The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"Fairies need a completely new future, and vampires can give us what our fairy race wants, nothing more."

"But you're wrong."

Kamishirasawa Keine had a determined look on her face.

"The vampires have absolutely no chance of succeeding. In the future, this world is destined to belong to humans. The vampires are only courting their own destruction."

"What does success matter? What does failure matter? I just want to find a brighter possibility for the fairy's future."

Cirno spoke calmly.

“I understand the future direction of this world better than you do, and I understand the predetermined future of the vampires better than you do, but so what? The decline of the mysticism will allow humanity to develop rapidly, but human progress comes at the cost of environmental damage... Want to know how to make a fairy die completely?”

"But this kind of thing..."

"Fairies are born from nature. Fairies are the darlings of nature by nature. Therefore, fairies can never die. Even if they die, they will be reborn very quickly."

Completely disregarding what Bai Ze Huiyin was saying, Cirno proceeded to reveal the greatest secret of her clan.

"To truly kill a fairy, the method is actually quite simple: just destroy nature. The fairy king of the previous generation died at the hands of humans. Isn't that ridiculous? An unkillable fairy was killed by weak humans..."

Cirno smiled sarcastically.

"You can never imagine the destructive power of humans against nature. What's even more ridiculous is that the previous generation of fairy kings died at the hands of humans, yet the previous generation of fairy kings never thought of resisting, let alone taking revenge."

"The previous king of fairies...?"

Upon suddenly hearing these secret histories of fairies, Kamishirasawa Keine couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"But those fairies clearly don't have anything to do with these things..."

"Of course they wouldn't remember, because the previous fairy queen had lost her own name. How could someone without a name be remembered?"

Cirno spoke coldly.

"In the very beginning, the fairy's own name will disappear. Then, all memories of her existence will be erased. When the Fairy King dies, the next Fairy King will appear, and everything from the previous generation will be forgotten. Do you understand? This is the destiny that the Fairy King must bear!!"

"........."

"Your name will disappear, your friends will forget you one by one, and no one will remember the things you've done. In the end, you'll die alone, and no one will remember anything about you... Can you imagine that?"

"But, even so, there's no need to do it this way... There must be a better way."

After a long pause, Kamishirasawa Keine finally spoke with considerable difficulty.

"Those who have died can never come back, but shouldn't those who are still alive cherish life even more? The formation of those secret realms should be able to prevent this from happening again, right? What you're doing is completely useless; it's just your personal resentment..."

"That's right, I'm just not reconciled."

Cirno's tone returned to its usual calm.

"Indeed, a secret realm belonging exclusively to fairies could prevent this from happening again, but so what? Regardless, I am determined to help her find her name again."

"She...you mean..."

As if suddenly understanding something, Kamishirasawa Keine's eyes widened in surprise.

"She fell into a deep sleep and I placed her in the very center of my ice palace. Since she has lost her name, I don't know what I should call her now."

Cirno stood up from the table and let out a soft sigh.

"I've hidden the Fairy Realm in a secret place, a place that no one else can find, but you definitely can... I'm entrusting all of them, including her, to you. I hope you can take good care of them for me."

"Wait, wait a minute..."

Seeing that Cirno was about to turn and leave, Kamishirasawa Keine, who was still reeling from the shock of the news, quickly stood up as well.

"Fairies don't die, and I haven't lost my name, so you don't need to worry about anything related to me, and there's absolutely no need to worry."

Although Cirno's tone was calm, her words clearly revealed an unwavering belief that no one could change.

"Actually, ordinary fairies could never know these secret histories. They are top-secret information passed down only to the Fairy King of each generation. Yes, I don't really need to worry about these things, because the Fairy Realm has been completed and will awaken from its slumber at some point in the future. I just need to wait patiently... But there are some things that must be done."

Stepping outside and looking up at the gloomy sky, Cirno's tone seemed to carry a hint of inexplicable emotion.

"If I could, when I'm reborn, I hope I won't be so smart... It's actually quite nice to be a carefree fool."

"........."

Watching Cirno's figure disappear from her sight, Kamishirasawa Keine fell silent for a moment.

