59. - The First and Last Saga - Flame of Hope - A Touhou Project Series

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𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 59: 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙉𝙤𝙬𝙖 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙯𝙚𝙧.

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A/N: For those who couldn't parse the ASCII art, it's his hand handing out the chapter gesture.

Huh… I created a substory, but the deal I've made did not go into effect. "For those who couldn't parse the ASCII art, it's his hand handing out the chapter gesture." Funny.

A/N: What?

…Nothing. Just do your job, render the story.

A/N: . . . The chapter begins:

In the Barren World, a substory path of the timeline, there was a man with a heavy past. He stood his ground, arms crossed. His jacket, patched by Ms. Sakuya, swayed with the wind. His eyes were fixated on the confused girls.

Wait… Why am I narrating this way? Are we deadass back in chapter one of this series? Bruh, it's my own goddamn story mode!

Fuck it, let's go ball my way!

"What the heck?!" Marisa yelped, scanning her surroundings.

Reimu was shaken, doing the same.

Remilia held a hand to the sky, blocking the sun's rays, seemingly amazed at not being burned. Sakuya was stunned, but it was MY word that allowed her to exist under the sun.

Patchouli was writing her experience in her grimoire. "Instant transition to another world. Mukyuu~…" she murmured.

Yukari slowly fanned herself. "My, my… It seems we're in a completely different story. The format is very different from before."

Ran noted the surroundings, barren, just as I said. Chen peered from behind her. She was still a cute car.

I stood at a distance from them. "This," I started, "is one of the high-tier Meta-physics the universe hid."

They turned to me.

"H-high-tier…?" Reimu said.

"W-woah, what does it do, Nowa?" Marisa asked.

I tapped my temple with my index finger. "How do I explain this…" I murmured. "It's named Story Path Divergence, kinda like Editorial. It's a fourth-wall, fifth-wall, six, yatiyata thing. Basically, I just moved us to an IF-route of your current plot." I paused. "I just created a temporary branch where this can happen."

"But you said… you would demonstrate the low level. Why?" Reimu asked.

"I am," I said, placing a hand on my side. "Just not in a way you all would think. Later, once we start, that's the low level. Everything will matter for why I had to do this."

Reimu was silent for a moment before she spoke. "You said 'IF-route of our plot,'" she said slowly. "What exactly does that mean for us? Are we still… us?"

"Yes."

"Then why does it feel like the ground is wrong?" Her hand went to her chest. "Why do I feel like I've been moved, but not by a spell?"

"Because you weren't moved by a spell," I said. "You were moved by narrative. That's how Editorial feels firsthand."

"…That doesn't make sense."

"Not yet. But it will."

Patchouli closed her grimoire and looked at me. "This 'world' you've created, it still feels like Gensokyo. There are no changes in the air or matter. So this 'IF-route' of Gensokyo works like our world, but in this playground where we could do anything. Hence the name 'IF,' does it?"

I turned to her. "Correct." I paused. "Enough chit-chat. Adhere to what I'm about to say."

They all focused on me.

Finally, I spoke. "This is a spar against me. I want you all to go all out. Your rules are not applied here."

Yukari shut her fan. "Do you realize what you're saying, Beckitzer? We are capable of killing individuals without those rules we impose on ourselves in Gensokyo."

"I don't mind," I stated. "If you can kill me, go for it. I won't hold a grudge." I smirked.

The words hung in the air. For a moment, no one moved.

Reimu exhaled, low and slow. "…Just don't make me regret this, Nowa."

I met her eyes. "I won't."

Cuz the story says otherwise.

She didn't look convinced. But she didn't argue.

Marisa stretched her arms over her head. "Don't worry, Nowa. I'll aim for the limbs, not the face."

I snorted. "Appreciated, Mushroom Kid. But that ain't gonna cut it."

Then, a quiet voice cut through.

"Beckitzer."

I turned. Sakuya hadn't moved from her place. Her eyes had moved away from Remilia, her worry about burning under the sun gone, and were now on me.

"Before this begins," she said, "I need you to answer something."

"Shoot."

"You said we could kill you. That you wouldn't hold a grudge." A pause. "That isn't what I'm asking."

I waited.

"If we do this, if we go all out, what will you do when someone gets hurt? Because someone will. It's inevitable."

I didn't answer right away.

"You'll hold back," she said. "You'll hesitate. Because that's what you do. You protect. Even when it costs you."

I met her gaze. "And you think that's a problem."

"I think it's the only reason we're still alive to have this conversation."

A longer silence.

Then, softer: "So don't die on us, Beckitzer. Not for this. Not as a lesson."

I didn't smile. But something in my chest shifted.

"…I'll try."

Sakuya held my gaze a moment longer, then looked away. "Then try harder."

I was silent for a moment longer, absorbing what she just said to me. Then—

"Right, listen up!" I clapped twice, briefly. They turned. "The rules have been changed. I just came up with a better idea."

"What do you mean?" Ran asked.

"The rules are still the same, but now, with how I'll approach this, it's a game of tag. Each person my hand tags gets out of the game. Of course, attack all you want and how you want. I just have to tag you three times. And of course, I still won't use any active skill runes, abilities, or my explosive mana footwork technique. Just my base stats, knowledge, passives, and my grappling liquid rune. Sound good?"

A brief silence followed.

Reimu exhaled slowly. "Tag." She said. "The goal is to stop you at all costs, and your way of fighting back is to tag us." She shook her head. "That's almost worse. Now we have to dodge you."

"Nah, this is better," Marisa said, manifesting her broom and hefting it to her shoulder. "Now we just have to outrun him, ze." She grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Probably."

Yukari watched me with quiet amusement. "You've chosen well, Beckitzer. This will reveal far more about us than a simple fight would." She closed her fan and placed it within her sleeves. "I do hope you're ready for what you'll see."

Patchouli spoke. "If he's limited to base stats, then his tactics will be to go as fast as he can."

Ran nodded. "Alright, let's talk this out of his earshot."

They nodded and huddled in the distance, away from my earshot, murmuring strategy.

I waited for them. Moments later—

Remilia, Reimu, and Sakuya in the front. Chen, Marisa, and Ran in the middle. Then Yukari and Patchouli at the back. They all went into battle stance.

"Interesting formation," I murmured.

Reimu manifested her Gohei. "We're ready."

I nodded.

"Alright." A long pause. "Begin."

The world froze.

It was Sakuya's time stop ability. She turned around. Remilia was already lunging forward alongside Reimu. Marisa was already in flying motion with her broom, Chen at her back. Patchouli was beginning to form a strong fire magic circle by her hand, while Ran and Yukari looked at the battlefield, waiting for my response.

They were all in mid-motion. Then she turned to me, standing still, watching them.

She finally walked towards me in the frozen time, taking out a knife. When she reached me, she stared for a bit, slightly unsettled that my eyes were directly looking at her.

"Is he… Can he perceive me in my ability?"

"Well, yeah," I answered.

She flinched and backflipped twice to gain distance. She was in a defensive stance now.

I scratched my chin. "Good decision."

…And prolly didn't have to flash panties though. Is it panties? Dunno, looks like shorts to me.

"I have a question," she said. The world around us still frozen.

"Yeah?"

She was silent for a moment longer. Then—

"Am I no longer… relevant in this fight?"

I blinked. "Huh? Why?"

She pressed her thin lips. Her grip on her knife tightened. "Because my ability is time manipulation, and… this is the second time someone was able to move in my world." A pause. "So… that means the upcoming fight will likely show more time-resistant beings like you."

I was silent for a moment. "How do you apply your ability in a fight?"

She looked aside briefly before returning to me. "I apply time stop, time slow, time accelerate, everything related to time, depending on the situation."

I tapped my chin. Time slow and accelerate, huh?

Then I looked at her. "There's more to it, you know."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"There are other applifications that bypass conceptual immunity. It's how I work. When this fight is over," I smiled, "I'll teach you personally."

She was stunned for a moment.

I watched her. "For now, I suggest you protect your backline."

She blinked, then recomposed herself. "Will do."

She released her hold on time, and the world resumed.

Remilia reached me first with incredible speed. I blocked her fist with a forearm, sending a shockwave behind me.

Her strength was outstanding for her size, I'll tell you that.

"Impressive, missy."

Remilia widened her eyes and flew back. "Interesting."

From the air, Marisa fired a lance of focused, thin Master Spark, making me step sideways.

Nice follow-up.

Then, after a heartbeat, Reimu appeared with ofuda ready in her fingers. I spun and ducked my upper body, barely dodging her tagging technique. I curled into a frontflip without jumping, carrying the momentum of my spin, and my foot landed on her abdomen. I used her as a springboard, giving myself distance while pushing her backward.

"Wha—!" As she was pushed back, she threw homing and non-homing amulets at me while I traveled. Marisa returned fire with stars.

I dug my fingers into the ground to stop my momentum, flipping myself as the star barrage landed just behind me. Then I performed side and front flips, dodging the amulet and star barrages.

Then I stopped dead. I sensed it.

I rolled to the side before a rift opened underneath me, Marisa's and Reimu's missed attacks flew out of it. I looked at Yukari. She had woven those from a distance. The fire above Patchouli that she was channeling was now intense and big, a gigantic fireball.

"Heh." While I was mid animation of rolling, I used my hand to reverse-flip-mid-air backward before Remilia's sky-dive bomb connected with the ground, cratering it and scattering debris.

"He's in the air!" Marisa yelled. "Patchy!"

"Sun Sign: Royal Flare!" Patchouli shot the fireball toward me mid-air. As it flew, another rift opened, and a hand shot out. This time, Reimu's ofuda connected with my boots.

"I tagged him! He won't be able to move for a while!" she said, pulling her arm away before activating a seal gesture. It spread hundreds of paper tags, chaining me in the air.

I turned to the fireball coming at me. The mini-sun connected and exploded, sending intense heat and shockwave, burning the surrounding ground.

From Marisa, who had charged her Mini-Hakkero: "Master Spark!" A large lance of spark shot forth, merging with the center of the fireball's explosion.

From the ground, Remilia manifested a giant spear made of concentrated red energy. "Take this!" She hurled it with incredible speed. "Divine Spear: 'Spear the Gungnir!'"

