Tosho Meikyuu:Volume1 Chapter3

630 Pages until Memory Loss

◇◇◇630 Pages until Memory Loss

As you may imagine from your classroom number being over a thousand, the lecture tower of the ‘Apothecary’ has countless classes, and therefore, lots and lots of students.

All the students will leave the classroom at the same time, and start to migrate toward the cafeteria. Thus, you can imagine how crowded it is during lunch break.

"Tch…we’re late. Who knows how long it’ll take for us to get through the crowd …?"

The murderer walking before you mutters in disdain. The spiral staircases connecting to each floor of the lecture tower is filled with a dense crowd of black-haired people (there are people of other hair colors like blond and brown, at least half of them anyway). The mass migration of people is why the ‘Apothecary’ has a lunch break lasting an hour and a half.

(A-As expected from the famous ‘Apothecary’, just the number of students is amazing enough…)

"There may be several hundred people within sight.it will be impossible for this true ancestor to appear and fight."

(No, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll fight here. Since she didn’t expose the vampire (me), this murderer probably wants to interrogate me or torture me into submission.)

During the argument in the classroom, the murderer did not reveal your true identity. In that case, she probably has a reason for keeping you alive. In that case, even if she, who has much better magic than you, probably won’t use magic that would kill the interrogation target (you) instantly.

(…And besides, I have the immortality of the High Daylight Walker and the absolute protection magic in my talisman. I may miss an opportunity to win, but I won’t lose and die…!)

You gently lay your hand on your chest, feeling the talisman crystal.

To protect his beloved son, the Doctor Magna gathered all his skills to create this magical tool.

This one and only relic sealed in this ‘Apothecary’, the absolute protection magic of Okutsuki—the most powerful mage of the ‘Apothecary’.

(…Despite that, this protective charm only works once. Father’s magic is truly a last resort.)

"Umu. Given the risk of your identity as a vampire being exposed, I shall appear to fight if push comes to shove. I swear in the name of High Daylight Walker and I shall not let any harm befall my dearest!"

(…I don't need a vampire’s help. I’m the one fighting.)

In response to the ultrasonically whispered confession of love, you reply with a soft sounding rejection. Even you, who may not be truly familiar with the concept of love, are not so foolish as to trust the love a vampire speaks of.

You and the vampire have a common agreement, that both of you are antagonistic towards the murderer…but this is merely a fragile partnership based on mutual interests. You do not think the love spoken of by the High Daylight Walker is true, and It is also dangerous to rely too heavily on Arteria's fighting skills.

(…I don’t think the High Daylight Walker is likely to save humans for no reason. Vampires are a natural enemy to humanity, and it’s possible she’s trying to use it…I can’t rely on her power.)

A High Daylight Walker is a natural enemy species of mankind, and also the most powerful monster in Library Labyrinth. You do not know how why she granted immortality to a human…but in any case, you cannot expect on her assistance. You should abandon the optimism that the vampire will help you, and fight the murderer seriously.

"…Oi, murderer, how much further do you plan to walk?"

"Can a vampire not be so friendly towards me? My ears will rot."

"Hmph, it’s better if its those bullhorns that rot instead of those ears. Maybe you can look more like a human…eek!"

You try to gauge the Murderer’s reaction, and the moment you speak to her, your right index finger suddenly disappears. There are many around you, but the savagery of the murderer remains merciless.

"D-Did she just attack you in a public place…?"

(Damnit, I was stupid to expect common sense from a murderer!)

You hide your right hand in your pocket, waiting for the severed fingertip to regenerate. The amount of blood smoke is higher than when you were stabbed in your flank, since part of your flesh is missing.

(…This is bad. Let’s hope nobody around us notice my aura …)

You remain alert to your surroundings so as to avoid being suspected of being vampirized.

"…Did you see that? That transfer student’s giving off that red aura again…"

"I-I see it too! I can’t believe it materializes to something so thick…!"

"Oh yeah they’re going to do it. He said it comes out when he's emotional."

