Editing Tosho Meikyuu:Volume1 Chapter6 (section)

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''Peeewwwww—bang!!''

The midnight fireworks announcing the culmination of the Eve blossoms with Mana in the early summer night sky.

"Wew. Looks like the eve of the festival’s going to end well today again."

You look back at the rowdy students filling the ballroom in the main lecture hall across the balcony, and rest your body against the railing behind you.

Thanks to the recent preparations, the eve of the ‘Apothecary’s Victory Festival went well. Having left the center of the ballroom, surrounded by the sound of stringed instruments leaking from the cloister and the scent of apple cider fluttering in the night breeze, you feel that all your hard work has been rewarded.

"…phew, so peaceful."

You reach your hand out to the night sky in the outermost shell, murmuring so as you savor the tranquil joy.

At this moment, surely everyone living under this sky is hearing the same fireworks as you. Like you, they love the same peace in a world where the High Daylight Walker has been destroyed, and the evil deeds of ‘Kathédra’ has been corrected. You feel truly happy, clenching your fist in the void.

"…I don’t know why, but even though the starry sky isn’t any different from usual, it feels a little kinder today."

The moon shines in the night sky, and a ring of small satellites orbit around Earth’s trajectory, looking so dazzling. The sky is seemingly divided into two worlds, between the shore here and the shore beyond.

"I wonder if it is because I read this ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’."

You murmur, and pull out the ‘Last Prayer’ from the inner pocket of your night tailcoat, leaning your elbow on the balcony railing as you quietly open the leather cover.

"…’Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’. ‘A book that’s written with oneself as the protagonist of a story’."

The story depicted on the page is a fiction that can never happen in reality.

The Doctor Magna's death, Erika's despair, Calmia's tampered memory, ‘Kathédra’s plots, your amnesia, and the High Daylight Walker's betrayal, everything’s a lie.

"…This is good, isn’t it? "

You utter quietly, seemingly letting out your resignation slowly.

The old protagonist of ‘Last Prayer’ wished to be someone who could save others. ‘I wish to be become someone who can save others, because this world is filled with tragedies’. Such a notion he has might be stronger than the you in this world.

Just as there is no resolve without hesitation, no salvation without tragedy.

Just as there is no victory without battle, no happiness without pain.

You feel it’s all a noble prayer that can only exist at the end of deep despair.

"Well, it’s all fiction anyway."

And that's why you can quietly treasure this gentle and peaceful Festival night commemorating the victory over the vampire.

"…Yep. It’s almost time for the closing ceremony. Let’s continue the book later when I return to my dorm room—woah!?"

Just as you are about to close ‘Last Prayer’, a strong gust of wind blows through the outermost shell and snatches the leather cover from your hands.

The 'book', seized by the North African night winds, bumps into the roof of the aerial corridor a few meters below, and the pages’ flutter from the book, vanishing into the night.

"Ahhh—… I haven’t read the ending yet…"

You hang your arms outstretched in the air.

The land breezes blowing toward the sea at night will surely carry ‘Last Prayer’ all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, and scatter it between the beautiful waves.

You will never ever be able to read the ending of ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’.

"…Well, that’s fine. The moment this memory tampering happened, the protagonist (I) has been doomed to die."

Your murmur of resignation blends into the night winds, and you looked back at the balcony leading to the ballroom



"…S-Step, brother?"

"Huh, Erika?"

You look towards the voice calling out to you, and find Erika who appears to have slipped out of the ballroom, with only one eye peeking out from behind a pillar in the corridor leading to the ballroom.

"What's wrong? Is the ball tiring you out?"

"Au, au, th-the ball is fun, but, Stepbrother, you weren’t around, so…"

Erika answers, and teeters up towards you, worrying about the high heels she’s still not accustomed to. She pinches the skirt of her blue night dress, and probably has something she’s worried about.

"…S-Stepbrother. E-Erika is, angry, you know?"

"Eh, why? Did I do something to make you angry…ah, looks good on you. The ultramarine dress is pretty like the wavy ocean at night, and well, Calmia curled your hair, didn't she? It’s rare to see you wear a dress with opened cleavage, but it's very classy with the mana sparkle of the talisman."

"Haauuu!? No-No, this isn’t it, this is not the issue!"

You had assumed Erika’s asking about opinion of her clothes, but she’s flushed red and flailing her arms. If it’s not about her ball dress, why’s she angry?

