WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 68: Good Morning

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Before Eliver's desperate attack could reach us, Mine moved first.

It was Mine's turn.

The terror that had gripped her had lasted only a moment.

"In the name of the Main Gods, I shall cleanse this filthy evil!"

As Mine raised her mace high, rose vines made of holy power bloomed and formed a barrier.

An area-of-effect Art: Rose Garden.

My turn.

I carved two new weak points into her body and stepped back.

Mine immediately took my place.

"Holy Calling!"

Empowered by three buffs, Holy Calling had far surpassed the concept of a basic attack.

Crackle!

[Aaaaaaah──!!]

Eliver screamed as a sphere of holy power pierced her body.

Now that she had undergone Monsterization, Mine's holy power dealt additional damage to her. The damage had to be considerable.

Eliver's turn.

Toxic breath spewed from her mouth.

Swaaaaaash!

The dark crimson tide melted through the villa's walls and ceiling as it washed over Rose Garden.

Yet the roses made of holy power purified the poison in the breath and blocked the attack.

Alicia's turn.

"You vermin. Even now, you're still struggling."

Alicia lightly tapped the surface of the barrier with her fan.

Daggers formed from mana burst outward from the barrier in every direction.

Iron Fan Flower.

Like Holy Calling, it was one of Alicia's few offensive Arts.

Papapapak!

Without the buff from Flowers Fade in Ten Days, its power wasn't particularly high, but the daggers embedded themselves in the walls and pillars, blocking Eliver's escape routes.

Her determination not to let Eliver escape was plain to see.

Seeing that, Eliver struggled again without understanding why.

Just as Alicia had said, she looked like a fish caught in a net, thrashing desperately.

[This can't be happening...! I didn't come here expecting this...! So why...?]

"In that regard, we're alike. I didn't walk in here expecting to lose either."

Alicia stepped back and added,

"Give up. You've lost, and we've won."

[You bitch...!!]

I cut in before the abuse could continue.

My turn.

Eliver's jewels still showed no sign of returning.

To ensure a clean finish, I added two more weak points with Carving Sword.

That made four weak points in total.

Mine's Holy Calling struck directly into the spider's abdomen.

[Weak!]

It hadn't erased the weak points.

Eliver's weak point was there.

Waves of holy power scorched Eliver's entire body black.

She had been burned by holy power, the opposite of demonic energy.

Then my turn returned.

I kicked off the ground and leaped out of the barrier.

Ash-gray energy began to gather around the tip of my sword as moonlight shone behind me.

Chrono Dive. Carving Sword. Gale’s Path.

Three Arts used in succession.

Gale’s Path struck Eliver head-on and detonated every weak point I had carved into her.

But one weak point remained.

The innate weak point I hadn't carved myself.

Her heart, the fundamental weakness that sustained her life even after she became a monster.

I raised my sword, aimed at her heart, high into the air.

"Halibal Break."

My descending sword traced a path of death.

Kwagwagwang!!

With a thunderous crash, Break split Eliver in half from her abdomen through her upper body, where her heart would be.

[......Ah.]

A vacant light settled in her eight eyes, which had burned with eerie ghostly flames.

Everyone present knew the battle was over.

The jewels hovering over her head had vanished.

[The effect of Flowers Fade in Ten Days has ended.]

[The effect of Holy Enchant has ended.]

[The effect of Chrono Dive has ended.]

[The field Red Scales is dispelled.]

Thud.

'...Fuck?'

My knees slammed pathetically into the ground.

"Uh...?"

I turned at the sound of something collapsing beside me and saw Mine sitting on the floor, trembling.

"I'm, I'm sorry... My legs... gave out..."

The inflated Health from the buffs disappeared, taking with it the strength that had supported movements beyond the limits of our bodies.

The backlash hit all at once.

I didn't have a single wound, but the exhaustion was more severe than in any battle I had ever fought.

My current stats couldn't handle the movements Alicia's buffs had allowed.

Ironically, Alicia, who hadn't received Flowers Fade in Ten Days' movement buff, was perfectly fine.

Then Eliver's body convulsed.

Her grotesque spider-like lower body melted away, her eight eyes closed, and she returned to her original human form.

Watching her take shallow breaths, Alicia drew a dagger to finish her off.

"You're disgustingly tenacious."

But I knew.

The fight was over.

She would die even if we left her alone.

Then Eliver whispered in a faint voice.

"Ah... I see. So this is... the ending you have chosen for us?"

Her eyes weren't looking at any of us.

Instead, she stared only at the vast sky beyond the hole her breath had torn through the ceiling.

"If this is your love, then I shall gladly accept it..."

