Editing Tosho Meikyuu:Volume1 Chapter6 (section)

===◇◇◇231 Pages until Memory Loss===

"…Eh, a turn around this bookshelf, and straight ahead, and we should be reaching the ‘Library’…"

It is dozen or so minutes later. As she has declared, Erika released you from the stone, and you follow the map she left for you through dozens of Reading Rooms, towards the ‘Library’ with flowing water.

"…Muu…you, is that map truly trustworthy?"

"Yep, the handwriting on this map is the same as Father's, so I think it’s trustworthy. I pity you for getting your nose smashed by the archive door because of her magic.

"Mgh…hmph! That little girl and I have been at loggerheads since the beginning! She fired stone spears at me suddenly, and even pressed obscene lump of fleshes against my kin’s arm!"

"Calm down calm down, Arteria…ah, is that light the 'Library'?"

You answer the clearly grumpy Arteria, and a faint light appears in the dim Labyrinth. You approach with hastened steps, and the rectangular white light become increasingly wide—

Before it finally spread wide before your eyes.



"!…So this is a different ‘Library’ from the ‘Floating Peak Library’."

The red of the sunset etches upon your retinas the moment you step into the light. Slowly you open your eye lids, and your vision immediately broadens to depict countless trees and fountains floating upon the madder sky.

"So this too is a sky underground…the Library Labyrinth really is a mysterious place…"

"…Muu, there is a rather rich spring here…"

With the fiery red clouds as backdrop, countless grey disks float in this ‘Library’ sky.

The tops of the disks are decorated with lawns, fountains, and trees, and aerial staircases connected them, forming a maze in mid-air that leads beyond the sky.

"Ah, there’s a name on the entrance stone tablet…so it’s the ‘Sky Garden Library’?"

The ‘Sky Garden Library’ is one of the many different ‘libraries’ existing within the Library Labyrinth.

It is a beautiful maze of hanging gardens filled with trees, flowers, plants and animals unique to this place.

"…Now then, have we arrived at the rendezvous that little girl informed us of?"

"Yeah, the sunset is beautiful, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else to see…"

Both of you arrived obediently, but since the cure information is with Erika, you have you two have nothing to do. You can’t leave too far from the entrance given that you are to meet up with her, so it seems you have no choice but to spend some time here.

"Hmm, from what I've seen, it doesn't look like there are any dangerous plants or animals or anything like that…"

"It is unwise to go too deep inside…speaking of which, breaking memory block? It may be too late to ask now, but is that little girl really trustworthy?"

"Probably. It won’t be strange to find a way to dispel such magic in the Doctor Magna's Atelier, and I don’t think Erika would do anything to disobey Kai Okutsuki's wishes."

Yes, certainly. She may have tried to kill you once, but Erika probably will not tarnish Kai Okutsuki's name on her own volition. She probably will remain your ally as long as she does not defy your Father’s teachings.

"…And you almost got petrified because I didn't believe in you. So now, I rather try and believe rather than think about what I should do when I’m betrayed."

"M-Mugu…"

"Don't worry, I’ll definitely break this oblivions spell. Didn’t I promise you? No matter what difficulties arise, I’ll never forget that you saved me.

"Fumyu…! … H-Hmph, futile it is to fool me! A dolt like you surely says such things out of carelessness!"

"I'm not trying to fool you. I'm just saying whatever I promised."

"U-Ugggghhhh…I-I shall ignore you! Fail to abide, and I shall strangle you to death with your talisman gold chain, so be prepared!"

"Got it. I don’t want to die, so I'll remember it."

You give a little smile with your reply and look back at the sunset over the ‘Sky Garden Library’.

"Say Arteria, since Erika hasn't arrived yet, why don't we take a little walk around the ‘Library’? As long as we don't go too far from the entrance, a little break should be fine."

"…H-Hmph…no choice then. I shall go."

Arteria’s face remains turned away as she pinches the hem of your robe.



"…Ohhh, it's a big fountain!"

"Ohhh…it’s amazing. Is it bigger than the fountain in Alexandria city center?"

You scale the aerial staircase with the True Ancestor in tow and arrive at a disk with a large fountain.

A wall of bookshelves is formed around the perimeter of the circular rock formation, with a cobblestone pavement less than two meters wide and a water fountain about 30 meters in diameter.

"…The water is really clear too…where’s all this water coming from? "

"Hm hmm, humanity’s myopic logic is futile in this Library Labyrinth. It is no wonder that water wells up from nowhere, and no wonder that water flows towards nowhere."

"I don't know why you're so gleeful about this… speaking of which, it's a beautiful place, but not a single person has explored here."

"It seems this 'Library of the Empty Garden' has been explored a long time ago, and probably more dangerous than other 'Libraries'. Do you see the sea of clouds beneath when you climbed up to this disk? "

"Eh? I did, but what's so dangerous about those clouds?"

There’s only an endless sea of white clouds beneath this disk. You, born in the countryside, find this to be an inexplicably beautiful scene…

"…You. If you release a ping down, you will lean this 'Library' is bottomless. If you slip off a disk or a staircase, you will fall forever through the empty sky."

"Eh? I-I’ll keep falling? Forever?"

The view that you have leisurely enjoyed all this while suddenly seems frightening. As a Nosferatu, you will not die, but falling forever is almost no different from as death.

"And the Library, because of its peculiar nature, is often chosen as a battlefield."

"…I-If anyone aside from flying types pushed off the disks will die, it’s true that hardly anyone will want to come…yep, let's stay away from the edge."

You decide to stay as far away from the outer edge of the disk as possible. Removing your boots and socks, you roll up your pants and dip into the fountain. The clear water, only reaching your ankles, feel very refreshing, and it seems to melt away the accumulated fatigue from this Labyrinth search.

"Nnn, it feels so good! Will it be cooler if we go closer to the fountain?"

You murmur as you look at the membrane of flowing water spouting from the disk center. You can play with the water, but don't get me wet, or I'll use memory tampering on you to the point of murdering you socially, you know?

"Oyy~, what about you, Arteria? Aren't you tired of walking around Labyrinth too?"

"Muu…so it appears you are fine. "

You flail your arms, calling out to Arteria, who answers somewhat unhappily.

"Eh, what do you mean, fine?"

"…It is fine for you as half man, half vampire, but a vampire cannot wade through flowing water. This prime of I aside, as of now, I might drown immediately if I descend upon flowing water."

"Ah…I see, vampires really have a lot of troublesome weaknesses, huh?

"Hmph, I am a High Daylight Walker.  Even though we do have blood ties and immortality, I still remain a monster far different from you, the kin…go play in the water alone then."

"…Arteria…"

Despite the evening sun shining upon her, the face of High Daylight Walker seems a little forlorn. You cause a ripple, wade through the clear water, and walk over to Arteria.

"…You idiot. You're my True Ancestor, so can’t you just order me to ‘bring you over’? You can’t walk through flowing water, so can’t you just have this kin carry you? "

"You? W-Whoa? H-Hey, what are you doing?"

You put your hands around the waist of her crimson dress and lift the High Daylight Walker up in your arms. You then gently lower her body onto the stepping stones in the fountain.

"Hiii, flowing water!! You, do not ever let go of me here!"

"Ahaha, aren’t you too scared? There’s nothing to be scared about flowing water."

You say so while catching her flailing arms, and she, quivering due to her fear of water, latches her fingertips onto your fingers.

"…See, you're fine, aren't you?"

"F-Funyu…ugh, this is the despicable thing about you! You hold this hand of I without permission, wh-what shall you do if I drown?"

"How are you going to drown on a stepping stone? See, why don't you sit down and put your feet on it?"

"…T-Take the ‘storage book’ out…I do not wish to get this dress wet. Allow I to change."

"Yes, yes, as you wish, True Ancestor."

As Arteria murmur coldly, you smile and place the ‘storage book’ on the limestone stepping stone where she stands.

"…Li-Listen now. Close your eyes while keeping the cache-cœur dress, no? Do not open your eyes until I say it is fine, understood?"

"Yep, the clothes in the hood of my robe, right?"

Saying that, you close your eyes, and the hand holding yours leave you. ''Bop!'' You can hear the crimson dress, devoid of its physical support, sucked into the 'book’.

You spread the dress with your free hands, ready for the bat (Arteria) to fly in. ''Bop!'' Another sound can be heard, and the feeling of the fabric is removed from your fingertips.

"Hmm, Arteria, are you transformed back?"

You slowly open your eyes—only to see that Arteria is nowhere around.

"…Eh?"

''Thud!'' You heard something slam hard into the fountain beside you.

And the stream beneath your feet turns a bright blood red.

"…A-Arteria? O-Oy, where are you…?"

You look back at the source of the noise, the fountain in the center of the disk, and over there,

"!"

You see that behind the veil of blood, a vampire has both hands pierced by granite spears.


"A-Arteria!"

"Stay away from I!"

"Ugh!?"

You withdraw your outstretched hand from deep within the water, and a stone spear whisks by before your fingertips. The stone pillars rising from the floor intertwined to form a sturdy stone lattice encasing the vampire.

"Arteria! What’s with this cage, Arteria!!"

"'''Vampire'''—"

"!? Who is it?"