"That’s not it…! S-Stepbrother, you just…left without saying anything."

"Ah… sorry, so you’re looking for me."

"Y-Yes…Stepbrother, you were next to Erika just now, but it feels like you’re looking at somewhere far away…it’s like…it’s like you’re leaving Erika…"

"That’s stupid, why would I leave you? I’m your stepbrother."

"Wapff!?"

You say this and gently place a hand on Erika's head. Your little stepsister, who’s usually easily appeased, isn’t smiling, and remains anxious looking.

"…E-Even though we’re siblings…it’s because we’re siblings…siblings aren’t lovers, so we may not be able to be together forever, so…!"

Erika says in a small, trembling voice, and then tightens her grip on the sleeve of your tailcoat, before asking you with a certain determination in her deep blue eyes,

"…Stepbrother, will you stay with Erika? Can Erika always be with Stepbrother, in a place, closer than family…?"

"…Erika, are you…"

Upon seeing the sincere passion that shines in the ultramarine eyes, you detect the love hidden deep in the heart of your stepsister. You sense that she yearns for a love beyond that of siblings, beyond that of family, an eternity that is only for the two of you.

"…Eri-Erika is in love. Erika loves Stepbrother!"

"Uu…!"

Your heart aches the moment this love is professed to you.

Ever since Erika became your little stepsister six years ago, you always acted as the older brother. You have always acted not as an equal romantic partner, but as her guardian and senior.

Now, however, Erika is asking you to make a choice not as a stepsister, but as a girl. In return for her biggest love, she is asking you to give her your biggest love.

The one biggest love '''you can offer to a person.'''

"…E-Erika, I …"

Somewhere deep in your memory, a whirlwind of unspoken emotions well up within you.

You knew that feeling of ‘love’.

The same feeling that Erika has, a heart that favors someone else moreso than herself. Somewhere inside, you know of that passion to devote your life to only one special person.

(…Yes, I know. One time, I was in love …)

Your heart aches.

It’s the pain of an unspoken love. It is the curse of the lost love.

You have certainly loved someone more than yourself.

And you have a feeling that it's probably, surely, likely,


<s>The feeling you should offer to ‘■■■■■’.</s>


The feeling you should offer to ‘Erika’.

(…I see. I must have been attracted to Erika without realizing it)

Yes, this love probably started out as familial affection.

Not having loved anyone especially in particular, you were attracted to your stepsister without realizing so, and you came to cherish Erika because she’s closer to you than anyone else.

(…Is that, so? I don’t really like anyone else, and Erika likes me, so reciprocating Erika's feelings isn’t really betraying anyone, right?)

Somewhere deep in your chest, you feel an ache again.

You feel that some very important precious memories are being eroded by the love that melts your thoughts like syrup, but the warmth of Erika's body as she hugs you makes it all seem unimportant.

"…Step, brother."

"Erika, I…"

"…If you can't answer, you don’t, have to…"

Erika's slightly heated fingers capture your neck. The ultramarine eyes, reminiscent of the deep ocean, close in seemingly prayer.

"…Because Erika, wants to, kiss you."

Erika's faintly throbbing heartbeat echoes inseparably with yours.

And then, your lips close together, perfectly aligned as one.



"Ka, pfft."



''Tinkle.''

The gold chain of the crystal talisman wraps around your neck.



"Ugh, gahh!"

Suddenly deprived of the freedom to breathe, you instinctively jerked back.

However, the gold chain entwined with Erika's fingertips tightens with an intensity that seems to be imbued with magical power, entangling you like a shackle.

"Gah!? I-I can’t, breathe…!"

"St-Stepbrother!"

The tightened chain sinks into your neck, as though trying to strangle you. You reach for your neck to escape the suffocation, but are unable to tear off your Father's talisman. So you try to remove the hook at back of your neck, which should be right next to the robe's hood.

"…Eh?"

But the tip of your index finger ends up touching the knot in the taut chain.

At that moment, the gold chain, which had been so tightly entangled, fell off your fingertip.

Free from the chokehold, you gaze silently at the crystal talisman shining in your hand.

"…The talisman’s magic power…"

The crystal talisman, which was given by your Father and never left your body, should have been familiar to you.

Yet for some reason, at this particular moment, it shimmers with the brilliance of Mana, as if though to convey something.



"…'''A silver, glow'''."



It is small.

It truly is a small, very small flaw in the story.

