The shimmering border that served as their window to the Hakurei Shrine faded, showing an empty courtyard now that Nowa and Marisa had stood to begin their duel.
Ran spoke, her voice a soft exhalation of relief. "His emotional data is stabilizing, Milady. We are no longer registering his primary outputs of despair or numbness. It's now replaced with genuine amusement, pride in craftsmanship, even protective compliance... his probability of cooperative interaction has risen to over ninety percent."
Yukari did not open her eyes, a slow, triumphant smile gracing her lips. "Exceedingly so, my dear Ran." She finally snapped her fan shut with a decisive click. "Did you observe it? The precise moment?"
"The 'screaming chicken glitter gun,' you mean?" Ran asked, a hint of dry amusement in her own tone. "It was... an unorthodox creation."
"It was a masterpiece," Yukari corrected, her eyes opened to gleam with satisfaction. "The 'Flame Noah' of rumor would have erased a star to solve a problem. The man we just watched crafted a nonsensical toy to play a game with a child. He is not diminishing his power; he is re-learning to speak a language with it. A language of creation, not just destruction."
Ran gave a slow, thoughtful nod, one of her tails twitching as she processed the data. "This Framework rune has two types he just mentioned. But the 'Hammer of Creation' is a key variable. It confirms your theory that he has developed tools to manage his costly abilities, not just wield them recklessly. This indicates a desire for control and stability."
"Precisely." Yukari's gaze was distant, seeing the grand strategy falling into place. "But the most telling data point was not a tool, nor a spell. It was a sound."
"His laughter," Ran said, understanding it immediately.
"That laughter," Yukari restated, her voice soft but intense. "That was the sound of the void within him cracking. Gensokyo is not filling it with grand purpose or cosmic wars. It is filling it with lack of seriousness. And for a man who has carried the weight of many worlds, there is no greater medicine than the triviality of a friend who wants a glitter gun."
Ran allowed a small, relieved smile to touch her own lips. "Then the immediate danger has passed. He will not break, and he won't flee. Not while he is still building these connections." Her expression then sobered. "My concern now shifts to the timeline. My calculations indicate we have a critical window. We must hope Zero's invasion does not come before this... 'friendship'... has fully solidified into something he consciously recognizes as worth fighting for."
Yukari waved a dismissive hand, though her eyes were still sharp. "We will ensure it. Our role now is that of gardeners, not generals. We protect the soil, water the seeds, and ensure no frost comes to kill this fragile, blossoming thing." She opened her fan again, this time with a graceful, unhurried motion. "Let them play their game, Ran. For the first time in a very short time, our most powerful weapon is in the best possible hands: his own, and those of the friends who are reminding him how to live."
Back in the Shrine courtyard, three figures stood poised. Nowa Beckitzer, Reimu Hakurei, and Marisa Kirisame were engaged in a cultural exchange of a peculiar kind. A spell card duel. Marisa and Nowa were in a standoff, with Reimu acting as the mediator and observer. Marisa's Mini-Hakkero was humming to life, her face split in a familiar, competitive grin.
Nowa bent down, giving his dual gatling gun a final pat. "Alright, you glorified glitter dispenser," he muttered to the weapon. "Let's give the mushroom kid a hell of a show she won't forget. Pattern, Beautiful Chaos. Starts." he placed his one hand in his pocket where the spellcards are stored, readying to use at a moment's need.
Reimu's voice is commanding and sharp. "Beckitzer! 'Beautiful Chaos' is not a recognized Spell Card! Define your parameters now or I'm calling this off!" Her hand gripped her Gohei, ready to intervene.
He didn't look away from Marisa, he replied with calm precision. "Parameters are within your tolerances, Miss Ribbon. It's a non-lethal, dense-spray-stream pattern with randomized glitter-burst modifiers. Think of it as... 'Fireworks display of a Bizarre Festival.' Happy?"
Marisa is vibrating with excitement, loving the formal declaration. "'Beautiful Chaos'?! I LOVE IT! Come on, then! Let's see it, Ze! ♪" She shouted, zipping higher into the air with her magical broom. "I'll match it with my own 'Blazing Star!'"
