Just like before, it was yet another victory for the librarian, a victory with no escapees. With the calmness of the library returning once more, he could finally recover and catch his breath, even if it was only for a single moment. Leaning against a desk, he delicately placed his head on top of it, feeling the cold surface of the furniture. However, a silent threat loomed above his head, reminding him that the witch was still roaming around, probably searching for her vengeance.

Y/N: ...

In his hands, his prize proving his efforts to combat the lunatic jester was resting there. It was a mere torch with its flame remaining constant, torch capable of turning someone into a monster by breaking their mind. Now in possession of it, he made sure to not avert his eyes to it and watched the girl accompanying him enter the small space between a dozen of bookshelves.

Koishi: Are you alright mister Y/N?

Y/N: Been through worse.

His answer was simple and effective, completely out of it after a fight that challenged both his physical endurance but also his mental health. When is exhaustion was added to the top of everything, the result was right in front of Koishi.

Y/N: This thing must be really powerful to affect people's mind so easily.

Koishi: Must be, I don't really know myself.

She sat down beside him, still holding the book bearing his name thightly around her body, fearing that it might disappear like the man in front of her eyes. Time was running out for both of them and they both knew it, one of them not accepting this outcome unlike the second person.

If they waited for too long, Y/N's future executioner will arrive and they will not spare a single second, taking their revenge for eliminating the shrine maiden, the biggest sin he could have committed in this place. Of course, he knew that it would happen someday and he was willing to let himself disappear in case his plan failed.

...if it failed, then he would have no reason to live anymore. Truly a perfect ending for both the residents of Gensokyo and the forsaken librarians.

Koishi: You did say that all we needed were souls... do we have enough now?

She asked him with interest, wondering if they were finally done. The man behind this plan remained silent for a moment before glancing back at her. There was neither confirmation nor denial within them.

Y/N: We would need an incredible source of power coming from souls but... we haven't seen something like that so far.

The closest thing he could imagine would be Mokou's paradoxical existence, a being that can never die. If such a person were to perish in a place where death is permanent, the paradox would create such energy to solve itself that he could repeat his plan 10 times over and even more.

Y/N's mind: No, that woman won't fall for such a trick a second time, we have to look for something else.

Maybe there was another person trapped within the same paradox? Not knowing the outside world very much, he was left with no solution. The woman of flames was heavily reprimanded for her reckless actions, she probably wouldn't even bother trying if she was given another chance.

Y/N: Say, do you know how this thing works?

He asked the youkai by his side while brandishing the torch that he was carrying with him. Tilting her head to the side, she shrugged silently, making the man heave a sigh and lower his hand.

Y/N: I'll take a look at that Clownpiece's story, I might find something useful about it.

He stood up and left, quickly followed by the satori sister, humming to herself without a smile. That little song was her only way to remain calm in this situation.

...She couldn't see the man's face, his body was blurry and distorting like the white noises of a radio. She wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong and that was her only way to do so, by keeping herself busy to not question what was going on.

...

...

Calmly approaching a familiar building, a duo of women silently made their way to it, one of them bearing a solemn look while the second one was wearing a rather worried mask. One protected from the sunlight with an umbrella, she observed the path and glanced at her partner.

Yukari: Ran, this is where she is?

Ran: Lady Keine said that miss Kirisame went to Kourindou.

Yukari: Rinnosuke, it must be the reason.

Approaching the shop, the sound of wind being cut apart reached their ears, coming from the back. Exchanging a simple glance, they slowly made their way around and took a peek at what was going on.

The witch was standing there, facing a target crudely made with wood. She was wearing the same dress with the galaxy-like pattern that she gained after losing her friend. However, the blindfold that she was once wearing was gone and her regular witch hat was replacing it. Behind her, floating rapiers were carefully waiting for her orders. With a single hand at the height of her head, she moved it to point the target and one of the swords flew across the distance between the both of them, stabbing through the object.

Yukari: Well... isn't that a surprise.

She mumbled with a slight smile. Ran, not worried about remaining discreet, stepped out of her hiding spot and approached the girl.

Ran: Marisa Kirisame.

Marisa: Ze? You need something?

Unlike before, her speech returned and she asked the woman a proper question, making the flying weapons disappear. The gap youkai entered her field of vision afterwards and the witch understood what was going on.

Marisa: Reimu?

Yukari: Sharp as ever as I can see. I was only informed recently about this incident after all.

The survivor from the library moved her eyes to the target and raised her hand yet another time, watching it become impaled by every sides with sharp blades. Done, she sighed and watched the youkais in front of her.

Marisa: It's a long story, might take a while.

