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Chapter 8: The Hakurei Shrine
Well then. We only came to meet with you, but that was quite the mess we got dragged into.
M-my apologies. I really didn't mean to be a bother.
Oh, it's no problem at all, really.
Besides, given the circumstances, I suspect dealing with the underworlders is inevitable.
Sooner or later, they will likely attempt a similar scheme.
Lady Yukari, are you alright with this?
At this rate, this could very well develop into a conflict between the surface and underground.
It's fine. I don't think they're all that serious about fighting the surface.
If it comes to it, we'll just focus their hatred on "Yukari Yakumo", over anyone else.
A sad thought, but if it's for the sake of our goals, I'll do what I must.
(You'll fulfill your plan even if you're hated for it...)
(A plan for the sake of both humans and youkai...)
(Just whare are you trying to do, Yukari?)
Hehe, quite a bother, playing the villain.
Now then, how shall we proceed?
Um, on that front, do you have a moment?
It's a bit hard to ask this, after everything you've done, but...
There's something that I'd like to request from you all.
Oh uh, of course, you don't need to feel obliged, but I was hoping you'd at least hear me out.
Yukari?
Hehe, I already know what you're about to ask.
Huh?
I think I can take a stab at it.
"Please protect our village from youkai", or something to that effect, right?
Er... How did you...
It wasn't hard to guess.
You've received our help twice now. In both case, we've minimised your losses.
If you were only relying on the strength of humans, things would surely have gone much more poorly.
And upon observing this, your next thought leads naturally.
"With only our power, defeating youkai is unthinkable without a great many sacrifices.
But if we could borrow the power of youkai, it would go far more smoothly."
...Yes, that's right.
After everything you've done, I realize asking this of you is terribly shameless of me.
However, we're no match for the power you all possess.
We'll do as much as we can to reward you, so could you please consider it?
Youkai protecting humans from other youkai... Is that even possible?
I think it's a wonderful idea.
And perhaps, humans and youkai can slowly learn to trust one another.
...
Lady Yukari, how shall we respond?
Were I in your position, I'd likely ask the same.
Ah, then-!
Unfortunately, I'm afraid I don't think I could possibly be the one to accept this request.
Huh?
Oh...
I... I see.
Right, of course. How silly of me...
Oh my, a bit too quick to be depressed, don't you think?
Yukari only said that SHE couldn't accept your request?
Wha?
Quite so.
If you ask us to exterminate youkai, then as youkai ourselves, we can't possibly accept.
If humans wish to exterminate youkai, then of course, they must rely on human strength.
Er, what do you mean?
It's simple.
If one were to have the power to defeat youkai, they could act as the guardian of humanity.
A pillar of human society, much the same as yourself.
I don't think I'm nearly so important...
But, uh, where the heck are you going to find a person who can beat youkai?
At the very least, I don't think you're talking about Aya...
BGM: 春色小径
Silly girl. I'm talking about you.
Wait, me?
Of course. Who else could it be?
I see now... Yes, that makes sense.
Er, wait, what? I'm definitely not strong enough for that.
Mmm, true. For now, at least.
However, a great power slumbers within you. You can grow into so much more than you are right now.
There's a... power, in me?
It's more than that.
You have a heart that can touch even the non-Human races.
The power to defeat your foes isn't all that there is.
With your strength. With your heart. Protect humanity from youkai.
That, shall be the foundation for the new relationship between the races.
A new relationship...
My heart, huh...
You don't need to be anxious about it.
For the time being, we'll support you from behind the scenes.
Hmmm. In that case, I might be able to pull it off...
I feel like you could definitely do it.
Think so?
Well then. If we're building up a pillar, then let's start at the base.
Something to symbolize that vanquishing youkai is possible. A place of worship, that the masses can rely on.
Do you think we could put it in the village?
If we're to help our little girl out, putting it right in the middle of the village would be a bit inconvenient.
Let's see... If there were somewhere we could build a shrine on the outskirts of the village, that'd be perfect.
