Editing Dantalian no Shoka:Volume1 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 4===

On the way to the northern tower, they happened upon even more corpses.

Every single one of them had been killed in a gruesome way.

Someone had been wrapped by something akin a thick rope and had all of his bones broken.

Another one had been guzzled by the fangs of a beast.

And finally, one who had been squished to a pulp by a giant something.

Among them were also some who had apparently taken up arms and attempted to fight. But even they had failed in the end and passed away. However, what they had tried to defend against remained a riddle to Huey.

"It almost looks like... they've been trampled by an elephant," Huey grimaced while looking down at the squashed body of a pitiful maid.

"Yes. That seems to be the case," agreed Dalian terrifyingly easily, without hesitating for a moment.

On the contrary, now it was Huey who was surprised and turned around to her. "By an elephant...? In such an urban mansion?"

"What are you shocked about? You were the one who came up with it."

"Okay, but elephants don't eat human meat. How do you explain the corpse of the man earlier?"

"It just means that we are not dealing with just one beast... look, like that one over there." Dalian raised her armoured hand and pointed into the darkness.

On the landing of the stairs leading to the northern tower, supposedly where the office of the old man was, there glimmered golden eyes.

Then, a golden beast with black stripes in its fur emerged.

From deep within the blood-smeared snout resounded a thundering roar.

"A tiger...!? What is such an animal doing in this country?!"

"You must not avert your gaze. When you turn your back on it, you are history," explained Dalian with an apathetic voice, as if she were reading something from a book.

Huey had no time to reply to her words. With a tense expression, he took aim.

The giant tiger lowered its stance.

As if propelled by a spring, it lunged at the two, but one moment before reaching them, Huey pulled the trigger.

His revolver was loaded with .455 calibre rounds which were enough to instantly slay a human, but the shot sounded frighteningly unreliable with respect to a beast with a body mass exceeding 200kg.

After firing three consecutive rounds into the tiger, the body of the beast finally started swaying.

Huey shot once more, while his breath had gone wild due to fear and the recoil of his gun.

In front of his eyes, the body of the animal suddenly started trembling.

It swayed as if his body had lost all substance and broke into little pieces without a single sound.

Huey watched in total puzzlement at how the remains of the creature danced in the air like ashes.

"...a phantom book has crossed the boundary." While whispering to herself, Dalian looked out of the window, up to the moon

She went up to the landing and expressionlessly looked at the ash-like flakes.

"What's the meaning of this, Dalian? What on earth was that just now...?" asked a wildly breathing Huey.

"Do you still not get it?"

Dalian turned around and let her beautiful hair dance.

"A knife-thrower, an elephant and finally a tiger. Perhaps a giant snake and a clown were among them as well... that should be enough to put it together."

"... a clown?" Huey made a clueless face after hearing her minimalistic explanation.

"A circus," explained Dalian triumphantly. "It is the actors of a circus that are wandering around in this mansion. Hey, do you not even know the 'Harlequinade'?"

"...Harlequinade?"[http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/introduction.htm]

"The word stands for turn-up books. Look the things where you move the backgrounds of the figures through '''revealing''' or '''moving''' of flaps. Have you not played with such things as a child?"

Huey appeared clueless, but he let his gaze wander while searching in his memories.

"...I used to have a few pop-up books. Aren't those the kind where multiple sheets are glued together and jump out when you turn a page?"

Dalian nodded.

"Yes. The harlequinades, made in the middle of the 18th century by the publisher Robert Sayer, are generally considered as the origin of the turn-up books. They were called that because harlequin-pantomimes regularly appeared in them."

"Just a moment, Dalian... what are you talking about right now?" Huey interrupted the girl with a confused face.

Dalian's tone of voice turned sour. "Right now I am giving you the gist about the phantom book that Conrad stole."

"...phantom book...?"

"Look, Huey. This is the true form of the tiger you have just shot."

Dalian squatted down by the landing and picked something up.

Frail, ash-like flakes. The remains of the tiger Huey had shot.

He closely looked at the flakes after receiving them from Dalian.

"Paint?" he asked with a raspy voice.

The substance that crumbled into dust in his hands was dried, old paint.

No, one would have to say it was the picture itself that had been drawn with it.

The giant beast, which had brutally devoured the employees of the mansion and attacked the two of them, was actually a painting of someone.

"In the world there are illusory books that originally should not exist. The phantom books, created through the knowledge of the demon world or secret ceremonies of the devils..."

Dalian lightly clapped her hands and dusted the paint off her fingers.

"In the case when someone who can correctly read a phantom book gains ownership of it, he will enjoy immeasurable blessings. But should someone who is not worthy own it, then the phantom book will cross the boundary of the world and perturb logic as well as causality of this world. Therefore, in order to seal these dangerous phantom books, there is---"

"---the labyrinth library... the Bibliotheca de Dantalian, huh," Huey whispered with a frail voice.

Dalian nodded.

