WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 158
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I stared straight ahead.
Rumbleee!
A crimson tide of lava came pouring in.
That bright-red wave greedily swallowed the wasteland as it crept toward us.
For now, it was still within the wasteland.
Before long, though, it would reach the city territory, where green grass and wheat fields flourished.
I gave Iing Iing an order first.
“Iing Iing. Let’s go to the edge of the city territory. We need to stop it there.”
“Iing!”
Poro-rong.
Using Iing Iing’s Psychokinetic Flight, we moved.
We descended from high in the sky toward the boundary between the city territory and the wasteland.
A place where living soil met dried-up wasteland.
I murmured quietly.
“This should be a good place to stop it.”
If I stopped it too far outside the city territory, there would be too much ground to defend.
If I stopped it too close to the city, the wheat fields and mana veins beyond the walls would be damaged.
The boundary between the territory and the wasteland was best.
As I surveyed the terrain...
“Jiho. Can you really stop that?”
Hyeji, standing beside me, suddenly spoke.
When I glanced at her, she was staring north with an anxious expression.
She continued.
“Even for you... that looks hard to stop...”
Apparently, Hyeji was frightened by the situation.
Well, it made sense.
A surreal tide of lava was rushing in, covering the entire northern horizon.
Even if she knew how great I was, anyone would be worried.
Tsk, tsk.
Hyeji had been with me for so long that I thought she understood my abilities better than anyone.
Apparently, she still had not fully grasped this great self’s magnificent power.
Stopping some red broth like that was hardly difficult...
I answered quietly.
“Hyeji, don’t worry. I’m a veteran city-builder, you know. And Mao Zedong’s successor.”
“No, what does that even mean? I understand city-builder, but why did Mao Zedong suddenly come up?”
“Do you know what’s most important in city construction and the Great Leap Forward?”
Crunch.
I drove my staff into the ground and continued.
“Water management!”
Throughout history, anyone building a city had to control the water first.
No matter how well you built a city, if you could not manage its waterways properly, families would collapse, society would collapse, civilization would decay... and the whole thing would go to shit.
That was why even Brother Mao Zedong, the greatest mass-murdering genius to ever blaspheme God, had worked countless people to death building dams and canals during the Great Leap Forward!
Of course, Brother Zedong’s water-control projects had not gone very well.
But that wasn’t Brother Zedong’s mistake.
His subordinates were simply incompetent...!
Anyway!
“He who controls the water controls the city! If you’re the mayor of Extreme Lunatic Hell, you need to handle water at least this well!”
“That’s not water, it’s lava!”
“Water and lava both flow. They’re basically the same.”
“No, they aren’t...!”
Leaving Hyeji behind as she fussed, I activated my magic.
“Grow, grow, dam-dam.”
Dam was only one syllable in Korean, so the rhythm was off.
Anyway, Earth Manipulation Magic, click.
And right afterward...
Rumbleee...!
The earth rose before me like a wall.
Countless rocks and clumps of soil buried deep underground rose up, forming a massive dam in an instant!
Just as I completed it...
Whooosh!
The lava crashed against the dam wall I had made.
The crimson wave struck the wall and splashed upward.
But the wall did not collapse.
Instead...
Sssss...!
The surface of the lava touching the wall slowly cooled and hardened black.
The hardened lava clung to the wall, making it thicker and thicker!
“Oh. This is nice.”
Turning the enemy’s attack into building material.
This was truly eco-friendly recycling construction!
A construction method worthy of Extreme Lunatic Hell’s eco-friendly Hunter!
But it was not over yet.
Rumbleee!
I had stopped the lava coming from the front, but new streams of lava were creeping in from both sides of the dam.
Even blocked by the dam, they spread sideways and came rushing around it.
I clicked my tongue.
“There’s too much lava. This was the lowest ground, so I thought roughly blocking this place would be enough... but there’s more than I expected.”
Then I just had to block the sides too!
“Iing Iing. Let’s block the right side first!”
“Iing!”
Poro-rong.
Iing Iing carried me to the right side of the dam.
There, lava was flowing down as if to bypass it.
“Grow, grow, dam-dam.”
Earth Manipulation, click. Second try.
Rumbleee!
A new wall rose up, connecting to the dam I had already made.
The lava struck it with slap, slap sounds, strengthening it.
The right side should be enough.
“Iing Iing! Now reinforce the left!”
“Iing!”
Poro-rong.
We headed left, and I hit it with Earth Manipulation Magic again.
