Tosho Meikyuu:Volume1 Epilogue

◇◇◇009 Pages until Memory Loss

◇◇◇9 Pages until Memory Loss

"…First, let’s activate the ‘Timed Express Envelope’ addressed to Arteria!"

You pin the wax seal on the grimoire and activate its functions. The envelope gains wings and flutters in your hands before flying out of the Atelier.

You pursue the twin wings that lead you to where the ‘demon king Arteria’ is, and stomp off the Atelier floor to leap into the Labyrinth, letting your accelerated thoughts and enhanced physical strength guide you.

At the innermost area of this infinite library Labyrinth, the demon king awaits you.

(The timed memories are coming in…! Now that she has the demon king personality, Arteria probably will be sucking the blood and turning the Labyrinth creatures into an undead army! Let’s enhance my senses to the extreme …!)

"—!!! This foul stench…are they the undead army of the demon king!!?"

Your senses that have lost their humanity and are almost similar to that of the strongest vampire detect the rotting stench in the air. Immediately after, a powerful bear-like arm swings down from behind a bookshelf at the ‘envelope’ flying in front of it.

"Tch!"

You reach out for the ‘envelope’ and dart by the arm that’s trying to rip you along with the ‘envelop’. You continue to glide and decelerate through the Labyrinth floor, sensing the presence of undead rumbling amongst the walls of countless bookshelves that form the Labyrinth, and the darkness surrounding you.

(…So I charged straight into the flank of the undead army? Bears, lions, birds of prey, rats and bats too…!)

Of those your senses alone can detect, there are dozens that fill the shadows of the bookshelves.

The undead army, enslaved to the demon king, seems to narrow its encirclement, only to stop.

(It's coming!!!)

Vroom! the monsters swarm like a muddy stream, and they rush onto you from all sides.

However, even though they are all Nosferatu, the crudely made undead army of the demon king are of a completely different rank as a Nosferatu compared to you, who was bathed in far lethal amounts of True Ancestor blood, and have become a kin of the strongest species.

In your slowly turning vision, you turn towards where the ‘Express Envelope’ has flown, and aims for a bookshelf with what appears to be a bear-like Nosferatu behind it.

And so you swing your fist at the massive body, punching it head on!

"Scram."

—At that moment, the mass of carrion, having taken on the overwhelming force of the blow, distorts like a balloon, boom! and disintegrates into a sleet of blood, flesh, and bone, flying aside with all the surrounding mass.

Bathed in the debris of undead caused by the shockwave, you look at where the ‘envelope’ fly out, and yell with vigor to fight.

"This is…my road!"

Boom!!! the earth rattles, and you charge through the hole in the middle of the undead army that you pierced through.

You bludgeon, crush, and destroy the looming undead (zombie) blocking your approach to the demon king, and you charge into the dark Labyrinth.

(…The immortal army’s presence is increasing. I’m getting close to the demon king…!)

"Don't get…in my way!"

Kicking the floorboards and the demon king's underlings, stomping violently on them, you continue to run through the second and fourth floors of Library Labyrinth, towards the innermost reaches of darkness.

(Right ahead, right ahead, right ahead …!)

In the direction where you’re racing towards, within the jet-black darkness where not even a ray of light exists, you finally catch sight of the ‘Delayed Express Envelope’ that’s fluttering its wings into the void.

(Arteria’s waiting for me there!!!)

The magic wings reach their destination, demon king Arteria, and you plow through countless bookshelves, trampling over the Nosferatu carcasses that were torn to shreds—

"Arteriaaaa!!!"

You leap into the elevator hall.

It’s a deep sea of blood.

The demon king, standing before the elevator with her silver hair dancing in the darkness, looks back at you.

Her eyes, seemingly brimming with blood, spots you through a gap amidst her flowing bangs.

"…Hmm, you?"

"Demon king…!"

"A hindrance you are. My kin, I shall eat."

No longer interested in you at all, the demon king orders her army of Nosferatu filling the elevator hall to kill you.

Facing off against an army of hundreds of thousands of beasts, all of them having lost the privilege to die, you pull out the ‘storage book’ that you had prepared in your blade mail.

—The ‘Delayed Express Envelope’, having just arrived right above the demon king, is about to open and unleash (1), a decisive blow against the undead army.

Inside the envelope is a bundle of nearly 1,000 sheets of ‘Origami paper’.

"’Origami papers’, transform into a water barrel!"

In the center of the elevator hall, each Origami paper fluttering in the air folds into a 50-liter water barrel at your command.

And they transform into a torrential downpour totalling 50000 liters, bursting in the Library Labyrinth.

"Wh-What…!!?"

(The ratio of the ‘Origami paper’ volume pre and post transformation into these water barrels are at about 000,000 times! With so much water expanding at once, that’ll create a shock wave that’ll sweep away the (1) undead army!

Facing the ‘water’ of the looming waterfall, a tremendous poison to a vampire, you plunge your entire body into the ten ’storage books’ that are lined up in the air.

As the True Ancestor (Arteria) once showed, you can be stored in a trunk. Since you can store your backpack, it can also store a trunk (you)!

(Just one moment is fine!! If I can avoid that moment of shock wave, I can fight the demon king mano a mano!)

Within the temporal evacuation space that you formed with a multi-layer ‘storage book’.

Splash!

You hear the ‘water’ torrent caused by the ‘grimoire’, which destroys the Labyrinth.

Bssssstttt! The ten pages of ‘storage book’ that contain you are torn open. You escape from the book’ and land upon the Labyrinth after the shockwave has passed.

The swarm of Immortals that had filled the elevator hall is no longer there was no longer there, and amidst the darkness that has been cleared of enemies through shockwaves and thoroughly swept away, only the demon king with her logical armor stands still.

"…M-Mongrel, you dare do so to these Immortals of I…!"

"I’ve destroyed your immortal army, demon king. Single combat is the only way to end this story."

"…Kukuku, so I see! ‘A vampire cannot cross running water’! It seems you think you can stop this demon king, the scenario writer!"

The demon king's face contorts into an insane smile as the rain pours down on the slowing world.

The vampire, manipulated by false memories written by ‘Kathédra’ and seeking to return as the demon king, now recognizes you as ‘the enemy stopping the scenario of ‘Kathédra’.

This is where the real battle begins—the final battle to rewrite the ending of the story.

"Who would have thought both Doctor Magna and the High Daylight Walker will imprint memories upon Sōshi Okutsuki to stop this dominion of I? But your resistance will end now. You are not a hero after all!"

The demon king gives a sneer the True Ancestor (Arteria) has never shown before, scorning your will to fight.

"You feared your past despair, and changed your memories. A complete coward you are unlike Kai Okutsuki. How can you stop this demon king if you are too weak to overcome even a psychological trauma?"

"…"

"You cannot defeat I. You have lost your magic, your memories, your Father, tampered with everything you can trust, and exhausted the last of your memory. Impossible it is to defeat this demon king Arteria!"

"…Yeah. I'm certainly not hero material like Father."

You reply quietly while the falling raindrops fall upon you.

"I'm weak, fragile, a coward softy who ran away from the truth. I can't be a hero like Father… but still, there's something I can believe in."

"Kufufu, your honesty shows more weakness. What can you believe now, you coward who falsified his own memory? All of your memories may be falsified fiction!"

Kuhahahaha! and the demon king's loud laughter echoes through the darkness of Labyrinth. You look straight into the crimson eyes filled with madness, and declare,

"I believe. No matter what fiction betrays me, I believe in Arteria."