"D-Do it, as in, erm, that thing!?"

"No doubt about it!"

The absolutely wrong conversation can be overheard a few meters away behind you. Your classmates have misunderstood your relationship with the murderer, and are tailing you to peep on your date.

However, you are unable to notice them due to the crowd and your wariness against the murderer.

"Now then, get ready to turn left. If you want to run, you can choose the right."

"If I turn right here, wouldn’t that mean that I’ll be in the air?"

"Oh my, don’t you understand that I’m telling you to jump from the stairwell and kill yourself?"

"I know! I mean I don't want to die!"

The main staircase of the 'Apothecary' connects the upper levels of the Labyrinth to the top of the tower, a distance of nearly a kilometer, so a fall into the central stairwell means a certain death.

Well, in your case, you will not die due to the fall, but will be tried in a vampire inquest for not dying, and will be submerged in a sulfuric acid bath and converted into black charcoal.

After walking for nearly 20 minutes in fear of your death, you eventually step out into the outermost shell of the tower. This is the place that protrudes outward from the center of the main lecture tower, similar to a terrace.

(…Somehow we ended up outside the lecture tower…?)

You squint in the fierce sunlight and scan your surroundings. Upon this terrace built from the advanced architectural techniques excavated from the Labyrinth, there are little aquaducts formed by sunbaked bricks.

The aquaducts are decorated with sculptures of angels, and the green roof is made of vines intertwined with the pillars. The young leaves of the planted trees sometimes rustle with the wind, and though they do manufacture the perfect atmosphere for a man and a woman to meet. …

(…It doesn’t feel like anyone else is around. Is she going to turn this place to a battlefield…!?)

As long as the murderer is next door, you shall never ever have a a peaceful lunch break.

(…It’s quite a large space, but there’s hardly any obstructions. It’ll be troublesome if she summons stone shapes or shoot stone spares at me like yesterday …!)

"Oh my, is the world of daylight that unusual for a vampire born in the darkness?"

The murderer asks as she walks to the center of the terrace and turns her head back. The Mediterranean sea breeze blows upstream the lecture tower from the city below, swaying the murderer's golden hair and causing it to sparkle.

"Phew. The fragrane of the sea sure is pleasant, though I imagine vampires prefer the smell of death and darkness."

"I-I usually prefer the fragrance of the tide too…though the sunlight does burn my skin a little."

You can feel a tingling warmth on your exposed face and the backs of your hands…fortunately however, there is no sign of turning into ash, as per a typical vampire.

"… And? You didn't bring me all the way down here just to fight, right?"

You wonder about your enemy's attitude, expecting spears to fly the moment you two are alone. Given her actions till this moment, you have assumed she is a lunatic who delights in murdering…

"…I’ll be honest, I want intel. Confess obediently, and I may spare your life, you know?"

How surprising, she offers to spare your life in exchange for information!

(That’s a lie!)

"That is a lie, no?"

It is a lie.

The cold murderous intent that glows deep within those blue eyes is telling you 'I'll kill you after squeezing out every last bit of information'.

""…But that means there is more doubt that she is involved with your sworn enemy."

(Yeah. If she’s just an ordinary berserker, she wouldn’t have said to her prey ‘I can spare you’ while alone…!)

Yes. Since the murderer is not attacking you like last night, it shows that she has some information she wants, for some reason.

And the information she wants is not her—but someone controlling her.

"…What will you do if I say I don’t want to answer."

You reach for your book binder and flank, getting ready to pull out a pencil and a grimoire.

"…Of course, I will pry your mouth with brute force."

The murderer too puts her hand on her left shoulder, getting ready to pull out a grimoire.

"Y-You! A Doctor Magna might notice if you battle at such an open place. I cannot appear and help you battle!"

(…I don’t need the power of a vampire. If I can’t defeat her, I can’t get information. It’s alright. As long as I have the memory tampering of the “Last Prayer’, I can counter the murderer’s magic! And I’m an immortal now. I definitely won’t die in battle!)

