WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 125: Episode 24 — Something that Can be Changed (5)

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[The effects of demon's formation are greatly slowing your movements.]

[The effects of demon's formation are weakening your mental energy.]

Mental attacks were manageable as long as I had [The Fourth Wall], but the restriction on my movement was definitely a headache. I struggled against the binding and said,

“There’s no way someone like you could be the Leader. Tell me. Where is the ‘Serpent’?”

“I don’t know how you know about the ‘Serpent,’ but......”

Without another word, a powerful demonic aura began surging from his entire body as he gripped his staff.

“Right now, I am Japan’s king.”

Rumble.

Jet-black legs stretched out behind him.

[The Plausibility allocated to the Catastrophe has increased due to the Scenario effect!]

[The constellation A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster is partially reproducing its original power!]

My skin crawled as if hundreds of centipedes were climbing up my arms. Maybe I had forgotten for a moment just how powerful the true strength of beings who had become Constellations really was. Rabbit, turtle, or centipede, it made no difference.

[Warning! Do not antagonize the target before you!]

[A linked Main Scenario has activated!]

Category: Main

Difficulty: S

Clear conditions: Side with the small people and eliminate the renowned catastrophes attacking the planet ‘peace land.’

Time limit: 40 days

Rewards: 300,000 coins, ???

Penalty for failure: Destruction of peace land

* Renowned catastrophes discovered so far (0/2)

- King of Catastrophes, ??????

- Catastrophe that Dreams of Usurping, ??????

......Would you look at that?

[You have encountered the second Catastrophe!]

[The Catastrophe that Dreams of Usurping has revealed its identity.]

* Renowned catastrophes discovered so far (1/2)

- King of Catastrophes, ??????

- Catastrophe that Dreams of Usurping, Yamamoto Hajime (A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster)

[If you want to reject this Scenario, hunt the small people within 10 minutes. Otherwise, Star Stream will consider you to have no intention of acting as a Catastrophe.]

I bit my lip hard. The ‘Serpent’ wasn’t this one. It seemed the still-unrevealed ‘King of Catastrophes’ was the ‘serpent incarnate’......

I stretched out both hands and said,

“Can’t we just not fight? You aren’t my target.”

“Just die.”

Now I only had 10 minutes left. There was no helping it. If I didn’t have time to catch the ‘Serpent,’ then I had to take down the ‘Centipede’ instead.

[Warning! Catastrophe Yamamoto Hajime is not affected by the penalty.]

It really was an absurdly unfavorable fight.

[The Catastrophe that Dreams of Usurping can attack another Catastrophe.]

That meant if I attacked him, I would become a small person, but he could attack me without caring about that at all. With a thunderous roar, the soil all around us exploded upward. Hundreds of legs plowed through the ground as they came at me, intent on tearing me to pieces.

An attack that would be enough to inflict a fatal wound even if it only grazed me. On top of that, under the effects of [demon's formation], my footwork was getting slower and slower.

[The constellation A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster is increasing its synchronization with its Incarnation!]

Judging by the level of synchronization, it seemed A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster intended to score big in this Scenario and build up fables. It had risen from a spirit creature to the rank of a Historical-grade Constellation, so maybe now it was aiming even higher.

[Some constellations are displeased with A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster.]

[A constellation whose calling is sealing monsters of fable is watching you.]

But I couldn’t let that happen.

I ran straight at Yamamoto. Then I put away [Unbreakable Faith] and took out [Ganpyeongui].

“Attack!”

The clever Yamamoto pushed his subordinates out as meat shields. It was something he could do because he knew that if I killed even one of them, I would immediately become a small person.

To be honest, killing itself wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that if I killed the wrong person here, I might lose the effect of The King of No Killing as well.

Of course, in this Scenario, I was going to give up The King of No Killing.

But not now.

I couldn’t throw away an extra life just to kill someone like the Leader.

So the one who would fight here wasn’t me.

[The special option of Ganpyeongui, Echo of the Stars, has activated.]

[Through Echo of the Stars, you can request the aid of a Historical-grade Constellation.]

[Constellations may refuse your request, and if one accepts, the remaining uses of Ganpyeongui will decrease.]

When I turned the terrestrial plate, the constellations on the celestial plate blazed brilliantly.

[Historical-grade constellations hear your voice within the flow of stars.]