"…kuhihi, hihaha, ahyahyahya!! You say you believe in the True Ancestor! Hee-hee, truly pathetic you are! Are you insane because your memory betrayed you? Ahahahahaha!"

"…"

"Arteria no longer exists! The True Ancestor's memories and personality have been rewritten by the demon king! Rewritten page by page with ink, torn and crumpled, buried in the darkness of the Labyrinth! There is no memory of that false True Ancestor left in this demon king!"

The demon king mocks your True Ancestor, her face contorting in hearty amusement.

"Too bad for you, Sōshi Okutsuki! True Ancestor Arteria was killed by this demon king."

"No."

You refute with determination, still bathed in the pouring rain.

The clear drops, seemingly still but surely falling, reflect the last moments of your relationship with Arteria.

"The True Ancestor (Arteria) isn’t dead. She hasn’t lost to the demon king (you bastard), Arteria is here."

You put your hand on your chest and touch the crystal talisman hanging there with your fingertips.

"More than words, more than memory, this presence remembers."

No matter what tragedy strikes you, no matter what memory betrays you, no matter what fate tears you apart, you have indeed given your word to the magic of the crystal talisman.

"I have sworn to believe in Arteria."

You’ll believe in the vampire who saved you with her own life.

"…So let’s fight, demon king."

The momentary rain stops.

The ‘flowing water’ that prevents the vampire's action vanishes from the void of this battlefield.

You thrust out your right arm and pull up the sleeve of your robe.

"I’m not letting you decide the ending of this story."

You rebuke the demon king, and then rip out a vein in your own right arm. The blood gushing from the wound is instantly frozen by Erika's Badblood, forming a stone sword.

"With everything True Ancestor (Arteria) has given me, I will bury the demon king."

With your regenerated right hand, you hold up the sword and challenge the most powerful demon king.

You have run out of pages. This is the end of ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’. As a grimoire, I cannot record the outcome of the battle.

The only scenario writers who can decide the outcome of the battle are you and the demon king.

Now, discard the ‘book’.

You don't need ‘a book to falsify your memories’.

It is the reader, not the 'book' (Me), who shall write the ending of this love story!

"Let's go, demon king, I'll finish you off in one page."

◇◇◇0 Pages until Memory Loss

Now, let the final battle begin.

"The one deciding the ending of this story—will be me!"

With a short declaration of war, I discard the ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’.

I don’t need to use memory tampering to escape anyway. I will save Arteria. Even at the cost of my life, I will bring back High Daylight Walker Arteria from the depths of this darkness!

"Kuhihihi! This scenario cannot be stopped now! You cannot change the ending of the slaughter! The world shall fall into the hands of the demon king!"

Arteria spreads her silver-white wings and roars as soon as I take a leaping stance.

This elevator hall is the one we passed through when we arrive to the middle levels from the ‘Floating Peak Library’. At the end of the vertical shaft is one of the most densely populated areas of the ‘Apothecary’, and if the demon king Arteria invades there, all the people there will be turned into vampires…

"…I won’t let you! I won’t let Arteria hurt humans!"

I stomp off the Labyrinth floor, leap, and jumped onto the elevator frame that had been destroyed by the shockwave.

Even though I don’t have the ability to fly, I can catch up to the flying demon king if I have the physical strength and foothold!

"Do you still wish to follow I!? Then you shall die, Sōshi Okutsuki! ■■■■■■■■!!"

I continue to jump up the five-meter diameter vertical shaft to give chase after Arteria, and a shrill echo reverberates.

It’s Instance by Hi-Enchant, the demon king's ability (2).

I’m about 10 meters away from the flying demon king. It’s not a distance that can be covered by the time her chant is complete. Once the spell is executed, I will disappear along with this space and die instantly.

"Execute!"

"Interrogate!"

But I still have the foreshadowing that True Ancestor had left for me.

I stomp up the elevator as hard as I can to confront the spell that’s being completed with overwhelming speed,

"Surpassing the four heavens and five universes— "

"Your memories have been falsified by ‘Kathédra’!"

I’ll activate ‘Tautologia Interrogation book’—to break the chant!

Creeee!! A violent friction can be heard.

The enormous amount of magic power that has been imbued into the demon king's Magitzkveins is jammed, and the incomplete spell begins to lose control—instantly causing the caster’s nervous system to boil!

"Gugiii!? Wh-What!? Did you use ‘Tautologia Interrogation book’ as antimagic!?"

Arteria's face contorts in astonishment. The knowledge I learned from the magic theory lesson really came into play.

Chanting is essential to use magic. Instant chanting is meaningless if the chanting is blocked, and the overload of magic power will become my weapon to destroy the demon king's nervous system!

If I were dealing with a normal human, she probably can use the regeneration ability from blood perception to remove this opening.

"Grr, these wings of I are not obeying…!"!

But with the very close kin (me) of the strongest (Arteria), even a moment stands still like an eternity!

"Too slow!"

I kick off the steel frame of the elevator, gather the momentum of my leap into my right arm, and swing my sword.

The blade that pierces the logic wall is shattered, but it destroys lots of magic arrays!

"Oooohhhh!!"

"Ku-hahh!!!"

Just as the broken blade is about to stab into Arteria, a sharp knifehand strike approaches from the left.

It’s impossible to evade in this narrow vertical shaft, so the only option is to attack!

I swing my right arm out and shatters Arteria's mandible.

At the same time, my neck is also sent flying with a snap.

"Gah!"

"Ka…hah!?"

The immortality of the strongest species instantly regenerates the head.

My attack shatters the demon king's jawbone, so she won't be able to begin chanting until she’s fully regenerated. The problem is that my body has been bounced off the steel frame and thrown into the air in the vertical shaft!

"Kuha…ahahahahaha! So you use the ‘Tautologia Interrogation book’ to obstruct the chanting, and the use the petrified blood to create blood blades! Truly the foreshadowing prepared by the True Ancestor is interesting…but you, these wounds of I will you so, can you withstand the blood loss when your weapon is created?"

"Ugh…it’s not over yet!"

Even though my mobility and thought process have accelerated, the acceleration of gravity won’t change. Unlike the demon king who has wings, the moment I lose footing from the steel frame, I'm going to fall headlong to the elevator hall a few kilometers below.

I have only a few pages of the interrogation book left. Altered Shock is about to happen soon. I must defeat the demon king and take the Vampire Tales before she uses Instance again"

"You can only stop the chants until you run out of pages! How many pages of the ‘Tautologia Interrogation book’ are there left? Now~ I shall speed up the chants!! ■■■!! "

As soon as the demon king begins chanting, my body, which is flying in the air, finally lands on the steel frame of the elevator!

"Question! Do you know the activate key to ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’! "

—If I can exploit the opening during the Tiltowait!

"Execute, heavens of hellfire Rz999f ack!"

The activated ‘Interrogation Book’ stops Arteria's Instance. I charge right into the demon king's chest and use that split-second opening to swing my sword with all my might."

"Haaaaaaaaah!"

Giiinn!! Some interference sounds echo. Dozens of barriers are broken, and they’re less dense than I thought!

"The counter strategy against (3) logic armor…I’m using chant blocking and physical attacks to break through all your barriers!"

"Kuhaha! Come and try! Seven heavens of vermilion, come with flames!"

After a loud laughter of madness, the demon king finally begins chanting with normal magic words. Unlike Instance, this spell will be far weaker, but the time to invoke the ‘Interrogation Book’ would be unrealistically difficult.

There’s only one thing I can do. That’s to interrupt her chant with close combat!

"Proof of destruction and rebirth, the purifying flame shall scorch the heavens!"

"Haaaaah!"

