"Yes. She is in the Hero Party after all!"
Come again? Her sister is fighting alongside the Hero?
Wait, what is she fighting against?
"Who are their opponents?"
"It's the demons, duh." Mia replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
Alright, let me get this straight. So, not only has mana returned into this world, the humans and demons are still fighting the Holy Wars.
What?
"Hey Naf, how many years have passed since I vanished?"
Mia tilted her head in confusion; I had used the old language after all.
"847 years."
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
What. In. The. Goddamn. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. Them!
847 years! Why hasn't the war ended yet?! By now, they should have either destroyed each other or signed a truce. Yet they are still continuing the war? From where are they getting the resources? What about manpower?
Gosh, this is driving me insane!
You know what? Fuck it.
⟦I've decided. We'll go into the mountains and live like hermits.⟧
I simply refuse associate myself with these imbeciles.
[Like we did in End Emptiness?]
A shiver ran down my spine.
⟦I didn't think through, did I?⟧
[No, you didn't.]
Figures. Our very reason for doing everything in our power to leave End Emptiness was that it was extremely boring and desolate. There were some other creatures there, but we were almost always alone. If not for each other, our solitude would have gnawed away our hearts.
We'll be putting the cart before the horse if we closed up in a secluded mountain.
Wait, 'put the cart before the horse'? Oh, it seems Nafar's language pack has updated my phrases and idioms as well. Nice!
⟦Ahem, anyway, maybe we won't go into the mountains. How about opening a shady restaurant or something? I'm sure a chef, especially a young-⟧
[Pfft!]
⟦…⟧
[…]
⟦Viben?⟧
[Yes, young lady?]
⟦How would you like to die?⟧
[With all due respect, I'm already dead, young lady.]
⟦Well, wouldn't you like to be extra dead?⟧
[I'm sorry.]
⟦Good boy.⟧
[Thank you.]
Heh. He thinks he has been let off? Only in your dreams, Viben-boy.
⟦Anyway, as I was saying, I don't think they will conscript a young beautiful girl to fight in the war.⟧
[What if they used an age checking device?]
This motherfucker…
⟦Well, well, you primitive troglodyte. You better wish that I don't find a new body for you, because if I do, then boy oh boy, am I going to make the first Holy War look like a fucking tea party.⟧
[…]
Wait, we digressed.
"Mia, even if your sister is in the Hero Party, don't tell her about being the Dragon Emperor's apostle, alright? You don't want her to be hurt, do you?" I explained to smol Mia.
"No, I don't." Her head drooped. "Fine, I won't tell anyone."
Oh? That was easy.
Too easy, in fact.
This girl's definitely planning something.
"Good girl." I patted her head again.
Now then.
"Well, Naf, how about you arrange the answer to my first question now?"
"Sure." He then mumbled under his breath. "This is going to be a pain in the ass."
"Hmm?"
"Here." He tossed to me a circular thing. "This is a medallion which allows access to my personal archive."
Sure enough, at the centre of the golden medallion, the crest of Al Nafar, which resembled his own figure silhouetted by the shining sun, was engraved.
"Will I find my answers there?"
"You'll find the answer to everything there."
Well, that's reassuring.
⟦Perhaps we'll find clues about your new body there, hehe.⟧
[Haha, why would you do that? Now that I think about it, I find it rather comfortable here.]
⟦Hehe.⟧
[…]
⟦…⟧
[I'm so dead, aren't I?]
⟦Yes.⟧
"How do I use this?"
"Just think about the thing you want to know the answer of, and inject your mana into the medallion."
"Wait, does that mean anyone can use it?"
"Of course not." Nafar snorted. "This is a soul-bound artifact. None other than you can use this particular medallion."
Phew, otherwise I would have been worried about losing it and granting some random homeless the access to all the knowledge in this world.
"Can I take Mia with me?"
"You cannot." He shook his head. "There are certain rules that must be followed; you cannot take anyone with you, you cannot take anything out from there, you cannot use any tool to record and bring back the information from there, and you cannot let anyone know the existence of The Lost Archives."
Hmm.
"I understand. Ah, what about Viben?"
"He has already been accounted for."