She could clearly see that the other person was obviously contemplating suicide, or rather, that she, who had always seemed too clever, had been living too painfully. This was a kind of self-liberation that she had always longed for, unrelated to anything else, only loyal to the most sincere thoughts in her heart.

...She had no idea how to evaluate what the other party had done.

With Cirno's tacit approval, Kamishirasawa Keine left the vampire castle and embarked on a journey to find the fairy realm that Cirno had hidden.

The previous Fairy King was replaced by Cirno because she lost her name, and everyone else forgot about the existence of the previous Fairy King... but she is still alive.

If there was anyone in this world who could persuade Cirno to change her mind, the only one Kamishirasawa Keine could think of was her, even though she didn't know her name at all...

For humans, a name may just be a label, but for some races, the meaning of a name is quite profound. For example, the demon race that lives in hell must ensure that their names are not known to others.

Because controlling a demon's true name means you have complete control over that demon. Although fairies are not the same as demons, they still share some similarities.

The disappearance of a fairy's name almost means that her existence has been stripped away and denied, which is not something that can be solved simply by giving her a new name.

It didn't take long for Kamishirasawa Keine to find the fairy realm that Cirno had hidden. However, as soon as she entered the fairy realm, she received a rather dumbfounded message from the fairies.

—Everything in the Fairy Realm, except for a single needle and thread, was taken away.

PS: Good morning! (‵□′)

Chapter Twenty-Five: When ⑨ or ⑨ Timeout

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"...What weird thing did you bring back?"

Looking at the faintly visible figure lying in the ice coffin made of extremely pure ice in front of him, Shi Bai's lips twitched involuntarily.

He naturally didn't have the time to run around to raid hundreds of secret realms in the surrounding area, so he naturally handed over most of the work to Taotie, who spent his days idly lying on the grass eating grass.

As one of the four most ferocious ancient beasts in the primordial era, Taotie's strength is extremely powerful. At the very least, among these monster races that need to construct their own secret realms to avoid the great calamity of heaven and earth, Taotie's strength is invincible.

Perhaps the only one who can rival it is the legendary "World-Devouring Serpent - Jormungandr" from the Western world. However, it is obvious that a being of that power cannot stay in these secret realms. Therefore, Shi Bai is very relieved to send Taotie out to complete this task, and Taotie is naturally very happy as well.

But Shi Bai never expected that this guy would actually come back carrying an ice coffin, and judging from the appearance of the being sleeping inside, it seemed to be a... green-haired fairy?

[You said yourself that you wouldn't take a single needle or thread, so I took everything else back except for those.]

Suddenly, Taotie raised a wooden board in its hand, looking completely self-righteous.

"You dare to talk back?! Do you believe I'll slap you to death?!"

With a dark expression, Shi Bai raised his hand.

"I asked you to bring back those treasures, and what you brought back is a demon!? We came here with the intention of having a friendly exchange with our neighbors, but your behavior has directly escalated to kidnapping, don't you understand!?"

After thinking for a moment, Taotie obediently lay down, then covered its head with its two paws, and at the same time, a new wooden board appeared in its hands.

I'm sorry, please go easy on me.

"........."

Shi Bai noticed that as time went by, this Taotie seemed to become more and more shameless... He wondered which shameless guy it had learned from, and why it didn't learn more from his wise and mighty self and his own strengths.

He kicked the other person away, and Shi Bai shook his head with a look of pity for their misfortune and anger at their lack of ambition.

Shi Bai glanced at the ice coffin, which emitted wisps of cold air that caused the surrounding temperature to drop by more than ten degrees. After thinking for a moment, he placed his hand on the ice coffin.

"This level of coldness is definitely Cirno's doing among the surrounding monsters. I wonder what mistake this fairy trapped inside made... Hmm? Life force?"

Sensing the vibrant life force emanating from the green-haired fairy sealed inside, Shi Bai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

If Cirno represents the desolate and bitterly cold winter of nature, then the green-haired fairy lying inside represents the vibrant and reviving spring of nature.

"Spring Fairy? Speaking of which, are there such things among fairies...?"

