Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Right now, Marlstān is torn by conflict, with armed groups of all sizes clashing. But there are two main factions.

One is the Military Junta Provisional Government.
During the previous regime—rotting from corruption and political decay—they staged an armed uprising, seized power, and now enforce oppressive rule backed by military might. However, since Marlstān is nominally a democratic nation, they skipped elections and simply grabbed authority, earning the hatred of the people and recognition as a state from only about half the neighboring countries.
This faction often uses the excuse of “suppressing rebels” to violently purge anyone they deem inconvenient.
This is the one where Medu-chan previously posed as their poster girl.

The other is a citizen-led revolutionary organization.
In other words, the resistance. They are loosely united under the goal of overthrowing the Military junta, and use the emblem of a black snake. Though they are active and scattered throughout the land, their actions lack cohesion.
No single figure has the leadership to unite them all. More precisely, anyone who could have been such a leader has already been eliminated by the junta.

Apart from these two main forces, there are countless small factions: puppet groups backed by Afghanistan or Pakistan, vigilante bands descended from trade guilds, brigands, arms dealer cartels, refugee camps. The Arinātaya Liberation Front is just one of these miscellaneous small groups.

But within the last month, the citizen revolutionaries have rapidly unified, winning battle after battle and liberating regions from both the junta’s oppression and marauding bandits.
Asian mercenaries act as advisers, mysterious benefactors provide ample supplies and funding. In battle, enemy firearms keep misfiring or jamming, and many enemy groups have been wiped out overnight by massive, unidentified monsters.
Of course, clashes are breaking out across the whole land, and not every battle ends in total victory. Even so, a miraculous streak of triumphs is unfolding. Especially in battles joined by Asian mercenaries, it’s as though Fortune herself shields them.

Still, the revolutionary group has no strong, charismatic leader. Instead, several influential figures in Marlstān’s major cities coordinate under a council system.
They differ in background, age, even sect of religion. You’d expect their opinions to split apart, but though they argue fiercely, they march in lockstep toward the same direction.

Why? When asked, they all give the same answer.
They say that at night they were paralyzed, lifted into the air, and given a revelation by a massive black serpent, its words distorted and heavily accented, commanding them to unite, end Marlstān’s strife, and lead the people to peace.
A revelation from the serpent—the incarnation of the country itself—was reason enough to unite them.
A giant black snake… just what sort of Invisible Titan-esque psychic power is this?

Rumors of the revolutionaries’ exploits spread like wildfire, and people whisper that the five-year-long war may finally end. But others, recalling past false dawns, resign themselves to disappointment once more.

Medu-chan was among the pessimists.
She’s fourteen. She has spent more of her life with a gun in conflict zones than with a schoolbag in class. To be told that peace is near… she can’t bring herself to believe it.

That sadness gave me the idea to shape an event around it.
After all, some great person once said: peace is not given, but seized. And I think that’s about right.
So, after training, I stopped Medu-chan, put on a serious face, and began.

“Over the last month of investigation, I’ve learned the war hasn’t ended because of the World Shadow.”
“W-what did you say!?”

*Yes! Behind the Marlstān conflict lurks the World Shadow!*
*Curse you, World Shadow! I’ll never forgive you!*

I explained to Medu-chan:
The World Shadow is the embodiment of humanity’s violent urges. Naturally, it thrives in war zones.
Five years of conflict in Marlstān have fed it into a colossal being. The only reason it hasn’t run rampant is that an ancient psychic artifact, left behind long ago, has trapped and suppressed it within the land.

But recently, the Shadow has finally outgrown the artifact’s power. Now, leaking shadows spill into the cities.

Having sensed the presence of darkness in the world, I came to Marlstan and, while training Medu-chan, researched ancient documents and learned of the existence of an artifact that is suppressing that Shadow.
It seems that only the people of Marlstan can enter the sanctuary where the artifact traps the World Shadow. It is an ancient barrier that restricts intruders, and is also found in the ancient ruins of the Principality of Marineland.

The World Shadow has grown stronger and swelled due to the endless exchange of violence, but is held back and unable to move by the power of the artifact, and this has instead caused the desire for violence to flow back into the people.
And so even if the conflict were to end as it is, people would soon be driven by destructive impulses and return to a state of bloody conflict once again.

The only way to stop it is to find and destroy the World Shadow that was trapped in the sanctuary where the artifact is enshrined.
However, only the people of Marlstān can enter the sanctuary. I can’t go and defeat it myself.
It is Medu-chan’s destiny to fight and defeat it.

In short, if Medu-chan defeats the mighty Shadow, the war ends.
If she fails, it doesn’t.

Even if we defeat the World Shadow alone, the people won’t suddenly awaken to peace and lay down their weapons, so adults need to settle the conflict. And by that time, we should have gotten rid of the powerful World Shadow, who is driving people to violence and bloodlust.

Thus, behind the official tale of the revolution ending the war, there will be an untold battle—one that truly brought peace…
Yes. Very secret-organization vibe..

Hearing this, Medu-chan shrank back uneasily.