Their combined assault struck me. A gigantic explosion erupted from where I was.

From Reimu's position: "Did we get him?"

Flame and smoke rose from where I was. Then, I came out of the fading flames, the chains burned away by the attacks, holding both the contained-sunball and the spear.

"That's impossible!" Remilia yelled. "You should've been burned to a crisp!"

"Nah. I'm not the titled FlameNoah for a reason."

I forced the fireball and spear into one magic. The mixture was immense and couldn't contain the power, and burst before me. From the fading flames:

"I have natural resistance to heat base attack. If you want to give me burn skin, you have to throw the same intensity as a black hole first!"

I then landed.

"This isn't a fight anymore, Beckitzer," Remilia stated. "You absorbed my strength, our strongest chain attacks, and are seemingly immune to it. In other words—"

Patchouli finished it. "You are an omnipotent being. We can't overturn this. Is this the lesson?"

I sighed. "Yes and no. First, I just happen to have a really hard body after all the things I've been through, the durability is comparable to maraging steel when I brace or clench. The heat-based attack is the only thing I have elemental resistance to. Nothing more, nothing less. And—"

I lifted a finger. "I cannot use any other magic. Not because I can, but because I could not. I have no magical affinity for any magic; I have high flame affinity, but still couldn't cast it for some reason. And noticed how I'm a brawler type? This is why I'm using my body as a weapon, due to the fact that I literally cannot create any other magical elements or constructs other than rune-blacksmithing. I expedite my mana to create spacing and momentum. That's the only mana use outside runes. And these runes are a set of tools designed to aid me where I lacked."

I shifted my stance. "Second, the lesson is nowhere near starting yet. So to put it plainly for how I do things—" I met their gazes. "I am a specialized adaptive kinetic fighter."

"A specialized adaptive kinetic fighter," Patchouli repeated, already reaching for her grimoire before stopping herself. "So your body is your primary weapon, and the runes are supplementary because you're unable to use any other magic. But then, how do you explain the reality-altering effects? The dimension manipulation? The space you created?"

"Metaphysics bullshitery, passive runes, and my mystery box of a biology."

A pause.

"But the lesson isn't about who I am, nor about power. It's about understanding. Once you understand what something is, you can start to figure out how to deal with it."

I dryly chuckled. "There's a saying that goes, 'What are you without your power?'" I positioned into a sprinting motion, my back feet digging into the ground. "Only a handful of people can overcome that situation. And that—"

I turned to them, a grin forming at my lip.

"—Is where the battle of willpower comes into play."

"Remilia, watch out!" Ran yelled. But I sprinted instead of my usual blast-dash start, moving with absolute speed toward her before Ran could weave a rift to reposition Remilia.

While I ran, I kept my right hand hovering near the ground, making it a low, upper-body sprint.

"He's fast!" Remilia said. "But not as fast as I am!" Before she blurred upward, flying into the sky before I could tag her.

I slowed into a drifting step, then sprinted again, this time toward the backline. Patchouli, Sakuya, Ran, and Yukari.

"Watch out!" Marisa yelled from the air. "He's going for the backline!"

Sakuya stood ready. Reimu repositioned and went in a blur, appearing in my path.

"I can't let you, Nowa!" Reimu cast a large barrier with her palm.

I didn't stop. I used my shoulder as a battering ram, but it didn't break the barrier, only rippled in shock.

"Now!" Reimu said, turning to them.

"Walls can't stop me, you know," I said, still sprinting, pushing her with me.

"Wha—!" She pushed back, unable to match my strength. Her anchored feet carved a trench as I pushed her.

"Tsk! We can provide heavy magical artillery support if he's too close to Reimu." Marisa turned to Chen at her back. "Chen, do your thing!"

"Yeah!" Chen said, already entering her rift and arriving at my shoulder.

I turned to her. She can bypass my senses? No, these senses detect danger. Right now, she doesn't give off danger.

"What's your plan?" I asked while pushing.

"This!" She hugged my face, blocking my view.

"Wha—" I slowed, unable to see. "Alright, car, take this!" I started nibbling her tummy.

"Wait! Stop! HAHA!" Chen was tickled, laughing. Her hold on my face loosening.

"Move away now, Nekomata!" Remilia said. Chen, tearful-eyed from laughter, agreed and jumped into the air, into her rift.

When I met Remilia's position, she was already in a flying tackle, hitting me to the side and dragging me with her. Marisa aimed her charging Mini-Hakkero way ahead of our path.

The cat distraction worked, huh. Well then.

I touched her arm as she dragged me away. "You're wide open."

"Wha—!" She paused. "That's cheating!" She threw me off, and I flipped to my feet back on the ground.

"Damn it, Remilia!" Marisa's charging attack faltered. "That wasn't part of the plan—!"

"—It isn't. Every frame counts as a move." I turned to where the backline was. They had already repositioned far away again. Patchouli was chanting another spell, runes flaring on her. Gotta finish this quick.

I ran again, in another direction with nothing to chase in particular.

Ran yelled. "Shoot him down!"

Marisa, Reimu, Chen, and Remilia surrounded me in the air on both sides.

Reimu barraged me with ofuda. Marisa barraged me with stars. Chen barraged me with bullets. Remilia charged her attack and sprayed dozens of red bullets. Their attacks caused me to run in a plethora of zigzag patterns. Reimu's ofuda especially exploded. Their attacks were overwhelming in number, millions of projectiles, man. My routes were thin, but I managed. Still running. Play that music— "You Say Run." Wait, no. This "Flower Man 'but It has the 7 souls and It is determined' - Super Mix" fits far better as a battle OST for this one!

"This is getting nowhere," Reimu said, keeping her barrage on me.

"Keep lighting him up!" Marisa countered. "We'll definitely hit him!"

Remilia stopped shooting and shifted into a blur of speed. "Now it will hit," she said as she reappeared just in front of me. "This is the power of a vampire, Beckitzer!" Her fingers formed a box technique. "Watch me. God Art: Vampire Illusion!"

The change was drastic. One moment, everything around me was barren, filled with their attacks. Now it was a void filled with red eyes. I could feel it trying to hurt my soul. A conceptual attack from within the soul, the eyes of a soul. So I closed my eyes. Outside, Remilia repositioned and flew away from my path.

"That is—!" Reimu was alarmed.

"Oi! You're seriously trying to kill Nowa, Remy!" Marisa yelled, her barrage faltering.

"I have to. And it's not 'Remy,' it's Remilia," Remilia replied. "The goal is to restrain him before he tags us, then we win! Now shoot him down!"

Reimu and Marisa hesitated. Before nodding at each other.

"Chen," Marisa said.

"You got it!"

Remilia fired a chain of red and metal magic from her palm, a dark and red rune circle. "Miserable Fate!" The chains followed and pursued me.

I jumped one chain and rolled in the air to avoid another while my eyes were closed. I kept sprinting while blinded after landing, dodging the lancing chains side to side.

"WHAT?! HOW?!" Remilia's composure shattered. "He's slippery! Use your attack, the chains failed to immobilize him!"

The chains faded.

Reimu formed a seal hand. "Fantasy Seal!" She shot her arms wide with open palms. From her palms, orbs of light shot out and converged on me.

But I dodged it too. It detonated on contact with the ground.

Marisa fired a lance of Master Spark. Chen fired a spray of bullets.

All dodged effortlessly while I was blinded.

"What is this crap—!" Marisa yelled in frustration.

"Sorry, but I don't need eyes. I don't need feelings. I don't need sensory. I don't need reality. Meta-warfare is all about those," I said, keeping my pace of running. "Back then, Bion trained us that these are not necessary in a battle against gods themselves. Instinct is a must. Sensory can be used against you. For example, your God Art is conceptually attacking me from the inside—" A pause. "That right now is why. And lastly, the passive runes I talked about are these conceptual immunities. Now I will cancel the visual blindness."

The illusion art shattered like glass, and I opened my eyes finally.

Remilia growled. "That's just—!"

"Makes it even for people like me, and allowed me to battle hundreds and thousands of gods at once." I stopped dead in my tracks. "Now that we've gained distance, only a few are protecting the backlines now."

They stopped.

Marisa gasped. "Oh shit!"

"Too late." I yanked my right hand upwards. From the ground, shattered, carving a great distance across, the liquid rune string I'd flowed under the ground earlier while sprinting was now stretching tight across the shattered ground. I jumped, letting myself be yanked in a slingshot with absolute speed.

"Watch out!" Reimu yelled across to the backlines.

Ran flared runes on both hands at her sides. But then— "Huh?"

I wasn't slingshotted in their way. I flew away from them. As I flew past, I let go of the string and shot another rune string onto the ground, this time using both hands. Using my momentum as another storing aspect of another slingshot. Now toward them.

"I see it now!" Ran said. "He's like a cheeky spider! Combined with his speed and built-up momentum, he could tag us all by separating us!"

"Inspired by a specific spider hero," I added dryly. "I could've anchored them mid-air, but that's against my rule of no active runes, so I can't really walk or run mid-air." I pulled myself. The string yanked me another time toward them now.

"Is the spell ready?" Ran said in a low voice to Patchouli.

"No, not even close. This one is a long cast." Patchouli sweated, her open grimoire and a hand hovering with circular rune casting.

"Sakuya," Yukari murmured from behind.

"Yes?" Sakuya replied without looking back, still on guard against me.

"Go intercept his momentum. The strategy will fail if he gets close. The frontline didn't buy us enough time for combined magic casting, so I'll assist you with boundary rifts." Yukari replied, already weaving a rift that opened beside her.

"Understood," Sakuya said as she dashed sideways into the rift.

Then she appeared just in the distance via rift and shot a barrage of knives at me. She repeated, appearing at every rift with knife barrages.

I took the hit by spinning my body in a corkscrew forward, it would cancel the momentum if I took all the knives ahead instead of just a few, before the spinning motion that threw the knives away from my body.

She entered the rift again.

"Lady Yukari, he's not stopping a single bit," she reported beside Ran. "He's fully committed to the bit, even taking hits just so his momentum is preserved."

Ran and Yukari looked thoughtful, their minds running with last-case strategy.