Hm, a shrine...
Ah, I remember! To the east of the village, there should be an old shrine, that most people don't even know about.
Even in old records, I don't think there's any mention of it.
It must be quite old, if the only record of it is in your inherited memories.
This is most convenient.
After so long, it might be haunted, but it should serve our needs perfectly.
Me, at a shrine...?
Let us depart at once. Could you guide us there?
A-alright. If I remember correctly, it should be...
--
That reminds me. Our party's grown so large, we might not have enough space for everyone to sortie.
It might be time to arrange some pretermined groups...
We get a tutorial about Fixed Pair Ups here, but I think I'm gunna skip this one.
Well, it should be fine. Everyone will sort themselves out, I'm sure.
So, preparation screen!
We've got an important new feature to play with.
From the sortie screen, we can decide who gets to come on the mission.
13 slots, to go to our 20 different members. But what's a touhou nerd to do when you want to take everybody with you?
Fixed Pair Ups is the answer.
Every character has a list of units that they can make a Fixed Pair Up with. This usually correlates to their support list, though not always.
In this case, Yukari can Pair Up with Yuyuko, Suika, Ran, Shrine Maiden, or Aya.
So now she's Paired Up with Ran. But what's this? We're sitting at 12 out of 13 deployment slots now...
That's one of the main benefits. Paired Up units on this screen only take up one deployment slot. If we can shove 7 of our units into Fixed Pair Ups, then we can effectively deploy our entire party. In fact, even in the endgame, with every character recruited, you can always fit everyone into your team, doing this.
You can do Fixed Trinities too, of course.
So, aside from deployment slots, are there any other benefits?
For the sake of comparison, here's what Yukari looks like if she Pairs Up with Ran normally, on the field.
Here she is again, with a Fixed Pair Up.
Normal:
2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1
Fixed:
2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1
So yeah, bigger bonuses. In Yukari's case, that doesn't seem like a huge bonus, because the base values aren't very high to begin with.
So for comparison, here's the Prismriver sisters normally...
And here they are with a Fixed Trinity.
Normal:
5, 1, 4, 4, 3, 4, 2
Fixed:
7, 2, 6, 7, 4, 5, 3
Those bonuses are starting look a lot nicer now, yeah? Well trust me, they get a lot bigger by the endgame.
By the way, we also get the chance to move around our units' starting locations, and preview the map. Though, they never show us enemy locations, just the terrain.
Getting back to Pair Ups for a second, this is the line up I'm going with for this chapter. Pretty standard, I guess? In hindsight I should've used SM and Suika's Fixed Pair Up, but I forgot about it.
The only real downside to using Fixed Pairs is that you can't break them up. Normal Pair Ups give you more flexibility, and you can do some goofy shit with sling-shotting a unit around 30 spaces in a turn or whatever, but for the most part, the extra stats are well worth it.
One last thing before we get started. In the thread, I opened up a strawpoll to see what Supports people wanted to see, and there were 2 clear winners. So, here you go:
Shrine Maiden/Youki B
Kogasa/Kyouko C
ANYWAY, that's enough dawdling. Let's get to the chapter.
Old shrine, broken shrine~♪ No one comes, no offerings~♪ No one's here, just as always~♪
Good mood as always, huh?
Of course! Singing is my source of joy!
If you went 3 seconds without singing you'd probably explode, I bet.
Hmhmhm~♪ You know me so well, Wriggle!
Hahaha, guess we've known each other for a long time, Misty.
...Hm?
A new duo walk in.
Misty! Wriggle! Heeeey!
Oh hey, Rumia's group is here.
They're really booking it. Wonder if something's happened.
Big news! Dunno who they are, but a buncha people are heading right here!
Woah. Look like youkai?
Was a whole bunch of 'em. Buncha different smells.
Lots of youkai, and some other weird presences.
Couple humans mixed in too, I think.
Humans!?
Huuuuh. It's been a while since any humans came around here.
Spring onions, human onions~♪
Hey, we can eat the humans, right?
