One-way traffic

Under Accelerator's watchful gaze, a hand gripped the sphere with the most decisive force.

It's Kazami Yuuka.

The interplay of forces caused her arms to tremble incessantly, but the expression on her face remained unchanged.

—Squeak.

Then, a strike imbued with immense magical power completely shattered his attack.

"I have to say, the toxins in flowers are really intriguing... even for me."

Forcibly overpowering Accelerator's techniques with physical strength is something no normal person would do.

Kazami Yuuka's entire arm is covered in a network of lines, so she'll probably be crippled soon due to particle poisoning.

The VoidBreaker is a pure antimatter, created by the continuous distortion of hadrons and leptons, and is a substance that should not belong to this world.

Even a supernatural, fantastical youkai like Kazami Yuuka cannot directly confront the forces that are completely opposite to those of this world.

however.

That's not what she was supposed to do.

boom--! !

Immediately afterwards, Accelerator sensed other things coming from behind him.

No.

The entire space was actually tampered with.

Boom! Immediately afterwards, an area of ​​about several kilometers was completely covered by that light purple barrier.

Even with your eyes closed, you can guess who did this.

Accelerator didn't look anywhere; he simply raised his hand and stopped something.

A shadow appeared beside him, causing the space around him to distort.

"Don't forget I'm here."

Yukari Yakumo leaped out from the gap, gathering a large amount of magical energy together.

Two magic arrays appeared in her hands. One was used to maintain the existence of the four-layered barrier, and the other was responsible for gathering a large amount of power together.

“I know very well that for you, the more complicated and intricate the power, the less effective it will be… So the only thing that can be effective is the purest form of technique, right?”

"That's absolutely right."

The other half also made a sound.

Kazami Yuuka raised her parasol and looked over with an even more stunning smile.

"When it comes to combat, the most important thing is still pure power itself."

"Playing tricks and such is not something a woman like me would do."

The implication is that both of them intend to use the purest form of power to attack Accelerator.

Boom! In that instant, the flowers representing the four seasons flew up.

The parasol was covered with a high concentration of magical energy, and this attack was exactly the same as Yukari Yakumo's technique.

The two unleashed their most powerful forces from opposite directions, one in front and one behind.

"...Has anyone ever told you this?"

Two immense energies converged, one purple and one green, and then launched a direct attack on the white one in the center.

But the first one remained unmoved.

He stared wide-eyed as the two attacks came hurtling towards him.

"To me, the greater the power, the more unbearable it is. Has no one ever told you that?"

The two forces struck Accelerator directly in front of and behind him.

--Then.

Reflection has been activated.

Bang! ! ! !

In that instant, both Yukari Yakumo and Yuuka Kazami were blasted away by that immense force that belonged to them.

The overwhelming power caused the entire quadruple barrier to shake and twist, but Accelerator consciously refrained from crushing it. Otherwise, Gensokyo would have been subjected to an even greater shockwave from the power of these two youkai.

But at least one thing can be confirmed.

When Accelerator turned around, there were only two people lying on the ground.

No matter what kind of attack it is, if it is reflected, it will inevitably return along the same path.

In particular, this kind of simple, highly directional force.

Accelerator stood there, calmly looking at them.

Clearly, neither of these monsters is easy to deal with.

Even if you manage to reflect all their power back, they will likely continue to rush up and attack you.

But that doesn't matter. Whether it's Yukari Yakumo or that woman whose identity we don't even know, he has already analyzed all the powers they used.

The more he fought against it, the clearer he became of the true nature of its power. When Accelerator finally saw through the true nature of everything, the battle would be over.

——Click.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

"…ah?"

Accelerator turned his head and couldn't help but look around.

The entire spacetime, the entire dimension, began to distort.

Rather, everything in front of us began to distort.

"Ha... Have you ever wondered why I let you bring all the other people from Gensokyo to the islands outside?"

Yukari Yakumo stood up again.

But the smile that appeared on her face was on a different level.

"This also includes the battle between me and the Lord of the Four Seasons. We don't fight without a reason."

