Ultimate Antihero

After going through and past many narrow alleys and corners.

At far deep, inside where even the hustle and bustle of the main street couldn’t be heard anymore.

At a dead-end buried inside a multi-tenant building, there was the door of that antiquarian bookshop.

When the rusted door was opened, the peculiar moldy smell released by old books pierced the nose.

But, the young boy didn’t even stop to pay attention and entered inside the shop.

And then he went past the book shelves lined with old books with moldy smell.

There, a dark-skinned youth staring at a paperback book with a bored look was beside an antiquated looking register.

Perhaps sensing a human’s presence, the youth directed his sleepy gaze at the young boy―

Immediately, the youth expressed a wide smile.

{Hey! We meet again. Boy!}

Throwing away the paperback book he held, the youth kicked away his chair and stood up to welcome the boy.

He looked happy as if reuniting with a friend after ten years.

{To come here means that you have made your resolve I wonder?}

Against the youth’s question, the boy just stayed quiet and only returned a nod.

The youth’s eyes sparkled from that gesture, his mouth slackened slovenly.

Yet, ―perhaps from thinking of something, the youth’s mouth closed back, he cleared his throat *kohon* once.

Suddenly making a serious expression, the youth further piled up more questions.

No, rather than calling it questions, it was a warning.

{But, is it really alright? If you receive that, you won’t be able to go back you know. Just like the tens of thousands of people until now without even a single exception among them, you will get devoured by that book’s knowledge and become a cripple.

No―

Even if you manage to decipher it, what is waiting ahead is a solitude that is even colder than death.

The person who reveals all knowledge of this book will surely obtain the means to control even G.o.d at will.

Those are words that I once said to all of you humanity, but… this is the truth.

If you reveal everything of this book, you will truly obtain the power that can subdue even G.o.d.

An overwhelming power to the degree that no enemy or ally, not a single person will be able to match.

But… such power is too much to be possessed by an [individual].

[Society] undoubtedly wouldn’t permit such [individual].

They would certainly move to ostracize that individual.

Whether now or in the past, heros can die as heros only when he died in a battle.

Hm? You asked why I understand that kind of matter?

Of course I understand. After all I have observed all of you for several centuries.

No matter how much you ground your body into dust fighting the demons for the sake of humanity, no matter how much blood dyes your body, there will be no one that would look back at you. There is no blessing at the end where you are going. What will wait for you is only rejection and persecution. Even so, will you still seek the power of this book I wonder?}

However, the young boy returned a nod even towards that warning.

In his eyes, a strong will resided.

{No hesitation huh.}

That was only natural. There was no reason for the young boy to hesitate.

His father died being split apart from top to bottom.

His mother died from her body being twisted.

His younger sister was eaten alive.

While all that happened, the young boy could do nothing but watch.

Because he had no power, he could do nothing except letting everything goet stolen from him.

―Things like that already happened a lot. His weakness was a lot.

He wanted power. Power in order to fight, power in order to protect.

He didn’t need any blessing.

It was fine even if he couldn’t become a hero that everyone would praise.

If he could just save even a single person more from this irrational plundering that happened to him―

If that could come true―

Then he wouldn’t mind even if the world would reject him.

…A voice filled with dense and heavy determination like an unshakeable giant tree.

The face of the youth who listened toward that boy’s reply, broke out into a grin from being unable to endure himself anymore.

{…Not a vengeful heart towards demons, not even selfish desire, there is not even a family that you want to protect.

Just purely, for the sake of complete strangers you seek the knowledge of darkness, is that it….

Fufu. Perhaps this is the first time. A human that sought for that kind of reason.

It’s truly n.o.ble, so helplessly foolish… so adorably interesting.

It seems that my choice which selected you was not mistaken!}

After saying that, the youth snapped his finger.

Thereupon from the darkness that had precipitated between the bookshelf, a girl showed her figure.

But, it was only for an instant that thing was taking the appearance of a girl.

Suddenly, a gale was blowing inside the dusty and smelly shop, the girl’s body was turning and breaking down into scattered pieces of paper.

And then the broken down pieces of paper were swallowed up by the wind and flew around the shop, before long it gathered into the right hand of the youth becoming a single book.

The youth handed over that book to the boy―

{Welcome to the world of mythos.

If it’s you then you might show a little bit better dream than now.

You who have been shown the ugliness of the humans that you tried to protect, what kind of decision will you make.

I’m waiting in antic.i.p.ation you know. ―O the future Grand Master(Grand Magician)-dono.}

He blessed the young boy who was heading to his own destruction, the future of Kamishiro Homura right from his heart. (TN: It’s not specified at all who or what is doing the blessing here.)

While floating a smile that was like the crescent moon cutting into the darkness of night, under the burning three eyes.