"Also," Sakuya added, "I saw multiple thin strands of black string around him, almost invisible to the naked eye."

"No way!" Ran was alarmed. "If my calculations are correct, he—!"

"—Uses those strands as exploitable gaps within the rules I gave you all." I completed her answer. "Close, but not as close as this."

The string that was thin aimed below, the ones I'd set up when running around before, expanded.

"Watch out!!" Ran said, already waving a defensive talisman barrier.

I yanked and it pull me downwards, in a diagonal smash onto the ground, sending craters of blocks.

"Mukyuu—!" Patchouli said through gritted teeth, then coughed twice. She was forced to cancel her spell to rest and to dodge a block of ground that passed through the defense Ran created. Their footing lost from the shattered ground.

"Scatter!" Ran commanded. "He is underground!" They scattered away.

"Too late," I said, punching upward, revealing myself under them, destroying the ground in the process, and sending the debris flying, making them dodge. "Look at all the flying blocks around you."

They turned and paled. The blocks around them closed in. The string was already attached to those flying debris. I yanked it back, and they were hit and dragged with it. They had no time to react to the sudden moves. While they were disorientated, I didn't let them move, using the flying debris as platforms and my explosive strength to dash between each block. Tagging four of them all at once.

I used the final debris as a platform and jumped upward, high in the air, pulling all the debris attached to my string before the blocks could crush them. Then I swung them in an upward arc and threw them at the upcoming frontline.

Remilia was flying fast and saw the debris coming, then arced to the side in a momentary blur.

Marisa flew with her broom and leaned forward, turning to Reimu and Chen. "Hold on to me," she said, already facing ahead as the debris closed in. "I'll give us a boost."

Chen held closer to her back. Reimu placed a hand on her shoulder.

Then Marisa weaved a hand. A rune flared behind her broom.

"Rocket Magic: Spark Thruster!"

Light burst from the rune, propelling them forward with incredible speed. Reimu cast a barrier ahead to shield-bash through the debris. They blasted their way out of the blocks.

"Impressive work," I said, still in the air with no platform to jump from, an easy target as I fell.

"He's free-falling!" Reimu yelled, canceling the barrier for more speed.

Remilia came in hot, fist winding up. She threw a punch, I deflected it to the side. Another fist, deflected again. Then she sent a flurry of punches, and I deflected every one. Frustrated, she spun-backward into an upward kick. I blocked it with both forearms, the force sending me higher into the air.

Reimu, Marisa, and Chen blazed toward me next. What are they up to now?

"Reimu, now!" Ran yelled, weaving a rift above me.

I entered and exited the other parallel side, only for the rift to lock around my torso. "He's locked! Chain him completely with God Art Bind!"

"On it!" Reimu opened a rift of her own and pulled out a shimenawa.

I smiled. "Good. I'll be borrowing this in the meantime, Ran." I grabbed both sides of the rift.

Ran's eyes widened. "What—?!"

"Disable your rift, Ran!" Yukari commanded. "He can touch—"

"—The very fabric of reality," I finished for her. "Now, my turn."

I forced the rift open and gave myself an explosive dash into it. I positioned the other slightly above, using the momentum of free fall of exiting and entering over and over, accelerating faster and faster over just three seconds. Falling so fast that eyes could no longer follow. Then I threw the rift away from beneath me and slammed hard into the ground, cratering enormous mountains of shattered earth that rose themselves off the earth.

In an instant, everything on the ground was destroyed. Marisa's Spark Thruster slammed into the mountain-sized debris, cratering its side. The others blocked with magic.

From the epicenter of the continent-sized crater, I grinned. A predator's grin.

Then I jumped, using the mountain-sized flying debris to reposition from one to another, and tagged Reimu, Marisa, and Chen. Everything happened in a spec of a second.

Then I punched each of the mountain-sized debris pieces away from each of them, Sakuya, Ran, Yukari, Patchouli, Marisa, and Chen.

But when I moved to hurl Reimu's incoming debris away from her, she was hit. Or so I thought. She phased through it. What? By the looks of it, she was unaware she'd done it. Nevertheless, I punched the mountain away, clearing the sky in an instant.

The last punch sent me back crashing to the ground.

Then I stood up there, dust settling around my boots, the continent-sized crater still steaming around me.

"Each of you is now tagged once. Two more to go," I said, casual as ever.

The sky was clear now. No more mountains falling. Just six women staring at me from various points on the shattered battle ground.

Marisa crouched where she'd landed, one hand on the ground for balance, her eyes wide.

"H-holy shit," she said, quieter. Then, louder, "HOLY SHIT, ZE! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

I shrugged. "That was me not using my runes. Just pure explosive muscle tendons."

"That's— that's not—" She sputtered, gesturing wildly at the crater around us. "That's not fair! That's not even a LITTLE fair!"

"Nobody said fair, Mushroom Kid. I was holding back way too much for each of ya."

Reimu hadn't moved from where she'd landed. Her Gohei was still in her hand, but it hung loose at her side. She was staring at the continental damage around us, her expression unreadable.

Then she looked at me.

"...So you were holding back the entire time since we've known you."

"By a margin, yeah."

"And you were still—" She stopped. Didn't finish.

"Still what?"

"...Still kind."

I didn't have an answer for that.

Remilia hovered, her wings flapping slowly behind her. She looked, for the first time since I'd met her, genuinely rattled.

"That was not low-level," she said, her voice tight. "That was not remotely close to low-level, Beckitzer."

"You think that was high-level?" I raised an eyebrow. "Miss Wings, that was me playing tag."

She laughed. A short, sharp sound. Not a happy one. "Playing tag. You created a continent-sized crater while playing tag."

I shrugged.

She stared at me for a long moment. Then, to my surprise, she smiled. Something like... respectful.

"I understand now," she said. "Why Yukari went to such lengths. Why the Shrine Maiden trusted you. Why Sakuya—" She stopped herself, glanced at the Chief Maid, and said nothing more.

Sakuya was standing perfectly still, no more than ten feet from me. She hadn't moved since she'd landed. Her posture was, as always, immaculate. But her eyes hadn't left me.

"You said you'd try," she said quietly.

"I did."

"You said you'd try harder."

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

She didn't smile. But something at the corner of her mouth shifted. Just slightly.

"...Yes," she said. "Yes, you are."

Patchouli hadn't moved. Her grimoire was closed by her side. She was staring at the crater, at the shattered ground, at the mountain-sized debris scattered across the battlefield. She was completely, utterly silent.

"...Patchouli?" Reimu asked.

No response.

"Patchouli."

"...I'm thinking." Her voice was distant. "I'm thinking about how to categorize what I just saw. I'm thinking about the physics. The momentum. The gravitational force required to create a crater that size with nothing but a fall." She paused. "I'm thinking about how many laws of reality he just violated without using a single active ability."

"And?"

"...I don't have an answer yet." She finally looked at me, and there was something in her eyes. Something closer to awe. "You are impossible."

"By design."

She didn't respond. She just kept staring.

Yukari hadn't moved either. She was standing at the top of the crater-turned mountain, watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

"You touched the rift a second time since we first met," she said.

"Kinda."

"You shouldn't have been able to. Not without your runes. Not without your abilities."

"Not the first. Or second time."

She waited. I didn't explain more.

After a long moment, she let out a small breath. Almost a laugh. Almost.

"You are a very dangerous man, Nowa Beckitzer."

"You know it damn well I am."

"And yet—" She glanced at Sakuya. At Reimu. At Marisa, who was still shaking her head in disbelief. "—you used all that power to save us from the debris you created. Every single one of us. You cleared the sky."

"Would've been a stupid way to end the demonstration."

"Would have been," she agreed. "But you didn't have to. You could have let it fall. You could have tagged us all while we were buried. You could have won."

"I'm not trying to win, Alright?" I said. "I'm trying to show you all about the gap of what could have been."

Her smile returned. "Then you are doing exactly that."

Ran was the one who looked the most shaken. Not from the crater, from the rift. She was staring at her own hands, flexing her fingers.

"I've never had a rift forced open like that before," she said, mostly to herself. "Not once. Not by anyone. Lady Yukari taught me that technique. It's supposed to be incorruptible."

"It can," I said. "But I didn't corrupt it. I just used it like a window."

"That's not better!"

"It's a little better."

She looked at me, really looked at me, and I could see her planning.

"You're going to be a nightmare to plan around," she said finally.

"I've been called worse."

Chen was bouncing on her heels next to Ran, completely unaware of the tension around her.

"That was so cool!" she said. "Mr. Warm Hand, you made a BIG hole! Can you make a bigger one?!"

"Chen," Ran said, exhausted.

"What? It was cool!"

"Please stop."

"Big holes are cool, Ran-sama!"

I looked around at all of them, at the six women who'd just seen me turn a field into a wasteland without using a single active ability.

"Right," I said, cracking my neck. "One tag each. Two more to go. We can keep going, or you can start asking the questions I know you're all sitting on."

Marisa raised her hand.

"Yes, Mushroom Kid."

"How the hell are we supposed to stop YOU?! You're everywhere! You're nowhere! You're a— you're like a jumping spider with fists!"

"You'll figure it out."

"That's not an answer!"

"With all you have," I said, and smirked. "Just like I told Miss Sakuya."

Sakuya's eyes narrowed slightly at me using her name.

I didn't apologize.

"...Alright, fine," Marisa grumbled, picking herself up and dusting off her hat. "Round two. But no more continent-sized craters, got it? My broom is literally crying."

"Your broom doesn't have feelings, alright."

Reimu stepped forward, and for the first time since the fight began, there was something almost like resolve in her eyes. She looked at me, and I looked at her.

"Two more," she said.

"Two more," I confirmed.

She nodded. Then she smiled. It was small. Tired. But it was real.

"...Idiot."

I let a friendly scoff, allowing the dust to settle, letting them process. Marisa was still grumbling about her broom that broke its upper body.

Good.

"Now that you've seen what I can physically do," I said, "it's time for you all to stop holding back. Like at all."

They turned to me.

"If I was serious, I would never pull my punches and ended this fight immediately. But I didn't." I paused, letting that sink in. "So save the courtesy and fight me like you meant it. As I am about to show you the low-level metaphysical power, the one I talked about in the council. For real."

