Chapter 76 – The Forbidden Archive

[We were defeated.]

“…Shit.”

I couldn’t hold back my curse once again.

This isn’t Luna’s handwriting.

This is… Paulo’s handwriting.

Was Luna so injured that she couldn’t write?

I don’t know.

[The Demon King is a being beyond the concept of death.]

[It is impossible to kill it.]

Click,
I grinded my teeth.

Paulo hates the word “impossible.”

More than that, he hates it to the point where he doesn’t want to even acknowledge it.

Yet Paulo is saying it’s impossible.

[If ■■■ and Ronan were there, would it have been possible.]

[Who knows?]

[Perhaps our defeat was predetermined from the beginning.]

“…Don’t talk bullshit.”

Blood seeped from my bitten lips.

I wanted to tear up those pathetic, weak sentences right then and there. I wanted to find that pathetic bastard Paulo and stab him in the gut.

[Faced with an unbeatable enemy, we despaired.]

The handwriting changed.

Elegant writing with long strokes.

Arisa Eustetia.

[However, there was a way.]

But, this wasn’t a record she made in the moment.

The writing style was reminiscent of her recalling the past.

[A way to not be defeated by an unbeatable enemy.]

[It might be a little hard, painful, and lonely.]

[But still, we, no.]

[I had to do it.]

[Because I promised.]

A promise?

Was she referring to the nonsense I spouted before I died? No. Arisa wouldn’t call my dying words a ‘promise.’

Damn it… I came to the Forbidden Archive to ease my questions, but it only left me with more.

I mumbled to myself and flipped the page.

And then…

“…Huh?”

I let out a stupid sound.

[We succeeded.]

That’s it?

There was no middle part?

I flipped back a page.

It was the content I had read. And after that?

“We succeeded.” Just one line. That was it.

I blinked a few times, and then spread the book open wider.

There was a sign that pages had been torn out.

And it was done so carefully, it was almost invisible to the naked eye if you didn’t look too closely.

“Uh… Sir Balamir.”

“Yes.”

“Besides His Majesty, is there anyone else who can enter the Forbidden Archive?”

Balamir pondered for a moment before answering quietly.

“Like Lady Eliaernes Eustetia, only those who have greatly contributed by saving the royal family or bringing honor to the Empire are permitted to enter.”

“Do you always assign observers for them like today?”

“Yes.”

“Then, tampering with information is absolutely impossible, right?”

“That is correct. Not even His Majesty would be able to get away with that.”

“Hmm… okay. Understood.”

I didn’t trust him fully, but if even the emperor was against tampering with information… then I have to assume this manuscript was like this before it came to the forbidden archive.

That means that…

Arisa erased Kaloso’s information.

Arisa hid the process of the sealing.

I really feel like slapping her, seriously.

Why is everyone hiding everything?

Calming the heat building inside me, I turned to the final page.

On the final page, there was a chaotic scribble.

Not a drawing, not words, not symbols, not a magic circle.

Just a rough scribble.

And I knew what it was.

When we were facing Ankanius of Envy…

To deceive the eyes he had spread across the world, we created this, a language that only we could understand, something unique to our world.

I blinked.

Mana filled my eyes. I spun it with all my strength.

My eyelids were throbbing, the blood vessels in my eyes had burst, but I didn’t care. I continued to spin it. Tears streamed down my face. They were thick and sticky. It seemed that blood had mixed in.

Even so, I didn’t close my eyes.

When that ‘filter’ was completed, the scenery changed.

***

A crimson sky. Dead ground.

A sky that looked like it would bleed at any moment, and a barren ground that was void of any life.

Gevihenum.

I could see the Demon Realm.

…Is this an illusion? A dream?

I wriggled my fingers.

I could feel the movement.

I bit my tongue.

I could taste the vivid taste of blood.

I opened my mouth to speak.

But no sound came out.

It wasn’t a dream. This is an illusion.

Illusion magic?

Was it an attack from Balamir behind me?

No way.

There was someone far stronger than Balamir beside me, the Commander of the Nameless.

There was no way someone could cast illusion magic on me with such a person beside me.

Besides, Balamir is a swordsman. There’s no way he could cast magic of this caliber.

No, from the start… I…

I only had to interpret the language that we created…

Interpretation of the language.

Illusion.

