WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈
Episode 105
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The reason Reallos hurried the attack was simple.
If the other Hunter Lords' sieges came to a complete halt, Modus's reinforcements would come flooding in.
They had to seize this city's Tower before that happened.
If they failed to take the Tower, the Hunter Lords would return home without hesitation.
"Let's go!"
Reallos, carrying a custom-made shield, took the lead.
Still, Reallos had brought only the very best, so their breakthrough speed was absurd.
Boom!
To hunters, even a slightly low city wall might as well not exist.
They pushed in at a terrifying speed.
The enemy's elites seemed to be guarding the innermost area, the Inner Citadel.
Even Modus probably had no choice.
"The Tower is right ahead! Don't stop!"
Reallos shouted as they threw a spear and blasted apart one of the gates.
As I chased after Reallos, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.
Something was coming.
Certain of it, I grabbed Kim Yuna and Yuki.
"To the side!"
The moment we took cover behind a building, dark crimson Sword Energy rained down where we had been standing.
Boom, boom, boom!
It was utterly devastating power.
The building's wall collapsed, and we nearly got buried beneath it.
That was Modus's Sword Energy.
Honestly, I had underestimated hunters' skills a little...
But Modus's Sword Energy was every bit the equal of Earth's modern weapons.
"Aaargh..."
"Don't get up!"
Modus was sniping the intruders from the bell tower.
I brushed stone fragments off my clothes and peeked at him.
"It's coming from the side too!"
Modus was in front of us, and an army of undead was coming from the side.
Hadn't we charged in a little too recklessly?
Before it became too late, though, the hunters left at the sniper positions began providing cover fire.
Boom!
The battlefield turned chaotic in an instant.
I threw smoke grenades wildly over the buildings, clearing a path.
Even Modus couldn't see through Smoke Screen from this distance.
"Follow me!"
"How far is the Tower?"
"Not much farther."
Gillius and Reallos had already reached the Tower despite taking considerable losses.
As they approached, Modus jumped down from the bell tower and widened the distance again.
Annoying bastard.
We somehow managed to seize the Tower, but the real challenge began now.
"You lot, hold this place!"
We had to split our already small force in two to maintain control of the Tower.
I considered staying behind too...
But if enemy forces came pouring out of the Tower, this would become the most dangerous place.
It would be better to stay near Gillius and Reallos, the strongest among us.
"We'll go too!"
"Watch out for the Sword Energy!"
Boom!
The bombardment of Sword Energy kept coming without end.
Then Sang Hajun accurately sniped Modus in the head.
Ting!
The bullet barely bounced away, but Modus must have felt a chill down his spine.
Assuming he still had one.
Whoosh!
Without hesitation, Modus fired several blasts of Sword Energy at the sniper position Sang Hajun had been using.
The power didn't fade even at that distance, and the accuracy was ridiculous.
Of course, Sang Hajun and Han Juwon abandoned their position and ran the instant they confirmed the hit.
Boom!
We advanced bit by bit through the chaotic battle.
At last, when the Inner Citadel came into view, Reallos drew a scroll from inside their clothing.
It looked similar to the one Goloks had used on the 12th floor, but far more powerful.
"That's... a Tectonic Shift Scroll!"
"Their Majesty is serious."
As expected of undead, Mortis and Modus's royal palace had been built underground.
Then Reallos used the scroll.
Rumble!
The ground began shaking with an ominous roar.
Modus swiftly jumped down from the watchtower, but he was already too late.
Rumble!
The underground palace began sinking.
The once-solid ground collapsed, and the palace sank endlessly into the earth.
"Oh... A treasure said to have come from the 16th floor..."
"Would Mortis die from something like this?"
"No. But she won't be able to come out for a while!"
Had they intended from the beginning to separate Mortis and Modus with that?
Modus realized it too and flew into a rage.
"You bastards, my palace... Do you know how much that cost?!"
"You tried to spread a plague through my city."
Reallos threw away the dented shield and drew two swords.
A Hunter Lord was certainly strong. Maybe we finally had a chance this time.
But this was the heart of Modus's territory.
Unlike last time, Modus's subordinates no longer held back.
Death Knights lined up and formed a wall.
"Who dares defy the Lord of Death!"