As soon as you turn around to look at the source of this voice, the flying stone spears pin your legs onto the floor. Enduring the pain arising from your femur, you barely force your both eyes open...

"'''Unable to cross the flowing water'''. Thus, the fountain of the ‘Sky Garden Library’ remain the sturdiest prison to cage a vampire.

You spot a golden demon with a grey grimoire in her hand.

"Wha…E-Erika!!? What’s going on here!?"

You howl at Erika as she slowly ascends the stairs.

"You said you’ll continue to carry on Father's legacy…but is this what Kai Okutsuki's disciples do!?  Why did you ambush us by surprise?"

"…I have no choice but to do this in order to tell you the truth."

"Truth? I’d like to meet the person who can chat nonchalantly after getting speared in the legs!"

"I wish that you’ll notice why I aimed at your legs. If I really intended to kill you from the start, I would have pierced both hands like that True Ancestor to stop you from pulling out the grimoire."

"You think you can pierce someone's leg if you don't intend to kill them?"

You feel your blood boil with anger. Having cleared the misunderstanding that she’s your Father’s enemy, you assumed that she’s no longer a murderer, and that you’ll be able to build a bond as comrades. …

"…But you betray me. Are we going to be murderer and vampire again…! Enough, Arteria, destroy the base of the fountain! That should eliminate the curtain of water!"

"It's useless. The True Ancestor’s arm strength now is about the same as that of a young girl, same as her appearance. As long as she’s far from the '''source of blood knowledge''', she'll be nothing more than a helpless monster, incapable of using 'Silver Night' or instantaneous chanting."

"What…what did you do to Arteria?"

"…Okutsuki-San, you haven't been told anything, have you?"

"! You're the one who didn't tell me anything. Why are you doing this?"

"—The True Ancestor's memory only lasts three minutes and twenty-six seconds."

"Huh?"

Erika's words seemingly interrupt your interrogation, and you gasp in disbelief.

(…A-Arteria's memory '''only lasts three minutes and twenty-six seconds'''?)

"Wh-What are you talking about, you…!"

"The spell of oblivion etched upon the True Ancestor resets her memory every three minutes and twenty-six seconds. That same curse is affecting you become you received a transfusion of immortal blood."

"Reset her memory…"

Your rage towards Erika gradually dissipates into inner turmoil.

The ‘Curse of Oblivion’ robs the victim of its memories. Such is the prison binding your thoughts, one unique only to you, and supposedly unrelated to the High Daylight Walker.

How could Arteria's memory last only three minutes and twenty-six seconds—

You have never heard of this before.



"…T-That’s a lie! There’s no way you could have known such important information when we just met two days ago!"

"…Unfortunately, I’m not lying. If you doubt me, I have proof. I can read it to you if you like."

Completely ignoring your bewilderment, Erika pulls out a stack of papers from the grimoire in her hand. You reach over your right shoulder, thinking it’s an offensive ‘book’.



"May 7, year 643 of the Labyrinth. ‘Strategy draft to defeat the Demon King Arteria’, by '''Kai Okutsuki'''."

But the dozens of sheets of paper are nothing more than a report.


"!!?"

"‘Symptoms associated with vampirism: Observations and countermeasures’, written by Kai Okutsuki. ‘Herbal Clinical Trials for Mutation (Altered Shock) Alleviation’, written by Kai Okutsuki. ‘Historical Records of Martyrs seemingly caused by the Demon King Arteria’, written by Kai Okutsuki. ‘Nosferatu Sealing Experiment with Timed Oblivion Spells’, written by Kai Okutsuki. ‘Fourth Simulation of Costs of Battle to Defeat the Vampire’, written by Kai Okutsuki. ‘Second Report of Vampire De-vampirization Experiment’, written by Kai Okutsuki."



"Wh…what!? ''''Written by Kai Okutsuki''''…!?"

As you ask with a trembling voice, Erika stops flipping the pages and replies in a cold voice.



"All of these documents were found by me in Teacher Okutsuki's Atelier."



It was Kai Okutsuki, Doctor Magna of the ‘Apothecary’, who wrote the documents.



"…That’s, a lie!"

"I'm going to state this very clearly. You aren’t a vampire, and you still have a chance of becoming human again, and you don’t need ‘a book to store your memories’."

No, surely her words must be false. All the facts Erika denied are the most fundamental information given to drive your actions.

If everything was a lie, your 306 pages would all be lies.

"Your reaction just now convinced me…Okutsuki-san. You were fooled by the True Ancestor."

"…I’m not…! I definitely won’t!!"

Instead of replying, Erika closes the grimoire in her hand and puts it back into the crack of the shoulder mail. She probably is trying to state that she has no intention to continue hurting you.

"Okutsuki-san, are you sure you aren’t misunderstanding something?"

Her ultramarine eyes filled with pity, Erika continues. Her voice sounds too gentle for someone who intends to kill you—and you feel that there is a fatal mistake happening soon.

"For example, if a vampire bites you, you become a vampire, and if you become a vampire, you can’t become human again. Or that you’re doomed if you don't find the book to ‘save your memories’."

"!?"

"Did you have such '''misconceptions'''?"

"W-What, nonsense…!"

The words Erika say are simply incomprehensible nonsense.

Everything she is saying defies the information you know. It should be Erika who misunderstood, not you…

"—Misled by the dying High Daylight Walker over there."

The only thing that remains decisively correct is that Arteria is the source of the information.

"I'm going to state this very clearly. You aren’t a vampire, and you still have a chance of becoming human again, and you don’t need ‘a book to store your memories’."

"…No, that’s a lie…!"

"Again, I’m not lying. Have you ever read Bram Stoker’s book? It's an old document with some obsolete ideas, but it really is an imperative vampire countermeasures book that’s extremely useful against the ‘Venerable Immortal King (High Daylight Walker)’ over there."

"! Bram Stoker, the excavator of the vampire story that chronicles the exploits of Lord Van Helsing…"

"Yes. There has been an increasing number of low level vampires (Lesser Bloods), and vampires capable of ‘vampirizing any bloodsucking victim’, but they are different in nature from the High Daylight Walker’."

"!? You mean that I can’t be vampirzed even if the High Daylight Walker sucks my blood…!?"

Erika affirms your statement and continues her lecture on the ‘Orthodox Classic Vampire (High Daylight Walker)’.

"Those who have mixed blood with a vampire will mutate into a state known as 'bloodsucker’s sacrifice'. While their skins are scorched by sacramental bred’, they can still function as human lives, and merely be fatigued by exposure to sunlight instead of death. Basically, like Mina Harker in Stoker's story, '''or you now'''."

"…So you're saying I'm not a vampire yet, but a 'bloodsucker’s sacrifice'?"

"Yes. The moment a human becomes a vampire is the true moment of anatomical death. Humans are the living, and the vampires are the dead. For a human being (living) to become a vampire (dead), there must be a rite of passage called death."

"…No, that doesn't explain my regenerative powers! I was tortured so badly by you! I can’t be living like this if I’m still human!"

It pains you to say this, but this truly doesn’t make sense. You would be long dead if you’re merely a ‘bloodsucker’s sacrifice’ given that you were ‘tortured to death’.

"That’s why you’re ‘dying’. Not ‘already dead’, but in the progressive verb form—You’re not ‘dead’, but ‘dying’."

"Not a static verb…but a progressive verb…?"

"In other words, your humanity rate is slowly dropping. It dropped to 70% after your battle against me, and the vampire nature fills up 30%. You’re slowing dying (becoming a vampire)."

"Slowly, dying(vampire)…"

Erika’s words seem a little difficult to understand, but this is what she means,

1. You are a '''human''' on the verge of dying, slowly dying.

2. The process of death is called a 'bloodsucker's sacrifice'. Once this is over, you are truly dead (a vampire).


"…Typically, vampirification usually progresses when there is blood loss. If you are involved in a fight and injured, the remaining 70% humanity you have may continue to be reduced. This is why I had to restrain you to begin with."

"…Then, what do you mean that ‘I have a chance to become human again’…!"

"Yes, even as a bloodsucker’s sacrifice, you are a living person (human), albeit a bloodsucker's sacrifice. You can revert to being a normal human being again as long as the vampire elements in your blood are removed."

It’s hard to believe at first, but if this is true, that’s fortunate for you. You have assumed that you’re dead, a monster unable to return to the light of day again, but you were still human.

(…Is she saying that… I can still be human again?)

"How about it? Has that True Ancestor that’s dying over there told you anything about this?"

"!! That's …!"

There was a gaze affected by these words—Arteria is biting her lips in silence.

"…Y-You…I-I…!

"…How could she have told you? You’re a loyal slave to the True Ancestor, and emergency food. A True Ancestor would never do such a foolish thing as giving knowledge to livestock."

"…Those words make sense. But I don’t think Arteria’s lying to me. After all, Arteria saved me! Even if what you say is true, the fact remains that Arteria saved me!!"

"Are you going to believe the High Daylight Walker?…I know the Japanese value loyalty as a virtue, but until decades ago, the True Ancestor has been a monster that terrorizing mankind for five centuries."

"No! She, Arteria, she’s my…!"

"I’m not wrong. The 'Silver Night' of Library Labyrinth, the Talent Eater Arteria is—



The demon king who killed over 100,000 people."



"!!?"

