Chapter 87. The Reader's Heart (3)
Chapter 87. The Reader's Heart (3)
Light streamed from my sword and enveloped the black dragon.
[The Sword of Compassion resists absorption!]
But the energy rebelling against me was no small matter either. A stir! Black miasma overflowed like sewage in the summer rainy season. It was like a black panther that had been quietly sleeping, suddenly disturbed and startled awake.
[The Sword of Compassion is bewildered.]
[It reproaches its sister, asking if she betrayed Lefanta Aegim.]
[The Goddess of Protection soothes her sister.]
The light of my holy sword and the shadow of the black dragon tangled chaotically.
[The Sword of Compassion demands proof of its new master's worthiness.]
White and black.
Neither side would yield easily.
[The power of a Constellation is immense. It must never be granted to one unworthy. The Sword of Compassion does not yet acknowledge you as its new master.]
"Right."
I quietly gazed at the sword lodged in the black dragon's chest.
"You have a point. But how exactly am I supposed to prove my worthiness?"
Turbid energy seeped from the black dragon's corpse. It churned and roiled... A miasma incomparably more viscous than anything before. It took shape.
A dark angel.
An angel formed from head to toe of murky black water.
[It is a fragment formed from the fallen compassion of the goddess.]
[If you have proven that you can become someone's idol...]
[Now you must prove that you can feel compassion for someone.]
The expressionless angel spread its wings.
Even its wings were murky.
From the two spread wings, blackish fluid dripped—drip, drip.
[It demands that you entrust your body and mind to it for a moment.]
"Why should I?"
[To glimpse into your memories.]
The light radiating from the holy sword intensified slightly.
[The Goddess of Protection cannot agree. If we simply travel together, we will naturally come to know that the hero possesses the worthiness of a new master. There is no reason to take unnecessary risks.]
"No, it's fine."
I sheathed my sword.
"I can't wear a sword at my hip that doesn't even trust me. Even if it's the finest blade under heaven, I couldn't stand the unease. Come! Come and steal a look at my memories or whatever else, until you're satisfied."
It was the moment I spread my arms wide.
[The Sword of Compassion tests your compassion.]
The angel's two wings covered my vision. Like a mother bird sheltering her chicks, the enormous black wings wrapped around my body.
All around me went dark.
And then dreamlike scenes flowed before my eyes.
「Kind sir.」
A garden ablaze with fire.
「Endure just a little longer...」
「Poor things.」
A paradise shrouded in smoke.
「The whole world has become a void.」
A snowy field where peonies bloomed red.
「My disciple.」
The garden, the paradise, and the snowy field flowed past in rapid succession.
Suddenly, the dark view brightened.
The angel's wings that had covered my vision were gone.
[.......]
The black angel hastily folded its wings and looked at me. The Constellation fragment remained expressionless. But in its black pupils beneath its black brows, an unconcealable bewilderment lingered.
[You are......]
"I'm not perfect."
I spoke first.
"I'm weak to people's goodwill. I want to earn goodwill. I even push myself a little for it. I love being praised, and I struggle desperately to be seen as a 'good person' by others. That might be my weakness."
The Constellation fragment closed its lips.
"And your former master was just as imperfect."
[.......]
"How grand Lefanta Aegim's thoughts are as he goes around killing Constellations—I don't know yet. Maybe it's even a noble act. But even if it is, I will still hold Lefanta Aegim accountable for his wrongs."
I raised my sword and pointed it at the black angel.
"If you think your former master was perfect and committed no wrongs, then don't follow me. I have no need for a sword like that either."
The black angel slowly began to speak.
[Do you intend to kill Lefanta Aegim?]
"If he's a man who deserves to die."
[Can you promise that no personal feelings will interfere with that judgment?]
"I don't know."
I spoke with honest feeling.
"My master died. The jianghu was ruined. Too many people were hurt and killed, so I don't know. But I can promise you this much—I will do my best."
[.......]
"So if I start to go astray, you do your best to set me straight. I'll do my best. You do your best. That's probably what it means to be together."
The black angel's wings crumbled.
