While the students from the Celestial Masters Mansion and Leithanien were getting all "lovey-dovey" over their shared academic interests, Flandre Scarlet had already returned home.
Beatrice held Flandre, who had already fallen asleep on the way, while Chen Huijie, beside them, gently opened the front door. After the two worked together to settle Flandre Scarlet into bed, they quietly stepped out before speaking.
"Let's take a walk!" Chen Huijie pointed outside.
"Eh, I don't really want to... Fine, considering we almost became Dragon-Tiger paste this morning, let's go!" Beatrice initially wanted to refuse, but thinking of their shared life-and-death experience that morning, she followed her out.
Just after the two left, several figures entered the house. The moment those people stepped into the house, Flandre Scarlet, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly snapped her eyes open, her crimson eyes glowing with a bloody light.
"Someone really came. Is it those guys from this morning?"
That morning, the instant Flandre had grabbed the person's head, she had used a reading technique and seen fragments of memories in their mind. Though the time was short, the memory of someone giving him a sum of money and telling him to wait here for a police car to pass and then crash into it was very clear. While she didn't know if they were targeting her group specifically, it was certain they were targeting people from the Guard Department. Once the news was out, the culprits would surely go into hiding.
So, she planned to catch them herself and then claim credit from Beatrice. She had originally intended to pretend to be asleep and then sneak out under the cover of darkness to find them after the others left. But she didn't expect that just as Chen Huijie and Beatrice stepped out, some fellows couldn't resist entering the place.
This excited her instantly. In the next second, the Flandre Scarlet in the room began to undergo Mitosis, becoming Flandre Scarlet x4.
"So, since someone is willing to come play a game with Flandre, let's all have a happy time playing together. Of course, remember—don't break them!"
Flandre Scarlet looked at the other three Flandre Scarlets who were already eager to go; they wore happy yet arrogant smiles.
"Yay, yay, yay! Flandre is going to play!" One Flandre rushed out the door. "Me too, me too!" Another Flandre flew out the window.
"Aren't you going?" The third Flandre was slightly more steady than the first two; she looked at the original body still staying there and asked curiously.
"Of course I'm helping everyone with the concealment work. Otherwise, what if we get too excited and attract other people?"
Flandre Scarlet looked toward the window. Today's sky was thick with clouds, with not a single star or the moon in sight—just like the saying: a dark night with high winds.
"A perfect time for murder and arson!"
Following her exclamation, Flandre Scarlet took action, and runes began to dance in the air.
The two who had gone for a walk paused their steps and said, "We haven't eaten today. How about we find a place to have a meal?" "Sure, now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry!" After saying that, the two walked further and further away.
And the people living nearby suddenly all found things to do and left their homes for further away. In less than five minutes, there wasn't a single ordinary person left within five hundred meters of Flandre's residence. Then, a small, transparent Scarlet Devil Mansion appeared in her hand. The mansion grew larger and larger until it covered the entire area.
"Shift!"
In the next second, everyone within the range found themselves suddenly in a strange place—a place that looked like an imitation Leithanien castle.
"Sisters, play as you like. No need to worry about breaking things, but still, don't break the people!"
Great Boundary: Secret Tales of the Scarlet Mansion.
This was a grand magic Flandre Scarlet created by projecting the Scarlet Devil Mansion from her memories onto reality. In essence, it was an Imaginary World, or what Type-Moon Sorcery would call an Inner Sea of Stars or Reality Marble. However, inside this boundary was an empty Scarlet Devil Mansion with no other special effects.
If someone was powerful enough, they would have a way to break the boundary directly and rush out. But clearly, none of the people who entered this time had reached that level of skill. So, they were easily locked inside by Flandre Scarlet.
However, a grand magic of this level was also quite a drain on Flandre Scarlet. It was just that she hadn't seen blood for a long time, making Flandre Scarlet feel like the Primordial Power within her was becoming hard to suppress. So, since some unlucky bastards wanted to come looking for trouble, why wouldn't she enjoy herself?
At this moment, the dozen or so people who had entered the house appeared extremely panicked. It wasn't that they hadn't thought about escaping. But the surroundings were like a wall of unknown thickness; they couldn't break through or crash out at all. Aside from the occasional sound of a little girl's giggling in their ears, there was only them left in this eerie castle.
After several attempts failed to find an exit, they finally gave up on acting alone and gathered together in the main hall.
"Uninvited guests, are you finally willing to come out on your own?"
