WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 107: Beast, Beast King, Human - 3

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Before Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz, a battle that shook heaven and earth was unfolding.

The King of Dogs, the King of Cats, and the Progenitor.

It was a clash that could decide the fate of the world itself. Even if it did not, it meant the same thing to Callis.

Her fate rested on the outcome of this fight.

The rattling chain tugged her along. Callis threw herself aside on instinct, but she could not keep up with its pull and rolled miserably across the ground.

Even as the chain around her neck choked her, Callis repeated one thing to herself.

'I can't give up on living. I'm going to live. I'll survive somehow. Survive... climb higher... Father's legacy...'

But could she?

Just moments ago, the Progenitor's fist had struck Nabi squarely in the chest as she raged.

To call it a mere punch would have been absurd. It was far too deadly.

The instant the clenched fist touched Nabi's chest, something snapped with a crunch. Red blood energy exploded from the point of impact like the sun.

Then Nabi flew away like a bullet, hurtling down the corridor without even flailing her limbs.

Had Nabi been an ordinary living creature, her chest would have caved in and her breath would have stopped at that instant.

But she was the King of Cats.

Nabi opened her red eyes as she flew, then unleashed feral nature and let out a roar. Even in midair, she twisted like an acrobat, landed against the wall, glared in this direction with sharp eyes, and licked her forepaw.

Then she vanished into the darkness.

A cat that hid its presence was no different from one that had disappeared from the world. No one could see it. No one could hear it. Nabi existed only when she chose to reveal herself.

Because of that, the Progenitor and Azzy had been forced entirely onto the defensive. Each of them had a shackle holding them back.

The Progenitor had to protect that laborer... or whatever it was.

And the King of Dogs had to protect Callis. More precisely, she had to keep Callis from dying in the aftermath of the fight.

'The King of Dogs... is trying to save me. Maybe even more desperately than I am.'

Yet Callis was only weighing the King of Dogs down, bound by a chain and using her own life as a hostage.

It was absurd enough to make her laugh bitterly, but there was nothing Callis could do.

'What would change if I resisted here?'

What if she resisted? What if the King of Cats lost?

Those in Tantalus were criminals captured and discarded by the military state. Taking their side would bring her nothing but a bleak future.

On the other hand, if the King of Cats won and the Lords of All Creation achieved their goal, what would Callis gain...?

What could she gain...?

As Callis pondered that, Rashy's right thumb suddenly caught her eye. She moved to grab it on reflex.

Clank.

The heavy iron chain around her neck dragged her back.

'...The chain.'

The chain that had pulled her around, choked her, and tried to kill her until now.

It was the only thing she had gained by following the Lords of All Creation.

The medal she had once displayed with pride, which had ultimately been useless.

The suicide packet dressed up as hope.

The chain placed around her neck in the name of orders.

The King of Cats.

All of it had only tried to kill her.

Meanwhile, Rashy and Azzy, who had tried to save her, were rolling miserably across the ground. They were bleeding to keep Callis alive.

Callis quietly repeated what Rashy had told her.

'...My father's legacy was me.'

She might have been a precious daughter to her father, but Callis was precious to no one.

She had become a lieutenant colonel, yet she knew nothing.

She did not know what the Lords of All Creation planned or whom they had used as expendable pawns.

She was a lieutenant colonel of the military state, yet no different from a level 1 citizen. No, she was even more insignificant than a level 0 laborer. At least that laborer... had been prepared to strangle a colonel to death.

...Though she did not know whether that person truly was a level 0 laborer.

Like that person, Callis had only one principle to follow if she wanted to live.

"I have to break the chain."

There was no need to think about later. Callis was a pitiful human being unworthy even of the rank of lieutenant colonel. Futures and prospects were futile things, like trying to read the waves while watching a storm rage across the night sea.

Those belonged only to people capable of such things.

Callis could not even guarantee the future one second from now.

She had to do everything she could to survive, one moment at a time.

"Starting now."

Callis grabbed her belt.

She no longer had the bundle. The secret bundle of packets bestowed on her by the Lords of All Creation was long gone. Instead, all she had left was a small memory hidden deep within.

The legacy her father had left behind.

A house, an automatic carriage, a gold-leafed sword, and a piece of military gear.

The only heirloom she could carry with her, the military gear, was hidden deep in her belt pouch.

Callis had kept the pouch belt so she could always remain with that military gear.

It was nothing special, obsolete, and only a piece for the left arm. The military state had not even recognized it as military gear and had discarded it.

Yet that was why it had become an heirloom, the only weapon placed in Callis's hands.

"Call to Arms."