When I finally reached that conclusion,

In the distance, a flame flickered.

Not just any flame.

A pure white flame.

A flame that was so bright that it blinded your eyes, a holy flame.

‘Sacred Flame.’

The moment I realized the nature of that flame…

***

The scenery shifted.

‘…This is such a goddamn joke.’

I saw a woman with pure white hair, and white eyes. She was crying. Despite looking as if she wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if stabbed, she was bawling.

She was crying non-stop. With the sly fox-like eyes she used to smile with, tears were streaming out.

Her once noble voice was gone, replaced with her pained cries.

Luna.

Luna Secrid Pranensia.

Beside her was a man with disheveled hair.

The man had three swords hanging from his waist.

He should have only had two swords.

A rugged sword and an unnecessarily flashy sword.

But now there was another one, the sword that I used to wield.

His voice, which used to be so grand and imposing, was gone, replaced with curses. But still, he had to try and put up an image. His eyes were red from holding back tears.

Paulo.

Paulo Humble Prandis.

Beside him was a woman with pink hair.

Her hair was tied into a ponytail. Clear pink eyes so transparent you could see through them.

Her hands were wrapped in bandages. The bandages were soaked in blood and dripping steadily.

It was not from a battle. Her skin had been torn apart from clenching her fists too tightly.

She was crying.

Her face, which was always smiling, with a look that conveyed her happiness, was now crying more sorrowfully than anyone else.

Arisa.

Arisa Eustetia.

Surrounding that Sacred Flame, stood those three.

And at the center of the Sacred Flame, lay a corpse.

Short-cropped hair.

A huge scar on his face.

An unpleasant looking face, even with his eyes closed.

There was a hole in his gut.

No organs were spilling out. All of his intestines had decayed and disintegrated, so there was nothing left. And no blood was coming out either. All the blood inside his body had evaporated.

And yet, that bastard,

He was smiling. He had died with a smile.

Ronan.

Ronan Lujarak.

‘Ha, haha…’

This wasn’t a randomly fabricated illusion, or a dream.

This. This scene, these people,

This was a memory of the past.

That memory was playing out like an illusion.

What a truly horrible joke.

Still, well…

It was kind of nice to see that sly fox Luna crying, Paulo dropping his facade, and Arisa’s grim face.

It wasn’t that bad, actually.

It was a little… funny.

It had to be funny.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions.

“…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Ronan. I didn’t want to… didn’t want to burn your body, I really, really didn’t, but if I had seen your body… come back to life… I think I would have lost my mind… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… so sorry…”

Luna’s voice, as she muttered while sitting there, reached me.

“Ronan. Ronan Lujarak. You’re… weaker than me. We made a bet, didn’t we? Whoever died first would admit that they were weaker. And now, 26 years since we made that promise, you died first. You bastard. You were… always ahead of me. You bought us time, killed more demons than anyone else, and you were the only human the demons feared. But you still died before me. So, that means you’re… weaker than…”

Paulo was muttering like a crazy person.

Was he really insane? At the very end, it seems that he really had lost it.

But still, this bastard is still trying to claim that he’s stronger.

“You were… stronger than me. Recently, it was getting hard to keep up with your movements.”

Oh…? So you only realized that after I died?

“That’s because Ronan, that idiot, burned his life for it, Paulo, you bastard. Because you kept calling him strong, Ronan… that idiot… sniff… really thought he was… strong… and died because of it…”

Hey now, you’ve got quite the nerve, lady.

“It’s, it’s my fault. If only… if only I was a little stronger… If I wasn’t so stupid, if I was a little bit… faster to realize… hic…”

Hmm, that’s incorrect.

No matter how strong Arisa was, she wouldn’t have been able to stop Kaloso’s final attack.

And why were they even blaming each other? If Kaloso, that bastard, hadn’t caused so much trouble, none of this would have happened.

They really are idiots.

While I was chuckling at the nonsensical argument that had started,

Luna’s tears soaked the ground, Arisa’s blood vanished into the Sacred Flame, and Paulo’s curses echoed softly.

Even so, my body continued to burn.

My limbs disappeared, my body crumbled, and even the ashes were consumed by the Sacred Flame, leaving nothing behind.

Seeing that made my mouth taste a bit bitter.

Well, what else could I do?

