WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 349: The King Who Kills Others, the God Who Kills Himself - 9

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The homunculi under Tyr's control could not use lord abilities. Instead, dark crimson energy coiled ominously around their bodies. Reinforced by Tyr's darkness and bloodcraft, they drove back the Lord of Gold's homunculi through sheer physical strength.

The homunculi attacked by their own kind could not recover in time. Though the Lord of Gold's side vastly outnumbered them, they failed to stop Tyr's forces from closing in. Dark crimson fists flew toward their faces like meteors.

Blood spattered and steel scattered. The homunculi whose heads had been violently snapped aside looked dead at a glance. Then dark crimson energy seeped into them, and the homunculi with twisted necks rose again, their eyes glowing red. Returned from death, they followed Tyr's forces and attacked the Lord of Gold's homunculi.

The dark crimson mist gradually spread, revealing the state of the battle. Tyr watched the homunculi fight at her leisure and spoke.

"How strange. They have blood within their bodies, yet I can sense it. They have no particular wounds, but it feels as though they have exposed their blood outside their bodies. My power has weakened considerably, but I can still control this much."

Control them? Their blood? Vampires could control a homunculus's blood too?

No. I needed to think about it differently. The only blood vampires could control perfectly was human blood. In other words, a homunculus's blood was exactly the same as human blood.

Hearing Tyr's words, I understood the truth.

"They're caught in a dilemma!"

"A dilemma? You mean the homunculi's dilemma?"

"Yes! If the Lord of Gold can control them, Tyr can control them too. Even if they're homunculi, their blood is identical to human blood! Their bodies must be identical to human bodies too! They don't have the instinct to protect themselves, so they can't resist Tyr's power!"

Homunculi had no will of their own. They looked as though they thought and acted for themselves, but every one of those bodies had been made by the Lord of Gold.

In short, those homunculi were tools. Both the Lord of Gold and Tyr could use them as they pleased. Their functions might differ depending on who used them, though!

...Setting aside the question of whether human bodies were really so easy to make.

It had been a while since I found an answer on my own without reading thoughts. My brain was still useful!

"Great! Let's run while we have the chance!"

"Run?"

"Yes! Tyr can create a stalemate with her power, but there's no reason to wear ourselves out fighting the Lord of Gold!"

A very strange battle was unfolding over there. The homunculi under the Lord of Gold's control attacked while belatedly transmuting steel, while the homunculi under Tyr's control took the attacks head-on and swung their arms and legs.

Considering lord abilities, the Lord of Gold's side held the overall advantage, but Tyr's homunculi surpassed them in physical ability. Made of material incomparable to those dirt grunts, they picked up anything they could use as weapons and rampaged about.

Even the Lord of Gold faltered at the sudden betrayal and brawl. Hecto, who had at least heard the story from Perru, understood the situation at once.

'Control through blood is the Progenitor's ability...! To think it can control homunculi as well. I should have been more careful. Though it's already too late!'

By contrast, the Lord of Gold was faltering without properly grasping why the homunculi were fighting each other. With even a little background knowledge, he would have realized that Tyr was a vampire and was controlling the homunculi through bloodcraft... but the Lord of Gold showed no sign of noticing.

"...My... Golden Kingdom... why is this so... strange...?"

Was the Lord of Gold stupid? It was the Demon God. No way.

He had simply lost his ability to respond.

He could no longer instinctively recognize danger and adapt to it flexibly!

"Lord of Gold! It's a vampire! The vampire is controlling them!"

Only after Hecto stated it plainly did the Lord of Gold realize the truth. He creaked out a reply.

"A vampire? Such a thing has never happened before. How?"

"It's happening now! Anyway, the vampire controls them through their blood! Take countermeasures!"

"Countermeasures. Take."

Having received Hecto's report, the Lord of Gold murmured tonelessly.

"Wire Lord."

At that moment, the battle changed in an instant. The homunculi that had been trying to destroy the traitors began acting strategically in unison. Using alchemy, they created long wire snares and bound the traitor homunculi's feet. No matter how great their physical abilities, they could not tear apart the flood of steel snares without tools. Tyr's homunculi struggled like animals caught in traps.

Having created a stalemate in an instant, the Lord of Gold laid his hand on a farmer beside him and muttered.

"Mirror Lord."

After alchemic light flashed, the farmer doll turned into a lord wearing clothes that seemed to blend into the scenery. The homunculus wore glasses and was draped in magnifying glasses and lenses. Spreading wings of lenses, it flew into the sky.

The Church of the Celestial God said sunlight symbolized righteousness, but, as with any religion, there was some exaggeration involved. Dozens of lenses refracted the sunlight and gathered it at a single point.

The condensed light took shape in midair, resembling a gigantic spear. The Mirror Lord swung the spear of light and fired it at the dark crimson homunculi.

Whoosh.

The homunculi's bodies caught fire. Tyr's control, which used blood and darkness as its medium, lost its power before concentrated sunlight. A vampire might have resisted to some degree, but the homunculi were not alive at all. They could not twist their bodies or hide. They simply died without even screaming.

Before long, all of Tyr's homunculi burned and fell. The countermeasure had been extremely effective. Looking over the burned corpses, the Lord of Gold murmured.

"I will not... allow them to defile my Golden Kingdom..."

But the homunculi had already fulfilled their role. We had already broken through the encirclement and reached the boundary of the Golden Palace.

They had gone on the defensive not once, but twice. Unless they had prepared an ambush, catching us here was impossible.

"Once you focused on that, it was already too late! Goodbye, idiots!"

I hurled a sneer at them and leaped over the Golden Palace's boundary. The surroundings distorted for a moment, as though I had skipped across the world. The clearing where the homunculi had been fighting fiercely vanished, and dense cornfields stretched in every direction.