Once again, I leap to close the distance and hack away horizontally. As depicted when I defended against the black stake at the balcony, I know the barrier is quite far from the demon king herself. As long as I can get close to a certain distance, Amy physical strength, close to the strongest species, can cut through the multiple barriers!

"Kuhahaha! I proclaim the ending winter— "

The demon king ignores the logic walls that are being shattered as she continues to chant, and I continue to slash away!"

"Burn…bafu!?"

The tongue that’s about to complete the spell is unable to touch where it’s supposed to be, and only catches air. My attack stabs through the skull, severed the upper jaw, and breaks Arteria's chanting and brain.

"…Kuha! Ahaha, ahahahahahahahahahah!!"

But the strongest vampire isn’t going to die just because she lost her brain. If I can’t stop the demon king before she reaches the Library, this story will have the worst ending possible!

"Kuhihihihi!! Close combat is interesting, but this demon king cannot be destroyed unless you take the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’! See, I can already see the end of the vertical shaft!"

"Kuu…there’s still some distance until the residential area of the ‘Floating Peak’!"

At the place where Arteria’s flying towards—there is a needle hole-like light spot in the darkness above us. This is bad. If the inhabitants of the ‘Floating Peak’ are turned into vampires, I won’t have a chance!"

"Now, Sōshi Okutsuki, can you defeat this scenario before this demon king devour human blood?"

"I don’t have to repeat myself…I’m definitely winning!!"

Arteria and I growl at each other while we clash at the midpoint.

The overwhelming movements shatter a sword and two arms, crumbling them into large meat chunks

"Ahahahaha! What is the matter!? This is not enough to kill the demon king!"

"Haaaaaah!"

Since both of us are Nosferatu, there won’t be any victory due to physical death.

Our powers are sucked, amplified, and accelerated until one of us has our fangs on the other’s neck—

There won’t be an end to this deathmatch.

'Hihahaha! You cannot win! This scenario cannot be stopped!"

"Ku…, I have a sword, so why can't I break through!?"

We continue to reduce each other’s bodies to blood splatters as we tussle away.

In terms of attack quality, mine is better, but we remain at a deadlock due to the pure difference in ability as a vampire.

The demon king can continue to grow infinitely stronger. By absorbing my blood memories—even during this battle!

"Tchh—haaa!"

I smash the barehanded strike that’s attacking me in the air, and attack with the blade that’s been shattered by the recoil.

It’s bad. The gap that should have existed between the demon king and me is being changed by blood absorption…!

(I can't win if this keeps up…in that case!)

With my exposed carpal bone, I stab through Arteria's shoulder to stop the demon king's left arm. I raise my right arm to strike at the now defenceless body…

"That—is a mistake!"

My fist is caught in the demon king's palm, and her body is sent flying up!

"Oh no…"

The demon king's body, which has been flung away while being crushed, instantly regenerates due to her overwhelming immortality. The action and reaction of the blows accelerates her toward the ‘Floating Peak Library’!

"Wa-Wait, I can't let you go over!"

"Kuhahaha! I can feel the morning sun burning my skin! Finally, I shall reach the ‘Library’!"

Kicking off the elevator frame as hard as I can, I still can't keep up with the demon king's flight.

The light shining above grows in the blink of an eye—

And the scenery of the ‘Floating Peak Library’ appear before our eyes.

"—Ahahahaha! How I have waited for this moment, humanity! First I shall suck the blood of all the inhabitants of this ‘Library’ and have them as food for this path to conquer the world!"

"Ugh…it’s not over yet! There is still more than a kilometer to the residential area on the floating island!"

The elevator shafts lead to the bottom of the ‘Floating Peak Library’, an empty space with nothing but steel frames. There is still more than a kilometer to go up to the densely populated area of the Floating Peak…!

"How naïve, Sōshi Okutsuki! Do you think this demon king will let you arrive here!? Once the steel frame is destroyed, you shall never reach the Floating Peak again!"

"!"

The moment that sharp cry strikes my eardrums, boom! and at the same time, a shock rumbles beneath. The demon king's powerful arm has shredded the steel frame of the elevator that I need to scale.

Having lost my foothold, I’m now unsupported, and is tilting in mid-air that has nothing!

"Ahahahahaha! Now, fall and die, Sōshi Okutsuki!"

"Damn it…I can't fall!"

The gravity of the earth is slowing my ascent, so I pull out a ‘storage book’ that’s tucked into my binder…this is fine. The foreshadowing that True Ancestor has prepared for me won’t be defeated just like this!

"I won’t die! I won’t die until I defeat the demon king’s scenario!!"

I rip open the ‘storage book’ with the foreshadowing contained in it.

—Thud, and so my feet land upon an ice floor with wings that appears in the dawning void!

"Wha…!?"

"Did you think the True Ancestor never expected situation like this, demon king!?"

Emerging from a page of the ‘storage book’ is a petrified ice sheet disk made from Erika's Badblood. On the circumference edge of the two-meter-diameter disk, ‘numerous envelopes’ addressed to Sōshi Okutsuki are tied to ropes made of ‘Origami paper’.

The ‘envelopes’ wings are flapping towards me, and aren’t able to reach their destination. Instead, they push back lots of all, flying the weight of the disk along with me!

"Im-Impossible!! Nowhere in my memory have I ever absorbed such a strategy…!"

"W-Wooooooooo!!"

I charge towards Arteria, kicking off the floating ice floor with all my might. The magical ice, frozen solid by the petrified cursed blood, pushes my body forward with a strong acceleration.

"I'm going to cut down all your logic walls!!"

The blood blade takes shape immediately and flashes brilliantly in the faint light of dawn, cleaving the demon king's barrier in two. Just a little more. Just a little more, and I can break through the logic armor protecting the ‘Vampire Tales’!

"Urk, how cunning of you create a battlefield in the void! I shall smash through that ice sheet right now!"

"Too naïve!"

Arteria exclaims in frustration as she tries a strong spinning kick into the icy bedrock. But just as her heel is about to strike the icy bedrock, I partially deactivate the water petrification.

The water, which has returned to its liquid state, easily avoids the kick—and then once it ensnares the demon king's heel, it petrifies again!

"Wh-What!?"

"Got you!"

The demon king, whose left leg is bound, gasps in surprise.

I’m up close where the logic wall is thin. The Instance and normal chanting magic are sealed. There aren’t any humans or monsters in the void of this ‘Floating Peak Library’ for the demon king to suck blood knowledge or convert them into vampires.

Now, if my thoughts and self-absorption can exceed the demon king's physical capabilities—I can win!

"Wooooooooh!"

I form blood blades on both arms and begin hacking at the mandala-like logical armor. While the demon king’s leg is bound, I slash, and slash, and slash at her barriers.

"Reeeeeee!"

"Slice and dice!"

Swinging diagonally in a cross, the blades sacrifice their bodies as they chop off Arteria's.

The demon king can’t counterattack until her body regenerates again!

"With this!"

I threw away the shattered twin blades, lower my core and take a stance. Then, with ‘the ‘and took a stance at the waist. Then, I contract all my muscles through the ‘ultimate art of combat’, clenching my right fist with all my might.

"Take this!"

The fist strikes the demon king's barrier and slams right at the center of the solar plexus.

The full powered blow of the vampirized punch crushes the rib cage of the strongest species, and doesn’t lose its momentum as it tears through the left leg of the demon king, sending her flying high up.

From the right shoulder armor that barely remains intact, I pull out another ‘storage book’ and gnaws at it.

In order to unleash the ice spear, hardened with my blood, that’s hidden within.

"It’s time to end this!"

The ice spears that are shot out from the ‘storage book’ fly like arrows toward the demon king,

Swoosh!

