WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 412: Episode 78: The story's turning point (4)
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Yu Junghyeok spoke from within the fog obscuring their vision.
"I'm the one who'll save him."
The Black Heaven Demon Blade in his hand emitted a vivid blue light.
"You're all exhausted. I should go. Gather all your remaining Mana and give it to me."
Jeong Huiwon, who had drawn the Sword of Judgement, spoke as well.
"You're in no better shape yourself. I'll go this time."
Junghyeok's eyebrow twitched. This was the first time Huiwon had ever been so adamant.
"Are neither of you going to move? I'm enough on my own."
Han Suyeong joined in.
The two people facing off turned their gazes toward her. Their looks seemed to say, "We get it, but why are you getting involved too?" Suyeong's lips jutted out.
"What are you staring at? Can't I save Dokja too?"
"I thought you hated Dokja-ssi."
"Of course I don't like that bastard."
Normally, Suyeong would have dumped this kind of troublesome task on Junghyeok. But this time, she had her own reason.
A message had reached her when Dokja charged ahead on Surya's train.
"Hey, you'll save me, right?"
If only she hadn't heard that.
Suyeong grumbled and was about to speak again when Huiwon cut her off.
"Sorry, but Dokja-ssi asked me directly to save him. So I can't yield to either you or that guy this time."
"What bullshit is that? Dokja asked me to save him!"
"Don't lie. There's no way he'd ask you to save him."
"He did! Do you think everything I say is a lie just because I'm a Writer?"
Their gazes collided in midair.
At that moment, Suyeong felt something strange.
At first, she thought Huiwon was lying to save that half-baked idiot. But Huiwon wasn't the kind of person who would lie about something like that.
When Suyeong abruptly turned her head, Junghyeok was scowling deeply.
"Hey, you..."
With tremendous fury in his expression, Junghyeok was glaring at a distant star.
Then Suyeong realized something.
Wait, could this be?
"Don't tell me that bastard Kim Dokja..."
A faintly glowing star in the distance.
For a moment, it seemed as though she could see Dokja's grinning face.
* * *
Rumble...
The hole Great Sage Equaling Heaven had opened in the sky was slowly closing. The split bodies that had hesitated as though afraid were regaining their strength, and the world was once more being covered in dark mist.
The sound created by the Apocalypse Dragon's shockwaves rolled in like waves. Startled back to their senses, the Constellations looked toward Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
[Sorry, but I can't do that twice. Even this violates the rules.]
As if bothered, Great Sage Equaling Heaven spun the Ruyi Staff before putting it into his ear.
[The Promise of the nebula Emperor has activated for the Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband!]
The figure of Great Sage Equaling Heaven, who had been suppressing Indescribable Distance, was scattering away. As if his body were being torn apart, the manifested Great Sage Equaling Heaven's Status shattered as he left behind his final messages.
[If you keep standing there dazed, you're all going to die.]
[Push them back! If we lose ground now, we're all dead!]
Dionysus and the Constellations of Olympus, having regained their strength, released their Status toward the sky. The Constellations of the underworld, who had been conserving their strength, moved as well. The Constellations of the Korean Peninsula channeled their power into Jihye, and dazzling cannon fire poured from the Turtle Dragon's barrel.
Some fought, while others resisted.
But not everyone did.
Stars were falling from the night sky.
The Constellations of Veda and Papyrus were fleeing. Countless stars, whether their modifiers were known or unknown, were caught in the struggle for dominance between the Apocalypse Dragon and the Outer God, falling from the sky.
As if the age of stars had come to an end.
Metatron looked up at that sky.
Commander of the Red Cosmos, Jophiel. The information she had sent from the 1,863rd round hadn't mentioned anything like this.
A Sealing Orb for sealing the Apocalypse Dragon was taking shape between Metatron's hands.
A Sealing Orb created by gathering every fable of Eden and absolute good alignment.
Jophiel had said:
"The Scribe will die, but the world will remember 'good.'"
That was how it should have been. So why?
[The target cannot be sealed.]
Even though the Sealing Orb was nearly complete, it couldn't contain the Apocalypse Dragon.
Metatron didn't know why. He couldn't tell where it had begun or what had gone wrong, either.
