WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 713: Episode 26: Star Ladder (9)

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Attack me and die like idiots, or side with me and gain a Legendary-grade fable.

[Synchronization rate with your Patron has increased.]

I spoke rather like Kim Dokja, but I wasn't naive enough to believe that alone would persuade the Constellations.

"Don't be fooled, everyone! This has already been agreed upon by the Mythical Constellations!"

After all, they all belonged to great nebulae.

As the Gatekeeper of Thebes had said, if the Mythical Constellations had truly reached an agreement, there was no way a mere Historical Constellation could refuse their orders.

"There's no guarantee we'll receive a Legendary-grade fable just by cooperating with him. The fable we'll get from killing him will be far more valuable."

"Is that so? That makes sense."

"Then stop hesitating and kill him."

I quietly bit my lip.

I had to buy time somehow until Dokja arrived.

The Constellations clearly weren't fools.

"How cowardly of you."

Huh?

"Are people backed by great nebulae really going to persecute a single Incarnation?"

There was one fool.

A woman with flowing red hair stood in my way, a Japanese sword embossed with tranquil flames in her hand.

Asuka Ren.

She was Japan's Representative Incarnation. I wondered why she was helping me, but then her gaze briefly settled on Yu Junghyeok over my shoulder.

Come to think of it, I'd heard that Yu Junghyeok had helped Asuka clear peace land in the forty-first round.

Perhaps she was returning the favor.

―Take the Supreme King and escape.

Along with [Telepathy], the Japanese Incarnations led by Asuka lined up before me.

"Incarnations from the East, then. It seems you want to die. Have you lost your minds?"

The Gatekeeper of Thebes smiled, but Asuka didn't. Quiet Mana rose from her entire body. I could sense the earnest fable she had steadily built through tireless effort.

"You're the ones who need to come to your senses. Did you join a great nebula just to do something like this?"

"What did you-"

"I'm speaking to the Incarnations here."

Asuka's eyes flashed.

She wasn't speaking to the Constellations, but to the Incarnations they controlled.

"Alexandros! Leila! We cleared a Sub Scenario together, didn't we? I remember who you were then. Have you already forgotten our promise to survive until the end of the world and meet again?"

I recognized anew what kind of person Asuka had been in peace land.

Even when Calamity had been the easy choice, she had deliberately chosen the small folk camp.

"Get a hold of yourselves. If you let your Patrons control you now, you'll be forever..."

"An insignificant Incarnation has gotten bold."

At the Gatekeeper of Thebes's gesture, three Incarnations charged at her at once.

An old sword, a broken spear, and a club.

Judging by the weapons they primarily used, it seemed their Patrons had once been medieval knights or barbarians who had built their Status and become Constellations.

Yet whether they had been knights, barbarians, or executioners, once they rose to become Constellations, they became completely different beings.

Rumbblee!

As the fables of Historical Patrons with heightened synchronization rates settled within them, the Incarnations with rolled-back eyes let out strange cries and swung their weapons. Each blow was enough to blow an ordinary Incarnation's limbs to pieces.

But Asuka wasn't an ordinary Incarnation.

「She was one of the hundred strongest people in TWSA.」

Asuka dodged the incoming club, and a blade flashed from her hand.

It was a lightning-fast strike, quick enough to remind me of Jihye's [Instant Kill].

"Urk..."

The Incarnation whose club had broken staggered back and clutched their throat.

Pshhh!

Blood spurted from the wound. Blood foam spilling from their mouth, the Incarnation dropped to their knees.

Looking down at them, Asuka spoke calmly.

"I avoided the vital point."

Faint sparks were already rippling over Asuka's body.

[The character Asuka Ren is raising her synchronization rate with her Patron.]

Only then did the Gatekeeper of Thebes's expression change.

"Don't tell me that Patron is..."

[The Constellation Goryeo's Top Swordsman is intrigued.]

Her Patron was Japan's strongest swordsman.

[The Constellation Master of the Niten Ichi-Ryu glares at the Constellations of the great nebulae.]

Miyamoto Musashi, the Master of the Niten Ichi-Ryu.

As cold killing intent spread from Asuka's body, the frightened Incarnations' expressions hardened as they retreated.

There was Status even among Historical Constellations. Some Historical Constellations were close to fabled-grade, while others had only just reached the Historical grade.

The Master of the Niten Ichi-Ryu was closer to the former.

"Step back, Gatekeeper."

A voice came from behind the group of Incarnations.

"An Eastern warrior. A sword art full of hot air. I've wanted to see it for myself."

As the Gatekeeper of Thebes hesitated and stepped back, a man with bronze pectorals and a powerful presence stepped forward. At a glance, he possessed far greater Status than the Gatekeeper of Thebes.

[The Constellation Sorrow of Troy is raising his synchronization rate with his Incarnation.]

Another huge man behind him radiated no less force.

[The Constellation Wrath of Ithaca looks intrigued.]

Sorrow of Troy and Wrath of Ithaca.

They were Achilles and Odysseus, heroes of The Iliad.

Even within Olympus, they were Historical Constellations of a different caliber.

Tension crossed Asuka's face.

―Take the Supreme King and escape. I can get away whenever I need to.

It seemed the Japanese side had already secured a Constellation that would provide them with a Star Ladder.

―Now!

"I'll take you up on that."

At Asuka's signal, lightning flashed and tore open one side of the encirclement.

"He's getting away!"

Mana exploded as Miyamoto Musashi and Achilles clashed.

I avoided the sword auras flying in from every direction and ran at full speed with Junghyeok on my back.

