it to the backlines of the crowd of fairies before throwing a precise knife toward the head of the Miko as she resumed time again.

"Zero."

The moment she reset her stopwatch, time started resuming again.

As a result of disappearing from the space she was previously in, Reimu's gohei soared through nothing, making the Shrine Maiden stumble from the momentum.

Then, as she barely regained her balance, the fairies she previously dodged were in front of her again.

"You really aren't making it easy for me here."

The Miko sighed helplessly.

She had to admit it.

She underestimated her opponents a bit too much.

By all measures of common sense, with her stance broken like that, there should have been no possible future where Reimu Hakurei would get out of this unscathed.

Yet, like a butterfly in the wind, she fluttered through the onslaught of deadly weapons aiming at her as if it were a mere breeze.

Left, right, through the center, a jump backward, all of the attacks missed her by a hair's breadth.

But Sakuya knew this was never enough to endanger the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

500 against 1.

It was clear seeing these numbers who were outmatched.

It was the 500.

Fluttering in the air, an impossible amount of ofuda spilled from her sleeve.

"Spirit Sign: [Fantasy Seal -Spread-]" 

As the slips of paper rained down on the fairies, a bloodbath was created as they effortlessly passed through steel and flesh.

Still, while overly focused on the army of fairies, Sakuya evaded Reimu's line of sight while throwing knives at the back of her head.

One second.

One second will be enough time for Sakuya to end this fight. 

One opportunity was all she needed.

And that opportunity came when Reimu was getting pressured from 26 sides simultaneously.

"Time Sign: [Private Square]"

By stopping time and dashing toward the opponent, she could close the distance to an opponent before they could react to her attack. Then, if she released her time stop right before hitting her opponent, the effects of her world would dissipate, and her opponent would be skewered effortlessly.

Why didn't she do so when she caressed Reimu's face?

The timing of deploying and then releasing her reality marble was quite erratic.

That is to say, Sakuya hasn't got quite the timing right, so she needed to set her attack up to use it in battle.

After all, this was meant to be an invisible attack that hit the opponent before they even realized it.

If her blade didn't at least touch the opponent before the time stop was released, what was the point?

Not to mention, but she was sure if she didn't do at least this much, Reimu could have enough time to react and plaster her all over the ground.

But all was done right, so Sakuya's blade easily slid through the shrine maiden's chest.

Shock filled the maiden's expression as the sword easily pierced through her body.

The fight was over.

For Sakuya.

"Scattered Spirit: [Dream Seal 'Worn']"

The fake body Sakuya pierced turned into countless scattered lights before they took form and restrained her.

Sakuya found herself unable to move.

"How-"

Reimu reappeared before the maid, laying hands on the aforementioned's throat.

As she got choked out, Sakuya realized that the army of fairies was incapacitated.

The fight was over.

"How could you react to my attack."

Sakuya barely managed to squeeze those words out as her airflow got restricted.

"My, it seems you can't just accept what happened. Oh well, I don't think I'll lose out on much if I take my time to explain it to you. Oh, now that I mention it, it's funny how I mentioned time, didn't I?"

Upon hearing the word "time," Sakuya's heart sank.

"When did you realize-!"

"Your ability to manipulate time certainly is a strong one. But that's the problem. It's too strong."

Sakuya believed to see a hint of lunacy in Reimu's eyes, as she was sure she just saw a red tint in them.

But that tint was gone with the next blink as if she hallucinated now.

"With your ability, you can turn even a skilled fighter into nothing but a marionette in the palm of your hand. With that ability alone, I am certain that killing is just a child's play to you."

"Exactly, so how-!"

"However, that's where your sole problem lies. You lack tremendously in battle experience."

"What-?!"

She? She, out of everyone, is lacking in battle experience? She, who was involved in so many fights?

"Hm~. It seems you haven't quite grasped it yet. Let me spell it out for you. That ability made you misjudge slaughter for battle. You made the mistake of exposing your trump card to your enemy in a fight. Or what? You think I would fall for the same trick twice?"

That's when it hit Sakuya. 

Was it when she carried Lady Patchouli away from danger or just now when she had to freeze time to escape a dangerous situation?

Not that it ultimately mattered.

From those times alone, Reimu deduced the nature of her ability, her habits of using it, and even the timing of its activation.

In an instant, when she went for the kill, Reimu deployed a decoy, and the moment time resumed, she already fell into her trap.

