One-way traffic

then.

A whistling gust of air came from behind me.

At that moment, Accelerator turned his head away.

Squeak——!!

A slender blade was flicked up and fell directly to the ground.

Accelerator remained motionless, not even moving a single finger.

He stood calmly in place, keeping his head slightly turned.

And so, he stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

"It's really rare."

It made a sound.

The girl standing before him, the girl with hair so beautiful it could reflect moonlight and sunlight, looked at him quietly.

The other person had dark eyes that seemed to emit a faint red hue.

"Even though the attack was planned to be so meticulously executed, it still managed to be broken... This is truly the first time I've ever seen anything like it, at least in this Gensokyo."

Just as she said, those throwing knives were weapons belonging to the young girl.

She was still tightly gripping several short knives with different colored hilts in her hands.

Accelerator didn't care about the weapons in the other's hands at all, even though those knives were pointed at his neck.

and.

He had a vague feeling that this girl was familiar.

It's like someone I saw in a team battle back then.

"Who are you."

"Before saying that, shouldn't you state your name first? You're a guest who wasn't invited by the young lady."

"Since you can say that, it proves that you are not the owner of this mansion."

"You can tell just by looking at her clothes, right? She's a maid."

Accelerator raised his eyebrows slightly.

…The other person doesn't know him?

She should have looked the same as during team battles... but she had no recollection of it.

Or was it simply a case of mistaken identity?

His fingertips twitched silently.

Bang! In an instant, all the throwing knives in the girl's hand were sent flying.

The sudden turn of events surprised the girl, but Accelerator didn't have time to indulge her surprise.

"I dislike trouble, so I'll be blunt for now."

Although he was indeed an intruder, directly attacking someone else's maid was not a gentlemanly or proper thing to do.

But in the end, Accelerator never intended to be a gentleman who cared about girls.

He clenched his fists tightly in an extremely violent manner.

Boom-! ! !

A powerful punch was aimed directly at the girl's abdomen.

The aftershock of the force even caused the air to tremble slightly, but in reality, the power of this strike was neither too great nor too small, just enough to stun the opponent in one blow.

Accelerator's goal was not to kill; he only needed to keep the maid in a minimal state of unconsciousness.

The attack was successful.

His punches are so powerful that almost no one in the world can withstand them physically.

"...What's going on?"

The first person stared in astonishment at the empty space in front of his fist.

Nothing at all.

At the same time, he heard the sound of footsteps landing behind him.

"Although you are an intruder, I have always treated you as a guest. It seems a bit inappropriate for you to suddenly launch such a powerful attack on a mere maid like me?"

The girl stood right behind him, completely unharmed.

At this moment, Accelerator was able to see the other person's full appearance by the light shining through the window in the wall.

A maid outfit in dark blue and silver, a white apron, and countless throwing knives held tightly between her fingers.

And that head of silver hair that was almost identical to her own.

"However, you should be human, right? I've rarely seen a human who can exert such great power."

An attack by one side cannot fail.

In that case, it must be the effect of the power the other party possesses. In this Gensokyo, strange abilities are the least unusual.

"...Manipulated time, stopped it, and then evaded my attack?"

"what?"

The moment the silver-haired girl uttered those words, she showed a shocked expression.

"So that's how it is! I knew it; the vectors of space and spacetime just didn't look right. Looks like I should consider adjusting the generator's timeline to match the state of spacetime..."

You actually... saw through my ability in an instant?

The maid looked at the other person with a shocked expression. Although she quickly recovered, she was still very shocked.

To date, I've met very few people who can recognize my abilities at a glance.

Moreover, the other party has seen through my abilities, but I still haven't figured out what abilities he possesses.

Even after setting up throwing knives from every angle, the opponent can still deflect all of them without lifting a finger, even distorting the airflow in an instant, and seeing through the effects of their ability at a glance.

"As expected, they're not ordinary humans."

"No ordinary person would ever come to a place like this. Besides, weren't you the ones who opened the door and let me in? In that case, I do count as a guest."

"Oh dear, that's true. I can't forget the young lady's orders."

"So what do you plan to do? Keep fighting?"

Accelerator explained everything simply and clearly, showing no concern whatsoever about being threatened by the other party's time manipulation abilities.

Because there's simply no possibility of that happening.

"Do not."

The girl shook her head slightly.

Just as Accelerator was wondering what the other party was planning to do, then...

The surrounding atmosphere changed once again.

It seemed that nothing had changed, but Accelerator had indeed noticed it.

'...The continuity of spacetime was distorted.'

The other party must have stopped time again for a moment to do something.

And that is indeed the case in reality.

Accelerator looked up, but did not see the girl.

"Here it is."

The response came from the direction of the second floor.

However, it was no longer the voice of the girl from before.

Accelerator squinted slightly, and by the light, he saw the figure that had suddenly appeared on the second floor.

A maid with silver hair, and—

Standing next to him was a girl who was slightly shorter than average.

Long blue hair, white dress.

as well as.

Her wings were enormous, much longer than her own height.

"Sakuya, you woke me up a little too late?"

"I'm very sorry, Miss, but there are some special circumstances that have made me concerned."

"Oh, so it seems to be going in a similar direction to what I predicted. Could it be that your abilities were seen through by him?"

"This... indeed, your powerful abilities cannot be hidden."

"It's nothing to brag about, just a petty trick."

Even though the other person wasn't talking to him, Accelerator could still sense it.

An invisible sense of oppression permeated the air.

"Then, the humans below."

The sound of footsteps came slowly.

A vampire girl with long blue hair—she looks to be less than ten years old.

Even so, her tone seemed to be filled with an unusual sense of pressure.

"Although I am very concerned about why you came here and what your identity is, ... those are not important for now."

She opened her arms freely.

With an elegant yet eerie smile, the young girl, facing him, slowly flew into the sky.

"Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, human."

"I am the mistress of this place, Remilia. Thank you for taking care of my maid and doorman just now, and then..."

"Now, shouldn't we get down to business?"

Accelerator also felt it.

Footsteps could be heard from behind as well.

That was another young girl.

The other person maintained a raised hand posture, gathering some kind of power in their hand, and stood directly behind them.

"I see."

The first person gave a sneer, as if it were obvious.

That means he was completely surrounded.

Accelerator calmly turned around, looking behind him, in front of him, and at the maid who had somehow appeared on his right.

All three directions are completely locked.

Even so, the first-place player still grinned with an excited expression.

"I'm really getting more and more excited, so much so that even I'm getting a little excited, you bastard."

Chapter 452 Remilia Scarlet

The three men immediately surrounded him.

Not only that, the main gate was completely sealed off, and the entire mansion was filled with a very dangerous, blood-like aura.

This atmosphere was even more unsettling than the one one felt when first entering the mansion.

And all of this is content prepared specifically for one individual.

"They say they treat me like a guest, but what they actually do doesn't seem like they're trying to entertain me at all."

"That's how you treat guests, as is the case for ordinary people."