WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 205: Land Flowing Like a River - 7

──────

The attacks that were not quite attacks continued. Historia found the tireless guerrilla warfare using the Beast King troublesome.

"...Damn it."

The Gunslingers. A versatile ranged harassment unit directly led by Historia.

Having moved ahead, they established a position far in front and rained down bullets.

The Gunslingers' objective was to scout and harass the enemy repeatedly, holding them back in a delaying action until the main force arrived. They drove the enemy away, freely expending their supplied salt rounds.

They had even managed to repel the Progenitor, if only briefly.

But the next thing to appear was unexpected.

'The King of Dogs?'

If the boy who wielded an invisible sword had rushed out instead, Historia could have simply nodded and faced him herself.

But the armored King of Dogs was not someone they could fight, nor was she easy to deal with. They could not afford to waste ammunition on her, so Historia immediately ordered a ceasefire.

The King of Dogs then trotted into the middle of the Gunslingers' position without obstruction. The Gunslingers watched her uneasily. She might not be able to harm them, but she was still a monster capable of wrecking their base through sheer thrashing.

Just as Historia approached to drive her away herself, one soldier pointed.

"Major General! Her back!"

Only then did Historia notice that something was attached to the King of Dogs' back. As she debated whether to shoot it, the bag on her back rapidly swelled.

It was a tear gas grenade.

It only lasted a moment, but the Gunslingers who had been aiming at the containers cried out in pain. At Historia's sharp command, they had to keep aiming despite it.

The King of Dogs rolled about on the ground as though she was in pain too, but regardless, they were the ones who had taken the blow.

'They're wearing away at our nerves.'

They had taken a favorable position and fired on the enemy one-sidedly to pressure them. Yet instead of becoming tense, the other side tormented them with every trick they could think of.

The King of Dogs would run out, bark loudly, then run back. Bullets were wasted. When Historia, unable to watch any longer, ordered them to fire only at the Progenitor, the King of Dogs appeared wearing a pitch-black parasol and peered around. The tense soldiers reflexively fired their special rounds.

When Historia told them not to shoot and to observe first, the real Progenitor appeared. People screamed.

Each time one of those random boxes that could contain anything opened, the Gunslingers' nerves stretched and contracted dozens of times like rubber bands until they lost their elasticity and hung limp.

It was a familiar tactic. Was it not one of the military state's commonly used doctrines?

'Your operation, Hui. You believed that if an army was a gathering of people, you could wage the same psychological warfare on it as you would on people.'

The military state's battle doctrine was simple. Ordinary soldiers or officers exhausted an enemy's aura or mana, then the generals led by the Six Generals finished the job. That was all.

Ordinary soldiers were treated as nothing more than an annoying swarm of flies that could be left alone. At least, until Historia appeared.

Historia, who fired guns using aura, was the final piece the military state had been seeking. By adding threatening gunfire to their suppressive fire, ordinary soldiers had risen from expendable pieces to a force the military state could use strategically.

'Yes. Like the King of Dogs right now.'

Historia watched the King of Dogs trudge back and sank into thought.

'The King of Dogs is harmless. But we don't know what could be loaded onto her back, so we have to stay on guard.'

The King of Dogs herself probably would not kill anyone, but what did that matter? They did not know what might be inside her bag. Because of that, the Gunslingers could never let down their guard.

While the King of Dogs, whom they had considered a noncombatant, was being used strategically, their own fighting strength remained unchanged. Naturally, they had no choice but to be pushed onto the defensive.

'He still knows exactly how to strike where it hurts....'

As she finished her thoughts, Historia watched a container that looked oddly less saturated than the others through her front sight. A supply officer gave a short salute and approached.

"Major General. We're out of ammunition...."

"I've contacted the communications officer. Collect the supplies at the next point."

"...I'll prepare for it."

Even knowing supplies would soon arrive did not put any strength back into the officer's steps. Fundamentally, ammunition was not the only thing they had depleted.

Mental fortitude and concentration were resources that could be exhausted too.

'...This is dangerous. It would be troublesome if they charged out now.'

Under the tension tightening around her entire body, Historia smiled without realizing it. Her body heated up in anticipation of battle.

It was the perfect time.

The frequency of bullets had dropped, and their reaction when Azzy appeared was slow. Delayed reactions could be a problem with reflexes, but there was likely a psychological reluctance to use bullets too. Their ammunition must have run out.

The sun had risen high enough, so I stood with a challenging smile.

"It's about time. We'll pause Azzy's delivery service for now. She's worked hard enough."

Just as I said, we had gotten plenty of use out of our bomb-delivery puppy.

Azzy could not harm people. If a lethal bomb was tied to her back, she would run somewhere without humans.

But what about tear gas? A bomb that caused pain without killing humans. That let us make strategic use of Azzy, who could not attack humans. As luck would have it, the regressor had been carrying wind bombs too....

"Grrrrrrrr."

...Though Azzy seemed to have strategically turned hostile toward me as well.

Startled, I set down some meat I had cooked in advance before Azzy and spoke as gently as I could.

"Azzy. You're the best! There isn't another combat dog with performance like yours!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

Huh. She should've liked that much praise.

Snot ran from her nose, which had reddened from all the sneezing. Her eyes were red as well, but the hostility in them made it clear I had touched a nerve rather than stirred her emotions.

As I wiped Azzy's eyes and nose with a wet handkerchief, I said, "Here, eat some meat. I won't forget your hard work."

"Grrr. Shares."

"No, what are these shares supposed to be?"

"Grrrr."

"All right. You're no different from a gangster! Fine, I'll give you shares. Happy now? Take care of it yourself!"

"...Bark! Ten percent!"

Ten percent already? What had she even done? What would happen once it reached one hundred percent?

