WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 194

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Say You Want to Live - Finale

"Found you."

Historia muttered in a chilling voice. The moment I heard it, I wrapped the rope around myself however I could and jumped. Free fall, humanity's greatest fear. I knew I was hanging from a rope, but that terrifying speed and the empty drop beneath my feet still stabbed straight into instinctive terror...

Still, it was less scary than that hysterical voice chasing me from behind.

Boom, boom. Strange tremors ran through the building I'd just been standing on. The people hiding inside the residential block couldn't hold back their fear and screamed.

Fair enough. Right now, Historia was climbing up by smashing through the building wall.

"Stop right there-!"

"As if I'd stop for youuuuu!"

Gravity dragged me down. The rope was a little shorter than I'd calculated. At the rope's lowest point, I let go and rolled to break the fall.

"Owowowowowow!"

I'm convinced people who knew nothing invented that whole "falling technique" thing. I did it exactly how I was taught, and it still hurt. "The right way to fall," my ass. Humans aren't birds. We weren't meant to fall in the first place.

Anyway, I got back on my feet, clutched my throbbing left arm, and ran with everything I had.

Though in the end...

"Found you!!!"

How do you climb a smooth wall with nowhere to plant your feet? Simple. Make footholds as you go.

Stomp hard, crack the wall, anchor yourself, and use the broken edge like a step to walk up.

Sounds insane, but Historia had literally done it just moments ago.

After walking up the residential wall like that, Historia stood on the rooftop and locked onto me.

"Hui! Stop right there! Stop or I shoot!"

Usually, talking first means you don't actually plan to shoot. I shouted back without even turning around.

"If you shoot me, I die! Ha! You planning to fire at an innocent civilian who'd die from one little poke?!"

"You think I can't?"

Historia's eyes turned dangerous. She loaded the round in her hand and aimed down the sight at me.

Ah, crap. Maybe I pushed her too far.

'I will only shoot enough so he doesn't die. A clean shot through the leg.'

How is "I'll punch a clean hole through your leg" something a friend says? I grumbled inwardly and was about to leap sideways when-

'...What is that?'

Right before pulling the trigger, Historia frowned at a figure running beside me.

Huh? Who's running next to me?

I turned my head and found someone matching my pace. The girl wagged her tail left and right as she ran along at about my speed.

...On four legs.

Our eyes met, and Azzy barked with a bright grin.

"Woof! Nice to see you! Nice to see you!"

Captain. They said she was a person. She's a dog.

And she's not even useful. Azzy can't fight humans.

Still.

"This feels weird to say, but I'm glad to see you too. I'm so glad I might cry."

"Woof! Crybaby!"

"I'm not crying yet."

'Doesn't matter. Better shoot the leg first.'

Before Historia pulled the trigger, Azzy's ears twitched first. She sensed it by instinct before the sound, eyes widening as she ran. In the darkness where almost nothing was visible, the reflected light in Azzy's eyes became a single streak.

Baaang!

With the gunshot, Azzy suddenly leaped behind me, and her head snapped sideways. At the same time, her body flew far away and hit the ground on her back.

Azzy bounced and shouted.

"Woof! Hot! Hard! It hurts!"

So you can't fight humans, but you'll fight bullets for me. More importantly.

"So bullets hurt you too. Weirdly shocking."

And this was the same dog who catches bullets with her teeth. Still, maybe because it was a Six Generals bullet, she looked genuinely hurt.

Azzy shouted with tears in her eyes.

"My tooth is loose! It hurts!"

"Put spit on it."

"Woof...! It still hurts even when it heals! Woof!"

"Then why catch those with your teeth? Can't you use something like bullet-deflecting energy?"

"Woof? Side dish? Meat?"

"Forget it. Why am I saying this to a dog."

Even Azzy probably couldn't keep catching Historia's bullets one after another. The one good thing was that Historia didn't have many rounds.

"Stoooop!"

