Omen of Doomsday

"That was a concept proposed by Omnipotent One Enkels."

Silver-white runes appeared in Gray Robe's hand. He flicked his fingers, but no books flew from the shelves.

"That book was borrowed by Black-robed One seventeen years ago."

Gray Robe glanced at the empty spot on the shelf, only then remembering that Black-robed One had borrowed a large portion of his collection.

"What did Black-robed One need those books for?"

"He and Blue Robe have been investigating an obscure religious faith."

Gray Robe waved his hand again, and another book flew from the shelf and landed in Joshua's hands.

The text in the book was still written in an ancient, unknown language. Gray Robe had thoughtfully added a line of annotation beneath it with a paper slip.

"Things from Beyond?"

Joshua read out the annotation.

"It records a religion people worshipped many years ago. I believe it was the predecessor of the current Hall of Inquisition," Gray Robe said.

"...Well." Joshua took out the drawing he had made again. "I just wanted to find out who the owner of this arm is, and what her weaknesses are... If she's a Magic Automaton, is there some switch that can shut her down?"

"This book mentions a Magic Mechanical Device capable of locking a living being's mind and thoughts. Its fuel is human emotion, and its function is to fix a specific thought and feeling within the mind."

As Gray Robe spoke, an owl landed on his shoulder, seemingly whispering something into his ear.

"That still sounds really complicated. Was this thing made by the predecessor of that Hall of Inquisition or whatever?"

Joshua opened Things from Beyond again. He still could not understand a single word of what was written inside.

"This was an 'evil thing' that religion wished to destroy. Its