“…I’ll worry about this later.”
Enlike ignored the large tree and turned his eyes toward the Books stored in his surroundings. The Books of Acting Directors were piled on top of plain, stone-made shelves.
What was stored here belonged to the representatives of the Past Overseer. They were supposed to be humans at the very top of the world. It’s quite the dreary sight here, thought Enlike.
The biting cold was probably unavoidable, but the structure of the Archive was quite boorish, or rather rough. Not to mention the dark and heavy atmosphere. It seemed less like a cemetery meant to house the Books of great people and more like a prison confining criminals. Were they people who could not atone for their sins even after death? Enlike had this sort of impression.
It didn’t matter which Book he read as long as it was that of an Acting Director. For now he picked up the newest Book. It seemed to be the Book of the Acting Director five generations ago. He wasn’t able to find any Director after that.
“…!”
The moment he extended his fingers to the Book, Enlike reflexively turned around. He could feel some gaze coming from the large tree.
The tree was looking at him. He didn’t know anything about it, but that tree was undoubtedly a being with its own will.
It was looking at Enlike. It possessed neither hostility nor good will; it was merely staring.
“…Don’t be afraid!”
He encouraged himself and grabbed the Book with his bare hand. Enlike came to instantaneously know the life of the Acting Directors and everything about the secret they have been protecting.
He released the Book he had been holding. It made a small sound and fell to the floor.
“…!”
Fortunately it had not broken. With trembling hands, Enlike grabbed it again and returned it to the shelf.
“…This is… the truth…”
Enlike heard a voice from behind. His underclothes have frozen in the area of his back. Although it was a cold place and he had read the Book for merely an instant, Enlike emitted large amounts of cold sweat.
He realized Heaven’s identity.
He also understood the duty of the Armed Librarians.
He found out who Ruruta was as well. Enlike thought that as long as he knew that, it would be easy to destroy Heaven. Yet he now realized it was an empty assumption.
“…”
Step by step, Enlike slowly headed to the door. He felt as if a deadly attack would come flying at him from the tree behind, but it didn’t feel alive at all.
He exited the Second Sealed Archive and entered the Labyrinth. The Second Sealed Labyrinth, full of the strongest Guardian Beasts, now felt like a safe haven to him.
Enlike put his back to the door and sank down on the floor.
“That is… Heaven, Ruruta Coozancoona…”
He recalled the words he heard from Olivia.
“Save Ruruta Coozancoona from the depths of despair. That will destroy Heaven.”
“How can I do such a thing? Just how?”
For a while Enlike merely mumbled to himself repeatedly. Don’t be afraid, throw away your doubts. Destroy Heaven even at the price of your life. Even while he spoke this inside his mind, the repeated words never stopped.
“…How can I do it?”
When Enlike left the Archive and slipped through the Labyrinth, it was just in time to encounter the Armed Librarians at the end of the party. They didn’t seem to notice Enlike’s presence nor his infiltration to the Labyrinth. Olivia also seemed to be safe.
When he confirmed they were all peaceful, Enlike once again disappeared downtown.
Two weeks have passed since then.
He already threw away his fears from that day. No matter how strong Heaven was, did it matter? He was intending to sacrifice himself in the first place.
“Ho, a short time you say?”
Lascall Othello said. It was a rare, mocking tone.
“I already arrived at Heaven’s identity. All that’s left is granting the Violet Wish.”
Enlike said. But he was probably only acting tough. Just how difficult was fulfilling the Violet Wish? Now that he knew the truth he realized this.
“Fu, fufufufu.”
Lascall started laughing.
“Is that so? All that is left is to grant the Violet Wish. That is certainly quite close to victory.”
Don’t make it sound so bad, Enlike thought. Lascall was able to see through his bluff.
“Have you come to encourage me? Or just to ridicule me?”
“Of course, I am ridiculing you, Enlike-sama.”
Lascall said frankly. Enlike was surprised.
“Had Olivia-sama made a mistake in her choice? She was finally able to pass along the Violet Wish and a year has passed, but this is the current situation?”
These were wholly unexpected words. Enlike intended on approaching victory.
“No, there is no need for you to be bothered. It is too much for you anyway. Because destroying Heaven is impossible in the first place.”
“…It has only begun. The real deal starts now.”
Enlike said. This wasn’t a bluff. He will continue to fight as long as he was alive.
“No, that will not work, Enlike-sama.”
“What do you mean?”
“Unfortunately, you have not made it in time. Simply saying, it is past the deadline. Unfortunately, your battle will end today.”
He couldn’t understand her. Why has everything ended? Even if Hamyuts or Mattalast were to know of him, his battle wouldn’t be over yet.
Perhaps someone had destroyed Heaven before him? But he couldn’t feel any good news from Lascall’s tone of speech.
“…What are you saying?”
“I mean that quite literally. Olivia’s efforts, as well as your fight, were both useless hardships.”
“…Explain clearly. What do you mean?”
“Your long labor is over, good work.”
“Hey, explain!”
Ignoring Enlike, Lascall vanished.
He somehow felt that the situation had changed. It wasn’t something like an attack on the Library or a rebellion as Enlike expected.
