WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ I Pulled Out Excalibur

Chapter 436

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Turning Point (4)

Once, Kether asked her mother a question.

Why couldn't she beat Merlin?

Was she simply to stand helpless and watch her own kin die? That was what she asked. The Witch of the Abyss tilted her head slowly at the question.

"What a strange thing to ask."

As if the question were a waste of breath.

"Let me ask you something in return, Kether."

Kether looked into her mother's eyes. Those eyes were red. Even Kether's own irises, the reddest among all the sisters, could not compare to her mother's. Those crimson pupils, deep enough to swallow you whole, posed the question.

"Where are you looking?"

"I'm looking at Merlin, Mother."

"That is why you cannot win."

Morgan le Fay smiled.

"She is not looking at you."

Kether had treated killing Merlin as something close to the purpose of her life. She could never forgive the woman who had slaughtered her sisters without mercy, and she had honed every year of her existence toward crushing her.

To that Kether, Morgan said:

While you have your eyes fixed on Merlin and no one else, Merlin has not spared you so much as a glance. To that girl, you are not even a small stone in the road, let alone a purpose worth living for.

"......"

Those words, Kether could not understand.

* * *

A platinum arc swept through Kether.

A trail running from her waist to her shoulder. Light burst upward along the line of the cut. With platinum starlight blinding her eyes, Kether's vision went hazy.

Irises frozen and shattered.

Sight broken into fragments.

Starlight scattered like petals.

All manner of things clouded Kether's view. Even so, she forced her eyes wide until the very end. What those pried-open eyes searched for was Merlin, standing somewhere above her.

Grrk.

Kether ground her teeth. That detestable blue hair, those detestable blue eyes. She had not forgotten that wretched woman's face for a single day. Not since the day a thousand years ago when her sisters fell.

Kether reached out.

She lifted her hand toward Merlin, who stood above her. Her own severed body was falling. At least fall together, she thought, stretching her hand out,but no mana gathered at her fingertips.

A gesture with no mana behind it is worthless. Not the hand of a Mage / Magician, just a pointing finger.

Crack.

Even that much, Merlin would not allow. Kether's fingers froze and broke apart. At that moment, absurdly, Kether felt a surge of joy. Yes, you are looking at me too. Just as you fill my entire existence, I must be something immense in yours as well.

That realization satisfied her. Her mother's prophecy was wrong. Look! That witch is watching me. To that wretched woman, I am no mere stumbling block. I must be something far greater than that...

People have a habit of giving their lives meaning in their final moments. Faced with approaching death, they dress their lives up and adorn them, wanting someone to acknowledge that it all mattered.

'I am....'

Kether, who had despised humanity more than anyone, did the very same thing in her final moment. Without realizing it herself, she burst into laughter toward Merlin, who was gazing down at her.

It would have been better if she had closed her eyes in that satisfaction.

Tap.

Kether's stubborn life force, and the regeneration she had believed was a blessing, became a curse in that moment. Her life faded slowly, and within that slowly passing time, Kether saw it.

Najin passing right by her.

And she saw Merlin's eyes moving, following Najin. Kether had believed Merlin's gaze was aimed at her, but it had been an illusion.

From the very beginning.

Merlin had not been looking at Kether. She had been watching only Najin, rising behind her, breaking free from the witches' barrage. To the dying Kether, Merlin did not spare even a glance.

'Ah.'

Even the freezing of Kether's hand had simply been because it was unpleasant to have those fingers reach toward Najin. By the time that truth settled in, Kether's face twisted.

'Why.'

She tried to scream her anguish, but her frozen tongue would not move. She cried out demanding to be seen, but her voice never reached Merlin. Her desperate struggle did not occupy even a corner of Merlin's field of vision.

"That's quite the ugly expression."

"Hm? Whose?"

"That witch over there."

"Oh, is it?"

Only after Najin spoke did Merlin glance over at Kether, indifferent. She had once occupied a significant part of Merlin's life, that witch, or so one might say,but...

Right now, well.