If my body had remained, then Glulaka, that gluttonous bastard, would have eaten me and become unstoppable.

So, I had no choice.

I made a somewhat smart decision.

After a moment, the Sacred Flame died down.

***

The scenery shifted.

A pure white snowfield stretched out before me.

Footprints left marks in the endless snowstorm. When I lifted my head, I could see cherry blossoms blooming.

Arisa Eustetia.

I saw her back.

Her trademark ponytail was completely undone, making her look like a crazy woman.

She walked through the snowfield.

And in her arms, she had a dozen weapons.

My weapons. Weapons with Arisa’s name written on them.

Looking at her from behind, it was like looking at a hedgehog.

Is that what I looked like?

Did I look like a hedgehog to others?

I thought of something silly to quell the rising emotions inside me.

But my emotions wouldn’t settle down.

Arisa kept walking.

She dropped her weapons, staggered, and swayed. But she didn’t stop.

After a moment, Arisa fell.

Instinctively, I took a step forward.

***

Again, the scenery changed.

The capital.

The capital, which had nearly been destroyed by the demon invasion, was being rebuilt.

Arisa walked through the streets of the capital.

She wasn’t empty-handed. She was carrying the weapons she had brought with her, my weapons. She walked like a hedgehog.

She continued walking to the southern part of the capital.

The lowest area where the sewers collected.

At the end of that place, there was a heavy iron door, and Arisa entered.

***

The scenery changed once more.

Somewhere underground.

A large open space.

Looking at Arisa’s appearance, a lot of time had passed.

How long had she walked? For Arisa to look that tired, it must have been a very long time.

Arisa, standing in the center of the open space, planted the weapons she had brought into the ground, one by one.

And then, she placed a large rock she had found somewhere in the middle, and started to break it apart with her fists.

Thud, thud, thud.

There was a strong vibration that shook the ground.

An hour passed, then two hours, and three hours.

After five hours, the rock had been transformed into a gravestone.

It seemed that even the rock wasn’t ordinary.

Blood was dripping from Arisa’s fists, which could shatter demon skin with a single punch.

Even so, Arisa didn’t stop. She continued carving into the stone.

It was awkward and ridiculous to see her carve each character with her fingers, but it was also desperate.

Even as her fingernails broke and her skin peeled off, she steadfastly carved into the stone.

And those words were simple.

Ronan Lujarak.

A gravestone with my name.

Surrounded by my weapons.

Arisa was creating my grave.

A grave with no corpse.

A grave with no grass, no sunlight, nothing.

A smelly, dark, and damp grave.

It was a terrible grave, but I liked it.

I liked it, I really did, but strangely, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. As if someone was choking me.

Was it because of the sewer’s stench?

Yeah, it must have been that.

The smell of the sewer was making it hard to breathe.

I forced up the corners of my trembling lips.

While that was happening, Arisa finished the grave.

Looking at it, she smiled while stroking the gravestone with my name written on it.

At least in the illusion I saw, it was the first time she smiled.

But that smile didn’t feel satisfactory.

Was it because her injured hand hurt?

Because of the smell? Because it was dark? Because of the rats?

Because of all the bugs she hated, swarming all around?

Her smile was bitter, stifling, and sorrowful.

“Ronan.”

Her clear voice echoed throughout the cavern.

“Ronan. Ronan. Ronan Lujarak.”

Arisa, while stroking the gravestone with her battered hands, placed the trinkets she had brought, before the gravestone.

Elixirs, potions, mysterious books. A dimensional storage pouch, gold coins, mana stones, jewels. Red shards, leaves, branches.

Cherry blossoms.

After putting everything down, Arisa paused to catch her breath.

And then, she turned around.

She looked directly at me.

Could she see me?

There’s no way.

It was just a coincidence. That’s all it could be.

That had to be the case.

That crazy woman was smiling.

“Ronan.”

She spoke with a smile.

“I miss you so much.”

I, I…

I smiled as well, just like Arisa.

“You crazy woman. Don’t say creepy things like that.”

At the same time,

“…Ehehe. You shouldn’t say such mean words with such a cute face.”

“…What?”

“Still… yeah. You’re still Ronan.”

Clear tears dripped down from Arisa’s eyes.

“It’s a relief… that you’re the Ronan that I know.”

The illusion shattered.