WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 363: The King Who Kills Others, the God Who Kills Himself - 21

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Every time the regressor's battle cry rang out, the Golden Palace shook.

Homunculi flew in from all directions, bombarding the Golden Ark as they tried to board it. Yet the moment they entered, darkness surged up and swallowed them whole. Even so, the Golden Ark kept scraping across the ground and pushing into the Golden Palace as if it meant to topple a castle.

Perhaps even mythical battles broke out unexpectedly, like this. We had come to make a peace treaty, and now a battle had begun.

I had no particular desire to get involved, but I was interested in the meeting between the Lord of Gold and the Verdigris Lord.

"Hilde. Let's go."

"Over there? Uh, um. Father, do we really have to?"

"Yes. We do."

When I answered firmly, Hilde let out a long sigh and pressed the pedal. The two-wheeled vehicle accelerated with every kick of her feet.

Humans really were the most convenient source of power. Using inner energy made them quite fast, and above all, they came with voice recognition and automatic driving.

"Faster! Go!"

"Urgh! I am!"

As I urged Hilde on, I used mind-reading. As the Golden Palace drew closer, the thoughts of those moving within reached me.

The Golden Palace was practically the Lord of Gold's body. Every substance within it changed shape and moved according to his will.

The regressor and Tyr, who had entered the Golden Palace alongside the Golden Ark, faced attacks from every direction. Floors rose, ceilings collapsed, and countless traps flew at them. Assailed by every weapon a human could imagine, the two had considerable trouble dealing with them.

Even amid all that, Perru kept advancing deeper into the Golden Palace.

The floor and ceiling squeezed together, trying to crush Perru between them. The moment she recognized the danger, her unique magic crumbled both above and below. The ceiling collapsed and the floor gave way. Perru might fall, but she would not be crushed.

Sharp springs shot out, about to tear Perru apart.

At that very moment, their rapidly rusting bodies failed to withstand their own force and shattered.

A spiked iron ball traced an arc toward Perru. Just before it struck, the weakened chain snapped, sending it rolling off in an entirely different direction.

That was not all. Mirrors placed throughout the palace to stop vampires lost their shine in an instant, while weapons honed to razor sharpness shattered like glass at their thinnest points.

If the Lord of Gold's palace was also a product of alchemy, Perru was its end. Her power was not overwhelming, but it shattered every intention of the Lord of Gold as Perru pressed onward.

'...I expected this. The Golden Ark was made by the Lord of Gold too. Once I get close, it will be used as material...'

There was no point in damaging the Golden Palace. No matter how badly it was destroyed, the Lord of Gold could simply remake it. Perru had chosen to ram it for two reasons.

One was to reach the Lord of Gold quickly.

The other was to drive the entire furnace powering the Golden Ark into the Golden Palace.

'...The Verdigris Furnace. The only tool that can contain my power, which destroys everything.'

The Lord of Gold granted gifts to the "disciples" who came to him. To allow each disciple to make the fullest use of their enlightenment, he gave them equipment that could draw out 200% of their unique magic.

That was a Juggernaut. The Lord of Gold's mystery, gifted to the lords who carried on his legacy.

Yet even the Lord of Gold had deliberated for a long time when faced with Perru.

Perru's unique magic was a force that brought about the end of matter. What kind of tool could make use of a power that denied matter itself? The Lord of Gold created one thing after another, but anything Perru's ability touched simply crumbled away.

'...Back then, someone even suggested killing me.'

One lord argued that Perru's power, which denied alchemy, was ominous and that they should eliminate any future trouble. The Lord of Gold did not even react to those words. Instead, he created one thing after another until he overcame Perru's power. Day after day.

What the Demon God created after all that anguish was the Verdigris Furnace. A black box closer to glass than metal, whose material and structure were both difficult to understand.

Since it could not be restored once broken, even Perru had not been able to grasp its structure. One thing was certain, though. As long as there was matter left inside to collapse, it would never crumble. The Lord of Gold's greatness was enough to overcome even contradictions.

