Chapter 74 – The Forbidden Archive

I had been inside the imperial palace’s forbidden archive before.

Although it was 400 years ago, my comrades and I had visited it countless times.

I guess you could say that we, who were always on the front lines, had no choice but to do that to search for new types of magic.

But compared to the treasure vault, the forbidden archive wasn’t a very interesting place.

It’s a place where they keep secrets they can’t tell anyone, so they have no choice but to keep it as isolated as possible.

So, I expected it to be exactly as I remembered, but…

“…Huh.”

It was more ordinary than I thought.

It just… looked like a storage room that collected useless trinkets and called them treasures.

Of course, I haven’t gone inside yet, so I don’t know what it’s really like, but for now it looks like a dump.

This was supposed to be the secret of the empire… or even the secret of this world. Is it really okay to leave it so unguarded?

Perhaps the forbidden archive is even more important than the treasure vault.

As I was staring blankly at the door, the stern-looking woman stepped forward.

“Those who are allowed to enter the forbidden archive are the Commander of the Nameless, Sir Balamir Blacos, and the young lady, Eliaernes Eustetia, who has been given the right to read the books.”

She then pulled out a transparent, glass-like key from her pocket.

Clink.

She inserted it into the air.

And then.

Vwoom vwoom vwoom…

With a massive shockwave, a huge barrier unfolded from the spot where the key was inserted.

Another barrier appeared behind the first one, which shined with light that was so bright you would go blind if you were to look at it directly.

And then, clink, clank.

As if they were interlocking with one another…

“…Wow.”

The scenery changed.

The garbage-looking door disappeared, and a huge, extraordinarily expensive door appeared, one that I couldn’t even imagine the price of.

A door that had all the jewels in this world, precious metals that even made me gasp in awe, and a barrier that seemed impossible to create with magic.

The stern woman lightly scanned the majestic door in front of her and said.

“I will now open the door.”

This time she used a different key.

If the first key was a transparent blue, this one was transparent white-gold.

The key was inserted into the center of the door.

At the same time, a bright light erupted, and the key disappeared.

And then,

Boom-

The door opened.

“Holy…”

The scenery that unfolded was…

It was really… amazing.

The library in the capital was no better than a neighbor’s doghouse compared to the interior. It was so big that it made me wonder if it was even bigger than the academy, no, bigger than the Imperial Palace.

And, the inside was completely packed with books.

There weren’t any bookshelves.

The books were simply floating in the air.

Each book was a different color, size, and style, but it was so beautiful it felt as if you were looking at a piece of art.

Gulp, I swallowed the saliva I had gathered in my mouth and looked at the stern-looking woman.

Sensing that I wanted to get inside as quickly as possible, she nodded and said.

“You have four hours. There are no restrictions for looking at them, so please look at the books freely.”

“B-but… there are so many books, how am I supposed to find the ones I want?”

“Place your hand on the crystal orb in the center. Think of the keywords you want, and the matching books will appear on the pedestal right next to you.”

“Wow…”

“However, since the books matching your keywords will be transferred all at once, you’ll have to look at each one yourself to read them.”

“Oh… I understand.”

I gasped in admiration.

In the past, I had never seen such amazing technology. Just who came up with something like this?

I had thought 4 hours wouldn’t be enough time. I thought that it would take more than three hours just to find the books I wanted.

But for them to find the books I want right away, and then transfer them too?

Well… it’s not impossible.

If you look outside, there are flying towers, after all. There’s no reason for something like this to be impossible.

“I’ll start the count as soon as the door closes. Please come in whenever you’re ready.”

I nodded and looked back at my father, who was standing behind me.

“I’ll be back.”

“I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

My father was smiling, but he also looked worried about me.

I looked at him for a moment before smiling brightly and stepping forward.

“Yes, Dad.”

***

Thud, the door closed, and I, the Nameless Commander, and Balamir were left inside the forbidden archive.

The Nameless Commander’s thoughts were still hidden behind her mask, and Balamir’s face showed an unusual wariness.

“Hoo…”

I took a short breath and placed my hand on the crystal orb.

[Please think of the keywords you wish to search for.]

Then, a neutral voice echoed in my mind.

Without hesitation, I thought of the keyword I was most curious about.

‘Ronan Lujarak.’

[Ronan Lujarak. Confirmed.]

As the neutral voice faded, shrrk

About ten books appeared on the pedestal next to the crystal orb.

[If you wish to retrieve them, place your hand on the crystal orb and think of the word ‘retrieve.’]

“…Oh.”

I glanced at the books that had been transferred so quickly.

Books of different sizes.

Different cover colors, and different titles.

Among them, I recited the most eye-catching words in my mind.

[Ominous Star.]

[The Empire’s Weapon Master.]

[The Butcher.]

[The Archdemon’s Nemesis.]

[Bloodfiend.]

“Heh… heh, hehe.”

This is it.

This is it!!

This is me!!

Not that damn martial artist Ronan!!

These incredible titles!!!! Belong to me!!!!

I wanted to scream out all my pent-up frustration, but I couldn’t do that.

Two people were watching me from behind.

If I acted like a madman in front of them… it would be very problematic.

At least those two couldn’t see my face, so I was able to grin to myself. If they were right next to me, then that would have been a disaster.

I made a wide smile that stretched my cheeks.

I was filling myself up with satisfaction while looking at the titles, when…

[Survey on the Hero Party’s Appearance Rankings.]

A book with a ridiculous title caught my eye.

…I want to read it.

But then again…

Do I really need to?

The number one spot has already been decided.

Of course, it’s me, Ronan Lujarak.

There’s no room for debate. Anyone who disagrees will have their tongues ripped out.

