WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor: Joy
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 59: Withered Crone
──────
The underground cavern, which had held hundreds of heretics, now contained only three people and a field of corpses.
Even with three people on a rampage, killing several hundred heretics would not have been easy.
They had not needed to kill every last one. The Sword Dragon alone had been difficult enough to deal with, and when Yuri and Haryeong joined the fray, the heretics chose to abandon the fight and flee.
However, the fifth-tier heretics with blue bracelets who had first attacked the Sword Dragon, along with the transmigrators wearing red bracelets, were all dead. The Sword Dragon could not catch those who fled farther away, but he had not let even those nearby escape.
Yuri looked at the corpse of a transmigrator whose name, let alone username, he had never heard.
He felt a faint sense of unease. In a way, they were people from the same hometown, victims who had been unlucky enough to be dragged into this world.
Still, he did not dwell on such sentiments.
It felt unpleasant, but they were people he had to kill.
“So.”
The Sword Dragon still held his sword, yet not a single drop of sweat marked his face. He was not injured, did not look tired, and his breathing had not faltered.
“Who are you two?”
It was irritating that he had not killed all the heretics with his own blade, but capturing them all was only a matter of time. Having seen the ugliness of this city, he would have to urge his family to cleanse the outer districts.
That was something to deal with after returning to the Orsia Family. For now, the two before him concerned him. They clearly were not heretics, but he did not know who they were.
“Woman. Why will you not remove your mask?”
“My older sister’s face is not in a state fit to show others.”
Yuri answered for Haryeong.
Haryeong snapped her head toward him and glared.
[I suddenly want to become a cold, merciless, terrifying assassin.]
[I did not mean it.]
Yuri gave that excuse and continued speaking. The Sword Dragon looked flustered, apparently not expecting such an answer. After a brief silence, he fixed his gaze on Yuri.
“Then who are you?”
‘Of course he would ask that.’
Yuri fell silent for a moment. Should he use the alias Joo-gak? Or would it be better to reveal that he was Thunder Cloud?
There was no real need to lie to someone like this. Yuri had changed his face with disguise arts upon entering the Foul Village to conceal his identity while dealing with heretics and transmigrators. He had sealed away his fist techniques and focused on kicking and leg techniques as part of his training.
‘It is not like I have done anything shady.’
If anything, he had helped hunt the heretics. He deserved praise and a reward.
“It’s not over yet.”
Yuri continued, rubbing his shoes, sticky with blood, against the floor.
“The Bishop hasn’t come.”
“The Bishop...?”
“Yes. A sixth-tier mage. The one who rules the heretics in this area.”
All Yuri had heard about the Bishop from the dead Pointing Flame was that the Bishop was a sixth-tier mage. Even the Pointing Flame had apparently known little about the Bishop’s identity.
“The first person I killed said the Bishop would be coming down from above soon...”
Yuri slowly raised his head to look at the ceiling. Haryeong and the Sword Dragon followed his gaze.
“The Bishop isn’t coming.”
“...”
“Maybe the Bishop saw you going on a rampage, Sword Dragon, and ran away.”
“Are you saying it is my fault?”
“Who else’s would it be?”
The Sword Dragon glared fiercely, but Yuri did not avoid his gaze.
“The heretics you and I killed were ordinary followers.”
“...”
“I infiltrated this gathering to kill the Bishop. I thought it wouldn’t matter if every other heretic escaped, as long as I killed the Bishop. What do you think, Sword Dragon?”
The Sword Dragon could not answer. He bit down on his lip.
He felt the same way. They had not killed every ordinary follower, only a few dozen. More had escaped than died.
And they had not even met the Bishop. The other followers could be rounded up, but there was a good chance they would never find a Bishop whose identity they did not know.
“My mistake,” the Sword Dragon said.
“I am sorry for ruining your plan.”
He let out a deep sigh and scratched his head roughly. Yuri had not expected him to apologize so readily. Were children of prestigious families really educated from a young age to be sensible and courteous?
‘It seems Namgung Jin alone was an exceptionally awful bastard.’
His personality was comparable to Yuri’s, an orphan who had grown up without parents.
“I’m going to look for the Bishop,” Yuri said.
“I said the Bishop might have fled, but that’s only a guess. Maybe the Bishop simply hasn’t come down yet.”
“...”