Sure. I don't think there's anything wrong eating people who come to rob your house.
I don't wanna give this place up...
This is our hideout...
No way we're handing it over that easy!
Hey everyone~!! Leeeeeeet's PARTYYY!!
A boatload of enemies spawn in.
Woah, what a voice!
Hearing a voice like that, what yamabiko could resist!?
"Hey everyone~!!"
What the heck're you doing!
We don't want even MORE youkai coming here, you idiot!
Aww...
Looks like these youkai are living here.
Hm? Is that...
Lady Yukari, there's a nekomata over there.
How unusual. You don't see many nekomata that can adopt a humanoid form.
If you've taken a liking to her, why don't you go talk to her, Ran?
...What about?
I think it's about time you had your own "Shiki", don't you think?
What? Really?
Yes, I do believe it ought to be within your power.
U-understood. I'll give it a try!
--
Hey, Yukari. Are we going to force those youkai out of here?
We will, if we have to.
Hmm...
Ah, before that, do you have a second? There's something I wanted to give you.
To me?
Yes, though it's nothing too special.
These are... danmaku?
Yes. They've been passed down in my family for generations, purpose-made for youkai extermination.
I can think of no better person to use them than you.
Wha, I can't just take a family heirloom!
Even so, I'd like you to use them.
Despite what I said, frankly, I can't use them very well at all.
If they're in the hands of a skilled wielder like you, I'm certain my ancestors would be pleased.
As long as I have the Gensokyo Chronicles, that's more than enough for me.
Oh...
Alright. I'll take good care of them.
I only hope I can live up to your expectations.
I'm looking forward to it.
Alright, this is your first step as a proper Shrine Maiden.
We have quite a few youkai as our enemies, so be sure not to let your guard now.
Got it!
And with that, we're in the chapter.
Fun fact, you can pan and zoom the camera a whoooole bunch in this game. Lets me a get a nice wide shot of the entire map at once.
The black wolf I've highlited in red is kind of a jerk. Devil Axe, Fear (basically a reverse Charisma), and Continue (repeat fights sometimes, I'll talk about it more when get someone who can use it).
Around now, they start throwing in all sorts of extra-dangerous enemies like that. There's a pink rabbit up north with a Fire Lance and Charisma. There's another wolf in the northwest near Wriggle's pack with a Lightning Axe and Adept. I think one of those fairies even has Magic Barrier, randomly. Just little things to keep you on your toes.
By the way, Aya's family heirloom was a Silver Sword 
. I think I mentioned this back when Eirin showed up, but Silver-tier weapons all have an Oni-Slaying effect by default, though we haven't fought any other than Yuugi yet.
More interestingly, this is an A-rank weapon. That should mean that Shrine Maiden can't wield it (she's only at C), but...
As a special exception, she can ignore the requirements.
Actually, Shrine Maiden has some hidden skill that lets her equip any Silver Swords, not just Aya's. Kinda neat.
I want to point out this jerk.
This may look like a minor reskin of the wolves we've been fighting, but it's actually a kind of "elite" enemy. She's got a normal-ass weapon (just a Hand Axe), but her stats are about as good as the bosses on this map. There's a few of these dotted around the map too, and they're honestly way more of a pain than the enemies with special skills or weapons.
We clear out the near-by enemies, getting a couple levels along the way.
HP, Skill, Resistance, for Lyrica. The prototypical "god damnit" level.
Mokou's only slightly better, with Magic and Skill.
Byakuren and Aya are heading south to deal with these straggler fairies.
Meanwhile, Ran and Yukari are heading east, through this forest. There's actually a veeery narrow path through here, and they'll be going to meet Chen.
On the enemy turn, Rumia starts charging you right away. I believe Mystia's crew waits until turn 8, and Wriggle's company until turn 11. They'll both attack you if you enter their movement range, though.
Chen starts moving too, though going through the forest slows her down enough that she won't reach you very quickly.
Byakuren counter kills a fairy for Magic, Speed, and Resistance.
