WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 211: Soar, Vermilion Bird

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First, to facilitate a peaceful negotiation, I made Historia acknowledge our respective positions.

"You were going to drag me to the Public Security Bureau, interrogate me, and uncover the truth. I get it. Mm-hm, if you want to force someone to do something, you need to hold the advantageous position."

Like I did now. See? Now that I had the upper hand, I could speak to her directly.

"But our positions have changed, haven't they? It isn't because I'm strong, to be honest. My companions are so strong that we're starting to overwhelm you. I'm the one with the advantage now, right?"

"...Get to the point."

"You're impatient too. What I'm saying is this: since our positions have been reversed, why don't we reverse your plan to capture me as well?"

'...What does he mean? Don't tell me.'

Maybe because we had once trained together, Historia immediately understood what I meant.

Her reaction was slow only because it was hard to accept.

"Looks like you get the idea. That's right. Does the truth absolutely have to come out through my capture? Maybe that's just your preconception. Now that the situation has changed, shouldn't you be a little more flexible?"

There was no need for me to be captured just to uncover the truth.

Turn your thinking upside down! Reverse it!

Instead of me, you could be captured by me and become a prisoner!

'...I'm supposed to be captured? By them?'

"Exactly! It isn't a bad deal. Having a prisoner will put us at ease too. The military state won't want to suffer further losses, so it'll stop this pointless pursuit. And now that I've shaken off the pursuers and feel much more at ease, I'll probably chatter on about all sorts of things. You might hear what you want to know! What do you think?"

It was a shift in thinking that shattered fixed ideas. If she accepted it, we could secure our safety and shake off the military state's pursuit at the same time. The military state would be happy too, since it would not waste any more strength.

I was almost proud of myself for thinking of it. Reverse thinking sounded easy, but it was difficult in practice. That was why it deserved admiration.

Even so, Historia showed her usual suspicion.

"...Even if I become your prisoner, there's no guarantee you'll tell the truth."

"Oh, that was the problem?"

It was hardly a problem. I laughed off Historia's doubt.

"Hahaha. Ria, you're seriously misunderstanding something. Do you think I'd tell the truth just because I was dragged to the Public Security Bureau and subjected to something like torture?"

"...You."

"No. Even if I told the truth among so many interested parties, would you be able to believe me?"

'...Honestly, no. This bastard could deceive people even with a gag in his mouth.'

I did not know whether I should be pleased that her immediate denial meant things were going according to plan, or saddened that my credibility had hit rock bottom.

Was the only thing I could inspire trust in the fact that I was untrustworthy?

"Still, I'll promise you this. My companions will probably be quite curious about what happened then too. If you let yourself be captured, you might be able to overhear what I tell them. Do you really think I'd lie even to the new companions who saved my life?"

'Yes.'

Historia was certain of it inwardly, but she did not say it aloud.

'But... if I can't believe a single word, I won't get to hear about that day. In the end, I'll have to compromise to some extent...'

It looked like she had made up her mind. Good. It was fortunate that Historia was as rational as the military state.

Feeling her resistance ease, I slowly approached her.

"Good. Now work with me a little. You remember what we practiced during our sparring sessions, right? Let's use the third sequence."

Historia did not answer. She only raised both arms.

The second reason I wore armor was because it made me look strong. Even if my movements were heavy and slow, people far away would not notice.

Now then, the con began.

General's Armament: Three-Section Spear. It was a weapon made for Partlaxion's secret techniques, with spearheads attached to both ends of a three-section staff.

When infused with aura, its joints locked together. Depending on how it was used, it could become a long spear, a flail, or a three-section staff.

Fully armed in military gear, Partlaxion confronted the Progenitor, Tyrkanzyaka.

"Hup!"

The curved shaft struck the Progenitor's head hard.

Boom.

The flail-shaped three-section spear slipped through Tyr's defense and smashed into her temple. Her head snapped to the side.

It was a strike that would have been fatal even against a bear. Yet the Progenitor was a being for whom even bears were nothing.

Not a single drop of blood flowed from her slightly torn temple.

"...Impressive. Few knights in history could compare to you."

The wound Partlaxion had worked to inflict healed, and her turned head returned to its original position. The situation was not much different from before the attack. Partlaxion laughed emptily at the unfair exchange.

"Ha, not to boast, but I'm in the history books too... That means I'm pretty famous myself."

Before he even finished speaking, Partlaxion leaped forward. Sliding across the ground with the momentum of his charge, he unleashed his secret technique. The firmly gripped spear shaft joined countless curves into one and traced a clean arc.

A secret technique, Absolute Spear.

A single near-straight curve pierced through space.

The spear that had pierced a kingdom, the secret technique that had defined an era, unfolded from Partlaxion's fingertips.

The attack ripped through Tyr's blood, bones, muscles, and flesh, shattered her collarbone, and burst out through her back. It was certainly a devastating injury that no human could recover from.

If she had been human, that was.