Before I could ask, Azzy's expression relaxed and she sat down to chew the meat. Azzy normally enjoyed dog food well enough, but the face she made while chewing meat looked like she was grinding up an enemy.

It would be best to indulge her for a while. Hmm.

"If you pretend not to know me later, I will not like it!"

"...All right, hey. I'll take good care of you. Would I ever pretend not to know you?"

"Bark!"

She seemed happier, but it was scary because I had no idea why. Still, she really had worked hard, so I should acknowledge it.

Leaving Azzy to sniffle and eat her meat, I gestured to Tyr and the regressor, who had been holding themselves back until now.

"We've been bowing too much before the violence of numbers, haven't we? Shall we go get revenge?"

As if she had been waiting, Tyr slung her parasol over her shoulder. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Let us. I shall show those prey creatures, who believe they are safe from darkness beneath the sun, their place."

The regressor, who had been steadily gathering her strength, had finished preparing as well.

"Let's break through quickly. Things will become much easier if we subdue the Gunslinger."

Our strength was at its peak. Nothing had been spent. By contrast, they were a ragtag group mentally harassed by Azzy.

A perfect opportunity had arrived. On this chessboard, I had two cards: the regressor and Tyr. They only had Historia.

Hahaha. This battle is mine, Historia. You haven't forgotten that I completed your tactics, have you? I know every one of your weaknesses!

Now, behold the power of the number one you ignored! Form is temporary, but rank is forever!

The container door flew open, and Tyr advanced alone with a pitch-black coffin floating beside her.

Until now, Azzy had run out carrying Tyr's parasol about five times. Because of that, those who had sworn they would not be fooled again watched first even when they saw the dark parasol.

But Tyr's appearance was different from Azzy's from the very beginning. The moment she stepped into the sunlight, the Gunslingers felt as though fog had clouded their vision. The sensation that darkness itself had risen from the earth and begun walking sent chills down ordinary humans' spines.

Bullets poured down on Tyr, but she was slightly different now than before.

Streams of darkness flowed from the floating coffin. The darkness had faded slightly beneath the sun, but even that was ominous. The instant its lid opened, it felt as though the hands of a clock spun wildly and evening arrived.

The bullets that flew in with terrifying sounds could not pierce the curtain of darkness. Occasionally, salt rounds flashed as they cut through it, but that was all. They were too depleted to tear the curtain apart.

Tyr walked forward as if she were a tank. When she swept one hand through the air, the bullets that could not penetrate the curtain were all brushed aside.

Bang.

Then a single gunshot rang out. The curtain swirled and tore apart, and Tyr's head snapped to the side behind it.

One of the Gunslingers clenched a fist and shouted.

"That's the Major General's bullet! How's that feel, monster...!"

But those words could not continue. Above Tyr's left eyebrow, a small whirl of blood pushed back the spinning bullet as though matching its rotation.

As the Gunslinger drew in a breath, Tyr's red eyes glimmered and she muttered, "...Monster. I've heard that word so often that it stirs nothing in me."

Tyr turned her head back. Historia's bullet bounced away, unable to hold back even her face any longer.

"Go on, shoot. The sun is shining, after all. Now, while this burning light curses me, is your only chance to weaken this body. Go on."

After calculating for a moment, Tyr gave a quiet smile.

"If you fire as many shots as one hundred multiplied by one hundred, you may make things rather difficult for me."

Just as she said, the blood scorched by sunlight had blackened. If all her blood vitality was burned away like this, even Tyrkanzyaka the Progenitor would be in danger.

But that was no more than a handful scooped from a distant sea of blood.

Historia lowered her gun with calm eyes.

'I cannot settle this with bullets that consume considerable strength every time I fire one. I'll be depleted first. Now that the salt rounds are gone....'

Having finished her thoughts, Historia raised two pistols. Heavy pistols packed with ammunition settled into her hands. Feeling the cold, weighty metal, Historia said, "I'll handle her until the main force arrives. Form up and fall back."

"Major General, it's dangerous! We were told never to fight the Progenitor head-on...!"

"Then what am I supposed to do when she's coming over here asking for a fight?"

Historia snapped irritably and was about to take a step forward.

Before she could even take that step, she sensed something dangerous from above. Historia hurriedly aimed into the air and fired.

Bang, ting. The gunshot and the sound of a bullet being deflected rang out almost together. Right after, someone fell into the middle of the Gunslingers like a meteor.

"Who said you could?! I'm your opponent!"

The regressor had leaped into the air while all attention was focused on Tyr, then landed with a massive storm. The moment she landed, she slammed Jizan down, and both the earth and air began to shake. Everyone briefly lost their balance under the shocks of an earthquake and storm striking from both sides.

As if they had agreed beforehand, the two warriors charged at each other the instant the regressor landed. Without the slightest hesitation, they swung their weapons.

Clang. Crossed guns caught Skywarbler. Sparks flew from the scraping steel as the two women met each other's gazes.

"Major General!"

At someone's call, Historia immediately shouted without looking back.

"Don't worry about me! Stop the Progenitor!"

"Ha, you think you can do it alone?!"

The regressor shouted and twisted her wrist. The invisible sword rode diagonally up the pistol and shot toward Historia's face. Historia watched the wavering blade tip clearly and smiled.

"Alone? That's what I should be asking, cutie."

Historia suddenly dropped backward.

She bent at the waist and lay parallel to the ground. Maintaining a precarious balance, she thrust out her opposite leg. As Historia disappeared from view in an instant, the regressor's center of gravity shifted forward, and she hastily raised a knee to block the kick.

Thump. The regressor was thrown into the air, flipped over, and landed atop a belt. Clicking her tongue softly, she watched Historia walk toward her with heavy steps.

"Will you be able to survive until the Progenitor arrives?"

Two bladed pistols spun in Historia's hands.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried