WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 190: Say You Want to Live - 6

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Rather than try to outthink me, Ulfen resolved to kill me with nothing but strength and energy arts.

Damn it. They'd seen right through my weakness in a straightforward physical fight. How cowardly.

Sigh. So this was the end of taking it easy.

Now, truly, my only option was to stall for time. I had to use every means I had to drag things out.

"Finishing move!"

The revolver had held five bullets. All that remained was an empty gun.

There was no use for a gun without bullets. I boldly hurled it at them.

"Gun toss!"

Clang. The flying gun was blocked by the short sword. Having created an opening by even throwing my gun, I immediately rolled across the ground and disappeared into the gap between two buildings.

It was a narrow passage between buildings, the kind of cramped gap where two people walking in opposite directions would feel awkward if they met.

I raced through the alley and pulled out my next card.

Diamond 8, All Things Long and Thin.

Chains, wire, thread, iron strips, rubber. Magic power lines.

Among the many kinds of bindings stored in the card, I chose wire. I hooked a pre-knotted wire around one railing. Clank. The knot passed through the railing as if by magic, then caught securely.

Having set three wire traps in an instant, I deliberately plucked one of them to make my presence known. Ulfen, who had followed behind me, saw the taut wires and could not recklessly charge in.

'...Traps? What a nuisance. Forcing my way through with strength would be troublesome.'

Ha ha. How did that feel? Since ancient times, traps had been the best way to catch beasts. Could someone who had decided to rely on strength alone truly enter this alley?

'I will have to kick off the walls and leap over them.'

That was cheating!

Tap, tap. Ulfen lightly kicked off both walls and soared ten meters into the air. Then they pressed a foot against one wall and lightly slid down as though descending a slope.

I did not have time to stand around watching. With my carefully prepared trap neutralized, I immediately threw myself out of the alley. Ulfen closed the distance behind me in an instant.

'Got you. You will not escape now.'

I had just rounded a corner when Ulfen drew their short sword and aimed for my back. They jumped down from the end of the slope and landed on the ground to change direction.

Whoosh. The ground gave way beneath them. Still in that perfect landing posture, their body plunged straight down.

For a brief instant, Ulfen lost the ground beneath their feet and panicked.

'A trap? When did he...?'

The road was dirt beneath its top layer. I had cleared away all the dirt below it, so when Ulfen landed heavily on it, the road vanished as though it had been sucked into the ground.

A sinkhole trap made with earth magic. Reading Ulfen's confusion, I immediately drew the card I had been saving for this moment.

Diamond 10, Sword and Shield.

A small buckler appeared in my left hand, and a straight sword about the length of my forearm appeared in my right. I thrust the buckler toward Ulfen's head while simultaneously driving the straight sword into their blind spot.

I put my whole body into it, a picture-perfect blow that targeted their opening flawlessly.

Thwack. The buckler struck Ulfen squarely in the face. At the same time, my straight sword slashed their shoulder. Their collar tore open, and blood sprayed across it.

'He got me.'

There was no time to feel satisfied. Even amid their shock, their clear intent to attack was still directed at me.

'But it is light. I can endure it.'

Ulfen's head, which had been pushed back by the buckler, snapped forward again. Their eyes gleamed ominously. At the same time, a pitch-black blade sprang out from the left. The dark energy that swallowed even light exquisitely targeted my life.

Reading their killing intent, I gritted my teeth, twisted my arm and waist hard, and pulled the buckler back. I did not spare the small amount of energy I had, wrapping it around the buckler.

Screeeech.

The sturdy buckler deflected the darkness-stained sword at an angle. In a contest between sword and shield, common sense said the shield should have the advantage.

Yet when a sword wrapped in energy clashed with a shield wrapped in energy, the stronger energy won.

Crack. The buckler, which had held out for a moment, split apart pathetically. Like frozen bread dropped on the ground, it shattered into pieces after fulfilling its role as a shield. The short sword that had instantly broken through the buckler tore a long wound across my left arm.

"Oww!"

That hurt like hell!

There was no time to groan in pain. I needed a sword more than a shield to block their attacks. I pulled back the straight sword that had torn Ulfen's shoulder, intending to cut their arm.

But.

"Weaker than I expected..."

Tap. Ulfen grabbed my straight sword with their empty hand. The blade, with their bare hand.

That alone made the straight sword completely immovable, as though it had been lodged in a rock.

"Tch!"

If I stayed caught like this, I would die. I released the straight sword and immediately rolled backward. Blood poured from my crushed left arm, but I had no time to tend to it.

In contrast, Ulfen walked out as though their shoulder wound meant nothing and muttered.

"It was all petty tricks. From alchemy to all those little games, they were deceptions meant to hide your weakness."

Everything had been exposed.

Well, it would have been strange if they had not noticed after my shield could not even stop their sword and I had given up my left arm.

Still, I could not lose my composure. I had to stall for even a little longer.

Pretending to remain relaxed, I raised my bleeding left arm.

"Ta-da. How was it? Fun, right?"

"Not bad. Magician, you may have an even greater talent for assassination than I do."

They placed a hand over the shoulder wound I had made with my straight sword. Rolling energy seeped into the wound, and the blood blackened and hardened, quickly stopping the bleeding.

After easily nullifying even my best strike, Ulfen removed their hand and muttered.

"However, this world is ruled by strength. Those without strength will eventually break, while those with strength rule. That is the world's law."

"I understand your realization, but what about it?"

Ulfen looked down on me as though I were a childish fool.

"If you wished to live, you should not have blocked my path. You were foolish, Magician. You dreamed far beyond your station."