"There's no such thing."
Gillius stepped forward too, dagger in hand.
Flash!
Attacks and counters were exchanged in an instant.
It didn't last long.
Our side was sent flying first.
Boom!
Another barrage of Sword Energy struck where Gillius landed after being knocked away like a pebble.
With Modus properly positioned and firing blast after blast, he was no different from a cannon.
Bang!
I picked a suitable position and fired my Hand Cannon. Having come all this way, it felt wrong to only stand around and watch.
As if it were only natural, Modus erased the shot with Sword Energy.
Without even seeing the incoming Sword Energy clearly, I jumped down from my firing position.
Boom!
Another wall collapsed completely.
I nearly got buried for real this time, but Kim Yuna teleported me away.
"What are you doing? You know it won't work!"
"I'm laying the groundwork. I don't know if I'll get to use it, but..."
"Groundwork?"
My Hand Cannon wasn't a threat to him.
I wanted Modus to believe that.
"But it really doesn't work, so what are you going to do... Hm?"
Kim Yuna finally understood when she saw the new round I took out.
"Did you make that into a Specialized Round?"
"That's right."
Click.
Once I finished reloading, Sang Hajun contacted me.
[I've moved to a new sniper position. The view's better than before.]
"Can you snipe Modus?"
[Yeah. You guys didn't go underground, so I can hit him easily enough.]
Since it was an underground palace, the Inner Citadel's walls weren't very high.
That made sniping possible.
[I'll set up the Railgun!]
"All right."
It would be a waste not to use it after bringing it here.
Even a prototype Railgun should be able to seriously damage Modus.
Clang!
Reallos had forced their way through the Death Knights and closed in on Modus.
Like veteran hunters, Reallos and Gillius weren't easy to hit.
They narrowly deflected Modus's attacks and kept their distance.
Whoosh!
Gillius bent their upper body with impossible flexibility and avoided Modus's blade.
It was more like acrobatics than dodging.
Modus tried to pursue, but couldn't because he had to stay wary of Gillius's dagger.
Undead usually fought recklessly, relying on their toughness, but since Modus couldn't do that, he had to be having a miserable time.
The situation on the battlefield wasn't favoring Modus either.
"Ellas's troops have reached the Tower!"
"The Dwarf troops are joining us too!"
The Hunter Lords who had returned to their home dimensions were finally joining the battle.
Even after spreading the Magical Plague, there were simply too many hunters, so the situation was contained far too quickly.
"Then I'll hunt the weak ones first!"
Modus shouted and fired Sword Energy everywhere, instantly blowing several hunters apart.
But he was still outnumbered.
Modus might have been a Hunter Lord, but Mortis was the one who controlled the undead.
He needed Mortis to properly mobilize the undead from every region.
Then, at that moment, someone no one expected appeared on the battlefield.
A beautiful female elf with skin so pale it was almost white.
Her appearance was a mess, and she was practically half-naked.
It was probably because of the underground collapse.
"Mortis!"
More shocked than anyone else, Modus snatched her up.
Mortis, having summoned flying undead to reach his side, raised her staff.
"What are you doing here?!"
"My place is by Your Majesty's side."
We had gone through all that trouble to separate them, and they reunited like this.
Given Modus's personality, there had to be several secret passages in the underground palace.
I had expected her to escape through one of them...
But she had come back anyway.
Whine!
The undead were strengthened in an instant.
The hunters were pushed back once more, but Gillius and Reallos didn't retreat at all.
"Target the Necromancer!"
"Not so fast!"
Modus wildly swung his sword.
He was clearly no longer relaxed.
Was this really how someone who treated a Necromancer as a tool behaved?
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Our team finally secured a stable firing position.
Modus tried to escape with Mortis, but Gillius and Reallos had no intention of letting him go.
"Undead, answer your lord's call!"
The battlefield was complete chaos.
Modus had finally been forced into close combat.
Mortis tried several times to get Modus out, but she was under concentrated attack from the Death Priests and couldn't manage it.
Sang Hajun gave me a signal.
[Setup complete. I can fire whenever!]
"Fire at will!"
I shouted as I dealt with the incoming undead.
The undead had been greatly strengthened, making it hard just to hold our position.
The presence of a Necromancer made more of a difference than I had expected.