"In that case..."

"And what exactly are we fighting here for, even at the cost of attracting you here...?"

Yukari Yakumo wanted the people of Gensokyo to leave so that the place would become empty.

Because the empty Gensokyo won't harm others, and by choosing an area far from ordinary residents and creating an even more massive disturbance, Accelerator will inevitably be attracted.

only.

Was he really the only one who was attracted here?

"What...are you planning to attract?"

“That’s right, and it’s something you already knew.”

--What?

Even Accelerator himself was stunned.

Then, right in front of them.

Space and dimensions were torn apart as a result.

The one most familiar to Accelerator is back.

"This is impossible…"

He growled incredulously in a dry voice.

"DO Apis...?"

Chapter 499 Despair Descends

'Why... is that guy still alive...?'

He didn't know what his expression looked like, but sometimes, there are always a few things that touch a person's heart.

Although Accelerator's personality is indeed one of the coldest and toughest in the entire Academy City, it is clear that this kind of thing really touched him at this moment.

Of course, this so-called "being moved" is definitely not the same as being touched.

"Do you think I would want to cause pointless destruction in Gensokyo just to fight others? You're sorely mistaken."

At that critical moment, Yukari Yakumo immediately spread a barrier around the area.

Purple light covered the spatial rift that was about to explode, and the square barrier completely captured the figure inside.

"I've heard from Reimu that you defeated that red and black monster on the moon, and I've also witnessed it myself."

"But haven't you thought about this? A monster that was originally in Gensokyo suddenly ran to the moon... With something so outrageous happening, do you really think that monster just ran to the moon to die without any backup plan?"

Although they still don't know what the monster's purpose was in going to the moon, and the reason for the series of incidents that occurred in Gensokyo is still unclear, Yukari Yakumo can still guess it.

And it was precisely because she had guessed that she prepared all of this for the sake of the performance.

"So you're planning to lure that thing out by having yourselves fight each other?"

“We can’t do this on our own, which is why we need you to come here as well.”

Standing to the side, Kazami Yuuka spoke in the same tone as Yakumo Yukari.

"Although I really want to determine who is the strongest in Gensokyo, it is clear that now is not the right time."

Arrange for everyone to leave Gensokyo, leaving only these few top-tier fighters to engage in fierce combat, then use this to lure out the monster, and finally capture it like a rabbit waiting to run into a trap.

This was precisely Yakumo Yukari's plan, and for the sake of its rationale, she didn't even tell Accelerator—or even Kazami Yuuka.

"That will end it all."

Yukari Yakumo reached out and grasped the cube-shaped barrier that had shrunk to only a few centimeters in size.

Five fingers gripped the barrier tightly, and inside, small red and black objects could be vaguely seen constantly crashing against the edge.

But that was just a meaningless act.

"The culprit who remained inside Gensokyo has been completely captured. From now on, no matter what happens again, at least this guy will not appear again."

"All that's left to do is to completely eradicate it. I don't want this kind of monster, which is so resilient and intelligent and dangerous, to stay in Gensokyo any longer. There's no point in keeping it around."

"If we use flowers as a comparison, it seems that there are no flowers that can be found to correspond to it at all."

"Is it because both its exterior and interior are too ugly?"

"Perhaps, but if I had to use a metaphor, it would be nothing more than withered grass."

"Oh my, that's quite a fitting name."

Kazami Yuuka and Yakumo Yukari stood side by side, looking at the shadow within the barrier in their hands.

The culprit who has been causing chaos in Gensokyo until now has been completely captured, and there will be no more major threats from now on.

And the things that Accelerator was worried about have finally come to an end.

"—No, that's not right."

His eyes suddenly widened.

"No...that's not how it is at all, you two idiots!!"

--What?

Both women were surprised.

In that instant of surprise, the barrier changed.

BOOM! ...

The barrier, which was originally only a few centimeters in size, broke through two shadows in an instant.

Those were two real arms, no longer mere illusions.

“Wu——?!”