WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 441: Heaven-Defying Trial - 9

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"No."

Cabilah's expression stiffened for a moment at the childish-sounding refusal. Tyrkanzyaka no longer cared how Cabilah reacted. She said,

"Are you telling me to die again? To lose this revived heart and these emotions, and return to those years when all I felt was boredom and ennui?"

Once she had realized it, there was no going back. Telling Tyrkanzyaka to give up the heart she had longed for so desperately was no different from telling her to die.

The reason Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka entered long slumbers time and again was that there was little difference between lying in a coffin and being awake. Without sensation or emotion, she could rarely devote herself to anything other than destroying the Sanctum. Even that lost its appeal once she realized the Sanctum used her attacks to consolidate its own power.

The most enjoyable diversion she had was seeing how the world had changed after she woke from sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes and opened them again, there was new knowledge, refined music, and unique paintings everywhere. She only read and appreciated them mechanically, but they were the only changes that meant anything to Tyrkanzyaka.

"Do you ask me to embrace solitude and boredom? How absurd. I am the Progenitor. Your beginning and your end. You dare demand something of me."

"Sister, it isn't a demand..."

"My authority no longer reaches you, but all of it remains within me. I am still myself. You say that I have changed, but it is the opposite."

The Progenitor had changed. Yet neither her attitude nor her actions had changed at all. As she always had, she returned and reigned. She did not particularly exert control. She was either asleep or quietly ruling the nation. It was one or the other.

Tyrkanzyaka had not changed. What had changed was...

"It is you. I did not abandon you. You abandoned me."

"...Sister. Not me. I did it for you."

"Cabilah. Did you think I wouldn't know?"

Tyrkanzyaka swept her red eyes over the room.

Meurie, Rahu Khan, and Bakuta made no particular move against the Sea Calamity's shell. Bakuta, unable to bear the hunger, was merely tearing off one of its claws and eating it. The others calmly waited for Tyrkanzyaka's choice as though they were merely watching.

It was clear enough, even without much thought, that this situation had been staged. Vampires had lived in peace for too long to be good at palace intrigue. They did not grow tense or flustered because they were vampires, but that did not mean they could act well.

"Did you not awaken and incite them? If not, why would those who had been sleeping come looking for me?"

"N-no, Sister. Luscinia's thralls, who wish to slander you, woke them..."

"If they truly opposed me as you say, the first person they would awaken would be Lahan. It would make sense to wake Lahan first, then act under Lahan's command. They would not awaken Rahu, who merely watches, or Meurie, who is devoted to me."

Caught so easily, Cabilah found herself at a loss. It did not show on her face, but it surfaced in the pauses and gaps between her words.

Tyrkanzyaka's suspicion had been correct. She pressed Cabilah further.

"Did you deceive me and seek to stop my heart, Cabilah? I was the one who revived you after you were killed for possessing ominous arcane power. I cherished you so dearly... Yet you are the most ungrateful of all..."

The emotion in her voice could not be hidden. It was not a vampire's cold rage, but the humiliation of a sovereign who had been betrayed. Watching Tyrkanzyaka's expressions change so vividly, Cabilah bitterly realized that the Progenitor truly had changed.

"...You're the one at fault, Sister."

Leaving Tyrkanzyaka where she stood, Cabilah slowly rose.

"Only you can command us. Yet even that was too bothersome for you. You left the nation behind to sleep in distant lands, then returned decades later to look only at what had changed. All we could do was prepare works that might please you."

"Everything you did was for me?"

"Loyalty to you. That is the only emotion left to us. Yet you did not merely neglect us. You abandoned us. You even took away our sole joy."

So Cabilah was reclaiming what she deserved.

As she said that, Tyrkanzyaka felt something well up inside her chest. Indignation and resentment, emotions she had never experienced as a vampire, surged fiercely through her veins. Her vision narrowed, and her words grew rough. The heart she had wanted so badly was truly doing as it pleased.

Even now, Tyrkanzyaka felt alive. She honestly voiced that feeling.

"So you had joy. I had nothing."

Standing face-to-face with Cabilah, Tyrkanzyaka continued.

"Sitting on this throne and watching was no different from closing my eyes. You, the other ain, and the Yeilings merely moved like puppets according to my will. When I was absent, you could at least govern the nation and devote yourselves to your proper duties. That is why I leave the castle and sleep in distant lands. Watching the changed world is, at least, less boring."

After pouring out the feelings she had never been able to tell anyone, she shouted at all the Elders.

