One-way traffic

"Is it an anomaly...?"

"No, the scope doesn't seem to have expanded that far yet."

While Accelerator suppressed the power, Reimu Hakurei had already flown into the air.

"I'll take care of that guy."

Ignoring the gasps of astonishment from those around her, the girl spoke further to Accelerator.

"I'm counting on you to take care of everyone in the Human Village. If that guy continues to attack, he might hurt them!"

"Hey…"

"It's up to you now!"

Before Accelerator could finish speaking, the shrine maiden had already flown away in one breath.

A bad feeling.

The first one pursed his lips, glanced around, and then looked in the direction the girl had left.

"That stupid shrine maiden, didn't she sense anything was wrong...?"

Chapter 482 Strange Machines Appearing in Gensokyo

Reimu was flying at full speed towards the mountain peak.

First and foremost, it must be confirmed that the safety of the villagers belonging to the Human Village has been guaranteed.

If one of them is present, there's no need to worry about their situation anymore. Instead, the priority now is to address the issues here.

'that…'

In an instant, she left the village roads and arrived at the mountain peaks.

However, what appeared before her eyes was something that left the priestess stunned for a moment.

"What... is that?"

Based on the previous direction, it can be confirmed that the thing that suddenly appeared here is probably a creature with many limbs, like a spider.

But when she actually saw it, she was completely stunned.

That creature—walking in the mountains, like a spider.

Its entire body material, including all parts such as branches and trunks.

It is made entirely of metal.

It has an appearance unlike any other mythical beast, without any unnecessary embellishments.

"What...is this a toy made by those kappa? No, it doesn't seem like it at all..."

That enormous mechanical spider, whose body was over ten meters tall.

Even a single branch of its can easily exceed five meters in height, and if it were to fully extend its body, it could even exceed a height of about twenty meters in one go.

The spider's front end gleamed with a scarlet eye, like an infrared scanner, which scanned its surroundings erratically, completely devoid of any logic that a living being should follow.

the most important is.

Where that enormous trunk passed—trees, grass, and mist.

Everything is decaying, evaporating, and disappearing.

In any case, that kind of attitude will only make people feel uneasy.

and.

"If we keep pushing it forward from that direction...!"

The spider was heading towards the village in the human world.

The mere presence of the object within the mountaintop has already caused a natural disaster of this scale.

If we were to allow it to advance further into the village...

Squeak, squeak—at that moment, as if it had anticipated Reimu's thoughts, the spider's body, which had been moving slowly, suddenly accelerated.

At this rate, in just a few more breaths it will reach the village completely, and then—turn it into a lifeless wasteland.

"Stop right there! How can we let you pass!"

Nobody knows what would happen if that spider came into contact with a human.

Therefore, Reimu must take the initiative to stop it before such a thing happens.

The girl gripped the gohei tightly in her hand and rushed to its front at top speed.

In that instant, a barrage of colorful bullet comments burst forth.

"That's it!"

As the guardian of Gensokyo, the shrine maiden's expression instantly transformed into a stern one.

Boom boom——!!!

The barrage of comments exploded, and colorful lights shone like a rainbow.

But when the smoke and dust cleared, what emerged was a huge limb sharp enough to pierce through the rock.

Reimu frowned, and in the instant her branches intersected with the other's, she dodged to the right.

The mechanical spider attacked very quickly; just now, it almost grazed past its branch.

The girl was determined to take care of this guy here no matter what.

Therefore, she will give it her all at this moment.

"Spell Card!"

Reimu raised the gohei, and a large amount of spiritual power surged out of her body like seawater.

All the spiritual power was gathered around the priestess.

"Spirit Talisman 'Dream Seal' --!!"

Eight enormous spiritual energy orbs condensed directly around her.

Each shell had a radius of about five meters. They circled closely around Reimu, and with Reimu's command, all the spirit energy shells were launched at maximum speed and explosive force.

