WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 46: Prototype
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Rustle-
A crimson tide, clearer and more vivid than the blood-red fog, began to fill the area.
[ This is...!! ]
Amon seemed quite flustered by the sudden appearance of countless butterflies like the one that had caused the explosion. Amon gathered the fog and thickened the barrier.
Yeon Harim and Baek Seola were just as startled by the sudden swarm.
Flutter-
A blue butterfly slipped out from among the red ones, flew toward Yeon Harim and Baek Seola, then landed on Yeon Harim’s shoulder.
The blue butterfly beat its wings, scattering blue scale dust, but it did not feel harmful.
“Could this be the S-rank magical beast...?”
It was different from what had been expected.
Considering the size of the cage Yoo Hyun had carried around, the magical beast had not been expected to be large. But a butterfly?
And the power of the butterfly that had approached Amon and exploded earlier...
There was no way such a tiny creature could produce that much force.
Baek Seola looked at the orb Ayame held up.
Butterflies continuously crawled out of the orb and took flight.
“...The butterflies seem to be offshoots. Is the main body that orb?”
Rustle-
When the crimson tide of butterflies reached Amon, Amon formed hand seals with four pairs of arms and unleashed a shockwave.
[ It won’t... work twice.... ]
Baaang-!!
Boom!! Kwoooong-!!!
[ Kuaagh...!! ]
The moment Amon’s shockwave struck, however, the butterflies began exploding in a chain reaction and released poisonous smoke at Amon.
Yoo Hyun nodded as he watched.
“Pretty good performance.”
“Pant pant....”
I had confirmed it when that bastard put on a little talent show in the mental space.
No matter how blasphemous and grotesque its appearance was, it was still just a living creature.
It could wield something far beyond humanity’s spell systems, but the caster’s physical abilities were nothing special.
At most, they were only around eleven or twelve times stronger than a B-rank Hunter...
I supported Shirasaki Ayame, who still was not in good condition, and spoke.
“You’re doing great, Hunter Shirasaki. What do you think of the S-rank magical beast?”
“...I can’t believe it... To think I can inject poison into an opponent this easily...!”
She still looked exhausted from the aftereffects of the fog’s erosion, but her eyes shone in disbelief at the S-rank magical beast’s performance.
The magical beast’s principle was simple.
When Ayame used her ability and released toxic aura, the orb absorbed all of it.
Then it amplified the toxic aura and created butterflies.
The butterflies flew at enemies, scattering poisonous powder or exploding.
The visible butterflies were closer to disposable attack tools. Its true body was the caterpillar inside the orb.
[ Model Name 》 Prototype Cocoon ]
[ Mana Core Rank 》 S ]
[ Lifespan 》 44 years ]
[ Traits 》 Dreaming Cocoon (S+), Toxicity Amplification (S+), Detoxification (A+), Toxicity Storage (A) ]
It did not have many traits, but that was not important.
‘It turned out more useful than I expected.’
Something strange had happened during Cultivation. The mana core had been ground apart by the mana storm and rebuilt into a new core, and traits that felt one stage more evolved than my Design had appeared.
‘Normally, it should’ve had a trait called Proliferation instead of Dreaming Cocoon.’
As the S-rank mana core was reborn, the essence array seemed to have found its own direction and evolved, creating a new trait.
I had expected its appearance to resemble a hornet’s nest, too, but it had become a smooth orb.
I guess once they reached S-rank, they did not turn out exactly as I expected.
That only made it more exciting.
Even with my EX-rank trait, there were parts I could not fully grasp and needed to verify.
My heart raced at the thought that there was still so much room to explore in magical beast crafting.
“Magical beast crafting really is fun.”
“Pant pant....”
Squeeze squeeze-
Shirasaki Ayame was Japan’s S-rank Hunter poison mage. Before, she had needed to use a specially made spear or physically touch an opponent to inject poison.
The S-rank magical beast I had made to suit her abilities improved the activation rate and range of her poison traits to an entirely different level, while making the poison itself even stronger.
It did not matter if an enemy was immune to poison.
The butterflies multiplied by infusing them with mana and poison could cause powerful explosions.
Kwoooong-!! Boom-!!!!
[ Kuaaagh-!!! ]
Poisonous smoke filled the area until it was impossible to distinguish it from the blood-red fog, but it did not affect us. Blue butterflies had attached themselves to our allies, scattering scale dust with detoxifying effects.
Shirasaki Ayame had now become an all-purpose poison mage who could spread S-rank poison across the entire battlefield while detoxifying allies at the same time.
Of course, that splitting ability had the drawback of consuming an enormous amount of mana.
Creating this many butterflies at once would quickly drain her mana.
Still, poison had essentially done its job once it successfully poisoned someone.
‘Combat endurance isn’t all that important for a poison mage like her.’
Why fight head-on when she could apply a damage-over-time debuff and run away?
[ ...Mortals...! I will no longer... go easy on you...!! ]
Amon was pouring bodily fluids from every hole in the body. When Amon formed hand seals, manifested nightmare entities beyond the fog seemed to notice us and charged in.