Nowa let out a weary sigh. "Of course they can fly. Great," he muttered. He raises his voice slightly. "Are you gonna fly away? Old-timer here can't fly. Since I forgor to mention." He dryly chuckled.
Marisa stopped mid-air, her grin faltering for a split second, before turning into an even wider, more competitive smirk. "Wait, for real? You can't fly? Ha! Talk about a handicap! Don't worry, Old-timer, I'll go easy on you!"
His dual gatling gun humming to life now as it starts rotating slowly. "Don't go easy on me now, I ain't a wuss. I don't mind it, there's always a way in everything." he grinned. 'I can fly but that would require Voidflame propulsion... and I'm not that desperate yet. Let's keep this curse in its box.'
Reimu's voice rang out like a referee. "Are you two done talking?" She began. And both Nowa and Marisa's voice in unison "Yeah!" then Reimu nodded. She raised her Gohei in the air and swung it downward along with the word. "Begin!"
Marisa's Mini-Hakkero glowed and was charging up with incandescent power, then a large magic rune circle glowed behind her. "Prison magic: Blazing Star!" A sunburst of energy erupted from her, a random dense pattern core of golden stars and mini lasers, while larger, slower-moving stars spun out in a wide, descending ring. It was a classic pincer maneuver from the air, a shrinking dome of danmaku designed to herd him toward the center, before she unleashes her ultimate magic, her gigantic laser magic.
Nowa stood his ground, his eyes tracking the intricate patterns. 'So, they announce their attacks. Is it a form of ritual? Or they just like spoiling their attack move? It's not very effective against warfare, it puts them at disadvantage. But whatever, a move is a move.' He weaved his upper body, letting a stream of lasers pass harmlessly by his shoulder. 'But still, the mana density is dispersed... seemingly designed to overwhelm, not penetrate. This is the "non-lethal" part, is it?. It's a game of tag, not a fight to the death. How… unconventional, very unconventional. The power alone is strong yet… oh well this is the rules of theirs, I guess.' His gaze shifted around the closing star dense dome. A dismissive smirk touched his lips. He could erase this entire spectacle with a thought. He could stand still and let it break against his shield without a scratch. But that wasn't the point of the lesson.
"I see," he said aloud, his voice cutting calmly through the hum of magical energy. "So this is how you fight."
Marisa yelled from her aerial perch. "Heh! Not just a walking arsenal, are ya?!" her grin widening. "Most people just start shootin' back! You're actually watchin'! I like it!" She adjusted her trajectory, the "Blazing Star" pattern intensifying. "But let's see how you handle it when it gets real tight!" She aimed her charged-up Mini-Hakkero downwards at him. "Take this! Magicannon: Giga Spark!"
A large dense laser blasting through the center in the closing star dome. Before the laser could hit Nowa, he reacted by dashing outward, dodging the large laser and weaving his body to dodge stray stars in the process before standing still, the attack pattern is now a large laser in the middle and the star closing in making the danmaku turn into a chaotic storm.
Reimu's observation was intense and focused. 'He's assessing the rules, not just the power. He identified the non-lethal intent immediately. And he's holding back... significantly. He's not using any of his reality-warping tricks. He's playing the game.' There's a slight relaxation in her shoulders. The grip on her Gohei loosen just a fraction.
Nowa eyes moved faster as the dome got even thicker, dodging a few stray patterns. "If it were normal people, no one would be able to dodge this pattern," Danmaku pattern is about to converge on him, but Nowa's left arm blurs. The Liquid Nano Rune Armament flowed from his sleeve, not as a shield, but as a lashing, black tendril. It shoots upward with impossible speed, not at Marisa, but past her. Then the dual gatling gun momentarily vanished.
"But, that is, if I was a normal person." The liquid Nano Armament anchors onto a seemingly empty point in the air high above the courtyard, a point where the boundary between the blue sky and the celestial dome is just tangible enough for his reality-anchoring rune to grasp. He gives a sharp tug. With a powerful jerk, he is yanked off his feet, spinning and soaring vertically out of the trap. The danmaku collides on the large laser, Marisa's magic attack patterns fades, eyes tracked where he went behind her.
