WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 85

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Bug (3)

"You, what are you? How can a mere creature wield this kind of power?"

After throwing a fit for a long while, the bastard asked me that.

I had nothing to tell him.

If someone asked me how I could do something I had been able to do since birth, would I know either?

So I asked back.

"Then what are you?"

What exactly was this thing that had stolen my body?

Looking back at what had just happened...

It seemed like this started when I touched that ice jewel, the item called the Heart of the Frost Demon King.

Then was this guy the Frost Demon King?

That was the natural guess.

As if irritated, he said,

- "Hurry and let time flow again. Then I shall permit your questions."

Like I'd do that?

"I said give my body back first."

- "I already told you. Your body is mine now."

"Then we stay like this."

- "You insolent brat!"

Was this some kind of monster too?

One with a special ability to steal bodies?

...Or had the Tower pulled another trick again?

I still had no idea why the item description had suddenly changed earlier...

Nothing made sense.

- "Fine. We shall see."

The Demon King said,

- "I do not know what trick you are using, but power that defies the natural order cannot be sustained forever. When time flows again, you will regret this."

"So what are you going to do?"

- "I will freeze your entire world. Land, mountain ranges, sea, humans, animals, all of it. Everything will die in the bitter cold."

Hah... scary.

Yeah, I definitely could not unfreeze this.

- "If you do not want to regret this, release it now. This is the final mercy I grant you."

I shot back at that shameless threat.

"You stole someone else's body and now you're threatening me? So you really are the Frost Demon King. Your personality fits the title perfectly."

- "What? How dare you."

"Okay, let's do this then. Sorry, but I can keep this up forever."

The Demon King snorted.

- "Empty bluster. You will regret this."

Time passed.

I did not try to talk to him anymore. He was not someone I could have a normal conversation with.

He did not speak to me either, so there was only silence.

How much time had passed?

It felt like several days.

- "...You bastard."

Only then did I hear the Demon King's voice again.

He sounded a little fed up.

- "Stop being stubborn. You should be nearing your limit."

I asked,

"Changed your mind about giving my body back?"

- "Do not speak nonsense."

"Then don't talk to me. I said we can do this forever."

- "Ha...! Do you think you are a god? That is impossible."

"Yep, possible."

The Demon King kept babbling, but I ignored him and said nothing.

.

.

.

A long time passed again.

- "Enough already. How long are you going to keep this up?"

The Demon King spoke again.

I did not answer.

- "Are you really saying you will stay like this forever?"

By my sense of it, maybe about a month had passed...

I was sick of this, but he had to be sick of it too.

Until the other side surrendered, I could not show weakness.

"Ghh..."

- "What?"

"I... I can't hold on any..."

I released time.

The world that had been frozen for so long started moving again.

Of course, control of my body was still in the Demon King's hands.

"...Kuhahaha!"

As time flowed again, the Demon King burst into laughter.

"Exactly, I knew it! You finally hit your limit!"

Shuaaaaaa!

My body tore through the sky at incredible speed.

Grinning like he wanted me to hear every word, he said,

"I clearly told you that you would regret this. From now on, I will make you feel your powerlessn..."

Stopped again.

Mid-flight, everything froze.

- "...What?"

You looked way too happy. Now I feel awkward.

"Did you get excited?"

I was bored, so I just messed with you for a second.

"I told you, I can stay like this forever. Why don't you believe people when they speak?"

- "You vermin...!"

The Demon King started thrashing when he realized he had been tricked.

I ignored all his "I'll kill you" ranting and went back to an empty state of mind.

Time kept passing.

.

.

.

- "...I retract what I said about freezing your world. So stop this already."

Only now did the Demon King seem to realize it.

That my time-stop ability really might last forever.

But he still had not come to his senses.

"That should be obvious. Just give me my body back."

- "I told you, I cannot."

"Cannot, or will not?"

- "...Cannot. Your body is already mine, and returning it to you is impossible."

If true, that was a serious problem.

Then why did it still sound like total bullshit to me, even now?

"Then we have no choice. Let's stay like this forever."

- "You lunatic...! I really cannot give it back!"

Ignoring him, I blurred my own consciousness again.

Like a bear going into hibernation.

It was impossible to actually sleep while time was stopped...

But I could put myself into something half similar.

It was a trick I had picked up by chance while charging the one-time warp device after the sub-tower appeared.

Doing this made enduring this vicious stretch of time a little easier.

.

- "Fine. I will compromise. Let us divide possession time of the body."

After another long stretch of time.

The Demon King came with a new proposal.

"What are you talking about?"

- "I am saying I will let you control the body for half the day. This is a great concession."

"You said you couldn't return it."

- "You believed that? It was a lie."

The Demon King shamelessly admitted he had lied. Not that I had believed him anyway.

And he was still spewing complete garbage that was not even close to acceptable.

"Demon King-nim, do you want to die?"

