Chapter 711: The World Where Eternal Night Returns to Light

【Next, I will reverse the cycle of Gensokyo, flipping the realms of past and future. This way, it may be possible to intervene in the spacetime where those two are and offer help.】

【I must trouble our honored guests to lend a hand and deal with some ill-intentioned outsiders for Gensokyo, to prevent holes in history that would affect the future.】

【When the time comes, I will offer as reward something that contains the power of the Dragon God.】

"That spring of infinite life was quite a help to me, so for Kaguya's sake, I don't care about the reward," Shi Hao said.

Teacher Yan Sen expressed his agreement: "Such an interesting matter — if you'd told us clearly earlier, we might have been able to prepare more thoroughly and let the disciples of Tianshen Sect take part as well."

Song Shuhang held back the urge to retort.

For Senior Yan Sen, this was indeed a rather challenging and interesting matter.

But no one had expected Kaguya to suddenly pull off something drastic, and Su Lin had directly flipped the switch, changing the current style of Gensokyo.

Affected by this, Lu Mingfei was now hugging his arms, shivering as he discussed with Emiya Shirou, muttering about when to pick another day.

"In the West, both three and seven are numbers symbolizing good fortune. You might consider choosing the third day of the third month or the seventh day of the third month."

Miss Kelaien suggested: "Or you could invite a diviner whose name contains those two numbers to do a reading for you."

"But I only know tarot divination," March 7th said, scratching her head awkwardly. "How about you do it, Teacher Gehrman?"

【If I were you, I'd choose to go play the resurrection tournament right now.】 Star blinked and sent a message.

"..." Lu Mingfei felt today wasn't bad either — at least there was still the resurrection tournament, proving it really was a day of great fortune in all things, with room for a turnaround.

If those two, who together form a colorful bond, were to spit out something from their mouths, that would truly be a day of no return.

At this moment, the surroundings began to blur, and the shrine's torii gate transformed into a transmission portal rippling with waves.

Eirin Yagami walked out with Reisen carrying potions and distributed them to everyone:

"Potion of Death Impurity Avoidance and Potion of Life Explosion — one is used to evade the effects of death impurity and extend lifespan, the other is similar to a resurrection potion."

The cultivators who had long been unable to wait finished collecting theirs and charged straight in.

The gods and demons were taken into a register by Chen Nan, while the Heroic Spirits, with Merlin's help, were collected into a box by Tenzan Lixiang.

In the instantly emptied area, Chen Nan and Tenzan Lixiang exchanged a glance, both revealing disdainful and slightly provocative smiles.

"Last time in Marvel, the timeline we destroyed seemed to be a bit more Chaldea's."

"Just relying on buffs. How about we compete and see who destroys more of Gensokyo this time?"

Under the exchange of gazes thick with the smell of gunpowder,

One, bearing endless gods and demons, and the other, bearing endless Heroic Spirits, walked into different spacetimes.

Although that rogue dragon was over there making an OK sign,

But those two summoners of the same type over there — are you clear-headed? This mission isn't about destroying Gensokyo!

"Think carefully..." Song Shuhang recalled for a moment and said:

"The first action wasn't aimed at starting a war, nor was it to act for the sake of destroying the world."

"Please, Shuhang, we're all good people. Don't say things that will cause misunderstandings," Lu Mingfei said, holding his forehead.

The premise was to ignore the recap content still playing across all spacetimes.

It clearly played a life-clip montage of 'Gu Yue Fang Yuan' using the cultivator Seeing Qu Yanping to revive the 'World Devourer'. Although it didn't name names to specify which World Devourers these were, as the old saying goes,

What must come will come.

Song Shuhang dry-coughed once and changed the subject: "Senior Meng Qi, what are you doing?"

"The matter previously discussed with the Sage of Yokai..."

Meng Qi held the Investiture of the Gods register, caught between laughter and tears: "She asked me, when I had time, to use the Investiture of the Gods register to gather the authorities within Gensokyo. But I can't exactly let those yokai go on the register with their true spirits, can I?"

The Investiture of the Gods War hasn't begun in this realm — restarting it in Gensokyo would be far too strange.

"In Gensokyo, no matter what you do, you can solve it with spell cards," Hakurei Reimu said, munching on a seaweed rice cracker.

Yakumo Yukari had other arrangements for Reimu, and she herself also sat inside the shrine carefree and at ease, drinking tea.

"It should be to weaken the Dragon God's power," Eirin Yagami exhaled and said, head aching:

"My Princess has caused trouble for everyone. If any sudden situation arises next, please prioritize your own safety."

Song Shuhang glanced at Senior Bai, who was still nearby, and felt a bit more confident: "It's fine, we're all counseling her."

As for safety, everyone had long since left themselves a way out.

