One-way traffic

There is indeed a full moon hanging in the sky right now.

only.

"That moon was completely fake."

Marisa, who casually uttered such a startling statement, then looked at the two of them.

"I wonder who took this flawed moon to make up the difference, and then covered up the real moon."

"Even someone as capable as Marisa can see through this."

"Hey... what do you mean by 'at my level'! That's such an insult!"

However, since everyone here can sense this anomaly, others must have noticed it as well.

For example--

"Yes, a certain expert who is good at solving anomalies, who is also a certain shrine maiden in a certain shrine."

"I'm sure the other yokai have noticed this too. This time, the anomaly is different. For the yokai, the importance of the moon is unimaginable."

Nighttime is the domain of yokai (supernatural beings), and if the real moon were to be replaced, the consequences for them would be unimaginable.

Alice and Marisa exchanged a glance.

"So, what are your plans next?"

"Hehe! Need I say more? Of course, we're going to go all out!"

The black and white magicians showed no fear whatsoever.

"Although we don't even know where the mastermind is, if we follow this anomaly step by step, we should be able to find the culprit and then give that guy a good beating, DaZe!"

"Hmm... it's really inconvenient to act alone, so you might as well come along and make up the numbers."

"Alice, your words... are still quite hurtful. Are you implying I'm the one who's just filling in the blanks...?"

"Because Marisa is only half-baked in terms of magic."

What a blunt girl...

Marisa waved her hand helplessly, but soon realized that something was wrong with Alice's words.

"Huh? You mean, going it alone...?"

"Uh, yeah, what's wrong?"

"Something's not right, is it? Look, that guy's name is... oh right, Accelerator! He's been with you, isn't he? With him around, I don't think this incident is anything special!"

"Pfft—as expected, Marisa's level can only go this far."

"Eh…?"

Marisa was taken aback when Alice used those words again.

Then, she finally noticed something.

"Wait...where's Accelerator?!"

She had been talking to Alice about things like the moon ever since she started talking.

But she only realized this now.

"That's why I said we should go it alone; that guy definitely won't come with me."

"Why? Is it because you two don't get along?"

"Hmm...that's not quite right."

Marisa asked the question in confusion, and after thinking for a moment, Alice answered directly and clearly.

"Perhaps it's simply because he prefers to act alone rather than in groups."

"What...does this mean...?"

"What I mean is, he's basically the kind of person who lives alone, and I can understand that."

In essence, Accelerator and Alice actually have something in common.

That is, neither of them actually has the personality of a social creature.

From this perspective, Alice is probably the only one who can understand Accelerator.

"Right now, that guy should have already headed alone towards the culprit... but I don't know what other purpose he might have."

"Huh? Besides that... purpose?"

Marisa was still in a state of shock.

By this time, Alice had already begun to think things through.

"After all, given his situation, the mere disappearance of the moon shouldn't be enough to motivate him to take such action."

That is to say.

Besides this anomaly, there are other reasons that support Accelerator in taking the initiative.

——————————————————————————————————————————

A breathtakingly white wind swept across the sky in an instant.

Accelerator darted freely through the bushes, while simultaneously trying to pinpoint the exact location of the source of the anomaly.

Moreover, in addition to the changes in the moon, he also confirmed another piece of information.

"Time seemed to have stopped at night."

The night sky had essentially stopped moving forward.

Considering this in conjunction with the false full moon, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the entire incident the Eternal Night Incident.

"But a normal full moon wouldn't happen at this time, would it?"

Judging from the timeline, Gensokyo is currently in a season around May, which is close to summer, but it still feels like springtime.

By combining data from stardust in the sky and other locations, Accelerator easily concluded that the moon at this time was not a full moon at all.

That is to say.

The very fact that the real moon would become a full moon on this night was already an anomaly.

In general, there were about three different anomalies that occurred during the night.

A false full moon, an untimely full moon, and a night that was forced to stop.

However, none of these factors actually prompted Accelerator to actively seek out the source of the mutation.

There should be other factors besides these.

"…how?"

However, at that very moment, he felt the world before him begin to turn pitch black.

The world around us turned pitch black.

Something tried to interfere with his eyes, but was repelled mercilessly by the reflection.

Even so, the surrounding space was covered by pure darkness, making the world in front of him blurry.

"Um, Riguru, is this alright...?"

"It's okay, Mystia! I don't know why this human can fly, but if he has night blindness, then he just can't see it!"

"That's true... Although I don't think it's very good, it's okay to tease someone a little... right?"

"No problem, no problem at all!"

Two little girls' voices came from beside me.

I guess, whether it's age or mental age, I have the personality of a brat.

The only thing that could appear in such a situation is a mischievous monster.

Unfortunately, I have no interest in playing with small fry.

then.

The first person casually raised his hand.

"So at this point, let's just say goodbye."

For an instant.

The gale-force winds, exceeding 700 kilometers per hour, instantly transformed into four tornado wings that coiled around the first-place creature.

He lunged forward at pure supersonic speed.

The mere aftershocks of the flight instantly swept up all the surrounding trees and grass.

"Waaaaah! Waaaaahh ...

"Wait, what happened all of a sudden?!"

The voices of two little monsters followed, and Accelerator didn't even need to look to know that they must have been shocked by the aftershocks of his supersonic flight.

That's enough.

Without looking back to confirm, the first person sped forward at top speed.

"The source... is in this direction, right?"

But then he turned his attention to other directions.

That was the location of a village that should have existed, far away.

Chapter 470 The Historical Beast Guarding the Village

Accelerator knew exactly where he was.

He had been here before, shortly after his first arrival in Gensokyo, when Alice brought him to this location, this area.

This must be the land where ancient people lived.

He knew the name of the human village very well; it was the land with the most human inhabitants in Gensokyo.

Although it is nighttime now, it is not really midnight in the true sense, so people should still be active.

Accelerator frowned at the sight before him.

"...What exactly is going on?"

There was nothing on the land before me.

Not to mention humans, there wasn't even a trace of any other living being to be found.

The houses, streets, and village entrances that humans should have built—all of these have vanished without a trace, and the memories of Accelerator cannot be wrong.

This place, which should be known as the Village of Humanity, has been turned into a wasteland in just a few days?

Who did this? Has this place been invaded by some powerful monster? No—if that were the case, Accelerator would have walked back and forth here so many times, he couldn't possibly have missed it.

But then again.

Has the human village truly disappeared completely?

Let me guess.

then.

Considering all the experiences he has had so far, Accelerator no longer uses his five senses to perceive everything in front of him.

Instead, it shifts to experiencing the ability itself.

"Hmph, something definitely isn't right."

He sensed irregular energy flows in the air.

Although that energy felt unfamiliar, it also had a sense of familiarity in essence.

He knew that this was an energy direction related to time.

Accelerator then pressed down the necklace around his neck, and a black, spike-like generator appeared beside him. In that instant, his control over spacetime energy reached its absolute limit.

In this way, everything in front of you becomes clear at a glance.

"I see, so that's how it is."

The village slowly appeared before his eyes, gradually transforming from an illusion into reality.