WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 281: Episode 53: Demon King of Salvation (1)

──────

A photograph of two little baby angels blushing was stuck to a door. Gabriel's lips twitched as she looked at the nameplate, which read [Uriel☆].

[Hey.]

There was no answer, even after she knocked.

So she tried again.

[Hey, Uriel!]

When she knocked harder, a pained groan came from beyond the door.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire tells you to get lost.]

Gabriel frowned at the booming Indirect Message.

[You think I came here because I wanted to? I'm here because of a mission too.]

Gabriel huffed, as though even talking about it irritated her to death. It had already been two days since Metatron had assigned her that unreasonable mission.

She'd planned to slack off, but Metatron had beaten her to it.

─Gabriel, please receive the handover from Uriel first. And Jophiel, please make sure Gabriel doesn't idle around.

─Leave it to me.

Of all people, she had to be teamed up with that fussy Jophiel. At this rate, it would've been better to work with Uriel.

[You have the Demon King of Salvation's observation records, right? I'm here to get them. Open the door already!]

Rustling came from beyond the door.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire asks if you're really her successor.]

[Yeah, you ■head.]

Another thunderous Indirect Message rang out.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire says, ■■■■.]

[If you're going to insult me, why don't you come out and say it to my face?]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire asks if you're her only successor.]

[Me and Jophiel.]

A deep sigh came from beyond the door. A moment later, a slender hand slipped through the narrow gap.

Looking closer, Gabriel saw it held something between its pale fingers. She clicked her tongue when she realized what it was.

[...A USB? Who even uses this these days? Only humans use things like this.]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire warns you to take it and stop talking.]

As Gabriel accepted the USB, Uriel added one more thing.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire says this is a secret from the Red Cosmos.]

[From Jophiel? Why?]

Uriel only slammed the door shut without answering. All Gabriel could hear was the occasional sound of sniffling.

Gabriel was about to snap at her, but she pouted instead. They normally didn't get along, but seeing that demon hunter Uriel in such a state still made her worry for some reason.

[Hey, quit wallowing. Your confinement will be lifted soon enough. It's only three years...]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire shouts for you to get lost!]

[Even when this crazy ■ comforts you, you're still giving me ■ing grief.]

A while later, Gabriel opened the USB in her room.

And then.

[...What kind of mission did you even go on?]

Even as she muttered that, Gabriel couldn't take her eyes off the footage on the screen.

* * *

[The Constellation Lily Blooming in Aquarius is curious about you.]

[The Constellation Lily Blooming in Aquarius enjoys watching you.]

Jeong Huiwon frowned at the voice ringing out from the empty air. Now that Uriel was gone, an even stranger Constellation had latched onto her. That wasn't the only thing bothering her.

Huiwon stared at Kim Dokja, who was wandering around in the distance.

"...Why doesn't he say anything to me?"

"What do you mean?"

She whirled around and found Jihye pressed close beside her again.

"It's nothing."

"Why? What is it?"

"I said it's nothing."

"Are you thinking of joining the Kim Dokja Company nebula too, unni?"

Huiwon choked on the drink she'd bought from a street stall.

"W-what? No! The name is weird, too. It'd be embarrassing to tell anyone I joined a place like that."

"I'm looking forward to it. The company name is kind of lame, but it feels like I'll get to experience office life, so I'm excited. Do you think they'll pay us a salary, too?"

"Once you find out what office life is really like, you'll change your mind."

Jihye pouted.

"Anyway, I'm waiting for my chance to join, too. My master is there, after all."

"...Yu Junghyeok-ssi has already joined?"

"Dokja ajusshi said so. 'This is the nebula of Yu Junghyeok and me!'"

Of course, Kim Dokja had never said anything like that, but Huiwon reflexively looked up at the sky. The Indirect Message she'd expected never came. She felt strangely empty.

[The Constellation Lily Blooming in Aquarius dislikes the humor of the Incarnation Lee Jihye.]

Huiwon shook her head and watched Dokja busily dart around the plaza.

He'd been so busy for the last few days that she could barely catch sight of him. What could he possibly be working so hard on?

Huiwon lingered nearby, feeling inexplicably hurt, when Yu Sangah caught her eye. Sangah was sitting on a bench, blankly staring at the sky, and Huiwon happily waved at her.

"Sangah-ssi! Have you joined Dokja-ssi's nebula?"

Sangah looked up in surprise when she noticed Huiwon. What had this woman been thinking about for the past few days to seem so absent-minded...?

"Ah... I have some circumstances."

"Right, of course. It'd be difficult for you, Sangah-ssi."

Yu Sangah was an Incarnation of the Olympus nebula. Since she was in the special position of receiving support from the entire nebula, it would be difficult for her to join Dokja's nebula. After accepting their support, choosing another nebula now would obviously cause problems.

"We made an alliance agreement instead. Through me, a few Constellations have decided to form friendly relations with Dokja-ssi..."

"...Didn't all the Constellations of Olympus hate Dokja-ssi?"

"Not all of them do. Have you joined the nebula, Huiwon-ssi?"

"I'm still thinking about it."

Huiwon smacked her lips and turned back toward the plaza.

"Honestly, I'm not sure I'll join. There's the issue with my Patron, too..."

Huiwon made an excuse because her pride had been hurt for no reason, and Sangah smiled gently.