A huge dam grew with a roaring rumbleee!
Still, it was not enough.
“Damn it. It’s still leaking through? Fine...! I’ll block the southwest too!”
Like that, I built natural dams in a circle around the city territory.
Everywhere crimson lava overflowed into low ground, I blocked it with dams.
Sometimes, I also made simple changes to the terrain so the lava could flow elsewhere.
After circling the city and building dams for who knew how long...
“...”
After stopping the lava rushing in from every direction to some extent, I looked down from high in the sky at the completed city territory.
A long dam had been built along the boundary of the city territory to stop the lava.
It wound around the city, perfectly enclosing even the farmland beyond it.
And inside that stood the original city wall, Wall-Baek Jiho.
I murmured.
“Two city walls, huh?”
I had only been frantically building dams, but it had somehow become a dual-wall city.
A second huge and beautiful wall now covered the entire city territory!
Then a certain work involving city walls came to mind.
“Since we’re at it, should I build one more wall and make it three layers?”
“...What?”
“A three-walled city. That’s totally Erdia. Wall Maria, Wall Rose, Wall Sina. Erdia, move aside! Extreme Lunatic Hell City is coming!”
“Why is this bastard making Attack on Giant Human jokes after stopping lava?”
No, seriously, these were obviously city walls.
The space inside was just very vast.
Since it covered an area much larger than the original city site, I had not made it especially tall to conserve mana.
Still, its coverage was impressive.
With such a large area enclosed, the city would be safer.
The farmers working in the wheat fields could farm with greater peace of mind too.
I had made this second wall by accident...
But it might be more useful than expected.
‘Hmm. I’ll need to make a main gate myself later.’
I had built it hastily as an enclosure, so there were no entrances yet.
Before returning, I should make one opening on each side.
Anyway, a second city wall...
I murmured quietly.
“Now that the second city wall has been born, it needs a new name.”
Large and majestic structures like city walls needed cool names!
I rested my chin on my hand and looked around as I thought.
Then I saw...
“What are you looking at, fucker?”
Choi Yejin, scribbling on a map in midair.
Deadweight.
“...You really stopped it.”
Na Hyeji, looking at the city safely protected by the dams and sighing in relief.
Deadweight.
And finally...
“Iing...!”
Iing Iing, smiling brightly as she looked down at the safely protected green land.
The greatest contributor to the construction effort, who had busily flown me east, west, south, and north just moments earlier.
The hope and conscience of our party.
This was not even a difficult choice!
I nodded and spoke quietly.
“The second city wall will be called Wall-Iing Iing.”
“...Iing?”
Iing Iing’s eyes went round when she heard me.
Then...
“Iing!!! Iing, iing, iing, iing, iing, iing!”
Poro-rong. Poro-rong. Porororong!
Iing Iing began flying in circles over my head.
Apparently, she was incredibly happy that a city wall now bore her name.
Heh heh.
Who would have thought she would like it this much?
If I had known, I should have made her a second city wall much sooner!
Just like with the toy gift before, Iing Iing seemed to quietly enjoy leaving traces of herself behind.
As I watched with a smug little rub beneath my nose, Hyeji spoke quietly beside me.
“Jiho, it’s kind of touching that you named the wall after Iing Iing.”
“Right? I’m sensitive like that.”
“Sensitive...? Honestly, no, you aren’t.”
Why deny it?
Where else could you find someone as sensitive and considerate as me?
Anyway.
Standing high in the air, I checked the surrounding terrain one last time.
Rumbleee!
A crimson lava tide flowed down from the north.
That red flood could not break through Wall-Iing Iing, instead flowing away weakly.
The green fields and wheat farms inside the wall remained unharmed.
It truly looked like a barrier protecting nature itself.
I felt proud.
“Hmm. I have s-a-v-e-d my city again today!”
Just as I smiled in satisfaction...
Flash!
The space above my head lit up brightly.
Oh, could it be?
I raised my head.
Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle, sparkle, sparkle!
There it was.
An even larger Halo than yesterday, scattering brilliant light above me.
I murmured quietly.
“There it is again. I figured it would show up soon.”
Honestly, I had expected the Halo to appear around now, so I was not especially surprised.
It had simply appeared when it was due.
As I looked up at it with an indifferent expression...
“L-Look! Golden light!”
“Was it Angel who made that city wall?!”
“It is Angel! Angel has descended upon the world again!”
“Angel has saved our city once more!”
“Waaaaah!”
