Takumi burst into laughter after seeing Kaguya's message.
Takumi: [Solid 6~!]
[Did you even read the mission details?]
He didn't even know how to roast her anymore. Had gaming fried her brain?
Houraisan Kaguya: [???]
[What are you talking about!!]
[I thought it was a game or something.]
[So it's just beating a phoenix? No problem!]
[I got this!!]
[Immortal birds are my specialty.]
Only after Takumi pointed it out did she realize. Upon closer inspection—yep, it was a devil's ranking match.
Phoenix, huh?
She was an expert at beating phoenixes.
She'd even cook them into stew after. Of course, she wasn't going to go easy on a female phoenix.
Takumi: [Yeah yeah, remember when you beat up Chika's "sister" Fujiwara Mokou?]
[Then y'all shared a bowl of stew afterward!]
Indeed, Kaguya was a phoenix-slaying pro.
Fujiwara Chika: [????]
[What does this have to do with me??]
She was utterly confused. Sister, what? It was just a surname! Fujiwaras weren't exactly rare.
Also, what about Takumi? Was he her long-lost brother now?
Chika stared at Takumi's nonsense.
Houraisan Kaguya: [@Fujiwara Chika, next time you visit Gensokyo, I'll introduce you.]
[@Akeno, when does it start?]
[I already took the mission. Hope that's okay?]
Akeno: [No problem. It's just a pity I didn't have more points. Could've made room for more.]
[Seems like there's a hard limit.]
[Once I posted the task, I could only tag one or two people.]
[The reward gets split after the system's fee.]
[Come over anytime. The ranking game starts tomorrow.]
She explained everything clearly. Because the reward was low, the task only allowed two participants.
Takumi: [No worries!]
[I can go anytime.]
[Perfect chance to check out those Sacred Gears.]
[I'll head out once I'm ready.]
After skimming through the chat, Takumi didn't overthink it. Even though Kaguya had joined, that was fine—he'd still earn his points.
Time to gear up.
He made a quick announcement in the group, then started preparing.
Kaguya had to make arrangements too. She couldn't just disappear.
She planned to inform her mentor first and head out later. No rush—Takumi wasn't in a hurry.
...
Takumi didn't need much prep. If anything came up, he could just talk to Miori Shiba.
His real concern was over at Lilia's place.
Opening a spatial rift, he appeared beside Lilia. She was currently hard at work.
"Yo, busy?"
Hearing his voice, Lilia looked up.
"You? What are you doing here?"
She tensed up a bit.
"I'm just letting you know—I'm heading out."
"To another world."
"Might take a day or two to return."
"So if you can't find me, don't panic~!"
"If anything happens, ask the AI to find Miori Shiba."
He walked over and gave her a quick head pat, explaining the situation.
If anything urgent came up and he couldn't be reached, the AI could contact Miori.
Lilia nodded.
"Okay…"
"Be safe…"
She hesitated a bit, then softly gave him a reminder.
Takumi smiled at her words.
"Don't worry."
"I'll be fine."
He didn't boast about being the strongest. Last guy who did that turned into patch 2.5 content.
After reassuring her, Takumi vanished.
He didn't need to tell Yuu or Miori Shiba anything—they were in the group.
So he clicked the mission. The teleportation gate appeared.
Without hesitation, Takumi stepped in.
...
Kuoh Academy, old school building.
Rias and Akeno were sipping tea.
Rias had just heard from Akeno who accepted the mission.
The moment she learned Takumi was coming, she sighed in relief. And another girl named Houraisan Kaguya was coming too.
In Japanese mythology, Princess Kaguya was a celestial maiden from the moon. Houraisan Kaguya shared that identity.
"She's good at handling phoenixes?"
"That's certainly something to look forward to."
Rias's expression turned complicated. A phoenix-slaying Kaguya?
That was basically a counterpick against Riser Phoenix.
Akeno nodded.
"Apparently, she's close friends with someone who also has immortality."
"They fight a lot, and that girl is like a phoenix too."
"So yeah, she's got experience."
Though Akeno wasn't completely sure about the details.
Chika had mentioned some things. Takumi never uploaded data about Touhou.
All she knew came from Chika and Sagiri.
According to Sagiri, "ZUN's crew got kicked out of the anime club~!"
"They both took the Hourai Elixir, so they're immortal."
"Kaguya fights Mokou all the time, so she's a phoenix-expert."
"Mokou even has phoenix-like attacks, so calling her a phoenix isn't wrong."
Just as they were chatting, a new voice rang out.
Everyone in the room froze.
"Takumi-kun, you're here?"
Akeno was delighted. He'd arrived?
Soon, Takumi's figure stepped through the door.
"This is ridiculous."
"Why did the teleport drop me outside the building?"
"Shouldn't it have brought me straight to you?"
He scratched his head, clearly confused.
How unintelligent was this system?
Akeno chuckled.
"Maybe to protect privacy?"
"After all, travel tokens don't need consent—they just teleport you."
"If someone was doing something… inconvenient, that'd be awkward."
She had a point. What if he popped in while she was bathing?
Takumi shrugged.
"Fair enough~!"
Then he looked around the room.
Everyone stared back.
Akeno, Koneko, Asia, and… Kiba Yuuto?
Takumi's eyes paused on Kiba.
That chest was… well-developed. Was she a girl?
He blinked and turned to Akeno.