Without hesitating, I called the name of a single Constellation.

“I want the onmyoji of contradictions!”

The onmyoji of contradictions. There were countless onmyoji all over the world, but no one was better suited to exterminating spirit monsters of fable than this one. I had originally meant to call them when it was time to catch the ‘Serpent,’ so this was a shame.

“What? That bastard’s Patron constellation......!”

The half-yokai cried out at me in alarm when every trace of demonic aura around me vanished cleanly. But when no other change seemed to follow, they began creeping toward me again.

[Stigma, The Five Elements of Yin and Yang Lv.1, has dispelled the energy of demon's formation.]

They still didn’t know.

My attack had already begun.

“Be careful! Something’s coming!”

Riiip.

A sound like paper being cut rang out. The next instant, leaves began falling all at once through the empty air for dozens of meters around us.

“Get back! Those aren’t leaves!”

The severed leaves turned into shikigami soldiers through sorcery and clung to the monsters of fable. This whole area was a complete forest zone. Which meant the material for this Stigma was nearly limitless.

[Stigma, Shikigami Lv.1, is binding the movements of the caster and the monsters of fable.]

“Shikigami? An onmyoji?”

If [demon's formation] was a fatal Stigma to humans, [Shikigami] was a fatal Stigma to monsters of fable. Paper-doll shikigami. As long as I used this Stigma, the nearby inhuman species would be unable to move even a single step from where they stood. The one drawback was that I, the caster, couldn’t move either.

“Move! Move, damn it!”

Yamamoto stood among the panicking Japanese. The centipede legs that had been turning the surrounding ground into ruins were now pinned down by hundreds of shikigami. Yamamoto muttered as if impressed.

“......Seimei? Remarkable. So you chose a Constellation with the blood of monsters of fable as your Patron constellation.”

The onmyoji of contradictions, Abe no Seimei.

Japan’s strongest sealer of monsters of fable.

[The constellation A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster glares at the onmyoji of contradictions.]

[The constellation A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster warns you not to interfere with its proceedings!]

My Stigma-infused hands trembled violently. I could feel an enormous amount of Mana draining out through the Stigma. At this rate, I could maintain it for only a minute or two at most.

Realizing that nothing he did could break the shikigami’s bind, Yamamoto glared at me.

“You’ve got some tricks, but you can’t move either. Once your Mana runs out, you’ll die.”

I grinned.

“We’ll see about that. Grandma, now!”

At my words, Grandma, Prisoner No. 406, who had been sitting on the back of my left hand, began to move. Then, as if by magic, her body started rapidly growing larger.

“Wh-what is that?!”

The truth was, Grandma had never been turned into a small person in the first place. Because she had entered already as a small person. It was thanks to the Taoist spell cast by Jeon Woochi, one of Mother’s subordinates.

“Don’t panic! She’s just an old woman!”

A handful of Incarnations who hadn’t been caught in the shikigami bind stepped in front of Grandma to block her path. But Grandma merely chuckled as she approached them.

[The character Lee Boksun has activated the skill Respect for the Elderly Lv.7!]

[All Incarnations younger than Lee Boksun feel respect toward her.]

“Damn it, what is this......!”

As if they were giving up a seat on the subway, the Incarnations hesitated and stepped back.

Of course, it wasn’t by choice.

“Heh heh, thank you, young people. But there’s no need to yield.”

Using the wide-open road as her stage, Grandma stomped her feet. The arm she lightly raised, as if balancing on a tightrope, traced a beautiful curve.

[The character Lee Boksun is preparing the Stigma invocation rite Lv.2!]

That Stigma was exactly why I had brought Grandma along.

[The constellation the Shaman King looks at its Incarnation with an annoyed expression.]

Her Patron constellation was the Shaman King, Namhae Chachaung, the second king of Silla and a shaman.

“Come on now, just help me this once!”

Namhae Chachaung was a high-ranking Constellation, but he never stepped in to fight personally. Instead, he had passed down one astonishing authority to his Incarnation, and that was [invocation rite]. A cheat-level Stigma that allowed the user to borrow another Constellation’s power through spirit descent. In other words, that grandma had effectively become a living [Ganpyeongui].

“Now then, which spirit should I call this time......”

