WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 332: Song of Verdigris and Heatblast - 4

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There was an old tale about someone who gave each of his three daughters-in-law a single coin and told them to fill a room with it. As old tales go, several answers have been passed down, but they generally filled the room with intangible things like sound, light, fragrance, or heat.

Just like in that old tale, the Abyss Plains were now so full that there was nowhere to set foot.

Bombs, detonations, blast flames, explosions. Every direction was filled with bombs and their aftermath. The bombs scattered by the Heatblast Lord exploded everywhere, without regard for time or place. Dust swirled through the flames, and the earth was mercilessly torn apart. Historic contours had been carved into the once relatively flat plains.

Azzy barked as she watched the catastrophe.

"Woof woof! Bad humans! What a racket!"

"They aren't all bad. That guy's the bad one."

As Azzy forcibly dragged me away from the blast zone, the regressor confronted Rowkett with Skywarbler. She blocked the scorching wind with a storm, then glared at him and shouted.

"What are you doing?!"

"This!"

Rowkett pressed his bare hand to the ground. Metal spread through the earth like tree roots. The power of alchemy was converting dirt and sand into metal.

It had been hastily made, so it was soft and weak. Still, even such low-grade metal gained value in a lord's hands.

"Blow up and die!!"

The metal buried deep underground exploded all at once.

The earth split apart in strips and overturned. Blast flames and dust swept through the area so fiercely that I couldn't see a thing. Only the tremors traveling through the ground hinted at the scale of the explosions.

Terrified by the indiscriminate destruction, Azzy pulled the cart even harder and howled.

"Awooooo! You humans!"

"Sorry on behalf of humanity."

"Woof!"

The combination of alchemy and innate arcane deceived value itself. Even if you used alchemy on a mound of dirt, all you got was a cheap lump of iron made from dirt. The Heatblast Lord, though, could use it as a bomb.

Heatblast Lord Rowkett was certainly strong, using his innate arcane and alchemy so effectively.

But...

"Do you want to die that badly?"

The regressor was stronger.

The regressor cut through the storm with Skywarbler and split the ground with Jizan. Even the tremendous explosions couldn't burn a single hair, and the metal roots creeping toward her through the earth were severed as well. Holding both swords horizontally, the regressor muttered coldly, murder in her voice.

"Fine. Then I'll kill you right now."

Her temper was no less fierce, either. The instant she became certain he was an enemy, she swung Skywarbler.

"Heavenly Sword Art, Dragon-Slaying Slash!"

The blast flames and dust split diagonally apart. Skywarbler stretched out at length, cutting through everything between the regressor and Rowkett. Rowkett, struck by an invisible blade from shoulder to waist, staggered heavily.

"Urk...!"

Rowkett swayed, then collapsed onto the four-wheeler. The regressor murmured with cold eyes.

"Hmph. Pathetic."

Their direction differed from that of the military state, but the lords of the Lesser States were powerhouses comparable to the Six Great Generals. Of course, compared to the Six Great Generals, who had trained only their pure combat ability, they had shortcomings in battle. Even so, this was far too one-sided.

It was probably a matter of compatibility. The regressor, who possessed mysteries greater than theirs, could tear apart middling mysteries with ease, but she was weaker against pure internal energy and martial arts.

It was a good thing I'd left this to her... Wait.

"Shei! Don't let your guard down!"

The moment I read the faint thread of thought and shouted, dozens of bombs filled the regressor's vision. Fortunately, she had already taken a defensive stance on instinct before my warning reached her. The Heaven-Reversing Boundary moved her body before her thoughts could, and Skywarbler rose like a snake and split the center of the explosions with precision.

She successfully defended herself, but the sight that followed left her speechless.

The smoke cleared, revealing Rowkett floating in the sky as he looked down at her. He had wings dozens of times larger than those of the Heatblast-Wing Corps. Unlike mass-produced wings, countless small thrusters were embedded in them like feathers. Large thrusters on the tail feathers spewed scarlet flames to lift his body, while rocket launchers mounted on his claws glowed blue.