Murmuring softly, Callis inserted the military gear packet into the bio-terminal on her left arm. An alchemical glow flared, and compressed steel unraveled strand by strand.

An officer was completed by their military gear.

The military state was a nation with a short history of only twenty-five years since the military government took power.

It had overthrown the monarchy in a coup and seized its place. What allowed it to establish its position among neighboring nations was its rapid expansion of military power through every kind of technology.

Click, click.

A smooth gauntlet formed from metal scales covered Callis's arm from elbow to fingertips. Once it was equipped, Callis clenched her left hand. Rough metal scraped against metal.

The military gear's ability was simple: protecting the body.

It was nothing more than a high-quality glove, a trivial piece of military gear.

Callis was not disappointed. A tool was only as good as its user. Even with a better piece of military gear, Callis would not have been able to draw out its full power.

But this military gear, which had been with her for half her life, would surely carry out her will.

Trusting that, Callis grabbed the lock binding the chain.

The chain was level 4 alchemsteel. Callis could never break it with her own power.

But the lock securing the chain was different.

Lieutenant General Ebon, whom Callis had believed dead, had intended to put this chain around the colonel's neck. The lock only needed to keep the chain from coming loose. There was no reason to use anything precious.

Of course, that did not mean Callis could easily break a steel lock.

But if she could dismantle it without breaking it...

Callis gripped the lock with her gauntleted hand and drew mana up through her entire body.

Military state standard magic.

"Set, Ri, Ri, Ri, Ri..."

Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz of the mage corps.

She had been selected by the Lords of All Creation from the mage corps, which was composed entirely of officers because of its unusual nature.

Like all mages, she was not particularly useful in small-scale combat, but the strength of standard magic lay in its versatility.

The mana-wrapped gauntlet grew hot.

Body-mediated magic was an old method of manifesting miracles through one's own body.

It had often been used by old mages, but it fell out of use because its caster bore the full backlash caused by imposing the world's rules. All that remained was a saying: the stronger the mage, the sooner they died.

Then the military state invented bio-terminals and clothing packets. It became possible to shift part of the price the body had to bear onto packets through an Aki Avatar.

Standard magic then became a proper branch of magic.

"...Ri, Ri, Rialke, Decay, Mund."

Mana gathered, and the spell began.

Alchemy Release, Corrosion, Fracture.

Three level 2 spells manifested at once.

Combination spell, Alchemical Matter Decomposition. Provisional rating: level 3.

The level 3 spell that broke down alchemical substances touching the body slowly ate away at the lock.

Once it had grown hot enough, Callis clenched her gauntlet.

Crack.

The lock in her fist split, corroded, and crumbled apart. In exchange, the palm of her gauntlet turned to powder and scattered away. She had rushed the setup, so part of her skin was broken down as well, blood flowing from her hand.

Still, she had freed herself from the chain.

The chain felt light. It was as if the blockage around her neck had vanished.

Feeling refreshed by her freedom, Callis threw the chain from her neck.

"King of Dogs!"

Now fully freed, Callis shouted toward Azzy.

"I'm free! Don't worry about me anymore. Fight!"

"Woof? Woof! Dum..."

Azzy turned at the clattering sound of the chain. Seeing Callis free of it, she barked happily.

"...my! Woof!"

Callis felt faint for a moment, but quickly steadied herself and shouted.

"Focus on the cat!"

"I know, woof!"

Nabi sprang from the darkness. The King of Dogs sensed her by instinct and prepared to counterattack, trying to defend herself first.

But Azzy's right arm merely dangled beneath her shoulder instead of rising. Azzy looked down at it in confusion.

"Woof? Yip!"

Nabi pounced like a wild beast at Azzy as she desperately twisted away. Azzy ducked in a hurry. Nabi's forepaw missed Azzy's head and smashed through the concrete wall as if it were tofu. Amid the scattering dust, Azzy rolled away from Nabi.

The chain was gone, but the hardship had not ended.

Feral nature appeared when life hung in the balance.

When a beast could only survive by killing its enemy, it unleashed complete killing intent. Casting aside everything else, it tried to kill its enemy with every ability it possessed.

At this moment, the King of Cats was a beast possessed by the will to kill, trying to eliminate her enemy in the way she knew best.

"Yip, yip!"

Azzy had already been wounded while protecting Callis. Nabi, striking and retreating through the darkness, was overwhelming her.

The Progenitor took a step forward to help Azzy.

Each time, Nabi hid herself in the darkness. It was clearly a move intended to keep the Progenitor in check.

Unable to move away from the laborer... the Progenitor bit her lip and stepped back again.

Dogs could not unleash feral nature. All feral nature was borne by wolves.