The crystal talisman, tinged with magic, should have been a sign of parental love from your Father.



"Silvery white, like a vampire."



It was not the deep blue-purple mana of the Doctor Magna's profound knowledge.

It was shining in a pure silvery-white Mana reminiscent of the High Daylight Walker's pure love.

Suddenly.

A clear hot drop of water drips upon the crystal talisman like blood.

"…It’s different. It’s not this kind of world."

You cry.

You’re crying for ‘someone’ who has been taken from your memory, and can never be reclaimed again. You can’t even remember the reason why you’re crying, and you keep doing so.

"This isn’t it. What I’m looking for, what I swore to get back, isn’t this lie (fiction)."

Somewhere in the far reaches of the world, you heard something akin to paper starting to tear.

With the talisman clenched in your grip, a crease runs through your field of vision, bringing the written fantasy (fiction) to a catastrophic end.

"No."

You hold up the starry silver-white Mana against the blackness of the brush (ink) that erodes the world.

"The one I really loved, whom I truly loved, what I decided to believe in..."

You try to call out the scenario writer’s name of this story.



"It's 'REDACTED'."





''"I do not wish for you to remember that, Sōshi."''



''Crack'', and there is a sharp sound.

"!!?"

It is the sound of the world dying.

And so the fantasy that unfolds before your eyes is tearing apart like a piece of paper, reduced to mere scraps.

''"You shall forget. You shall remain in the embrace of this eternal paradise, unable to reach the truth of five years ago. To forget everything is your true happiness."''

Within the tears of the pitch-black page, the end of this fantasy spreads out to engulf the entire world.

The prearranged story (scenario) is torn...



''"This world, after all, is nothing more than a collection of words."''



The scenario writer's domain (backstage) is thus exposed before the reader's eyes.



That is a world of black and white.

In the extremely white world, reminiscent of the surface of a book, the jet-black ink that reads ‘scenario writer" form a vortex, and hordes of letters flow along, seemingly depicting the silhouette of the High Daylight Walker.

''"Welcome to the backstage of this story (scenario) of I."''

At the same time as the mocking voice echoes, countless black dots (ink) coalesced, scribbling words onto a white sheet of paper (page).

You intuitively understand.

This is the core where you’re '''forced to read the lie (fiction)'''. This is the domain (note) of the scenario writer who writes this story.

''"Congratulations, reader. You have broken through the fiction and arrived at the truth. How do you feel? How do you feel now that you have shattered this perfect and happy fiction forever with your own hands?"''

"…Horrible. You betrayed me, tampered my memory, and made me believe that the false world constructed only with letters was real. You made such a stupid lie—a stupid fiction come true!!"

''"Good grief, how ruthless you speak. Did you not feel very happy even in this a stupid fiction? For it was a fiction written by this talented eater, just as you wished."''

As the collection of letters laughs mockingly, the word ‘mockery’ spreads across the white void. What you assumed was reality is simply fiction, a mere mass of letters.

''"The reader (you) has longed for a past without tragedy, a future where your Father was not killed, a peaceful world without strike. I, who have sucked your blood and memories, understand this better than anyone."''

The head of the vampire is covered with an unnerving huge number of ‘smile’ words.

''"Hence, the scenario writer (I) wrote. '''I have falsified your memory''', just as the reader (you) once desired."''

"—Th-That’s not it!"

Feeling a rage akin to fear, you interrupt the scenario writer.

"You have lost, scenario writer! No matter what fiction you write, I will never forget the demon king! Your plot to tamper my memory and mislead me is now a piece of white paper!"

Considering the demon king's words, this is a world fabricated by the scenario writer's memory tampering, and that the scenario writer has been attacking your mind by writing false memories.

"I won’t forget…! As a son who lost his father to an assassin (you bastard), as a kin saved by True Ancestor (you bastard), as a person betrayed by a vampire (you bastard), I have to stop the demon king (That guy)!"

Yes. It is the last duty of a human person who fell in love with vampire.

If High Daylight Walker is going to fall into evil, you must fight her. To avenge your Father's death, to prevent your benefactor from turning evil, to abandon your love for the vampire—

You must finish the story of the demon king.

"I don't want this fiction! Give me back my memories, scenario writer!!"

But the scenario writer whispers quietly, seemingly lamenting your will.

''"Do you not know? Even your love for ■■■■■■■ is a fiction written by a scenario writer?"''

