WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 318

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A Story Told, Prelude to War

Peerless Spear Patraxion marched into the Abyss Plains with the War Mage.

Until recently, Peerless Spear had been gathering troops to drive out Tyrkanzyaka, the Progenitor of vampires. He had thought that operation was the obvious course.

The Progenitor of vampires was too great a presence to be left roaming the land, politically and militarily alike. On top of that, the military state had plenty to feel guilty about.

The military state was a nation built by breaking down and reassembling every system and technology in the world. That included methods from the Sanctum.

What kind of reaction would the Progenitor show if she came face to face with that... he was curious, but he never wanted to test it.

Quietly forcing her out was the rational option. Peerless Spear had gone into the operation with that mindset.

Of course, that had only been a pretext that made fighting acceptable. The real reason he joined was simple: he was a battle maniac.

So he had almost disobeyed when the order came to move to the Abyss.

"Seriously. So that's why they suddenly told us to head to the Abyss."

Peerless Spear brushed back his hair from atop the Cataphract.

He had already received a report that Jiseon had headed to the Abyss without a word. Ignoring the fact that the Progenitor and several others had been staying inside Tantalus, she had carried out the ritual to liberate the Abyss... or so a communications officer had explained in painstaking detail.

Still, seeing once was better than hearing a hundred times. No report could compare to seeing it with his own eyes. The moment Peerless Spear saw the result in person, he was left speechless.

An unrealistically massive hole, and beside it, the overturned bulk of Tantalus lying there like an omen. The concrete ground had buckled under its own weight and formed a steep, slanted slope. It looked as if a giant had flipped open the lid sealing the hole and walked away.

The sight alone inspired awe. Peerless Spear spoke to the War Mage.

"Looks like this Mother Earth thing really does exist. Right, granny?"

"Every faith has its reason. Even if it is not a god, power comparable to a god is no different. In the past, magic too was called the power of gods."

"...I wasn't asking for a magic lecture from an old-timer."

"I personally took part in the operation that moved Tantalus to the Abyss. There is nothing new here."

"Yeah, definitely nothing new."

Peerless Spear shook his head, unimpressed, and stared at Tantalus. Then he spotted something wandering around it and narrowed his eyes.

"What's that?"

Suspicious groups roamed around Tantalus, an asset of the military state. Their appearance matched nothing else. That was exactly why Patraxion recognized them. As former Northern Commander, they were the enemies he had faced most often.

"The jackals already came in packs? Bastards have one hell of a nose... wait."

It was natural for jackals to show up around prey as large as Tantalus. Scattered everywhere as they were, they were likely the first to sense something strange. But no matter how he looked at it, one massive shape there could not be dismissed as just another "jackal."

"Juggernaut?"

Like the sun emerging from behind the moon, a gigantic structure hidden in Tantalus's shadow slowly revealed itself as Peerless Spear drew closer.

It was a ship wandering on land. A vessel the size of a hill crept forward on dozens of auxiliary wheels.

In the Lesser States, where everything moved, it was the only thing that could truly be called a city. Smaller than Tantalus, yet still rivaling a landmass in size, and mobile on top of that, it was a wonder in itself.

The War Mage's expression turned grave.

"If that is Juggernaut, then that is a major power of the Lesser States. They never even step outside their homeland. Why are they here?"

"Probably trying to make this their homeland."

Peerless Spear muttered while staring into the distance.

"They told us to head to the Abyss out of nowhere. Looks like this wasn't some sightseeing trip."

"Agreed. The legion we gathered was far too large to deal with just a handful of people. Did General Headquarters see this from the start...!"

"If we're facing Juggernaut, one ordinary unit would never be enough."

As the enemy shape grew larger, Peerless Spear's shoulders began to tremble. The War Mage watched his back in silence, then spoke.

"Patraxion."

"What is it, granny?"

"Are you smiling right now?"

Without answering, Peerless Spear nodded.

