Gensokyo's Dimensional Black Shop

Page 14

However, while being in this state for a long time can easily lead to losing oneself, there is no doubt that this state can also improve combat power... If you are not even afraid of death in order to become stronger, what else is there to be afraid of?

In contrast, that white-haired brat who clearly grew up in a peaceful environment... tsk!

"You have a little confidence in me, huh?" Bai Ye clicked his tongue. "You know what, if the two of them were to fight, I would actually favor Xiao Yifang. His abilities are really too overpowered before he encounters a worthy opponent."

"Oh, what kind of ability?" Mokou became interested.

"Vector manipulation".

He uttered four words in a mysterious manner, and after that, no matter how Mokou asked him, Byakuya just smiled and didn't answer.

Actually, he didn't really understand how such a thing could be said!

Suddenly, Esdeath, whom they were in sight, moved.

Or perhaps she simply couldn't tolerate her opponent standing before her with flaws all over his body.

A strangely shaped ice longsword instantly materialized in her hand, flashing a bright, cold light in the air as it slashed towards Xiao Yifang's neck.

The air left behind by the ice blades was filled with tiny ice shards, making the strike look exceptionally spectacular.

Bang!

Just as the knife was about to strike Xiao Yifang's neck, Xiao Yifang's lips curled into a smile, and Esdeath bounced back along the same path at an even faster speed.

"If that's all you've got, I really can't imagine where you got the courage to provoke Brother Bai..."

"You should know him..."

"But it's something that makes me unable to muster the will to resist!"

Chapter 031 Cirno is the strongest! (Voice cracks)

"Is he really that strong?" Upon hearing Xiao Yifang's words, Esdeath's eyes lit up, and her gaze towards Bai Ye became strange.

Bai Ye almost thought he was about to finally convince the girl (in physics).

"Let's not talk about him for now; you are my opponent now."

With a reluctant look at Byakuya, Esdeath clenched her fists, "put on" two ice gauntlets, and then rushed to the front and threw a punch.

Bang!

It was still a strange, inexplicable force that sent Esdeath flying. With her hands in her pockets and without moving an inch, she was thrown back.

"What's going on?" Mokou, who was watching from the sidelines, was genuinely surprised.

"It must be an ability that allows the ice-playing woman's attacks to return without any loss, or even with increased force, right?"

"..." x2

Bai Ye and Mo Hong squinted at the same time, looking at the wildflower in front of them that had suddenly started to speak.

Has Gensokyo reached a point where even a random flower fairy could possess such insight?

Wait, that’s not right!

"This voice sounds familiar... Are you Yuuka?"

"I'm pleased to see that you still remember my voice." The wildflower swayed slightly and turned its head to "look" at Bai Ye.

"I really don't want my memories to be this vivid." Bai Ye's lips twitched.

Including the two times when Yuuka Kazami took the initiative to visit him, and the time when Byakuya went to the sunflower field to complete the "order", he had only met Yuuka Kazami three times in total. The reason he had such a deep impression of her was mainly due to the trash talk Yuuka Kazami used when he handed over the three million tuition fees, trying to make him lower his defenses and confront her head-on.

Just kidding, give up on defense...

Let alone a magic cannon with maximum power and a fist strong enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, Kazami Yuuka probably only needs one breath to blow herself to death.

“Watch the battle, watch the battle. Your analysis is basically correct. One of the current manifestations of First Party’s vector manipulation is that it reflects all physical attacks... unless it’s a punch like Yuuka’s that directly exceeds the limits of his calculations.”

"basically?"

If it's just about reflecting physical attacks, Yuuka Kazami says that as long as her damage output exceeds the child's maximum reflection limit, it'll be fine. But if that's just the basics...

Interesting. It turns out that my decision to project my consciousness onto this flower when I sensed the shopkeeper's presence today was the right one.

When Byakuya was explaining "vector manipulation" to Kazami Yuuka and Fujiwara no Mokou, he didn't deliberately suppress his voice, so not only the two of them heard his explanation, but also Esdeath, who was not far from them.

"Reflects all forms of physical attacks?"

The Dimensional Shop granted Byakuya maxed-out language communication skills, so even if Byakuya merely relayed some of the things that someone said during their self-introduction, whether it was Kazami Yuuka, Fujiwara no Mokou, or Esdeath, they all understood what "physical attack" meant.

Reflecting all forms of physical attacks means that the skills Esdeath learned from her clan since childhood for hunting dangerous species will be useless.

The only things she can use in the upcoming battles are her physical abilities, the sense of danger she has developed through countless life-or-death struggles, and the Imperial Arm "Demon Manifestation: Essence of the Demon" that she just acquired yesterday.

Then... let's test the temperature?

The two are currently fighting right by the lake.

The surface of Lake Mist is perpetually shrouded in thick fog, and the air humidity near the lake is much higher than in other places. This greatly facilitated Esdeath's ability to devise battle plans in a very short time.

After she fully activated the power of the Imperial Arm that had just fused with her body, a bone-chilling cold quickly spread from her body, causing the surrounding temperature to drop significantly in just a moment.

In such an environment, a normal person's ability to move would be greatly impaired.

Even Bai Ye, Mo Hong, and Kazami Yuuka, who was temporarily using the body of a wildflower, who were watching from the sidelines, were affected.

Sensing that a certain big shot seemed to be about to lose her temper, Bai Ye thoughtfully cast an invincible shield on her. Anyway, Esdeath's chilling aura was so weak that the shield's energy consumption for an hour was probably less than that of Yuuka's full-force punch...

After thinking about it, I realized that Mokou seemed to be a fire elemental, so I also gave her one.

"Is this the so-called plan you came up with after you learned about my abilities?"

“Aside from close combat, this is the simplest way I can think of to defeat you. As for breaking your shield with brute force, as the shopkeeper said... I admit I can’t do that right now.”

Xiao Yifang yawned boredly: "If this is the so-called killer move you've come up with, then you might as well go to sleep. The range of vectors isn't just simple kinetic energy; it includes thermal energy, electrical energy... all forms of energy, as long as I can understand them, are within my range of reflection. I originally thought that fighting with you would bring me a little bit of fun, but I didn't expect that's all you're capable of..."

As he spoke, amidst Esdeath's embarrassed expression, Fence approached Esdeath step by step, his steady pace putting immense psychological pressure on her.

"Woman, I advise you to be humble. There are many people you simply cannot afford to offend..."

"Hmph, you dare to fight on my turf? I'll freeze you into a frozen frog!" A beam of azure cold air shot out from the Misty Lake and struck one of them.

Without any ability to resist, one side was frozen into a human stick right in front of Esdeath.

"Hmph, I'm the strongest!"

Under Esdeath's curious gaze, a figure with ice crystal wings on its back and an appearance similar to a normal human girl of about ten years old flew out of the lake and triumphantly stepped on the head of the frozen human stick.

Without her saying a word, an aura of idiocy naturally emanated from her.

Chapter 032 Mokou: I should be on Cirno's side... right?

A perfectly good duel was ruined because of some idiot's meddling...

Based on the previous situation, one side should have had the victory in the bag. However, whether it was this kid's sudden display of mischievousness or the hit on the causal law weapon that "villains die from talking too much," he was frozen into a stick by an attack from behind while he was spouting nonsense...

Bai Ye had no doubt that if Esdeath were to tap him now, Xiao Yifang and the layer of ice on his body would shatter into pieces and scatter all over the ground.

To prevent this from actually happening, Byakuya quickly cast a shield on both Accelerator and Esdeath.

bang——

A few seconds later, the layer of solid ice that had frozen Xiao Yifang inside shattered, and after the incomprehensible cold air was transformed into ordinary ice, he was finally able to control his body again.

Because the stepping stone underfoot suddenly malfunctioned, the little girl standing on one side also lost her footing and fell to the ground. She was then grabbed by Mokou, who had wanted to help but was worried about the safety of the little girl.

"Cirno, you idiot, what have you done?!"

"Hmph, Mokou, who calls others stupid, is the stupid one! Stupid, stupid, stupid! And who told those two to play without me!" Although she had already fallen into Mokou's clutches, Cirno didn't seem flustered at all, but rather had a mysterious composure.

Meihong: “…”

I'm really sorry for arguing with an idiot!

"Mokou-nee, do you know her?" After tidying himself up, Koichi looked coldly at Cirno, who was struggling in Fujiwara no Mokou's grasp and trying to break free.

"Hmm... I guess you could say we know each other." Mokou grabbed Cirno's wings and lifted her into the air, seemingly not worried at all that this would hurt her. "The Lake of Mist is very close to the Village of Men, and Cirno often does some strange things, so I've met her a few times."

"Tch, forget it then."

In Academy City, aside from the rare Origin Stones (comparable to giant pandas), most ability users need to perform calculations before using their abilities.

As one of the "seed players" most favored by the chairman, Xiao Yifang is certainly not stupid.

Fujiwara no Mokou's explanation just now was, to some extent, a way of showing that she didn't want to blame Cirno too much for what had just happened.

Suddenly, Mokou-nee, with her double standards, doesn't seem so cute anymore.

Seeing that the other party was no longer pursuing the matter of being frozen into a stick by Cirno, Mokou breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey!" A disgruntled voice snapped Mokou out of her thoughts.

"What else do you want?"

"You dead turkey, let me go right now, or I'll freeze you solid..."

"What did you call me?" Mokou's face darkened.

"Dead turkey, I heard someone call that once when I was playing outside. Is there something wrong with it?"

"Phoenix, Wings, Soaring Through the Sky!"

A large bird made of flames appeared in Mokou's hand. Under her control, the firebird let out a clear cry and took Cirno into the sky, exploding into a firework above the Misty Lake.

Having witnessed Fujiwara no Mokou's sudden change of stance, Koichi swallowed hard.

I take back what I just said. Mokou-nee's double standards are really terrifying!

Fujiwara no Mokou's flames, like Cirno's ice from before, are both beyond Kazuchi's comprehension. If Mokou had done that to herself before blowing up Cirno...

I don't even need to worry about how well it's cooked; it'll just be burned to charcoal or even ashes!

The pride that had arisen from the increasingly smooth development of "vector manipulation" vanished instantly.

Putting aside what Academy City is like, at least in the world where Brother Bai runs his shop, there are so many beings far more terrifying than himself...

"Mokou, are you sure you're okay with burning her like this?" Bai Ye stared at the spot where the "fireworks" exploded for a while, but didn't see Cirno fly out. Knowing that the little girl was most likely blown to ashes, he smirked.

Is it a change in personality caused by attributes? I always feel that those who play with fire are so dangerous... Luckily, my Jeanne Alter is always cute.

"What could possibly happen? She's a fairy, you know."

"???"

"A fairy, or more accurately, an ice spirit of nature, is practically immortal inside the Great Barrier. No matter how many times she is killed, she can be resurrected." Kazami Yuuka seemed to be in a good mood today and made a point of explaining this to Byakuya.

Upon hearing this, Esdeath, who had been hanging her head, brightened up, while Byakuya nodded knowingly. No wonder Mokou didn't hesitate at all when she made her move.

"By the way, if Cirno is an ice fairy, then can you understand Yuuka as a flower fairy? I feel that your settings are quite similar."

In the sunflower field, Yuuka Kazami, who was sipping her flower tea with her eyes half-closed, paused in her actions.

Three seconds later, the wildflower, which was originally at the bottom of the food chain, suddenly grew larger and transformed into a man-eating flower, swallowing Bai Ye whole. Then, it was pierced through by the flag that Black Jeanne had Bai Ye wear.

Chapter 33 Formula 9 Mathematics

Originally, projecting her consciousness over here was just a way to relieve boredom in her spare time. After remotely transmitting a burst of demonic energy and turning an unknown wildflower into a mad, man-eating flower, Kazami Yuuka stopped paying attention to the situation here.

For her, what happened today was just a welcome diversion.

After Yuuka left, Byakuya's gaze fell on Mokou.

In a second, Mokou accepted it calmly.

Five seconds later, Mokou felt a little uncomfortable.

ten seconds...

"Okay, okay, I'll take you to see it then."

Fujiwara no Mokou, defeated by Byakuya's gaze, led Byakuya and the other two around the lake.

Not long after they walked, they actually spotted a familiar figure by the lake.

"Cirno?"

"Oh, it's you guys." Hearing Bai Ye's voice, Cirno, who had been looking down and seemingly doing nothing, looked up, flapped her wings, and flew to Esdeath, handing her what she was holding. "Want to play together?"

Hmm... a frozen frog that died with its eyes wide open.