Well, you have a really powerful ally in the ‘book’ (me)

Due to the nature of magic that can only be exercised by chanting spells, you still have time to write memories before you are attacked. With the abilities of memory tampering and immortality, you probably won’t be mortally wounded easily.

(… I need to beat her. I need to protect myself, to test the power of this ‘Last Prayer’, and also , just maybe, to discover the truth five years ago that she might know of!)

"Let's go, murderer…!"

You pull out your grimoire, resolving yourself as you shout,

"-I'll finish you off in five pages!"

You give a declaration of war that echoes.

"Hmph, you sure can howl for a vampire! I’ll send you to the underworld as you wish!"

The murderer too pulls out her grimoire from the shoulder mail, flips a page, and casts a spell.

"Activate key Jc102k! O little king, Serpent Lord crowned with an eight-footed gecko!!"

"You, this is the chant of the ‘Stone Serpent Fang’. Stop her before she can cast her spell!"

(I don't need a vampire to tell me that! Rewrite…my memory!!)

As you hear the voice that chants, you write the following words in your memory/

"I am an expert at bare-handed combat."— 193pgs.

"Execute—Stone Serpent Fang!!!"

As soon as your pencil finishes this sentence, the bricks forming the balcony rise up. The magic that is the legacy of God twists reality, transforming the building materials into sharp spears that are fired away.

The moment you looked up from the page, the spearhead tip came at you with a fury—

"Dodge!"

"Zoooooooo!"

The robe that has just contained your head until a moment ago is pierced through along with the hood.

"Wh-what!?"

"I dodged it…I can dodge! I dodged the spell that killed my yesterday!"

Your body smoothly avoids the torrential downpour of stone spears that are fired at tremendous speed. Having mastered the fundamentals of combat, you can’t possibly fail to see through such attack.

The murderer has invoked a continuous spell that will continue to function until the Magitzkveins are deactivated. The firing rate of three to four shots per second is comparable to a master spearman, but once the murderer has set her sights on you, they can only fly in a straight line over a distance of nearly five meters.

(… That’s right. No matter how many magic spears she has, the one aiming is still human! Now if I can read the murderer’s aim…!)

"Such magic is no different from dealing with spearmen!"

Hence, by rewriting your memory, you can even evade these magic spears!

"My body’s moving on instinct...! This is the ‘gained experience’ through memory tampering!"

"Ku…you didn’t have such evasive ability during the battle yesterday.!"

The murderer probably intends to stop your movement at in a single hit, for she starts to look anxious. The spears are shot out from the raised floor one after another, but you continue to avoid them with all your might.

(The barrage’s not as dense as yesterday! I can still handle this!)

"Umu! She is limiting the Mana inserted into her Magitzkveins to capture you alive!"

The advantage of a continuous spell like ‘Stone Serpent Fang’ is that it does not have to be chanted again. However, Mana has to be continually inserted into the Magitzkveins for it to remain functional.

And since humans have only one main vein that can be used for chanting magic—this may cause a fatal opening.

"You! She cannot chant any other spells unless she stops firing! Grab a spear to strike back and defeat her!"

(I don't need a vampire to tell me that! You’re saying that I should attack her when her Magitzkveins is occupied, right!?)

It is currently a deadlock, but the murderer has to disarm the magic in the Magitzkveins to cast new spells, and she may expose her during this opening created by the tiltowait and the chanting.

On the other hand, you don’t have the remote, high-powered offensive speels, but you have a tireless, immortal body that allows you to continue evasive maneuvers while taking other actions.

You can’t afford not to take advantage of this tactical advantage resulting from the response difference!

"‘While controlling spells, the circuit can’t be used for other purposes’…it’s fine. I haven’t forgotten the basic principles of antimagic combat…" You duck through the rain of stone spears, thrusting your pencil beneath the hem of your robe, and pull out your right hand. You then time the trajectory of a flying stone spear and catch it in mid-air.

