Tosho Meikyuu:Volume1 Chapter7

◇◇◇38 Pages until Memory Loss

◇◇◇38 Pages until Memory Loss

You seemingly sober from this deep memory tampering coma, and your consciousness awakens.

"───Haa!! Hah, hah, hah!"

The cantera light penetrates your wide-opened pupils. Crack crack crack…the burning lamp wick quietly blazes, its sound overlapping with the palpitations of your heart, and seem to be echoing in your mind.

The fantasy (fiction) that should have been before your eyes just moments ago has vanished without a trace.

The pure white scenario writer's domain (backstage) is replaced by a dimly lit ceiling, the ‘words’ disappear without a trace, and the magic of the True Ancestor (Arteria) that filled your whole body is instantly robbed away by the frosty air of the cold Labyrinth.

You lie on the table in the Atelier, clutching your Father's talisman.

"…Father's, Atelier…so this means I've come back to reality…!"

You release your tightly clenched palm, and see that the crystal talisman still has Mana encased within, shining clean and silver-white.

(It’s just like the fiction…the engraved memory of the True Ancestor (Arteria) protected me from the memory tampering of the demon king…)

You let the talisman's brilliance shine into your eyes, and are about to sink into deep thoughts…

"! Time for you…to wake up—!"

"—Itttccchhhyyy!?"

A sharp cry echoes while you’re pierced in the left side.

"Itttchhhy!!? It feels so itchy to have my left flank stabbed to my internal organs!"

"…Y-You’re finally back, Okutsuki-san…!"

Leaning on the Atelier chair, Erika says as she pulls out a pencil from your flank. This gesture might cause your digestive juices to ooze out, and the itch that torments you will grow more intense.

(Grrr it’s itchy…but now’s not the time to scratch the itch!)

"E-Erika! Tell me what happened after I lost consciousness…!"

"Yo-You shouldn’t be moving yet! Your body is now on the verge of Altered Shock! I’ll explain the situation to you, so please rest now!"

"Altered Shock…! I see, so the shadow spear that stabbed me caused me to lose blood, and my humanity is…!"

While being pinned back onto Atelier's round table, you recollect your memory.

You must have lost a considerable amount of blood after being pierced by the demon king's shadow spear. Thus far, your body that’s now close to that of the strongest vampire, has regenerated without any wounds…

At the same time, however, this means the humanity that keeps you sane has dropped to the danger zone of inducing Altered Shock.

"…If Altered Shock is trigged here, the three of us would have died. I’m making sure you’re resting until you regain strength as a human again, even if it means you have to be strapped down."

"We would have died…so y-you and Calmia were saved, right…?"

"…Yes. Your talisman was activated the moment the demon king tried to burn down the Library with Hi-Enchant magic. Thanks to the logic wall, we were able to survive…"

"S-Survive…Erika, that’s…!"

Sensing these ominous words, you look down—and find that Erika's legs are stiffened due to the petrified blood. She used her Badblood ability to is used to close the wounds.

"…The pain isn’t as bad as it looks. Seems like the nerves have been completely burned down to the roots. Calmia-san might be in a worse situation compared to me."

You turn to look and where Erika’s looking at…and see a completely bloodied Calmia's body lying on the office desk. She might be in a deep coma, and certainly resembled a corpse.

"…Hypothermia, skin pallor, and abnormal tachycardia, these are all signs of haemorrhagic shock. We need to get her back to the ‘Apothecary’ and get her magical treatment as soon as possible…otherwise her life will be in jeopardy." ""

"…!"

"…And, you’re dying as well. Given your blood loss and humanity level, you probably only have 30% left. My blood managed to keep you alive for now, but a few more millilitres, and Altered shock will be triggered.

"Altered Shock… that’s the mental rejection that occurs with rapid vampirization accompanied, right?"

Yes, the moment Altered Shock occurs, your psyche shall be completely destroyed, and you become a monster.

You managed to see through the demon king’s plot and escape from the fictional world…but the situation remains dire. Even though Arteria's timed memory saved all of you from the verge of death, your injuries still aren’t healed, nor did the demon king revert to becoming a True Ancestor.