“So I should search. We can introduce ourselves after that.”
Yuri casually deferred the introductions. Depending on the situation, he could reveal his identity if he decided it was safe. Otherwise, he could simply slip away.
“I will come with you,” the Sword Dragon said.
“A sixth-tier mage, was it? I admit that you two are among the strongest fifth-tier fighters, but you will lack the strength needed to fight a mage of a higher tier.”
“So you’ll help?”
“The Orsia Family and I are supposed to deal with this in the first place. If the Bishop has fled, it is my responsibility as well.”
The Sword Dragon turned around as he spoke.
[I thought the young master of the Orsia Family would be unpleasant like Namgung Jin, but he is nicer than expected.]
[Please do not speak to a woman with a ruined face.]
[I did not say it was ruined.]
[Do not speak to me anyway.]
A chilling gaze radiated from behind the mask. Haryeong followed the Sword Dragon, who had started walking ahead, replacing the heretic’s mask with her usual fox mask.
“?”
Sensing it, the Sword Dragon turned and looked at Haryeong. He stared at her smiling fox mask and asked,
“Why the mask...?”
“My face is so ruined that I cannot show it to others, so I wear a cute mask instead.”
“Sword Dragon, my older sister’s face is perfectly fine. No, it’s beautiful. She simply has a reason for not removing the mask.”
Yuri hurriedly added.
The Sword Dragon blinked.
“What are you talking about...?”
“Anyway, let’s go.”
Yuri glanced at Haryeong. He could not see her expression through the mask, but her ice-cold gaze seemed to have eased somewhat.
[I know that I am pretty.]
It seemed she had truly calmed down.
[But Yuri, do you know where the Bishop is?]
[We’ll have to go up and search...]
RUMBLE!
A massive tremor shook the entire building.
* * *
Among the many mage towers on the continent, the Rudella Mage Tower was considered to follow a heretical path.
The truth pursued by the Rudella Mage Tower was the overcoming of mortality. They rejected the law that all living beings born into the world must eventually die.
The higher one’s tier, the more one could overcome aging. Even at the sixth tier, aging slowed, and upon reaching the seventh tier, one could regain the body’s prime through rejuvenation.
Rejuvenation granted a lifespan incomparable to that of an ordinary human, but it was not complete immortality. What the Rudella Mage Tower sought was complete immortality of body and soul, defying death itself rather than merely escaping aging.
That was why the Rudella Mage Tower handled corpses and studied souls. Corpse sorcerers who collected the bodies of people who had died for various reasons were longtime clients of medical guilds and the Rudella Mage Tower.
Though they did not openly oppose it, many mage towers kept their distance from the Rudella Mage Tower. Most sects outright rejected and despised it. To those who served gods, the Rudella Mage Tower’s research, magic, and pursuit were difficult to tolerate.
Had it not joined hands with the Heavenly Demon Cult, the Rudella Mage Tower might have long ago disappeared beneath the bombardment of the sects.
‘To think she had sought refuge with the Sect of Chaos.’
Biyeon had never met the Withered Crone herself. This was the first time she had even heard about that old woman.
Herein Rudella, the Corpse Immortal and master of the Rudella Mage Tower.
Just as the Rudella Mage Tower was an old friend of the Heavenly Demon Cult, that unsettling archmage was an old friend of the Heavenly Demon. But being friends did not mean they were always close. The Corpse Immortal usually shut herself away in the Rudella Mage Tower and rarely emerged.
It was Biyeon’s master, the Heavenly Demon, who had summoned them first.
Without warning, her master called Biyeon and the Corpse Immortal into a room, pointed at Biyeon, and ordered her to kill the Withered Crone.
‘So suddenly?’
The Withered Crone had never belonged to the Heavenly Demon Cult. That old witch had fled the Rudella Mage Tower ten years ago. The Rudella Mage Tower itself had left the Withered Crone alone, yet the Heavenly Demon had suddenly ordered her death.
‘Is there any reason to keep her alive?’
‘She did not flee with anything important. I left her alone because dealing with her was troublesome.’
‘Then she can be killed.’
‘Yes.’
That was the end of the conversation.
“I see.”
Biyeon frowned as she muttered. She finally understood why her master had suddenly sent her all the way here to kill a fugitive of the Rudella Mage Tower, someone with little connection to the Heavenly Demon Cult.