"Well done! You, throw the spear at her!"

"Woooaahhh!"

You step on the balcony bricks and swing your right arm in a wide arc to throw this stone spear.

The spear pierces the air and flies at the murderer in a sharp parabola—

"I-It’s useless!"

—Giiin!! The stone spear is deflected off a transparent wall, deviating from it’s original course.

"! A logic wall!?"

"H-Had she used both the main vein and the sub vein together?"

The interference light scattered by the Mana etches complex magic arrays in the void.

The ‘Logic Wall’ is a generic term for an automatically deployed defensive spell, one of the most common means of self-defense in Library City Alexandria.

By equipping a ‘Logic Wall book" in the sub vein and loading it with a chant, one will deploy a defensive spell in response to a crisis.

And as it is a very common spell, the Logic Wall created by a skilled caster is extremely sturday, capable of blocking any physical or magical interference!

"Y-You’re great at evading, but it seems you’re lacking in offenses! It’s the right choice to retrieve the grimoire from the Labyrinth yesterday!"

"!! Did you steal the grimoire I brought from Japan!?"

"You can’t cast chanting spells without a medium like a ‘book’ unless you’re a vampire lord-level True Ancestor! You can’t penetrate my wall!"

"Ku…you’re basically a robber and a murderer!"

"You! This is no time for talk! Evade!"

The murderer adjusts her aim as she tries to drive you away so that you cannot grab her stone spears. You stomp onto the balcony, keeping your distance as you ponder how to counter the Logic Wall.

(A Logic Wall is an automatic permanent spell that’s deployed automatically! I can’t close the gap towards the murderer)

"Also, you cannot break her defenses with the stone spears that has no piercing ability! Another strategy is required!"

"Ku…! It’s true there wasn’t much Mana scattered in the attack just now!"

The Mana released from the Magitzkveins emitted an interference light when your attack was parried. The automatically-deployed Logic Wall consumed Mana to change the trajectory of the stone spear.

Considering the intensity of the interference light however, it appeared she used a negligible amount of Man. Given the murderer’s impressive magical ability, she would have recharged that amount in mere seconds. The impact of the stone spear can’t penetrate the Logic Wall.

(Think…! Recall that magic theory that should be ingrained in my memory! Any automatically deployed spell like this logic wall are usually set meters away from the caster to prevent damage from accidental contact! She probably can’t trigger her wall up close either…!)

Yes. And to add on, a logic wall automatically identifies and intercepts high-threat objects approaching the caster to prevent any attack that may approach out of sight. Conversely, it can’t defend against any slow approaching object or object within the wall to begin with.

(…That means that if I can get into close ranged combat against her, I can break through the wall! I can use my close ranged combat skills that I gained from memory tampering and my physical strength as a vampire!!)

You plan to support your evasive moves and approach the enemy through your strong physical abilities.

Under normal circumstances, humans unconsciously limit their muscle output to avoid damaging their bones and tendons. The average untrained person can consciously exert only about 20% of one’s original strength.

There will be irreversible damage caused to the muscle fibers, bones and tendons if one is exerting 100% strength, and that person will immediately lose the ability to fight…but for a Nosferatu (you) that is not a problem.

For even if the tendons snaps as one leaps, or the arm bones shatter as you punch..

The immortality of the strongest species can regenerate the body in an instant.

(I don’t have much memory left, but now’s not the time to hold back! Time to—write my memory!!!)

“I can temporarily forget the limitations of my muscle output.”— 24pgs.

The moment the lead crumbled from the pencil tip, weaving these words—boom!! A sound echoed.

The mighty muscular force completely ruptures your left Achilles tendon, the deltoid, and the anterior cruciate ligament,

And having paid the price, your physical body accelerates to 30 meters per second!

“U, aahhh!!?”

Zoom!! As the wind rips through, you jump 10 meters aside, scraping the sand-brick platform of the balcony with the soles of your shoes to decelerate.

