WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 705: Sword and Magic - 3

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The first thing to change was my sense of distance.

It felt as though the world had become curved. The area around us, space itself, suddenly warped. The Demon King had only unleashed his innate arcane, yet its mere aftereffects were enough to break the world.

"Listen carefully. This is my own way of showing respect to someone standing at one extreme of ignorance."

The Demon King. Academia.

He stood proudly amid the distorted space and continued his explanation.

"Even someone as foolish as you knows that planets orbit the center of the sun, yes? I trust you do. Otherwise, there would be no end to this explanation.

"A planet's orbital velocity is roughly thirty kilometers per second. That's eighty-seven times faster than the speed of sound. Considering that even the sword of a qi master renowned for speed barely surpasses the speed of sound, movement upon this land is truly insignificant."

There was no need to explain it to the Sword Saint. The Cyan Tower Master or I might have understood, but he was a qi master who had devoted his entire life to the sword. There was no way he knew magical theory.

Yet the Demon King continued.

To convey the wonder he had once felt.

"Yet the speed of light is three hundred thousand kilometers per second. Ten thousand times that distant speed."

Light flashed through the Demon King's mind. A speed so fast that the act of seeing did not even hold true. Only after it had passed did one realize it had arrived. It could not possibly be measured by ordinary means, but the curiosity-filled Demon King had eventually found a way to measure it.

"Now, think about it. We are traveling through the universe at thirty kilometers per second. Then the light fired from here should be thirty kilometers per second faster than light itself. Just as your sword becomes that much faster if you swing it from a moving carriage. That would be the intuitive conclusion, would it not?"

Even an outsider could easily understand the Demon King's explanation, and the Sword Saint grasped the rough idea as well. The Demon King nodded and went on.

"The expected difference was one ten-thousandth, but I created an instrument precise enough to distinguish even that. It made use of light's interference properties, but you would not understand the details, so I will omit them. In any case, I measured how much the speed of light changed. Do you know what result I got?"

It was an idea anyone might have conceived.

Yet it was an experiment no one had managed because of its many limitations.

The Demon King had succeeded first, uncovering nature's greatest and most fatal secret.

"It was the same."

Invariable.

The Demon King recalled the thrill and wonder he had felt then. At first, he did not understand. He wondered if the instrument was broken and struggled to find what he had missed.

But truth always repeated the same answer.

"At every moment, under all circumstances. The speed of light was the same. It was invariable, and absolute. Its value was always the same! Truth betrayed intuition!"

Filled with delight, the Demon King spread both arms wide.

"Truth lies beyond our perception and intuition. It does not matter if you cannot believe it or understand it. There was only one conclusion. The speed of light is absolute!"

The Sword Saint had listened to the Demon King's story in silence.

It was not that he was focused on the lecture. Unknown rules surrounding the space had bound him in place.

'Slow. Everything is.'

The Sword Saint concentrated on his body and sword as he spoke.

"What significance does that have?"

It was exactly the sort of response an outsider would make. The Demon King, overflowing with exhilaration, sensed the vast difference in their enthusiasm and rapidly calmed down.

"That's why you can't. If the speed of light is invariable, every physical quantity we have defined must change. Distance, mass, even time itself. They change form to conform to that truth."

It was beyond the Sword Saint's comprehension.

No, was it only him? Even celebrated intellectuals, mages, and scholars would need a long time to bring this truth within the realm of understanding. Even with mind-reading, I could not read quickly enough to keep pace with my own comprehension.

"I could tell you how they change... But you would not understand even if you heard it. Then learn with your body, as you always have."

The Demon King looked at the Sword Saint with regret and unleashed his innate arcane.

"Light is too fast, so I will only change it enough for you to understand. Now, take it."

Absolute Speed Control.

Subsonic.

My body slowed as though it had absorbed water. At the same time, the whole world stretched far away in straight lines. The wind and sound became sticky, while the sky turned pitch-black and nothing could be seen.

We had not moved even a step, yet the world swelled like a bubble, creating a distant void.

I had known the Demon King's ability was unusual, but his magic was not space magic.

It was speed.

More specifically, control over the speed of light, the world's limiting speed.

What he had wrapped around himself was not space. It was an area where speed had been severely restricted, which only created an effect that looked like expanding space.

His innate arcane pressed down upon our very existence. Anyone with qi techniques or innate arcane could at least protect their body with their own rules and endure.

But enduring was all we could do in this alien space. The Cyan Tower Master and Shei were barely staying alive.

The Sword Saint was no different.

"---."

'Is this a power that slows me down? Thread Cut.'

Even in this situation, he formed a principle and cut. His sword moved slowly, but surely, slicing through the domain surrounding him.

Nothing happened.