“It was because of the Sect of Chaos.”
Two years ago, Biyeon had accompanied her master to the Sacred Domain of the Sect of Order.
There, Biyeon met the Archbishop of the Sect of Order and Lorelia, the Calamity Star, a Martial Apex Venerable.
Among the Martial Apex Venerables, Lorelia was said to be fiercer even than the Sect of War’s Battle Saint, which was why she bore the title Calamity Star.
Biyeon had never imagined that the Calamity Star was her martial aunt, but she could not ask her master about it separately.
The Heavenly Demon Cult’s training grounds had since been completed near that Sacred Domain. Boys, girls, and promising young talents who had reached the age of twenty were being made into gu poison there, but Biyeon had never visited the Sacred Domain of the Sect of Order again.
Still, she remembered the conversation held there two years ago. The Archbishop of the Sect of Order had said that the Heavenly Demon was the person closest to killing the Evil God, and her master had not denied it.
‘Does Master truly intend to kill the Evil God?’
He had shown some interest in the wish granted by the Goddess of Order, but he would not fight the Evil God for such a trivial wish. Even Biyeon, his disciple, did not know her master’s exact tier, but his goal was to challenge the divine status of the tenth tier.
Was he blocked by the wall of divinity? No. Her master simply wanted to confirm whether his own existence could truly achieve godslaying. Whether the power earned through a mortal life could make the immortal cease to be immortal.
Sending Biyeon here carried the meaning of the Heavenly Demon Cult declaring war on the Sect of Chaos. It would be far too excessive for her master to personally deal with a mere Bishop, so he was likely conveying his will through his young disciple.
“Will you keep following me?”
Biyeon frowned irritably and looked behind her.
Sword Shadow stood in the shadows, smiling faintly.
“I understand why Master sent me here. As his disciple, I will convey his will alone.”
“I know that the Young Cult Leader’s skills are exceptional, but the Withered Crone is an experienced mage.”
“Could Master have sent me here hoping for my death?”
“Ha ha, surely not. But if I fail to protect the Young Cult Leader in the worst-case scenario, the Cult Leader will kill me.”
Sword Shadow answered with a smile. Biyeon glared at him briefly before sharply turning away to look at the building.
The followers of Chaos beneath that building were preparing for a gathering. Biyeon stared at it through narrowed eyes.
Then the mana around them churned violently, and magic appeared.
Something like a gray umbrella appeared above the building and fell, crushing the entire structure beneath it.
RUMBLE!
The building shook as if struck by an earthquake, then began to collapse. Biyeon stiffened in surprise and sharpened her gaze. A robed mage stood amid the violent storm of mana.
The Withered Crone.
Biyeon did not know why that old woman was suddenly crushing the entire building with magic, but she was certain of the mage’s identity.
“Huh.”
Even Sword Shadow sounded flustered, apparently not expecting this.
Biyeon did not hesitate. She unleashed the Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art.
CRASH!
Black force aura covered Biyeon’s entire body, while a crimson glow overflowed from the eyeholes of her blank white mask.
BOOM!
Wrapped in the protective force aura of the Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art, Biyeon kicked off the ground and shot upward.
The Withered Crone noticed Biyeon approaching. The face exposed beneath the fluttering robe was not that of the shriveled old woman Biyeon had heard about.
Her body was thin, but perhaps she had rejuvenated over the past ten years, because her appearance was fairly youthful.
However, it was not true rejuvenation. The Rudella Mage Tower pursued immortality. She had merely used magic to suppress aging excessively. That appearance was only an artificially adorned shell, and even after ten years, the Withered Crone had not crossed the wall of the seventh tier.
“Who are you?!”
Her appearance was young, but her voice belonged to an old woman, hoarse and cracked.
Instead of answering, Biyeon gathered the internal energy of the Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art in her right hand.
Heavenly Demon's Soul-Annihilating Palm.
Black force aura erupted from Biyeon’s thrusting right hand.
BOOM!
The Withered Crone’s body lurched from Biyeon’s opening attack. The Withered Crone immediately covered herself in a barrier and swung her staff at Biyeon.
* * *
Rumble...
It was difficult to immediately understand what had happened.
Only minutes ago, Yuri had managed to convince the Sword Dragon. They had agreed to work together to kill the sixth-tier mage known as the Bishop, and were about to leave the underground area.
