WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 502: Episode 96: Demonic Judge of Fire (2)

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Odin in the east, Nuwa in the west, Osiris in the south...

Caught between Great Fables crashing down without respite, we held our ground, maintaining a precarious balance.

[Your Incarnation body is collapsing!]

I'd already lost count of how many times I'd heard that message. Yu Junghyeok, standing right beside me, wasn't in much better shape. His entire body was already in tatters after taking Odin and Nuwa's attacks in place of Han Suyeong and me.

When our eyes met, Junghyeok frowned as if asking what I was looking at, then pulled something from his pocket and swallowed it.

[The Incarnation Yu Junghyeok has used the Life-and-Death Pill!]

He had used the last Life-and-Death Pill Lee Seolhwa had given us. There were none left now.

[Arghhh! Hold the line!]

The Constellations of the Korean Peninsula roared like beasts and swung their weapons.

Kim Yushin, Gyebaek, Gwan Chang. All the Constellations who had once crossed swords with one another were being reborn as a single myth with "Shindansu" between them.

I could see Cheok Junkyung at the forefront, cutting down enemies.

「[This is why I can't leave this land, even though I curse it. A few people dying would do, yet they all rush in ready to die together...]」

Fengbaek stirred up the wind at his side and unleashed Lion's Roar. He had stood against us during the "Great war of Angels and Demons," but now he was fighting for us.

「[Hongik can help its descendants. No payment is necessary.]」

As Fengbaek's wind surged, the Constellations of Hongik rode it forward all at once. Yi Sun-sin's [Ghost Fleet] continued to fire, while Gyeon Hwon's arrows pierced the hearts of stars.

Yet the number of enemies didn't decrease in the slightest.

[Where is this country called the Korean Peninsula?]

[They're only Historical Constellations. Insects... Wipe them all out!]

Even so, the Constellations of the Korean Peninsula held firm.

[The Great Fable Shindansu strengthens every Constellation of the Korean Peninsula!]

If the enemy had Odin and Osiris, we had a Mythical Constellation as well.

The Mythical Constellation amplifying "Shindansu"'s power, Immortal King Wanggeom.

[The Constellation Immortal King Wanggeom says this is as far as they can help.]

Unlike the other Mythical Constellations, Immortal King Wanggeom's presence was faint. It was probably because of this worldline's influence. Hongik had barely been able to accomplish anything in this round. Its Constellations had likely been pushed aside by the other Mythical Constellations and couldn't leave the Ark.

[Don't show them your backs! We don't retreat!]

[The fable Last Stand begins its story!]

Cheok Junkyung raised his sword, and Yi Sun-sin commanded the stars.

Heroes of a mythic history that bowed to no other mythology fought against gods from myths of the distant past. Even as their flesh tore and their bodies were hacked apart, they didn't kneel. They kept swinging their swords.

「The Korean Peninsula's territory was steadily shrinking.」

Jeon Woochi, fighting in the form of a white tiger, fell. One-stroke Scholar's brush broke, and Yi Sun-sin's Ghost Fleet sank ship by ship. Even Cheok Junkyung's sword, which had cut down a thousand enemies and split mountains and seas, was slowing.

I'd expected this. I'd prepared myself for it again and again.

The fable we would write from here on would be made of sentences stained with the blood of stars.

[The Star Stream's final Great Fable is budding!]

The next moment, Thor's axe flew toward Cheok Junkyung's neck. It was a blow even the Korean Peninsula's greatest warrior couldn't avoid.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire has released all of her Status!]

Uriel, descending onto the battlefield, blocked the axe.

"Kim Dokja! The Archangels are here!"

Suyeong shouted.

Archangels descended onto the battlefield in a dazzling flash. At their center was Uriel, wielding the Flame of Karma.

「[Hey, Gabriel and I want to join Kim Dokja Company too.]」

Just before we entered the Final Scenario, Uriel had said that to me.

She wanted to join our nebula and become our strength.

「The Constellation who had changed the most from the original work Kim Dokja knew.」

I didn't know why Uriel liked our story so much.

「"Do you really want to help us that badly?"」

All I could do was exploit her goodwill like a coward.

[A new Great Good has appeared in Eden!]

Uriel's Status surged brilliantly.

She was no longer Uriel, a fabled-grade Constellation.

[A new Great Good?]

The Mythical Constellations stared at Uriel in shock.

Eden's new Great Good, the being who would replace Metatron, a Mythical Constellation.

Uriel had chosen to become Eden's leader and help us.

[All Seraphim, charge!]

At Raphael's signal, the Archangels collided with the fabled-grade Constellations of Papyrus and Veda.

[The Oldest Good seeks its opponent!]

[Do you think a ruined nebula can turn the tide?]

Odin, still standing strong, pointed his spear at Uriel. Gungnir, the divine spear that couldn't be avoided by any means, rushed toward her.

[Get lost.]

