Chapter 1276: Dark Game (2)
In the endless darkness, tens of thousands of books were lined up to the horizon.
Vast bookshelves of unknown height and width, filled with strange parchment and grimoires emanating an eerie aura.
Lennok walked through the endless archives, following the library staff guiding him.
Creak, creak…
Around the archives, withered skeletons, creaking, transported books and organized shelves.
The skeletons, performing their tasks with empty eyes, devoid of will and ego, slowly bowed their heads as the two passed.
This was the ultimate fate of beings whose spiritual presence was eternally subserviently exploited like slaves in the Dark Archive.
“When I visited here last time, it wasn’t like this.”
Lennok opened his mouth, looking at the scenery of Nox Biblio, the Dark Archive, which he was visiting for the second time.
“How long will you mimic such a human appearance?”
“You have a bad habit of asking again even after answering the quiz correctly.”
Naoise Penn replied without looking back at Lennok.
As he walked leisurely with his hands behind his back, the surrounding darkness wrapped around him and settled.
His manner of gliding through space without taking steps, merely proved that he was a Transcendent being.
“As you said, this person is one of the pseudo-incarnation bodies I chose to observe the mortal world. An ordinary human who doesn’t know who I am or what’s inside them.”
“……”
“Aside from the moment when it connects and synchronizes with my will, it has no talent or curse. Since it hasn’t committed any special sins, don’t think of harming it.”
“I wonder who’s saying that to whom.”
Lennok’s gaze turned cold.
“I don’t play tricks on humans. Nor do I choose such troublesome methods to intervene in the mortal world, unlike you.”
“……”
“Is a Lich who crushed the world they lived in and ascended now pretending to care for humans?”
“Well… I wonder why.”
Naoise Penn said leisurely.
“Perhaps I only realized its preciousness belatedly, after having once trampled and destroyed it.”
“……”
While Lennok was speechless at an answer he couldn’t even imagine, the Lich chuckled and turned his gaze.
“Perhaps I just wanted to see what your reaction would be. Or perhaps it was just a ceremonial remark made without any thought.”
“It seems you want to play word games with me.”
“Indeed. I stopped attaching reasons to everything I did a long time ago.”
The Lich, borrowing the body of the staff member, moved between the bookshelves and tilted his head.
“Instead… I’ve become more deeply engrossed in being honest with my emotions.”
“……”
“I keep throwing stones onto the calm surface of the water, watching the ripples. Recalling how they once existed within me.”
The Lich let out a slow laugh, a somber resonance emanating from him.
“Not severing ties with the mortal world in such a way is also an expression of that lingering attachment. Isn’t it ironic?”
Whoosh…!!!
In the endless darkness, gigantic bookshelves swept past and disappeared.
He walked through the void, devoid of speed and distance, without even finding direction or a path.
Each time, grimoires, parchments, and papyri from all directions emitted eerie wails and then vanished.
“It seems you’re still interested in the spellcraft stored in my archives.”
The Lich said without looking back.
“Come to think of it, this is your second visit to the archives. It wouldn’t be surprising if you ‘saw’ spellcraft that suited your eye.”
“……”
“If you wish, you can borrow a few more books that exist here. A diligent user who adheres to the return deadline should be rewarded for it.”
Naoise Penn, who laughed in a low voice, lightly gestured, and the gigantic bookshelf that had disappeared far away was instantly pulled back in front of Lennok.
Flash!!
A colossal bookshelf emitting eerie wails, as if the forms of ghosts were entwined within it.
A chilling sight of piles of skeletons rattling and clattering, hanging all over the bookshelves.
But Lennok, undeterred by the encroaching chill, stared at the grimoires and parchments on the shelf.
The first books Lennok borrowed when he first visited the Dark Archive were three volumes: [Celestial Spellcraft: Miniature Garden], [Black God Demonic Art], and [Hellfire Illusion Palace].
At the time, they were grimoires he had carefully chosen, seeking uniquely powerful and distinctive spellcraft within the archives.
However, dozens of grimoires he hadn’t seen in the archives back then were now stacked on the bookshelf he had just passed.
[Soul-Obliterating Spellcraft]
[Ten Demon Seal]
[Six Fiends’ Rift-Gate Spellcraft]
[Private Cursecraft]
…
Top-tier forbidden sorcery grimoires, steeped in evil energy, whose titles alone sent shivers down one’s spine.
[Vista Style Secret Sword Art]
[Automeus Automated Calculus]
[Taphon AI Crafting Method]
[Forbidden Art: Long-lived Being Offering Ritual]
….
All sorts of crafting methods and blueprints, which, despite being mere lists of knowledge, instantly revealed their ominousness or distortion.
Even though Lennok had browsed the Dark Archive for a long time, powerful grimoires he hadn’t seen then were piled up like mountains.