"If you join the nebula, Huiwon-ssi, it'll be a great help to Dokja-ssi as well."

"I want to help too, if I can."

Fortunately or unfortunately, she wasn't the only one caught in such a complicated situation.

At the center of the distant plaza, Lee Hyeongseong sat like a huge, sluggish dog. Beside him, Shin Yuseong and Lee Gilyeong crouched like baby cats. All three were staring at Dokja. More precisely, they followed after him every time he moved.

It was obvious what they were waiting for. Dokja was rather cruel to keep ignoring it until the end.

"...It looks like he hasn't said anything to them either."

Huiwon nodded at Jihye's words.

"He'll say it when the time comes. He's secretly the stubborn type."

What did it matter? Peace had finally come to their companions, and Dokja probably needed time to think about many things too.

If all they had to do was wait quietly like this, Huiwon could do it forever.

[The Constellation Lily Blooming in Aquarius watches you with satisfaction.]

[The Constellation Commander of the Red Cosmos is wary of the Constellation Demon King of Salvation.]

...With strange angels around, she wouldn't be bored for a while either.

Huiwon carelessly let herself relax.

Then,

it suddenly began.

* * *

"Really? There's absolutely no way to contact him, Auntie?"

"The channels leading to the Demon Realm are being blocked. As if some powerful barrier has appeared..."

Han Suyeong's expression gradually darkened at Lee Sukyeong's words.

She'd been summoning dokkaebis for a while now, but not a single one had responded. Suyeong blankly looked down at the bowl of water she'd used to divine with Fortune and Misfortune.

Misfortune, misfortune, misfortune, misfortune, misfortune, misfortune, misfortune, misfortune...

There were so many misfortunes appearing that she couldn't even count them.

"What the hell is about to happen?"

When Dokja had faced Great Misfortune, he'd been forced to confront one of Veda's Lokapalas.

But this many misfortunes... It was beyond Great Misfortune. It was enough to call it a flood of misfortunes.

Tzzzt.

The surface of the water trembled, and faint sparks began to leap from it.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon raises his head in alarm.]

"Black Flame Dragon?"

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon looks toward the 73rd Demon Realm.]

"Do you know something?"

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon lets out a threatening roar.]

Her bandaged arm throbbed, and sparks flew through the body synchronized with the Black Flame Dragon.

"Urgh, you bastard!"

The Black Flame Dragon's emotions passed directly into her. He'd never thrashed about this much, no matter what enemy he'd faced.

[The Constellation Two-Faced Expert bites their pale lips.]

[The Constellation Divine Doctor Guam drops their needle.]

[The Constellation Heoncheon Hongdo Gyeongmun Wimu Daewang quietly sets down their sword.]

[The Constellation Joseon's Greatest Sorcerer erases his presence.]

The Constellations of the Korean Peninsula were extinguishing their lights.

Like prey hiding before a predator.

Her bandaged arm kept stinging.

Suyeong brushed aside Lee Sukyeong's attempt to stop her and forcibly unwound the bandage. The Black Flame Dragon tattoo embedded there was glowing. Amid the crackling sparks, Suyeong's right arm wrote black letters in the air.

─The Catastrophe of Stars is coming.

"Catastrophe of Stars? What is that?"

The situation was urgent enough that the arrogant Abyssal Black Flame Dragon had to communicate his will himself. She could feel his determination to keep her from going to the Demon Realm, no matter what.

"Hey, don't try to scare me. You're just acting up for no reason again, right?"

It wasn't as though she'd only been fooled by the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon once or twice.

She didn't know what the Black Flame Dragon was trying to say, but Kim Dokja had even predicted Olympus's invasion of the Korean Peninsula. Maybe he knew about this situation too.

Even if something was coming...

With faint sparks, Suyeong's hand embroidered the air like a brush.

─The 73rd Demon Realm will be destroyed.

* * *

The first to notice the situation was the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

Reclining atop the industrial complex's defensive wall, she let the pipe in her mouth fall.

"...That bastard was right."

With that quiet mutter, the Sky-Splitting Divine Sword behind her shone brilliantly as it was drawn. Since gaining the name Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, she'd properly wielded this sword fewer than ten times.

The sword that had earned her the name disaster of the martial world.

Feeling its familiar weight in her palm, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint suddenly found it laughable.

Disaster.

What could be called a disaster?

To humans, a disaster was no more than a localized natural phenomenon. Things like landslides, tidal waves, and earthquakes. Massive phenomena humans couldn't even resist.

But Transcendents were beings who had long surpassed the limits of humanity. They could cause landslides and tidal waves with a single stroke of their swords, or calm them in turn. To them, disasters were nothing more than physical phenomena they could manipulate.

For Transcendents like the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, the word disaster had to mean something entirely different from what it meant to ordinary humans.

Perhaps she was facing that answer now.

Tzzzt!

Small sparks leapt through the air, and before she knew it, Kyrios was standing beside her.

An aura of [Electrification] was already billowing from Kyrios's body. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint slowly drew up her Mana as well. The two Transcendents looked together toward the distant edge of the sky.

Kyrios asked, "Is it that bastard after all?"

It wasn't visible yet, but something was approaching from there with an unmistakable presence. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint answered in a heavy voice.

"There's no doubt. It's the bastard that tried to devour the First Martial World."

The atmosphere was turning black. From beyond the universe that swallowed even light, something approached as it devoured scattered Plausibility.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried