WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 471: Episode 89: Great Apocalypse (5)

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【Naval... Warfare... God.】

As if she remembered her Patron, Lee Jihye of the 999th round reacted.

「In the 999th round, Naval Warfare God died to save Jihye.」

As if she were trying to deny what had happened in that round, she continued firing her cannons with tremendous force.

Jihye on our side responded as well.

「All the Constellations of the Korean Peninsula stood with Jihye.」

Lord of the Great Sea.

It was a realm Jihye only reached in the very late stages of TWSA, after the 1,800th round.

Standing at the highest point a human could reach, Jihye had surpassed even her Patron and finally become the god of the sea.

「At least at sea, she was confident she wouldn't lose to any Mythical Constellation.」

It was something Jihye had truly said, and truly carried out. In the original story, she had once fought Poseidon, a Mythical Constellation, as an equal at sea.

"Fire!"

[The Attribute Lord of the Great Sea takes effect!]

A storm swept in behind Jihye. Tidal waves parted wherever she passed, pouring forth wind and fire. A fierce gale surged forward as though escorting her warship.

Standing at the head of that wind, Jihye continued firing.

[The Exclusive Skill Ghost Fleet Lv.??? continues its counterattack!]

Little by little, the wall of tidal waves began to split apart.

【LORD OF THE GREAT SEA】

Rumbblee...

Even the Outer Gods following her seemed flustered.

「The Lord of the Great Sea never loses at sea.」

That was an established truth in TWSA. I believed in those words, which was why I had made it this far.

But...

"Urgh..."

With a hiss, streams of blood burst from Jihye's nose and mouth. Her overheated Mana was flowing backward.

Then, even worse...

[The Attribute Lord of the Great Sea takes effect!]

That wasn't a message created by our Status.

Something charged at us. In an instant, a headwind swept in and turned my field of vision upside down. The [Ghost Fleet] and the Turtle Dragon were caught in an enormous tidal wave, floundering amid the foam.

"Jihye!"

I grabbed Jihye's wrist as she flew away like a kite with its string cut.

Jihye came to her senses from my Mana, flipped through the air, and landed on the deck.

Grinding her teeth, she seized the helm and shouted, "I told you to run!"

"I can't do that."

Jihye couldn't handle this alone. No matter that she had become the Lord of the Great Sea, the being on the other side had attained that Status long ago and become an Outer God.

Tsssssss!

A Calamity that, aided by the Great Apocalypse Scenario's protection, surpassed even a Mythical Constellation. That was the enemy we were fighting.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm howls in pain.]

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth defies Myth!]

[The Great Fable Season of Light and Darkness reveals itself.]

Three Great Fables began their stories at once.

Because Team 1 was using shares of the Great Fables, we couldn't draw upon all of their shares. Still, this was enough to provoke the enemy.

【You...】

Could the white flag have stirred her memories?

The emotions carried within her constellation's declaration were different from before.

[The character Owner of the Sunken Island gazes at the Great Fables.]

[Broken Film Theory has activated!]

At last, the moment I wanted arrived. The fables built up by the two Jihyes collided, and the broken film began to reconnect.

According to plan, this phenomenon could buy us a little time.

That was when the scene before us changed.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm begins its story.]

「This is the fable of an only child.」

「[Please live.]」

「"Mister! No! Stop it! Stooop!"」

The memory of the first time I faced Indescribable Distance.

Jihye turned away, as if even remembering it hurt.

So this was the expression Jihye had worn then.

I vividly remembered that time, too.

To move the entire collapsing industrial complex, I had made a contract with Secretive Plotter and stopped that Calamity.

【You...】

The Jihye of the 999th round's expression twisted as well. Then another fable unfolded before us.

[The Great Fable Wanderer of the Eternal Horizon begins its story.]

It was a fable held by Jihye of the 999th round.

Seoul, ravaged by the assault of the nebulae. Fallen Allies. The crumbling battlements of a fortress. Atop those battlements, Yu Junghyeok, missing one arm, watched the battlefield with a single eye.

「"This is the only way."」

A pitch-black aura of chaos bloomed from Junghyeok's body.

「"Master! Stop! Stop it!"」

I knew at once what scene it was.

It was the death of Junghyeok from the 999th round. His soul, reduced to rags through repeated Otherworld Covenants with Outer Gods, was making its final deal.

Seoul sank into the depths of the sea.

Yu Junghyeok said,

「"Survive."」

The memories of the 999th round scattered beyond the white foam.

Something flowed from the expressionless eyes of the Owner of the Sunken Island.

A fable that hadn't vanished even after eternal ages. That fable was what had brought her all the way here.

"Mister, this..."

When I turned around, Jihye on our side was crying too.

"It's too similar..."

[The two Great Fables respond to each other.]

It couldn't help but be a similar story.

「The round Kim Dokja considered most perfect was the 999th round.」

That was the round I had used as my model.

「That round alone was closer to the proper conclusion than any other.」

The only round in which everyone could survive and still reach the conclusion.

Tsssssss!

Through the raging backlash, Jihye of the 999th round approached us.

The distance between us closed, one step at a time.

I had a bad feeling.

"Mister, get back!"

Sensing danger, Jihye drew the Twin Dragon Swords and rushed forward.

[Instant Kill]. Jihye's strongest technique against a single opponent.

Yet the streak of light she unleashed was deflected in midair with a sharp crack. Blood sprayed as Jihye's body flew across the deck.

"Jihye!"

Hyeongseong, who had been waiting, caught her.

The moment I let out a breath, Jihye of the 999th round stood right before me.

As I released my fables to unleash my Status, a pale, firm right hand seized me by the collar.

【Who... are you?】

Like master, like disciple.

I gave a bitter smile. At least the fact that we could talk meant the situation wasn't completely hopeless.

"My name is Kim Dokja. I'm your master's closest friend."

【Closest friend?】

She looked confused.

She was watching the fables drifting around me.

「"Run straight at them. Then, right before you collide, look toward the left wall. You'll understand what I mean right away."」

「"I told you that so you could deal with the Sasquatches in Scenario 28."」

My fables were being read by her.

【How are you...】

「"I am Yu Junghyeok."」

【Master?】

As confusion took hold, she clutched her temple with her left hand. Her eyes burned ominously.

Creeeak!

Her grip around my collar tightened. The waves of Status constricting my entire body gradually made it harder to breathe.

"Wait, let go of this first...!"

【MasterMasterMasterMasterMasterMasterMasterMaster】

The rampaging Outer Gods echoed her words. In the saddest language in the world, they howled in her place.

[The Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has activated!]

[All your fables are resonating with that person.]

[Your understanding of that person is rapidly increasing!]

The moments we had lived through appeared in her pupils.

<Demon King Selection>, <Gigantomachia>, <Great war of Angels and Demons>, and <Journey to the West>. And then...

[The fable Square Circle begins its story.]

「"You can tell me whenever you want. If you don't want to tell me, someone else is fine. But don't curl up and let it rot all alone."」

I saw her face, twisted by deep sorrow.

Why did Secretive Plotter come to mind at this moment?

「【Why is it you, and not me?】」

What did this story mean to the Owner of the Sunken Island?

Would she hate me, too?

This life in a worldline built upon reading their history...

「I envy you.」

What?

Tsssssss!

As if gazing at something she missed beyond measure, she slowly reached for my cheek.

Even when people read the same story, each person felt something different.

Some despaired after seeing a story they could never achieve. Others found comfort in a sorrow endlessly similar to their own.

The problem was where that comfort was headed.

「I want it.」

Madness began to flow through her eyes, soaked in ancient sorrow.

She slowly turned her head.

Her gaze fell on the fallen Jihye.

「I want to live a life like this, too.」

I understood what she was thinking.

Broken Film Theory churned violently. When she stretched out her hand, the flowing torrent enveloped the fallen Jihye. This was dangerous.

[The fables of the two beings begin to resonate!]

Crack!

The fable of the 999th round began to move. It was devouring the fable of this worldline.

I released my Status in alarm.

I had to stop her. I couldn't let the 999th round devour Jihye. Never...

Crash!

Steel burst through the ship's deck in an instant, protecting Jihye and me.

It was Hyeongseong.

But the fable aura I felt from his steel was different.

I looked at Hyeongseong.

