Hong Meiling Sleepwalks Through the Heavens

Just as Hong Meiling was reveling in the rush of victory, Marisa Kirisame’s whimpered as she was being dangled in mid-air by Meiling’s chains, “W-what did ‘ya do to me? M-my magic…”

Meiling was silent as she carried Marisa back down to the ground, producing another rope from her pocket and tied her up.

The rope was considerably long – Meiling found a tree nearby and tied Marisa to it.

Meiling prepared this rope earlier today. After all, she knew she couldn’t permanently use her Adamantine Sealing Chains, and thus, she needed a physical rope to bind her opponent.

Just in case, she thought to herself. She wasn’t even sure if she would be able to defeat Marisa.

However, Marisa has been defeated, which leaves Reimu Hakurei as her final opponent.

That seems… impossible, but again, not impossible…?

If I beat the Reimu Hakurei and the Marisa Kirisame all in the same day, wouldn’t I become the most famous youkai in Gensokyo?!

“Hey!” Marisa’s shout interrupted her delusions as she thrashed against the tree. “Let me go! I swear I’ll show ‘ya if you untie these damn ropes!”

Meiling simply looked away and ignored her continued shouts and threats. However, it didn’t seem like her throat was feeling dry anytime soon, and Meiling summoned Sluggy.

“Spit acid!” she ordered, pointing at another tree two or three meters away.

Sluggy sprayed a mouthful of acid on the adjacent tree, which dissolved a large piece of bark and left nothing behind but deadly sizzles.

“H-hey, I don’t know what that is but ‘ya better not think ’bout spraying that on me…” Marisa stuttered. “If that thing hits me, I’ll friggin’ die!”

“Well, if you keep quiet, I’ll consider not spraying this acid on you,” Meiling smiled. “Or… continue talking. If you’re strong enough, you might survive.”

Meiling’s smile, although usually warm, sent freezing chills down Marisa’s spine, and she immediately stopped her threats and complaints.

Meiling then ordered Sluggy to treat her right palm. They rested their head against Meiling’s charred right hand, and a faint green light radiated from them. Immediately, her pain quelled.

“Really, Marisa? I didn’t expect you to lose this quick,” a girl’s voice suddenly came from above, startling the both of them.

Meiling immediately took her palm out of Sluggy and looked up, and sure enough, it was the Reimu Hakurei hovering gently over the three of them.

Reimu Hakurei looked about sixteen years old, wearing a typical red-and-white outfit suited for a shrine maiden. Her face was still painted with youth, and her long black hair was tied neatly into a giant, red bow.

In her hand was a gohei, or a purification rod typically used by shrine maidens. Her face was cold like jade, yet, pleasing to the eye all at the same time.

“You’re a little late, Hakurei Shrine Maiden,” Meiling smiled. “Your little friend has been defeated.”

Meiling expected her to retaliate with a snarky comment, but instead, Reimu sighed and replied, “Yeah, I didn’t expect Marisa to lose right at the gate itself – I mean, I even told her the location of this mansion to her in advance.”

Meiling widened her eyes. So, it is true. No wonder Marisa was so confident that we’re the culprits.

Reimu may be relying on pure intuition, but she has never been wrong, which is why Marisa never questions her judgement.

“So, Marisa is your scout,” Meiling said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I wouldn’t say that – Marisa keeps telling me that she wants to solve an incident before I do, and since I’m lazy, I thought I would give her the chance to do so,” Reimu shrugged as she fiddled with her gohei. “I told her where the culprit might be, and I would hover behind her while she does all the work. If she solves the incident, it would save me the effort; if she loses, I would take action.”

Reimu sighed again as she glanced at Marisa, “The thing is, I thought she would be able to claw her way into the mansion before losing. I never expected that she would lose to the mansion’s gatekeeper.”

Marisa let out a silent huff, and looked away.

Would be great if this ‘lil gatekeeper beat Reimu up too, Marisa grumbled internally. She has always wanted to beat Reimu in something – Marisa is but an ordinary human magician who had to put in great effort to make things work, but Reimu could simply just close her eyes and do the same things Marisa does without exerting much effort.

What am I thinking? Marisa blushed as she caught her thoughts. We’re supposed to solve an incident! I can’t think like that!

“Alright, Miss Gatekeeper,” Reimu sighed. “I saw what you used to defeat Marisa, but you are no match for me. If you don’t want to get hurt, just get out of the way.”

“I am the Gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. How could I let my mistress down and let you walk in?” Meiling said, with her ego feeling a little inflated. “Let me experience the rumored power of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.”

“Ah, how troublesome,” Reimu sighed. “Then, just accept your defeat!”

Reimu immediately took out a spell card and casted it on Meiling: Spirit Sign “Dream Orb!”

