Tatakau Shisho - Volume 08

by Yamagata Ishio

  However, Mattalast wasn’t playing around.

  ‘…,…’

  She felt something that she had never felt before. It felt as if she was connected to something not human but to something like a rock. The inside of their mind was as vague as sand.

  ‘…Mi…repo?’

  After a while, Mattalast finally replied in his thoughts. Just what happened to him?

  His thoughts were weak. It wasn’t like he just woke up, and it was also different than being under the influence. Rather than his thinking abilities, it was more like his very soul was growing weaker. The thoughts of people about to die probably felt like this.

  ‘…Mattalast-san? What’s wrong!’

  She held her head and stopped in place without noticing. The spear of a Cavalryman came to attack from behind her as she was careless.

  “Watch out!”

  Kalne thrust Mirepoc away. She rolled down the stairs and rose up while frowning.

  ‘…Mirepo? What’s going on? Is there… fighting on the surface?’

  ‘What’s going on?! Mattalast-san! Where are you now!’

  ‘Mirepo… I’m sorry…’

  His thoughts were severed. She didn’t feel Mattalast dying. However, she only knew that he was in some serious situation.

  Part 2

  “Mirepo! How’s it going?!”

  “The Director, what’s the Director doing?!”

  Her comrades shouted.

  “What does all this mean?!”

  “Everyone, I received a message from Yukizona-san! He says that there is no need to worry so we only need to wait for a while. The Director and Mattalast-san will also come soon.

  We have no time to pass information along! Anyway don’t worry!”

  Relief spread among the Armed Librarians. They probably haven’t noticed she was lying. They didn’t have to leeway to see through Mirepoc’s poor lie.

  At the next moment help arrived. It couldn’t quite be called a savior, but it still was someone reliable.

  “Sorry to have kept you waiting!”

  A person appeared, leaping to the highest part of the Sixth Labyrinth like a spinning ball.

  It was the figure of a petite woman accompanied by twelve guns floating in the air. She was a powerful warrior Mirepoc had contacted just after trying the four strongest – Kyasariro Totona.

  “You’re late!”

  Mirepoc shouted while looking up.

  “I needed some time to prepare for battle!”

  Saying this, Kyasariro took her position in the topmost part of the Sixth Archive.

  With her ability of precise and powerful telekinesis she could control twelve guns.

  The twelve gun spread in the Labyrinth. They shot up the bodies of Guardian Beasts while flying around the atrium from one side. Her ability was extremely strong for a situation where both ally and foe were mixed together. The twelve gun were equal in strength to about twelve average – no, to twenty average Armed Librarians.

  The Armed Librarians who were in a disadvantage suddenly became dominant, and the Guardian Beasts of the Sixth Archive were neutralized one after the other. The Armed Librarians finally got some leeway. Some of them ran away to support Luik and the rest. Others restrained the fallen Guardian Beasts so that they wouldn’t be able to regenerate.

  “Just what’s happening, Kyasariro-san?”

  Mirepoc spoke to Kyasariro who stood at the top of the spiral staircase.

  “Shut up, you’re disrupting my concentration. Also, I don’t know as well.”

  “But…”

  Kyasariro was supposed to be closer to the nucleus than Mirepoc. Yet even she had no idea?

  “Haven’t you heard anything from Mattalast-san or the Director?”

  “Nope. I’m not qualified as a First Grade Armed Librarian. They won’t tell me anything important. Don’t slack off, fight too!”

  “Right!”

  Mirepoc pulled out her gun for the first time in a while, and shot the Guardian Beasts below.

  Ten minutes should have passed already, yet Yukizona did not come. She also had no idea where Mattalast and the Director were.

  The battle raged on for a while. The Guardian Beasts were tenacious. Although the Armed Librarian were dominant, they couldn’t eliminate all the Guardian Beasts in the Sixth Labyrinth.

  Mirepoc also quit her Thought Sharing and focused on fighting. Then, something weird was suddenly said to her.

  “Mirepo, did you say something?!”

