Ignoring Subaru's painfully low IQ, Graham casually pushed open a door and stepped inside, immediately revealing a stunned expression...
Before him sat a petite golden-haired figure quietly perched on a ladder, with a thick book carefully placed on her lap as she read attentively.
She wore an extravagant crimson dress, with her hair styled into twin drill-shaped curls that resembled spiraling horns. Yet, Graham had no doubt about the silken softness of those lustrous strands.
Her delicate, porcelain-like features gave her an almost ethereal beauty... like a fairy-tale doll come to life.
This was Beatrice, who was also known as 'Beako'...
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She preferred to refer to herself as 'Betty', an artificial spirit created by the Witch of Greed, Echidna.
Bound by a contract, she serves as the guardian of the Forbidden Library within Roswaal's mansion, patiently awaiting the arrival of the 'person' Echidna foretold.
For over four hundred years, she had guarded the Forbidden Library. However, the so-called 'that person' she waited for did not truly exist.
Echidna had merely given her a purpose to continue existing... and, in doing so, sought to observe whom Beatrice would eventually choose as 'that person'...
For spirits, a contract was an inviolable vow... something they would uphold even at the cost of their very lives...
After a brief pause, Graham smiled warmly and raised a hand in greeting, "You must be the keeper of this Forbidden Library, Beatrice. Pleased to meet you. I am Graham."
Her reading had been disturbed yet again... The adorable blonde loli furrowed her brows, lifting her fair cheeks slightly as she shifted her gaze to him.
Her bright, crucifer-colored eyes glimmered with irritation as she huffed, "Hmph. Your name is of no concern to Betty, I suppose. If you have no business here, then leave at once. Do not disturb Betty's reading in fact!"
After speaking, she carried on with her reading.
Though her tone was sharp, she did not immediately force him out, merely because she found Graham more tolerable than Subaru in that he was polite.
"Tch, why are there so many bothersome intruders today? Could it be that my Door Crossing is malfunctioning?" she muttered under her breath, exasperated.
Subaru's recklessness had clearly left her irritated...
'Door Crossing' referred to Beatrice's unique spatial magic, which connected the Forbidden Library to the various doors within Roswaal's mansion. Only by choosing the correct door could one hope to encounter this elusive blonde drill-haired spirit.
"You know, reading constantly isn't good for your eyes. I heard you've been here a long time... don't you ever get lonely?" Graham asked, using this opportunity as an excuse to strike up a conversation.
Beatrice paused in the middle of turning a page, her bright crucifer-colored eyes narrowing slightly.
Then, in a cold tone, she retorted, "When Betty wants to read, it is Betty's freedom to do so! You have no right to meddle in Betty's decisions, I suppose! And Betty is perfectly fine no matter what. So Betty has no need for your pointless concern, in fact!"
Unperturbed, Graham continued, "What if I told you I'm here to help you manage this library... and perhaps even take you away from it?"
Hearing this, Beatrice finally set her book aside...
Lifting her gaze, she stared at Graham with an expression devoid of emotion, her eyes reflecting quiet disdain: "Then you had best be prepared to pay the price for such arrogance!"
With those words, a tremendous surge of magical energy erupted from her pale slender hand, lashing out like a whip to strike Graham and forcibly eject him from the Forbidden Library.
Yet Graham remained unfazed...
*Pop!*
With nothing more than a single finger, he met the invisible force head-on, and in an instant, the spell dissipated completely.
While cutting through a death point or severing a line of death with a blade yields the greatest effect, mastery over this power allows one to achieve the same result with the mere touch of a hand.
"Hah! Is this the extent of your power after all your grand claims? How pitiful! Betty shall grant you this one mercy, I suppose. Leave now!"
With a swift motion, Beatrice clenched her fist, summoning a swirling vortex of dark purple magical energy that rapidly condensed around Graham, tightening like a serpent's coils.
This was her ultimate Yin attribute Magic, Spatial Freeze...
Should this magic connect, its victim would be completely stripped of their ability to resist, and be left utterly helpless before her.
The Forbidden Library was Beatrice's absolute domain... Not only did it amplify her magic, but she herself had accumulated nearly four centuries worth of magical energy.
However, attempting to defeat Graham through magic alone was a fundamentally flawed approach.
"Tch, I've never been fond of threats. And frankly, I doubt I could lose to a spirit who's spent centuries holed up in a library."
Spirits, in theory, are aggregates of magical energy, making them naturally vulnerable to the effects of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
Raising his blade, Graham made a single precise slash, cutting along the most prominent lines of death visible to his eyes.
The result was immediate... The dark purple magical energy which had activated the Spatial Freeze rapidly collapsed from a single point of light before vanishing from existence with a sharp poof!
"You– what did you do? Mana... disappeared?" Beatrice's eyes widened slightly in shock.
In that moment, she could no longer sense the presence of Mana... the very essence required to construct magic had suddenly ceased to exist...
"Hmph! Did you truly believe something so trivial would stop Betty?"
Her eyes flashed as another spell materialized in her palm, a Yin attribute spatial seal.
Anyone struck by this technique would find their body compressed by dimensional forces and crushed into nothingness...
"Well, if you're going to be like that, it would be rude of me not to play along properly." Graham remained completely unfazed.
Keeping his Mystic Eyes active, he continued nullifying incoming magical attacks while steadily closing the distance between them.
Even the fear of death held no sway on him... he had already anchored the 'Perpetrator and Victim' ability to the very foundation of the mansion. So long as the structure stood, he could resurrect indefinitely.
"Hah! Insolent human! Since you insist on persisting, Betty shall no longer hold back I suppose!"
Her entire body radiated with pulsating mana as countless orbs of dark purple energy materialized around her, then launched toward Graham in a relentless barrage.
"Over these long centuries, Betty has encountered countless fools like you... arrogant humans who believed they could impress Betty with pretty words and displays of strength. All seeking to form a contract, to claim the Forbidden Library for themselves. And yet, Betty remains here. Care to guess what became of them all, in fact?" Beatrice spoke coldly, her voice laced with irritation.
Yet her small pale hand never stopped moving... she unleashed one spell after another, each burst of magic aiming to drive away the intruder who dared to challenge her.
The very space around Graham warped violently under the assault. A single misstep would result in the dark magic overwhelming him completely.
However, the nature of his Mystic Eyes was "death" itself... every spell he severed didn't merely dissipate, but was conceptually "killed", leaving no trace behind.
Beatrice can't control magic that is not there...
"I couldn't care less about what happened to those people, nor do I enjoy pointless speculation. The only thing I'm certain of today is you!" Graham let out a wicked laugh, effortlessly weaving through the onslaught of magic.
After tearing through Beatrice's relentless attacks, he finally closed the distance between them.
Without hesitation, he raised his blade, slicing straight through Beatrice's defensive shield.
*Poof!*
Her eyes widened in panic, but the dagger did not stop. Its sharpened edge pressed forward. The blade hummed with a palpable aura of annihilation.
The loli spirit greeted her teeth, but did not make an effort to dodge...
Beatrice understood instinctively... this strike would mean her true death. Yet instead of fear, she felt something unexpected... relief.
For a girl who had waited alone in the Forbidden Library for centuries, death might finally be... a welcome release...