Chapter 7
Chapter 7
The Imperial Palace Library.
As the heart of the Empire, it was the greatest library on the continent, housing countless rare materials and priceless old books.
For that very reason, access was exceedingly strict.
Unless one was a professional in a related field, only direct descendants of at least a viscount or those personally acknowledged by the Emperor were permitted entry.
If any damage to the books were to occur, an enormous sum had to be compensated, and if that proved impossible, imprisonment followed regardless of rank.
Of course, I was an exception.
The third imperial prince of the Ribera Empire. The name Leios von Ribera was not so light as to be ignored.
“Thank you sincerely for Your Highness’s visit.”
I had heard the location of the library roughly from Parsi.
As for the finer details, I asked passing maids or nobles at random, and they answered me with eyes rounded as if they were looking at a rare animal.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Palace Library, a man who introduced himself as the chief librarian was already there to greet me, as though he had heard in advance.
The librarian’s name was Oz.
He was in his mid-thirties, but judging by his appearance alone, he did not look much different from me.
A quick glance at his face revealed a blue-silver-haired handsome man who looked exactly like an illustration of someone who would love books, pressing his glasses as he bowed deeply before me.
As one might guess, his name was borrowed from that of a wizard appearing in a famous fairy tale.
In truth, he was a hidden powerhouse within the Imperial Palace, possessing skills comparable to a great archmage, and he was a character who, in the middle of the story, recognized the strength of the protagonist who entered the palace and played the role of a helper aiding him.
I wanted to draw him in as my own, if only in my heart, but I still had no power, no faction, nothing at all.
‘Don’t rush.’
Wasn’t I the one who knew best that an impatient desire to do too much at once ruined everything?
If I built things up one by one, the path would eventually open.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“…Not at all. More importantly, is there a book you’re looking for?”
At my praise, he bowed even deeper. He probably hadn’t expected such words to come from me, given my usual behavior. If he were to lift his head, his face would likely be filled with surprise.
“No, I just plan to take a light look around.”
To obtain the hidden piece, it was best to be alone if possible.
Speaking deliberately arrogantly to shake off unnecessary attention, the light in Oz’s eyes dimmed slightly.
“…I’ll be near the entrance. If you need anything, please call my name.”
Still, without revealing his inner thoughts, he merely bowed lightly once more.
I, too, gave a slight nod and entered the library with dignified steps.
“Hm.”
Perhaps because I had worked briefly as a writer, I always enjoyed the smell of books.
A quick scan showed that, thanks to magical maintenance, there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere in the library.
Books, books, books.
After walking a few more steps forward, a feast of books so long that I couldn’t see the end greeted me.
On shelves of every color, volumes bound in thick leather filled the space densely without the slightest gap.
“Now then······.”
As I said before, I had come here to find a ‘sword’.
And not just any sword, but the demonic sword that had been called both the strongest and the most sinister.
Leios probably obtained it around the middle of the academy chapter.
The talent of Ribera bloodline that had allowed him to stand tall now instead became shackles tightening around his neck.
Leios struggled desperately to break free from it, but just as he was about to resign himself, that thing appeared like fate itself, drawing his soul toward it.
But I neither needed to wait until then nor could afford to.
The demonic sword took the form of a book.
The fact that Leios discovered it could be said to be an accident bordering on inevitability.
Because it was the first fortuitous encounter he gained after living a repressed life while always playing the hooligan, I remembered that moment clearly.
-A motionless crystal chandelier. It didn’t suit the gloomy library, but combined with the atmosphere exuded by the old books, it gave off a strange aura.
Leios passed beneath the chandelier and walked a few more steps inside, following that alien presence that stimulated him.
Recalling the original story, I moved my feet. After going in for a while, just as described, a large crystal chandelier came into view on the ceiling.
Leaving it behind me, I slowly walked forward, just as Leios had done back then.
Thump-
An alien pulse was felt from my heart.
At the same time, a single old book stuck into one side of the bookshelf caught my gaze, and as if bewitched, I approached it.
Swoosh.
With a careful touch, I grasped the corner of the book. Then, gripping it tightly as if afraid I might lose it, I pulled it out.
Now, if this truly was the demonic sword that Leios had drawn, its existence would manifest. And it would whisper sweet words to me.
Of course, thanks to what happened in the original story, I knew how to subdue it.
But knowing something in one’s head and actually experiencing it were different matters.
It was a weapon that had even been called the demonic sword that slew gods. No amount of caution was ever enough.
“……?”
Yet even after waiting several seconds, there was no reaction at all. And for some reason, I felt a chilling sensation run down my spine.
‘This feels slightly unpleasant.’
The interior of the library was kept at an appropriate temperature at all times by magic. Yet for some reason, cold sweat seeped from my forehead, and without time to wipe it away, it flowed down my cheeks.
‘This is a bit… not right.’
My fingertips began to tremble at the divergence from the original story.
My advantage was based not on strength, but on knowledge. If that foundation were denied from the root, what spread out before my eyes would be a quagmire where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead.
Because I had a bad feeling, I put the book back into the shelf. Then, as I slightly turned my body and started to walk out, an unfamiliar woman’s laughter-tinged voice reached my ears.
“Where do you think you’re running?”
The clear voice that followed immediately was more than enough to drive me straight into the middle of a quagmire.
Cold. It was as if a dagger flew into my chest and lodged itself there.
I didn’t understand the situation, but it hadn’t yet spiraled into the worst possible outcome. After all, I hadn’t used my trump card yet.
“Don’t move. I can’t very well treat a long-awaited guest poorly.”
The biting air that entered through my nose and mouth swept through my lungs.
A demonic sword wasn’t a demonic sword from the very beginning.