Immediately, several orbs of light emerged from Reimu, launching towards Meiling at blinding speeds – each orb was about half-a-meter in diameter, and if Meiling blinked, the orbs would immediately blast her away.

Meiling immediately began running away, knowing that these orbs are able to home onto her. Despite this, the orbs still bit at Meiling, causing her green dress to become tattered and torn. Some orbs slammed into the ground, casting deep, charred pits.

Meiling gritted her teeth as she ran. This spell card is one of her weaker spells, then why does it feel so powerful?!

“What happened to your Fantasy Seal? Are you sure you used the right spell card?” Meiling taunted as she continued running across the mansion’s grounds.

“Oh, I didn’t expect you to know my spells,” Reimu replied nonchalantly.

These orbs are way too pesky – too fast, and they home onto me…!

Seeing that one of the orbs was about to hit her square in the face, she gritted her teeth and teleported away.

She disappeared in a puff, and appeared dozens of meters away the very next moment.

Reimu was slightly intrigued at this. Teleportation? No – she’s just moving incredibly fast, and she can only use it on the ground.

Reimu instantly guessed the function of Meiling’s Body Flicker Technique.

The rainbow-colored orbs were unable to track Meiling’s sudden disappearance, and they immediately crashed into the ground and formed charred craters.

Meiling breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately, she felt a breath on her ear.

Reimu, who was just hovering over her a second ago, had suddenly appeared behind her.

Meiling immediately realized that this is Reimu’s ability to manipulate barriers, which also means that she is able to teleport from one place to another instantly.

Immediately, Meiling turned around, but Reimu retaliated by casting another spell.

“Divine Arts ‘Sky-Conquering Wind God Kick!'”

This spell allows Reimu to launch flying kicks continuously. This displays her proficiency in not only ranged combat, but melee combat too. Her body may look delicate and soft, but it hides baffling power.

Reimu may not be as proficient as Meiling was in martial arts, the shrine maiden managed to catch the gatekeeper off guard.

Reimu, imbued with great energy, lifted her legs up, and Meiling could only put her arms in front of her to defend against these deadly blows.

However, although she tried her best to resist, she was inevitably kicked away after being kicked more than a dozen times.

She arced across the mansion’s gardens, but landed firmly on the ground on both of her feet.

However, the moment she looked up again, Reimu was already in front of her, holding a spell card in her left hand.

“Divine Arts ‘Omnidirectional Oni-Binding Circle!'”

She waved her gohei around her, causing a large amount of spiritual energy to flood out from where Reimu was standing, forming a powerful, soul-crushing barrier.

Meiling’s eyes widened, and she didn’t have time to teleport away.

She was imprisoned in the binding circle, and she felt her energy being squeezed out of her bit-by-bit. She tried moving her legs, but to no avail, and her body temperature rose violently as the circle began to damage her body.

This spell allows Reimu to form a powerful barrier, inflicting damage on her opponents and inhibiting movement – simple, yet dangerously effective.

Meiling could feel her limbs weakening as they were being squeezed dry of power, and she could do nothing but wait until the spell was over.

She’s… strong… she frowned internally. The gap in power is too big between us!

The slightly-inflated sense of ego that Meiling gained from defeating Marisa was popped in an instant. She simply lost from the very moment she decided to challenge Reimu – no, she lost even before the Scarlet Mist Incident began.

The circle began to fade away after an excruciating ten seconds, and when it disappeared, Meiling gasped for air as she was thrown onto the ground.

Although this spell would not cause dire physical wounds, it would cause severe damage to one’s spirit. Fortunately, Meiling was practically an endless, walking fountain of qi, and got up to face Reimu again.

Of course, it still took time for her qi to course through her system, and Reimu took advantage of this down-time as she flew into the air and unleashed another spell card in a cold voice, “Here’s the Fantasy Seal that you want so bad. Take all of it, and appreciate its power for what its worth!”

“Spirit Sign ‘Fantasy Seal!'”

In an instant, a blinding circle of color emerged from Reimu’s back – compared to the previous Dream Orbs, the orbs of Fantasy Seal were much, much bigger, and they radiated terrifying power that promises to smite down every evil being.

“W-w-w-w-wait! If that thing hits me, I’ll die!” Meiling pleaded as she eyed the balls of light above her. Sweat immediately drenched her entire forehead.

“If you’re strong enough, you might survive,” Reimu responded with a faint smile.

Ah. This sounds familiar. This is karma for making fun of Marisa. Wait, come on! Move! Move!

Meiling willed herself to move away – she could only make slight twists and turn, but her legs were still numb, and this very moment, Reimu’s Fantasy Seal shot out.

Several large rainbow-colored orbs hit Meiling’s body one after another, causing her to fall into a coma.