As far as the eye could see, it was a boundless ocean of books.
Rows of various bookshelves were arranged between endless spiraling towers. Magical puppets and puppets were patrolling here and there. Everything was in perfect order. This was the largest library I had ever seen.
However, the books here were obviously different from each other. The large bookshelves were even too large for giants to use. The tops of the bookshelves reached into the clouds. Meanwhile, the small bookshelves were only the size of a fingernail that even a ratman couldn't use.
Every single book was faintly glowing with a magical aura. These were actually no ordinary books, but rather magic books.
"… This is my world, the Hall of Mysteries."
Harloys was sitting on a floating disc in the middle of all the bookshelves. She had a serious expression as she introduced this world that belonged solely to her to me. However, I did my best to suppress my laughter.
The reason? Her baby-red cheeks still had small dimples. Her neatly arranged short blonde hair was adorned with a golden princess crown. She wore red high-heeled shoes for children, a white lace children's miniskirt, and strawberry bunny panties that accidentally exposed her body … Excellent, she had no reaction at all. As expected, I wasn't a lolicon.
The Harloys in front of me was even more ridiculous than when she was in her teenage form. No matter how I looked at her, she was no older than seven or eight years old. This was her true appearance.
A Soul World was a powerful individual's ability to bring their "truth" into the real world and change reality. Everyone's understanding of their true self was impossible to distort. Just like how I had died in battle at the age of fourteen in "Diffindor", the current Harloys was probably the same as the moment of her death.
She was doing her best to maintain a dignified appearance. However, the dignified appearance of a young girl and her puffed up cheeks didn't seem threatening at all. In fact, she was quite cute … Cough, cough, the silly cat was grinding her teeth again. Let's get down to business.
"… Not only are there all the magical books and records that I've collected over the years here, there's also all the magical information from the Elven Empire. In my final moments, I actually didn't think about revenge. Instead, I wanted to pass on our culture and magic …"
I became slightly more serious. If a deceased person talked about their final wishes and the date of their death, it was still appropriate to maintain a certain amount of respect.
If this place contained the magical knowledge accumulated over ten thousand years and the Elven Empire's inheritance, then Harloys's knowledge seemed to make sense. However, after thinking about it for a while, I shook my head.
"… I don't think that's all. This doesn't conform to the basic laws of magic."
A Soul World was also a part of the elemental power system. A Soul World was the deepest desire and obsession of the wielder. I had never doubted that Harloys possessed a Soul World, because her obsession and accumulation were the strongest of all the Undead Lords I had ever seen. Her desire for power was also the catalyst for her Soul World.
In the past, there had been no news of her Soul World. Originally, that was because she had killed everyone who knew about her Soul World. But now, it seemed that it was probably because her Soul World was a rare type of purely supportive Soul World, which was why her enemies couldn't see it.
However, I still felt that something was wrong. That was because a Soul World was also a part of elemental power. The basic laws of the elements would have to be obeyed. For example, a fire element powerful individual's Soul World would be a sea of fire or lava that would allow them to use their power. Their Soul World itself would also be filled with fire element power. Meanwhile, an undead element Soul World would typically be something that reversed life and death. Either the living would die, or the dead would come back to life. That Senator Xiluo and I were both the latter type.
Harloys's Soul World was far too peaceful and comfortable. This wasn't her style at all. It also didn't match the usual extreme and evil nature of undead Soul Worlds. I would have been able to understand if the keeper of this knowledge had been a scholar or a hermit, but Harloys obviously wasn't like that. Considering how she viewed vengeance and power as the most important thing in her Soul World, her Soul World would probably directly give her power to increase her combat strength.
"… Let's open it."
I didn't hide my confusion at all. After a moment of hesitation, Harloys casually pointed at me, and a thick cyan magic book landed in my hand.
The moment I touched the book, my expression changed. My countless dissection experiences told me that this was the material of human skin. Only the evilest of devils and Evil Gods would use human skin scrolls and human skin magic books.
However, I kept feeling that this was strange. This cyan magical glow should have come from a wind magic book. However, my hesitation vanished the moment I opened this book.
