WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 168
──────
KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
A massive pillar of light shot forward.
An enormous blue radiance that vaporized everything in its path.
My magic artillery collided with the Breath.
KRAAAAAAAABOOOOOM!!!
The pillar of light tore through the Breath and kept going.
The split flames scattered to either side, rising high into the sky.
Beyond them, the Bone Dragon came into view.
And at that very moment...
Vmmmmmmm...!
The space in front of it rippled in a familiar way.
That irritating barrier I’d already seen so many times.
It had raised a spatial barrier to block my magic artillery.
But it was nothing more than a final, desperate struggle.
Pop!
Its spatial barrier couldn’t stop my magic artillery for even an instant.
It deflected attacks by separating space?
Then all I had to do was punch through the folded space too!
“Extreme Lunatic Hell Defense-Ignoring Penetration!!!”
KRAAAAAABOOOOOM!
The pillar of light pierced the barrier in an instant and struck the Bone Dragon in the chest.
Its enormous ribs were completely shattered.
The pulsing mass of Blue Motes inside was swept away by the light, destroying even the core of the spell that had been gripping the mana vein.
Rrrrrrrruuuumble...!
The pillar pierced its chest, burst out through its back, and punched a hole right through the black clouds.
Then it soared far, far into the sky and vanished.
A glimpse of blue sky appeared through the enormous hole in the clouds.
Whoosh.
The Bone Dragon fell helplessly.
That enormous body dropped from high in the sky.
KABOOOOOOOM!
It crashed into the edge of the crater with a deafening roar.
Unable to withstand the impact, its bones came apart and scattered.
Thick clouds of dust billowed upward.
A little while later, nothing moved.
I slowly lowered my staff and muttered.
“Dragon down.”
“...”
“...”
Silence fell in an instant.
Ms. Hyeji, who’d been watching, asked with a blank look.
“...Mr. Jiho. Did we win?”
“We win.”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t kill it because it was a Dragon? How on earth did you...!”
“That was when I was in the Transformation Realm. I’m in the Mystical Realm now. You can’t judge me the same way when I’ve reached a whole new realm!”
“You crazy bastard. That was only a few minutes ago.”
Ms. Hyeji and Ms. Yejin were making such a fuss over one dead Dragon.
I clicked my tongue.
Honestly, these ordinary fools just couldn’t understand a martial artist’s growth.
When you met a powerful enemy, you powered up through a flashback and beat the absolute shit out of them!
That was the iron law of martial arts novels!
My party members must not read them. That was why they couldn’t understand my power-up event.
Anyway!
I looked at my staff, which still shimmered with blue light, and muttered.
“Magic artillery mixed with spatial magic... I’ll have to call it Magic Artillery, 「Final Master Spark」!”
That’s right.
I couldn’t stay satisfied with 「Final Spark」 forever.
As an Extreme “Lunatic” Hell Marisa Hunter, I had to use at least 「Final Master Spark」!
Absolutely!
“...What’s the difference between those two names?”
“Wow! You don’t know Touhou Project! Allow me to explain for anyone who doesn’t know. Magic Artillery, 「Final Master Spark」 is the Last Spell Marisa uses on Lunatic difficulty in the Touhou Project game Imperishable Night, and it’s. Se. Ri. Ous. Ly. Fucking. Strong.”
“What are you even talking about...? Stop playing ancient games.”
“Suddenly, I feel like stealing something precious...!”
Anyway, I was in a great mood.
I’d killed a Dragon.
Just 53 days after becoming a Hunter.
After tireless effort, sacrifice, suffering, hardship, trials, setbacks, perseverance, and enlightenment...
I had become a Dragon Slayer!
I looked up at the blue sky beyond the clouds.
“Master...! Your unworthy disciple has finally done it...! At last, I’ve surpassed the Transformation Realm and reached the Mystical Realm! Leave the future of our sect to me!”
I could almost see my master smiling beyond the clouds.
For some reason, my eyes were getting damp...!
I was still gazing at the sky, deeply moved, when it happened.
「...You have stopped me.」
A faint voice reached my mind.
