WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 787: Episode 37: Graduation Ceremony (3)
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My heart pounded wildly.
I was going to die. I was really going to die here.
I could see my death in the approaching blade.
It was the very scene where Jeong Huiwon killed Inho Cheon. The incident that had shocked every Constellation in Geumho Station was about to be recreated before my eyes.
「Because Jeong Huiwon pierced through Inho Cheon's face from the crown of his head downward.」
And across from the scene stood the Demon King of Salvation, watching me.
[The Constellations of the nebula Olympus are immersed in the stage!]
[The Constellations of the nebula Veda are immersed in the stage!]
[The Constellations of the nebula Asgard are immersed in the stage!]
The directing power of a fable that could draw even enemy nebulae into the stage.
I nodded, sincerely impressed by that ability.
I knew he didn't want to kill me either. Even so, he had to act that way. Because this was a Scenario. Because this was a game where only one Kim Dokja could survive.
「That fact made my heart pound.」
I swung "Unbreakable Faith" and blocked the rushing blade. However, even after using [Incitement], [Sentence Enhancement], and [Bookmark] to activate [Hour of Judgement], I couldn't stop the flow of the predetermined stage.
Blood burst from my mouth, and shallow sword wounds marked my waist and shoulders.
「This was the strength of a history Kim Dokja had lived through with all his might.」
The Demon King of Salvation's sword strikes grew faster and faster, and I could only keep getting pushed back.
Then, in one instant, the Demon King of Salvation's sword found an opening.
Just as I thought I really couldn't avoid this one.
"Dokja!"
Someone shoved me aside, and a small explosion erupted in midair.
"What are you doing? Get a hold of yourself."
It was a tone one might mistake for Yu Junghyeok's at first. But that would never happen now. I knew exactly who he was.
"Let's attack together!"
The Seventh Apostle, Killer King, had finally made it here.
And he wasn't alone.
"We're here, friend."
Uncle Dansu appeared, leading a swarm of low-grade Monarch-Level Insects, and sent his insect army charging at the Demon King of Salvation.
"I'm here too! Aaaah! I'm scared to death!"
Gyeong Sein, who had pushed her Constitution to its limit with [Average Correction], crashed into the Demon King of Salvation.
The Demon King of Salvation staggered back under that reckless charge. At that moment, splendid sword light flashed through the sky.
[White Pure Star Energy], far more skillful than mine, embroidered the air as it kept the Demon King of Salvation in check.
"Go, Yerin!"
LiteraryGirl64, Chae Yerin, somersaulted through the air and spun down like a top. Killer King and Chae Yerin's combined attack, the finishing command of [Fighting Action Mode], had activated.
Kwakakakak!
It was a blow powerful enough to break even Lee Hyeongseong's steel transformation.
Yet the Demon King of Salvation didn't fall. He merely swung his sword in silence and deflected Chae Yerin's attack.
With a tremendous shockwave, Chae Yerin's body was flung back towards the group.
"He's strong."
The back of Chae Yerin's hand, which had collided with the Demon King of Salvation, was red and swollen.
"He's unbelievably strong."
"Because he's Kim Dokja."
I spoke to Yerin.
"And we're Kim Dokja too."
With them, I could fight even if my opponent was my Patron. We might not have lived through a history as long and distant as the Demon King of Salvation's, but we had done our best to make it this far.
「The 41st round is our world.」
The fables we had shared began to tremble and boil all at once.
As if the Demon King of Salvation knew that too, he lightly flicked a finger through the air.
[High-ranking demons have appeared!]
High-ranking demons rose from the bushes all at once.
"Be careful!"
As the high-ranking demons surrounded the forest in an instant, the group gathered around Killer King.
"Formation A. Everyone, gather up!"
"We don't have anything like that!"
"Dokja! Get a hold of yourself! We'll handle these bastards!"
The sounds of blows landing and things breaking came from all around us. Gyeong Sein's screams, Uncle Dansu's groans, and Killer King's shouts blended into utter chaos.
The Demon King of Salvation muttered as if he found it absurd.
"What a complete mess."
That was right. We had lived through such a chaotic history. We endured life by following the actions of the characters and recreating the stories we loved. That was how we had made it here.
"A story like that can't kill me."
The combined attack of high-ranking demons would have been difficult to handle in the past. Yet my companions were holding on well.
They were holding on for us.
"Yes. I hope it stays a mess, so it can be a story where nobody dies."
The Demon King of Salvation's eyes shook at my answer.
Without missing that instant, I charged at him.
Sword strikes burst through the air once more.
"You know what the end of that story will be."
"I do."
"Even so, will you continue that story?"
"Yes."
I nodded firmly.
"Because it's our story."
The Demon King of Salvation's blade wavered slightly.
I made my move once more.
[The fable Persistent Martial Arts Master begins its story!]
I pressed forward with my sword without pause.
It was the fable I had received from Cheon Gae of the Dragon Head Ark.
Every story I had learned and mastered dwelled in my blade.
"Do you remember when we first met? You gave me all sorts of advice back then."
Even now, when I closed my eyes, his voice came back clearly.
―Do you know what kind of Attribute Circulating Body is?
―Why can't you use [Incitement] any better than that?
―Do you know how to use fables other than "Persistent Martial Arts Master"?
―And those aren't all the skills you have. Why don't you use [Nagak Breathing]? Do you practice chaining skills?
They were the assignments he had left behind after the Demon King of Salvation disappeared.
