Y/N POV
This door was interesting.
An ornate design with flowers surrounding it. A few scarfs decorated the frame of the door, but they were... burnt? Not quite sure what that means, but...
This is Carmilla-tan's door.
She's still quite shy whenever we chat, but the stuttering is so cuuuute!
Can't let Chid-chan hear this, though. Not like she can, but just in case.
Smiling as I felt refreshed from my nap, I pushed down the door handle and stepped into world of memories.
A woman, a sole woman existed.
The woman was a commonplace village girl, one with an ordinary birth and growth. Loved by her parents, loved by her siblings, the woman too loved her family, she was an extremely normal woman.
With a fiancé decided by her household, she shall end her established lifetime in a corner of a poor village, identical to many other village girls. For the woman, that meant life, the paved order of things having no room for doubt.
Such ordinarity of the woman was crushed at the hands of sleazy powerful men who appeared in the village. What made her fit, or was it merely the vice of humans, unknowing of the eventual truth, the woman was coercively desired by the powerful men.
No matter it being a poor village of a small country, there existed a disparity: the impossibility to eliminate the powerful men. The woman was unable to oppose the demand of the powerful men. She had no choice but to yield to the irrationality of fate.
However, the woman was loved. By her family, by her fiancé, by the people of her village.
Braving the oppression of the powerful men, the people's rage flared up, giving birth to flames of war before long.
The fire spread, the residents of the village organised into an army, and at last, the powerful men along with the small castle were scorched to the ground.
In naught but a single evening, the woman's position changed vastly.
A mere ordinary village girl, her fiancé the ringleader of a single group of troops.
The raging of the unremitting blaze, the surrounding ones who regarded that as hazardous turned to their own troops from one to the next.
That proved as being beaten at their own game for those who roused themselves claiming it was all for the sake of the woman.
The fire spread whilst the flames of war coruscated, burning the small country, neighbouring countries, and the great country to nothing before long.
The existence of the woman, who was made to be the origin of it all, was renowned, the people rumoured her to be a beautiful maiden of the heavens.
Illusions piled over illusions, and due to the interest and expectations, the woman's petite body was about to shatter.
Nobody took notice of that. Neither her family, nor her fiancé, nor the people, no one was looking at the woman.
Cheers when she moved a hand, stampedes when she walked a street, tears of joy when she spoke a word, were all turned towards the woman.
"This, is... strange. Y-You're, wro... ng..."
Shrouding her face, she denied. That this wasn't possible, that this wasn't supposed to be.
Her self was a mere village girl, neither a beauty of the heavens nor a charming siren, but a single meagre village girl.
Where in her lay such worth.
The people were intoxicated with dreams. Misled by illusions, dancing with ideals.
Before long, without adhering to any curtailments, even the great country was burnt to ash with the woman at its origin.
The ruined great country, the robbed castle, at its summit the fiancé knelt before the woman. And informed her: "I love you. This triumph, the smiles of the people, are all things given by you."
The flaring capital city, heaps of corpses, the people trembling moved with ecstasy. The villagers she lived with too, the family who loved her too, the fiancé who wished for well-being too.
No longer was anyone anywhere.
Without responding to the fiancé, the woman left. Abandoning her family, the villagers, anything and everything.
She was not supposed to have been bestowed with it. Never had she wished for it. The woman merely lost everything.
Having lost the days she was loved which certainly existed, the woman, alone, proceeded to the burnt fields.
Yet, the dreams, the illusions, the ideals did not let the woman escape.
Wherever she proceeded to, anyone and everyone loved the woman, crushed by the woman, desired the woman, everything was brought to ruin.
Anyone and everyone loved the woman. Like a curse. Whilst unaware of true love inside.
The『Witch of Lust』, Carmilla, sought the love she lost, and continued to be loved by the love summoning ruin. When several decades passed and she was finally restrained and burned by the same people like the previous kingdom, who all loved her very much, when the illusions broke by chance. While it meant a miracle to the people under the spell, to the young witch, it was simply freedom from her eternal curse of destroying others.