The demon. King. Who killed. Over 100,000 people.

For a moment, you can’t comprehend these words.

(Arteria…killed people?)

"You called me a murderer, but the Mad King has killed more.

(The … demon king who has killed over 100,000 people, you say?)

You try very hard to understand what Erika said, so—

"That’s why the four major powers that vying for supremacy in the Library City Alexandria, the ‘Kathédra’, ‘Knights (Order)’, ‘Apothecary’, and ‘Workshop (Atrium)’ banded together under the banner of defeating the Demon Lord—and fought a war against the vampire under Kai Okutsuki's leadership."

"What…!!?"

The name ‘Kai Okutsuki’ declared to you causes your heart to be shaken to the core.

[[Image:ToMei_v1 Illustration 10.jpg|thumb]]

"You’re saying that Father…Kai Okutsuki was trying to defeat the Demon King (Arteria)?"

"It's true. The murders by the 'Silver Night' are so many that they can be found all over the Labyrinth's historical documents. If you count them all, the number of victims could be in the hundreds of thousands."

Erika reads your Father's manuscript and reveals the cruel truth to you.

The 'Silver Night' of the Library Labyrinth, the talent eater Arteria, was once Kai Okutsuki’s enemy.

(…So, I was protecting a magical criminal…Father’s enemy?)

"Teacher was the most instrumental person in leading the ‘Apothecary’, the four major powers against the demon king. If he survived, he probably would be respected by all of Alexandria."

(Am I supposed to be on the side that should destroy Arteria?)

"Now then, do you still believe in the demon king? Do you believe in you Father’s enemy that has deceived you—the vilest in the history of the Labyrinth, the vampire, the talent eater Arteria?"

 (Was I…Was I, really deceived by Arteria?)

"…Arteria, is what she said…true…?"

"…I-I…!!!"

"It's useless. More than a decade ago, the monster was sealed in a cage of oblivion in the guilds war against the vampire involving the main forces of ‘Kathédra’, ‘Order’, ‘Apothecary’ and ‘Atrium’. She suffers from the '''memory binding spell''' of the most outstanding Doctor Magna of the ‘Apothecary’—Kai Okutsuki."

Yes. If Erika's words are true, Arteria's memory would last only three minutes and 26 seconds.

Even if you asked her the truth, she won’t be able to answer.

"The demon king was supposedly destroyed. The price being thousands of skilled explorers."

"…But she wasn’t destroyed…because a ‘memory preservation book’ exists in the Labyrinth."

"Yes. The demon king who lost all the power she once had and becomes as weak as a girl was killed over and over again by monsters, traps, grimoires, and the prison of oblivion—yet against Teacher's expectations, she obtained the ‘book’."

You never actually witnessed it personally, but the True Ancestor’s (Arteria) hell keeps flashing in your mind. She, reduced to the status of a little girl, she continued to search for the "book", relying on her only remaining immortality.

Killed and forgotten and revived, killed and forgotten and revived—only the revenge against humanity forms the pillar of support for her heart.

"And that 'book' is the key to correcting your third misconception. Okutsuki-san, you’re looking for a ‘memory preservation book’ because your memory will disappear in eight hours, right?"

"…Yeah. My memory only lasts for eight hours and one thousand pages…"

"You definitely need the ‘book’. Regarding the Curse of Oblivion which the vampire infected her kin with, it appears the information to break it is '''strangely flawed''', as though it’s removed later on. But there’s no need for you to search the Labyrinth for the 'book'."

Erika lifts her right arm and points her slender finger towards Arteria.

"Because, you see, the Demon king there has it—



'''Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth'''."



— ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’.

It is the origin of this ‘Last Prayer’, the original copy of the ‘memory preservation book’.

The High Daylight Walker, sealed into a cage of oblivion by the magic of Doctor Magna, crawled through the darkness of the Labyrinth, dyed in rage and hatred, and after endless deaths and revivals, she obtained this—a rank A Grimoire.



"The memory of the Demon King disappears every three minutes and 26 seconds. You simply need to remove the original and keep the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ for three minutes and 26 seconds. That can destroy the demon king, and you’ll have the ‘memory preservation book’.

This really is the perfect solution to save both humanity and yourself.

(…Arteria’s memory is cursed. Just as I lose all my memories if I stay away from the ‘book ‘for eight hours…)

Arteria will forget everything if she stays away from the book for three minutes and 26 seconds.

(She’ll forget about the Vampire Tale’, forget about me, and also forget about who she is…)

And she shall be forever imprisoned in the cage of oblivion.

"…The demon king is truly the strongest monster capable of threatening the existence of the human race. She must be killed."

(I may still be human…in that case, the demon king Arteria would be an enemy of mine, a human.)

You can feel an ache in your left chest.

"And… you don't have much memory left, do you? Even if you do spend all your remaining time (pages) searching the Labyrinth, there’s no guarantee that you’ll find the 'book', no?"

Within your heart, which can’t feel pain with a knife stab—

(…Erika's right. I only have 209 pages of memory left.

"Even the Class A grimoire, the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, can be yours."

For every word Erika says, you can feel a sharp pain, wailing violently.

(…A Class A original should be more than enough to cure my psychological trauma.)

"Now, kill the demon king."

Just when you’re about to make the right decision—

(If I abandon Arteria…all my problems will be solved.)

"The talent eater Arteria, the High Daylight Walker, can only live by stealing."

(Then, it’s fine if I kill Arteria, right?)

Another ache.

You imagine yourself killing Arteria, the sight of forgetting her.

"…I’m sorry, Arteria."

You clench your fists tightly and murmur.


"…!"

Arteria's body jolts when she hears your voice.

The strongest vampire of the Labyrinth gives a resolved smile in her tear-filled crimson eyes and says,

"Th-This is fine…I knew this ending would come anyway."

The smile of deceit seems to be cloaked in penitence, sorrow, regret, and utmost foolhardiness.

"…After all, A vampire am I. A magic criminal who killed hundreds of thousands…no, furthermore, I have deceived you until now…"

Trembling with fear of death, Arteria still tries hard to hide her tears.

"…I am sorry for lying to you."

As you see the crimson eyes close, with tears sliding down her cheeks—



"—Please forgive me for being the worst, for momentarily thinking about killing you just to save myself."



You grip hard at the stone spears stabbed into your thighs with enough strength to shatter them.

"Wha…!?"

"Y-You …?"

(…Now I understand. Why does it hurt so much to think of killing Arteria?)

"My bad, but I can't kill her. I’m not ready for that."

You pull out the hexagonal granite pillar with all your might.

"Ah… what are you doing!? If your femoral arteries bleeds out, that’ll endanger the remaining 70% of your humanity! "

"Yes, you still have a chance to become human! And I have deceived you till now!"

"I don't care. How can I remain silent while my savior (you) remains crucified and my legs still pierced?"

''Snap.'' The spear tip stuck into the fountain base breaks off.

"O-Okutsuki-san, didn’t you hear what I said? The demon king there is Teacher Okutsuki’s enemy! She’s the biggest magical criminal in history who has killed over 100,000 people!"

"Even so, she’s my savior. If Arteria hadn't saved me, I would have become one of those abandoned corpses at the bottom of that dank Labyrinth!"

(I want to protect Arteria, and I don't want to forget Arteria—)

"Arteria reached out to me. Whether it’s in the dormitory, the classroom, the balcony, the Library Labyrinth, she was always by my side! She’s my savior!!"

(—It's definitely because I'm beginning to like Arteria.)

You pull the spear out from your thighs, and the wounds instantly regenerate, with a large amount of blood smoke hissing away.

"…The True Ancestor Arteria may use to be evil. If it weren't for the True Ancestor, maybe nobody would have died in the war against the vampire, and I wouldn’t be killed."

"I-If you know that, then why are you doing this…why are you disobeying Teacher Okutsuki's will?"

"Even then!"

You throw aside the bloodied spear and refute Erika head on.

"Even then, Father won’t kill of an enemy just to solve all problems. The Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki was a human who believed in and tried to save even his enemies!"

Yes. Your Father never gave up trying to offer salvation and forgiveness to any sinner. People called him ‘Doctor Magna’ not because of his brilliant magic, not because of his profound knowledge, but because he kept trying to show people the right way.

"The ‘definition of gratitude’ Father taught me is definitely not to kill my savior who’s once evil! If Arteria once sinned and has strayed away—I’ll bring her back to daylight, even if it costs me my life!"

"Why don't you understand? You're just being used by the demon king! She's just taking advantage of your naiveté and lack of resolve to use you as a shield!"

"Is this ‘resolve’ you speak of just to lock your savior in a prison of 3 and a half minutes and be free alone? No! I don’t want that! Even if I can forget everything after eight hours, I'm sure I'd kill myself if I can’t endure those eight hours!"

"…Okutsuki-san, you…!"

"Yeah! You're right, I don’t have this ‘resolve’ at all. I don’t have a resolve to kill anyone in my life…but!"

You reach for the shoulder, pull out a 'book' and pencil, and scream.

"—I resolved to never let anyone die!!"

Yes, that's what you swore. On October 16th, five years ago, you made a vow to your powerless self after witnessing your injured Father right beside you.

You swore to yourself that you would become the one who could save others—the Doctor Magna

"Come on, Erika Austral, if you're going to kill her—"

You etch the following oath in your memory.


