Remilia Scarlet gently reached down and pinched Flandre's soft cheek, cutting off her whining with a look of maternal amusement.
"Do not rush in so recklessly!" Remilia chided softly. "There is someone far more important who needs to speak with her right at this very second. We can comfortably wander over and offer our formal congratulations a little bit later once they have caught their breath."
Although Flandre did not quite understand the complex emotional nuances of the adult reunion, she obediently stopped her restless thrashing and stood quietly beside Remilia, her vibrant crystal wings shimmering lazily in the ambient light.
Nearby, Yelena was already completely surrounded by a dense, emotional crowd consisting of the high-ranking officers and tactical staff of the Reunion Movement.
"You all keep asking how exactly I physically feel right now?" Yelena replied, a soft, incredibly genuine smile gracing her refined features as she looked upon the anxious faces of her comrades. "To be completely honest, I do not really feel much of anything unusual at all. It honestly just feels as though I simply laid down and slept through a very, very long afternoon nap. Because of that deep rest, my mind feels infinitely more clear-headed than ever before."
"Then... has your terminal Oripathy been successfully controlled and halted?" Alina questioned softly, her gentle eyes scanning Yelena's current physical appearance, which now looked uniquely exquisite and pristine, almost like a flawless fairytale princess.
Yelena paused in place for a brief, silent moment before choosing her words carefully.
"It should definitely be considered completely controlled... I feel exceptionally good right now."
Hearing that definitive statement pass her lips, the intense physiological tension and dread that had just risen like a suffocating cloud among the gathered crowd instantly relaxed, replaced by collective sighs of profound relief.
"Speaking of which, I genuinely feel absolutely fantastic right now," Yelena continued, her eyes suddenly lighting up with an uncharacteristic, enthusiastic spark of physical energy. "Why don't we all head straight over to the primary military training ground for some practical combat practice?"
"Your body literally just recovered from a state of total cardiac arrest..." Talulah scolded gently, her protective instincts flaring as she subconsciously reached out her hand to grab Yelena's forearm to steady her. The very next second, Talulah froze completely in sheer, absolute shock.
It was widely known across the entire upper echelon of the Reunion Movement that due to the horrific severity of her terminal Oripathy and her notoriously difficult-to-control ice-based Originium Arts, Yelena's physical body temperature had always remained at a permanently sub-zero level. Prior to this day, any direct skin-to-skin physical contact with her would easily cause severe, localized frostbite to the other person within seconds.
But right now, Talulah was directly holding Yelena's bare hand in her own.
Never mind the shockingly delicate, smooth touch of her skin. Just the physical temperature alone was staggering—though it was undeniably cool to the touch, it was a perfectly safe, stable temperature. It did not bite into her flesh, nor would it cause a single trace of frostbite to manifest.
Yelena naturally noticed Talulah's wide-eyed, stunned reaction and nodded her head with a knowing smile.
"I can completely control and regulate my own body temperature autonomously now," Yelena explained softly, squeezing her friend's hand back. "That is right, Talulah... you do not ever have to worry about getting severely hurt or burned by touching my body anymore."
"Is that truly real? Hey, let me feel! It really is just a bit cool, but it actually feels quite comfortable!" Hearing Yelena's incredible revelation, Alina eagerly reached out her arm and gently took hold of her other hand, her eyes beaming with pure joy at the miracle.
As for the rest of the gathered spectators...
A large group of rough, battle-hardened frontline men simply stood in a wide circle, not single one of them daring to casually step forward to touch Yelena's hands. They knew damn well that if they tried to do so, they would be immediately and brutally beaten to death by their own intensely protective colleagues on the spot.
Buldrokkas'tee, standing just a few paces away like a towering iron fortress, was privately filled with a massive wave of internal surprise as he witnessed Talulah and Alina comfortably holding both of Yelena's bare hands without a care in the world. The veteran commander truly had not expected that Yelena's physical vessel had not merely gotten completely better, but that her fundamental underlying control over her intrinsic elemental Arts had also strengthened to such an unprecedented, effortless degree.
