Tatakau Shisho

Volume 9, 1: The Defeated Remnants and the Demon Lord of Despair – Part 1

Volume 9, Chapter 1: The Defeated Remnants and the Demon Lord of Despair – Part?1

Before the destruction of the world decided by Ruruta, the Armed Librarians were wiped out, Enlike Bishile yielded and Hamyuts Meseta lost her life. However, this didn’t mean everything was over. There were still people who didn’t abandon their will to fight.

They were not in the world were living humans dwelt.

They were inside Ruruta’s body, in his Imaginary Entrails. The souls of those who had been Eaten by Ruruta still remained inside there. They were also fighting against the world’s destruction.

“…Kh.”

A single hand came out of the sand. It wasn’t created out of sand; the man buried in the sand was crawling to the surface.

The man pushed his way through sand with his hand. After about ten minutes he succeeded pulling out the upper part of his face. The man started gasping for breath as he spit out the sand in his mouth. Wriggling further, he managed to pull his face, his right hand and right side of his chest out.

The man moved his face and scanned the surroundings.

There was desert for as far as he could see. The sand was endlessly white and the vast sky was cloudless. Although it was a desert the air was cool, and it would be pleasant normally. But no matter where he looked in the sky he could see no sun.

That man knew where he was.

He was inside Ruruta Coozancoona’s body.

The possessor of the ability to eat the Books of humans, a Book-Eater. The user of that ability possessed organs that were used to house the souls he ate inside his body, known as Imaginary Entrails. Although they existed magically, these entrails had no physical being. It was a stomach meant to digest souls and an organ meant to preserve them.

That man was right now inside those Imaginary Entrails. Ruruta’s Entrails were shaped like a desert.

He had heard about this while he was still living, before being Eaten by Ruruta. The Book-Eater named Zatoh Rondohone was once a part of the Indulging God Cult. It was said that his Imaginary Entrails were in the shape of a swamp. The Entrails he was inside right now possessed a wholly different form, but the abilities of Ruruta and Zatoh as Book-Eaters were as different as the heavens and earth. Since their powers were so different it was also natural their Imaginary Entrails would look different.

“No one’s here… seems like you can only get out by yourself.”

Even now the man was trying to dig out his body from the sand. However, it would take a lot of time to do it by himself.

“…Can I do that? It is theoretically possible.”

The man muttered. He held his breath and concentrated his mind. He was trying to use Magic. He had already died and became a soul with no physical body. However, as long as there was a soul, the Magic Right engraved unto it should still exist.

He heard that Enlike Bishile, even after being eaten by the Book-Eater Zatoh, did not lose his ability to use lightning. Also, Enlike had defeated him from inside his body and took over his body. So he should be able to use Magic as well. He exercised his Magic Right.

The man buried in the sand’s figure changed into a black liquid. It began to seep through the sand to the surface, creating a puddle. Then the puddle returned to its previous human form.

“I’ve managed to resurrect. For now it’s fine.”

The man’s name was Winkeny Bize. He was a skinny man who wore round glasses. His most prominent feature was that his head lacked any hair. He possessed the Magic Right to turn his body to petroleum.

When alive he was a warrior from the Indulging God Cult. He manipulated Mokkania Fleur and challenged the Armed Librarians. He then died, failing to accomplish anything.

The Overseer of Paradise Kachua had acknowledged Winkeny’s loyalty and achievements and permitted him to go to Heaven. His Book was then brought to inside Ruruta’s body through Lascall.

“What happened to the outside world?”

Winkeny raised his head. Staring at the sky, he could see the outside world through it. What Ruruta viewed was spread on the heavens as if on a movie screen. He could see the scenery of the Sealed Labyrinth there. Ruruta was leisurely walking through it.

It seemed that Ruruta was exiting the Second Sealed Archive and heading towards the surface.

The view changed to that of the surface; Ruruta probably used his power of clairvoyance. On the surface, the Guardian Beasts… no, the Beasts of the Final Chapter were fighting the Armed Librarians. Those strong, frightening Armed Librarians were now extremely confused. Winkeny kept watching them in shock.