Historia jumped from the rooftop and landed in one motion. The impact was so violent that the concrete itself trembled. She crashed down hard enough to crack the ground and glared like a beast.

"Stop right there!"

Click, clack. Four more rounds dropped into her hand. She rammed them into the magazine, rushed in, and aimed again.

But well, if there's a dog, the owner should be nearby.

"Celestial Sword Qi!"

The regressor dropped lightly in front of me. She literally fell from the sky and immediately spread her invisible sword.

"Heavenly Mirror!"

Different from bullet-deflecting energy. She spread Skywarbler in all directions and bent pure space itself. A technique that twisted even light.

The regressor put up a shield across Historia's firing line and shouted at me in a rush.

"Hey! How did you end up being chased by one of the Six Generals?!"

I corrected her calmly.

"Wrong. I was already someone being chased. The one doing the chasing just became one of the Six Generals."

"How does that matter?!"

"Order matters, order. If she were Six Generals rank from the start, would I have pissed her off this badly?"

"That matters zero! No, maybe that's worse?! How did your pursuer become one of the Six Generals?!"

"Tch. How was I supposed to know she'd get promoted that fast."

Tap, tap, tap.

Three shots in a row glanced off Heavenly Mirror. Bang, bang, bang. The missed rounds tore through the concrete floor like tofu.

Even knowing they were missing, watching the ground explode on both sides of me was terrifying.

And we still weren't safe. Both the regressor and I sensed danger and stayed razor tense.

The regressor knew from the previous cycle, and I knew because I'd read Historia's thoughts.

The next one wouldn't miss.

Historia aimed at me with cold eyes.

'Zeroing Shot.'

Zero with three shots, guarantee a hit with the fourth. Energy gun arts awakened only by Historia, who fought while layering energy onto bullet, barrel, and gunplay.

That too was an ultimate energy art that had touched principle, however slightly.

You've gotten really strong. What the hell have I been doing this whole time...

I should skip the next reunion. Not that I can go anyway as a wanted criminal.

No, there probably aren't enough people alive to even hold one. Heh.

'We can't deflect that! We have to block it!'

Maybe she'd experienced it in another cycle, because the regressor gave up trying to redirect it or bat it away with bullet-deflecting energy. Instead, she swung Jizan wide and flipped the ground itself.

"Jigon Style, Ground Breaker!"

She slammed Jizan down. The nearby ground sagged, and shattered concrete shot up like spikes. In that instant, the flying concrete split the Gunslinger from us.

A bullet pierced through that gap. But after punching through concrete, it had lost force, and the regressor easily knocked it away. Skywarbler bent with a sharp whine and split the bullet in two.

'We can block a few. Not forever. Unless we go in close and fight...!'

Decision made, the regressor shouted at once.

"Tyrkanzyaka! Blind her with darkness!"

"I accept."

Right after that gentle voice replied, the streetlights flickered ominously.

Night in the military state did not know true darkness. Until she appeared, the darkness under streetlights had been no more than a fox painting stripes on its own face and pretending to be a tiger.

True night arrived. As if some vast being had blown over the military state's candle flame, a gust swept through, every streetlight went out at once, and darkness swallowed the world.

Power beyond fake shadows. The calamity called the Shadow Queen had come to the night of a nation barely twenty-five years old.

In blackness so deep I couldn't even see my own hands and feet, the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka approached with her parasol on her shoulder. Tracking her presence with mind reading, I met red eyes glowing in one patch of pitch-dark night.

Wow. Seeing her show up in a crisis made me feel safe. I was just about to greet her when-

"Congratulations on your marriage, Hyu. So this was your reason for returning to this country."

A cold line with a trace of hostility pushed me back. Oh. Not greeting atmosphere.

As I awkwardly lowered my hand, Tyr looked at me with resentment and hostility and said,

"Yes. You are of age now, so it would be natural for you to have at least a fiancee you've promised your future to."

"Sorry, Tyr. This isn't really the time for that."

"Could that child perhaps be your bride?"