It was the Heatblast Lord's Juggernaut, the Heatblast-Wing. The huge four-wheeler he had been riding was its form before transformation.

He spread his flame-spewing wings wide and breathed heavily.

The regressor twitched an eyebrow.

"What? You're alive?"

"Hmph! Did you think I would die from an attack like that?!"

'That was dangerous! Without my Rebound Armor, I could have died...!'

Rebound Armor. Reading his thoughts, I found that it was a kind of armor that covered his body in directional bombs. When struck, they exploded and pushed the impact away with the resulting force. It worked on principles similar to Rebound Energy.

The difference was that it activated even without conscious intent. That was why I hadn't noticed it in advance through mind-reading. The shock of the explosion had knocked him out for a moment too, so I really had thought he was dead.

He did have a way to protect his own life, fitting for a lord.

"Hmph! So you had a trick up your sleeve!"

"I wasn't hiding anything."

"But I won't let my guard down anymore! I'll kill you with all my strength!"

With that shout, the Heatblast-Wing's claws opened. Countless bombs fell beneath him.

Detonations rang out without pause. Rowkett flew through the sky at high speed, throwing every sort of bomb at the regressor. She ran at high speed to evade them, but Rowkett followed just as quickly.

"Ah, seriously! You're annoying!"

The regressor struck the ground with Jizan. Broken earth leaped upward, and she used the floating rocks as steps, kicking off them as she rose. Pointing Skywarbler behind her, she used a storm to propel herself forward and shot toward Rowkett.

It was a movement close to acrobatics. In the blink of an eye, the regressor flew into the air.

"Ha! You're too slow!"

Still, no matter how hard she tried, she was slower than Rowkett flying with thrusters. By the time the regressor leaped up, Rowkett had already made a wide turn and was pulling away.

The Heatblast-Wing was faster than an arrow, if anything. He was too far away to catch. The regressor gave up the chase and fell back to the ground. Instead, she swung Skywarbler at him as he flew away.

"Tch! Heavenly Sword Art, Void Severance!"

"Not a chance!"

Skywarbler swung, but an explosion erupted as though resisting it. The regressor caught hold of the recoiling Skywarbler and muttered.

"A barrier?"

"Hmph! It is the Heatblast-Wing's storm. Even if I explained it, your stupid head wouldn't understand!"

What Heatblast-Wing storm? It was iron dust, a function of the Heatblast-Wing that scattered its leftover iron dust through the air.

They were only tiny particles of iron, small enough to scatter in the wind, but Rowkett's ability turned them into tiny bombs. Designed to explode when they touched something, those particles protected Rowkett from the regressor's attack.

Rowkett spread his wings even wider and shouted.

"Blades of wind? You have quite a valuable weapon! But it still cannot compare to me!"

"That bastard...! All you can do is run away!"

"I'm not running away. It's strategy!"

Rowkett rose beyond any height she could reach, then rained bombs down again. Having just swung Skywarbler, the regressor couldn't evade. Instead, she covered her whole body in Rebound Energy.

Boom!

A massive explosion followed. Dust spread thickly through the air. Seeing it, Rowkett shouted in satisfaction.

"Haha! I got her!"

"What? With an explosion like that?"

Bombs weren't such good weapons after all. The regressor's internal energy, strengthened by consuming every sort of precious elixir, was terrifying. Her clothes were a little sooty, but she had endured every explosion with Rebound Energy alone and rested Jizan on her shoulder.

"All you can do is fly around, yet you buzz like a gnat! Don't act so proud over such a pathetic ability!"

"Pathetic ability?! You can barely crawl around on the ground, yet you sure talk big!!"

Rowkett rose even higher and shouted.

"Everyone mocked me just like you! But in the end, the one who wins! The one standing at the end, is me!!"

The battle that followed was loud, but a little tedious.