" …Ah?"

Such a devastating blow this is, that it can shatter your fighting spirit at once.

''"Congratulations on detecting this fantasy, reader (Sōshi). As you pointed out, this world is fiction…but so? Did you think that I wrote a 388-page 'book' simply to deceive you? "''

You assume the scenario writer is attacking the reader's (your) mind.

By writing a perfect and happy fiction, the scenario writer is trying to steal your memory.

Therefore, the scenario writer who failed to falsify your memory should have been defeated by the reader.

''"The scenario writer (I) is defeated? Is it the scenario writer (I) who is attacking the protagonist (you)? What a pathetically stupid thing to say. What I am attacking, what I am trying to topple, is the fundamental principle of this world."''

But what the scenario writer is attacking now isn’t the protagonist's (your) memory.

''"The scenario writer’s story may be too difficult for the reader (you) to follow; I suppose? Allow me to explain so. The truth that I am trying to convey to you by writing this fiction is..."

This is not the mind of the protagonist, nor his memories, nor his existence.


''"Even the memory of the original world has been tampered with."''


This is a novel that attempts to destroy the memories that the reader (you) believes to be real.

"Wh,a…?"

''"Have you ever heard of Kurt Gödel's Second Incompleteness Theorem? What about Self-Reference Paradoxes? What about the Infinite Regression of Munchausen's Trilemma? Kuku, surely you do not know."''

"D-Don’t try to fool me! How is this tampered with? This world is supposed to be a fiction!"

''"Truly. You are right, this world is fiction. I acknowledge that fact…but so? How can you prove that ‘the world you are in is not fiction’?"''

"!!?"

The reader (you), questioned by the scenario writer, is unable to answer.

The reader (you) has a memory of starting with this ‘book’, and that memory’s impossible to tamper. In other words, this novel is fiction, and the reality should exist beyond the novel…yet the scenario writer tells you '''this recognition too is also all a tampered memory'''.



Now, reader (you), please remember.

When did the reader (you) start reading 'book'? Where did you start reading 'book'?

Who is the reader (you) reading the 'book'? Does the reader's (your) memory remain beyond the 'book' (Me)?

If the memory remains—

—'''Is it not a memory that has been tampered with by someone else?'''

''"The scenario writer (I) has tampered with your memories. I have rewritten your memories, falsified your love for I, and implanted false memories about the world from which you came. Just as five years ago, you falsified your own memories to conceal the despair of your Father's death."''

"Shut up …! I won’t be deceived by such lies; the original world exists! I believe my memories! I have to stop the demon king!"

''"Do you trust your memories? Stop ■■■■■■■? If you truly wished to stop the resurrection of ■■■■■■■, why did you not try to recover the truth? You have been in a position to predict the demon king's resurrection since October 16, five years ago."''

''"What…?"''

Cowered by the crimson eyes, you’re rendered speechless, having lost your momentum to refute.

The High Daylight Walker■■■■■■■—the scenario writer has implanted a falsified memory in your mind, asking ‘why have you forgotten about your encounter with ■■■■■■■ five years ago despite it actually happening’.

''"You could have prevented it, could you not? If your memories of the original world are true, then you must have met this ■■■■■■■ on the night of the tragedy. If you have wished to stop ■■■■■■■, could you not have left her to die that night when she was attacked by the murderer?"''

Yes. If the original world you remember is true, you must have met High Daylight Walker on October 16, five years ago, in the Atelier where father was killed.

You must have known about the existence of High Daylight Walker, five years ago, that she had successfully taken revenge on Kai Okutsuki for cursing her memory, and her intent to revive as the demon king.

''"'Hmmm? If you wish to stop ■■■■■■■, you would not have forgotten. For if you have not lost your memory of five years ago, you could have killed the demon king."''

(…I killed the demon king…? Right, if I still have my memory of five years ago, I would have known that ■■■■■■■ was Father's enemy the moment we met in the Labyrinth…!)

''"If so, you would not have been infected by the curse of oblivion, and you would not have been murdered by the murderer. You could have avenged your Father's death by destroying ■■■■■■■."''

The 'Silver Night' of Library Labyrinth, the talent eater ■■■■■, says so with a devastating smile.

''"But you could not, for you fear the truth of five years ago. You discard your memories, relying on your trauma and flashbacks."'''

"─!!"

You, who have had the dormant wounds gouged out within you, are confronted and silenced with you weakens.

