WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 702: Episode 25: Demon King (5)
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[Someone has defeated the ruler of Washington Dome.]
At first, I couldn't understand the message.
"What's going on?"
"Maybe... the Supreme King did it."
The situation was simple enough.
Yu Junghyeok had defeated the ruler of Washington Dome. Otherwise, there was no way a message like that could have appeared.
To confirm it, we immediately entered Washington Dome.
An ash-gray city scarred by the Demon Realm's terraforming. The corpses of demonic species and people lay scattered throughout the streets.
"Junghyeok!"
I shouted, but there was no answer. We began running toward the Capitol.
As the scenery rushed past, I could guess what kind of battle my companions, who had arrived here first, must have gone through.
"Mr. Dansu! Sein-ssi!"
I continued calling out people's names.
Mr. Dansu, Gyeongsein, Killer King, Cha Yerin, Ye Hyeonu.
Junghyeok's companions, Lee Hyeongseong, Jihye, Kim Namwoon. And...
"Miss Yuseong!"
Even when I shouted at the top of my lungs, no answer came back.
Washington was sunk in an unnaturally deep silence. Nowhere could I sense the presence of anything alive.
"Anna Croft."
I glared at Anna.
She had clearly said that my companions were safe. In fact, she still stood by that claim.
"The Korean group is safe."
"How can you guarantee that when you can't even use [future vision]?"
"When Junghyeok declared a direct confrontation with the marquis-class demon, everyone in the Korean group except for him moved on to the next Scenario."
The next Scenario?
"The Washington Dome Scenario is the Final Chapter of the Seventh Scenario, but it's a kind of optional Scenario."
As she spoke, Anna looked up at Washington's sky.
A whirlpool giving off a faint light rippled overhead. Beneath it, a partially severed rope ladder dangled and swayed.
[Star Ladder has been created.]
[Incarnations that have met certain conditions can use this ladder.]
A fact came back to me belatedly.
On the American continent, the Seventh and Eighth Scenarios were currently progressing at the same time.
"You know this as well. Incarnations that have hunted a sufficient number of beast species can move on to the next Scenario without necessarily clearing this one."
In other words, that ladder was a door leading to the Eighth Scenario.
"The others wouldn't have left Junghyeok behind."
"It was the Supreme King's final order. He threatened to kill them all if they didn't head to the next Scenario immediately, so his companions would've had no choice but to listen."
If Junghyeok had threatened them, it wasn't strange that his companions had left first.
Then why had Junghyeok needed to give such an order?
―Is that bastard trying to hog all the items for himself again?
‘Surely that isn't why.’
―What do you know when you haven't even read TWSA?
‘I know that much without reading TWSA.’
While I bickered with Dokja, more messages appeared in my head.
[You have completed the mission to subjugate a grade-4 beast species.]
[Star Ladder responds to you.]
[Would you like to use Star Ladder?]
[If you use the ladder, you can enter the Eighth Scenario area.]
Was it because I had completed the subjugation of a grade-4 species in the Korean region? I, too, had gained the right to move to the Eighth Scenario.
Still, that Star Ladder was a device I had never seen in the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.
‘Wasn't the Eighth Scenario originally Dark Castle?’
―Hmm...
Part of me thought this was for the best. Dark Castle was one of the most difficult Scenarios in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.
It was the place where the Demon King of Salvation was born, and a Scenario where someone had to be sacrificed. If we could avoid it, we should avoid it at all costs.
Yet our TWSA expert seemed to think differently.
―If possible, don't use that ladder.
‘Why?’
―If you're lucky, it could be an easier Scenario than Dark Castle. If you're unlucky, though... you might end up somewhere even more vicious than Dark Castle.
‘My companions have already crossed over.’
―Then we'll have to hope they're lucky.
I was about to ask how he could say something so irresponsible when the connection to Midday Tryst temporarily cut out with a faint spark.
The more I looked at it, the more it felt like this guy deliberately did this whenever he was in trouble.
"Anyway, it seems the situation isn't that bad."
Anna's expression had brightened considerably as she looked around.
"If it's true that the Supreme King killed that demon, we can practically consider the Scenario over. Other than the dome's primary ruler, only underlings remain."
As she said, the marquis-class demon at the Capitol was the key to this situation. If Junghyeok had defeated it alone, this Scenario should have been over.
