THE WORLD

Within the forest by the Misty Lake, Miketsu walked leisurely in her miko outfit, stepping forward. Looking at the vibrant trees surrounding her and feeling the peace and harmony within, she glanced at the various fairies hiding in the corners and observing her from the shadows. She nodded slightly and murmured to herself.

"The environment feels decent; it has that old-world flavor. It seems having a few places in this world serve as heritage sites for past eras is quite acceptable."

As she evaluated the Gensokyo before her, Miketsu strolled along at a slow pace. She harbored a sense of curiosity toward this unique Secret Realm. Regarding the matters of Gensokyo, she wasn't entirely uninformed. Back when this place was formally isolated from the outside world, the Dragon God, acting as a Heavenly Dao God, once formally descended to charge the various sages who created Gensokyo with the crime of defying heaven. These aptitude-holders explained the significance of Gensokyo's creation to the Dragon God—that it was to be a sanctuary and a heritage site for the remnants of the old era—and they swore an oath with their very existence as a guarantee, promising that this place would remain eternally peaceful and stable, and would never expand.

Miketsu had been a part of the Heavenly Dao at the time, so she naturally knew about this. The Dragon God had consulted the Heavenly Dao regarding the disposal of Gensokyo. After the Heavenly Dao performed a rough calculation of the future and found that it would not cause any particularly serious impact, it tacitly allowed Gensokyo's existence, which was why the Dragon God eventually departed. Thus, Miketsu had always known about Gensokyo's existence; she simply hadn't come to see it with her own eyes. She knew quite a few of her old acquaintances lived here in seclusion, but this was her first actual visit.

"I'll just take a slow walk like this. Perhaps I'll run into some other familiar faces~"

While murmuring to herself, Miketsu continued through the forest. However, at that moment, a cold wind brushed past her cheek, followed by a thud. A small silver knife appeared in front of Miketsu, embedded in a tree trunk and vibrating slightly. Clearly, the chilling wind that had just brushed past her from behind was that very silver knife.

"Oh... how truly dangerous. Does this Gensokyo have knife yokai flying around everywhere?"

Looking at the knife stuck in the tree trunk, Miketsu spoke with a curious expression. At that moment, a cold and solemn female voice slowly echoed from behind her.

"Stop playing the fool, you discourteous and audacious familiar priestess."

Hearing the voice behind her, Miketsu slowly turned. Standing on a tree branch with the sunlight at her back was a silver-haired maid. She looked to be a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a blue-and-white short-skirted maid outfit. The fair skin of her arms and legs was exposed, and her short silver hair was tied into two small braids. Her blood-red eyes were fixed on Miketsu. This was the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the most loyal servant and claw of the vampire little girl lord—a human named Sakuya Izayoi.

"Ah, so it's not a knife yokai, but a maid who uses knives."

Hearing the maid's words, Miketsu smiled and continued speaking.

"This Gensokyo is truly wonderful. Not only are there vampires from the West, but the one serving them is actually a powerful human. Truly a configuration one won't see elsewhere."

Miketsu spoke with a relaxed demeanor, facing the solemn silver-haired maid. Sakuya's expression remained stern as she pulled a handful of knives from nowhere and fanned them out, continuing to speak seriously to the priestess.

"It seems you still haven't realized your situation. Taking advantage of the moment the Eldest Lady's demonic power was in chaos to humiliate the master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion—don't think you can just run away after doing something like that."

"Humiliate her? Hmm... was there such a thing? Didn't she put on that maid outfit and pour tea for me herself? I didn't do a thing from start to finish. I didn't force her, and I didn't say anything insulting. How can that be considered humiliation?"

Hearing Sakuya's words, Miketsu scratched her head and spread her hands, speaking with a look of pure innocence.

"Hmph, stop making excuses. How could the Eldest Lady possibly—did you say the Eldest Lady wore a maid outfit?"

After listening carefully and catching the key point, Sakuya couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Seeing Sakuya's shocked gaze, Miketsu continued with a look of feigned surprise.

"Eh? You didn't see it? Or did she change back before you returned? Do you want to see? I have photos here. If you let me go, I can give them all to you~"

As she spoke, Miketsu took out her phone and waved it. Seeing this, Sakuya couldn't help but speak in a rush.

"I wan—"

Before the word could leave her mouth, Sakuya realized something was wrong and immediately shut up. She coughed twice to straighten her composure and then looked at Miketsu seriously again.

"Don't think you can use flowery words to get away. It's impossible for you to distract me by making up such stories. I am giving you one last warning: will you walk back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion yourself, or shall I bring you back? If I have to bring you back, I can't guarantee you'll remain in one piece."

Sakuya spoke coldly. Although she desperately wanted to strike a deal for the photos, as the absolute loyal dog of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she chose to prioritize executing Remilia's orders.

'I have no choice. I'll just have to see if I can get that person's small camera later. I must confirm if the Eldest Lady in a maid outfit is real!'

"Sigh... what a loyal maid. In that case, I have no choice. However, it might be a bit difficult for you to get me back there. I have a tiny bit of confidence in my own skills."

