Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

Even... some buildings had their lights off, and human fingerprints were left on the windows.

"...Is it that serious here?" Nian Zhuo looked around in silence. In some of the buildings, he could even smell the stench of death.

"—Yes, this is the current state of the city ravaged by demonic mist. Even if someone dies inside, they won't make a sound." Mordred looked at the dimly lit buildings around him, shook his head, and quickened his pace. "Forget it, let's not look at this anymore. Let's hurry up and leave." With that, he quickly walked away from this lifeless place.

The street gradually narrowed again, and the group walked through the narrow street.

Finally, Mordred suddenly stopped in front of a building.

“This is it.” Mordred looked at the low-lying house in front of her. “The old bookstore that Jekyll mentioned is right here.”

“But—” Then, Mashu suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked at the windows of the house—there was no light.

"Eh~ Are we late again?!" Ritsuka shook her head in disappointment, walked up and knocked on the door. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

The heavy wooden door creaked, but no one inside the building answered.

"Never mind." Nian Zhuo grasped the doorknob, turned it, and found that the door was not locked. "Anyway, let's go in and take a look."

With a creak, the heavy wooden door was pulled open. They barged into the dark study.

The first thing you see is a tall bookcase filled with all kinds of books.

As Jekyll said, they are all old books... at least from the time of the First Industrial Revolution, not a single one can be found here.

"The Little Mermaid," "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Black Swan"... Nian Zhuo even saw books from before Christ, such as "The Iliad" and "The Homeric Epic."

However, the room was still almost completely dark, and no one could be seen at all.

"...No!" Suddenly, Nian Zhuo stepped forward and stopped Mordred. "There's someone here!"

Sure enough, just as Nian Zhuo finished speaking, a heavy thud was heard right in front of them.

A small figure walked out.

"..." Everyone held their breath as Mordred silently placed the blade in his hand.

"Too slow!" Suddenly, a candle lit up in front of him, and a small figure appeared in front of Nian Zhuo, pointing at him with his index finger. "Thanks to you guys, I've finished reading almost twenty books from a series of novels that I didn't even want to read!"

Appearing before Nianzhuo and the others was a boy with blue hair, holding a quill pen.

...But for some reason, listening to his voice, Nian Zhuo always had the feeling that this guy was a Stand user.

"Who is it...?" Ritsuka stepped forward and looked at the boyish figure in front of her, even reaching out to pat the boy's head. "A child...?"

“Fu…?” Even Fu Fu suddenly appeared out of nowhere, sizing up the boy in front of her.

However, the boy did not answer Ritsuka's question, but turned around and walked to a wide desk.

"Are you the rescue team Henry Jekyll mentioned?" Upon seeing Mordred, the boy nodded, his small hands rummaging through the table. "Well then, without further ado, let me tell you about the situation here."

"Huh?" Although the other person clearly recognized Mordred, Mordred didn't know him at all. Mordred looked at the blue-haired boy in front of her with some surprise. "What, the so-called liaison is just a little brat?"

“He is indeed a young man.” Mashu, standing in the middle of the group, finally saw the liaison officer and bowed confidently. “Is he someone from this used bookstore? The owner’s son, or… grandson or something like that. That should be it, right?” With that, she stepped forward and bent down to look at the blue-haired boy in front of her.

"You're the one who contacted Mr. Jekyll and asked us for help, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Although she didn't know why, she could sense that the boy in front of her was a little flustered, but he quickly returned to normal. "After all, the situation doesn't allow me to explain too much, so just take it as it is for now."

"Eh~" Mordred rarely looked at the boy in front of him, his eyes showing curiosity.

The boy who suddenly appeared... his voice sounds a bit like... Dio?

"I think... your voice is quite nice." Mordred scratched her golden hair, set the sword aside, and looked the boy in front of her up and down. "Are you going through puberty?"

"Hmm." The boy nodded, but judging from the upturned corners of his mouth, he was still pleased with Mordred's praise. "I once aspired to enter the theater world. It's so shameful! There's nothing more shameful than a life with shattered dreams!" For some reason, the boy suddenly patted the heavy book in his hands in a self-deprecating manner, but quickly returned to his original state.

"Never mind, let's talk about my beautiful voice later." Turning around, the boy walked to the other side of the table, but his voice still came clearly. "You might get tired of hearing it in the future." He picked up a thick stack of yellowed papers that was on the table to the side.

"Let's talk about what happened here first." The boy pointed to the ground. "The old owner of this bookstore has been attacked by a demonic book." He pointed to the darker side inside, where an old man was lying peacefully, and clicked his tongue in obvious displeasure.