It was familiar.
Of course it was. It was the same voice I’d heard through Sound Transmission before the Bone Dragon appeared.
I turned toward the crater.
Something was changing inside the empty eye sockets of the Dragon’s skull, which lay embedded in the mountainside.
Fssssss...
The blue ghostly flames were fading.
In their place appeared a very faint golden flame.
It was different from the flames that had blazed with madness just moments ago.
That small light slowly moved to look at me.
I hadn’t expected that.
“What? You’re not dead yet? But judging by your voice, you still seem sane.”
I examined its condition.
The magic array in its chest was completely destroyed.
The mana that had moved its bones was rapidly scattering too.
It didn’t look like it would get up and go on another rampage.
I’d thought even its soul had disappeared earlier.
Apparently, I’d killed it so quickly that part of its soul was still barely hanging on.
I called Iing Iing.
“Iing Iing. Let’s go over there.”
-Iing!
Twinkle.
We descended the mountainside.
Up close, its skull alone was as big as a large building.
Even a single tooth was bigger than me.
To think I’d killed something this huge.
That Dragon Slayer high was hitting me all over again!
I’d have to pull out a tooth to take home later.
Then the Dragon’s voice reached me again.
「Living one... No. Angel.」
Its faint voice echoed in my mind.
I stood before the Dragon’s skull and waited for it to continue.
It asked me a question.
「Why did you not flee?」
The big lizard wanted to know why I hadn’t hauled ass.
I smirked.
What an obvious question.
For a Dragon, it wasn’t too bright.
I answered without hesitation.
“Because if I hauled ass, my city would be totally fucked.”
「They are only shadows. They are not truly living beings. So why?」
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. That again?”
I thought I understood what the Dragon meant.
Basically, it had learned the secret of this place, this Tower-world.
It must have realized that this wasn’t a real world, but a fake one.
That was why it was asking me.
Why had I gone through all that bullshit for a fake world?
Why had I risked my life fighting to save it?
From the perspective of a big lizard with a complex about being fake, my actions must have made no sense at all.
But here’s the thing.
“They’re real to me, you know?”
I gently stroked Iing Iing’s head as she sat on my shoulder.
“Our fucking adorable Iing Iing is real too.”
-Iing?
Iing Iing tilted her head, apparently wondering why I was suddenly petting her.
I looked back at the Dragon.
“I went to all that trouble to save those people. I’m not about to let them die again.”
「...」
It didn’t answer.
It simply watched me in silence.
I waited without adding anything.
For a long while, the only sound was lava bubbling in the distance.
Only after that long silence did the Dragon speak again.
「...I see. To you... they are real...」
“That’s what I’ve been saying. Now we’re finally getting somewhere.”
The golden light in the Dragon’s eye sockets trembled faintly.
It slowly moved upward.
Past my face, toward the golden ring floating above my head.
It spoke quietly.
「When I first saw your light, I thought it a contradiction.」
「An angel, in a world that has already ended.」
「Salvation granted to shadows.」
「Salvation is granted only to the living...」
「But now I understand.」
The golden light briefly grew brighter.
「Even if a world is false...」
「That is no reason it cannot be saved.」
The Dragon’s voice trembled ever so slightly.
「You truly are an angel.」
“...”
I gazed steadily at the big lizard for a moment.
Then...
“You only just figured that out?”
I pointed at the Halo above my head.
“I’m even wearing a Halo. What else would I be?”
「You speak the truth.」
The Dragon’s golden eyes shone as if in agreement.
And right then...
Crack...
A long crack spread across its skull.
Golden dust began leaking through it.
The same thing happened to the body sprawled behind it.
Its broken ribs and wings began crumbling from the edges.
Apparently, even its remaining mana was scattering.
It must really have been time for it to die.
But as I waited for its final moment, the fading golden light paused.
「...Wait.」
The small flame remaining in its eye sockets trembled.
It spoke in a bewildered voice.
「This presence... That child... has reached you.」
“?”
What?
What was with this nonsense right before dying?