Thank goodness. Would be weird if I went to the Lost Archives but Viben's soul was left here and then ferried to the netherworld.
"Anyway, I'll be leaving Mia in your care for now. Don't do anything weird to her, alright?"
"Just go."
I nodded.
Now, the information I want to know is how and why the Law that allowed the conversion of this world's lifeforce into mana was reconstructed, and what happened after that.
After forming that image in my mind, I infused mana into the medallion. The next moment, my consciousness blanked.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw in front of me a book. It was placed on a desk and I was sitting on a chair accompanying it.
"The Script, Volume 447. Interesting."
Hmm?
"Ah, you're out, Viben!"
Instead of speaking from inside me (ugh), Viben was seated on another chair right beside me.
"It seems that instead of transferring our physical bodies, the medallion transferred our souls to Al Nafar's library."
"So that's why we cannot bring anything in or take anything out."
"Indeed." He nodded.
"Now, time for your punishment." I smiled and extended my hand towards his throat.
But to my absolute horror, my hand passed through him.
"Heh." He smirked. "You can't do anything to me here."
Gosh darn it! To think I cannot shake him by his neck even though he's right in front of me. Uwaah, how am I supposed to continue living now? It's over, it's all over.
"Anyway, let's start reading."
"Fine." I nodded after wiping my tears.
And so, he opened the book titled 'The Script, volume 447'. However, contrary to what I had expected (which was pages filled with letters and an occasional picture), what came out of the book was blinding light.
When the light faded, a new scene appeared before our eyes. By the way, we were still seated on our chairs even though the table and book had vanished, but seemed unable to make any other moves beside watching and speaking.
The scene in front of us portrayed a Grand Chamber. The ceiling was extraordinarily high and was supported by similarly extraordinarily large pillars. Together, the pillars formed a huge circle.
In the centre of the room lit by the torches hung on those pillars, a large, complex magical formation was engraved on the ground, its edges touching the circle formed by the pillars. The formation was red, as if blood had been used to etch it on the ground.
The scent of fresh blood trickled my nose, confirming my hypothesis.
"This formation…"
"It's similar to
"As I expected."
"It has used the runes which allowed
Just then, the large door opposite us opened and several figures walked in. They held staffs in their hands and hid their faces behind oversized hoods.
"Well, well, well." Viben exclaimed.
"Now wait a fucking minute! Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes, I think it is what you think it is."
Un-fucking-believable.
While all the figures had the same white hoods covering their faces, the crests on their chests were different. Some were from the Claine Empire, some from the Sharuth Theocracy, and so on.
I could have accepted it if it was just that. I mean, there's nothing wrong with humans working together to solve a global scale problem.
No, the problem was with the group of shady hooded figures which followed them. Unlike their counterparts, the hoods they donned were black.
Now, who exactly would wear something which is in complete contrast to humans even though are supposed to belong to the same group?
Of course, the good old demons.
"They're actually working together?"
"Seems like it." Viben's lips curled up to form a derisive smile. "We erased mana so that humans and demons could one day coexist, yet the only time they worked together was to bring back mana."
"Tell me about it."
This is driving me nuts.
Well, whatever, let's see what kind of shit they would pull out of their arses to activate a magic formation without mana.
If this was a novel being published back in my time, the readers would have personally attacked the author for his terrible writing.
"Is that…?" Vibe's mutter brought me back from my reveries.
I followed his gaze and- what the fuck is that?!
"Why is she here?!"
"…I don't like where this is going." Viben frowned dangerously.
Held within our eyes was the figure of a black dragon. With a gait full of majesty, the Dragon entered the chamber and gazed at the group with solemn eyes. However, the slight wagging of her three tails betrayed her excitement.
｢This lowly mortal greets the Third Beast of the Circle, Lady Trikeus.｣ The man who seemed to be the group's leader stepped forward and genuflected.
The other humans and demons around them followed and kneeled.
｢Rise.｣
The group stood up when Trikeus permitted them to do so.
Then she turned her head to the side and spoke.
｢Are you sure this will open a portal to End Emptiness?｣
"Wait, what?"
"She's being scammed."
｢Of course.｣ The one to reply to her query was a small, four-eyed flying creature.
"That piece of shit crow!"