Chapter Sixty-Three: Unexpected Assistance, the Might of the Holy Light

After exchanging blows for a while, Rumia, while clashing with Reimu using her powers of darkness, spoke in a tone of disappointment: “Although you’ve awakened the power of the Yin-Yang Orb, your combat skills are abysmal. You have no way of truly wielding its strength. Don’t tell me you don’t even know a single inherited spell of the Yin-Yang Orb? The Fantasy Seal, the Evil-Sealing Needle, the Eightfold Spirit-Binding Array… All the previous hosts of the Yin-Yang Orb could use these spells, and you can’t manage even one?”

Hearing this, Reimu pursed her lips in annoyance and retorted, “What business is it of yours whether I can or not? Just die already!” With that, she ramped up the frequency of her magic blasts.

Rumia said no more and continued to tangle with Reimu. Though Reimu attacked fiercely, it was clear she was losing steam. In her beautiful eyes, beyond anger and hatred, there was also deep regret.

Just as Rumia had said, Reimu truly knew none of the Yin-Yang Orb’s inherited spells. Though she’d accepted her fate as the High Priestess of the Celestial Spirit, she had lived day-to-day, never truly striving to master her role. Now, when she most needed the power of the Yin-Yang Orb, she found herself utterly unable to unleash its true strength.

Crude punches and kicks, basic magic blasts without any technique, and enlarging the Yin-Yang Orb to hurl it at people—these were Reimu’s only combat skills. Against those weaker than herself, she could crush them with sheer force; but when faced with opponents of similar or greater power, her fighting style looked almost laughable. It was clear now that Rumia wasn’t taking her seriously at all, merely toying with her.

As time passed, Reimu’s condition worsened. Sustaining such powerful bursts had overtaxed her body, and signs of collapse grew more and more apparent.

Watching from afar, Xingye, who had been hiding in the shadows for some time, whispered to a glowing red orb at her side, “Mistress, that’s the current situation.”

Remilia’s voice drifted out from within the orb. “I see. So it’s Rumia? Heh, I’ve heard of her. She was a powerhouse of my father’s era, one of the last remaining Dark Spirits. I thought she was dead, turns out she was sealed away by humans, and has now been reduced to wearing the name of a lowly demon. How disgraceful for a Spirit...” She paused, then continued, “But more importantly, that human girl—Reimu, was it?—is the host of the Yin-Yang Orb. No wonder she might pose a threat to me. If she could fully release its power, even I couldn’t withstand it. Pity she’s so weak, unable to draw out even one percent of its true might. Otherwise, a Dark Spirit at only a tenth of her prime strength would be no match for her.”

“Mistress, do you need me to assist Neil-Night and the others?”

Remilia considered for a moment. “How is Neil-Night doing? Is he unable to deal with the Dark Spirit Rumia?”

Xingye glanced over at Link, who was locked in combat with Sunny. “Mistress, Neil-Night seemed confident at first, but he was ambushed by the Dark Spirit’s minion, and had something stolen from him. Whatever it was, it seems to be the key to dealing with the Dark Spirit.”

“Something that can restrain Rumia? Interesting…” Remilia’s voice was tinged with amusement. “Very well, help Neil-Night retrieve it. Let’s see if he can handle Rumia. If he can’t, then you intervene. Don’t fight Rumia to the death; just drive her off. Even though she’s far from her peak, she can still unleash power equal to your own if she’s desperate.”

“Yes, Mistress, I understand.” With that, Xingye gave a flick of her wrist, conjuring sixteen silver daggers out of thin air. Then, with a graceful wave of her right hand, the daggers shot toward Sunny with lightning speed.

They moved so fast that the naked eye could only catch a blur; in the blink of an eye, the daggers were upon Sunny. She didn’t even have time to react—the only one who noticed anything was Link himself. Before Sunny could so much as flinch, the sixteen blades struck her, turning her into a human pincushion. More terrifyingly, each dagger found a vital point. Though Sunny was strong, she was still human; such an assault left no chance of survival. She died, almost instantaneously.

“What…?” Link couldn’t help but gasp. Then, noticing something, he knelt down and pulled out one of the daggers to examine it. “Isn’t this the head maid’s dagger from the Scarlet House?”

Since Remilia and Xingye had taken up residence in Chinko Town, Link had interacted with them several times. On one occasion, a pesky fly buzzed into the room. Before Link could shoo it away, Xingye had somehow produced a dagger and pinned the insect to the wall. The dagger she used then was of this very design: exquisitely crafted, and bearing the Scarlet family crest—which, in the end, was the most telling detail.

