WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 189: Floor 17 Hidden (6)
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When I resumed time, I sensed presences descending underground.
I looked back at the God-Slaying Sword.
...I should break the seal on this.
Clang!
I struck the magical seal surrounding the God-Slaying Sword with the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper.
After hitting it several times with all my strength, the seal could not withstand the power of Heavenly Aura and shattered.
I picked up the falling God-Slaying Sword.
Could I store it in Subspace?
I tried, and it worked. I put the God-Slaying Sword into Subspace.
Almost at the same time, others arrived.
“What is this...!”
The demons were horrified by the completely destroyed treasury.
I spoke to the elderly butler, whose face I at least recognized.
“Grand Duke Keilteir did this. Keilteir took the God-Slaying Sword.”
The God-Slaying Sword was in my Subspace, but this was easier for explaining the situation.
“Yes, we know! Keilteir Family fighters and Bahel Church followers are currently attacking the Demon King’s Castle...!”
Fortunately, it seemed Keilteir had caused quite a ruckus outside as well, so I was spared any troublesome misunderstandings.
I spoke urgently.
“We need to cross into the Demon Realm immediately. The ritual to resurrect the Fighting Demon God will begin. It may already be underway. Is there a mage capable of sending someone to the Demon Realm?”
From what Gakhil had told me, a mage of the Fifth Circle or higher, or something like that, could use dimensional travel magic to cross into the Demon Realm.
Then another elderly demon among the gathered crowd stepped forward.
“At the castle, I am likely the only mage who can calculate dimensional coordinates leading to the Fighting Demon God’s remains. But if I cast dimensional travel magic alone, I can only send one or two people at most...”
“Just send me right away! I’ll stop them!”
But there was one problem.
Gakhil had clearly said that humans could not endure the severe dimensional resistance when entering the Demon Realm...
I didn’t know. Still, Armor of Karma might let me endure it.
I had to cross over myself somehow.
Since the clear completion message still had not appeared, there was at least a 99 percent chance that something was happening near the Fighting Demon God’s remains.
I was almost certain.
The mage exchanged glances with the butler, then nodded.
“Very well. Give me thirty minutes.”
Fuck, why was it taking so long?
Did they need to concentrate forever just to use one spell?
As the other demons moved about frantically, the mage closed their eyes and clasped their hands together, seemingly preparing the magic.
I waited anxiously for the spell to be ready.
Time passed.
“...It is done! I will send you now!”
The mage opened their eyes and cast the spell.
The space around me rippled with a dim energy.
My Sixth Sense rang wildly.
I immediately activated Armor of Karma.
If I couldn’t endure it... I could use Radiant Incarnation right away.
Rrrrrrrrrr!
The violent vibrations mercilessly shook my vision.
Fortunately, even dimensional resistance could not pierce Armor of Karma’s defense.
My vision returned to normal.
I looked around.
A purple, weightless space.
It seemed I had crossed safely into the Demon Realm.
“...!”
A chill suddenly ran through my body.
An alien presence unlike anything I had ever felt before, something impossible to explain.
With a stiff expression, I moved through the air with Air Step.
I could see something in the distance.
Dozens of suspicious figures were bowing around something.
Were they performing the ritual...?!
As soon as I reached the scene, I fired a barrage of wind arrows that pierced all their limbs.
“Urgh...!”
“Gyaaaah!”
The figures tumbled through the air, crying out in pain.
None of them were strong. They were all mere weaklings.
I looked at the being they had been bowing to.
“...”
The dried-out corpse of a demon, like a mummy.
It had a body about the size of an ordinary person’s and four large horns curved like a ram’s on its head.
This was... the remains of the Fighting Demon God?
This was the source of that alien presence.
I swallowed without realizing it.
Looking at it, my instincts seemed afraid to keep watching. I felt an urge to look away.
‘Hasn’t it resurrected...?’
The Fighting Demon God’s corpse floated upright in the air with its eyes closed.
Fortunately, perhaps the ritual had not yet been completed.
I quickly searched the area.
If my guess was right, these people should have another divine artifact besides the God-Slaying Sword...
But I could not see anything.
‘Demon King.’
- There is nothing.
The Demon King also said there was no object containing divinity.
...Nothing? Why?
Feeling confused, I looked over the subdued figures.
Then what had they been doing here?
Were they simply guarding the remains?
I grabbed one of them by the collar and asked.
“What were you doing here? Answer me.”
The figure, writhing in pain from their pierced limbs, opened their mouth.
“Hngh... Heh heh... Did Keilteir fail...?”
They muttered with glazed, unfocused eyes.
“But... it is already too late... The One is coming... The One...”
I frowned.
“What do you mean, too late? As long as I guard this place, you can no longer attempt the ritual. Grand Duke Keilteir is dead by my hand as well.”
...Even as I said that, unease rose within me.
The clear completion message still had not appeared.
The figure bared blood-soaked gums in a chilling smile.
“The ritual... was completed days ago...”
“...What?”
“We only sought the God-Slaying Sword... for a more complete resurrection... Heh heh... The Demon God mercifully waited for us...”
What kind of bullshit was that?
The Demon King shouted urgently.
- ...Behind you!
I spun around.
The Fighting Demon God’s corpse was now staring silently at me with both eyes open...
“...!”
Like a frog before a snake.
My body and mind froze in an instant.
“Ah, Demon God...! Take us all! Grant us mercy! Salvationnnn...!”
Fwoooosh!
Red energy was pulled from the figures’ bodies, drying them out in an instant.
It was drawn into the Fighting Demon God.
I pulled myself together and stopped time.
‘Ah...’
Only then did I understand.
What the Tower meant by increasing the difficulty.
