"But to say hello is not why I'm writing this message to you. In the future I saw, the world was ferociously being enveloped by flames and shadows with MY Ark as the center of it all.
I searched hard to find the cause and stop it before it can even start but alas! Whenever I come close with my divination, everything would always fade to black and leave me weaker with no point in recovering, hence, my pitiful condition.
But there was hope in one possible future. it was a future where you, my dear friend, were shining brightest!
Once again, I want to humbly ask you; the single irregularity in both time and space, Senna of Hearts, to please save the world once again."
Senna reached her hand out towards the large holographic image as if expecting Noah to miraculously appear in place of his message. 'What do you mean by "again"? I failed miserably in all the things I thought was right. You, having access to the Akashic Records, know that better than anyone else.'
Iris gave Senna inquisitive stares. King Noah's last message was already deemed gibberish but that didn't seem like it for the red-haired female beside him.
He then took a side glance towards his friend to see his reaction but his face was planted heavily on the command desk of the Archive System due to exhaustion.
Verus may have sounded confident a while ago but truth was he himself had very little magic. In fact, Verus had mediocre skills in almost everything but he had his diligence to make up for it.
Iris knew this about his friend and wanted to commend him for using the Archive System to that extent but Senna peaked his curiosity to the point that nothing else mattered anymore at the moment.
"Senna,"
"Le shiem kaha weish na—"
Iris failed to control his nosiness but as he was about to continue, the lines Senna murmured left him dumbfounded.
"Undal profurendi wes may..."
They were words which he thought he would never hear again in his lifetime; a foreign language which a certain someone he knew very well always used.
"If the world were to die today, another one will be born tomorrow."
Senna looked at Iris with amazement as she heard him translate the words she muttered to his native tongue.
It was apparent that Iris wasn't reading but it seemed that he knew those lines by heart. But that was impossible! Humans shouldn't have any knowledge of the language used in the message left by Noah.
"You can read what's written here?"
"No, but what exactly is written there? My fa—"
Iris grabbed Senna's arm. His once inquisitive stares now turned to an expression that of a lost child.
"The father I knew dedicated his life deciphering these text but all his efforts ended in vain."
Impossibilities kept piling one after the other. Senna was sure no one should've been able to understand the words she said. It was the language of heaven! No one on earth, except Noah who had the power to peer inside the Akashic Records, should be able to.
"If what you say is true, then this father of yours had his reasons to hide things from you."
Senna shrugged her shoulders to loosen Iris' grip but it didn't work. She felt tension rising from the golden-haired man's hold.
Senna couldn't have wished more for her power to read minds to return. If only she still had it, it would be easy to judge if she could reveal Noah's message. But still, it wasn't hard to figure out that Iris' visage was quickly fading to despair.
"Something happened to you and father...?" Senna asked but Iris only averted his gaze.
"I'll decide wether to tell you or not after I finish reading."
This time, Senna struggled harder to free her arm from Iris' grasp. Iris still didn't want to but he decided that it would be best to let go.
The red-haired lady continued reading but as she was halfway through the texts, the projected image of Noah's message started to become fuzzy.
"What's happening?!"
"Verus!" Iris panicked. The only reason the hologram couldn't have maintained its form was because Verus wasn't supplying enough mana through the system.
"It's not me!"
Verus shouted as blue light traced the etched runes from the command panel he was standing on to the ones on the floor up to the shelves, bathing the dim library hall in eerie blue light.
As the light continued to creep through the runes over the walls, the owl statues that it passed all came alive and flew over Verus in an encircling manner.
Hundreds of screeching owls filled the whole library.
Verus tried to remove his hands from the control panel of the Archive System but it was stuck!
"It's not that I'm not supplying it with enough mana...!!"
Iris and Senna ran towards Verus to see what was happening.
"Verus, you're releasing too much energy!!"
Senna immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. She hurriedly tried to pull Verus' hands away from the panel but it was wouldn't budge.
"Iris, this is dangerous! He's going to burn his life away!"