There was no gap between Carmilla-tan's story and the next.
I was simply transported to this next realm without warning, and stood on an unnatural field of grass. The plains stretched out endlessly, and mirages started to slowly form as if loading into a video game, but I knew better.
Those are memories. Memories upon memories, stacked on top of each other. Everything that the Corridor did not recycle, ended up here.
Over four centuries ago, the witch Echidna came into existence.
Seemingly unbound by nature itself, she was the most talented mage in history until her apprentice achieved rebirth in his descendent's body 400 years later.
The Witch of Greed was someone that was noted heavily by history until the Great Calamity struck. Her Book of Wisdom, which detailed all things that shall occur in past, present, and future, enticed many people from all over the land to seek her for her knowledge.
But Echidna was not interested in those things. She wanted more knowledge, all the things she could possibly learn, all the things she could reach, all the facts, hidden secrets that this world had buried beneath its facade.
And using these pieces of knowledge, she'll create her own knowledge: unique to herself, unknown to the world, and unseen by the future.
Legend has it that the companion of one of the most legendary heroes of the world has once asked her to extinguish 100 silver dragons: a feat she completed with one single spell known as Al Shario, the summoning of stardust down onto the earthen soil.
With lofty abodes above the clouds, the Witch of Greed sat on a 'throne' that indicated her power, fame, and influence.
But glory always intertwines with sadness.
"The Sanctuary is almost complete."
Those words dripped with iciness that one cannot interpret. Nevertheless, she forced herself to step out of the cabin and strolled towards the two men fighting.
"Your bones are crushed, you organs are splattered, and your heart is splintered. And you still want to keep going?"
Roswaal A. Mathers let out a slight grunt of defiance, but he was unable to move anymore. It was at this moment that the man turned around and faced the reason he came here:
"I suppose it will be a stretch to say I made it in time."
"No, you are right on time. Your pupil fought bravely to keep me here and buy you time."
"You're exactly like how you were when we parted ways."
"And you as well, seeing how you still don't know how to talk to me." The Warlock of Melancholy sighed. "You were so adorable back then, though."
"Stop wasting your words, Hector. We both know why you're here." Echidna stated calmly but firmly, and the man tilted head to his side in confusion.
"I'm not here to persuade you..." Hector said, his eyes drooping again like he's had enough of his life. Truly befitting of his title as the Warlock of Melancholy. "I hate wasting so much energy on things that tire me out."
"I have nothing to say to you. Leave this place."
"Really? Then why are you so desperately trying to keep me out?"
"We both know the answer to that question, Hector. I don't want to bring it up and I'm pretty sure you don't want to either."
"And yet you say I'm the one who doesn't face my problems, just like your student did." Hector gave one last sigh. "This conversation is meaningless. I will have to... subdue you by force."
"Confident now, are we?" Echidna taunted slightly, her Book of Wisdom floating to her side and opening up like a grimoire.
"You were afraid of me from the beginning. That's why you tried to build this place, whatever it is. I sense it, you know? But it's not like that measly power will do anything..."
"I think otherwise." The Book of Wisdom's pages started flapping and flowing, as if turning alive. "Al Fugodoma."
Fire, earth, water, and wind all surged towards the Warlock, who dismissively waved his hand as a gravitational field smacked the beams of energy away to the side, causing a massive explosion.
"So... depressing."
Echidna teleported from where she once stood, since that area has now been crushed to the point where a hole ten meters deep resided.
"So you're going all out, huh?" Echidna observed as she made a glass bubble that picked up Roswaal's fallen body and placed it to the side. "Vivo Sanitas."
With the healing spell in place, Echidna got ready to battle for the first time in forever.
"Shift." With the spell activated, Echidna teleported the two to the peak of a plateau, where only grass existed as far as the eye can see.
"So you do want to protect him." Hector snorted. "Then why did you let him suffer my attacks?"
"I have no obligation to answer." Echidna retorted coldly, and set off another volley of spells against Hector. "El Shario, Al Jiwald."