A heavy silence fell.

Marisa was the first to speak. "...Low-level. And you called this... physical power."

"I did."

"You made a continent-sized crater by falling."

"Yes."

"And now you're going to show us something lower than that?"

"No. Metaphysical power operates on a different scale than physical power," I said. "What I just did was physical. Impressive, but physical. Now we're moving to the layer above it."

She stared at me. Then she laughed. "You're insane. You're actually insane."

"Insanity defined me."

Sakuya noticed the throwaway line. She figured.

Reimu stepped forward, Gohei in hand. "You said you wouldn't pull your punches if you were serious. So what have you been doing this whole time?"

"Restraining the power I have."

"How much?"

"Enough that you're all still standing."

She held my gaze for a long moment. Then she nodded, slowly. "...Alright. No more holding back. From us, either."

"Good."

Remilia landed beside Reimu. "You said you will show us low-level. What does high-level look like?"

"You already know."

"I'm asking."

I met her eyes. "High-level are incomprehensible to mortal senses."

"You're a mortal one yourself."

"I am. That's why I'm a living paradox of existence. I've made the impossible possible. By any means necessary. Like an erasure of an existence from the story. Not killing. Not destroying. Erasing it. So that it never existed. So that no one remembers it. So that the universe itself forgets it were ever here."

She went pale. But she didn't look away.

"...And you've done that before."

"Yes."

"To how many?"

I didn't answer.

She didn't ask again.

Sakuya stepped forward. "What do you need from us?"

"Everything. No holding back. No hesitation. Hit me with everything you have, and don't stop until I'm fully rendered unable to continue or you're all out."

"And if we can't stop you?"

"Then you learn something anyway."

She nodded. "Understood."

Patchouli finally moved. "I'm done processing."

"And?"

"You are the most dangerous being I have ever encountered. And I have already encountered gods." She paused. "But you're also the most fascinating one. So I will fight you. And I will see it through."

"That's the idea."

"I have a question," Yukari asked.

"Sure."

"When you saved Reimu. When you fought these entities. Even when you stood before the Dragon God. What is your real motive that made you stand before all of the odds against you? A normal mortal would break before such extreme situations."

I was silent for a moment, my eyes falling to the ground. "I was broken, over and over. So one day, I decided that—" I met her eyes. "—everything has to come to an end, then and now. And that the good will prevail."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want more death."

She tilted her head. "And now?"

"Something good came out of it. And now I'm teaching, and teaching requires showing you what I actually am."

She considered this. Then she nodded. "Very well, Beckitzer. We'll stop holding back. But so will you."

"I already told you—"

"No." She cut me off. "You said you'd stop pulling your punches, if you were serious. But you've been holding back something else. Something deeper. I can feel it." She met my eyes. "You're still afraid. Of hurting us. Of losing control. Of becoming the thing you hate."

I didn't answer. Mostly because of my excuse was mainly the rune contract… but she ain't wrong, I guess.

"Stop being afraid," she said. "We're not fragile. We're not going to break. We're Gensokyo's defenders. And we're certainly not going to let you carry this alone."

The words hung in the air. Marisa looked at Nowa, then at Yukari, then back at Nowa. And she murmured to herself: "They keep sayin' 'holding back.' Is that supposed to make us feel better...?"

Then they moved.

Reimu pressed her palms together and closed her eyes.

"Heavens above, bear witness. Ancestors of the Hakurei line, answer my call. By the blood that flows through me, I take up the rite of purification. I take up the rite of protection. I take up the rite of the eternal barrier. Let no impurity stand before me."

Red with pinkish glow spiraled around her, and her aura flared, divine and absolute. Two yin-yang orbs materialized, orbiting her slowly. She drew a set of purification needles from her sleeve, pairing it with her Gohei in her other hand.

Sakuya stood beside her, and with a raise of her pocket watch, temporal duplicates flickered into existence, three, four, five versions of herself, each holding a different angle.

"I've been holding back too," Sakuya said quietly. "Time manipulation isn't just stopping, slowing, and acceleration. It's also duplication. The ability to exist in multiple moments at once."

Yukari swiped a hand across, and the boundaries around her shimmered.

"The edge of all things. The limit of reality. The gap between existence and nothingness. I am the boundary. I am the line that cannot be crossed. By my name, Yukari Yakumo, I command what is and what is not. Reality bends because I will it."

Ran mirrored her master's pose.

"By the thread that binds me to my master, I am her shadow. I am her strength. I am her will made manifest. I do not ask for power, I accept it. I do not claim authority, I am granted by it. Let the nine-tailed fox burn with her light. Let the shikigami become the conduit."

Their chants wove together. Yukari's boundaries shimmered, reality bending at the edges. Ran's nine tails flared, each one crackling with runic energy, conduits for Yukari's immense power.

Patchouli floated, and four grimoires materialized around her: Earth, Air, Water, Lightning. No Fire type, as I am immune to heat-based elements. Each one open.

"Four elements. Four forces. Four pages from the endless library. Earth, the foundation that shapes. Air, the current that carries. Water, the river that flows. Lightning, the spark that strikes. I am Patchouli Knowledge. I have read the books that wrote the elements. I have memorized the grammar of creation. I open the pages. And reality reads itself aloud."

Her eyes were sharp, focused, and for the first time since I'd met her, she looked like the master magician she truly was.

Marisa hovered in the air without her broom. She grinned, golden aura exploding around her. She took out a prototype Mini-Hakkero, letting it hover beside her, welding her main Mini-Hakkero on her right hand. In her other hand, she held her own grimoire, its pages glowing with golden light. Then she made it hover beside her as well.

"I brought my weapons this time," she said. "This is my prototype Mini-Hakkero. Not as strong as my main Hakkero, but it'll do its job nonetheless."

Remilia slowly walked to the center, her aura darkening with each step. Her vampiric nature surged to the surface, her eyes glowing crimson, her fangs bared.

"I've been holding back too," she said. "I've been playing the diplomat. The strategist. The mistress of the mansion. But I am Remilia Scarlet. I am the creature of the night. And I have not gone all out since the establishment of the Bill for the Naming of Duels, formally known as the Spell Card Rules."

She spread her now-larger wings, and the air around her grew cold.

Chen bounced on her heels, arms raised, cheering. "Wow! Wow! Wow! Never seen them this serious!" Then she pointed at me. "I hope you're ready, Mr. Warm-hand!"

They weren't standing in formation anymore.

They were standing together. As a team.

I looked at them, all of them, and something in my chest shifted. Something warm. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

But something was bothering me.

"Why didn't you use this at Misty Lake?"

They paused.

Reimu lowered her Gohei slightly. "What?"

"At Misty Lake. When the triangle-head entity attacked. When Sakuya's time stop failed. When you were captured. When Marisa broke her Mini-Hakkero. When you were all completely outmatched." I met their eyes. "Why didn't you use this then?"

A heavy silence fell. They glanced at each other, acknowledging my question.

Then Reimu was the first to answer. "...Because I wasn't prepared. The spirits were killed off, and the gods' chants take time to access. I can't just snap my fingers and enter god mode. I need to meditate, to pray, to connect with the gods. At Misty Lake, I was caught off guard by the severity of it. And they clearly knew my tricks and wouldn't let me do my techniques."

She held up her sleeve. "And my amulets, my needles, they're stored in a rift Yukari taught me. It's a personal storage space. But when the battle started, it was cut off. The severance disrupted the connection to the rift. I had limited shots."

She looked at the ground. "I had to improvise. And... I failed."

Marisa nodded. "Same with me. I didn't bring my grimoire or extra firepower. I was out for a walk, not a fight. I had my main Mini-Hakkero, and I overclocked it trying to keep up." She sighed. "I was unprepared. I only brought min-max firepower. That's on me."

I added, pointing at her hovering form with no broom to fly on. "How come you're flying without your broom, by the way?"

Marisa grinned. "How am I flying? Everyone can use fly magic! The difference is that the broom was for speed and efficiency."

I nodded. "Alright." My head already shifting to the next person.

Sakuya spoke next. "My focus was... compromised. I couldn't maintain time gauge if an entity is moving within it while also fighting. And..." She paused. "I was afraid. Those entities were immune to my time stop. They moved through it like it was nothing. That shook me. I hesitated."

She met my eyes. "I won't hesitate again."

"I see."

Ran stepped forward. "At Misty Lake, I was severed from Lady Yukari. The connection was cut. I lost access to her power. I couldn't draw on the magical thread that allows me to use her strength. I was reduced to my own abilities while shaken by what could've happened to Lady Yukari."

She clenched her fists. "This time, I'm prepared. I've woven a backup thread into myself. I've anchored it. Even if the connection is severed again, I can still draw on some of her power. I won't be helpless again."

Yukari nodded. "And I was attacked in my own boundary place. I couldn't help them. And I have no memory of the last encounter." Her voice was quiet. "I was useless."

She looked at me. "But I won't be useless this time. I've prepared. I've woven defenses into my boundaries. I've anchored myself to multiple locations. Even if I'm attacked again, I won't be caught off guard."

Patchouli spoke last. "I wasn't there. I wasn't at Misty Lake. I was in my library. Blissfully unaware and unable to assist."

She met my eyes. "But now I can. I've prepared a teleportation scroll for instant backup. I may not be a frontline fighter, but I am a strong backline magician. And my magical firepower is enough to level the crap out of anyone."

They all looked at me, waiting.

I let out a slow breath.

"So it was all unprepared," I said. "All of you were caught off guard. You lots didn't have your full arsenal. You weren't ready."

"Yes," Reimu said. "That's exactly what happened."

"Good."

They blinked.

"Good?" Marisa asked.

"Good," I repeated. "Because now you know not to be unprepared. Now you know what it feels like to be outmatched. Peace is good, but the tools of war are just as important beside peace for incidents like this."

Yukari smiled and murmured. "Wise words."

Then I met their eyes. "And now that you're prepared. Now you have your weapons. Now you have your chants. Now you have your full power."

I cracked my neck.

"Let's see if it's enough. Peace requires absolute weapon to keep the balance in check."

They moved. Formation set. Eyes on me. No more holding back.