Still, without a useful movement skill, there was no way I could escape for long.

"Inho Cheon! This way!"

Screeech!

A sports car skidded to a stop, leaving skid marks behind it.

Without hesitation, I threw Junghyeok into the back seat and climbed in after him. Anna Croft hit the accelerator, while Christina greeted me with a nod.

"Selena was badly injured, so we sent her up first."

"What about you two?"

It was a question I didn't need to ask.

They had delayed their own Star Ladder to save me.

Honestly, I was touched.

Because they were Incarnations of Asgard.

"Asgard won't leave you alone if you help me here."

"We're already ruined because of you."

Anna answered through gritted teeth.

"Because of the fable you revealed..."

Only then did I remember revealing what had happened inside Ginnungagap.

Inside Ginnungagap, Anna had processed a low-grade Dragon Heart for me, and with her help, I had wiped out the Constellations.

Anna must have helped me because she trusted Ginnungagap's nature as a place where no records remained. But because I revealed the fable, her misdeeds had now become known throughout the Star Stream.

"It isn't as if you only lost out. You must've gained a fable because of me too."

"Are you seriously saying that...?"

Anna shouted at me. She seemed genuinely furious, so I felt a little sorry for no reason.

"What did Asgard say?"

"Nothing yet. They seem busy right now, too."

Thunder kept crashing down from the sky. Given that the meteor shower had been falling for several minutes already, they probably weren't in a position to worry about us.

"More importantly, why haven't you used the Star Ladder? You should have already met the requirements..."

"There weren't any Constellations willing to send me a ladder."

"Don't tell me you haven't made connections with the Constellations of the Recycling Center?"

An arrow shot from behind us and struck the trunk with a deafening boom.

Anna pressed harder on the accelerator.

"We'll head for the Dome's outskirts. Use a return portal there. Once you return to Korea, you'll be able to escape their pursuit."

"Why are you helping us this much?"

"I hate to admit it, but you're absolutely necessary if we're to see the end of this world."

Anna still believed I was Inho Cheon of the fortieth round.

Yet something about it didn't make sense.

No matter how remarkable Inho Cheon of the fortieth round had been, he was an end-times villain. He had said he would help Junghyeok, but was such a flimsy promise really enough for Prophet Anna Croft to trust me?

"It's about time you confessed, Inho Cheon."

"Confessed what?"

"Exactly how far did you make it in the previous round? Up to which Scenario?"

For a moment, I panicked.

What was she talking about?

"I know you didn't die even after Junghyeok regressed."

I recalled the memories I'd seen through Anna's [past vision].

The final battle between Junghyeok and Inho Cheon in the fortieth round.

The last sight of stars falling from the sky as the world approached destruction.

"How many Scenarios did you reach after that? In that world where every Incarnation disappeared, you..."

A chill slowly crept over me.

That memory hadn't been the final scene of the fortieth round?

Thinking back, Inho Cheon's death hadn't been properly described in her memories.

Did that mean Inho Cheon had continued to live even after Junghyeok regressed?

"Inho..."

Anna couldn't finish her sentence. A bolt of lightning that fell from the sky struck the car's hood directly.

With a thunderous roar, my body was thrown into the air. The impact felt as though my joints were being ground away.

Clutching Junghyeok tightly, I rolled across the dirt.

I coughed up dust and stood to find Anna and Christina lying nearby.

Patron-nim.

Instead of Dokja's answer, all I heard was the violent roar of thunder.

Lightning kept striking beyond the darkened sky.

It was far larger than the electrical discharge I'd witnessed in Ginnungagap.

The weather was so violent it felt as if my eardrums would burst, and even the Incarnations pursuing us had stopped in their tracks. The number of falling meteors was increasing by the second.

Even I was afraid by then.

What on earth was Junghyeok doing over there?

Was he planning to destroy the Star Stream like this?

Was he trying to summon even an Outer God?

Then a question occurred to me.

Junghyeok could intervene in this worldline because the great nebulae were using comparable Plausibility on the other side of the scales.

But Ginnungagap had already been lifted. Pursuers had come after us, but all those who appeared here were merely Historical Constellations with heightened synchronization rates.

Then where were the great nebulae using their Plausibility?

My heart pounded, and a terrible premonition came over me.

Words began to form in my mind.

「The great nebulae know.」

Asgard knew.

「What the Demon King of Salvation is. What fables he has built.」

The distant sky split apart, and lightning struck again.

Slowly, I began to suffocate.

Something that must not happen was happening.

It was a distant sensation, as though the causality of time itself were twisting. As if the whole world were looking into me.

[The Constellation Goryeo's Top Swordsman shouts in anger!]

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God warns you!]

[The Constellation Bald Army General.......]

The Constellations' Indirect Messages echoed in my ears as the world around me twisted like a whirlpool.

Only then did I realize what the great nebulae had done.

[The great nebula Asgard has decreed a new Fate.]

An inescapable command.

The Plausibility of the stars, from which a mere mortal could never escape no matter how they struggled.

「...will」

My [Fate] was being written.

「...die.」

At the very moment the stars' inevitability was carved into my soul, I gagged.

―Youngest.

It felt as though someone had forcefully shoved my soul aside.

―Rest now.

As the world's pressure vanished, I screamed.

Because I knew what was about to happen.

No.

Not this time.

You...

―I'm good at this.

In that final moment, I thought I saw Kim Dokja smiling brightly.

「The Constellation Demon King of Salvation will die in the story he loved.」

Fate had been decided.

Footnotes:

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