It didn’t take long for me to find the source of the blood smell.

Hidden by the foliage in the garden and the cover of the night, I could barely see the silhouette of multiple corpses stacked together.

My brow wrinkled from the expected source of blood smell but an unexpected situation.

“Who was it?”

Who caused this? Although the pile of corpses seems gruesome, they are all finished quickly and efficiently. There is scarely any blood spilled, and the wounds are minor yet in vital parts, resulting in the blood smell to be contained.

“Is it the Duchess of Valoy? Or direct military under the System Church?”

It is not the Duchess. Her knight sword is too big for such wounds. No one is guarding the exit, unlike when cleaning the district library this noon.

Is it the church, then? They should know the Wild Boys are involved in Demon matter. They have the justification to move their army.

Three system church armies are stationed in the Kingdom of Heart. The Inquisitor, The Demon Hunter, and The Saintess Knights.

From the gossip I just happened to hear when asking about the mansion address in the shop, the Inquisitor has a regiment-size detachment here, and they are currently in the King Castle. The gossip said they were having a banquet with the nobles tonight.

Although they are the most probable candidate as they are the nearest by location, from what I read… Their style of Inquisition of the Demon wasn’t like this.

The second army that has a presence in the Kingdom is The Saintess Knights. They are the second most skilled system church army. The gossip said they had been searching for their missing Saintess in the North Sea for weeks.

As for the last and most numerous one, the Demon Hunter… Most of them are on the frontline against the Demon Realm.

None of them should be responsible for this act.

I give one last look at the corpses in the garden before moving to the main door. There should be many more inside the mansion because of the smell alone.

As for other unknown forces, the fact that no one guarding the exit only means several things.

Holding the main door handle, I prepared my gun in my other hand.

One of my most possible hypotheses is simple. A strong being acting alone to slaughter the Wily Boys base this night. That being hated the Wild Boys, probably for the involvement with the Demon.

I can’t help but think of one being, the Ghost of the Heart City.

