WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 379: Lightning Did Not Fall from the Sky - 4

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"Sophistry. If you barged all the way in here only to spout that kind of sophistry, I'm disappointed."

I had been reading her thoughts clearly, yet I doubted my ears.

Just moments ago, the Thunder Lord had been burdened by very human anguish. Then something flashed through her like lightning. She cast all that anguish beyond the bounds of her awareness and became the Thunder Lord.

As though the Thunder Lord were not human.

"Replacing one's flesh with something made by another human. That is a second-class taboo, the cardinal sin of grafting. Even irreverent mages are wary of the homunculus dilemma, yet you expect me to stand by and watch? You expect me to let every human in the Lesser States fall into the Golden Mirror's grasp? To let them abandon the dignity that makes humans human?"

Her head shook. The power of thunder spread throughout her body gathered once more, but the direction in which it gathered was a little strange.

A bright yellow ring rose above the Thunder Lord's head. It was too unstable to call an angel's halo, a ring of electric current that gave off an unpleasant crackle.

"Rather than lower humanity's standing, it is better to live with suffering for one's entire life."

With both power and arrogance, she looked no different from an angel. If I had to force myself to name the difference, it was that she did not summon an angelic form. She used thunder as a medium to make her own body function like one.

It was ironic that the least human thing here was lecturing me about human dignity. No matter how I looked at it, you were the strangest one here!

"Your entire body is made of Golden Mirror crops, isn't it? You use that power as much as you want, yet you say others must not. You're pulling up the ladder behind you!"

"That is why I must be special. Otherwise, humans will covet my body and authority instead of admiring them. They will all rush to fill their bodies with the Golden Mirror's excrement. If every human gains power like mine, the world's order will collapse like a toy!"

The Thunder Lord's hair rose as though wrapping around the ring of current. She looked like an angel wielding divine punishment, or perhaps a puppet controlled by the ring above her head. Her hair rose only halfway before spreading out to the sides and swaying up and down like wings.

Newly enlightened, the Thunder Lord glared at me with eyes full of lightning.

"Do you truly believe it is acceptable for humanity to lose its dignity, King of Humanity?"

Seriously, at this rate, not only dogs and cows but even a rolling stone would recognize me and ask how I was doing. Why not just spread the news everywhere?

With the Fog Duchy right next door, Claudia had no proper temple. The Thunder Lord had never seen one in her life, and she did not even know theology existed as a field of study.

Yet now that she had received a revelation, the Thunder Lord was a more devout believer than anyone, a comrade who shared their purpose.

She had been chosen by fate and become the Thunder Lord through that chance and power.

"So you're part of the Holy Sword Corps, Thunder Lord. Tch, that was a pointless question."

The Holy Sword Corps, the Sanctum's directly controlled armed force, was chosen by fate.

No one ordered them to become part of the Holy Sword Corps. Nor did they apply because they wished to join it. They simply lived ordinary lives among other humans, then suddenly came to a realization one day.

That they were part of the Holy Sword Corps and had been chosen by fate. That the Celestial God was the only being that could understand and affirm them.

The power they gained by chance, the teachings they believed and followed, the values they worked to uphold, and the things they desperately desired. They realized all of it had already been set in place, then followed the revelation.

"To think that the King of Humanity, who should protect human dignity more than anyone, would cast it aside. You really should have disappeared."

That was seriously cruel. Who was born because they wanted to be born, or disappeared because they wanted to disappear? I snapped back.

"This is because you people keep giving things strange names, but being called the King of Humanity doesn't make me a king, you know? A king who gives every order to the people is a concept humans made up."

Even if you expect things from me on your own, there is nothing I can do. In the first place, I am the Beast King. Back when humans were beasts, I was the being who represented all of them...

Come to think of it, I was influenced by the entire human species. I was called a king, yet I was more like a figurehead born into unpaid labor who only handled unpleasant work. Compared to that, your kings have it nice. They get to change humans however they please.

Well, that was probably why they drove out the King of Humanity.

"Humans must be this way, they must preserve their dignity? Where exactly are these humans you imagine? They don't seem to be any humans I know. And what even is dignity that we have to preserve it? Is it emergency rations? If so, I'd appreciate it if you shared some. Don't keep it hidden away."

It was my pure, honest feeling without a speck of deceit, but the Thunder Lord took it as mockery and replied with the same sarcasm.

"You do not care what becomes of humanity, nor how miserably it falls... Hmph. Barbarity is a fitting word for you."

"What humanity becomes, how miserably it falls. They are still humans, aren't they? I wouldn't deny them like you do."

"And when the city falls? When morality vanishes? When order collapses? If the things that protect humanity disappear in an instant, what will the humans left behind become?"

The Thunder Lord flung out an arm. Her fingers, naturally imbued with lightning, pointed at the children nearby. She pointed at the sobbing children and shouted as though vomiting blood.

