Chapter 70: Diary Entry

Karl looked at the old diary in the Titan’s hand.

"What exactly is that?"

The Titan wiped some dust from the cover before holding it toward him.

"A lot of what I know about the Sanctuary and you came from this, there are parts I never understood, though."

He glanced between Karl and the others.

"You might understand more than I did."

Karl took the diary and moved a short distance away with Leon and Mira.

"Seraphine, stay near him."

Big Rod walked over without needing to be told twice and sat beside the Titan, who looked at the enormous undead tiger before wisely keeping quiet.

Karl sat down with Leon and Mira and carefully opened the diary.

The pages were yellow and brittle around the edges, but most of the writing had survived surprisingly well.

From the dates they found it had been written almost seven hundred years ago.

They skimmed through the beginning first.

It became obvious very quickly that the writer had been a young man, only somewhat older than them.

Most of his early entries weren’t about monsters or dungeons at all, they were mostly about his ill younger sister named Kakao

Karl turned through the first few pages.

I took Kakao to the hospital again today.

The healers still don’t know what’s wrong with her. They gave her something for the pain, but that was all.

A few entries later—

She had another fever tonight.

It lasted almost four hours, she kept telling me she was fine because she didn’t want me to worry.

Another page.

Third healer this week, same answer, nothing.

I’ve sold almost everything worth selling. I don’t care about the money, but somebody has to know what this is.

Leon stopped leaning over Karl’s shoulder.

Karl continued turning pages until one entry finally mentioned something different.

I met a strange old man today.

He didn’t ask about Kakao, somehow, he already knew.

He was more interested in Father’s locket. He kept staring at it before asking where I got it.

Karl glanced farther down the page.

He offered me a trade, the locket for information that might save Kakao.

According to him, there is a dungeon far beyond the settled territories. Something inside can cure things ordinary healers cannot.

He wouldn’t tell me what but something in me made me agree to it.

Karl skimmed up a few more pages and saw one with a much more trembling handwriting.

Kakao coughed up a lot of blood today.

The doctor pulled me aside afterward, he thinks she has less than a month maybe much less.

The next entry was considerably shorter.

I leave to the dungeon Tommorow.

After that, there was almost nothing about the hospital.

The young man left Kakao there and followed the location he had been given, travelling farther into the wilderness than he ever had before.

Several pages were mostly notes about the journey.

Karl skipped through them until the writer finally reached his destination.

I found it, the old bastard wasn’t lying.

The dungeon has already broken into the wilderness.

I don’t understand how it’s still here. The area should have collapsed or merged completely by now, but the World Will is still containing the entire region like one enormous open dungeon.

Whatever I’m looking for is inside.

He entered the same day, at first, the diary became strangely optimistic again.

Killed three beasts today, strong, but manageable.

If the rest of this place is like this, I can do it.

Find whatever the old man was talking about, clear the dungeon and get back to Kakao.

The optimism lasted until his first night.

The next entry began halfway down a page, the handwriting rougher than before.

I saw something tonight, at first I thought it was a bear.

It was fighting another beast near the trees. The beast tore its stomach open and broke one of its legs too but they instantly regenerated and the bear didn’t even care

It killed the beast soon after.

A few pages later, the writer found his answer.

I saw one appearing today.

I had killed a beast and slept on a tree nearby to rest but the corpse started changing after a few hours and a black beast came out of it i tried using perception but it doesn’t work on them.

I named them grim for now.

Karl turned another few pages and apparently, watching one had given the writer more confidence than it should have.

I fought one today and it was a terrible idea

I stabbed it through the chest, cut it’s limbs but nothing work at last I nearly even destroyed half it’s body but nothing worked

I ran and survived luckily I’m not fighting another one unless I figure out how they’re supposed to die.

The entries after that became much more cautious and then another intresting one appeared.

Saw people today, at least I thought they were people.

They had white hair and completely black eyes, every single one of them but looked human otherwise.

I’ve never seen people that beautiful in my life.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Tch so we lost a chance to see some beauties."

Mira looked at him and said "Really this is what comes to your mind first!?"

Leon was about to say something but Karl interuppted them and said "Focus on diary stop your fights."

Karl turned another page

Followed the white-haired one today and found a city in here a whole damn city.

I couldn’t see much from outside, but there were manay people there.

For several days he remained outside Reaper’s Sanctuary, observing the city and trying to learn more without being discovered.

And at last Karl found something useful

I thought the grims were immortal but apparently they are not.

saw one being killed by one of those white haired guys in a single slash, their weapon was covered by a black energy.

Whatever that black energy is, that’s the answer.

Reading the last line something immediately clocked in Karl mind.

Death energy most probably.

Next he skimmed a few more pages but the optimism in the writers voice was slowly fading away.

The writer’s equipment started breaking, wounds accumulated faster than he could recover and almost every few pages contained another mention of Kakao.

My left shoulder still isn’t healing properly, Lost my spare weapon today

Seventeen days.

Twenty-one days.

Kakao, please hold on.

Karl turned to the final written page, the handwriting was hurried, but still readable.

Twenty-four days have already passed, Kakao barely has a week left.

Today I saw one Reaper carrying a strange token and it seemed to be the boss

I guess that is the one I need to kill, I’m going into the city.

That was all, Karl turned a few pages but it was all blank.

Leon leaned back against the cave wall.

"Damn, aren’t we boxed in then?"

He pointed toward the diary. "If we can’t properly injure the Grim inside, what the hell are we supposed to do?"

Karl shook his head. "Don’t worry about that."

He flipped back to the entry about the Reaper killing the Grim.

"According to this, that black energy was most likely Death Energy."

Leon thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah... that actually makes sense."

Then he grinned. "Well, hope you clear it fast."

Karl gave him a flat look.

"Yeah, you can sit there eating chips."

Karl closed the diary and walked back toward the Titan.

"Well, at least you’re not dying now."

The tension visibly left the Titan’s face.

"But you’re coming with us."

The man let out a long breath and smiled slightly, that was apparently still much better than the alternative.

Karl was about to put the diary away when another question came to mind.

"One more thing."

The Titan looked toward him.

"Where did you find this?"

His expression stiffened slightly and after hesitating for a moment, he pointed toward the diary.

"That is also connected to what you asked earlier. About what I am."

"It was beside me when I was born."

Leon and Mira both glanced toward him, the Titan immediately continued before they could misunderstand.

"The human who wrote that diary died and this body originally belonged to him."

He placed a hand against his chest.

"But I’m not him I don’t have his memories, his feelings or his identity, I only learned who he was by reading that."

The Titan looked toward the diary.

"He was him."

Then toward himself.

"I’m me."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

Karl didn’t fully understand what the titan was trying to say but it could wait the dungeon was the first priority.

"We’ll deal with that later."

The Titan nodded before they can further talk Seraphine glanced toward the cave entrance.

The old Pyrtherapontes chief was cautiously peeking inside from a considerable distance, clearly having no intention of coming any closer to the Titan than necessary.

Karl looked toward Seraphine.

"Send him back and thank him for helping us."

Seraphine walked over and spoke with the chief.

His relief was obvious the moment he learned they no longer needed him to guide them.

He said something else before turning away, Seraphine returned a moment later.

"He wishes us success."

Karl nodded as the old chief disappeared back into the forest.

Leon walked toward the cave entrance and looked in the direction of Reaper’s Sanctuary.

"Well, should we finally go see what we actually came here for?"

Karl nodded and then gave a mysterious smug smile.

"Indeed, just after one little detour."