東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 7: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

Seven

𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢;
𝘈 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦.


—20—


This story is told from my point of view, so I'm afraid I can only tell you about two, or maybe three battles during the incident that I was witness to. Specifically, other than the battle between Reimu and Meiling which I've already described, there were also the battles with Remilia, which I watched from the clock tower. Beyond that, I have tried to obtain an understanding of the other events that occurred in the mansion that day which I was not present to observe. I have done my best to corroborate multiple eyewitness reports, but it should be assumed that anything other than the events of those two battles which I can personally attest to is ultimately hearsay. With that disclaimer, my understanding is that events unfolded as follows.



After Meiling's defeat, Kirisame Marisa, the witch who had been watching the battle and cheering the shrine maiden on, smashed through a side door of the mansion and charged ahead before the shrine maiden could even take her bearings. From there she was lured into the basement library where she fought and defeated both Patchouli and her little devil. Apparently, Patchouli had only lost the duel due to her anemia preventing her from continuing. After defeating the library's residents, Marisa had determined that if the master of the house wasn't in the basement, they must be at the top of the mansion.

Hakurei Reimu, which I later learned was the name of the shrine maiden who I had watched duel with Meiling, had entered the mansion only a beat behind the witch, but had been guided by her intuition to seek Remilia's throne room immediately. Along the way, she apparently encountered and defeated Sakuya who was in the midst of cleaning at the time, and then rushed straight to Remilia's audience chamber, where the lady of the house had been waiting for her.

I wondered at the time about the details of how those battles might have unfolded—what kind of magic did Patchouli use, or how did Reimu defeat Sakuya's seemingly invincible time-stopping ability, for example? I've never been able to get more than the overall gist of things out of any of the parties involved, so if you want more detail than that, I'll have to ask you to seek out Reimu or Marisa yourself. At any rate, I won't bore you with my speculation and instead relate the details of a battle I did witness—the confrontation between both of the incident-resolvers and mansion's mistress, which took place in the skies above the clock tower against a backdrop of scarlet mist illuminated by the leering red moon.



Renko and I were in the clock tower and had no information about any other battles at the time, of course. We had only just finished climbing the winding staircase that made its way along the inside of the tower to emerge in a large square room beneath the roof that opened onto a narrow railed balcony surrounding the tower. The entire wall of the tower above us on the side facing the garden was taken up by an enormous clock face, so large and so close at this angle that it was difficult to read. I remember noting the time it displayed as we arrived though—10:22.

—10:22? It seemed impossible. When we had been led to the arbor for dinner, hadn't Sakuya said it was after eight? By the time we returned to our room, it must have been at least 9:00, and I had read to Flandre for hours, long enough to finish all but the last chapter of 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦. After that we had been scolded by Patchouli and then taken to have tea with Remilia. Any one of those activities should have put us past what the clock showed, it had to be past midnight at the very least.

I would have estimated that we spent at least six hours in Flandre's room, but it was as if all of that time had somehow been erased. Or perhaps I was thinking in the wrong direction, and it had been more than a day already? My thoughts were interrupted by a strong gust of wind blowing in from the open door to the walkway, bringing a puff of reddish mist with it to billow and swirl through the doorway.

My partner, with one hand clasping her hat to her head, stepped through the door and grasped the stone railing that ran along the walkway. I approached as well and peered down over the rails. I could see that we weren't tremendously high, but more than high enough that a fall over the rail wouldn't be pretty, perhaps four stories in all. Below us, the roof covering the balcony where we had sat drinking tea with Remilia not long ago almost directly underneath where we now stood.

"The spectacle of the century is about to begin, Merry. Humans against vampires. Are you excited?"

"Just don't get obliterated by a stray bullet, Renko."

"You just have to dodge, right? I'll sashay around every barrage with my world-class dancing skills. I'd be more worried about your two left feet." As if to demonstrate, Renko spun merrily about with her arms outstretched, bobbing in time to a waltz only she could hear. Sometimes, I think Renko's ability to have fun in any situation, regardless of the circumstances, may be her greatest advantage. As far as actually dodging bullets went though, she might have been right about me.