Multiple laser arrays started bombarding themselves at Hector, only to be bent around his insanely powerful gravitational fields that started to warp space-time itself. The ground was breaking, the wind was picking up, and the environment was crumbling. More stardust fell from the sky and slammed themselves into the force fields, denting them only slightly as the spell ended.
Hector immediately deactivated the force fields and let out a cough of blood. It seems that for now, he has reached his limit.
"You cannot defeat me." Echidna stated. "As a matter of fact, there is no possibility for you to do so even at your prime."
"That's because I held back. Are you for real? Do you really not want to-"
Memories started flashing through Echidna's head, plaguing the dream realm. Countless words and scenes burned through my head, but i could neither comprehend them nor stand up properly.
"No. We are done a long time ago. WE BOTH said **************************************. It's over, Hector."
"I have received my answer. Now, you will perish." Hector said as he started bombarding Echidna with miniature gravity fields that he shot out of his hand. "I have awakened a while ago, but never figured out how to control it. But this is the moment I've been waiting for. I'm going all out."
"Ugh... you really think?" Echidna summoned 500 Al Minya crystals and slammed them against the force fields, temporarily halting the firepower of the Warlock. However, one came straight at her, passing through her offense.
"Murak Inverse."
The field swerved to the side and collided with a patch of grass, rupturing it immediately. When the second one came, her next spell was reading. "Vita Inverse."
The field ball was sent straight back at Hector who only noticed it last second and blocked it with his own field. But when Echidna attempted to recover her energy, Hector was already ready to deliver his final blow. His two hands gathered energy and condensed all of his force fields into one, creating an incredibly dense point that limits its size to zero: the singularity of a black hole.
"Descent of Depression."
"Goodbye, Witch of Greed."
"Not so fast, you ruffian!" A woman came tumbling into the scene and unsheathed her own sword, performing an extremely powerful Iai slash, deflecting the singularity into the sky and also knocking the Warlock back.
"You came? But Frakine, you shouldn't interfere. This is my battle."
"Say that after you have recovered your mana, you show-off."
"And who might you be?" Hector said with confusion splattered across his face, before sending another wave of gravity towards the duo.
"Alchemis, devour that."
"Gotcha, Frakine."
With one swift bite, Alchemis' summoned beast chomped the gravity blade in half and absorbed the energy.
"Cahya, Bayanga, ready the swords."
"Yes!" With the two great spirits ready, two ominous swords floated over next to the Witch as if they were sentient. Holding her Cursed Sword with both hands, she readied her battle stance against the Warlock as the two floating blades began spinning and gathered angular momentum as they did.
"My name is Fang Liyan, the first and foremost alchemist of Earth." Blazing fire, blinding light, and dreadful darkness coated her body and formed armour as she announced her title. After all, names always carry power and soul with them.
"But you may know me as Frakinedottir. The Witch of Deceit."
After Calamity Year 23
"So... everyone's almost all gone..."
"..."
"You've been rather silent recently, have you not, Volcanica?"
"There... isn't much to talk about."
The Divine Dragon casually indulged in a chat with the Witch of Deceit.
"That's true. Out of the ten of us, only half of us are left. Dona-chan was sealed by you personally not long ago, which was her request, was it not? Hoshin is running his new nation, Reid has succumbed to his human limits, and Flugel has left. Farsale is managing the country, and Satella-chan has been..."
An awkward silence was left. Volcanica was speechless like always, as if sealing the Witch of Envy has taken all of his energy. "It has been a long run for us, hasn't it? We all vowed to complete our wish back then, and now look at it..."
"Flugel left before even explaining the floors of the Watchtower to me as well... and Shaula isn't exactly the brightest when it comes to answering questions. Tell me, Volcanica, what should we do now?"
"Go live, your happy life, I would assume so...?"
"Happy life? The world is in shambles, Volcanica. It's entering a new age. The era of witches like me and Dona... it's over. Maybe I should just leave and find another purpose. Don't you think so too?"
"..."
"Silent as ever, I see. Well, off I go then. I'll go find you before I die, okay?"