Upon hearing the red-haired lady's words, Iris joined the fray and started pulling as well.
"You need to stop whatever you're doing, you stupid librarian!"
"It's not me! The Archive System is pulling my mana out by itself to initiate defenses!"
"Defenses for what?!"
Senna shouted as the screeching of the owls became louder and louder.
The projected holographic image randomly changed in a very fast pace and the shelves started to shake themselves as if a massive earthquake was being confined inside the library.
Books and scrolls came falling down. The whole library hall was falling in disarray.
"Someone's deleting the records!!"
Verus concluded as he saw all the information that were being displayed in hologram swiftly fragmented."
Verus looked at the hundreds of owls flying over him. He now realized that the owls sensed a threat to the system and were waiting for orders.
"Noctuam! Initiate archive freezing!"
Blue light gushed out of Verus' hands like flowing river.
"What are you doing?! More mana's coming out!"
The owls that were encircling Verus quickly flew in all directions and transformed into mist.
The owls still retained their shape even though they turned into mist. All the areas they passed became ice in a blink of an eye, slowly transforming the hall into an ice cave.
"Verus stop!"
"I can't! I need to save these records!"
Verus fell to his knees but that didn't stop him. He poured even more mana into the the control panel.
"Iris! He's gonna die!"
Iris started to get irritated by his friend's ridiculous stunt. He was willing to give away his life to save the information in the ward he was assigned to!
"Verus,"
Verus staggeringly looked at the friend who called him but all he saw was his fist that hit his face with all might.
Verus fainted in an instant. The blue light coming from his hands stopped and the runes started to fade as well.
With the last trace of Verus' mana, the mist owls instantly turned back to stone and started to fall into the ground.
Shattering sounds echoed throughout the now brightly lit library as petrified owls broke into pieces the moment they hit the ground.
Iris and Senna protected their heads along with the unconscious Verus. Luckily, not one stone owl hit them.
Moments after the last owl shattered to pieces, Iris stood up and looked at the now ruined Archive System platform and the crystalized shelves.
"It looks like it would take a while before you can read that message, huh?"
Disappointed, Senna laid on the floor with the unmoving Verus. She looked at Iris and sighed.
If someone was trying to delete information from the hall of records, it was no coincidence that he acted while Senna was reading through Noah's message. Someone was definitely hindering her. But who?
Unknown to Senna, the moment she started reading through the first lines of Noah's message, she was already being watched from afar.
Sitting in his golden chair, as he watched Senna being reflected from the surface of a large clump of water, a man said, "You had me worrying there little miss..."
The middle-aged man who was observing Senna wore a fine plain white tunic and was lavishly decorated with golden accessories from crown to anklets.
The lion on his lap attempted to fiercely gaze into his eyes but the man had a more frightening visage that even the lion bowed in fear the moment their eyes met.
What should have been a wild untamable beast rolled in the man's lap as if a meek and humble toy.
"Bring me that girl."
The man stood up and picked the glass grail containing wine beside him.
"A person with no magic shouldn't be able to read Noah's message!"
He stared coldly at Senna's reflected image. He then stood proudly on top of a wide staircase with people bowing before him from every step.
"Noah had power over the Akashic Records. He could see things normal people can't. It would be no wonder if he had plans for the thousands of years after his death!!"
No one dared to interfere as he proceeded with his declamation. Not even a twitch was made by the people in front of him.
"NOAH!"
The man shouted as he threw his glass grail over the floating clump of water in the middle of his court.
The water immediately dissipated and flooded the empty fountain below.
"You're mocking me even in your deathbed aren't you?"
The man brushed his hair backwards revealing a handsome but fearsome face.
"I'll show you! My wish will be fulfilled!!"
The proud man looked down over the nearest person below him. The moment his golden eyes gave off a slight hint of shine, the man he was looking at flew through the room and hit a white pillar as if he was a rag doll.
Nobody reacted.
"What are you slugs waiting for? Bring me the girl named Senna of Hearts!"
The remaining people in front of him stood up and replied in chorus.
"Yes, king Gilgamesh!"