Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 384

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 384: Episode 73: The Hottest Place in Hell (3)

──────

As if they had been waiting, gazes poured down from the sky.

[The Constellation Bald Army General agrees with your words.]

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God nods at your words.]

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband mutters that there was no need to say the obvious twice.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon urges you to hurry up and punch that old fart.]

At Abyssal Black Flame Dragon's words, Fengbaek shot an incredulous look at the sky.

He had been about to say something, but then flinched at the Indirect Message that followed.

[The Constellation Goryeo's Top Swordsman believes that the Demon King of Salvation is right.]

Fengbaek's head snapped toward Junkyung.

[Junkyung, even you...!]

Junkyung avoided his gaze, seemingly embarrassed.

Honestly, it was unexpected.

Even if it was declining, Hongik was still the Korean Peninsula's main nebula.

In that situation, it couldn't have been easy for Junkyung to defy Hongik's wishes and take my side.

[Multiple Constellations are interested in the clash between Kim Dokja Company and Hongik!]

Perhaps because of Junkyung's declaration, I could feel the Constellations focusing on me. Some were wary of me, sensing a new wind blowing through the neutral zone.

I looked at Fengbaek.

"Will you continue?"

Seeing his eyelids tremble violently, I honestly didn't feel at ease either. I had spoken as if condemning Hongik earlier, but I knew Fengbaek hadn't completely abandoned the Korean Peninsula's Scenarios.

He was the Constellation who had lent my mother a hand during the Returnee War, though, damn it, he had taken every last bit of my mother's lifespan in return.

Maybe that was why I was so angry.

[The wind will not forget what happened today.]

After glaring at me for a long time, Fengbaek snapped his folding fan shut and vanished like dust.

[A considerable number of Constellations admire your spirit!]

[Some Constellations remember that Kim Dokja Company is no empty name.]

[The gossips of the Star Stream record this incident.]

Yu Junghyeok, Han Suyeong, Jeong Huiwon, Lee Hyeongseong.

Everyone was watching me, but none of them looked afraid.

They were probably all thinking the same thing I was.

It didn't matter how others saw our nebula or what they thought of it.

We would simply move toward the story we believed was right.

[A choice worthy of a descendant.]

Junkyung, who had been watching us, spoke.

[Constellations will like and follow you because of that side of you. In fact, many Constellations of the Korean Peninsula are paying more attention to you than Hongik now. But just as many have become hostile to you.]

I became newly aware of the gazes around us.

Some Constellations glared at us, while others looked at us with envy. Others shook their heads as if to say that we would become just like them in the end.

「We were once like you, too.」

The fables the Constellations had lived through felt close enough to touch.

[Old Great Fables look upon the fables of Kim Dokja Company.]

Every fable was proof of overcoming a Scenario.

Times that had once been someone's amusement.

Every fable that had made it this far had bent itself to survive. They had compromised with the reality of the Star Stream, accepted the demands of Constellations and dokkaebis, and prolonged their lives. That was how they had finally reached this place.

As if speaking for those times, Junkyung said.

[The Star Stream hates stories that refuse to bend. Pure stories like yours, even more so.]

The corners of my mouth twitched.

It was surprising that the world saw us that way.

Because those words denied every path we had walked so far.

"We've already bent dozens of times."

Kim Dokja Company had never stood securely on both feet from the beginning.

Since the Korean Peninsula's Scenarios began, we had endured the Constellations' mockery and baseless hatred to get here.

"But we got back up every time. That's why we're here now."

For people like us, being called pure was closer to an insult.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm looks at you calmly.]

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth swallows a harsh cry.]

As if agreeing with me, the two Great Fables responded.

"We'll get back up again, as many times as it takes."

[A third Great Fable, currently sprouting, has begun to stir.]

And there was the third Great Fable, soon to awaken.

Junkyung slowly nodded as he looked at us.

[I will watch your story.]

With those words, Junkyung turned around. The Constellations of the Korean Peninsula following him also glanced our way before disappearing.

Junkyung had surpassed the Historical grade and become a fabled-grade Constellation.