[My power is pain.]
[Those cut by me feel pain, but no wound ever remains on their body, nor do they reach death.]
[Pain without wounds—that is my power.]
The angel's form collapsed.
It collapsed into black water.
[New master.]
[I swear to serve you with my utmost.]
Whoosh!
The black fluid swirled and poured into the holy sword I held. It was like a violent flood. The holy sword drank in all the water like a thirsty fox in the desert.
[The existence of the Goddess of Protection becomes even more distinct.]
The changes did not stop there.
-Oh, oh......
The divine beast (神獸) that had once been the Constellation of this martial world.
As even the blade lodged in its chest melted down and was absorbed into my sword, the black dragon groaned.
-Ooh......
The black dragon had been slain long ago. No will remained to express anything in words. The black dragon merely babbled like an old woman worn out by life.
-Oooh, oh......
At last, the black dragon's corpse dissolved into essence and flowed away.
The dragon's horns crumbled dryly. Its scales melted like candle wax. The beast that had reigned as a myth in one world met its end.
And then winter collapsed.
The eternal snow of the mountain crumbled down. It was an avalanche.
I stood at the peak, looking down at the snow that broke apart beneath my feet and poured into the world.
"Winter is the season of death."
The Librarian stood beside me, gazing at the earth below.
"You have, at last, brought the lonely season to an end."
The white avalanche swept over the white world. But where the avalanche passed, it was no longer white.
The brown of the earth showed through.
Brown was the skin color of this world. At last, the long winter had ended, and the earth began to bare its naked skin.
"......"
Why does the spring wind smell so different from the winter wind?
Would Master know where the scent of spring comes from?
"...Librarian."
"Speak."
"I have a clear bonus that lets me see people's traits. I can see the plots and characters a person prefers."
"I know."
The Librarian let out a breath.
The breath we exhaled no longer froze white.
"I am the overseer of floors 21 through 30. The bonus you received was also prepared by me. Hmm, since I gifted it to you, naturally I would know."
"Among the characters you prefer is the [Constellation Killer]."
"That would be so."
"Why do you prefer the Constellation Killer? Lefanta Aegim is a man who goes around killing Constellations. I can understand disliking him, but I don't see a reason to like him."
"Hmm."
The Librarian closed his right eye.
"Since you have asked, I shall answer specially. I have a very old dream."
"A dream?"
"Indeed. It is to personally appear in a novel I love!"
The Constellation's eyes shone with pure innocence.
I was puzzled.
"If it's about personally appearing... isn't that something you could do right now? You can freely travel through Apocalypses, can't you?"
"Heh heh. You do not understand the heart of a reader. [Intervening] in a novel and [appearing] in one are somewhat different. No, truly different."
The Librarian covered his mouth with both sleeves and laughed.
"From the perspective of an Apocalypse, I am no different from a foreign substance. A foreign substance, an invasive species... a being that should not exist in that world. Whether it is the Constellation Killer who slew the dragon of the martial world, or myself, we are one and the same in being foreign substances."
"......"
"I do not wish to intervene in a novel as such a foreign substance! No, that would not do. I wish to appear as if I had always been a person of that world, on equal footing with the other characters, as one proper character! This is the dream of this Reader of All Thoughts!"
I still did not understand.
Observing my expression, the Librarian smiled.
"Then this time, let me ask. Gong-ja, why did you not kill the Heavenly Demon?"
"......"
"The Heavenly Demon attained the realm of Killing by Intent at the final moment. Though she could not inherit the power of her life, if you had claimed her with your Hundred Ghosts, she would surely have become an army of a thousand horses. The Heavenly Demon's heart toward you was devoted, so she would have remained a steadfast ally and a fine master. Why did you not kill the Heavenly Demon?"
"...That is."
"Shh."
The Librarian raised his index finger and pressed it to my lips.
"It is fine. Even if you do not say it. I already understand."
Gently.
The touch of his finger pressed against my lips.
"You did not wish to interfere with the final moment your master reached. It is the same. I do not wish to directly intervene in the endings that worlds meet. Your heart and my heart are not different......"