Your body, having forgotten the fear of self-destruction through memory tampering, has broken through the limits of humanity and stepped into the realm of the vampire!

“What!? Do-Does a vampire have a grimoire to buff the body?”

“I jumped…I jumped as if I can use magic even though I can’t!"

You tap your legs against each other, leaping from side to side to test your mobility. Your body has accelerated and decelerated rapidly while destroying and regenerating, completely out of the murderer's aim. The combination of memory tampering and immortality gives you the power to overwhelm your enemies!

“I-Impossible! How do you gain such mobility without chanting any spells!!?”

“Guuhh…my muscles rip apart whenever I jump, and I feel really ticklish inside my legs!!...But I can fight! With this physical ability!”

You read the trajectory and timing of the stone spears, and accurately grab one by its center of gravity. All you have to do is to avoid the flying spears and step into the wall!

“D-Don’t come close!”

(They’re firing with more density…! But if I can approach cautiously and jump…!)

You jump to dodge while getting close, seeking a position right next to the enemy the moment you jump.

(Alright…this can work! I just need to jump high here and break the murderer’s aim!) The moment you feel you can approach her with your next step,

“—Halt, do not advance!”

“!”

The voice from within the robe stops you at the last moment.

“—Vein on, Number Two (Tetralix)!! O primodial spirit that lies within the depths of the earth!!”

“!? Mu-Multichant!?”

The moment you hear the second chant that shakes the atmosphere, you instinctively jump backwards and pull your distance.

(I-Impossible! A human should only be able to load a spell charge at most!)

You shout in your heart as you dodge the hail of stone spears that intensifies.

As per what you learn in magic theory class, a Magitzkveins that has an active spell can’t be reused. This is the physical limitation that can’t be overcome with skill or training.

“A-Absurd…! It is possible to use the main vein and the sub vein together if one has tremendous magic control, but the rule that ‘a Magitzkvein can only cast one spell’ cannot be broken! P-Perhaps, she…!”

A typical human will only have a main vein that’s based on the nervous system. In other words, aside from the sub vein that can be used without chanting, a caster can only chant and use a single spell.

“—No mistake about it, she has ‘dual veins’!!”

In other words, this murderer is not an ordinary spellcaster, and not an ordinary murderer.

She has a second Magitzkvein through certain means…probably a hereditary skill of her tribe, or a unique skill ordinary people know not of, and is an extremely unique magical combatant.

She’s someone who hones her magic for the sake of killing—like say, being the assassin of your Father.

“Hear the earth tremor!”

“Depths of the earth, primordial spirit, earth tremor…! This is the middle-level spell of matter formation, ‘ancient king’s warhammer’! It shall be finished after chanting for twenty seconds or so! Your power shall not withstand it!”

“Damn it!!”

You plan to attack before she finishes her chant, but your instincts as a close-ranged combatant doesn’t permit you to do so. The closer you approach the source of the stone spears, the smaller the intervals that allow you to evade them.

And the hail of stone spears intensify—this is the murderer’s magic at full power.

(Th-The firing speed is getting faster…was she holding back the entire time until now!?)

“…Is she forced to show her full strength…you, change your thought process! She is no longer your opponent from before! She is an ‘enemy’ attempting to kill you!!”

(Ku…I can’t do anything if she finishes her chant! Let’s not attack for now—write!!)

You decide to stop your attack for now, and fortify your defences.

You pull a great distance, pull the pencil out from your robe, and start to write words in the ‘book’ (me).

(…That’s right. Since I can forget the ‘limiters of my muscles’, I should be able to forget my mental trauma! If I regain my magic now, I should be able to activate the Logic Wall in a sub vein!!)

A Logic Wall is the most common form of defensive magic in the Library City. Until five years ago, you were still a promising mage. Naturally, you had a ‘sub vein for barrier use’ implanted within you.

If you can falsify the trauma in your memories and regain your ability to use magic—

(I probably can use a logic wall to block this murderer’s magic!)

