Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Ah... as expected. After all, these two were best friends born more than ten thousand years ago, and several hundred years before that. Although they had a fierce relationship back then, wanting to kill each other as soon as possible, because they were both immortals, their fighting eventually led to the dinner table or the bed.

[It's a bit of a pity about Huiyin... um?]

Alice raised an eyebrow slightly, observing and immediately analyzing a pulsating thread of causality. Within this thread, she saw a past that had not been deliberately concealed.

She saw Keine peruse a thick, unknown book, discovering some unknowable secret within it and beginning to generate the Erosion Phenomenon. She saw the Erosion Phenomenon abruptly cease, and then, a portal suddenly opened and a hand reached out from it, capturing Keine and taking her away from Gensokyo.

Alice recognized what kind of hand it was.

That was Bai Ze's hand. It was the bloodline of Shang Bai Ze Huiyin, a great sage of the demon race in the primordial era. And since it was Bai Ze who made the move here, some of the previous mysteries were naturally solved in Alice's mind.

So that's how it is. The reason why all races were able to locate Anubis's Trial Grounds universe and participate in it was because of the rudimentary karmic connection between Kamishirasawa Keine and someone she loved. When Alice uncovered this secret, her gaze, guided by some force, continued to extend and successfully arrived at an unfamiliar universe.

A demon race, a universe of countless races in the primordial era.

She witnessed Shang Bai Ze Huiyin becoming the protagonist of an era in this universe of myriad races. She received abundant resources, knowledge, and opportunities as compensation and was being groomed as the successor of the Bai Ze lineage. She saw that Huiyin had already broken through to the level of a transcendent life form in this short time and begun to come into contact with the simulated light of the mind, and Huiyin's growth clearly wouldn't stop there.

The myriad races offered Keine ample compensation. Keine seemed content with this—she still remembered her old friends in Gensokyo, and the complicated relationship and feelings she shared with Mokou. But beyond all that, at this moment, Kamishirasawa Keine probably yearned even more to embark on the path of transcendence.

This wasn't a good ending, but it wasn't too bad either. Alice's gaze shifted again, and through the haze, she saw an ice-blue figure bow its head towards her.

"Well, an apology from an emperor, then this matter should naturally end here, and there's no need to pursue it any further"—Alice shook her head and left the bamboo hut. She glanced at Eientei on the other side of the bamboo grove and, unsurprisingly, found that the interior of Eientei was exactly the same as it had been over ten thousand years ago.

That's not surprising.

For the immortal, time is always plentiful and long, and life is always slow and monotonous. After a moment's thought, Alice decided to forgo her meeting with Eirin Yagokoro. After all, that woman was an experienced individual, and if she guessed or calculated anything that someone of her level of existence shouldn't know, then what awaited her might not be a friendly outcome.

So Alice left. She abandoned her plans to visit Eientei, Inaba Tei, and Reisen. The moment her toes touched the ground, everything around her transformed into an endless field of sunflowers, and in the very center of the field stood a small house that had been sealed off for many years.

Yuuka isn't here. She's gone, and she's left this universe—

--No.

She didn't actually leave; she simply separated herself during the very beginning, during the migration of Gensokyo. Perhaps it was due to Shinki's protection, or perhaps for some other reason, but this flower fairy named Kazami Yuuka, who hadn't yet reached the transcendent level, managed to traverse the Void Seas unscathed and arrive in another universe.

Her destiny lies elsewhere.

She will write new stories and legends on this foreign land.

For a demon warrior like Kazami Yuuka, who is unwilling to be alone, such an development should be considered the most satisfactory treatment.

That's good. Alice is very satisfied.

As she left, she saw a doll-like youkai, a poisonous girl named Medici, lurking nearby with cleaning tools—in the sixteen thousand years since Yuuka Kazami left, Medici had tended to her sunflower field and the uninhabited hut in the field every day. This might have become a habit for her, or it might have been the pillar of her life.

[A deeply sinful fellow.] Alice shook her head slightly in her heart.

"But I'm not much better off." She sighed sadly, then turned and headed to another area.

She met with all her people—one-way meetings, of course. She didn't intend for them to see or perceive her existence, as this was beneficial to both parties. And in these meetings, she clearly sensed that the scroll of revelation she carried was being strengthened and elevated time and again.

