You think you have the upper hand? You're a fool.

From the dark emerges the Flawed one, just as I suspected it would. The monster runs forward, digging its claws into the ground to boost its forward momentum. These fiends may seem clumsy when unprovoked, but they have a unique sense of agility only their twisted forms could produce.

But they are not faster than me.

As the Flawed one emerges from the shadow of the gravestone and runs at me, I take aim at it and fire with my pistol. Two aimed shots to the chest and the creature is done for. It shrieks in agony and slumps down as it becomes a blaze of fire.

"There's another!" Shou warns from behind me.

"Two-no three more!" Nazrin shouts.

I glance back to see if they needs help, but I soon find out just how well the two of them really can fight.

Three Flawed make a charge at the two youkai right behind me; all running out from the cover of the graveyard.

Two of them head straight for Shou, but she does not flinch. As one of them claws up a small worn grave and takes a flying leap at her, she raises her lantern and uses it. An intense fury of magic is unleashed as a brilliant gold colored beam that strikes the airborne monster. The ray lasts only a second; just long enough to reduce the soaring creature to a rain of ashes.

Whoa… Shou is not holding back here. She's vaporizing these things!

A second monster still approaches, running along the ground with claws reaching forward. It takes Shou almost no effort to lower her aim and send a beam towards that one too. A rush of energy and another Flawed one is vanquished.

Nazrin is not as composed as her master though.

A third Flawed one swings away from the eyesight of Shou and focuses on Nazrin. The girl attempts to bring it down with her magical blasts, but the projectiles miss and the beast continues. Strafing from left to right, the Flawed one weaves towards Nazrin. She begins to panic as the monster draws close, and starts throwing off her own aim.

"I got you covered." I say as I step back towards her and aim my pistol around her. Three shots and the beast dies. Nazrin sighs and quietly thanks me.

"Thanks…"

"Sure. Stay focused though, there are more." I say to the two of them.

"I can deal with these things myself, just keep your side covered and I'll keep mine." Shou says.

Fine by me.

I put my back to the two of them and take a quick second to reload my gun. Nine more bullets.

As I look up from reloading I see Yoshika standing next to one of the Flawed; oblivious to its violent nature. The monster shrieks and lashes out at her with its claws. Yoshika staggers back, but feels no pain from the injury. In a frenzy, the flawed hops on her and repeatedly stabs her.

"Huh? Stop that…" She complains as she is impaled yet again.

It's trying to kill her! Why isn't she fighting? "Yoshika! Fight back!"

Yoshika looks at the monster for a second, still confused as to what is happening.

Argh! Do I have to save you from this? You're just getting in the way here.

Then, I get an idea. Wait, maybe she can help us after all! Murasa mentioned she eats ghosts. If she also eats humans than maybe she's some kind of omnivore.

"Yoshika! That's food." I say to her while pointing at the flawed one.

"Food?" She asks.

"Yes, food! You're hungry right?"

She stares at the monster for another second while it vainly digs both claws into her dead body.

Then, success.

Yoshika bends down towards the monster hanging on her and bites it on the top of the head. She pulls up with a mouthful of the monster's flesh and begins to chew. The monster itself dies from the fatal bite. The rest of the body burns away, but Yoshika's chunk lingers just long enough for her to swallow.

She happily sighs. "Good… but still hungry…"

What a fearsome creature… She really does eat anything. Hopefully, she can help us take a few of them down.

I don't have to tell her to go look for more. She's already got the idea in her head. Disregarding her own safety, she steps behind one of the graves and pulls out a shrieking Flawed one. The Flawed one kicks and swings at her, but it does not stop her from making a meal of it. Yoshika rips and bites down on the monster's flesh; managing a few mouthfuls before inevitably killing it and moving on.

But she isn't unstoppable. A Flawed one moves behind her and slips past unnoticed. It's heading for me.

Die you abomination! I mentally roar while gunning it down.

A hiss warns me of a closing threat. That one was a distraction. Two more rush side by side towards me.

But my aim is quick, and so are the bullets. A lucky headshot for one and three torso shots for the other kills them before they even get into melee range.

Go back to the pit you came from!

Then another hiss. Yet another attacker seeks to use the other two to catch me off guard. Leaping towards me like the other did to Shou, the Flawed one comes at me flying through the air.