Merlin waved her hand carelessly. As if brushing away a fly.

Crack.

Kether froze solid, twisted expression and all. For a witch who had lived more than a thousand years, it was a rather pitiful end.

2.

Kether, the leader who had commanded the witches, had fallen.

With the leader gone, sweeping up the remaining witches was not particularly difficult. Their commander had vanished, and the crown that had been strengthening them was gone as well.

What the witches had left now was their immortality,and that too proved of little help.

Can't die? Then just freeze them.

Immortality and Merlin's magic had the worst possible compatibility. Watching Merlin freeze the witches solid and sink them into lakes, Najin clicked his tongue in admiration. Who knew there was such an inventive method? Something worth learning from.

'If I just leave her to it, Merlin will take care of all of them.'

Still, standing around watching felt too dull, so Najin managed the queue to let Merlin concentrate on her witch-freezing work. Meaning he caught and beat down the witches who tried to skip the line and flee on their brooms before their turn came.

"Now, now. No breaking formation."

"L-let go of me!"

He confiscated the broom from one escaping witch, then used that same broom to beat the witch who reached out demanding it back.

"Ow, owww!"

As a first-rate warrior, Najin knew how to draw out the true worth of whatever weapon he held. A broom is fundamentally a cleaning tool for beating out dust, so he beat the dust out of the witch whose insides were plenty black.

"You, you. Do you know who I am?!"

The witch let out a squeal after quite the beating. She wore a somewhat aggrieved expression, but a few more swings of the broom and it loosened up a bit.

"I made the Continent tremble alongside the Witch of Scorching Heat, you hear me? I'm a witch who's been alive since long before a brat like you was born. To show so little respect to your elders..."

"Ah, are you an associate of the Witch of Scorching Heat?"

"...You know my sister?"

"Fairly close with someone who knew her."

You know, have you heard of the Quijano Domain? At Najin's question, the witch blinked. Then she looked at him with eyes full of suspicion and asked.

"...Why bring that up?"

"Don Quixote?"

"I know that mad knight."

"Then you'd know Anton Quijano as well."

The witch's body gave a small trembling flinch.

There was no way she could not know that name.

The Witch of Scorching Heat had been the witch who burned down Anton Quijano's hometown, and she had been killed by Anton during his days as a "witch hunter," driven blind by the desire for revenge. If this witch had been her associate, there was no way she would not know Anton.

"Merlin? Should I bury this one separately?"

"Hm? Why? Just toss her in with the rest."

"Well, the thing is."

Najin explained. Listening to the explanation, Merlin gave a firm nod.

"Well I never. I almost made a terrible mistake. Revenge should be done with your own hands. I nearly stole someone else's prey."

"Though they'll be busy with newlywed life..."

"Then wouldn't it be fine as a housewarming gift?"

"Not bad."

The witch's eyes went wide. While the witch, who had suddenly found herself digging her own grave, shrieked away, Najin finished what he had to do.

"Can you dig one more pit over there?"

"Here?"

"Yeah, that spot looks good."

Back in the day, a thousand years ago, digging the pits and burying the witches personally had taken a long time, but with the division of labor they had now, that was no longer the case. Najin swung Excalibur like a shovel and dug into the ground, and Merlin filled it with water to make a lake.

Then, splash.

One by one they sank the witches to decorate the lake, and it was done. Having made several lakes to decorate the bleak Land of the Abyss, Merlin and Najin felt a swell of pride.

"Lakes really do make a place."

"The scenery is lovely."

There is a saying that a beautiful person leaves beauty wherever they linger. In that they had created several pretty lakes on the barren land of the Abyss, it was proof that the character of the two of them was beautiful.

Ha-ha, ho-ho, Merlin and Najin smiled.

The star of Jovial Laughter, which had been worrying, at least shone for now. As long as there's laughter, isn't that enough?

3.

Having shaken off the pursuers on their tail, Najin now began the full-scale exploration of the Abyss in earnest.

'What needs to be accomplished in the Abyss?'

For the time being, there were roughly three things.