Reimu raised her Gohei, her divine aura flaring. Sakuya's duplicates spread out. Yukari and Ran's auras intertwined. Patchouli's four grimoires flared with rune circles. Marisa's golden aura blazed. Remilia's feral grin widened.

They weren't standing in formation anymore. They were standing together. As a team.

I smiled. A predator's grin.

"Alright," I said. "Now this is a fight."

Remilia was the first to lunge, already closing the distance. She threw a claw swipe, it managed to scratch the back of my hand as I tried to parry it away. The ground behind me split into claw-like trenches.

Remilia blurred back. In her place, a few needles and knives traveled toward me, thrown by Reimu and Sakuya.

I reeled my head to the side. My cheeks were scratched twice, one a knife, one a needle, barely grazing them.

Then two Sakuya duplicates appeared. I backflipped to avoid their stabbing motion. The other three were already in motion beneath my landing.

Well, shit.

I threw a punch between them. The force sent me off course from where I was about to land, blowing the wind with the explosive strength of my strike.

But as soon as I was clear, Ran lunged out of nowhere, from behind her rift, specifically. I tried blocking her supposed claw attack. But it was a feint. The real attack was... a Sonic the Hedgehog roll?! The heck? It hit my blocking arms as she spun rapidly, sending me onto the shattered ground.

From the ground, I immediately jumped away. A rift from Yukari opened and a train came barreling out, sending me upward rapidly. It's been a while since I got hit by her train, back when we first met.

Then, at the peak of where the train headed, a barrier flickered and slammed me hard into it.

Another rift opened. And another... well, many of them opened, and out came random things, another train, a stalagmite, steel beams, a fucking crane, and many more. During the attack, Remilia threw another spear, Reimu shot another orb of light, Marisa fired a barrage of missiles in different color palettes, and Ran sent waves of rune-carved kunai.

They pummeled me mid-air while the barrier served as a stopping point, keeping me in place.

I can't advance without raising my power. I forced my current power to a bare minimum to keep it restrained. This sucks ass. When you forced yourself to train to be the top of the top. And then having it restrained because you need to showcase to the people who are barely at the top. Is shit… Killing is easier than holding back. But this will do. And I am not trying to kill them. For now, defence is my best option.

I expanded my mana around me in a sudden burst of invisible air force, shattering everything around me. I broke free.

A fast car(cat) came after me.

"Shikigami: Phantom Cat of the Twelve Hayashi!" Chen was a few feet away. She summoned a massive, stylized spectral aura of a two-tailed bakeneko that loomed over her.

Heh. She a JoJo or something?

The bakeneko rushed toward me, delivering a blindingly fast flurry of scratches. Each attack sparked against my forearm jacket, forcing me to block with no footing on the ground.

Damn. I grinned slightly. It is indeed a JoJo reference. Too bad I can't match the flurry attack back. My rune contract will end me if they get hurt. Sadge.

Then it stopped, then uppercutted me higher into the air.

"Ran-sama!"

Ran appeared behind me, above.

"Good job, Chen! Your training has good results!" Ran said, her tails sharpening as she prepared to strike.

Remilia appeared in front of me in an instant blur, another spear in hand. "This is the most exercise I've had in a while, Beckitzer!"

Before I could comment, they struck at the same time. Remilia with her Gungnir. Ran with her rune-carved tail. I blocked them with each of my hands. And—

"Is your tail tag-able?"

Ran and Remilia paused. Then Ran exhaled, almost laughing. "You're right. But—"

The two of them blurred, zipping across my proximity to deliver strikes from every angle. Of course, I could follow them and block. Ran spun, her tails sharpening into a whirlwind of blades during the attack. And before I knew it—

Ran was already weaving invisible rifts in reality around where I was. They shifted into a shimenawa. Shit.

Remilia backed off fast. Ran gained altitude.

"Reimu, now!"

Reimu formed a seal. "Eternal Sealing!"

The ropes flared and tightened, trapping me.

"Surrender now, Nowa!" Yukari yelled.

I dryly chuckled twice. "No. I never yield in a fight. Not once."

She paused. Then—

"If you say so."

She aimed a pinching hand toward me. "Boundary Collapse." She pinched my form in the distance without reaching me. Reality collapsed onto me from above and beneath, mimicking the press of the pinch but way, wayy harder. I grunted once.

Alright. Low-tier metaphysic incoming.

As the collapsing reality pressed in, I escaped through it by opening a door in reality and exiting just outside the attack and the seal.

Shocking them.

"That's—!"

I grinned. "Cartoon physics. More like Meta-low level bullshit."

But then—

"—Magic of earth. Magic of air. Magic of water. Reconfigure and rise." Patchouli's distant voice came, already chanting beforehand. The four grimoires around her flared with intense light and pressure. "Come forth: Rune Golem!"

A gigantic golem formed mechanically, overshadowing my form. Its fist of stone was already coming right at me.

I froze. That thing... is like Chris's gigantic mecha. Back when we were training with Bion. All three of us against Bion. Lancer having drawn a gigantic dragon and ridden in to gain altitude. Me on the ground, heavily pounded by Bion's recent advance. And Chris... Chris used that moment to punch through Bion.

Man, it's so nostalgic. So this is what Bion was in his shoes facing us before, huh? Oh well... Gotta get serious now.

I side-swiped a hand at the giant fist, sending a massive tremor through its hand, shattering it and deflecting its trajectory.

Ahh, shit... I accidentally put too much force into that parry... Well, the rune contract ain't reacting. So it's fine to attack this one, huh? But nah. I'll just keep parrying.

It reeled its hand back and stared at its broken hand for a moment. Then—

"Reinforce metal earth!" Patchouli chanted. The golem's hand repaired and mixed with iron now.

The golem threw another strong hook. This time I swipe-parried it with little strength, same as how I parry all these girls. Another hook with its other arm. Then a jab.

"Hey!" I yelled to Patchouli. "Try putting explosive burst as the arm is thrown! Like a rocket, but to the arm! It's faster, stronger, and it hits the hardest!"

Patchouli didn't respond. But her next command was different.

"Rune Golem, Explosive Wind. Right arm."

The golem's arm rocketed forward at me, faster this time. I blocked it. Parrying was a second too late for that.

I was dragged by the fist that was about to connect to another aerial barrier as a stopping point. I flipped onto the back of its hand before the contact. The arm shook from the vibration when colliding with the barrier.

And on top, three Sakuya duplicates met me already. She's here already? I didn't see her... but oh well. Her technique is to appear anywhere in hand-to-hand combat, huh?

Suddenly, I felt it but reacted too late, beneath my foot, a spike came out and pierced it. Blood seeped through.

"Ouch... I guess?" I said, low.

Sakuya raised an eyebrow. The real one spoke. "That's your reaction to being hurt?"

"Nothing hurts more than a direct hit from the soul." I shrugged. Then I dryly added, "Or a slap from you."

Sakuya exhaled once, sharply. A different kind of sharp. "You jest." Then she sharpened, followed by her duplicates.

Then, after my foot was impaled, lightning traveled from it, electrifying me.

"I told you all, heat doesn't work on me. But..." I stood, my body jerking slightly from the voltage. "The paralyzing effect still goes through, huh?"

"You're free to attack, Sakuya!" Patchouli said, gesturing for the golem's other hand to hover over them. The golem did so. "Remilia and Marisa, go aid her!"

Gotta watch out. This is a real tag team now. Gotcha, gotcha.

Sakuya was already moving.

Three duplicates circled me, each holding a silver knife. Their movements were perfectly synchronized. What are they up to now, I wonder. The real Sakuya was among them.

'Among us'~ Just kidding. Hey, I was writing. Let me enjoy it!

Anyway...

Remilia with her wings wide and cool, and Marisa hovering with the golden aura of the magician she is, were in opposite directions to both of my sides, high above in the distance.

I tried to step back. My leg jerked, the paralysis was still holding. The voltage had faded, but the aftereffects lingered. Man. Who knew a downed nervous system beats everything.

The first knife came for my throat. Another came through with the fastest claw-lunge. Another blasted a water lance. Water? That was unexpected.

I tilted my head and twisted my body to a degree, letting them pass. The claw almost grazed my face. The throat was a close call. The water aim nearly grazed me. But the blade grazed my side stomach, thankfully, the jacket's silk was too thick and reinforced. The knife sparked against the material and slid away. A way to start a fire. A fire starter? No? Okay, okay, no more puns.

Sakuya's eyes narrowed. Remilia readied herself for another wild lunge.

"Good god, Nowa! You managed to dodge all of those?!" Marisa yelped with a grin.

The second knife came for my ribs. I twisted again, barely dodging. The third came from behind, I ducked. The blade scraped against my shoulder, but the jacket held. It didn't pierce. Just metal sparks.

The duplicates, Remilia's charge, and Marisa's shots with water and mini-missiles moved like a whirlwind of combined effort, violently flowing around me, each strike flowing into the next. A stab toward my kidney, blocked by the jacket. A claw-slash toward my hamstring, the blade caught the reinforced fabric. A magical missile exploded at my back, I felt the impact. Like holy shit. This is the worst time to be paralyzed. My jacket and upper body were working overtime.

Sakuya's real body appeared in front of me, her knife already mid-thrust, aimed at the gap between my ribs, the one place the jacket didn't cover.

I twisted my torso, letting the blade scrape against my side instead of piercing my heart. Blood spewed. My inner shirt has the weakest defense... I mean, it's just cloth. But anyway. I grabbed her wrist.

"Gotcha."

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Then she smiled.

"No. You don't." She raised her voice. "Milady, now!"

The duplicate and Remilia behind me, one drove its knife into my back. The other slashed with her claw.

The blade and claw hit the jacket. The knife stopped dead. The claw skidded off with a spark. The impact pushed me forward, but the knife didn't pierce. The claw didn't rip me in half. They couldn't.

Sakuya's smile faltered. Remilia snarled with frustration.

"Your jacket—"

"Reinforced. Mana density. Rune-woven." I grinned. "You're both not getting through it. It's why you were still alive to this day."

I pulled her wrist toward me into a chokehold lock, but then she was replaced by another duplicate and vanished.

"Now that's just some annoying mechanics right there," I said out loud.

All remaining Sakuya duplicates smiled slightly.

"You call that annoying?!" Remilia said from the air.

"No kidding, Nowa! You just shrugged off all of our combined attacks! And that's your comment?" Marisa added.

"Your jacket is too dense. Our blades won't get through." One of the Sakuya duplicates spoke up. "I washed your jacket. It was hard to wash off, but I didn't account for this kind of density."

"Yeah, cuz it works like clay. The harder you hit, the denser it gets, even with blades. The softer you treat it, the softer it is," I commented.

"That's just great. Now we have to lower our strikes?" Marisa dryly added.

From the distance— "Focus! Keep him busy!" Yukari yelled. Behind her were Reimu and Ran. Reimu was in a prayer form, while Ran stood behind her, acting as a god mana conduit. Power and purification hummed dangerously around them. Well, shit.

Above the golem hand that was hovering over me, gigantic rune circles stacked with Reimu's purification circle runes.

I sighed. "Well, you got me. Well then."

I let a predatory grin spread across my face.

Then I let a long roar, an explosive voice of a dragon roar and mana. The air shoved everything around me with explosive wind force.

Marisa was thrown back before putting up a spark shield in front of her. Remilia covered her ears as she was thrown back. Same for the real and remaining duplicates of Sakuya. Patchouli's spell wavered over me as the deafening roar disrupted her focus chant.

The roar subsided. As they regained their focus on me, I already had Sakuya—the real Sakuya—as a hostage. I held both of her hands close behind her back, keeping her before me.

"Is her life worth the combined magical attacks on me?" I said. Sakuya regained consciousness from the disorienting roar.

"Wha—!" Remilia growled. "That's way out of line!"

The duplicates hesitated. Their faces looks like... reacting like being grabbed the same way I held Sakuya closely.

"Heh. Your clones can feel the physical condition of the real Sakuya," I said.

Sakuya's jaw tightened. "Let me go."

"Sorry, but this is for the time being." I whispered to her ear. Then I raised my voice toward them. "So, what's the next move?"

Sakuya paused before commenting. "You said you were inspired by a spider hero. Why dragon now?"

"Yeah!" Marisa yelled. "Pick one inspiration, Nowa!"

I chuckled. "That's not how it works, but yes. I am a jumping spider dragon. I made the name up, by the way. Just now."

"Also!" Marisa pointed. "Your hair has a slightly pinkish edge now, Nowa! What does that mean?"

Sakuya turned her head slightly. She saw it. Well, me? I can't see my own goddamn hair.

"What?"

"Your hair has a strand of pinkish hair, Beckitzer," Sakuya said. "Are you... secretly a woman?"

Marisa let out a slow snort that turned into full laughter. Remilia held a hand to her mouth, suppressing her laugh at Sakuya's deadpan joke.

"What?!" I was alarmed now. "I don't know! Pink hair just now???"

"Yeah," Sakuya said, turning away with a snarky smirk.

...Pink hair? What the heck? Since when???? After I roared??????? Wait, am I a woman??????! No, no, no. I have a dick, you know! I pee with it! I get hard with it! ...I have no vagina area!

While I was having an existential crisis, Yukari turned to Chen. "Chen, do it."

Chen nodded. "Yes, grand-master!" Then dashed and appeared just in the distance in front of me, on top of the golem's arm where we stood.

I broke through my existential crisis with a single shake and looked at her. "What is it now—"

"Watch," she grinned. Then poof, she turned into an 'OIIA' cat meme. Then she started spinning.

...What? ...Holy shit, they know memes!!

|{Reference: https://youtu.be/MByMCC57E3g}|

"No way..."

My grip loosened. Sakuya felt it, she watched me watching Chen spin-spin, and pulled herself out. While I remained watching the spinning cat meme.

"He's fully distracted... to that?!" Remilia said in disbelief.

Marisa's laughter grew louder.

Sakuya let a single breath that was almost a laugh. "Let's use this moment," she straightened. "Lady Patchouli. Reimu and Lady Ran. Use this moment to charge up the final chanting! It's operation: 'Dragon Smasher.'"

"The strongest man in the room... is fully distracted by a stupid act." Remilia let out a disbelieving sigh. "Fine. I'll charge up mine, even though he's immune to burning."

Marisa recovered from her laughter. "Me too... I'll give him the best Master Spark there is!"

Two full minutes later, after a dangerously humming buildup of power from each of the girls—

I snapped out of it. "Wha— I was distracted!"

I turned around and saw them. "Well..."

Marisa with her dual Mini-Hakkeros, both prototype and main glowing brightly with incandescent power, aimed at me.

Remilia with both arms in the air, a massive rune circle behind her and a gigantic, focused red magic coalescing and condensing.

Patchouli's layered spell of stacking rune gigantic circles over me.

Reimu's and Ran's were one of the stacking layered spell runes over me as well.

"Fuck me," I said.

"Indeed you are~" Yukari murmured with amusement. As Chen disappeared from my proximity, Yukari raised her hand, a signal of action.

"Smash him to bits," Yukari said, swinging her hand down.

The golem hand that was hovering before me fell, trapping me.

"FANTASY SEAL!"

"ULTIMATE MASTER FINAL SPARK!"

"9TH TIER SPELL: ELEMENTAL ANNIHILATION!"

"SCARLET DEVIL!"

Their attacks didn't arrive one after another. They arrived together.

The Fantasy Seal came first from the sky itself, something along the line of a pillar of absolute purification, white and gold and burning with the authority of the heavens, descending like a laser from the throne of God. It struck the ground where I stood and kept going, drilling into the destroyed earth, carving through rock. The light didn't just burn, it cleansed. It erased impurity, erased corruption, erased anything that didn't belong.

And then the Master Spark hit.

Marisa's dual Mini-Hakkeros unleashed everything they had, the prototype and the original, both overclocked, both screaming with incandescent fury. The beam was bigger than a mountain. It was heat and fire and light, a concentrated lance of pure destruction that carved through the air and slammed into the pillar of purification. The two attacks didn't cancel each other out, they merged. The purification fed the spark, and the spark amplified the purification, creating a hybrid beam of holy fire that burned hotter than the sun.

Elemental Annihilation came next, Patchouli's nine-tier spell, the culmination of her lifetime of magical study. Four elements, four grimoires, four forces of nature, all bound into a single beam that mixed with the others. Earth gave it weight. Air gave it speed. Water gave it flow. Lightning gave it teeth. The beam wasn't just magic, it was the concept of elements made manifest, slamming into the hybrid attack and merging with it, creating something far greater than the sum of its parts.

And finally, Scarlet Devil.

Remilia didn't aim at Nowa. She aimed at the space around him. The attack detonated not as a beam, but as an atomic burst, a cylinder of red destruction that expanded outward from her position, consuming everything in its radius. The ground vaporized. The air ignited. The sky turned red. It was the power of a vampire, amplified by rage and determination.

The four attacks didn't hit me separately. They hit together. A single, unified cataclysm that turned the battlefield into a sea of white and gold and crimson and annihilation. The hybrid beam, purification and spark and elements, tore through the atomic burst and struck the ground where I was standing.

After the explosion, there was silence and dust.

When the light faded, when the dust settled, when the silence ended, there was only a crater. A massive, molten crater, filled with steam and residual magic. The barren land around it was gone. The rocks, the debris, the battlefield, all of it was annihilated. Only the molten crater remained.

And at the center of it, at the very bottom, was me. Breathing heavily. Burn marks. Clothes burned. I smiled.

"Good job. This proves you all are more capable in a fair fight."

Marisa gasped. "N-no way… You're still conscious despite all of that?!"

"So this is the endurance of the rumored Flame Noah," Ran murmured.

I chuckled. "Actually, we're just getting started."

"Huh?" they said in unison.

