Sorry for the late update, life just threw a lot of work at me, which caused me to not have time to write. But I will continue to update this no matter how long it will take me, so don't worry, since I have a lot of things planned for this fanfic. Sorry again, and here is the chapter.

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Chapter 7: Nature of Regulus Ability

A Minute Prior.

Sakuya Iyazoi P.O.V

I had been spending time flying through Gensokyo for a while now, and I can say that the travel was fairly irritating as many fairies had tried to get in my way for almost the entire duration, but because youkai was nowhere in sight for the reason beyond my knowledge or understanding, it kind of make the situation that could be said to be undesirable to be turned into something tolerable instead.

But even if that were to be the case, having to get through pests is quite unpleasant. It would be great if I could stop time, but since the Anomaly can move in it, I don't want to risk anything and choose not to. And I can't complain, after all, the reason I went through all of that in the first place is because my mistress wanted me to deal with the Anomaly in her place since the sun had already risen. She is a bit disgruntled with her decision of course, but she can't do anything about the sun so she said that next time she will definitely participate.

With that musing, I notice that I'm getting closer and closer to the Anomaly location if what I'm currently sensing is anything to go by. Normally, I don't have such a convenient ability to locate someone, but this is a special case as the one who I can sense is very noticeable, his presence is like a single droplet of black ink on a white paper, it was that stood out in the fabric of space since it's a literal distortion in space itself, so it was quite easily been seen by me.

I don't know the mechanism behind that phenomenon that the Anomaly is causing, but I can only imagine that it's not something good. It's like having a literal sun walking on the surface of the planet, it is too dangerous to be left alone.

While I am thinking that, I have arrived at my intended location. And what greeted me as soon as I arrived was a green expanse, where there is nothing, even trees, only grasses, and someone who I was both familiar and unfamiliar with in the distance.

So the incident investigator is already on the move. That is quite quick… of… them… hmm? An empty plane?

Now that I noticed that, it quickly becomes apparent to me that the village is gone as the area where the human village was supposed to be was nothing. Not a single thing was there, and what took it places was nothing but a grass plain, a simple plain of space. It's quite unnerving to see the place that empty. And seeing that, I mused, this is not just a potential incident, this might already be an incident. Having thought of that, I begin to look at the situation at large.

From what I could see, Marisa and a woman I don't know are floating quite near to each other, give and take around 30 meters, and so it is safe to say that they are teaming up or something. Then further from those two, there is Reimu and a man, who I don't know, in the enclosed barriers that I think Reimu created, fighting each other, though the man seems to not be moving and just stands there taking all the things Reimu throws at him. And upon closer look at those barriers that encased both inside, I can see that the inside of this duplex barrier has a different flow of time than the outside, which is quite impressive. And because of the difference in the passage of time, it also makes nothing able to go inside or out, just like the great hakurei barrier that sealed Gensokyo off from the outside world, but less complex.

Seeing such a barrier and the person inside it, I notice from my senses that the guy who Reimu is fighting against is the anomaly in time that I have been sensing ever since before sunrise, and thus knowing that, I began to come up with a plan that will contribute to the fight as that is what I'm here to do in the first place. I will also try not to come up with any plan that will destroy the barrier that Reimu created since I don't want it to lose its purpose.

With some time of thinking without worrying about time as I have unlimited time due to me accelerating my thought process, I began to initiate the plan I thought of and began to throw out one of my powerful spell cards: ""Deflation World"."

"Deflation World" is a spell card that allows me to generate knives in an instant without having to lay them out myself with time stop, which is perfect for this occasion as stopping time is not a good idea at the current moment since the Anomaly can walk in it. After that I make the time of those knives stop, making those knives simply stuck in the air as if they had frozen in time in the present.

With that, I had laid out the foundation of my future attack as now, with a thought I can move those knives from its frozen time to deliver a fast strike without any time delay to the Anomaly. And with that being done, I approached Marisa, who saw me coming toward her, and then began to say, "As a request from the mistress, I will lend a helping hand on defeating this Anomaly."

With me saying such, a boyish smile started to appear on Marisa's face as she looked at me like I had come at a perfect time. "You come at the moment we need some extra hand-ze. Come come!"

While Marisa said that while waving both of her hands, I still didn't move from my spot, instead, I began to say with a bit of suspicion, "Before that, are you the one who made the village disappear?" My eyes never left Marisa, and Marisa couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy and have her smile falter after I said that.

What I learn from knowing Marisa is that if something is ever missing, an object, a person, or a thing, Marisa is the first one I will suspect. As I thought that in silence, Marisa's voice steer me off of it a moment later.

"What disappears-ze?" She looked confused for a second from my statement earlier, but that quickly turned into a 'what the heck' expression as she looked at her surroundings a bit. After that, she turned her head back to me stiffly and quickly said to me, who is steadily approaching her with my knives in hands, in a slight panic tone, "I don't know 'bout that I swear!"

Hearing that loud shout of desperation (kind of), I halt on my step.

Judging by Marisa's reaction, I can see that she is being genuine and has no idea about what happened to the village. And based on her personality, this is definitely not an act because her acting/lying skills are nonexistent at best. And so, thinking of that, I didn't push the thought of Marisa being behind the village disappearance any further and just nodded to myself and put all my knives away, then said, "Excuse my previous action then, Marisa."

Hearing me say that, Marisa took a deep sigh of relief for a moment, and then Marisa's easygoing attitude came back as she smiled wearily, "Geez, how many times have I told you to not be overly polite."

I tilted my head a little and said, "... I see, it's a shame that you can't remember what I told you before about not being overly crude either, Marisa. Perhaps you should write it down."

"Ouch, coming back with an even more hurtful insult I see, as expected of Sakuya."

As Marisa grumbles to herself, I straightforwardly ask her a question, "Marisa, may I know the current situation?

Hearing my directness, Marisa responded back with, "Ah yes-ze. So there isn't much happening. The guy seems to have something that protects against everything we throw at him. Even Reimu throws some punches but he is still fine after that, can you believe it?" Marisa said frustratedly.

"Is he really causing that much trouble? How strong might he be?" That is my honest thought. I might know that he leaves a distortion in the fabric of space-time in his very presence, but other than that, I don't know the full extent of the Anomaly power unless I face him myself, so I will not say that I understand his strength.

"Yes! His clothes weren't even harmed by my master spark! I even shot my sparks of love three times for the measure but it still didn't do anything to him at all-ze!" She said that while putting both of her arms up for dramatic effect.

"Now that is surprising…" This is an understatement as Marisa Master Spark is an attack that displays quite a tremendous amount of power, and so it is quite impressive that the Anomaly, who was completely unknown to me, was able to withstand something like that that can be considered as ultimate firepower. With that information on the Anomaly's durability, now I can slightly gauge the extent of his power.

And after that moment of contemplation, I continued, "... Do you think this is a work of his ability?"

Hearing that, Marisa begins to put on her 'thinking pose', "Ummm, I had never seen any kind of magic that works like that, soooo there is a very likely chance that his impenetrable defense is the work of his ability… Ummm, lemme guess, he is capable of having an unchanging state? His hair didn't even sway when the wind was blowin' toward him-ze!"

"A solid guess… The Anomaly is quite troublesome, I see."

"No shit. Also, why do ya keep callin' him an 'Anomaly' anyway?" Marisa asked curiously.

Hearing Marisa's inquiry, I decided to answer her since she will be fighting the Anomaly with me anyway, but when I was about to answer her, the whitish blue hair woman who was near, but hadn't come toward our direction up till now (maybe out of politeness?) decided to come in at that moment, "Sorry for the interruption, but I think that I should hear that as well?" The one who said such a word in civility is a girl who looked around my age that sported a blue dress and a hat that looked like some kind of building.

"Of course," that is what I said in a polite tone, but then my attitude quickly changed and I then continued to say in skepticism, "But before that, who could you be? Are you perhaps the one who made the human village disappear?"

After I said that, the woman seemed to be surprised, though she quickly gained her composure and said, "... I don't know what you're talking about, there is no village established here from the beginning." She stated that as if she stated facts, even though I clearly remember that the village existed. Is this woman lying?

But I didn't get the chance to ponder though as Marisa spoke up at that moment, "Eh? Keine, aren't you the 'Guardian Of The Human Village'-ze? What do you mean there is no village?"

So, she lied. Knowing that fact, I pulled out my knife and pointed it at the whitish blue-haired woman, and all while I'm doing that, I began to ask the whitish blue-haired woman again who had just supposedly lied, "You lied just now, I see. Are you the one who made the village disappear? If so, may I ask you to return the human village back? It would be quite an inconvenience to find a replacement for the source of our maintenance tools, after all."

After that left my mouth, the woman seemed to be choosing her words carefully, and shook her head a little after thinking of the right response, "... No, I will not return the history of the human village just yet, not until the threat is neutralized. The human village's history is under my protection."

"... I see." Afterward, I say no more and begin to put my knives away.

Seeing such, Marisa from the side just asked me, "Why ya so nonchalant about this-ze? I thought you would… I don't know, throw knives at her or somethin'."

"I'm not barbaric like you, Marisa. And… my main focus is not the disappearance of the human village, my main focus is the Anomaly. I have to follow my mistress' request to the end, so I can't get sidetracked."

"... What do you mean barbaric-ze! I'm not crude, uncivilized, or live in the woods— wait a second…"

With that, Marisa now seems to be at a loss of a word and seems to be reconsidering her life choices.

But then I snapped her out of it a moment later by saying, "So about the Anomaly…"

With the topic being brought back once more, the bubble bursts and the serious atmosphere comes back, "You see… the reason why I called him an Anomaly is because his very presence is a distortion in the very fabric of space itself."

After I said that, Keine spoke up, "Um… I might not teach children about such things, but, isn't that kind of similar to a black hole?"

Hearing that, Marisa perks up, "Oh oh right! Maybe that is why my master spark didn't work on him! He may be able to absorb light-ze!" Marisa said that excitedly, like she had found a final piece in a puzzle.

And staying silent, I put my hand on my chin and ask, "That's an interesting point, but may I know what this 'black hole' is?"

""Eh""

Seeing their confusion, I tilt my head in confusion as well. And it is then that Marisa starts snickering, "Phew–hahaha! Oh man, are you living under the rock or somethin'— ack!" But then she got hit in her stomach by Keine.

"Don't mind her," Afterward, she then began to say, "So you don't know what a black hole is, correct?" Seeing me nod, she cleared her throat and began to lecture me, "A black hole is the distortion in space-time that happened due to a strong gravitational pull. The gravitational pull in of itself is so strong that light can't escape. The core of the black hole is called the singularity, at the point of singularity time is stopped, well, it is more accurate to say 'stretched'. That is the gist of it, if you want me to clarify anything, please tell me." While she is saying that, the sound of Marisa laughing in the background can be heard.

After Keine finished, I just said, "I see… I'll say that the Anomaly is very similar to the singularity you spoke of, however, the Anomaly time doesn't seem to be 'stretched', just merely stopped."

Marisa, who is currently wiping her tears of pain and laughter off her eyes, began to speak up after I said that, "Hmmm, so he doesn't have time-ze? So this is what Eins-somethin' meant when he said that 'time is an illusion'... Anyway, how does that work-ze? If you have no time, doesn't that mean that you just stuck there in time?"

Saying that Keine added her input into the matter as well, "Yes, I agree with Marisa. For someone to not have time and still be able to move… doesn't that make no sense?"

I nod my head confirming her words, "Yes, it makes no sense at all. If I were to make myself have no time by stopping the time of my body, then I would be no doubt stuck in time like those knives I threw previously, and so for him to be able to walk around even as his time is stopped like that, that is impossible." Then I paused for a moment, and then I spoke up again, "But… if he could really do that, then he will have to interfere with the rules of the world."

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Meanwhile, inside the duplex barrier

Regulus Corneas P.O.V

What the fuck is wrong with these people?! Why did they have to get me involved in something insignificant!? How much of a nitpick can they be? Picking at me because of a small thing I had done and initiating it to be something big?! Wasting my time on this trivia nonsense, this is clearly a violation of my right to use my time! And what is this?! Why am I in this square dome looking thing? I don't get it! … Is this equivalent to prison? If so, just how dare that red-white bitch put me in this prison?! Does she even have the authorization to do that to me?! And does she even have the authority to shoot things at me!? Such nonsense, ABSURD!

With my patience gone, my retaliation started with me blitzing toward Reimu— who had been tormenting me for the past 10-20 minutes— in what seemed like an instant. With me being in front of the girl, her expression didn't change as if my speed didn't surprise her.

'Dismissing me like that! How dare this bitch look down on me!' While I angrily thought that for just a second, I began to reach my hand for Reimu, planning to remove her existence entirely by throwing her to the moon or reducing her into a bloody paste, both options are very enticing. But… as my hand reaches her, my hands simply phase through her as if she didn't exist.

"You are readable, you know that?" As she said that while my hand passed through her nonexistent body, my eyes of gold narrowed in anger, and the girl moved her hand. It happened so fast that I didn't know what happened as the next thing I knew, I was being slammed by several rainbow balls of light, knocking back a good dozen of meters, however, I am still completely unharmed. And seeing me unharmed, she clicked her tongue, "Tch, getting caught off guard didn't work either. You really are resilient." Afterward, she let out even more bullets to try to chip away at my defense. But what those really only did to me is to further anger me.

"You, YOU! DIE! You hear? Die! You disgusting piece of shit should just rot! Hurting me and treating me like some hard rock that needs to be broken away, I wouldn't allow you! So go die you human rights violator piece of shit!" After those screams of hatred I made, like having an intuition, the girl started to float away up high. The moment she is doing that, I swipe my hand sideways as hard as I can toward the location where she is no longer there.

And after the side swing I had thrown, the sound, the wind, the bullet, the atmosphere, the duplex barrier—that are supposed to be impenetrable due to the difference in time flow— and everything, it all breaks apart. Furthermore, what's beyond the duplex barrier got cut as well, like the distant mountain.

With the distant mountain having been cleanly cutted in half horizontally, the upper part of the mountain that got cut fell down to the bottom just like in a game of daruma-otoshi, making it seem like nothing happened to the mountain except for some unnoticeable difference in its height. The duplex barrier that got cutted previously also quickly reforms back.

"Dodging again and again! Just stop dodging your punishment! Escaping the consequences of your actions only prevailing it, so just stand still already and receive your punishment for violating my rights! You are wasting my valuable time!" As I yell that in outrage, I reach out my hand, trying to grab something, anything that can be thrown at Reimu, the target of my anger and frustration. But finding none, I simply opt to just grab at the air, putting force into it, squeezing it, and throw it at Reimu like a physical thing.

With my authority influencing the very air itself and with that said air being squeezed right under my palm before being thrown, what this helps to create is a very pressurized air—due to the squeeze of air molecules— that is heading toward Reimu.

When the pocket of pressurized air gets close enough to Reimu, I cancel my authority, and the pocket of air bursts, releasing the compressed air inside it, creating an explosion. The explosion itself is deafening, and it can rupture the eardrum of a normal human. I figure that if I can't kill her with my hand, I will just have to kill her the other way. But… despite that, she was somehow able to dodge the burst of explosion.

This is getting ridiculous at this point!

