AKM Act 11-20
Act 11–20: Moving Through the Archive
TL: Cnine
ED/PF:
Part 1
Katakake and the others moved forward through the Forbidden Archive, which had been transformed into a labyrinth.
There was light inside the archive, but it was dim and faint. It felt as though something might be lurking in the shadows of the towering bookshelves.
Their way was barred by four sentient books, each possessing its own will, that stood in their path.
It was as if the archive itself were trying to expel Katakake and his group.
「Welp, there's more of them!」
Chijirege came to a halt and quickly hid behind Katakake.
In fact, they had already encountered these creatures earlier, but Kyouka had held them back, allowing Katakake and the others to move on ahead.
「Honestly! What are you lot doing?! Become as heavy as lead! And fall flat to the ground!」
Mitsuami took a pouch from her pocket and scattered lead pellets into the air.
She conjured Weight Magic.
It was a spell that used those lead pellets—imbued with magical power—as a catalyst to make the bodies of anyone caught in it become heavier.
Those with very high magical power could cast it without the aid of lead pellets, but for most magicians, it was impossible to do so without relying on alchemy.
The lead pellets flew straight toward the sentient books.
However, just before they could hit their targets, the pellets vanished—as though repelled by some invisible force.
「No way!? It got erased that easily!?」
Mitsuami couldn’t hide her surprise.
It was a spell she had considerable confidence in, but the sentient books possessed high magical resistance, rendering her magic completely ineffective.
「Watch out, Mitsuami-san!」
Katakake immediately deployed a barrier.
Moments later, bolts of lightning came flying from the sentient books—piercing through the barrier as if it were made of paper.
「UWAAA!」
「HEY!!」
「O-O~h.」
Katakake and the others scattered in all directions to avoid the incoming lightning.
「THE HECK! YOUR BARRIER CAN’T EVEN LAST A SECOND AGAINST THAT LIGHTNING!」
「M-My apologies.」
Katakake apologized as he ran.
To begin with, what Katakake studied was spiritual arts—magic barriers were really more the speciality of alchemists.
It was only natural that magic outside his field of expertise couldn’t hold up.
「That’s slander! Your magic didn’t work on them either, did it?!」
「Oh shut up, you criminal!」
Chijirege and Mitsuami quarreled noisily.
「Eh? What’s the matter?」
While retracing their steps, they regrouped with Kyouka, who had been following behind.
Upon seeing the sentient books, she quickly grasped the situation.
「Another one appeared, eh? They’re so annoying.」
With that, Kyouka swung her hand, attempting to swat the sentient books out of the air.
The magic Kyouka could use was extremely powerful—so much so that she ended up completely annihilating the sentient books whenever she used it.
However, the books in the archive were valuable, and Chiyuki had forbidden her from using magic as much as possible.
Thus, she used only her bare hands to deal with them.
Naturally, the sentient books tried to evade her strikes, so it wasn’t easy to deal with them.
Lightning shot out from the books again.
Before the lightning could strike Kyouka, it was deflected and vanished.
It wasn’t that Kyouka had used barrier magic—her clothes were imbued with magic protection, allowing them to deflect the incoming attacks.
To protect themselves from the lightning, Katakake and the others huddled even closer to Kyouka.
「U-um… It’s rather hard for me to fight if you cling to me like that.」
Kyouka spoke with a troubled voice.
「Ahaha… Sorry. We’re weak, so all we can do is rely on you, Kyouka-sama.」
Chijirege scratched his head as he apologized—though his gaze was fixed on a certain part of Kyouka’s body.
In fact, every time Kyouka swung her arm to swat a book, her twin peaks bounced violently.
Even for magicians who prided themselves on rationality, it was only natural that a man’s instincts would be stirred.
「Oi, what are you looking at…?」
Mitsuami scolded Chijirege.
Her gaze was freezing cold.
For some reason, it seemed that same chilling gaze was also directed at Katakake.
「Can’t be helped… There’s no way you can not look at that. Well, you’re about the sa— Ow, ow, ow!」
Chijirege wailed in pain as Mitsuami pinched his waist.
「A magician who values reason and intellect has no need for such things. Honestly… Well, I suppose someone like you, a failure, wouldn’t understand.」
Mitsuami spoke with a sneer on her face.
However, her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
She was clearly furious.
「Well, I think you also have your own charm, Mitsuami-san... Definitely.」
Katakake tried to coax Mitsuami.
However, the moment he said that, both Mitsuami and Chijirege turned to him with completely serious expressions.
Mitsuami’s gaze sent a chill down his spine.
「W-What are you trying to say!?」
「Katakake, you...」
「Eh... eer...」
Katakake had only meant it as a lighthearted attempt to calm them down, but depending on how it was heard, it sounded almost like a declaration of love.
Realising this, Katakake hurriedly tried to cover it up.
「Honestly, what are you doing? I’m going on ahead.」
Kyouka, who at some point had already knocked every last sentient book to the ground, spoke in an exasperated tone.
「That’s right. If we don’t move away quickly, they’ll start moving again.」
The sentient books stopped moving for a short while after being knocked down.
Thus, now was the best moment to get away from this place.
「Sigh… even so, this place is full of books. We’ll run into others that are still moving soon enough. Shouldn’t we come up with some kind of countermeasure?」
Chijirege said as he looked at a motionless book lying nearby.
「Indeed, you’re right. Still, even though they have no eyes or ears, how exactly do they notice our presence, I wonder?」
Kyouka tilted her head.
Even though the sentient books had no eyes or ears, they somehow sensed the presence of Kyouka and the others.
Surely, that was one of the mysteries of this archive.
「They sense our presence and… Ah, that’s it! Could it be?!」
Katakake suddenly realised something and took out the incense burner hanging from his waist.
「What is that incense burner for, Katakake?」
「It’s spirit-repelling incense, Chijirege! If we burn it, we might be able to get through without being noticed by these books!」
Katakake quickly explained his reasoning.
Spiritual arts didn’t just deal with the human mind—it also allowed one to communicate with formless spirits and similar beings.
And when such communication failed, special incense was prepared to conceal one’s presence from spirits or repel them.
There was a possibility that the sentient books possessed a similar ability to sense presences, just like spirits did.
If his assumption was correct, the spirit-repelling incense might also be able to repel the sentient books.
Naturally, open flames were forbidden inside the archive.
However, a small flame such as that of a candle should be acceptable—and it was worth trying.
「Oh? That’s a splendid idea. Would you be so kind as to give it a try?」
「Yes, Kyouka-sama. It’s just… I don’t have very much of the spirit-repelling incense. I’m not sure if what I have will be enough…」
Since everything had happened so suddenly, Katakake hadn’t brought much of the incense required for his magic.
That was the reason for his anxiety.
「In that case, you can use my undead-repelling incense. It’s basically the same as spirit-repelling incense, so it should work.」
Chijirege said as he took something out from his pocket.
「Of course. A necromancer would have some. After all, there’s always the risk of failing to control an undead.」
Mitsuami said coldly as she watched Chijirege take out the incense.
「Don’t be like that. Thanks to him, this might actually work, right, Kyouka-sama?」
「Indeed. As Chiyuki says, a blade can harm people, but it can also be used for cooking. In the end, it all depends on the one who wields it. If something is useful, then it should be put to use.」
「Look! Even Kyouka-sama said so!」
Chijirege spoke triumphantly upon hearing Kyouka’s words.
Mitsuami could only glare at him with a vexed expression.
「Come on now, let’s stop arguing and get moving. I’ll light the incense.」
Katakake lit the incense and urged everyone to move on.
「Exactly. I’d like to regroup with Kuroki-san and Chiyuki-san as well. Let’s hurry and be on our way.」
Kyouka also began to walk, and Katakake and the others followed.
Strictly speaking, the path ahead wasn’t necessarily the correct one.
They could have chosen to stay put and wait for help.
However, Kyouka intended to pursue the intruder who had gone deeper inside, and staying behind without her felt unsafe.
Thus, Katakake and the others had no choice but to follow.
Perhaps thanks to the incense, they weren’t attacked anymore and continued onward safely.
「Speaking of which, what happened to Chiyuki-sama and Sabina-sama? Are they okay?」
「Don’t worry about them. They’re sages, after all.」
When Mitsuami expressed concern, Chijirege yawned as he replied.
「If that’s the case, I wonder if Kuroki-dono will be alright?」
Katakake voiced his worry for Kuroki.
「What are you talking about? Kuroki-san won’t be bothered by this kind of danger. He’s really powerful, after all.」
Kyouka replied with a look of mild disbelief.
「To be honest, he doesn’t really look that strong...」
「Yeah, you’re right...」
Mitsuami and Chijirege seemed to share the same opinion.
Katakake likely felt the same way—Kuroki didn’t seem very powerful.
「Well, if Kyouka-sama says so, then I’ll trust her. That means the only ones in danger are us.」
Chijirege spoke optimistically.
「Well, that’s true. The only ones in danger are us... Oh, wait, I hear something.」
The moment Kyouka said that, they began to hear faint voices.
「U~hm. Yeah, that’s a familiar sound...」
As Chijirege strained his ears, someone appeared ahead of them.
It was a familiar figure.
「Eh? They’re your comrades, right!?」
Mitsuami said as she looked at the figures ahead.
The ones who appeared were Chijirege’s former comrades.
Katakake didn’t know this, but they had been freed because Dantalyas had lost control over the Forbidden Archive.
Chijirege’s comrades, like Katakake, were carrying incense burners.
It seemed they had also realised that spirit-repelling incense was effective against the sentient books.
「Uhm, you guys are!?」
Noticing Katakake and the others, Chijirege’s former companions immediately drew their weapons.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire—
The trouble was far from over.