Weren’t you supposed to make a cool exit in scenes like this?
It muttered as if lamenting something.
「Ah. Is this a twist of fate? Or...」
The Bone Dragon’s golden ghostly flames darted over me from head to toe.
It felt like I was being appraised. How unpleasant.
Then it spoke in a displeased voice.
「...Of all people, that child went to a pretty boy like you. If you make that child cry, I will make certain you regret it.」
“???”
「Remember that...」
“What? What the fuck are you suddenly talking about?”
With that, the golden ghostly flames went out.
Immediately afterward, the enormous skull began collapsing into particles of light.
Fssssss...
Its horns, teeth, and bones.
The enormous body that had filled the mountainside just moments ago...
All of it scattered without leaving a trace.
The mountainside was empty in an instant.
I muttered quietly.
“...Talking about stuff only it understands right to the very end. So even a Dragon is just another wizard with a wizard ego? Typical wizard behavior! The problem is, I’m the only decent wizard around!”
Wizard society. Can it really go on like this?
As a great elder of the magical world who’d reached the Mystical Realm, I couldn’t help worrying about the state of our community.
Anyway, the big lizard was completely gone now.
“Iing Iing.”
-Iing!
I glanced at Iing Iing.
She was watching me expectantly, her hands clasped together and her eyes sparkling.
I chuckled.
“You want me to clean up the environment, right?”
-Iing.
“Don’t worry, Iing Iing. Who am I? The Extreme Lunatic Hell Eco-Friendly Hunter! I’ll clean up the environment that big lizard fucked up, so don’t you worry!”
-Iing!!!
Iing Iing broke into a radiant smile at my declaration of environmental restoration.
That’s right, Iing Iing.
Who cares about a little mana or spiritual stature?
Seeing your bright smile is enough for me.
Children should smile happily, after all.
Absolutely!
Crunch.
I drove my staff into the ground and shouted.
“It’s time for Extreme Lunatic Hell Reverse Mana-Vein Milking!”
Through my staff, I cast magic over this vast land.
Rrrrrrrruuuumble...!
The earth rumbled softly.
Blue light spread in every direction from the spot where I’d planted my staff.
It flowed down the mountainside, seeped into the cracks in the earth, and crossed the scorched black fields.
It stretched all the way beyond the horizon.
The air trembled.
The scattered Blue Motes settled toward the earth all at once.
I murmured quietly.
“Now that I’m in the Mystical Realm, cleaning up the environment is a piece of cake.”
This world’s mana veins were completely fucked.
Restoring them was easy.
The lofty spiritual stature I’d gained by reaching the Mystical Realm, the nearly endless mana pouring into me even now...
And on top of that, the spatial element I’d just acquired.
Put this with that, mix ’em all together, and restoring the ruined mana veins was no trouble at all.
Rrrrrrrumble...
First, the shaking stopped.
The mountain, which had been rumbling nonstop, fell quiet.
Lava no longer surged from the cracks in the ground.
The boiling red rivers of lava began hardening into black rock from the surface down.
The choking smoke covering the sky gradually thinned.
Then...
Whoooosh!
A cool breeze began to blow.
It wasn’t the scorching wind of a lava field.
It was a cool autumn breeze.
I muttered quietly.
“The Big Lizard Volcano servers are shutting down...!”
I’d restored the flow of the mana veins to its former state.
For now, all I’d done was stop the volcanic activity.
But as time passed, the volcanic region and wasteland would gradually return to the way they’d been.
And they all lived happily ever after.
As for me...
“Bye-bye, my lovely mana...”
I felt the mana in my heart draining away like the tide.
The sense of omnipotence that had seemed to reach the heavens faded.
My awareness, which had spread across the entire world, shrank.
I fell from what felt like godhood back to the awareness of a single thinking being.
On top of that, even the sense of space at my fingertips grew faint.
I couldn’t help lamenting.
“Come on! I worked so hard to reach the Mystical Realm, and I’m already demoted to the Transformation Realm...! What was the point of killing a Dragon and winning my promotion match?!”
My mana!
What a fucking waste!
