WeTried Translations
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 690: Pride Expedition
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A star of destruction fell from the sky. An otherworldly star symbolizing humanity's pride brutally crushed the earth. A radial explosion. Dust clouds blanketed the planet, turning this blue-and-green star into something like the distant stars beyond.
Even from this far up in the sky, what lay below was hell.
Darkness covered the planet. Fire and lava burst from the ground. Thick, choking smoke billowed upward. Mushroom clouds. Lava blooming like flowers. Overflowing seas. Raging sea beasts. It was as if someone had taken the planet and played with it.
Even though this cycle had always been doomed, seeing the world perish in such a miserable way weighed heavily on her heart.
Shei stared speechlessly at ‘Pride,’ which had fallen to the ground, then at him. He met her gaze with an ambiguous smile.
‘Well, you see.’
He must have been sorry. He could not have enjoyed doing it. Yet he did not regret it in the slightest.
‘We had no choice but to bring it down now, did we?’
Was it acceptable to burn the world to survive? How cruel could he become to protect his own life? He showed the answer through his actions.
This was not the only cycle in which ‘Pride’ had fallen. Whenever even a fragment of ‘Pride’ came down, the continent suffered tremendous damage. Sometimes they managed to defend against it, and sometimes they failed, but ‘Pride’ alone had never brought about the end of the world.
But when ‘Pride’ fell with malice behind it, that was the end.
‘We ran from the military state, then from the Lesser States. Nevida wants to use me as material to revive the King of Humanity, and the Empire wants to stuff me and get rid of the King of Humanity. Seriously, that isn't how a king of beasts works, but even if it were, there's no way I'd accept it quietly. Even if I die, I'm flipping the board over before I go.’
Gravity acceleration applied to the meteor. Wind magic that neutralized atmospheric resistance. Reinforcement alchemy carved into its surface. Countermeasures against attempts to intercept it.
After the floating castle fell, the remnants of the ruined Arcane Federation filled their second floating castle with thick malice and launched it. They found ‘Pride’ and its coordinates in the Demon King's secret arts, then fired it toward this land.
Yes. This was not a fall. It was a launch. The meteor launched by humanity's malice brought the world to its end.
‘Honestly, Shei, you gave up once in the middle too, didn't you? Didn't you keep going because you wanted to see how far I'd get?’
-No. I...
Had it shown? Shei trailed off.
This cycle, they had tried to contact the Empire quickly and settle things, but the Empire intervened even more aggressively. Using the seven vassal states, the patron merchant guild, and the master of Iron Valley, the Empire held a grand hunting competition across the continent.
The target was the self-proclaimed King of Humanity. He had to be captured alive.
It was a pursuit more dangerous and intense than any before it. They crossed the continent from southwest to northeast and passed through countless brushes with death. The two of them had killed thousands, while dozens had sacrificed themselves to protect them.
During the chase, he lost an arm, and Shei was badly slashed across the back, to the point that she could barely move her arm.
Shei silently vowed never to approach the Empire first again, then apologized regretfully.
-I'm sorry... I revealed your identity too early.
‘What for? I agreed to it too. And it wasn't your fault, Shei. You didn't say it with this in mind, did you? You did well. It's only natural to bet on a better outcome.’
He defended Shei sincerely. An ordinary person might have resented her, but he understood and sympathized with her circumstances more than anyone.
‘And that damned Empire... Well, I understand them too. They probably thought their hegemony and order would remain intact as long as the King of Humanity, who threatened the Emperor's authority, disappeared. They really do act without hesitation, just like a hegemonic power.’
Was he defending the Empire? Did the King of Humanity understand even the people of that Empire?
No. It was simply a means of defending himself. He glanced at the devastated land below and said,
‘So I hope they understand me too. Though it's too late for them to know now.’
* * *
Everyone was going around in circles. Afraid of the meteor? Don't want the world to end? Then get rid of the meteor.
There was a clear goal, so why? Why stop people from learning more? Why interfere whenever someone looked like they might climb Babel, without even telling them why?
Give me a break. That would only create more conflict. It was an outcome nobody wanted.
The meteor would fall anyway. Well, maybe it would never fall, if you kept finding and stopping people who tried to climb the tower to learn more, hiding the truth and deceiving them. Forever.
Hmph. Like that would work. You already knew, yet you wanted to stop someone else from learning? Did you think keeping secrets was that easy? The hardest thing in the world was keeping a secret.
“Lord Demon King. Come out.”
When I shouted into empty space, the Demon King appeared with a sense of wrongness. First, space stretched out, then his figure slipped through. Looking at me and the people standing behind me, the Demon King asked,
“Do you have some business with me?”
“Take off at once with every mage you can carry. You don't need the residents.”
“You need some commoners to handle menial work. I'll choose those who are young and talented. They may grow into mages someday.”
“We aren't going to do menial work. We probably won't need to.”
The Demon King's expression changed slightly. He considered my words for a moment, then looked over me and my companions with interest. I could not read his thoughts, but I immediately knew he understood what I meant.
“Oh. You intend to stop it? ‘Pride’?”
“Looks like we have to.”
The Demon King sounded surprised.
“You suddenly tore apart the scroll, so I thought you had reached another conclusion. For example, that you wished to board the ark before the competition to get aboard increased.”
“I might have done that if it came down to it. But we all still have attachments to the lower realm.”
“Then why didn't you finish preparing first?”
“So I could become a second Demon King and live forever carrying the secret like you? No, thank you.”
The Demon King had the ability to bring down ‘Pride.’ Simply put, he too had chosen not to bring ‘Pride’ down. Why? It was nothing special. He probably did not want to destroy the world.