=============

P̸̢̻̦̼͚̗̬̜̠̰̝͈̲͈͔̭̮̙̄̎̅̋͛̋̂̆ͅl̴̨̬̥̱͙͙̹̫̖̳̮̯̩̖̭̮̠̙̞̣̰̯̝̜̙̤̇͛̈́̀̒͊̍̈́͊̀̍͗̊͋̅͠͝ͅͅa̶̧̧͉̲̦̯̹͓͉̣̥̟͎͓̲̲͖͇̫͔͖͋̾̄̽̈̂̂͒͊̿̈́̑̕͜͠͝c̴̨̺̮̯̯͎̺̗̭̬̥̩͖̣͍̖͚̘̠͋͆̓̈͌͌̈̎̀̔͌̿̄͐̀̾̕͠e̸̡̘̘̗̺̺̙̥̭̼̟͍̼̲̝̠͒ ̸̧͈͔̟̱̜̜̗̠͎̠̳̬̳͔̻̼̹͔̥̰͙͕̠̓͐̌͑͋̿̒̂̈́̋͋͘ͅͅs̴̛͔̺̮͎̯̫͓̬̳͖̘̫̥̖̟̳̏̃͒̀̅̈́̽̃̍̈́̆̎͐̒́̀̐͒̆͘̚͘͜͝͠ŵ̶̢̡̛̛̙̣̺̠̝̯̜͙̯̙̝͎̮͇̟̺͕̬̓͒̒̔̈́̈̽͐̐̽̄͗̍̓̇̉̍͂̉͌̓̀́̒̓̆͘͜͜͠ͅa̴̧̡̪̟͕̪̣̗̣̙̟̿͂̽͑͗͠ͅp̶̡̨͕̯̪̣͚̙͔̩̖̤͙͉̪̤̗̲̙͖͇̰̯̩̝̘̲̮͉̻̪̬̉̃̄̌̇͆͒̎̈́̏̋̾̏́̾̇͑͌̋͒̓̋͛̊̋̂̚͘͜͠͝.̴̡̧̧̧̨͓̝͎̩͇͙̘̤̟̙̯͋̋̀͂̌̀͛̉͌̍͌̑̒̃̃͐̔̂̈̈́͌͗̊͂́͒̿̀̕͘̕͜͜͜͝͠ͅ ̷̡̛̛͎̮̠͎̳̻͈͇̮̬̤̪̙͓͙̖̣̰̼͓̰̗́́̆͊̉̓̀̏̈́͋͑̕̕Ş̸̡̛͔̹̦͎͎͈̩͇̰̼͚̲̦̳̪͍̠͉̝̟̙̱͚̱͊̔͗͆̓̀̌̃͊͑̈́͆̊̆̅̈́́̄̈́̄̑͆̌̑̄͌̍̚̕͝͝͝͠c̷̛͖̘̠̬̝̀̅̐̾̋̑̂͂͂̒̓̾̈́͒̾͛̿́̃͂̐̽͒̾̽͌̎͝ͅe̶̛͙͔͈̝̩̩̙̹̰̙͖̫̩̪̝͎̫͍̲̺̯̜̙̜̖̥͚̜̩̻͔̤̎̎́̒̀̽́͋̑͜ͅṅ̴͇̼̻̐͜â̷̢̡̛̘̳̟̙͉͚̲̳̭̯̙͎͇͎͇͚̭̹͔͉̔͆̈́̀̀̋͋̀́̑̉̊̊̍̏̋̉̐̄̃̅̒̔͑̚͘r̴̛̲̮͕̫̣̖̜͉̬̼̬̫̬͔̠̽̿̊͊̍͛̽̏͆͗̎͆͆̓͑̒̆̑͐̅̈́̕̕͠ï̷̡̡̢̩̮̼̪̳̙̼͙̜̤̝͖̫͔̥͓̗̮̱̖̼̪̠͓̹̗̜͍̟̤͜͝ò̷̧̼̮͔̬̣̺̖͖̠̓̍͋̉̊̍̑̑̈͒̇ͅ ̴̛͇̺̬͉̯̮͖̯̮̯̞͇̪͇͉͎̈́̔͆͂̄̏̔̍̔̀͑͐́͊ͅȩ̸̡̧͓̳̹͎̪̦̙͎̖͈͎̩̲͗̏͆x̶̡̧̛̞̙͉̟̠͚̻̤͚̙̺͖̖̥̳̤̪̜̙͙͕̻̙̤̦̙̹̟̬̤̄̾̇̀͌̔̔̌̐̍̀̋̒͛̐̍́͝͠͝ͅͅc̸̛̲̣̝̻̫͔̹̰͒͌̐̉̄̀̀̓̎̿̋̀́̿̽̃̄͊̽͌̏́͠ḫ̴̡͉̖͈͚̯̹̈́̎͋̄͆̀̂̉̋̈́́̑̇a̷̅͊̃̋͜n̴̪̦͎̬̣̘̣̬͇̪̱̫̬̤̟͇͚̼̰̉̆ģ̶̨̛̫̭͕̱̝̼̘̫͔̗̦͇͓̣̱̲͚̦̜͖̗͎͉͙͌̆̅͗̾̀̅͗̇̓͛͊͆̌͊̉̈͜͝͝͠e̸̢̧̨̨̢̙̯̘̬͙̠̮͉̲̠̫̞͚̥̝̖̦͓̙͇͈̜̍̔̑̀̒̀̐̿̽̐̓͛͋͊̔̑͌̄͆̒̔̚͜͝d̶̨̳̲̥̜̝̬͔̗̱͓͎͙̲̹̞̖̞̪̳̙̥͉͓̊͂̈́͜ͅ.̷̢̛͉̪͇̖̹̼̗̲͍̮̘̦̜͎̳̀̉͐̆̎̃̇̽͋̍͌̓̊̂̏̚ ̸̨̢͕͇͉̱̻̘̺̞̠̮̻͖̬̦͇̗̲̭̠̯̟̘̟͕̀̏F̷̨̟̮̠̎̒̉̔̔̿̃͆̆͋͊̎̈̋̍̀͘̚ą̴̢̛̣̔̇͑̑̋̀̂̌͆̈́̍̊̿̇̑͛̈́̽͆̾̓͐̚̕̕̚͘͠͝t̷̙̲͖͇̀͌̀͛̓̏̅̿̿̉͐̑̕͘͝ͅe̸̲̙̖͇̋ ̵̢̮͈̬̮̗̘͚̻͖̦̔͝á̴̡̡̛̛̱͚̫͍̥̙̻̟̘̗̤̥͓͙̰̯͇̤̲̤̰̾͂̽̽͋̀̂̍̑̈́͒̓͂̌̔̈͊́̃̈͗̏̌̉̎͝͝ͅͅͅͅl̶̡̛̛̻̖͖͖͕̤̰̍͌̈́̾͒͆̈͗́̐̑̔̇̅̔̆̿̿͗̽̓͒̊̀͌̅̿̋͒̚͜͠͝ͅṭ̷̨̛͓̣̖̖͈̮̟̟̫͉͓̝̞̀̓̄̇̍̅̒́́̿ͅę̷̢̦͙̥̮̜̰̣̰̲̙̖̮͉̓́̈̄̽̆̂̉̋͒̀͋̋̈̉̇̆͛̋̓̚͜r̸̨̛̫̺͕͇̟͓ȩ̴̼̙͚̗̪͇̱̻̯̙̙͉̭̰̝̙͇̘̘͚͕̭́́̈́̀͆̈́̂̈́̈̏̇͘̕͜d̷͈̹̣̳̗̏̓̾́̄̄̉͠.̸̧̧̛̪̯̗͕̺̠̠̱̰̠͎̦̻̖̮͔̣͉̯̮̮̭̹̩̮̐̆̃̍̈́̂͂̔̑̆̋̓̅͒̅̇̊̀̑͂͆̕͠͝

In the Barren World. A substory path of the timeline, there was a man with a heavy past. He stood his ground, arms crossed. His jacket, patched by Ms. Sakuya, swayed with the wind. His eyes were fixated on the even more confused girls. They were standing on solid ground. Before the crater, before annihilation, before everything.

"Huh...?" Marisa's voice was quieter as she turned around. The rest followed. Everything was restored. Eerily restored to how it was before.

Then they turned to where I was. I never had the burn marks. And worse, my clothes were there that were supposed to be vaporized.

"This," I gestured with a wide sweep of both arms, "is meta-warfare. Nothing is fair in this fight."

Silence filled the barren land, the land that was supposed to be a molten crater, destroyed.

Marisa was terrified.

Ran froze.

Remilia was shaken to her core.

Sakuya was frozen.

Patchouli was paralyzed.

Reimu had gone numb.

Yukari was afraid.

Chen was scared.

They were looking at me with total shock and fear. I was supposed to be dead. The surroundings should be annihilated. But here it was, just where they started. The wind blowing normally. The air not thick with dust and residual magic.

After the heavy silence—

"This is... low level. Right?" Patchouli asked.

I lowered both hands to my sides. "Yes. It's closer to Fate Altercourse."

"Fate...?" Remilia murmured. Then her voice gained volume. "How much ability do you have—"

"It's not an ability."

"This feels like an illusion. A conceptual attack."

"It somewhat is. But remember, Metaphysics controls the flow of the story. Not the idea of it," I said.

"If it's fate, then why doesn't my version of fate manipulation do things like this?"

"Ah... I knew it." I stated. "You know how fate works, don't you?"

"Yes. I can see the path of each life. I can choose which path to take. Or make others go through the fate they will fall into pure misery."

"Yes. It works like that. Have you tried reading my fate?"

"...Yes. That's the most eerie part. You have none."

"That's what I meant in the first introduction—'one's fate is determined by existing.' But what I did is something closer to Fate Altercourse."

"What's the difference? This feels like a rewrite or a reset of reality itself," Patchouli finally asked.

"Fate reads paths. You can manipulate people into walking that path. All paths are chances. Numbers. They are never zero chances." Another pause. "Fate Altercourse is changing reality to be forced onto that path. This is one of the paths that was forcibly swapped over the current one. It's not rewrite. It's swapping. Rewrite is this:"

I crouched and leaned in, my hand reaching and phasing through a stone rock.