If your memories of the ‘original world’ are true, then you would have had the opportunity to defeat the evil demon king and save the world. You, whose memories were stolen by the trauma, have instead saved your Father's enemy with your own life.

For you have sealed the memory of that tragic night in a cage of oblivion.

''"And so what did you say? ‘I want the truth back’? Kuku, so you fear and reject the truth to the point of warping your memory to forget the truth. It is not because of the power of the ‘book’ or the curse that you lost your memory of five years ago, but because of your own weakness. "''

"N-Not at all!! I-I-I’ve been seeking the truth! I'm still seeking it! I didn’t lose my memory because I ran away from the truth!"

''"No. You have always wanted to ‘falsify your memory’ ever since that tragic night five years ago. You always yearned to escape from the abominable memories, to be free from the despair of the past. What you truly seek for in the Library Labyrinth is really a book that can rewrite your memories."''

"…No…! Why would I…!"

''"The proof is, when you obtained ‘Last Prayer’, you did not write down that you ‘regained your memory of five years ago’. If you had, you might have been able to stop this demon king, but your weakness, your fear of the truth, kept you distant from the truth."''

"…, I, I…!"

(How didn’t I try to obtain a memory of five years ago when I have a book that can falsify memories…!?)

''"You verbally state to seek the truth, yet you are unwilling to know it. For you are afraid. If Kai Okutsuki died because of you—it would be as if you had killed with hundreds and thousands of people with your own hands, lives you could have saved had Kai Okutsuki lived."''

"S-Stop it! Shut up, I!!"

The demon king sneers viciously and proclaims,

''"—Thus, you chose to flee. You have fled from the death of Kai Okutsuki, from the resurrection of the demon king, and from your own sins, into the flashback of darkness. '''It is you who falsified the truth of five years ago'''."''

"What…aaaaaahhhhhhh…"

The trauma that has tormented you has been a memory tampering that you yourself wished for.



''"Do you now understand? The reason why you could not stop ■■■■■■■ is your weakness. You ran away from the truth that you had to face and falsified your memory."''

(…I have to stop ■■■■■■■…but are they really my memories? Isn’t it ■■■■■■■ who implanted false memories inside me? No. Is ■■■■■■■ real? Isn't that a character in this novel written up by a scenario writer…?)

''"Yes, truly you can no longer trust even your own memory. You have betrayed thy own memory. You are too terrified to think ‘that your mind may be broken if you recall’, and so you distorted you own memory and flee from the truth. This doom is the wages of your wickedness, and you shall be justly judged."''

The scenario writer exposes the darkness of your mind and torments you, trying to break even your last remaining beliefs by admonishing you repeatedly. She is seemingly judging the sin of memory tampering by tearing your heart out.

(… Did I commit a sin? Is it a punishable sin to wish to falsify painful memories and rewrite the despair of the past…?)

''"Truly. Falsification of memory is a vice. Memory tampering to erase past despair is especially so. Therefore, you shall lose your Father’s teachings, your magic, your dreams, and even your own beliefs, the ‘book’ of the original world (memories) that are worth remembering, and continue to be imprisoned in this fiction till death."''

(…Did I run away from the truth? …Didn’t I return to Library City Alexandria after five years to retrieve the truth and become Doctor Magna for that purpose?)

''"If you never wanted to become a Doctor Magna, would the words that you always mutter merely be a self-suggestion? After all, if you keep proclaiming that you wish to continue your Father's legacy, you can mitigate the fear of ‘the truth that Kai Okutsuki may have died because of you’. This is nothing but shallow self-delusion."''

(…Is my wish ‘to become a person who can save others’ a falsified memory? But I believe in the existence of Sōshi Okutsuki (me)…)

''"If you truly believe in yourself, you should have stood your ground. You should have fought. Hopelessness, hurt, and truth are the trials you have to overcome to believe in yourself. Yet you fled. You have encased everything in a cage of oblivion and fled into amnesia."

(…Maybe I escaped. Because if I had remembered my memories from five years ago, I would have been able to stop ■■■■■■■’s resurrection…but I couldn't.)

''"Truly. You wished to tamper with it. Ever since that night five years ago, you have always wished to falsify your memories, to keep the cruel truth away, to drown in a gentle fiction. Congratulations Sōshi Okutsuki, this world of nothingness (fiction) is the end of the salvation you wished for."''

