WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ I Pulled Out Excalibur

Chapter 458

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Afterword, Preparation (2)

Siegfried had been defeated.

With even the Sword Demon who had wandered the Abyss for so many long years now fallen, only two enemies remained for Najin. Of course, there were still the swarming demon beasts and the witches experiencing their own personal ice age, but those could hardly be called enemies.

'Two left.'

Najin spread his hand wide, then folded every finger down but two.

The horseman of death, Leviathan.

The Witch of the Abyss, Morgan le Fay.

Calamities that had existed a thousand years ago, and longer still. With so many disasters toppled, only the enemies who had never once been brought low remained.

"Meaning even Siegfried could never cut them down, and even Arthur could do nothing but leave them be."

"I hate to admit it, but that's accurate."

Merlin smiled bitterly.

"It was a topic that came up again and again a thousand years ago. How do you kill the Dragon of the Abyss? Scholars and Constellations from across the Continent, not just the Round Table, would gather and spend days arguing over it."

"And did anything come of it?"

"Something did."

She let out a sigh.

"The conclusion that nothing could be done."

"Of course."

"Dragons are beings that carry the mystique of immutability, indestructibility, and eternity by nature. Born already holding three separate mystiques, they are a kind of cheat from the moment they enter the world."

Immutability, never changing.
Indestructibility, never crumbling away.
Eternity, unbounded by time.

"The moment the word dragon is part of a creature's name, ordinary means stop working on it. You cannot kill one through conventional methods. That holds true even for small dragons that have not reached Transcendence. The red dragon you faced was a perfect example."

It was true. Even Cambria's red dragon had possessed far more vitality than its raw strength alone would have suggested.

"The same goes for Radon, which you saw at the graveyard of stars. Why do you think Yurisung kept fighting for decades?"

In actual history, Yurisung had fought Radon for decades. And exhausted by a battle that refused to end, they had eventually broken. The reason was simple enough.

"Simple. You cannot kill them. The same holds for any Star. You can drive a dragon to the very brink of death, but killing one is next to impossible."

Unlike demons, for whom some means of death could always be found, dragons were beings with three mystiques layered atop one another. Without shattering all three, they would not die. Brutally difficult to fight and impossible to kill on top of it.

"There is a reason the star of Dragon Slaying exists."

Earning a star simply from having killed a dragon.

That alone told you how difficult dragon-slaying truly was.

"Right. Coming back to the point."

Merlin pointed toward the mountain ridge.

"Look at the Dragon of the Abyss."

She gestured at the enormous beast stirring along the ridge.

"It is larger than an entire mountain range. Its thick scales cannot be pierced even by the Absolute Techniques of Transcendents. Its mere movement reshapes the terrain, and it scatters the Authority of death wherever it passes."

The larger a dragon grew, the more powerful it became.

The longer it lived, the more exponentially its strength increased.

"The oldest, and the largest. Catching even an ordinary dragon is next to impossible, and you want us to bring down something that size? It makes me want to give up just thinking about it."

Najin, who had been listening, posed a question.

"You said 'next to' impossible..."

"Because in the case of ordinary dragons, you and Siegfried both demonstrated a method. An insane method, but one with proven examples."

Leaping into a dragon's mouth and rupturing the heart hidden within its body. That approach had been proven to work, by both Siegfried and Najin.

"Then couldn't the Dragon of the Abyss be killed the same way? By jumping into its mouth?"

"We thought so too. Until we learned that Leviathan's true nature is that of Leviathan, a monster woven from tens of millions of lives."

Najin fell silent.

"A dragon's inner world is the dragon's inner self. I cannot say exactly what sort of dragon the one called the first dragon was, but the first dragon has been contaminated by tens of millions of souls. It festered and rotted away in that state for nearly ten thousand years."

The first dragon, buried under tens of millions of souls layered over it.

"There were Constellations who confirmed the dragon's inner world at the cost of their own lives. According to the final message they left behind, the inside of Leviathan is literally the underworld. A hell where a minimum of tens of millions of souls are imprisoned."

"Then that means..."

"Yes. You get swept away."

No matter how certain a Transcendent's sense of self, no matter how well they could withstand a great wave, there were limits. Against tens of millions of souls, being swept away was unavoidable.

'Even Lancelot, whose mental fortitude was so immense.'

He had been swept away before millions of souls. And that was without those souls even trying to overwhelm him.

'Tens of times that number of souls, that weight of thought...'

If all of it was aimed at burying someone, enduring that torrent would be impossible even for Najin. Siegfried had been swept away in the end and broken by it, after all.

"Hmm."

Najin rubbed his chin.

"So that is why the conclusion was that there was no answer."

"More or less. There really was no way back then."

"...Back then?"

Najin repeated the words, and Merlin smiled.

"Yes. Back then."

It was her way of saying things were different now.

"Have you thought of something?"

"Yes. There is a method I once considered in the past but could not attempt at the time, because not enough had gathered."

For a while, Merlin spoke of a certain possibility. If the Dragon of the Abyss was the kind of being it was, then perhaps it could be challenged in this particular way. Hearing her out, Najin found himself smiling despite himself.

"Certainly, it is only a possibility."

"But you can't deny it."

"No. It is a method worth attempting."

Najin moved.

Away from the Abyss, toward the Outland and the Continent.

2.

As the Heralds of Destruction fell one by one, the seal on the Abyss had shattered. But the reverse was equally true: the military strength driving their forces had weakened. The rallying point that had unified them was disappearing.

As a result, a brief lull settled over the Boundary Line at the Outland's edge.

Everyone knew, of course.