Glance. Tyr looked through the darkness at Historia charging this way. Even in the dark, Tyr's red eyes clearly saw Historia rushing in with savage force.

"From what I see, your relationship is not harmonious. How about it? If you wish, I can turn you into a vampire. A husband and wife should not die during marital quarrels."

"We're not married. If she hears you say that, I'll actually die."

"Hm? Not married?"

I was too lazy to explain a situation as wide and deep as the sea, so I gave the simplest, clearest answer.

"I tried to pull a marriage scam, things got weirdly tangled, and I ended up running."

"...Then the marriage?"

"Fake info."

The corners of Tyr's eyes softened a little.

"How curious, that one can swindle with marriage. In any case, understood. Then why did you run away in the Abyss?"

"Long story, but if I kept moving with your side, even ten lives wouldn't be enough."

"Even now, it does not seem sufficient. Shall I make you a vampire so you have ten lives-"

"No. Please don't."

A roar exploded from beyond the darkness. The regressor blocked Historia as she tried to tear through it. In close hand-to-hand range, the regressor scattered Skywarbler and took the attacks.

Using both Jizan and Skywarbler, the regressor didn't get pushed easily. Historia kicked Jizan hard, frowned at the rebound, and shouted.

"Move!"

Ha. If saying "move" made her move, she wouldn't be the regressor. Taste it too, the stubborn regressor special.

"...Should I, maybe? Do I really need to drag him out while fighting one of the Six Generals...?"

Hey! Regressor! Is that what you should be saying right now?!

Something appeared beside the regressor as she seriously considered it. Sharp claws slashed at Historia's side. Historia blocked with her leg against the sneaking shadow, but the shadow whipped a forepaw and sent Historia flying.

"Nya... so noisy nya. Humans change territory too often nya..."

Nabi, who had appeared before anyone noticed, grumbled and stood beside the regressor. Historia saw Nabi jump into the fight and twisted her face.

"King of Cats...! You want to die?!"

"Nyaaa! You dared ask Nya if Nya wants to die nya?!"

Nabi had been a pain when she was an enemy, but as an ally she felt unbelievably reliable. So this was what it meant to have a Beast King hostile to your enemy.

Anyway, honored people had arrived from the east. I had to take this chance.

"Um, Tyr. Shei. And the other beast friends."

I raised my voice so everyone could hear.

"I want to live, so if you're not busy, could you save me?"

No odd schemes, no tricks, just an honest request.

Maybe my words surprised them, because Azzy and Tyr looked at each other.

Azzy turned first. She smiled brightly and said,

"Woof! I'll save you! Give me your neck!"

"So you can bite my scruff and run? Sorry, humans call that an execution."

I politely refused Azzy's offer. Talk some sense.

"I am already saving you... ngh!"

"Yes. I am already being thankful."

"Say it with more sincerity...! Tch! So picky!"

Over there, the regressor was in a fierce fight. Maybe she'd run out of bullets, because Historia was gripping the muzzle and swinging the gun upside down like a club, and the regressor was answering with Skywarbler.

"Hoo. You are insolent, but."

Tyr snapped her fingers. In that instant, darkness rolled like a receding tide and swallowed Historia. Historia immediately blasted energy with her gun, but either way, breaking out would take time.

"For now, I yield to you. Let us leave this place."

"You're retreating, right?! I'll hold her off a bit and pull out!"

The regressor's voice came from inside the darkness. Farther beyond that, Historia screamed hysterically.

"Shut up! You all have nothing to do with this! Leave that bastard Hui and go!"

"Sorry, Ria! I got somewhere to be! I'll buy you a meal later!"

"Yaaaaaah!"

Giving my classmate an open-ended farewell, I climbed onto the coffin Tyr had brought. Riding the darkness, that coffin tore through the streets faster than I'd ever seen.

Goodbye, Amitenggrad. City of ordinary people who held me with care.

This ordinary petty criminal will be taking his leave.

Toward Amitenggrad, fading farther away, I bowed deeply at the waist.

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