WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 67: The Final Weapon

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"......What is that?"

I wasn't asking because I didn't know.

I was asking because it was so absurd.

The final weapons for each character in Academy of the End.

Among them, Alicia's Hyperion was an item that could only be obtained by passing the trial in the Imperial Treasury.

So why was Alicia holding it right now?

Alicia tilted her head as though the answer were obvious.

"This is one of the treasures that slept within the Imperial Treasury. I sneaked it out when I visited with His Majesty some time ago."

"...Are you allowed to sneak it out?"

"......Heh heh."

Cold sweat trickled down Alicia's forehead.

"...Of course not. Once I return, I'll be forbidden from leaving the palace for a while."

"Ah, I see."

"Still, landing such a big catch at the cost of nothing more than being confined indoors is a profit, if anything."

She said that, but tears rolled down her cheeks.

She must really hate being kept indoors.

"This practicum shouldn't have been particularly difficult. Why did you bring something like that along?"

"What of it? Since I've wagered on you, junior, I thought I needed to show that I had faith in you as well."

'For that reason alone?'

"I didn't expect to actually use it, though."

"You're bold, even when you don't know what kind of enemy is inside."

"It was partly coincidence. That creature controlled my subordinate's corpse to provoke us. If it were strong enough to dispose of us easily, there would've been no need for such a troublesome method."

She added with a serious expression.

"So I concluded that the enemy has a sadistic personality and is stronger than us, but not overwhelmingly so."

That was certainly possible.

Just like Maliaas, Eliver probably hadn't gathered enough demonic energy yet. She wouldn't be as strong as she had been in the original game.

"So I judged that this treasure might be able to handle it somehow."

"Somehow, huh."

"If it can't resolve even a situation like this, it doesn't deserve to be called a treasure."

Countering a Field with another Field was basic common sense, something even written in the old Su Bak Do.

Usually, two Fields were almost never applied at the same time.

They were too complicated to implement in a game.

That was why, in most cases, the later Field or stronger Field overwrote the weaker one.

In that sense, Hyperion's Red Scales was superior to nearly every other Field, except for that of the final boss, the Evil God.

In other words, simply equipping it could nullify most Field effects.

Of course, that effect didn't mean much in the original game.

It was a final weapon, so you only obtained it right before the final boss battle anyway.

But it didn't work on the final boss? What kind of bullshit was that?

Still, its status-cleansing and buff effects were useful enough that there hadn't been another choice.

And that weapon had appeared now, at this exact moment?

'This is practically a bulldozer. Without Love's Exclusivity, we're overwhelmingly favored.'

Thinking about it, this woman had clearly avoided joining the battle ever since we were in the village.

Red Scales would activate the moment she entered combat, so she must have pretended to be paralyzed to save its once-a-day activation.

Thanks to that, I was the only one who suffered.

Eliver was visibly flustered after confirming that Love's Exclusivity hadn't worked.

"W-what...? Why isn't my power...?"

"Heh heh. So your love isn't all that impressive either. Now, receive my sword!"

Alicia pointed at Eliver with one finger.

Then she glanced at me and jerked her head.

'What are you doing? Aren't you going?'

'So I was the sword she meant.'

Ugh. What was I supposed to do with this woman?

My turn again.

Every worry in my mind vanished as if it had been washed away.

No, I was overflowing with confidence.

Varhatan, Maliaas, Rose and Lilian.

This battle would be far easier than any fight against them.

The enemy was strong? I was saying this with that in mind.

The main effect of Red Scales was cleansing status ailments and increasing the party's stats according to their grade.

And Eliver's Love's Exclusivity was normally a top-tier status ailment that couldn't be cleansed.

Eliver's gimmick was forcing allies to become enemies and fight against one another.

[Red Scales]

[Cleansed status ailment: Love's Exclusivity]

[All allies' Attack Power, Health, Defense, Critical Hits, Fluidity, and Mana increased by 100%.]

I kicked off the ground and charged at Eliver.

Twisting my wrist, I carved Carving Sword into her shoulder.

Slash!

"Kyaaaah!"

[Weak!]

Twice as much blood burst from the wound as before.

Carving Sword alone had this much power?

