First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 152
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Kurokiri POV)
During the daytime, I would willingly dispatch the monsters that assailed me, stripped and devoured the flesh of those I defeated, constructed weapons and armor from the leftover materials, and at night, I would sleep with my barrier in place to elude the eyes of my foes.
The necessity to have a proper meal and sleep was a drawback since I must ward off the meddling of the God of Calamity, but I had been maintaining this lifestyle for a few years, so I didn’t experience any particular problems.
“How should I put it, this is like back to a fairly human lifestyle huh.”
This thought came to me out of nowhere.
However, it had been decades since I was a human being, and to be honest, I didn’t recall much from those times.
And as I continued down the road, a different scenery abruptly unfolded in front of me.
“What… is this?”
Before me, the fantastical atmosphere of the previous scene had changed drastically, replaced by a wall-like scene of piles of books, and even the faintly visible original wall had been altered to a metal structure that was clearly artificial.
Among them, I picked up a book and took a look at the cover.
The title was “Yaharai Houki”.
“Hmm? Houki?”
Since such an unusual last and first name was unlikely to be found in the first place, I assumed it must be about the Houki I knew.
I continued to take a look at the contents. However, there was no way to know what kind of trap was set, therefore, I will be on the alert by activating multiple layers of barriers and detection magic in tandem.
Birth at 12:35:57 on ? day ? month, 19XX year.
On the same day, XX times cries were raised…
I carefully read through the contents of the book.
Acquisition of skill. The name of the acquired skill is ?Mana Trace?.
On the same day, in response to the “White Mist and Black Swamp Forest” that was released…
Although I didn’t think they were true, I discreetly cross-checked the contents of the book with my own memories.
An encounter with the “King of the Devouring Black Mist”. On the spot, she was reborn as a “Kirijin” a kin of the “King of the Devouring Black Mist”.
Skill ?Mist Cloak? was acquired.
With certain speculation, I read further.
She traveled to the continent with Nasu Ryo, the “Kirijin”…
After reading the whole thing, there was no doubt who is this referring to. After all,
The “God of Calamity” Licorice = ????? exercised ?Disaster Curse? and she was reincarnated from the “Kirijin” to the “Beast of Disaster”.
With the cooperation of Ichiko, the “Blade Princess of the Undefined Sword,” and Nasu Ryo, the “Kirijin,” she was repelled and killed by the Outer Skill of Ichiko, the “Blade Princess of the Undefined Sword,” Senkiri-kaishaku.
After her death, her corpse was brought back to “White Mist and Black Swamp Forest,” cremated, and her remains were placed in a tomb.
A portion of her remains was taken out of the tomb by the “King of the Devouring Black Mist”.
The remains were analyzed by the “Eye of Law Analysis” and the “King of the Devouring Black Mist” analyzed the residue of the ?Disaster Curse?.
This information was supposed to be known only to me. It even described the fact that I took out the remains of Houki and studied them.
But just to be on the safe side, I took out a few more books and read them.
And what I read proved to be enough to reinforce my view.
“There is no denying it. This is a chronicle of each and every individual who has passed away. And it includes information about what happened after their death.”
Even though it was limited to the dead, it was a pile of books that contained each person’s whole life narrative. This must be akin to the legend that Yama of Hell exposed all of a person’s sins in life through the Johari no Kagami[i].
The Akashic Records, which was a higher-level version of the Johari no Kagami, was said to hold everything from the beginning to the end of this world.
“Whatever it is, this is a hell of information.”
Right now I had multiple barriers that limit the amount of information that can enter my head. Despite the fact that the text may be similar to the preceding one, it should contain the exact time, the emotions the person was feeling at the time of their lives, and all the physical information. If I concentrated, I can feel that much power drifting from each book.
“Hmm? What’s this book?”
Putting the book back in my hand, I began to walk deeper into this place.
However, before I can do so, I noticed a book that piqued my interest.
The title of the book is “Koko? I x?”.
For some reason, the book was a garbled mess.
Although I tried to briefly read the contents of the book, the contents were so jumbled and fragmented that it was not very comprehensible.
However, I could read one strange sentence.
Through Hisano Ichiko’s power, a “Kirijin”, she was reborn as a “Kirijin” by ?Monster Create? of “King of the Devouring Black Mist,” which was exercised through ?The Lord Will Exercise His Power in My Path?. However, due to a time lag at the time of activation, the reincarnation did not take place in time and she died.
0.00001 seconds after her death, she was resurrected by “???” ????=??????. At the same time, “???” ????=?????? became the terminal, and special disorderly numbers were inserted into the destiny, spirit, and soul. With that… KuaZxcvFeRgtNhy
While I was unable to read the following line, I can only conceive of one existence that corresponded to this assertion. Yet, at the same time, I found it inconceivable. If this assertion was correct, then something other than myself was interfering at that time. On top of that, that “something” could be performing something greater than the God of Calamity.
“I don’t have time to dwell on something so inconclusive right now.”
I lifted my gaze from the book and braced myself for the approaching presence.
“Hello. It’s been a long time.”
I called out to the approaching figure from the back.
“Oh. You can already notice me from this distance?”
From the back of the place… the God of Calamity emerged from the darkness.
“What does distance matter to you and me right now? Shall we commence our fight here?”
“No, there’s a stage I’ve made for you just up ahead. Let’s do it there.”
The God of Calamity turned away from me and walked to the far corner of this place. Instead of obediently following her… I landed a kick on the back of her head, shredding the God of Calamity’s head into a thousand pieces with one single stroke.
“You think I’m going to meekly listen to you who came here with the figure of a puppet?”
The God of Calamity’s doll continued to stride along as if nothing has occurred, her head hitting a nearby wall which stopped her from moving, but she opened her mouth nonchalantly.
“You will come. You have no choice but to come to where I am since I am your purpose.”
With that, her body disappeared into the depths and her head stopped moving and returned to the ground.
Apparently, there was only one path I can choose.
“Well, fine. I’ve got some more questions I want to ask you. Let me ask you all of them.”
And I headed for the rear.
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T/N:
[i] A mirror found in hell in Yama’s chamber that allows people to see their good and bad deeds