He had the feeling that something much more serious and unthinkable was happening.
He stopped hesitating. Enlike jumped over the fence and entered the premises of the Library.
“…Is no one here?”
The place he landed at was a corner of the park. There was no way it would be empty. The moment he thought so, he could see a figure coming from afar.
Was that a child or a petite woman? She was sitting alone. He approached her thinking that perhaps she was a customer who sprained her leg. When he saw her face, Enlike was surprised.
It was the Armed Librarian Kyasariro Totona. What was she doing at such a place during this emergency?
“Hey, what’s wrong?!”
Her body jumped.
“W-who are you?”
He heard that she was quite powerful among the Armed Librarians. So what was with her behavior? She was surprised to the extent of jumping up in fear just at having Enlike speak to her.
“What are you doing here? More importantly, what’s going on inside?”
“…W-who are you?”
“That doesn’t matter. Anyway, what’s happening inside?”
While looking at Enlike, Kyasariro’s lips shivered.
“I… inside there…”
“What’s going on there?”
“Inside there…”
Kyasariro held her head. There was something inside the Library that made even a warrior of her caliber shake in fear. Enlike was convinced that whatever was going on inside the Library was something unimaginable.
Although she was now his enemy, she was an Armed Librarian he had fought along with. Enlike was worried about her.
“What is it, what happened?”
“No, nothing happened… it will all begin now…”
“
What are you saying?”
Kyasariro kept trembling all over while holding her head. Her mental condition was abnormal.
“Calm down, what’s going on? What are the Armed Librarians doing?!”
“Shut up!”
She brushed Enlike’s hand aside when he tried helping her get up.
“I dunno, I dunno! Who’re you?! What’s going on?!”
“Calm down, Kyasariro!”
“Shut up, just shut up!”
Shouting at Enlike, Kyasariro started running away. He grabbed her arm and tried to get her to calm down.
“Let go, it’s all over, we’re finished!”
“So as I’m asking, just what…?!”
Kyasariro shook off Enlike’s hand and ran. It would be faster just entering the Library than chasing her. Enlike headed to the main building.
The last words left by Kyasariro echoed inside Enlike’s head.
‘We’re finished!’
“…It can’t be.”
He noticed himself sweating unconsciously.
The worst case scenario rose to his mind. It was the most frightening situation he dared not to think of. The Library ending. Enlike’s fight ending.
That meant that…
“…It can’t be… that Ruruta Coozancoona has…”
The rest was far too scary to even voice. He stuffed it into the back of his throat and back to his stomach.
From the faraway roof of the beer hall, Lascall replied.
“That is indeed the case, Enlike-sama.”
It was still early. The long, long day has only began.
Chapter 2: The Collapse of Various Kinds of Common Sense
Part 1
The one to first notice the abnormal situation was the Armed Librarian Mattalast Ballory.
He came to know of it at the deepest parts of Bantorra Library’s underground, in the Second Sealed Labyrinth.
But let us put that aside for a while.
During the same time as Mattalast came to know of the abnormal situation something else happened in the Acting Director’s Office at the top of Bantorra Library.
An iron blade suddenly appeared in the air. There was nothing to warn of it. It appeared as if some movie’s special effect. The diamond-shaped blade was about three centimeters long. It had no handle or any decorations.
It moved as if sliding through the air and stabbed into Hamyuts’s desk. Then, along with a grinding sound it started carving letters atop the oaken surface.
After engraving a short sentence of two lines, the diamond blade completely vanished without a trace.
During that time Hamyuts was asleep on the sofa in the break room next to the office.
During the same time…
In the faraway capital of the Ismo Republic, an event also happened in the headquarters of the New Indulging God Cult led by Minth Chezine. On the second floor of the small building, a diamond-shaped blade appeared above Minth’s desk the same way.
It also carved letters and then disappeared.
There was no one in the headquarters during that time. Because of the time difference, it was midnight at Ismo. The False Men or other workers were not there, and Minth was resting in a room on the third floor.
Both Hamyuts and Minth kept sleeping without noticing anything.
After Mattalast, the next one to notice what happened were the new Armed Librarians Rizzly Kalon and Tena Tarno, as well as the veteran Luik Hartaine.
They were at the center of Bantorra Library – the back of the Sixth Sealed Archive, connected to the Sealed Labyrinth’s entrance.
“Hmm. Am I the first person today?”
Cracking his neck, Luik came down to the Labyrinth’s entrance. In one hand he carried the leftover applications for browsing Books. On his back was a huge spear made of steel that weighed over 100 kilograms.
“Well then, I wonder if today’s gonna be tough.”
Luik said and started some light flexing exercise in front of the door.
He was the biggest among the Armed Librarians. He weighed about as much as three average adult men and was tall enough to reach the ceiling of a normal house. Furthermore his body was covered by thick, black hair, so he seemed like a clothed beast carrying a spear. Just by slightly warming his body up, his fuzzy skin started raising some steam.
There was no excitement nor tension in his expression. Entering the Labyrinth was a mission that risked his life, but for him as a middle-class Armed Librarian, this was all in a day’s work.