“I forgot my traumatic memories and regained the ability to operate magic.—1ℓ . You desperately write this one line in the ‘Last Prayer’ with the fastest speed possible, but at that moment,

You feel a tingle in your nerves.

“…Eh?”

“Y-You?”

"...... eh, huh?"

A black mist rises from the ‘book’, scorching your thoughts.spread out from the "book" (Me) like a gush, burning and scorching your thoughts.

“G-Gah!”

“H-How strange! Such massive magic…is not something a human can handle!”

The voice of the True Ancestor quickly fades away, and your consciousness is flung towards a certain abyss far away. Your vision that’s swallowed by the darkness shrink quickly, and before you know it your memory instantly harkens back to the Labyrinth five years ago.

The tragic night when your father was killed.

“…Ga, ha.”

The ■■■■ that’s stabbed through the crimson robe as though it was all a joke.

“Fu, ghh…!”

The ■■ and ■■ and ■■ landed upon your tender face.

“S-Stop.”

The ■■ and the ■■ fall devastatingly from your beloved father’s body, letting out a ripping ■■ sound. The ■■ and ■■ were shone upon by the shining lamp, and the ■■ was rolling on the floor. The ■■ and ■■ and the ■■ were like puzzles often played during New Year, and even the ■■ was ■■■■■■■■■■ and ■■■■■■■■■■ vampire ■■■■■■■■■■ absolutely ■■■■■■■■ dead ■■■■■■■■■■ demon ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

“Execute...ancient king’s Warhammer!!”

Your thoughts, almost devoured by the darkness, hear the chilling chant,

A huge rock plate with debris falling from it strikes you hard.

“Ack…!”

Creak creak! Your bones can be heard breaking.

Your head is struck with a deadly acceleration, dragging you back to reality from your trauma-induced flashback.

Your half-awakened thoughts are smashed to smithereens by this rock with overwhelming force.

“Aaaaahhhh!!”

Your bones are hammered like candy hit by a metallic hammer, completely crumbled to dust. The impact has nowhere else to go, and sends you flying to the outer wall of the ‘Apothecary’ along with the ‘book’ (me).

“Guaahh!? Ack, w-what?”

(I’m a vampire…but it hurts! It just hurts all over!)

You feel ‘pain’ after half a day has passed. As a vampire with an overwhelming physical regeneration ability, most external wounds would not hurt or itch at all..

“Y-You!! Hurry and stand, or you shall be tortured and killed!”

(Impossible…I did tamper my memory to falsify the memory of my trauma…!!)

You try your best to sort out the thoughts that were scattered by the impact.

(Did the memory tampering…fail…!?)

Yes. You wrote ‘I forgot my traumatic memories ‘. This sentence alone is unable to overcome the mental trauma that is etched deeply in your mind..

Please recall. This 'book' function is to ‘preserve and falsify memories’ . As you write a memory within me, I shall create the scene necessary to obtain that memory and duplicate it into your brain. Thus, you need to know ‘how to obtain that memory’ in order to allow for memory tampering. ".

(Wh-what in the…!?)

My memory tampering can only offer information without physical changes. For example, in order to grant you the ability to use magic, you have to be granted Magitzkveins, and this involves the ‘reality tampering’ that I can’t possible do.

Thus , this ‘Last Prayer’ is unable to change moments like,

‘Knowing the location of a particular ‘book’ or person’, ‘regaining the ability to use magic’, or ‘increasing muscle mass’.

I am the ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’.

I am your memory itself.

Thus, even if you are to write on my page, ‘I learned the truth of five years ago’ on my pages—

You will never know the truth.

“Gah, ugh……!!”

“…Haa, haaa…you really caused me lots of trouble, vampire.”

Her shoulders huffing, the murderer pants as she curses you.

It appears that due to the multichant of this mid-high matter spell and the highly dense barrage of spears, her Magitzkveins were considerably burdened…

There is no doubt that once the tiltowait ends, she will slaughter you.