  Kyasariro shouted. Mirepoc raised her head and answered.

  “I didn’t say anything!”

  Kyasariro looked confused and tilted her head.

  “What’re you saying Mirepo!”

  Now a voice came to her from the atrium; Tsamuro was shouting at Mirepoc.

  “I’m not saying anything, what are you all talking about!”

  “Then who’s the one talking?!”

  “It’s not me!”

  “Me neither!”

  The Armed Librarians were arguing at Mirepoc’s feet. It seemed they were hearing someone’s voice. They mistook it for Mirepoc’s Thought Sharing.

  Mirepoc couldn’t hear anything. It seemed that about a third of the Armed Librarians were hearing some voice.

  “Shit, what is this?!”

  Kyasariro shouted. Mirepoc felt the same.

  She couldn’t understand the situation at all. She had no idea why this fight was occurring. It was the same as the Deep Blue Curse Rebellion last year. No, at the time they understood that their enemies were the Indulging God Cult. This time they could understand even less.

  All the Armed Librarians fought while suppressing their urge to scream.

  Everyone thought the same.

  What the hell was happening to Bantorra Library right now?

  They had to fight before letting out these doubts of their mouths. During this, a sudden small voice suddenly rose up.

  “…Ah.”

  It was Kyasariro. The twelve guns she was controlling stopped in place.

  “What’s wrong, Kyasariro-san?”

  “I… know what this is.”

  During that time, Hamyuts was sitting all alone on her desk in the Acting Director’s Office. In front of her eyes was the message engraved on it.

  “…”

  She interlocked her fingers and further laid her chin on them while pondering. She started thinking for a long time.

  “There’s no use thinking about this. It just had to turn out this way.”

  Saying this, she leaned back on her chair.

  “It was just a question of when. It just so happens that it happened today.”

  She was watching the situation around Bantorra Library using her Sensory Threads. She could see both the fight at the Sixth Archive as well as well as the figures of Yukizona and the rest running around the Library. And yet there she was, without minding anything or taking any actions, she was just sitting.

  “Everyone’s working hard.”

  She watched the battle unfold while saying this.

  “Poor things. No matter how hard they try it’s all useless.”

  Hamyuts said, laughing from her throat.

  “I should explain everything to them. About what’s going on and what’s about to happen.”

  Saying this, Hamyuts took out a brand new machine from under her desk.

  Kyasariro’s twelve gun stopped in midair and fell. All the Armed Librarians seemed surprised of something.

  “What’s wrong, Kyasariro-san!”

  Mirepoc shouted and ran to her. Kyasariro stopped while looking at empty air. Her mouth was half agape and she seemed to be stupefied.

  “I know, this, I know this…”

  “What do you know?!”

  “…I know.”

  Kyasariro murmured, dumbfounded.

  “Hey, don’t lose yourself Kyasariro!”

  “Mirepo! What’s going on?!”

  The angry voices of Armed Librarians rose from the bott
om. Kyasariro was the center of the battle right now. If she became absentminded the Guardian Beasts might break through.

  Mirepoc shook Kyasariro and waved her fingers in front of her eyes. She made no response. She then suddenly shouted with a shrill voice.

  “Guys! Run away!”

  All of the Armed Librarians stopped without thinking. Some of them were so stunned they weren’t able to hear voices properly. They couldn’t understand what she was saying.

  “Don’t be stupid, what can we do by running away?!”

  “Run away, guys, quickly, run away!!!”

  Kyasariro held her head and paled. They have never seen Kyasariro make such an expression. Normally she was cheerful and wildly eccentric, acting like a cool, brave warrior on the battlefield.

  She wasn’t supposed to look like a child afraid from a rabid dog.

  “Run away, it’s bad news, so all of you get away!”

  “Please calm down!”

  Mirepoc tried holding her but was thrust away. Kyasariro then turned her back and ran out of the Archive while screaming.

  Mirepoc simply couldn’t believe it… Kyasariro running away like that.

  Mirepoc couldn’t believe it. Kyasariro running away like that. No, would any proud Armed Librarian turn their backs to the enemy and flee?

