WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 45: Doll Dungeon (3)

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The symbol of Erandar and the headquarters of the Holy See.

White Spirit Hall.

There, a man was receiving Razen’s report.

The man in priestly robes was huge and bloated with fat. Judging by his appearance alone, he looked less like a priest and more like a vulgar merchant.

“Your Eminence, Cardinal Romus. The Funeral Sword has just begun clearing the dungeon.”

“Hmph... So he finally went through with it.”

Romus, one of Erandar’s cardinals, let out a low groan.

He had expected this from the moment he received word that Halibal and Cecilia had bought tickets to Erandar.

How could a priest of the Church of the Main Gods stop an imperial hero from declaring that he would conquer an Abyss of the Evil God?

That was why Romus had decided to cut off as much support as possible. Deep down, he had hoped they would get scared and run away.

That hope had been thoroughly dashed.

“That bastard is definitely insane. I heard he entered the First Abyss alone too?”

“Yes... I believe we should prepare on our end as well.”

“...Haa. It can’t be helped.”

Whether the two could truly see the raid through to the end remained uncertain.

It was not called an Abyss of the Evil God for nothing. Countless Holy Knights and priests had entered in the past, yet not a single one had returned alive.

Still, the fact that they had entered at all was a problem.

It would be best if they died inside the dungeon, but what if they gave up on the raid and came back out?

The Holy See had not monitored the Abyss simply to bleed the Empire’s budget dry.

The temple now called an Abyss of the Evil God had originally been known as the Temple of Rest.

Rumors said it contained a shameful secret of the Holy See, one grave enough to shake the foundations of the Church of the Main Gods.

That was why the Holy See had thoroughly forbidden others from entering under the pretext of safety.

The Empire’s focus on the First Abyss, along with the previous Holy Knights’ failed raids, had kept anyone from setting foot in the Second Abyss for decades.

But Halibal had been granted authority directly by Princess Alicia, so they had no grounds to stop him this time.

“Gather all the Holy Knights. Put them on standby immediately.”

“Yes, Your Eminence.”

“This is irritating. Why did they have to barge in while I was in charge?”

Of course, he had no intention of using the Holy Knights to support Halibal’s party.

Quite the opposite.

He was gathering them so that if Halibal’s party emerged safely, they could be executed at once.

The excuse would be easy. Raiding parties dying in dungeons was an everyday occurrence. Even the Funeral Sword would be no exception.

“Then I’ll relay your orders.”

“Wait.”

Romus stopped Razen as he turned to leave, then added, “Call the Saintess as well, just in case. We need to make sure the cleanup is thorough.”

Razen nodded.

After dismissing Razen, Romus offered a prayer to the Main Gods for the first time in a long while.

‘If possible, may everything end quietly.’

⁎⁎⁎

The rooftop of the Temple of Rest.

Purple flowers that had not withered for hundreds of years swayed in the darkness.

Two women opened their eyes there.

Then they called each other’s names.

[...Rose.]

[...Lilian.]

The first thing they did was examine each other’s bodies.

Their appearances were exactly as they remembered.

Rose Elliot was a petite priestess with blonde hair and green eyes. Lilian Elliot was taller, but she too was a priestess with blonde hair and green eyes.

Their builds differed, but their faces were identical, as befitted twins.

As they ran their hands over each other’s bodies, their fingertips met a texture too smooth and cold to be called skin.

It was familiar.

Wax.

What now replaced their blood and flesh was hard wax.

[We... died.]

[What in the world is happening...?]

At that moment, red flames rose in the darkness.

[What is that...?]

Two red jewels bound in chains emerged from the flames.

The jewels, which gave off indescribable demonic energy, embedded themselves in the centers of the women’s chests.

There was no pain.

Their bodies were already nothing but lumps of wax.

Demonic energy flowing from the jewels seeped throughout their bodies.

[This is... demonic energy?!]

[What... what is happening right now...?]

They had been priestesses of Erandar.

They wielded holy power, the natural opposite of demonic energy.

Yet for some reason, the demonic energy that entered their bodies filled them with the warmth of a parent’s embrace.

Red fluid instantly settled within their cold, hard wax interiors, forming organs.

[Ahh...]

[Aaagh...!]

As breath returned to them amid their groans, the women’s green eyes turned red.

That was when it happened.

[Rose Elliot, Lilian Elliot. You have now been chosen by the true god of this world.]

An unpleasant voice echoed inside their heads.

[Use the power you have been granted to kill the intruders who entered the temple.]

The voice vanished after those words.

[Intruders...?]

[Kill them? We can’t do that...]

Immediately afterward, the women rose and turned toward the entrance to the stairs leading to the rooftop.

A clanking sound echoed up from below.

[Alain.]

The being clad entirely in silver armor was Alain, the Holy Knight who had shared their final moments.

He was not wearing armor.

The armor itself was his wax body.

He could not speak because he had no mouth, yet somehow, his will was conveyed clearly to both women.

[Do you perhaps... know what is happening right now?]

Alain nodded and kissed their hands.

The moment of their deaths resurfaced in their memories.

The pain of being pierced by spears, their final screams swallowed by flames, and the hands they had failed to reach until the very end.

