One-way traffic

The darkness seemed to engulf the entire world, completely obscuring the last glimmer of light from the humanoid monster.

That is, to completely destroy it along with its fundamental particles into nothingness.

boom--! ! !

With the complete eruption of that power, the conflict between darkness and light completely enveloped the world.

The aftershocks alone completely covered the sky of Gensokyo.

"Waaaaaah meow—!!! W-what's going on, meow!!"

Before Orange could even react, she was blown away by the overwhelming external force.

Just as her body was about to fly dozens of kilometers in one breath, another figure grabbed her directly.

Accelerator grabbed Orange's arm and then fell to the ground with her.

He looked at the two forces still clashing in mid-air, which seemed to remain locked in a stalemate.

After a few seconds, that special power finally dissipated.

However, what followed was a scene where the entire sky became crystal clear.

The snowstorm that had enveloped Gensokyo in May has stopped.

It wasn't because the mutation had been stopped; even standing still, one could still feel the coldness spreading throughout the body.

The reason why it stopped snowing was entirely because the clash between the two forces had profoundly affected the climate.

"...That thing just now wasn't a force that nature could create."

No matter what kind of object or element in this world you use, it is impossible to create such an exaggerated phenomenon.

In other words, that power probably never belonged to this world in the first place.

Accelerator squinted, his hand instinctively reaching for the electrodes on his neck that were still flashing green light.

In the past, due to brain damage, he directly lost the means to use Academy City's strongest superpower.

However, one thing will never change.

Even with limitations on his abilities, Accelerator's power remains the strongest superpower in Academy City, and the foundation that allows him to stand at the top.

Therefore, no matter how significant the external factors may be, this fundamental nature will remain unchanged.

That means——

'My aptitude as an Absolute Power (Level 6) has remained intact from the very beginning.'

Everything so far has been far more insane than the experience of just one Academy City.

After all that, did Accelerator really not experience the slightest change in power?

Perhaps even he himself doesn't believe it.

But the facts are right before our eyes: the power effect just now was definitely not something that could be achieved by simply manipulating the existing vectors in nature.

There must be some bigger reason affecting all of this.

However, Accelerator still finds it difficult to understand this point.

After the aftershocks of the power had completely dissipated, he placed the orange on the ground.

The sky returned to its tranquil azure blue.

Even though the surrounding climate was still incredibly cold, the snow had stopped falling from the sky, and the weather was much clearer than before, bringing a new clear sky to Gensokyo.

In terms of atmosphere, it evokes memories of spring.

However, Accelerator didn't focus on appreciating the environment.

Another figure descended from mid-air.

The figure slowly descended following Accelerator's gaze, and at the same time, Orange behind him also had other reactions.

"Ah...! It's blue!"

Orange, calling out the other person's name in this way, ran over at lightning speed.

The person in front of me was clearly not human; they had nine huge, furry tails that were alternating between gold and white.

A blue and white robe, resembling a Taoist robe, covered her body. Her hat also seemed to have many yellow talismans pasted on it, making it unclear what they were for.

His golden hair and equally golden eyes were filled with extraordinary wisdom.

Orange quickly ran behind the monster and hugged one of its furry tails.

"Were you the one who did all of that just now?"

"If you're going to punish me for this, fine, but you'd better be prepared to get beaten up too."

"Oh my... such an unwavering tone, just as Lady Zi said."

Master Zi?

The way he was addressed made Accelerator look surprised.

Do you know that sage-like monster?

"exactly."

The golden fox spirit girl politely clasped her hands together, her long sleeves concealing her arms.

A smile that could bring peace to anyone who looked at it appeared on her face.

"I am given the name Yakumo Ran by Lord Yukari, and I am a shikigami controlled by that lord. This cat demon is a shikigami controlled by me. Orange, I have witnessed what just happened. Please allow me to apologize for the panic caused by my shikigami."

"Things that are dispensable are fine no matter what, what I care about are things that are more important, right?"

"Ah...that's true."

Both of them knew very well what Accelerator was referring to—the incident where the aftershocks of defeating the giant monster had directly shaken the entire Gensokyo.

But Yakumo Ran looked at her with an even gentler expression.

"Please do not worry about this."

"I'm not here to express my dissatisfaction with you. On the contrary, I've come to meet you to convey Lady Zi's gratitude."

"…ah?"

A thank you? Was it sent by that guy named Yakumo Yukari?

While pondering this question, Accelerator instinctively felt that something unreal, such as the sun rising in the west, might have occurred.

Chapter 431 The Puppet Master's Surprise Attack

"This is such an unexpected turn of events. That sage actually thanked me?"