"I'll protect you from any stray bullets, don't worry," a voice said from behind me. It was Meiling, climbing up the last of the stairs and making her way toward us. I had watched her fall from a significant height only moments ago and bounce off of the ground with frightening force, but she was moving without a hitch now and showed no sign of injury other than a smudge on her cheek and some minor tears on her jacket and dress. It seemed that youkai must be pretty tough.

"Meiling, are you alright?" We both asked at once.

She scratched her head and winced, abashed. "Yeah, somehow. Mostly. I guess I'm not much good as a gatekeeper." She scratched at her head sheepishly. I wanted to say something to comfort her, maybe 'your rainbow bullets were very beautiful' or the like, but I'm not sure how that would sound considering they had lost her the match. Thinking about her fight though I could help but remember that strange aura that she had exuded for just a moment before she was shot down. Could she have been holding back? "Don't worry, I'm sure Miss Patchouli and Miss Sakuya will handle things before they cause the mistress any trouble,"

"Unfortunately not," said another voice. "Lady Patchouli was beaten by the human witch." This time it was the little devil who came fluttering up the stairs. She too looked a little worse for the wear. A small patch of her long red hair and the shoulder of her blouse had both been singed black, as if something red-hot had passed clean through them. Several maid fairies were following behind her, flitting here and there and chatting excitedly. As she reached the top of the staircase she turned in the air and called shrilly to them "You're all supposed to be cleaning up!" The maid fairies all turned and darted back down the stairs in a panic, two of them bumping into each other then turning to fly in wide spirals as they descended. She put her hands on her hips and watched them leave with an exasperated sigh.

"Lady Patchouli too? I wouldn't have guessed." said Meiling, despondently.

"Yes, but only because of her chronic asthma and anemia."

"Aiyah, how unlucky," Meiling sighed and looked up at the sky.

Renko couldn't resist the opportunity to get a dig in. "See Merry? If you stay indoors and read moldy old books all the time, you'll become too ill to recite spells too."
"This coming from you? Being so adventurous you get us dragged to another world hardly makes you a role model."

"I hardly think it's my fault that we ended up here. But let's set that aside for now." Renko casually abandoned our conversation and walked back into the clock tower to talk to Meiling and Koakuma. "I assume you two are here to watch the battle then?" she asked them.

"Actually," Meiling replied, "we were told to come and watch you. To keep you safe in case things get a little out of control."

"And to make sure you don't wander off." Koakuma added with a smile. "Though I think Lady Patchouli may be coming along later to watch the match."

"Well, thank you both very much." Renko bowed politely, then poked the brim of her hat back a bit as she raised up, smiling that trademark troublesome smile of hers. "Since I have you here though, would you mind answering a few small questions? It's mere mortal curiosity, just to pass the time until the mistress' turn comes, but there's a lot of questions I'd like to ask, especially of you, miss devil."


—21—


"Me?" The devil tilted her head interrogatively.

"Yes. You mentioned that Miss Patchouli had summoned and bound you to keep the library organized, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then what were you doing before she summoned you?"

"Well, I was more or less living a life of leisure. To the extent that a lowly demon like myself can. In Makai."

"Makai?"

"The demon world. It's another world, apart from this one. There, demons and fallen angels live as they please."

"Well that sounds interesting. We'll have to visit someday. Do little devils like you and other demons get summoned by magicians often?"

"Not other demons so much. For a low-level demon like me, doing menial work for a magician is one of the most profitable positions available. More powerful demons can reject a summons they don't like, or even bind a summoner who tries, contracting them in exchange for a measure of the demon's power. Though of course there are different grades of magicians too, ranging from rank amateurs to diabolists that even greater demons would know the names of."

"I see, I see. How thoroughly meritocratic. So it's not common for a lesser magician to summon a super-powerful demon then."

"Well it all depends on the devil's decision, really. Sometimes a demon will respond to a hedge witch's summon if it suits their mood, or if they're certain the difference in power is so great the magician has no hope of controlling them."

Renko nodded, apparently satisfied with the devil's answer. "So are contracts with demons always master-servant affairs then?"

"Usually, yes. I've heard that rarely lesser devils and weaker magicians may work as partners, but doing so would be very unusual."

"I see. —By the way, is there any limit to the number of devils a magician could contract at one time?"

"No particular limit, just how much of their power they are willing to share. The most prestigious magicians often have a whole host of devils to do their bidding. Many lesser demons like me even contract themselves out as groups. A magician has to pay their contracts with a share of their power though, so lesser practitioners can't usually afford more than a few."

"Ah, then do you have any friends or colleagues working in this mansion?"

"No." She beamed proudly. "I'm the only devil Lady Patchouli has contracted."

"But isn't it hard to manage that whole library yourself?"

Koakuma looked down. Her expression seemed a little embarrassed, but the small bat wings on her head flapped and swayed, like a puppy wagging its tail as she spoke. "Lady Patchouli says I do a good enough job on my own."

I wondered if, to a being used to being used indiscriminately and hired in groups, being sought after for their individual talents might be a rare pleasure.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind then. Thank you Koakuma. The next one goes to you, Miss Meiling."

"Oh, me? I'll answer if it's something I know about." Meiling straightened her back and looked slightly nervous at the prospect of being interviewed.
"Miss Meiling, you're not a devil summoned by Miss Patchouli, are you?"

"Oh no, I'm just a regular youkai. No one would call me a demon."

"Then you're not bound by a contract to be Miss Patchouli's servant, correct? Instead, you work for Remilia."

"That's right. Though it's a bit much to suggest I work directly for her. Really I answer to Sakuya." She laughed nervously.

Renko narrowed her eyes and paused for a moment, looking up at Meiling. "Despite that though, you've been entrusted with taking care of the young mistress' even younger sister though, no?"

Meiling's expression went blank for a moment then her face contorted again into a look of concern. "Where did you hear that from?"

"From the younger sister in question herself."

"What? You met her? I'm surprised you're still all in one piece!" Meiling looked down at Renko in dismay, then smiled sadly to herself. "I tend to the mistress' sister because her mood can be a little unpredictable. That way, if she happens to be in a really bad mood, well... I'm only the gatekeeper. Nothing of value would be lost. If you're going to see the mistress' sister again you two should be very careful."

"That's very thoughtful of you to say."

Meiling looked down, seeming somewhat confused. "How did you two manage to find the little miss though?" Apparently she hadn't noticed us following her.

"I'm sure Miss Sakuya will tell you all about that later. For now though, if you don't mind me asking, exactly what kind of youkai are you, Miss Meiling?"

"What kind? Well, I guess you'd say I'm a gate youkai? Gatekeeping is my profession and protecting this mansion is my calling. I watch the gates 24 hours a day by sensing qi. That way I can tell if anyone approaches even if I'm asleep."

"A likely story from a so-called guard who was so easily brushed aside." A third voice had interrupted the conversation. It came from Patchouli, who was floating up the stairs to the clock tower, looking somewhat more worse for wear compared to other two. Although not battered or bloodied as one might expect, she was red in the face from exertion which stood out against her pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes were covered head to toe in a thick coating of dust and strands of cobweb had tangled in her long purple hair. Despite having floated up the stairs to the clocktower rather than climbing them, she seemed out of breath, and spoke with a raspy wheeze to her voice.

"Ah s-sorry about that, Lady Patchouli. Are you all right?"

"I've had better days, but it's nothing to concern yourself about." Her glare shifted to the two of us. "You two. I warned you that excessive prying would destroy you, didn't I? You're both lucky to be alive, and you have my preparations to thank for it."
"Ah, I can see I'm not needed in this conversation. I'll be going then" Renko said, shrinking away from Patchouli. She bowed once more than trotted across the floor of the clock tower back over to where I stood at the railing.

"What are you probing for?" I asked with a light glare. Renko was getting too into this whole noire detective act. It might be common in fiction for a sleuth to investigate seemingly disparate leads or ask questions about unrelated matters before pulling it all together in the end, but in this case I wish that if Renko had some purpose in mind with all of her queries she would confide in me. As it stood, she wasn't a professional investigator, just a nosy college student who seemed determined to ask impertinent questions of everyone she met, no matter how ill-advised that might be.

"I couldn't really say at this stage," she said. "I'm just trying to fill in all the pieces, but there's still enough missing from this puzzle that I can't guess at the big picture yet." Renko was whispering in a hushed voice now, just barely loud enough to carry to my ear. "I think there's a big secret here being kept by everyone in the mansion."