And they peg the High Daylight Walker's body to the bottom of the Floating Peak!

"…Kuha, haa, haa!! … I win, demon king!

I shout into the rising cloud of dust as I wait for my body to regenerate.

The winds blowing through the ‘Floating Peak Library’ blew away the dust that fly with the shattered rack—and there, on the side wall of the floating island, the demon king is nailed like a winged insect by spears of melting ice.

"Ack…! Im-Impossible…this this demon king, has been, so cornered…"

"…Demon king, the ice spears that pierce you shall be depetrified. A vampire that can’t cross flowing water can’t escape the imprisonment of those ice spears!"

With this, I’ve sealed the demon king's actions. The Nosferatu's army, Instance, the logic walls, Blood perception, all the fighting strength of the demon king have been defeated by me.

Confident of victory in this battle, I declare,

"Now then, I’ll be taking the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’."

I put my finger into my robe pocket, and pick out a pure white envelope containing my trump card, a duplicate of ‘Bladeedge Storm Spear’.

If I can strike this exalmatio and strike the demon king directly to retrieve the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, I can rescue Arteria from her falsified memories.

"I will falsify the demon king's scenario!"

I pull out the envelope, and also the ‘Last Prayer’ that’s torn off my memory!

"—So that is the memory the True Ancestor (Arteria) has engraved upon you, is it not?"

I heard an ultrasonic whisper.

"!"

Right when night is about to dawn, the sunrise that’s about to shine down on the ‘Floating Peak Library’ fades away. It feels as if time’s rewinding, and the darkness that was about to end is now darker.

"You think you have defeated this demon king? Do not get arrogant, half man, half monster."

The inaudible voice rattles the entire atmosphere, and the instinctive fear causes goosebumps all over my body.

"This Arteria Al Athanasia Almnasia Ausanasia is the most powerful vampire in Labyrinth, the one hailed as the High Daylight Walker, the immortal king of talent eaters."

"—My name is Silver Night of Library Labyrinth."

Pew! And so,

As soon as Arteria cries out, a swarm of bats gushes out from her body, transforming into a silver storm. The wing membranes that proliferated exponentially blot out the morning sun, creating night in the ‘Library’…!

"Th-The ‘Silver Night …!"

"Kuhahahahahaha! This demon king's Blood perception deprives all the living of knowledge within the ‘Night’! The moment I arrived at this ‘Library’, my victory was already decided!"

The strongest vampire, transformed into ‘Night’, rocks the entire atmosphere with a maniacal laughter.

The silvery-white bats cover the skies, their wings forming pitch darkness.

This is the absolute domain of the Labyrinth's strongest vampire, the High Daylight Walker.

And also the reason for Arteria’s moniker, the ‘Silver Night of Library Labyrinth’—which covers the ‘Floating Peak Library’!

"Wise it was that I chose to be cautious and falsify my loss. Never would I have thought you would have a memory implanted in your brain that the demon king (I) has no knowledge of, Sōshi Okutsuki!"

"Ack…argh! Y-You fooled…!"

"Truly, I am the 'Silver Night of the Library Labyrinth’. Even at my weakest, when this demon king sucks blood and memories, physical restraints mean nothing!"

(Ugh, I-I can't breathe...!! Is my physical ability being sucked away by the demon king…!?)

I feel suffocated and nauseous, as though I’m being deprived of oxygen, and my body kneels weakly.

Even I, who inherited the immortality of the True Ancestor (Arteria) and have some resistance against the ‘Silver Night'’, is fading in consciousness because my blood memories are being sucked away. If this concentration of ‘Night’ reaches the urban area of the Floating Peak, who knows how many thousands of people will be affected…!

"Demon king…you…!"

"Kufufufu. It does not matter how many trillion humans coexisting with demi-humans shall die! Well now, Sōshi Okutsuki, it is time for the counterattack."

"! You’re getting behind me now—"

The moment the demon , I’m

sense king behind

"—Ack!?"

The immortality of the strongest species causes my consciousness to regenerate, and at that moment, I nearly choked on my blood, vomiting it out.

My ears are ringing so badly, probably because my hearing is wrecked, and I can’t maintain my balance. The strong nausea causes me the urge to cover my mouth, and I see that all of my limbs aside from my right arm have been torn to shreds.

"Gu, ek…!?"

The pain that occurs right after my vision tells me that every part of my body had been fatally damaged.

My heart is flattened, having lost the blood it should be pumping. It seems I can’t breathe properly because my lungs are ruptured by an impact of something hitting me.

With just one blow—I’ve been dealt a mortal blow.

"Kufufufu. I assumed you would be crushed to dust and never to be revived again, how fortunate of you. If it had not been the clock tower of Extachius blocking, you would have vanished far beyond the Library.

The most powerful vampire controlling the 'Silver Night' appears in your hazy silvery white vision.

…It seems that I took the attack of the ‘Silver Night’ (Arteria) head on, and it pierced through the disk from the base of the Floating Peak, hitting the sky, and slamming me into the clock tower of Extachius.

"Gu, uuu…!"

The optic nerve finally connects my left eyeball and the brain, and both eyes gauge the distance to the demon king.

It’s close. There’s no escape. How many more seconds until the skeleton regenerates? Will my memory last until then?

—No, I'm sure it’s not going to last.

"Damn, it…!!!"

I forcefully pull my shredded right arm back and shove my hand into the inner pocket of my robe.

I’m going to grab the final trump card to steal the ‘Vampire Tales’ from the demon king—a ‘mirror copywriting paper’ that has the runes of the disarming spell "Bladeedge Storm Spear" copied on it.

But the piece of paper I’m looking for isn’t there.

"What is this?"

For the letter that sealed my memories—

Is snatched away by the demon king's fingertips.

—I feel a shudder.

The moment my defeat is confirmed, a frozen fear runs through my entire body, like eternal slumber of death.

"Aa…ugh, th-the darkness…!"

I have an impression of this sensation.

It is the prelude to Altered Shock, a symptom of rejection when other people’s memories come in. The edges of my vision distort to black, as if darkness is consuming my spirit, trying to swallow up my soul.

"Hyahahahaha! Now you have been deprived of True Ancestor's memories (pages), and have lost so much blood that you have developed Altered Shock. Your scenario is now over!"

The hearing that no longer regenerates can barely hear the voice that rattles the atmosphere.

My consciousness fades.

My vision is blurred.

The words are incomprehensible.

I feel the nerves in my body rapidly fading away.

"You shall die, and you shall be swallowed by the recollection of memories, with all your memories destroyed until death. The character Sōshi Okutsuki shall be lost to this world forever."

The vast amount of memories pouring into my mind at high speed are pulverizing my personality.

The demon king's voice fades away in the blink of an eye, and my consciousness craters somewhere deep within my brain.

Darkness looms. Death looms. The destruction of the world looms.

"Now, let me tear down your last hope right before your eyes. ♪"

The fingertips of the demon king's hands are placed on my memory.

I can’t lose. I can't run away. I have to fight.

Because five years ago, I should have regained something from beyond the darkness of this flashback.

Beyond this night of deep despair, I should have known something.

"Look now, it shall be torn, torn, you know?"

Because my memory has been tampered with by the True Ancestor (Arteria).

"Kufufufu, tssssstt…tsssstt!"

Because my memory,

"Ahahaha!!! What a pity, Sōshi Okutsuki! This concludes the story of the demon king—"

Contains the truth that will rewrite the ending of this story.

—Psst. A sound of flesh being ripped echoes.

A petrifying black stake is shot out from the ‘storage book’, piercing the demon king's body.