I came here to clear my mind, but it’s becoming cloudier. Despite having the choice to leave, I open the door and enter the mansion.

~~~~~

It’s dark. Completely dark. The moon doesn’t shine its grace this night.

There is no light inside the mansion. All the lanterns and torches have been blown off. When I was outside, I saw some torchlight come from the west wing window, the opposite of where I am.

I was thinking about whether I should bring out my handphone or not, but I decided not to since I had just recently looked at my Watch.

In this kind of intense moment, it’s more dangerous to force myself not to look at my handphone time when using it as a light source.

On the way, I saw multiple more corpses. Since I can see it more closely than in the garden, I now notice most of them have bulky stature, befitting of a gang member.

From their last expression, they are most likely to die from an angle they don’t expect. Something invisible or hard to see, which ensuing the panic face and different direction they facing.

The peculiar thing about these corpses was the nonhuman features in their body. Some visibly have hardened skin like stone, some have feathers, and most have extra limbs in the shape of small tentacles in random part of the body.

“Demons. Unlike the guys in the district library, these have a more striking appearance.”

I am not blind to not seeing how one of the guys Anna deals with can resist a sharp knife with just her skin.

Looking more closely at the wound, I inspected the possible wound causes. It’s claw marks, or quite possibly nail marks. It’s very sharp since it can slash through the hardened skin.

Gripping my gun in my right hand and the Miracle Camera in my left hand. I cautiously walk the entire east wing.

And found no one.

To be more accurate, no one is alive.

Everyone had died sometime ago.

“The being doesn’t seem to be here.”

Lessening the tightened muscle from the confirmed empty east wing, I walk to the window facing the inner garden.

From it, I could observe the different parts of the mansion. No lights are on, even the ones on the second and third floors.

“The west wing first floor is the only one with light.”

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I know I should have gone to the west wing first instead of the east wing if I wanted to find the being.

There is a reason to not do that.

There is a reason to be here first.

I need some more Irregular to protect myself. The tool I brought in for the task was too little, and I had used several of them to retrieve the task objective, rhe Miracle Camera.

There is no means to get more Irregular here. Until the last page of the Grimoire revealed its content.

Placing my gun and the camera on the floor, I removed the Grimoire from my bag and opened the fifth page. The title of the ritual alone sent shivers to my core.

[Reprint

How much do you wish to duplicate the books you have read in your lifetime? A temporary reprinted book of any kind will be produced. Including that one book you had regretted to be burnt into ashes, you can read it again.

…

]

Trying hard to ignore the last part of the description, it checked off my suspicion that the Grimoire new ritual content corresponds with what I currently desired the most.

The Grimoire might not know all of my desires since it hasn’t yet offered several of my deepest wishes. Or maybe there should be more requirements for it.

“Probably it needs a combination of my desire and my need?”

Aseptic for my own survival from the plagues here, and Common Language for my communication with the people here.

I have to return to my world in a few days for an event, so it offered me the Return ritual so early.

As for the first page… I don’t understand why it is that. I don’t have any desire to be in a new world. In fact, I feel it troublesome as new responsibility comes in the form of informing the Factions about this place.

Then the latest one is self-explanatory. I need more power to defend myself. There are only two and a half magazines left for my pistol.

It’s all normal bullets too, if those Demon with hardened skin attacked me, I would probably need to use the Miracle Camera.

The Miracle Camera isn’t that good for combat.

All that left is my final trump card, my eyes cursor to my Watch.

I don’t want to use it if possible.

The Fifth pages ritual description is weird, it’s as if the Grimoire is alive and mocking me.

Reprinting book I had read in my lifetime is a crazy ability though, because…

Irregular C-9 Name ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Type Concept History ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Description A physical library. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Unique Characteristics Archive Everything will be archived by C-9. Record Everything is recorded by C-9. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ … … Note ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

…

An extremely absurd Irregular, owned by the Faction I am part of.

Every Major Faction has one or more Irregulars in the rank of Twenty, except for one Major Faction that didn’t have any Irregulars. They are the main pillars of the Major Factions.

Most of the Irregular of the Twenty are type-C.

Irregular of type-C or, known as Concept, is exceptional. They created, transformed, or produced more Irregulars.

For example, the Hospital has hundreds of Irregular associated with medical practices. Their Irregular type-H Doctors are the best in the world, the type-I medicine are known for their effectiveness, etc.

The Faction I come from is the Library. It is a Major Faction due to one particular Irregular.

We have the C-9 as our pillar of support, and most of us only use this one Irregular.

All because of the C-9 characteristics effects. Turning everything to books.

This includes Irregulars.

Irregulars who turned into books still have their own characteristic. People can use books to harness the Irregular in them.

I gazed at the Grimoire. I had read so many Irregular books and the fact Reprint can produce a book I had read…

The possibilities are endless.

What I am worried about is the cost of the ritual.

It only said one sentence.

[Depend on the book].

Which is why I am going in the east wing first.

The smell of blood here was more prominent than any other place from the moment I opened the door.

Sure enough, there are tons of corpses in here.

“It should be enough for one Irregular book, right?”

But somehow, I am still worried they aren’t enough. The unspecified amount of ingredients really smelled like a trap that usually comes from the most dangerous Irregular I had encountered.

Nonetheless, I still bite the bullet and try it.

In my most profound part of my heart, I wanted to know if it is possible to have ‘That’ book back.

~~~~~

She spotted the man finished his ritual offering. All of the corpses she left behind in the east wing, or more precisely near him, are turned into red lights. Before it shines to the book the man holds.

Another book appears in his hand.

She could see him being frustrated about the result. After calming down, he placed his bag in a corner before leaving the east wing and into the courtyard with just the new book.

Kunti moved her incorporeal body to be hidden inside the rooftop.

Leaving only her head outside as she watches the familiar man walk to the west wing. Where the damn Bastards have placed a Demon Ward item that specifically blocks ghosts Demon like her.

“Rivan… There’s no doubt he is a Demon worshipper, too. The type that disregards their humanity from how casual he offered the corpses for a Demon book.”

Mumbling to herself, she is currently conflicted.

Her internal struggle stopped as she watched Rivan suddenly stop.

He looks up.

To the sky.

And laugh in pure happiness. It’s like a child who just got their first allowance and can’t wait to buy more candy with it.

Curious, she also looks up and sees the cloudy sky, slowly revealing the moonlight that was previously being hidden.

Besides that, the Stars are painting the night sky, creating abstract constellations for humans to admire.

There is nothing different than usual.

Gazing at Rivan in puzzlement, The laugh was so loud that the Demons in the west wing heard it and came out of their hiding. Although they are still in the ward item shield.

Right then, Rivan opened the new book.

The aura around Rivan changed.

As if he had just covered his own body with a layer of water, his clothes and skin started to melt, yet they still stuck to his own body.

“Huh? Is he a Demon race too?”

Ceasing his laugh, Rivan stride to the Demon with an eerie atmosphere.

His foot leaves trails of melting grass and soil.

When Rivan arrived at the ward shield, he just waved his hand, and the shield instantly melted. Seeing the hole that indicates opportunity, Kunti is excited, and the Demons start to panic.

Kunti moved from the rooftop and landed behind not far from Rivan. Unknown to her, another ghost takes her previous spot.