"The Golden Mirror! Because that cursed Demon God destroyed the order of the Golden Nation, countless tragedies have taken root in this land! Power beyond one's ability to bear must not be accepted. If it is power that will break the world, it must never be revealed and must disappear forever! Rather than bring about countless deaths, chaos and terror, war and tragedy! It is better to bury it in the sand and forget it entirely!"

That was how order was maintained. Build it up with difficulty, then remove everything that might tear it down. It was the Sanctum's preferred method.

"The Golden Mirror was human too. An ordinary human."

Of course, it was a method I could never accept.

"Because it brings change to the world, because it is too powerful. If you call it a Demon God, turn it into an entity beyond common sense, brand it, make it taboo, and forbid even thinking about it..."

Denial, taboos, and prohibitions. Things that truly existed, but had been suppressed so thoroughly that no one dared to remember them. Calling something a Demon God was all for that...

Still, whatever. I shrugged and continued.

"Well, it doesn't really matter. You are humans too. I value your wishes as well!"

A slight look of anticipation appeared on the Thunder Lord's face.

"Then..."

"But I still have to know! I'm the King of Humanity! You people seem to want me to forget those things and never think of them again, but that is no different from shouting at me never to think of a pink elephant!"

You could not help thinking of a pink elephant. How could you tell someone to forget it when you were repeating it in your own head?

Then again, was it impossible for you not to know it?

To avoid something, you had to understand it thoroughly.

"So talks have broken down."

"Not exactly! Well, that was a nice diversion. Unfortunately, we have confirmed that our views run parallel, so shall we part ways?"

"...I suppose."

The Thunder Lord sighed, lightly fluttered her wings of lightning, and moved.

Here it comes.

Lightning surged before my eyes. The Thunder Lord shot forward, leaving behind a streak of wind and light, then grabbed my throat. Before I could even say, "Huh?" my body smashed through a desk and crashed into the wall.

A violent impact struck me. Blood pooled at the corner of my torn mouth. The Thunder Lord gripped my neck and glared at me with murderous eyes.

"Did you think I would say that? You must have expected that I would not let you go so easily."

Damn, she really was fast. Even though I was reading her thoughts, I was too slow to react. I answered through the throbbing pain.

"...Cough, I suppose so. I expected someone would interfere. But I never thought the Thunder Lord herself would come."

Even mind reading did not tell me that. You did not know you were part of the Holy Sword Corps either! How was I supposed to know? Think long and hard about who you are ahead of time!

"You should at least have come with companions. Your foolishness has brought about your death. Having lost your power, you will not be able to overcome any interference."

"Th-that is true. I am only... an ordinary human... Ghk!"

It grew harder and harder to breathe. I squeezed out my last bit of strength and gripped the Thunder Lord's arm. Her arm, sparking with lightning, felt like I was grabbing steel with my bare hand.

No matter how much force I put into it, that solid arm did not budge. Born as the Thunder Lord, raised as the Thunder Lord, and possessing the standing of the Thunder Lord, she was an iron woman in every sense.

'What a pitiful sight... Is this the King of Humanity? I shall end this now. Electrocution would make it easier to persuade his companions of the cause of death.'

Lightning flowed from her hand. A fizzing sensation, like drinking sparkling water, ran down my neck. It felt as though swarms of ants were crawling all over my body.

Still, even an iron woman... was human.

'He grabbed a hand covered in lightning... and it had no effect?'

It was too early to be surprised.

I slowly moved while holding the Thunder Lord's arm. The powerful force with which she wielded lightning like qi could never be shaken off by ordinary strength.

Then what about lightning of the same kind?

She had been born with lightning and raised with lightning. Even her flesh was familiar with it. To her, electrocution was no different from playing in water. As she felt that flow... at some point, she grasped lightning in her hand.

The innate arcane of one born to it. An image that forged the complicated power of thunder into qi.

Innate arcane, Thunder Catcher.

Along with the Thunder Lord's arm, I seized her lightning in my hand.

By its nature, lightning had no choice but to flow. In a sense, lightning was no different from a river flowing down from the high heavens. It was a concept bound to flow until it pooled in the sea.

It was so brief and flashed so brightly that people regarded it as simple power, but its essence was flow. The Thunder Lord grasped that with her hand.

If she could do it, so could I.

All humans, including me, were ordinary.

Creak.

I gripped and moved the Thunder Lord with the Thunder Lord's own power. Because it was her own strength, I could control her body just as she controlled it herself. Her powerful arm, which looked as though it would be fine even if the Lightning Rod Tower collapsed on it, was slowly pushed back by my strength.

My mouth, finally freed, opened toward her as she stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Because even against you, my chances are only about fifty-fifty."

Footnotes:

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