Miketsu continued to speak casually, her words making her stance clear. Seeing this response, Sakuya clearly didn't intend to continue with pleasantries.

"Skills? Hmph, no matter how much ability you have, it doesn't matter. You cannot resist my power. You will find yourself captured without even realizing it."

While speaking, Sakuya took out an exquisite, ancient-looking silver pocket watch with her other hand. Hearing her words, Miketsu asked curiously.

"Captured without realizing it? That sounds very impressive. Do you have some powerful ability?"

Hearing Miketsu's words, Sakuya opened the lid of the pocket watch and continued coldly.

"What is my ability? You can figure that out slowly after you've been escorted back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

As she spoke, Sakuya pressed the switch on her pocket watch. Suddenly, on that elegant silver watch, the hands that were moving at a normal ticking speed suddenly accelerated. The second hand in particular began to move at a lightning-fast pace. In contrast to the speeding clock, the movement of everything in the surroundings began to slow down rapidly.

Inside the dense forest, leaves falling from the canopy gradually slowed until they were suspended in mid-air. Birds soaring with spread wings were frozen mid-stroke. Drifting dandelions dotted the air like decorations. All movement tended toward stillness, no longer moving forward.

"THE WORLD."

Looking at the frozen world before her, Sakuya whispered. This was her "world." This was her ability. Leaping down from the branch, the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion strolled through the stagnant forest, coming step by step before the priestess who stood frozen in place. Seeing her unchanging smile, Sakuya slowly raised a silver knife and threw it forward. The knife flew a few meters before stopping right in front of the priestess, aimed directly at the smiling woman, hovering in mid-air.

"Even in this Gensokyo where powerhouses gather, few know what my ability actually is. To many of them, my ability merely makes knives suddenly appear beside them while maintaining their kinetic energy. However, the essence of the matter is far from that simple."

As she spoke, Sakuya threw more knives. These knives hovered around the priestess. As Sakuya leisurely circled the priestess, she placed the knives at the edges of the priestess's clothing, intending to pin her to the tree behind her. These knives would ultimately only serve to restrain her and would not be lethal.

"So... how much time will it take for you to guess what my ability is later?"

Having completely arranged the knife array, Sakuya spoke slowly while looking at the still-smiling Miketsu. She had already envisioned the other party's shocked and confused expression, as it wasn't the first time she had seen such a look. After setting everything up, Sakuya stood in place and reached out to hold the pocket watch whose hands were spinning rapidly. She pressed one of the buttons, and the racing hands began to slow down. Correspondingly, the world around them began to move again.

Sakuya's eyes were fixed on the priestess; she was ready to see the shocked expression when the woman found herself nailed to the tree. However, that scene did not occur.

In the next second, the priestess... and even the large tree behind her, disappeared from Sakuya's sight. Those hovering knives were still there, but their orientation had completely reversed. They were now pointed directly at Sakuya and began flying toward her.

Gripping the remaining blades in her hands, Sakuya's movements were faster than the knives. In several flashes of cold steel, those silver blades attacking her at close range were all struck away with clangs and fell to the ground.

"Huff... huff..."

With her body trembling slightly, Sakuya held her silver knives and breathed heavily. Clearly, she was terrified. For the first time, she was facing the very scenario her enemies usually encountered.

'What... what happened? Where is that priestess? Why did all my knives turn toward me? Why did she suddenly vanish?'

Sakuya thought in horror. She began to observe the surroundings vigilantly until she noticed the tall tree behind her. Only then did she realize...

'I'm standing where that person was just now? When did this happen?!'

Sensing a part of the truth, shock rose within Sakuya. She had no idea when she had been caught by a technique. In her perception, she had simply been swapped from her original position in an instant, with no intervening steps. It was exactly like how she usually used her ability on her enemies.

"Oh my, what excellent moves. For a human, your reactions have already surpassed many great yokai. That's quite something to boast about."

At that moment, a familiar, gentle voice came from the side. Hearing this, Sakuya froze, then turned her head. What she saw was the priestess, clapping her hands with that same unchanging smile.

"What did you do?!"

Looking at the priestess, Sakuya gripped her knives and spoke vigilantly. Miketsu waved her hand and continued to answer with a smile.

"Why don't you guess~? Didn't you say you wanted me to figure out your ability? Now you can try figuring out mine."

Hearing Miketsu's words, the look in Sakuya's eyes grew even more solemn. She seriously re-evaluated the priestess before her. Recalling what she had just experienced, she murmured.

"Could it be... related to time?"

"Time? Hmm... you're quite sharp."

Hearing Sakuya's words, Miketsu touched her chin and spoke slowly. At those words, Sakuya was momentarily stunned, then she quickly retreated several steps. Her other hand gripped the pocket watch—the Lunar Clock—tightly. The other party was also a time-user! Just now, she had been toyed with by the other party's own time acceleration!

