WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 349

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The King Who Kills Others, the God Who Kills Himself - 9

The homunculi Tyr controlled could not use the lords' abilities. Instead, a dark crimson aura wound around their bodies like a bad omen. Strengthened by Tyr's darkness and bloodcraft, they drove the Golden Mirror's homunculi back on raw physical force alone.

The homunculi struck by their own kind couldn't get their bearings. The Golden Mirror's side vastly outnumbered them, yet they failed to intercept and let the attackers get right up in their faces. Dark crimson fists came flying at them like meteors.

Blood splattered and steel scattered. The homunculi whose heads had been wrenched around looked, to any observer, like they'd died on the spot. Then the dark crimson aura seeped in, and those same homunculi rose again with eyes shining red. Returned from death, they followed Tyr's forces and turned on the Golden Mirror's homunculi.

A dark crimson fog spread gradually, marking the ebb and flow of battle. Tyr watched the fighting among the homunculi with unhurried eyes and said, "The curious thing is that I can sense them even with the blood still inside their bodies. No particular wound, yet it is as if they have put their own blood outside themselves. Even with my power considerably weakened, I can manage ones like these."

Control? Blood? Could a vampire really dominate the blood inside homunculi?

No. I needed to think about it differently. The blood a vampire can control perfectly is human blood and human blood alone. Put another way, the blood in a homunculus is entirely identical to a human's.

Hearing Tyr's words, I grasped what was actually happening.

"They're caught in a dilemma!"

"A dilemma? The homunculus dilemma, do you mean?"

"Yes! Any homunculus under the Golden Mirror's control, Tyr can also control. Even if they are homunculi, their composition is identical to human blood, so their bodies must be identical to human ones too! The only reason they can't resist Tyr's power is that they have no instinct for self-preservation!"

Homunculi have no will of their own. They look as if they think and act for themselves, but their flesh was made entirely by the Golden Mirror.

In other words, those homunculi are tools. Either the Golden Mirror or Tyr can use them freely. What they do depends on who is holding the reins.

...Setting aside the troubling question of whether a human body is really that easy to manufacture.

It had been a while, coming to an answer through my own thinking, without reading anyone's mind. Seems my head still works when I need it to.

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

"Run?"

"Yes! Tyr's power is enough to hold them to a standstill, but there's nothing to be gained from a war of attrition against the Golden Mirror!"

Over there, a truly strange battle was unfolding. Homunculi under the Golden Mirror's control attacked while belatedly alchemizing steel, while homunculi under Tyr's control absorbed the blows with their bodies and swung their arms and legs back.

Factoring in the lord's power, the Golden Mirror's side was stronger overall, but Tyr's homunculi held the edge in raw physical ability. These homunculi were made of material that put Dirt Grunts to shame, and they snatched up anything nearby as a weapon and rampaged.

The sudden betrayal and brawl left even the Golden Mirror faltering. Hecto, who had at least heard something from Perru beforehand, grasped the situation in a single glance.

'Control through blood, that is the Progenitor's ability...! To think it could even dominate homunculi. I should have been more cautious. Too late now!'

The Golden Mirror, by contrast, couldn't properly make sense of homunculi fighting each other and was sputtering. Anyone with a basic background would have realized Tyr was a vampire, that she was controlling the homunculi through bloodcraft, but the Golden Mirror showed no sign of understanding that now.

"...My... Gold State... why, something strange..."

Was the Golden Mirror simply stupid? No, a demon god would never be. The capacity to react had simply degraded.

The instinct to sense danger and the flexibility to respond to it were gone.

"Golden Mirror! Vampires! A vampire is controlling them!"

Only after Hecto's clear report did the Golden Mirror belatedly register the fact. The Golden Mirror answered with a grinding, halting quality.

"Vam... pire? That has never happened before. How is this."

"It is happening now! At any rate, it is blood controlling them! Do something!"

"Solution. Seeking."

Having received Hecto's report, the Golden Mirror murmured flatly.

"Wire formation."