"Oh dear, it seems you have a great misunderstanding about Lady Murasaki. I hope you won't think of her as a monster who only schemes against others."

"Although I really want to see her that way, reality makes it hard for me to do so."

Although he only met that youkai sage once, that one meeting was enough to completely overturn Accelerator's image of Yukari Yakumo.

He didn't believe that the monster was capable of showing kindness to humans; its survival strategy must involve constantly scheming and manipulating others.

Just like that damn chairman of the board in Academy City.

However, if the one standing in front of you is a shikigami belonging to the other party, the situation would probably be different.

Therefore, considering this situation, Accelerator turned his gaze to the shikigami of the boundary youkai in front of him.

"...Even if you glare at me with such fierce eyes, nothing will change. At least for now, Lady Zi is genuinely and sincerely expressing her gratitude to you."

"I'm really grateful to receive thanks from that guy, and that's it? Don't tell me that a demon of that level sent someone like you to come to me just to tell me something so trivial?"

Of course not. Going to great lengths to send one's shikigami to someone whose allegiance is unclear is certainly not something a wise person would do.

Yakumo Ran's expression changed instantly.

"Just as Lord Zi said, you are not only powerful, but also quite intelligent."

"Stop with the useless nonsense. What exactly did you come all this way to say to me? That's all I care about."

"Hmm, I think so... then I don't need to keep preparing these polite words."

With a changed, serious expression, Yakumo Ran delivered the message relayed from the Youkai Sage's side.

"—You have found the target you need to find. Continue, and you will surely get the clues you want by simply following the path forward."

"That Lord Zi instructed me to recount his words to you."

Perhaps Yakumo Ran doesn't understand the meaning of those words, but Accelerator will certainly understand what Yakumo Yukari means.

What the other party mentioned were the goals and clues he needed to keep in mind after arriving in Gensokyo.

In other words, it contains crucial information about being able to leave Gensokyo.

"Are you referring to that bunch of grotesque, monstrous creatures that defy logic...?"

The black and red monsters that I had just dealt with not long ago were not creatures that belonged to this Gensokyo at all.

If we keep tracing the information about them, we might be able to uncover unprecedented clues.

His current path is to explore the reason why May in Gensokyo still retains the strange phenomenon of winter. On this path, he has indeed encountered the black and red bio-monster that he had encountered several times before.

This means that the path I have taken is the right one.

As long as he keeps moving forward and investigates the source of the anomaly, he will surely be able to obtain the clues and information he wants.

Everything was exactly as he had guessed.

Accelerator had already guessed this from the beginning. If he wanted to find clues, he had to follow this anomaly and explore forward.

just.

Even though this outcome was anticipated.

"...In the end, I was tricked after all?"

He felt as if he were being manipulated like a puppet.

Although Accelerator was taking the correct path, Yukari Yakumo's actions at this moment seemed to indicate that she had already planned and controlled all of Accelerator's subsequent actions and routes on her own chessboard.

Even if they ultimately succeed in achieving their goal, they will likely still fall within the scope of the other party's initial plan and calculations.

This feeling of being used as a tool without his knowledge vaguely reminded him of the culprit who caused so many tragedies in Academy City.

The overseeing chairman of Academy City.

An ancient yokai sage from Gensokyo.

At this moment, characters from two completely different worlds with completely different identities are gradually merging together in Accelerator's mind.

Click.

"Oh... Accelerator, sir?"

Yakumo Ran looked at herself with a somewhat surprised expression.

Unbeknownst to him, as he clenched his right hand, the surrounding air exploded as well.

"Oh...it's nothing serious."

He said this in a nonchalant tone and with an indifferent expression.

"I should have expected this conclusion long ago. It has nothing to do with you, and it has nothing to do with your master either."

"Well... in that case..."

"I will find out the source of the incident. Even if it's not for my own purposes, if we don't change the current season, the human inhabitants of this Gensokyo will eventually be unable to avoid a catastrophic event, right?"

The reasons for Accelerator's actions were not solely for its own purposes.

Even if there were no reason he needed to investigate, and even if he could leave Gensokyo at any time, he would probably still get involved in this anomaly.

Because the target of this incident is the entire Gensokyo.

In other words, it directly includes the innocent people in those villages.

Accelerator isn't a savior everyone needs to consider, but he's given a task, so why not do it? If he just watches unrelated people get caught up in unimaginable disasters, he'll feel an indescribable sense of unease.

However, it is precisely this kind of extremely pure motivation and reason.

It's likely that the demon sage had already factored all of this into her plan.

Accelerator will join the fight to resolve the incident, whether for his own sake or for the sake of the innocent residents of the Human Village.