WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 109: Project Alice-02 (7)

──────

A woman blooming within a dream.

A mannequin-like figure, topped with a Heart Crown.

As pointed heels stepped onto the mist, the full skirt of her dress fluttered.

[♥]

The Queen of Hearts.

The dream born from the girl walked through the air.

Was it because of the presence she exuded?

A deathly silence settled over the battlefield, which had been in uproar only moments before.

Silence was cold by nature, and everyone in the area felt a chill run down their spines.

““...””

The air was like a calm sea.

It looked peaceful at a glance, but endless unknowns lurked beneath its paper-thin surface.

What if their actions disturbed that tranquility, even slightly? Every living creature nearby held its breath.

It was an inevitable response, one that came before recognition or learning.

[♥]

Natural law.

The instinct all living things possessed.

‘I’m going to die.’

That certainty lodged itself in everyone’s mind.

It forced its way through thought, making any further reasoning impossible.

A sweet lingering scent brushed past their noses.

Ah.

Great Queen.

O Great Queen.

Click-.

The heel that had floated through the air touched the ground.

After that soft sound, dark crimson fabric unfurled.

The Queen stood at the center of the swarming Chimera horde.

The beasts that had roared and rampaged only moments ago froze as though someone had pressed their power buttons.

O Queen.

O Queen.

Queen who resembles a heart.

The Queen who wore a Heart Crown.

Without a trace of interest, she reached for the nearest Chimera.

A flawless hand settled on the beast’s hide.

My heart to you.

My heart to you.

Let me offer it to you.

Ah, Queenwhotakesmyheartandsmiles.

Pop-.

A dull bursting sound rang out.

The house-sized beast the Queen had touched vanished.

All that remained were traces of its obliterated body and a heart that still twitched.

Squelch, squelch-.

““...””

The scent of blood.

Yet it was sweet as a dream.

Within the dreamlike mist, entranced lives existed only in that moment.

Without sparing it a glance, the Queen walked past the heart crushed into the ground.

The heart the beast had offered meant so little to her.

Click, click-.

The steady sound of heels drew closer.

The Queen touched the beasts again.

Their bodies were torn apart once more.

Only hearts remained in their place, and once again, the Queen walked past them.

Beautiful one.

Beautiful one.

The one who will come soaked in my dreams, like suicide.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

No... calling it slaughter was too crude.

Each scene imprinted itself on their eyes with such ecstasy, as though they were admiring a masterpiece.

If they could only be swept away by that beauty, becoming part of the scenery itself would have been enough.

Pop-!

Pop-!

Pop-!

A few beasts even had tears welling in their eyes.

Their emotions should have been erased, yet inexplicable tears streamed down their hides.

<Kek, kek, kek...>

<Daet, daet, daet, daet, daet.>

<Nit, nit, nit, nit.>

The space was crushed beneath the Queen’s presence.

Even so, a handful of beasts who barely held onto their senses bared their teeth.

Though utterly cowed, the Chimeras still regarded the motionless Queen with hostility.

The black magicians, who had also been quite out of it, did the same.

“The Queen...!”

“Everyone, snap out of it! We need to subdue the host subject right now!”

“As long as we don’t subdue the host subject, it’s impossible to stop an entity classified as a [Queen]...!”

As though trying to resist the dream, they forced their eyes open.

The Cult members raised their demonic energy.

They surrounded themselves with corrupt power to escape the Queen’s influence.

The idea worked, and the members began coming to their senses one by one.

“It’s in the sky! Intercept the test subject floating above us!”

“If we just knock out the host subject, all the dreams will fade away!”

“Everyone, stay calm and cast your magic...”

Tap-.

Then they all felt the same touch.

“...Huh?”

The Queen had placed a hand on every member.

Slender fingertips rested over their chests.

The members froze when they saw it.

“What...”

The Queen had extended only one hand, yet it touched dozens of them.

The next moment, dozens of hearts lay scattered across the ground, twitching.

Squelch, squelch, squelch-.

Only wet lumps of life remained at their feet.

The Chimeras who had bared their teeth nearby met the same fate.

I call to you.

I call to you.

I call my heart to you.

The situation ended in an instant.

Only dead hearts piled up in the marketplace where bursting sounds had filled the air.

The thousands of creatures had been annihilated, leaving only the exhausted children holding their breath.

The Queen of Hearts.

A crown standing amid dark crimson fragments.

A world dyed in hearts.

That was the woman’s kingdom.

“...”

Afterward, the Queen turned around.

With light steps, she returned to her master.

Alice stood there, wearing a black crown.

Holding both ends of her dress, the Queen gave a polite curtsy.

When Alice held out her hand as though granting a favor, the Queen kissed the back of it as she had before.

[♥]

A lovely voice seemed to murmur something.

With that, the Queen vanished into the mist.

At the same time, the crown floating above Alice’s head disappeared as well.

“...”

Whoosh-.

The mist cleared, and Alice lost consciousness.

She seemed to have fainted after pushing herself far beyond her limits.

Her black hair trailed behind her as her defenseless body fell.

“Miss Alice!”

“Hey...!”

The team members watching nearby caught her.

Thankfully, Alice seemed to have merely fallen asleep. Her breathing was normal.

She breathed softly and evenly.

““...””

Silence fell over the area again.

Unlike before, though, the atmosphere had begun to settle.

* * *

“Looks like things are over on that side too.”

I said it indifferently.

I stood with Oz pinned beneath my foot.

Looking toward the team members, I could see the area had become a mess of heart fragments.