The Progenitor could not move. If she left her place, the laborer... would be in danger.

The only one who could help Azzy right now was Callis.

And Callis had to help Azzy.

If she wanted to survive.

"Set."

The gauntlet clicked. Callis drew up all her remaining mana and chanted clearly.

"Ri, Ri, Ri, Ri. Fahrenheit, Celsi, Kel."

Place mana, condense it, condense it, condense it, condense it. Then heat it.

In an instant, Callis wrapped fourfold-condensed mana around her left arm.

What manifested was overheating. The gauntlet glowed red. The steel scales expanded from the heat and rose together, red flames moving through the gaps in the steel as though it breathed fire.

Callis gritted her teeth against the agony of her arm feeling as though it would cook. The gauntlet protected her arm, but heat seeped in through her exposed palm. Her blood bubbled as it boiled.

The fierce heat was destroying not only the military gear, but her body as well.

But she could not stop.

Azzy falling mattered more than her arm burning away.

Callis layered more mana over the military gear already whirling with mana.

"Set, Aquus, Ri, Pascal...!"

She added water and compressed wind. The heat gathered in her left hand greedily swallowed the water. She compressed the screaming droplets to the limit.

Just before Nabi attacked Azzy again, she released the force.

"Steamstream!"

Violent steam burst forth.

A single drop of water fell inside overheated steel. Boiling steam repelled itself and surged outward. Callis gathered that force to its limit, then fired it at a single point.

It was water that had become steam and wind.

Hissssss!

Steam blasted out fiercely. With a deafening roar, scorching heat made visible in pure white surged forth as though it would overturn the world. It was a level 2 spell with a certain degree of offensive power and usefulness.

Only a level 2 combat spell. If Nabi had been an ordinary cat, perhaps it would have mattered, but for the King of Cats, it was a pitiful trick that could not harm even a strand of fur.

But.

"Hiss!"

Startled by the unexpected attack, Nabi leaped away.

Those who gave themselves over to feral nature forgot reason and followed instinct. To the King of Cats, who hated both water and heat, hot steam was something unbearable.

It might have been a trivial trick, but magic twisted and deceived the world. Callis scattered hot steam and drove Nabi away.

"D-Don't come close!"

It was not an order, but a scream closer to a plea as she sprayed steam around Azzy.

Azzy did not seem to welcome the white steam either. She thumped her tail against the ground in displeasure, but Callis ignored it and stood by Azzy's side.

"You're injured already. We can hold her off like this! If we drag it out, the feral nature will die down!"

As though making a vow to herself, Callis kept the spell going and aimed in every direction.

A terrible silence consumed the Abyss. No one made a useless sound. Any noise could make them miss the cat hiding in the darkness.

Whenever Callis heard anything even close to a sound, she fired steam at once. She did not know whether it hit or missed. She could only hope it helped.

Time passed slowly.

Sweat dripped through her hair. The heat that had entered her body spread through her entire body, soaking her in sweat. At the edge of exhaustion and dehydration, Callis barely held on to her spell.

During that time, the Progenitor raised black knights to fill the darkness. If the King of Cats tried to use the dark to ambush them, she would notice immediately.

After licking her wounds repeatedly, Azzy regained enough strength to move. With both hands on the ground, she crouched as though ready to sprint at once.

'Good. If this keeps up...'

She would live. She would survive.

She could never return to the military state after defying a lieutenant general. She would never see what she had left behind again.

But if she had another chance, if she had time left...

This time, she would make better memories.

As if it had heard her wish, the thumb Callis was holding wriggled.

A premonition almost like foresight came over Callis.

"I have arrived!"

She had not heard it often, yet she already missed that voice. Callis's face brightened at once.

Rashy the immortal. What a welcome name.

His existence, never dying even when he died and always returning, felt utterly reassuring to Callis.

This gave them another ally. It raised their chances of surviving the King of Cats.

It brought her one step closer to the future Callis longed for.

For Callis, who had relaxed for a moment because a hopeful future seemed to be approaching,

"Move!"

The laborer shouted, but her reaction came too late.

Stab.

Something tore through her, followed by excruciating pain.

Callis tried to groan, but even that did not come easily. Something seemed to be gripping her body tightly and refusing to let go.

The heat circling inside her body flowed out through her abdomen. Callis lowered her head with difficulty and looked at what had pierced her stomach.

Three blades protruded from her abdomen.

They looked familiar. Three blades hanging a finger joint apart.

They had to be the lieutenant general's claws...

"Traitors... deserve only death. You know that, Lieutenant Colonel."

Lieutenant General Ebon, his right arm gone, whispered coldly to Callis.

Footnotes:

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