WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 92: Ex-Girlfriend, Ex-Boyfriend
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‘Varus!’
When I said that, Pelerian corrected me.
-It's Baras, not Varus. You wrote it properly, so why did you say something else?
‘It's just the feeling.’
The pronunciation was Baras, but I had wanted to yell Varus.
Rune Language itself held magical power.
Bluebeard was bound by the contract he had made with Pelerian.
Pelerian the Heaven-Defier had arranged things so they could claim the penalty for breaching it with a single rune word.
It was a terrifying contract, one that could turn the Dwarf Mine Lord into a slave just by saying the rune word ‘Baras.’
‘But why did Bluebeard agree to such a terrifying contract?’
-People are different when they go into the bathroom and when they come out.
‘What a dirty comparison.’
-That is the way of the world. The attitude someone has when borrowing money is different from the one they have when repaying it. That foolish dwarf must have truly believed he would never break the contract.
Pelerian did not merely look old. They genuinely had a great deal of experience with the world.
Having seen every ugly side of it, they certainly had a cynical streak.
-But circumstances must have changed. Once he needed Celestium, he probably assumed I was dead and simply broke the contract.
‘Oh.’
-And most importantly...
Pelerian shamelessly added,
-That bastard probably did not know a single rune word would leave him like this. I carefully hid the relevant clause in the contract.
‘Gasp.’
Wasn't that completely like Pelerian?
Either way, their devious arrangement was helping me tremendously now.
Bluebeard had frozen solid, like a wax figure.
‘Raise your hands, Bluebeard!’
When I gave the order, he stiffly raised both hands like a machine.
It felt similar to when I used Domination on a monster.
‘Wow, how does this work?’
-It is similar to having one's soul mortgaged.
‘...Isn't that something a devil would do?’
-How did you know? It is exactly the method devils often use.
What a total devil.
Pelerian believed that methods and tools did not require moral judgment.
I ordered Bluebeard to pull up the chain and bucket.
Without a word, Bluebeard began hauling up the Celestium bucket.
Sssizzle!
A bead of sweat fell onto the chain and evaporated in an instant.
This place was truly as hot as hell. It would not have been strange if a devil lived somewhere nearby.
“Um... are you all right?”
“My lord.”
The dwarves were flustered when Bluebeard suddenly became so docile.
Still, Bluebeard only pulled the chain without saying anything.
Keep messing around.
Your king's life was in my hands now!
I proudly lifted my head before them.
The mummy-like dwarves watched the situation, not knowing what to do.
‘There is no chance the control will break, right?’
-Did I not tell you? It is no different from having his soul mortgaged. The magic will not break until Bluebeard dies.
Then I should recover the remaining Celestium besides the bucket and chain, and have weapons made from it.
I also needed to firmly tell them to stop doing barbaric things like human sacrifices from now on.
Then something caught my sharp eye.
Bluebeard's arms were trembling slightly as he pulled the chain.
Was it because the chain was hot?
By the time he had pulled the bucket almost all the way up, even his lips had started trembling.
Bluebeard's lips moved, and he forced out a few words.
“...Ah.”
“Yes?”
“...C-catch.”
That was ominous.
“Catch... th-the snake.”
The dwarves' eyes turned toward me.
I quickly ordered Bluebeard.
‘Shut your mouth! And hand the bucket over to me!’
The command worked.
The bucket held a mysterious orange flame.
It was not lava. It was unmistakably the very flame that had danced atop the lava lake.
A wicked fire that bewitched dwarves and attacked the mind.
A lid dangled from the bucket.
I hurriedly closed it and latched the lock.
Celestium's heat resistance really was incredible. It was hot, but still bearable.
Yet Bluebeard would not release the chain he was holding.
‘Let go!’
“C-catch it...!”
He shouted that while blood flowed from his mouth.
Only then did the dwarves rush at me.
The situation was obvious.
Contrary to Pelerian's confident claim, Bluebeard was gradually breaking free of the magical control.
-Th-this cannot be!
‘You said this magic could never break!’
Did that dwarf have Mental Strength around 19 or something?