Once they got close enough, a small shadow shot out from Juggernaut's side. The four-legged beast struck the ground and rushed forward at an unusual speed.

The rider stopped in front of the Cataphract carrying Peerless Spear and the War Mage. Keeping some distance, he shouted at the War Mage.

"The military state sure is convenient. You can tell at a glance who the boss is. Hey, are you the boss over there?"

"I am General Prelvior of the military state."

The War Mage gave a short nod as she answered. The rider seemed to recognize the name of one of the Six Generals and acted impressed.

"Oh! One of the famous Six Generals! Now that's a big shot!"

"Are you an envoy of Juggernaut?"

"You could say that. More importantly, what is the military state's legion doing near the border?"

The War Mage replied with her arms folded.

"...That is what we should be asking. Why has Juggernaut approached military state territory?"

"Hahaha! Why else would jackals like us come? We heard chaos broke out, so we came to see if there was anything worth picking up!"

"With Juggernaut?"

"Because there seems to be more loot than we can carry! If both hands can't hold it all, you need a cart. If a cart can't carry it all, you need a bigger cart! Our little jackal jaws couldn't bite through all this, so we came with Juggernaut! But... hold on."

The rider's expression changed in an instant.

"Actually, isn't this weird? We're like this by nature, sure, but no war has even started, so why did the military state drag that slowpoke legion all the way here?"

The War Mage answered calmly.

"This is military state territory. Military state forces can enter military state territory."

"No, this is borderland. Since when was the Abyss Plains, where nobody can live, your territory?"

"This area has been under the kingdom's administration since the old days."

"Puhaha! What a joke. You are the military state, not the kingdom, right? Then why bring up the kingdom? Did the military state finally decide to serve a new king? After killing one with your own hands?"

For those who had lived since the kingdom era, kings were always an uncomfortable subject. Those loyal to the king felt a vague aversion because they had failed to protect him. Those who had rebelled felt a vague aversion because they had raised their hands against him. No matter how tyrannical he was, he was still king.

If she had to choose, the War Mage had belonged to the side that rebelled. Even so, even she, one of the Six Generals, had not wished for the king's death.

Like most who joined the coup, she had planned to take the king hostage and reshape the country. Fixing what already existed was easier than destroying everything and rebuilding from scratch.

But the king died by accident. Swept up in an enraged crowd, then trampled to death. Because no one intended it, the king no one could kill died anyway. A king no one could direct hostility toward met an empty end.

The War Mage's already tightened brow narrowed further. The rider kept grinning and pressed harder.

"It wasn't your territory back then either. And now traitors who killed their great king with their own hands want to inherit the kingdom's border as is? Puhahahaha! What a spectacle!"

"Enough sophistry! Tantalus is military state property. The military state was the one that conquered the Abyss. Whatever your reason, you have no legitimacy to loot Tantalus with Juggernaut! You invaded without prior notice, are you trying to start a war!"

"Invaded? Ridiculous! If this land were truly yours, you wouldn't have marched in with a legion! Who storms into their own land with a full legion? You brought one because you know you're not clean either!"

The rider scanned the surroundings and pressed the attack.

"You're the suspicious ones. Juggernaut was already moving, so we got here fast. But how did the military state gather a legion and get here almost as quickly? You were the ones planning war from the start!"

"Now you're just delusional."

"Delusional? We arrived only one hour ago! Even then, it was just one Juggernaut, one single vessel that made it first! But you brought a giant legion that normally doesn't move at all! You have twice our manpower, so who exactly is the invader here?"

Even as one of the Six Generals, the War Mage found it hard to answer. She truly had not known the situation here until just before arrival. She had only moved under General Headquarters' orders.

At this point, it was almost admirable that General Headquarters had predicted all this and assembled the forces. More likely, it was not mere prediction but judgment based on reports gathered from communications officers.