I imagined that the process of trial and error had also been an enjoyable subject of thought and another source of inspiration for the Lord of Gold. For someone who needed nothing, that was probably his only stimulation.

Yet even simple contemplation...

Could be a precious gift to someone else.

'...Lord of Gold.'

The Golden Palace changed its structure again. Perhaps it had judged that its barrage of attacks was not enough to handle Perru, because it now attacked her in another way.

The floor vanished. Perru lost her footing and staggered as she fell below the corridor. Sharp iron spikes jutted up where she was about to land.

Even Perru could do nothing against an attack like that. Still, she had not come empty-handed. She took a pure white bead from her clothes and shattered it.

A wind bead given to her by the regressor. A storm swept out and pushed Perru's body away. Unable to judge its force, she slammed her back into the wall, but it was still better than landing on the spikes. Perru barely escaped, scattering Verdigris's power as she walked deeper inside.

[This is difficult.]

A voice echoed through the corridor. Perru looked toward it and spoke.

"...Lord of Gold."

[To deal with mercenaries, I need functions. Yet with you present, they cannot function properly. It is crude, but must I collapse the entire Golden Palace?]

If necessary, the Lord of Gold intended to turn the whole Golden Palace into Perru's grave. Perru had expected that much. Her ability was an all-purpose weapon against alchemy, but she herself was a fragile human. If the Lord of Gold truly intended to kill her by every means available, there was no way Perru could endure.

Even so, Perru had come here. It was to protect the Lesser States, but that was not her only reason. Holding the Verdigris Furnace to her chest, Perru walked down the endlessly stretching corridor and pleaded with the Lord of Gold.

"...Are we not enough?"

The lords could speak with the Lord of Gold. Since their mental images had the Lord of Gold as their root, the only people capable of seriously communicating with the Lord of Gold, who remained only as a mental image, were the lords.

Perru's words reached the Lord of Gold's mental image. The mental image responded.

[What do you mean?]

"...We revere you. Although we are not the Golden Kingdom, your power and majesty are common knowledge in the Lesser States. But were the Lesser States... truly so lacking that you could not remain with us?"

Even at Perru's sorrowful words, the Lord of Gold answered dryly.

[I never ordered you to revere me. You were the ones who entered my Golden Kingdom as you pleased and lived there. You were also the ones who took my belongings without permission and sold them.]

"...It was to survive."

[That is why I am trying to kill you now.]

Logic only a god who had transcended life and death could wield. Perru swallowed before speaking.

"...Even if we lived off what you cast aside, we were always grateful to you."

[I did not ask for it.]

"...No one dared claim to be a king in your presence."

[That is only natural.]

"...We were your people."

[I did not regard you as such. My country is only the Golden Kingdom.]

The closer she came, the clearer the Lord of Gold's voice became.

Perru's power, which destroyed matter, acted like a probe seeking out the Lord of Gold. It was the same principle as the Golden Ark. Since the Lord of Gold's power spread from his relic, Perru could trace her ability back to him.

Whether she intended to or not, Perru was instinctively drawing closer to the golden bell. Yet she continued speaking.

"...We cannot give you anything. You are complete as an alchemist. You have reached a realm higher than anyone else. All we can do is revere you and follow you."

Still, that was not to launch a surprise attack. More than attacking the Lord of Gold, Perru wanted to ask him something.

"...To us, you were our ruler, our teacher, and our god. That was how we saw you... Even then, were we not worthy of being your people?"

Despite Perru's heartfelt plea, the Lord of Gold's answer remained cold.

[It is only your own selfish faith. I am a human of the Golden Kingdom, and I have only one king. I am not a king, but a lord. I am a being who temporarily watches over the land my king left behind.]

A king needed subjects. Only with subjects to farm in their place, work in their place, and die in their place could one truly become a king.

That was why kings cherished their subjects. Because they needed them.

Having died and become a Demon God, the Lord of Gold needed nothing. Having even killed himself, he could cast away everything else without hesitation.

Even if it was a country.

That must have been why gods were cruel. Realizing that she had been abandoned, Perru swallowed her rising tears and asked her god.

"...Are we not included in that land?"

After considering for a moment, the Lord of Gold answered.

[That is correct.]

Perru's steps stopped. She lowered her head, savored her despair, then set down the Verdigris Furnace she had brought.

Collapsing matter hastened the collapse of other matter. The furnace, which had been filled with countless alchemical steel ingots as fuel to move the Golden Ark, was densely packed with Perru's power.

'...The power of Verdigris I gathered for years... Will this be enough?'

It was a black box she had never dismantled or emptied because it could not be undone once broken. Perru took out a red bead and placed it on top.

A Lava Tear, a stone excavated from a volcano, with heat concentrated in it through a special process. Even in the Lesser States, where alchemical value had become wildly inflated, it was a treasure that sold for a very high price. Perru poured magic into the Lava Tear she had kept for emergencies.

The bead burst, and bright red lava flowed over the furnace. The burning liquid flame spread broadly across it, greedily devouring its shell. The furnace glowed red as well before finally failing to withstand the heat and melting away.

Drip.

A single drop of lava that had sunk deepest bored a hole into the furnace. At that moment, the ominous power sealed away for years forced its way through the weakened seal.

It was not that Verdigris's power could not affect the furnace. It simply had not been able to reach it because of the furnace's special structure.

But the instant lava melted the furnace, the seal was released. Perru's power, gathered over years, flowed out as it swallowed even the seal that had confined it.

'...Even if this doesn't work. This is the only thing I can do.'

It was no longer even fragments. It was a mass of calamity, like flowing liquid. It did not even touch the floor. The moment it did, it collapsed the floor and fell below like a waterfall.

The spreading calamity was even more destructive. As it descended, it gradually grew in volume and transformed everything it touched into the same state. Verdigris's power multiplied in an instant, staining the Golden Palace.

"...Hah, hah."

Though it had flowed downward with gravity, simply being near it turned Perru's hands and feet black. Her breathing grew ragged. She had not even touched it directly, yet the aftereffects alone ruined her body and organs.

[Impressive. To resist until the end.]

Perru answered between gasps.

"...For the Lesser States."

[But you have forgotten one thing.]

Though the poison was swallowing the Golden Palace, the Lord of Gold spoke as if it were nothing.

[That furnace was made by me as well.]

Verdigris's power, which had been boring downward as if to create a bottomless pit, stopped at a certain point. It would not move, as though blocked by a wall.

Perru, coughing in pain, belatedly understood the situation.

The place where she stood was made of the same material as the furnace she had brought.

[I have already done this once while making the Golden Ark. What has been done once can be done twice. The first time is always the hardest.]

"...Ah."

This place, no, the entire Golden Palace, was a seal meant to imprison Perru and her power. Perru thought she had infiltrated it, but even that had been guided by the Lord of Gold.

Addressing the despairing Perru as kindly as a teacher instructing a disciple, the Lord of Gold explained.

[There is a way to deal with your power. The problem was the mercenaries you brought. Weapons meant to kill the mercenaries are rendered useless by your power, while the means to deal with you are destroyed by the mercenaries. To solve that problem, I needed to separate you.]

"...So, the fortress..."

[Your mercenaries were dangerous. I needed to be wary of them.]

Was her heart broken, or had she simply reached her limit? Perru could no longer endure and collapsed. The Lord of Gold's cold voice reached her ears as she gasped for breath.

[You were impressive. But this is as far as you go. If the Lesser States are so precious to you, disappear with them.]

Perru had no moves left. She did not even have the strength to use her unique magic. With her eyes open, she watched the ceiling gradually draw closer.

The ceiling, moving according to the Lord of Gold's will, would collide with the floor. It did not matter what obstacles stood in its way.

Perru would vanish from the world as torn flesh and blood, without even leaving behind a corpse. Perhaps that had been her fate from the moment she was abandoned by her god.

Just before death reached her.

Footnotes:

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