"Beyond the fact that they're hiding the mistress' little sister in a cell in the basement, you mean?"

"That's just the beginning," she replied. "There are countless questions." She began to tick them off on her fingers one by one. "What exactly is this mansion and where did it come from? Who are all of these women and for what purpose are they all staying here? Why is the mistress' younger sister locked up, and why doesn't she seem to mind? —There have to be answers to all of these somewhere."

"Isn't that a bit broad for a mystery? Shouldn't you be focusing on a single crime or event?"

"Oh Merry, despite how I might look, I'm not a detective. I'm a member of the Hifuu Club, just like you! The crimes we investigate are the hidden secrets of the world —any inexplicable phenomenon makes for a suitable case for our club activities!"

"Yes, yes, of course. And I'm to just be your Watson and follow along with the whims and eccentricities of the great detective, right?"

Before she could respond, we were distracted by a cheer that had risen from Meiling and the others. I looked over at the three of them who had moved to another spot on the balcony at this point and followed their gaze to the point they were watching. A small shadow with bat wings was arcing up from the terrace overlooking the yard, soaring into the sky over the mansion to hover in the air, silhouetted by the red moon behind her. The sight was stunning, and left me momentarily at a loss for words as I gazed at the noble figure cutting her way through the mist, alone in a world bathed in red moonlight.

The Scarlet Devil herself, The Eternal Red Moon, still bearing the countenance of a child after 500 years, eternally young, eternally dangerous.

Another shadow followed the mistress up out of the vestibule, trailing golden sparkles that danced and faded into the night. The witch girl had caught up to the mistress it seemed. The two of them hung in the air, suspended by nothing at all, but both still only shifting slightly now and then to counter the subtle drift imposed by the faint breeze. It seemed the two of them were talking, though they were too far for me to make out everything they said.

"...So how many people's blood have you sucked up until now?"

"Can you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten until now?"

"Thirteen. I prefer Japanese food."

I remembered Renko being presented with the same question once before. It seems to be a favorite retort of Remilia's. Just like Renko though, the witch had replied casually and without hesitation.

"I see. Humans are such fun, aren't they? Or perhaps you're not a human at all?"

"Nah, I'm just the fun kind of human."

Remilia chuckled softly. "Indeed." She turned her head slightly, to look up at the nightmarishly swollen blood-red moon hanging in the sky. "With a moon as red as that... it looks like it's going to be a hot night."

"...It looks like it's going to be a cold night," the witch retorted, speaking over her.

With that, the two hovering shadows had evidently finished talking. The witch had backed off a short distance and fished a small object out of her apron. With one arm extended outward, holding something in her fist, she began to circle the vampire at speed, carving a glittering path through the sky. Remilia waved her arms through a complex and graceful motion, as if conducting a symphony of unseen performers, while spinning in air to keep the witch in front of her.

All at once a sea of burning crimson light and a glittering cloud of sparkling stardust filled our vision, mixing, weaving and exploding against each other in the blood-tinted moonlight.



—22—


I am at a loss for how to describe the battles I witnessed between Remilia, Marisa and Reimu that night. Were I a poet, I might have the words to describe the beauty of the movements, the intricate patterns of luminous projectiles, and the back and forth trade of position, angle, altitude and distance. Were I a scientist or lawyer, I might have the precision of language to relay the mastery with which every barrage was aimed, patterned, animated and then expertly dodged. If I were someone with years of experience watching and playing professional sports I might have understood the mind games and strategies on display, the interplay of feint, counter-feint and riposte that informed the duel. Unfortunately I am none of those things, and I fear the inadequacy of my language leaves me simply unable to convey to you the spectacle of the event. It was not unlike a fireworks display, and equally impossible to capture with words. Flashes of colorful light, glimmering in the night sky... no, nothing I could say could hope to match its beauty. For someone like myself or Renko who had lived in a world filled with artificial wonders that could only mock the beauty of the natural world with pale imitations, seeing something as frantic, passionate, chaotic and organic as this contest was utterly breathtaking.

Renko and I were standing speechless, mesmerized by the display, when suddenly there was a voice close at hand.