Had the Apocalypse Dragon been awakened too early?
Or had Indescribable Distance interfered?
Was Demon King of Salvation the problem after all?
If not, was it Jophiel?
At the edge of Metatron's vision was Michael, dying after losing half of his Incarnation body.
As long as Eden remained, Michael could be reborn. But Eden would soon vanish, and before long the entire Star Stream would begin to collapse.
[Are you planning to give up already? That isn't like you.]
Metatron's expression hardened as he turned around.
[Did you come to kill me?]
[You'd die even if I just left you alone, so why would I?]
Ruler of Hell's East, Agares, scowled as he cackled.
[The oldest evil begins its story.]
With that, Metatron understood why Agares had returned.
[For a moment, I envied you. You abandoned the fable of 'evil' so easily and left.]
[Lies are a virtue of 'evil.' Have you forgotten?]
Agares laughed as if sick of it.
Good and evil. They stood at opposite ends of this world, yet understood one another better than anyone else in it.
They could never escape this fable until the day they died, because that fable had already become them.
[The oldest good begins its story!]
[The oldest evil...!]
[Shut up. How long is that damned story going to keep 'beginning'?]
Agares frowned at the rising fables.
[The oldest evil quietly gazes at the Ruler of Hell's East.]
[Isn't it time to stop?]
Agares reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. With a hiss, it lit up, and smoke drifted through the air.
More and more stars were falling, and the split bodies of Indescribable Distance began devouring the fallen Constellations. The Apocalypse Dragon's cry echoed in the distance.
[What a sight. It's the perfect stage to end this long fight.]
The leaders of good and evil watched the scene unfold.
Every tragedy here had begun with them.
That was when a strange sound came from behind them.
A split body that had quietly approached opened its maw toward Metatron.
[The Demon King Ruler of Hell's East has revealed his Status!]
Rrrrrumble!
The split body, which had been about to tear the Archangel apart and devour him, stopped moving.
Agares's hands held the split body's closing maw open.
Agares was also the second-ranked Demon King.
The only Demon King in the current Demon Realm capable of contending with a Mythical-grade Constellation.
Agares chewed on his cigarette and spoke.
[Why are you just standing there? Are you planning to become a martyr here?]
[For a moment, I thought that might not be so bad.]
[If this is something you started, see it through properly. As the lofty Scribe of heaven, finish the Great war of Angels and Demons properly.]
[It's difficult. The Apocalypse Dragon is far stronger than expected.]
[You could do it if you used the power of the Wall.]
[Even if I use the power of the Wall, I cannot seal the Apocalypse Dragon.]
[But you can save those here. The Wall exists to protect something.]
Metatron's eyes wavered.
[What are you saying?]
[You always need to be told twice.]
Agares poured fierce Status toward the split body.
Metatron had fought that Demon King for many years. Yet Agares's expression was something Metatron had never seen before.
「At that moment, good and evil looked at one another.」
The Demon King's eyes gazed at the dying Demon Kings and Archangels.
[Don't we need to save them now so that 'good and evil' can continue into the next generation?]
[It's strange to hear a Demon King say that.]
[I'm only saying this now, but you don't look much like an Archangel either.]
Metatron felt strange as he listened to Agares's sulky voice.
Why did the demon he had fought for so long suddenly feel so close?
Were their actions good deeds or evil deeds?
Metatron didn't know. But there was one thing he did know.
[The fable of the oldest good and evil observes you both.]
Even if they themselves were fables, this was a choice they made regardless of what the fables wanted.
[I can't do it alone.]
[I know.]
[The Wall that Divides Good and Evil shakes violently!]
With a Wall between them, the Representatives of good and evil reached out toward one another.
[Saving them here won't stop the end.]
[I know that too.]
Agares placed a hand on the Sealing Orb Metatron had created.
[But that isn't for us to worry about.]
The Archangel and the Demon King joined hands.
The Sealing Orb burst with dazzling light and rapidly grew larger. It no longer looked like a Sealing Orb, but like a ship.
Rumble.
It was an Ark that had once protected earthly beings against the world's destruction.
A ship from myth, manifested to protect species amid a great flood.