Throughout my time at the Recycling Center, I practiced fables and skills day and night. I knew that such a short period of practice wouldn't be enough to raise my proficiency very far, but I still didn't rest.
Like the day I first began writing a novel, like the days when I wrote and erased countless sentences, I tempered every possibility I possessed.
[The proficiency of Exclusive Attribute Circulating Body has reached Great Completion!]
[Exclusive Attribute Circulating Body has linked with Exclusive Skill Nagak Breathing.]
With a single breath, Mana swelled like wildfire.
The Attribute Circulating Body linked with [Nagak Breathing].
The long breath I drew in circulated Mana through my entire body, enabling a terrifying skill combination.
[White Pure Star Energy] and "Persistent Martial Arts Master."
The martial art and fable, which should have opposed one another, came together as an Aether Blade rose from my sword's edge.
Holding white breath within me, I swung my sword. I swung again and again until that brief breath ran out. Blood splattered across my cheek, and shattered fables scattered away. My breath rose to my throat.
The Demon King of Salvation watched me fight so desperately.
「You've improved a lot, youngest.」
I hid the surge of emotion in my chest and kept swinging my sword.
We were Patron and Incarnation.
「I'm still not good enough.」
「Yes, you're still not good enough.」
A star and a human who shared their true thoughts without speaking.
「I can become stronger.」
「You must become stronger.」
「Then please teach me.」
The moment the flow of Circulating Body ended and the breath of [Nagak Breathing] ran out, the weapon of the Demon King of Salvation, who had been pushed back the entire time, changed.
The Mimicry form of Thought had become the Ground Rat Sword.
It was the weapon Huiwon of the 1,864th round had used to kill Inho Cheon.
[The reproduction effect of Simplified Stage Transformation has increased!]
The Demon King of Salvation was telling me something.
If I wanted to change this story, I had to prove it myself.
I had to destroy the history he had built head-on.
"I am..."
As I watched Huiwon's sword fly towards Inho Cheon to finish him, I opened my mouth with all my strength.
"I am not Inho Cheon!"
[Exclusive Skill, Incitement Level 10 has activated!]
Along with sparks crashing down through the air, the Demon King of Salvation's sword path twisted.
[The reproduction power of Simplified Stage Transformation has decreased!]
The strike that would certainly have killed me missed.
It was because [Incitement] had weakened the influence of the Stage Transformation.
However, even [Incitement] couldn't cancel the Stage Transformation.
The Demon King of Salvation shook his head and spoke.
"Amazing. You've learned to use [Incitement] well now. But..."
He already possessed the strength to resist my [Incitement].
Well, if I could have incited the Demon King of Salvation from the start, this fight never would have happened.
I thought it would have been nice to have just a little more time.
If only I had had time to examine each of the fables I had accumulated.
But I had no time, and the Demon King of Salvation's blade was too close.
A lump of blood surged up from inside me.
The incarnation body I had overworked since absorbing Gu Seona had finally reached its limit.
I admitted it. No matter what ability I used, the current me couldn't defeat the Demon King of Salvation.
He was my Patron. Anything I could do, he could do as well.
He was the first Kim Dokja in this world.
The older brother of every Kim Dokja, the star that had taught me about Kim Dokja.
"The match isn't over yet. Don't look at me like that."
"Youngest."
The Demon King of Salvation's approaching eyes were disturbed.
Fear that I might really die.
I faced that fear directly and smiled.
"I told you. I'll be the first Kim Dokja who never dies. Because..."
I had known from the beginning that I couldn't defeat him.
He had been a fabled-grade Constellation for a long time, while I was merely an Incarnation that had only just become able to act as his proxy.
That was why I waited.
I bought time until someone who could truly defeat him appeared.
"I have no intention of ever being the protagonist."
The Demon King of Salvation's rushing sword was knocked away.
It was strength enough to repel the Status of that powerful fabled-grade Constellation.
As the startled Demon King of Salvation's eyes widened, a man in a black coat gave an order.
"Lee Hyeongseong! Lee Jihye! Shin Yuseong! Kim Namwoon!"
The four who received the order leaped from the bushes.
Under their combined attack, the high-ranking demons were gradually pushed back.
「There stood Supreme King Yu Junghyeok, holding the Moon Halberd.」
The protagonist had merely appeared, yet the sentences that had been scattered in chaos seemed to find their proper places.
A sigh escaped me.
Once again, I realized whose "story" this world was.
Yu Junghyeok cleared the area in an instant, then stood beside me.
"What a pathetic sight."
With a bitter smile, I looked ahead.
The Demon King of Salvation was facing us as well.
The Demon King of Salvation stood alone, without a single companion. For that moment, his bright starlight looked a little lonely.
「Is that so.」
The starlight seemed to be counting the passing of a very long time. Or perhaps it was remembering the fables of a Scenario that had now grown old.
「That was the Yu Junghyeok you found.」
I couldn't even imagine what the Demon King of Salvation was feeling.
All I could do was nod.
Then the Demon King of Salvation gave a faint smile.
That smile was all we could share now.
「You truly intend to kill me.」
As expected, he had seen through my entire plan.
To oppose the Stage Transformation on his side, we had to use a Stage Transformation on ours as well.
We had to recreate the only stage in this universe that could kill the Demon King of Salvation.
Both he and I knew what that stage was.
[The fable Demon King of Salvation begins its story.]
Footnotes:
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