You remain adrift in a dizziness of surrealism, continuing to be exposed to the denunciations of the scenario writer.

The ‘scenario writer’ knows. She has sucked away your memories, knows where to pierce your heart to make it bleed based on the ‘collection of words’, and where to punch it to break it.


''"Now, time to pull back the curtain on the story. If the backstage remains exposed, surely the readers will be bored out of their minds."''

"U, ah, …!"

As soon as the word ‘grimoire’ seemingly coalesce in the scenario writer's hand, a "book" (Me) is formed. The virtual persona (character) prepared by ■■■■■■■, the mastermind behind everything in this world, is trying to bury the entirely flawed story by killing the protagonist along with the reader (you).

''"This shall be the end of the reader's (your) prayer. This scenario writer has written a perfect and happy fiction simply to fulfill the reader's prayer. If it displeases you so, then the scenario writer (I) will gracefully put down her pen."''

The scenario writer whispers a farewell, and the grimoire glows.

''"This moment shall be your judgment, Sōshi Okutsuki, the reader and protagonist of scenario writer (I)."''

The collection of letters called ‘scenario writer’ emanates an enormous amount of ‘magic power’ and begins its ‘chanting’.

''""O’ the pillar of the sky, foundation of the country, the goddess of storms who guards the Dragon Field!"''

(…A, chant…! Got to counterattack…!)

You instinctively try to pull out your grimoire, but your fingertips, extended to your right shoulder, misses completely. It is then that you realize your body has become a whirlpool of information formed by the many words ‘you’.

(I don’t have a grimoire!… No, even if there is one, I can’t use magic! Because my magic, along with my memories of five years ago!)

''""The atmospheric gods, hear these summons, bind the blades of the wind with invisible arms.""''

The scenario writer of this story, the master of a world devoid of trauma, continues to chant cheerfully, as if to mock you for losing your magic due to trauma.

(…I'm definitely going to be killed if this keeps up… but even that death may be a fiction. I have falsified my memory, and there’s nothing else I can believe …)

You can’t act. You can’t solidify your will. Because you have falsified your memory.

You can’t believe the truth. Because you have falsified your memory.

You can’t believe in ideals. Because you have falsified your memory.

You can’t believe in yourself. Because you have falsified your memory.

And if even your feelings for ■■■■■■■ are just a fiction, a mere novel—

Then you can’t believe in any meaning of fighting the scenario writer.

''"Let the blades of the wind cut down all who oppose me!"''

You can’t believe anything, and the chant finishes.

The scenario writer unleashes a spell onto the reader (you).



''"Execute──Reverse Red Blades!"''

With a snap.

The ‘extreme pressure difference’ created by the spell cut through your chest.

"Gah…ughh!?"

(My body, is…!)

Your body, struck by the ‘vacuum blade’, bursts open from the inside, spewing out ‘blood’. Your skin is ripped open, your ribs are broken, your exposed lungs are sliced open like ajar doors.

You collapse into a world of pure white.

"Ack…!? Haa…ahem!? Hii, Huu, huuu—!"

''"Mu…not a fatal blow. Perhaps I cannot use all my power given that I am an existence constructed from your own memories. Kufufu, boring it is however to let you die immediately. You shall rot and die."''



You see your fingertips being eroded by the many words of ‘death’.

You’re rapidly approaching death due to massive blood loss and breathing difficulties.

(Death…? Is the existence of Sōshi Okutsuki, all my feelings…ending?)

''Shiiinnn.''

The crystal talisman, severed off by the wind, rolls in the white fiction and rings away like a funeral bell.

You are dying.

With nothing to believe in, with nobody to believe in.

You will die, betrayed by memory, deceived by the High Daylight Walker, judged by the scenario writer.

For your own sin of tampering the memory of despair and trying to flee the truth.

(…Is this karma…? Is this my punishment for thinking I could falsify my memory and conveniently rewrite my own memory …?)

You realize your failure and ruin, and recall the past as your consciousness drowns in blood.

(…Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my subconscious desire to rewrite the despair of the past has robbed me of my memories, destroyed my magic, and kept me away from the truth…)

If you hadn’t lost your memory. If you hadn’t fled from the despair of the past and faced the truth, you might have been able to stop ■■■■■■■ from becoming the demon king of darkness.

You might have stopped ■■■■■■■'s dominion—and lived with her.

"■■, hyuuuuh, ■■■…!"