He doesn't fly. His feet were covered with Hardened Liquid Nano Armament glowing with rune symbols as he seemingly is crouching/standing in the air. He repositioned himself and momentarily stalling in the air high above Marisa, his coat swaying. The dual gatling guns reappeared, now pointing down at her, beginning to spin again, their low hum now sounding ominously like a hornet's nest. "The secret I told you about… is this," The screen zoomed out fully to Nowa crouching in and looking at Marisa at a 310° angle from his forward direction.
Marisa's jaw dropped for a second. "NO WAY!" she shrieked, a mix of shock and delight. "You're walking on air?! That's not flying, that's... that's CHEATING! THE COOLEST KIND OF CHEATING!"
He added with a dry amusement. "It only lasts for five minutes though. Heh."
Her competitive spirit ignited like a supernova. "FIVE MINUTES?! I'M GUNNA PUSH YOU SO HARD YOU'LL WISH IT WAS FIVE SECONDS!"
Reimu widened her eyes slightly as she watched from below. 'He didn't break the rules. He redefined the arena. He's not just a fighter; he's a terrain manipulator. This changes everything. The 50ms Author isn't his only terrifying ability... his true power is adaptation.' The remaining tension from the earlier confrontation melted away, replaced by a deep, professional respect. The slight relaxation in her shoulders becomes a firm, steady posture. "...Impressive." she reluctantly muttered.
He took out one of the spell cards he'd been carrying in his pocket, in between his fingers when he activated it. The card glowed, then the gun rotated with increasing speed as it glowed hot, then shot a random fireworks pattern of a spray of glittering projectiles that split and scattered like shrapnel. "I name this; Live Shot magic: Oh gawd shot was fired!" he stifled a silent laugh.
Marisa was flying with blurring speed to dodge the fireworks screaming spray when she heard the name. She snorted then laughed. "Give it a proper name man!"
Reimu just let out a tired sigh at the naming, too tired to comment.
What followed was a true spectacle of bullets, a living, breathing "shoot 'em up" given form. Marisa blurs in an arching circle around Nowa, who stood suspended in the air on his invisible platform, her broom trailing light.
She stood up on her flying broom, produced several vials, and hurled them toward him. Nowa shot them in mid-air as a reflex, not a strategy. The vials exploded in a brilliant flash, a distraction that cost him only a heartbeat of blindness.
For Marisa, that heartbeat was enough.
Still blurring across the sky, she raised her palm. A complex runic circle blazed to life above it, intricate and pulsing with power. "Ha! Take this, old-timer! Magicannon: Orbital Barrage!"
Above Nowa, the sky ignited. Dozens of spell circles bloomed into existence, stacked in a concentric pattern like a celestial row of cakes, each one humming with destructive potential.
Nowa tilted his head back, taking in the full scope of the impending storm. A slow, genuine smile spread across his face. "Dayum, kid."
Marisa's grin widened. She swept her arm down.
The spell answered. From each circle, a blast of mini-lasers rained down, a precise barrage of light, each beam a needle of precision. It wasn't just overwhelming; it was beautiful.
Nowa spun on his toes, a single laser grazing past his shoulder. Then he moved, running across the invisible platform, weaving between beams, his coat a dark blur against the light. The glitter gatling gun that was following his lead, never stopped its relentless shot, tracking Marisa as she corkscrewed through the air, dodging his return fire while maintaining her own assault.
It was chaos. It was art. It was the most fun either of them had had in years. The battle intensifies.