"Huh? Wh-what, happened…ack!?"

"…Too bad, demon king."

Six pieces of paper fall from the demon king's palm as she spits out grey blood.

These include a page of the ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ that has the following words written ‘the one who touches this paper’/’will mistake it for a ‘mirror copywriting paper’, along with a half page of ‘storage book’ tucked within.

"Because of memory tampering, you thought that's my trump card."

The ‘false memory’ I wrote to myself to fool the demon king is activated.

"Im-Impossible…! I was sure I have sucked away all your strategies…!"

The demon king, assured of her victory, had deactivated her ‘Silver Night’ to tear my page, only for the petrifying poison to consume her as she curses away.

She’s no longer able to change back into ‘Silver Night’ and escape my attack.

"G-Grrr…! But if Altered Shock happens, you will die…!"

"I won’t die!"

An envelope that’s been placed in the ‘storage book’ flies out from the frozen, immobilized demon king, arrives above my head, and opens.

"I told you, I'll bet on everything the True Ancestor (Arteria) gave me to kill the demon king (you)."

The ‘Mirror Copywriting paper’.

The ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’.

These are the memories (pages) that the scenario writer (Arteria) had excluded from the reader's (my) memory—

"The moment Sōshi Okutsuki touches this ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’ he shall remember his original strategy."

"I will risk all of this memory (life) to get Arteria back!"

Fill my memories with everything I have forgotten!

"You shall be revived from the flashback caused by Altered Shock."

Shreeee!! A shrill breaking sound echoes in the back of your brain, and you awaken from your flashback.

(… Yeah, I've been waiting for this description for a long time— ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’!)

You have recovered the memory of the book'(Me), and you have been revived from Altered Shock!

The sentence ‘I will resist Altered Shock’ written in this page protects your mind from the wave of vampirifcation!

"I-Impossible…! Th-This is different from the scenario this demon king has planned …!"

"…Too bad, scenario writer. The strategy the demon king (you) thought you sucked through blood memories and the trump card are all false memories I wrote into ‘Last Prayer’!"

Yes. The reader (you) who has forgotten everything has been waiting for this scenario the entire time, waiting for the moment when the demon king is assured of her victory, the moment the ‘Silver Night’ is removed to tear your memory (page)!

"And now, the ‘mirror copywriting paper’—the talisman that True Ancestor has recharged is within my hand! It’s an exalmatio aimed to defeat the demon king's (you) scenario and steal the ‘Vampire Tales’!"

You stand up, holding the real ‘copy paper’ as you lean against the debris of the clock tower, clutching the true copy. The demon king, consumed by the deadly poison of petrification, can’t escape!

"I-Impossible! There is no way…’Kathédra's plan can fall apart!"

Holding up your body that almost triggered a state of Altered Shock with all you got, you stumble to your feet as you leave the wall of rubble.

All to unleash the ‘Bladeedge Storm Spear’, written on the copy paper, up close.

"Ugh! D-Do not come close! If I can endure until the Altered Shock occurs, ‘Kathédra's victory will be assured! You shall have used up the memory capacity of a thousand pages by now!…W-Wh-Wh-Where is the logic wall…!"

"I’ve shattered the demon king's (your) logic wall. You’ve lost all means to escape. I’m already in range of the spear storm, and the Altered Shock will be delayed by one more page."

You use the ‘recycled paper’ on the ‘Last Prayer’ to regenerate a brand new page. Of the memory that contains only a thousand pages, you have forcibly created the 1,001st page.

"…Now, let's end this, demon king."

This is the very last page of ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’.

The end of your remaining memory capacity.

This is your one and only chance to rewrite the ending of the story!

You brush away the hem of your tattered robe, exposing the skin of your right arm.

You will be able to retrieve the last foreshadowing of Sōshi Okutsuki's existence, the ‘memory that exists but does not exist’, from your own blood.

"…The beginning of this Vampire Tales goes back to that tragic night of October 16th, five years ago, when Father was killed. I had met the High Daylight Walker Arteria that day, in that Atelier."

In this story, there’s another ‘memory once etched in the reader's mind’.

A memory of despair, sealed in a flashback—a memory pertaining to October 16th, five years ago.

"But I had forgotten about Arteria. I thought it’s because I was being a coward, unable to endure despair, and sealed the truth of five years ago in the darkness of flashbacks."

You clutch your crystal talisman, take a small breath, and mutter,

"—But it’s actually the memory tampering done by the True Ancestor (Arteria)to protect the truth from the demon king (you)."

Clink. The golden chain rattles in your hand, seemingly informing you of the truth.

"…Actually, I’ve always been scared of knowing the truth."

The memories you can’t accept and have discarded still circulate in your veins. It contains all the truth you can retrieve, the final memories that can save the True Ancestor from the darkness.

"…Five years ago, Father was killed, and I was the only one left alive, so there’s definitely a significance to that. I always felt that I have to fulfil it, to repay it…that I have to keep suffering."

To face your own weakness, you put into words the despair you have shunned all this while.

"…So I ran away. I clung onto ‘a book to tamper my memories’, trying to forget the pain, trying to rewrite my despair."

You must fight. You must win.

The opponent is your own story; a memory you want to forget.

"But now I can believe."

The magic that True Ancestor has imbued into the talisman shines brightly in response to your thoughts.

"I won't run away anymore."

You hold the talisman in a prayer, and raise your right arm proudly,

"Whether it’s despair, pain, truth, or love…"

You sink your fangs into your own skin, soaking up the blood and memories that that flow out of you.

"These are all given to me by Arteria."

And then I learn the truth of five years ago.

The memories that flow into my mind through the blood I suck pass before my eyes like dying lights.

The blood spilled upon the old me. The organs and digestive matter tumbled out of Father's body.

The lungs were ruptured by the internal pressure. The abdominal cavity and pelvis were illuminated by the fallen cantera.

The head was crushed like a smiling mask. The eyeballs had burst from the eye sockets and rolled on the floor.

The flashback that has tormented me for five years tells me the truth.

"…Listen, Sōshi…I must now seal your memory."

The reason why I lost my memory five years ago.

"To defeat the demon king's 'night', I need at least five years of chanting Mana. Kathédra probably won’t give me that much time…So, Sōshi, you must leave this Library City Alexandria for five years and spend your time in Japan."

The reason why I had to leave Library City Alexandria five years ago.

"The Magitzkveins can’t be used while you’re chanting. So when you start chanting, my spell binding magic will remove your consciousness…I know this will be hard for you, but I hope you understand."

The reason why I lost my magic five years ago.

"…Father must die to protect the foreshadowing…I shall entrust my will to you five years later."

The reason why Father entrusted the future me with those words five years ago.

"…When you open the grimoire, just breathe in, and simply cast the runes. A curse is merely a curse, and a spell magic can only be a spell."

The words the Doctor Magna inscribed in to me at his dying moment,

"…But when you think of a certain someone you care about; magic can surpass magic. Overlapping breaths become a heartbeat, every spell we chain together becomes a pledge, every incantation we recite becomes a prayer, and magic brings miracles."

The way to become a mage (Doctor Magna).

"Activate key Lg100b –chant, reboot."

And after five years, I restart the chant to regain True Ancestor (Arteria).

All to use the despair that has tormented me for the past five years, the spell of five years ago that has been protected by the flashback,

"What… Sōshi Okutsuki! Have you always assumed that you cannot use magic…?"

"Let's go, demon king—I'll finish you off in one page."

Now, at the last moment of this love story, in order to save Arteria from memory tampering.

"Ku…!! Seven heavens of vermilion, come with flames!"