"May I offer you something to drink?"

I turned to glance behind me, and found Sakuya there, offering a cup of tea. She looked perfectly composed, dressed and coiffed, though presumably she had challenged and been defeated by the invaders too. I accepted the tea and immediately turned my attention back to the mistress and the witch engaged in their danmaku match. I can't imagine many people could have looked away from such a spectacle.

Stardust scattered about, each particle lambent in the night sky until a crimson flash cut through the glimmer like a bloody slash. The witch's bullets were dazzling, brightly colored and endlessly scintillating, whereas the mistress' attacks were all the same dark, dull red, but so plentiful and voluminous as to nearly fill the sky. Watching the two of them fight was like a churning rondo of sun and moon, the grounds of the mansion glowing with unearthly light one moment then plunging into darkness the next.

"Please have a cup of tea, Lady Patchouli."

"Ah, Sakuya. You're here too. You're going to get scolded by Remi again for letting those two through."

"If that is her will, so be it. It was my negligence that allowed them through to her."

"Well, it's fine either way. It's been a long time since I've seen Remi enjoying anything this much so we'll call it a good thing."

"Yes, milady does seem to be having fun." Sakuya looked wistfully up into the darkness, with a bemused smile illuminating her face along with the occasional burst of red or gold light.

Meiling was standing on the other side of Renko and I, pressing against the railing and leaning the upper half of her body over the edge to cheer. "Gooo mistress! Wipe the floor with her! Fiiight!" Above, the battle of the vampire and the witch was reaching its climax.

Burst after burst of high-speed bullets were being loosed in the witch's direction. Accelerating her broom into a wide loop, she dodged each one in turn. As the witch moved through the tail end of the loop, she maneuvered to face the mistress head on, charging forward while standing atop her broom. In the brief gap between two bursts of bullets the witch extended both arms toward the vampire in a braced stance, as if preparing herself for an impact as motes of light coalesced from the air around her, gathering into the object in her hand. I could hear something shouted, a drawn out cry in a young girl's voice reverberating over the distance.

"𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗥𝗞!!"

All at once the sky erupted into light. The witch had unleashed an unprecedented attack, a laser of extreme thickness and luminescence that turned night into day and blinded the gathered onlookers. The torrent of light roared forth, its heat shining on us even at this distance, and instantly engulfed Remilia's tiny body. I gulped. 'It's over,' I thought.

But in the next moment, with the deluge of blinding light still pouring forth, a split appeared in the sweeping beam as a spear made of ruby light shot forth against the torrent of the laser and pierced through the witch's body.

Instantly, the witch crumpled in on herself and toppled from the broom. The laser winked out, leaving a broad stripe of phosphorescent after-image in my vision. Witch and broom both tumbled from the sky and disappeared from my sight beneath the eaves of the mansion. The mistress was left floating serenely in the dark sky, seemingly unshaken.

"Oh! What happened?" I shouted, louder than anticipated in the sudden silence after the roar of the laser had died away.

"I think the mistress cut through the beam with the blade of a spear..." murmured Renko, wonderingly.

I was tempted to ask if such a thing was even possible, but caught myself. There was no point in asking a physicist versed in the laws of our scientific world what was or wasn't possible here. In order to answer she'd first have to explain where the energy to generate the laser had come from, or how either of the girls was flying in the air.

"Milady avoided the blast by splitting into bats, I think, then attacked from the flank," Sakuya added from beside us with a smile..

Vaguely, I remembered reading somewhere that vampires could split their bodies into countless bats. It would be hard to say if that was any more plausible of an explanation. "Is that something she can do?" I asked.

"There's nothing against it in the rules."

Putting aside the question of how a fantastical battle like this could even have rules in the first place, it seemed at least that the match had been decided.



"Don't you think it's time to show yourself already? Miss youkai exterminator?" In the silence that followed the witch's defeat, Remilia's voice carried softly across the yard to our position. As soon as it did, another figure came sailing into the air from the edge of the covered terrace. It was undoubtedly the same red-and-white shrine maiden who had defeated Meiling earlier, but against the blood-red moon, with the mist swirling all about her, both she and the vampire were dyed the same vermillion hue.