'''"I will save Arteria." —1ℓ'''


"I’ll protect Arteria even if it costs me all my memories!!"



"…I too am resolved to do so. I’m willing to fight to stop you."

Erika shoves the documents into the ‘storage book’, pulls out a grimoire, and readies herself for chanting.

"Surrender, Okutsuki-san! Or I'll stab you through your limbs just to stop you!!" 

''Vroom!'' The grimoire roars. Lots of refined Mana glow faintly around the Magitzkveins flowing within her body. The magic’s coming at this rate!

('Book', lend me strength! What memories do I need to write to protect Arteria!?)

Due to the water at your feet, both you and Arteria’s movements will be hindered. Please write an experience in shallow water combat while keeping your distance. Combine that with improved evasive maneuvers, and avoid bleeding!

(Understood! — '''‘I am trained to fight in running water’ ─ 80 pgs'''.)

"I’m not letting Teacher Okutsuki's son…I’m not letting you be handed over to the demon king! I’m taking the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ and save you from the cage of oblivion! Execute, Stone Serpent Fang!"

The moment the lead pencil finishes the sentence, the water around Erika splatter, and countless stone spears are shot out. She, having pretended to have kept her grimoire, has already deftly loaded a continuous spell without you noticing!"

"I don't want to solve things like that! I was saved by Arteria! If she’s guilty, I’ll atone for it with her!"

On the water surface, you dodge the hail of spears gliding through the sky with fluid movements. The memories that flow into your brain have improved your ability to fight in a watery field.

"!…Are you are seriously trying to win against me! The blood loss from your legs earlier should have reduced your humanity by at least ten percent! You’ll trigger Altered Shock and die, you know!?"

"Altered Shock! Arteria, what is Altered Shock!?"

"Eh…ah…stop, stop it, you! If you lose any more blood, your vampirization shall accelerate! This will trigger autoimmune allergies that will kill your spirit (heart)!"

"Ah yeah…when I lost blood just now, you mentioned something about Altered Shock!"

As a bloodsucker's sacrifice, you are essentially a being that continues to die slowly. However, when you bleed heavily due to trauma and various reasons, your missing humanity shall be replaced by vampirism. At this moment, the allergy the body has towards the incoming vampirism is Altered Shock, the onset of which is synonymous with madness and death.

"If you get it, then just give up! On, number two!

"! A Multichant!?"

Erika's chant shakes the atmosphere, alerting you to the second spell.

A vampire's immortality is strong against amputation and bruising, but weak against attacks where foreign object penetrates the body, like stakes. Even a single blow will reduce your mobility and ensure your defeat.

(If I take a fatal blow, I’ll go crazy and die. Even if I avoid the vitals from getting hurt, I’ll lose my edge if I slow down…! I can only dodge with all I can until I get the opportunity to counter!)

Intending to focus on evading, you stuff the ‘book’ into your shoulder mail, and posture yourself.

Then, in an attempt to speed up, you step firmly onto the water bed.

"If you’re going to try and dodge—I’ll stop you!!"

You see the water flow around Erika crack away, ''creek'' and it freezes.

"What!?"

You instinctively jump up from the water, and the large water columns rising up immediately freeze in place. The 30-meter displacement area between you and Erika instantly freezes.

"Th-The water, froze!?"

"You dodged!? You’re not getting away though!!"

"Ugh, I’ll dodge!"

The magical theory knowledge written into your memory cause you to evade instinctively. Then, the glacier beneath Erika's feet shoots reaches towards the body of water where you are about to land.

You twist your entire body, letting Nosferatu's physical capabilities take over, and try to kick off the frozen surface. The ice however instantly melts back into water, and with a crack, it tangles around your ankles.

"Freeze!"

"Gahh!! M-My leg!?"

Your right leg is trapped by the refrozen water current, and you crouch down, having lost your balance.

"Got you! You can't escape the vines of icy water binding you now!"

 (I-Impossible! There’s no way to freeze or melt such a large amount of water with no chant or ‘book’ or ‘subvein’!!)

"'Damnit, I’ll just smash the ice…I can’t!?"

You try to force your way out, but the glaciers stubbornly bind you. You have lost your blood and humanity, and now that you are inching closer to being a vampire, you should be able to smash through the ice wall easily...

(…No, this isn’t right! My magical theory knowledge written in my memory says this isn’t frozen water, but …!)

"—'''Petrified water'''!!?"

"This is the ‘Cursed Blood Ability’ (Badblood)! The ‘demon blood’ that flows through my body can selectively petrify any liquid that contains even a drop of blood!"

"! The A blood petrification using the Badblood!?"

"Seizing the terrain advantage is a fundamental in war tactics! Now, let's go!"

"Ugh, ‘Origami paper’! Become a wall!"

Seeing Erika's grimoire shine, you hastily throw out the ‘Origami paper’. A bag of dirt instantly open itself to form a wall and take the rain of stone spears.

"I already know that defense! O primordial spirit that lies within the depths of the earth!"

(!!! This chant is the ‘Ancient King's Warhammer’! Is she going to crush me against the wall!?)

This is a critical situation. Even though you have the ‘Last Prayer’, there is a several-fold difference in magical combat ability between you, who can’t lose any more blood due to Altered Shock, and Erika, who is at her full strength.

Your opponent has dual veins and is a strong opponent who may have mastered vampire countermeasures from you Father's manuscripts. Furthermore, she knows your strategy from yesterday's battle, and a strategy that relies on surprise no longer works.

In order to protect Arteria, you require a ‘power’ that surpasses Erika's magic.

"Hear the earth tremor!"

(‘Power’, you say!? Where am I supposed to get the power to defeat her magic?)

The only thing you have over Erika is this ‘Last Prayer’ and your love for Arteria. There has only been one memory that brings you ‘power’ to begin with.


'''"By thinking of Arteria, you can surpass your physical limits and become stronger." '''— 1ℓ


(Wait, I thought you can’t do that!? You said you can only tamper with my memories, and that those you can’t change has to be changed physically or something!?)

No, only you can.

For you were once saved by the 'Silver Night' of the Library Labyrinth, the talent eater Arteria.

"Strike steel with hammer, shatter rock with gravel…"

Please recall. You are neither human nor vampire, you are a ‘halfpire’.

You possess the immortality and blood perception of a non-human, but also life and blood of a non-vampire. You are a ‘half-vampire, half-human’, neither belonging to the day nor night, just like the twilight.

"Hand of the old blacksmith!"

Your thoughts for Arteria drive your body just beyond its physical limits. It is a slight difference however, unable to overturn the several-fold difference in fighting strength and defeat Erika.

However, your Blood perception can be multiplied—'''by sucking away your own improvement.'''


"Execute!"


Now then, Sōshi Okutsuki-san.

Suck your blood.

"Ancient King's Warhammer!!"

(Blood—sucking!!)

The moment Erika completes her chant, the water surface before you explode.

The rocks that arise cause water spouts as they surge forth rapidly, about to annihilate your bones—


''Swoosh.''

The moment your canine teeth tear through your left arm skin, everything else seem to have stopped still.


(…It, stopped? )

Sounds disappear from the world. Your entire field of vision became dark as night, and the cold sweat running down your back feel like icy grains of lead pressing upon your skin.

(What is, this…? Are these dying lights!? Everything in this world…feels so slow!)

No, you are getting '''faster'''.

The Ancient King's Warhammer, a middle-level spell of matter formation, is approaching. Please hit the center of the rock as hard as you can to destroy Erika's magic. Now, hurry!

"…Haaaaah!"

You feel alone, left behind in this decelerating world as you move at your original speed. You swing a powerful fist out, smashing the protruding solid rock pulse like a sugar candy.

"Wha…?"

In this delayed world, Erika slowly makes a startled expression.

(Is this…some near-death experience? Did the bleeding just now cause an Altered Shock!?)

Certainly everything has to be explained correctly, lest this cause some foolish misunderstanding like yours to arise.

As you may have forgotten, you are a kin of the Labyrinth's most powerful vampire, the ‘talent eater’.

You are still 60% human, and are by far the inferior vampire, but you still possess the same nature and ability level as Arteria.

The ability of the target whose blood is sucked—or to be precise, the ability to multiply the difference in power between oneself and the target.

(…Eh?…Do you mean this decelerated world is your—)

It is '''our''' ability. The power of the ‘book' (Me)'s power can’t physically tamper, and only improve your physical abilities by a small fraction, a few tens of thousandths…

(… If I can use my blood memories to just improve these abilities slightly …!)

Ultimately, you can amplify your abilities by at least ten times or so. This is called a synergy effect.

"Memory tampering, and self-sucking…so this is the ‘power’ given to me!!"

You exert all your strength, and cracks slowly appear on the frozen water surface.

‘Selective blood petrification’. Those that inherit the bloodline of the stone demon—the ‘Badblood’, are powerful, even natural enemies against a vampire.

But with regards to this cursed bloodline, it applies for you as well. As a half-vampire, half-human, a halfpire, you inherit the blood perception of the talent eater, and have powerful trump cards that even the True Ancestor does not have.

The ability acquisition through memory tampering, and—

The ‘power’ to amplify your abilities exponentially by sucking your own blood.