  “Kyasariro!”

  The Armed Librarians raised upset cries. In this situation, if Kyasariro were to withdraw, the battle situation would be reversed at once.

  Mirepoc tried to go after her. However, a voice at her back stopped her.

  “Don’t go, they’re coming!”

  The Sixth Archive was further assaulted by the Guardian Beasts. With Kyasariro gone, their counterattack crumbled and the Armed Librarians were once again at a disadvantage.

  “Shit, I let one escape, Mirepo!”

  A Blade-Haired Lion came to attack Mirepoc who was protecting the entrance. Now that Kyasariro had left, Mirepoc became the final barrier.

  “Tch!”

  She fought desperately with her handgun. However, with her fighting capabilities just stopping it in place took everything she had.

  The defense of the Armed Librarians was broken. They would not be able to protect any further.

  Is this it? The moment Mirepoc thought this…

  A black figure and a white figure came through the door to the Sixth Archive. They kicked at the stairs and reached the floor in one fell swoop.

  “Everyone evade!”

  The black figure shouted. The Armed Librarians all simultaneously leapt away. If they were late then they’d be wrapped up as well – they could feel this sense of danger from the echoing voice.

  The black figure released a dark wave as soon as it landed. All of the Armed Librarians knew its identity. Even those who have never seen it in action heard about its power.

  It was the power of the next Acting Director Yukizona – the Decay Wave.

  The Decay Wave slid on the floor and stairs, swallowing up the Guardian Beasts. It was the power to render any and all life in the world ineffective.

  The Guardian Beasts were also obviously helpless. With one blow of the Decay Wave they all turned into a lump of a black, brittle ash-like material.

  Yukizona started shouting from the bottom of the Sixth Archive. Everyone ceased their attacks and listened to his orders.

  “Us Armed Librarians will now annihilate the remaining enemy forces. Mirepoc and Rizzly will confirm the situation of the wounded and our present fighting forces. The trainees will search out any noncombatants in the Library and evacuate them.

  At once!”

  “Roger!”

  After becoming so disorderly, the Armed Librarians regained their leadership when Yukizona arrived. They started fighting more appropriately. The Guardian Beasts were neutralized within minutes.

  What was he doing where until now? What was going on? These were natural questions, but no one voiced them. Yukizona’s cool-headed commands did not allow any useless questions.

  “Luik, Marfa, retreat to the Sixth Archive!”

  After confirming the annihilation of all Guardian Beasts in the Sixth Archive, Yukizona shouted this toward the entrance to the Sealed Labyrinth.

  “If we retreat the Guardian Beasts will come out!”

  “It does not matter, withdraw!”

  Luik and Marfa abandoned protecting the door and rose to the Sixth Archive. The Guardian Beasts coming from behind were dispersed by Yukizona’s Decay Wave. Luik’s body – the one to take the frontline – was miserably bloody. Mirepoc and Rizzly commenced with first aid immediately.

  Yukizona confirmed that there were no Guardian Beasts coming. Then he spoke to his sister Yuri at his side.

  “Activate the Barrier, Yuri.”

  “Roger.”

  Saying this, Yuri held up what she held in her hand.

  “That’s…”

  Mirepoc raised her voice. It was one of the Memorial Weapons, the Spinning Doll Ückück.

  Mirepoc knew that in Bantorra there were two Ückücks. Both of them were embedded with the power to protect Bantorra Library. The other one had been used by Mirepoc herself during the Deep Blue Curse Rebellion.

  She did not receive permission to use the other one. She didn’t even know what kind of power was within it.

  “Spinning Doll Ückück, activate. Deploying the Gauze Barrier.”

  The Doll began to dance. At the same time, a barrier made out of material that seemed like a cloth woven from hazy threads started enveloping the entrance to the Sixth Archive. The Guardian Beasts that tried leaving before the Barrier had been deployed were now obstructed by it.

  Perhaps it was equal in power to the barrier that once protected Bantorra Library, or possible even above it.