Ỉ̴̡̛͖͓̗͙͓̝̺͍̮͇͔̰͓͍̫̳̣̥̠̝̲͎͍̹̠̼̹̿̑̀̈́͛̍̉͑̀͘d̴̨̧̡̧̧̛͍̼͓̭͍̻̤͉̠̥̰̟͚͚̞͇͔̤̮̗̬̖̞̯̗̫̳̰͚̹̪̱̞̭̣͉͍̭̙͍̰̩̔́̾̃̏̔̒͗͌̄̋̊̊̇́̅̊͊̎̍̃̈́͑̅̑͂͆̓̏̓͒͊͑͒̈́̾͑͊́͊̕̕͜͜͠͝ͅe̴̢̛̮̭̟̬̫̺̲̗̻̳̝͋̑̿͌͂̎͒͌́̈̂̀̀̍̏̃̽̾͑̃̈̆̓̀͆̕̕͘͠ņ̸͖̭̩̣̮̣̬͕̞̫̥̗̟͚̬͈́̉͘͜ț̵̡̡̨̝̮͎͎̦̟̠̮̼̤̙̖̳̖͍̩̩͉̺͚͙̬̻̲̖̻̺̞͔͌̑̑̀̔̈́̈́͛́̓̀̃̓̈́̍̚̕ͅį̸̛̠̭̺̪̩̝̘̙̥͚̜̂͗̈̒̏́͂́͂̈́͋̈̃͑̈́͑̒̐͛̿̑̑͋͂͐̎͂͘̚͘͝͠͠͝f̶̢̧̠͎̖͇̰͉̮̬̲͈̙̠̗̲̞̮̙̥͇͕̱̼̬̳̖͙̞͙̳͉͙̻̗̝̝̰̖͗̀̉́̀͛͐̇̈̾̅̄͂͂̃̑͆̃̈́́͜͜͜͜͜͠ͅì̶̡̢̡̛̗̥̻̜͇̜̦̭͎͚͖̯͇̮̪̯̼̰̜͉̙̥͈̳̥̅̾͛̔̑̓̍͜c̷̳̈͋a̶̧̡̡̳͈̟̯̯͇̪̺̳̗̠͙̠͚̹̮̤͖̻̲͉͈͎͚͍̭̭̠̝̖͚̦͉̼͒̏̑̔̌̑̒̐̋̇̔̃̂͒̌̆̒̾͗̋́̉̇̆̈̉̋̾͂͆̇͐͛͘̚͜͝͝͠͝͝͝ţ̵̡̛̛̛̺͉͔̻̦̳̲̳͓̙̹̩͔̪̠͖͈̻̙̝͎͙͇͍̱͚̫̩͆̀̔͗̊̒́̊̈́̄̇̉͊̃̀̾͂͂̏͑̌̀͑̾͋͆̒̓́́͗́̓̎̎̈́̍͘̕̕̕̕͝͝ḯ̶̧̧̛̯̣̪͙̘̥̺̝͈̙̹͔̲̝̺͕̥̩̹̣̠͙̗̲̤͖̞̇̆̔̽̍̄̀͆͗̉͂͐͐͌̀̅̀͌͋̈̋̀̄̉̏̆͘͘͝ͅǫ̴̛̬̺͈̜̿̔̈̔́̈́̉̎̋́̈̐̌͆̌͛̽͑̕̚͘͝n̷̢͍͚̩̙̥̠̦̥͍̜̗̪͈̗̫̮͚̬͚͗̽͐̓̔̿͜͝:̵̠̜̪͖̞̻̯͎͉͇̩͇̬͓̟̗̺̃̓̊̊̃͊̆̃̏̆͌̓͛͂̈̔͂̄̈́̄̉͗̃̊̔͛̋̋͒̂̏͊̈́͌̇͛͆̓̚̕̚̕͠͝͝͠͝ ̷̢̧̧̨̧̧̛̯̬̠͈̫̝̘̱̙͈͚͔̣̤͔͇̤̟͖͖̰̠̤̣̝͔̯̬͈̞̗̥͕̰͕̝̦̹̦̣̫̘̔̒̍̒͗̈́̈́̓̕͜ͅḚ̵̢̢̢̧̨̨̧̳̮̜̣̪̹̱̻̲̠̱̝͈͖̻͈̮̮̤̜̗͍͚̦͔̖͉̗̙̘̱̪̥̻̖̪̞̀̈́̈̈̂̿̇̍̓̀͐̉̄͊̆̓́͒́̓̂̏͗̽̀̌͒̃̐̚͜͜͝͝͠͠͠ͅͅḑ̷̨̧̧̛͇͍͓̣͍̱̞̮͕͍͕̥͉̙͓̭͔͉͉̹̠̙̩͔̥̥̳͎͔̼̘̘̃̐̍͋̍̈́̈͛̿͋͗̒̅̋̔̒̊̇͑̐́̈̌̔͑̀̌̑͊̍̃̽̒̆̊̿̚̚͝͝͝i̸̢̻̘̻̱̫͉͙͉̥̥̝̻͚̯̞̠̗̹͈̲͎̅̐̉͑̓̽̈́͛̿̓͂̈́̇̌͂̆̄̐͗̍͑̾̇̑̈́̔̀̎̐͘̚̕͠͝ț̴͉͓̠͖̺̝͈̹̰͚̫͕̗̲͍̹̤̹͎̣̲͐̄̀̿̉̓̈́́̓͐͂̿̊̅̽̐̇͑͆͜͜.̶̛̬͓͖̱͖̘̞̰̟̠͍̍͛̓̾͌̈̈̓̐͂͒̈́͐̋̂͛̾̀͂̂͂̈̇̈̽̉̎̿̃͋͛̚̚͠͝ͅ

I picked up its end, raising the wood plank to them as I stood.

"Rewrite is to edit the object of any concept, objects or part of the story. They are Editorial force. The one I just mentioned as high-tier."

Then I dropped it, dusting my hand.

"And for the Reset—" I paused. "It's ironic. Why? Because it's a return to zero. To a state of start. To where it belonged. And the irony is that the one you people are up against has that name: 'Zero.' A reset is also part of Overrider. I have yet to confirm whether Zero has that kind of ability."

Then I stared at them with a serious face. "Reset forces every memory back to where it started. The duration of the progress is wiped out for those who were during the reset."

I gestured around. "This is not a reset nor a rewrite. It's swapping course. It's why you all can remember what just happened. The previous wounds can also be transferred. But I can't hurt you guys as promised, that's why I just parried most of you, so there are no wounds."

Patchouli asked, "Then how are you healed completely?"

"Didn't Remilia say I don't have fate? So when I swapped, I wasn't here. Therefore, everything that happened to me... did not happen after the swap."

"I can't understand it." Marisa started. "But... Nowa, you have these kinds of powers. Wouldn't that make you—"

"Don't mistake it as me having it. It's not having it. It's the benefit of being an outside-text character. The one who is behind the story. The one I just mentioned writing our lives in a story. I turned myself into one. And it took so many things from me just to get to that state. So no, it's not something you can get."

I paused. "It's the same reason for why I can touch the fabric of reality. Because reality and fiction are both. Fiction is our idea. Reality is how life is. Fiction leads us. Reality is who we are. What we receive. That's the nature of reality."

Another pause. "So in other words, reality is how we perceive things. And right now, Metaphysics deals with how we perceive reality. It's the same as conceptual abilities. But as I mentioned before, Conceptual targets the idea. Metaphysics targets the perception we're looking at."

I finally lowered my hand. "And no, this isn't an ability. It's being able to grasp the story. What I did just now is mimic such meta-physics by dragging you to this path. So I don't have it. It's just controlling what reality already had. And yeah... it is by design. If I can't match these powers, I just have to manually grasp it."

Reimu took a step forward. "But what about us? Where does that make us? You said it yourself— that conceptual abilities are—"

"They're not completely useless against these types of powers," I countered. "There are some powers that touch the metaphysic category that were originally deemed conceptual. And Conceptual abilities can be expanded, but not overthrow it completely." I raised a finger. "For example, a collective will. When people collectively believe in one thing, it becomes real."

They looked at each other, understanding what I meant.

"Wait. That's how Gensokyo works," Marisa slightly tilted her head.

"Oh? That's good to hear then. But folks aren't that consistent. Some beliefs will just fade. So there is no consistent form of that kind of power unless... you got one that is in front of you who can just grasp it." Another pause. "In my base stat as an outside-text character, I can mimic a lot of these metaphysical effects. Cartoon physics is just the one I used. There are others. Fate alteration. Touching the fabric of reality. Overriding existing rules. All of it falls under the same umbrella. There are more I can show, but I won't use them because it will just become nonsense at this point."

I let them think over it. Before—

"So the lesson is: you can't fight it in equal terms. You can only know it. That's about it."

Silence fell over the field.

"But you can make countermeasures against it. It's why I fight against them. It's what I'm good at." I smiled weakly. "And I promised, remember? No one will be dying. Not while I'm here."

Then I raised my hand =========

"So, now. I will destroy this substory."

"What?" Reimu said in alarm. Then she saw something.

"You will experience what it feels like to be outside reality. And brace yourself. It will get ugly from here on out. Or not, depends on how you look at it."

"Wait—! Someone is behind you—!" Reimu stepped forward again and raised a stopping hand.

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Ț̵̟̺̝̱̓́̓̓́͐͑͝͝ơ̷̡̱̰̞̗͓̳̮͚̰̒͋̔̃̓̌͊̈́̍̒̃̈́͑̈́͊͘̕͝u̷̧̡̧̼͈̦̤͎̤͖̩̪͚̦̜̻̫͚̩̱̪͈̖̝̝̖͉̜̲̤̭̦̭̗̜̼̰̠̜̥̥̜͕̱͓̮͍͓͙͐̽́̄̍̔̍̐̽͛͂̓̾̔̍̇̋̔̿̈́̊̎̋͐̈́̒͌͒̉̾͊̀͆̊͐͗͋̕̕͜͝͠c̵̡̨̢̤̭̪̤̹̩̪̳͇̤͖̣̰̹͈̗̠̟͓̼̟̙͕̉̐̏̀͂͐̉͒̉͠͝ͅͅh̶̨̨̢̧̧̛̛̛̙̪͕͓̝͓̞̼̺̳͕̠͚̮̟̰͎̳̖̣͖̯̤͈̽̍̆̆̅́̀̔͊̑̓̾̈́́̒̽̍̑̉͒̆͘̚̕͜͠ͅ

Yukari and Ran: "..."

Chen: "Ran-sama… Grand-master, where are we…?"

Marisa: "Hello…? Anyone there? This isn't funny anymore…"

Reimu: "...Guys? Where are you? I can't see."

Sakuya: "...I can't feel anything… What is this place…"

Remilia: "...It's too… dark. There's nothing here."

Patchouli: "A void? No… a void has something to sense on. Or a grip on reality…"

A glow.

Marisa: *turns* "Somethin glowing."

Patchouli: *Walking towards it* "Must be an exit. Where are the others?"

Remilia: *Still* "Must be a trap. I can't hear anyone. Where are they?"

Reimu: *glowing* "I… Why am I glowing? Why… why is this so familiar… whenever I sometimes pass out in every fight…"

Chen: *shivering* "Ran-sama… Is that you? Mom…"

Ran: "Beckitzer, you have to put us back. This isn't a good place to stay."

Yukari: "I know where we are. This is the edge of… the bridge between fiction and reality. A—"

[RETURNING SNIPPIT]

[LOADING CURRENT STORY LABEL "TSALS FOH"]

[MESSAGE ALERT]

[MESSAGE READ ALOUD]

. . .

[READ ALOUD NOT WORKING]

[MESSAGE LANGUAGE REF: LATIN (PRIMARY), GREEK (SECONDARY), GENERAL INDO-EUROPEAN ROOTS]

[MESSAGE DECIPHERING]

. . .

[LOST][LOST][LOST][LOST]

[WARNING: SOUL VENGEANCE WRATH]

[WARNING: ANCIENT WRATH]

[WARNING: WATCHING]

[WARNING: WAITING]

. . .

This is ███████████ speaking. If you hear this, Atomos Cosvetrui. I hope to ████████ ███ that I remain here and cannot reach you for your atrocities. For I, will personally drag you to the ██████ purgatory myself where you cannot escape the final hours. Your days are numbered—

. . .

[AUDIO CUTTING OFF]

[TIMELINE BREAKING FROM COUNTLESS ABUSE]

[RETURNING FROM GENSOKYO'S SHATTERED FICTION]

Chapter 59 - 59.