They Returned

Under the combined effects of gravitational pull and the antigravity field, the massive city of Atlantis steadily left Gensokyo's Great Barrier and rose at an astonishing speed, charging toward high orbit.

Dozens of g's of acceleration acted upon the enormous floating island, and we soon saw the curved horizon. Brilliant sunlight was spreading from the far side of it, illuminating the boundless ocean below. Sunrise in this world was still several hours away, yet we were witnessing its first rays ahead of time.

Although the yokai ascending with us all basically had the ability to fly, none of them had ever managed to reach above the stratosphere by their own power. The moment they beheld this strange and magnificent sight, visible only beyond low Earth orbit, exclamations rose all around us. Yakumo Yukari even had to step forward to maintain order, lest these yokai, currently bearing Atlantis's energy burden, dropped the ball at a critical moment.

"So this is what you call 'outer space'?" Shameimaru Aya's voice sounded beside me. Turning toward it, I found the tengu girl's curious, searching gaze meeting my own.

Since her greatest strengths were speed and agility rather than magical power, this crow tengu had not participated in the energy output work. Though I seriously suspected her real purpose was to keep her hands free to gather material for her newspaper. The girl now spread her black wings and, while following Atlantis upward in awe, repeatedly raised the camera in her hands with a constant click-click, trying to capture the magnificent space horizon in its entirety. It was foreseeable that the next issue of Aya's News would devote at least two-thirds of its pages to this historic event. Tragically, the remaining third would probably still be stories this girl made up about Hakurei Reimu being