The soldiers gathered atop the city walls.
The citizens in the streets.
The farmers in the wheat fields.
They all raised their heads toward the sky and shouted with explosive cheers.
Apparently, they had not been able to see me while I was so high in the air, but the golden glow had made them realize I had come.
I nodded in satisfaction.
Halo.
I did not know about anything else, but it was quite excellent as a cosmetic item!
“Iing Iing. Let’s go to the city. I need to absorb some praise from the common masses.”
“Iing!”
Poro-rong.
Our party slowly descended into the central city square.
Step.
I slowly set foot on the ground and proclaimed quietly.
“Fear not. This great self has dealt with the lava tide that threatened the city.”
The Angel Mayor of Extreme Lunatic Hell had arrived!
* * *
Afterward, our party headed to city hall.
Valdemar guided us down a long corridor.
“Angel. This way. I will show you to the mayor’s office.”
“Hmm!”
We arrived at the mayor’s office again after just one day.
I sank deeply into the familiar chair.
It was satisfying.
“As expected, my mayor’s office is very comfortable! It feels like I’ve returned to my old semi-basement room!”
“Semi-basement...?”
“The place where the history of Extreme Lunatic Hell began.”
Then something came to mind.
Oh, come to think of it, I needed to start preparing an Extreme Lunatic Hell memorial hall soon.
I had forgotten all about it.
Anyway.
“It has been a while, Deputy Mayor. Have you been well?”
“Yes, Angel! It is an honor to see you again after one month.”
“...One month?”
I tilted my head.
Had I heard wrong?
“Did you just say one month?”
“Yes. Exactly one month has passed since you saved us from the monsters’ attack last time.”
“Only?”
“?”
That was too short.
I had returned to this fortress site several times now.
The first time, half a year had passed.
Then three years.
Yesterday, four whole years had passed.
And now he said only one month had gone by?
Lately, every time I slept and returned, years had passed.
Now that only one month had passed, it felt stranger instead.
I looked closely at Valdemar’s face.
He definitely did not look much different from yesterday.
His hair was the same, his wrinkles were the same.
Only the soot-covered official uniform had been cleaned.
Hyeji, standing beside me, asked.
“Jiho, how much time passed this time?”
“One month.”
“One month? Weren’t several years passing at a time before?”
“Exactly. The Tower does whatever the hell it wants with time.”
Half a year, three years, four years, one month.
What was this, some kind of time gacha?
Maybe next time it would send us ahead just one week.
Anyway.
“Fine. Has anything happened in the meantime, Deputy Mayor Commoner? Give me a brief report.”
“Yes. I will begin my report.”
Flutter.
Valdemar lifted a thick stack of documents with a face full of duty.
As he reviewed them, he began speaking steadily.
“First, restoration work in the northern district is underway. Most of the large debris has been cleared, and we are rebuilding the collapsed homes. Residents who were in temporary shelters are gradually returning to their homes.”
“Hmm!”
“Thanks to Angel treating the injured, we have been able to gather enough workers. We have also repaired the waterways, so there is no disruption to drinking-water supplies.”
“Hmm!”
I nodded.
I had wondered why the northern district looked so disorderly.
Apparently, they had been working hard on repairs.
The city residents had spent the month diligently erasing the traces of destruction.
But before the restoration was even complete, lava had arrived...
This place really had one disaster after another.
“Today, we received reports that a red tide was flowing down from the north, so we were bringing the farmers inside the walls first. But honestly, we had no idea whether the city walls alone could stop something like that.”
“So this great self stopped it.”
“Yes! Thanks to you, we protected not only the city but also the fields and waterways. Thank you so much, Angel.”
Valdemar gave a deep, ninety-degree bow.
I turned my gaze toward the window.
Wall-Baek Jiho stood in the distance.
Beyond it lay broad fields and farmland.
And Wall-Iing Iing would stand beyond them, enclosing everything.
Now, even if the farmers went outside the original walls to work, they were still inside the walls!
What double security!
It was an exceptionally thorough city layout.
I quietly told the deputy mayor.
“Deputy Mayor. For your reference, the name of that outer wall is Wall-Iing Iing.”
“Wall... Iing Iing, you say?”
“That is right. Iing Iing worked hard too, so I gave the wall her name. Make sure everyone calls it that from now on!”
At my shout-out to Iing Iing...
“Iing!”
Iing Iing, perched on the desk, puffed out her chest.
Her triumphant expression and pose.