Partlaxion muttered.

"Damn it. I shouldn't have used it."

Tyr knocked aside the three-section spear piercing her body with both palms.

Normally, one should never break a spear embedded in a body like that. The shaft would tear through the inside, and it would demean the accomplishment of a spear that had pierced through someone's flesh.

What use was that against the Progenitor of vampires?

No matter how sturdy it was, the joints were inevitably where force concentrated. One of them snapped, and the final section of the three-section spear fell away.

Partlaxion gripped the shaft, now reduced to a two-section spear, and cursed someone who was not there.

"That bastard Gwabyung... I told him. Weapons are best when they're just sturdy."

"He would feel wronged. It was not the weapon's fault that it broke."

Tyr pulled the section of spear shaft from her body. Despite having just pulled it out, not a drop of blood stained it.

Instead, Tyr drew the spearhead across her arm, then swung it broadly with drops of blood hanging from its tip.

Her blood did not want to leave her body, but for a brief moment after she was wounded, before it seeped back in, she could control it.

She shook the spear and fired off the blood clinging to it. Crimson slashes ran wild and spread outward in every direction.

Sensing the danger instinctively, Partlaxion gripped the shaft tightly and watched the erupting blood.

'It's powerful. I have to dodge it or block it!'

His judgment took an instant.

He leaped back, drove it away with Rebounding Aura, swung his long spear to weaken its force, then relied on his armor to block it. Even after withstanding the pouring blood energy, Partlaxion remained unharmed.

'The movements are large, and the force is fierce! Easy to read! But...!'

Could he really say he was unharmed? He had retreated outside its range after consuming a great deal of vital energy.

Feeling the stinging pain in his chest, Partlaxion let out a hollow laugh.

"Hahaha. That's ridiculous. It really feels like fighting a whole country."

"You speak as though you have done so before."

"Well... Ah, damn it. What's the point of boasting in front of you? I'm showing off before the real thing."

Partlaxion glanced behind him.

Partlaxion and the generals were like migratory birds cutting through the wind. As Partlaxion pushed the front line while confronting the Progenitor, the generals were meant to follow behind and break through the sea made of darkness.

This strike had pushed back not only Partlaxion, but the generals as well. All the ground they had gained was for nothing.

"...Whew. Now I feel the difference in our years of experience. You don't die when stabbed, and you don't budge when hit. Isn't that cheating?"

"I have lived for over a thousand years. If I could die from being stabbed by someone like you, what could be more empty than that?"

"Khahahahaha!"

Partlaxion laughed heartily, clutched his stomach, and bent over. The laughter echoing within his armor gradually faded.

Were the intermittent tremors laughter, or fear?

"Kuh. That's true too. It's fun, very fun... It feels like my blood is boiling."

Partlaxion's fighting spirit only burned brighter. Vital energy surged from his body once more.

Having once dueled a kingdom, Partlaxion did not retreat even against the Progenitor, who was a nation unto herself. Instead, he pressed the blade of his two-section spear against a nearby container and scraped it along the surface.

Screeech.

Sparks flew from the spearhead. The energy gathered around it used those sparks as flint and flared fiercely.

Partlaxion set his own vital energy alight and swung his spear wildly. The flame-wreathed spearhead traced letters through the air.

"A hundred times? A thousand times? I just need to dodge every attack and land every hit. A nation all by yourself? Ha, I've already done it once. I've dueled a nation before."

Partlaxion drew a deep breath and pointed the spearhead at Tyr.

"A duel. Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka, I challenge you. Only the victor is just... No, I don't even need that. Fight me. Let us decide who is stronger!"

"Your spirit alone could cover the earth. Still, your expression is exaggerated."

Tyr clenched her fist in response. Her nails dug into her palm and turned bright red with the blood that flowed out.

"Human, your blood does not boil. Blood can boil only when I, its owner, allow it."

After reclaiming her heart, Tyr had struggled with blood energy that kept trying to slip back inside her body. But when it came to blood, Tyr was an expert with twelve hundred years of experience. Through repeated battles, she had regained her knack for it.

Under her fingernails, outside her body yet close to it, was a place that could hold plenty of blood energy.

Realizing this, Tyr fed her nails with blood and extended them. The crimson blood energy gleamed just like flames.

Just as Partlaxion and Tyr were about to resume their battle.

"Hahaha! Is that all you've got?"

Clad in armor, I flashily drove Historia back and subdued her by binding her arms with chains. I planted my foot on Historia's back as she lay on the ground, then took cards from inside my mask.

Clover 4, Wave and Vibration, Frequency Wave.

Clover 5, A Great Deal of Air, Hecto Pascal.

I partially activated both of them. All I created was sound, wind that amplified my voice.

Holding the two cards rolled into a tube against my mouth, I shouted loudly enough to shake the Meta-Conveyor Belt.

"I have captured the daughter of the military state alive! Hey, military state! Give me your daughter!"

Footnotes:

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