“No choice, then.”

Watching the Librarian’s relentless attacks, Clay spoke as if making a declaration.

“We’ll have to give up on the Administrator book  for now and deal with it first.”

The Administrator book  was in Yuru’s possession. Because of the Librarian’s interference, he couldn’t even move to search for her after she had suddenly vanished.

“Not sure if it’ll be easy to deal with, though.”

Athanasia wore a troubled expression.

It was only natural — the Librarian, as the guardian of the Akashic Record, was a being difficult to oppose even with divinity or magia.

If it were something Omni had created, that would be one thing, but the Librarian was practically the embodiment of the Akashic Record itself.

The Record existed to document the events of the present world, but ironically, it did not belong to the present world. That meant the powers Clay and Athanasia possessed could not exert their full effect here.

‘I can take it down, but the cost in power will be high.’

Exchanging several blows with the Librarian, Clay quickly realized it — in this space, he needed several times more magia than usual to achieve his true destructive force.

Using that much magia meant drawing in more divine power, which would inevitably strain his body.

‘This was exactly what I came here to solve.’

It was an absurd turn of events, but he would try anyway.

“Athanasia.” He glanced at her, “Let’s go.”

He was the first to rush in, demonic sword in hand.

Bang!

It was like striking a boulder with a stick — the vibration made his hand tremble, but Clay did not relent.

Grrghh.

Even if he couldn’t cut through, the force pushed the Librarian back. As it staggered, Athanasia unleashed several overlapping shockwaves.

Thoom!

A direct hit. The Librarian swayed before falling backward.

Without hesitation, Clay leapt onto it from above, bringing his sword down in a mighty arc.

Clang!

The recoil from the impact flung the blade back, but the Librarian still hadn’t risen. In that brief window, Clay brought his sword down again.

Thunk!

Just a little — the sword sank in slightly. The Librarian surged up, shaking violently to throw him off.

Clay was flung far back, but Athanasia cushioned his flight with a gentle shockwave, halting him midair.

“I’ll hold it in place!”

From both sides of the Librarian, Athanasia’s waves crashed inward. Trapped between them like a sandwich, the Librarian shrieked in apparent agony.

Clay charged again, the sword held high. With the Librarian’s movements sealed, he could focus all his strength in a straight, concentrated strike.

Krrrk!

Once again, his blade nearly bounced off its hardened hide, but—

Shhk!

A single, forceful step forward gave him the momentum he needed — the sword finally pierced through the Librarian’s body.

Grrghhh…

The creature faltered. Clay tightened his grip and, drawing the blade out, slashed diagonally across its torso.

Its glowing eyes flickered, dimmed.

As Clay reset his stance and Athanasia withdrew her shockwaves, the Librarian dropped to its knees and collapsed entirely.

Fortunately, it showed no further signs of movement. Watching it fade away like a snuffed-out flame, Clay finally let out the breath he’d been holding.

He had used far too much strength — compressing his power to the absolute limit in order to break through that impossible defense.

“Haa… haa…”

In this place where even drawing divine power was difficult, even breathing felt labored. Every nerve in his body was strung taut to the breaking point.

“You okay?” Athanasia asked.

He nodded. “For now.”

『My Lord, you mustn’t push yourself further.』

Even with the Librarian defeated, Yuru was still here.

『Yuru seems far better adapted to this space than we are. I can’t say for certain what her current state is, but if we fight here, the advantage will likely be hers.』

Syltanaro’s blunt truth.

It was hard to argue with.

“…I know. But we can’t just leave.”

Yuru had gone after Omni. If she had already overpowered him, there would be virtually no way for them to enter the Akashic Record’s Main Hall again.

“We’re going where Omni went.”

『My Lord—』

“If I can’t solve my problem, I won’t be able to accomplish anything else anyway.”

He had realized it during his battle with Valuel.

As I am now, I’m not enough.

Lutan was not an opponent he could handle at this level.

To Elhaen, a Hero was nothing more than a mercenary — hired for a time and discarded after use.

But Krata was a nation blessed directly by Elhaen. Its emperors, for generations, had been appointed as loyal knights to serve her will.

They were not to be underestimated. Extreme caution would not be enough.

“And we can’t afford to die here, either,” Athanasia said with an uneasy frown.

“Yuru’s conserving her strength, unlike us.”

“If you’re not coming, I’ll leave you behind.”

With only that, Clay took off toward where Omni had vanished. Athanasia stared after him for a moment before running a hand through her hair in frustration.

“Ugh, damn it!”

Unable to make any other choice, she ran after him.

♧

“Ah.”

But what Athanasia faced next turned out to be harsher than she had imagined.

“What the…?”