"Y-You destroyed the Ancient King's Warhammer without a chant…! Okutsuki-San! Have you transformed into a vampire and become capable of using the same chantless magic as the Demon King!?"

"…This isn’t magic. I just believe in Arteria!"

The moment you utter your feelings for Arteria, your thought speed accelerates even faster. The strength of your determination to believe in that vampire transcends your physical limits, granting you ‘power’!

You exert all your strength into your legs and stomp the water bed. ''Thomp!'' A violent shock shakes the disk, and you shatter the ice block, running towards Erika.

"Ku! No, stay away…!"

In the center of your decelerating vision, Erika slowly cries out as she imbues Mana into the continuous spell. The grimoire responding to the caster’s will, forming a torrential downpour of stone spears.

(I’ll protect Arteria!!!)

But before you, who have transcended physical limits, the rain of spears is practically still. You snatch one floating stone spear floating.

(It’s hard to evade this barrage…so I’ll just smash through them with this stone spear!)

You raise your right arm and swing it hard at a space next to Erika. The stone spear you release cause a shockwave that blows away the hail of spears, hitting the barrier and shattering it with a single blow.

"!? K-Kyaaa…!?"

(And then…I’ll jump into this open wind tunnel!!!)

Your physical ability has increased more than tenfold, and so you can immediately cover a distance of fewer than 20 meters within a single leap. In an instant, you have closed the gap and land next to Erika, grabbing her arm.

Then, with the gentle strength of pulling a friend by the hand, you pulled her body toward you.

"Stop it already, Erika!"

''Sploosh!'' With a huge splash, Erika's body sinks into the water.



"Pwahh! Ack! Ack!"

Erika, who’s momentarily knocked into the water, coughs out water in confusion. You, certain of your victory, helped her up so she wouldn't drown."

"Cough, haa, haa…O-Okutsuki-san, please come to your senses…!"

"You already know I'm sane. If I am brainwashed by Arteria and need to be stopped even if it kills me, you would be chanting the ‘Petrifying Stone fang’ instead of the Ancient King's Warhammer."

Yes, Erika has been chanting the ‘Ancient King's Warhammer’ that only attacks using the stone disk, instead of the ‘All Petrifying Poison Fang’ which is a trump card against vampires.

Even if your physical abilities are enhanced to their limits, the poisonous black stakes petrify on contact, and are impossible to defend against without the use of your Father's talisman.

"You didn't really give go all out, and that’s why you lost easily…doesn’t that mean that you’re also somewhat hesitant about killing Arteria?"

'T-That's, but…Kya!"

Erika turns her face aside, but you violently pull it back, trying to coax her.

"Then don't kill. If we only try to solve the problem by killing, we become 'evil' no different from the ‘scenario writer’…I’m sure Father definitely doesn’t want that."

"E-Even so, it’s true that Teacher Okutsuki and the demon king were once enemies!"

"I know, but I want to believe in Arteria for saving me."

With that, you let go of Erika, and slowly turn towards the center of the water fountain.

You look at the High Daylight Walker, crucified at the base of the fountain.

"…Arteria."

"!…Y-You! Do not come near…!"

The vampire's voice comes through the shimmering curtain of water, stopping you from approaching. She may be feeling guilty for not telling you about her past.

"Don't be stupid, you're badly injured. You probably can’t even regenerate your body without sucking my blood and absorbing my natural healing powers…don’t worry about the past. Even if what Erika said is true, the demon king (you) who killed a decade ago is different from the True Ancestor (you) who saved me."

"…This natural healing is not the issue. The Curse of Oblivion that personally binds I shall reset ‘this existence called Arteria’ every three minutes and twenty-six seconds. The wounds I have received, the blood I have spilled, and the sins of a demon king (I) unbeknownst to a True Ancestor (I), they will all be forgotten."

The High Daylight Walker, bound by the stone block tentacles, slowly looks up. Through an intermittent veil of crystal clear water, your eyes meet the crimson red eyes.

"…Arteria, you…"

"…I do not wish to know. I fear the past. With the Curse of Oblivion cast upon me by the Doctor Magna as an excuse, I continued to flee from my own sins."

Arteria gently looks back at you, seemingly fending off her fears. The shimmering red eyes have a glint of resolve, ready to seek her past.

"And this is the moment, the one where I shall face my own past. The memories of the demon king (I), which the True Ancestor (I) does not know, are recorded in this ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’."



—''Thump'', a familiar sound.

The High Daylight Walker Arteria has presented you with ‘her own memories’.



A ‘book’ floats by itself through transcendent magic, rejecting gravity.

The leather cover of the grimoire, dyed an elegant deep purple and ornamented with inlaid jewellery, has its name inscribed with beautiful letters written in pressurized silver foil.

It is the ‘book that solves memory loss’ you seek, and the ‘past of the True Ancestor Arteria’, and may possibly contain ‘the truth of five years ago’.



"So, please, I wish of you to read this 'book'."

The ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ emerges from the shadows of the High Daylight Walker.



"The original ‘Book of Preserved Memories’!"

"…You. Since you are willing to believe I, I too shall believe in you. Even if in this past I do not know of, cursed by the spell of Kai Okutsuki, and that I am an enemy of mankind who must be destroyed."

Floating in mid-air, as if responding to its owner's will, the ‘Vampire Tales’ glides quietly through the void and stops before you.

"I shall believe that you will grant this Arteria a just judgement."

She has granted the memories recorded in that ‘book’ to be read by you, who believe in her.

"…Yeah, I understand."

You mutter quietly, realising Arteria's thoughts.

The High Daylight Walker was once cursed by the Doctor Magna and trapped in a cage of three minutes and twenty-six seconds of oblivion. Half the life of the strongest vampire, who experienced countless memory loss, is recorded in this book.

The ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ is Arteria's very personality.

(…This is the original source of the 'memory preservation book', which contains the entire past of the True Ancestor Arteria's past. If its function is the same as the ‘Last Prayer’…I’ll use the memory tampering of this grimoire to learn of Arteria’s life until this point.)

Yes. If this ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ is basically Sōshi Okutsuki's very existence—

So the A-rank original, the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, represents Arteria’s very existence.

The wish for you to read it is out of utmost trust, and you too wish to reply this trust.

"…Arteria. I believe in you."

You take a step into the cold clear water, and walk up to the floating 'book'.

"So tell me."

The grimoire dubbed as the original shows a more intense mana glow in response to your call.

"Tell me of what you’ve forgotten, the High Daylight Walker's past."

And so you gently extend a finger to the 'Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth'.



''"I can't permit you to read that ‘book."''



''Zam.''

A bright, burning hot spear cuts in.

"…Eh?"

It is a spear of flame, clothed in an enormous amount of heat.

This mass of raging fire contains tremendous magical power. The flame spear pierces through the petrified water bedrock like a butter, transforming its surroundings into lava as it sinks—before exploding into flames.

"Wha…gaaaahh!"

A moment later, a flash of light bursts into view.

A shockwave sends you flying, and the furious acceleration rattles your semi-circular canals—causing you to crash heavily toward something hard.

"Kyaaaahhh!!"

"Gaahhh!? Ack!?"

Every bone in your body is shattered by this intense shock.

Without realising what has happened, you barely open your eyes that are seared by light and heat.

Your retinas are regenerating due to your immortality, and they spot Erika slammed into a bookshelf by the blast. Her legs, which are instantly burnt red, hint at the massive amount of heat that had momentarily struck your and Erika's bodies and clothes.

"Ugh…! Wh-What is this…magic!!? Arteria!!?"

Realizing that something fatal is imminent, you instinctively think of Arteria. That thought accelerates your thoughts, enhancing your immortality and regenerating your body.

"Arteria, are you okay!!? Arteria!!?"

Arteria!

You look beyond the flame walls burning the Library, looking for the True Ancestor.

As if interrupting your gaze, a red lotus shadow fall danced down.

'!!? An enemy!!?"

"Reloading (recharge), number one (Carolina)."

''Boom!'' A vortex of flames form, protecting the caster from the fall impact by using the pressure of the explosion.

The body covered completely in pitch-black robe resembles the black robe you spotted when you first met Erika. The face is hidden by a large hood however, and the swirl of flames surrounding that body is intensely intimidating—

''"Execute, Flaming Lance of Intense Pain."''

Such a formidable foe that you instantly understood the difference in strength.

"…M-Multi-loaded (recharger) spells!!?"

The raging fire coalesces and forms the same crimson spear that attacked you earlier.

The assailant who suddenly appeared has distilled the essential chants for spells down to mere three phrases. That tremendous proficiency and magic usage efficiency proves how extraordinary this enemy is.

"W-Who are you…!?"

''"'Burn."''

The moment a small whisper rattles your eardrums; the black-clothed mage raises the flaming spear. Such mobility of the enemy is too strong for you to perceive at this moment, and clearly, a sub vein is used for body strengthening.

"!! Erika’s in danger!!!'

You kick the bookshelf away and put yourself between the flaming spear and Erika. Though it’s not a direct hit, the tip of the flaming spear scorches your right arm with radiant heat.

"Grr, ah, my arm!!?"

''"…Vein on, number two(Polypore), God’s Daughter, Empress, o great goddess with three faces."''

(And this one has dual veins too!)