Yukari: I was expecting the whole thing from the start, you don't have to worry about such a thing.

Marisa: ...

So, she began to recite the tale of their downfall. She explained how Reimu turned into a book after being dealt a fatal blow from one of the librarians and how she was also killed by them, only to wake up back at the human village with the outfit that she was wearing.

Marisa: They even broke my Master Spark, Rinno was more than angry about that.

However, she was still smiling while telling them that, clearly not that much affected by it right now. After all, she had enough time to recover from what happened.

Yukari: A library hidden underground...

Deep in her thoughts, she whispered those words to herself, unable to remember such a place to begin with. Surely, she would know something like that but she had nothing, she was in the dark just like everyone else.

Marisa: I was planning on going back there anyway. I ain't going to stick around and forget about it after all.

Ran: Hm... if I may ask, where did you obtain... those?

She asked while pointing the flying swords surrounding the girl. Aware of that, she gave them a small look of confusion.

Marisa: Just like I said, I woke up in the human village wearing this and capable of doing this, cool isn't it?

She asked with a small grin while playing with one of the projectiles, almost like second nature to her. However, that expression left her face soon after, not interested by that right now.

Marisa: I suppose that you want to save Reimu too?

Yukari: Well of course, whether you want to or not.

Marisa: Of course I won't stop you, they don't seem like it but those librarians are not human, they would be closer to actual monsters than anything else I saw here. They easily overpowered us so I'll get any help that I can.

Yukari: I understand.

Looking at the person standing beside her, the youkai who responded flashed them a small frown, clearly not in a good mood.

Yukari: We should hurry-

???: Indeed we should.

Marisa: Ze?

All turning around, another actor stepped onto the scene. Upon revealing herself, all recognized the person.

Yukari: Well, a surprise to see. I wasn't expecting you to be here Ibaraki.

Marisa: Kasen? What are you doing here?

Kasen: You should know the reason of my presence. Witnessing the empty shrine of a lazy shrine maiden, one could only question that disappearance.

Crossing her arms, the chain attacked to her left arm dangled in the air while her gaze was watching the other members of this 'reunion'. The witch responded with a sweat falling down her face, responsible for that disappearance.

Kasen: Though, I must admit that this is the first time that something like this has reached my ears. A library underground, I am rather surprised to have heard nothing about such a thing.

Marisa: If I had to take a guess, it would be because the librarians are not the type to let intruders escape alive.

Yukari: ...If it was the case then many people would have noticed the disappearances.

Ran: This sounds like an incident if I ever heard one, we should hurry.

Marisa: Should we warn Sanae about this?

Kasen: I will send them a message to their shrine while we reach for the library.

Marisa: ...I'll go say goodbye to Rinnosuke, no need to worry him.

With that, she ran inside the shop with her usual attitude, leaving the others outside. With her gone, they all exchanged a silent gaze.

Yukari: This might be more troublesome than expected.

Ran: Lady Yakumo?

Yukari: I can't... seem to be able to create a path to that library, something is stopping me.

Kasen: An interference with your ability? Is it perhaps that you do not know the location of that place?

Hurried footsteps joined the group and heard their conversation. The one who had to temporarely leave re-entered the talk.

Marisa: We need this I suppose.

She said while brandishing a simple letter held between her fingers. For the others, it didn't mean anything but for her, it was the very same invitation that took the life of her friend. Curious, Kasen calmly grabbed it and took a look at the message written on it.

...Something was wrong though, the lengthy message that Marisa received before was not present and replaced by something more vile and direct.

'Marisa Kirisame, you know where to look for. I beg you to kill me, I wish for everything to end, for everyone's happiness.'

Marisa: This... doesn't feel right.

Yukari: We should proceed carefully.

The four of them then made their way to their destination, not knowing what to expect. Even the one who survived their previous ordeal was left speechless, looking at the second invitation that she received with an odd look.

...It almost seemed like someone was speaking to them, to urge them to fight the one residing in that library.

...

...

Flipping through the pages, the man was quickly reading through the many chapters of the previous guest's life, trying to find important information about the object that he collected from her.

Koishi: Found anything?

She asked while reading her own book that she got from one of the numerous bookshelves. She didn't know the person that the book was talking about but from what she understood, that woman was forced into a difficult situation, losing her own allies and losing her energy until she was brutally murdered by monsters.

Y/N: I think... I may have something.

Closing his own book, he placed it on a desk and grabbed the torch. Interested to hear the answer, she copied his movements and listened carefully.

Y/N: From what I've read, this thing seems to harvest the power of the souls in the Underworld.

Koishi: Really?!

