The Celestial Library...
Also known as the primordial realm where all ancient knowledge had existed since the days of yore. It was said to be located at the center in the Cosmic Domain.
With every moment that the world existed, new books are added to this Celestial library. It marked the continuation of the universe, recording the events of all the world’s activities and the totality of its history.
Historians were those who could access this Library and extract meaningful resources from it in the form of Historical Projections using corresponding knowledge.
These was the basic understanding that any Historian, even a Squire, could recite by heart.
’So why...?’
Lazarus felt his mind reel when he stared into the vast white and gold room filled with several floors, with spiraling stairs that led to the higher layers which seemed to spread until infinity. Many bookshelves occupied this space, to the point where they were innumerable.
However, the number of books within them...
... Was abysmally small.
There were only two of them in the whole library.
Lazarus was confident in this number, because a massive board floated above the ground floor of the Library, and not only did it identify that this was the lowest floor, it also showed the total number of books on this floor and the total number in the entire library.
There were... only two.
’How is this possible? The Celestial Library contains infinite knowledge. Now that I am inside, I should be able to witness it in all of its glory...’
Lazarus shuddered, feeling his entire worldview almost crumbling before his eyes.
He hesitated for the first time.
However, he eventually found the courage to take the corresponding steps forward. He cautiously approached the bookshelves containing the two books.
They were opposite each other.
Lazarus fought back his shaky breaths and looked at the two books.
One book was as flat as a piece of parchment, while the other was rather thick—almost like an encyclopedia. They were both books, but their size and layers of sophistication were like night and day.
The thick book was cased in a black hard cover with intricate gold trims around its edges. It was seemingly made with high quality, but aged leather.
It felt pleasant to the touch and seemed ancient.
Lazarus felt a strong attraction to this book, compared to the second one.
That one looked rather ordinary, with an ordinary dull brown luster, made with cheap and relatively new materials. It didn’t have any design whatsoever, and it looked completely ordinary to the eyes.
Unable to quell his curiosity any longer, Lazarus opened the most astounding book first.
There, he saw it—
... Born on October 21st 3,890 in the Sixth Aeon...
... Achieved Sub-Integration of 6 during the Ceremony overseen by...
... Was officially appointed as a Squire on...
... Graduated from the Academy...
... Entered his first Fable...
... Defeated his first Nameless Entity...
... Lost his best friend to corruption...
... Had Lovia perish in his arms after failing to save her from the Chaos...
... Became a Legendary Historian...
... Died after failing to witness the end of the battle against the Nameless Apocalypse, The Supreme Desecrator of Heaven and Earth.
—His past!
Lazarus shuddered as he took a few steps backwards, almost stumbling and falling as all the information entered his mind, and rushed back into the book.
It seemed like he had relived his entire life in an instant, taking in all of the details.
’My whole life... all the knowledge I ever accrued... was contained in a single book.’ Lazarus almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, but his expression quickly grew solemn. After re-experiencing his life, he quickly understood a few things.
’The Nameless are not known to the Celestial Library. They can only be called what we have chosen to name them. In essence, The Supreme Desecrator of Heaven and Earth that nearly destroyed all of humanity, was only recognized as such because we gave it that title... and because we eventually vanquished it.’
If a Nameless was not vanquished by a Historian, it would forever remain unknown.
If it succeeded in its goals, then all corresponding information about it would vanish, causing it to be nonexistent in the minds of all.
This was the most dangerous kind of Nameless.
’Fortunately, even though it came at a steep cost, we were able to prevent such a calamity.’
As Lazarus sighed, he glanced at the other book.
He already had a proper guess on what it would be about.
’My reincarnated self. In essence, this body that I now reside in...’ He smiled wryly, picking up the rather thin book after dropping his own on its corresponding shelf.
’Let’s see... who I am in this life.’
As Lazarus opened the book, he was met with a brief but also mind-numbing sensation of reliving an entire life in an instant.
There, he saw the life of this stranger, whose body he now occupied.
He witnessed his start, up until the present.