I expend the last two bullets of my pistol's magazine at the creature.

But the two shots miss.

Argh! "Look out, one's getting past me!"

With no means of fighting back, I instinctively throw myself downward. The Flawed one lands right behind me right as I do. I avoid its fatal lunge, but I'm within melee range.

Move move move!

I roll over and crawl back from the lone Flawed as it turns towards me. It raises a claw at me, ready to slice me open. But then, light.

The Flawed one is reduced to ashes by Shou's beam attack. Thankfully just in time.

Shou looks down on me and scoffs. "Careless human fool. Get up. There are still more."

Without a word of reply, I stand back up and reload my pistol.

"Just how many did she send?" I mutter.

"Does it matter? I'll burn every one of them to find my master's scroll. One of them has to have it." Shou says back.

Right. One way or another we have to beat them. They can't be infinite. We'll kill them all.

I raise my aim as two more Flawed ones begin to run at me from the distant darkness.

They hiss at me and I growl back. "Come on out you freaks of nature. I've got plenty of bullets here for you."

Charity smiles and sighs happily as she peers through the portal before her. In front of her is a red swirling gap, functioning in a similar way to my own. Through it, she views the same thing she does. A fight in the Myouren cemetery. The youkai hunter and two of the temple's advocates frantically fend off the swarm of Charity's familiars.

Together, me and her watch the fight unravel from a quiet hill outside outside the village.

Charity sighs once more. "Oh… I just never get tired of seeing these little guys do their thing. That… twisted… power and skill that they possess. The fiends of the shadow realm never cease to amaze me. I really never get tired of my practices."

Setting aside her strange fascination with this dark magic she uses, I do have to ask…

"But… you're minions are dying, dear." I remark.

Indeed, this youkai hunter uses his gun with both expertise and wrath. These minions, these… Flawed, are falling to his gunfire like mere flies. The two Buddhists are effortlessly destroying them as well. The Jeweled Pagoda of Bishamonten is certainly not to be trifled with, yet Charity has done so willingly.

The young Nightcaster merely shrugs. "Yeah… I have to admit, the Flawed aren't exactly powerhouses. They're good for easy work, but they are kinda weak overall. Numbers are their only real strength."

"But did you not say you sent them to steal the scroll? Isn't this counterproductive?" I ask.

She glances at me. "Hm? Oh, yeah. But not for me. I read in the Gensokyo Chronicle that the Sorcerer's Sutra Scroll can't be used by anyone other than Byakuren Hijiri. I'm sure I could rework the magic in it to get it something out of it, but I don't want to mess with that yet. From what I'm seeing, I don't think I could take Byakuren quite yet. Yet anyways."

"So… did you simply steal the scroll just to poke the Buddhists? Invoking the wrath of powerful groups for the sake of entertainment is not wise." Although this is a rather interesting fight.

The Nightcaster smiles at me. "See, Yukari, I don't do anything without a reason. They're doing their purpose."

"Oh?"

Charity responds by withdrawing something from her side. A small stick… a hairpin.

Oh? Is that… "Seiga Kaku's hairpin? I recognize that. The Wall Passing Chisel is her most prized possession. She will not take kindly to this you know."

Charity laughs. "Hahaha! I don't think I will be worrying about her for a little while Yukari!"

"And the jiang-shi? She loves her master dearly." I gently ask.

"A little blackening charm on her talisman and she doesn't remember a thing. She's pretty stupid really…" She replies with a bit of disgust.

My, my… "So this was… ah, I think I see now. This was a plot to distract those who might notice her absence, the few who would, so you could obtain the chisel. But what purpose do you have that you would need it? If you truly needed to reach somewhere difficult I could have helped you."

Charity twirls the chisel around in her hands as she speaks. "Actually… I wanted to ask you something about that. About boundaries."

Hm? "What is it? The knowledge I have to offer is very restricted you know. The manipulation of boundaries is my secret."

She clarifies her position. "Oh, I don't want to know your secrets. Just some general questions about how they work in the world."

"Very well. I suppose it would do no harm just at that. I do rarely get to talk about my work." I reply.

Just… was wondering." She begins. "You can manipulate boundaries right? By doing something like say… shrinking the border between me and you, you can move closer to me. Or by switching it, you can move me to where you are. Is that right?"

I nod. "Correct. Like so."

