WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 137: The Slanted Ceiling and the Mountain of Smiling Corpses - 9

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Jiseon's hands grasped at empty air again and again. With small movements of my fingertips, I avoided every hand reaching for Jizan.

'Right, left, up.'

Then I went left, right, down. From her perspective, of course.

Her hands closed uselessly on empty air, Jizan struck her wrist, or it slipped through her grasp by a hair. She had suffered defeat after defeat in this battle of wits.

Ah, this was nice. A fight where only I won. This was a real battle of wits.

'Then I'll just grab his hand...!'

After repeatedly losing our battle of wits, Jiseon swung her arm wide and reached for my hand itself. Jizan moved from my hand, so she intended to seize my hand and take Jizan away.

"Now, now. That's cheating."

Jizan was a blade with no recoil. I merely knocked it lightly aside, yet Jiseon's hand bounced away at twice the speed.

There was only one way to catch Jizan: close your hand around it at the right moment. Too early or too late, and your hand would simply be knocked away. Strength was not an option.

That was why even Jiseon was struggling.

Clenching her fists until they cracked, Jiseon growled at me.

"...I have been humoring this only because I do not wish to harm you, Hughes."

"I know."

"Holding Jizan does not make you invincible. Why not stop here before you are injured further?"

That was true. Right now, Jiseon had dozens of plans for turning me into minced meat.

She could repeatedly slam the concrete overhead down on me, destroy the ground beneath my feet, or use a technique like spatial displacement to pull me in.

No. If she simply committed to closing the distance, I was finished.

For now, Jizan darted about whenever I twitched my fingers, so I could somehow avoid her. But if she got close enough to move faster than my hand, that day would become my funeral.

If I were holding cards, it might have been different. But this was a steel staff. I could not keep up with her speed.

So I had to draw her into a battle of wits with rules. I repeatedly held Jizan out and taunted Jiseon.

"Come on, take it. Why can't you? Did I hide it away? Did I say I'd never give it up? I told you to take it if you're capable, didn't I?"

"...Very well."

Jiseon's fighting spirit rose as she clenched both fists. Was she finally going to use both hands?

'The hands are a feint. Shake the ground beneath his feet with energy.'

She raised one foot high. She intended to shake the ground and send me flying.

If the impact made me let go of Jizan, she could take the test and wield it.

I was an ordinary human being. There was nothing special about me.

Even if I held Jizan now, it would not remember me and deny its power to anyone else.

Nothing like that would happen.

Jizan was a relic, a tool. I was simply an ordinary person capable of holding it.

That was why I absolutely could not let go until all the test questions had been set. Reading her intent, I pretended to avoid her hands and hooked Jiseon's leg with Jizan.

'Ghk!'

Even The Unfallen could not withstand the earth itself tripping her. Rather than stomping down, Jiseon stepped on the Jizan I had swung and leaped away.

I had just flung a whole person away with the tip of a sword, yet Jizan felt no heavier than a mosquito landing on it. Heh. So this was Jizan. It was exciting to feel as though I had grown stronger.

"That's right. You won't fall, will you? You'll keep moving forward, again and again. You're someone who builds, someone who creates results from collapsed ruins. Tending to the dead and remembering them doesn't suit you."

Jiseon landed far away and glared at me with terrifying eyes. Facing her, I muttered leisurely.

"Trying to erase the Abyss was about securing justification, wasn't it? Justification to break the taboo against answering a nation's summons. You gained quite a lot by working with the military state, but because you failed to erase the Abyss, you lacked the justification to lead the Church of the Earth Mother, didn't you?"

And with Jizan, it would be perfect.

With a relic that was both the Great Master's token and the authority of the earth itself, the Church of the Earth Mother would gather beneath Jiseon.

"Then you'll take Jizan and go hold the Sanctum accountable for its sins. Give us something to eat! Haven't you stuffed yourselves plenty until now? Share some of the pie! Perfect!"

Even the attempt itself held meaning. It would ease the resentment the believers had kept bottled up and put them on equal footing with the Sanctum.

Jiseon slowly rose.

"...So you truly intend to obstruct me?"

"I'm not obstructing you! I told you to take it!"

"Then."

Energy flowing from Jiseon's body spread in every direction. Boom. With one step, the earth shook.

Shortening the Distance. A technique that sent energy into the ground, then pulled it back in an instant to launch herself forward. Charging with more force than agility, Jiseon thrust her fist straight toward me.

All right, if I blocked it with Jizan...

'If he blocks, I'll sacrifice my fist. Even if it breaks, I'll kick instead.'

Huh?

'Jizan's length cannot block both directions. He will have to take one with his own body.'

Ah, I really hated this. Why did she keep trying to fight a battle of wits with her body? What was a frail mind reader like me supposed to do?