“Tena went inside before.”
The new Armed Librarian Rizzly spoke to him from inside the telegraph room. He was a short boy who didn’t even reach Luik’s chest. With a slender body and a puppy-like face he didn’t look like an Armed Librarian at all. Only the rapier and small gun hanging from his waist made him seem like a warrior at all.
He had been stationed in the telegraph room since yesterday. His current job was to monitor any changes within the Labyrinth.
“Ooh, she got up early. Getting up early is good.”
“I hate it though… Ah, I’m so sleepy. When will Mirepoc-san come already…”
Rizzly said and yawned.
“Don’t complain about staying awake for a day or two. How weak.”
Saying so, Luik put a hand to the door.
“I’m fine being weak.”
Well then, shall I play with the Guardian Beasts today as well? Thinking this, Luik opened the door. At the other side was a wide staircase that went on for long, next leading to a space about as large as three tennis courts. From there were about twenty corridors all connected to the routes of the Fifth Labyrinth.
The moment he set foot inside, Luik was surprised.
“Oh, so sudden!”
Just before he had opened the door the Guardian Beast known as Cavalryman was already waiting for him. Even among the Guardian Beasts protecting the Fifth Layer, it was the weakest kind. It was still obviously a lot stronger than normal people, though.
“Are you fine?”
“Obviously.”
Luik stopped Cavalry’s spear with one hand and lifted him up. Just like that he threw him from the staircase into the hall. Cavalry, despite weighing over 500 pounds, started rolling down the staircase. Luik didn’t even need to use the large spear on his back.
“Recently the Guardian Beasts are also quite enthusiastic about their jobs. I want them to set an example to the Director.”
Saying so, Luik went to check whether he finished it off or not.
Guardian Beasts – the monsters protecting the Labyrinth Archive. Among those officially confirmed, they were the one and only kind of fantastic living creatures in the world. Fighting against them was the daily job of Armed Librarians.
But the Guardian Beasts were not the Armed Librarians’ enemies. They only existed to protect the sealed Books from any and all intruders.
The Guardian Beasts were protecting Bantorra Library ever since it was created 2000 years ago. They wandered around the Sealed Labyrinth, indiscriminately attacking every intruder they could find.
Those who could not win against them were not entitled to touching Books. Only warriors who could break through the Guardian Beasts were allowed to handle them. Meaning, just the Armed Librarians.
The deeper one went into the Labyrinth, the more important the Books sealed inside were. Accordingly, the Guardian Beasts also grew stronger.
If talking about the Guardian Beasts protecting the Fifth Level, those around the level of Cavalryman, Rhino, or Needle Wolf, then about several dozens of heavily armed normal humans would be able to beat them. The Fourth Level’s Elephant Soldier or Blade-Haired Lion could crush tanks and armored vehicles.
In the Third Level, even mid-class Armed Librarians would have to risk their lives. Trainees or intelligence agents had no chance of winning there. Reaching the Second Level, one would find Guardian Beasts equal in strength to Armed Librarians like Volken or Kyasariro.
It was probable that if all Guard
ian Beasts were to assemble they would be stronger than the entire Armed Librarian forces combined. They might even be able to rival all the armies of the world.
They were certainly strong enemies. However, recalling the fights they had against the Indulging God Cult, the Guardian Beasts almost seemed cute. They never got out of the Labyrinth. Neither would one encounter them above their determined level.
For the Armed Librarians, the Guardian Beasts were strong enemies but also their comrades at the same time. They helped the protection of Bantorra Library after all.
“Mm?”
The collapsed Cavalryman tried standing up again. From its reaction Luik could see it lacked the power to fight, but it seemed oddly tenacious. He was puzzled.
“Hmm, have I grown lax over the holidays?”
“Haven’t you been drinking too much at New Year’s? You’ve stuffed your belly too full.”
Rizzly mocked him.
“No way. I have abs of steel.”
Luik beat his fist on his stomach that was as hard as cement.
“There, there, what’s wrong? Are you excited?”
Cavalryman charged again. Luik spoke in a tone as if lulling it to sleep, and lightly knocked it down.
At that moment, Rizzly noticed something strange.
“Luik-san, another one’s coming.”
He raised his head and looked at the hall ahead. Now it was the Guardian Beast known as Rhino. It rushed up the staircase of the entrance, its footsteps echoing around.
It was a rare situation. There were not many Guardian Beasts in the shallow parts of the Sealed Labyrinth. They would fight more than one at the same time only about once a day. Furthermore, Luik had no memory of encountering that in the very entrance.
But at the time he didn’t think of this as abnormal. He simply considered it something unusual.
“I’ve been growing dull from sitting all day, lemme help you.”
Saying this, Rizzly drew his rapier this time. Although he was a novice he still had considerable fighting strength. He also displayed a belligerent expression not fit for his face.
“I don’t need ya.”
“Don’t be so reserved.”
“Hey, these are my prey.”
Luik voiced his dissatisfaction, but Rizzly prepared his rapier facing Rhino without listening to him. He looked like a man who would fight while dancing around magnificently, but it wasn’t so.
Tatakau Shisho - Volume 08 Page 4