WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 98: Death Comes Walking

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Death is often said to have no feet. No matter where one hides or how far one runs, it follows close behind. Even those always wary of death are caught without ever noticing it.

Lieutenant Colonel Callis's death, however, was clearly walking on two feet.

A boy pretty enough to be mistaken for a girl approached with unmistakable killing intent and the power to carry it out. With every step he took toward Callis, she drew closer to death.

Her survival instincts sounded the alarm.

"W-What are you doing? As an instructor of Tantalus, I was disciplining a trainee who refused to obey orders..."

Though she knew it would not work, the officer stammered out excuses to the approaching regressor.

Of course, they did not work.

"Actually, it doesn't matter if you don't let go. You're going to die anyway."

If she still refused to release it after hearing that, she would only be binding herself.

The officer threw the chain aside and staggered back. It clattered across the floor, and Azzy opened her eyes slightly. The chain was still wrapped around her neck, but Azzy paid it little mind. A chain pulling against her would not hurt her anyway.

She only watched the humans fighting each other with a hint of sadness.

Sensing that blood would soon fill the air, Azzy turned her head toward the darkness.

Unlike her, the immortal who did not fear death faced the approaching death with confidence.

"Hey there. Aren't you the boy who shamelessly liked men? Sorry to disappoint you, but the lieutenant colonel is a woman! Her attitude is so stiff that you must have mistaken her for a man!"

It was a pointless joke, but it did not work on the regressor in her current state. Once that switch had flipped, nothing remained in her heart but killing intent honed like a blade.

That killing intent could not be satisfied by death in this life alone.

It was the will to erase someone from every possible future, a more fundamental desire for destruction from a transcendent perspective.

"...Does it really have to come to this, boy?"

Even an immortal untouched by death could not smile before a presence that surpassed such killing intent. Keeping his body taut enough to spring away at any moment, the immortal watched the regressor.

They were now twenty paces apart. The regressor looked at the man blocking her way and spoke as though he were an inconvenience.

"You were better off when your limbs were detached. At least you weren't in my way then."

"Boy, you were better when you panicked and flailed around too. You were quite human then, but now you're... like an asura."

The immortal let out a hollow laugh. It was not because he was relaxed, but because he could feel the vast difference between them.

Even at this distance, her pace did not slow.

She could send blades of wind flying and unleash threatening attacks one after another from here, yet the regressor did not slow her steps. It was as though an immortal was not even an obstacle.

Step by step, neither slow nor fast, she came closer at an even pace, like an appointed time drawing nearer by the moment.

If she reached the officer, trembling under the weight of killing intent, in this state...

The immortal muttered, "Callis. Run."

This was the Abyss, the deepest dead end, with nowhere to flee in any direction.

Even knowing that, the immortal had no choice but to say it.

"Anywhere, quickly!"

The officer snapped back to her senses, nodded, and immediately ran. Urgent footsteps echoed through the corridor.

Watching her back, the regressor muttered, "You're better off not existing after all."

She drew back her arm. That was all she did, yet the wind filling the corridor was sucked into one place.

The immortal's faint smile vanished as he shouted in a voice more urgent than ever.

"Run!"

The next instant, the regressor aimed at the middle of Callis's back and thrust Skywarbler forward.

Heavenly Sword Technique, Shooting the Sun.

A single gust of wind blew. Compared to the tremendous buildup, the result seemed absurdly insignificant. A small, light sound drifted down the corridor, as though someone had merely blown a puff of air.

Still, its power was far too fierce to dismiss.

"Haah!"

The immortal moved at once, blocking the regressor's sword tip with his body. As expected, invisible sword energy pierced through him. It passed through his crossed arms, muscles, bones, lungs full of air, and out through the skin of his back in one stroke.

The immortal grimaced. Its penetrating power far exceeded his expectations. Crossing his arms and throwing himself forward could not stop such overwhelming force.

"Duck!"

As he shouted, the immortal twisted his body.

The sword wind passed through him and grazed the officer's cap. The military state's formal cap, a symbol of its authority, spun through the air. Staggering from the shock, the officer barely regained her balance before rushing up the stairs.

The regressor clicked her tongue.

"Tch. You twisted your body even then?"

"Ha ha. That was nearly a stunt, wasn't it? Still, it worked!"