"O’ the pillar of the sky, foundation of the country!"

Two chants echo through the silver-white night.

"Proof of destruction and rebirth, the purifying flame shall scorch the heavens!"

"The goddess of storms who guards the Dragon Field!"

My whole body glows azure. The Magitzkveins that exist alongside my soul are screaming from overload. To break through the demon king's logical armor, I’ll need to imbue an enormous amount of Mana into the Magitzkveins for the past five years, magic power that far exceeds the limits of a human being.

But I can exceed myself. For Arteria’s sake.

"The scorching flames that proclaim the ending winter! Execute—"

"The atmospheric gods, hear these summons!"

"Come, spirit that fills the atmosphere!"

The demon king's chanting is complete. I no longer have a grimoire to jam the spell.

But I can win. For everything the True Ancestor (Arteria) has given me will protect me from the demon king.

(…True Ancestor (Arteria).)

"King of the sky with the purging hellfire!"

(You recharged this talisman again—to block the demon king's spell now, right?)

Just as Arteria has recharged the logic wall of this talisman!

Instantly, my vision fills with white.

My eardrums explode with a blaring sound, and all sound disappears from the world.

I can feel the immense radiant heat seeping through the logic wall, burning my cloak and skin.

"…Bind the, blades…of the wind."

Still, I continue to chant.

Because if I can't stop the demon king, the True Ancestor (Arteria) will be gone.

She’ll forget about me forever revert to being the worst vampire.

"With invisible arms."

As long as I can prevent it from happening, I don't care what I have to lose.

Whether it’s losing my magic, my memory, my dreams, and five years of my life of despair,

Or my ego that’s about to disappear at this very moment, engulfed by Altered Shock,

The hurt, the pain, and the truth that I want to rewrite—all I can surpass for Arteria’s sake.

"Now to thee I offer this pious prayer. By the grace of the divine storm."

Because I have loved Arteria ever since five years ago.

And even now, I still love Arteria.

With our overlapping breaths as one heartbeat, connected spells chained as a pledge, I offer every incantation and prayer to the True Ancestor.

"Execute—"

For five years my magic remained in my Magitzkveins, breathing Mana.

At the end of this thousand and one pages prayer,

Please grant me a miracle.

"—Bladeedge Storm Spear!!!"

I entrust my prayer into the spell and unleash my Magitzkveins.

The vast amount of Mana released surges and burns through my nervous system. My entire body boils from the inside out, and my ruptured spinal cord exude red smoke that propels me forward.

The lightning-red storm swirls around me in a thunderous vortex,

The Mana that I have been building up for five years penetrates Arteria’s barrier.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

The tip of the raging storm spear pierced through the silver-white night,

Bam! And smashes through the demon king's magic.

"Gah…ahhhhhh!!!?"

A scream shakes the darkness.

For the demon king Arteria, this definitely is her final, dying scream.

"The one deciding this ending, is me."

I declare quietly, picking up the ‘Vampire Tales’ that has been ejected by the exalmatio.

"Ku…haha, hahahaha…never would I, have thought this demon king would be destroyed."

Arteria's limbs are twisted by the red storm and pinned in midair.

The vampire's immortality seems to barely keep her alive…but if left unchecked, the demon king will have her memories and regenerative abilities stolen away, and destroyed.

"Guhi, haha, argihihihi. My head, hurts…! I…how…the demon king…will kill…Sōshi, love, ah, ‘Vampire Tales’…hahahahahaha!"

The demon king mutters unintelligible delirium the moment she’s deprived of ‘Vampire Tales’, violated by the Curse of Oblivion, and mixed with the memories of the True Ancestor that flowed from me through Blood perception.

While the True Ancestor and demon king's memories are muddled, and the name of the vampire who’s about to forget everything and die,

"…Arteria."

I call out to her lovingly.

"…I remember. I’ve retrieved the truth from the memories sealed in the flashback. I remember the foreshadowing of this love story that you and I once carved."

Yes, this story is a deftly casted foreshadowing from beginning to end.

"At the prologue of ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’, even though you’re a vampire, you saved me when I was human. You said the reason for that was because you were 'saved'…but I didn’t save you two days ago, but five years ago, right?"

After the end of the Vampire War at least a decade ago, the demon king Arteria was taken into custody by ‘Kathédra’, and spent a long life in captivity. After that, five years ago, she escaped from ‘Kathédra’ prison and fled to Labyrinth.

She was mortally wounded to the point of dying unless she sucked someone's blood.

"…Five years ago, in a corner of the Library Labyrinth, I met a wounded vampire who was hung, burned, battered and completely weary. I shared my blood with the vampire, and saved her from dying."

"…Aha."

"That vampire’s memory was cursed. Once I knew that she could only have three and a half minutes of memories, I took a copy of ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ out of Father's atelier."

"Hiha, hahaha."

"…When Father found out that I had saved the vampire, he tried to kill the demon. I pleaded so hard with him, and he gave me a condition, to put heavy protection upon the 'Vampire Tales'. The planned completion of that condition was to be October 16th, five years ago…my tenth birthday."

"Aha, ahahaha."

"…The ‘Vampire Tale In the Labyrinth’ was supposed to be a birthday present for me and the vampire. The Library Labyrinth's 'Silver Night' was to be born again, and become my friend on that October 16th."

"Ahaha, ahahahaha! "

"—Until Sōshi Okutsuki (me), whose memory was tampered with by ‘Kathédra’, wrote a command in the ‘Vampire Tales’."

In other words, the scenario writer was me.

Sōshi Okutsuki was the cause of the Father's death, Arteria's murderous acts, and this Sōshi Okutsuki loss of magic.

It’s very difficult to take the grimoire from either the True Ancestor or Doctor Magna, and the risk of failure was immeasurable. That’s why ‘Kathédra’ kidnapped me and wrote a deadly trap in my memory.

"I remember, the moment I received ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ from Father, with my own hand, I wrote ‘you will kill Kai Okutsuki’…and then the tragedy happened."

In other words, I was turned into a remote control for a biological weapon called the demon king.

By falsifying my memories and using the activate key to falsify the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, they could use her, a dangerous vampire, as a bio-weapon without ever coming in contact with her.

This proves that our destiny has been rewritten by scenario writers since five years ago.

"I found the answer."

The truth of five years ago.

"Arteria, you were not the one who killed Father."

It was the demon king who killed Father, and it was 'Kathédra' who manipulated me to do it.

"Ah…ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"…So you don’t have to laugh anymore. You don’t have to feign insanity. I know it's a lie."

I hold onto ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, and with a prayer, I order,

"Activate key Rz999f- [Destroy all tampered memories, ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth]!!"

With a crisp sound, the ‘book’ glows.

Numerous letters ooze from the pages that have opened by themselves, assimilating into the ‘night’, disappearing.

"Hahahahaha…ahaha, haha, ha."

The demon king's loud laughter stops.

Arteria, the strongest vampire, the talent eater,

"…Just, why?"

A tinge of sadness spills from her clear deep red eyes.

"Why…did you not kill me? If you do not…if you do not take away ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, you will be swallowed by Altered Shock and die of madness!"

That was the torrent of emotions that Arteria had kept hidden for the past five years.

"Why …? Why did you not kill me when I was evil!? Why did you make me remember memories I do not want to remember? If you had killed me as I was, I could have died without sorrow!"

Arteria wailed. She believed herself to be the demon king of darkness, the natural enemy of humanity.

She decided for herself that disappearing from my side would make me happy.

"Five years…! I waited for five years! I was alone in the Labyrinth without you! I always wanted to see you again, spending these five years alone…! And now, we only have three days together!? Enough! What about my feeling!?"