-Mental Strength cannot break a contract like this. I told you, it is literally a contract bound to the soul!
No matter what Pelerian said, the current situation was clearly real.
I bit down hard on the back of Bluebeard's hand.
Then I injected a suitable amount of Neurotoxin.
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【Dwarf Mine Lord Bluebeard Lv. 159】
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He was clearly stronger than me.
He would not die, right?
Well, who cared if he did?
Only then did Bluebeard let go of the chain.
I put the bucket and chain together into my Subspace.
Kibaema, this is dangerous, so never touch it!
“U-aaaagh!”
Bluebeard finally broke free from the contract's magic.
He lunged at me.
I slipped past Bluebeard's side to dodge.
A dwarf that had tried to pounce on me from behind became tangled up with Bluebeard instead.
Ah!
I had nearly fallen into the lava lake.
The lava lake was behind me.
Dwarves blocking my escape were in front of me.
Bluebeard clutched his bitten wrist tightly and roared.
“Catch him!”
“Saaak!”
I shouted back at him.
‘Protect me, Bluebeard!’
It seemed some of the control remained.
Bluebeard struck one of his subordinates who had been about to rush at me.
The hit dwarf rolled across the floor.
I did not miss the opening and escaped the encirclement.
「You use Acceleration Lv. 7.」
It was not something to be proud of, but running away had always been one of my specialties.
The problem was that this place was far too hot.
‘At this point, I think I could even enjoy swimming.’
I might have been able to happily swim now, even though I hated it most.
The dwarves screamed as they chased me.
Bluebeard seemed to have completely broken free of my control as well.
I almost complained to Pelerian again, but held back.
They looked more shocked than anyone.
-Was the contract incomplete from the beginning? No, then the rune word would not have worked at all. Could there have been a structural flaw in my contract design...? More likely, that dwarf had some way to counter it. But how?
They kept muttering to themselves, as if their pride had been deeply wounded.
Still, how Bluebeard had escaped Pelerian's magic was not important.
The most important thing was getting away from those fire-bewitched dwarves.
I hurried up the stairs.
The door connecting the deepest level and the inner level was closed.
I practically threw myself against it.
Bang, bang bang!
That was how you knocked for those on the other side to open the door.
Sure enough, it opened with a screech.
I shot through the gap.
“Argh!”
The dwarves opening the door by pulling the pulley chain jumped in surprise.
They had not expected me to suddenly burst out.
When they let go of the chain, the partially opened door slammed shut again.
An idea came to me.
Wouldn't it be nice if they could not open the door at all?
I took out Ashira and struck the chain connected to the pulley.
Clang!
The chain showed no sign of breaking.
Damn it, dwarves were too good at making useless things.
Instead, I hung from the pulley fixed above.
I contracted every muscle in my body and pulled hard.
Crack.
The pulley broke.
“W-what are you doing?!”
I ignored the dwarves shouting at me.
Bang!
A loud thud came from the door below.
Bluebeard and the other dwarves had reached it.
They would not be able to open it now. Stay down there and get steamed, dwarves.
It was too soon to relax.
Creak, screech!
Dwarves were an incredibly strong race.
Bluebeard and his subordinates were somehow lifting the door overhead.
I did not look back and turned around again.
I was leaving the inner level.
Up first. Then higher still.
“Catch that snake!”
They had crawled all the way up from the deepest level.
This time, even other dwarves nearby joined the chase.
One dwarf coming down the path spread both arms and took an awkward stance to block me.
「You use Heart-Eating Leap Lv. 3.」
A gaping red hole did not open in the poor dwarf's chest.
I only flashed past their neck.
Their spine must have gone cold, because they rubbed the back of their neck and collapsed onto the floor.
After passing them, I immediately saw the door to the inner level.
The door connecting the inner level to the floor above operated through gravity.
In other words, you had to turn something like a cartwheel to open it, and the moment its rope was cut, the iron door would slam shut.
“Close the door!”
The dwarf guarding the open door had been dozing off.
Then Bluebeard shouted once again.
“Close it, you bastard!”
An axe flew over my head, slammed into the wall, and fell.