Li Changshou: 【For everyone's safety, I'll first retreat to another world. If you encounter danger, it'll be convenient for everyone to use a Using Cross-World talisman on me. Don't worry — I've left a paper-substitute stand-in equipped with artificial intelligence in Gensokyo. I am always with Your Majesty and everyone!】

This was the way out.

"It's starting," Teacher Yan Sen raised his hand to his forehead and gazed into the distance.

A land of fantasy that once signed a contract with the Dragon God, permitted to exist, and deviated from common sense.

Blazing light burst forth, piercing the skyline in the deepest of nights, leaving everything with only simple outlines.

Under the effect of the triple realms of past, present, and future, the countless past spacetimes born of the cycle began to overlap, until they mingled, converged, and layered upon one another.

A road movie — in such a film, the protagonist usually embarks on a road trip for some reason, and during the journey

completes a life experience.

This wasn't Su Lin's first time filming a road movie. The last one he starred in was called 'Journey to the West', a Zhongxi co-production.

Although this time the location and the script had changed, the essence was still much the same.

In the driver's seat of the nuclear-powered dump truck, Su Lin glanced at Kaguya, who sat on the other side covering her face and signaling she didn't want to talk, and at Akarin, who looked slightly nervous.

"Everyone's talking to you — now you know how to play it cool?"

Kaguya had only recently told Su Lin not to mind others' gazes, yet now she was choosing selective blindness toward the @s in the group chat.

It seemed that no matter how lacking in shame, she still knew exactly what kind of behavior "saying ga and then going ga" was.

Presumably, after being resurrected, for a long time to come, Kaguya would be pointed at and gossiped about whenever she went out to buy butter.

"You man are truly too persistent," Kaguya narrowed her eyes and said with a scrutinizing gaze:

"Normally lacking in affection management toward me, yet now you've chased me all the way to Yomi — don't tell me you have some kind of clingy, dependent attribute?"

Having done something that made Yonglin angry, and having deceived quite a few people to achieve his goal, the result was that before even half an hour had passed, he was dragged up by people.

This is no different from a boy who, after growing up, during New Year in front of a bunch of relatives and friends, has a video played showing him ten years ago wearing underpants, singing "Love Even unto Death" in a scene style — a dark history.

Meng Qi: 【Whatever difficulties we encounter, we must not be afraid.】

Lu Mingfei: 【Face him with a smile (Miss Kelaien)】

Song Shuhang: 【The way to eliminate fear is to face fear, persistence is victory!】

Xing: 【Go for it, Olijia! @Penglai Mountain Kaguya】

Miss Kelaien: 【For my reputation, please be sure to come back alive.】

The positive-energy quotes against depression in the chat group are a minor matter; the key is that this awkward and slightly subtle feeling is rather rare even for Kaguya's unknown and long life.

"Uh—" Kaguya scratched her head with both hands, messing her beautiful hair into a tangled mess, and said in distress:

"Also, that old witch Yakumo is secretly grinning her face off, she will definitely take advantage of this opportunity to gain a bargain and still play the goody!"

"That doesn't matter; taking this opportunity to resolve the hidden danger of the Stand is also a good thing for me." Su Lin said nonchalantly:

"Loki should know something, he ran over here to observe my situation."

Compared to coincidence, Su Lin was more inclined to believe that Loki knew the spiritual consciousness remnant of the First Firmament still existed.

So Loki deliberately went along with Kaguya, gathering the power of the four base members, using illusion to create all the superheroes and villains of the Marvel universe as bait, and after confirming the existence of the First Firmament's will, decisively ran away.

Perhaps there was the intention of reminding Su Lin in it, but for now these matters can

be set aside for the time being.

Because the Firmament Dharma Aspect had previously hand-operated a wave of performance, it made Su Lin realize that his usage of the position of the Abyss God was somewhat crude and shallow.

In the final analysis, it was because he understood too little information, had possessed the divine throne for too short a time, and before he could even exert his strength, he was already finished.

To wield that great power, to exercise the standing of the Abyss God, why must one return to the Abyss as a fixed authority?

Spreading Abyss phenomena in this dimension, covering the Abyss over this universe, could likewise serve as the Abyss God to exert the proper strength.

"That guy wants to stay stuck in the Abyss and not leave, and I don't want to keep wasting time with him; coming to fight a resurrection match can also drag him down with me."

As long as he finds the Stand again, and then enlightens the Firmament Dharma Aspect, letting it learn from the Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun and the Original Creator, everyone can be a family again and jointly solve the current problem.

The resurrection match has several resurrection slots; as for Yakumo Yukari's age setting, when the time comes, won't it just be whatever I say?

No need to worry about the Stand running off on its own; its existence has already been completely bound to Su Lin, and it's a one-sided binding at that.

"By the way, Laolin, what's going on with you?"

Su Lin turned to look at Sayo Rin, who was pretending not to care about anything but was actually eavesdropping on gossip.

"Me?" Sayo Rin was startled, "Asking me?"

"You seem to recognize me?" Kaguya pinched Sayo Rin's cheek, puzzled:

"But I don't know you, and there's no record of you in Gensokyo either; you were deleted before Scarlet Devil Mansion, right?"

"I don't understand, but didn't you call out my name?" Sayo Rin had a strange expression, somewhat unable to figure out Kaguya's logic:

"You're a bit different from the Kaguya in my impression; besides, how would a Penglai person need resurrection?"

"Don't you also need resurrection?" Kaguya retorted.

"I only did it to block that guy—" Sayo Rin glanced fearfully at the rearview mirror.

The phantom of a giant dragon soared in the sky; wherever it passed, void would arise, and in its mouth it was continuously gathering a breath that would annihilate everything.

If the moment was right, it would presumably ruthlessly annihilate this spacetime entirely.

"?"

He glanced at this girl carrying an erhu, and the guy behind her that even Teacher Yan Sen would definitely find a headache; the contrast between their images formed a sharp comparison in his mind.

"I'm at least half a qilin, I have some of Its bloodline."

Sayo Rin seemed to not want to continue this topic: "Does no one in Gensokyo remember me anymore?"

"After all, a Type-Moon satellite is more likely to land than you are." Kaguya still spoke words that left people unable to grasp the meaning.

Su Lin said: "The deceased A-Lin would be sad."

Sayo Rin lowered her head,

somewhat dejected.

"So, you were killed by the Dragon God?" Kaguya asked curiously.

Sayo Rin shook her head and said: "It was Reimu who killed me."

For some reason, the BGM of Detective Conan automatically sounded in Su Lin's mind, and he associated it with the mysterious Gensokyo murders that arose from competition between playable characters of the same attribute.

The ghost girl Sayo Rin, exiled in the sea of data, after resurrection exposes the conspiracy of the red murderer.

But with Kaguya's probing from the sidelines, the truth seemed to be a little different again.

Second year of the Genki era

When the girls were investigating an incident that could destroy Gensokyo, they discovered signs that the Dragon God was about to go berserk; but during the battle, Sayo Rin, relying on the bloodline power within her body, successfully made the Dragon God fall into slumber.

But just when everything had settled, Sayo Rin saw a hand pierce through her chest; turning her head, Reimu's blood-stained cheeks were reflected in her pupils.

The all-encompassing Gensokyo is, after all, too cruel.

"Didn't you say you remember the memories before and after Gensokyo's restart?" Su Lin asked.

"That's right," Kaguya fell into thought: "After Gensokyo restarted, this person no longer existed, and there was no impression in memory either; this kind of thing is a bit like an individual exceptional case."

"Exceptional case?"

"That is, either the truth was modified by the old witch Yukari or the Great Barrier, or it was simply unimportant so there's no impression."

Sizzle—!

Su Lin slammed on the brakes hard, and the nuclear-powered dump truck jolted.

He rolled down the window and shouted at a man who had suddenly appeared ahead: "You want to be reincarnated into another world?"

That man paid no heed to Su Lin; he merely glanced with slight surprise at this technological creation, then at a speed similar to Song Shuhang's saber-dragging technique, flew toward the bamboo forest ahead.

"Princess Kaguya!" the man shouted as he flew: "Don't you remember me?! I'm Fujiki Kiichi — I made so many games for you!"

"You know him?" Su Lin asked.

"This is the exception I mentioned." The corner of Kaguya's mouth curved.

The words had barely fallen.

A dazzling barrage left only thin gaps in the bamboo grove; the seven-colored light was gorgeous and dangerous. The man flying ahead, without any dodging at all, was swallowed by the barrage within a few seconds.

Su Lin and the other two got out of the car and watched the man — smoke rising from his whole body, his HP bar probably down to a sliver — walk along a somewhat familiar path toward the inside of the bamboo grove.

"Spell Card 【Eternal Night Return · World of Light】"

A voice identical to Kaguya's, following the spell-card declaration, called out a technique as though a Noble Phantasm were about to be unleashed.

After a while, a wail drifted over.

"Where did all these suitors come from today?" A black-haired, knee-length-locked—

—Eastern beauty with a hime cut and bangs past her brows voiced her puzzlement.

"Kaguya, when I was recovering from my injuries at Eientei before, I played games with you for a whole month. I'm Zhao Haoyi!"

"Princess Kaguya, I'm Qimu."

"Don't know you."

Facing one pleading suitor after another, all begging to pass through here and enter Eientei, 'Kaguya' answered coldly.

Inside Eientei behind her, there stood conspicuously a gate of the netherworld leading to the next stage.