"Yes. And your grandfather, Wesley Disward, knew of the existence of the cursed harlequinade, which brought misfortune to its owner, and wanted to seal it. But the famous book collector Conrad had to let his sense of rivalry run wild..."

"And so he killed grandpa and stole the book... I see." Huey shook his head, a dark expression on his face. "But I still can't believe it. This is impossible, right? An actual '''pop-up'''-book, which projects its painted scenes into reality..."

"Are you still doubting it?" Dalian shot him a dark glare. "In the 《Lidai Minghua Ji》, which was written in China during the Tang-dynasty, an incident is mentioned where a dragon, which was portrayed by a gifted painter as a mural, slipped out of the painting and took to the skies. A bird, a fish and a tiger... legends, where animals drawn by master painters slip out the paintings, aren't rare in the least."

"I see..." Huey nodded with an expression as if he had chewed on something bitter. "So, a circus was depicted in the phantom book stolen by Conrad? Like in Meggendorfer's 《Internationaler Zirkus》[http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/meggendorfer.htm]."

After mentioning the name of a famous picture book author, Huey sighed wearily.

"Like most other kinds of magic, the power of phantom books is affected by the phase of the moon," Dalian indifferently continued her explanation. "An illegitimate owner such as Conrad couldn't ever possibly control that power. Just imagine how it would turn out if all the beasts of the circus were able to cause havoc in this hotel..."<!-- May need to be changed. -->

"Obviously there is no time to doubt your words... what is the plan?" He shook his head to take heart and looked at the small girl in front of him.

Her answer was short and simple.

"We have to find the phantom book and seal it. In the end, it's nothing but a simple picture book, so the mechanism should not be too complicated."

"Thanks for being straightforward. ...Dammit, grandpa sure left one troublesome thing behind."

Huey quietly clicked his tongue and strengthened the grip around his pistol.




After climbing the stairs, they reached a wide hall.

Along the way they had come across a clown and animals out of the harlequinade, but it didn't lead to a confrontation. Apparently, not all of the inhabitants of the phantom book had to be dangerous beings.

On the other side of the hall was the tower of Conrad's office.

But in the middle of the room, the twisted shape of a beast blocked their way.

When the two noticed, they stopped, completely aghast.

The figure was even bigger than an elephant.<!--GIRAFFE! I TELLZ YARRR!--><!-- uruseezo -->

Scale-covered skin. Pointed, deformed horns. Wings like the ones of bats, with veins protruding hideously.

And through the snout, past the tongue which was slit like a snake's, red burning breath leaked.

"...a dragon," Dalian said with an impressed voice.

Huey held his head, fed up with the events. "So that's the guy that has demolished the entrance hall... why would there be a dragon in a circus?"

"Did you not know that most circuses do have an exhibition shack for rare animals?"

Dalian answered his question easily.

"Oh, I've already seen such a thing indeed. But aren't those just animals like lizards from the tropics, which are disguised with bird wings and bull horns in order to trick people?"

"It is unexceptional when a real dragon is depicted in a picture book... by the way, what do you intend to do? Are you going to run?" asked Dalian, while looking at him searchingly.

"I guess he won't let us leave that easily..."

Huey wiped the sweat off his forehead.

As if the dragon had heard these words, he directed his bloodshot eyes towards them.

It was the eyes of a beast, stimulated by the smell of blood.

He briefly showed his split tongue and started moving his giant body with an unexpected speed.

"Run, Dalian!"

Huey caught the hand of the black-dressed, frozen girl and ran into the shadows of a pillar.

The dragon's flames passed right behind him.

The mortar of the wall brittled and some of the cement-reinforced stone pillars crumbled down.<!-- phrasing -->

Huey grimaced, bathing in a rain of rubble.

He grabbed his pistol with just his right hand and fired his remaining bullets, without bothering to aim exactly.

The bullets were deflected by the dragon's scales and only left a few bluish-white sparks.

The dragon didn't show even the slightest sign of pain. Huey's face tensed.

All the while, Dalian wonderingly looked at Huey's hand which held her slim arm.

Finally, her usual, cold expression returned. "We are trapped."

The stairs from which they had come had been buried by the collapsed wall.

The only way which could be called an exit was the stairs leading up the tower. But unless they overcame the dragon, they couldn't reach it.

"I know. But I'm out of bullets."

Huey opened the top-break barrel and let the empty rounds drop to the floor.

"With that thing you wouldn't be able to defeat it anyway," said Dalian with a weary voice.

Huey nodded, irritated. "Seems like it. Ohh, well... Dalian, are you a fast runner?"

"What do you mean? Do you want flee after all?"

Dalian shot Huey a reproachful glance.

Huey laughed with a self-ironic undertone and shook his head.

"I'd love to, if I could... but ''you' are the one to flee, Dalian. I will catch his attention. During that time, you will run up to Conrad's office."

"...do you intend to become a decoy?"

"You know how to seal phantom books, right?"

With these words, Huey picked up a handy brick. Against a human, that might count as an improvised weapon, but its effect on a dragon was debatable.