The dozing dwarf jolted awake.
“Close it!”
They hurriedly turned the cartwheel.
The door began to close with a grinding sound.
I moved even faster.
Then another axe flew from behind.
Clang!
The chain supporting the door snapped in one blow.
The massive iron door dropped under its own weight.
「You use Heart-Eating Leap Lv. 3.」
I threw myself through the narrowing gap, almost rolling.
Booom!
My tail had nearly been cut off.
Still, it was a clear victory for me.
The chain lifting the door had broken, buying me more time.
The iron door banged from behind, along with Bluebeard's furious screams.
“What is going on?!”
The one who appeared with that booming shout was Rosena.
Ah, I did not think I could beat her...
I had three choices.
Defeat Rosena and run away.
Or slip past her and run away.
The first two did not seem possible.
But there was a third option.
‘Bluebeard has gone crazy!’
I could tell her what I had seen.
‘He pushed an old dwarf named Jeremiah into a pit of fire. I'm telling you, he has completely lost his mind. He said he would mine the Heart of the Mountain and build a dwarf kingdom...’
“W-what?”
I honestly exposed Bluebeard's atrocities.
Not completely honestly. I exaggerated a little.
-Oh, no!
Pelerian suddenly cried out.
-That woman and Bluebeard are involved!
‘What?’
Gasp, no way.
‘Are they still dating?’
-Uh... who knows?
If they had broken up, there would be no problem at all.
Did they perhaps still have feelings for each other?
Rosena's expression gave me the answer.
Her face had twisted completely.
“That fucking bastard Zenzero...”
Ah, they had definitely broken up.
And it had clearly ended badly.
So Bluebeard's name was Zenzero.
“I thought he would come to his senses someday if I left him alone, but he finally went and caused trouble...”
‘You believe me?’
“Yes.”
Rosena rolled up both sleeves, revealing her massive muscles.
Then she picked up a small hammer that did not suit her build at all.
I flinched, worried she would bring it down on me, but she simply held it out.
“Snake, you said you came with Dunkel.”
‘Yes.’
“Take this.”
Rosena's hammer was somewhat old, but it was an excellent item.
When I looked closely, the delicate decorations were incredibly beautiful.
It was a fine tool worthy of a Meister.
“Meet up with Dunkel and find Helmut. Tell him I sent you, then give him this.”
Helmut really was not an ordinary old man.
“The mine needs a new lord. Zenzero has finally lost his mind.”
Rosena gently stroked my head.
I nodded and put the hammer into my Subspace.
“Now, go!”
I had wanted to escape quickly anyway.
Leaving Rosena behind, I fled.
All I could do was hope she would teach Bluebeard a lesson.
* * *
Rosena watched the snake leave.
To Bluebeard Zenzero, that snake might have felt like a sudden disaster.
But Rosena thought otherwise.
Perhaps it was a lucky snake that had appeared in a fading mine.
She looked over her tools.
Besides the hammer she had given the snake, she had plenty of threatening tools.
There were blades, as well as large hammers suitable for use as warhammers.
But she could not use weapons.
Yes, this would be enough.
Rosena picked up a wooden neck pillow she used when sleeping.
Bang, bang!
A tremendous noise came from the door connected to the inner level.
Bluebeard finally opened it.
He and his close subordinates crawled through the narrow opening.
“Ha.”
Watching them, Rosena let out a dry laugh.
“Your face used to be at least tolerable...”
Bluebeard looked terrible.
His face was flushed red.
White cloth, soaked in sweat, clung all over his body.
His beard and hair had shriveled into curls.
“Zenzero.”
“...Rosena?”
Bluebeard must have been somewhat surprised to see Rosena waiting with the neck pillow resting on her shoulder.
“Did you see the snake?”
“No, you bastard. What have you been doing down there?”
“Hoo...”
It had been a long time since he had seen his former lover.
Bluebeard sighed at the sight of Rosena.
“Rosena.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know you have always been an exhausting person, from back then until now?”
“You...”
A vein bulged on Rosena's forehead.
“You fucking asshole!”
Footnotes:
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