"Why no answer? What, did you see the future or something? Are you a Holy Maiden? Did war happen later, so you're preparing for war now to respond to it, is that it?"

Even so, she could not reveal military state secrets tied to Headquarters to an enemy. Just as the War Mage was cornered in silence,

"Alright, alright. Let's both stop there."

Peerless Spear, perched on the edge of the Cataphract, cut into the conversation.

"No matter how much you dress it up with words, it all comes down to one thing. This land is no longer under Mother Earth's curse. The Abyss that swallowed everything is gone, so it'll become fertile again. Obviously neither side plans to give that up."

The military state had directly negotiated with Jiseon, built Tantalus, and dropped it into the Abyss. Granted, that was what Jiseon demanded in exchange for creating the Meta-Conveyor Belt, but either way, the military state undeniably held a major stake.

And the Lesser States wanted land they could settle on.

The Abyss had been a hole that swallowed everything. In the Lesser States, where weight equaled value, dropping anything into the Abyss meant permanent loss. So they had stayed away in fear, but now that it was gone, if they did not use this place as a bridgehead, they could no longer expand.

Land neither side could yield. Two nations aiming for it.

"Then there is only one way left."

Peerless Spear rested his spear on his shoulder and said aloud what everyone had found hard to voice.

"War."

Words carried a strange force. Everyone had already thought it, but no one had formed a clear image of it. The instant Peerless Spear said it, everything snapped into place, as if something had spilled and settled.

The rider reacted first.

"...So you've finally shown your true colors! You started this first!"

Sand and dust erupted behind the War Mage.

The Cataphract she rode sat slightly ahead because of her conversation with the rider, and because of that, the troops behind her neither noticed nor stopped the approach. In that gap, three attackers burst from the ground and lunged at the War Mage in one rush.

The rider shouted in delight.

"Military state people are so easy to read! You can always tell who the commander is!"

The Lesser States were a nation of alchemy. Their basic skill was transforming any material they touched at will. Combat alchemists had burrowed underground, tunneled in with quick alchemy, and closed in.

A truly unexpected ambush from beneath the earth. Yet.

"Foolish."

Before they could even climb onto the Cataphract, a round hole opened in an attacker's chest.

A red mist spread behind him. Blood-soaked sand clumped together and dropped. They were chosen warriors in their own way, and, like true Lesser States fighters, they wore sturdy armor, but they could not withstand even one move and went back to dirt.

Who had done it was obvious. The man in question remained seated, spear thrust out.

"Yeah. This is it. I had forgotten for a long time... this is it."

"A spear, don't tell me..."

Peerless Spear wore no cloak and no insignia. Even so, it was hard to mistake the spear master beside the War Mage for anyone else.

The rider called his name in a trembling voice.

"Patraxion? Rebel Knight?"

He did not bother confirming the obvious. Instead, Peerless Spear lifted his weapon and pointed it forward. Aiming at the rattled rider and Juggernaut behind him, he smiled, the smile he had held back for so long.

"A duel always needs an opponent. Someone who stakes body and soul on what they desire. The Progenitor... had a good feel to her, but not enough resonance of the soul. This is much more fun than clinging to someone who has no will to fight."

The two characters of war contained countless tragedies. People feared and grieved that truth, so just hearing the word war made them tremble.

But Peerless Spear was smiling. The only thing in his trembling was ecstasy.

Peerless Spear Patraxion, the man who once challenged an entire nation to a duel and made it happen.

Remembering that story, the rider cursed.

"...You crazy bastard."

"Duel. Raise your weapon. Victory is justice, so the victor will take this land. May the Celestial God... no, this time, may Mother Earth favor us."

Still, they could not retreat. If they backed down because the enemy would risk war, they would only face greater loss.

That was why war did not vanish just because everyone wanted to avoid it. The rider shouted.

"We will not retreat meekly!"

"Hahahahahaha! Exactly what I wanted!"

The war between the military state and the Lesser States broke out with one man's shout.

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