  “…Did you seal the entrance to the Sealed Labyrinth?”

  Mirepoc inquired.

  “The Barrier only stops Guardian Beasts. Humans can still enter. That is the kind of Barrier we spread here.”

  The Guardian Beasts were staring at Yukizona from the other side. Fire-Eater Crow spat flames and Elephant Soldier rammed its large body against it, but the Barrier didn’t budge.

  “Do not worry. The Barrier will not break for a while.”

  Yuri said gently to Mirepoc. She handed her the Spinning Doll that finished its role.

  “Why did we have this Barrier…”

  While staring at the Spinning Doll handed to her, Mirepoc muttered in a small voice.

  This probably meant that they have prepared for this situation. The insertion Magic Right into the Spinning Doll was at the very least 1000 years ago. This meant they considered the possibility this would happen even 1000 years ago.

  However, Mirepoc and the rest of the lower level Armed Librarians never heard nor thought about the possibility of the Guardian Beasts running loose. Even if it was a one-in-a-million chance, as long as the possibility existed why weren’t they told of it?

  “…I don’t really get it, but it means we can relax?”

  Luik asked. He was covered by disinfectant alcohol and hemostatic agent all over his body.

  “Even this Barrier is not invincible. It will be broken eventually. We need to reorganize and attack the Guardian Beasts swarming inside the Barrier. Command will go to…”

  Yukizona looked around the Archive, seeking a suitable person.

  “Gamo, I’m leaving you in charge.”

  Although being appointed, Gamo was upset. He was quite the veteran and had a high level of a discerning mind, but he wasn’t fit to receive command from Yukizona.

  “Wait a minute. What are you going to do? Or more importantly, what about the Director?”

  “Me and Yuri are going to break into the Labyrinth. If you have any questions contact me through Mirepoc.”

  “Wait, but what about the Director? What’s Matt-san doing?”

  Gamo persisted.

  “…These are all my instructions. You don’t have to think about the rest.”

  “No, t
hat doesn’t explain anything about this situation! What are we supposed to do from now?!”

  “Don’t ask needless questions.”

  “They’re not needless at all!”

  “…”

  Yukizona went silent in front of Gamo’s angry voice. Mirepoc, Rizzly, Luik and the rest of the people inside the Sixth Archive all felt the same as him.

  They were told to follow commands. However, Armed Librarians were not machines. What was going on? What were they supposed to be doing? Wanting to know all this was natural. And letting them know that was the duty of a commander.

  “Let’s go, Yuri.”

  “…Yes, Brother.”

  Yet Yukizona turned his back to the Armed Librarians. Was he ignoring the feelings of his comrades, or did he have no choice? They couldn’t tell from his expression which one was right.

  Yukizona sent his Decay Wave on the Guardian Beasts swarming near the Barrier. The pair of siblings slipped through the Barrier and broke into the Labyrinth.

  “…What the hell are we supposed to do!”

  Luik hit the floor with his fist.

  “Where are the Director and Matt-san? It can’t be that just like Kyasariro they…”

  Rizzly said with an anxious expression.

  “What’s Kyasariro doing in the first place?”

  Kalne spoke in anger. Here and there, the Armed Librarians and trainees raised voices of dissatisfaction.

  Without Yukizona the Armed Librarians became disorderly again. Even Gamo, who was supposed to have assumed command, directed anger-filled eyes at Yukizona’s back.

  “We’ve dispersed…”

  Mirepoc muttered. One year ago, all of them fought to the death in unison to protect Bantorra Library. Not even those who were afraid or doubtful have acted alone.

  What happened now? The regular Armed Librarians became agitated, ready to flee at any moment, while those who were supposed to assume command did not fulfill their roles. There were even deserters.

  The Armed Librarians were destroying Bantorra Library. It wasn’t destruction from the outside. It was as if they caused their own downfall.

  “…Impossible.”

  The end of Bantorra Library… It was impossible for the history of 2000 years to end in such an incomprehensible situation. The Armed Librarians were the strongest military organization, protecting both Books and peace.