As the sword wind pierced him, the immortal tensed every muscle and twisted his body. Since it passed through him at that moment, it was much like catching it with his entire body. As a result, even sword energy said to shoot down the sun was knocked off course, skimming over the officer's shoulder instead of taking her neck.

She had failed to kill Callis, but the regressor did not seem particularly disappointed.

"It only bought her a little time. This is the Abyss. No one can escape from here. The lieutenant colonel will die."

"Ha ha. Take it easy, boy. She was only under a little pressure."

"Being cornered is when one's true nature comes out."

"A person's nature is not just one thing, boy. Everyone has good and bad sides, like two sides of the same coin. In this place cursed by Mother Earth, in this dark and gloomy land, only her worse side has stood out!"

"Yeah. I understand."

The regressor gave a small nod and added, "So I'll kill the bad part. You can deal with the good part yourself... if you're still alive."

No one seemed capable of persuading the regressor. It did not even seem possible to stop her. Her anger also had a valid reason behind it, and the regressor herself had no intention of backing down.

Feeling helpless, the immortal spoke.

"Must you see blood, boy?"

Seeing the regressor's expression grow colder, he hurriedly added, "Ah, don't misunderstand! I mean my blood, of course!"

"What about you? Do you have a reason to protect the lieutenant colonel even if it means shedding your own blood?"

"Of course I do. She's my friend!"

The immortal declared it without a trace of hesitation. The regressor brushed back her hair in annoyance.

"I wasn't going to say this because it'd sound like I was fishing for credit, but it'll become troublesome if this keeps up, so I'll tell you. The lieutenant colonel wasn't the one who revived you. I was. Your cursed right arm was wasting away, so I stuffed it into a restorative potion made with World Tree leaves and regenerated it. It was a complete coincidence that it looked like the lieutenant colonel saved you..."

"Ha ha! I know! My right arm told me! I'm truly grateful for that, boy!"

"...Then why?"

The immortal answered without hesitation.

"Either way, she came intending to help me, and she had the ability to do so! Even if my right arm hadn't arrived at the right time, the lieutenant colonel would have helped me! So doesn't that make her my friend?"

"Haah. Fine. I get it."

The regressor let out a deep sigh, raised Skywarbler, and resumed walking. The immortal stretched his right foot far back and cried out bravely.

"Of course, I consider you my benefactor too, boy! I have no intention of being hostile! Ah! I'm not saying this beforehand because I think I'll lose!"

"Tch. Of all things, you're an immortal, so I can't even kill you... I guess I'll just blow you away and move on. Hoo."

"I may not be able to stop you, but I won't let you pass easily!"

As the regressor raised her hand, the immortal let out a strange cry and charged at her.

He was not trying to attack. He wanted to reduce the time the blades spent tearing through his body. The farther back he retreated, the longer he would be ravaged. He resembled light infantry charging straight at an advancing unit of heavy cavalry.

In the end, the immortal met much the same fate. As violent wind swept past him, his sturdy body fell apart in an instant.

In the literal sense.

* * *

'Escape. I have to escape.'

The Progenitor was indifferent to humans. The dangerous individual was currently getting along with the laborer without causing any trouble. The immortal had all four limbs torn apart, and the King of Dogs, their target, was friendly toward humans.

That was why Lieutenant Colonel Callis had judged this mission easier than expected. All she had to do was enter the Abyss, which was full of people indifferent to humans, and secure the King of Dogs. Unless something dramatic happened, Callis herself should be safe.

The fact that the laborer had brazenly survived until now was proof of that.

It had been a terrible misunderstanding.

'No. The moment I touched the King of Dogs, every one of them reacted.'

The laborer had interfered the moment Callis approached the King of Dogs.

The Progenitor had gone all out to protect the laborer and had even been willing to oppose the state for his sake.

When she approached the King of Dogs without their knowledge and put a chain around her neck, the dangerous individual had lost control and come to kill her personally.

'Everyone here is an enemy.'

That made this devastating news for the Lords of All Creation. They had proposed the operation with the casual expectation of retrieving an ownerless object. In reality, it was as difficult as walking into hell and stealing the King of the Underworld's treasure.

'Have they grown attached to her? Or did they discover who we are and decide to interfere? Either way, I have to report this. I have to tell them to cancel the operation. And...'

The situation was no longer manageable. She needed to escape to survive.

Abandoning a mission midway was unacceptable, but surely they did not expect Callis to succeed in this crack of hell. It would be better to plan for another chance than throw away her life.