The story went like this:
The boy, also called Lazarus, was born from the union of two Historians who were, at the time, Scholars. They fought against the corruption from the unknown, defending the world from the Nameless that lurked in the dark and hid in the shadows.
Lazarus grew up adoring his parents, wishing he could become a Historian like them.
His desire only grew when his mother miraculously advanced to Adept Rank, making her a leader capable of leading an expedition into corrupted Fables. She, alongside his father, went to one of these corrupted Fables, thinking it would host a relatively strong Nameless.
However, what they found was unexpected.
They encountered a Sin!
A Sin existed in the fifth rank! There was no way an expedition team led by someone of the third rank could ever succeed against such an entity, even if it was only a vestige that had latched onto the Fable.
Their exploration woke it from its slumber, and it ended up devouring all of them.
Naturally, they called for backup. But by the time the Historians arrived, the group had already been killed. Although they ended up exterminating the Sin’s vestige... Lazarus had lost both of his parents on the same day.
Lazarus swore to avenge his parents by finding the Sin that left its vestige in such a Mundane Fable, causing the death of his loving parents.
Historians would later refer to that Sin as The Crimson Bride of Lust.
Years later, the moment he turned 18 years old and came of age, he registered as an Aspirant and was determined to carry on the legacy of his parents—become a Historian and protect the innocent, while also seeking revenge on the root cause of his suffering.
’It’s too bad...’ Lazarus sighed as he completed the summary in his mind. ’You somehow died and I took over your body. Your Mind’s World is mine now, and I don’t know how to reverse this phenomenon. No... I don’t even know how it happened.’
There were still many unresolved mysteries in the former legend’s mind.
He was very lost in the current situation.
However, he didn’t allowed himself to despair or give much room for ignorance. Instead, he quickly tempered his will and steeled his resolve to learn the truth behind everything.
’As for the circumstances behind your parent’s death... It is rather odd, but not impossible.’
Lazarus knew what vestiges were and how troublesome they could be.
Fables were the favorite hiding places of the Nameless.
However, one couldn’t access a Fable without its corresponding Gateway.
But Gateways had their limits, thus powerful Nameless could never dwell in a weaker Fable.
Not unless they sent in a vestige.
This vestige would only be a part of them, and would slowly corrupt the Fable from within. It was a rare occurrence, since higher-ranked Nameless would often prefer to go for more important Fables, but such an incident was not without precedent.
Still... there was usually an underlying logic that made such a thing reasonable.
’Mundane Fables are the weakest and most irrelevant Fables. They can be accessed by Ordinary Gateways. Why would a Nameless Sin, in Rank 5, send a vestige there? If it were a Nameless Corruption, I would still understand. And if the Fable was higher than Mundane, maybe at the level of a Special Fable, it would make some sense...’ At this point, Lazarus felt an itch in his mind that told him something wasn’t right.
’As a last favor to you for being a vessel for my revival, I will get to the bottom of this and find a way to avenge your parents.’ He thought solemnly before returning the book to its shelf. ’But that might have to wait, since I currently don’t have the necessary means to do so.’
Based on what Lazarus knew, he had been assimilated into the Celestial Library.
As long as he had his past life’s knowledge, this was inevitable.
’My body simply cannot handle it...’ He deeply sighed, while walking away from the bookshelf and into the front of the library. There, he conjured a majestic chair which he sat on. Afterwards, he summoned an elegant, polished table.
"Whew..." Resting his two elbows on the desk, he cupped his face and exhaled.
Lazarus had long figured out the mechanics of this vast room, and he also suspected what it really was. This place... was not the true Celestial Library.
Rather, it was his own domain within it.
Everything in this vast space belonged to him; almost as though it were a projection of his Mind’s World. All his corresponding memories—both from his past life and his present—were available to him, but not much else.
This simply meant that the realm he occupied was a personalized one.
Thus, he could control everything inside it.
Lazarus conjured a piece of paper, as well as a pen, and began to write out his thoughts, hoping to fill up the Library while he considered a way out of his predicament.
He had only written a few lines when he had a sudden thought.
’What if—?!’