"Y-you! Stand up, stand up!”

Arteria's voice echoes in your inebriated brain, but your body, stripped of its skeleton, is unable to stand. Even as a kin of the strongest species, you’re unable to quickly recover from the fractures within half your body.

(Th-This is bad…I’ll really be killed if this keeps up…!!)

You are in no mood to unravel the enemy’s identity, or even to extract information about your foe. You try to crawl with the left half of your body that still had its skeletal frame left—

“You’re not getting away, Teacher's enemy!”

“Gaaaah!”

A stone spear zips through the air and pins your leg onto the balcony.

It’s impossible for you to escape unless you rip the tendons of your left leg apart.

"Th-This fellow knows exactly the weak point of vampires (us) …!”

“You vampires are weak to stakes, no? Once any foreign object penetrates the flesh, the vampire’s immortality is unable to remove them and regenerate.”

The murderer emits an icy, murderous intent as she looms towards you, who have fallen onto the ground. The grimoire in her hand is glowing with magical power, and she’s wielding something resembling an executioner's axe.

“No more futile resistance…I shall first petrify only the head, and then gather any necessary information from the neck down."

“Gu, uuuu…!”

“—I shall destroy you, along with the evil scenario of the ‘author’ (scenario writer).”

In the depths of her icy blue eyes, flames of fury and murderous intent flickers.

“Oh, King of the Evil Eyes who rules the earth!”

Boom! The grimoire howls.

The murderer infuses lots of mana as she begins to chant a spell that was unlike before, neither to smite nor to weaken one’s combat ability.

“Th-this chant is, a middle-high level matter-altering petrification spell, ‘All Petrifying Poison Fang’!?”

It is an execution spell designed to petrify and bury vampires (you) along with their immortality.

“Th-This fellow…is not intending to simply kill you! She plans to eviscerate you along with your immortality!”

A vampire’s immortality can still regenerate from beatings or stabs on the flesh. However, one’s thoughts will cease immediately if the brain is petrified, and you shall be rendered mentally dead immediately.

(I-If my brain is petrified here, my life's definitely end…!!)

“O Serpent Lord crowned with an eight-footed gecko!”

“Y-You! Please, stand and flee!”

(Ggh, damn it! My muscles have no strength because my skeleton has been shattered!)

The chants, echoing with murderous intent, sears at your thoughts intensely with the heat of intense impatience.

(…I can't move! I can’t use magic! I don’t have Magitzkveins, and Father's Talisman will lose its effectiveness immediately! It’s hopeless! I can’t do anything!!)

Your brain, exposed to the fear of death, is unable to come up with a way out.

(Think, think, think! Or else, over here, I'll …!)

“Grant the unforgivable pulse of life…!”

You are doomed. The moment the murderer's magic is complete, your entire body and thoughts will be transformed to stone, and you shall die forever this time.

(… Is this the end? There’s an evil magical criminal, one probably related to the Truth, is before me, but, am I going to die here?)

Only now, after being exposed to the fear of death, do you realize the true nature of the battle.

Since you have something to gain if you win, you have something to lose if you are defeated.

And if you lose your life—you shall never get it back.

“N-no! I can’t die here! I haven't gotten anything back yet!”

“Jaws of great poison!!"

"…Hiii!"

You instinctively place your trembling left arm onto the talisman.

Not to defeat the murderer, but to pray for your Father to save your spirit that has been completely filled with dread.

(I don't want to die…I can’t die yet…!! Think, think, think!! If I don’t think of anything to break out of this, I’ll…!)

"Curse of Endless Slumber!"

"…No, I don't want to die! I don't want it to end here!!—Faaatttthhhheeeerrrr!!”

Faced with the ultimate loss, the despair of ‘death’, you beg your Father’s image for salvation—

"Execute... All Petrifying Poison Fang!!"

With a thud.

The black stake, a deadly poison that petrifies all phenomena, pierces Arteria's left chest.

“…Eh?"