She is the daughter of Shinki. And Shinki's power will not deliberately reject her.

After leaving the sunflower field, she visited the Hakugyokurou, Youkai Mountain, and the Underworld, among other familiar areas of the old Gensokyo. Unsurprisingly, she found that everything remained largely unchanged from over ten thousand years ago.

The Gardener remains the Gardener, and Princess Mononoke remains Princess Mononoke. The Wind Priest remains a living god, and the gods of heaven and earth still receive offerings atop the monster mountain.

The monsters in the old hell are still the same ones from back then, now indulging in feasts and pleasures. They likely no longer possess the fighting power they once had. The mind-reading monsters in the Earth Spirit Palace are also exactly the same as before; the only noteworthy thing is that Koko has cured her autism.

This is not surprising; mental illness is something that can be cured with the healing power of time. Just as Flandre recovered from her mental breakdown long ago and became gentle and serene, Komeiji Ren, residing in the Earth Spirit Hall, also healed her psychological illness over the long years, and now she spends all her time with her loli older sister.

This is a good thing, and good things don't need much interference.

Alice did not linger in the Temple of the Underworld for long—she stayed only for a short while before leaving without any of the living beings noticing.

So, after visiting almost all the places she cared about, she arrived at the final destination of this large-scale hometown reunion—she went into the magic forest and, following her memory and her long-neglected physical instincts, reached the designated area.

—She saw Marisa Kirisame's little house.

Sixteen thousand years ago, Marisa Kirisame's hut.

☆, Preparations Before the Final Battle: Demonic Thoughts

Marisa has been dead for many years.

She died of natural causes, without illness. After mastering information magic, she could have easily lived for tens of thousands of years, but at the end of her natural lifespan, she ultimately failed to take that crucial step.

She did not transform herself into a non-human. She did not implant a magic furnace into her body to reorganize her cellular structure, nor did she allow her soul to undergo a fundamental transformation—she remained just a human, an ordinary mage. Since she was unwilling to use tools to alienate her body and mind, she was destined to perish like an ordinary mortal.

The theoretical lifespan of mortals is not long. Their genetic structure and the strength of their souls determine that they can only have a lifespan of about three hundred years at most—that is the ultimate lifespan limit that a pure mortal can reach without receiving any non-human enhancement or modification. Although this limitation can be easily bypassed by studying even a mediocre Yin Spirit Visualization Method, if one does not actively try to bypass it, then death will come as expected.

So Marisa died. She's been dead for many years.

Alice could even see precisely the moment she died more than ten thousand years ago—the time of her passing was almost perfectly synchronized with Reimu's. And after that, her soul was reincarnated.

Ah, that's perfectly normal. Ultimately, Gensokyo is controlled by a group of youkai sages like Yakumo Yukari. And these kinds of youkai who have lived long enough are often very nostalgic. That's why Reimu is reincarnated again and again after her death, and Marisa is naturally the same.

—She died, and then was reborn. Each new Marisa, after being reborn, forgets all memories and powers of her past life. And in almost every life, Marisa's reincarnation and Reimu's reincarnation become close friends, sometimes even more than just friends. This karmic cycle is essentially an unspoken secret among the knowledgeable great youkai, and perhaps it is precisely because of this that, even though Gensokyo no longer needs the constraints of spell cards or shrine maidens, the rules of the old era still imprison this restless sky.

Marisa's youkai friends become her friends in every lifetime. Marisa's youkai enemies... well, in both the past and present Gensokyo, hatred has no place. So naturally, the absurd concept of youkai enemies doesn't exist. Moreover, in every lifetime, Marisa becomes an information mage, and in every lifetime, for strange reasons, she comes into contact with the knowledge inherited from her previous life. Then, in every lifetime, she dies a natural death as an ordinary mage, living within the limits of human capabilities.

She was the same in every lifetime, without exception. Alice carefully reviewed the numerous details of the timeline, but from beginning to end, she couldn't detect even the slightest trace of external interference.

This is Marisa's way, Marisa's thoughts, Marisa's philosophy. While she may not agree with the idea that she loves someone, she won't casually break this cycle of fate.