[The Seventh Scenario is currently in progress.]
One thing felt ominous. The message announcing the Scenario's end still hadn't appeared.
The ruler of Washington Dome had clearly been defeated. Then why hadn't the Scenario ended yet?
Anna, who had been walking a few steps ahead, suddenly stopped.
"Inho Cheon."
A portal appeared across from the building on our right. We tensed and each drew and gripped our weapons.
Had another demonic species appeared? Or...
Clop, clop.
The light footsteps coming from beyond the portal did not belong to a human.
Then, amid a bright glow, a white horse with magnificent fur appeared, snorting lightly. The knight mounted on the horse gently stroked its head.
"Calm down, Griffith."
Shining silver chain mail, a red surcoat draped over it. The man's bright blond hair fluttered in the wind, and at a glance, it was obvious he came from an exceptional bloodline.
"Are you Anna Croft?"
Startled back to her senses by the knight's deep voice, Anna asked, "Could you be Sir Elliot?"
"It's our first time meeting in person, Prophet."
The knight dismounted with ease and approached with a gentle smile.
"You are as beautiful as you were in my dreams."
He then knelt on one knee before Anna and held out his hand. It seemed he intended to kiss the back of her hand.
Anna did not offer it to him. Instead, she looked down at the knight with an expressionless face.
"State the purpose of your visit, Sir Elliot."
The knight rose with an awkward expression.
"It seems milady is quite angry. I came personally to help a brother in need, yet I receive such a cold welcome. I'm hurt."
Only then did I begin to understand what was happening.
―That's one of Britain's Representative Incarnations.
Dokja appeared as reliably as ever, only when he had something to say.
‘Who is he?’
―Him? Elliot Haston.
‘That doesn't tell me who he is.’
―Ever heard of the Knights of the Round Table?
Startled, I examined the man's attire again. A crest I had seen somewhere before was drawn on the surcoat of the man I had thought might simply be dressed as a knight.
[The Constellation Knight of the Lake is proud of his Incarnation.]
Knight of the Lake.
Only then did I realize whose Incarnation he was.
‘Could he be the Incarnation of 「Lancelot」?’
―That's right.
Lancelot, one of King Arthur's knights. He was a well-known Constellation even in Korea.
‘But wasn't Lancelot originally French? He chose a British Incarnation.’
―Oh, you know that too?
Of course I did. I was a writer, after all.
As far as I knew, Lancelot was a fictional character created through a French reinterpretation of the Arthurian legends.
―A French Constellation doesn't necessarily have to choose a French person as an Incarnation. Great Sage Equaling Heaven and Uriel aren't Korean Constellations either.
‘That's true.’
We checked Elliot's status through [Character Profile].
[Chivalry], [Advanced Applied Swordsmanship], [Horsemanship], [Position Defense]...
Every skill had an incredibly high proficiency level. His overall abilities were all above the level of Korea's Kings.
―The fine horse Griffith. He somehow got his hands on a rare spirit beast.
Neigh!
The horse snorted at me.
A remarkable powerhouse who had thoroughly equipped himself with weapons and even a mount. With such strength coming to help, Anna should have welcomed him. Yet she looked distinctly displeased.
"You didn't respond even after I requested support three times."
"Haha, Prophet. Of course, we wanted to help as well, but..."
It seemed Britain had continued rejecting their requests for support.
I could understand it. At this point, any country would have difficulty sending support.
The problem was this. Why had Britain accepted their request now?
The simplest explanation was that their own Scenario had calmed down, but...
―There's no way.
Regardless of their country, Incarnations in a ruined world were all selfish.
Their only motivation was survival, so they naturally avoided anything that might threaten it. If they had moved despite that, it meant there was a reason worth taking this risk.
"Who is this?"
When Elliot's gaze turned to me, Anna answered in my place.
"This is Inho Cheon from Korea."
"The South or the North?"
"The South."
"Hmm."
At Anna's explanation, Elliot looked at me with an odd gaze.
It was like he was evaluating a horse's breed. Then he snickered and turned away.
‘Patron.’
―He has the face of someone Junghyeok's about to beat up.
‘Right?’
Still, perhaps because we were Patron and Incarnation, there were times like this when we understood each other.
More portals began appearing one after another.