Callis reached the fourth floor. Her breathing came hard. A military state soldier would not normally be out of breath from merely running up stairs, but her body, having just experienced death indirectly, desperately sought proof of life through ragged breaths.

Red hair clung to her face. Only then did Callis realize that the cap which always pressed down her hair was gone. It made her uneasy, but she should at least be grateful that her head was still attached.

Callis opened a hidden compartment in her belt and took out a packet.

'For communication.'

The military state's synchro-type magic golems were inventions of the century, but one could not resonate with them without a special innate magic. Ordinary people had to use communication facilities or return to more primitive methods to send news.

Like the brooch with four jewels that Callis now held.

'Break one for safe. Two means caution. Three means danger... And breaking all four means everyone present is a perfect hostile entity.'

Twin jewels made through special alchemy were designed so that when one broke, its counterpart would break as well.

They were single-use and useless without prearranged signals, but the secret society Lords of All Creation made full use of those traits.

'I have to assume even the Progenitor is hostile to us. Four jewels must be broken.'

Callis pulled the pin attached to the brooch. Instead of a sharp tip, it had a strangely heavy iron ball. She pulled it back all the way and released it. The iron ball sprang forward and struck a red jewel.

Crash. The sound of a jewel breaking echoed through the corridor.

'They told me to make sure I broke the jewels before escaping. They said only then could the people above prepare an escape route.'

One, two, three, four. The sounds of jewels breaking rang out one after another.

Having finished sending the message by breaking every jewel, Callis took out the final packet meant for escape. It was sealed more tightly than the others. Though her trembling hands kept slipping, Callis scratched at the knots with her nails.

That was when it happened.

『Loyalty. Lieutenant Colonel Callis. This is communications officer Captain AB.』

A small golem walked out of the cafeteria. It was the communications officer's synchro-type magic golem.

Callis flinched at the unfamiliar voice, but her expression brightened once she recognized who it was.

"Captain!"

She had been instructed to keep communications officers at a distance to conceal her activities as a member of the Lords of All Creation.

But now that she was trying to escape, even a communications officer was a valuable ally. Captain AB was the only ally who could relay the situation outside.

"Your timing is excellent. I am attempting to leave Tantalus. The trainees here are still too violent to be resocialized. Captain, help me..."

The golem's words cut her off.

『...The military authorities have approved a temporary suspension of Lieutenant Colonel Callis's authority.』

"What?"

She was so shocked that her hands stopped untying the packet meant to save her life. In contrast, the communications officer's voice remained flat and emotionless.

『It is said that you entered Tantalus by mistake, but that was also an error. The military authorities have decided to impose disciplinary action for that mistake.』

Disciplinary action. Even while facing death, that word struck Callis with a different kind of shock.

The military state's evaluations were strict. To reach Level 4, one could not have a single disqualifying mark. Having no mistakes was even more important than earning merit.

And now, disciplinary action. Callis protested.

"What, what do you mean? Didn't you say there was a problem with the orders? The orders I received said I was to supervise the supply process!"

『Even so, the Abyss is a Level 5 security facility. While you may have been following orders, we cannot help but question your entry into Tantalus without any confirmation.』

"I can explain. I can explain that part."

Callis spoke urgently, but the reply from the golem was coldly rigid.

『I am only conveying the information and hold no influence over the decision-making process. I recommend that you explain yourself to the investigation team that will arrive later. That is all.』

As though it had nothing more to say, the golem gave a brief salute and returned to the cafeteria. Strength left Callis's body.

How? Why had she risked her life to come all this way? The dream that had brought Callis here was about to vanish like a dream.

'No. I just have to escape.'

The Lords of All Creation had spread throughout the military state. Their roots reached everywhere, from the military to the administration. Once she returned, they would solve this problem. She only had to escape.

Callis gritted her teeth and undid the tightly bound knot.

The knot that had been tormenting her finally came loose. Callis hurriedly opened the packet and looked inside.

It was a packet with geometric patterns drawn across its square, rigid body.

'An equipment packet!'

An alchemical weapon that created simply structured equipment, such as daggers and shields. An equipment packet.

This had to be the means of escape. Callis immediately opened her bio-terminal and inserted the packet. The packet, which flowed through the Aki Avatar covering her entire body, began to take shape near her shoulder.

'How do I use this? Is there no other message?'

Callis looked inside the bundle for another clue.

A reverse-facing blade brushed across her neck.

Footnotes:

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