For the first time, I sensed bewilderment from the Sword Saint.

'My first time experiencing this. A strange feeling. It goes beyond being alien.'

He did not know.

Even the Sword Saint, who held principles in his hand, could not grasp this innate arcane. It was beyond intuition.

Beyond common sense.

"I have taught you everything. Overcome it, if you can. An Absolute Speed Bullet. The fastest object in this world."

Only the Demon King's voice remained clear amid all this.

In a space where everything had become unbearably slow, a sphere approaching absolute speed flew toward him. It alone was strikingly fast, overflowing with a dangerous presence.

The Sword Saint tried to move.

No matter how much strength he used or how hard he swung his sword, though, his speed would not follow.

'Interval Cut... No. There is no reaction.'

What had changed was not weight. It was the rule of absolute speed. Once the limit had been set, his sword speed could not reach it. The more strength he used to accelerate, the heavier his blade became.

'Vertical Cut... It is not a matter of direction either. What is this world?'

Even a principle could not twist the world entirely to one's will. He had to decide what he was cutting and what mental image he would manifest.

But in a world where common sense had collapsed, the Sword Saint could not find his bearings.

It would be too cruel to say he could not understand simply because he was a fool who had only trained his body. An ordinary person would not have understood either.

'As expected. He is worthy of calling himself the Demon King.'

There was no helping it. The Sword Saint decided to accept defeat for now. Rather than overcome this world, he focused only on himself.

'Middle Stance Cut.'

The Sword Saint took a middle stance.

It was a principle that returned him to the middle stance regardless of the situation or posture. Returning to the stance first carved into his body when he learned swordsmanship, he gently shook the tip of his sword.

'Center Cut.'

The vibration gradually grew stronger.

The swaying sword tip split the Absolute Speed Bullet in two.

It was incredibly powerful and heavy, but that did not matter. The Sword Saint's blade perfectly divided the bullet through its center. The Absolute Speed Bullet split in two, brushing past him.

A moment later, a massive explosion rose slowly, considering its scale.

"Hm?"

The Demon King tilted his head.

"Strange. That bullet has a structure that cannot be cut in such a manner. Can a qi master who has reached a principle truly force something so unreasonable?"

It was not an incomprehensible situation. No matter how mysterious and powerful the Demon King's innate arcane was, it remained innate arcane. It could overlap with another innate arcane, but it could not ignore one.

Principles were probably similar.

The Demon King shook his head and fired dozens of Absolute Speed Bullets.

"Let us see how long you can continue."

The Sword Saint opened his eyes wide and began cutting down every incoming Absolute Speed Bullet.

There was a speed limit within the Demon King's innate arcane. The Sword Saint had cut dozens of Absolute Speed Bullets at that slow speed. It was worthy of admiration, as expected of the Sword Saint.

But he soon reached his limit.

Before he could return to the middle stance, an Absolute Speed Bullet approached his side. No matter what he did, he was too late. The tip of his sword moved toward the bullet far too slowly. The bullet was already beyond any point his sword could reach within the speed limit.

And then.

It was cut.

The sword had not even arrived, yet the Demon King's Absolute Speed Bullet split in two.

"Mm?"

As the Demon King stared in disbelief, the Sword Saint still swung his slow sword.

It was belated.

The Absolute Speed Bullet had already been cut, but only then did he move his sword. When he placed it in the empty space, the blade trembled with a ting.

Only then did all of us understand.

"...Ha. This is absurd."

The sword had not arrived, yet it cut the bullet in advance. Then, as though repaying that cut, the Sword Saint swung his sword.

The bullet had not been cut because he swung the sword.

He swung the sword because it had been cut.

Cause and effect had reversed.

"He has determined the result of cutting."

"It is a preemptive cut."

"This is no longer within the realm of qi techniques or magic."

Even the Demon King was bewildered now. The other's realm had far exceeded his predictions.

The pinnacle of qi techniques.

The pinnacle of magic.

The two were completely different. They would never truly understand each other.

Yet in a sense, they resembled each other because they were opposites.

Interest returned to the Demon King's eyes. They gleamed with curiosity, wondering how far a principle could overcome.

"Absolute Speed Control. Photon Shock."

"Continuous Cut."

Countless lights flashed.

Light created in a world where absolute speed was restricted. It was a phenomenon close to the materialization of light. The Demon King had reproduced even the White Tower Master's innate arcane alone.

Facing that overwhelming destruction, the Sword Saint raised his sword. After swinging it through the air a couple of times to test its speed, he steadied his stance and prepared to cut down the Demon King's attack.

While those two fought a battle that shook heaven and earth, I desperately fled even in my slowed state and barely escaped the Demon King's innate arcane.

Footnotes:

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