Arteria cried out, bursting out of the tragic love she had been suppressing for five years.

"It is still fine if I had been the one who killed your Father! I would rather be killed if you can continue forth! But you say I am not the enemy!? That I have the right to be with you!?...No, I do not want that! I do not want to die, not without love!"

The vampire should have transcended death,

Yet she screams, fearful of death.

"…That’s what you said five years ago too."

In the dark depths of this Library Labyrinth, I met a demon with amnesia.

Amongst the death traps, the vampire wailed, saying she didn’t want to die, and I swore to her.

"That's why I made a wish, to be the one who could save you."

I would become a mage (Doctor Magna)—someone who could save Arteria.

"…I swore to become Doctor Magna not because Father was killed."

I open the cover of ‘Vampire Tales’ and flip to the very first page."

The sentence written there was my prayer of five years ago.

"I want to be the one who can save Al."— 1001pgs

"I fell in love with you, and that began this story."

Yes. I prayed to ‘be able to save others’, not because Father had been killed.

It was the day I found a wounded vampire in the dark depths of the Library Labyrinth,

The story of Arteria and I began to weave the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’.

"I prayed to the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ for ‘a spell that can save the demon king from the darkness’."

And the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ answered my prayer.

It implanted a trauma within me and sealed the Magitzkveins so that I would never be able to use magic for five years. All to ensure that Sōshi Okutsuki has enough mana to pierce the demon king's logic wall.

I went through trials and tribulations so that I could continue to sharpen my resolve for the next five years. That even if ‘Kathédra’ distorts the scenario, I wouldn’t give up on Arteria.

"And so, after five years, the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ led me to True Ancestor (you)."

—The ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ is a very ordinary story.

A boy loves a girl.

The boy wants to save the girl in trouble.

That’s all ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ is.

"For that wish alone, the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ wrote this character called Sōshi Okutsuki (protagonist)."

To save the vampire I fell in love with from the depths of darkness.

To protect Arteria from ‘Kathédra’, who is after the power of the High Daylight Walker.

To save me from the despair of my Father's death. From the ordeal of my loss of magic.

With Erika as the antagonist. With Calmia as the key to the past.

With the heartbreak of the demon king's betrayal. With the supernatural fictional world.

The ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ led Sōshi Okutsuki (me) to the end of a long, long story.

At this moment, in this place, at the end of this love story—

"Al. I came to save you."

To make my prayer come true.

After five years, the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ finally comes to an end.

The feelings that I couldn’t convey at that time, the love tampered with by ‘Kathédra’.

Can finally be written down in this story.

"I love you, Arteria."

The epilogue of this love story.

"Uu, ah, ah, ah..."

Clear drop spills from her eyes that are seemingly encased in fresh blood.

Arteria knew very well.

At this moment, now that my remaining memory is exhausted, the sequel to this love story will never come.

The Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth will soon come to an end.

"…! Uowaaahhh… waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

The vampire looked up to the heavens and cries out.

Those aren’t tears of self-pity, but tears of sorrow lamenting the end of the Vampire Tales.

"…Arteria. Before I forget everything, there's one thing I need you to tell me."

I know. I'm sure Arteria feels it, too.

In a few moments, Sōshi Okutsuki's memory will disappear in madness, and be destroyed.

"…I love you. I love you more than anyone else in this world."

That’s why I have to ask. I need to ask this truth.

"So, please, Arteria."

I need to seek an answer to this confession of love.

"—Tell me you love me."

"…U, ahh."

Two vampires are trapped in a prison of oblivion, and yet there’s only one 'book' that can undo the curse.

Neither of us will survive unless one is killed.

"Answer me, Arteria, before death do us part."

We have to choose.

Which of us will survive, and which of us will die?

"H-How mean-spirited a fool, you are…!"

Step by step, I approach Arteria who’s sobbing and screaming.

"Ah yes, it is I who is in love with you! Maybe I am a fool at love just because I received some warm goodwill from you, and was lovestruck for five years!"

I step across the wreckage of the clock tower and the sea of blood, all to fulfill the oath I once swore.

"But even so…even so, I was elated! So much that I wanted to take revenge on humanity, that I wandered in the darkness, on the brink of death, yet you said to I— ‘suck my blood’!

For I who had nothing but enemies and loneliness, having experienced friendship and love for the first time…!

I have fallen helplessly in love with you! Is there a wrong with that?"

"Why would that be wrong?"

I gently catch the tears that are about to slide down her cheeks.

I then lift her chin,

"Because I can finally fulfill the vow that I made five years ago."

I take Arteria's lips.

Everything was foreshadowed from five years ago.

The ability to take away others’ abilities, sucking blood knowledge via bodily fluids, the fact that I had retained my humanity, the existence of two talent eaters, the trump card to beat the demon king, everything was foreshadowed in the love story.

I had lost my humanity and had gained True Ancestor-like Blood perception through memory tampering,

Arteria was mortally wounded, and her Blood perception has deteriorated to my level.

Thus, the exchange of bodily fluids through kisses continues to multiply my humanity and Blood perception to the utmost limit—

Life, humanity, and memories are given to Arteria,

While I take away death, vampirism, and oblivion,

By dividing everything into two, I can rescue Arteria from the prison of oblivion.

"…Powah!"

With the first and last kiss, the ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ comes to an end.

I took all the cruelty ‘to save Al’.

The darkness that looms, the memories that flow in, the death caused by rejection,

Are all sucked away by me, and I’ll die.

"…Goodbye, Arteria."

And so,

My story is over.

"Begin thawing of timed memory."

Click.

While on the verge of my dying thought, at the very end of a story that’s about to end, the sound of gears clicks.

"…Pfft. "My story is over!" you say. A fool you are after all... ♪"

"Eh?"

"Mufufu, good morning, you♪ Welcome again to the scenario writer’s domain (backstage) ♫ How does it feel to have deciphered the foreshadowing in the story, derive the truth of five years ago, regain your memory and magic, and to have rescued this Arteria? Is it a pity to simply die here?"

"Wa-wait a minute! Didn't I just die? I sucked away the oblivion curse of the True Ancestor, made you human, and died instead of you, right? How am I still conscious?"

"This is an afterword."

"Afterword?"

"Well, if the protagonist (you) dies, a sequel cannot be written and developed into a series. Besides, it would be boring to end with the death of the main character without clearing the loose end of the foreshadowing at, would it not?"

"Eh…th-the foreshadowing at the end, as in…?

"Yes, you have not solved this. The greatest and final foreshadowing in this story…"

"Who is the true scenario writer who has set up this story? "

"!!!?"

The moment you look up at the echoing voice, the ink-like black spots coalesce and form words in the void.

You understand intuitively. This is the other side of the story, the exterior beyond the fantasy.

This is the domain (notebook) of the scenario writer writing this novel.

"Eh…erm, sorry, what exactly is going on here…?"

…Good grief. Don’t you find this ‘a little too convenient’?

How do you think that you, ‘Kathédra’s remote control of the demon king, managed to escape Library City Alexandria? Do you think the people who killed your father would allow that to happen?

"Th-That’s…erm…"

Ultimately, it is strange that you met the True Ancestor (Arteria) and the Murderer (Erika) on your first day back here in Library City Alexandria, no? The probability of three people meeting by chance in the vast Library Labyrinth is almost zero.

It was only through a series of other coincidences, such as natural luck, that allowed you to save the True Ancestor, you know?

"Ehh…w-wait, were those coincidences set up by the scenario writer!?"

Yes.

The scenario writer took control of the True Ancestor's body, prevented you from being pursued by ‘Kathédra’, and got you out of the country.