He had existed as a Constellation far longer than I had, and he was a born fighter. If we could bring him onto our side, he would be the best ally we could have.

Of course, that was only if we could fight on the same side.

Perhaps because I had been posing for too long, Suyeong, standing beside me, tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, anyone watching would think you're the protagonist."

Feeling awkward, I looked toward Junghyeok, but he wasn't looking at me. He was staring at the distant horizon.

"It's begun."

[A Scenario event has occurred!]

[A local battle of the Great war of Angels and Demons is scheduled near this area!]

At the system messages, the neutral Constellations and Incarnations who had pitched camps throughout the area jumped to their feet in alarm.

[An alignment option will appear if you intervene in the conflict zone!]

Two powerful forces were advancing in the distance.

Angels with pure white wings, wearing dazzling armor, led Incarnations and Reincarnators as they dyed the plains silver.

On the other side, Demon Kings stained by turbid energy and demonic energy charged forward with their followers.

[An updated Main Scenario has arrived!]

Category: Main

Difficulty: Impossible to measure

Clear Conditions: Choose either the absolute good alignment or Absolute Evil and participate in the Great war of Angels and Demons. As each alignment accumulates victories, its good and evil score will increase. Once one alignment's score exceeds 100, the outcome of the war will be decided.

Time Limit: This Scenario's time limit is affected by the chaos score.

Reward: A Great Fable related to the Great war of Angels and Demons, ???

Failure: Death

[Great war of Angels and Demons Progress]

Absolute Good Alignment Score: 56

Absolute Evil Score: 56

Chaos Score: 51

\ The chaos score increases as the Great war of Angels and Demons* continues.

[You must choose an alignment to participate in this battlefield.]

[The earlier you choose an alignment, the greater the Scenario reward.]

We fell silent for a moment as we read the Scenario.

Suyeong spoke first.

"Kim Dokja, what should we do? Same as always?"

[The Constellation Scribe of Hell says that the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis...]

"That guy's really loud for someone babbling about words he didn't even say himself."

[The Constellation Scribe of Hell flinches and shuts his mouth.]

The Scribe of Hell was Dante, author of the Divine Comedy. And Dante's famous quote had actually been adapted by a politician from a later era.

Still, since the saying had made him famous, Dante had probably accepted it as his own fable.

「The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.」

It sounded like a good saying. Though I didn't know what meaning it had in a world where even moral choices became someone's amusement.

"We have to choose this time. We can't keep finding clever ways out forever."

Either way, regardless of Dante's words, we had reached a crossroads where we had to choose one of two options. We couldn't participate in this Great war of Angels and Demons without choosing either good or evil.

Junghyeok, who had been looking at the messages, said, "The Great war of Angels and Demons in the 1,863rd round ended in evil's victory. Suyeong sided with evil."

"Why is it me again? And this isn't the 1,863rd round."

Suyeong was right.

This wasn't the 1,863rd round. This was the world of Kim Dokja Company in the third round.

"Let's go."

In the distance, I could see the fierce battlefield where the forces of good and evil clashed. One of the countless battlefields in this vast Great war of Angels and Demons had just opened.

[The 113th local battle of the Great war of Angels and Demons has occurred!]

[The list of participants in this local battle has been revealed.]

And at the front lines of that Great war of Angels and Demons stood a Constellation I knew well.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire is participating in this Scenario.]

* * *

"Sp-spare me, please."

Stab!

"Archangel, please...!"

Groans echoed from all around.

Incarnations who had chosen evil at the crossroads were having their heads severed by the Archangels' swords.

This was a war of fables.

Simply belonging to one side's fable meant being completely excluded by the other.

Leaving the fallen Incarnations behind her, Uriel stared at the battlefield with an expressionless face.

Archangel Uriel had once pitied them. She had felt sorry for the Incarnations being swept up and consumed by a great narrative, and she had been enraged by the misfortunes they suffered. She had been that way for quite a long time. There had even been a time when that was all her life consisted of.

‘...I need to catch up on the Star Stream broadcasts I've missed.’

Uriel bit her lips as she watched the Demon King army surge toward her.

Being born to spread good didn't mean she could spend her whole life doing only that.

What ate away at a Constellation wasn't a threat to the body, but the erosion of the mind. Emotional labor lasting through countless ages had brought Uriel a deep disillusionment with the world itself, along with profound madness.

[The soul of the Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire wavers unsteadily.]

Whether strong or weak, no Constellation can be safe within a Scenario.

A Scenario was that kind of system from the very beginning.

Whooooom.

To forget that they too were being consumed by the Scenarios, and to survive one more day, Constellations consumed other fables. They watched Scenarios like voyeurs, became angry at someone, hurled criticism, admired someone, or were moved.

Archangel Uriel was no different.

[■■■■■ Get lost! Because of you, I missed the live broadcast!]

The Demon King's followers burned to ash in the [hellfire inferno] that burst from Uriel's sword.

She hadn't properly controlled the power she unleashed in her urgency. It also had a lot to do with the fact that she had rushed into battle after summoning only half of her true body.

[Demon Kings participating in the local battle are astonished by the Archangel's power!]

Even with only half of her true body manifested, she was Archangel Uriel.

Ordinary Demon Kings were no match for her.

[The Demon King Lord of Stars and Logic spews their Status!]

[The Demon King Grand Duke of Dragons and Stench has opened a Great Fable!]

[The Demon King Demon King of Sonic Speed lets out a bloody cry!]

[The Demon King Yejegong is consumed by excitement and madness!]

The problem was that the Demon Kings who had entered this battle were no ordinary opponents either.

Uriel's expression hardened as she watched the Demon Kings approach through her [hellfire inferno].

[The mad Archangel is right in front of us!]

[Do not fear! I, Demon King Buer, stand with you!]

The Demon Kings originally scheduled to join this local battle weren't the ones before her. But the Demon King army had suddenly changed its deployment, and Uriel was now forced to deal with them alone.

[■■■s! Get lost!]

Arrows packed with demonic energy covered the battlefield, and Uriel activated [hellfire inferno] like a barrier to block them. As she protected the low-grade angels retreating in panic, arrows had already lodged throughout her body.

[How laughable. Angels, are you running away?]

[The reputation of the Demonic Judge of Fire is wasted on you.]

[Shut up! If I could descend with my entire true body, I'd kill every last one of you.]

Uriel huffed angrily without letting out a single groan, despite the attacks pouring down on her.

[Don't gang up on me like cowards. Fight me one-on-one, you ■■s! ■uck! If it were one-on-one, I could take down Agares, Gamigin, or Marbas. Every one of them!]

The Demon Kings sneered at Uriel's enraged shout. They knew she was strong. That was why four Demon Kings had come together to catch a single Archangel.

The Demon Kings had planned meticulously until the very end.

[This is war, Angel.]

The blood-soaked Uriel's [hellfire inferno] clashed with the Demon Kings.

Archangel Uriel was strong. With only half of her true body manifested, she severed the arm of the Lord of Stars and Logic and crushed the beloved pet of the Grand Duke of Dragons and Stench. She had even taken both legs from the Demon King of Sonic Speed.

But that was as far as she could go.

The moment she turned at a chilling sensation, Yejegong's transparent dagger flew toward Uriel's heart.

[Today, I will consume an Archangel's fable.]

Uriel belatedly swung her sword, but her wounded and sluggish Incarnation body made it difficult to respond.

And then, in the next instant...

Stab!

A blade shining pure white pierced through Yejegong's chest from behind.

Black blood dripped down.

The sword stabbed Yejegong's back again and again, until Fable Fragments burst out grotesquely and the damaged Incarnation body was completely finished off.

A streak of white sword light then flew in and took Yejegong's head.

[Someone has killed the Demon King Yejegong.]

Uriel saw the two people standing behind Yejegong's fallen body.

The people she could recognize from any distance now stood so close to her.

"I can't stand watching my Constellation get beaten like that."

Her one and only Incarnation in this world.

And then.

[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation has won the Demon King Promotion Match!]

[The Demon Realm's grade is being adjusted!]

[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation has become the Demon King of the 50th Demon Realm!]

The protagonist of the story she had watched for so long spoke.

"It's been a long time, Uriel."