"I don't give a crap about 'noblesse oblige', but a book of my grandpa is at fault for this whole mess. Therefore, I can't simply ignore it. I don't even want to imagine what kind of damage such a monster could cause if it reached the city. We somehow have to deal with this issue within this mansion."

Dalian silently watched Huey's face while he spoke with a resolute voice.

Only now, a soft smile, fitting her age, appeared on the girl's face<!--, who used to look like a lifeless doll-->.

Meanwhile, the dragon seemed to have lost track of them and aimlessly destroyed the pillars and objects in his proximity, spitting fire. If they kept hiding, they would sooner or later be targeted by one of those attacks without a doubt.

And in spite of that, Dalian seemed calm and said, "Take out the key... human," she ordered with a rather pompous voice. Huey blankly stared at her.

"Dalian. Now is not the time to..."

"I have acknowledged you just now," she said with the demeanour of a sublime queen.

Within her dark eyes a strong glimmer shone, resembling starlight.

"Hmph...I am reluctant, but there is no changing it now. So, should you bear the qualifications to be the Keykeeper, read now the words of the pact."

"The words... of the pact?" Huey had subconsciously grabbed the key on his chest tightly with his hand.

The golden key, with a gem embedded that gleamed red like the freshly shed blood of a virgin.

The line of an ancient poem, which was engraved in its shaft.

That short line was the first thing to come to his mind when he heard the 'words of the pact'.

Right then, a thundering roar resounded and the pillar Dalian and Huey were hiding behind collapsed.

The bloodshot eyes of this malicious magical beast caught sight of its prey and narrowed.

"I ask of thee..."

Huey removed the key from his neck and held it in front of his eyes.

He read out loud the almost faded line of the prayer with a raspy voice.

"I ask of thee, Art thou mankind---?"

Dalian smiled contentedly.

But the answer to this question did not come from her.

The metal box, which was bound around the chest area of her armoresque<!-- armor-like? --> dress.

The lock that was attached to the girl's choker with silver chains.

That lock faintly shone and declared with the raspy voice of an old woman:


《Nay. We art the Realm -- the Endless Realm within thine Vase》


A faint light leaked from the chest of Dalian, wrapped in black.

The source of the light was her skin.

Her collar, which used to be covered by several layers of frills, now revealed her white skin.

Once could see a slim neck and delicate collarbones, resembling the wings of a little bird.

Furthermore, a chest, devoid of bulges, resembling the one of a boy.

In the middle of it. Above her solar plexus, where her heart should be, there was a rough metal body.

This was the first time Huey noticed, noticed that the lock on her chest had not been attached to her dress.

It was lodged directly into her snow-white body.

[[Image:Dantalian_no_Shoka-vol1-p221.jpg|thumb|The girl stopped any kind of movement whatsoever and only let out a weak sigh.]]
As if someone was calling him, Huey stretched his arm towards the keyhole.

He inserted the key into the girl's chest and slowly plunged it in.<!-- なんかエロい--><!--まったくだな-->

"Uh...!"

The girl stopped any kind of movement whatsoever and only let out a weak sigh.

With a rattling noise the lock opened. It swung open to both sides like a gate.

Hidden behind it was a hollow space.

A hollow space surrounded by the faint light. An endlessly deep hole.

From the middle of her soft white chest protruded a big void.

A deep, deep, empty space, that seemed to pierce her slim body.

"---The labyrinth library, which seals 900,000 and 666 phantom books. The gate to knowledge hath been opened---"

The beautiful voice resounding from Dalian's lips cast a spell over everyone who listened to it.

In the next moment, the dragon concentrated fire in its giant snout and let out a deafening roar.

Their escape had been closed off. Aiming at Huey and Dalian, the dragon ruthlessly spit out his flames.

But Dalian was faster.

Without a second of hesitation, she reached into the void in her chest. Her arm was pulled in directly though the opened keyhole. As if running an invisible path, it disappeared further and further.

When she finally pulled her arm out again, she held a book in her hand.

An old book with pages made of parchment.

The magical letters in it were written with animal blood - it was a magical tome.

Starting with the 《Liber de Nymphis》 by the alchemist Paracelsus[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus], there were quite a few works among the tomes of the middle ages that included techniques to control nature spirits. Most of them are thought to have been burned and even the remaining ones are mostly fakes.

But the book in Dalian's hands was a phantom book, which should not exist within this world --- a genuine grimoire.

When she opened the book, a thunderous shock wave was created next to her. She had summoned a sylph. The dragon's fire was repelled by the shock wave and reflected back at him.

The dragon bathed in his own flames and squirmed on the ground while letting out a roaring bellow.

"So that is... the power of a phantom book...," Huey whispered with a deep voice while watching the dragon's suffering.

Dalian hid her opened cleavage by hugging her book and turned around with slightly blushed cheeks.

"Come... '''we''' need to use this chance to seal Conrad's phantom book, '''Huey'''!"

Huey, who still stood there in a daze, blinked in surprise at Dalian's words.

Then he finally smiled wryly and nodded.