This was barbarism. What else could be called barbaric? As I grumbled inwardly,

"Hup!"

Long silver hair and a dress fluttered before me. Tyr shot me a resentful look for a brief moment, then raised both arms and met Jiseon's fist with her own.

For some reason, I felt like I should close my eyes. It was an excellent choice.

Boom.

A massive shockwave spread, making every corpse shudder.

When I opened my eyes again, the earth-colored energy filling Jiseon's body and Tyr's bright red droplets of blood had mixed and spread in a circle. The earth-colored energy sank into the ground, while the droplets flowed back into Tyr as though time had reversed.

The two women held their fists together at close range and glared at each other. Jiseon spoke first.

"...Progenitor. Did you not say you would not attack?"

Tyr answered.

"If you do not become hostile first."

"I have never shown hostility toward you."

"Your hostility toward him is hostility toward me."

Tyr said it as though it were obvious. Jiseon glanced at me and replied.

"...You have been caught by a bad man."

"...I cannot deny it. I agree."

Their fists collided again. Tyr did not dodge. With blood gathered in both eyes, she followed Jiseon's fist and struck back.

A collision of pure strength against strength. Another shockwave followed. Tyr's body was pushed back slightly, but she quickly regained her stance and threw herself at Jiseon. She made no attempt to protect her vital points.

'In battle itself, I have the advantage. The Progenitor's power is clumsy, perhaps because she is unfamiliar with close combat. But... I am at a disadvantage.'

Jiseon looked once at Tyr's arm, once at her body, and once at the ground beneath her feet, then revised her plan.

'The losses are too great. This exchange cannot work. The opponent has suffered no damage. And besides...'

Below was a mountain of corpses, above was concrete earth. Until now, this terrain had favored Jiseon.

But that was only when her opponent was the regressor. If her opponent was Tyr, then the mountain of corpses below was a battlefield made for a vampire.

Tyr's bloodcraft could currently control only the blood near her body, but Jiseon did not know that.

Even if she did, this ground still favored Tyr.

'It will be quicker to shake her off.'

Jiseon feinted a punch, then ducked and lunged in. Pankration. Caught off guard, Tyr immediately threw a kick despite her unbalanced posture. The kick rose at a bizarre angle, as though it moved regardless of human anatomy or stance, and it was almost as fierce as her fist.

Its force may have differed slightly, but it was still within Jiseon's calculations.

Rip. Jiseon's skin tore and blood flowed. At the same time, Jiseon grabbed Tyr's planted foot and the chunk of corpses beneath it.

Then she hurled it upward.

"Kyaa!"

There was no way to endure being thrown along with the ground itself.

Whoosh. Tyr flew toward the ceiling, looking as though she were falling upside down toward Tantalus. A heavy thud rang out.

After throwing Tyr away, Jiseon strode toward me.

"Where do you think you're going! Stop!"

At that moment, a wave of fresh blood struck her entire body from behind. Tyr, who had flown away with the corpses, fired the blood within them back at the unsuspecting Jiseon's back.

Kwaroom. Red fists poured down like cannon fire on her shoulders, back, and legs. Energy fired through bloodcraft. The mountain of corpses exploded one after another, leaving craters behind.

Jiseon groaned from the fierce impact. Her earring trembled, then shattered with a crack.

'...I cannot face Jizan while leaving my rear exposed! I need more time!'

Jiseon recovered some strength through the funeral she had performed in advance, clicked her tongue, and spun around. She thrust both hands into the air as though opening a door, then pulled them apart. Creak, creak. An ominous sound rose from the tips of her fingers.

Tantalus opened.

Crack. Tantalus split apart on both sides, opened its jaws, and swallowed Tyr. Tyr, having read Jiseon's intent, hurriedly waved both hands, but earth arts were faster. In an instant, Tyr disappeared into Tantalus.

Rumble. She was only out of sight. Inside, she was pushing through the concrete to emerge, but even Tyr had never swum through the earth before, so it seemed it would take a little time.

Jiseon had briefly neutralized Tyr. Panting, she looked at me. There was no longer anything between us.

"There is no one left to protect you now."

That was true. I nodded.

"You're right. I guess it's finally time for the last test."

"Aaaah!"

At that moment, the regressor burst through the pile of concrete below with a shout. She had recovered after collapsing once, so she was not in perfect condition, but her eyes still burned fiercely.

"Just hold on a little longer!"

With enemies continuing to appear, Jiseon grew impatient. She rapidly approached me.

"I have no time to answer your test. Hand it over."

'This time, I do not care if he dies.'

Jiseon rushed at me with the intent to kill if necessary. Then Rallion, whom Tyr had left behind as a final bulwark, blocked her path.