Y/N: Indeed. Although I might not know how she was able to make people turn insane just by looking at it, the information that I collected was more than useful in my opinion.

His eyes recovered a small amount of life in them and the man smiled at that discovery. Koishi silently watched him brandish the maddening flame above his head and quietly clapped her hands, applauding at his speech.

Y/N: This is the final piece needed for us to begin the ritual.

Koishi: Woah, I can't wait to get started!

She jumped in place with a hollow smile, unable to demonstrate happiness so casually. Watching the man, she waited for his next words.

Y/N: ...

However, the librarian looked back at her with worries. To be fair, he was spoon fed the materials that he required, something was definitely going to happen and that was what was worrying him. He knew that the witch could come back at any moment, maybe that was the cause of his shivers.

'Do you REALLY want to bring them? They'll just laugh at you, they'll all hate you.'

Koishi: Mister Y/N?

Y/N: ...

They wouldn't even look at him, nobody would look at a coward like him in the face, even after going through the efforts of bringing them back. After all, it was his fault that all of them perished, everything was his fault.

It was his fault, he was nothing more than a traitor in the group, he was the reason for everything that happened. Nothing can change that, everyone would know his mistake, why would they forgive him for leading them to the downfall of this place?

Y/N: Maybe we should hurry... maybe...

He mumbled to the girl. After gathering everything necessary, his will to continue grew weaker. When facing the end of his journey, he couldn't do the last step to bring an end to this endless torment.

Koishi: ...

That expression, she knew it too well, the look of terror and fear. It was something familiar to her, something that she wished to forget, now haunting her friend's face. Even after knowing the reason of his hesitation, she couldn't say anything.

Just like him, she was also clouded with fear, the fear of what she is, the fear of being forgotten by all. It was a weight that she had to carry around, growing stronger each time she attempts to break the cycle of loneliness. Now, it was going to repeat, that was her her true feelings, the anxiety of losing someone close.

'Everywhere I go, everyone fears me, why am I being treated that way?'

Koishi: ...

She tried to calm herself down, pretending to not see the anomaly standing in front of her, she wished that it was as simple as that. However, her eyes were not betraying her, something was wrong and she needed to confront it somehow but how? Even if she told him what she was seeing, he would assume that she was tired or even think that she was crazy.

...

Y/N's mind: Stop worrying about it dumbass, we're at the end, no point doubting myself.

Quietly, he shrugged off the fears inhabiting his mind and felt a wave of worries slipping away. Normally, that would be the only thing he needed to do in order to calm himself down but another problem emerged afterwards.

...The girl was looking at him with blank eyes, eyes of terror, eyes of tension. Seeing his face struck one of her chords and turned her otherwise blank visage covered by a smiling mask into an expression that he wasn't expecting on her face. Something was wrong, he could tell but he couldn't find the words to say it.

After all, she would just shrug it off and call him crazy. That girl almost never showed her emotions and the occasions that this statement became untrue were so rare that he could probably count them on one hand. Plus, that girl doesn't seem to really understand her own emotions, no point telling her that information.

Y/N: ...

Both noticing each's others pressure, none of them spoke up, keeping the secrets to themselves. Fearing the possible rejection, both prefered to close their eyes on the truth, to not alarm nor harm the other. Being so close to the end, their journey was over and so would their friendship.

...They were allied under the goal of cheating death, simply to correct the man's mistake. Once completed, they would simply go their separate ways and that story would come to an end.

...Maybe?

....

....

In the end, both worked together to reach that goal but not many words were said about each other. Sure, their personalities were quickly grasped and understood but nothing else under that simple layer. The girl never learned much about the librarian's past except for the whole 'I did a mistake that I wish to undo' and the man knew even less, only learning that the youkai had a sister and knew a lot of people in Gensokyo.

...They were strangers, nothing more, nothing less. Yet, they were able to trust each other like they were gazing into a mirror.

Y/N: ...

Koishi: ...

Glancing to his left, everything they needed was to their disposal, they could begin the ritual at any moment. The both of them knew but none raised their voice, reinforcing the silence surrounding them.

Y/N knew how to end his torment, the key was right in front of him but the last step made his legs falter under the pressure. Meanwhile, the girl knew that the end was there but couldn't bring herself to bring that up, fearing that she might never see the man, the one that she wanted to call a friend.

...

However, the gap youkai along with the witch were coming back for vengeance, if they stalled for more time, they would be killed. Time was running out and a decision had to be made.

To finish what has begun or to clear the doubts.

Time is running out, they needed to proceed or else the plan would be met with failure... bringing the end to their efforts.

>Proceed with the ritual

>Do not proceed