“I saw it in Rene's relic. At the end, the meteor was supposed to fall as planned. Yet it still hasn't fallen. Who could have intervened? I can't think of anyone but you, Lord Demon King.”
“Saint Rene showed you that? It cannot have been a memory she was proud of. Did the dead saint have a change of heart?”
A faint sneer appeared on his face. Thinking about it, the Demon King had not seemed particularly fond of Saint Rene, even in Rene's memories. Perhaps it was because Saint Rene had ultimately caused Principia's death.
“If you intended to bring it down, you would have done so long ago. If you wanted to save it as a weapon, you would have kept this secret to yourself. Instead, you wanted to hand the weapon's switch to everyone. It wasn't a course of action that made sense by ordinary standards.”
The Demon King did not answer. Since I could not read his thoughts, it was difficult to judge.
What exactly was that? What was he wrapped in? I could guess the Demon King's intentions, but I did not know that final piece.
“You must have your reasons too, Lord Demon King. But whatever you intend to do, ‘Pride’ is still the problem. So we'll deal with ‘Pride.’”
“Are you confident?”
“Of course. If everyone here works together, it's possible. It would be nice if you helped too.”
No, honestly, it would not work without the Demon King. Even everyone else combined might not equal him alone.
“Do your best.”
“Huh. Don't you have any desire to contribute to world peace?”
“As you said, I have already done all I could. I twisted ‘Pride's’ trajectory and made it miss the planet for over a hundred years. I cannot do more, nor do I have the strength to do so.”
As expected, he was lukewarm. The Demon King of the past might have been different, but the current one did not seem willing to actively stop ‘Pride.’ That was probably why he had handed out all the scrolls.
Still, I needed the Demon King's power. I quickly signaled the Cyan Tower Master with my eyes.
“What are you doing? Try acting cute or something. A cute disciple acting sweet is probably better than me, isn't it?”
She was the only one here with a personal connection to the Demon King. She probably knew him better than anyone. Since I could not read his thoughts, I hoped she would say something that could serve as a trigger.
“Act cute? To my master? I'm not suited to that.”
“Like I am? I'm the person least suited to world peace.”
Overwhelmed by my forcefulness, the Cyan Tower Master groaned. Still, perhaps because I had already broken her spirit once, she soon changed her mind.
‘We need Master's help to stop the meteor. According to what Hughes explained, Master has been stopping the meteor's fall alone all this time... He talks like that, but he will definitely help us.’
The Cyan Tower Master had climbed the floating castle alone when she was very young. She had been a mage of extraordinary talent, and there had quickly been nothing left for her to learn. The Demon King taught her magic.
She learned magic quickly enough to rise to the position of Cyan Tower Master. But at some point, she imagined how dangerous it would be to wield gravity magic as a weapon, and was deeply shocked.
This world could break far too easily, and far too meaninglessly.
Elisha Celsius left her family. Not wanting to fight her older sister, she headed for the floating castle alone at that young age.
But what she learned at the floating castle was a power that might destroy the world. The Cyan Tower Master gave up learning more and devoted herself to her duties.
‘But Master could not have taught us for the world's destruction. He isn't that kind of person. If I believe what Hughes said.’
Logic flashed through the Cyan Tower Master's mind. She blurted out the realization that came to her.
“Master, you were trying to destroy ‘Pride,’ weren't you?”
The Demon King did not answer this time either. The Cyan Tower Master continued.
“The floating castle's defensive mage towers always point upward. The arcane fired from the five towers destroys meteors falling above the floating castle. The floating castle you entrusted to the Lord of Gold was meant for that purpose from the beginning.”
“Hmm.”
“And you taught us. You trained countless mages, including the other Tower Masters. You needed the strength to destroy ‘Pride’ too, didn't you? Isn't that right?”
Until now, even when the mages' fights grew somewhat violent, the Demon King encouraged them. He made them seek higher knowledge through fighting and debating with one another.
The Cyan Tower Master had seen that and given up learning, but now she understood. She understood what the Demon King wanted.
Everything became clear. Suppressing the shame surging up inside her, the Cyan Tower Master said,
“I'm sorry, Master. I was cowardly and foolish, so I couldn't trust you. I doubted your true intentions and gave up learning. But now I finally understand. Master, now I will carry on your will.”
The Demon King had faced the deaths of Saint Rene and Principia, yet carried on their will and prevented the meteor's fall. After a long time, he had finally met a disciple who understood him...
Was that the story? Tch. I didn't know. This scenario seemed fairly likely, so why did it not sit right with me? It felt as though I was missing something.
Even setting mind-reading aside, the Demon King's thoughts remained difficult to understand. He neither looked moved nor smiled. After staring thoughtfully at the Cyan Tower Master, he opened his mouth.
“There are no absolutes in this world.”
“Yes?”
“Do you understand what that means?”
What was that all of a sudden? There were no absolutes in this world? Was it some verbal habit?
“It's my favorite saying. Nothing is impossible in this world. There are no obvious truths or certain facts. Mix things together well enough, and there will always be a gap.”
“No obvious truths, is that what you mean? Not bad. But not good either. Your words sound nice, but you've missed the heart of it.”
Ugh. Such a harsh remark at a time like this.
Still, the Demon King nodded as though he was satisfied.
“Do as you please. It is my disciple's request and the King of Humanity's plan. I will help as far as my strength allows.”
Huh? Really? This easily?
His words immediately became reality.
The floating castle moved. It was a tremor I could feel even within the floating castle's artificial gravity. The Demon King was moving the floating castle from this spot through his power alone.
“It does not matter if you fail. The floating castle will remain safe. Show me everything you have prepared.”
Footnotes:
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