Subjugate Atanga and Leviathan, the apostles of the Abyss. Bring down Siegfried. And raising a blade against the Witch of the Abyss would come last.

Of those three objectives, which should be achieved first? Najin had already decided the answer. There was something he had learned from defeating Mordred.

"I'll leave it to you."

"To me?"

"Yes, it'll suit you better than me."

The memories glimpsed upon defeating Mordred and receiving his stars. Within those memories, Mordred had handed Arthur's corpse to someone.

That someone wore clothing similar to Najin's.

The first Free Knight, Atanga.

Mordred had entrusted Arthur's corpse to him. So Najin's next destination was naturally decided as well. He needed to confirm the last words Arthur had left behind.

"So, how should we find him?"

"Good question."

"Pardon?"

"Hm?"

Blank stares. Najin stared at Merlin. A few seconds passed after their eyes met, and Merlin lowered her head slightly as if embarrassed.

"W-why are you staring like that."

"Well, you're the guide. You're supposed to show the way."

"That's true, isn't it?"

Merlin broke into a cold sweat. Of course, this was hardly the first or second time she had been lax about finding the way, but back then it was before she had become the complete Merlin,Najin's term,so there had been room for excuses.

Her memories weren't whole.

She wasn't in her True Body.

Anyway, she was restricted in what she could do.

Excuses that weren't really excuses had worked before, but not now. Her human and fairy halves had merged, her memories were complete, and on top of that she had manifested in her True Body.

"Once I descend in my True Body, right?"

Words she had repeated like a habit. Merlin had always spoken as though, once she descended in her True Body, every situation could be resolved and there was nothing left to fear. She swallowed hard as she realized her own words were wrapping around her throat.

"Hmm."

"Go ahead."

"There are things even I don't know, you realize? It's not like I know everything. The Land of the Abyss has changed quite a bit too..."

Thwap. Sweating under Najin's gaze, Merlin finally raised the white flag.

"Sorry. I don't know."

"I see."

"But I'm not completely clueless! I have a rough idea of the Authority the Four Heralds of Destruction wield, so if we track using that, we should be able to find some clues."

Just barely preserving her pride as a guide, Merlin shot to her feet. Najin smirked at the sight and fell into step behind her.

The Land of the Abyss is vast.

Tracking down Atanga, who could be anywhere, was clearly not going to be a smooth process. Rough roads ahead, Najin thought as he moved.

"Mm."

But contrary to that expectation,

"Aren't you a bit hungry?"

"Now that you mention it. Feels like I'm thirsty too."

The two of them found a clue sooner than expected, and without much difficulty at all.

"Merlin, you're sweating."

Najin pointed at Merlin. She was drenched in sweat, and her eyes were slightly unfocused,strange enough on its own. She was breathing heavily, as though the walk itself was exhausting.

"Oh, you're right..."

Her voice had lost some of its strength too. With glazed eyes, Merlin pointed at Najin. As if to say he wasn't much different himself. Najin looked where her finger pointed, rubbed the back of his hand across his own forehead, and narrowed his eyes.

Sweat was running. His body felt heavy.

His throat was dry, his stomach empty, and a strange sensation gripped him as though something were wringing his body out.

"I rather think..."

Somewhere in the middle of wandering through the Abyss, they had arrived at a certain wasteland.

Najin stopped in his tracks. Merlin stopped too. Both of them had sensed something wrong.

A Transcendent does not feel thirst.

A Transcendent does not feel hunger.

The body maintains a perfect state at all times, and a body that has surpassed humanity feels no particular need to take in water or food. Even so, the two of them were feeling hunger right now, and feeling thirst.

"Looks like we found it."

"Seems so."

Then there was only one explanation. An Authority powerful enough to affect even a Transcendent's body had intervened.

Parched earth.

A wasteland stretching without end.

The Authority spread across this entire land had to be the Authority laid down by the one Najin had been tracking.

"Famine."

One of the Four Heralds of Destruction.

Atanga, the Knight of Famine.

Into his domain, Najin had set foot.

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