And the cold smiles of those dressed in priestly robes like the ones they now wore, watching them with indifferent eyes.

That was engraved vividly in their final memories.

At the same time, memories they had not experienced entered their minds.

Another name for those memories was truth.

As the jewels embedded in their chests scattered red flashes, their expressions instantly darkened.

It meant they had resolved to accept everything.

[...So that was what happened.]

[For something so trivial... we...]

The women’s eyes had come to resemble those of monsters.

No, perhaps they had worn such expressions from the moment they first opened their eyes.

When Rose and Lilian clasped hands, the sight of a mansion appeared before them.

A gray-haired boy and a silver-haired girl drove their swords into an old priest’s chest.

The old priest’s name was Klaus. He was someone who had raised the two women, like a benefactor to them.

[Those must be the intruders, right?]

[It seems so...]

[...Klaus.]

The women’s lips trembled with grief.

But the jewels shone red and crushed those emotions.

[Do not stop. Kill the intruders.]

At the same time, demonic energy wrapped around their bodies and formed new clothing.

The base was still priestly robes, but cracks spread across them like spiderwebs, twisting them into something grotesque.

Having learned the truth, the two were no longer priestesses of the Church of the Main Gods.

Instead, they had become faithful hunting dogs of the true god of this world.

Whoosh!

When Rose raised her hand, a red spear took shape.

Holy Spear Calros.

The spear of the guardian who had once protected the Temple of Rest had twisted and turned black, blood dripping from its tip.

A sun-shaped mark appeared on Lilian’s palm.

The mark should have contained holy power, but it now overflowed with enough demonic energy to overwhelm even Klaus.

[...Lilian.]

[...Rose.]

For a moment, the two tried to find their former selves in each other’s eyes.

But they could not. Their eyes had already been consumed by red light and hardened like wax.

Their wistful gazes then turned toward the boy and girl.

The look they had been searching for rested within them.

They could tell instinctively.

Those two were never evil.

But that did not matter.

Their new god had commanded them to break the light.

The Doll Dungeon’s bosses, Rose and Lilian, gave an order to their loyal knight.

[Alain.]

[Please.]

Boom!

Without a moment’s hesitation, the knight leaped down the stairs.

Toward the place where the song of death could be heard.

⁎⁎⁎

[...Oh, God, intruderintruderintruderintruders...]

As the elite monster fell, the demonic energy blocking the second floor vanished without a trace.

“Haa... haa...”

“Whew.”

Cecilia and I immediately sat down.

Dark red blood streamed from my shoulder.

That flash had pierced clean through it.

“Why do you keep trying to handle everything on your own? I could have blocked it.”

‘No, you probably couldn’t have.’

That monster had been aiming for me from the beginning.

The flash of light had been difficult to deflect with Just Guard, so I ended up taking the hit.

Cecilia immediately supported me and led me to where the Lumen particles had been.

As she pressed down on my wound to stop the bleeding, the particles seeped into my shoulder and slowly filled in the damaged flesh.

“It’s a good thing we saved it like you said. Things could’ve gone badly without this.”

Potions were not miracle cures.

Potions could not make a wound this deep heal instantly with lizardlike regeneration.

But Lumen’s effect was different. It could heal the wound itself, like it was doing now.

My honest impression after defeating the elite priest monster was simple.

‘...This is tougher than I thought.’

A sense of danger rose before any feeling of accomplishment.

To be honest, I thought we would defeat it more easily.

My memories of endlessly farming Elite Kobolds in the past were still vivid.

Yet even fighting together with Cecilia had left us like this.

Without thinking, I looked back at the door we had entered through.

It was still tightly shut.

Just like in the Beast Dungeon, it would not open until we defeated Alain.

‘I thought we could finish this today... At this point, I should consider defeating only Alain and returning.’

By then, my wound had completely closed.

When I rotated my shoulder, it moved naturally, just as before.

No problem.

When I told Cecilia what I was thinking, she let out a relieved sigh, as though she had not expected it.

“Yeah. That’s a good idea. So you aren’t a machine after all. I knew there’d come a day you’d say something like that.”

“It’s only a tactical retreat. We’ll get ourselves in order and come back.”

You only kneel so you can spring back up.

“Okay. Then we need to go up to the second floor first, right? Want to rest for a bit before we go?”

When I nodded, Cecilia immediately took a lunch box from her bag and spread it out on the floor.

Why did this suddenly feel like a picnic?

“This one’s yours. Our cooks are pretty good. I asked them to make it sweet on purpose.”

“You didn’t make it yourself, did you?”

“...Of course I didn’t!”

What a shame.

Still, resting was the smart choice.

No more monsters would appear on the first floor, and there would be no fighting unless we went up to the second.

More than anything, I had used up more stamina than expected.

Getting proper rest would help.

Just as I was about to sit down on the floor, it happened.

[Unique Ability - Rewind Action 0 / 3]

[※Unique Abilities can only be used in boss battles.]

Cecilia darted in front of me.

Then she kicked me away.

I had not managed to regain my balance, so I was immediately thrown backward.

Boom!!

A silver afterimage slammed into the spot where Cecilia had been standing.

“...Huh?”

The only thing left fluttering through the air was the red-stained Forget-Me-Not Brooch.

Footnotes:

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