Even that smug look on her face!
The swagger of a castle lord radiated from her entire body.
Valdemar bowed to Iing Iing too.
“We deeply thank you as well, Fairy. I will spread that name among the citizens.”
“Iing!”
Iing Iing smiled so broadly that the corners of her mouth nearly reached her ears.
It was nice to see you happy, Iing Iing.
Giving you that gift had been worthwhile!
Unable to resist doting on her, I gently stroked Iing Iing’s head.
As we received the report in that relaxed atmosphere...
“Um... Angel.”
Valdemar, who had been giving his report, began cautiously with a face full of concern.
He carefully continued.
“I am worried that something like today might happen again. Smoke has continued rising from the north, and the heat grows worse with every passing day.”
“Hmm!”
“That wall is protecting us, but we have no way of knowing what is happening in the north.”
“Hmm!”
Valdemar looked anxious.
Well, it made sense that he would be.
An unidentified volcanic region had appeared in the north.
Now, beyond the heat, lava itself was flowing down toward the city.
Even if we had survived today, the problem was not over.
They could not relax just because I had built Wall-Iing Iing.
Some action was necessary.
I nodded.
“Do not worry. Someday, I will go there and resolve it myself.”
“Angel... you will go personally?”
“That is right. I cannot allow red broth to keep flowing into my city forever!”
Yesterday, I had turned back because I had reached the end of the map.
But if I kept climbing to higher floors, I would eventually encounter the source of the problem.
It was a genre cliché.
You were destined to meet the boss monster eventually!
“So keep managing the city well. This great self will handle the north.”
“Angel...!”
Emotion filled Valdemar’s face.
Apparently, he was moved that this great and noble Angel Mayor would personally step in.
Like that.
Valdemar was moved, Iing Iing was cute, and Choi Yejin and Na Hyeji were each doing their own thing.
It was a peaceful, leisurely mayor’s office.
Then...
Rooooar...!
Suddenly, a massive sound rang out.
A vast, majestic noise echoing from the far north.
Rattle, rattle, rattle!
The windows shook.
The frames rattled wildly.
The teacups on the desk struck each other with a clatter.
I frowned.
“What was that?”
Had a volcano erupted or something?
It sounded far away, but it had been incredibly loud.
However, the roar did not end there.
Rooooar...!
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Another majestic roar swept through the mayor’s office.
God, that was loud.
I rubbed one ear.
“Is there a Wyvern nearby? What a set of lungs. Did it boil a steam locomotive and eat it?”
It had an absurdly loud voice.
Ordinary Wyverns had sharper roars.
But this one had a deep, heavy voice and tremendous volume.
Did male and female Wyverns roar differently or something?
As I grumbled and looked around...
“...?”
I could not help but look confused.
Everyone in the mayor’s office was acting far too strangely.
“...”
“...”
“...”
“?”
First, Valdemar stood frozen with a deathly pale face.
Hyeji stood blankly, her eyes trembling.
Choi Yejin had stopped completely, still holding the bow strapped across her back.
What were these guys doing?
“Why did everyone suddenly stop?”
“...”
“Hello?”
“...”
“Why isn’t anyone answering?”
“...”
“What is this? Am I actually being bullied? Why is everyone ignoring me? I’m feeling a little left out... Ah. Or did I stop time somehow? Have I become a great wizard who can even control the concept of time? Terrifying!!! This great self’s talent!!! To think I learned 「The World」 without even knowing it! As expected of this great self, Extreme Lunatic Hell’s magical genius...”
“...Fuck... ing... hell...”
At my rambling, Choi Yejin twisted her lips and muttered a curse.
But why was her pronunciation like that?
Her expression was crumpled like a crushed can too, which was hilarious.
I turned to Hyeji and Valdemar.
“Hyeji? Valdemar?”
“...”
Unlike Choi Yejin, who had at least muttered a curse, Hyeji and Valdemar were too frozen to speak at all.
At least Iing Iing was doing slightly better.
“Iing Iing. Are you okay?”
“Iing...!”
Poro-rong...
Trembling, Iing Iing crawled into my arms.
She was so terrified that even her face had gone pale.
“Hmm.”
At this point, I could not pretend not to notice.
I scratched my head for a moment, then voiced the guess I had been considering.
“Is this that Dragon Fear thing or whatever?”
Footnotes:
“Erdia” and “Attack on Giant Human” deliberately mangle references to Attack on Titan and its three walls. “The World” references the time-stopping ability from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
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