Before I knew it, the world had melted to the horizon.
The ice broke apart, revealing the surface of a lake, and the sun shone upon it.
"I refuse to intervene. If so, only one way remains to become a character in a story."
"...What is it?"
"It is simple if you think in reverse. It is not that I go to find the characters of a novel, but that the characters of a novel come to find me."
The Librarian whispered.
"Lefanta Aegim. The Constellation Killer endlessly travels between worlds, killing Constellations. Someday, he will visit my world as well—the Great Library of All Thoughts."
The Librarian smiled.
"To kill me."
The Constellation drew something from within his robes. A single book. Its appearance differed from the other Apocalypses. Above all, it was worn. Had it been taken out and read dozens, hundreds of times? Like an old writer's notebook, the leather cover was frayed and tattered.
[Epic of Lefanta Aegim]
Such a title was engraved in gold thread upon the leather.
"......"
"I am waiting. For the day the Constellation Killer visits the Great Library. I look forward to the day he stands before me, according to his own story, by his own will. On that day, I will finally appear in the story of Lefanta Aegim."
"Even if the ending of that story is your own death?"
"Of course."
The Librarian beamed.
The Constellation looked down at the earth where the snow had melted.
His sleeves fluttered like a crane dancing.
"To be killed by the protagonist—is that not the finest epilogue?"
4
There was one more thing to mention afterward.
"Ah, Young Cult Leader."
Before returning to the Library, I stopped by the cult members. I wanted to make certain that Master's funeral was being conducted properly.
"Welcome!"
"Welcome, Young Cult Leader."
The cult members greeted me with clasped fists the moment they saw me. But for some reason, I sensed a flustered air about them. It wasn't just one or two—all of the cult members were in a hurry.
I tilted my head.
"Has the funeral already ended?"
"Ah, no. Young Cult Leader. The funeral is not yet......"
"Has something happened?"
The cult members exchanged glances.
"That is......"
"The body of the Heavenly Demon has disappeared."
One of the Four Demon Lords, the Blood Demon, spoke. He was the cult member Master had often called the Blood Ghost Unit Commander.
"What?"
"It will be quicker if you see for yourself, Young Cult Leader."
I hurried along with the Blood Demon leading the way.
Before long, we arrived at the place where I had laid Master's body.
And I was at a loss for words.
"Suddenly, the snow of the whole world began to melt. The body of the Heavenly Demon also disappeared... We apologize. It happened in the blink of an eye, and we had no chance to respond."
The place where the snow had melted.
Master's body was nowhere to be seen.
I looked around, but it was nowhere.
"We thought that perhaps, since the Heavenly Demon's internal energy was extremely pure, her body naturally dissolved into qi over time and vanished......"
But red flowers had bloomed.
"......"
The place where Master's body had last lain. Where her arms had reached. Where her feet had touched. Where her hair had flowed down. There, red peonies had bloomed in full, lavish abundance.
-Impressive.
The guardian spirit, who had been silent, muttered.
-The Constellation of this world left only a curse in death, but your master left flowers. Your master is better than that dazed Constellation.
I approached the flower garden and bent down. I stroked the peony petals with my fingertips. The petals trembled faintly, rubbing their red cheeks against my index finger.
That was the first spring to bloom in this world.
"Of course, we are continuing to prepare the funeral."
The Blood Demon spoke from behind.
"Please, Young Cult Leader, do attend......"
"No."
I shook my head.
"It's all right. Don't hold the funeral."
"What?"
"This is enough."
I stood up.
I turned my head and looked back at the cult members.
"I have inherited the orthodox lineage and become the Young Cult Leader, but there may be some who still do not acknowledge me in their hearts. The strong rule. In this cult, it is customary for the strongest warrior to rise to the highest position."
"......"
"Let us replace the trifling funeral with a martial contest. The way of a funeral is to offer the most precious thing. Is not the sword what we hold most precious? So let us offer our swords to Master."
I smiled.
"Come at me."
Spring is coming.
As it does for all who live.
My next story will begin on a stage higher than all before.