Amidst your mortal pain, you gasp and repent with blood-colored tears.

(…It’s my fault…If I had sought the truth, I could have stopped ■■■■■■■ before she became the demon king, and, before ■■■■■■ sinned.)

It is only now that you realize that you love ■■■■■■■.

Even in this perfect and happy world, Erika, Calmia, friends, Father, magic, dreams, everything was being meaningless without ■■■■■■■.

If a miracle can happen at this moment and bring ■■■■■■■ out of the darkness, you’ll be willing to pay whatever the price.

You wish you can be the one to save ■■■■■■■, even if the cruel truth hurts you.

And yet you’re about to die, unable to even remember ■■■■■■■.



"…■■, hyuu, ■■…ack, hyuu…"

At the end of your story (this world), the memory of the vampire, your last love, flickers like dying lights.

"I, love, you."

The fingertips, extended in trembling despair, gently caress the side of the crystal.

"…■■, ■■■."

‘Timed memory shall begin to thaw.’



''Clink.''

At the end of this dying thought, at the very back of a brain that’s almost silenced, the sound of gears whisper.



"…Eh?"

Instantly, with a shattering sound, ''Creak!'' Mana gushes from the talisman touching the fingertips with a crushing sound. The magic power seemingly explodes to form a silvery-white vortex that coalesces before your eyes.

The trump card in your memory, the crystal talisman with absolute protection.

The magic of the True Ancestor sealed within it seem to explode within the white void and fill the entire space, projecting a vampire onto your nearly sealed vision.



Her hair is a silver wind. Long hair, shiny like silk, spreads to cover the white skin.

Her shining eyes are jewels of blood. The twin eyes, dyed in the red of fresh blood, are as clear as polished rouge.

Fluttering upon the white backstage is the High Daylight Walker...

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"…And yet you say you love me '''once more'''."''</span>

She turns back towards you with the same brilliant smile as the vampire you love so much.

The scenario writer formed of black letters, raising a grimoire with a murderous intent,

And the vampire, standing to protect her kin, appears as the white Mana.

The two ■■■■■■■ figures stand tall, each seemingly asserting on being the real one.



"…■, ■, ■■■■…?"

''"I-Impossible. There is no such thing as a ‘timed memory’! For this scenario writer (I) has falsified the True Ancestor's memory! The personality and memory of the High Daylight Walker should have been erased from memory!"''

"…W-Why? ■■■■■■■…betrayed me…"

You mutter dumbfoundedly while still prone on the domain let out a mutter of oblivion as you collapsed in a blank domain.

The scenario writer, faced with the vampire, shrieks in shock as though she has discovered a fatal flaw in her own story.

''"The story (scenario) of the author (I) should be perfect! This Memory Tampering is the ‘scenario writer's omnipotence’, capable of implanting false memories, distort personalities, and control behavior and emotions! So why is the True Ancestor…?"''

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"Truly. ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ is a 'book' that falsifies the memories of others and manipulates at will by rewriting what they know. Once captured by its magical power, '''memories that have been tampered shall be tampered again''', and those with falsified personalities shall not resist, making it a grimoire of absolute domination."''</span>

The phantom of ■■■■■■■ flickering in the pure white void looks upon you with deep red eyes, and says,



"'''Therefore, I have engraved in your memory.''' The memory to destroy the demon king’s story, within the most beloved kin of this True Ancestor (I)."

She had included the foreshadowing of ‘you’ in this story.





"…I-In, my, memory …!"

''"Kuu…! High Daylight Walker, did you implant memories of the True Ancestor within Sōshi Okutsuki (protagonist)?"''

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"Truly. Memory tampering is the ‘omnipotence of scenario writers’, and can even create memories '''that are destroyed through memory tampering'''."''</span>

"Wh-what…■■■■■■■!!! You have been deceiving me, haven't you!?"

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"No. The True Ancestor (I) bound to this timed memory, can never betray you. The one who fooled you is the personality of the demon king fabricated by ‘Kathédra’—'''the vampire with false memories'''!"''</span>

—Yes, that's right. These two ■■■■■■■ cannot be the same entity.

The demon king is a scenario writer of slaughter who tries to falsify your memories by writing a perfect and happy fiction.

And the True Ancestor is a scenario writer of a love story waiting for her redemption, believing in you even in this imperfect and tragic reality.

‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ is not a fiction written by one scenario writer—

"…■■■■■■■. Are you, maybe…!"

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"You. There are two scenario writers in this story!"''</span>

True Ancestor and Demon King, two scenario writers, are competing to write a novel with different endings.

"■■■■■■■ had her memory falsified?"

''Clink.''

The gold chain that trembles in your clenched fist rings out in affirmation of you.

"So the demon king (you) betrayed me because someone had imprinted a false memory?"

It is a foreshadowing set up in the story.

The vampire who betrayed you has left a talisman of absolute defense to release you from your tampered memories (fiction), causing a definite narrative contradiction.

"So the True Ancestor (you) saved me by inscribing a true memory on me, didn't she?"

What if ■■■■■■■ is a scenario writer?

What if she’s the mastermind behind this story, the one who twisted your life, wrote all the foreshadowing, and conspired to bring the return of the Demon King and his dominion over the world?

Then the crystal talisman, once gifted to you by the Doctor Magna, granted life again by the High Daylight Walker—



"—■■■■■■ believed in me all along, didn't you?"



Can’t possible give a glow of the '''silver-white''' Mana.



"…■■■■■■■. You are no demon king of darkness…!"

The dying heart, the story that was almost over, is set in motion by a burning love affair.

The True Ancestor wrote a ‘memory that breaks through the memory tampering’, and the silver-white magic gushing from the crystal talisman shall gradually awaken you from the fiction written by the demon king.

"…■■■■■■ believed in me. Even though I betrayed even my own memory…!"

You are the foreshadowing of this story.

The protagonist whose memory True Ancestor has inscribed into to defy the demon king's plan and rewrite the ending.

''"Kuu…so I shall settle through force! O’ the pillar of the sky, foundation of the country!"''

"…This time, I believe!"

You place the talisman on your chest and unleash your own Magitzkveins.

''"The atmospheric gods, hear these summons, bind the blades of the wind with invisible arms…"''

To regain the memories and magic that were once lost, to destroy this perfect and happy fiction, by overcoming your traumatic memories—to go save the True Ancestor.

''"Execute──Reverse Red Blades!"''

In the face of the oncoming wind blade, you draw all your magical power from the Magitzkveins, seared with the memory of despair, and imbue it into the crystal talisman.

You shout the name of the vampire you believe in.



"──Arteriaaaaaaa!!!"



''Giiiiiiiiiinnn!''

A high-pitched ‘interference sound’ echoed in the white darkness of the scenario writer's domain (backstage).

A logic wall resembling a mandala expands upon a page, and a one-meter radius space centering from the talisman tears through the fiction like a thin sheet of paper.

''"Wha…gyaaaaaahhhh!"''

''Girigirigiri.'' The ‘scenario writer’ is torn apart with a cracking sound.

The bundle of words that form the ‘scenario writer’ and the final shackles that bind you shriek as they are sucked into the page crack.

"…'''Everything’s been tampered with'''. Both the reader (I) and the scenario writer (Arteria)."

You watch the jet black words fade away with hatred, and the silvery white of Mana, descend upon you lovingly, feeling that you’re beginning to understand everything.

Just as your love for Arteria revives your dying heartbeat.

Just as Arteria’s love for you breathes life into an almost finished story.

You will awaken from the darkness of tampered memories, bathed in the light called Arteria.

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"…You may have realized the truth now. Both your memories and I have been tampered with by ‘Kathédra’."''</span>

The image of a vampire projected by magic informs you while seemingly swallowed by the collapsing world.

<span style="font-family:Times Roman;font-style: italic;">''"…The whole story is a conspiracy hatched by a scenario writer. And you are the kin written in by the High Daylight Walker to rebel against this story, and rewrite the ending."''</span>

"…Yeah. I understand everything."

Yes, you have understood.

You are a character created by a scenario writer (Arteria), a person whose memories have been falsified by the ‘omnipotence of the scenario writer’, whose personality has been controlled, whose life has been rewritten according to the wishes of the True Ancestor—

And you are the protagonist of this story with the truth implanted in your memories to save the vampire (Arteria).

"… I won't run away anymore. Even if my memory runs out, no matter what trials await me."

In the depths of the fading ‘fiction’, the silver-white Mana is swallowed up by the end.



"Arteria, I will bring back the True Ancestor (you) from the tampered memories."

You mutter, seemingly vowing to the time-limited memory the True Ancestor engraved.

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