Were they new knowledge that had entered this forbidden sorcery archive during his absence, or was there another reason?
“You seem to have many questions.”
As if noticing Lennok’s thoughts, Naoise Penn said solemnly in a deep, profound voice.
“Then you’ll have to solve a skeleton quiz, won’t you?”
“……”
Was it his imagination, or did the Lich, spouting nonsense in an unnecessarily serious tone, somehow seem strangely excited?
“This bookshelf you are looking at is a part of my collection that existed even when you first visited my archives.”
The Lich, with his hands behind his back, grinned and asked, ignoring Lennok’s furrowed brow.
“But why didn’t you see this bookshelf when you first came to the archives? Did I hide it away, not wanting to show it to you?”
“……”
“The answer exists within these archives. Try to guess the reason and please entertain this old man.”
It’s not strange for those who seek enlightenment to prefer the form of question and answer.
Asking a question and receiving an answer. Seekers know that this simple act is, in fact, the most difficult and profound procedure of all.
To provide an answer to the question of how to move forward when facing the world’s end.
Perhaps that’s why the Transcendent being before him might be clinging to the ridiculously named ‘skeleton quiz’ –
“Because the existence of Nox Biblio… operates on a similar principle to Ars Nova Empire’s Imperial Palace [Archive].”
Lennok had no intention of indulging in the Transcendent being’s game for long.
“A consciousness space designed by simulating the operating principle of the Akashic Records existing in the Outer Sea… if these archives also exist on a similar principle, then there must be several rules shared with the Imperial Palace Archive.”
“……”
“The most immediate possibility I can infer is that it sequentially discloses information based on the spiritual presence and cognitive ability of the subject entering Nox Biblio.”
Lennok said, slowly reaching out his hand towards the bookshelf that was emitting eerie wails in front of him.
“Because if I can access this bookshelf due to my spiritual presence and cognitive ability having significantly increased compared to before, neither outcome would be strange.”
“……Hmph.”
Suddenly, a chillingly dry smile flickered across the staff member’s impassive face.
Naoise Penn, tilting his head strangely far forward, slowly smiled at Lennok.
“Hahahahaha… Indeed, you are the most excellent skeleton quiz enthusiast among the guests who have visited the archives.”
“Since when did you give me such a strange title?”
“Even if clues already exist within oneself, assembling them into a meaningful form is difficult.”
The Lich said slowly, completely ignoring Lennok’s rebuttal.
“It was an excellent answer beyond compare. As a reward, I’ll present you with the title of ‘Skeleton Answerer’.”
The Imperial Palace Archive he had entered with The Fisherman’s help in Kabahim.
Within the Golden Record existing in the Outer Sea, Lennok was able to confirm his origins and resolve various questions.
The Dark Archive, Nox Biblio, managed by Naoise Penn, was an archive that collected and managed all forbidden sorcery existing in the Old World and the current world.
Lennok felt a sense of déjà vu when he saw the archives because The Answerer had designed Nox Biblio in the same way as the Imperial Palace Archive.
He had merely easily solved the Lich’s quiz through the truth he had learned in Kabahim, but the quizzer himself seemed very satisfied.
Perhaps it was because Lennok perfectly understood the reason why the Dark Archive could exist.
“A child who solved the quiz excellently should receive a gift.”
Naoise Penn said, turning sharply.
“As promised, if there are any grimoires you want, take a few more. I’ll lend them with an extended return period.”
“……Alright.”
Lennok listened to those words and obediently turned to the bookshelf, beginning to examine the grimoires and parchments.
Just as he had chosen three books on his first visit to the archives, he was now borrowing three more on his second visit.
In the first place, that was a privilege granted only to those who solved this ‘skeleton quiz.’
Lennok, suspecting as much, was not surprised by The Answerer’s words and focused on choosing books.
The staff member, watching Lennok turn around soon after picking books, stroked his chin.
“Ohh… you’ve picked some very peculiar books.”
[Six Fiends’ Rift-Gate Spellcraft]
[Automeus Automated Calculus]
And a worn leather notebook whose title was hidden by a band.
“You still only desire difficult-to-handle spellcraft and knowledge. Is there a reason you chose these?”
“Now is the time when I need new spellcraft, and simultaneously, I must fill what I lack.”
Lennok said calmly.
“The Six Fiends’ Rift-Gate Spellcraft is a necessary item for the mastery of the Black God Demonic Art, and a spellcraft that, by its very nature, counters the Hellfire Illusion Palace. I picked the Automeus Automated Calculus because it might bolster the computational power I need.”
“And the last one?”
“The third one… I’ll tell you after I’ve returned the Celestial Spellcraft.”
Lennok chuckled, rolling the notebook in his hand.
“It will take some time to confirm if this item is what I wanted.”
“……Is that so?”
Naoise Penn didn’t ask further.