You desperately struggle in the water that’s now heated, but a second chant descends from above me. You no longer understand what is happening. A flaming spear flies in just when you’re about to read the ‘Vampire Tales’, and you’re almost killed by an assailant with overwhelming power.

(What is this amazing magic!?!? Sub veins for body strengthening, dual veins for multicharge magic!? And why is such a mage suddenly attacking us?)

"O-Okutsuki-san…! This mage is the scenario writer’s assassin who attacked me…!"

"Wh-what do you say?"

Erika ekes these words in pain, and your accelerated thoughts realise the truth.

This level is where your father's Atelier sleeps, and has been watched by the scenario writer the entire time. The scenario writer's assassin who attacked Erika must have been aware of your presence, as you were nearby during that attack.

And so the scenario writer seized advantage of the chaos of the battle to…

(Was the plan—to eliminate all those trying to find the truth from five years ago together here!?)

Perhaps to erase both you and Erika's existences from the world.



"!! Erika, get up! If this is the scenario writer's assassin, we’ll have to retreat for now and get ready..."

''"Polypore, execute. Wildfire of Ending Winter."''

Just as you’re about to pick Erika up, a chant echoes from behind you. You turned to look back, and intense heat and light, reminiscent of the sun, rain upon the right half of your body.

"Hiii…"

You can’t see what '''that''' is. A reddish-copper light saturates your vision.

"—Gaaaaah!"

With the intense pressure of the explosion, the half of your body exposed to the light, has been carbonised and shattered.

You slam against the bookshelf again and gasp in shock. But the right half of your right lung has been charred, and your exhaled breath leaks out through the shattered rib cage along with ashes.

"Uu, guh, grr…!'

Luckily, your left eye avoids the light, and it catches sight of the enemy behind the flames burning the Library. With a spear of flame in the right hand, the assailant intends to deal the final blow to you while approaching over the molten bedrock.

(This, is bad …! If it’s a scenario writer's assassin, we’ll definitely be killed!)

You put your hand into the shoulder mail that is yet to be burned, and press the ‘Express Envelopes’ addressed to the ‘scenario writer's assassin’ into the wax seal, which has been melted by the flaming heat.

"D-Don't you come any closer!"

''"It's useless!"''

No sooner has the ‘flying envelope’ been opened than a flaming spear is swung down, burning the page to a crisp. The ‘Origami paper’ that’s placed inside the envelope flutters down before the assailant.

"O-Origami paper, become a water bag!"

The enormous amount of heat emitted by the flaming spear instantly boils the water in the leather bag.

As third-year students of the ‘Apothecary’ would know, the volume ratio between water at 100 degrees Celsius is more than 1700 times greater than that of water vapour. With nowhere else to go, the water vapour can cause a leather bag to burst immediately.

(—Let’s trigger a steam explosion.)

A fierce blast of air occurs, and that will overload the mage's logic wall!

"Take that!!"

''Giiiiiinnn!!'' The white smoke exploded with interfering noises, and the wind pressure from the blast extinguishes the flames.

The momentarily generated shockwave interferes with the enemy's logic wall, creating a complex magic array.

(Bullseyes!! With such a large shock, the Magitzkveins will have a reverse load …!)

''"I told you it’s useless."''

"!!?"

But the pressure, weakened by a defensive spell, gently caresses the enemy like a breeze, and merely lifts the black hood.

Amidst the rising white steam, the black hood gently hits the assailant’s shoulder—


''"Given that you’re unable to use magic, you’re unable to defeat a mere pawn like '''this Calmia'''."''


Calmia’s silhouette appears terrifyingly while being illuminated by the flaming spear.

"…Huh?"

''"Well, should I say it's nice to meet you, '''Sōshi Okutsuki'''.'

Distorting her amethyst purple eyes into a cruel smile, Calmia gives a mocking smile. The voice is clear as a bell, yet there is clear contempt and disgust imbued in it.

She has the exact facial appearance and speaking tone of that friendly Calmia's,

Yet you feel that you’re in the presence of a '''horrifying monster'''.

"Ca-Calmia? Why are you, here…!?"

''"Calmia'?…kfft, kuhahaha!!! As to be expected of an inferior species, haven't you noticed yet? Don't tell me you still don’t know what’s going on!? Hah, what a masterpiece you are!"''

Calmia—or '''whoever appears to be Calmia''', laughs madly and continues to speak. You feel a primordial fear from her voice, and instinctively pin your back against the bookshelf.

''"Remember, who was the first person to greet you when you arrived in Library City Alexandria? Who was the first to visit your dorm room? Who stopped you from sucking the blood memories of that demi-human? Who waited for you to descend into the Labyrinth and interrupted your conversation—now '''who''' can that be?"''

"!!!?"

With a smile so intoxicated in malicious ecstasy, or entranced by evil pleasures, that thing bares a destructive smile, saying,

''"Mere son of the Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki, haven’t you thought of that? '''If you visit Library City Alexandria, would your Father's enemy try to make contact with you'''?"''

This person declares herself connected to the scenario writer of this story.



"Calmia…Calmia Loadtokson! Are you…!"

''"Unfortunately, that's a pseudonym. This body is merely an intelligence terminal we've prepared. Allow me to introduce myself once again, Doctor Magna's orphaned child."''

"Alias? An intelligence terminal? What the hell are you talking about?"

''"Stop yapping, mongrel. Show more respect when a noble pure blood is talking to an inferior demi-human like you. Show your respect, you half-human, half-demon, inferior to dog shit?"''

"Pure blood, …Calmia, aren't you supposed to be a demi-human of the cat tribe!?"

''"The body certainly is! But if there are books that can ‘falsify your memories’, it’s not shocking to have books ‘that can falsify other people's memories, no?"''

"Falsify…d-did you tamper with Calmia's memories!"

'''It''' answers your question with a maniacally malicious smirk.

''"Yes, they have been rewritten—by us, the ‘Kathédra’."''

The first of the four great powers, Kathédra, has been falsifying Calmia's memories and having her keep tabs on you.

"…Yo-You’re doing such things…!"

''"Kukuku, memory tampering is a wonderful power, isn't it? Even less intelligent mongrels can be used as pawns (resource) for our Kathédra, like this individual."''

"Why…why is Kathédra after me? What is your purpose?"

''"Why? What a foolish question, mongrel. Of course, the role of 'Kathédra' is supposed to be monitoring and correction. "''

"Monitoring? Correction? Did you falsify Calmia's memory for that purpose!?"

''"What an insolent way to put it. The ways of the wise is to plant spies within the cadres of other organizations, and play the game of secrecy and intrigue with counter-intelligence. Our manner of using brains is different from you inferior species."''

The insane eyes continue to speak with a sneering glee.

''"It appears that you, lacking in brains, seem to use memory tampering only for 'skill acquisition', which is far from the essence of the power of memory tampering. The concept of memory tampering is the ability to implant false memories in others, fabricate personalities and control behaviour. It's ‘the omnipotence of the scenario writer’, '''the power to write one’s life'''."''

"…You bastard…! So you’ve been hiding in other people's memories, doing your evil deeds!"

''"What’s evil? Demi-humans like you are merely inferior, pets to us purebloods. We merely educated and disciplined through memory tampering."''

"Shut up! I’m not listening to I don't want to hear your voice anymore!"

''"Good grief, I merely implanted a timed memory that says ‘terminate anyone associated with Kai Okutsuki'. Truly you are the son of Kai Okutsuki, full of a sense of justice no more valuable than the carcass of an amoeba."''

"You bastard! Not only are you insulting Calmia's personality, but Father as well!?"

''"Now why would I insult him!? From ‘Kathédra’s point of view, this is the greatest compliment to be offered. The Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki was a pawn that even ‘Kathédra’ couldn't handle."''

"Again!!? Father’s not a pawn in Kathédra's plans!"

''"No, a pawn he was. Your father was a brilliant mage, very popular, a saintly man with a strong sense of justice that can’t be bribed with money or prestige, no?"

"W-What… are you talking about!?"

''"No, well, do you not understand? A righteous man like Kai Okutsuki is nothing but an evil to be eliminated by ‘Kathédra’, do you?"''

"!!"

''"So we simply have all the unnecessary pieces leave the board (game)."''

''Pffthahaha,'' and the vilest laugh is directed at you.

"…Did you kill him? Did the 'Kathédra' murder my Father?"

''"Of course not~, the 'Kathédra' only monitors and corrects. It isn’t us who killed your Father."''

"!! What are you talking about!?"

''"It's true. Kathédra has always been monitoring. Until you left Library City Alexandria five years ago, or Erika Austral after she was kicked out of Kathédra, and even the moment the Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki died."''

"Shut up! I won't be fooled by the ramblings of a racist!"

''"Of course not~! You just don't want to know, do you? You aren’t seeking the truth! You came back to Alexandria only to deny the despair of your past! The ‘book’ you're really looking for is merely that book to ‘falsify your memories’!"''

The echoing voice gradually increases in insane, ballooning like a curse, and finally becomes an exclamation.

'"—'''You just want to deny the past!''' You were wandering in the Library Labyrinth only to deny your past sins! To not remember the truth of five years ago! To conveniently rewrite your own despair, and make yourself feel 'It's not my fault my father died'!"''