Grandma’s movements grew faster and faster. Several stars were twinkling as if calling out for her to summon them. But even if the opponent was completely defenseless, it would still be hard to finish things quickly with the descent of a middling Constellation.

On top of that, the other side had high synchronization with its Patron constellation thanks to the Scenario buff. Knowing that, Yamamoto’s expression was relaxed.

“Foolish. It won’t matter which Constellation’s power you borrow. Unless you bring in a fabled-grade Constellation, that is.”

Certainly, [invocation rite] was an excellent Stigma, but it couldn’t summon a Historical-grade Constellation or anything above that.

“Centipede, shall this old woman tell you an old story?”

“What nonsense are you trying to pull......”

“Once upon a time, there was a village. A kind young maiden lived there, and she fed even the toad that came into her kitchen.”

Grandma’s footsteps, which had been light and gentle, grew heavy. With every step she took, the ground sank deeper and deeper.

Crrrack.

Grandma’s body was growing larger. Her once-thin forearms thickened, and the muscles all over her body began to swell.

“Then one day, that frail young maiden was offered up as a Sacrifice for the village. You see, that village had the unusual custom of holding rites for a centipede.”

I knew what old story Grandma was telling. It was "Centipede Market Fable," one of Korea’s famous folktales about animals repaying kindness. And the Constellation Grandma had just called was the protagonist of that very fable.

“Wait! Stop her! You have to stop her!”

Maybe he finally realized something was going wrong, because Leader Yamamoto shouted. Lee Hyeongseong stared blankly, mouth hanging open, at Grandma’s bulging muscles. Even then, Grandma’s story continued.

“At last, the poor maiden arrived where the centipede was.”

When Grandma finally reached him, she grabbed Yamamoto’s head tightly in both hands and smiled. Grandma’s face was gradually changing. Horror flashed across Yamamoto’s expression.

“Th-that ability...... your Patron constellation, don’t tell me......!”

Constellations with famous fables were powerful. Especially when the situation itself was tied to that fable.

“But would you believe it? The animal that came to save the maiden was there. The very toad she had fed.”

Prisoner No. 406, Lee Boksun.

[The constellation Toad of the Centipede Altar puffs up its cheeks in delight.]

The Constellation that had descended into her was Toad of the Centipede Altar, the protagonist of "Centipede Market Fable."

Pazzzzt.

Stage Transformation.

A phenomenon that occurred when the Incarnations of related Constellations met.

It lasted only an instant, but the scenery around us warped, painting the landscape of a damp cave. The red fire spewed by the giant centipede and the blue fire spewed by the toad were colliding. The burning centipede altar of Ogongwon.

“U-uaaah......!”

This was where A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster had died.

“N-no! Damn it! Kill this old woman!”

Yamamoto screamed in terror. But the shikigami’s bind held firm, and Grandma’s hands never let go of him. Grandma smiled.

“And so, what happened was this.”

A clash between Constellations of the same rank didn’t end quickly. But it was different when their historical compatibility had already been decided. Especially in a place where Stage Transformation had occurred, the compatibility between Constellations was absolute.

[Due to the effects of Stage Transformation, The Blue Flame of the Toad has regained its original power.]

[Due to the effects of Shikigami, the attack power of The Blue Flame of the Toad has increased by 300%!]

Blue hellfire poured from Grandma’s throat, swollen like a toad’s. Just like the day the toad of Ogongwon defeated the centipede, the flames she spewed like a storm struck Yamamoto’s head head-on. A vicious heat fierce enough to melt even bone fragments. Yamamoto let out a scream as if he were being torn apart.

[The constellation A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster is requesting help from other constellations!]

[The constellation A Millennia-Old Hundred-legged Monster screams and glares at the Incarnation Lee Boksun!]

Even the screams were swallowed by the hellfire as every centipede leg extending from Yamamoto melted away. Yamamoto’s body shook in agony. And after how much time had passed? The torrent of fire gradually died down, and after puffing out smoke several times as though she were smoking a cigarette, Grandma coughed and said,

“The moral of this story is......”

When Grandma slowly released both hands, Yamamoto’s head, charred black and nearly impossible to recognize, slowly tipped to one side. The birdcage he had been holding dropped limply toward the floor. With a small cry, Grandma caught the birdcage and blew out the flames clinging to it.

“Asleep or awake, watch out for fire.”

Footnotes:

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