At Yelena's stubborn, unyielding insistence, the entire grand procession of soldiers and leaders left the medical wing and grandly headed straight out to the primary military training ground situated just outside the city borders.
Once she reached the center of the dusty, reinforced arena, she took a steady breath and, following her old instincts, activated her core ice-based Originium Arts.
VUUUM—
In an absolute flash, dozens of massive, jagged ice spikes instantly materialized out of thin air, hovering rigidly in the sky. The sheer speed of the manifestation was so violently instantaneous that it actually startled even Yelena herself.
She knew better than anyone that previously, activating her fragile body to channel enough Originium Arts to form heavy ice spikes always required a distinct, grueling period of concentration and physical strain. For them to appear so suddenly and perfectly formed, as they had just done now, was a terrifying level of efficiency she had not anticipated in the slightest.
But as a hardened warrior, she quickly stabilized her shocked composure, waving her delicate hand forward in a sharp, sweeping motion to send several ice spikes shooting outward through the air like artillery shells.
The exact millisecond they impacted the thick, reinforced wooden practice targets, those heavy ice spikes violently burst, instantly freezing the entire structural area into massive, solid blocks of deep blue ice.
"Hiss... Yelena, your core Originium Arts have gotten quite a bit stronger than before!" Talulah exclaimed, letting out a sharp breath as her eyes scanned the frozen targets not far away.
Yelena raised her own pale hands, staring down at her palms in absolute wonderment. When she had actively controlled her Arts just a moment ago, the entire process had felt as simple, fluid, and effortless as drawing a basic breath of fresh air. There was absolutely none of that horrific, familiar previous sensation of needing to violently squeeze her internal organs dry just to unleash a single offensive wave.
Alina, standing directly beside her, watched the display with shining, calculating eyes. She walked over to Yelena's side, murmuring a few quiet, analytical questions about her internal energy flow, and then tilted her head toward the main entrance of the training ground, where little Flandre and her entourage were currently peeking their heads out to watch.
"Yelena, do you still clearly remember the unique aerial combat style of Flandre and the others that we witnessed together before your collapse?"
Hearing Alina's pointed inquiry, Yelena's expression instantly grew deeply thoughtful.
She knew exactly what her friend meant by that statement. The primary reason her physical condition had catastrophically worsened to the point of death previously was because she had desperately tried to imitate that precise, high-speed projectile move called "Danmaku" utilized by the entities of Gensokyo. Forcing her failing Cautus body to manifest and project Originium Arts in such astronomical quantities and at such hyper-accelerated speed was completely, fundamentally impossible for her at that time, which had resulted in her Oripathy instantly rupturing and nearly killing her on the battlefield.
But right now...
Yelena raised her delicate hand once again, her eyes focusing on the empty air. In an absolute instant, countless hundreds of sharp, gleaming ice spikes materialized in a massive, sweeping formation across the sky, before shooting forward toward the designated targets like a devastating, continuous carpet bombardment.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Within a matter of seconds, the entire far end of the training field was completely turned into a massive, jagged miniature iceberg.
Witnessing this apocalyptic display of destructive power, every single soldier present in the arena collectively gasped in utter awe and terror. That terrifying, instantaneous firepower was easily nearly ten times greater than what she was capable of outputting before her resurrection. Coupled with her already legendary, master-class hand-to-hand tactical combat ability, Yelena could now comfortably be considered the functional equivalent of an entire elite Caster Squad all by herself.
Many of the officers who had previously witnessed Flandre's chaotic combat style on the battlefield subconsciously turned their heads toward the main entrance of the training field.
There, they saw Flandre and her group enthusiastically clapping their hands together, clearly thoroughly impressed by how quickly and effortlessly Yelena had managed to master the absolute foundational basics of launching a Danmaku barrage.
Alina smiled and gestured with her hand, beckoning for Flandre to come over.
The very next instant, she saw the little girl whoosh across the field, appearing right before them like a gust of wind.