"!! No! I came back to Library City Alexandria to get the truth!"

''"No, you're not! You're just pretending not to know! The intelligent you inherit the blood of the Doctor Magna, so you logically determined the true identity of the scenario writer! You're pretending that you can't solve such a simple elimination question, that you forgot everything! You’re just running from the truth!"''

"Wh-What are you saying!? Isn’t it you, ‘Kathédra’, who’s the scenario writer that murdered Father?"

'"Kuhahaha!! Still trying to escape again now, huh!!? Then think about it! Five years ago, your father was hunting the demon king! And now Kai Okutsuki is dead and only the demon king lives! '''You don't even need to think about what happened to him'''!"''

"…Shut up, you bastard!"

'"Yes, you deny it! You wander the Library Labyrinth only to deny the despair of the past! To keep the cruel truth away and drown in gentle fiction! Your pathetic self deserves the pity and salvation of ‘Kathédra’!"''

"No! I, I’m here for the truth of five years ago…!"

''"Therefore, I shall tell you! On that day five years ago, on that day in the Atelier, the person who killed your father was—''""''



—The High Daylight Walker.

With a swoosh, a page flutters down.

The piece of paper (page) appears from the hem of Calmia's black robe, and slides across the ice floor as though it’s been premediated, coming to a still.

The one sentence spelled out on the torn page from the ‘book’—or to be precise, the black ink that covers most of the page, captivates your eyes with some kind of fateful attraction.

You unconsciously scan your eyes over the old parchment—

''"This is for you. A condolence gift from ‘Kathédra’."''

Between the wildly drawn black lines, you find this sentence.



■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

─'''"Arteria stabbed through Kai Okutsuki's chest, killing him."'''

[■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■


''"…You thought it was a ‘lie’, didn't you? You thought ‘Kathédra’ had fabricated evidence to deceive you. But Sōshi Okutsuki, this page was indeed ripped from the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’."''

''Shut up'', you thought.

''"You misunderstand the power of memory tampering. It's not just the power to give you experiences and skills. It is the omnipotence of the ‘scenario writer’, to imprint false memories, distort personality, and even control behaviour and emotions."''

The words spoken by 'Kathédra' unnerve you, reverberate in halted thought, with a gunky reverberation.

You didn't know anything, you don’t want to know anything, yet the enemy continues to blabber on.

''"And the ability to tamper memories isn’t simply a privilege to you. You and this demi-human aren’t the only ones with tampered memories."''

Thus, you shout in your heart "shut up" in your mind. The stinging voice then stops,

''"Because all this while, before the war against the vampire, ‘Kathédra’ has been…ugh!?"'''

The High Daylight Walker's arm pierces Calmia's body.

''──The 'Kathédra' has a secret pact with this demon king Arteria after all.''

The small, slender palm that had pierced Calmia's chest slowly reels back.

''"Ku, hahaha. Even the life of this individual was remains a mere pawn of the 'Kathédra'…gaahhh!!"''

"Thank you for your cooperation. Every drop of your blood shall be food to this demon king and 'Kathédra'."

The mortally wounded Calmia loses all strength supporting her body, and collapses onto the frozen surface.

"…Ar, te, ria?"

"Good grief, how foolish you are. Do you still not understand?"

The High Daylight Walker appears from behind Calmia, licking the blood from her fingertips clean and grabs the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ that floats atop the icy bedrock.

Arteria's slender fingers flicks through the pages of the 'book'…

And then she comes to the decisive page.

"The reason why I have tampered my memory and continued to deceive you... "

In this ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ opened by her, there reads, in unmistakably large letters,


"For it is written here—‘I am the scenario writer who killed Kai Okutsuki’."


It clearly states the truth you have been seeking for five years.

You feel dizzy.

"…Have you been deceiving me?"

"Kukuku, hihi, ahahahaha! Why would I recall at this moment?"

This dizziness causes you to feel as though your entire world has been turned upside down.

"The words you said when you saved me, the magic you infused into this talisman."

"Kuhihihihihihihihihihi how maddening it is! Hihihi was it I who killed!? Of all people, I!!"

Perhaps it would feel much better if everything was a hallucination, if you were delirious from a triggered Altered Shock.

"Are you saying that all the tears and smiles you showed me were…a lie?"

"Kuhi, kuhihi. No other choice now. There is only one ending at this point."

You continue to ask Arteria with a pleading voice.



"…An-Answer me, High Daylight Walker!!"



But the answer is cruel.


"Die, Sōshi Okutsuki. I shall devour your life and have your offering for my dominion."



Something has broken.

"…ah."

Something irreplaceable that existed between you and Arteria.

"Kuu…!"

With a sound, it crumbles.

"Wooaahhhh!"

You bawl loudly and kick the bookshelf. You then pull out ‘Last Prayer’ from your shoulder mail and rush towards Arteria, screaming.

You feel that you have to stop her before your memories with Arteria can be tarnished, before she becomes the enemy of humanity, even if it means sacrificing the rest of your humanity.

"I’ll stop you…I’ll stop you personally before you dirty your own hands."

But when you tried to grab Arteria—

" ■■■—Execute, Xathrid's Shadow Spear."

A trail of black spears immediately appears from this executed spell, a black line of spears and blocks you.

"Grrr, ahhh!"

Shadowy spear resembling thin black bands pierce through your entire body, sewing you in mid-air. The super-dense spell language (Hi-Enchant), impossible even for human beings to perceive, weave shadow spears in an instant.

(I-Instant chanting…Hi-Enchant…!?)

"Kufufu, how foolish you are? How do you intend to stop the most powerful vampire of the Labyrinth, the 'Silver Night' of Library Labyrinth, this demon king Arteria?"

A shadow rises from Arteria's body, pcking up the ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages. Now that this 'book' (Me) has been taken from you, there is no longer any way for you to resist.

"…I believed in you, you know? Your tears, your smile, your words, I believed everything! And yet…you trample on everything, your traitor!"

"Puhahaha! Tears? Smile? These words of I? Have you not noticed yet?"

Arteria's face twists in amusement, screeching in utter joy,



"That ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ is almost entirely my own creation☆"



[[Image:ToMei_v1 Illustration 11.jpg|thumb]]

Now then, this story shall approach its climax.

"Kuhyahyahya! Now then, even I have forgotten how many pages I have written!"

Have you ever wondered?

Have you ever thought about how the ‘book’ (Me) is merely a novel, a figment of your imagination (fiction), written by someone else?

"There is no way that a demon king will ever cry before her kin! This part shall become a lie (fiction)!"

If you haven't thought about it, won't you think of it now?

"Or perhaps you are reading a 'book' now. The real you may be in bed at ‘Apothecary’, reading a book filled with lies!"

How much of this is real, and how much is fiction?

"Or perhaps you are in Japan, reading the stories your Father brought back with him. What now? Perhaps if you look away from this ‘book, maybe there will be a happy life awaiting you, no?"

A page ago? A hundred lines ago? Or has it all been a lie from the beginning of this story?

"Too bad, Sōshi Okutsuki, but I am the enemy of Kai Okutsuki's avenger who have deceived you for so long…but rest assured. You shall no longer be tormented for eternity."

Arteria gives a maniacal, benevolent smile of extreme tenderness.

"This demon king Arteria, shall burn everything down. ■■■■■──"

The 'Silver Night' of the Library Labyrinth casts a great spell instantly with Hi-Enchant.



And then, within this ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’,

"Farewell, Sō~shi."

She utters her parting words to you.

[[Image:ToMei_v1 Illustration 12.jpg|500px]]

Mysterious words that the reader (you) definitely can’t recognize continue on over two pages.

[[Image:ToMei_v1 Illustration 13.jpg|500px]]

After reading the story up to this point, you awoke from this fiction.

"—Haa!! Haah, haa, haaa!!"

The bright morning sun of early summer stimulates your wide-open pupils. The hustle and bustle of the city that saturates the surroundings is mixed with the palpitations of your heart, seemingly echoing in your brain.

"Hah, hah, hah …!"

The devastation that should have been before you just moments ago has vanished without a trace.

The burning rubble has been replaced by a pre-noon terrace café, the smell of flames and blood transformed into the aroma of tea, and the intense pain that had meandered through your body melts away comfortably in the cool breeze.

You lean back in your chair and look around…and see a bustling square with marble sculptures and fountains before you.

"…Alexandria's, central street?"

For a good minute, you look around the street. As it turned out, you’re in a café of in the central street of Library City Alexandria, a park area called ‘Hero’s Square’.

"…Phew!!!! What now? So it’s a story in the ‘book…!? "

The tension eases at once, and you sink your body into the back of the chair.

Through common sense, you’ve determined that a human being hit by the spell of a demon king will die. It appears you aren’t dead yet, so that means the tragedy you have just experienced was a novel.

"…Phew, that was some crazy plot twist. Never thought the High Daylight Walker would be the enemy of the Father that the protagonist has been seeking for five years…"

You toss aside the replica titled ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’— ‘'''A book that’s written with oneself as the protagonist of a story'''’, onto the walnut table and sip your tea that’s beginning to cool.

It seems some time has passed since you started reading this novel. Beyond the parasol atop the terrace seats, the crowd passing through the central street has grown more clustered than before.