The Flame of Karma collided with Gungnir's Status. Odin's lightning, which tore apart the heavens, and Uriel's hellfire, which burned hell itself, clashed head-on.

It was a battle of Status against Status. Surprisingly, Odin was the first to withdraw from the fight between two Mythical Constellations who refused to give an inch. His left arm trembled faintly as he retrieved his spear.

[Pathetic, Odin. I'll help.]

Mythical Constellations were more sensitive to danger than anyone. The oldest stars in this world hated variables. That was why they never took risks.

After exchanging glances in an instant, the Mythical Constellations began bombarding Uriel simultaneously.

Rumble!

Even as Eden's Great Good, it was a force she would struggle to repel.

Uriel didn't retreat. Feathers tore from her wings, and red fables splashed across her pale cheeks, but she didn't lower her sword.

[You aren't my Great Enemy.]

Uriel had always watched our fable from the heavens. Now, her eyes turned toward me.

[The nebula Eden is preparing its Great Fable.]

"Dokja-ssi!"

Jeong Huiwon and the others were running toward us from afar. Perhaps Huiwon knew what Uriel was about to do.

Eden alone couldn't face all those Great Nebulae. The abilities of the Mythical Constellations within this Ark rivaled the entire Star Stream.

To defeat those Constellations, we needed a Great Fable with terrifying Plausibility.

[Stage Transformation is occurring!]

In other words, a massive myth that would destroy all those myths.

[I am the Demonic Judge of Fire.]

Uriel's slowly blinking eyes burned like those of a demon.

[I desire an evil that will make my modifier real.]

At those words, flames stretching from the Flame of Karma burned the stars in the sky. Something stirred on the other side of hell.

「When the Oldest Good called for its opponent,」

Lee Gilyeong's eyes rolled back.

「The demon curled up in hell's Bottomless Pit answered the call.」

Something like a pitch-black storm cloud swept in from beyond the burning sky.

Someone who belonged to neither Asgard, Veda, nor Papyrus was approaching us, carrying a wicked and sinister aura.

[The Constellation Ruler of the Bottomless Pit has opened the Palace of Ten Thousand Demons!]

Demons began to awaken in hell's burning sky.

[The Oldest Evil seeks its opponent!]

[The Wall that Divides Good and Evil draws its theme!]

In place of the absent Demon Kings, the master of ten thousand demons, who had kept silent for countless ages, revealed their power. With the Mythical Constellations caught between them, two forces of good and evil clashed.

「And there was an ancient being watching that battle between good and evil.」

Light began to rise from the body of the Chimera Dragon fluttering beside Shin Yuseong. It was a sight I had already seen in the original work. At last, Shin Yuseong's dragon had begun evolving into an Ancient Dragon.

Dazzling golden radiance. The Chimera Dragon, now possessing the full Status of an Ancient Dragon, roared toward the sky.

「Dragon Call.」

The howl of the Dragon King species, who called their kin at the cost of their lives.

Dragon roars echoed from beyond the darkened sky. Lingering traces of electricity and flame scattered everywhere. Every dragon in the world was flying in response to the Chimera Dragon's call.

[The reproduction rate of Stage Transformation is rapidly increasing!]

Rather than tearing into the stars, the dragonkin began fighting one another in a bloody battle.

The Gold Dragon's Heart, which served in place of my Incarnation body's heart, was also trembling.

It was a sight I'd already witnessed in the "Great war of Angels and Demons."

「At the heart of the hottest hell, a dragon with seven heads and ten horns shall awaken.」

「He is the dragon among dragons. The leader of all dragons born at the center of chaos, and the world's oldest hatred.」

The Dragon Festival, the celebration of dragons held in hell's hottest place, had begun.

The Mythical Constellations realized what was happening too late and panicked.

[Y-you bastards, don't tell me...!]

[Stop them!]

No one here failed to understand what kind of catastrophe would descend if the "Great war of Angels and Demons" unfolded here.

[How dare you! How dare you people!]

The few remaining Great Dokkaebis, after Bihyeong's sacrifice, appeared within the Ark.

The horn-broken Great Dokkaebi Garang shouted.

[Suppress the Plausibility of the Great Fable!]

As the Great Dokkaebis manifested their authority, the Mythical Constellations in the Ark used their Coins at once.

[The Constellation Master of December 25th does not want the Great war of Angels and Demons!]

[The Constellation Great Mother Goddess Who Molded Humans from Clay does not want the Great war of Angels and Demons!]

[The Constellation One-Eyed Father does not want the Great war of Angels and Demons!]

[The Constellation Master of Abydos does not want the Great war of Angels and Demons!]

As a tremendous number of Coins were invested all at once, the Plausibility of the unfolding Stage Transformation began to be suppressed.

The Star Stream's Plausibility flowed in the direction desired by the majority. No one appeared capable of stopping the will of the stars who possessed the most Coins in this world.