<Ah... It was truly a beautiful sight.>

Oz twitched beneath my foot.

His limbs had been severed, leaving him sprawled on the ground without the strength to resist.

Still, his grotesque face remained fixed on Alice.

“Quiet.”

I pressed down harder with my foot so he couldn’t move.

He had the Authority of Rapid Regeneration, but even that seemed to have limits. His regeneration was gradually slowing down.

After relentlessly cutting him apart for the five minutes the crown’s effect lasted, I had managed to weaken him enough to subdue him.

After that, I kept him pinned underfoot and personally cut off his limbs whenever he tried to regenerate them.

Slice-.

I casually swung my scythe.

“I told you to stay still.”

“Don’t pretend you’re in pain. You have a body that can’t even feel it.”

<Well, I’ve been found out. I was hoping to stir up at least a little sympathy...>

“Even if you could feel pain, I wouldn’t pity you. I’d torture you instead.”

Tsk. I clicked my tongue softly.

I spoke while kicking him a few times.

Thud, smack-!

“What do you think? It looks like your side lost.”

<Hmm... I suppose so. I never imagined Alice had grown that much. To think she could summon the Queen. Thanks to that, the test subjects and the researchers working with me were wiped out. And I’m lying on the ground looking like a grub.>

“Why don’t you surrender already?”

Oz sounded unenthused.

His voice rose as though he were holding back laughter.

He trembled beneath the sole of my foot, then spoke with barely restrained excitement.

“Hmm, about what?”

“Impressive. You can confidently talk about next time in this situation.”

“I figured that out long ago.”

<Oh?>

“Your main body couldn’t possibly be this weak, could it? You’re one of the strongest in the Cult. The thing sprawled in front of me must be a clone you sent out casually.”

Something this weak couldn’t be his main body.

The clone Oz had planted here for this project was beneath my foot.

Of course, that didn’t mean fighting him here had been pointless.

“If I kill your clone, won’t the backlash reach you too?”

<...>

“There’s no point pretending to be calm.”

This wasn’t some hastily made clone.

It was a clone Oz had painstakingly shaped by cutting off part of his own soul.

If it was destroyed, the repercussions would reach the main body too.

He would suffer permanent damage.

‘Jackpot.’

Oz (OZ), one of the most troublesome late-game bosses in the story.

If so little effort could affect him, it was an endlessly profitable trade.

The man’s expression stiffened at my words.

<Huh... How do you know about that?>

“Does it matter?”

“So, what do you think? Do you understand your situation now?”

<You’ve completely figured me out. But that’s fine. You won’t even be able to take down the clone here.>

“Where does that confidence come from?”

Rumble-!

As though answering that line, a heavy rumble shook the entire space.

A huge shadow fell across my vision, as though night had descended.

A strange warning, the presence of something alien, rang in my mind.

When I looked up, all I saw was endless space.

“...”

And something enormous descending toward us.

It swam through the air as it drew closer.

I had no choice but to hold my breath.

‘Ah.’

It was a familiar shape.

It was the sea serpent I had encountered in the corridor earlier, enlarged several times over into a colossal beast hundreds of meters long.

Its size was unreal.

Just looking up at it made it hard to breathe.

The demonic energy pouring from its entire body clouded the surrounding space.

The other team members spotted it too. They went blank and deathly pale before sinking to the ground.

Ding-!

[Name: Leviathan (Project Leviathan).]

-Race: Chimera

-Category: Boss Monster

-Description: You need to run.

The status window appeared before my eyes.

A palpable sense of overwhelming pressure bore down on my entire body.

My breath caught in my throat.

The pressure strangled my neck as though it were a tangible force.

Everyone in the area was too dazed to even think of doing anything.

““...””

Everyone was exhausted.

Alice had fainted, and Caitlin had reached the point of exhaustion.

Ranne and Carmilla didn’t even have the strength to move a finger.

In that state, a disaster had arrived above our heads.

<You’ve gone quiet.>

I wasn’t any different from the team members.

My stamina had already reached its limit, and the crown’s duration had ended.

The scythe’s [Devour] skill was on cooldown, so I couldn’t use it either.

Even if Javert’s strike was charged, taking that thing down with a single blow seemed impossible.

<It’s too late.>

<Please, all of you become part of my project...>

Oz sneered.

The beast’s gaping jaws were too large to measure.

At this rate, it would swallow us whole, then swim upward and destroy the city.

‘But.’

Did he know?

That this entire situation had also been playing out completely in the palm of my hand.

“Heh.”

A laugh I couldn’t hold back slipped from my lips.

I pressed my mask down firmly.

My hand calmly rummaged through my clothes.

In a relaxed voice, I threw his provocation back at him.

“You said it earlier, didn’t you? The intelligent always prepare a trump card... was it?”

I took something out of my inventory.

A dusty old book.

Its title was scrawled in a bizarre language.

Ding-!

[White Knight’s End]

-Category: Book

-Rank: ???

-Status: Cannot Use

-Description: This is a contract that can manifest an Apostle of the Evil God. It can summon the [White Knight], who governs pestilence among the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. This item is exclusive to the Cult faction. Those not affiliated with the Cult cannot use it.

“Shall we go?”

If that side was bringing in something big, shouldn’t we bring one in too to keep things balanced?

I had saved this book for this very moment.

I turned its thick pages.

Flutter-.

“Heed my call.”

Furube, Yurayura.[1]

Footnotes:

[1] “Furube, Yurayura” references Mahoraga’s summoning chant from Jujutsu Kaisen.

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