Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1545: The Demon’s Archive

An Excerpt from a historical document, [The Encyclopedia of a Thousand Secrets].

It's been said that the world is home to three great repositories of knowledge.

[The Earth Mother's Library].

[The Celestial Record Hall.]

[The Demon's Archive.]

The first is accessible to the public, technically, but it is under the protection of the Gaea Sect and their Aether Demigod Leader. Within its halls, one can find books pertaining to the natural history of the world and, some say, the histories of other worlds.

Mother Nature's roots run deep and into places where no mortal mind can comprehend.

The second is said to have been destroyed during a cataclysmic event known throughout the world as [The War of the Nine Heavens], but there are countless rumors floating around that the record hall is being hidden away by greater powers, or that it fell into the depths of a wandering ruin. In its halls, it's been said that one could find every aether art and formula conceived under heaven, as well as the means to create such powerful pieces of knowledge as easily as one could breathe.

Heaven sees all, so it knows all.

As for the last, the [Demon's Archive]...it's a contradiction. Many know much about its content, about how it is the place where all of the world's forbidden knowledge gathers, and how it is the place where all manners of secrets can be learned and shared with impunity, and it is known to be the place where one could conceivably find the books that are missing from the other two great repositories of knowledge. However, nobody can rightly explain where it is located nor how they knew they had been there.

But what is known is that the archive's owner always appear to be someone who is at the center of a historical maelstrom.

After all, it takes a demon defying what they consider to be heaven, to understand the wisdom of demons.

…

"Actually, a better question I have about this portion of the contract is this: how can you be so sure you'll be able to secure the ownership of the archive?" Alain asked in a serious manner.

Previous owners of the Demon's Archive had been slain in battle before; that was just the nature of the world. However, once the owner was slain, it didn't mean the victor was able to claim this elusive prize as easily as one may steal the coin purse off a dead merchant.

In multiple hidden historical records, it had been stated time and time again that the Demon's Archive would disappear like a mirage the moment its owner was slain in battle.

This phenomenon occurred so many times that many people started to believe that the Demon's Archive was simply a strange aether art or perhaps a formula that caused one's dominion to take the form of a massive library. However, the sheer number of records that suggested the archive was a real location was enough to dissuade most notions of the place being a mere illusion.

In other words, Alain had every single reason to doubt Madam Venus's claim that she and her cohorts would be able to secure the archive in the event of Zhen Liu's death.

"My benefactor had mentioned that he had once attempted to secure the archive when a previous owner fell by his hands," Alain explained the reason for his doubting behavior. "And he is someone who is more familiar with the library than, dare I say, the current owner himself. So I must ask, how do you intend to secure the archive for yourself?"

"Well, I suppose being skeptical of my claims is far healthier than having blind faith in my words," Madam Venus sighed, mildly impressed at the young warrior's astute observation. "To put it plainly, it's because I know the reason why everyone else fucked up in claiming the library for themselves."

"Now that's…a very bold claim."

Immediately, Alain thought Madam Venus was full of shit and was just taking the piss out of him. However, the sheer amount of confidence in the woman's voice got him to reconsider this knee-jerk evaluation. Besides, the fact that this woman was the first to approach him and make the offer of this alliance in the first place must've been indicative of something.

"Care to explain why you would think so?"

"The archive uses the power of [Chaos], random chance, in order to maintain its strange existence. My power has a way of making sure that those chances aren't so random. Simply put, [Fate] has a tendency of making sure things happen a certain way, and I can make sure that that particular way falls into my favor," Madam Venus answered with a smile.

"Ah…"

When Alain had been initially approached by Madam Venus, he had noticed that she had a scent to her that was similar in nature to his own [Chaos], but was entirely different at the same time.

It wasn't until Alain had noticed the strange edges on Venus's face that he learned that she wielded the power of [Fate].

"So, what? You're going to use [Fate] to have the library appear in a location of your choosing?" Alain guessed. "Or are you going to use your ability to steal the man's face?"

"I had considered it, but I don't like wearing the faces of men," Madam Venus sighed. "They just don't feel right no matter whose face I wear."

"Fair enough. So it's the latter?"

"In a sense…but I can't share much else without spoiling the surprise now can I?"

"Of course…"

Understanding that he wasn't going to get a clear answer this day, Alain decided right there and then to just go along with this crazy contract. After all, if it came to blows, he was fairly certain he could easily overpower Madem Venus and force the Shadow Garden to honor their own deal.

"Well, now that that is out of the way, I suppose our business is done here," Alain concluded as he began to make moves to leave the room.

"Not quite," Madam Venus stated as she motioned for Alain to sit back down. "As a token of our newly minted friendship, the Shadow Garden wishes to present two items of interest. One for your organization as a whole, the other a more...personal item."

"Oh?"

Without moving from her seat, Madam Venus reached into her pockets and pulled forth an ornate jade bracelet. As Alain swept his senses over it, he could immediately tell that it was a spatial storage band.

A high quality one at that.

"Inside this band is a collection of aether medicines and treasures that we believe will be of great interest to your allies. Not only that, but it contains over a million gold pieces," Madam Venus explained as Alain held the band in his hands. "This should be enough to grease the wheels for the time being, yes?"

"Yes, it is," Alain nodded, a small flash of greed appearing in his eyes before disappearing just as quickly once he remembered another little detail. "You said that you also had a second present of a more personal nature?"

"Indeed," Madam Venus agreed before snapping with a pair of [Fate]-enhanced fingers.

As the sound echoed in the small chamber, a servant with a box appeared out of nowhere and placed it upon the table between the two warriors before disappearing just a quickly.

The moment this box appeared, Alain felt his grafted wings suddenly becoming restless.

Very restless.

"You know, ever since I learned about, well, confirmed the existence of the Kaijin and the Kaijin Lord, I have decided to see if there was any history between these beings, myself, and my parent organization," Madam Venus began to explain herself. "In regards to myself, I found very little. But in regards to the Shadow Garden, we found that we had secured an artifact that was initially deemed worthless...until now."

Madam Venus signalled for Alain to open the box.

"What the..."

The moment he did, he suddenly felt his grafted wings become a touch more energetic.

Inside of the box he found a golden face mask, the kind used by the dead and by holy men. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Centuries ago, a warlord known as the Devout Heretic fought back and ultimately destroyed the Omniarii Empire, levelling their capital to the ground and scattering the remnants to the four winds," Madam Venus explained. "But he didn't do so alone. In order to effectively fight the Omniarii, he united the organizations he basked in the light and hid in the shadows and turned them into a mighty army. Once the battle was won, and he had ultimately perished, he passed on his inheritance to his closest allies. The former leader of the Shadow Garden, was one such individual. That mask, is what was left to him."

"I see..."

Alain had only been half listening, because the golden mask before him was so concentrated with [Chaos] that he could barely pay attention other than it.

Then again, it probably didn't help that he began to hear a voice in his ears the moment he saw the mask.

[Mas...ter...]