To youkai, the shrine maidens of Gensokyo are practically invincible.

When spiritual power and innate strength come together, that power can easily subdue any monster.

Therefore, Reimu was well aware of just how powerful this killing move was.

The mechanical spider that took the full force of the spiritual energy bullets with its body surface would have no chance of survival.

—Bang.

In that instant, the shrine maiden's body was blown into the air like a kite with a broken string.

“…Huh?”

Even Reimu herself didn't realize this.

When I came to my senses, intense pain surged into my brain.

"Ugh... Ughhhhh!!"

Driven by pain, the girl cried out, but she then manipulated her power to fly back into the air.

But what moved even faster than her injury were the several huge branches.

Like missiles, they struck Reimu's entire body at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

The girl's eyes widened as she tried her best to concentrate her spiritual power around her. Before she could even use a defensive barrier-type spell card, she was already knocked to the ground by that attack.

Smoke and dirt were blown up.

Reimu's body collapsed in the lifeless mud, her gorgeous red and white shrine maiden robes now tainted by the filth.

"How...could this be...?"

A huge shadow loomed over her, causing the priestess to raise her head in even greater disbelief.

The spider was completely unharmed.

No, because there was some wear and tear from the impact and explosion, but... all the power of the spirit energy bullet failed to cause her even the slightest damage.

Its scarlet eyes were fixed intently on the girl.

"Why... are the spell cards not working...?"

But then she realized that the enemy was planning to attack her again.

If hit this time, the consequences are unknown.

Reimu struggled, grabbing the gohei again, her delicate arm stained with her own blood.

However, trying to prepare spell cards under these circumstances would only exacerbate the already heavy burden.

Even if Reimu manages to escape, she will likely suffer even greater harm.

Whether the power of the spell card can actually damage it remains to be seen.

The girl's eyes trembled, she gritted her teeth, and stood up unwillingly, but she cried out in pain because of her injuries.

In this poignant and endearing scene.

That mechanical spider, however, showed no mercy.

Four enormous branches shot out like arrows in an instant.

— Immediately afterwards.

The branches that should have pierced the girl's limbs were completely severed at the root.

Boom! Unimaginable sparks of electricity struck the severed part of the mechanical spider's body, causing it to twist and its red eyes to lose their ability to orient themselves for an instant.

Something has descended upon this place.

"Seriously, that's why I told you to get my facts straight before you act."

An ominous sound came from ahead.

Standing before the shrine maiden as she struggled to her feet was a pale, ghostly figure that seemed to dim even the sunlight.

White hair, and the same blood-red eyes as the mechanical spider.

However, compared to lifeless machinery, those eyes clearly carried a much more oppressive aura.

"What's the point of just bullying a little girl like this? You piece of trash, why don't you try playing with me, the great master in front of you?"

Eyes like infrared scanners stared directly at him.

The remaining branches then burst forth, attempting to pierce through Accelerator's body in one go.

But that monster didn't even use the most basic reflexes.

The moment he raised his hand, it was all over.

—Squeak.

All the remaining mechanical branches collapsed in that instant.

The first monster had a scarlet scythe from the depths of hell appear in his hand at some unknown time.

He swung the tip of his scythe forward, unleashing a karmic fire powerful enough to incinerate everything in the world. In one breath, the fire transformed into a tornado, blowing the mechanical monster's body into the air.

The monster, with all its branches severed, still struggled in mid-air.

As it flew into the air, dozens of missiles burst out of the monster's body in an instant.

But the first one simply picked up another finger.

750 kilometers per hour.

The death wind, capable of whipping up streets and the earth in one breath, played a symphony unique to the Grim Reaper.

The tornado, wreathed in karmic fire, instantly engulfed all the missiles fired by the monster.

The mechanical spider's last resort was also completely neutralized.

Despite its scarlet eyes frantically scanning in all directions, it still failed to catch the powerful, inhuman-looking white shadow.

"Hi."