"Ha ha. Then was your dream so modest that you planned to borrow the military state's hand to clean up the back alleys and claim the unoccupied territory for yourself?"

"Standing among those weaker than oneself is the way to rule completely."

"What a small-minded person."

"I know my place. Unlike you."

They meant it. Ulfen was truly a remnant of the old kingdom era, the typical sort who was strong before the weak and weak before the strong.

Ah. How boring.

Their actions were small-minded compared to the power they possessed. They were only a little stronger, more rational, and luckier than an ordinary person.

"How boring. You're really the type who survived by sheer luck."

With a sigh, I turned over my hand. One of the few Diamond cards I had left fell into my palm.

Diamond 7, Magic Wand.

The card instantly turned into a long cane with a curved handle. Even so, Ulfen no longer bothered to be particularly wary and trudged toward me.

"I have seen through all of it. I will no longer be fooled by petty tricks. I will approach you as I am and take your life. Not even your impressive deceptions will save you."

Ah, seriously. Was this the end?

My left arm throbbed. Ah, a magician's hands and arms were their life. After suffering this much damage, was this really how it would end?

That was when something fell from the sky alongside an urgent voice.

It was a golem.

『Please move!』

With those words, the golem stepped in front of me. Unlike the motionless surveillance golems, this was a synchro-type that could be controlled directly.

Wow. It was a little nice to see one again after so long.

Swallowing the urge to cry from the throbbing pain in my left arm, I asked.

"Captain. Did I stall long enough?"

The synchro-type magical golem stood protectively in front of me and shouted.

『Affirmative! Please, hold out just a little longe...』

The captain did not even have time to finish. Ulfen's dagger buried itself in the golem's torso, and the golem's voice faded as though it were about to cut out. Soon, it creaked and collapsed limply.

I shouted at the captain, whose functions had stopped without lasting even a second.

"Captaaaain!"

You should have lasted a little longer! What was the point of making such a cool entrance only to leave so miserably? It killed my momentum!

"I have wasted too much time."

By announcing that, you only made Ulfen more impatient to kill me!

'I will not drag this out any longer. Die.'

Thud. Ulfen kicked off the ground and raised their short sword. They no longer wasted energy, gathering it completely within their body and sword. They came straight for my life.

Clear killing intent, and the strength to carry it out. Before that, powerless as I was, I could do nothing but helplessly offer my neck...

But overcoming a situation like this was the height of magic.

At the brink of death, when there seemed to be no way out, I had to escape by a method no one could imagine... Only then did I deserve to call myself a magician.

"Did you perhaps think the cards I have..."

I flicked my right arm. A new card appeared at the end of it. I deftly pinched the card between two fingers.

The single card I had prepared for the shadows.

The weapons made from Diamonds had been nothing more than groundwork for this one card.

"You didn't think I only had weapons, did you?"

The card I flipped over was Clover 1.

Unlike the sharp-edged red Diamond, the shape of a round tree rooted in the earth appeared before Ulfen.

'It is a petty trick. I will not be fooled. Whatever comes out, I will watch carefully and respond.'

I was the boy who cried wolf.

Repeated lies bred deep distrust, forcing the other person to stand firm.

Thank you for watching my final magic so closely.

As I turned over the card bearing the clover, I released the magic power stored within it. The condensed power gathered in the single clover and began to glow white.

Ulfen saw the shining card and frowned.

'Is he trying to block my vision with light? What could he possibly be hiding?'

Wrong.

I was not trying to block your vision with light. Light was what I had hidden.

Watching the clover grow brighter and brighter, an ominous thought finally flashed through Ulfen's mind.

'...Magic? No way!'

They realized too late. The magic had already been cast.

Let there be light.

"Fiat Lux."

Since Ulfen had gathered all their energy, the darkness surrounding their entire body was gone as well. They had not scattered energy in every direction, leaving them unable to respond in a variety of ways.

In other words, Ulfen was completely defenseless.

The condensed light at the center of the clover exploded.

Every shadow in the street vanished. In an instant, scorching white light poured from the entire face of the card.

The overwhelming brightness felt as though a window had opened directly in front of the sun.

Even my eyelids could not filter out the light. It felt as though I could see the shadows of my bones and veins through transparent skin.

Light erased shadows. Ulfen, struck directly by their natural opposite, hurriedly covered their eyes, but the light robbed them of sight for a moment.

"Luckily, your energy has a dark attribute. It does not look like you've gone blind. It will be hard for you to move for a while, though."

"You...! Magician!"

Darkness obscured the eyes, but light blinded them. You and this spell stood in a completely unequal relationship.

Having lost their sight, Ulfen leaped backward and scattered sword strikes in every direction. Dark energy poured from their whole body again. They were guarding against an attack that might come while they were unable to respond.

But it was pointless.

I was better off than you, since I had not been hit directly, but I could not see well right now either. I could not attack anyway.

"Urgh...!"

"Thank you for watching until the end, Ulfen Fenstein. You were a boring person, but you were a fairly decent audience. Still, someone who follows the logic of strength must be defeated by someone stronger than them. In that sense, I do not qualify."

"I will kill you. On the honor of the shadows, I will kill you, everyone around you, all of you!"

"Ah, sure. Goodbye."

With that farewell, I fled through the escape route I had marked out beforehand. The street swallowed by light hid things even more thoroughly than darkness did. No one saw me run away.

I did hit my head while fleeing because I could not see either, but well, anyway. I succeeded in running into a building.

My role ended here. It had been dangerous, but it had somehow worked out.

The rest was up to the military state.

Footnotes:

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