It’s only at the very last moment did you crack the deadly scenario to lock you in the fantasy (fictional) world. The story itself continues to develop towards the worst possible end.

"…So everything has gone according to the demon king's plan (Arteria’s scenario), hasn't it?"

Erika mutters with resignation.

"…While you were sleeping, I was going through some of the material Teacher left behind… like, ‘the demon king from obtaining the "memory preservation book", or the time limit to prevent the genocide of mankind’."

"F-Father's posthumous manuscripts…!?"

(…Since I met the True Ancestor five years ago, I had this feeling…Father knew about the ‘Kathédra’ conspiracy (scenario) five years ago, and that's he wrote material at least a decade ago …!)

"…And according to Teacher's analysis, if the demon king is not stopped within eight to twelve hours, humanity will lose the means to fight the demon king, and will perish."

"Humanity will perish…!"

Erika chuckles sadly as she tosses old pages of parchment onto the Atelier floor.

The scattered papers read, ‘If the Demon King isn’t stopped, humanity will perish’.

"…It’s already been seven hours since the demon king flew out of the ‘Library’. If the Labyrinth creatures are vampirized and conscripted by the demon king, humanity has practically no way to resist…"

"…"

"…There is no way to stop this conspiracy (scenario). Nobody can ride the elevator to inform of the demon king's return, and there’s no way we can fight the demon king and stop her. The story is over."

…Yes. The story, Library City Alexandria, the world, everything is coming to an end.

If the demon king launches an invasion, Library City Alexandria will be destroyed in a matter of days, and turned into the capital of Nosferatu. This means that all 200 million citizens of Alexandria will join the immortal demon king's army. The African continent, the keys of the Mediterranean keys (Gibraltar), and the whole world will fall into the hands of the demon king in no time.

For the Doctor Magna who defeated the demon king more than a decade ago, is no longer alive.

The story will end. The world will be destroyed.

Arteria, whose memory has been tampered, will become the destroyer of the world.

If you don't do anything.

"…It’s not over yet."

You muttered quietly, clutching your crystal talisman.

"This story isn't over yet. It hasn't even begun, actually."

You feel strongly for the talent eater who saved you, the vampire you fell in love with.

Arteria has the persona of the demon king imprinted upon her, and is about to become the destroyer of this world.

‘Kathédra’ has falsified her memories and rewritten her personality, and she is about to fall into an evil conspiracy (scenario).

The only human who can prevent this, who can change the ending, is you alone.

"I won’t let ‘Kathédra’ do as they please with Arteria’."

Thus you must rewrite.

With the ending that includes the demon king's resurrection, humanity's destruction, the world's demise,

You are to rewrite ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ and ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’.

"We’re resisting against the scenario writer of this story."

You can't let this love story end.

"R-Resisting…are you intending to fight that High Daylight Walker!?"

Erika exclaims in disbelief upon hearing your declaration of war. There is no way that two mere students can stop the most powerful vampire that once killed the Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki.

"A-According to Teacher Okutsuki's data, during the war a decade again, the four great powers sent 30,000 front-line explorers and lost 30% of them! The demon king burned those explorers who’re far more experienced than us to ashes!"

Yes, even with the curse of Kai Okutsuki’s spell binding her, the demon king remains the most powerful vampire of the Library Labyrinth. Even a single division of anti-vampire battalion equipped with specialized equipment might be insufficient against the absolute vampire domain (magic) known as ‘Silver Night’. You, a half-human, half-demon, cannot fight against it.

"The vampire is probably hiding the fact about her own survival so that she can revive as the demon king of darkness, cunningly devising a scenario! There’s nobody in this world who has realized the demon king's existence, or even prepared a countermeasure against her resurrection!"

"No, there is. ‘Kathédra’ has known of the demon king for five years."

"!"

You interrupted Erika and say so softly.

The biggest of the four great competing powers in Library City Alexandria.

The exploration guild ‘Kathédra’ must have known about the existence of the demon king.