With that, Frakinedottir leapt off the edge of Maia, the first floor, and glided down towards the sand dunes below.
"Frakinedottir... there's... danger down there..."
But the voice of warning never reached the witch who was pursuing the next goal of her life that will unfortunately never come.
"I should probably visit Hoshin first! I bet Alec-kun would have stuff to talk with me about, considering I helped one of his major inventions last time!"
Frakinedottir glided over the hot desert sand, floating over any mabeasts that were scurrying about on the ground. Her umbralux wings glittered in the sunlight, with the dark parts absorbing light while the light parts reflecting it. However, this only made her easier to find for someone on hot pursuit.
Frakinedottir knew something was wrong as soon as a flaming blue portal appeared in the sky above the dunes. This area should be under Shaula's control now and there's no way something like that can just be appearing, since not even Flugel has achieved that kind of travel yet.
What's even more ominous is the descent of a figure from the portal, and landed on the sand with a boom that expelled so much sand a sinkhole was formed.
"What in the-"
Before she had any time to react, the figure had already dashed at her with imperceptible speeds, and delivered a punch to her stomach that would've shattered her organs if not for the protection of the Authority of Deceit.
"Morph!" Frakinedottir shouted as the fist that punched her transformed into a steel ball so heavy it dragged the other girl right down to the floor. After forcibly slashing off her own hand, the flaming maiden regenerated her lost hand as if it was nothing.
"Hello, miss. I don't believe we have met. But I think attacking me straight out of the blue is a bit rude, don'tcha think?"
"I don't need to explain my reasoning for attacking you. But since you've accomplished so much, I'll give you some intel you desire from me if you can withstand 5 of my attacks, mortal."
The maiden said as the blue flame danced around her and her golden cross earrings fluttered in the wind.
"Uh... okay?" Frakinedottir didn't even get to finish when the maiden thrust her fist forwards, and delivered an uppercut that blew the Witch of Deceit's head clean off. However, it also regenerated back right away without issue.
"Huh, you're an interesting mortal, aren't you?" The entity delivered four more consecutive punches that knocked Frakinedottir backwards, but didn't exactly injure her too much.
"I am the Goddess of Fire and Order. Since mere mortals don't deserve to know my name, I guess you can address me as Pyr, like my annoying colleague does. As for my arrival here: it's to eradicate you, child of travels, who has messed up the timeline."
"Child of travels? Also, messing up the timeline? Do you mean that you know that I'm not from here? Can you get me back?"
"No, that's her job. And she doesn't even do it well. But if I allow you to live any longer, disasters will follow sooner than you think."
"Well then, Ms. Pyr, just tell me how I can fix it so that no disasters happen!"
"I have no obligation of answering. I'm simply here to complete the task, and leave. Now die, Witch of Deceit."
"Shit! Cahya and Bayanga are both at the Graveyard, along with my other two swords of power... I have no choice! Alchemis, Cursed Sword!"
The Elder Spirit of Fire took his place beside his master, and the purple sword of curses placed itself in Frakinedottir's hands.
"Ignis Web of Lies!" The spell was unleashed as both the Cursed Sword and the magic slammed onto the goddess, but she deflected it easily.
"Pyromania Field."
Frakinedottir jumped back and gave up on trying to utilize the fire magic she has at her disposal, and she ordered Alchemis to form a constant fire barrier around her. Utilizing her Authority, she boosted her spirits power as a giant castle made of pure flames erected itself from the ground.
"Forbidden City's Judgement."
"Set Geometric Plane = target, complete. Inverse Target, reflect target, absolute value target, square root target, reciprocate target, translate target up 2 left 5, rotate target by 45 degrees, execute command chain."
The goddess suddenly felt as if she was bound by and invisible force field, and started twisting, turning, and folding around on the invisible Cartesian plane just like the commands ordered. By the time the commands were done, she exploded into a pile of magma.
And re-formed her body instantly.
"This is much more of a hassle than I expected... you forced me to do this, witch. Phase II."
