WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 264

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Imaginary Bullets

Why would Zikhrund, a man from another country, be loyal to the military state?

Because he liked this country? If anyone gave an answer that transparent, they were either a con artist, or a Public Safety officer was standing right beside them. This place only looked decent in comparison if you had lived in the kingdom first. What was there to like in a country with no wonder and nothing to enjoy?

Because they paid him well? This insane country had such an extreme structure that even the Six Generals, the strongest people alive, could not live in true luxury. The top 1 percent held 1 percent of the wealth, an incredibly honest nation shaped less like a pyramid and more like an obelisk. The state directly controlled most of the funds, and while it would pour money into weapons, it gave individuals barely a grain of millet. It did not help that even if you saved money, there was nowhere to spend it.

There was only one reason Zikhrund was loyal to a rotten country like this.

Because she found him.

I had not read her directly, so I did not know all the details, but the "she" in his memories had tracked down Zikhrund while he was hiding his identity.

After years of running, he had wandered so long that he lost who he originally was, even what he originally looked like, and he used her as the anchor of his identity to piece himself back together.

She was special, yes. But she was not unique.

Because I could recognize him too.

“The face from earlier, and the face now, both fake, right? This one is even worse. Earlier, it at least looked human. This one looks like a statue you got bored of halfway through and threw away. Are you really fine making that your self?”

“...Fine? I am me. What would you know.”

“I do not know, which is why I am asking you to tell me. Your real face... no, who the real you is.”

The moment the word real came up, Zikhrund showed a dry, inorganic expression. It did not look like a mask he put on to fake calm. It looked more like someone bracing hard before building another mask.

“Is who I am really that important? I am Six General Zikhrund, and changing appearances is one of my strongest specialties. That itself defines me. I need no other trait to distinguish myself.”

“What are you even saying? Who here does not know you are you? I am not asking about traits. I am asking about your right.”

Afraid he might lose himself, Zikhrund had made the woman who recognized him his anchor, then worked for her.

So if I wanted to shake him, what did I need to do? Simple. Remove the anchor.

“I listen to people’s wishes, to the winds in their hearts, and I act. That is different from prophets. They see a future with fixed answers and rewrite the situation itself, but I make people get what they want within the situation they are given.”

“I do not see the difference. Looks the same to me.”

“It is different. Their wishes are real. A real life. The only one they were given from birth, lived fiercely without even the room to question whether it was real or fake. I only granted those wishes.”

Real. Fake. Real. Born an actor, Zikhrund did not let it show, but I was a mind reader, and every time I brought up real and fake, I read that twitch in him.

That anchor was lighter than I expected. It jolted every time I touched it. How was this supposed to hold anything in place?

“And yet you are following military state orders with a manufactured face and a manufactured identity. Is this the real you that you found?”

“You...”

I grabbed the anchor in his heart, then pulled it out with a smile.

“You are just a tool, right? I guess people use the word life for tools now too.”

“...Petty provocation. You must have run out of things to say and gone straight for this.”

‘It is provocation. Do not get dragged in here. Reading winds? That is still a kind of prophecy. Use Siati and Historia’s hatred and suspicion, corner him with that.’

He believed in my ability without the slightest doubt. He was not the type to look at someone like me, who had reached the deepest core of the military state, and shrug it off as coincidence or luck. He suspected everything, stayed guarded, and dug into even the smallest detail. Probably a personality forged by years of being hunted.

But because that suspicion ran too deep, he ended up believing my power completely.

“I told you before, right? I read winds.”

“...What?”

“You want your lost self back. So why are you doing this?”

An anchor of existence was not a harbor. He was no more than a drifting wreck stranded in an endless sea.

Meaning even the identity called Zikhrund was just another fabrication.

“The longer you play Zikhrund, the farther you get from your original self. Fake mission. Fake life. Fake face. Even your goal as a Six General is just loyalty to the role of Zikhrund. It is not your own wish. Seriously... Ria, protect me!”

I did not need to say anything else. The instant his existence felt threatened, Zikhrund kicked off the ground and charged straight at me.

There was no deeper reason. If someone tried to stab you with a knife, resisting was natural and justified. By rejecting me, the one attacking his ego, Zikhrund tried to protect himself.

But Historia stood in front of me.

“Do not dump this on me...!”

Historia had never let her guard down, and she reacted in time. Worried I would get hurt in the shockwave of the fight, she stepped forward twice and met Zikhrund head-on. She planted one leg hard, then whipped out a kick like she was hooking him out of his charge.

Kwaaang.

It was a collision close to a disaster. The blast thundered, and shattered flooring sprayed in every direction. Historia’s Explosive Killing Art had a repelling nature.

Hard to handle precisely, easy to spray in broad strokes. Historia spared none of it. The collision between two Six Generals with absurd energy reserves produced a result like two rubber balls slamming together and bouncing off. They slid apart in mirror symmetry across the ground.

“Hui! Watch out!”

After a single clash, Historia understood his target and shouted.

“He is after you!”

Right after that, Zikhrund charged again. Not at Historia, straight at me.

He did not even bother hiding his intent. Historia rushed in and blocked his path, pulling both arms back.