From the very beginning, no matter what I did, the Fighting Demon God had been destined to resurrect.
I had faced death dozens of times while clearing Nightmare difficulty until now...
But I had never felt a sense of danger as intense as this.
I could only know instinctively.
The being before me was something on an entirely different level.
- Get a hold of yourself.
The Demon King’s voice reached me.
...I had never been this grateful for my Time Stop Ability.
With plenty of time, I tried to free myself from the overwhelming pressure that had crushed my mind.
- This situation is fucked beyond belief. Still, we have no choice but to fight and defeat it.
‘...How?’
- It is not yet a complete god. We should consider it something like a demigod. There is not absolutely no chance. Use the God-Slaying Sword.
...Right, the God-Slaying Sword.
Hadn’t the Fighting Demon God died after their heart was pierced by the God-Slaying Sword?
That method might work.
I needed to pierce the Fighting Demon God’s heart with the God-Slaying Sword once more.
To survive, to clear this floor.
I had to succeed.
After preparing myself, I resumed time.
The instant I pulled the God-Slaying Sword from Subspace,
Fwoooosh!
I spread Diul’s Pitch-black Fog.
Using Phantom Shift within the fog, I moved in front of the Fighting Demon God.
Then I thrust my sword toward its heart.
“...”
A surprise attack with everything I had.
I looked at the Fighting Demon God’s hand gripping the upper part of the blade.
The sword’s tip had stopped just before its heart.
It had been blocked.
Not only had Diul’s sense-blocking ability failed to work...
I had not even noticed the Fighting Demon God move.
I could not afford to be flustered.
I acted immediately.
I tried to use Subspace to store the unmoving God-Slaying Sword again. But...
Clang!
The God-Slaying Sword shook from the impact.
Subspace did not activate properly.
‘What...’
The Demon King’s urgent voice rang out.
- Forget the sword!
At the same time, my vision flipped.
My upper body rose into the air.
A moment later, along with searing pain, I realized that my body had been split in two.
“...!!”
I stopped time.
The Fighting Demon God was now holding the God-Slaying Sword it had taken from me.
It had swung the sword and cut me in half at the waist.
‘This is insane...!’
Neither Sixth Sense nor Supreme Combat Sense had activated. Why?
And why had Subspace failed to activate? Had the Fighting Demon God done something?
Fwoooosh!
I resumed time and immediately used Radiant Incarnation.
My bisected body turned to light and fused back together.
After opening distance from the Fighting Demon God at light speed, I yielded control of my body to the Demon King.
Piercing its heart with the God-Slaying Sword had failed.
The sword had even been taken from me in an instant.
I felt utterly powerless, but I had no choice but to leave it to the Demon King.
- ᛊᚷ ᛞᚫᚬᚢᛉ ᛝ ᚱᚲᚳ ᛄᛈᚣᛢᛣᚣᚰᚱᛃᛮᚡᚺᛟ...
Cold engulfed the space.
An attack launched at full power from the start.
As during the battle against Seri, the form of a giant appeared and brought down a greatsword toward the Fighting Demon God.
BOOOOOOM!
The Fighting Demon God merely extended a hand.
The greatsword’s tip was stopped by its hand.
Perhaps due to the clash of immense force, the space at the point of impact seemed to warp strangely.
...It could not break through.
The Fighting Demon God did not move an inch as it blocked the Demon King’s magic with one hand.
After absorbing all the life force of the suspicious figures, its body had already regained vitality.
Behind it, a spiral of light like a nebula or galaxy rose into view.
Then.
Riiip!
A huge diagonal line appeared across space.
Along that line, both the giant summoned by the Demon King and my body were split in two.
‘...What?’
Even Radiant Incarnation’s damage-negation effect was useless.
The strike, which contained an incomprehensible power, forcibly dispelled Radiant Incarnation.
Once again, neither Sixth Sense nor Supreme Combat Sense activated.
Back in my original body, I stopped time once more as my upper and lower halves separated.
- Damn it.
The Demon King let out a groan.
Radiant Incarnation, which had been practically invincible to me, and even the Demon King’s power did not work on the Fighting Demon God at all.
The difference in power was so overwhelming that I felt hollow rather than despairing.
...Was this the power of a god?
It made no sense.
How was I supposed to win against something like this?
- I told you, did I not? You should not have accepted the offer.
The Demon King spoke in a half-resigned tone.
- It is over. We lost.
His words brought me back to my senses.
Was it really over?
Would everything end here because of my foolish arrogance?
...No, it was not over yet.
I could not just give up like this.
I resumed time.
The moment I did, I used Rapid Regeneration.
Before my upper and lower halves could fully separate, they rejoined, and the severed wound healed instantly.
Having regained my balance, I steadied my breathing and looked at the Fighting Demon God.
It was examining the God-Slaying Sword in its hand.
If I had any chance left, it might be to drive that sword into its heart.
But before I could even worry about piercing its heart, taking the sword back was already impossible.
For some reason, even the Subspace skill had not worked.
Then grayish-white energy flowed from the God-Slaying Sword and was absorbed into the Fighting Demon God.
Was it absorbing the God-Slaying Sword’s divinity...?
An ordinary voice came from the Fighting Demon God’s mouth.
“As expected of the sword that brought death to this body. Even absorbing only half of it is taxing... Hmm?”
The Fighting Demon God suddenly sounded puzzled and looked around.
I did not miss that opportunity.
When its gaze turned behind it, I kicked off the air with Air Step.
I pulled out Pankera’s Crown from Subspace, put it on, and used Phantom Shift at the same time.
My fingertips touched the Fighting Demon God’s body.
Like with Seri, I would first drag it into the Mindscape, then somehow...!
Crack!
Pankera’s Crown shattered on my head.
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