“Can I really defeat it? Is it as strong as that Super Water Sphere?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t throw you straight at the source. First, you’ll take on the weaker shadows leaking out, and get used to fighting them. Do you want to try?”
“If… if you command it.”
“No. The choice is yours, Medu. Will you fight, or not?”
“Me…?”

She looked at me, flustered, but then laughter from the Liberation Front children upstairs trickled through the thin ceiling. She closed her eyes, then opened them with resolve and gave a firm nod.

“Please let me do it.”

Good answer.
Then the tutorial battle begins. Man, that was a long intro.

One dry summer night, a girl named Nisreen, living in a house on the outskirts of Arinātaya, awoke to the cry of a camel.
She turned over in a bad mood, trying to go back to her sleep, but then she heard the bleat again, this time with a clear sense of alarm and tension, so she got out of bed and grabbed the lantern and gun that she had kept within easy reach.

The darkness of the night, coupled with anxiety and fear, slowed her steps, but she had to check. The camel was their only one, part of the family. If thieves took it, they’d be in trouble..

Nisreen lived a meager life with her mother. Her father had died in the conflict, and since then, she had cared for the camel herself. Her mother, busy with housework and side jobs, couldn’t manage it.
In peaceful days, the camel earned money carrying tourists through town. Now it helps support the family by hauling loads for day wages. However, it is old and in poor health, and these days it spends most of its time sleeping.

Her mother often urged her to sell it and buy a bicycle or used motorbike with the money, but Nisreen refused.
If she let go, she felt she would never again regain those days of walking with her father, perched on his shoulders, alongside the camel in the peaceful streets.

She stepped into the yard with her weak lantern. The day’s heat still clung to the air, and the sandy night wind rubbed uncomfortably against her skin.
At the yard’s edge, she saw the camel’s silhouette in moonlight.
Relieved, she scanned around. The abandoned houses and shriveled bushes nearby showed no signs of thieves.

Nisreen stepped forward to try to calm the anxious camel, only for her leg to freeze in fear.

An eerie monster emerged, seeping from the ground right beside the collapsed neighbor’s house.
It was unlike any creature Nisleen had ever seen or heard of. The pitch-black monster, writhing and shifting shape as it dragged its entire body out of the ground, was as large as a camel.

The monster violently rammed its body into the ruined house, then whipped its own body like a whip, shaking and thrashing wildly. Though half-destroyed, the house—built with solidly stacked earthen bricks—rapidly crumbled into a vacant lot.

The camel cried out in terror. Nisreen dove into the bushes, trembling and praying desperately for God to banish the demon from hell. But the monster rampaged on—Worse, it noticed the camel’s incessant cries and began approaching with a repulsive, crawling motion that dragged its massive body—a movement so revolting it was physically sickening.

Tears welled. She had to help, but fear pinned her down.
The rifle had never felt so useless; Nisreen barely knew how to fire it, as she’d only ever use it as a scare tactic. Against such a creature, it would be as helpful as a good-luck charm.

She peeked from the bush, glaring at the monster. Come on, she thought, I need to save him. But her legs refused.

The creature raised a tentacle over the camel. The camel brayed. Nisreen shut her eyes tight.

But no scream followed.
No sound of destruction.

Unable to endure the eerie silence any longer, Nisreen slowly opened her eyes. Bathed in moonlight stood a girl. The camel stood still, and the monster had frozen into a statue, frozen in the very act of bringing its tentacles down.

It was a mythical scene.
The girl seemed only a year or two older than Nisreen.
She wore an outdated army uniform, with a black eyepatch over her right eye. Her chestnut hair glimmered in the moonlight, and her golden eyes blazed as she glared at the monster.
Like a figure from the bedtime tales her mother used to tell.

Nisreen stared in awe at this gallant yet lovely girl—until suddenly snapped back to reality. The stone statue was trembling.
The violent shaking cracked the statue, and its contents burst forth, spraying water as if shattering the shell from within, then lunged at the girl.

“Watch out!”

Nisreen shouted instinctively.
But the girl remained calm. She tracked the puppy-sized shapeless monster with her eyes and dodged it. It fell clumsily, tried to leap again—then froze and turned to stone once more.
With a stomp of her boot heel, she shattered it. Then she approached Nisreen, crouched, and gently wiped away her tears.

“No injuries, right?”
“Y-yes… um, who are you?”

The girl pressed a finger to her lips and smiled awkwardly.

“That’s a secret. Night’s dangerous—leave it to us and go back inside. Don’t worry, we’ll beat all the bad guys in this town.”

She softly took Nisreen’s hand.
It trembled slightly.
Then Nisreen understood. This was no dreamt heroine from a story. This was a human girl, shaking but trying her best. Nisreen squeezed her hand back as firmly as she could.

After confirming she was unharmed, the girl handed Nisreen a slip of paper. “If you’re in trouble, look at this,” she said, and strode away.
Back in bed, Nisreen couldn’t resist her curiosity and immediately unfolded it.

It read:
https://www.youtude.com/channel/InvisibleTitanMarlstanOfficial
Such was the strange incantation written on it.
Nisreen carried this mysterious incantation around like it was a protective charm, and whenever she opened it in times of fear, the memory of that night returned, filling her with courage.
Only three years later, when she studied English again, did she learn the true meaning of that “incantation”—and her illusion was broken.