Sakuya grits her teeth.

She felt that it was beyond reasonable for a human to flawlessly manage to execute a plan like that in the heat of battle.

For the first time in her life, she was defeated by a human.

"Hm? Why did you say that? You are human, just like me."

Huh? Did I say that out loud?

Loosening her grip, Reimu turned around and flew up the staircase.

For a moment, Sakuya wondered why Reimu would let her go like that. But before she could voice her thoughts, Sakuya felt an electric jolt run through her entire body through the ofudas.

"What a vicious... trap."

Sakuya's consciousness faded as she smashed into the ground with nobody to catch her.

It was her complete defeat.

"Geez, did this girl have to be so vicious about this?"

Before her mind completely faded, her ears perceived the sound of another girl.

"Hm, should I heal her or not? I don't know if that's a good idea..."

Heal? Was the person a nurse of some kind?

"Hehe~, screw it! That way, things will be more fun!"

Fun? What was happening right now?

...

Voile Library.

Both magicians were sprawled all over the ground.

The black-white was lying on her back, and the lilac on her stomach.

Both were breathing heavily.

"Mukyu... how can you dodge so briskly? You are more of a circus performer than a magician..."

Patchouli was clutching her stomach as she rose up from the ground. She still felt that initial hit from their first fight until now.

She had dozens of defensive spells and barriers constantly activated around her, but to think someone would smash through all of them with brute force?

"That's because of her. If I couldn't do at least this much, I wouldn't even stand a chance against her. Anyway, the last round was my win. So, it stands six against four for me now. Meaning, it's my overall win! I won this exchange between us just now!"

At this point, Marisa thoroughly exhausted herself. She hoped Patchouli wouldn't read her bluff and challenge her to another round.

That's how their entire battle went just now.

One would capture the other their Spellcard, and the defeated party wouldn't admit defeat, so they would add another Spellcard round to their duel.

"So you say!"

Patchouli acted defiantly, but that was the extent of her abilities when her asthma acted up again.

She could barely hold her coughing back as she forcefully circulated air through her windpipe.

Even if this wasn't good for her, she didn't want to seem worse than that human magician.

"Well, I am pretty tired. So, let's have a truce."

Patchouli was quite irked by the thought of getting an olive branch extended by her opponent. She knew it was the rational thing to do, but right now, she felt pretty irrational.

"Oh? The two of you are calling a truce? Count me in. Sides, it looks much more interesting over there right now~."

The two immediately turned their heads upon the sound of a third party. But when Marisa saw the new arrival, her tense shoulders relaxed immensely.

"Wah-. It's just you, Rin. Don't shock me like that. My heart can't take stuff like that right now, da ze~☆."

Not Patchouli. She was immensely more stressed than before.

"Who is she! How did she make it in here?!"

"Oh? Her? Relax, she's just-"

Before Marisa could take her self-introduction away, Rin just pushed her hat into Marisa's face and shut her up.

"My hat! Thanks, Rin! Did you manage to clear up the misunderstanding between us and her?"

Rin just gave a tired thumbs-up to Marisa. She wasn't in the mood to recount her battle with Cirno.

Specifically when her body was still reminding her of that fight.

"Anyways. Rin Satsuki. Nurse. Honestly, I wanted to turn tail and wash my hands clean from this incident hours ago. But when I thought about all the injured people as the result of this incident, I couldn't turn my back away."

Patchouli was pretty doubtful when she heard the blond girl's words. Who in their right mind would invade a youkai mansion only to heal its residents?

She couldn't quite believe that.

"Marisa, did you take your potion already?"

"Ages ago. It was pretty helpful. Gave me a second wind in the fight. Wouldn't have won without it, pretty sure of that, da ze~☆."

So that was the mysterious vial she took in the middle of round 3 of their fight.

She had to admit it, but Marisa got pretty peppy after she drank that one.

That made Rin seem a bit more credible.

"Well, time to put your weapons down and let me attend you. I am sure the show about to play would be significantly more fun if our bodies weren't in constant pain."

Marisa scoffed.

"Yeah. That's not something we should pass on watching."

Confused at their words, Patchouli turned around, looking out the ceiling towards the night sky.

That's when she saw it. The Hakurei Shrine Maiden and the Scarlet Devil were facing each other.

"So it's already time for the finale."

Time until the incident is resolved:

[1 hour]