With those final words, her entire body split in half, and the light completely vanished from her eyes.

She was dead.

Alicia looked down at the bisected corpse.

"For someone who went on and on about love, that was a terribly pathetic end."

Silence filled the hall after her words.

The night wind washed away the traces of battle.

"Can you stand, Junior?"

"...I'll try."

I gritted my teeth and forced myself up.

Every muscle in my body screamed.

"That'll do."

'It won't, though.'

After confirming that I was standing, Alicia helped Mine lean against a nearby wall.

Poking at the corpse with a suitably sized stick she had found somewhere, Alicia said,

"Still, this is strange. A human becoming a monster of their own will and remaining sane afterward."

She turned toward me.

"You said she was the Fourth Bishop. That means there are at least three more like her. Did the one who attacked you and Cecilia Ren last time also transform like this?"

"Not exactly, but the person we fought then did call himself a bishop."

I told Alicia what Maliaas had revealed during the first run, suitably altering the details.

Maliaas had revealed his identity before I regressed. Since it hadn't happened in this timeline, I hadn't seen any need to tell them.

But Eliver had openly revealed herself as a bishop before the Imperial Princess and the Saintess. It seemed more beneficial to share the information now.

"The Seventh Bishop... the Clown, and the Lover..."

"Yes. If that woman was the Fourth Bishop, then there are at least five more like her."

"If they're bishops, they must be executive-level figures. So you're saying you defeated an executive of the cult and didn't report it to the Imperial Family?"

"There was a lot going on at the time."

"Of course there was."

As we spoke, Eliver's corpse began to disappear like dust.

"This is strange as well. A human body vanishing like a monster."

"Now that you mention it, that happened last time too."

"No, honestly... It's clear that you're hiding quite a lot, Junior."

Alicia sighed, then smiled softly.

"Still, both of you did well. That was an opponent I couldn't have defeated even if I came back from the dead."

"N-no... Your Highness and Halibal did everything."

"No. We were able to handle her easily thanks to Holy Enchant. Your Highness, you worked hard too."

That was when it happened.

Just like with Maliaas, a treasure chest appeared where the corpse had been.

"Ooooooh? Isn't this loot? Since she was like a monster, I suppose she drops things like this too."

Alicia's eyes sparkled.

She wiggled her fingers and began petting the treasure chest like a puppy.

"U-um... Wouldn't it be... dirty? Shouldn't you purify the demonic energy before touching it...?"

"There is no such thing as a dirty treasure chest!"

"Ah, yes."

Alicia's hand suddenly froze as she stroked the chest.

"Wait. A treasure chest dropped from someone who called herself a bishop of the cult...?"

Then she glared at me.

Damn.

"Ju.nior?"

"......Hm."

I rubbed my chin for a moment before answering.

"Cecilia made me do it."

It wasn't a lie.

Cecilia had thrown me under the bus once, so I decided to do the same to her this time.

Sorry, Cecilia.

Alicia gave me a suspicious look for a moment, then turned away.

"Fine. I'll hear that story from her directly later."

'...That might be a problem.'

I had a feeling I was going to get scolded.

"Now! More importantly!"

Alicia's eyes gleamed with greed again, as if nothing had happened.

She patted the treasure chest and urged me on.

"You landed the finishing blow, so you should open it. Hurry!"

"......"

"Of course, we must divide the contents fairly! Kuhuhut."

"Um... Shouldn't we report this first?"

Mine's question made Alicia respond as though it were absurd.

"What? I am the Imperial Family. What is there to report?"

'Ah, so telling this person was enough.'

"Hurry up. Aren't you getting dizzy waiting?"

Sighing inwardly, I opened the treasure chest.

With a purple flash, the lights of dozens of Shards burst into the sky.

Against the night sky, the Shards' drop effect looked like a cluster of stars decorating the heavens.

"Wow... I've never seen anything like this before."

"Huh, it's like Shard fireworks."

Most were Tier 1 Shards, but six Tier 2 and Tier 3 Shards were mixed in.

It was a literal jackpot.

At that moment, an unfamiliar black flame threaded between the Shard fireworks.

A Black Shard?

No, a black even deeper than that.

'A Special Shard!'

Before someone could snatch it from me like last time, I immediately reached out and caught the Shard.

"Junior, you certainly have quite the desire for material things. I couldn't even follow it with my eyes."

"......"

"I'm joking."

Ahem. I cleared my throat.

Even so, I couldn't resist a Special Shard.

There were three types of black Special Shards: [Dark Cloud], [Crescent Moon], and [Black Cloud].

I already had Black Cloud, the final-stage one, so this had to be one of the other two.