Thank you, blessed Speed levels.
I moved the Prismrivers up to bait the Devil Axe jerk. I figure they can take the punishment.
...Not that they even get hit.
Eat this critical hit and die.
Lunasa gets HP, Strength, and Luck out of the deal.
Skill and Luck for Merlin.
Honestly, Skill doesn't suck on an axe user, so fine.
Since Rumia's right next to us, let's take a look.
Devil Axe (of course), and she drops a Moonlight Powder for a permanent +2 Magic.
She also has a unique skill called Darkness. Remember how I described Fear as being anti-Charisma? It's like that, but only to adjacent tiles, and it hurts her allies too. It's, uh, just objectively worse than Fear in every way. It DOES stack with Fear, though.
Don't pay attention to her portrait, I'm pretty sure that's a bug.
She is no match for the Prismrivers.
These elite wolves are way more a threat than Rumia herself. Even Yuugi has trouble with em.
Through much teamwork, Kyouko and Kogasa finish one off.
Kogasa is rewarded with HP, Strength, Skill, Defense, and Resistance.
Kyouko gets HP, Magic, Skill, Luck, Defense, and Resistance.
I'll take more Attack and Speed on you, please...
Over on the east side, Yukari's using her gap'ing skills to move around more effectively.
They finish off the rabbit they were dealing with, and Ran gets HP, Speed, Luck, and Defense.
...Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this until just now, but I gave Ran the Heavenly Peach we got from Kisume last chapter, boosting her defense by 2. I knew she was going on this trek through the jungle, so she might need it.
Ok, on turn 3, we can start chatting.
Hey, you!
Mm? What? What's up??
Just so you know, I won't let you have this spot!
Let's leave that matter aside, for now.
I'd like to speak with you about a different matter.
Me? What about, fluffy-tail lady?
"Fluffy-tail lady"?
W-wait, no, that's not important.
Ok, listen up.
Presently, you are but a mere nekomata. Your very existence is on the precipice of disaster. Do you understand?
Nope!
Err...
Then, uhh, think back upon yourself
At times, perhaps you have lost control of yourself.
Has this ever happened to you?
Mmmmmm, I guess it might've?
Right?
So! With my help, you can stabilize your power, and become a magnificent youkai!
Well? What do you think?
Dunno!
Wha-wha-what!?
Not sure I got what you were saying, but like, I'm having plenty of fun right now.
So yeah, I think I'm good as-is!
Wait, hold on, I don't think you fully-
Kay, talk over!
Now get outta here!
Gah... Do I need to make her listen to me by force?
Yeah, the next step of this is to get Ran to beat her up. Better signposted than recruiting Shinon in PoR, at least.
The Fire spell Mokou came with is coming in handy for all these rabbit youkai.
Strength, Skill, Luck, Res.
This one also dropped an Ice Sword.
This particular arrangement is honestly kind of scary? There's two elite wolves here (one's slightly offscreen to the southeast) and they're a big problem, but if I don't finish the rabbits, they can zoom around, picking on our weaker units (by which I mean Kyouko, mainly).
Through great effort, they finished one off, who dropped a Steel Hand Axe.
...I guess in Fire Emblem that'd be a... Tomahawk? But I'm trying to keep things simple for myself, here.
edit: I was reminded that it'd actually be a Short Axe, and a Tomahawk would be the Silver-tier equivalent. Thanks, Nages.
Even Shrine Maiden's Silver Sword (backed by Suika's strength bonuses) can't cleave off half of these jerks' HP.
Even the trusty Prismrivers can't quite do it...
And then comes in Lyrica with the sucker punch outta nowhere!
Thank you, Bandwagon skill.
Hm, this is annoying.
Ran does 12 damage at best, while Chen has 25 HP. Chen also has boatloads of healing items on-hand.
Basically, I'm gunna have to kite Chen off the forest tiles if I want to actually finish her off.
Mokou dies.
Aaand she's back.
