WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 52: Everyone Has Their Faults # 1
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Crunch, crunch.
The enormous snake chewed rocks and stones.
“Could you be Sabranik?”
No matter how strange this world was, how common could rock-eating snakes be?
That had to be Sabranik.
At my question, the snake opened its huge mouth wide.
【Ra’k sh-i, ek, man-du-?】
What was it saying?
Then Debora started thrashing as if she were about to foam at the mouth.
“No! I’m the one who prepared the stones! I’m the one who recited the unsealing spell! La-Ba-Shi!”
【Kaaaa-k-!】
The huge serpent opened its mouth wide and roared.
Its scales trembled all over.
“That man is the sacrifice!”
Whoosh!
The snake lunged at me.
“Fuck!”
I cursed and threw myself into a hard roll to the left.
I barely avoided being swallowed alive.
“Dol-Ro-bi!”
Debora shouted something again.
Swish.
The massive snake made an unbelievably flexible U-turn and lunged at me again.
Once again, I had no choice but to roll away with all my strength.
“Ugh!”
“Kyahahahaha! Dance! Dance!”
Debora laughed at me from atop the high altar.
I wasn’t an idiot.
I’d figured out long ago that Debora was controlling the snake with some strange incantation.
Despite being a Thief, Debora had read and studied a great deal. She was controlling the snake with ancient spells or something like them.
Maybe that was why she’d stolen Hermit’s thesis, 「Idol Research Report」.
Whatever the case, what I had to do here was clear.
I had to take Debora out.
“《Shadow Companion》!”
While my real body distracted the snake, my shadow would target Debora.
Just as I thought that, I heard Debora grind her teeth.
“Did you read 「Path of Shadows」?”
What was Path of Shadows?
I had no time to answer while dodging the snake.
“Jermain, you sly bitch! Giving the only remaining copy in the world to someone like you!”
Debora seemed thoroughly enraged by my shadow.
‘Even better.’
‘She’s worked up, so her judgment will be clouded.’
‘If there’s a chance, it’s now!’
Whoosh.
My shadow drew its dagger and charged at Debora.
Swish, swish.
Debora narrowly evaded the shadow’s attacks.
“Not bad! But controlling your shadow while your real body is in danger can’t be easy, can it?”
Fuck.
She was right.
“How long can your skill last? Five minutes? Ten?”
About five minutes.
There was a greater chance that the snake in front of me would eat me before then.
‘There’s only one way now.’
‘I’m about to die, so I can’t keep holding back.’
From the Black Bundle at my waist, I took out another Black Bundle.
Debora panicked when she saw it.
“Could that be...!?”
Was it because she was smart?
She immediately recognized it as something dangerous.
“Fuck, don’t lie! There’s no way someone like you has one of the demons’ pockets!”
“Hehe! We’ll find out whether it’s real or fake when I open it!”
Sliiide.
I loosened the bundle’s knot.
Then an incredibly black darkness spread out from inside.
Sssssss!
It clung to my arm, sticky and thick.
‘Th... this is the Night beyond the Wall!’
Startled by the Night rushing at me like a swarm of insects, I dropped the bundle.
At the same time, something monstrous suddenly thrust an arm out from inside it.
【Grrrrrrrr....】
It was an arm as huge as a pillar.
It was hot as though it were on fire, and the temperature around us seemed to rise by several degrees in an instant.
“Ah! You idiot! What have you done? What have you done!?”
Debora shouted noisily.
I used that chance to escape from the snake.
Then I rushed toward Debora and threw a shuriken.
“Thunderbolt Shuriken!”
Crack!
The blade flew like a beam of light with a clap of thunder.
It pierced Debora’s thigh.
“Gyaaaaah!”
Got her!
Her mobility would be reduced now!
I rushed at Debora and struck the back of her neck hard with the edge of my hand.
“...Urgh... You... you fucking... bastard...”
Thud.
Debora collapsed.
I tightly tied Debora up with rope I’d brought beforehand, then stored her in the Black Bundle.
“Good! Success!”
Shiver.