She had simply been left to decay over ten thousand years ago, but every hundred years, Marisa's reincarnation would come here to 'seek the wonders and explore the mysteries,' thus using the ruins as a secret base to rebuild and maintain the forest cabin that remains intact to this day. Then, breaking free from the interference of cognition, she pushed open the door that had been sealed for a full hundred years since the end of the last cycle.

Marisa is different from others. Despite reincarnating so many times, she has always practiced information magic. Although in this excessively peaceful Gensokyo, her magical level hasn't improved much over tens of thousands of years, remaining at the limit of the third tier, she is still the only inheritor of a complete information system besides myself, Patchouli, and the eliminated Tyrant Xiao Honglu.

[The only 'person' who possesses the power of information magic and has not undergone any mutation.]

[The bond between her and me was forged long ago, and erasing it would be incredibly difficult. But besides me, there must be many other powerful beings in the multiverse watching over her. Therefore, the deepening of this 'bond' is irrelevant.]

Alice sighed softly and stepped into the porch. The various protective measures set up by Marisa in her previous life were useless to her—she discovered that Marisa's cottage, after so many lifetimes, was almost exactly the same as when she last left. All the interior details and furnishings were basically unchanged from before.

She saw the scrolls of magic books neatly arranged on the bookshelf. She picked one up at random and opened it. The neat handwriting inside revealed the book's owner's diligence and studiousness. Her fingers trembled slightly as she flipped through the scrolls one by one, browsing the numerous notes recorded within. The writer's insights and experiences during the writing process gradually came into view.

"Marisa..."

She gave a soft hum. Like a teacher, she began to examine the coursework completed by her students who had graduated 16,000 years ago after becoming independent. She carefully read through it from top to bottom, and the contents of the notes made her raise an eyebrow slightly.

Interesting.

Although the notes contain only very basic information, and many of the insights and understandings contain errors, they are still quite interesting.

This is because it is a notebook left behind by the first Marisa, a book written by Marisa. And this book, which belongs entirely to Marisa, naturally contains remnants of Marisa's ideals and will.

—[I want to remain human, to study this knowledge to the very end as a human. I want to decipher this mysterious knowledge as an ordinary mage, analyze it, and then modularize it. Only in this way can I understand and modify the structure of this magical system and the immense power it contains. Because—]

—[—I want to fulfill Alice and Patchouli's wishes. I want to forge a path where information magic can coexist with mechanical civilization. I want all mortals to understand magic, to learn and use it. Only in this way can information magic be passed down through the world as Alice hoped, instead of being universally condemned and seen as a heretical practice despite its potential to benefit the masses!]

Marisa's thoughts were clear and unambiguous—she truly understood and inherited the ideals that Alice and Patchouli held when they first left Gensokyo, and she carried them through to the very end.

—But she didn't succeed.

Even though she died and was resurrected time and time again, each time embarking on the path of information magic, she still failed.

Because of her limited natural talent, she was only of above-average ability, better than ordinary people, but not a genius. And while she insisted on not giving up her human identity and not undergoing any biological or mechanical modifications to herself, her research into information magic always faced insurmountable obstacles and had to be halted.

For over ten thousand years, each incarnation of Marisa has had novel ideas.

For over ten thousand years, every incarnation of Marisa has failed to turn this intriguing idea into a tangible reality.

Alice closed the book and stepped over the bookshelf to the center of the reception room—where she saw many old objects that held Marisa's memories. Among these familiar and unfamiliar items, she saw a broom placed neatly on the central display table.

She remembered the broom.

This was the result of Marisa's tireless efforts throughout the night before leaving Gensokyo. It was her qualification and proof of becoming a formal priestess. And this broom was firmly wrapped in a protective barrier, and even after thousands of years, it still retained its original appearance.

Marisa, brainless Marisa.

“You should have had other options…” Alice murmured to herself. As she spoke, sunlight streamed down beside her, creating a dazzling curtain of light before her eyes—in the dim light, she seemed to see again that energetic blonde girl with golden eyes and that signature silly smile on her face.