With a blink, I easily reverse the boundary of space between me and her. The world shifts as we swap places in accordance with the new change. I then switch it back and restore us both to our original positions.

Charity sways a bit. "Ugh… that feels weird."

I cannot help but chuckle. "Hmhmhm. Ran was the same way when she was younger. Teleportation by boundary is something that takes getting used to."

She recomposes herself and resumes questioning. "So… what if you destroyed that boundary? What happens?"

…

"That is a very serious thing to do Charity. Even for me, the destruction of a boundary is both difficult and risky. If I were to destroy the spatial boundary between me and you for example, it would kill us both. There would no longer be any distinction between us spatially, and we would appear on the same spot. We would most likely displace each other and explode. Once a boundary is removed, there is no longer and distinction between the two things it defined, and they become a single concept. For better… or for worse." I say in serious tone.

"And creation?" She asks.

"Well, creating boundaries is a bit easier, but still risky. Just because something is divided into two things does not determine what they will be afterwards. If I divided something in half with a boundary, say an apple, I may not get two equal halves. They may not even be two separable parts. I would get just halves; somehow or another. To counter this, more boundaries are needed to define the cut, but it becomes complicated very quickly. The world we live in is made of an intricate web of boundaries and gaps. To toy with it is dangerous." I explain.

"So only the manipulation is the only smart thing to do." She concludes.

"Yes."

"Ok… Thanks Yukari. I think this gives me a bit of a better idea." Charity says as she turns back to her viewing device.

"What would that-"

"Ah!" Charity cuts me off with a gasp. "I lost my last one! Stupid minions died too quick…"

I sigh and do not press the issue. I notice through my own gap that the fight is beginning to conclude. The three are all scanning about, but they seem to be confident the fight is over."

Hm? "Charity, dear, where is the scroll?"

"Here, look at mine. The scroll bearer is already out of range again." She says as she moves her viewing portal towards me.

Through the distorted image of the portal I can see through her minion's eyes. It peers out at the group from behind an unmarked grave farther away. Loosely cupped in its metal claw is the scroll belonging to Byakuren.

"He was just bait to get them to come, but he'll probably be found in just a few seconds now. Poor little guy…" She says with mock sadness.

Yes, well it was interesting while it lasted.

But then…

"Hmm... Hey Yukari." Charity says with a sudden smile. "Can you give me a gap to my minion? I want to make this last one interesting. I'll give these little idiots a good spin. What'cha think? Sound like some fun?"

"Well…" I hesitate.

She pouts at me. "Come on Yukari! You're my favorite goddess in the whole wide world! Please?"

I think for a second. Well, I suppose one last obstacle would be interesting to see. It would only be fitting to have a boss at the end of a fight, and I am quite curious as to what this girl can really do.

"Very well. Show me what you can do dear Nightcaster." I say as I open a gap next to the hiding minion.

The sounds and air of the graveyard fills in from the open gap. The Flawed one stares back at us with dead lifeless eyes.

With a grin, she stands up and aims her hand at the minion. The runes on her arm glow bright red as she pours magic over the creature. Her black magic runs over the creature like a river, washing away its very existence.

Slowly, the minion begins to take on a terrible new form.

I continue to scan the surrounding dark for a second more before reloading my pistol and stashing it. "I think that was the last one… good work Shou. Thanks for the save by the way."

"Yes, you did fine yourself." Shou hesitantly admits.

Yoshika staggers towards us, bearing several cuts and scratches. "Much… Much better…"

"I can't believe you actually ate those disgusting things." Shou says with a sigh.

"But… It was good." She flatly responds.

I ignore her and continue to scan the darkness. It seems they are truly gone.

That was insane. There were at least thirty of them. The Nightcaster's powers really are being augmented by Gensokyo. She's clearly getting stronger from just being here. It's a good thing she didn't get a hold of the scroll.

Speaking of which…

"Do you see the scroll anywhere around here?" I ask.

Shou looks around the ground to see if it was dropped, and Nazrin scans with her rods. Of course, Nazrin finds it first.

"Huh… I think it moved away from us again. It seems one of them ran off with it." Nazrin says.

"How far?" Shou quickly demands.

"Not too much further. Just a little ways this way." She says as she scans the dark night.

I get another warning just then. At the same time, my ear catches the sound of slow footsteps.