"Sister Alina is so silly!" Flandre giggled cheekily the moment her feet touched the ground. "Sister Yelena already knows exactly how to utilize proper Danmaku just a few minutes after waking up from her big sleep, but Sister Alina still hasn't managed to learn how to do it at all!"
Hearing the blunt, childish roast, every single veteran soldier present in the arena struggled immensely to keep a straight, professional face.
Alina didn't get angry in the slightest. She merely chuckled warmly, leaning down to playfully pick up Flandre in her arms. "So, Yelena, is this truly what you would consider a proper Danmaku?"
Flandre nodded her head vigorously, her blonde side-tail swaying.
"Yes! Sister Yelena has already completely learned the basic, fundamental method for releasing raw Danmaku. Next, she just needs to get completely used to the internal rhythm of the continuous release and develop her own signature, personalized Danmaku style! Once she does that, she can finally play proper Danmaku battles with Flandre!"
The little girl paused for a brief moment after saying this, her eyes drifting down toward Yelena's boots.
"However, Sister Yelena still absolutely needs to learn how to cast the Flight Spell. Otherwise, being permanently grounded like a normal person puts her at a huge, miserable disadvantage against airborne enemies who can shoot down at her from the sky."
Hearing little Flandre's assessment, Yelena looked slightly surprised, her rabbit ears twitching. "I... I can truly learn how to fly?"
"Cirno and Letty can both fly through the sky completely naturally, so why exactly shouldn't you be able to?" Flandre asked with an absolute, righteous sense of internal logic.
This direct question genuinely stumped Yelena for a solid moment, as the concepts of native Terran physics warred with her new reality. The surrounding Reunion Movement officers also turned their heads, looking toward Alina for some sort of logical explanation.
Alina recalled the exact magical requirements and spiritual parameters needed for learning the foundational Flight Spell, then looked at Yelena's altered form and nodded her head in agreement.
"What Flandre states is entirely true, Yelena. You can absolutely learn how to fly... Or rather, utilizing flight should eventually become entirely instinctual for your new body."
On their long walk over to the training grounds, Alina and little Flandre had secretly chatted for a long time regarding the medical notes, and Alina was currently much clearer regarding the precise parameters of Yelena's current physical condition.
Currently, although Yelena still strictly retained her classic, familiar Cautus appearance, in biological and spiritual reality, her essence should be considered one-third Ice Fairy, one-third Yuki-onna, and one-third unique creation of pure Originium. As for her original mortal bloodline, it had been assimilated and diluted to a completely negligible extent during the reconstruction.
And for both Fairies and Yokai native to Gensokyo, flight was an absolute, intrinsic instinct that did not require academic study or external machinery to achieve. Therefore, as long as Yelena granted herself a bit of time to adapt, taking to the skies wouldn't be difficult for her at all.
At this exact moment, Remilia Scarlet and the rest of her inner circle also walked smoothly into the center of the training arena.
She elegantly sized up FrostNova from head to toe before speaking in her regal tone, "I can clearly tell that your overall physical condition is exceptionally good right now. If you ever have any deep questions regarding your new body or your altered Magic, you can always come find us at the mansion."
Talulah stepped forward, her eyes bright as she looked between the sisters. "Flandre keeps endlessly talking about this 'Danmaku game' of yours. I am honestly quite curious... could I possibly witness a live demonstration of it right now?"
The very instant those words left Talulah's mouth, Flandre's face lit up with pure excitement, and she immediately flew straight up into the air with a joyful shout.
"Sister! It has been such a long time since we last had a proper Danmaku battle! Let's play a round right here, right now!"
Remilia rubbed her forehead with a soft groan; her younger sister was simply far too lively and hyperactive, which was always an absolute headache to manage.
"Fine, fine. Patchy, you go ahead and act as the official referee!"
Patchouli Knowledge nodded her head in silent agreement, her lavender robes fluttering as she also floated straight up into the sky to oversee the arena.