The scenario writer sealed your memory and continued to store Mana in your Magitzkveins.

The scenario writer brought you despair and trained your spirit to overcome it.

The scenario writer brought you back to Library City Alexandria after five years.

The scenario writer lured you back to the Library Labyrinth and reunited you with the High Daylight Walker.

The scenario writer led Erika to encounter and kill you.

The scenario writer lured Calmia into action and had the former demon king suck her blood and memories.

The scenario writer had you take a course in magical theory, the scenario writer gave you bare-handed combat skills, the scenario writer allowed you to notice that you can extract blood memories through saliva, the scenario writer used the Badblood, the scenario writer prompted the revival of your magic.

The true scenario writer of this ‘Vampire Tales’ is the one who has orchestrated everything.

‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ is not just a series of coincidences. It is a foreshadowing of the inevitable, of the end and the beginning that the scenario writer has assembled.

The true scenario writer of ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, the one who orchestrated this entire story, is—

"If a miracle should happen, may I be with Sō~shi forever, and ever."

"It was the Arteria five years ago who wished to live with you."

"…Ar, teria…"

"…You. wished for a miracle at the beginning of this ‘Vampire Tales’."

Arteria smiles wryly and tells you of her secret wish.

"f you and I, separated by fate, should one day cross time and distance and be reunited again in the Library City (Alexandria), and fall in love all over again."

On the first page of ‘Vampire Tales’ is a sentence that accompanies your prayer.

"If you, who have learned of my past, still say you love me."

It is the greatest foreshadowing inlaid in the story.

"Then for the ending of this love story,"

A true prayer sealed in memory tampering.

"May I live with you forever."

The fairy tale of love and miracles—

The first page in the beginning.

"…Sōshi, this High Daylight Walker's beloved kin, with whom I share blood and knowledge with…I love you, I love you more than anyone in this world."

In this story titled ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, there is the final prayer of a vampire who truly loves a human,

"So please, at this very moment, answer me."

Arteria asks for your reply.

"Even if I lose my memory, will you tell me again that you love me?"

"…Of course, you stupid vampire."

You chuckle dumbfoundedly and look into Arteria's red eyes.

And in response to the High Daylight Walker, you pledge to this ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’.

"I promise you, Arteria, that no matter how many times I lose my memory, I will always love you."

Click.

The gear sound signalling the beginning echoes loudly in the scenario writer's domain (backstage).

"‘Activation key’ is authenticated. I shall begin writing the ‘miracle’"

The miracle that you and Arteria met on October 16th, five years ago,

Shall become the greatest foreshadowing of the love story that leads to the prologue of this ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ (story).

"The blood you granted to Arteria restores her memory and turns her human."

The sudden activation spell shall sudden chant destroys the bitter ending that would have killed the characters,

And overwrites it into a happy ending of deus ex machine.

"You have lost all of your falsified memories and have recovered from Altered Shock."

Thus, ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ leads to a miracle.

To the prologue of a love story that no one has ever imagined.

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

After reading the story so far, you have woken up from this fiction.

"…Whew, finally done with reading."

Slowly you open your eyes and see the classroom in the late afternoon. The noise of your classmates' ruckus saturating the room quietly returns to your hearing, which was once controlled by the ‘book’.

"…’Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’. A book that alters memories and the world."

The novel (fiction) that should have been before you a moment ago has vanished without a trace.

The scenario writer's domain has been replaced by the ‘Apothecary’ classroom, the ‘words’ have disappeared without a trace, and the excitement of the battle with the demon king has been quietly robbed by the wind blowing in from the window.

With the ‘book’ open, you sit with your elbow on the desk by the classroom window.

"…it's been a week since that incident? …Seriously, I got involved in the ‘Kathédra’ conspiracy and the threat of human extinction, yet I don't remember a thing."

By the time you woke up again from Altered Shock, you had lost all memory of the three days since your arrival in Alexandria.

All the externally written memories, the information in the ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’, had to be removed in order to save you from the Altered Shock.

These included the memories of Erika and your classmates, the memories of Library City Alexandria, and the memories of destroying ‘Kathédra’s conspiracy.

And also your love with Arteria.

"…Arteria."

You whisper the name of your love that has been lost from your memory.

There is no High Daylight Walker in the bustling classroom before Homeroom period. Nor is there a folded dress or a silver-white bat hiding in your robe hood.

As Calmia once said in ‘Last Prayer of a Thousand and One Pages’, vampires will be sentenced to death, so it would have been impossible for you to study with the most powerful bloodsucking species in Library Labyrinth.

If you hadn’t falsified your vampire nature in ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, which you inherited from Arteria, you, who inherited the power of the strongest species, wouldn’t be able to escape execution either.

"…The thing Arteria gave me is still protecting me."

You touch the talisman on your chest and recall the High Daylight Walker.

The days passed without incident. You forgot about the burning of the ‘Library’, the collapse of the elevator, and the damage to the clock tower,

Even the conspiracy of ‘Kathédra’ and the crisis of the demon king's resurrection had seemingly never happened.

As you look at the little, yet commonplace warm daily life that you and Arteria have retrieved back—

You have a premonition.

"…Ah, Okutsuki-san, you look so happy."

"Hm, do I? You look kind of happy too, Erika."

You look up at the voice calling you, and see deep ultramarine eyes smiling at you. The battle burns she suffered in the 'book' seem to have healed completely by now.

"Fufhm? Well, I heard the reason why HR’s delayed today by Calmia-san."

"Nyafufu~! Everyone, return to your seats! I brought Teacher Yuzu with me!"

"Teacher is brought here! Everyone, please settle down! HR is about to start!"

"…Fufu, speak of the devil."

It's a premonition.

"Teacher will explain later, since there’s lots to prepare. Sorry for being late. This Teacher has been very busy and tired recently…"

"Ah, Teacher Yuzu, I can see the compress on your shoulder here."

"Here? Do-Don't look, Calmia-chan, no looking!

"…T-Teacher Yuzu, it's already past the start of HR."

"Ah, yes! Now then, everyone, let's start HR!

Now that all the pages of ‘Thousand and One Pages’ are used up, there won’t be a premonition of an end.

Instead, you feel that when ‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’ is opened, a miracle will surely be recorded.

It’s surely the beginning of a story.

" Let's start, shall we? A-chan! Please come in!"

"E-Excuse me!"

This voice echoes with a slam from the front door of the classroom.

The girl enters with her long silver-white hair fluttering in the wind, and gingerly ascends the podium.

"…E-Erm, what should I say…ah! Y-You, hurry and help I! I am not very good at this!"

The girl's crimson eyes wander, and once she recognizes you, she pleads you for help.

With a growing sense of foreboding, you answer your former vampire friend with a wry smile.

"Seriously, haven’t you practiced that? First you need to greet and introduce yourself."

"Ah, y-yes, that is correct! Y-Yes!"

The girl shows the brightest smile possible with her red cheeks, and loudly declares her name to her classmate.

"My name is Arteria! Unaccustomed to human habits am I, but please take care of I!"

Now then, let the love story begin.

The hero is a former human turned vampire, and the heroine is a former vampire girl.

The supporting cast includes a half-demon classmate, an easy-going cat-eared committee chairman, and a Doctor who looks ten years old.

The plot is a little clichéd, and the characters are still lacking,

The happiness between a human and a vampire who love each other will continue for a long time to come.

But surely the story will continue to get more interesting.

So let's continue to write this story until the pages run out.

"∞ Pages until Memory Loss."

‘Vampire Tale in the Labyrinth’, woven by you, recorded by I.

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