"This is the case in nearly half of SoHo. Everyone is in a perpetual slumber, living in harmony in their dreams."

"Eh...do you know where the magic book is?" Marie's voice came from Mashu's communicator. Looking at the flashing dots on the screen in front of her, she raised her eyebrows with some suspicion. "By the way, why weren't you attacked?"

"Huh? Are you an idiot?" The boy looked at me like I was stupid and waved his hand dismissively. "Not only does your voice sound a bit silly, but your thinking isn't quite right either? -- That must be because I ran away, right?"

“Eh…ah…” Clearly, Mary was shocked by the boy’s sharp tongue. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that the boy wasn’t wrong. She turned away awkwardly and said, “You’re right…hahaha…yes…” Then she quietly switched the channel to Nianzhuo’s earpiece and made a sound like she was about to cry.

“Mary… you don’t have to be so hurt by what a child said.” Nian Zhuo looked at the blue-haired boy in front of him and said softly in a comforting tone, “Many children that age are actually quite direct in their speech.”

"Oh...right, you also asked where the magic book is, right?" The boy realized that Mary had asked another question, and he leaned to the side, holding up his index finger. "It's right here."

"Huh?!" Mordred instantly grabbed the sword and held it in his hand, looking at the boy in front of him.

"Huh?" Even Mashu was startled by the boy's words and raised her shield.

“That guy is on the second floor of this antiquarian bookstore…” Pointing to the stairs, the boy walked there first, and even turned to Nianzhuo and the others to say, “That means he’s still in this building, on that floor, in the study next door on the second floor.”

"Haha. What's going on!" Mordred raised his sword, leaped to the second floor, looked around, and pointed to a small room next to the huge bookshelf. "It's actually here. It's right there." He pointed to the wooden door and said to the boy.

"…………!" At the same time, as if sensing something, Mash suddenly stood in front of Ritsuka.

Upon reaching the second floor, the surrounding air suddenly changed.

It was filled with magic, and the source of that magic was in the room Mordred had pointed to.

“Senior, fighting indoors is dangerous.” Mash looked at the tall bookshelves around them, some even taller than her shield. “We should avoid fighting in narrow, enclosed spaces as much as possible.” Sensing the magic power of the spellbook gradually increasing as it also sensed them, Mash shielded the boy and Ritsuka behind her.

"The effects of the battle may extend to that boy and to you, senior."

“In that case…” Looking at the rows of bookshelves around her, Ritsuka noticed the still-open wooden door. “In that case, let’s lure it out to a wider area to fight!”

"Don't worry." Suddenly, Ryotaro and Urataros stood in front of Ritsuka and waved to Mash. "You can go fight without worry. We'll take care of Ritsuka and the others' safety."

“…Okay.” Mashu nodded, looking at Nianzhuo and Mordred who were ready for battle. “Then Mordred, and Mr. Nianzhuo—we’ll take it down!”

"Alright!" Mordred nodded, his sword cleaving through the wooden door in front of him. "Let's finish this quickly!"

With a loud bang, the wooden door shattered in two, and an even stronger stream of magic flowed from inside, blowing Mordred and Mash's hair around.

For this very reason, they all saw the true form of the magic book.

As Jekyll said, it is a very large book, and judging by its size, it should be about the height of an adult.

What was most surprising was that the book would occasionally turn its pages on its own, and the book was surrounded by magical incantations that Nian Zhuo would find troublesome at a glance.

"What on earth is this thing?!" Nian Zhuo had never seen such a monster before and was slightly surprised, but he still pulled the trigger on the magic book with the Time Gun Sword in his hand.

Purple energy bullets poured out from the muzzle of the gun, flying densely in the small space towards the magic book whose pages were turning rapidly.

A humming sound filled the air, and a mournful cry echoed around the enormous magic book.

The runes that Ling Nianzhuo could not understand surrounded the magic book, blocking the purple energy blasts around it.

With a screeching sound, the bullet scraped against the runic barrier—and was eventually deflected, flying towards the surrounding bookshelves.

Boom boom boom boom—explosions rang out one after another. Purple bullets grazed around the magic book and struck the towering bookshelf, instantly forming several fireballs.

"Oh no...!" Nian Zhuo couldn't help but be stunned, then covered his mouth as if he had committed a terrible disaster. "Oh no, oh no, how much are these books worth...?"

However, now is not the time to worry about that.

The bookshelves, scorched and impacted by the fireball, shook and then collapsed layer by layer like toppled dominoes.