Hearing the voice, the dozen people all turned to look at the high, throne-like seat at the very end of the hall. A girl dressed in a pink Gothic Lolita outfit and a pink frilled hat with a red line around it sat in that high position. Her pure gold hair and the wings behind her that looked like colorful light bulbs made them instantly recognize the person sitting there as—
"Flandre Scarlet."
Someone spoke Flandre Scarlet's name.
"Insolence! Who do you think you are? The one sitting above is the Eldest Daughter, Remilia. Do not mistake her!"
A somewhat cold, loli-like voice appeared from behind the group. They turned to look again; it was another Flandre Scarlet, but she was dressed in a very standard Victoria maid outfit, holding several dinner knives in her hands.
"How are there two Flandres? A cloning technique!" someone said warily.
"I am Izayoi Furan, the Eldest Daughter's maid. Who are you all, to dare trespass into the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" As her voice fell, with a flick of her hand, several dinner knives were embedded into the ground in front of everyone.
"Damn it, this must be a trick created by that Flandre Scarlet. Capture them, and we should be able to find a way out," an impatient person suggested.
"Oh? Rude guests come to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and not only fail to respect the host but also try to turn their blades against us?"
A third person walked in from outside. They were very familiar with this look; after all, this was how she appeared when she first showed up in Lungmen—in a light purple, nightgown-style princess dress.
"It really is you, Flandre!"
"Unfortunately, you've mistaken us again. I am Patchouli." The newcomer pushed up her glasses, her crimson eyes filled with indifference.
Then, the "Remilia" sitting on the "throne" spoke. "We gave you three chances, but not once did you say our names correctly. Clearly, you are not guests of the Scarlet Devil Mansion! Since you are not guests, you are enemies of the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"
With that, a long spear emitting a blood-red light appeared in her hand.
"Damn it, fight them!" Seeing the words of the person on the stage calling herself Remilia, the people below all pulled out their weapons.
"Hmph, the enemies not only refuse to surrender but dare to strike back. Izayoi, clear them out!" The person on the high platform pointed the tip of her spear at the crowd.
"As you command, Eldest Daughter! The World!"
In the next second, a pile of dinner knives appeared in the hands of Izayoi Furan at the door, and she threw them at the crowd as if they cost nothing. Crucially, these flying knives were enchanted, causing them to occasionally turn invisible while in flight.
Flandre couldn't actually stop time, but she used this effect to make the knives flicker in and out of sight, making it look as if they suddenly appeared right next to people, achieving a "Time Stop" effect. This move indeed frightened several people. Although Flandre wasn't aiming for lethal spots, having those flying knives stab into one's body was quite painful. Moreover, by the time they saw the knives, they were already right next to them, leaving no time to dodge.
So, they turned their target toward the other one, the person calling herself Patchouli who looked like a sickly young lady blocking the door to the other side of the hall.
"Oh, so your target is me!" Patchouli adjusted her glasses and raised the book in her hand. As the book flipped open, runes flew out from its pages.
"Take this! Sun Sign: [Royal Flare]!"
"Wait! Use something less powerful! It's already hard enough for me to maintain such a large space. If you fire that shot, I'm afraid something will go wrong." At that moment, the voice of the original Flandre, who had been watching the whole time, reached the ears of "Patchouli."
"Tch, fine! Earth-Water Sign: [Noachian Deluge]!"
Just as she changed her spell, the opponents had already rushed to within five meters of her. But in the next second, giant waves surged out from both sides of Flandre, knocking those who were rushing forward back.
"Eh? Isn't this just a basic Water Creation Spell plus a Wave Creation Art? I thought you were really going to pull off a [Noah's Great Flood]!" Flandre's voice appeared in the clone's ear.
"Don't I know everything you know? If you can't use it, how could I?" Patchouli complained.
"Wait, then what was that [Royal Flare] you were preparing just now?" Flandre felt like she had been tricked by her clone. Right, she wasn't a magician like Patchy who could manipulate various elements to cast magic. Things like St. Elmo's Pillar were one thing; she was naturally good at playing with fire, so she could use those. But she and her sister naturally disliked water, so for water-type spells, creating water and waves was the limit; she hadn't learned anything deeper.
"Of course it's a Magic Cannon, a Magic Cannon! A magical girl definitely has to know how to use a Magic Cannon! I was originally planning to copy Marisa and fire a [Master Spark], but you interrupted me. At this close range, I could only choose a wave spell to push them away!"
Patchouli righteously criticized the original body's interruption.
"Uh, but would there be any survivors after that shot of yours?" Flandre wiped away non-existent sweat, thinking it was lucky she reacted quickly. Otherwise, after that Magic Cannon blast, probably not a single one of these people would have survived—only some ashes would be left.