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The chapter starts in a black space.
...
Because Reimu is asleep.
...mu, wake up!
...
Reimu!
...Mm? Sanae?
Wake up, Reimu. It's morning.
Morning.... Breakfast...
Come on, Reimu. I've been trying to wake you up for a while now.
She's sure good at sleeping. Even though we're shaking her like this.
Quit it with the simple stuff and just wake her up, please.
I'm sorry...
...Cirno and Aya are here too? Gah, it's too early for this kind of noise...
Reimu finally opens her eyes.
Music: Dark Clouds
Woah, it's dark! Isn't this still the middle of the night?
Exactly. Even though it's morning, it's still night.
Good morning. Or... good evening?
Huh? What are you all sitting around here for?
We're here to investigate the incident. Everyone who was surprised by the endless night has gathered here.
It's actually already time for it to be morning, but as you can see it's still pitch dark out.
Mr. Moon and the stars have been in the same place the whole time.
So... what you're saying is that this is some sort of incident where the night never ends?
Most people seem to think so.
Shadows born from the night are a great source of power for youkai. If this night keeps up, Gensokyo may fill up with madness. But-
Yeah, yeah, we just need to find the culprit and beat them up, right? How many times do you think I've done this already?
Well, the circumstances are a bit more complicated this time-
Perhaps I should explain the details myself.
Yukari?!
Good grief. That's not the only incident you've been sleeping through.
What was that word again...? Impudent or something?
What's that supposed to mean? I can't believe you guys are here too...
Cutting to the chase, Yukari's the one stopping the night.
Huh?!
By holding back the boundary between day and night, I'm preventing the morning from arriving. As long as my power holds, that moon will never sink.
H-Hold on. This is too much to swallow all at once.
We were surprised too, when we first heard about it.
Stopping the night is itself an extraordinarily dangerous act, but... It's actually a way of opposing an even larger threat.
Which would be the moon. It looks like a perfect circle, but it's a bit cracked... It's an ugly, warped, fake moon.
you could say
that it is a broken moon
It does look a bit off, I guess...
We don't know why, but apparently someone's hidden the moon. I still don't really understand why that's supposed to be dangerous though...
I'll be explaining that shortly. After all, the other youkai have just arrived.
The Palanquin Ship suddenly lands nearby.
Evening, everyone!
Looks like we're all gathering here, just like Shou said.
The crew of the Palanquin Ship? You're here to investigate too?
For an incident as big as this, we thought we might want to lend you our strength.
First we went to see Keine in the Human Village, but she wasn't home. So, instead of her, we got...
They're letting me ride the ship too. I look forward to working with you.
Huh? You're investigating too, Akyu?
I begged them to let me come with them, and they accepted. It should be safe enough inside the ship, and I can watch over everyone from nearby.
Having Akyu around to work on the bridge helps us out too.
...Okay, so let me ask again. What exactly is dangerous about that fake full moon?
Within the shadows born of the full moon, there exists a power. One that cannot be easily replaced. The full moon is a mirror... As such, it creates darkness just as profound as the sunlight it reflects.
This deep darkness is itself the source of power for all night-dwelling youkai.
So, if we don't return the moon to normal...
For some youkai, this is a matter of life and death. Not only that, but since it will affect the power balance between youkai, it will throw all of Gensokyo into chaos.
Powerful youkai are sensitive to this sorta thing. It's no surprise you haven't noticed.
Hmmm....
...
If even you two are being quiet, you must understand how serious this is.
Nah, I just don't know what's going on. It's too hard.
Being quiet makes me hungry...
...I see.
To sum it up, somebody just picked a fight with every last youkai on the surface. And we're gonna give 'em one.
Huh? Does that mean you're coming too, Suika?!
What, you thought I popped in here just to see you off?
This time, we're offering the full power of the Yakumos to assist with the investigation.
...It's certainly reassuring to have the power of the sage on our side.
Okay, I pretty much get it, but could I confirm one last thing? Extending the night like this is pretty dangerous too, right? But we wouldn't be able to resolve this incident if you didn't?
Exactly. You could say it's a double edged sword. We will only be able to find the culprit while they're still interfering with the moon. In other words, while the moon is still out.
No matter what, we must absolutely resolve this within the night.
Even if we have to make that night eternal... you mean.
Fighting incidents with incidents... is that the sage's decree?
I suppose this means it isn't the time to concern ourselves with appearances.
If we're done talking, shouldn't we head out at once?
Hmm... how about we let Reimu decide where we're heading?
Wait, you all barge in here, throw exposition at me, and then make me decide?
I haven't been able to locate the mastermind. Please use that intuition you're so proud of.
...Fine. This isn't much of a plan, but...
First we charge forward. Straight out into the night. We'll think about what comes next later.
Roger that! Everyone, board the ship.
It's so reassuring to ride in a big ship like this!
Our destination is Gensokyo's night. Palanquin Ship, full speed ahead!
------
Oh, you're already done? That's fine with me but... don't expect me to hold a memorial service for you if a weird god haunts you or something.
So hurry up and play again, got it?