Then the building suddenly shook, and the ceiling collapsed.
“C...”
Haryeong dodged the falling debris with nimble movements, then hesitated.
She obviously could not call him Cat Panties in front of the Sword Dragon. Nor could she call him Yuri. Should she call him Joo-gak? But Yuri did not seem likely to keep using that name forever.
“Younger brother, are you alright?”
If she used some ambiguous other name, the Sword Dragon might seize on it later. So Haryeong omitted his name entirely.
“Yes, older sister.”
Yuri answered while brushing stone dust from his shoulder.
Rather than leap aside, the Sword Dragon cut apart the debris falling directly above his head with sword aura. He was uninjured as well.
“It seems the Bishop didn’t flee,” the Sword Dragon said as he sensed the magic pressing down on the space around them.
“It seems the Bishop intended to trap us inside the building itself.”
Yuri thought so too. Had the spell been completed, the three of them would have been trapped underground and unable to escape immediately. The Bishop had apparently planned to flee while they were occupied.
‘The magic was not completed.’
The Bishop could not have changed plans midway through. Had someone interfered?
The moment Yuri thought that, more of the upper ceiling collapsed, and someone fell through.
BOOM!
It was Biyeon.
Biyeon landed cleanly without tumbling, then immediately prepared to leap upward again before startling and looking around.
‘What is this?’
Several crushed corpses lay nearby. They had not died beneath the debris. They had already been dead.
That alone was difficult to understand. Why were the heretics gathered for the meeting already dead? And there were not many corpses. Where had the heretics, who should have numbered at least a hundred even by the lowest estimate, gone?
‘Those people...?’
Biyeon’s eyes widened as she surveyed her surroundings and spotted the three people not buried beneath the rubble.
The man she had seen on the street two days ago, the one who had stirred her competitive fighting spirit.
And the woman in the fox mask.
The remaining person was blond...
“Sword Dragon?”
Biyeon spoke in surprise.
Of course she knew the title Sword Dragon. Biyeon, the Heavenly Demon’s disciple, was not yet widely known to the world, but the Sword Dragon was already famous.
Naturally, Biyeon had thought the Sword Dragon was the person against whom she should measure herself. She had never expected to meet him here.
“How dare you interfere...!”
The Withered Crone, descending slowly, spat the words in a hoarse voice.
Killing the Sword Dragon would make her an enemy of the Orsia Family. She had wanted to seal the entire building and flee to avoid that fate, but that girl had interfered.
“What the hell are you, you bitch? Why are you interfering with me?”
It was already too late to seal them in. Escaping would not be easy either.
The Withered Crone’s shoulders trembled with rage as she looked down. The two who had rampaged alongside the Sword Dragon before the gathering, and the girl who had suddenly interfered. Seeing all five of them, she could barely contain her anger.
“Sword Dragon, you insolent child! Relying on your family’s glory, you run wild like a reckless fool! I intended to spare you because I feared your family, but I can no longer do that.”
Since fleeing had become difficult, she had no choice but to choose the next-best option.
Even if she became an enemy of the Orsia Family, she would kill the Sword Dragon. Naturally, she would kill the others as well. She would kill the girl who had forced her to choose this difficult path, and the two whose identities she did not know but who had rampaged alongside the Sword Dragon.
She would kill them all and take their souls. In particular, she would take not only the Sword Dragon’s soul, but his corpse as well.
Even if she became the Orsia Family’s mortal enemy, if she obtained the Sword Dragon’s soul and corpse, and instigated this much chaos, the Sect would protect the Withered Crone.
‘I might even become a Saint.’
That thought eased the boiling anger within her.
FWOOSH!
An ominous gray light swirled around the Withered Crone.
“I will kill you all! Every last one of you!”
SCREEECH!
A ghostly face appeared within the gray light, and its chilling scream shook the surrounding space.
“Mommy!”
Haryeong startled and pressed close to Yuri’s side.
“?”
Yuri had already been tense, despite not knowing exactly what was happening. Startled by the voice beside him and the weight against his arm, he turned his head.
He could not see Haryeong’s expression because of the mask, but he could see her hunched shoulders.
“W-what are you doing?”
“It is nothing.”
Haryeong quickly regained her composure and moved away from Yuri.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
