WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 623: The Oldest Wish (4)
──────
「User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 233
Current Location: Searching...
Sage’s Advice: 3」
- Han Ga-in
“We’ve arrived.”
The moment the button labeled Moon Church lit up, the elevator suddenly began to blur!
A-ri stared at the Holy Mother with wide eyes, and the Holy Mother answered in a flustered voice.
“Someone else’s dream is overwriting mine! How is that possible? My dream is exceptionally stable!”
The interior of the Moon was a realm where dreams and reality mingled, and the Holy Mother’s skill with dreams truly was extraordinary.
The problem was the identity of our opponent.
Everyone exchanged glances, sharing the same thought.
The being pushing aside the Summoned Entity Holy Mother’s dream and overlaying her own dream, Moon Church, was the Holy Mother of this time period!
They were both the Holy Mother, but the other one also had the Moon’s support.
Wasn’t it only natural for the Summoned Entity Holy Mother’s dream to be overwhelmed?
Before we knew it, the surroundings had become blindingly bright, pure white marble filling every direction.
Everyone understood instinctively.
If the elevator disappeared completely, things would become seriously complicated!
“Can you restore the elevator?”
“I-I’m doing it now. Just keep watch over the area for a momen-”
The Holy Mother’s panic-filled eyes flashed with a chilling light.
As if she had sensed the presence of someone she hated beyond all reason!
She had become aware of another version of herself existing in the same time period!
The Holy Mother was powerful, but her mind had not overcome Uniqueness.
Her reaction was already alarming.
What would happen if the two Holy Mothers met face-to-face?
I didn’t care what happened to the other one, but it would be a problem if this Holy Mother lost her mind any further.
The elevator leading to the Sacred Domain might disappear!
Realizing they had to stop the two Holy Mothers from meeting, A-ri reacted quickly.
“We have to stop her outside. Elder, come with me.”
“Very well.”
The moment A-ri and Elder Wisdom stepped outside, violent crashing sounds began to ring out.
I tried to calm the Summoned Entity Holy Mother in the most composed tone I could manage.
“Focus on restoring the elevator. It hasn’t disappeared completely yet!”
“...”
Loud noises continued to echo outside, along with vibrations strong enough to make my skin tremble.
It sounded like the battle was anything but easy.
Before long, Seung-yeop, Elena, and even Jin-cheol were preparing to go out.
“Ga-in, I think we need to help them. You stay with Mi-ro and the Holy Mother-”
Just as Jin-cheol was about to leave, the Summoned Entity Holy Mother, who had been restoring the elevator, spoke.
“Stop.”
“What?”
“It’s the Prince’s intention to make all of you leave.”
“What are you-”
“You’ll start hearing hymns soon.”
Hymns?
As if waiting for her words, a strange cry began to echo.
“Слава Луне!”
“A foreign language?”
“Oh, that’s Russian-”
The moment Elena, the only one who understood it, tilted her head, the Holy Mother muttered bitterly.
“Glory to the Moon.”
A church naturally had devotees.
Devotees began pouring endlessly from somewhere within the church of pure white marble.
“Кто умирает от неверия!”
“Death to the unbelievers.”
I was about to summon the Sacred Sun, thinking they would come for us, when the Holy Mother grabbed my arm.
“It’s already too late. Don’t waste your strength.”
“...”
“Urgh! W-what is this light, Ga-in?”
Light.
Light intense enough to make me dizzy.
Light that burned not only the human body and mind, but the soul itself!
“Богородице, нас всех!”
“All of us to the Holy Mother.”
The devotees filling the church ignited like living candles.
Their bodies turned to ash, and their minds melted away.
At last, even their final essence, their souls, sublimated into energy. It was a staggering scene of offering.
My companions stared wide-eyed at the horrific burnt offering of souls.
“That witch of a Holy Mother!”
“Hearing that as the Holy Mother is rather painful.”
The Holy Mother on our side responded to Eun-sol’s furious shout with a joke.
When we first summoned her, her mind had seemed half-destroyed.
Now, she was clearly in better shape than before.
Had her fierce hatred for another version of herself given her a new will?
--- Tap! Tap!
Elder Wisdom and A-ri rushed back with urgent expressions.
“The Holy Mother outside is absorbing souls without end! I think we all need to go out and deal with her-”
“I’ll say it again. It’s the Prince’s intention to make all of you leave this place.”
A moment of silence followed.
Elder Wisdom, who had been gauging the situation, spoke quickly.
“I’ve restrained the Holy Mother with the Radiance of Reason.”
The Radiance of Reason?
It seemed he meant the light that suppressed supernatural powers, which he had shown before.
This was Elder Wisdom’s first Inheritance.
“We have about thirty seconds to talk, so explain quickly. Don’t stop restoring the elevator. Why bring up the Prince’s intention all of a sudden?”
“To explain myself simply, my blessing handles offense, while my Inheritances handle defense.”
The Holy Mother’s power.
The blessing Justice handled offense, while the Qliphoth Crystal and Taeguk Diagram handled defense.
“Sacrificing devotees doesn’t make the blessing stronger. If anything, Justice is quite weakened because of this young lady.”