The morning of the Victory Festival commemorating the Vampire War dazzles brightly in the brilliant sunlight.

"…Hmmm, well I'm eager to continue reading the ‘book’, but I guess it’s about time to meet up."

You finish the remaining tea, stuffs the ‘book’ into your robe pocket, and get up. While you’re curious to see how the novel ends, you can't be reading forever.


'''"For you are a fifteen-year-old boy attending the ‘Apothecary’, living with the Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki, who saved humanity at least a decade ago, along you’re your stepsister who was adopted six years ago. "'''


'''"And to celebrate ''humanity’s victory in the Vampire War'', you have promised to go shopping with your friends to help with whatever preparations the ‘Apothecary’ require."'''


"—S-Stepbrother Sōshi!"

"Ah, Erika, over here!"

You turn around upon hearing the voice, and see your ‘stepsister’ sprinting towards you down the main street.

"Huff, huff…go-good morning, stepbrother!"

"Ahaha, good morning Erika. You don’t have to be panic so much. "

Your stepsister (Erika), scampering over like a little animal, exhales in relief as she arrives at your side.

The bangs over her eyelashes leave a childish impression, and her ultramarine eyes looks up at you happily with a cute, sweet smile. These elements are the complete opposite of the Erika in your fantasy novel (fiction) world.

"S-Stepbrother, did Erika make you wait too long?"

"Well, it wasn’t time yet. I was reading the ‘book’ after all."

"…Is-Is it another of those ‘self-insert stories’ again…"

"Are you also … that 'book' (Me) who can enter into the story again?

You reveal the cover of the ‘book’, and Erika timidly pinches your robe. It seems this somewhat brocon stepsister is worried about her stepbrother's (you) infatuation with the 'book' (Me).

"Oh yeah. The new book is called 'If High Daylight Walker is revived in modern times’. Somehow Father was killed by the evil demon king, and I lost my magic and memory."

"Hii…! S-Stepfather is killed…!? Erika hate scary ‘books’! S-Stepbrother, you meanie…!"

"Pfft, you're too easily scared! It's just a story in a fiction."

"…How is Erika…how is that Erika in that ‘book…?"

"After Father was killed, I had to leave Library City Alexandria. Because of that, Erika and I never met, and we became strangers."

"Strang, ers…? N-Noo!"

"Wait, wooahh!? No! Erika!"

The moment you say that you’re both strangers, your little stepsister (Erika) shrieks and leaps into your clutches. Her body, pressing gently upon your chest, is trembling in fear.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that much…"

"Erika doesn’t want to be separated from stepbrother, Erika doesn't want to be alone anymore…! Erika wants to be with stepbrother, even in the 'book'!"

"Erika…I’m sorry, it's fine."

You gently caress the hair strands between the two horns as you calmed your stepsister down.

Erika lost her home six years ago, and was evicted from ‘Kathédra’. If your Father had died five years ago, she probably would have had to overcome the despair of losing her family and her place in the world all by herself. For a sensitive and fragile girl, that truly would be overly cruel, and would have even twisted her personality.

The stepsister (Erika) might have felt so uneasy just from imagining that despair.

"Don't worry…the thing about Father being killed is only fiction."

You pull Erika close and embrace her in a hug. All to protect your precious stepsister from the trauma of her past wounds.

"I will always be with you, Erika. I’ll become Doctor Magna like Father, and I’ll be strong enough to protect you and everyone else…it'll be fine."

"Mugyu…ehehe♪ Stepbrother, you’re so sweet……♪"

Erika smiles happily in your arms. You smile back at her and gently stroke her golden frizzy hair.

[[Image:ToMei_v1 Illustration 14.jpg|thumb]]

"Wapfft!...Fuehehe, wapfft♪, wapff♫ Stepbrother, if you want to care for Erika more, y-you may give Erika a kissy kissy, you know?"

"Woah, hey, don’t flirt around here."

"Muuu, brother and sister can kiss on the cheek…"

Erika giggles happily and tries to brush her lips against your cheek—

"…What are you doing on this crowded street in broad daylight, So-kun, Eriii!?"

"Waarggh?"

The voice of your childhood friend (Calmia) echoing from behind interrupts this sweet atmosphere.

"C-Calmia!?"

"Good morning~ So-kun! …So, what were you were going to do to my little sister…?"

Calmia walks up to you, arms folded, giving you a vicious smile.

Her amethyst purple eyes are reminiscent of the dawn sky. Her dark brown hair is neatly trimmed at her shoulders. The undaunted smile reminiscent of a cat's belongs to your bad friend and Erika's older sister, Calmia.

But the cat ears that so strongly asserted themselves on her head in the fiction novel have vanished, and she is now a pure human, completely uninvolved in the intrigues of ‘Kathédra’.

"No-nope! Erika isn’t trying to run away…well, Stepbrother just read a very scary ‘book’, so Erika wanted to comfort Stepbrother…!"

"Not again! It's obvious that So-kun’s been having lewd thoughts since morning! What are you two planning to do in broad daylight on such this busy central street?"

"N-No no no, I wasn't thinking about that! We were just chatting about the ‘book’!"

"Hmmm? Then what kind of lewd ‘book’ are you reading? Some ‘book’ about making out with this super duper cute Calmia-sama~?"

"S-Sister, that's not a weird dream, that’s a perverted dream!"

Erika’s cheeks are flushed red from shame as she tugs at the hem of Calmia's robe. Although they are half-sisters of the same mother, the personalities of the younger and older sisters are quite contrasting.

"No, it's not such a lewd ‘book’! Well, Calmia does have cat ears and a tail and purrs like the cat tribe and all…"

"Cat ears!? Seriously, are you really fantasizing about me!? Ahh, I’m charging you a fee for using me in your fantasises! I-I did wear cat ears as a disguise before though…ugh, that's so embarrassing!"

While she had planned to tease the relationship between you and Erika, now that topic has been directed at her, Calmia flails her hands while cheeks turned vermillion.

"Ah…speaking of which, it seemed you really wore cat ears before Father conquered ‘Kathédra’."

"…Y-Yeah. That was a tough time. Eri had horns growing from her head, and mother was torn to pieces for adultery, and then even Eri was almost executed…"

Six years ago, Calmia risked her life to save her sister from being executed by ‘Kathédra’. She remained in ‘Kathédra’ thereafter in order to delay the pursuit after her sister, desperately covering the trails. Finally, though, her deception was blown, and she was detained in place of her sister.

"I managed to get Eri out of ‘Kathédra’, but then I got locked up. If Teacher Okutsuki and So-kun hadn't come along, I really don't know where I'd be right now.

"…Sorry, sister. It is Erika’s fault for endangering you…"

"It’s fine it’s fine! Now we’re all in ‘Apothecary’ now, and Teacher has been very kind to us, and…eh, you know, if it hadn't been for that incident, I wouldn't have met So-kun."

Calmia stares at you bashfully with a small blush on her cheeks, her beautiful amethyst purple eyes filled with the color of a secret infatuation.

"…You know, So-kun. I'm still grateful for the help you gave me, you know? If So-kun and Teacher had not been there five years ago, ‘Kathédra’s crimes wouldn’t be exposed, and we sisters could never have lived in peace."

"…Calmia…"

As soon as Calmia blurts out these words, the memories of the last five years come flooding back to your brain.

You remember how while your Father was distracting the main battle mage forces (wizards) of Kathédra, he ordered you to head deep into enemy territory to save Calmia, who was imprisoned in the terrifying prison.

"It is thanks to So-kun that I’m alive today…So So-kun, you don’t have to fight alone like before, okay? I’ll become Doctor Magna so that I can return the favor to you. I won't let you take on this weight alone, So-kun."

Still smiling bashfully, Calmia earnestly swears to you.

Because of her safe rescue, you were able to extract testimonies about the ‘Kathédra’s conspiracy, which ultimately led to your Father’s revelation of ‘Kathédra’s atrocities and subjecting them justice. The survival of Calmia is also proof that the ‘Kathédra’ conspiracy in this world has been prevented from happening.

Unlike the fantasy novel (fiction), Kathédra is no longer the root of all evil and the source of all tragedy.

"…Ah-Ahem! Let's go shopping for the Victory Festival then! Since you’re fantasizing about me, I'll have you carry stuff then, So-kun!"

"No, that wasn’t a fantasy, it’s the story in the ‘book’, you know?"

As you try to clear up the misunderstanding, a bell tolls eight o'clock in the clear sky. At the same time, the fountain sculpture in the ‘Hero's Square’ spurts out fresh water.

"Woah woah, it's already eight o'clock! Ah, lookie look So-kun, that’s Teacher Okutsuki fountain!"

"C-Calmia, don't yell Father's name, it's embarrassing. Come on, let’s go!"

"Ah, S-Stepbrother, Sister, wait!"

You take Calmia's hand and walk around the stone statues glistening with water spurts.

The realistic statues, seemingly the past petrified, are the reason for the square's name.

The long sword in his right hand and the grimoire in his left, the Doctor Magna conquered his enemies with his mighty willpower, and the long-haired vampire, defeated by his wisdom and courage, falls beneath his sword tip.

The marble pedestal supporting the lively statue was inscribed with the inscription.

"The Death of the High Daylight Walker and the Savior Hero."