The next part of the memory was a blur. The scorching hot flames were impossible to see through, so Frakinedottir relied on instinct and her mana senses alone to fight the battle, but ultimately lost tragically. With the Witch of Deceit incapacitated, she left through the portal again.
Hours later, Frakinedottir laid on the sand. The area around her is not burning anymore, just simply scorched. You can smell the scent of burnt sand in the air. The Cursed Sword had already sunken down into the dunes, while Alchemis laid down battered and bruised. The only reason they even managed to survive was because Alchemis devoured part of the Phase II goddess' flame, and that alone granted them partial resistance to death itself.
But it's not as if Frakinedottir isn't going to die.
"Oh dear. The first thing I see when I come to find you in years is this. What happened to the almighty Witch of Deceit?"
"Pandora..." Frakinedottir croaked out in pain, coughing as Pandora snapped her fingers and the air around them became clean.
"So, do you want me to perform reviving teammate or something?" Pandora crouched down next to the dying Witch, who managed to get another few words out.
"No... don't..."
"Here, drink up." Pandora flicked some sand before materializing water out of thin air and gave it to the Witch, whose throat felt better after the refreshing spring water.
"Don't do it. If you do, she's just going to come back and kill me again. There's no point. And she'll target you too, Dora. It's not like you could win when I lost so badly."
"But we made a promise!" For the first time, Pandora's eyes became slightly emotional. "You said that-"
"Yes, yes. But it's not like you can do anything about this? Your phenomena manipulation is not going to save me here. Those wounds are inflicted by a deity, beings outside our world with way stronger powers than us. The amount of raw energy they hold is unmatchable to anyone here, and even the Divine Dragon will lose.
"So you're just going to leave like this?"
"No, actually, I need your help, Dora." Frakinedottir coughed again, and beckoned Alchemis to come over. "Here." She laid flat on her stomach. "Take my Witch Factor out, Dora."
"For real?!"
"Yes. Once you do, store my consciousness inside it. Because then your powers will work. I won't die, but I can still watch over this world and live in it."
"Huh, such an odd request. And you want me out of all people to keep it?"
"I'm trusting it to both you and Alchemis. Alchemis will be in charge of finding a successor while you should make sure it doens't fall into the wrong hands. Please, Dora?"
...
Alchemis shot Pandora a slight look of contempt, but the Witch of Vainglory took no note of it.
"So be it."
"...sniff. Goodbye for now, Frakinedottir."
Y/N POV
Present
Trial completed. Congratulations, challenger. All of the Library is yours to command now.
"Huegh!" I coughed out air suddenly as I sat up, and saw the dim candle lights that illuminated the Library of the Dead. I suddenly realized that it was Capella's lap, and I scrambled up in surprise.
"Cappy-?!"
"Y/N-dear you're awake!" Capella's hug squashed me back onto the floor and we stayed like that for 15 seconds until she was satisfied. "Anyways, the others already went up to Electra for the second trial. Wanna come?"
"Sure, I guess... how long did I fall asleep for?"
"An hour or so, I guess? It wasn't that long."
But it felt like several lifetimes. Maybe that was the effect that Books of the Dead have.
"Oh, yeah! Omega-chan, Y/N's awake, so let's go!" Capella waved to Omega who was behind the shelf, and she walked around before giving me a hug as well.
"You did well." Omega whispered. "With Taygeta under your control, a lot of things should go smoother now."
"What were you doing over there, by the way?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, just some research stuff..." Omega said nonchalantly. "Anyways, any plans of defeating the second trial?"
"That is a very good question. But the answer is no."
"After all, defeating Reid Astrea in combat is no easy task."
Meanwhile...
Omega's table in the Library...
On the table lies a book.
An ominous book that had two copies which ruined lives.
But the original looks much more powerful and elegant.
After all, it was the culmination of knowledge and the pinnacle achievement of the Witch of Greed.
Behind the cover, on the 'zeroth' page, a progress bar existed. Meanwhile, a Book of the Dead with the name Typhon over itself is being absorbed into the book.
Book of Wisdom Completion: 100%
BEEP
Book of Wisdom Completion: 101.3%