Mattalast was listlessly running through the Labyrinth. The elite Armed Librarians Yukizona and Yuri stood in Ruruta’s way. The two fought against him and were utterly beaten.

“It can’t be… no way, that can’t be.”

Winkeny paled. He started shouting and running toward the dark clouds.

“Why, Ruruta! For what reason? Why are you going to destroy the world?!”

Winkeny died a year and ten months ago. His Book was sent into Ruruta’s Imaginary Entrails immediately after he had died. Winkeny and the rest called that place Heaven.

Going to Heaven was the biggest goal of all believers of the Indulging God Cult. The Books of those who have worked for God, for the Indulging God Cult, would be sent to Heaven. They were taught that in Heaven they would taste an eternal happiness. Winkeny was also one person who wished to go there.

However, since he was no more than an underling he knew neither the truth about the Indulging God Cult nor about Ruruta Coozancoona.

He heard about the truth inside the Imaginary Entrails. The one to tell him this was a person who had died a short while before him, the man called Cigal. He was the True Man who created the human bombs. He was more or less an acquaintance of Winkeny’s.

Thus he discovered the fact that Heaven was merely the Imaginary Entrails of the Book-Eater known as Ruruta; the fact that he had no intention of granting any happiness to the followers of the Indulging God Cult; and that collecting Books of happiness was nothing more than granting Ruruta’s wish.

Cigal spoke even further – the Indulging God Cult was an organization established just to give Ruruta Books of happiness. They were the branch organization of the Armed Librarians. The battle between the Cult and the Armed Librarians was just a coup d’état meant to take away their initiative.

Cigal too hadn’t known the truth while he was alive as. He too heard the truth from another person inside these Imaginary Entrails.

He started crying. I was deceived. By the Overseer of Paradise, by the Armed Librarians and by Ruruta. If this was the result I wish I hadn’t fought Hamyuts. If so, I wouldn’t have been killed by that brat. I would make more money, buy whatever I want, and sleep with even more women. He had not a single word of an apology to his subordinates for having deceived them or any regret for turning people into bombs.

“…Cigal, what’s going to happen to us now?”

Winkeny asked. There was no need for any honorifics anymore.

“…Our souls will be dismantled. Only our happiness will be squeezed out and it will become part of Ruruta. Just like food that gets digested inside the stomach, sending nutrients to the intestines.”

“And more concretely?”

“It is simple. We will be swallowed in this sand and become a part of it.”

“What does extracting happiness mean? What will Ruruta do with that?”

“Who cares!”

Cigal raged. He then started cursing Ruruta. The target of his curses changed from Ruruta to the Overseer of Paradise, from him to Hamyuts, from her to the human bomb known as Colio, and to the Ever-Laughing Witch Shiron. In the end he had no idea who he was talking about.

Winkeny tired of Cigal and left.

He was fed up with anything and everything. He was sick of it all, of his life being continuously used by the Armed Librarians, by the Overseer of Paradise and by Ruruta.

Because he had nothing to do, Winkeny buried himself in the sand. He dug a hole and stuck inside everything but his face and torso so he could drag the sand from above. As he did this, his body gradually changed into sand and became part of the desert.

The feeling of his soul slowly melting away was not as bad as Winkeny thought, and so he was determined to vanish just like that.

There were also cases where the other souls Eaten by Ruruta struck conversation with him. He told them what he had heard from Cigal as is. Some of them wept, some of them shouted; their responses were varied.

As far as he could tell from the scenery in the sky, the Indulging God Cult was in an unfavorable position on the surface. Even the secret plan of reversal was prevented by the efforts of Noloty and Enlike. Kachua died and the seat of the Overseer was passed along to Minth Chezine.

Winkeny stared at this poor situation without much interest.

As his soul melted, only the area of his head and torso remained, and most of it became sand. There wasn’t any particular pain. Before long Winkeny gave up thinking and closed his eyes. That’s enough. Those would probably be his final thoughts.

However, Ruruta’s voice prevented Winkeny’s eternal sleep. Even while melting in the sand he could clearly hear it with his ears.

‘My name is Ruruta Coozancoona. I am the owner of the world and the one who had Eaten your Books. I am now about to destroy the world. Anyone who wants to stop me, get out of the sand and come to my side.’