"You beat Marisa. I can't say I'm really surprised," the shrine maiden said as she drew to a halt, hovering a few meters away from her opponent.

"Well obviously. She was just a human, after all. No match for a vampire."

"That still makes you a murderer."

"But not a serial killer. After all, I'm a light eater. Most of my victims survive."

"Whatever, you're being a huge nuisance. Could you just leave?"

"This is my mansion. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 are the one who will be leaving."

"I meant it as in 'leave this world.'"

"Oh? Is that how you want it? Well, I'm not hungry right now, but..." Blood-red moonlight fell across the mistress' face as she and the shrine maiden circled around one another in the air. The smile it illuminated was grotesque, leering and fanged. "...Under a moon as red as this, perhaps I'll kill you for real."

"Under a moon as red as this..."

"It's going to be a fun night!"

"It's going to be a long night!"



All at once the fight began. As a reluctant storyteller, I again don't have the words to describe the battle. As a bystander, I had no knowledge of the tactics or strategies the two might be engaging as the battle was joined. I could only stare in slack-jawed wonder.

The spectacle of the battle enough to render me speechless, staring agape at the extraordinary procession of lights and sounds in the sky, but beside me Renko was somehow able to carry on a conversation with Sakuya as the light from arcs and starbursts of passing bullets cast multicolored patterns across her upturned face.
"Did you used to fight with the mistress like that, Miss Sakuya?"

"You heard what milady said. Personally, I prefer not to think about that. It's an embarrassing past."

"Can a human, have any hope of defeating a vampire who was able to defeat someone capable of manipulating time?"

"Who can say? I wouldn't want to kill her now even if I could though. As a servant, my only wish is to see milady happy."

"Speaking of which, how long have you been the mistress' servant, Miss Sakuya?"

"For an entire lifetime. Or possibly just since a little while ago."

"Ah. I suppose to you, who controls the passage of time, our conceptions of time are somewhat meaningless."
"Hmm, you could look at it that way. Really it's more that it doesn't matter. The past is just a story we tell ourselves to justify the positions we find ourselves in."

"And what story does your past tell, I wonder?"

"I am now Izayoi Sakuya, who came into being at milady's command and has no past before then. There are stories of someone else which lead up to that moment, but they are not about me."

Thinking back now, it may be that Sakuya was telling us a truth back then that we weren't ready to understand at the time. Or perhaps my partner was, or suspected she was even then. I, however, as a bystander to the workings of the great detective can only realize these things in retrospect. At any rate, Sakuya was speaking in riddles and Renko was pursuing a line of questioning I couldn't imagine the purpose of. My attention drifted and returned to the dance playing out in the sky above me.

The shrine maiden and the mistress were still locked in combat, though whether it was mock or mortal I couldn't say anymore. They both moved with vigor and skill and their faces, when I could see them, showed a mix of concentration and excitement. They were both enjoying themselves, of that I had no doubt, but they were both also trying to kill the other, or at least to defeat them, and they reveled in every moment of the challenge they presented to one another. Although they fought at a distance, firing waves of danmaku and staying out of each other's reach for the most part, it almost seemed as if they were dancing together, with one's movements and steps informing the other, causing them to move in answer and entangle their position further, drawing in or stepping back in time with a waltz that only they could hear. In their movements there was a nobility, a beauty that transcended the base nature of the conflict, elevated it to something more refined.

I watched as the elegant exchange of danmaku unfolded.

The mistress cut lines of light into the night sky, manifesting an enormous cruciform behind her that stretched out as far as I could see in the fog.

The shrine maiden wove an enormous ward in the air with her gohei.

They hurled their creations at one another, the red cross and the blue seal colliding in mid air. Where they met—light. Overwhelming, shattering light. Too bright to look at, too bright to hide from, visible even with our eyes closed. Everyone watching the battle from the clock tower—myself, Renko, Sakuya, Meiling, Patchouli and the little devil, all of us hid our faces from the glare and waited for the light to subside.

When it eventually did, there was only one figure left floating under the shining moon. Needless to say it was the red and white shrine maiden, hovering and still except for the breeze ruffling her sleeves and skirt.

Thus, the infamous "Scarlet Mist Incident" was ended by the Hakurei miko. By force.