0̸̥̑3̵͈̿[HOURS]6̶̢̀4̵͍́6̸̦̽1̴͓̒6̵̤̆(̴̿ͅē̸̟)̴̰̉3̴̥͌3̸͛ͅ7̶͙̂6̷͈͋6̸̎͜[HOURS]3̵̱̌1̴̭̓3̶̞̾0̵̦̊7̷͍̍6̷̯͆6̶̙͂(̸̻͝ḓ̴̏)̵̰͑3̷͎̃5̴̲͂7̸̳̋7̸͜͝[HOURS](̴̝͠f̴̠̎)̷̲̏5̵̥͌9̸̺͘4̵̢͋(̴̭̂f̸͕̋)̷̫̈́5̷̟̈5̶̯̊5̵͍́(̸̙̾f̸͉̆)̶̣̏4̴̖̽1̶̩̍4̸̬̚3̸̛̯5̷͇̔4̶̩̓5̷̼͆5̴̻̅4̸͔̐1̷̱̇4̴͖̐(̷͇̎ċ̸̘)̸̼̐4̴͑ͅ(̶̱̈́ć̴̣)̸͖̋5̴͙͝9̷̮̀5̵̻͂(̶̫̽f̷̬̊)̵̜̉4̷̦͋6̶͙́4̴̲̈́(̵̞́f̵̐͜)̶͙̈́5̸̎͜5̸͔̋4̴͙͛(̷͇͠e̵̪͂)̸̭̚4̵̳̉4̴͔̾
Suddenly Nowa smelled a familiar scent. The rotation of his gatling gun slowed and he halted to a stop. The stray shot became drastic then bent its direction and flew elsewhere as if it was corrupted, his hand gestured to stop towards Marisa and looked away high above. 'This smells, a malware injected into reality. And the owner is still sleeping?'
Through the boundary portal, the images of Nowa and Marisa's duel played out. Ran watched, her fingers gently tracing the flow of data, the emotional stability, mana coherence, cooperative intent. All graphs were trending positively.
Yukari allowed herself a rare, genuine smile, her fan moving in a slow, rhythmic beat. "The therapy is proceeding perfectly, Ran. He is—" The air in the boundary twisted.
It was not a sound, but a sensation, a wrongness, like a single, dissonant chord played on the strings of reality itself. The viewing portal to the shrine flickered, the image of the duel distorting as if seen through fractured glass before dissolving into frantic, crimson static.
Ran jerked upright and startled, her nine tails puffing out. The serene holographic displays of Gensokyo's ley lines that floated before her erupted in a synchronized flare of violent red warnings and garbled runic text. "Breach!" she cried out. "Milady, a non-localized anomalous signal! It's not a physical presence. It's a systemic corruption! It's bypassing all defensive wards and injecting errors directly into the foundational layer!" Her hands flew across the controls, trying to reassert order, but the corruption spread faster than she could quarantine it. "The Spell Card Rules... the definitions are being rewritten! He's not invading; he's hacking reality itself!"
Yukari did not move. She did not start. She went perfectly, terrifyingly still. The leisurely motion of her fan stopped dead. All color drained from her face. Her eyes, fixed on the static, narrowed into slits of pure, incandescent fury.
"Zero," she whispered. "He is no longer hiding. The war he declared was not only for Gensokyo's people, but for the very concept of reality too."
She watched as Ran, her most capable shikigami, fought a losing battle against the corruption. "My attempts to purge it are failing, Milady! The corruption is using our own reality as a host! My abilities are part of the system he is attacking!" Ran's voice was strained, the horror dawning on her.
Yukari's gaze was glacial. "Our 'gardening' time is over. The frost is here—" A cut off statement at the end.
At the same time back at the hakurei shrine, Marisa was mid-maneuver, her own spell fizzling as she halts in confusion. "Hey! What gives, Old-timer? You can't just call a time-out when you're—" She stopped short as she finally registered the absolute seriousness on his face. Her grin vanished. She followed his gaze upward, seeing nothing. "...Nowa? What is it?" Her voice lost its boisterous edge, low and serious.
Reimu's eyes instantly snap from Nowa's face to the sky, her body tensing. She feels nothing. 'He senses something I can't. This is it. The incident.' Her voice, low and sharp, cutting through the silence. "Beckitzer. Report. What do you sensed—" All voices are cut, tense, anticipating death and invasion.