"Hiss... Leader, where did you find these experts? Just standing in front of them makes me feel a bit uneasy."
Red hadn't been around when Flandre Scarlet and the Shadow Guards arrived at the Reunion Movement, so he didn't know their identities.
"Er, no need to fear them. They were sent by my relatives to help me."
"Leader's relatives?" Red felt a flicker of curiosity. Then he looked at Flandre, who was sleeping soundly on a table nearby, oblivious to the world.
"I didn't expect Miss Flandre to return as well, and she even brought back quite a lot of medical supplies. Speaking of which, it's thanks to her timely arrival this time, otherwise Executive Yelena..."
This was technically the first time Red had formally met Flandre. Last time, he was just an obscure squad leader in Talulah's ranks. Though he knew of Flandre, he'd rarely crossed paths with her, let alone introduced himself. Sensing someone calling her name, Flandre rubbed her eyes and looked around.
"Awake?" Talulah, beside her, gently patted Flandre's head.
"Mmm~~ Where's Big Sister Alina?" Flandre looked around, just like those people who look for their mom immediately after getting home.
"Alina went out to handle some business. Let me introduce you: this is Red, a newly promoted executive. He's been busy outside these past two days, so you haven't met. Red, this is Flandre... Though she isn't part of our Reunion Movement, she has helped us many times. Even inviting Rhodes Island this time was her suggestion."
Red looked at Flandre, his eyes full of respect and admiration. As an executive, he naturally knew many things, and he knew quite a bit about Flandre's exploits. Just yesterday, she had single-handedly killed dozens of the Reconnaissance Squad's lapdogs to the north and helped Talulah wipe out the group to the west, all while remaining unscathed. This earned his deep admiration.
This level of combat power was several Talulahs higher than his own. Meanwhile, Flandre looked at him with pure curiosity. This man with the lower half of his face covered was Red? The "Red Blade" from the Area 59 Ruins in her memory, the savior of the "Pink Piggy"? She wondered how his swordsmanship compared to that half-human, half-phantom girl from the White Jade Pavilion.
Being stared at repeatedly by Flandre made Red feel a bit uncomfortable. "Miss Flandre, is there something I can help you with?"
Flandre scratched her head. "No, I'm just curious about your skills. Can you show me?"
Hearing Flandre's words, Talulah asked from the side: "Flandre, why are you curious about Red's skills? I've never seen you curious about anyone else's!"
Flandre pointed at the long blade leaning by the door, which was nearly as tall as a person. "Very few people use a long blade of that caliber. In my memory, they are all very strong... For example, there's a purple-haired big sister who can pull a long blade out of her chest."
Flandre recalled the awe-inspiring Musou no Hitotachi from another set of memories.
??? Pulling a long blade out of her chest? Are you even speaking a human language?
Everyone had question marks on their faces. After all, given the length of that blade, if it passed through one's chest, it would basically skewer the person to the ground.
"Ahem, since Miss Flandre wants to see, then I'll show off a bit and practice a set for you outside!" Red shook the image of a person skewered to the ground out of his head, picked up his weapon, and walked outside.
Then he swung the long blade. The white blade-light sliced through the air like a beautiful white crescent moon—beautiful yet deadly. However, Flandre didn't smile; instead, she asked loudly:
"Isn't your blade red? Flandre likes red!"
A smile tugged at the corner of Red's mouth. "I don't know where you heard about my Originium Arts, Miss Flandre, but you're right!"
In the next second, the snow-white blade turned crimson. The sound of it cutting through the air became sharper and more piercing. Flandre clapped her hands happily.
"Pretty, pretty! Just like the red moon. Sister will definitely love it!"
Ten or so seconds later, Red stopped his movements and looked at Flandre apologetically. "I'm sorry, my Originium Arts take a toll on my body, so I can't use them for long."
Flandre waved her hand magnanimously and said: "Brother Red, do you need an enchantment?"
"Enchantment?" Red asked, puzzled.
"Yes, I can add some special effects to your weapon so it stays red like that whenever you swing it. That way, others won't know whether you're using your Originium Arts or not."
After Flandre finished, everyone felt her idea was incredibly devious.
"That's possible?" Red was a bit stunned.
"Of course. Enchanting is very fast. Just give me your weapon for a moment, Brother." Flandre reached out her hand to Red.