I had no idea what was happening over there, so it was right to leave the decision to Sang Hajun, our sniper.
After hesitating briefly, Sang Hajun pulled the trigger.
Boom!
Moving faster than sound, the high-speed metal projectile completely shattered the defensive spell.
Sang Hajun had sniped Mortis, who was relatively vulnerable and easier to target.
Modus was tied down protecting Mortis anyway, so it killed two birds with one stone.
Modus fired Sword Energy in time, but this projectile couldn't be erased by Sword Energy alone.
Sang Hajun had deliberately used the heaviest round.
In the end, Modus threw himself sideways while holding Mortis.
Boom!
The spot struck by the Railgun exploded.
Even after being partially offset by the Sword Energy, it had that much power.
Reallos's blade didn't miss Modus's opening.
Slice!
Modus caught the blade with his armor.
The thick iron plate was cleanly cut apart.
"Urgh!"
The Lord of Death swung his free hand and shattered Reallos's shoulder.
But Reallos was already spraying a Recovery Potion over the wound while retreating.
Countless attacks poured toward the two figures trapped in a corner.
The Death Knights tried to block them with their bodies, but they were already covered in wounds.
And hunters were experts at tearing open wounds.
Flash!
Modus was already focused on only one person, Gillius.
Gillius blurred for a moment, then reappeared beside Mortis.
Gillius swung a dagger, but Modus easily blocked it with his longsword.
Uncharacteristically, Gillius used another weapon as well.
The attack followed a trajectory that threatened both Modus and Mortis.
Slash!
In the end, a long spear pierced Mortis's chest.
"Mortis!"
"Cough! Your... Your Majesty."
It wasn't a Death Priest weapon, so her soul didn't vanish immediately.
But it was obviously a fatal wound.
Modus grabbed a nearby undead mage.
Was he trying to turn the mage into a Lich now?
There was no way that would work in the middle of a battlefield like this.
"... Why did you come back?"
"If the Death Priests came, you wouldn't be able to resurrect this time."
As a high-level Necromancer, Mortis had already begun manipulating her own soul.
Gillius frowned in disgust, but couldn't approach because Modus had gone mad.
Mortis's soul was drawn into Modus's armor.
"It won't be the same as before... but please keep using me."
Modus weakly pushed himself upright.
Then he crammed Mortis's body, which had already lost its soul, into his armor.
We all thought he would run away.
Just as we had expected at first.
But he didn't move from where he stood.
"Modus! Your tool has fallen! You're next!"
Reallos, who had withdrawn to recover, shouted as if to provoke him.
I knew it was psychological warfare, but that was harsh.
Even Gillius, responsible for sending Mortis to her grave, frowned.
Modus spoke calmly.
"Yes, she was my tool. But... she was the most beautiful and happiest tool in the world!"
Sword Energy burned from his longsword like a raging fire.
Its force was impossible to compare to anything he had shown so far.
"He's not running away?"
"Wow..."
Yuki let out a quiet groan beside me.
More frightening than Modus going mad was Yuki envying that.
Slash!
Each swing of Modus's sword cut down three or four hunters.
He intended to take everyone here down with him.
It didn't matter whether he was a coward or not.
He had nothing left to lose.
'He's planning to die here.'
The moment I realized that, something inside me changed.
I couldn't bear to watch that pitiful sight.
"Urgh!"
Unable to withstand the fierce assault any longer, Reallos was the first to begin fleeing.
Han Juwon shouted over the radio.
[Team Leader! That bastard isn't planning to run! Get out of there now!]
"... Hajun, how's the Railgun?"
[Not great, but I can fire one more shot.]
Good.
There hadn't been enough tests for me to be sure.
Still, it seemed like the durability could somehow withstand one more shot.
The battery should have some charge left too.
I checked my equipment and drank a potion.
Kim Yuna, watching beside me, looked dumbfounded.
"W-What are you doing?"
"I have something to do now."
"Something to do?"
"I'm going to hold a quick funeral. Yuna and Yuki, don't follow me!"
"No... Team Leader, have you seriously lost your mind?"
Instead of answering, I walked forward.
Inside me, Kaellis let out a quiet sigh, but prepared for battle anyway.
Footnotes:
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