"… I am Joey Strand, a Legend-rank wind mage. My specialty is the materialization of the wind element. With this as my foundation, I created three specialized magic spells, Wind Blood Needles, Double Tornado, and Flashing Windmill. I have experienced 372 battles in my life …"
The moment I opened this book, I felt as if I had been pulled into the book. Joey Strand's magic-related and combat experiences were presented in front of me. Every detail and experience felt as if he had personally experienced it. His studies, experiments, and battles felt as if he had personally experienced them. Apart from the fact that he didn't have any memories of his daily life, this was the entirety of his life.
"… 'The Hall of Mysteries — The Vault of Soul Books.' Every single soul book was once an outstanding mage. One-third of my personal disciples are all here. This is also the origin of the Omniscient One …"
Harloys did her best to keep her tone calm. However, her trembling childish voice and soul-stirring voice told me that she wasn't calm at all.
What was she afraid of? Was she afraid that her greatest secret would be discovered by others? Then why had she brought me here? As long as she never revealed her own secret, wouldn't it be impossible for others to discover her weaknesses?
What was she afraid of? Was she afraid that I would loathe her? Wasn't she already used to being loathed and loathed by others?
What was she afraid of? Was she afraid that I wouldn't be able to recognize her past? Then why didn't she hide her past …
"Perhaps I'm a little special to her …"
Everything kept replaying in my mind, but I was powerless to do anything about it. I was probably getting more and more lost in thought. Just as I was thinking, "You really do reap what you sow. If I hadn't run away back then, perhaps I would have also entered this place as a treasure." Harloys silently stood in front of me, as if she was waiting for the final verdict.
[… Don't you intend to say anything? As the male lead, shouldn't you at least give me some comfort? For example, say something nice like 'I don't mind your past.']
"Ha, I don't mind to begin with, so why would I say something nice? There are several thousand mages' corpses here? Every single one of my Ice Aeons has more than ten times the number of people who died here. "
That's right, it was impossible for my soul connection to lie. I didn't mind at all. Harloys was no good person. I knew from the very start that I was no good person either. I was a bastard who should have been sent to the underworld of Hades long ago. However, I didn't believe that we had done anything wrong. Could it be that fate had arranged such a despairing plot for us? Were we supposed to just obediently cry like helpless victims and wait for our doom?
"… As long as it's possible to reverse a despairing fate, any method will be used. As long as it's possible to obtain power, what method can't be used? Could it be that we were wrong? Should we just obediently die in our infancy? Shouldn't we, who bear the grudges of our families and countries, pursue power and take revenge?
Then, if we weren't wrong, were the innocent victims wrong? That's even more impossible, isn't it? "
In that case, if the victims weren't wrong, then was it the God of Fate who had arranged all this misfortune that was wrong? Was it the God of Order and the God of Chaos who had created life that was wrong? Nobody could give an answer to this question. If I had to find an answer, I could only say that the world was wrong.
"Everyone is wrong. Everyone just wants to do their best to survive. That's why I desire to create a world where life isn't so difficult, where most people don't need to fight and kill, and can easily survive."
That was why there were laws and Hades that judged all sins. For the sake of a slightly better world, all sinners would be judged.
I chuckled as I looked at Harloys. I didn't need to say anything. My meaning was quite clear. Once everything was over, on the day that I entered Hell, I would definitely leave a separate room for the silly cat … But when considering the current situation, thinking so far ahead seemed rather meaningless.
I admitted to my crimes. But before I served my sentence, it seemed like I could still do something to lessen the suffering of tragic protagonists like us.
However, the silly cat smiled. Her smile was as beautiful as a dream, and her eyes were filled with tears. It seemed that she was quite satisfied with her "life imprisonment" sentence.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't come over here. Your tears are so dirty … Don't think that I won't take care of you just because you're a little child! Don't wipe your snot on my clothes! Hey, hey, hey! Drool! "
When everything calmed down from the chaos, there was a pile of blue magic books in front of me. This was the reason why Harloys had brought me here.
"With your talent in magic, it'll take you at least three hundred years to reach SemiGod level once again. Perhaps the Holy War will already be over by then. That's why I can only use unconventional methods. "
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