Interestingly, this actually breaks her Fixed Pair Up with Tewi. I guess death is the only way out of an arranged relationship.
...Hm.
With most of the dangerous enemies near us vanquished, we have some breathing room to tidy things up.
Komachi gets a HP, Skill, Defense level off a rabbit.
Mokou gets Strength, Magic, Skill, and Luck.
The Prismrivers push into fairy territory over here.
I actually could (and perhaps should?) be moving up Shrine Maiden into this space more aggressively, but...
Well, I'll talk about that more in a second. For now, let's end the turn, and-
Hm? NPC Turn? But there aren't any...
BGM: 月時計ルナ
Hmph, too easy.
I had heard that some strong youkai were living around here...
Seems like numbers are all they've got. Hardly a worthy foe in sight.
I'll tidy up here and start heading back.
--
Wait, is that a human? And she's by herself...
By the way, in addition to that cutscene, she gets her own real turn.
She uses it to Flurry this fairy off the face of the planet.
And on the enemy phase, these nerds show up.
Misty! Wriggle! Rumia~!
I'm here to play~!
...Huh?
It looks like something big's happening.
Yeah, I wonder what's up.
Wait a sec...
What's wrong, Cirno?
It's those guys from before!
So they're here now! This time, I'mma give 'em hell!
C-Cirno!?
Oh man, why does this keep happening...
---
This presence...
Sunny! Luna! Cirno's here!
Cirno!?
Sweet! Let's give it to her, gang!
H-hold on, give me a minute to get ready!
Ok gimme a sec, we gotta get through the rest of the enemy phase.
Yukari gets this Magic, Speed, Res level.
A couple more fairies foolishly pick a fight with our mysterious intruder.
Ok, now that it's my turn, let's take a look at... "Byakuya". No relation to anyone with a similar name, of course.
Impressive stats! She comes equipped with a Silver Javelin, which is fairly impressive, but that second item is even more valuable: a Pocket Watch. That's the "Boots" of this game, permanently boosting a unit's Move by 2. She also has the Flurry and Nihil skills, for good measure.
Now, we could recruit her here by talking to her with SM, but Byakuya's kind of special. In a couple turns, she's going to retreat. She shows up again in chapter 10, and chapter 16. Important to my decisions, she gains a lot of levels between now and chapter 10, so it's honestly kind of worth it.
Not to mention, this is a pretty hectic chapter, with lots of tough enemies bearing down on you from all sides, so if you don't know she's coming, she's actually really hard to recruit on your first playthrough. She's much easier to grab later on, which leads me to think that it's, for lack of a better term, the "developer-intended" path. Maybe. Feels that way to me, at least.
So yeah, we're just gunna let her chill and then leave in a bit.
And yeah, down here we've got Cirno's crew. She's rocking a C-rank Steel Ice Lance, and drops an Evolution Jewel. Daiyousei's got a Rune Sword, as well as a long-range Physic staff that she drops.
They're charging at us right away, unsurprisingly. This is why they wait all the way til turn 8 before letting Mystia start moving, I suppose.
I'm honestly not super worried about it, so I'm just going to start baiting some of Wriggle's group.
Gah.
I pulled this elite wolf, but it's actually pretty hard to beat her without moving in more aggressively and pulling the entire group.
Youki can move in and fish for a crit/Flurry, but it's kind of dangerous. Two of the enemies he'd be in range of here have Ghost-Slaying weapons. Presumably to make this exact situation more tricky.
He pulls it off, and gets an Evolution Jewel for it. Just hope he can survive two super effective attacks.
Oh dear...
At least Yuyuko gets this excellent level. Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, Resistance.
And then... this Ghost-Slaying Sword fairy just ignores Youki and attacks Shrine Maiden?
That's fairies for ya .
Speaking off, Sunny's engaging in her own rendition of Great Fairy Wars down south.
At the start of turn 7, Byakuya's outta here.
I'll call it there.
Looks like there's another group here. I'll leave the rest to them.
She leaves.
Ah, she's gone.
