Chapter 55
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: 53. Elf Ruins - Library of Records (2)
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I floated a few white fireballs in the air.
The dark space brightened up a bit.
I didn't really need the light, but humans have their psychological hang-ups. No one knows what those elf bastards did to this archive, judging by the safety protocols. It should work fine as a precaution.
So I decided to ignore the control room.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Then a bell rang from inside the darkened control room—a sound that screamed "do not enter."
"What the fuck."
Should I just ignore it?
No. Ignoring shit like that gets you fucked in an instant. Like if it rang all day, for example.
I turned the doorknob and stepped inside. What I saw were colorful magic devices everywhere.
If Earth's magic gear resembled cell phones, the elves' looked more like computers.
Ding! Ding!
When provoked, you provoke back—that's just human nature.
I activated the pink magic device that was ringing.
"This is Yongyong, head archivist of the Library of Records. What can I do for you?"
—This is Krack from Marita Fortress! The humans betrayed us! They're colluding with the demons and invading! Requesting support! Requesting support!
Oh. They're speaking our language. Or am I just understanding them that way? Anyway.
"Why the fuck is this bastard requesting support from the archive? No brain?"
—It's urgent! If this place falls, the path to the capital opens up! Requesting support!
"......"
This has to be talking about the end of the elf kingdom.
Too bad, but this is the Library of Records. Just a simple record. Probably a log of a support request abandoned here.
Even if it's some other time-space where the elves didn't fall and I could somehow help, I can't do shit about it.
So I turned off the magic device without listening more.
Ding! Ding!
—Urgent support request! Please! If anyone hears this, to Her Majesty the Queen!
I chucked the device away. Can't listen to that depressing crap forever.
Wait, maybe I should take it. Seems like it'll work if I supply mana.
I ignored the bell a few more times, and the calls stopped.
Sad story, but I can't get involved, and I need to escape this place myself right now.
"Akashic Records. Is this a record? Or real contact from outside?"
The Library of Records itself holds multiple possibilities. It could simply be records of fallen elves, or in another world, an elf named Krack might truly be requesting support.
In other words, Schrödinger's archive in another sense.
Maybe Krack left the record before the fall and it got dumped here. Or maybe it's a live Krack who actually called the archive while requesting support for the capital.
Sad, yeah. But my nose is numb right now. Let's find the exit first.
Ding ding!
This time, a purple magic device rang.
This one's probably fake too. Answering would just be weird.
—My body... My body is burning! My body... My body!
"When does that yapper burn?"
I smashed the device. This whole control room seems untrustworthy. No way a trash bin like this has a functioning control room. Probably just some creepy elf voice from the safety protocols trying to buy that two-hour golden time.
Bastards who even wrote clauses about nailing books wouldn't leave the archive intact, right?
Still, the books here interest me. How valuable did those bastards think they were to plan on nailing them?
"Looks like the real control room can open and close sections individually."
I could even control the back door's lock from here.
I flipped it to ON, and I heard a distant mechanical whir.
I turned on the lights for each section, and the whole archive lit up decently.
Just how massive is this place to organize by sections? Anyway, that back door keeps getting mentioned—probably the exit.
The way I came in was a trap entrance, so originally an access point, I guess.
I checked the bookshelf layout on the control room wall. It was huge, with a route map to the back door.
"What archive has a fucking map? Insane."
Yeah, it has to be that elaborate to count as a trap.
"Let's see what records they have."
I picked up a random book from the floor.
[Lewd Lizard Maid Vol. 1]
"Fuck off. Huh?"
Title's trash, but skimming the content opened a new world before my eyes.
This might actually be pretty good. I'll take it.
Lizard maid illustrations are shit, but the story's decent—high quality, even.
Those elf bastards nailed this stuff? Jerking off to smut in the trash bin, huh.
The corridors were plenty complex per the safety protocols. Straight paths twisted into long, winding sectioned halls.
And those weren't normal corridors, obviously.
Paths between endless bookshelves stretching forever.
"Not bad, actually."
Not impossible to navigate. Narrow enough that checking the map's easy, wide enough to move with it.
The towering shelves up to the ceiling were a bit claustrophobic, though.
I'm no bookworm, but bookworms would love this.
Come to think of it, Reina loves books too. I like them, but she's omnivorous.
—What's Hell Joseon? Why read that?