Metatron spoke.
[Evacuate the Constellations.]
[Understood, Scribe.]
At Metatron's command, Master of the Ark, who had been mingling among the Constellations, guided the ship.
One by one, the surviving Valkyries began loading nearby Constellations and Incarnations onto the Ark. But Metatron and Agares, who had to sustain the Ark's fable, couldn't board it.
They weren't the only ones who knew that.
[You have done something foolish, Ruler of Hell's East.]
[Asmodeus.]
Before there was time to speak further, Asmodeus's claw pierced Agares's heart. Yet Agares's expression remained calm even in the face of death.
As if that expression displeased him, Asmodeus spoke.
[It's time to hand over the Wall. You are not qualified to represent 'evil.']
The claw dug deeper, tearing through Agares from within.
Agares spilled pitch-black fables as he spoke.
[You are persistent too. Why do you want the Wall so badly? Do you think having the Wall will make you a god?]
[I know it cannot make me a god. But at least I can become one of the cowards of the Final Scenario.]
[I see. You knew about the Final Scenario...]
Agares gave a bitter smile, then a flash of madness crossed his eyes.
[I'm sorry, but you cannot become the Wall's owner.]
[That is not for you to decide. Once you die, your Wall will...]
[I already gave my Wall to someone else.]
Asmodeus's shoulder jerked.
Through his Demon King instincts, Asmodeus recognized that Agares was telling the truth.
[To whom?]
[You should find out.]
Asmodeus roared, and his claw pierced Agares's throat. Amid Fable Fragments pouring out like blood, Agares looked up at the sky.
[Isn't it beautiful, Metatron? This is our end.]
The faintly continuing Duet of Good and Evil flowed through the crumbling night sky.
Agares smiled as he watched the falling meteors.
* * *
[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation is activating Will to Sacrifice Lv. 9!]
"That really pisses me off. I can't even turn it off."
Suyeong shouted in frustration. The three of them were fighting the growing number of split bodies within the ever-expanding dark mist.
They knew Dokja was beyond it.
But none of the three had enough Mana to break through the dark mist alone. Choosing one person and concentrating all their Mana on that person was still their best option.
Even so, none of them would back down.
If this were only for Dokja, it wouldn't have mattered who went.
As they looked at the faintly glowing star, all three thought the same thing.
The person who headed toward that star would most likely die.
The dark mist was growing denser by the second, and the Apocalypse Dragon's shockwaves were becoming more violent.
Dokja was still alive. But the chance of saving him was low. Even if they did save him, they could die alongside him.
This wasn't a fight over who would save someone. It was a choice of who would die for someone.
"As you know, I don't die."
That was what Junghyeok said. Huiwon, who knew the origin of that "not dying," was about to get angry.
But Suyeong spoke first.
"Think carefully, Jeong Huiwon. You won't be dying alone."
Huiwon suddenly felt the weight of the cross tied to her back.
She had no argument.
If she died here, the person strapped to her back would die too.
"Then carry Hyeongseong-ssi instead..."
"Huiwon! Behind you!"
At Suyeong's shout, Huiwon reflexively looked behind her.
There was nothing there.
The moment she realized what had happened, something shoved her in the back, and Huiwon staggered as she fell toward the ground.
When she barely stopped herself by spreading her Archangel wings, Junghyeok and Suyeong's figures were already far away.
"Damn it! What the... Stop!"
Huiwon watched the two of them move farther away without even taking her Mana and understood what they had decided.
Because she understood, she couldn't contain the emotions rising within her.
Dokja had asked her to save him.
But to save Dokja, she couldn't chase after them.
"Uriel."
Swallowing her burning emotions, Huiwon reached out. Archangel Mana flowed from her fingertips, creating dazzling wings behind the two flying through the darkness.
At that moment, she felt a strong pulse from behind her.
It was someone's heartbeat. A fierce vibration, as if it had something it wanted to say.
Huiwon opened her mouth.
"Me too, Hyeongseong-ssi."
She watched the two streaks of light race away into space and the fragile star waiting for them beyond.
Huiwon bit her lip hard, as if holding something back.
"But it looks like it isn't our turn this time."
Footnotes:
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