‘Destroy the world’. These were completely unrealistic words, but only when Ruruta mouthed them they seemed truly feasible. Winkeny, who had tried falling asleep, opened his eyes and began thrashing around. His body, most of it having become sand, responded to his will that he must stand up and regained its former flesh and blood.

And so Winkeny managed to somehow escape from the sand.

‘Destroy the world’. Although Winkeny himself had already died, that was scary enough even for him. He couldn’t stand the fact that the town he grew up in and the people he had related with would be destroyed.

His ability, the power to turn into petroleum, was completely useless. And he didn’t think he could do anything. However, he couldn’t help but want to do something.

Winkeny ran in the desert, searching for Ruruta. However, he noticed that it was faster for him to become petroleum and slide on the sand. While sliding in the desert, Winkeny found a human figure. It was probably another member of the Indulging God Cult just like him.

It was a boy wearing khaki-colored clothes. He was probably about 15 years old. He was unfamiliar to him.

It seemed that he was trying to dig out something from the sand. Winkeny approached him, returned to his human form and spoke.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone’s buried and trying to get out. I’m digging him out. Help me.”

Looking at the sand, he could see someone’s clothes poking out. Winkeny and the boy cooperated and dug through with their hands. They didn’t even introduce themselves to each other. They didn’t have the time for that.

Eventually a fat middle-aged man appeared from the ground. His face was familiar. Winkeny never thought that he would be at this place as well.

“Charlot, right?”

Winkeny and the other boy pulled him out. The middle-aged man – Charlot – came out of the sand while coughing. He was also a False Men serving the Cult. He was a talented Magician who had perfected a Grand Magic capable of controlling space. When his betrayal had been discovered he was supposedly robbed of his memories and turned into a Meat, so why was he here?

“You are Winkeny, right? I don’t know the other guy, but thank you.”

Winkeny spoke while supporting Charlot.

“Greetings come later. Anyway, we must head to Ruruta.”

Charlot nodded while frowning.

“Even if you say that, where is he? Even my Spatial Magic is of no use if I don’t know the location.”

Winkeny didn’t know his location either. The boy then interjected.

“I know where he is. Ruruta is in the center of this space.”

Winkeny and Charlot looked at the boy.

“But where is that center?”

“This appears to be a completely different place than the outside world. Both location and direction are undetermined. If you walk to where you think the center is, you will reach it no matter where you head to. If you wish to get farther from the center then you will no matter where you walk to. I don’t really get it myself, but it seems to be this way.”

“It sounds strange but I understand. What’s in the center?”

Winkeny asked.

“A building that looks like a theater.”

“A theater…?”

Winkeny and Charlot were puzzled at the boy’s words at the same time. Wasn’t the center of this world supposed to contain the castle of the world’s owner, Ruruta? Wasn’t a theater somewhat out-of-place?

“I don’t know why there’s such a thing there, either. And because I’ve seen it only once, I don’t know what the inside’s like. But…”

The boy stopped talking for a short while, then resumed.

“There was a person there. Even me, an amateur in fighting could tell… there was someone with unbelievable powers there.”

Winkeny and Charlot exchanged looked and nodded. They had to go. Winkeny changed his form to petroleum and Charlot activated his Spatial Magic.

“Will you go too, boy?”

Charlot said. However, the boy shook his head to the side.

“Unlike you lot, I can’t use any Magic. Even if I go I won’t be of any help. I do plan on doing something my own way, but it will probably amount to nothing.”

“I see…”

Winkeny started sliding on the sand. Charlot advanced while proceeding directly through space.

However, Winkeny started to think while advancing. Even if they went to Ruruta, what could they do? Could those two people who have no fighting abilities battle Ruruta? Or would they beg him not to destroy the world?

What would happen at that place? As if he could see through his thoughts, or perhaps in an attempt to convince himself, Charlot spoke.

“Winkeny. Don’t give up. Weren’t you quite amazing?”

“…”

Winkeny couldn’t reply.

“Even I have no idea what to do. But we need to think, search and find it. The possibility is definitely not zero. Weren’t you the man who once managed to do the impossible?”