"Is this Washington?"
"It's a less impressive city than I expected."
Incarnations of different ethnicities.
It seemed not just Britain, but other countries had also joined this Scenario. There were even faces I recognized among them.
"Ren-noona, did we come to the right place?"
"Mm. According to the coordinates, this is it."
Asuka Ren, the Incarnation of Miyamoto Musashi, and her fellow Incarnations.
They were the Incarnations who had cleared the Scenario with Dokja in the main story's peace land.
Unfortunately, peace land in the forty-first round had progressed while I was unconscious, and I had formed no connection with them.
A large group of Chinese Incarnations emerged from the portals behind them.
Watching the Chinese man at their head, I asked Dokja, ‘Is that Peihu?’
―No. It doesn't look like Peihu came.
Peihu was the Representative Incarnation of the Chinese nebula Emperor.
Perhaps he was too busy participating in the Scenarios of his homeland, because I couldn't see him anywhere.
―Still, it's not easy for this many to gather so early. It's quite a sight.
There were no famous Incarnations like China's Peihu or India's Rannvir Khan, but the sight of Incarnations from countries all over the world gathered together was impressive in its own way.
"Ren-ssi. You've come."
"Prophet."
Perhaps they already knew each other, because Asuka and Anna exchanged warm greetings.
"And this person is...?"
"This is Inho Cheon. He came from Korea to help us."
"Korea! Are you with the Supreme King's group?"
Asuka bowed toward me as if she was pleased to meet me.
"I'm Asuka Ren."
"I'm Inho Cheon."
"It's nice to meet you, Inho Cheon-ssi. The Korean Apostles helped us greatly in the last Scenario. Is Killer King doing well?"
Of all the Apostles, she had to ask about Killer King.
I was about to ask what Killer King had done there when a rough voice came from behind us.
"Prophet! Where is the Washington demon you spoke of?"
It was an Incarnation whose nationality was hard to identify from their appearance alone.
At the same time, the murmurs around us vanished.
That made it certain. They had all come to defeat the ruler of Washington Dome.
"The demon has already been defeated."
The Incarnations stirred at Anna's answer.
"That can't be true. We came after receiving a Scenario."
A Scenario?
"We received a Sub Scenario ordering us to defeat Washington's Calamity."
Something about those words felt unsettling.
They had received a Sub Scenario, not a Main Scenario?
"The Calamity has already been erased. We only just received the message ourselves."
Even with Anna's explanation, the Incarnations did not seem to calm down.
"That can't be true. The Scenario is plainly displayed right here."
"Are you saying America plans to keep all the rewards for itself?"
"We don't have time, so stop talking nonsense and show us the way! Where is the demon?"
"We came all this way to help, and Americans don't even know gratitude."
What was going on?
Anna and I looked at each other, equally confused, when Christina came running back from scouting the nearby area.
"Anna. Something's wrong. The terraforming zone hasn't been lifted yet."
When the hunt for a Calamity ended, terraforming automatically ended as well.
Yet Washington was still gray. The land was deeply polluted by dark roots spreading everywhere.
[The Seventh Scenario is currently in progress.]
The Scenario still had not ended.
Then black light rose from the distant Capitol.
"That is..."
Without anyone telling them to, the Incarnations all ran in that direction.
Elliot's horse snorted, the Chinese Incarnations used qinggong, and Asuka sped far ahead on her skateboard.
Anna and I exchanged glances, then followed after them.
How long did we run?
Before long, we reached the Capitol in question.
Atop the Capitol, shrouded in pale smoke, someone sat.
Elliot muttered, "That must be the Washington demon."
The being there did not have a human shape.
A beast that resembled a pitch-black wolf.
An ominous aura radiated from the black fur covering its entire body.
As its golden eyes slowly swept across the surroundings, a few Incarnations screamed.
The sheer pressure made it feel like we would suffocate just from meeting its gaze.
"A-a demon..."
"All forces, prepare for battle!"
"We'll hunt the demon!"
While everyone drew and gripped their weapons in fear, I stared blankly at the monster.
For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off it.
‘Patron.’
Because...
―Damn it, I think you're right.
No matter how I looked at it,
‘Right?’
that Black Beast looked like Junghyeok.
[A new Scenario has arrived!]
Footnotes:
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