—True intellectuals don't discriminate against books.
During free time, she'd always have mountains of books.
East, west, no discrimination. Wait, does that make Reina a bookworm too?
Bring her here, and she might kiss the shelves in some sultry pose.
"But who would've thought."
A pile of skeletons blocked my path. You know, the moving skeletons from fantasy games and novels.
"What the hell are those?"
They reeked of low-level mobs just standing there.
I'd suspected since the weird calls.
But can those things even stop me? Elves aren't that dumb. If they wanted to block me, they'd recruit hotties.
I raised my hand slightly.
Snap!
Just sow chaos, and done.
"Finger snap, and they fight each other... Huh?"
But the skeletons didn't fight each other.
Weird? My chaos blocked by low-level undead? Instead, they grabbed swords and marched toward me openly.
This pisses me off. My evil dragon powers not working?
"Wait, just mental attacks don't work?"
Do those things even have egos? No mind to attack means my shit's useless.
So physical stuff like punches or white flames might work?
I kicked off the floor, charged, and smashed one with my fist.
"Grraaack!?"
They made weird noises as bones shattered.
Made of mana originally? No bones left—just vanished.
"That all?"
"Groooaaar!"
"What? They respawn? Mana should've been destroyed."
Monsters made of mana dissipate completely when they fall. I confirmed the mana gone.
What about white flames, then?
I set the skeletons ablaze. Flames spread instantly, and they vanished into the floor again.
Tough bastards, though.
They kept crawling back from the floor, not fully dead.
I firebombed the floor until they stopped respawning, clearing the path.
Then I sensed someone nearby.
"You can't catch them like that!"
"Huh? Real bookworm?"
"Those come from books! Destroy the books to make them vanish!"
Pointy ears, flawless white skin, platinum hair. Wait, familiar.
Reina? No. Different vibe. Reina's tsundere and prickly, classic elf. This one's softer around the eyes. And unlike Reina, small chest. But somehow lewd. Age seems a bit older than Reina.
Wait, my libido's been raging lately. Calm down. No normal elf in a place like this.
Right. Bookworm.
Wait, girl, so book bim?
"What are you doing? Find the books they came from and burn them!"
Bookworm confirmed. She started rummaging through shelves frantically.
Need to find them specifically? Just gives skeletons more time.
"Nah, just burn everything here."
Burn it all, done.
Akashic Records said not to burn everything, but a little's fine.
No skeletons from where I entered till now, then suddenly. Book's nearby.
Go further avoiding them, and they'll vanish on their own.
Burning now clears monsters easier later.
"What the—"
"Burn white-hot. Hellfire."
With a cool incantation, nearby bookshelves ignited.
"Y-You madman! Burning all the books?!"
Definitely a bookworm.
As shelves collapsed in flames, skeletons finally vanished completely.
Monsters from books, so chaos didn't work. Wait, is this elf a bookworm from a book too?
"Hey, even if they're discarded records, they're knowledge! What good is burning them all at once?"
Her face could be Reina's if she made an innocent expression.
To test if real or fake, I pinched her cheeks and stretched.
"Ow ow! That hurts! What are you doing?!"
"So chewy like mochi. All elves like this?"
Let go after pulling. Skin felt artistic. Just like Reina's cheeks.
"All elves like this? You're not an elf?"
"Uh, well, me..."
How to explain? Dragon? Human?
Body's mostly human, though. Human with evil dragon powers.
"Um, I'm human..."
"You damned imperial bitch! You've set your sights on the archive now! That's why you fell here! I am Rachel Silverluk! As a proud member of the elf kingdom's royal family, I'll kill you and vent my rage!"
Rachel Silverluk? Hold up, royalty? Why's a royal here?
But this bookworm bitch has no intention of letting me go. She drew her sword and charged.
"Fuck, at least hear me out."
"Die!"
Guess she's no ordinary bookworm. Charging with a sword like a psycho jumping rope—scary serious. And clearly trained in body enhancement, a martial type.
But who am I?
Reincarnation of the world's strongest, evil dragon Azidahaka.
Yeah. Her elf swordplay's like a kid charging me.
Plus, the God of Martial Arts taught me my sword tech. Seeing this elf show off pissed me off.
Thwack!
"Aaaagh!"
I nailed her with a gut punch that rattled her womb.