Right, Winkeny encouraged himself. I have read Mokkania’s heart and manipulated him. Just like that I can learn about Ruruta, read his heart and control him. It shouldn’t be impossible.

But for that I must know about Ruruta. At the very least, if I don’t know why he wants to destroy the world I can’t do anything.

He advanced for a while. He could see something on the other side of the desert. It was too far away so he couldn’t confirm it, but it might be that theater or whatever the boy had told them about.

Then, two people appeared on the road between Winkeny, Charlot and the theater. When they saw them, they both stopped at once.

Let us go a bit back in time. Apart from Winkeny and Charlot, another man had emerged from the sand. Just like Winkeny, that man had gazed at the scenes viewed in the sky for a while. On the screen on the sky he could see Yukizona’s defeat, the Armed Librarians being wiped out, and Mattalast’s pleas.

“…Hu.”

While watching that the man began laughing. At first quietly, but it gradually became louder and in the end he burst into laughter while looking up the sky.

This was the laughter of a perfect victory. It was the arrival of a dream he had embraced for many years, for fifty years. The laughter of someone whose adversaries have collapsed all at one fell swoop.

The man’s name was Kachua Beeinhaus. He was an old man with thin green hair, thin and worn-out. He was the former Overseer of Paradise and the man who had schemed a coup d’état using the entire forces of the Indulging God Cult. Even he was brought into Ruruta’s Imaginary Entrails by Lascall Othello. Kachua then spoke.

“How marvelous, Ruruta. There was not even a single mistake. Everything went according to what I planned and wished for.”

Raising his hands, Kachua admired the scenes he was watching.

“I was killed by Enlike and had my dream crushed by Noloty. However, I still have not lost. My soul is alive within Heaven. And I have finally grasped victory.”

Kachua spoke while gazing at the sky. He couldn’t detach his eyes from it. He didn’t want to miss a single second of how those unpleasant Armed Librarians were being erased from the world.

“I remember a story I have read as a child. The protagonist climbed mountains and went down rivers, all in search for a fairy that grants happiness. Yet in the end the fairy was inside their house. What a great story. True happiness is in a place too close to see.”

Kachua kept talking as if he was speaking to someone.

“I did not even need the Indulging God Cult. They were a useless detour. Dying, ascending to Heaven and meeting Ruruta… that was the road to victory.”

He lowered his hands.

“However, if I were to have but one complaint, it would be that it was unnecessary to awaken all the Books from the sand. Such as this one.”

Kachua turned around. He had noticed for a while that a lone woman was standing behind him.

“Some annoying people came here to stop you.”

He turned around to face the woman behind him and spoke to her, smiling.

“I don’t remember letting you come into Heaven. Well, it was probably Lascall’s whim.”

The woman opened her eyes and grimaced. Then, she unhesitatingly opened her mouth.

“I’m only asking this to be sure, but… You’re the Overseer of Paradise, right? You’re the one who’s gotten me and Cigal into the Indulging God Cult.”

“It is indeed so, but what of it?”

Kachua knew the woman who stood there.

Alme Norton. She had short, red hair as well as red skin. In her hand she was holding a rusty, big sword. She had once served Cigal, but broke from the Indulging God Cult after his death. She had pursued Lascall Othello for the sake of revenge, but was defeated by Mirepoc and Mattalast.

She was impulsive and simplistic. A woman without any deep thoughts or pursuit of ideals.

“…Aaand you’re the one who’s caused this situation, right?”

“I planned to say it so that you understand as well. Unbelievable, was it not enough?”

Alme’s red cheeks paled.

“I’m the one who finds this unbelievable. What’re you thinking about, you bastard, how many screws are you missing?”

“Explaining things so that you would understand seems to take too much effort. It is cruel on this old body.”

Kachua laughed.

“What on earth are you thinking about? Do you really want to destroy the world?”

“Indeed.”

“Have you lost your mind, you old fart?!”

Alme attacked. At the same time Kachua activated his Magic Right and pulled out his sword. It was his favorite sword from his Armed Librarians days.

He dodged Alme’s charge with room to spare. He used an illusion that concealed his existence; he showed her himself dodging to the right but actually came from behind her. She slayed the right illusion without doubting it for a second.