That the lull would not last. That it was nothing more than the stillness before a storm. The Dragon of the Abyss stirring along the distant mountain ridge was proof enough. Even the slow act of it rising sent tremors felt all the way from the Abyss to the Outland.

Watching over that battlefield stood one figure.

A knight who had gathered the Constellations at the Boundary Line between the Abyss and the Outland, rallying them together. The knight bearing the Blue Spear smiled warmly at the sight of an unexpected visitor.

"Look who it is, my one and only friend, the great hero Sir Najin."

"It has been a while, Sir Kirchhoff."

Blue Spear, Kirchhoff.

The knight who was the symbol of Londinel smiled.

"Word has reached me about your deeds. In fact, even without word, you can see it all from here. Three Heralds of Destruction already, they say?"

"One of them we brought down together."

"Ha ha ha! True, I did play a part in bringing that clown down. Though all I did was open the way, I suppose."

The Kirchhoff he was meeting again after so long looked different from before. Nothing had changed dramatically, but the expression on his face and the rhythm of his breathing were natural rather than awkward. His words and manner were not overplayed, and for that reason, comfortable to be around.

"You've changed a little?"

"I had to. My liege commanded me to move forward."

Kirchhoff shrugged.

"I was a revenger for the forgotten nation, but that's not who I am anymore, is it? Every erased record has been restored, and there is no room to doubt that Londinel existed as a real nation. So I am no longer a knight of a forgotten nation."

He tapped the Blue Spear lightly.

"Now I am a knight representing Londinel, and a messenger carrying the words of Londinel's last sovereign. Change was inevitable. Well? Do I look all right?"

"You look magnificent. Exactly the kind of figure minstrels would love to sing about."

"As a matter of fact, letters from the Continent have not stopped coming lately. Marquis Adelmar of Trebache, I believe it was? He said he wanted to write a play with me as the protagonist, and I gave him permission. After that, letters from noble ladies started arriving out of nowhere."

Najin burst out laughing. By all appearances, the marquis's theatrical venture was going quite well.

"Your wish came true, then?"

"It certainly did. These days I live for the pleasure of reading those letters. Young ladies nowadays are so forward. Some of them are saying they'll come all the way out to the Outland just to see me."

For a time the two chatted, catching up on what had passed.

"So then."

Kirchhoff shifted to the matter at hand.

"Coming to find me means the time has come to honor the promise we made?"

Londinel answers your call.

No matter what.

Remembering the promise he had made with Kirchhoff, Najin smiled quietly.

"Are you not already keeping that promise? By guarding the Boundary Line here."

"What a thing to say. I would have done this with or without your asking. You can't miss a chance to spread the name of Londinel far and wide."

Kirchhoff gave a nod, as if urging him to go on. Najin let out a short breath and explained the plan Merlin had laid out. Kirchhoff listened for a while, then nodded.

"I see. The Dragon of the Abyss."

Rubbing his chin, he smiled.

"No reason to refuse. A chance to stand in a mythic battle? I should be the one begging to be included."

Blue Spear Kirchhoff, joined.

* * *

"Already?"

"Yes, already."

"I haven't finished recuperating yet."

"Your arms and legs look perfectly fine. They healed up nicely."

"Tch."

"Is Gramr serving you well?"

"Ah! Now that's a subject I have plenty to say about. Look at this, it can split the very resistance of the air. You should see how many sword techniques I've already developed with it, just wait until you..."

"You seem in fine shape. Let's go, then."

"......"

Sword Saint Karon, joined.

* * *

"I heard the news. Your master would be proud. He used to say that someday he would plant the Empire's banner in the Abyss himself."

"How is Sir Gerd?"

"No trouble. He is leading the imperial forces to defend the Boundary Line. Many Constellations have gathered on your name. It has made things much easier."

"Glad to hear it. Then..."

"Yes."

He nodded.

"I received your letter. The Emperor said, 'I have been saving this for this very day, so my permission is not needed,' and gave it over. As soon as things here are settled, I will join you on that side."

First Horn of the Empire Gerd, joined.

* * *

"......"

"......"

"What are you staring at?"

"Every time I see you, you seem to have something in your mouth."

"A gift from my one and only friend, Chairman Dieta. Any objections? Ah, don't touch that one. I've been saving it for last..."

"Did you read the letter?"

"I read it, but do I really have to go?"

"......"

"A j-joke. Just a joke."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to."

The Star Incarnation chewed slowly.

"I don't really want to, but I suppose the faithful would be pleased if I showed up, right? Saying, as expected of Star Incarnation-nim! Something like that."

"Probably. I would think so."

"The High Priest, that old man, would be pleased too."

"He said if I couldn't convince you, he would come convince you himself."

"Between getting lectured by that old man for days and being dragged along against my will, I suppose just going now is the better option. All right, fine, I'll go."

Blinking, the Star Incarnation looked at Najin with an off-balance expression.

"Sir Najin?"

"Yes, what is it."

"Could you perhaps ask Chairman Dieta to send a little more of this? It's a bit awkward for me to ask directly. I do have some dignity to uphold..."

"I'll pass it along."

Star Incarnation, joined.

"Oh, right. And I have a name now."

"Oh."

"I had the Gray Tower master help narrow down a few candidates, but they were shot down by fierce opposition from the old man. In the end he picked one himself. It has a pretty nice ring to it."

"Well then, what is it?"

"Enia."

Star Incarnation Enia, joined.

* * *

"Understood."

"Yes, so then..."

"I am fine with it."

Executioner Razian, joined.

"However, my other half has something different to say. Now is your chance, Razian. Grab him by the collar first. Make him spit everything out... that is what she is shouting."

"......"

"You should speak with her directly."

Warden Yuel, joining status unclear.

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