“■■■-!!”
“■■■!! ■■■!!!”
The monsters let out incomprehensible screeches and swung tentacles lined with sharp blades.
Boom-!!!
Butterflies clung to them and exploded, but they could not deal any damage at all.
“As expected, our attacks don’t work because they’re detached from the laws of reality.”
Hmm. Poison alone could not deal a finishing blow to Amon after all.
“Pant pant....”
“That’s right, Haengbok. There’s one more S-rank magical beast.”
Ayame tilted her head at my muttering.
“...Can you understand what that dog is saying?”
...Well, Haengbok might not even be thinking anything.
Anyway.
Seeing that we seemed to have no way to defeat the nightmare entities, Amon, still forming hand seals, shouted smugly.
[ I will melt... your insides... stitch together your skins... and make you one...!! ]
But a figure had approached behind Amon, concealing their presence.
“...Quick draw.”
Shhk- Fwoooosh-!!
A slash wreathed in blue flames cut through Amon’s barrier.
[ ...! ]
The fog barrier was restored almost immediately.
The blood-red fog possessed limitless power in this space, so even if the barrier scattered temporarily, it quickly reformed.
Yet Azuma Ryusei, the S-rank quick-draw nut who had ambushed Amon, was not flustered in the slightest.
“So this is what it feels like....”
He simply sheathed his sword again and took a quick-draw stance.
Click-
[ ...I know... that you require... quite a long time... for a single strike... That is why... you cannot defeat me... ]
No matter how powerful his attack was, cutting through the fog barrier meant nothing if it could not injure the main body.
But then...
“How long ago was that, monster...? I haven’t forgotten what you did to my family in the mental space.”
A fox-shaped figure appeared behind Ryusei, who looked like a wrathful fiend.
Blue Fox Orbs floated around the fox, and one of them entered Ryusei’s sword.
Fwoooosh-!!
Blue flames rose from the scabbard, and Ryusei immediately drew his sword.
[ ...No...!! ]
Amon stepped back and tried to form hand seals, but Ryusei’s quick draw was faster.
Shhk-!!
The sword that had cut through the fog was sheathed in an instant, and another Fox Orb was absorbed into it.
“Die.”
A sword strike too fast to see.
His second quick draw passed through the fog barrier and cut across Amon’s chest.
Shhk-!!
[ Cough...!! ]
Ryusei did not stop.
Another Fox Orb entered his sword, and he drew it again.
Shhk-!! Fwoooosh-!!!
He carved Amon’s body apart as if he meant to cut it into a thousand pieces.
“He’s really furious. I hope he doesn’t damage my essence....”
“Pant pant....”
The magical beast I had provided Azuma Ryusei was designed to cover the weaknesses of a quick-draw nut like him while drawing out his strengths.
[ Model Name 》 Prototype Kitsune ]
[ Mana Core Rank 》 S ]
[ Lifespan 》 36 years ]
[ Traits 》 Fox Orb (S+), Foxfire (S), Shadow Shift (A+), Spirit Form (A) ]
This one had also turned out better than I expected.
Ryusei’s greatest weakness as a quick-draw nut was that it took him forever to charge up a quick draw.
I did not know the exact principle, but apparently he condensed mana inside the scabbard, created some kind of imaginary thing, and compressed a mana blade at ultra-high density to fire off a sword strike, or something, but I did not know the details.
Still, based on the idea that he could perform multiple quick draws if I solved the issue of how long it took him to gather mana, I created the Kitsune model.
This one should have developed Mana Accumulation and infusion traits rather than a trait like Fox Orb, but its traits evolved when it exceeded its limits and was rebuilt into an S-rank mana core.
Thanks to that, Ryusei could now fire off up to nine quick draws in a row, and they even had a fire enchantment, giving him far more overwhelming firepower than before.
On top of that, Shadow Shift let him move stealthily and get behind opponents, so there was no need to explain how dramatically it improved the success rate of his quick draws.
Shhk-!!! Fwoooosh-!!!!
“Hyaaaaaah-!!”
When Ryusei unleashed the final quick draw, the force of the wind pushed all the surrounding fog and poisonous smoke to the edges.
Fwoooosh-!!!!
Thud thud- Splat-!
At the same time, Amon’s severed body fell to the ground.
[ ...Impossible... In a civilization... not even a hundred years old... such a homunculus... How could causality.... ]
Ryusei raised his sword to finish Amon off, but I stopped him.
“Wait a moment.”
I lifted Amon’s head.
Around thirty percent of it had been blown away, yet Amon was still alive.
“What incredible vitality, Amon....”
I could practically drool.
Only then did Amon look at me with eyes full of disbelief.
[ ...It was you... It was you...!! Being with twisted causality...!! Your very existence is blasphemous...!!! What are you...!!! Who in the world stands behind you...!!!! ]
Amon was certainly a powerful opponent, but the matchup had been far too unfavorable for Amon.
Amon’s strength was not spells or the summoning magic that called forth nightmare entities.