"Th-That’s impossible! How could that ‘Kathédra’, so insistent on pureblood supremacy, leave the natural enemy of humanity unchecked despite predicting the revival of the demon king?"

"Yes, if your information is correct, Arteria was once the natural enemy of humanity who had killed over 100,000 people in the past. The demon king should be the greatest threat to ‘Kathédra’, so they can’t not stop the demon king’s revival. Unless there is an absolute guarantee that only ‘Kathédra’ can subdue the demon king."

"Wha…"

Yes. ‘Kathédra’ is the biggest of the four great powers, and the greatest force on humanity’s side. They’re the biggest and the last obstacle for the demon king who’s determined to make a comeback. Kathédra, a gathering of purebloods, will never allow the demon king to resurrect and reappear despite knowing o her existence, even if the world is turned upside down.

Unless ‘Kathédra’ is able to guarantee its own absolute safety, ‘a book to control over the vampire’.

"…’Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’."

"Eh?"

Kai Okutsuki's (Father) curse of oblivion resets the demon king's memory every three minutes and twenty-six seconds. Therefore, by stealing the original copy of the ‘Book to Tamper Memories’, ‘Kathédra’ can control everything about Arteria."

Creak, your fist, clenched in fury, scraped the tabletop.

The curse that your father once risked his life to imprint upon the demon king.

The ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ that your vampire once risked her life to obtain.

Everything has been used as a scenario for ‘Kathédra’ to enslave the True Ancestor Arteria.

"Wa-wait…did ‘Kathédra’ write false memories into the Vampire Tales?"

"…Yeah. The True Ancestor (Arteria) isn’t a scenario writer. If she’s not, then the memory of her killing Father is also falsified fiction…And who else but ‘Kathédra’ can falsify the memory of the Labyrinth's most powerful vampire, the demon king Arteria?"

Yes. ‘Kathédra’ is the scenario writer of this conspiracy.

‘Kathédra’ kept the demon king alive, for she has value as a bio-weapon.

‘Kathédra’ killed your Father, for his existence could hinder their plan to control the demon king.

What is the purpose of the worst enemy of your life, the scenario writer—

"‘Kathédra’ wants to resurrect the Demon King, get her to become the most powerful pawn through memory tampering, and then become the ruler of Library City Alexandria, no, this world!"

It is to imprint a false personality within the High Daylight Walker Arteria and conquer the world.

"…I won't let them…!"

You clutch your talisman to your chest and utter so with blatant fury,

"I won't let them control Arteria as they please…! If ‘Kathédra’ wants to mess with her memories, or twist her personality, and turn her into a demon king, I'll rewrite the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ myself!"

"W-Wait…wait a minute! When you say rewrite the demon king’s memory, are you saying that you’re going to steal the original from the High Daylight Walker herself??"

Upon hearing your words, Erika asks as though you’re crazy.

Even though she was defeated by Kai Okutsuki in the Vampire war more than a decade ago and her memories remain restrained, the 'Silver Night' of Library Labyrinth, the talent eater Arteria remains the strongest vampire with magical combat ability that is equivalent to invincible. You, a mere kin inferior to this True Ancestors by many orders of magnitude, have no chance of winning even if the world is turned upside down.

"That’s impossible! Even if tampered memories, there is no way you can prevent the strongest vampire from seriously trying to destroy the world while having ‘Kathédra’ as her ally!"

"…If we can’t stop her, the world is doomed. It’ll under the control of the demon king and ‘Kathédra’."

"I'm telling you that nobody can stop them! Please look at this! Even Teacher Okutsuki, the greatest Doctor Magna of the ‘Apothecary’, has declared that it is impossible to defeat the demon king alone."

Erika yells in deep despair and she slams a page onto the round table.

It is the posthumous manuscript of the Doctor Magna, an analysis of the demon king Arteria's capabilities.

■Tactical Analysis

In order to defeat the demon king and prevent her invasion of the landscape, it is essential to resolve the five issues listed.