「Except for one Constellation.」

A light engine sound came from behind me, followed by the familiar smell of a cigarette.

"You're here."

Mass Production Maker stepped up beside me.

[This is my favorite fable.]

He had said something similar when we first met at the Gourmet Association.

The Constellation who loved every fable in this world.

Watching the fable of the "Great war of Angels and Demons" rage before his eyes, Mass Production Maker wore an unreadable expression.

An old star who had spent his life mass-producing SSS-grade items.

Someone who might have lived even longer than the Mythical Constellations over there.

Perhaps I was moved by his gaze. For a moment, the battlefield seemed to move slowly.

As if appreciating an old masterpiece, Mass Production Maker asked,

[Since when have you been thinking about this?]

It was a question without context. So I answered in the same way.

"Since the first time I met you at the Gourmet Association."

He took a light drag from the cigarette in his left hand, then spoke in a voice like an old sigh.

[It took a very... long time.]

"I'm sorry."

We looked up at the sky together.

Just as we had that day in the Gourmet Association's hall, when we watched Mass Production Maker's fable together. Back then, I gave a rating to his fable while it was being bombarded with negative ratings.

Mass Production Maker seemed to remember that day as well.

[It's time to repay my debt.]

"How many points will you give it?"

Mass Production Maker let out a hearty laugh. Lightning fell everywhere, and hellfire erupted like active volcanoes, but his expression looked endlessly calm amid that battlefield painting. He took another drag and said,

[When I first learned my ■■, I was rather puzzled. I never thought such a ■■ would come to me.]

"Do you think differently now?"

Mass Production Maker silently crushed out his cigarette.

With a burst of sparks, the stage of the "Great war of Angels and Demons" twisted. The Plausibility wielded by the dokkaebis and Constellations was forcing back our "Great war of Angels and Demons." Every fable Kim Dokja Company had fought through shook violently, as if about to tear apart.

Mass Production Maker calmly opened his palm toward those stories.

[At least, I think I understand one thing. Why my fables urged me to gather so many Coins.]

Coins floated from Mass Production Maker's fingertips. More Coins than I could possibly count.

[Was it to complete a Single Stage?]

The Coins accumulated alongside his life were being drawn into the sky. His Coins collided with the will of countless Constellations.

As the enraged Mythical Constellations shouted, Mass Production Maker opened his mouth.

At this moment, the Constellation who had gained the greatest authority in the cabin spoke.

[Constellations, I'm sorry, but I will watch this stage.]

When all his Coins were invested into the sky's Plausibility, the entire Ark was covered in a storm of Plausibility. Mass Production Maker's body began to age rapidly.

[The Constellation Mass Production Maker's ■■ is Depletion.]

[The missing Plausibility has been supplied!]

[The Great Fable Season of Light and Darkness has been fully reenacted on the stage!]

A terrible roar erupted from the sky. With an explosion, dragonkin crashed to the ground. I pulled Suyeong and Anna Croft toward me, then retreated with Yu Junghyeok to where the others were.

At last, the Final Chapter of every Scenario, the destruction of all stars, was approaching.

[Don't get dragged into something like the Great war of Angels and Demons! We've overcome Great Apocalypses like this again and again to make it this far!]

The Great Fables of the Mythical Constellations were awakening all at once. As if refusing to be overwhelmed by the scale of the "Great war of Angels and Demons," every Great Fable in the world roared.

But it was already too late.

「That dragon shall look at the sky once, then the ground once, and strike with its tail. With that single tail swipe, stars will fall and one direction of the world shall disappear.」

Two shining eyes appeared in the darkness above.

The moment a harsh dragon howl echoed out, Suyeong jerked in shock.

"Kim Dokja! Don't tell me..."

"That's right."

"Are you insane? If you wake that guy again now..."

"That isn't who we're trying to wake."

I looked at Yu Sangah, who sat cross-legged to one side with her mind focused. Beads of sweat covered her forehead.

[The Wall That Determines Reincarnation is maintaining the Seal of the Apocalypse Dragon.]

As long as she, Shakyamuni's descendant, remained alive, the sealed Apocalypse Dragon couldn't be summoned here.

Suyeong asked again, flustered.

"Then..."

"Don't you get it?"

Suyeong watched the dragonkin falling from the sky with a blank expression.

The Dragon Festival was a ritual to determine the strongest dragon. And the last dragon remaining in that ritual became the Final Dragon of the Apocalypse.

Since when had Suyeong's left arm been shaking so violently?

[A new Final Dragon of the Apocalypse has been chosen!]

Kuoohhhhh!

At last, a colossal dragon appeared beyond the Ark's shattered ceiling. It was large enough to tear apart even enormous stars with ease. Having completed its final molt, the dragon's sleek, pitch-black hide burned with magnificent Black Flame.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon has manifested in the Final Ark!]

"He's the Apocalypse Dragon now."

Footnotes:

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