Just as I relaxed, thinking we were safe, a figure clearly unlike corn appeared before us.

Overalls resembling work clothes. Ash-gray hair tied into a ponytail, tinged with rusty red. Perru, the Verdigris Lord of the Lesser States, stood there with wide eyes, watching us.

'...How did you get here?'

Perru. She had come with Hecto, but for some reason, she had been waiting outside the Golden Palace. At that unfortunate moment, we ran into her.

The regressor and Tyr came out behind me in succession. Beyond the rippling space, I could see homunculi pursuing us. Far behind them stood Hecto, the Lord of Gold, and Elik.

Perru stood there without understanding anything. Naturally. How could she know what had happened inside the Golden Palace, where everything was born and common sense collapsed?

Then Hecto spotted Perru and shouted.

"Verdigris! Stop them!"

Still, she could guess what had happened. Hecto's urgent expression. Homunculi running wild while bleeding. The Lord of Gold and Elik standing tall.

Watching us flee, Perru easily guessed the outcome.

'...It seems the truce negotiations failed.'

Was it because of her innate arcane? Perru instinctively sensed the signs of collapse and bit her lip.

'...Everything I do turns out this way. This time too.'

Her efforts had been in vain. No, they had done more than fail. They had brought grave danger to both us and the Lesser States.

Even to herself.

"Even if you must use your power!"

Perru had no means to stop us, but she still remembered her duty. A lord of the Lesser States granted a Juggernaut had to be loyal to the Lord of Gold. Their power, wealth, reputation, and achievements all came from the Lord of Gold.

But then,

"No! Stop!"

Elik's chilling scream drowned out Hecto's urgent voice.

It was not directed at me, the regressor, or even Tyr. Forgetting all dignity and authority, Elik shouted at Perru as though terrified.

"You must not use your powerrrr!"

'...I knew it.'

She had neither the means nor the will to stop us. Yet even her duty had been rejected. Perru withdrew even her innate arcane and spread both arms instead, as though she meant to stop us with her body.

It was like trying to stop a waterfall with her palms. How could a woman with no power aside from her innate arcane stop the regressor or Tyr? Even an ordinary person like me could handle her.

But unlike me, the regressor could not read the Verdigris Lord's thoughts.

A lord stood in her path. Perru even showed a slight intent to attack. Perru's danger ranking rose sharply.

'Even if she was favorable toward us, an enemy is still an enemy...! I have to kill her!'

She had grown attached to Perru during their time together, but the regressor was just as quick to cast away attachment. She coldly assessed the situation.

'Getting surrounded in the heart of enemy territory is dangerous. Especially now that I have companions! I can't leave even the slightest danger behind!'

She regretted having to kill Perru, but she did not hesitate. Killing was necessary, that was all. The regressor honed her killing intent like a blade and cut away her attachment. Skywarbler slid free from her grip.

Ugh. Killing her wouldn't be a problem, but Perru was a card they disliked. I couldn't discard her like this!

"Mr. Shei! In front of you!"

I, who had been running ahead, shifted slightly. As the regressor was about to cut Perru down, I stepped into Skywarbler's path, and she hurriedly stopped the blade. Caught off guard, she could not avoid me in time and bonked her head against my back.

"Ow! What are you doing?!"

"You tell me! That's dangerous!"

It really was dangerous. Her head hit me, but my back hurt like it had been struck by a shot put. Perru had survived thanks to it, but I almost regretted it.

"Anyway, in front of you! I'll handle her!"

With that, I strode toward Perru. With no intent to attack, she only stood there with her arms spread, as though trying to block me with her body.

Her open abdomen came into view. When someone gave me an opening that obvious, I couldn't resist. I drove my fist without hesitation into her unguarded stomach between the straps of her overalls. My full-force strike sank deep into her belly with a thud.

"...!"

Unlike the other lords, Perru had no means of protecting herself. Even if she prepared one, it would rust away at once. My blow incapacitated her in a single strike. Perru lost her balance and collapsed onto me.

I hoisted the fallen Perru over my shoulder. Less than a second had passed from our encounter to her defeat. A perfect victory.

Ha. This almost made me feel strong. Power really was relative. Even an ordinary guy like me could dominate when the opponent was weak enough.

How was that? Pretty cool, wasn't I...

"To hit an unresisting woman so roughly... Sigh..."

Oh no. I think her impression of me got worse.

It couldn't be helped! If you thought about it, I had saved Perru. Now that we had fallen out with the Lord of Gold, knocking her out like this would keep her safer!

When Perru went down at once, the regressor put away Skywarbler. She had only intended to kill Perru so she would not leave danger behind. With Perru subdued, she had no reason to take further action.

"Still, I don't think the Verdigris Lord will help us."

"We can just hold a sword to her neck and threaten her!"

"...Well, it would be nice if that worked."

'She took the hit without resisting. Then I have no reason to kill her... If Hughes hadn't intervened, I would have spilled blood for nothing. He hit her stomach awfully hard, but in the end, he saved the Verdigris Lord.'

At least the regressor understood. Right. Even if no one else did, the one who had been about to swing her sword had to acknowledge it.

Ugh. But... carrying someone while running... I didn't really have the stamina...

"Mr. Shei. Perru's pretty heavy. Would you consider carrying her instead...?"

"...Give her to me."

'He really can't keep up appearances...'

Her impression of me got worse again. Let's just call it an accident that Perru kicked me while I handed her over.

Anyway, perhaps my knack for deploying people had paid off. Once the regressor carried Perru, we moved quickly enough. Leaving the Golden Palace behind, we hurried out of the cornfields.

Footnotes:

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