"You say your sole joy has vanished? I have already lived that way for over a thousand years. You, whose lives were spared by my grace, cannot endure even three days!"

Cabilah understood Tyrkanzyaka. Vampires had neither blood nor tears, and that was why they could understand one another regardless of the emotions involved.

Likewise, they could act without being bound by whatever emotions they possessed. Cabilah issued her ultimatum.

"Sister. Is there truly no other way?"

"I would rather leave this nation behind than remain motionless with my heart stopped. That is my will!"

"That cannot be allowed."

Squelch.

A shallow pool of blood rose around their feet. It was subtle enough to be difficult to notice, yet its power was vast enough to rival a natural disaster.

Blood enough to fill a lake, and dominion over it. Bloodcraft powerful through sheer volume. Other than Tyrkanzyaka, there was only one person who possessed such power.

Holding up her skirt so it would not be stained with blood, Countess Erjebeut approached at an unhurried pace. Splash. The sound of blood striking the floor echoed through the ancient castle.

"To cast aside power that stands above all others and live as an ordinary human. Progenitor, how blessed... and how arrogant you must be."

"Erjebeut. Do you seek to stop your heart as well?"

"Of course not. Opportunity passes far too quickly, so one must seize it tightly when it falls into one's grasp. Cabilah's proposal was our final chance to return everything to the way it was. Yet the Progenitor does not wish for that."

Thorns rose from the blood flowing across the floor. Tyrkanzyaka felt something sharp pierce her body.

The thorns dug into Tyrkanzyaka's flesh. The girl's frail skin could not ward off the thorns of the crimson rose. Yet Tyrkanzyaka's bloodcraft was different. Within her body, it fought Erjebeut for control of the blood that had invaded her.

Naturally, Tyrkanzyaka won that tug-of-war. Yet it was a hollow victory. Having already separated what was within her body from what was outside, she could not absorb the mingled blood controlled by Erjebeut into her own power.

"Erjebeut...!"

"Progenitor. Your power is not yours alone. That blood is the power that rules and leads everyone. If one who will cast off the shackle and abandon the nation still holds that power... then there will no longer be any need to cultivate yourself, lead your bloodline, or guide the nation."

Erjebeut unfolded a bright red folding fan. Wearing the smile that had become a habit, she said,

"Progenitor, if you mean to leave this nation and its power behind... then leave that blood behind as well."

Countess Erjebeut. The embodiment of greed for power and the desire to show off. Perhaps turning her into a vampire had been an act for the world. She had used all that enormous vanity and hunger for recognition for the Progenitor's sake.

Yet that desire still remained inside Erjebeut. Her behavior, declaring herself the Progenitor's chief handmaiden and influencing domestic affairs, still carried the desires she had held in life.

Desire had not vanished. The wish to possess something remained, no matter what form it took.

The vampires filling the hall moved. Not toward the Progenitor, but toward their own lords.

Cabilah looked away regretfully. Seemingly unable to bring herself to directly oppose the Progenitor, she climbed onto the Sea Calamity's shell and sat as though she were merely watching. Her proposal had surely been an act of kindness.

The rest were prepared to attack the Progenitor if things did not go their way.

"So that is all of your will..."

One Progenitor against at least every vampire here. Cabilah and Lungken were somewhat apart, watching from the sidelines, but still.

"Grrr. Hearing it all, everyone is right!"

Boom. Lungken sprang to their feet. Blood splashed loudly as Lungken came down the steps and stood between Erjebeut and the other Elders, facing the Progenitor.

As if she had expected it, Erjebeut said,

"You have finally made up your mind. You said you hated difficult discussions and told us to handle things ourselves. I am glad you have decided to use your intelligence, even now."

"Shut it, female."

"Fe... male?"

Having silenced Erjebeut with rudeness that crossed every line, Lungken grinned, baring their molars.

"Thinking? Hmph. That is what the weak do. Nothing is solved by flapping short teeth. In the end, what changes anything is strength!"

Lungken stomped one foot, lowered their stance, and glared at Tyrkanzyaka. The tusks jutting past Lungken's teeth twitched toward the Progenitor, as though Lungken had been waiting for this fight.

"No matter how grandly you prattle, it all comes down to the logic of strength! To decide the head of the pack, strength is what should decide it! I will challenge you first!"

Lungken roared at the Progenitor.

"Fight! Progenitor, the time has come for you to accept the postponed challenge!"

Boom. Lungken kicked off the ground and charged straight at the Progenitor.

Footnotes:

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