Huh... Wonder what that girl's deal is.
Don't worry, we'll talk to her again pretty soon.
Jesus christ Merlin's strong.
Helps that she can double-dip on that massive crit chance when Lyrica triggers Bandwagon.
This does leave her in range of Wriggle, incidentally. She's quite a bit stronger than Rumia.
Wriggle's got a Lightning Sword, and the same Ambush skill as Kogasa. She also drops a Torch staff. For uh... reasons.
As an aside, I think I was calling Lightning weapons like this "Killer Swords" and etc in previous updates? I'm just gunna simplify things for myself and stick to saying Lightning Sword. Just remember that Lightning = Bigger Crit%.
Patching things up, Byakuren gets a healer level. Strength, Skill, Speed(!), and Resistance.
Wow, the Prismrivers actually didn't kill something in one round. Good job, Wriggle!
It's turn 8.
Remember when Yukari said the shrine might be haunted? Turns out that was forshadowing, and a trio of ghosts spawn in as reinforcements. Nothing too special about them, though.
Lyrica finishes the job.
Lunasa nabs HP, Skill, and Speed(!).
And for Lyrica, it's Magic, Speed, Luck, and Defense.
You normally don't wanna see your units getting doubled, but Yuugi can take it.
The Three Fairies give Cirno a gameover.
HP, Magic, Speed, Resistance.
Man, the Three Fairies are kinda underleveled, huh...
Shrine Maiden still had a Ghost-Slaying Sword, so she punks one and gets HP, Strength, Skill, Speed, Defense, and Resistance. Very nice!
Having Physic this early on is so nice.
Mystia's crew starts moving now.
By the way, lest you think they're blocked by that river, they're not. They all have a skill called Slip Through, which lets them pass through terrain they normally can't. They still can't stop on those tiles, like a flyer like Yuyuko or Mystia can, but they're not impeded.
There's some squabling on the enemy phase, and Tewi gets HP, Speed, and Luck.
Nice thing about fairies is, they die reeeeally easily.
Merlin gets HP, Strength, Magic, Skill, Luck, and Resistance.
I'd like more Speed, but I can't really complain.
I've been trying to feed Kyouko some kills, to help her keep up. She gets HP, Strength, Magic, Luck, Defense, and Res, which is nice.
I'd like her to stop pretending she's Yuyuko with all that Magic and get more Strength, please.
Before we get rid of her, here's Mystia. Nothing too special, though it's worth noting that as both a Beast and a Flyer, she's weak to Fire, Ice, and Wind. Lots of options for how you wanna cook her.
Shrine Maiden opts for the "critical hit her and hope that works" option.
I guess she's never cooked before.
Suika gets HP, Strength, Skill, Luck, and Defense.
This is probably the best Suika I've ever seen, and it's not even close.
Sunny kills another fairy to get HP, Magic, and Skill.
Again, and I can't stress this enough... more Speed, please.
Tewi kills another fairy, which gives Mokou Skill, Speed, and Resistance.
There was another elite wolf here, before Youki crit it to death.
It dropped a Lightning Axe.
Poor positioning on my part left Kogasa open to get bullied.
Luckily, she narrowly avoided this 61% to die.
I was never even worried 
Alright Kyouko, if you can't handle yourself normally, you get to use the Devil Axe.
Kogasa appreciate this. HP, Strength, Speed, Luck, Defense, and Resistance.
With my newfound powers of "looking at the status screen", I happened to learn something.
Sunny's immune to being drained, so this Rune Sword Dai-chan's packing isn't too threatening.
I also stole her Concoction. It heals 30 HP, over the Vulnerary's 10.
Now, I happened to realize that ghosts are all immune to the succ, but as it happens, Dai's immune to ice's No Counter ability. That doesn't really matter here, since I wasn't counting on it, but it did surprise me.
We set her up for Tewi to finish off.
And with that, the only named boss left is Chen.
We also got her Physic staff. Much appreciated.
Speaking of Chen, we're finally ready to pull her out of the forest.