What? What was that?

"Something's coming." I warn.

We all look towards the dark as we all simultaneously catch sight of the emerging shadow. A tall humanoid figure wrapped in cloaks and robes makes its way towards us. Its tall and noble looking, but clearly not human. Around its head are more pieces of wrapping in place of facial features. In one bony hand it carries a sword, the other a throwing knife.

This wraith-like creature is one of the Nightcaster's toughest minions. An agile melee ace she saves for special occasions.

A-a Veiled one? Where did that come from? This must be one of her traps! She must have hid this here to stop anyone her came after her and her plans! Damn it! This is not good!

"This one. It definitely has the scroll." Nazrin confirms.

Shou aims her magic light at it. "I'll burn it down and get the scroll back! Haaa!"

As Shou unleashes her beam, the monster vanishes. Shou looks in confusion as the spot she aimed at is nothing more than a puff of shadow.

"Shou, move!" I call out as I raise my aim at the Veiled one as it rushes towards her with its sword. I fire a shot into it, causing it to teleport away yet again in response to the injury.

The Veiled are one of the Nightcaster's higher class of minion. Their ability to move instantaneously is supported with a fearsome blade and throwing knife combination. They are deadly assassins that rely on shock tactics to surprise enemies.

"Shou, Nazrin, stay close. It can move very fast. Wait for an opening." I quickly explain.

The three of us move a little closer together as we try to keep up with the swiftness of the monster. It effortlessly uses its shadow powers to dance between the gravestones around us. We're literally trying to chase a shadow now.

"Stay on your toes everyone. This one isn't something to fool around with." I warn.

"And just what is this?" Shou angrily demands.

"A Veiled one. They're very fast and very strong. These things are extremely dangerous."

Almost as if emerging to demonstrate that fact, the Veiled one steps into view for just a moment before casting a throwing knife towards me. I manage to catch the glimmer of steel just in time to duck, but only barely.

Ugh, too close! I think as I stand back up.

Come on… stay focused… it's got to make a mistake soon.

The rustling of cloth echo around us as the Veiled one continues to zoom about the graveyard, weaving between the graves at high speeds.

Soon, it returns to me.

The assassin monster steps out in front of me before taking a sideways stance and pointing its sword at me. It's going to rush.

Knowing I won't be able to kill it with just a few bullets, I put away my pistol and switch to my knife.

Come on you monster!

I raise the knife in defense right as the Veiled one instantly appears on top of me and tries to slice me in half. My knife sings a scratchy metallic note as the monster's steel halts against mine. I then push back against its sword and begin to drive it off.

"Graaa!" With a roar I lunge at the monster with my blade.

While I may have my strengths, I am no swordsman. This monster, however, is. I stab forward with my blade, but the Veiled one retreats away from it. I step forward and attempt to chop at it, but it parries my strike with a twirl of its blade. In a final effort I run at it swinging, but I am only met with another swift parry and a sword hilt to the side of the head.

I tumble to the ground right next to the sword wielding monster. It turns the blade around in its hand and kneels over me as it prepares to impale me to death.

But before it can I am saved. Simultaneous attacks from Nazrin and Shou force it into retreat.

I quickly pull myself back up and scan around again. The Veiled one is already moving again.

"There you are!" Shou declares.

Shou fires another beam at it, only to miss as it vanishes. The Veiled one takes advantage and zooms in on us with its sword ready.

"AH!" Shou barely manages to evade the sudden appearance and subsequent slice of the sword. It misses her by a centimeter. It draws back again and swings sideways in an attempt to cut her in half, but she thankfully avoids that too.

Now's my chance!

I nearly drop my knife as I return it to my side and redraw my pistol again. Using the brief second the monster leaves itself open after an attack, I pump three rounds into the mass of cloth that makes up its body. Nazrin quickly follows up with a small volley of magical blasts.

The veiled one steps back and vanishes again as it sustains injury.

I look towards Shou. "Shou, are you hit?"

She does not respond. She merely adjusts the white cloth around her shoulders before reaching towards a pocket and drawing a card. I can only assume it's a spell card.

"Stand back everyone. I'm going to destroy this monster right now…" She says as she holds the spell card forward.

She still needs an opening. Something to stun it for a second…

Wait, maybe this stone will help now.