Crescent Moon was the ultimate Fluidity Shard.

Dark Cloud was one step below it, a near-ultimate Shard.

Either way, it was a must-have at this point.

Should I check?

Spring Waltz began playing in my head.

[Dark Cloud]

'It's Dark Cloud.'

Dark Cloud increased Fluidity and Critical Hits by 3 each.

I'd have to replace it eventually, but for now, it was more meaningful to me than Crescent Moon.

'Not bad.'

More importantly, it had a Special Ability too, so my expectations were even higher. A Shard being bad didn't necessarily mean its ability would be bad too.

As soon as I equipped the Shard, a message appeared.

[An ability is unlocked upon equipping a Special Shard.]

[Special Shard: Dark Cloud]

[Special Ability: Fruition]

[Fruition - When the user forms a party with three or more people they have bonded with and staggers an opponent, they launch a powerful joint attack.]

The Special Ability I had newly acquired was similar to Self-Love's Bond, but the description was slightly different.

'A joint attack... Something like an all-out attack?'

Just how powerful was powerful?

Yet what caught my attention most was the condition of "three or more people."

It was a condition I couldn't meet right now.

'Maybe I can try it after summer break.'

As I slipped the Shard into my pocket, Alicia narrowed her eyes.

"Why does that Shard belong to you, Junior?"

"Why don't you invest a little more in your sword?"

"Even so, isn't taking a Special Shard going a little too far? Bring it here."

Her fingers started wiggling again.

When I leaned away with a tired expression, Alicia let out a small laugh.

"Fine. You're right, Junior. Keep it. Just remember that I gave it to you."

"I certainly will."

Soon, the lights that had decorated the sky faded, and dozens of Shards fell to the ground.

Alicia fairly divided the fallen Shards in half between Mine and herself.

"I-I'm fine..."

"We aren't. Besides, you contributed enough this time. Of course you deserve a share."

Mine's eyes gradually reddened as she watched her empty Core fill up.

After the Shards had been divided, Alicia's expression turned serious again.

"Now we need to deal with what remains."

She looked toward the corpses of the soldiers scattered around the hall.

"They were my soldiers. At the very least, we must collect their bodies."

"Let's check whether there is any information left inside the branch, then recover the soldiers' bodies."

"...It's tragic. If only we'd arrived a little earlier."

"Blaming yourself won't change anything. If you've done your best, all you can do is leave the result to heaven."

We collected the bodies scattered around the hall.

Fortunately, we found clothes the soldiers had worn in one corner of a room in the villa, so we could cover the corpses.

The problem was transporting them from here to the capital.

"Don't worry about that. There should be someone with their feet to the fire by now."

Alicia said she had secretly brought Hyperion without telling even her own escort.

She hadn't even told her escort she had come all the way to Ronwood.

"They'll probably come to catch me soon."

Alicia gave a hollow laugh and sprawled out flat on the spot.

"So until then, let's rest like this for a while."

That unrefined behavior was probably her way of showing consideration for Mine and me, who were exhausted.

Choosing to accept her consideration, we lay on the floor like her and stared at the gaping hole in the ceiling for a long while.

Until the sky turned orange.

⁎⁎⁎

I left the two, who had fallen asleep, alone for a while and headed down the mountain by myself.

According to Alicia, her escort would soon arrive here on the Cyrus Express.

Guiding them was an excuse, but more than anything, I felt unsettled.

It was because of the strange feeling I had gotten during the battle with Eliver.

'...Escape doesn't work?'

That was what she had said.

Thinking about it, something had been strange with Maliaas too. Hadn't he tried to flee, only to return to the alley?

The same was true of Eliver.

Her actions clearly gave the impression that something was restraining her.

And perhaps that something was related to whatever had forced turn-based battles upon me.

'Escape.'

I took the [Void] Shard, which I had forgotten about for some time, from my pocket.

A blank Shard devoid of color.

Its effect was Escape, but I had left it unused because I hadn't thought I'd ever need it.

'Duke Grace gave this to me.'

Lost in thought as I walked, I soon arrived at the station.

The sun rose beyond the horizon, and at the same time, the faint sound of a horn rang out.

It had to be the Cyrus Express.

It happened just as I headed toward the station entrance to meet the train.

『Yaaawn... You're late, aren't you?』

A familiar voice that shouldn't have been possible to hear sounded beside my ear.

I turned my head and saw a little girl stretching, someone who had no reason to be here.

『Good morning, Halibal Velder.』

"......Renee?"

Sheep still stood at Renee's feet.

Her body and those of the sheep were translucent, like holograms.

Footnotes:

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