One-way traffic

"Those who possess the consciousness of a god even without a divine body... such identities are merely byproducts of that kind of power."

"The true essence of its power is..."

He stared intently at the last few words.

then.

He saw a vast world beyond infinity.

Neither black nor white.

That was pure gray chaos.

—The entire book shattered in that instant.

Chapter 455 The Demon Girl in the Great Library

—?!

This was a scene that even Accelerator himself had not anticipated.

The book in my hand, I had only just read the last few words when it met its utter annihilation.

Bang——! !

The entire book shattered in his hands like glass.

Without any reason, and without any warning, all of this happened.

"Get out!"

Patchouli, who was standing to the side, immediately showed a wary expression.

She swiftly raised her hand, and a purple, transparent magic circle floated there. In one breath, she pushed forward the magic circle that had been formed directly in front of her.

Snap—some invisible force was blocked.

It was as if an invisible gust of wind was blowing.

Just before the powerful gust of wind was about to strike Accelerator, a purple magic circle intercepted the force, and the shattered remains of the book scattered to the ground.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Before Patchouli herself could even react, the entire series of actions had already come to an end.

"...What happened? Did you plant explosives in this book?"

"Do I look like the kind of person who would do such a boring thing? Besides..."

Patchouli hastily withdrew her hand, then looked at the fragments in mid-air.

They floated down to the ground naturally, like flower petals.

"What exactly is the background of this book?"

"What kind of talk is that? You're the one who got it, aren't you? And now you're asking me, someone who knows nothing, a question like that."

Accelerator's string of words left Patchouli speechless.

She was indeed the first person to receive this book.

She had forgotten exactly when she got the book; it was probably a long, long time ago, perhaps even longer than the library itself was built.

However, so far, her understanding of the book has been very effective.

In this world, a magic book is a unique item containing all sorts of magic. To successfully read these magical books, one must possess a corresponding level of knowledge to decipher them.

Admittedly, even Patchouli, who possesses vast magical knowledge, can only decipher a portion of the contents of this grimoire.

No, in the end, is this book really a so-called magic book?

Unable to interfere further with the book, the Seven Luminaries mage sealed it away without hesitation, awaiting the day when she could successfully decipher it.

Upon seeing the white-haired human unleash those jet-black wings, the knowledge related to this book instinctively surfaced in her mind.

If it's him, he might be connected to this book that has always been difficult to decipher.

That's what she thought.

"But I never imagined that a book would explode on its own for no reason... No magic book to date has ever been so bizarre."

"I see. Then it doesn't matter anyway."

"Hey... what do you mean 'it doesn't matter'? The information you just read out is information that even I, a mage of the Seven Luminaries, can't decipher. You should at least have some self-awareness about the level of outcome, right?"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Accelerator clicked his tongue in displeasure and turned around abruptly.

These things had nothing to do with his own purpose. He had accompanied them all the way here, thinking he could find some useful value, but it turned out to be just this level of rubbish.

This is so boring.

"…ah?"

However, just as the first person was about to step out of the room...

His unintentional act of looking down allowed him to see what was on the floor.

In front.

The shattered pages of the books were pieced together on the ground.

Is this a coincidence or an inevitability?

In any case, the fragments of books that had fallen to the ground were neatly pieced together to form a very eye-catching pattern.

Sunlight streamed in through the semi-circular glass window overhead.

A ray of sunlight shone directly onto the floor in front of them.

The shattered pieces of paper pieced together to form a pair of tattered wings.

The wings look like they're shooting out; they're not just simple feathers. Their outer layer seems to be wrapped in some kind of unique shell.

In an instant, Accelerator couldn't help but think of it.

These tattered wings, and the black and white wings that he himself possessed.

Fusion —

Those words appeared in his mind.

"You suddenly stared blankly at the floor, are you still thinking about what just happened?"

"What…?"

Patchouli's words from behind brought him back to his senses.

He blinked, only to find that the floor was completely empty; there was nothing there.

It was as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

Patchouli looked at him with a somewhat surprised expression.

"You've been staring at the floor since just now, is that alright? Or are you still thinking about that book?"

"...It's nothing. Compared to that, have you seen any reddish-black creatures that look like monsters around here?"

"A reddish-black...creature? I think I've observed something like that not long ago..."

"You know anything about those guys?"

"No... it's just something I observed. The specific area is probably only not far from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Hmm... it might be that Youkai Mountain in the distance. Do you want to consider going to other places to take a look?"

"Tsk, what a waste of time."

Rather, this is the answer we should have expected.

Accelerator no longer believed that any trace of those monsters remained in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, since neither Patchouli nor Remilia seemed to know anything about them.

but.

"I'm more curious about something else than that."

Recalling what he had seen along the way, Accelerator looked at the girl again.

"Judging from the maid's reaction, there seem to be other things in the basement of this mansion, right?"

Just before she was about to answer his question, Accelerator clearly saw the subtle expression on her face.

There was a slight hesitation.

"No, there is no other place in this basement besides my library."

The mage girl in front of him responded with a very decisive tone.

But is that really all there is to it?

"Any other questions? If you're interested in other books in the library and want to browse them, I can lend them to you... but most of them are magic books, and with your knowledge level, I'm afraid you won't be able to read them successfully."

"I have no interest in reading your books. Since you don't have what I'm looking for here, there's no need for me to stay any longer."

"Like This."

The implication is that Accelerator no longer intends to remain in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Patchouli was not surprised at all.

"If you want to leave, just open the door and follow the existing route. But I advise you to hurry, as the layout of the bookshelves will be changed in about five minutes. If you are too late, you might get lost in my library."

"Aren't you planning to leave this place?"

"I'll be a little late. It's a rare opportunity for me to come here, so I'm going to review all the books I already have here."

After Patchouli finished speaking, she used magic to return to the second floor. Not minding the dirt, she sat down at the dusty desk and seemed to immerse herself in reading books.

What an eccentric guy.

Accelerator didn't pay much attention to any of this and casually opened the door.

"Ah, next time I come, I hope we can have a proper test of our strength."

"I have no intention of coming to this godforsaken place a second time."

Without mincing words, the first person slammed the iron gate shut.

Patchouli was the only one left in the room.

"...It's really hard to imagine."

The knowledge contained in her mind could be described as surging like a tidal wave.

Therefore, Patchouli was also very clear about the terrifying meaning of the pair of black wings that the other party possessed, in the context of mysticism.

Although she didn't know the source of that power, from her perspective alone, it was something extraordinary.

It's hard to imagine that someone with such an extraordinary status could still manage to influence books that even she struggles to understand, causing them to collapse in an instant.

Given these inhuman-scale behaviors, Patchouli finds it hard to imagine that such a being is just an ordinary human being.

Even the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine wasn't as outrageous as her.

"Judging from the strength he has shown before, he seems to be able to hold his own against all three members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion even if he were to fight them all by himself... If that's the case."

Patchouli seemed to have thought of something.

She also thought of the question Accelerator had asked her earlier.

Besides her library, are there any other rooms in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?

The answer, in fact, is the opposite of the one she gave to Yifangtongxing.

In the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, there are not only rooms different from the library, but also rooms that Izayoi Sakuya directly separated and processed using her abilities.

The reason for doing this was simply to completely isolate that room from the outside world.

That's right.

This action was taken because there was indeed an unimaginable danger inside that room.

There is indeed something else sealed beneath the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"However, if it were him, would he actually be able to solve the child's problem?"

In Patchouli's memory, the power possessed by that being far surpassed that of the Gym Leader, Remilia.

So, if Accelerator could easily defeat the combined forces of the three.