The Holy Mother’s view of justice was broadly similar to that of the Management Bureau, but at the very least, she did not consider human sacrifice a just act.
“On the other hand, the Qliphoth Crystal and Taeguk Diagram become tremendously strong. The other me is practically immortal.”
In other words, the Holy Mother’s defenses were currently far stronger than her offense.
“Even if all of you go, you won’t be able to kill her easily.”
“...”
“Elder, it might be possible if you used the Ark’s power, but...”
“It no longer exists, so there is no point discussing it.”
I understood.
Even if everyone attacked, we would not be able to defeat her easily.
That meant killing the Holy Mother together before moving on was the wrong choice.
A drawn-out battle itself favored the Moon!
We also had to consider the Summoned Entity Holy Mother’s remaining time.
We had already used fifteen minutes, so we had to reach the Sacred Domain with her help within forty-five minutes.
We couldn’t afford to waste time here!
A-ri, seemingly thinking along similar lines, spoke.
“One person should get off here. That person can stop the other Holy Mother from interfering with the elevator while the rest of us depart.”
“W-who-”
“I’ll get off.”
As Elena rose, Elder Wisdom tried to stop her.
“Calm down. If you die fighting her, the Holy Mother will regain her full blessing-”
“What, is it fine if I die somewhere else?”
“What-”
“If we start weighing the possibility of defeat after coming all this way, there’ll be no end to it. And...”
Elena looked around with a slightly pained expression.
Everyone followed her gaze and looked around again.
A shining sky. A temple built from pure white marble.
A place that looked exactly like heaven.
The Moon’s devotees filling the area burned alive, yet their faces were full of joy.
They must have believed that offering even their souls to the Moon was the greatest honor.
They had already lost their memories and identities after experiencing the Hell of Eternity.
They did not remember what kind of people they had been in life, and there was no way to find out.
Only one instinct remained.
To serve the Moon.
They were gentle sheep who could do nothing but worship the being that had destroyed them.
The most miserable fate in the universe.
All at once, I felt a sting in my heart for the first time in a long while.
The triangle I thought had worn away long ago turned another full circle.
Elena spoke calmly.
“If Justice cannot step forward in a place like this, then where can it fight?”
As Elder Wisdom tried to say something again, I grabbed his arm and stopped him.
A pale flash had already begun to rise in Elena’s eyes.
“Elena.”
“Mr. Ga-in.”
“I’ll trust you.”
The moment Elena left, Elder Wisdom asked me.
“Why did you send that young woman?”
“...”
“If you had told her not to go, young Justice would have listened to you...”
“I don’t know. This moment just felt right.”
“Why?”
“Because this is a moment that needs Justice.”
“...Did you sense some kind of fate?”
“Something like that.”
Elder Wisdom did not press the matter any further.
“Holy Mother, how much longer until the elevator is restored?”
“The problem isn’t time, but interference.”
“Interference?”
“Send one more person to the other me. That way, her dream won’t be able to interfere with mine.”
Elena alone was not enough.
At those words, Seung-yeop nodded and rose.
“Since we’re talking about fate, shouldn’t Fortuna be the one to go stop the Holy Mother?”
Elena and Park Seung-yeop got off at Moon Church to stop the Holy Mother.
At that moment, a sharp intuition flashed through my mind.
Someone would have to get off at the Plain of Sinners and the Deepest Sea as well, to buy us time.
The Summoned Entity Holy Mother had a little over forty minutes left.
Since we had to reach the Sacred Domain before she disappeared, there was no time to clear every obstacle along the way.
Just as we had done this time, someone would have to hold off each obstacle while we maintained the elevator and continued onward.
...
The elevator was restored.
Just before departure, the Summoned Entity Holy Mother asked about her situation for the first time.
“Holy Son, did you turn back time? I came from the future, and that is me from this time period, correct?”
“...That is correct.”
She was beginning to understand her circumstances exactly.
That meant the Holy Mother’s mind was gradually recovering.
How would this affect what came next?
“Urgh...!”
My companions could not hide their unease.
Perhaps sensing the mood around her, the Holy Mother whispered reassuringly.
“Don’t worry. I’m on your side now.”
“...”
“My purpose is the same as yours.”
“...”
“I hope laughter awaits at the end of all the suffering we have endured.”
* * *
- Elena
--- Boom!
The Scales collided with the Scales.
Waves tangled with waves.
A chaotic battlefield where two different definitions of justice repeatedly cried, “I am right!”
Golden waves danced in every direction, creating something like a beautiful work of art.
If not for the fact that human blood was the paint, and sorrowful hymns were the notes.
“You!”
A voice rang out.
“I heard from the Prince. You came out of the Hotel recently?”
“...”
Aedia, dressed in pure white, was so beautiful that she looked like an angel descended from the heavens.
To the souls undergoing Soul Extinction while crying out for the Holy Mother, she must have been more than an angel.
Whirl!
The Holy Mother spiraled through the air, releasing a wave powerful enough to erase an entire city in one blow.
I responded with the force of my own spinning Scales.
Exactly the same power.