(1) The vampirized immortal army of monsters and humans

Currently, it is known that the demon king can control vampirized enemies and organize an army of immortals to serve as shields.

The Nosferatu in the domain magic ‘Silver Night' will be enhanced, so military combat must be avoided.

(2) Instant Chanting (Instance) through Hi-Enchant

If the demon king regains the ability to use magic through blood absorption, it is likely that she can use Hi-Enchant.

Given the spell speed, it is impossible to nullify her with antimagic. A defensive formation must be set up, and multiple people have to defend with barriers.

(3) Logic armor

The demon king has multiple layers of logic wall armor ranging to about 5 meters around her.

Sniping from long distances will definitely be intercepted, and all attacks except for close ranged spells are ineffectual.

(4) Blood perception and ‘'Silver Night'.

When casting ‘Silver Night’, the demon king can aggravate the Nosferatu in her domain, and steals the memories of the survivors.

Do not challenge her in close combat without a logic wall that resist blood memories from being stolen.

(5) Immortality

The demon king cannot die. There is no way to stop her supremacy except by crushing her spirit.

■Countermeasures

There is nothing written her.

The moment the reader (you) learn of this countermeasure, it is possible to have it seized by the blood perception of the ‘talent eater’.

The countermeasure will be rendered worthless through the demon king's wiles.

In order to stop the demon king

It is necessary to know all countermeasures against the demon king, and yet not to know them.

It is impossible to write the answers leading to the ending.

You must seek out the ‘foreshadowing’ and solve this on your own.

Through the memories once etched in your heart, those that you know and yet not know.

"…Is this the information Father left behind…!?"

"Yes! Now answer me, how are we going to steal the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ from the Talent Eater whose memory has been tampered by Kathédra?"

Erika, not wanting the demon king to kill you, questions you shrilly.

The list of difficult questions before you are a document written by your father and preserved here in the Atelier. Erika must have understood the meaning very well, having most definitely read it over and over again while you were trapped in the fiction.

The High Daylight Walker is the strongest vampire, the apex predator of the Library Labyrinth who continually evolves by taking the blood, memories, and abilities of others—the ‘demon king’.

To battle against the demon king will require scaling a hurdle no ordinary person can overcome.

"…Even so, I have to stop her…!"

"! If you can stop the demon king, then tell us how you, a near corpse (halfpire) who may die with even the smallest bit of blood loss, can get through the Nosferatu army of the demon army unscathed!"

Having read your Father’s posthumous manuscript, Erika knows about the demon king more than you do, and despairs more than you do, confronts the reader (you) in with anguish the impossible (hurdle) that awaits.

(1) The vampirized immortal army of monsters and humans

"…Erika, listen to me."

"Even if the vampire army is somehow not organized due to time constraints or because of ‘Kathédra’ intentions! That still means that the demon king can just chant big spells! She’ll use the Instance through Hi-Enchant that caused the deaths of thousands of men under the Doctor Magna Kai Okutsuki!"

(2) Instant Chanting through Hi-Enchant

"…The crystal talisman she recharged for me can deploy a logic wall that prevents Instant Chanting by the Demon King. Doctor Magna's shield of protection can withstand any spells."

"The High Daylight Walker too has a massive logic wall! One that’s multi-layered and so denser that it’s impossible to penetrate except through Doctor Magna class spells!"

(3) Logic armor

"…I got a powerful barrier penetrating exalmatio, Bladeedge Storm Spear. If I can amplify my magic through memory tampering and self-sucking, I’ll definitely penetrate even the demon king's barriers."

"That's just wishful thinking on your part! Even if you are certain that you can penetrate the logic armor, the blood perception you’ll rely is an imitation far inferior to the demon king’s! Are you thinking of taking on the superhuman physical abilities of that talent eater through bare-handed combat!?"

(4) Blood perception and ‘'Silver Night'.

"Erika, listen! I know how to beat her…"

"—There’s no way to beat the demon king!"

Bam!

A clenched fist punches the table, interrupting your words.

"…!"

"…There’s no way to win…! There is no way for you, a half-human, half-demon (halfpire) who’ll die if you lose blood and disappear if you run out of memories (pages), to beat that High Daylight Walker…! The demon king Arteria is Nosferatu who has transcended death…!"

Erika's ultramarine eyes are filled with tears as she confronts you with the final and greatest impossibility.

(5) Immortality

"…It’s impossible to defeat the demon king…there’s no way, we can win…!"

Erika ekes out every single word in a trembling voice, as if trying to contain a whirlpool of intense emotion.

"Why…why don’t you understand!? If you go fight the demon king without immortality…you’ll die!"

Drip.

A single tear falls from Erika's pale cheek, as she fears your death.

"…Erika…"

You realize Erika's mental predicament as the tear flows from her ultramarine eyes.

In the seven hours you have been trapped in the novel fiction), it is Erika who has put more serious thought about fighting the demon king than anyone else, sought victory more desperately than anyone else, and perhaps despairs more deeply than anyone else that there is no way to stop the demon king now.

"…I don't want you to die…hic, I-I won’t, let you, die for nothing…!"

"Ggh!?"

Erika grabs you by the collar, not bothering to wipe away the overflowing tears.

"L-Let go of me…!"

"If I let you die here…h-how am I going to apologize to Teacher? How can I atone for killing you once…!?"

Erika tugs at the collar of your robe so hard that you, the halfpire, is almost choked to death.

"And yet…why are you going so far, for the demon king…!"

Erika understands.

She understands that you truly love the vampires. She knows that you want to fight the demon king.

That even though you know you will die—

You’ll risk your life for Arteria.

"…Even so, I still have to fight…!"

You answer with a determined voice, clutching the talisman to your chest.

"Because I swore on this talisman. I’ll regain my memory and magic, and become Doctor Magna. And no matter what trials await me, I will believe in Arteria."

"The demon king isn’t the True Ancestor you believe in anymore! She’s the High Daylight Walker, a magical criminal who has killed over 100,000 people, your father's sworn enemy! No matter how hard you try to fight her, there’s no chance you can beat the demon king!"

"I can win."

Erika continues to lament painfully about the doom of humanity, but you answer this so confidently.

That you can beat High Daylight Walker.

"I can win. Even if she’s a magical criminal who has killed over 100,000 people, even if she can withstand Doctor Magna's magic, even if she’s the strongest vampire of the Labyrinth who killed Kai Okutsuki, I can win."

Yes, you can win. You’re the only person in this world who can defeat the High Daylight Walker. No matter how powerful the demon king is, no matter how evil ‘Kathédra’ is, you can win.

Because you are a character created by the True Ancestor.

"Because my memory has been tampered by the True Ancestor."

Because you’re the protagonist of this story that exists only to rescue Arteria from the darkness.

"…Y-Your memory, was, tampered…?"

"Yes, my memory was tampered. I met Arteria five years ago in this Atelier. The True Ancestor falsified my memory long before the ‘Last Prayer’ began."

You pull out ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ and open it to the first page.

In order to regain a past never recorded in the 'book' (Me), the October 16th of five years ago which you have forgotten, a memory of the vampire whom you supposedly met.

"Memory tampering is an absolute power. It’s the ‘omnipotence of the author’ (scenario writer) that allows the inscription of false memories in others, distort personalities, and even control actions and emotions."

"So if your memory has been falsified by True Ancestor, how can you say that you can win against the demon king? No matter what the True Ancestor has engraved in your memory, that doesn’t guarantee that it will work against the demon king…!"

"No, I guarantee it. The proof is that my memory has been tampered with. My memory has been falsified, my personality has been taken over, and my entire story has been rewritten according to the wishes of the scenario writer…"

You pause here, and while facing the tear-stained azure eyes, you confide your true thoughts to her.

"—And here I am, hoping to save Arteria."

You have had your memories falsified by Arteria, but you still love Arteria.

"!...O-Okutsuki-san, you…!"

"My memories have been falsified. Father's death, the loss of magic, this Library Labyrinth, Library City Alexandria, and even the fact that I am Sōshi Okutsuki (me) may be nothing more than a novel (fiction)."