I haven't been showing it, but Ran and Yukari had to go through like 5 other enemies by themselves. Including an elite wolf with a Hand Axe (keeping in mind that neither of them has ranged weaponry).
13 damage!
We can finally defeat her next turn.
Let's go ahead and do that right now.
Getting a HP, Strength, Skill, Defense level while we're at it.
Nyaaa! I'm done for...
It's like I said. Your power is unstable.
You really should come with me. I'll make a fine nekomata of you.
Mmm... Really?
If I go with you, can I really become a super strong nekomata?
Absolutely. I'll make you into a powerful youkai.
Hmm... Kay.
Alright, I'll follow you.
!! I see, splendid!
Alright, come close. Be sure to follow me.
Sure
...Hngh!?
Huh? W-what's wrong?
Ghghgh, nyaaaa!
Woah! What are you doing!?
Grrr, ngaaah!!
Such power...
Is it going out of control?
Nyaaaaaaaaa!!
Nya!
Chen disappears.
Hold on! Where are you going!
Curses. I was so close...
Well, we'll deal with that later.
By the way, doing all of that was a requirement for opening up a Gaiden next chapter. Look forward to it.
Oh yeah, on the enemy phase of turn 11, these nerds all started moving. Wriggle would have too, if we hadn't already beat her.
It's mostly clean up at this point, so enjoy a montage of levels until we get to the next event.
Skill, Speed, Luck, Defense, Resistance.
Strength, Skill, Speed, Luck, Resistance.
HP, Magic, Defense, Resistance.
Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed.
HP, Strength, Skill, Resistance.
Magic, Defense.
Shout outs to this poor healer fairy, who got to sit here and watch while I heal spammed for several turns in a row.
Kyouko finishes her off, and then ducks out.
The youkai trio pop back in.
Huh? They beat us?
These girls are strong!
What's their deal!?
As do Cirno and Dai.
Is everyone ok?
Heh! I was expecting no less!
Dai, the usual! Let's do it!
A-alright!
They Pair Up.
Misty, us too!
Okie-dokie! C'mon, Wriggle!
What, we're still going?
Well, duh!
We can't just let 'em take our house!
The trio make a Trinity.
The real fight starts here!
Seconded!
W-we won't lose to likes of you!
Woops I forgot to look at their boosted stats.
Hey, remember that Fire Lance that Tewi had? The one that runs on Magic? The one that slays Beasts?
Yuyuko, at least, knows how to cook a chicken.
Hot diggity damn! A perfect level, minus Skill!
Shrine Maiden and Ran give Rumia a one-two punch.
This HP and Defense levels is much less impressive than Yuyuko's...
Merlin (and Lyrica) take out Cirno in one (two) blows(s).
Yuugi weakens Wriggle enough that Mokou can cherry-tap her.
Strength, Magic, Luck.
Again, I'd really like more Speed on you. 7 Speed on a level 12 unit is getting kinda sad...
Dai survived long enough to take an action, but not only did she target someone she can't drain, she didn't even hit!
Aya gets one more healer level for the road. Strength, Skill, Speed, Luck, and Resistance.
Great Fairy Wars: End.
What the heck! Why are you so strong?
Hehehe, what a lively little birdy, you are. And you're cute, to boot.
In fact, you're so cute, I might just eat you up!
What!?
Noooo---!!
Oh my, it was just a metaphor, you know? I'm not ACTUALLY going to eat you.
Though, when you run away like that, it sure makes me want to chase you.
I, like, super don't care, even if it is a metaphor!
Hush little birdy~♪ Don't say a word~♪
Noooooo!! That's even scarier!!
My lady... What in the world are you doing...
Hah, I see Yuyuko's found a new plaything.
Aw man, we really lost...
Why? Why can't I beat you guys?
...
Well, you beat us, so you're the bosses.
Want us to leave?
Now now, hold on a moment.
I'd like to speak with you for a moment.
With us?
Yes, there are matters I'd like to discuss.