It was the ability to summon fog that eroded the mind and damaged one’s humanity.
That was Amon’s strongest weapon.
Normally, the fog that had begun in Saitama Prefecture would have spread throughout Japan, gathered every human life into one, and created a blasphemous being that defiled human existence.
Furious that the plan had gone wrong, Amon howled.
[ Answer me, human...!!!! Who gave you such power!!!!! ]
“Hmm, if I had to say, it was the God of Jelly Dogs....”
“Pant pant....”
Haengbok beside me looked completely clueless. Even if I told Amon that, would Amon understand anything?
[ What kind of nonsense is th─. ]
Boing-!
As Amon tried to say something, Haengbok bounced up using Haengbok’s jelly-like elasticity, stuck to Amon’s head, and slurped something up.
Slurp-
“Pant pant....”
After that, Amon’s head stopped saying anything.
“Huh? Amon?”
Slap slap-!
Even when I slapped Amon’s cheek, there was no response.
It was still warm... but had become a cold corpse.
“...Haengbok, what exactly did you suck out of Amon?”
“Pant pant....”
As I inspected Amon’s head from every angle, Yeon Harim came over.
“...Are you okay, Yoo Hyun? It looked like Amon was trying to pull another trick....”
“I think Amon’s completely dead... Everyone, good work. Let’s grab what we can and head back.”
We gathered a massive amount of artifacts, and I collected Amon’s corpse.
“Hehehe, my essence!!”
“Pant pant...!!”
The red fog that had swallowed Saitama and Tokyo slowly began to clear.
* * *
A vast cavern illuminated by starlight.
Constellations floated across the cavern ceiling, while a large round table stood at its center.
The space resembled a planetarium.
Five men and women sat around the table. One of them, a beautiful woman with pink hair, brushed her hair back and spoke.
“Hm... The fog side made the first big move, huh? Won’t it become a problem if they establish themselves first? At this rate, they’ll swallow up Japan and Korea.”
A bald Black person folded their arms and spoke solemnly.
“On the contrary, those we serve are pleased that the fog has made intervention easier. Once other Transcendents intervene, the fog will have a hard time continuing to expand anyway.”
The other three listened without speaking.
They were the Gate Church’s core executives.
For a long time, they had been aware of transcendent beings such as the Cradle of Rotting Fog.
Unlike the Cradle of Fog, they had also been chosen by order-aligned Transcendents.
The pink-haired woman twisted a lock of hair around her finger.
“So we’re just handing Japan and Korea over to that ugly monster? I like anime and K-pop, you know?”
The bald Black person shook their head.
“It can’t be helped. The fog side has already suffered some loss to causality by intervening... Even if we intervene late, it’ll be difficult for our side to gain much.”
They had already concluded that Japan would be completely consumed by the fog.
Then the Golden Saintess, Ernesta, who had quietly listened until now, spoke as her golden eyes gleamed.
“Everyone, aren’t you judging too soon? Who knows? Japan might clear the Cradle of Fog’s Gate.”
The pink-haired woman burst into laughter.
“Ahahahah!! Erne, are you serious? I was a little surprised when those Magna Rider whatever-they-are guys appeared, but the Prophecy came true in the end, didn’t it? I guarantee you, there is absolutely no way that Gate will be cleared. Maybe later, but the first mover who entered after spending a massive amount of causality gets stopped? Even in their long, long history, there have only been a handful of cases like that.”
Ernesta smiled calmly.
“No one can be certain of the outcome until they see it for themselves.”
“Then want to make a bet? If I win, you sleep with those old farts. If I lose, I’ll let homeless people have me! What do you say? You’ll finally lose your virginity too, so it’s not bad, right?”
“...You crazy bitch. No wonder you’re a bar girl, you’re disgustingly vulgar. Why would they choose a filthy bitch like you...?”
Ernesta frowned, genuinely repulsed.
Of course, she did not truly believe the Gate would be cleared either, so she did not accept the bet...
Click-!
The cavern doors opened, and a follower’s urgent voice rang out.
“Forgive me for interrupting the meeting...!! The fog... The fog has cleared!!!! The S+-rank Gate has been cleared!!!!”
“...What?”
[ Breaking News ] Human history rewritten... Saitama Prefecture’s S+-rank Double Gate conquered for the first time in history
[ Special Report ] Red fog that swallowed the city completely clears... Saitama disaster ends
[ Issue ] Magna Riders’ breakthrough power and the might of S-rank magical beasts... Yoo Hyun writes the beginning and end of the S+-rank Gate clear
[ Society ] Massive angry protest outside the National Assembly in Yeouido... “Crippling regulations stole national treasure Yoo Hyun away to Japan!”
[ On Site ] “What’s the point of revising the laws when Yoo Hyun is already in Japan!” ...Angry shouts fill Yeouido
The world was shaken by the first successful conquest of an S-rank or higher Gate.
Author’s Note
Phew, the Japan arc is finally over... I failed to do a double release, but... you could say this was almost 1.8 chapters’ worth...!!
Thank you for reading today as well!
Footnotes:
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