So, there’s no need for me to read it.

It’s the same for the other books.

Honestly, I’m curious, but…

I don’t have the time to read it now.

I’m sure there are books there about why I became ‘Martial Artist Ronan,’ but I don’t need to read it now.

It was enough for me to know that my history had not disappeared completely.

There’s a reason for this.

I didn’t know what it was, but I was sure that Arisa, that bitch, didn’t intentionally make me a martial artist.

‘Retrieve.’

Shrrrk, as soon as I thought of the word ‘retrieve’ all the books disappeared.

Then I thought of the next keywords.

‘Truce, Hero Party, Whereabouts.’

Thud, thunk, thunk.

Three books were transferred.

[Return of the Battle God.]

For some reason, none of our real names were written anywhere, but I could tell who it was.

The Battle God is Arisa’s title.

And I know from Sparkle that she did return.

Next was:

[The Demon King’s Sealing.]

And finally,

[The Resurrection of the Legion Commander.]

“…Huh.”

I had my suspicions but…

The resurrection of a Legion Commander?

Rubbing my throbbing temples, I picked up the book titled [The Resurrection of the Legion Commander].

I didn’t have enough time to read it thoroughly.

I had to quickly flip through the pages, and cram the information I needed into my mind.

Fortunately, Eliaernes Eustetia, my current self, has a very sharp mind.

I had to make sure not to show any reaction.

I couldn’t reveal that I knew anything.

I steeled myself and started flipping the pages.

“Son of a…”

I couldn’t stop myself from cursing on the very first page.

[The first resurrection was that of the Legion Commander, Krahal of Greed.]

[However, it was not the resurrection of Krahal himself.]

[A demon with Krahal’s authority has appeared.]

Krahal of Greed was the first Legion Commander we defeated.

Krahal of Greed.

His authority was the Chalice of Greed.

Its ability was to absorb the souls of any being that had a soul, whether human or demon, and store them as spare lives.

It could also release them all at once to push its own abilities to the limits. It was the same method that the half-demon had used in the labyrinth.

It took us two weeks to kill that demon.

For two weeks, we didn’t sleep, we drank blood instead of water, and we ate dust instead of food as we fought him.

That’s how we killed him.

We burned his body with Luna’s holy flames, and Kaloso erased the remaining traces from this world with dimensional magic.

But now, a demon with Krahal’s authority has appeared.

But this still couldn’t be called resurrection.

There must be a reason why they called it that.

Organizing my thoughts, I gritted my teeth and turned the page.

And then I found it.

[As time passed, the demon’s disposition changed.]

[Its speech, actions, voice, appearance, and even its Magi all became similar to Krahal’s.]

[The nameless demon, who was originally intermediate level, rose to the level of Legion Commander in just three years, surpassing the ranks of upper-tier demons.]

[The nameless demon is now.]

[Proclaiming itself to be Krahal of Greed.]

[Based on these investigations, it seems a demon’s identity changes with its authority.]

When Krahal died, the Chalice of Greed disappeared.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that it had turned to ash and disappeared.

I saw it, Paulo saw it, Luna, Arisa, Kaloso, we all saw its annihilation with our own eyes.

Yet the chalice had reappeared.

When Krahal died… did the Demon King recover it?

If that was the case… then did Krahal store his soul inside it at the last moment?

“…No.”

It wasn’t just that.

The storage of souls.

It wasn’t just Krahal’s soul that was stored.

“Hah…”

The other three Legion Commanders that we killed.

Their souls could have been stored inside the Chalice as well.

No, I was certain that they were.

I closed my eyes tightly, and calmed my surging emotions. I was grinding my teeth so hard that it felt as though my molars would break.

Krahal’s appearance was sudden.

At the time, we hadn’t set out to kill Krahal.

We were preparing to kill Labyrinth.

We had been searching for the Ouroboros sigil, we had ransacked her residence, and then we had set out to find her.

But what was there was Krahal.

So, we had to fight an unexpected opponent and killed Krahal.

But now…

I was starting to think it was a trap.

Following the Demon King’s grand plan, we might have been walking down a predetermined path.

It was an absolutely infuriating thought.

Was our defeat predetermined from the start?

“…Bullshit.”

I bit the tip of my tongue to snap myself out of it.

I collected my thoughts and opened my eyes.

I’ll think about it later.

Right now, I needed to extract as much information as possible.

I let out a heavy sigh and quickly flipped through the pages, searching for important information.

[The Resurrection of Luxurina, the Legion Commander of Lust.]

[The thwarted resurrection of Glulaka, the Legion Commander of Gluttony.]

[The thwarted resurrection of Ankanius, the Legion Commander of Envy.]

[The sacrifices for resurrection must be humans with pure mana.]

[Finally, the demons have found a way to break the Demon King’s seal.]

I read the sentence on the last page.

[The first element, and the Fifth Element, briefly created by the Sage.]

[Akasha.]

[If they were to complete it.]

[It seems the demons believe that they would be able to achieve all of their desires.]

The sage was Kaloso Verheigen.

And that bastard failed to complete Akasha.

For the first time, he acknowledged that it was impossible with his abilities.

And so, he gave up.

But still, even now.

The demons still aim to revive the Demon King.

Or maybe they plan on sitting on the Demon King’s throne themselves.

To do that, they are trying to complete Akasha.

With what method can they do what Kaloso, the greatest mage and the absolute bastard that I know, couldn’t?

Kaloso Verheigen.

Verheigen.

In that moment.

“…Stella Verheigen.”

The missing piece of the puzzle in my mind had finally fallen into place.

It wasn’t the Black Magicians.

It was the demons targeting Stella.