However, this was neither an illusion nor a vague notion—the transcendent species had long been detached from this uncertain descriptive term. The reason Alice could see Marisa's image was because Marisa from over ten thousand years ago had indeed stood in this place at this point in time and said some things that needed to be conveyed to Alice, who arrived more than ten thousand years later.

So Alice stretched out her finger and touched that thin timeline, projecting her will into that distant past.

..........................................

Fifteen thousand eight hundred and thirty-three years ago, in the Enchanted Forest, Marisa, who had already made a name for herself in Gensokyo, established her own reputation. She even launched an 'anomaly' entirely of her own making, just like those acknowledged outsiders. Dressed in a witch's outfit much more formal than usual, she arrived at the center of the reception hall—there was no one in front of her, and she was surrounded by numerous surveillance and magical protection.

Her lifespan was nearing its limit due to consuming too many strange mushrooms. She was physically weak, yet her face still bore that cheerful smile. And then—

"Ahem, can you hear me?" She coughed lightly, her gaze fixed on a spot in front of her—but there was nothing there.

“I know you can hear me, Alice.” Marisa’s conversation partner should have been nothing, but at this moment, Alice arrived in front of her, waiting for her next move invisibly—“Because you are an information mage, you are definitely much, much stronger than me. So, I guess you will definitely return to this drastically changed Gensokyo someday in the future, and at that time you will definitely access the world’s records to watch my actions during this period of time.”

"You must be watching already, Alice. Although I don't know your current situation, I think that since you have time to return to Gensokyo, you must either have already resolved everything or are on your way to resolving everything. If it's the former, then I congratulate you; if it's the latter, then I wish you victory."

Alice frowned slightly. She reached out, intending to travel back more than ten thousand years to retrieve Marisa from this historical rift. She was confident she could get this blonde idiot out without disrupting any of the world's mechanisms, and even if she unfortunately triggered something... it wouldn't really matter.

It's nothing more than the fundamental logic of the universe; that stuff is probably no stronger than one's own fist. Disrupted spacetime causality can be easily smoothed over with a few simple gestures. And that only requires—

Her fingers paused for a moment before touching Marisa.

“I’m going to die, Alice.” She heard Marisa’s voice, cheerful, energetic, and resolute. “And if you have a way to revive me, then I hope you won’t do it.”

"Why?" Alice asked softly, across the barrier of time.

"Why?" Marisa, on the other side of time, answered the air: "Because I feel that it should be wrong, it shouldn't be good."

She seemed... no, she smiled with a distinct self-deprecating tone.

“I know it’s stupid, but that’s what I want to do. I don’t want to modify my genetic material, nor do I want to replace my brain with a strange container or change the structure of my soul… I want to be human, even if I have to reincarnate like this, I want to continue to be human, an ordinary person. Because I want to be like Akyuu, to develop a path of power that someone like me with average talent can also easily traverse with my mortal body… I want to do this, and I hope you won’t stop me.”

“This is pointless.” Alice frowned, staring at the incredibly stupid golden retriever. After suppressing the urge to attack, she said coldly, “A strategic approach is far more reliable than struggling in the mud. You can get promoted first, and then use your superior processing speed and analytical skills to complete this job.”

However, Marisa behind the time barrier simply waved her hand—although they did not meet, a conversation was strangely achieved.

“I know, I know, Alice, you must have other ideas… You’ve always been resourceful. And your ideas are always better than mine. But…”

She tilted her head back, her gaze seemingly meeting that of Alice behind the time barrier.

"...I just want to try it, is that okay?"

Alice did not answer.

Because she saw a pleading emotion brewing in Marisa's eyes. And the next moment, she clearly sensed that beating heart. That will and fire surging from the depths of Marisa's soul.

—【I am mediocre, I am ordinary, and there are very few things I can do.】

—[This shows that I'm no different from other ordinary people. I'm carefree and lack talent; even if a treasure is right under my feet, I might spend a long time finding a way to unlock it without guaranteeing success.]

--【so……】

—[I want to be a lamp, a guide for others like myself who are of ordinary talent. To tell them that even without abandoning their mortal hearts and bodies, they can still gain the power to be independent and self-reliant.]

—【I want to try. Alice, I don't know if you and Patchouli have already spread the magic of information far away, but I want to try. I want to fulfill the wish you both had back then.】