Of course, even then it wouldn’t have been an ordinary sword. At the very least, it would have been something worthy of being called a famed sword or a treasured blade.
What a sword became was determined by the disposition of its owner. But what I was trying to obtain was the greatest and most sinister among those that had risen to the rank of demonic swords by offering up the blood and flesh of countless people as sacrifice.
When I cautiously turned around, an alluring black-haired woman was looking at me with a crooked grin.
I desperately suppressed my agitation and spoke with a stiff expression.
“My name is Leios von Ribera. The third imperial prince of the Ribera Empire. Reveal your identity!”
At my words, her blood-red eyes brimmed with a bewitching light. Then, with a soft chuckle, she slowly approached me.
“Leios von Ribera.”
“Ugh?!”
Like a venomous serpent, she closed the distance without a sound and whispered into my ear.
“Cursed prince, child of a whore.”
Her captivating voice rang inside my head.
I wanted to shake her off somehow, but for some reason I couldn’t move even a single finger.
“Don’t you hate them? Those who killed your mother and live on shamelessly.”
Like a snake climbing a tree, she coiled herself around my body. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, she lifted my hand and brought it toward her true body embedded in the bookshelf.
She kept pouring seductive words into my ear without pause.
Honestly, none of it resonated with me, but my mind grew hazy and strength began to drain from my limbs.
‘What the……!’
I knew a mental temptation would come. But I never dreamed it would bind my body this strongly.
‘This didn’t happen in the original…….’
Was trying to obtain it earlier than scheduled what angered things? But it wasn’t over yet.
A status window, whose appearance I couldn’t even remember, was occupying one side of my vision.
[SYSTEM: You have fallen into the status ailment ‘Charm’. Movement and thought are restricted.]
[SYSTEM: Mental corrosion has occurred from an external source. Some information is being exposed to the opponent.]
[Activate defense mechanism? Y / N]
I clenched my teeth as I stared at the final line.
I was on the verge of losing control of my body to a development different from the original.
I did have a trump card, but if things went wrong before I could use it, I’d have no way to stop it.
Desperately, I moved my hand and pressed the status window.
[SYSTEM: Defense mechanism against mental attacks has been activated.]
Buzz—
The sound of flies buzzing filled my ears.
At the same time, as if she sensed some change, she smiled in a futile manner.
“So you’ve got a hidden move? Your will is impressive. But it’s too late to struggle now.”
She guided my hand toward the volume I had just put back in place.
In the end, she pulled it out, and in an instant the book transformed into a single sword.
A sheen flowed over the blade as it caught the chandelier’s light.
Even to someone like me, who knew little about swords, it was an appearance that naturally drew admiration, but the goosebumps rising all over my body told me it was no ordinary ominous aura.
Pitch-black energy—one could scarcely call it anything less than demonic energy drifted faintly through the air.
Tracing it with her fingers, Tyrfing spoke with a seductive smile.
“Now, entrust your body to me.”
She was grinning so widely it looked as though her mouth might tear apart. She must have been convinced that I was now hers.
But she wouldn’t know, not even in her dreams, that this very moment was the one I had been aiming for.
“Veil’s Curse, activate.”
“…Huh?”
I pulled out the Veil from my finger and forcibly shoved it into the demonic sword’s hilt.
The moment I shouted the activation phrase, the ominous black energy pouring out of the blade subsided, and the powerful force restraining my body vanished in an instant.
[SYSTEM: Veil’s Curse has been activated. The abilities of the demonic sword Tyrfing are restricted. Due to the effects of Veil’s Curse, a maximum output of 30% is possible.]
[SYSTEM: Defense against mental attack successful.]
[SYSTEM: Linked with demonic sword Tyrfing(Tyrfingr).]
[Information on the corrosion target will be displayed.]
[Status Window]
Name- Tyrfing
Rank- Relic
Alignment- Demonic
Titles
-Godslayer
-Bringer of Ruin to Its Master
-Tyr’s Finger
Creator- Diren (Dwarf)
*Linked with owner Leios von Ribera.
*Most abilities have been disabled due to Veil’s Curse.
In an instant, more than a dozen status windows floated before my eyes.
At the same time, Tyrfing’s body, which had been that of an adult woman, began to gradually shrink.
“W-what is this?!”
In the end, she was reduced to about the size of a five- or six-year-old child.
Tyrfing looked around at her suddenly shrunken body, utterly dumbfounded.
She seemed to be trying to use her power while thrashing about, as if she had forgotten I was even there, but the black flames rising around her body merely sputtered out with a pop, like a gas stove running out of fuel.
“······.”
Tyrfing stared at her own hands, trembling as her body shook, to the point that it looked pitiful.
“You, you! Just what did you do?!”
At that, I steadied my heart with a light smile. Then I grabbed Tyrfing by the collar and one arm.
“W-what…….”
Sensing something unusual in my expression, she recoiled with a hesitant look, but from now on, the initiative was mine.
After being stuck in a state of panic for a while, Tyrfing finally seemed to realize that the balance of power had reversed.
With a pitiful expression, tears welling in her eyes, she looked up at me.
Whirik.
Of course, I ignored it without the slightest hesitation.
At the same time, I tightened my grip on her collar and arm, and her light body was easily lifted into the air.
“Hup!”
With a short shout, I twisted my waist. Tyrfing was slammed into the ground before she could even scream.
Bang!
“······!”
A technique commonly referred to in judo as a throw. A soundless scream burst from her mouth as her body struck the ground.
That earlier seductive, sultry older-sister appearance aside, she thought she could seduce me with a brat’s body?
“Doesn’t work.”
Who did she think she was dealing with, some criminal?