The tide of battle reversed in an instant. The homunculi that had been moving to destroy the traitors all took coordinated action at once. Using alchemy, they fashioned long wire snares and bound the feet of the defector homunculi. Superior physical strength or not, you cannot tear apart a rain of steel snares with your bare hands. Tyr's homunculi thrashed like animals caught in a trap.

Having bought a moment of deadlock, the Golden Mirror touched a nearby farmer with one hand and murmured.

"Mirror Lord."

A flash of alchemic light, and the puppet that had been a farmer transformed into a lord dressed in robes that seemed to melt into the scenery. A homunculus wearing glasses and trailing magnifying lenses and other lenses all over its body spread its lens-wings and rose into the sky.

The Church of the Celestial God teaches that sunlight is the symbol of righteousness, but like all religions, the path tends to get tangled up in practicalities. Dozens of lenses refracted sunlight and gathered it to a single point.

Light condensed enough to take shape in open air, it looked exactly like an enormous spear. The Mirror Lord swept that spear of light and shot it at the dark crimson homunculi.

Fwoom. The homunculi's bodies caught fire. Tyr's dominance, which worked through blood and darkness as its medium, lost its hold against the concentrated sunlight. A vampire might have resisted somewhat, but homunculi are not alive to begin with. They could not twist away or flee, and died where they stood. Without even a scream.

One by one, Tyr's homunculi burned and fell. The countermeasure was devastatingly effective. The Golden Mirror looked back at the charred remains and murmured.

"I will not... let my Gold State... be defiled..."

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

Not once but twice, the Golden Mirror had been forced onto the defensive. Without ambushes laid in advance, catching us here would have been impossible.

"You cared about that too late! So long, you lot!"

I hurled a parting taunt and leaped across the boundary of the Golden Palace. For a moment the surrounding scenery warped, as if I had skipped across the world. The clearing where we had just been locked in fierce combat with homunculi was gone, replaced on all sides by dense cornfields.

I let out a breath of relief, and in that very moment, a figure clearly distinct from any cornstalk appeared right in front of us.

Work-clothes overalls. An ashen ponytail with a reddish tinge like rust. Rustscale, lord of the Lesser States, Perru, was watching us with wide eyes.

'...How did they get out here.'

It was Perru. She had come with Hecto, but for some reason had been waiting outside the Golden Palace, and now found herself face to face with us at exactly the worst moment. Unluckily for her.

The regressor and Tyr came spilling out behind me one after the other. Through the rippling boundary I could see homunculi in pursuit. Further back stood Hecto, the Golden Mirror, and Elik.

Perru stood there with no idea what was going on. Understandable. How could she know what had happened inside the Golden Palace, where things materialized from nothing and common sense had ceased to apply?

Then Hecto spotted Perru and shouted.

"Rustscale! Stop them!"

You could piece together something of what must have happened. Hecto's frantic expression. Homunculi running wild, bleeding. And the Golden Mirror and Elik standing tall.

Perru looked at us fleeing and arrived at the answer without much difficulty.

'...Looks like the ceasefire negotiations failed.'

Maybe it was her innate arcane. Perru had an instinctive feel for the signs of collapse, and she bit her lip.

'...Everything I do ends up like this. This time too.'

Her efforts had come to nothing. Worse than nothing, they had brought serious danger to both us and the Lesser States alike. Even to herself.

"Use your power if you have to!"

Perru had no real means to stop us, but she thought of her obligation anyway. A lord of the Lesser States who had been granted a Geraut owed loyalty to the Golden Mirror. Every ounce of power, wealth, reputation, even achievement they possessed had come from the Golden Mirror.

Even so.

"No! Stop!"

Hecto's desperate voice was buried under a bone-chilling scream from Elik.

That scream was directed at none of us, not me, not the regressor, not even Tyr. Elik, dignity and composure completely forgotten, screamed at Perru. As if in genuine terror.

"You-you can't use your powerrrrr!"

'...As I thought.'