I lower my weapon and draw out the magic stone. It responds to my hand just as before, feeling light and powerful in my grip.

Now where are you…

Agonizing seconds pass. The monster is waiting for an opening too. But our tight group assures that we do not give one. It will have to take a change.

And it seems to take it on me. The Veiled one appears before me in an instant and raises its sword to attack.

Gotcha!

The stone rumbles as it blasts down the Veiled one. The monster staggers back and nearly falls over in a daze. I blast it again and knock it back further with a blast of impacting force.

"Come on Shou, I got it over here!" I call as I blast it yet a third time.

Shou quickly spins around to my side and aims her card at it. With a powerful command, she unleashes the magic within.

"Jeweled Pagoda: Radiant Treasure Gun!"

At her word, the card in her hand erupts. Her light glows ever brighter before suddenly shifting to red. The air seems to shift as magic flows through the air and all around us.

Then, like an explosion, a massive array of beams shoot forth. Crimson energy snakes towards the stunned minion in long curved beams. The attack is impossible for the monster to escape, and it has no choice but to be impaled and burned several times over by the volley of lasers. This is the end for it.

"Whoa…" I whisper in awe.

The whole display lasts for just a few seconds, but it is certainly impressive. Its easily one of the most powerful shows of magic I have ever seen in my life.

When it ends, the Veiled one is left standing there full of smoldering holes. It manages a single step forward before collapsing on itself and dying miserably. Its body burns away in a rush of flame and a shower of sparks. Soon nothing is left…

Save for the Sorcerer's Sutra Scroll. Almost as if neatly placed there, the scroll sits atop the pile of the monster's ashes.

Finally… I think that's it. Nice try Nightcaster, but you aren't stealing this scroll tonight.

I put away my magic stone and dust myself off as I walk towards the scroll. I scoop it up out of the ashes and hold it up to where I can see. It looks like two rolling handles of an antique parchment scroll, but I can't seem to open it.

"Ahem." Shou coughs.

I turn around to see Shou standing there with a demanding open hand.

"Thanks for the help with the fight. Pretty impressive spell card there. I've never seen anything like that." I compliment as I turn the scroll over to her.

She stares at me silently for a second before softening a bit. "Yes… well… I've had some practice you could say. And thank you for your help as well. You did well in helping me bring justice tonight. These fiends should never have been here."

"Yeah. It was good to have your help. Thanks." Nazrin adds.

Well these two certainly toned down a bit. I guess facing those things has a tendency to make people a little more cautious.

I'm just glad we were able to stop them…

I take a look around. "Where's Yoshika? I don't remember where she was when the Veiled one showed up."

Shou shrugs and begins to walk away. "Probably wandered off like she usually does. Come on now, we need to return this to Byakuren. Knowing her, she's probably worried about us."

I nod. "Yes. Lead the way Shou."

Although I do wonder… hm. I guess it's not important. I suppose Yoshika will be reunited with her master soon enough.

Shou turns back and leads us out of the graveyard. The fallen ashes of the Nightcaster's monsters are already being whisked away by the wind. Soon, nothing will remain.

Soon, this will just be a bad memory. Another notch in the back of my mind.

The strength of these minions is worrisome though. The Nightcaster is clearly getting stronger from Gensokyo. This is a world of magic, and her corrupted powers are being increased by it. It will only be a matter of time before none of us are able to stop her and her army of minions.

I will see to it that does not happen though. I will stop her. It will be hard, but if with enough help, I will be able to beat her.

First things first though. It's time to return this scroll to Byakuren. I'm sure she will be happy to see it again.

A/N

Thank you for reading my next chapter!

So this is my first chapter to focus on combat. Looking back at it now, it feels just a little strange writing this. I enjoy writing about Touhou characters much more than these monsters. Having Shou and Nazrin (and Yoshika to a point) participate in this fight made it a lot more interesting, but I think I'll need to work on my writing skills when it comes to fights. Overall, I think I did ok, but it just feels like it's missing something...

Also, had another brief moment with Yukari's POV and Charity. In this one, Charity is a bit toned down, but I tried giving some insight as to her plans and just what they may involve to compensate. Her plans aren't going to be completely clear for a while yet, but I wanted to give the feel that she's up to something, and not just a looming designated bad guy.

Anyways.

Thank you again for reading. I'll have the next one up as soon as I can.