WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 368: Episode 69: Archangel Hunt (3)

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It was an old memory.

"Scribe, how long do I have to repeat this war? A war with no victor in the end..."

He couldn't remember when, or in which round, he had asked that question.

"Michael. Don't think too deeply about it."

In his memories, Metatron had always smiled like that.

For hundreds of years, perhaps thousands.

Since a time beyond even his memories, Metatron had existed with that same smile.

"Focus on hating the evil before you. That is your Scenario."

My Scenario.

How long had I been hunting demons?

Long ago, Michael had forgotten his own birth.

[The power of the Fruit of Good and Evil is running rampant.]

Memories were always unreliable.

What came to mind were the final words of the Demon Kings he had killed.

"How lamentable, pitiful apostle of Eden. Must it truly come to this?"

The former ruler of the 21st Demon Realm.

"Ahahahahat! You are the same as us! Metatron has finally gone mad!"

The former ruler of the 9th Demon Realm.

"Which Michael are you?"

The former ruler of the 4th Demon Realm.

Beyond the faces of Demon Kings whose names he had forgotten, he saw his fellow Archangels who had died at his side.

"Michael, come to your senses. Please... This isn't right."

Angels and Demon Kings.

The fragmented faces scattered into tens of thousands of puzzle pieces before forming one immense image again.

Good and evil, opposed throughout countless ages.

Metatron, who had endured all those years, was smiling with the same expression he had worn thousands of years ago.

"There is only one thing you must be careful of. Whenever you use this power, never..."

[The power of the Fruit of Good and Evil is running rampant!]

As his memories were swept away all at once, Michael was overcome by terrible pain, as though his mind were being torn to shreds.

Aaaaaaaah!

All the good in the world was screaming. Grass, trees, insects, every kind of good dwelling within all things broke into sorrowful cries.

[You have unleashed a lethal attack on a target of absolute good alignment!]

[The fable Evil That Destroys Evil howls in grief!]

[You have broken a taboo!]

[A terrible penalty has been imposed on you!]

The bloodied gray angel smiled at Michael.

* * *

The moment I bit into the Fruit of Good and Evil, the landscape changed.

[You have consumed the forbidden Star Relic Fruit.]

[You are a Demon King.]

[The power of the Fruit of Good and Evil whispers the secret of absolute good alignment to you.]

A message rang in my ears amid a tremendous storm of Mana.

[You have experienced every aspect of good and evil!]

[You have achieved an impossible achievement!]

[You have gained the possibility of a new fable!]

[The Star Stream is astonished by your achievement.]

[The Star Stream is considering your second modifier.]

It was the sensation of a Constellation, something I hadn't felt in a long time since becoming a Demon King.

[Demon King Transformation has ended.]

[The Star Stream has fully restored your Constellation.]

A brilliantly shining star appeared in the pitch-black sky.

It was my star.

[Angel Transformation has activated.]

My body shone brightly under the starlight. The feathered wings that had been dyed black bleached pure white, and the demon horns growing from my head faded away. Gentle, clear energy filled my entire Incarnation body.

But I wasn't given time to enjoy the Status of an angel.

[Judgement Field], now shrunk to the size of my body, was crushing my entire body.

Krrrunch!

My newly sprouted wings crumpled in terrible pain.

My limbs, unable to withstand the pressure of the zone, twisted horribly.

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth protects you.]

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm protects you.]

I barely endured the immense force threatening to crush me with the power of my Great Fables.

[The Fourth Wall protects your mind!]

[Second-generation Plausibility weakens the ability of The Fourth Wall!]

Lightning struck through my head several times. I felt like I would lose consciousness at any moment, and my vision darkened before returning.

Still, I endured. I had to.

Only then could I seize the one chance that would soon come.

「The King of Fallen Angels is strong against evil, but he has one weakness.」

The power of [Judgement Field] squeezing my body was gradually weakening.