The regressor threw rocks or attacked Rowkett with blades of wind. Yet Rowkett was too fast for most of them to hit, and the attacks that did connect were blocked by his Rebound Armor. Even if she struck his wings, the Juggernaut didn't so much as flinch at ordinary attacks. With no suitable means of attack, the regressor stamped her feet in frustration.

The same went for Rowkett. Light bombs couldn't even scratch the regressor's Rebound Energy. He had no choice but to make stronger bombs, but when they were intercepted in the air, Rowkett got caught in the blast instead. He couldn't dare approach her, either. Rowkett changed his strategy to wearing down her internal energy as much as possible.

'He's pointlessly fast! Tch, if I were the Gunner, I could get him with Zeroing. No, if Skywarbler were imbued with lightning, he would be nothing! Is there no way to deal with him?'

'Damn it. She keeps Rebound Energy active while throwing rocks and shooting out wind? Does she have energy to spare?'

Time was passing with neither side having a suitable answer. The one who could break this balance was...

Tyr wasn't much use against a flying Rowkett. It wasn't time for Hilde to appear yet. That left only me.

Ugh, I didn't want to steal an innate arcane here... If anyone saw, they'd suspect my identity.

"Azzy. Don't tell anyone about this."

"Woof? About what?"

Not that a dog would understand what I was doing. I reached a hand toward the air. Iron dust scattered after the explosions clung heavily to my hand.

Maximilien's innate arcane had been the power to turn gears. Gears could move freely to the left or right, and I had neutralized his innate arcane by turning them in the opposite direction. You could say we had good compatibility.

Rowkett's innate arcane, though, gave metal the property of exploding. Even if I stole his innate arcane, I had no way to stop his explosions.

But I could make an explosion he was preparing go off first.

At a moment he didn't intend.

I read Rowkett's mind.

Born with a physical disability, he had been a mass of inferiority from the very beginning. The fortunate part was that his disability wasn't severe enough to keep him from holding himself upright. The unfortunate part was that, because of that, he never stopped getting into fights. If anyone mentioned deformities in front of him, he would rush at them and beat them down without exception.

At the age of ten, Rowkett had been driven out of Claudia and become a jackal. Yet his congenital deformity became an even greater burden in that life. Whenever his vehicle rolled over even a small stone, the tiny shock felt as though it were violently pounding against his spine.

Rowkett became furious. At the stones caught beneath his wheels, at his own body, and at his helplessness to overcome even that.

As he continued to rage and rage, a meeting that would become his destiny appeared one day.

The Arcane Federation's floating castle.

The finest Juggernaut created by the Golden Mirror, and the castle in the sky where the Demon King resided. Requisitioned to help repair the castle, Rowkett gained an opportunity to fly.

And he was reborn.

Flying through the sky was fast and exhilarating. Above all, he couldn't feel the pain in his spine that had tormented him without end.

He desperately wished to live in the floating castle, but it was practically impossible for someone who was only a jackal to reside in the floating castle, the heart of the Arcane Federation. During that process, however, he heard advice from a mage.

'The floating castle does not fly through the sky. It is simply land that rose long ago and has yet to fall. If you cannot understand that difference, you will never remain here.'

He didn't know whether that was the literal truth or whether there was some hidden meaning. It didn't matter. The mage's words moved Rowkett.

Back on the ground, Rowkett made cannons. Cannons, which gifted valuable steel to someone at supersonic speed, were considered the dumbest weapons in the Lesser States. Yet Rowkett, dreaming as he did, became stupid whenever he had the chance.

Watching cannonballs fly through the sky until the moment they fell, Rowkett formed his own mental image.

What if the explosions continued?

What if he rose while burning everything in his body?

Then he would never fall.

Because he would burn away in midair before he could.

Innate Arcane, Fireworks.

I had read it all. Having gained his mental image, I reached a hand toward him.

Boom!

One of Rowkett's wings exploded.

Footnotes:

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