Then an ominous chill ran down the back of my neck.
When I turned around, something’s upper body was emerging from the bundle.
# # #
【Grrrrrrrr....】
It was a monster surrounded by heat haze.
Its face was gaunt like a skull.
A pair of horns grew from its head, and bat-like wings sprouted from its back.
Its hooves resembled a cow’s.
Its overall appearance was that of a burning demon!
「Demon General: Valdruk」
「Lv.??」
Its name appeared through my Black Eyes.
A cold shiver ran through me.
‘That’s a monster I saw in the game!’
‘Those insane Erdari bastards!’
‘They were planning to unleash something like that on the military headquarters?’
【Kaa-k!】
The huge serpent charged the demon.
Boom!
That alone shook the mine as if an earthquake had struck.
Rumble.
The mine was actually collapsing.
Masses of stone fell from the ceiling, and the footing felt terribly unstable.
Buried alive.
At this rate, I was going to be buried alive.
With that thought, I ran for the exit without looking back.
“You two can get buried alive!”
【《Mana Barrier》.】
Then Demon General Valdruk cast a spell.
The passage I’d been trying to escape through was blocked as though a transparent wall had appeared.
“A monster can use magic? You cowardly bastard!”
Demon General Valdruk glared at me with burning eyes.
When it stretched out a hand, several fireballs ignited before its palm.
【《Hellfire...》.】
【Kaa-k!】
The huge snake charged the demon again.
It wrapped tightly around the demon’s body.
I was incredibly lucky.
If those fireballs had come at me, I surely would’ve died.
‘A battle of giant monsters!’
‘I need to run while those two are fighting!’
The problem was this transparent wall.
“Break! Break already!”
I stabbed the Mana Barrier with my dagger.
But the wall was so sturdy that even my dagger couldn’t pierce it.
The bigger problem was...
Riiip.
The Demon General grabbed the snake by its jaws and tore it apart with all its strength.
Its upper and lower jaws hung in tatters.
【...S-ss....】
The huge snake went limp on the ground.
Even a snake that looked capable of swallowing an elephant couldn’t stand against Demon General Valdruk, the nightmare of Fairy City.
【Grrrr....】
Boom, boom.
Now the demon came toward me.
Every step it took felt as if it shaved ten years off my lifespan.
“Sabranik!”
I shouted with all my strength.
“Help me!”
You said you’d help me in a crisis!
This definitely seemed like a crisis!
Then I heard a voice.
【That huge snake.】
【That is my shed skin.】
【The skin I shed long ago.】
Shed skin?
That snake was Sabranik’s shed skin?
Wasn’t shed skin like a snake’s clothes?
It was surprising that it could move while alive.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now!
“Save me!”
【Approach my shed skin.】
【And offer Ether.】
I had to get past that Demon General and reach the snake’s corpse?
But it wasn’t as if I had another choice.
Crack, craaack.
Then a massive boulder in the ceiling above me made an ominous sound.
‘That’s it!’
Crack!
I threw a shuriken charged with Lightning at the ceiling with all my strength.
Crack.
The boulder in the ceiling immediately fell.
Rumble!
The mass of rocks buried the Demon General!
Rumble.
The Demon General was buried in an instant.
‘Got it!’
‘But it’s too early to relax!’
Demon General Valdruk was a high-level monster even in the game.
There was no way an attack like that would kill it.
So I sprinted toward the snake’s corpse.
Maybe because I’d been running around so much, I was completely out of breath.
“So how much do I have to offer?”
I had about two million Ether in my Black Bundle.
Did I have to offer all two million?
‘Damn, what a waste!’
‘Do you know how hard I worked to earn this?’
My money earned in blood.
My Ether earned in blood!
I’d rather offer real blood.
But...
Boom, crack.
The demon was trying to climb out of the pile of rocks.
‘What use is Ether if I die?’
‘My life comes first!’
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Then I put the two million Ether I had into the snake corpse’s mouth.
Ssssss.
The Ether disappeared.
At the same time, the snake corpse rose.