Exactly the same blessing.
Even our methods of using them were similar.
--- Rumble!
“...!”
I took a heavy hit again!
We were fighting with the same blessing in similar ways, yet I could barely hold on. Why?
Because I was using only my blessing, while the other side was using Inheritances too!
I was realizing this again, but Justice and Ominous Imagination did not fit together very well.
Judgment, the core of the blessing, granted powerful mental resistance, while Ominous Imagination could only be used if its user went mad.
So right now, I was fighting with only my blessing.
My opponent, meanwhile, had assigned roles perfectly, with her blessing handling offense and her Inheritances handling defense.
Her Inheritances had also devoured an enormous number of souls, making them several times stronger than usual!
There was no way I could win like this.
--- Rumble!
The constant drain of power and repeated losses piled up.
The blessing was nearing its limit, and I had to catch my breath.
The Holy Mother did not miss the opening.
“At this rate, you’ll die within thirty seconds.”
“...”
“No answer? Can’t you even speak while using Justice?”
Her cold, mocking eyes made my thoughts turn grim.
If I died, the Holy Mother would become at least thirty percent stronger than she was now, right?
I had talked a big game before coming here, but now that I was getting pushed back without a chance to think, I was seriously anxious.
Just as I wondered whether I should use Ominous Imagination to self-destruct once the blessing ran out!
--- Whoooosh!
A presence like a pitch-black whirlpool burst into the battlefield.
Its aura blazed like wildfire. One word summed it up.
Ominous.
The instant it appeared, a slash flew across dozens of meters and struck Aedia!
--- Crack!
The Holy Mother’s body split vertically in two.
Now!
No time to be surprised!
I drew out every last bit of strength and battered the Holy Mother’s divided body with golden waves.
A brutal vision flashed through my mind.
If she were human, blood would spray everywhere as her organs and bones scattered across the ground.
If she were a Reptilian, perhaps blue blood and scales would fly instead!
...
It was neither.
The only thing inside the Holy Mother’s divided body was purple crystal.
This was no longer a person, not even a Reptilian.
The Qliphoth Crystal had replaced her entire body long ago, and her beautiful appearance was little more than a sculpture.
Was she always like this?
Or had she reached this state by consuming the souls of her devotees?
As the shattered crystal grotesquely reattached itself as though nothing had happened and formed the Holy Mother’s body again, I understood.
The Holy Mother was truly immortal right now!
Even if we shattered her into a million pieces and scattered them across the Pacific Ocean, she would come back!
--- Clank!
The sound of pitch-black metal armor moving.
The Black Knight I had not seen since leaving Room 207.
Seung-yeop!
No, he must have used Awakening. Was he Fortuna now?
The moment I saw the Black Knight, memories of the past surfaced.
I had used Justice on Fortuna before and still lost, right?
He had his own knack for immortality, just like the Holy Mother.
A few seconds later, the Holy Mother had regenerated completely and spoke in a murderous voice.
“I wondered why this girl came alone to stop me. You seem rather strong, but even so-”
--- Clank!
“Holy Mother.”
A voice filled with sorrow and regret accumulated over long years.
It was definitely Seung-yeop’s voice, but the atmosphere was completely different.
Perhaps she felt its weight.
The Holy Mother tilted her head in confusion.
“Do you know me?”
“My foolish king...”
“What?”
For the first time, the Holy Mother looked truly shocked.
Of course she was. From Aedia’s perspective, someone she had never seen before had suddenly called her “my king.”
“W-what are you talking about? I have never had someone like you as my subordinate!”
Fortuna released streams of grotesque energy as he answered.
“You do not know me, but I know you.”
“What-”
“At the Hotel and in reality... you always fall into the same misconception.”
The Holy Mother, unable to contain her curiosity, muttered.
“Misconception?”
“Holy Mother, you are no different from those pitiful devotees below.”
“...”
“You always seek something to worship, and you believe a god’s words without doubt.”
The Holy Mother in Room 207 trusted Mr. Ga-in without doubt.
The Holy Mother in reality trusted the Moon without doubt.
“What is wrong with believing a god’s words!”
“Your devotion to a god does not guarantee that the god will reward you.”
“What would someone like you know-”
“Look around you. Can’t you see how the Prince treats his devotees? If you believe you will be different, that is nothing but your own naive misconception.”
Wow!
I had heard stories about Fortuna from my companions, and I had fought him before.
Still, this was the first time I had seen him speak directly.
I was as surprised as the Holy Mother!
Was this really the same person as Seung-yeop?
The Holy Mother seemed momentarily speechless, unable to refute Fortuna’s words.
Instead, her eyes flashed chillingly as a Spear of Judgment formed and shot toward Fortuna.
--- Bang!
An attack of enormous power, seemingly several times faster than the speed of sound!
Fortuna did not move a single step.
Yet the Holy Mother’s attack strangely cut through empty air.
“Ha! You got lucky? I had just regenerated, so it only missed. Next time-”
--- Clank!
“Someone’s luck is someone else’s misfortune. Next time, I’ll be lucky, and you’ll be unlucky.”
Footnotes:
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