If you're willing, that is.
Um...
Ok, what do you want to talk about?
Is evicting us not enough?
Oh, nothing so horrible.
Though, I'd still like you to give up on this place.
Wha-! What's your deal!
No one's cared about this place before, what's it matter if we live here?
Yeah, yeah!
No one's here, no one comes here, so we thought it'd be fine...
As of recently, we require this spot.
But, that's not fair!
I realize that.
But whether it's fair or not, I still need you to bequeath this place.
To this human, you see.
To... a human? What? What even for??
...
To protect you all from humanity.
Huh?
To protect us, from humanity?
...What are you talking about?
(Well now, how will you handle this?)
BGM: 春色小径
I was asked by the people in the village "Please protect us from youkai", so I came here.
I'm going to make this place the base of my actions.
The heck! So you're chasing us out after all!
What's with that "protecting us" crap!
Cirno, give them a chance to talk.
Thank you, Miss Insect Youkai.
But, y'know, I don't want to just protect humankind.
If youkai keep recklessly attacking humans, the conflict between the two will just keep getting worse. I want to stop that.
That's...
You girls don't attack humans for no reason, right?
You don't go out of your way to bother the village, right?
Well... You know...
We eat humans that get lost, though!
Um, Rumia, now's not a great time to bring that up.
Right.
I want to stop both sides from entering each other's territory, and prevent needless conflicts from breaking out.
That's what I meant. I want to protect youkai like you from humans, and humans from youkai. Both, at the same time.
...
...
That seems, uh, complicated.
Yeah. I didn't really get it.
So basically... You don't want us stepping on each other's toes so we don't get into big fights, right?
So you're protecting humans and youkai from each other?
Yep. I think so, at least.
Fine. We'll let you have this place.
Huh? What's the deal, Wriggle??
We've been living here forever...
Yeah. But you know, I've been thinking that humans would probably come to take this place back.
Humanity's been developing faster and faster, lately.
It's probably not just here. The forest. The mountain. Other places, too. Humans will probably want to take it all back for themselves, I think.
I... I think so, too.
I've been seeing a lot more humans in the forest, lately.
Wait, for real?
Yeah. Did you not notice, Cirno?
Ain't no humans reflected in the eyes of the strongest!
Uh...
Anyway, at this rate, I don't think humankind will leave anywhere left for us.
But, these people are trying to stop that.
Losing this place sucks, but if it means protecting other spots, I don't think we've got a choice.
Mmmm...
Hey, Miss Human.
Please, don't let them take everywhere away from us.
I feel bad, making requests from humans, but...
Please, I feel the same as Wriggle.
Oh, no, you don't need to bow your heads or anything.
If you're going that far, I can't exactly refuse.
And there you have it.
Fear not. We will help you, when the time comes.
Thanks, Yukari.
By the way...
Does this shrine happen to have a name?
Ahh, true. We forgot the most important part.
Does Aya maybe remember what it's called?
Unfortunately, that detail has been lost to time.
For such an old, dilapidated shrine, I suppose that's to be expected.
Oh my, that is unfortunate, indeed.
It might be a bit hard for people to rely on a nameless shrine.
We should probably give it a name ourselves.
Naturally, I've already come up with one.
I talked it over with Aya, and we came up with something we liked.
What's the name?
"Hakurei". Thus, the Hakurei Shrine.
"Connecting all souls together, in a beautiful harmony", is the idea we went with.
The Hakurei Shrine...
Connecting all souls...
Humans, and youkai. Fairies, and spirits. To serve them all, the Hakurei Shrine.
A fine name, don't you think?
I think it's a wonderful name.
I suppose that makes you the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, then.
The Hakurei... Shrine Maiden...
And so it is done.
Now come, Hakurei Shrine Maiden. From henceforth, you shall bear a truly, truly heavy burden. Do you think you can handle it?
...
Yeah. Whatever I can do, I'll find a way to do it.
And that's it for Chapter 8.
Stay tuned next time, for Chapter 8x!