It was Hyeongseong, but it wasn't Hyeongseong. Someone was borrowing his body to wield their power.

[The Patron of the Incarnation Lee Hyeongseong protects you!]

A Status that didn't fall behind the Owner of the Sunken Island in the slightest.

With a grinding sound, Jihye of the 999th round forced her way through the steel wall and poked her head out. Her expression had frozen as though she had been drenched in cold water.

Hyeongseong's Patron spoke first.

【Jihye. Our story ended a long time ago.】

A constellation's declaration from an Outer God.

I knew who he was.

* * *

At that time, Han Myeongoh was racing along the Dimensional Path in the X-grade Ferrari he had bought with coins borrowed from Kim Dokja.

His destination was the sealed Island of Reincarnators.

"Dareum! Answer me if you can hear Dad's voice! Dareum!"

Han Dareum. That was the name Han Myeongoh had given his daughter.

He wandered through every corner of the Dark Stratum, calling that name.

"Dareum!"

Within a distorted crack of darkness, Myeongoh found a hand with a familiar shape.

It was a hand he could never fail to recognize. Until it had been taken by a Demon King, it was a hand he had never let go of even once.

Myeongoh gripped that hand tightly. Then he began pulling his daughter's body free from the stratum.

It wasn't easy. But he couldn't give up.

[The Great Fable Liberator of the Forgotten begins its story!]

The fable of Kim Dokja Company that he had borrowed to save his daughter began its story. Slowly, his daughter's body began to emerge from between the strata.

Fortunately, his daughter's Incarnation body was unharmed.

But her heart wasn't beating.

Fortunately, he had a Life-and-Death Pill given to him by Lee Seolhwa.

"Dareum! Wake up! It's Dad! Dad's here!"

Myeongoh shouted through tears.

How much time passed?

At last, Dareum opened her eyes. A red glow slowly seeped from them.

[Well done, my vassal.]

It wasn't Dareum who had opened her eyes.

[The Guidance of the End nearly came to an end during the Great war of Angels and Demons.]

A chilling Demon King's Status.

Myeongoh fell onto his backside at Asmodeus's wild laughter.

"G-give my daughter back! Give my daughter..."

[Daughter? Hmm, I'm sorry, but that would be difficult. I need this Incarnation body. But I'll give you something nice as a gift.]

Asmodeus pulled a pitch-black eyepatch from inside his clothes.

[The right to watch the end of this worldline together.]

It was an ancient item passed down among the Guides of the End.

An item that could only be used once one had reached the threshold of the Final Scenario.

[The item Relic of the Abyss has activated!]

An Otherworld spell that summoned the Demon of 999, the Outer God dwelling in the abyss.

As the dimensional space around them crumpled, Asmodeus burst into laughter.

[Metatron! Agares! Demon King of Salvation! This story will not end as you expect. This story will...]

【What is this?】

Since when had a man been standing behind Asmodeus?

A man covered in a pitch-black aura, with bandages wrapped around one arm.

Myeongoh trembled as he watched from five or six steps away.

The man had a face Myeongoh knew.

The man smiled when his eyes met Myeongoh's.

【Did you summon me? Hmm... What's this? There's even a Demon King here? Ah, I get it. This Demon King was tormenting you, wasn't he? So you summoned me because you wanted me to save you?】

[O End! No! It was I, Asmodeus, who summoned you...]

With a swish, the man's transparent hand seized Asmodeus by the nape.

A moment later, Asmodeus's soul form was caught in the man's hand.

[Keugh...?]

【I don't believe someone hiding in another person's body.】

With a tearing sound, Asmodeus's soul form split apart.

A single strike that gave him no time to struggle.

The man licked the shredded Demon King's fables and smiled.

【I hate Demon King bastards the most. They copy me. Look at this! This guy even has the eyepatch I lost.】

Muttering to himself, the man took the pitch-black eyepatch from Asmodeus's eye and put it on. He gave a faint smile, apparently satisfied with how he looked.

Trembling, Myeongoh held his unconscious daughter and looked up at him.

【Hey, hey, don't worry. I might look scary, but I'm actually a pretty decent guy.】

The man tapped his bandages twice.

【Now then... shall we find our Jihye first?】

Footnotes:

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