“Cleaning up the leftovers, huh? It is a boring job, but it has to be done, I suppose.”

Kachua readied his blade. At that moment, he noticed that a single man and what appeared to be a puddle of water approaching. They reached Alme’s side in no time.

They were Charlot and Winkeny in his petroleum form. So as I thought Winkeny is here, thought Kachua. A person with a backbone, which is rare for the Indulging God Cult. But why is Charlot here? Lascall’s whim yet again?

“Alme! Explain the situation!”

Winkeny asked while reassuming the shape of a human. Alme pointed at the illusory Kachua and shouted.

“We need to kill that guy, he’s the source of everything! He’s the one who’s made Ruruta act!”

“…The Overseer of Paradise…”

Charlot had an expression of fear and bewilderment.

“So you’re planning to…? But why? Weren’t you trying to create your ideal world?!”

Everyone seems to ask the same, Kachua smiled wryly. But I do not feel like explaining it.

“This isn’t the time for chatting! He’s obviously got a loose screw! We have no choice but to beat him!”

Alme shouted. While confused, Charlot and Winkeny joined the fight. Yet all that Kachua could think about was that the amount of trash he had to clean rose by two.

He suddenly recalled the past.

Kachua Beeinhaus was born to a family of landowners with a lineage that stretched to the nobles of the Guinbex Empire. He had no particular inconvenient memories, and he didn’t think his home environment had had any problems. Kachua himself couldn’t understand why he had developed such a bizarre personality.

He was born with malice without a cause. Embracing within him something that could be called only that, Kachua accepted his life.

Ever since his birth he hated anything and everything. His family, his friends, his country, other countries, the Present Management Agency, Bantorra Library, and himself. Everything that he could see and all that he couldn’t see; he hated anything and everything.

Why was he so stupid? He was foolish and unreasonable. He was imperfect and defective.

Although he thought this he hadn’t sought to change it. Kachua was Kachua because he hated. The only certain thing was hatred and all that needed to change was everything except hatred.

He resolved to change the world. While wearing the mask of a normal person, he began to think of ways to change the world. What would be a world Kachua wouldn’t hate?

After a long time of thinking, Kachua finally reached the answer.

A world where all people would become one perfect existence. No one in the world would have their own will and they would not have any values. The goal of their lives would be to serve the perfect being and nothing else.

Believing only in the perfect existence, seeking only the perfect existence, throwing aside everything else; a world that would contain such people.

In short, Kachua was looking for God. He wanted a world full of faith for God.

However, there was a definite problem; this world had no God.

It was said that there were once Gods. No, they were still there. They were the three World Overseers who supervised the world.

Among them, the Future Overseer Orntorra was the closest to what Kachua wanted. However, he left this world when the Paradise Era ended. He now existed only in myths.

The Present Overseer Toitorra could be called no more than the laws of the world, different from a God.

Past Overseer Bantorra secluded deep underground and would never meddle with this world again.

Kachua anguished. Even if he wanted to believe in a God there wasn’t any.

So he just had to create one. He had no idea how to, though.

Kachua advanced in his way as an Armed Librarian. It was because Bantorra Library, both now and in the past was the organization to possess the strongest military. In order to change the world such power would undoubtedly be needed. He concluded that he had to rise to the position of the Acting Director in preparation for the day he would have an idea of how to change the world.

There were in fact only few people who chose the path of an Armed Librarian in order to gain authority. Those who aimed to become Acting Directors were all people who sought to raise their fighting strength rather than obtain authority.

Also, those who possessed powerful Magic Rights tended to lose their greed for power and money. There was a reason why the seat of the Acting Director who held tremendous authority was unrelated to corruption and power struggles.

Among them, Kachua was an extreme exception.

Kachua was an excellent Armed Librarian. The ability he was born with was extremely useful for battle. Avoiding both alcohol and gambling, diligently repeating his Magic Deliberation, he became praised as a model for all Armed Librarians. His excellent mind was congratulated as the talent Bantorra Library sought the most.

Kachua advanced his plan to steadily control the entire Library without anyone noticing the madness lying behind his mask.

Then, an incident that changed his life, as well as the fate of the world later, has occurred.