The secret passage in the courtyard led them to the basement of the palace, or so it seems. It looked like a part of the palace at first, but the more they walked, the more uneven the floor became. The hallway was wider and wider.

Soon, they were walking on a small road surrounded by bright red molten cave wall and the sea of magma.

"If you can be at peace within the wavering flames," Rin sang, running along the stone walkway. "Would you part with everything, even your soul?"

"Pretty sure there is magma and not flame," Flandre said.

Only erupting magma was lighting the area of this dark cave. It was dark. The air felt heavy. Dark, but it was lighting up with power. There was flame here, Rin said, but not anymore. Like how the Ancient City is a former capital, this whole place is a former hell. 'Remains of Blazing Hell'.

"The deepest level!" Cirno shouted.

"You can say that," Rin said. "Actually, the Nuclear Furnace is directly below this. It is the deepest part."

They started to notice vengeful spirits, so Cirno and Flandre had to fight. The spirits didn't attack the cat girl. She smiled at them.

"Please die. I want a body," the kasha said and tapped on the cart. "Or lie here if you know your fate."

"Not mine. I don't die." Cirno killed the spirits with ice shards. She frowned. "Actually, I do, but… It's not the same with humans."

"You respawn, right?" Flandre asked.

Cirno nodded. "We fairies no longer consider dying as… dying. We are one with nature. We can't truly die. And when we do, we don't remember. I would be at the Misty Lake like nothing happened. It's like dreaming, and I keep moving on."

"Didn't expect that to be a conversation," Rin said. "Just kidding though. The furnace is already too hot as it is."

"And why don't make it cooler?" Cirno asked.

"Because…" Rin trailed off. "Because it's not my job. It's hers."

Flandre blasted the enemies with fire. She looked at Cirno fighting. That fairy now fought with more confidence than before, if that was possible. She always surprised her. Flandre thought the fairy's way of fighting was irrational, but it worked after all. She was creative, and a good fighter.

It might have something to do with Satori's weird eye. Flandre looked at her hand. She could try. She held her hand out, and stared intensely at a spirit. She thought she could feel it. She wiggled her hand. There, it felt right. She squeezed her hand.

The spirit exploded. It burst into pieces.

Cirno turned to look at her with wide eyes.

Flandre, too, was shocked. She stared at where the spirit once was, and at her hand again. This was power. This was her ability.

It was scary.

Flandre wouldn't want to imagine using it on living beings. No, not again. She was glad she didn't know about this ability when she had fought Marisa. Flandre shivered. Having this kind of power this whole time without realizing it bothered her.

But she could deal with it now, she hoped. She obviously couldn't.

"Okay. Head there." Rin stopped and pointed forward. "You'll see it, and you'll know."

"Utsuho, huh," Cirno said. "That bird who made me fall into the lake!"

"Did she?" Rin smiled. "To be honest, I expect a stronger youkai to come." The cat girl looked at them. "But, here we have…"

"The biggest fairy in town!" Cirno shouted.

"Don't underestimate us," Flandre said.

Here we have two immature kids, Rin thought. But Satori-sama has allowed them here so it should be fine.

"It's almost noon," Rin said. "I would say 'bad timing' but it doesn't matter… we need your help, as fast as possible."

"Of course we'll help!"

"Be warned, that it is almost noon, and-"

"You just said that," Flandre said.

"You don't wanna listen to advise?" Rin scowled. "She shoots sun, I warn you. I…" The cat girl looked down. "I can't even stop her, and I'm her best friend."

Flandre nodded.

"I can't stop her. With words, or with reasons. There is only one way left… Please stop her with your strength."

Rin sighed. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want Utsuho to feel betrayed, but there was no choice. The raven didn't listen to her anymore.

Someone else was in her head. Someone else took her friend away.

There was flame. There was flame everywhere. The temperature was high. This place threatened to burn, to melt, to reduce every matter to a single atom. Cirno and Flandre had been underground for a few hours. They had lost a sense of direction. Now, they truly felt lost in the middle of blazing hell.

The area was covered in the sea of flame. There was a woman standing there with black wings. She was not burned by the fire. Her wings outspread and she leaped into the air. The skylight above the furnace was sealed shut by molten rocks.

"Intruders," she said. "Must be burnt to crisp."

She was a hell raven, Utsuho Reiuji. The red eye on her chest was burning red. It stared back at them. The inside was catching fire itself. Dancing, swaying red. It was worse than Satori's eye. If the third eye wanted to read, this eye wanted to burn.

"Wait, wait wait!" Cirno shouted. "Peace. Peace!"

"Peace." Utsuho frowned. "You hurt Orin. Little pests!"

The cannon on her right arm flashed and she shot her first spell. It first looked like a big bullet was shot at them, but they actually were made by smaller ones. Orbs of light shot out of her like a three-dimensional grid.

Flandre was alarmed and thicken her red mist, but then she realized it was a plasma orb, not a sun.

The vampire grinned. "All show. It's just fake."

Cirno dodged it and saw the lines of orange circles. The danmaku has obvious gaps. Nothing harmful. It was the first spell card after all. This bird might make earthquakes, but she was fair.

Or maybe it was her way of warming up her cannon.

Light flashed and big orbs came out. They didn't hold much energy so they got smaller the further it was from the hell raven.

The third spell was awfully similar to Flandre's. Flandre brought out her Laevatein and swing it, countering it with her spell, canceling the bullets out.

"You're the one that made earthquake right?" Flandre asked.

"No? I was gathering the energy," Utsuho said. "I didn't hurt anybody."

"That makes the earthquake!" Cirno shouted.

They keep dodging a lot of sun-like orbs. They might be fast, but they shrank quick enough not to be so hard to dodge. After that was a trapping cage of heat orbs. Cirno didn't like it.

"So, why do you gather energy, and sealed the skylight shut?" Flandre asked. "Rin told us it was dangerous. And what you are doing is not your duty!"

"I do what I want!" Utsuho shouted and touched her cannon arm. "I burn everything that gets in my way!"

Flandre frowned. She felt bad that she once had that kind of thought.

"Even Orin… She supports you… What about me? Who is on my side?" Utsuho shot orbs and bullets. They were exactly the same but they worked together now. "I was weak, not anymore. I was trapped, not anymore. The day this place finally explode by my power, I will be free!"

"You wouldn't understand," Flandre said. "Having power… isn't so nice. One day, you will wish to lose your power, to be normal again."

"Not happening." Utsuho floated to the middle of the furnace. She sent two little orbs to two directions. They were high up and low. They connected in a circle and exploded into donut rings made by rows of orbs. A torus.

Flandre dropped on the ground. Her itchy skin felt worse and worse. "Heh… Maybe it wasn't fake…"

"Flandre!" Cirno gilded landed next to her. "There's smoke coming out!"

"Oh." The vampire noticed it. Her skin was burning, turning to ashes.

Her weak human body was enhanced by magic, but everything has its weakness. The sun reset the magic and her reserved human body decomposed, like how a corpse should be. That kasha catgirl would be happy.

"You can freeze me."