Chapter 188: The Tin Knight and The World Inside The Library (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 188: The Tin Knight and The World Inside The Library (8)
《&@@#!@%&…%#&&…&%…….》
Splat. The Jabberwock's arm hit the ground with a dull, wet thud.
Its body, which had undergone endless mutation and regeneration, began to melt away as if to say it could take no more.
Creak, creak.
The white knight was in no better condition.
His left arm was severed, and about half of his breastplate was torn away, leaving the magic core at the center of his body completely exposed.
The pure white armor was covered in dents and scratches, letting out a metallic groan with every movement.
Anyone could see the white knight had reached his limit.
Step.
And yet, he raised his spear.
Though he looked as if he could no longer fight, he stepped toward the Tin Knight without a hint of hesitation.
Some might say it was only natural for a magic doll. That it was merely fighting according to a set algorithm, because its master had ordered it to.
That it was foolish to assign meaning to such things or be moved by them.
[The 'Tin Knight' offers his praise for a magnificent spirit!]
The Tin Knight didn't care in the slightest.
What was the big deal about being foolish? What was so wrong with being a fool?
He thought the white knight’s fighting spirit was magnificent.
He believed the white knight’s actions held a soul and a heart.
And that was enough for him.
To pay his respects to the opponent who had pushed him to his limits, thrown him into crisis, and forced him to win not through a simple contest of strength but through all manner of ingenuity, the Tin Knight readied his stance once more.
This time, to end it for good.
“—That’s enough, Sig.”
Had the white-haired girl not stood before the white knight, shielding him, the Tin Knight would have undoubtedly done so.
The white knight's body trembled violently, as if agitated.
That was how dangerously close Gale and the Tin Knight were.
Although Gale herself was quite skilled, from this position, he could have cut her down before she could even use the power of her sacred treasure to move.
And yet, as if feeling no fear at all, Gale stared squarely at the Tin Knight.
“I admit defeat. As the loser, I will yield to the victor. So please, I ask that you sheathe your sword.”
The Tin Knight seemed to ponder for a moment, but he obediently returned his sword to its scabbard.
“Thank you, Sir Tin Knight.”
Gale bowed with an elegant gesture, then went to the white knight’s side to tend to him.
“…What’s with the change of heart?”
Dorothea, who had taken a step back, asked from beside the Tin Knight.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if you weren't planning to stop him anyway!]
“I was not.”
[The 'Tin Knight' says he could feel you twitching behind him, trying to find the right moment!]
“When did I ever!”
[The 'Tin Knight' shows the magnanimity of an adult and says he'll just let it go!]
Clang!
The Tin Knight only stopped teasing after finally getting hit.
Even then, she hadn't swung with her usual mana-infused strength, so while the sound was loud, there was almost no actual damage.
Whether it was out of consideration for the Tin Knight after a difficult battle, or because his words had struck a nerve, remained unclear.
“It seems to be over, one way or another.”
“You both did wonderfully!”
Sophia and Adelaide, who had kept their distance to avoid being caught in the battle, also approached and offered their greetings.
In other words, they were the only ones unharmed.
The building that was once a courtroom was now nothing but rubble from the fierce battle, and the numerous spectators had long since fled or been devoured by the Jabberwock.
It was then that a voice echoed from the empty air.
《You have defeated the labyrinth's guardian.》
《But the truth of the labyrinth remains undiscovered, and its curse has not been lifted.》
《You have become the new guardian, and have decided to wait for the day of liberation that will one day come.》
《Normal End.》
The chaotic scenery was overwritten, and a stone chamber covered in bricks and a throne appeared.
The antique-looking throne emitted a soft glow, as if to welcome its new guardian.
Click. A sensation of something falling into place washed over the party.
It was the feeling of becoming a small cog caught between massive gears, now a part of them.
The party became aware of the strings binding their bodies.
The strings were rather loose, allowing them a degree of freedom on the stage, but they also realized that leaving the stage entirely was not permitted.
Just like that, the party was forcibly made the guardians of this place.
“Um, what do we do now?” Adelaide asked, looking troubled.
“I wonder. For now, it seems Miss Gale is free, so she can request support from the outside. She should be able to relay the internal situation, so it shouldn't be impossible to summon a challenger that will satisfy this space.”
The library was located in the Tower of Foresight, a pandemonium teeming with high-level mages.
They had left it alone because the situation inside was unknown, but with proper information, breaking through it wouldn't be too difficult.
“What are you talking about? Who has time to wait for that?”
[The 'Tin Knight' insists that since he's already enjoyed the main battle, they should get the tedious stuff over with quickly!]
However, the impatient master and servant had no intention of using such a ‘proper’ method.
They were very good at distinguishing between opponents worthy of respect and those who were not.
Gale and the white knight were the former; this space was firmly the latter.
Step, step. Dorothea approached the Jabberwock, which had now completely melted into something like black oil.
As if sensing what she was about to do, Gale asked, “If you're not careful, the cleanup could get quite troublesome, you know? My master won't care much, but the stuffy old-timers here will be a different story.”
“Like I care. I’ve already achieved everything I came here for, and I’ve paid the price.”
Rrrrrrumble.
Perhaps sensing that Dorothea's aura was anything but ordinary, the floor of the stone chamber rippled like a wave, moving as if to cover the Jabberwock's viscous remains.
Slash!
But the wave of rock and sand was blocked by the Tin Knight’s sword, failing to achieve its goal.
This time, the stone chamber tried to split the ground open and pull the Jabberwock through the crack, but Dorothea’s staff struck the slime first.
Sucking up the mana flowing from Dorothea’s body, the Jabberwock slowly began to expand.
《You are the guardian of the labyrinth. You must not bring harm to this labyrinth. You must protect this labyrinth.》
Despite its failure to stop Dorothea, the voice betrayed no sense of urgency.
It had no reason to.
The labyrinth was a world of stories.
The ground, the walls, the space, even the characters—all were merely parts of the stage.
Even if the Jabberwock was revived, no matter how strong or large it became, that alone was meaningless.
《There is a monster in the labyrinth. The monster, once a servant of a witch, was exceedingly violent and bizarre, but in the end, it was just another prisoner, trapped and unable to escape the labyrinth.》
No, it went beyond being meaningless; even that power was just being used as part of the stage.
The amorphous slime began to move according to a set of rules.
It was as if it were listening to the voice of the labyrinth.
《The monster is hungry. The monster roams the labyrinth, and it will not forgive anyone who stands in its way, even a fellow guardian.》
《You must flee from the monster at once.》
《If you remain, you will be devoured by the monster. If you leave this place, you can escape the monster.》
A part of the slime morphed into a maw and teeth, fixing its attention on Dorothea.
Even so, Dorothea did not stop pouring her mana into it.
《You foolishly chose to stay. You will be devoured by the mon—《&@@#》—ster…?》
The voice stopped, as if flustered.
Sensing a foreign body lodged within itself, the world flinched, its eyes widening.
“You think you can tame this thing? Then let me ask you, do you even know what it is?”
The black-haired witch’s lips curled into a smile.
It was the smile of a wicked witch.
“Can you define this monster's appearance? Can you describe its ecology? Can you define its abilities? I doubt it.”
Jabberwock. A monster of unknown identity, unknown meaning, utterly bizarre and grotesque.
Its terror came not from its physical strength, its regenerative power, or its diverse abilities.
It was the very nature of being an enigma.
《You must become a guardian and protect this labyrinth.》
《Yuo mst bceome a gaurdian adn prtoect tihs labynrith.》
《Uoy smt prect siht byrinth sa sti draugian!》
The voice dissolved into gibberish.
The concise, clear explanations began to collapse into an incomprehensible, bizarre language.
────!
The world screamed.
The library struggled, trying desperately to expel the foreign substance that had burrowed deep inside it.
As if she would lose to that, the witch raised the rate of her corrosion of the world.
《The weak, weak Jabberwock starved to death.》
《And it comes back to life! Because it wasn't killed with the Vorpal Sword! What is the Vorpal Sword? It's a very frumious blade! If you think uffishly, you can go where the sword goes snicker-snack!》
《The guardian must protect the labyrinth. No one can break the labyrinth's curse.》
《And the labyrinth's curse was split in two and died! O frabjous child, on this brillig day, Callooh! Callay! let us sing of you!》
The ground gave way.
The bricks crumbled.
The light vanished, the air turned to lead, and in the midst of everything breaking down…
《—And so the party grabbed the golden rope leading outside and escaped the labyrinth. Happy End.》
A single ending was confirmed.