Come back!!!
Still, it wasn’t hard to swallow my disappointment.
-Iing Iing Iing Iing Iing Iing Iing!!!
Because Iing Iing had begun happily flying circles around me.
Her radiant smile was dazzling.
Well, I’d gotten to see Iing Iing smile. Wasn’t that enough?
No matter how precious mana was, it wasn’t as precious as our fucking adorable Iing Iing’s smile!
And besides...
“Space. I think I’ve got a rough idea of how to handle it now.”
I’d already touched space and controlled it once.
Now that I’d experienced it, I could just try again next time.
I was opening and closing my fist, recalling the feeling of controlling space, when it happened.
Sparkle!
The space above my head lit up.
I slowly looked up.
My Halo was scattering brilliant light.
Then...
Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle, sparkle, sparkle, sparkle, sparkle!!!
The Halo began to grow.
It rose into the sky, leaving my head behind.
In an instant, it covered the entire crater, passed over the mountain, crossed the valleys, and stretched beyond the distant mountain range.
Eventually, the edge of the ring disappeared over the horizon.
Fwooooooosh!
Golden radiance filled the sky.
The entire world was covered in a brilliant golden glow!
I gazed at the sky and muttered.
“Another supersized Halo? The Tower really doesn’t have a creative bone in its body. The exact same victory animation as Floor 40! Don’t you agree, Ms. Hyeji?”
I turned toward Ms. Hyeji and Ms. Yejin.
“...”
“...”
Both of them were staring blankly at the sky.
I clicked my tongue.
“Honestly. I can understand Ms. Yejin, since this is her first time, but this is your second time, Ms. Hyeji. I can’t believe you’re still making that dumb face.”
Why did they care so much about a mere cosmetic effect?
I scratched my chin and muttered.
“Still, this Halo getting too big is a problem. At this point, it’s not my Halo. It’s the world’s Halo. Isn’t there some way to adjust the size?”
“...Adjust the size? Why?”
“If it’s too big, people won’t know it’s mine.”
That was an important issue for an attention seeker.
It’d be a problem if people thought it was just some decoration floating in the sky.
That was my exclusive cosmetic item, you know?
I turned slightly and looked at the southern sky.
Far beyond the ridgelines that had hardened black.
I couldn’t see it from here, but somewhere far in that direction was my city.
A Halo this big would be clearly visible from the city too.
By now, the soldiers on the walls and the people in front of the gates would all have raised their heads to look at this sky.
What had the big lizard called them?
Shadows of a world that had already ended?
Well, who cares?
I just liked saving unfortunate people.
And I liked people praising and respecting me.
As long as I was happy, that was enough.
Anyway!
“And with that, I’ve saved my city again today!”
An excellent response to a citizen complaint.
Exactly what you’d expect from the Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven Angel Mayor!
So now, it was about time...
“Shall we collect some loot?”
I glanced down at the mountainside where the Dragon had disappeared.
There was nothing there.
Not a single Dragon scale or bone fragment remained.
I muttered quietly.
“No... loot? Ms. Hyeji. Do you see any big lizard teeth or scales around here?”
“It all turned to dust and disappeared. You saw it too, Mr. Jiho...”
“Aww, what a bummer. It would’ve been perfect proof for the Hunter Gallery. This place really skimps on service. I even killed a Dragon for them, and I don’t get a single souvenir?! Get the owner out here!!!”
“Who the hell kills something and then demands a souvenir too...?”
And so, after a quick search of the area, we threw ourselves into the Escape Portal that had appeared on one side of the volcano.
We had cleared Floor 50.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 50)]
[You have completed Tower Floor 50.]
[You have defeated 1 Ancient Dragon (100,000,000).]
[Points are being calculated.]
[Tower Floor 51 has been unlocked.]
[Tower Floor 50 has been liberated.]
[Returning.]
Footnotes:
Jiho’s exaggerated Touhou explanation parodies a Korean copypasta about Sans from Undertale. His urge to “steal something precious” also references the Touhou fan song “Marisa Stole the Precious Thing.”
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