Explosive Killing Art, Blast Shatter.

Bluish energy shoved everything away. A blast from Historia, whose raw energy pool ranked near the top among the Six Generals. Even Zikhrund could not block it head-on. Instead, he rocked his body forward and back.

The core of grappling was redirection. Rather than oppose the flow, he slipped through openings. Like a ship that did not break even with a headwind in front of it, he advanced one steady step at a time.

‘He is a combat master too. I do not know if I can beat him, but I cannot protect Hui.’

After measuring his level, Historia looked at me and shouted urgently.

“Run somewhere safe!”

“Got it!”

I nodded, then stuck myself right against Historia’s back. The sudden contact made her jolt.

“What are you doing?!”

“The only safe place here is behind your back. I am in your care.”

“It is dangerous! Even the aftermath of energy attacks is no joke!”

“Better to get caught in aftermath than die. Whoa, Ria, front!”

A hand shot through the gap under Historia’s arm. Long fingers reached for my clothes, and right before they caught me, Historia noticed and wrapped her right arm around Zikhrund’s arm.

In that instant, Zikhrund slid inside her guard. He drove his knee deep, twisted her arm, and shook Historia’s center of gravity in one move.

‘Grappling?! Bad, he took the lower position...!’

Among weak fighters, people said taking the high ground was better. It added body weight to your strikes.

For those who used energy, it was the opposite. Weight meant little. The force that pushed with energy was stronger than the force that pulled, so if you lost the lower line, your feet left the ground. Then the field became ownerless.

‘Danger...!’

And Historia’s energy was Explosive Killing Art. Great at repulsion, poor at adhesion. She could not endure the upward pushing force from below, and her body lifted.

Of course, taking the lower line did not decide the whole fight instantly. The problem was that Historia was not alone right now.

‘Hui!’

Zikhrund intended to clear Historia away and go for me. She gritted her teeth and held, but her limit came faster.

“No...!”

Whoooong. Historia’s body bounced up hard, and with the obstacle removed, Zikhrund immediately threw a savage straight punch at me behind her. The sound of ripped air filled the control room...

But his fist missed. Because I was clinging tightly to Historia’s back, flying along with her.

Whew. If I had not held on, that would have been bad. Jumping on while we were airborne was worth it.

Still plastered to Historia’s back, I shouted in relief.

“Ahahaha! Pretty ugly, huh? Did I hit your weak point? Of course I did. Every wish I read from you was fake!”

“Hui! It is better not to provoke him...!”

“Too late! We came this far, we go all the way!”

Even in midair, Historia somehow recovered balance, planted her feet on the wire mesh covering the wall, and stood upright. With me still strapped behind her.

In this position I ended up draped over her back, and it was strangely comfortable. I looked down at Zikhrund below and sneered.

“Sorry, but you have no right to say anything to me! Even from a detached position, if I grant human wishes, they are real. The real me, as my real self. I listened to the wishes of people living fierce, real lives! Not like you, throwing away and replacing your face, your name, and your identity whenever you needed to!”

Taste a mind reader’s provocation. I would keep digging only where it hurt.

At my taunt, Zikhrund immediately leaped toward this wall.

Historia, the one actually fighting, got trapped between the two of us and looked troubled.

“Hui! That provocation is too much!”

“We do not have a choice now! We are riding a tiger!”

“I cannot even guarantee odds in a one-on-one. I cannot fight with you on my back too...! If I have no weapon, even less...”

“You need a weapon?”

If she needed one, I had something usable right now.

I pulled out a Diamond card from my sleeve. I ran alchemic conversion through the biometric terminal, then hung it lightly on Historia’s shoulder where Zikhrund could not see. Without looking, Historia recognized the heavy feel instantly.

“A gun?”

“An alchemic weapon I used. I loaded rounds.”

Historia took it, naturally set her finger on the trigger, and spun it once. True to her title as Gunslinger, that alone told her the revolver’s structure and remaining rounds.

Then she said, angry,

“There are only three shots!”

“I had no time to refill.”

“Even so, how am I supposed to... with only three rounds?! Why three, of all numbers?!”

‘Zeroing Shot calibrates with three bullets. I need at least four to use it!’

“Shh! Zikhrund does not know there are only three! If he does not know, six and three are the same! Bullets in his imagination will keep him in check!”

“As if...!”

She still had no better option, so Historia took the gun and hid it under her sleeve. I had never taught her this kind of trick. Looks like the little cheats we used in card games back then had stuck with her.

Then suddenly, Historia ran her long fingers along the revolver grip and fell into thought.

‘This gun... it is the same type as the one Hui gave me when he told me to try using a firearm... if he even remembers that.’

“I will try. Go hide somewhere safe... no. Hold tight until you get down!”

As soon as she finished, Historia ran down the grid-like wire mesh as if it were a staircase. Right before landing, she decelerated slightly, and I used that moment to grab the wire mesh hanging near the wall and jump to the floor.

I was used to rolling on the ground, but I would never get used to my back muscles tightening from it. By the time I got up with a stagger, I saw Historia already standing in front of Zikhrund again, blocking his path.

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