The only weakness of that terrifying monster who destroyed absolute evil.

「The King of Fallen Angels cannot attack targets aligned with good.」

If he broke that rule and attacked good...

Krrrack!

[Judgement Field], the absolute Stigma capable of crushing even Demon Kings, was breaking apart.

Like a moth escaping its cocoon, I shattered the barrier and spread my wings.

Michael sat on the ground, clutching his head in both hands as he screamed.

[The Demon King King of Fallen Angels writhes in pain!]

This was my only chance.

"Anna Croft!"

At my call, the blonde woman ran toward Michael's back.

Her eyes burned red. Having read something through future vision, she charged forward while releasing all her Status.

I gathered every bit of my remaining strength in my legs and shot forward as though falling.

Normally, even if Michael had become helpless, it would have been impossible to kill him with this much power.

But this Island was different.

[The character Anna Croft has activated Sword Aura Lv. 9!]

As though we had planned it, Anna continuously fired streams of energy from the tip of her dagger.

I gripped Unbreakable Faith with my ruined right arm.

[The Fable Fragment Right Arm of the Poor Sword Master has activated!]

I never expected the fable I had acquired through Lamarck's Giraffe to help me like this.

[Second-generation Plausibility strengthens your talent!]

The Mana of exploding White Pure Star Energy surged more than ten meters from the tip of Unbreakable Faith.

The sword I could barely hold level cut halfway into Michael's left neck. At nearly the same time, Anna's dagger sliced through the right side of Michael's neck.

Blood sprayed into the sky.

Michael's head flew through the air.

[You have defeated the 176th Incarnation body of the King of Fallen Angels.]

[You have acquired a Mythical fable.]

[The Star Stream is astonished by your achievement!]

[You have fulfilled the Fake Revelation.]

[You have achieved an unbelievable achievement!]

[You have acquired a fable whose grade cannot be displayed.]

[You have acquired the fable Architect of Revelations!]

Along with the messages, the consciousness I had barely held together scattered.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I had been thrown into a pure white space.

A single sentence appeared in the air.

「One who eats the Fruit of Good and Evil sees the truth they had turned away from.」

Where was this?

Before I could ask, scenes appeared across the wall to my left. They were scenes from TWSA.

Yu Junghyeok and his companions clearing Scenarios.

It was the world of TWSA before I existed. His companions were there, slaughtering enemies without yielding to any hardship.

[The Fruit of Good and Evil says, "That story was your life too, wasn't it?"]

I nodded.

That story was my life. I had grown up reading it.

[The Fruit of Good and Evil says, "But this was undoubtedly your life as well."]

The right wall rippled, and a new screen appeared.

A boy who looked around fifteen was typing on a keyboard while staring at a monitor.

"What's going to happen to Junghyeok now? He isn't going to die again, is he?"

Junghyeok's 164th round.

I was in my third year of middle school, admiring Lee Jihye as I wrote that comment.

"Ah... Seriously... I don't want to keep eating sweet potatoes."

Junghyeok's 488th round.

I was in my second year of high school, the same age as Kim Namwoon, writing that comment.

...

As Junghyeok's rounds passed, I grew older too.

I grew a beard as I watched him die, and graduated high school as I watched his sacrifices.

Then, as I watched his story again...

"Can we just kill that guy this round?"

I had written comments like that too?

"The story's going nowhere, so let's just regress already."

Junghyeok's 862nd round.

I had become a university student and was tapping away at a keyboard.

"Junghyeok will die again this time too, right?"

The things I had said were displayed there.

The words I had thrown out, making excuses that life was hard and I was tired, rose intact in my mind.

"Please skip the early Scenarios now. They're boring."

I couldn't say anything.

[The Fruit of Good and Evil says, "That is the value of the story you spoke of as though it were your entire life."]

My fingertips trembled.

Junghyeok fought on the left wall, while I watched him on the right.

Then, on the central wall, I saw myself looking up at the stars in the sky.

「"Watch as much as you want. In the end, the admission fee you pay will be your lives."」

[The Fruit of Good and Evil says, "Do you truly have the right to speak of ■■?"]

My words continued to appear across the screen.

「"Yu Junghyeok, I know a future you don't."」

「"Junghyeok, we can save the world. You know that, right?"」

「"I'll bring your story to an end."」

It was a shameless voice, one without even the slightest hesitation.

[The Fruit of Good and Evil says, "You have lived by thoroughly deceiving every world with a story only you knew... Do you deserve salvation?"]

Something broke deep within my heart.

The world was shaking.

[The Fourth Wall glares at the Fruit of Good and Evil!]

[The Fruit of Good and Evil flinches in surprise.]

Tzzzzzzt!

A storm of Plausibility covered the surroundings.

As I staggered, someone shouted at me.

「(Dokja-ssi! You need to move now. Michael is still...)」

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I was leaning against the wall of a cave.

"If you hadn't woken up after one minute, I was planning to leave you behind."

The blonde woman looked down at me. Her abdomen and chest were tightly wrapped in bandages, while her wounded thigh was covered in crushed herbs.

Warm liquid flowed into my mouth. It tasted bitter and metallic.

The moment I came to my senses, I realized what the liquid was and jolted.

Anna had cut open her own palm and was feeding me her blood.

"What..."

Anna calmed me with one hand and explained without the slightest hesitation.

"I have the Attribute Elixir Maker. My blood contains the beneficial effects of all the elixirs I've consumed so far."

"If I drink too much of this blood, I'll become your Subordinate."

"That only happens when your Status is lower than mine."

Anna stopped the bleeding from her palm and turned her head.

It was Night outside. I couldn't sense a single presence.

After taking a slow, deep breath, I asked, "What happened to Michael?"

"He's dead. Or rather, I don't know if I should call it death..."

"Was his Incarnation body covered in black mist?"

"How did you know?"

I wanted to explain, but the pain pressing down on my head made it difficult to recall TWSA.

Michael probably wasn't dead. More precisely, he had died, but he would come back to life.

The two moons, symbols of second-generation fables, hung outside the cave.

Perhaps she had fed me quite a lot of blood. Anna's face, stained by the dim moonlight, was pale.

"You could've just left me behind."

"I only thought that if I saved you, I might gain a fable like 『The Prophet Who Repaid a Favor』."

Anna must have known that fables like that weren't made so easily.

A sudden sense of resistance rose in my heart. The Anna Croft I knew wasn't like this. She was a thorough cold-blooded person who didn't hesitate to sacrifice precious Companions for the greater cause.

She should have been, at least...

"You'll be able to move in a few hours."

But was the information I knew really all there was to Anna Croft?

「Anna Croft is an Incarnation of absolute good alignment.」

I didn't know why I was thinking such things. Maybe eating the Fruit of Good and Evil had made me think too much.

I spoke almost like a sigh. "Let's part ways here. You've gathered all your modifier letters too."

"It doesn't matter to me, but are you sure?"

"I don't know who's worried about whom. Even if you hadn't taken care of me, I wouldn't have died. My injuries weren't serious enough to kill me."

"No, you would have died if I had left you alone."

She said, "You died," not "You would have died." I knew when Anna spoke like that.

"You can't read my future."

"That was true until recently."

[The Exclusive Skill Lie Detection Lv. 7 has activated!]

[You have confirmed that this statement is true.]

"Since yesterday, I've suddenly started seeing bits of your future. Something beyond a faint wall..."

She could see my future?

"What future did you see?"

"...You're better off not knowing."

"Tell me."

Anna's Arch-Demon's Eyeball glowed ominously.

Anna let out a small sigh before slowly opening her mouth.

"Twelve hours from now, Supreme King Yu Junghyeok will kill you."

Footnotes:

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