Shattered pages and scorched sparks flew wildly in the cramped study.

"Oh no... my vision is blocked—" Nian Zhuo couldn't help but cover his face. Although the fluttering pages and the overturned cabinets around him were all his own handiwork, the shadow of the magic book was now hidden among the scattered papers, making it impossible for Nian Zhuo to recognize it.

"Bang—" A crisp cracking sound came from the shattering of the cover of the dim yellow kerosene lamp on the bookshelf. Sparks fell onto the pages, igniting small flames.

Then, flames ignited the pages of the book, and thick smoke filled the small room.

"——————!" A piercing scraping sound assaulted Nian Zhuo and the others' eardrums. From the smoke-filled inner room, the mysterious runes around the magic book were the first to appear.

"What does it want to do—!" Nian Zhuo saw that the gun form could not harm the monster, so he twirled the Time Gun Sword in his hand.

When Nianzhuo grasped it in his hand again, the bright silver blade had already sprung out, and Nianzhuo got into a fighting stance to deal with the attack from the demonic book.

"Buzz—" At the same time, magical light flickered on the magic book, and it opened its body. Blue words gradually appeared on the originally empty pages using magic.

"That's... a spell?!" Mordred was quite surprised and quickly pulled Mash, who was closest to him, back away. "I've never heard of a book that can chant spells on its own!"

"..." However, although the blue runes on the magic book carried extremely high magical power, they gave Nian Zhuo the feeling of dark clouds about to bring a torrential downpour—grand but not very powerful.

Sure enough, after the magic power was fully gathered, a blue pillar of magic shot straight up from the pages of the magic book to the roof, unfolding a massive spell.

The warm yet slightly cool raindrops fell on Nianzhuo's armor, running down the seams.

The flames emitted intense white steam in the rain before gradually dissipating.

And so, what could have been a devastating fire for the study was easily stopped by the magic of the magic book. Although many pages were wet from the rain, judging by the degree of dampness, it was still possible to save the room.

"—" Watching all this, Nian Zhuo slowly lowered the sword.

But instead of stopping, they prepared to slip towards the wooden door behind them.

This time, purple runes appeared on the open, blank pages of the book, and sparks of electricity flickered around the magic book.

This time, the feeling was completely different. Although it didn't have the same magical impact as the magic trick that rained down, it gave Nian Zhuo a sense of danger.

"—Zzzzz." In an instant, lightning flashed, and the enormous figure of the demonic book smashed through the bookshelf that was pressing down on it, rushing towards Nian Zhuo with purple lightning.

Moreover, the air still held the dampness of the rain, and with the help of these droplets, the purple lightning on the magic book linked together to form a net-like shape.

"—!" Startled by the scene, Nian Zhuo was fortunate to have been prepared. He immediately turned around and ran wildly out of the study, preparing to close the heavy wooden door behind him.

"Boom—" The sound of lightning and the magic book hitting the wooden door came, and the crackling sound of the electric shock hurt Nian Zhuo's ears. Immediately afterward, wood chips flew past Nian Zhuo at an even faster speed.

"Holy crap—!" Unable to contain himself, Nian Zhuo sped up, vaulted over the second-floor railing, and jumped onto the first-floor table. "He actually smashed that wooden door to pieces!?"

It seems that the quality of the demonic book also exceeded Nian Zhuo's expectations, and it is now rushing towards Nian Zhuo with flashing purple lightning.

As soon as he landed on the table, ignoring the books and reports scattered around him by his impact, Nian Zhuo silently apologized to the old man who was fast asleep beside him before rushing out the door.

The sound of electricity and cracking came from behind again. Just like Nian Zhuo, the Demon Book smashed through the second-floor railing and fell down. Then, it rushed towards Nian Zhuo at the same speed.

"Holy crap! What on earth is this thing?!" Nian Zhuo turned around and looked at the demonic book that seemed so close, and his steps quickened slightly.

The sound of pages turning came again in Nian Zhuo's ears. Behind him, the demon book opened, and bright red characters began to appear on the pages that originally had purple characters.

The flames gathered around the magic book, gradually turning into a small fireball.

"—!" Sensing the gathering of magic power behind him, Nian Zhuo turned his head and saw the several fireballs. He couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Wait until I get out of here, you'll be sorry! Remember that!" The bright silver figure stepped towards the only bright door in front of him.

"Ding—" The magic power was fully gathered, and several fireballs, carrying scorching air currents, rushed towards the fleeing Nian Zhuo.