While pondering these thoughts, Shi Bai swiftly and decisively lifted the lid of the ice coffin. As soon as the lid was lifted, a mysterious seal that had been placed on it was violently broken, and an unprecedented vitality burst forth from within the coffin.

Under the influence of this vibrant green life, the wild grasses that had withered due to the cold quickly regrowed, wildflowers bloomed in profusion, and the ice melted away rapidly.

Then, in just a few seconds, a girl with long green hair, wearing a blue dress, and with a pair of translucent wings with gold trim on her back, quietly lay down among the flowers.

"...Big goblin?"

Looking at the girl lying quietly among the flowers in front of him, Shi Bai couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Perhaps because the bindings on the ice coffin had been violently broken by Shi Bai, after a moment, the girl lying among the flowers twitched her eyelashes slightly and then slowly opened her eyes.

Upon seeing the black-haired stranger standing in front of her, scrutinizing her with a strange and inexplicable gaze, the girl's eyes suddenly turned slightly cold, and she vanished from the spot in an instant.

Before Shi Bai could react, the girl had already appeared behind him, her left hand already on his neck.

"Where am I? Who are you? Where is Cirno!?"

"Instant teleportation...?"

After nodding thoughtfully, Shi Bai gently tapped the other person's hand with his finger. Then, ignoring the girl who was standing there frozen in shock, he tore open a space with one hand and brought her directly back to his principal's office from the woods.

"Hello, I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You may call me Super Handsome? Super Elegant? Headmaster? Shi Bai."

After returning to his principal's desk, Shi Bai sat down in the chair and then gave a serious self-introduction.

"As for Cirno, I don't know where she is right now. Alright, I've answered all your questions. Now it's your turn to answer mine. What's your name?"

"Name... I don't have a name."

After a moment of silence, realizing the absolute gap in strength between herself and her opponent, the girl, who had regained her ability to move, silently shook her head.

"I am the king of fairies... how did I end up here?"

"The Fairy King? Everyone knows that the leader of the fairies is the Ice Queen Cirno, not you."

Shi Bai shook his finger with a strange expression.

“Cirno is the Queen of the Fairies, you are not, and I have never heard of a second queen being born among the fairy race before Cirno. Also, it seems that you were sealed in an ice coffin by Cirno before.”

"Cirno became queen? She really is..."

The girl suddenly fell silent.

“Your condition is a bit bad right now. Just in case, you should stay at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the time being. I personally know a little bit about medicine, so you can rest assured about your health.”

Seeing that the other party was not speaking and clearly did not want to talk about those things, Shi Bai did not force him to do anything, but rather readily changed the topic to other things.

"In the time that follows, you will..."

"I'm sorry, I appreciate your kindness, but I have something I need to do to find Cirno."

The girl looked up and interrupted him, her tone full of determination.

"Given Cirno's personality, I'm worried she might go down the wrong path, and for that, I must..."

“You can leave, after all, this isn’t some hellhole like Yuzhang Academy, but you can’t leave now.”

Shi Bai shook his head.

"As a fairy of spring... let's just call you a fairy of spring for now. As a fairy of spring, you should know better than me that your current physical condition has reached a certain unbearable critical point. You must hurry up and receive relevant professional treatment. Otherwise, if you leave here, you won't live for more than three days."

"It's alright, fairies don't die. Even if they die, they can be reborn..."

"You won't die? If you won't die, how did your name disappear? Don't tell me there's actually someone stupid enough to forget their own name, right? No way, no way, no way?"

—Someone's words were full of sarcasm.

"........."

"Don't look at me like that. I'm a wise man with a lot of experience. Even if I only have a vague understanding of what happened to you, I can still figure out a thing or two."

Leaning slightly forward, Shi Bai reached out and tapped his head.

"The damage you suffer is more like a permanent injury from the source. Is that why you lost your name? If it weren't for someone taking emergency measures, you would probably have disappeared from this world long ago."

"...I need to know where Cirno is right now."

After a moment of silent reflection, and after mentally comparing the difference in strength between the two sides and the possibility of her leaving in front of the other, the girl had no choice but to compromise.

"can."

Shi Bai snapped his fingers.

"Although Patchouli has already left, Byakuren is still at the school. She should know about Cirno. You can go find her later."