With this realization, Link frowned and instinctively glanced around, hoping to spot the dagger’s owner. Yet at that moment, the sixteen blades suddenly faded from view and vanished without a trace. Link knew the daggers had been retrieved by special means, and did not press the matter. He promptly retrieved the Sacred Hall’s construction stone from Sunny’s blood-soaked corpse. Despite the gore, the stone itself was spotless, as pristine as ever.

A smile flickered across Link’s lips, and he offered a word of thanks to Xingye, wherever she might be. He didn’t worry about the distance—after all, with power like hers, she was sure to hear his gratitude.

His thanks given, Link immediately began to make his way toward the battlefield where Reimu and Rumia fought, employing his Lightfoot technique to close the distance.

By now, Reimu was utterly spent. All her attacks had grown pitifully weak, and Rumia, finding the duel dull, began to press her advantage, forcing Reimu into a desperate retreat.

Seeing this, Link didn’t hesitate. As soon as he was close enough, he gathered his inner strength and shouted at the Dark Demon, “Over here, Dark Demon!”

The fiend paused mid-attack, turning to Link in confusion. At that instant, Link activated the Sacred Hall’s construction stone. It burst into radiant golden light and floated from his hand, expanding rapidly into the shape of a magnificent hall.

The golden radiance was as blinding as dozens of daylight lamps in the night, illuminating the entire mountain so intensely that it was impossible to look directly at it. Link and Reimu, being the closest, had to shield their eyes.

Just as the stone’s description had promised, the Sacred Hall’s power to suppress darkness was unparalleled—beyond even Link’s expectations. Before the hall had fully formed, the golden light had already annihilated all traces of darkness, reducing the shadowy monsters that had ensnared everyone to ashes in an instant. Even the mighty Rumia was helpless; under the golden glow, she was like a creature cast into a blazing inferno. The darkness surrounding her was utterly destroyed. Her body, scorched and crumbling, began to disintegrate. It would not be long before she, too, was reduced to dust.

Yet Rumia was, after all, a powerful Dark Demon. Realizing she could not withstand the Sacred Hall’s might, she wasted no time in fleeing, transforming into a plume of black smoke and vanishing into the distance—impossible to pursue.

Link watched Rumia flee, helpless to give chase, and quickly restored the not-yet-fully-formed Sacred Hall to its construction stone form. But as he did so, he discovered two people standing where the hall had materialized—Elder Water and Elder Wood, who should have perished.

It turned out that the Sacred Hall had not only gravely wounded Rumia, but in purifying the darkness, had also rescued the two elders she had devoured.

Upon seeing the two elders, Reimu, suspended in midair, was even quicker than Link. In the blink of an eye, she was at their side, checking their breathing. Finding them alive, a look of delighted surprise lit up her previously cold and solemn face. It was the first time Link had ever seen her smile—a sight as radiant as a hundred blooming flowers.

But the moment was fleeting. The aftereffects of forcibly wielding the Yin-Yang Orb struck her, and she collapsed, her slender frame giving way.

At the crucial moment, Link arrived and caught her, sparing her from the cold ground. He checked her condition and, seeing she had merely fainted from exhaustion, breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the others arrived. Discovering that Reimu, Elder Water, and Elder Wood were all safe, the group was overcome with joy. Elder Wind was so moved she nearly burst into tears. Yet, having lived over sixty years, she managed to restrain herself and instead asked Link, puzzled, “Archbishop Neil, what was that golden light just now? Was… was it a miracle from the Father?”

Since no one had died, Link was in good spirits. At her words, he flashed a sanctimonious smile and replied, “By the grace of the Father, Elder Wind, it was indeed a miracle. That was the Holy Light of the Father. Before the supreme Holy Light, all darkness shall be banished.”

His words left the crowd both astonished and overjoyed. Though their thoughts differed, one thing was certain: the faithful found their devotion to the Father renewed, while even the nonbelievers felt a certain awe and the stirrings of faith.

For example, the Bas family’s guards became Link’s followers on the spot, though their faith was still shallow. Among the Celestial Spirit’s followers, aside from the three unconscious, the eight female warriors did not convert, but their awe was unmistakable, plain on their faces.

Yet what shocked Link most was that Elder Wind, after whispering, “So the Father truly exists,” instantly became a mid-level follower—the most devout of all the new converts.

A leader of another faith, transformed in a moment into Link’s devout believer—what a swift change!

On reflection, though, Link understood. From the start, the three elders had known more than most. Their belief in the divine had always wavered between skepticism and hope. Now, with Link displaying a true miracle and driving off the despair-inducing Dark Demon, it was only natural for Elder Wind to become a zealous believer.

A deity exists—lofty, mighty, and, above all, willing to help the devout. A god who manifests miracles and aids mortals—how could such a god not inspire faith?

At the very least, Elder Wind had chosen to become Link’s follower.