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CONTENT WARNING:
This chapter contains an intense, gratuitously described scene of deliberate self-inflicted traumatic injury (imploding limb, blood) as part of a magical soul-exchange ritual. It also deals with severe emotional violation and psychological trauma.
Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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As the last motes of light from their assault dissipated, the entity in Nowa's grip was beyond scorched; it was a hollow, crumbling shell of its former self. The hexagonal barrier around him flickered and finally shattered, its energy spent containing their apocalyptic fury.
"Well done," he said, a faint, approving smirk on his lips. "But the power could be fine-tuned." His hand dipped into his rune pouch and emerged with four pristine, white rune-crystals that glowed with a soft, protective light. "Here, lots. Take these."
He tossed a crystal to each of them, Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, and Ran. They caught them, the gems warm and humming with stable energy in their palms.
"What is this for?" Ran asked.
"It's for what I'm about to do," Nowa explained. "A full, localized reality rewrite. This will protect you from the side effects, which can be... disorienting for those nearby. As for the purpose," he continued, his gaze turning to the pulsating sealed rift in the sky, "I'm initiating an invasion nullification protocol law."
"A... a what?" Marisa asked, the crystal feeling suddenly heavy in her hand.
"You're going to rewrite Gensokyo?" Reimu's voice was sharp with alarm. The Hakurei Miko's duty was to protect the border, not have it edited by an outsider.
"No, not Gensokyo," Nowa clarified, raising his other free hand while still holding the crumbling entity carcass. A complex ancient fundamental rune circle was starting to form around him. "I'm rewriting the permission for the invasion to exist here. I'm going to command this local reality to reject Zero's influence on a narrative level. It's like... giving the world an immune response."
He turned his head to look behind him at the girls, his expression unreadable. "Now," he commanded. "Crush the crystals I gave you."
Ran's eyes widened in sudden, horrified understanding. She stared at the white crystal in her hand, then back at the complex runes forming around Nowa. "Wait! This vessel... it's a part of you, isn't it? A piece of your soul! Won't destroying it, damage you?!"
Nowa didn't deny it. "Everything has a price, fox. Don't argue with the expert."
"But—!" Ran protested, clutching the crystal to her chest.
"Now." Nowa's voice cut through her panic. "The rewrite is starting. The rune needs the symbiotic resonance of its protected anchors to stabilize. If you don't break them, the return when I sever the invasion will be... messy. It will take hold of you and claim you too. This is the safe way."
He looked at each of them in turn, Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, and finally a trembling Ran. "Trust me. And break the damn crystals already."
Marisa was the first to act. Her jaw set, she met Nowa's gaze and gave a single, sharp nod. "You heard the man! If this is what it takes!" She squeezed her fist. The white crystal shattered in her palm with a sound like a ringing bell, releasing a wave of calm, stable energy that enveloped her. Nowa's form started to distort after the crystal broke.
Reimu was next, her expression grim. She crushed her crystal, the energy joining Marisa's.
Sakuya did the same without a word.
All eyes fell on Ran. Her hands were shaking, tears welling in her eyes. She looked from the kind, broken man who had comforted her Chen to the distorted, commanding figure he was now.
"I'm sorry, Milady..." she whispered, a plea for forgiveness to her absent master. With a choked sob, she crushed the crystal.
The four pillars of protective energy flared to life, locking into a stable, humming shield around Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, and Ran. Nowa gave them a final, almost grateful nod.
"Good. Thank you."
Then he turned back to the rift, his form starting to fade from the destroyed vessels, the entity's carcass in one hand and his other forearm.. "Vessel damage recoil. Return to the forearm."
The distortion death had stopped, but then the recoil took effect and went to this free arm. A horrific, wet CRUNCH echoed as the bones in his free arm instantly and violently imploded. Blood and tissue splattered across his chest, painting his white t-shirt in grotesque. A collective gasp of horror came from the four women within the protective field.
Ignoring the ruin of his arm with gritted teeth, his face a mask of strained focus, he raised his voice, the words a command that shook the foundations of the world.
"50modules Author. Execute Full Nullification Rewrite. Soul Exchange."
The complex rune around him flared simultaneously. The world did not simply change. It screamed. The colors of the forest, the lake, the sky, they all inverted, then bled into a searing, painful white. The crimson web over the rift glowed as the command touched it. But it did not dissolve. Instead, a thunderous crackle of broken glass echoed through reality as a counter-signal, a brutal, pre-programmed negation, canceled Nowa's attempt. A maniacal laugh of Zero echoed as all the changes were reverted back.
The backlash was immediate and violent. Nowa was thrown backward, his form flickering in and out. He was shocked. The soul-energy he had sacrificed was spent, but the command had failed. He faltered, stumbling to one knee.
"GET AWAY!" he roared, he had sensed a being coming through, his head snapping towards the girls. "INCOMING ATTACK!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, the stabilized rift tore open once more, wider and more violently than before. A blur of another figure, moving with speed that eclipsed the first entity, shot through. It didn't hesitate, dashing towards the wounded, off-balance Nowa.
A devastating side kick connected with his chest. But through the pain, a familiar, predatory smile spread across Nowa's face, the look of a hunter who finally found worthy prey. The impact threw him backward like a ragdoll, blasting him through a line of trees in a shower of splintered wood. The entity's carcass was knocked from his grip.
Ran, Reimu, and Marisa screamed in unison. "NOWA!"
Sakuya was already a silver blur despite her injuries, moving to aid him.
But from within the wreckage, his voice rang out. "No! Their target is Reimu! Protect her!"
Sakuya halted her attempt, gave Nowa a sharp, acknowledging nod, and dashed in front of Reimu.
Nowa pushed himself up from the wreckage. He turned, his predatory smile ready to face the new threat. But the moment his eyes locked onto the entity, his grin vanished, replaced by a look of uncomprehending horror. All the girls stared, their own shock mirroring his. A single, cold flash of fury in Sakuya's eyes, a tightening of her jaw, an instant of personal violation.
"Oi, oi…" Marisa began, her voice a disbelieving whisper. "Why is there another Sakuya over there?!"
The figure emerged fully from the rift's fading energy. It had Sakuya's precise posture, but its face... its face was a perfect blend of Sakuya's features and the woman from Nowa's memory, a black twin front braid, short hair. And around its neck, tied in a familiar, tattered knot, was a red scarf. The world stopped for Nowa.
"A-amy..?" he choked out, the name a shattered whisper. The strength fled his body, and he fell to his knees, all fight extinguished by the ghost he had failed to save in the past.