"ARRRRRGHHHHH!" With that scream of frustration being let out of my mouth, my authority froze the time of the sound waves, or the sound of my scream, that was in the air, creating a devastating sonic boom of unstoppable force toward Reimu. But Yet, Yet again, she was able to substitute her body with her papers!

Just how was this bitch able to dodge my attacks again and again?! Just how long will it take to finally get rid of her? Why did this bitch just not die!? Why!? Just why did she just not stay still for once? And who?! Just who gives her the right to violate my rights again and again!? The gall of this bitch to attack me! The nerve of her to hurt me, and also even have the audacity to mock me! How dare she keep swinging that stick (gohei) at me like it's going to do something! How dare she keep swinging that stick again and again and again like… l-like that hard-to-kill red-haired stick swinger! Just die already! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!

Now, my attacks are reaching the point of irrationality. Anything I can use, I will use it to attack; the air, the ground, and even the sound that I made, I'd use it as my attacks to get rid of the bitch in front of me. I don't care anymore, I simply just want this bitch to die!

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Reimu Hakurei P.O.V

This is bad, very bad.

Previously this Regulus guy just didn't do anything and took everything I threw at him, but now, he simply acts without any self-restraint and destroys everything. I might be fine as I can put on a stalemate, but Gensokyo might not. And so gritting my teeth, I needed to 'float' up an idea now so that I can subdue this guy fast.

…

And then it dawned on me, if this guy can't be hurt by physical and spiritual attacks alike, then the power of god might work? Faith power came from a divinity, the stronger the divinity, the stronger the power. Due to the Hakurei Family being somewhat important for maintaining the barrier that kept all youkai from fading away, the whatever-god-behind-hakurei-shrine should be somewhat powerful, right? So I think that this might work… And so with that idea being constructed in my mind, I began to try to fuse the power of faith from the whatever-god-that-is-in-the-hakurei-shrine into the gohei… I might not have trained to be able to do this, but there is a first time for everything, and there is a saying 'desperate time called desperate need' so this will do.

"Err here goes nothing, I called thee, the God who resides within the Hakurei! Fuse this purification rod with thy blessing! … Is that how it goes?" After doing such, my gohei began to shine in a golden hue.

Taking that as a sign of it working, I then begin to launch myself at a subsonic speed toward Regulus, who is currently spilling curses. Afterward, I begin to prepare to smack my faith-filled gohei at him. When my gohei about to reach Regulus, I cancel my Fantasy Nature, albeit only for a moment — since if I did not do that then my attack would just simply phase through him like how everything phases through me — and with that, I smack my gohei, full force, at Regulus head.

But… with a loud thud, my gohei cracks. What's more is that my faith-empowered gohei didn't even leave a mark on Regulus' head, and so with my eyes widened in surprise, I began to try to reactivate Fantasy Nature again and move back to build up distances… The key word here is 'try' as while my gohei was still in contact with Regulus' head, my body refused to move. Not voluntarily, my body simply refuses to move. My body refused to breathe. My eyes refused to blink.

What?!

As my body froze due to an unknown means, Regulus' voice filled with disdain and hate reached out to me, "YOU SEE NOW?! You see now right? Right? Don't you just see the pointlessness of your actions?! Didn't you see what I'm capable of? Or do you seriously need me to dumb things down for you for the third time—or is it forth, now? Look, it's really not that hard to understand that I'm superior to you in every sense! Seriously, how could you not understand that simple concept? So why do you keep trying and trying and trying and trying, huh? Just lay there and DIE! DIEEEE!"

With that unpleasant voice stop, I am being thrown to the ground. But, instead of stopping at the ground, I continue to fall, fall and fall. Never stopping, never slowing down. Remaining constant and unchanging. While falling down and unable to do anything, I just thought to myself,

Crap, I didn't plan on taking a trip to the underworld today…

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A/N: So Reimu got removed from the battlefield. I don't know when the next update will come, but it will come eventually. Sorry and thank you for your patience.