Red didn't hesitate and handed over his weapon. "This long blade is quite heavy, be care—"
He originally wanted to say the weapon was heavy and tell Flandre to be careful. Instead, he saw Flandre fly up and, holding his long blade, perform a world-shocking set of wild, chaotic swings. Only after she was satisfied did she begin enchanting the long blade.
Since she was only changing the color, the enchantment was quick. The white blade turned dark red once finished. Flandre handed the blade back to Red. "Try it out! I want to see if the brightness is okay!"
Red nodded and swung the weapon again. After a few swings, his eyes narrowed. He activated his Originium Arts, and the blade-light instantly became much sharper, but the color trailing from the tip was identical to before. Flandre tilted her head back in satisfaction, wearing an expression that clearly said, "As expected, I'm a genius."
"Flandre, you even know enchantment magic?" Seeing that Flandre really gave Red's blade a red effect, Talulah was surprised and stunned.
"I can't do things that are too powerful, and I can't do anything related to water..." Flandre counted on her fingers.
"Then what can you do?" Talulah asked.
"I can give weapons all sorts of colors!" Flandre said proudly.
Speaking of color enchantments, this was a major specialty of Gensokyo. After all, everyone's Danmaku was different. To make their Danmaku more gorgeous than their opponents', they had researched these little spells to add color. This way, when Danmaku clashed, not everyone would be the same color, which would be neither dignified nor pretty. And truth be told, once Danmaku had various colors, the flashiness and aesthetic appeal of battles improved by several levels. For example, a certain foodie's pink butterflies dancing all over the sky.
So, if nothing else, no matter what color someone wanted to enchant their weapon—even neon rainbows—Flandre could pull it off. But besides that, Flandre could only do some basic things, like increasing attack speed slightly, or making a weapon a tiny bit lighter or heavier. After all, she was just an underage vampire. Even if she had learned a lot of knowledge, it was limited to knowing it in her head, not necessarily mastering it with her hands.
After hearing Flandre's explanation, a scene flashed through the group's minds: on a solemn, killing battlefield, the Reunion Movement members pulled out multi-colored weapons and charged at the enemy while shouting "Ura!"
..."The scene is too beautiful to look at." Everyone shuddered and abandoned that thought.
"Actually, you don't have to have colors. I can do special ones too. For example, making a weapon look like it's burning, but it's only looking like it's burning..." Flandre felt her "enchantment addiction" kicking in and wanted another prop to play with. Then, she set her sights on Talulah's longsword.
"Ta~lu~lah~ Big~ Sis~ter~" Flandre hugged Talulah's arm and acted spoiled.
"No way~~" Talulah gripped her beloved sword tightly, giving Flandre no opening.
"Look, Chen Huijie!" Flandre suddenly pointed to the side.
Talulah instinctively looked over, but there was nothing there. By the time she realized Flandre was tricking her, her sword was already in Flandre's hands. Flandre flew into the air and made a few gestures with the sword. This sword was a standard western sword. It could be used one-handed or two-handed.
"Don't!" Talulah wanted Flandre to save her some dignity. If she pulled out a weapon on the battlefield that was flashing and glowing with neon colors, let alone fighting, the enemy would probably die of laughter just seeing it.
"Don't worry, Big Sister Talulah, I'll make something amazing for you!" Flandre didn't have any good memories of excellent Western two-handed swords from her own past, but there were plenty of cool things in her other memories.
With a wave of her hand, Talulah's sword completely changed its appearance. The entire sword turned into a terrifying, chilling two-handed greatsword. The skull at the hilt gave off a feeling as if one's soul was being sucked away.
"Frostmourne. What do you think, Big Sister Talulah?" Flandre thrust the sword into the ground in front of Talulah. Talulah reached out to lift it and found that while it looked large, it was actually still her own sword; it was just covered in a layer of illusion. So it looked much larger. This would actually be quite useful for tricking people.
Talulah picked it up, looked at it, and said: "Why does this weapon look like something a villain would use? And the name isn't pleasant either—Frostmourne... Ursus's winters are already bitter enough; we don't need more sorrow."
Flandre scratched her head at Talulah's words, then had a sudden flash of inspiration. She gripped the sword again, and a few seconds later, it turned into a glittering, golden Sword of Kings.
"Excalibur, also known as Excalibah. This is also a sword of kings. It symbolizes that by holding this sword, eternal victory is attained. As the leader of the Reunion Movement, Big Sister Talulah, you can definitely use it!"
Flandre handed the sword to Talulah. Talulah held up the sword transformed into Excalibah, examined it carefully, and asked: "Why have I never heard of this weapon's existence in history?"