She had no real means to stop us, and no real will to either. Even her duty had been denied her. Perru withdrew even her innate arcane and instead spread both arms wide. As if to block us with her body.

Trying to stop a waterfall with your palm. A woman with nothing to her name but her innate arcane, how was she going to stop the regressor or Tyr? This was well within the range of plain, ordinary me to handle.

Unlike me, though, the regressor couldn't read Rustscale's mind.

A lord standing directly in her path. Even showing the faintest trace of fighting intent. Perru's threat level jumped sharply upward.

'However well-disposed she was toward us, an enemy is an enemy...! She has to die!'

There was history between them, but the regressor sheds attachment faster than anyone. She assessed the situation with cold precision.

'Getting surrounded in the middle of enemy territory is dangerous. Especially now when I have companions with me! I can't leave even a small risk behind!'

Regret at taking a life, yes. Hesitation, none. The reason to kill was simply that it was necessary, and the regressor honed her killing intent like a blade and cut the attachment away. Skywarbler came free of the regressor's grip.

Oh no. That won't do. Killing her isn't the issue, but she's a card the other side finds uncomfortable. We can't just throw that away.

"Mr. Shei! Watch out ahead!"

I shifted my body slightly where I was walking in front of her. The regressor, who had been about to cut Perru down, saw me enter the path of the swing and pulled Skywarbler up short in a hurry. She hadn't seen it coming and couldn't dodge in time, and thunked her head straight into my back.

"Ow! What are you doing!"

"That's what I should be asking! That was dangerous!"

It genuinely had been. When a head meets your back, your back feels like it took a shot put. Perru survived because of it, but I nearly regretted the whole thing.

"Anyway, I've got the front! I'll handle this!"

Shouting that, I closed the distance to Perru in a few strides. Perru, with no intention of attacking, just stood there with both arms spread wide as if to block with her body. Not bothering to defend herself at all.

Her unguarded midsection was right there. When someone gives you an opening that obvious, you take it. Without a moment's hesitation, I drove my fist straight into the middle of her overalls, into that completely unprotected stomach. A full-force blow sank deep into her gut with a dull, solid thud.

"...!"

Unlike the other lords, Perru had no way to protect herself. Even if she tried to equip something, it would rust away in moments. So my one punch was enough to neutralize her. She lost her balance and crumpled into me.

I hoisted the collapsed Perru up onto my shoulder. From the moment we met to the moment she was down, not even a full second had passed. A perfect victory, if I do say so myself.

Ha. This is why it feels like I've gotten stronger. Strength is relative, after all. Even ordinary me can cut a swath through the enemy as long as the other side is weak enough.

How about that? My magnificent form here...

"To hit a woman who wasn't even fighting back that roughly... Hyu..."

Right. Apparently my reputation has taken a hit.

Can't be helped. When you think about it, I saved her. Now that we've made enemies of the Golden Mirror, leaving her knocked out like this is actually what keeps Perru safe.

With Perru down in one shot, the regressor sheathed Skywarbler. She had only tried to kill her to leave no risk behind, and with Perru subdued there was no reason to press further.

"Still, I'm not sure Rustscale is going to help us."

"We'll put a blade to her throat and negotiate!"

"...Well, I'd be glad if it works."

'She just let herself get hit without resisting. No reason to kill her then... If it hadn't been for Hughes, I'd have drawn blood for nothing. He hit her stomach pretty mercilessly, but in the end he saved Rustscale's life.'

She does acknowledge it. Good. I don't need anyone else to admit it, but the person who was swinging the sword at her owes me that much.

The thing is... carrying a person on my back while running is... somewhat taxing on my stamina...

"Mr. Shei. Perru's quite heavy. Any chance you could take her instead...?"

"...Hand her over."

'He really has no sense of style at all...'

My reputation apparently took another hit. Let's call it an accident that Perru kicked me while I was handing her over.

Whatever the case, whether it was my tactical cunning that saved the day or something else, once the regressor was carrying Perru we picked up enough speed. We put the Golden Palace behind us and got out of the cornfields fast.

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