Clay had stopped mid-stride, so Athanasia slowed as well — only to see shapes emerging from between the shelves.

Librarians.

The very same creatures that had been difficult to deal with even one-on-one were now rising all around them.

“This many…?”

Omni had said he’d stolen and used a book from a Librarian. Not all of these would have Administrator Authority; the one from earlier had been the Chief Librarian, while these were merely copies — dummies.

Indeed, their color was paler, their forms half-translucent compared to the Chief.

“Whatever the case, this just got annoying.”

The Akashic Record’s Main Hall was a space Omni had manifested, separated from the rest of the Record’s domain. Normally, neither the Chief Librarian nor its copies should have been able to cross into it.

Clay had already realized, during their earlier fight, that Yuru had done something to let one through — but only now did he see she’d gone so far as to flood the place with them.

“Clay!” Athanasia shouted, “We have to go back!”

No matter how important becoming a Coexistence Form might be, it wasn’t worth more than their lives. Clay, who had already been executed once, surely understood that.

“Hey—!”

But he didn’t retreat. Instead, he kept his eyes wide, tracking the mass of dummy Librarians.

“Athanasia!”

“What?”

“Knock over the bookshelves!”

The dummies hadn’t stepped out beyond the shelves yet — their massive frames were only visible as they loomed above them.

“Hurry!”

“Tch!”

Urged by Clay, Athanasia snapped her fingers. Shockwaves swept through the space like a storm, toppling the towering shelves.

Graarh!

Graahh!

Graaahhh!

Pinned under the falling shelves, the dummies flailed and collapsed.

“Run!”

Clay bolted through the gap, and Athanasia followed close behind. They ran hard — until something smacked into Clay’s head, sending it bouncing toward the floor.

“What the—”

He staggered to a halt, scanning quickly ahead.

“Omni?”

The little crow god was clutching his head and groaning.

“Wh-what are you doing popping out like that? My… my head…”

“What happened?” Clay demanded, “Where’s Yuru? She went after you.”

“Th-that’s…”

Looking flustered, Omni suddenly spread one wing and pointed.

“There! That!”

Clay’s gaze followed — to a book. Its title read Coexistence Form. He dashed forward and snatched it up.

“Omni, this is what we were looking for?”

“Yeah. Exactly as written there.” Omni let out a long sigh, “We found it, so let’s get out of here. Quickly.”

Clay was about to ask about Yuru when the ground began to tremble. He turned his head to see some Librarians forcing their way free from the toppled shelves and heading their way.

“Yuru’s made the Main Hall’s walls even thinner. The weakened barrier means copies from the Akashic Record’s full domain are crossing over here.”

“We took down the Librarian, but these copies… you’re saying they can’t be killed?”

“The Librarian’s not dead. Just neutralized for a while.”

Omni warned that soon, many more dummy Librarians would pour in.

“If that happens, we might not be able to go back the way we came. So—”

“Understood.” Clay wasted no more time, “We’ve got what we came for. Let’s go.”

He lifted Omni onto his shoulder. The crow god gripped him tightly with his wings as Athanasia ran up, looking bewildered.

“What? What happened?”

“We’ve secured what we needed.” He showed her the book, “More dummies are coming — we have to get out.”

“More?” Athanasia’s face paled, “Then let’s move. No time to waste.”

“Right.”

Together, they retraced their steps. The dummy Librarians reached for them, but this time they only had to flee — not fight — and so they pushed forward toward the exit without stopping.

Yuru.

Clay glanced back briefly, uneasy about leaving her here.

I can’t tell.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then fixed them forward again. Now was the time to look only at the path ahead.

♧

Clay’s desired book had been delivered to him by Omni.

Meanwhile, Yuru sat among the piles of books she’d pulled from the shelves, letting out a quiet sigh.

“I wonder if he made it out.”

She had made sure the Librarians wouldn’t actually catch Clay and his group. Alone now, she was the sole master of the Akashic Record’s Main Hall.

Lifting a book titled Administrator, she smiled faintly.

She had already used it once to claim the Record’s authority, and now, having found it again, she held it once more.

“I did think about giving it to him.”

But she decided against it — he’d likely be too suspicious to use it properly. She gave a small, dry laugh.

“It would’ve been nice to talk more. A shame, really.”

She told herself that trials were meant to be like this, but the regret still lingered.

She slid a book from the nearby shelf. Its title read The Grand Adventures of Hero Clay.

Thud… thud… thud.

The dummy Librarians had gathered around her again. Soon, the Chief Librarian — alive after all — came to sit at her side. Yuru held out the book to it.

“Read it to me.”

She leaned against the Chief Librarian’s massive frame.

“Only the parts about Yuru and Hero Clay.”

(End of Chapter)

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