I immediately slid across the ground and carved another weak point into her waist.

"Uuugh...!!"

Eliver went wild when the battle didn't go as she wanted.

She stepped back and gathered Black Flame. It blazed like overflowing lava.

Without Love's Exclusivity, Eliver was just an ordinary mage who knew how to handle Black Flame.

"I won't let you get away with this! Alicia Cyrus!"

Eliver's turn.

'Is she targeting Alicia?'

She wasn't an idiot, either.

She had realized from the scales that Alicia was the biggest problem in our party.

"Hmph. Go ahead and try whatever you like!"

Kwoooong!!

A dark-red flash burst from Eliver's hand and shot toward Alicia.

The flash blew away an entire wall of the villa, allowing moonlight to pour in through the gap.

Alicia's figure was swallowed by the flash.

"H-Halibal! P-Princess!"

"It's fine. You don't need to worry."

I wasn't worried in the slightest.

Red Scales wasn't Hyperion's only effect.

Final weapons had overwhelmingly higher base stats suited to their character than weapons of the same tier.

And because Alicia's buffs were affected by Mana and Defense, Hyperion raised both stats to an absurd degree.

Defense 77.

It was comparable to equipping sixteen Tier 5 Yellow Shards.

Alicia emerged from the dust without a single injury.

Her clothes had been torn in several places, exposing her skin, but her body was completely unhurt.

"With flames that weak, you couldn't even roast a duck."

"You... Bitch...?!"

Alicia smiled coldly as Eliver exploded in fury.

Alicia's turn.

Unlike Cecilia, I hadn't properly fought in sync with Alicia and Mine yet.

Still, Alicia understood her role with perfect clarity.

"It doesn't matter if a flower blooms ten times. Red flowers never last ten days."

She placed her index finger against her lips and spoke the name of her Art.

"Flowers Fade in Ten Days."

Red petal-shaped mana bloomed from Hyperion and wrapped around Mine and me.

My senses sharpened like needles, and my heart began pounding wildly.

Alicia's current stats were already absurd numbers that shouldn't have been attainable at this point.

And now, Alicia herself was receiving Red Scales' buff as well.

The result went beyond imagination.

[Flowers Fade in Ten Days]

[Critical Hits and Fluidity increased by 400% for 3 turns.]

'...That's insane.'

Every nerve in my body tightened, and heat like molten iron flowed through my veins.

It felt as though the laws of physics binding my body had been rewritten, as if the boundary between me and the world had blurred away.

Then I saw something I had never seen before.

Normally, this turn should have progressed in the order of 'me → Eliver → Alicia → Mine,' based on our Fluidity stats.

But the moment Alicia's buff took effect, the faint gem floating above Eliver's head vanished.

Instead, another small gem appeared above Mine's head and mine.

'Ah, this... Could it be?'

I hadn't known it existed until now, but Alicia's buff was so outrageously powerful that it seemed to have made it possible.

As our Fluidity stats explosively increased, Eliver's turn had been pushed behind ours.

'Me → Mine → me → Mine → Eliver → Alicia.'

We gained two turns in a single cycle.

'It looks like you can use two turns when Fluidity exceeds a certain value.'

You probably couldn't reach it through normal means.

It was a realm you could only reach by pushing a Fluidity build to its limits and then receiving Alicia's final buff like this.

But it worked, didn't it?

Then I had to use it.

Mine's turn.

"Holy Enchant!"

[Holy Enchant]

[Grants the weapon the Holy attribute for 3 turns.]

[When the Arts user attacks, there is a fixed chance to restore an ally's Health.]

Red Scales, Flowers Fade in Ten Days, and Holy Enchant.

With all three buffs stacked, I was stronger than I had ever been in my life.

Carve more weak points with Carving Sword?

No. There was no need.

My turn.

Without hesitation, I activated an Art.

Gale's Path.

The instant I kicked off the ground, I found myself standing atop the villa's stairs.

It wasn't intentional.

My body felt so light that I could fly away, and I simply couldn't control it properly.

Soon, every movement in the room began to break down into fractions of a second in my perception.

Eliver's furious expression as she searched for me after I vanished from sight.

Even her next movement and the faint trembling of her body hair looked like a frozen picture.