【Good.】
【We are connected.】
【One aspect of the three ill-omened ends.】
【I shall show you the power of the Death-Eating Dragon.】
“Ooh! Sabranik!”
How reassuring!
The dead snake moved and charged the Demon General.
【Die, you vulgar thing.】
【Grrrrr...!】
Squeeze!
It coiled around the Demon General’s body.
Even the Demon General seemed startled and hesitated.
“Ooh! It’s winning! It’s winning!”
As far as I knew, defeating Demon General Valdruk had a low chance of dropping a high-level weapon.
Would one drop now...?
Then Sabranik shouted.
【This body cannot last long.】
【Run. Quickly.】
Huh?
You couldn’t kill it?
“Ah, seriously!”
I ran with all my strength toward the mine entrance.
But the Mana Barrier blocked me again.
“How am I supposed to get rid of this thing!?”
“《Arcane Arrow》!”
Fwish.
Something brushed past my face.
Far away, I saw Hermit holding a torch.
“Newbie! Move! I’ll tear the barrier apart with anti-magic!”
“Hermit! You really came back to save me!”
A feeling I could never get from my Thief gang companions!
The Wall party really was the best!
“《Arcane Arrow》!”
Hermit cast the spell again.
Fwish, fwish.
The arrows struck the barrier and formed cracks.
Crash!
At last, a gap large enough for me to crawl through appeared.
I quickly squeezed through it.
【Graaaargh!!!】
A hot roar rang out behind me.
Hermit asked, her face deeply flushed.
“That’s a demon, right? A real demon like the ones in books!”
“I don’t know either!”
# # #
Hermit and I ran without looking back.
Boom, boom.
Heavy footsteps kept pursuing us from behind.
“Hermit! Can’t you do something with your magic!?”
“《Telekinetic Shockwave》!”
Hermit cast a spell at a mine support pillar.
Crack.
The mine pillar shattered beneath a transparent shockwave.
Rumble!
Crash!
We escaped the collapsing abandoned mine.
Had we been any later, we would’ve been buried alive.
“Aaaah! We lived!”
“Stop!”
Shing!
Flash!
The moment we emerged from the abandoned mine entrance, a silver spearpoint pressed right against the back of my neck.
There were soldiers everywhere in silver armor.
“Intruders who entered this territory without permission! Resist, and you will be subdued by force!”
What a pain in the ass!
“You let the Thieves who actually trespassed go, so why are you making such a fuss over easy targets like us, sir?”
I put a hand on the shuriken at my waist.
With Hermit the mage here, our chance of escaping was about fifty-fifty, wasn’t it?
Then, from among the soldiers, a woman in a long cloak called out to the knights.
“Sir Enut, they are the benefactors who saved me and the hostages! I would prefer that you not treat them roughly!”
That woman!
Was her name Mrs. Cheperi?
Mrs. Cheperi drove back the knights’ spears and swords and scolded them harshly.
“What are you all doing, treating the heroes who saved my life with such rudeness? Lower your weapons!”
Mrs. Cheperi was so dignified that it was hard to believe she had suffered such terrible treatment at the Thieves’ hands.
‘Well, getting a little mud on gold doesn’t reduce its value.’
‘That sort of thing is something you’re born with.’
A formidable woman.
Maybe she would’ve found a way to escape even if we hadn’t saved her.
Mrs. Cheperi soon approached us and politely asked for our understanding.
“I have no way to apologize for this rudeness. There is an heirloom passed down through our family. If you wish, I could offer you that...”
An heirloom of a noble family?
Just imagining what it could be made my head spin!
It might even be enough to make up for the two million Ether I’d thrown into Sabranik’s mouth!
Mrs. Cheperi added,
“Then, would you come to our estate? It would be the highest honor if you would give the Cheperi family the opportunity to host a daughter of the distinguished Pilgrim Family.”
Mrs. Cheperi seemed like the kind of person who would never bow to anyone.
Yet she gently knelt before Hermit.
Footnotes:
“Faults” in the chapter title can also mean a snake’s shed skin, which becomes relevant when Sabranik identifies the giant snake as its old shed skin.
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