Yes, everything is merely a collection of brush strokes (ink) written the ‘Last Prayer’, a mere memory.

After you tampered your own memories, and after others have falsified your memories, there is only one thing in this world that you can believe in anymore.

"This is Arteria’s will. The matter of my return to Library City Alexandria, my reunion with Arteria, and that that I am here now, that I intend to fight the demon king."

"Ar-Are you saying that your very existence is a foreshadowing of …?

"I can win. I can defeat the demon king's plan and rescue the True Ancestor (Arteria) from the darkness of memory tampering. Because this ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ is a love story written by Arteria."

This is the last thing you can believe in, in a world where your memories have been falsified and everything is just fiction.

"I love Arteria because it is her wish that I love her."

It’s really commonplace.

It’s a small, small love.

"I love Arteria, so Arteria definitely hopes that I love her. Unless it’s the wish of the scenario writer (Arteria), it’s impossible for a character (me) to love the scenario writer (her)."

It’s a circular proposition.

You love Arteria because Arteria loves you.

Arteria loves you because you love Arteria.

Like day and night. Like a binary star. Like a seed and a petal.

You and Arteria are proof of each other’s hearts.

"Arteria and I seek each other with equal force. We’re drawn to each other by that same force. We are guided by the same force, and we are surely going to reach the same ending."

You open to page 354 of ‘Last Prayer’ and look at the memories recorded there.

You stare intently at the ‘Mysterious words that the reader (you) definitely can’t recognize continue on over two pages’ line.

"I’ll save Arteria. I’ll tamper with the ending of this story."

You are a character whose memory has been tampered with only to save the True Ancestor from memory tampering.

You are the protagonist established to defeat the plot of ‘Kathédra’ and bring the love story to its conclusion (ending).

That is why, in the domain of the scenario writer (backstage), which the reader (you) was unable to read

"I’m getting Arteria back."

The core of this story is thus written here.

◇◇◇16 Pages until Memory Loss

Psst psst psst.

With the sound of paper being torn apart, you leap across the strange rupture in your memory.

"—Okutsuki-san."

"Huh?...! Erika, what about my memory?"

"I have torn out your memory as per the strategy you had inscribed. Now even the demon king's blood perception cannot take away your strategy."

Erika, who had ripped out the ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ without your knowledge she knew it, puts the page in an envelope, sealing it tightly as she replies.

The tears have disappeared from her ultramarine eyes, suggesting that some time has passed during this period of memories that have been removed from you.

"…Erika, are the measures to defeat the demon king inscribed in my memories?"

"Yes. And I have replaced the information retrieved from your memory in the form of a timed memory that will be replayed due to certain circumstances during the battle with the demon king."

"… So you mean the memory I’ll need in battle will pop out the moment I need to recall?"

"Yes, it is a strategy to counter the demon king's bloodsucking after all."

It appears that some part of your memory has been sealed away to prevent you from recalling. No matter how powerful the demon king's bloodsucking, and how outstanding her wits are, a strategy that doesn’t exist cannot be robbed or countered.

"…The True Ancestor (Arteria) gave me the ‘memory tampering book’ as a defensive measure against the talent eater. Erika, since you locked my memory, that means the other preparations..."

"They are complete. All I have to do now is to return to you the knowledge that can be allowed to be sucked away."

Erika says, turns away from the desk, and hands over a document to you.

"…'Prediction of the Demon King's Expanding Forces and Actions'. Father’s posthumous draft…!"

"According to the information in this document, the demon king will need a certain number of human undead army (Immortals) to successfully implement a surface invasion. If they can get inside the barriers, the demon king will be able to attack."

"So basically, a wall of Nosferatus is needed as a sacrificial shield for the demon king?"

"Yes. And she’ll have to seek out the troops she needs for the surface invasion in the Labyrinth. Then the demon king's target is obvious. The ‘Floating Peak Library’, one of the most densely populated areas of the Labyrinth."