- "...What?"

"It was my body to begin with, and you're talking about concessions. You don't get to set terms. Just give it back."

No negotiating with terrorists.

He cursed me out and raged for a while, then quieted down again.

- "I will let you rule the world. All people will serve you, and you will enjoy every luxury and glory. Anyone you want dead, I will kill them all."

"..."

- "Did I not say I would give you the body for half the day? If you do that, I will make the world yours."

"Yawn."

- "Listen to me, you vermin bastard!"

.

.

.

- "I will kill you. Your family, your lover, your friends, I will make you kill them all with your own hands."

"How are you killing anyone when time doesn't pass?"

- "...I will kill them! I swear I will!"

.

.

.

"Demon King-nim."

- ...

- "...Shut up."

"Ramen."

.

How much time had passed...

At least a year, maybe?

I was almost in a state of enlightenment now.

Honestly, I surprised myself. I did not know my mental strength was this high.

Maybe thinking that the insane Demon King would destroy the world if I released time was what let me endure.

- "You sick bastard..."

The Demon King sounded disgusted.

- "Do you think you can endure eternity? Your mind will collapse first."

Maybe.

Still, I could hold on for now.

"Attic."

The Demon King let out a deep sigh.

- "...I will return it. Release it."

That snapped me fully alert.

A surrender at last?

"Really? What trick are you plotting?"

- "Release it, release it! I said I will return it!"

Even if it was a trick, I could just stop time again immediately...

I released time.

Whoooosh!

Wind striking my face.

Feeling cold again for the first time in ages, I landed on the ground.

"...Wow."

I clenched and opened my hand and muttered in awe.

My body moved exactly how I wanted.

The Demon King really had returned control.

What happened to the Demon King? Did he leave my body?

- "Not a chance, vermin."

Nope.

I heard his voice in my head.

- "I returned it for now, but do not forget that I can take it again whenever I want."

Ah... so that was it?

I clicked my tongue, annoyed.

I had gotten my body back for now, but the fundamental problem was not solved.

"Can't you just leave? If you take it again, I'll just stop time again anyway."

The Demon King snorted.

- "I have no intention of leaving, and even if I wanted to, I cannot."

"Stop lying."

The Demon King gave no further response.

...This is driving me crazy. Was that one actually true?

My mind grew unsettled, and right then, I looked up at the sky.

[Error detected.]

"...?"

A Tower message floated in front of me.

[Correcting error.]

- ...!

My body shook violently.

A disgusting, terrifying sensation I had never felt in my life.

I could not describe it. I could not move.

It felt like some enormous... transcendent being was looking down at me and reaching out.

The Tower. I knew it instinctively.

The Tower was about to do something.

- "...Time! Stop time!"

The Demon King also went pale and shouted urgently.

I stopped time at once.

The moment time stopped, the pressure and crushing sensation vanished like smoke.

...What was that just now?

I was barely gathering myself when,

"...!"

This time I felt the Demon King doing something again.

Like his soul was struggling to hide deeper inside...

"...What are you doing?"

The Demon King did not answer.

A message saying it was correcting an error.

There was no way this was unrelated to the Demon King.

...What should I do?

I had panicked and stopped time for now.

It seemed like the Tower was trying to remove the Demon King.

Then should I release time again? Was that right?

But I also hated doing what the Tower wanted...

While I hesitated, I felt the Demon King hide completely.

I tried releasing time.

The crushing pressure pressed down on me again.

And I felt the Tower staring at me.

It even felt like it was glaring at me. Either way, the feeling was so vile my skin crawled.

"..."

Soon, all that pressure disappeared.

Without realizing it, I had been holding my breath, and I finally let it out with a sharp exhale.

Wow... fuck.

What the hell was that?

My head was spinning. I had no clue what was happening.

- "Damn it."

Then I heard a voice in my head.

It was the Demon King, still intact, not removed in the end.

"What did you do?"

I asked him.

The sensation now was strange.

It was like the Demon King's soul had hidden itself inside my soul...

One thing, at least, I could feel instinctively.

The Demon King had latched onto my soul tightly.

Like with Diul, his soul and mine were now partially connected.

I could not be sure, but... had he done this to avoid the Tower's grasp?

I could also feel that control of the body had fully returned to me.

In this state, unless I handed control over again myself, it seemed like the Demon King could no longer take my body at will.

"Hello? Why aren't you talking?"

No answer, even when I called him.

Still, I could feel he was in a very twisted mood.

Probably pissed that he had to hand control back to me again.

Well, anyway... was this somehow resolved?

At least now there was no risk of my body being stolen again, though it bothered me that he had settled inside me.

"Hoo."

I remembered something and went back to where the pit had been.

The item that had seemed to be the Demon King's heart or whatever was gone.

"Did the Tower erase it?"

...I did not know. My mind felt exhausted.

I should head back for now.

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