At this moment, Eliver wasn't some fucking boss anymore.

She was just prey that needed to be cut down.

Fwoosh!

When I took another step, I was standing behind Eliver.

"......You?!"

Seven streaks of ash-gray light crossed the entire hall.

My sword, filled with holy power, tore through Eliver's entire body.

"Kuh, ack...! Cough...!"

[Weak!]

[Weak!]

An ash-gray storm swallowed her body.

"Phew."

By the time my dash came to a stop, Eliver's bloodied body collapsed helplessly to the floor.

"Halibal! We did it!"

"As expected of the sword I chose. You give me even more faith in my own choice."

Alicia sneered at Eliver as she writhed like an insect.

"You certainly don't tire of flopping around. Like a fish caught in a net."

I stopped Alicia as she moved toward Eliver.

"Please wait a moment."

I was still pointing my sword at Eliver.

The gem above her head hadn't disappeared yet.

Then it happened.

Eliver's body, collapsed on the floor, began to twist unnaturally.

"You bitches... How dare you... How dare you humiliate me like this...!"

Her scream, filled with hatred and desperation, gradually changed into an inhuman shriek.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!"

Crack!

With a grotesque sound, eight smooth spider legs burst from her back.

Her once alluring lower body swelled and transformed into the abdomen of a hideous spider.

New eyelids formed across her forehead and cheeks, and eight glowing red eyes opened.

Eliver, human from the waist up and a giant spider from the waist down.

She looked like an Arachne from some work of fiction.

'As expected... There really is a second phase.'

It was the bishops' second phase, Monsterization.

"Eek...!"

Mine screamed, and even Alicia frowned in disgust.

- Kiiiiiiiiii!!

Eliver, fully transformed into a monster, howled.

Monsterized bishops gained increased regeneration and healed their wounds periodically.

They also gained additional attack patterns. In Eliver's case, she could move quickly and shoot webs to bind her target, on top of the magic she originally used.

On top of that, her basic attacks inflicted poison, so even a glancing hit often meant immediate death or game over.

Strangely, though, I wasn't worried.

The atmosphere was completely different from the original game.

This wasn't a matter of growth.

In the original game, the bishops' Monsterization was a second phase they entered calmly on their own.

There was an overwhelming confidence behind it. 'Once I Monsterize, I win.'

And in truth, it was usually after Monsterization that they gave players the most trouble.

But what did Eliver look like now?

We had beaten the shit out of her, and she had transformed because she had no choice, like one last desperate struggle.

The buffs were still active, and the poison would be nullified thanks to Antidote Herbs.

Our overwhelming advantage remained unchanged.

So what choice would the enemy make?

A choice impossible in the game, but entirely possible in reality.

Unless she was bound by restrictions like me, it was the best choice in a disadvantageous situation.

'Looks like she's thinking of running.'

Alicia noticed it too.

"From this point on, stay alert. Don't take your eyes off her for even a moment. That bitch will definitely try to escape."

"I know."

"Flowers Fade in Ten Days won't last long. If she decides to run, she may be difficult to catch."

I knew that too.

We spread out and surrounded Eliver.

Then a bizarre voice flowed from Eliver's mouth.

[......Why?]

"Are you asking why you lost? Isn't it because we're stronger than you?"

Alicia scoffed, but unexpected words came from Eliver's mouth.

[Why... can't I escape?]

Confusion appeared on all three of our faces.

'What does she mean, she can't escape?'

Soon, she began struggling in place as if she had been bound by invisible spiderwebs.

Her eight red eyes wildly searched the air.

[Why? Why... am I bound? Why? Why?!]

We looked around her, but nothing was visibly restraining her.

There was no icon indicating a status ailment, nor any trace of binding magic.

It was as though she were fighting something only she could see.

Panic.

Alicia wouldn't miss that chance.

"Junior! Now's the time! Slit her throat while she can't come to her senses!"

That shout was the signal.

Eliver escaped her panic and erupted in rage, as though she had given up on everything.

[You bitches...! What did you do to me...?]

She opened all eight eyes wide and gathered every last bit of demonic energy she had left.

The fish caught in the net began its desperate struggle.

Footnotes:

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