Instead, he simply moved the human body, devoid of any specialness, through the darkness of the archives towards their destination.
A massive hill where all sorts of grimoires, parchments, and books were piled up, forming a mountain of information.
The Lich, who had arrived at the place where Lennok first borrowed the Celestial Spellcraft, turned around and held out his hand.
“Give me the book. I’ll have to rewrite its ownership.”
“……”
Lennok silently handed him the Celestial Spellcraft grimoire he was holding.
The library staff member, with an impassive face, approached a pile of books and picked up a quill pen stuck within them.
Scratch, scratch.
He opened a page of the book and slowly rewrote the language written there.
The staff member slowly put down the quill pen and turned around, smiling.
“The Celestial Spellcraft grimoire has been returned. I received it promptly within the deadline. Thank you for keeping your promise made upon entering the archives.”
“……”
“Now, show me the third book you chose last. If you want to borrow three more, you’ll eventually have to show it to me.”
“Very well.”
Lennok slowly placed the grimoire, parchment, and notebook he was holding in front of the Lich.
The moment he removed the band covering the title and gently swept his hand over its surface.
Simultaneously, the hastily written title of the notebook appeared before the two of them.
[Demonic Realm Travelogue (Author: Ethan Bajour)]
“Ohh…”
“At the point of Kaiser Bajour’s demise, Ethan’s causality, which he used as an Incarnation Body, must have been completely severed as well.”
Lennok said calmly.
“But precisely because of that, I thought records related to Ethan might remain in these archives. Even more so if those records were knowledge related to forbidden sorcery.”
“……”
“A travelogue Ethan Bajour left behind after traveling across the continent. Among them, a travelogue of his journey through the Demonic Realm of the Central Front.”
Lennok asked, gazing at the staff member’s impassive face.
“I’ll borrow this journal from the archives. Is that alright?”
Through the Ghost God Palace (Ghost Travelogue) discovered in Military Spirit City (Yorta), Lennok learned that Ethan Bajour had traveled the continent and left records.
Ethan’s last journey before handing over his body to Kaiser. The travel journal he left behind after traversing the entire continent.
Lennok had successfully confirmed in the Dark Archive that a travelogue of his journey through the Demonic Realm might exist.
Ars Nova Imperial Palace.
The last secret of this world lies dormant beyond a city already destroyed.
To obtain it, one must cross the Central Front and traverse the Demonic Realm, which has turned into hell.
The corpse of the dead Imperial Palace Grand General. The ability to interpret causality, necessary for Lennok to wield Ultimate Lightning freely.
All of those things lie beyond the Demonic Realm.
This travelogue was the very reason Lennok sought the archives, and his preparation for embarking into the Demonic Realm.
“I see. A travelogue…”
Naoise Penn stroked his chin, seeming interested.
“I didn’t expect you to want this particular book. Or rather, I didn’t expect you to find its existence in the archives.”
“……”
“Very well. I permit the loan. Come to think of it, perhaps no one else but you would be qualified to borrow this record.”
The Lich slowly raised his quill pen and chuckled.
“Just a moment… I’ll change the ownership of the knowledge you’ve chosen to your name…”
“Ownership of, knowledge…”
Naoise Penn didn’t reply.
Instead, he merely moved the staff member’s body, which he had deprived of consciousness, holding the quill pen and slowly began to move his hand.
Scratch, scratch. The sound of new knowledge and information being etched onto paper quietly echoed through the endless darkness.
Lennok watched the Lich’s back, thinking about his visit here sometime ago.
Come to think of it, it had been the same then.
He had only guided him to borrow and return books, not telling Lennok anything else, and intended to conclude the matter.
If Lennok hadn’t directly called The Answerer’s name and asked a question back then, this second meeting today would not have existed.
What needed to be done hadn’t changed from then.
If The Answerer himself never intended to speak first, Lennok would simply ask first.
In the strange silence, Lennok’s mouth naturally opened.
“I know that borrowing and returning books in the archives isn’t merely a library system.”
“……”
“It’s an act akin to a trick, literally swapping the ownership of records… That’s why there’s a deadline for borrowing books, and those who failed to meet it are subserviently exploited like slaves within the archives.”
Lennok glanced aside, watching the silent Lich’s back.
His spiritual presence and cognitive ability, expanded even further than before after attaining transcendence, cast something beyond the darkness into Lennok’s eyes.
Even at this very moment, many travelers wandered the other side of the archives without a guide.
Seekers of knowledge, still alive, not yet skeletons, walking beyond the endless bookshelves.
“Not content with the records left in the archives by himself, he repeatedly borrows the causality of the mortal world to etch records anew in the present world…”
Lennok said in a light, passing tone, looking at them.
“I think I deserve to hear your thoughts on putting my name first on the exciting topic of the Power Ranking. What do you think?”
“……”