WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 352: The King Who Kills Others, the God Who Kills Himself - 10

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It was boom time for jackals.

The Lord of Gold could create anything, but that did not mean he made just anything. His alchemy was used solely for the Golden Kingdom, and all the works scattered throughout the Lesser States were no more than grave goods buried alongside it. The jackals who survived by digging through that grave gratefully picked up even the crumbs.

Then the Lord of Gold began preparing for war.

War was not made of money alone, but it could not be waged without money. Weapons, provisions, warhorses, wagons. Everything cost money. The things the Lord of Gold usually made were valuable as well, but they could not compare to the profits of wartime.

Even the jackals who had initially been frightened by the call to prepare for war lost their heads at the sight of money pouring in before them.

"War doesn't sound so bad."

"Wow. What's this? If I stole just one and sold it in another country, I could live it up for ten years!"

"Sell it? Ha ha! You think people pay full price these days for things wanderers sell? You'll be lucky if you don't get stabbed to death."

There was a reason the Heatblast Lord wanted war. War made the Lesser States rich. Not because they won wars, but because the Lord of Gold made weapons.

Money was like a river. Both rode vast currents and swept all manner of flotsam along with them. Equipment made by the Lord of Gold was wealth in itself. Jackals tempted by it gathered, while those who had planned to leave remained. News would travel through wanderers and spread across the Lesser States, and the jackals would naturally gather into packs and form legions.

The legions of the Lesser States. Just as their grand march was about to begin.

"Hey, hey! Over there!"

"Why are you making such a fuss... Huh?"

As though announcing the beginning of the war, a gigantic snake slithered across the ground.

It was a huge snake that looked as though it had been alchemized from soil. Its body was more than three meters thick, and its length was impossible to measure. Dirt split apart like scales, while corn sprouted from it like whiskers. The earthen snake advanced, shaking the earth.

It was clearly a monster that defied reason. They said there were house-sized snakes in the Great Forest to the south, but at least those would be made of flesh and blood. This thing was artificial.

"It's a monster snake! Run!"

"Someone made that snake! But who?"

The jackals who had been about to flee suddenly stopped.

"Wait. A snake made of earth? Isn't that one of the Lord of Gold's works?"

"Nobody but the Lord of Gold could make a monster like that."

"Then it's on our side, right? Is someone controlling it?"

It was a reasonable theory. I probably would have thought the same. Fearlessly, the jackals circled the earthen snake. Since it showed them no interest, they became convinced it was an ally and soon lost interest.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. This earthen snake had been made with earth arts, not alchemy.

The regressor drove Jizan into the crown of the earthen snake's head and thought.

'Right. I earned Jizan's recognition in this round. I don't have to hold it and swing it like a sword. I can fight by applying earth arts, like Jiseon did in the previous round.'

Of course, she would not be as skilled as Jiseon. The regressor had not studied earth arts herself, and her understanding of strata and soil currents was lacking. She had merely recalled Jiseon's form from the previous round and imitated it, so this earthen snake would not possess Jiseon's strength.

Still, the mass of a three-meter-wide body of soil was real. If she rammed it into something, it would produce the effect she wanted.

'...Even so. He told me to just go in openly and confidently because we wouldn't arouse suspicion that way. What kind of scams has he pulled to be that bold? Does he have multiple lives?'

What? I only had one life, so I chose the best option. If we fought every person we encountered with this half-baked earthen snake, things would go wonderfully, wouldn't they? It was better to calmly act as though it were the Lord of Gold's power.

Of course, the earthen snake might be attacked. Then we would know the other side belonged to the Lord of Gold, and we could prepare to fight. How convenient.

This was the royal road. Taking a roundabout route just to seem clever was what was strange. If the goal was to reach the Lord of Gold, we should just go.

Just as I was praising myself internally.

"...Why did you bring me?"

Perru asked me.

Perru's position among us was ambiguous right now. Neither a hostage nor an ally. We had not restrained Perru, nor were we especially wary. If anything, we seemed to expect something.

Apparently, Perru was curious as well. I began cautiously.

"Please don't be offended. I don't mean any harm."

"...It's already the worst. I can't be more offended."

"That's a relief! Then I'll speak freely!"

'...For some reason, I'm starting to get annoyed.'

You said you couldn't be more offended. Then again, once emotions left your mouth, they became unreliable.

I kindly explained.

"Perru may be on the Lord of Gold's side, but you're useful to us. You can't use your power against us anyway, can you? If Perru uses that ability, the Golden Palace, which was made through alchemy, will collapse."

Elik had told Perru not to use that power. Even without reading thoughts, the reason was obvious. Perru's ability denied alchemy, making it the Lord of Gold's perfect counter.

Well, I did not think it could defeat the Lord of Gold, who used even the earth as alchemical material... Still, Perru was unquestionably a troublesome opponent.

"Besides, they know that too. So they won't be able to use any power large enough to catch Perru in it."

"...They don't care about my life."

"No, it isn't Perru's life they need to care about. It's your ability. If they accidentally catch Perru in the attack and you use it, they'll be in real trouble."

Even if Perru faced death, Perru would try not to use that ability. But would the Lord of Gold know that? Fear came from the unknown. The Golden Palace, unable to know what lay in Perru's heart, would be extremely wary.

Well, it would be fine if they were not wary. The best-case scenario was for them to attack Perru carelessly, only for Perru's survival instinct to react on its own. Then, whether Perru wanted to or not, Perru would become our ally.

"Wow. No matter what Perru thinks, you're on our side! That's so reassuring! I'm proud of myself for finding Perru and recruiting you in the first place!"

"...I take that back. It is possible to be more offended."

Of course it was. There was always another bottom beneath the bottom. It was unfortunate that this measured Perru's fondness for me, but...

There was nothing I could do. I could not reveal the real reason.

Perru was an innate arcane launcher. To use Perru's innate arcane, I had to bring Perru with me.

To reach the Lord of Gold's core, we would need to break through its final resistance at the last moment. That resistance would probably be made through alchemy as well. Perru's innate arcane would become my trump card.

Good. A perfect plan. I had only a moment to cackle to myself.

Rumble.

The snake shook violently. We had been holding our breath inside its mouth, but the impact sent us rolling. I grabbed the corn embedded in the interior like a handle, held my breath, and focused on what was outside.

Winged homunculi were gathering around the earthen snake. They were Dragonhawks, equipment that served as the Lord of Gold's juggernaut and provided propulsion through the Heatblast Lord's innate arcane. Wreathed in flame, the Heatblast Lord flew over and addressed the regressor.

"If you survived, you should have run away. Did you come here of your own accord because you wanted to die?"

Even before someone who had died once, the regressor remained calm.

"That's what I should be asking. I tried to settle this peacefully, but you attacked without warning? Did you think I couldn't fight because I lacked strength?"

The Heatblast Lord nodded.

"...Strange. It sounds as though you want to fight."

"Are you so stupid because you're a homunculus? Do you need to interpret that to understand it?"

The regressor shouted sharply, grabbed Jizan embedded in the snake's head, and pushed it forward.

The earth everyone believed to be steady was actually moving. Seen on a vast scale, its flow resembled liquid. Earth arts, which manifested that authority, moved soil and rock according to one's will. It was impressive, but... ambiguous.

Unlike alchemy, the only useful everyday application of earth arts was digging holes, and that could be done without earth arts. Between a shovel and earth arts, it was obvious which was easier to acquire.

Earth arts were certainly mysterious and practical, but not especially prized. That was why few outside the Church of the Earth Mother passed them down.

That was fortunate.

The fact that earth arts were more than useful enough to harm people had been kept secret through the Church of the Earth Mother's silence.

I felt my body whip backward. The earthen snake had uncoiled its tightly wound body. That heavy body made of earth rammed into the Golden Palace at a speed so fast it was hard to believe it was made of dirt.

Rumble!

The earth cried out. Pale clouds of dust rose, and drifting dirt clung to the homunculi's wings, disrupting their combustion process. The flying homunculi all staggered at once.

Among them, a single whirlwind rose, thick with dirt and sand.

Wind dissolved everything. Fragrance, water, even the earth. Wind, which dissolved and carried away everything in the world without ever stagnating in one place, was truly noble.

A vortex of dirt and sand rose high into the sky. It looked as though a dragon were ascending to heaven. Human impressions must have been similar across all times and places, because people of old had seen that sight and named it a dragon spiral.

The regressor thought similarly.

Heaven-and-Earth Sword and Staff, Serpent Rising.

Holding the sandstorm like a sword, the regressor shouted toward the Golden Palace.

"We came prepared too! If you want to fight that badly, fight me first!"

With the least formal declaration of war complete, the regressor swung the sandstorm. A roar followed, as though the world itself had split apart.

They would have difficulty predicting it, though. The power she had swung so dramatically was merely a show to draw their attention.

Certainly, an attack like that alongside the earthen snake was threatening, but while it might work against homunculi, it was not enough to reach the Lord of Gold. Against an unnatural disaster like the Lord of Gold, it was better to find an opening than clash in a contest of scale.

The regressor knew that too. That was why she had attacked with every bit of strength she had.

So we could advance through the gap where worlds collided.

"All right, let's go!"

Thanks to her drawing their attention, we entered the Golden Palace without shedding blood. From here on, it was time for thieves. Taking advantage of the opening the regressor had made, I went outside...

"Foolish."

When I emerged, a man of steel stood before me. A homunculus completely covered in armor looked down at me with cold eyes.

Ah, seriously. This was troublesome. Normally, I could read thoughts in advance and choose whether to retreat or advance. But they were all homunculi, so I could not read their thoughts. Did ordinary thieves always steal this uncomfortably? I truly respected them.

"The Golden Palace is the Lord of Gold's domain, and the Lord of Gold is the Golden Palace's god. How could he fail to notice a foreign object that entered it?"

The armored homunculus looked as though not even a needle could enter it. No, perhaps there was no human body inside that armor at all. But what did that matter? The armor was moving.

What mattered was not someone's inner self or essence. Whether that fist could crush me or not determined my attitude. In that sense, I needed to show that armor sufficient respect.

Fortunately, I had prepared an opponent worthy of it.

The armor spoke.

"Also, did you believe you could sneak in while possessing such an immense presence, Progenitor?"

"I was too dumbfounded to answer, and now you make whatever assumptions you please. I covered myself because I dislike the sun, and what are you going on about? Do you think I would hide myself from the likes of you?"

A crimson light flickered in the earthen snake's dark mouth. Darkness was normally the absence of light, but for the Progenitor, it was strength. Darkness flowed from the snake's mouth like poisonous mist.

The darkness steadily claimed space. Tyr emerged from it leisurely, as though she had come on a picnic.

The homunculi were visibly wary. None came close, instead sending only their abilities forward. They seemed afraid Tyr would dominate them.

Then the armor spoke.

"...Are you alone?"

What did that really mean? Was it trying to assess Tyr's full strength, or was it wary of me, whom it had not yet seen? The former would be fine, but the latter was a little worrying. I wanted it to ignore me if possible.

Ah, seriously. Lord of Gold. If you were going to make humans, you should have made them properly. Why make them defective so I could not read their thoughts either? It was inconvenient!

As I grumbled and moved forward, Tyr smiled faintly and rested her parasol on her shoulder.

"Oh? You still have the leisure to count numbers before me?"

Clack. Clack.

Footsteps echoed from afar. Dozens, hundreds of footsteps overlapped. It sounded like a well-trained army marching.

Yet there was no sign of a legion anywhere. Not until the footsteps came right up close.

When the sound finally reached Tyr, black knights in steel armor marched from the earthen snake's mouth. Ten, twenty, thirty... And more still.

They were not black knights whose forms had merely been summoned from darkness. They wore armor. Supreme armor made directly by the Lord of Gold.

Tools could belong to anyone. The Lord of Gold had prepared them for the Lesser States, but once we captured them, they were ours. On the way here, we gathered every ownerless suit of armor and gave it to Tyr.

Black knights wearing armor made by the Lord of Gold, moved by Tyr's authority. They had been mere earthen rabble by birth, so they were not particularly strong... but even rabble became a mountain when they wore sturdy armor. Equipment was everything in the end.

"I am a legion alone. Count them if you can. There may be more along the way, so you should focus."

"A blood mark!"

It was a power that carved marks with blood and exercised control through them. The dominion of a vampire. Vampires, whose boundaries between themselves and the world were faint, could divide themselves and rule through those fragments. In her youth, Tyr had led tens of thousands of thralls with this power.

Now, it was far less than that.

'In the past, I would have commanded a legion of more than ten thousand... but now, even borrowing the power of blood magic, around a hundred is all I can manage. My authority has grown noticeably weaker. Still...'

"An opening!"

Without warning, the armor launched its fist. It was closer to firing a projectile than using martial arts. Its shoulder and fist flew toward Tyr's face at the same time.

Tyr was not especially quick to react. She did not possess the Heaven-Reversing Boundary like the regressor, and because she had an immortal body, she also lacked the sense of danger living creatures should have. By the time she noticed the armor's attack, it was already about to strike her face.

It would not have mattered much if she were hit, but she disliked the idea because it was her head. Tyr reacted too late and hurriedly grabbed the armor.

Crack!

Its arm was torn off.

Tyr had excessive strength for her body weight. That was why she could not control her speed. The instant her arm blurred, a thunderous crash rang out, and one of the armor's arms was ripped out from the shoulder.

Tyr's body could not control that speed either, so her own arm was dislocated and dangled for an instant... but it was only an instant. She only had to regenerate it. Even attacks that injured both sides were meaningless to Tyr.

"...There is no reason to conserve my strength. I suppose I must force the matter a little."

Tyr pierced straight through the armor. There was nobody inside, but that did not matter. She filled its interior with darkness, then carved a blood mark using another homunculus's blood...

The armor became Tyr's loyal thrall.

The homunculi unleashed their authorities all at once. The black knights charged. A preview of war unfolded here in the Golden Palace.

Yet even this was bait.

'Go, Hyu.'

Tyr made her presence even more conspicuous to draw the homunculi's attention and cover my traces.

And one meter beneath where Tyr fought, I was advancing through a tunnel.

Footnotes:

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