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).

“Don’t believe in that lie! Look at how easily they can be killed! Again and again! They’re… people, not books. Not living corpses.”

“People have flaws. If they’re booked, then we can know who is good and who are ill-fit to live alongside us in our new utopia. People will not need to eat anymore. They will not need to murder and steal. People will be able to live forever. Isn’t that a future worth looking forward to?” (1st Princess).

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

The voices taunted her, as they always had for as long as she could remember. The youngest in any royal family was often seen as unworthy of bearing their title. Additionally, they were always a risk as they could not take the throne while their older siblings were still alive.

This meant that if Gerina decided to take the throne, then she would have to kill her siblings. But she was not that kind of person. She believed in values that cherished life. Regicide and battling for the throne were a thought that never came to her until the day the Royal family changed for the worse.

And even now it was difficult for Gerina to come to terms with what must be done.

Noticing this, Lucy placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t fall for their temptations. They’re not human anymore, correct?”

“Not anymore. That part of them died a long time ago.” Gerina panted.

“Then don’t hold back. It’s probably not even them talking. Don’t lose this opportunity. Don’t make the same mistake as our friend.” Lucy advised. “The Fang of the Head failed to kill someone dangerous because they were family. People need to realize that family is just another vulnerability.”

She spoke from experience. The reason why she became a Black Wing was numerous, but it all boiled down to betrayal.

“People will sell you out if it means that they won’t have to feel pain. Not the kind of pain when someone smashes your fingers with a hammer. I mean the kind that you can’t physically forget, like watching your limbs get hacked off repeatedly… and watching it be thrown it into a compactor. Out comes a coin, and the process repeats itself like you’re a Corrupted in a Site.”

Lucy did not become a Raven by mere chance. The weight of agony followed her fractured wings. They weighed her down, but she did not wish to fly. Lucy saw herself as a scavenger.

Rather than flying to greener pastures, it was her self-determined role to remove scum from this world, one bullet at a time.

“Take their heads off. You’ll feel better about it.”

“Is that what you did?”

Lucy’s silence was all Gerina needed to know about what she did to her own family.

“The Fang should not have held back. Princess. You’ve got much more experience than me under your belt, but it’s easy to get held back by these things. So you need to remember this: You are the only one who thinks of them as family.”

Gerina, with a heavy heart, nodded.

“By Thelma’s Blessing… I swear I will remember that.”

* * *

It wasn’t even thirty minutes before the red haze disappeared. The interior of the palace returned unexpectedly. A maze of black-stone walls engulfed them as they paced through red carpets and marble floors.

The Corrupted presence was gone thanks to Frost. The voices that spoke through a magical intercom rejoiced.

“You should be worried about your black-haired friend. You know how the Red Baron is. If there is a woman he likes, then he’ll bed them.” (2nd Princess).

“Our entertainment is over. But you’re still coming close. Are you open to accepting that this is the only way forward?”

“Giving up what makes us ‘us’ is the only way forward!?” Gerina shouted.

Each cutout along the way saw a Librarian armed in this kingdom’s silver armor. They were weak all things considered and were reduced to paper ribbons, but Anpu noticed something strange.

“Don’t your soldiers use halberds?”

“Specialized halberds. They can create blades made of vibrations through the air. Why are you asking?” Gerina wondered.

As Cara had her Team lay fire in the tight corridors of the palace, Anpu picked up a weapon that did not belong to this kingdom.

“A different banner is placed on this. The talisman is also different. I’ve seen this weapon before. It’s a spear capable of moving at supersonic speed. This comes from a kingdom in Emvita.”

He snapped the weapon, watching it also become reduced to paper ashes.

“Meaning what, if you don’t mind me asking Mister Moon Anpu Sir!” Usa cried, dual wielding a pair of Repeaters.

Bullets shredded through a horde of Librarians as they turned the next corner. They didn’t even have the luxury to see what had struck them.

“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.”