Erika's fingertips point to a map on the document indicating several levels.

"The ‘Floating Peak Library’ is an aerial ‘library’, and the only way in is by elevator. From this level, you must climb several kilometers up a steel-supported shaft, past the elevator hall guard."

"A shaft of several kilometers…but if there are footholds around, I should be physically able to climb them up, right?"

"You have to. If the demon king reaches the bustle of the Peak and deploys 'Silver Night', it shall be impossible for you to defeat her when she absorbs so much knowledge. Humanity's defeat will be final."

In a low, cold voice, Erika informs you of the defeat conditions in this battle.

The decisive battle against the demon king is also the decisive battle against ‘Kathédra’, and the moment you, the only power in the fight, are defeated, ‘Kathédra’s domination of all humanity will begin.

"…But I have a victory condition."

"Yes. The memory written down is sealed in this envelope."

Erika gently hands you an envelope containing the page she has just torn out from ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’.

The envelope is unmarked, unaddressed, and contains a trump card that will surely rewrite the ending of the story.

"It’s the ‘Bladeedge Storm Spear’. If you can hit the demon king with the disarming spell and snatch the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, you can save the demon king from the darkness of memory tampering."

Erika says with a serene voice as she takes a step towards you, standing there.

The approaching ultramarine eyes cower with fear of death, but still look straight up into yours.

"…Okutsuki-san…this may be the last chance, so please listen to me."

Realizing that your memory capacity is running out and you are about to die, Erika says,

She wants you to live, to fight, and to die without worry, and so she puts on her best front.

"Even if you die, I won’t forget you. Even if you are defeated by the demon king, the meaning of your life will not disappear. I’ll prove it to you."

Erika says this decisively and holds out her slender left wrist before your eyes. This is for you to absorb the curse in her blood, ‘the ability to petrify one’s blood’ (Badblood).

"So I shall entrust this to you. Please use my cursed blood and blessings for the end of this story."

"…Yeah, I understand."

You lace your fingers prayerfully on her outreached left hand, and bite on it with your vampire teeth.

Pssh, the thin skin is torn open, and blood oozes out of the wounded capillaries, moistening your oral cavity with the smell of iron and a faint sweetness.

You gently slurp up the blood to take away her uneasiness.

"Chuu, ahh…alright, Erika, I’ve borrowed your humanity, your abilities, and your insecurities. On this blood and on Father, I will stop the demon king's story (scenario)."

"… Yes. I believe in you. "

Erika replies with a quiet smile in her ultramarine eyes, and backs away from you as though to sever any reluctance.

Now, you’re ready for battle.

You tuck the envelope you received into your pocket and quietly turn on your heels, looking back through the open door and into the endless maze of endless bookshelves.

"…."

Somewhere in this endless darkness, there is a vampire whose memory has been tampered with.

You are a character whose memory has been implanted with the truth in order to save the vampire.

You are a half-human, half-demon whose memory will run out after your battle against the demon king, causing an Altered Shock that will destroy you, and had survived and will die thanks to the True Ancestor.

And you’re the protagonist of this story, existing only to save Arteria from the darkness.

"…Suu, haa…."

Inhaling the jet-black atmosphere that seems to have been dyed with ink, you let out a long breath.

And so you exhale long and hard all your longing and regrets you have left in this world.

"…Arteria."

You whisper the name of your beloved, and the memories engraved in the ‘Last Prayer’ respond to your feelings for the True Ancestor.

‘By your feelings for Arteria, you shall surpass your physical limits and become stronger’, the tampered memory enhances your immortality and physical capabilities, sharpening your nerves and Magitzkveins, and slowing everything in sight to the limit.

"I exist to save you."

You are now a single hard stroke.

The tip of a pen to rewrite the ending of the story.

The memory of a line that True Ancestor inscribed on her beloved kin to oppose the demon king.

You clutch the talisman at your chest, recall the True Ancestor's love that’s imbued into the crystal, and swear.

"I will become—the mage (Doctor Magna) who can save you."

Now, let's begin the endgame (climax).

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