Tormented by Azzy, tormented by Nabi, and now Jiseon was next. Rallion had every reason to protest this brutal lineup, yet charged in without fear.

While Jiseon was briefly held up by Rallion, instead of running away, I pulled Jizan far back.

"No. You're not the one taking the test."

There was no test for Jiseon. She would simply advance through her own strength.

The one who had to take the test now was...

I turned my head and glanced at the Great Master's corpse, kneeling while nailed to the cross. Maybe it was an illusion, maybe it was real. Something glittering fell from the kneeling corpse.

"All right. It's time to take the test you've put off, Great Master."

I could not read a corpse's thoughts. I did not know whether that was a tear or an illusion.

But Jizan would have to answer.

Jiseon smashed through Rallion's torso. Our eyes met through the scattering blood. Just before I threw Jizan, Jiseon's eyes widened.

'Don't tell me he's going to throw it? Now?'

Correct.

'Where?'

Somewhere between Jiseon and the regressor.

'Why, all of a sudden?'

Because of the test that had been put off.

Grinning, I hurled Jizan far away.

Round and round. The black rod, part staff and part sword, flew through the air. Who could have guessed that such a small rod carried the weight of Mount Tai? Even an object so extraordinary traced a path little different from an ordinary staff as it flew through the sky.

'Nice pass... No, that was way too close! Throw it straight!'

The regressor saw it and ran for where it would land. Jiseon immediately kicked off the ground as well.

'Even if he catches it, he must take the test! He will not be able to use it right away! But I, who handle earth arts, can take it without taking the test...!'

No, how many times did I have to say it?

It was not your test paper.

-Did it truly have to be done this way...?

The cross trembled. The voice ringing out from its end seemed to be speaking to me.

Without even turning my head, I answered.

"Yes. Choose. It's easy this time, right? All you have to do is choose someone to hold your power."

-Ah... So even in death, I could not escape.

"It isn't that you couldn't escape. You left this behind. If you didn't want to leave a trace, you wouldn't have left a relic behind either."

-You are cruel. Truly cruel...

Jizan trembled as it flew through the air. The regressor and Jiseon rushed beneath it. Jiseon, running along the ground, was subtly closer.

If Jizan did not move, Jiseon would gain it. She would begin an endless struggle for the revival of the Church of the Earth Mother. And in the end, she would revive it, even if she died in the process.

Compared to her, the regressor...

-Did you truly say that girl saw the future? That she intends to stand against the King of Sin?

"Whether you believe it or not is up to you. It is an unguaranteed future, one that can change at any time, just like the future you heard from the prophet."

At last, the choice she had put off came again.

Would she entrust it to the prophet who dreamed of something better and bury it?

Or would she move forward, even if it meant covering her whole body in bright red blood?

-Ah. You are truly cruel.

The Great Master of the past had made a choice that was not a choice. She hesitated, was killed by the prophet, lost even her chance, and fell into the Abyss.

-Even so... even if this truly becomes a mistake in the future.

In the end, she could not bury the Conquering King's soldiers. She had only been driven onward.

If she had possessed the firm resolve to bury the Conquering King's hundred thousand soldiers by her own will, the world's history might have changed.

But if she had been that kind of person, she would not have grieved before three hundred thousand deaths.

-I... find death sorrowful. I fear corpses. I hate the destined ruin with all my heart. More than a splendid royal palace built upon blood-soaked soil, I prefer a single small flower blooming on a grave.

Thud. Jizan, flying through the air, twisted from its path.

Jiseon's eyes widened, as did the regressor's. This small but certain intention was Jizan's will alone. There was no other explanation for such an unnatural movement.

-Not for them... but for my weak self.

The one Jizan chose in the end was...

The regressor.

-I will bury death. In the Earth Mother's embrace.

With that declaration, the cross piercing the Great Master's stomach began to crumble from its base.

The Sanctum's treasure, which had fixed time in place, vanished. As though tightly wound time were unraveling thread by thread, the sharp blade of the cross stake rapidly rusted away and faded before time.

Feeling her trace recede, I murmured.

"Farewell, Chorine. The first earth artist and the last burier. And one human who could not bring herself to become a god. Your will has taken effect retroactively along with your sin. Thanks to your choice now, the you of that day has let go of her regret and reclaimed her sin."

The resentment she had failed to resolve and the choice she had failed to make were fulfilled today. Now she could rest peacefully.

"You could not become the death of a hundred thousand soldiers, but you were a good burier who comforted the souls of three hundred thousand prisoners. Rest peacefully in the Earth Mother's embrace."

-Thank you...

The Great Master's fading consciousness sank beyond the horizon.

And the unfinished story was completed across time.

Footnotes:

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