Indeed, Sakuya's ability was time acceleration. She accelerated her own time through the Lunar Clock, making the time of the entire world appear slower relative to her, eventually reaching an effect that was almost equivalent to time stopping. Normally, her standard acceleration rate was 100 times. At 100x speed, all normal movements appeared almost stagnant to her.

And now, Sakuya concluded that the other party could also accelerate time. Just now, at the moment she deactivated her own time acceleration, the priestess, facing the incoming knives, must have activated her own acceleration to swap an unprepared Sakuya into the path of the knives before deactivating it again, causing Sakuya to fall into her own trap.

'To think I would encounter a human with the same ability one day... Eldest Lady, you certainly summoned an extraordinary familiar.'

Looking at the priestess, Sakuya murmured in her heart. She was now prepared to continue the battle. Facing a time-acceleration ability, Sakuya, as a fellow user, knew exactly what to do: strike first!

As long as one party activated time acceleration first, the other party would be frozen to death. A subsequent activation of time acceleration would have no chance of being triggered; it would be meaningless.

"THE WORLD!"

Having understood the opponent's ability, Sakuya decisively pressed her Lunar Clock. The second hand spun at high speed, falling leaves slowed, lake water froze, and the world once again tended toward stillness in her eyes. Naturally, the priestess opposite her was the same. Seeing this, Sakuya thought with some joy. Simultaneously, she immediately stepped forward to stand behind the unmoving priestess. She reached out to restrain the other's body and pressed a silver knife directly against her neck.

Previously, when she had thrown the knives, the travel time gave the opponent a chance to react and activate their ability. But now, by controlling her at zero distance, the opponent wouldn't be able to use any power.

Having finally restrained the priestess, Sakuya began to deactivate her own time acceleration to return to normal time. However, she remained cautious. Since she didn't know what the action or trigger for the other party's acceleration was, she didn't let time return to normal immediately. Instead, she slowly ramped down her own accelerated time.

This way, even if the opponent didn't need a physical action and only needed a thought to activate acceleration, their movements would still appear to be slowly accelerating in the eyes of Sakuya, whose own speed hadn't fully decreased yet. At that point, Sakuya could easily stop her deceleration and re-accelerate, further controlling the priestess before she could fully speed up. That way, Sakuya wouldn't end up like before—falling into the opponent's acceleration the moment hers ended.

It was like a long-distance race where the person in first place, having left the other runners far behind, actively slows down to look back at the opponent. As long as she watched the opponent's speed, if she found them suddenly accelerating, she could immediately speed up herself. Since the distance already accumulated was still there, the one in first place could easily pull away again and leave the opponent behind once more.

Thus, Sakuya carefully observed the priestess in her arms while slowly decelerating. Seeing the still-unmoving body, Sakuya felt a slight sense of relief in her heart.

'It seems she cannot activate her ability while being restrained—'

Just as Sakuya thought this, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

In front of her eyes, the scene suddenly changed in the blink of an eye.

The priestess in her arms vanished instantly. In the next moment, she appeared in front of Sakuya, holding a bow and arrow aimed right at her. On the fully drawn string rested an arrow shimmering with a cold light!

While Sakuya was in shock, Miketsu released the bowstring. The arrow flew out with incredible speed, far exceeding Sakuya's previous knives. Before Sakuya could even react, the arrow had already reached her. It precisely pierced an apple that had appeared on top of her head, pinning it to the tree trunk behind her.

Clearly, Sakuya had once again fallen into the other party's time acceleration without any warning. She had been moved to the tree, positioned there, and even had an apple placed on her head as a target.

Stepping away from the tree, Sakuya looked in shock at the apple pinned by the arrow. Immediately shaking off her shock, her brow furrowed, and she pressed her Lunar Clock again.

Sakuya's time accelerated once more, and the world stopped in her eyes. This time, however, she didn't feel the slightest bit of the previous celebration of having seized the initiative.

"Huff... why? Why did that person activate her ability without any warning! And there wasn't even a hint of acceleration! I didn't see any sign of her slowly getting faster... Why is that?! My final speed just now clearly wasn't slow! It was at least fifty times normal speed!"

Breathing heavily and looking at the once-again-still priestess in the distance, Sakuya murmured in confusion. What had just happened was far too bizarre.

Sakuya's remaining speed just now was about fifty times normal speed. At that speed, her perception of the priestess's time acceleration should not have been without warning. It shouldn't have been possible. Any acceleration should have a process of going from slow to fast. In her high-speed state, she should have been able to observe the priestess's acceleration process.

Suddenly, Sakuya realized a terrifying explanation: the rate of the priestess's own acceleration was too fast, and her final speed was too high, which was why Sakuya couldn't perceive it.

But just how high would the acceleration rate have to be to make someone moving at 50x speed unable to feel the process? How fast would the final speed have to be for a person at 50x speed to perceive it as stagnant relative to the opponent?

Thinking of this, Sakuya couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

"I really didn't expect to encounter such a challenge one day."

"Since you are fast..."

At this moment, battle intent flared in Sakuya's eyes. Her usual speed under time acceleration was 100x, but that was far from her limit.