736. A Bloody Battlefield

736. A Bloody Battlefield

A war fought with firearms was a future Gerina wished she could erase from her mind.

The bullets did not discriminate between friend or foe. Whoever received it was destined to die. There was no honor in such a weapon, and it detached one from the actions they committed.

It took a reasonably powerful resolve for one to stab another with a sword. Often times, it was out of necessity or those who could not feel the weight of their actions.

A firearm on the other hand, had no such hurdle.

Librarians in the image of her once trusted soldiers fell in the hundreds. Their armor which could deflect the heaviest of blows was turned into metal sponges.

And yet, the Moon – Anpu – shrugged them off like they were pelts of rain.

“Stay with me Gerina. Our success hangs on the hinges of your survival! My Aspiring Moons, we will move under the cover of the trenches until this battle is over. The Amalgam will make quick work of this Corrupted Zone.”

“Yes Master!” A choir came from his team as Cara, Usa and her team nodded in response.

“Keep your heads down. They’re not like Justica Arms’ teleporting bullets. Do not peek your head under any circumstances. Let’s move, quickly!” Lucy exclaimed.

“... I’ve seen many skirmishes. But I’ve never seen one where both sides take overwhelming casualties. Not with normal people.” Gerina gulped in both awe and terror.

It was common for one side to see little casualties in conventional wars. This was because one side would often psychologically break down. One had to remember that people wanted to live and go back to their families. It was not uncommon for standoffs to occur in the front lines as both sides hurled spears at one another, without ever fully committing to a clash.

Monsters, the Impuritas, Moons, the Ateliers, high level individuals and those who had nothing to lose were completely different beasts. They had little regard for self-preservation, added with the fact that they could not be harmed as easily.

“No need to return fire. You know what that means, right Gerina?” Cara ordered as they navigate through the trenches.

“I’m educated enough to know that.” Gerina gulped again.

The Lunas that led the way and skillfully obliterated occupying foes with both their bare hands, and a bundle of dagger-like weapons that could rewind back into their hands.

These knives were held between each knuckle, so each hand could only hold a maximum of 4 knives.

They were appropriately called Temporal Blades, and they were thrown precisely at vitals, pressure points, and tendons. The throat or between the gaps in their enemy’s visors were usually where the blades ended up.

They only used them now since Cara’s team – which had significantly more firepower – could not feasibly fight back without massively endangering themselves. At best they could watch their backs and take out enemies as they came. Otherwise, the Lunas took point and pushed through, slashing razor wire and braving through the storm of shellfire.

“Tch. Agh...” A Luna grunted, grasping onto their arm. An explosion had gone off nearby, bypassing Gerina’s golden barrier that shattered upon impact.

“Let me see it!” Lucy shouted. “Shrapnel, but you’re in good luck!”

A single Healing Bullet was all she required to remove the shrapnel from his arm.

“Good as new! Complain as much as you want to me! I’m not omnipotent like Mother, so call out to me if you need something!”

It was recent enough for it to be fully restored from its warped, mangled state. Furthermore, since the healing process of a Healing Bullet was reversing time rather than healing, it was able to restore it to a state that did not contain shrapnel.

Indeed. Healing Bullets were capable of cleansing a person, so long as the injury occurred within an hour.

“And you, keep your head down! I can bring back limbs, but I can’t bring you back from the dead!” She scolded a Luna. “The only thing that’ll come back is a good-looking corpse for your loved ones!”

Gerina still couldn’t believe that this was a Healer, but she had more things to worry about.

Suddenly, the skies darkened as they heard a voice speak from all around them.

“How is it Gerina? Are you enjoying the show? It won’t be long until the people of our Empire are left to rot like this. But it’ll be ok. Everyone will be saved. No one will have to die again.”

“... Sister...” She recognized the source. It came from her 2nd sister. The voice was spoken childishly, riddled with giggling and not a single ounce of worry. It was the kind of voice that could only come from someone who did not know the struggles of normal life.

Another voice then added:

“The world will look like this. Isn’t it good entertainment? You should join us up here. Look at them. Look at how desperate they’re fighting just so they can live. Soon, it won’t even matter for them. They won’t live for long.”

“... How dare you... Do our people mean nothing to you?” Gerina begrudgingly spoke beneath her breath.

This voice came from the 1st Princess – her eldest sister. Unlike the 2nd, she spoke with the intonation worthy of the Royal family. Her cadence was calm, and it did not fit the chaos of this war.

“People? They can still be that. As pages. As books and chapters. That way, we can always have people to rule over. Everything will be perfect. Isn’t that what you want? Why save the flesh when they can be remembered in books?” (2nd Princess).

“It seems that they’re able to fuse different aspects of pages and chapters together. A sort of appropriation or adaptation, if that makes sense.”

“Master, I think you mean a crossover!” A luna exclaimed.

“Whatever it is – the Librarians have creative liberty over the lives of people they page. How abhorrent. I couldn’t imagine someone editing my life through mixing and matching words. Rivers and tales make this all the more frustrating.”

It was not just limited to the supersonic spears. Swords capable of producing sparks were also seen wielded by the Librarians. Armor that could take one bullet before breaking was worn by others.

An array of lesser Gifts was seen on them, leading Anpu to come to a dark conclusion.

“The Impuritas, or at least the Librarians have a hold on many kingdoms. The question is, how are they getting it? Can a weapon produced by Gifts really be taken by pages?”

He did not think so. Rather, and through his immense wisdom, he figured that they were somehow able to take pages from the Gift itself. When he said this out loud, he was met with responses that found it difficult to believe.

“Wouldn’t that mean... if they can take tales from things like Gifts...” Lucy’s eyes widened. She knew precicely what the implications were, but her lips refused to move.

“Go on, Lucy. You’re on the right track.” Anpu uttered.

“Then couldn’t they do the same to Atelier technology?”

“In theory, it’s possible. How it happens is not clear at all. Many Gifts are living things, not just artefacts of power from the Timeless Ruins. As we know as of recently, they originate from ancient beings called Stars. Since they are living, it is possible for them to take tales from them. I have not seen nor heard of an Atelier technology that was alive, therefore, how can it be possible to steal pages from them?”

They were still in the dark. But it was through this revelation that they knew that the Librarians were likely the culprits of the counterfeit technologies, right next to the Blood Festival and the remnants of Midas Company.

After passing through numerous hallways and stairs, they eventually reached the front doors to the throne room. A pair of sacred, black doors inscribed with text reading: “Towards a better tomorrow.” Was written on it. Gerina vividly remembered those doors being made of white and gold.

The depiction of Thelma’s symbol and Abraxas were erased and sullied by markings depicting chains. What was supposed to be a grandeur, welcoming room felt like a prison for a beast.

“Just behind these doors... They should be in there. I won’t let everyone’s sacrifices through these years go in vain...” Gerina prepared herself to push forward.

The moment she placed her bare hand against the door, the sound of shattering chains accompanied its groans.

“WATCH OUT!” Anpu roared.

Something fell from the ceiling. It was red. Blood. But this blood was shaped like a lance, and it nearly impaled her from the head down. If it weren’t for Anpu immediately snatching her into his arms, then she would have died.

“They’ve trapped it... Tch...” Gerina cursed at herself for not taking extra precautions.

“Did you like our gift, sister? An angel in red gave us something beautiful! She said it’ll protect us from all evil! I guess that means you never wanted to get along with us~ Just like you always were. But it’s ok. We’ll taxidermy you perfectly. Your eyes will never rot. You can stay shelved right next to my flowers forever!” (2nd Princess).

“I’m sorry Gerina. You’ll have to learn how to get along with them before you can join us.”

Entities in the form of bloody humans appeared. Their hands were held before their face as if carrying an invisible book. They were praying to a higher being, and their bloodied wings flapped as they descended upon them.

“Sins...? Hey, what are ‘Sins’?” A Luna asked.

“Something that must be close to the Impuritas at the very least.” Anpu had no idea either. It was the first time they had been exposed to such a monster.

The Vexed Consanguinities – whose names they did not know yet – were followed by a wave of blood. It then took the form of a giant wall before splitting into a hundred lances of blood.

“Rod of Agonizing Legibility... And I thought I’ve seen it all. But why a rod and not a spear?” A Luna pondered curiously as she raised a barrier of her own.

It was white rather than gold, and the symbols that decorated it were of the 56-letter alphabet of the Eternal Library.

Before receiving Frost’s Blessing, those symbols would have been a mix of geometric shapes and glyphs from her own native language. The barrier extended 5 meters from her and was 10 meters in circumference.

It was a stop gap rather than an answer to the incoming attack.

“Both are interchangeable terms.” Anpu answered, instantly swatting the air with blue beams as they were showered by rods. “But a spear has more significance behind its meaning.”

Lucy kept them healed at all costs. Even those who took rods down their shoulders were able to live thanks to her bullets. The floors cracked, and blood sept through from underneath. It seemed to flow endlessly, and if that were the case, then this was a losing battle.

“... How come?” The Luna, despite losing an arm, questioned further.

“Because spears have all manners of tales attached to them. Not only tales, but historical myths and legends. There was a time when people believed that there existed a spear that could destroy a Corrupted. They call it the Spear of Longinus, or a Lance depending on who you ask.”