WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 117: Is It Open?

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That was right.

Not today.

It had been the same in his previous life. He had wandered battlefields as if dying that day did not matter, as if he wanted to die, but whenever he was truly in danger of death, Kyle, Raikal, ran without hesitation.

He had never thought that was shameful. So long as he survived, he could fight again and win. Raikal had lived that way his entire life. The one battle he had not fled from, the one exception, the battle where he had fought until he actually died, had been the battle against Ruin Alastor.

Back then, fleeing had never crossed his mind. Fighting Ruin Alastor had been that enjoyable, and his sword had been so beautiful that it captivated Raikal.

Even though he had fought and died.

Raikal had not been satisfied, even in the moment of death. He wanted to fight more. He wanted to swing his sword more. He resented the fact that humans were finished after dying once. More, more, more. He had yearned to fight.

Perhaps because that wish had been so desperate, he had reincarnated and received a second life. Carrying the dissatisfaction and regrets of his past life, Raikal had taken up a sword again in this one.

The reason he had not run from his battle with Ruin Alastor was simple.

Ruin's sword had been the pinnacle of swords Raikal knew. In Ruin's hands was a sword Raikal could never have reached, no matter how long he swung one. He had not fled because he wanted to see that sword more, to clash against it more.

What about this second life after reincarnation?

Kyle now knew a stronger sword. He had not reached it in his previous life. No, he now yearned for a sword greater, more beautiful, and more perfect than even the sword he had seen in that previous life. He was certain he could achieve that yearning.

There were still more people he wanted to fight. He wanted to fight Julius, and he wanted to fight the powerful people of the world he had yet to meet.

He wanted to fight Helenas too. He had to fight Helenas. To free her from the fate that had bound her for five hundred years, he needed to make her understand the joy of the sword.

'Would Helenas cry if I died?'

She would. She had cried in the forest of Gladiheim last time. Even after living five hundred years, Helenas's tear ducts had not dried up.

If even a five-hundred-year-old elf was like that, humans would be worse.

There probably had not been many people who cried when Raikal died. Anyone who knew him would have thought it only natural, no matter when he died. Even the followers who trailed after Raikal, the people who could be called the original members of the Sword Church, probably had not cried much. Cyrus likely had not either.

But if Kyle died, many people would cry. He had lived differently from his previous life, and this was where it had led him. His mother Arian went without saying, and Aslan would cry too.

'Kaya.'

His younger sister was only three years old. Thinking of those three crying made something twist strangely in his chest.

'Grandfather would cry too. Lady Nelia, and perhaps Aunt Erika as well.'

Other relatives might cry too. Then there were the Sword Wolf Knights. Kyle had created the order himself, and he had gathered its members himself. Lucia's face came to mind first, followed by Bruno, Jade, and Narua.

'Wow.'

During that brief recollection, Kyle felt something strange. In his past life, he had lived forty years and died without thinking of anyone else's face. Yet now, after only fifteen years, so many people came to mind.

'I really did live differently from my previous life.'

Which was why, more than ever.

He could not die today. If he died today, too many people would grieve and cry for him. Kyle himself had no desire to die today. There was too much he wanted to do, too many regrets, too many desires.

He had not swung his sword enough yet.

Thump. Thump. Thump!

The sound of his heart hammering violently from emotion and desire, not mana, echoed in his ears.

Why had he not mutated under the influence of mana? Was it because he had consumed the byproducts and scraps in the Cultivation Floors? Or was Kyle's body special because it possessed the Chaos Spirit Root?

Either way, it was good for Kyle. With the protective gear that had blocked outside forces gone, every sense in his body had opened sharply. The mana was revolting enough to make him sick, but feeling it through his entire body made it less suffocating than before.

'What happened to Orban?'

Given that Orban had shouted for Kyle to come over before this happened, Orban had intended to survive with him. Those feathers and the Holy Shroud appeared to be a kind of survival pod that protected Orban from outside threats.

'A chance.'

Kyle was not some idiot who charged in without thinking. He calmly considered his odds. First, escape was impossible. This entire space belonged to the Black Cube, and to the demon. There was no way the demon would allow Kyle to flee.

'The agents' power couldn't even reach the demon, but Layla's power did.'

The demon had said much of his power had been left behind, stolen from him. Kyle did not know what he had been like originally, but the demon was not in perfect condition now. The power of the Boundary Realm worked on him.

Then the answer was simple.

"Worm."

The demon looked at Kyle through narrowed eyes and asked,

"What are you so happy about that you are smiling?"

It was not a forced smile. Kyle was genuinely smiling. He was not afraid of death. He simply did not want it. Why? There were far too many reasons.

"Because I don't want to die."

Kyle smiled through bloodied lips as he answered. The demon gave a hollow laugh and tilted his head.

"If you do not wish to die, you should fall to your knees and beg. If you stand there grinning like an idiot, it only makes this one want to kill you more."

"You don't get to decide my death."

Kyle answered with a smile.

Creak.

His grip tightened around Baal. The demon's eyes narrowed further as he watched him.

"You have gone completely mad. This one governs everything here. That includes your life and death. If this one decides to kill you, you die. If this one decides to let you live, you live. If not this one, then who else could possibly decide your death?"

"Me."

Kyle took a long step forward.

"I decide whether I die or not."

If he killed the demon, Kyle lived. If he could not kill the demon, Kyle died.

The one who decided that was not the demon. It was Kyle himself. Kyle knew he had reached his limit. With his current body and his current realm, he could not defeat the demon. If he fought as he was, the demon would kill him without fail.

If he did not want to die, he had to surpass his limits. He had to go beyond the Will Realm and open the gate to the Boundary Realm. The demon would not decide that. Kyle would.

Could he surpass his limit, or could he not?

'I will.'

Kyle declared it to himself. The reason was simple. If he could not, he would die, and Kyle had no intention of dying. Today was not the day of Kyle's death. He did not want to be buried in this disgusting, horrible space alongside people he was not even close to.

He had died alone before Ruin in his past life. In this life, he intended to die before many people, receiving blessings and farewells instead of tears.

[Kill him, kill him!]

Baal shouted.

[Kill him!]

Jor cried out too.

[Woof!]

Fenris barked.

'Don't make me look bad, you little bastards.'

Kyle snorted and drew up his mana.

Then he ran.

Kyle's body became a bolt of lightning and shot toward the demon. The demon gave a faint laugh at the sight.

"You talk so arrogantly, yet you are utterly insignificant."

The folding fan spread open.

Swoooosh...!

Wind rose in the direction the fan moved. Riding that wind came dozens of flower buds.

The buds bloomed as the distance between them closed. Scattering petals turned into a massive gale and swept toward Kyle. Without slowing down, Kyle swung Baal.

Slash!

Baal, wrapped in violet light, cut through the petals and wind. At the center of his newly cleared view, the demon smiled. With a flick of his finger, the flower buds that had been swaying gently all turned toward Kyle at once.

Crunch!

The massively swollen buds became carnivorous plants and crashed down at Kyle. Their gaping petals greedily tore at the air.

Kyle leaped to the side and spun in midair. The enormous Baal revolved like a top around his body. Sword Force from the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon exploded from Baal.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dozens of slashes flew toward the demon.

The demon lazily waved his fan. The paths of the slashes that held a trace of annihilation veered away as he intended. No matter how sharp a sword was, it could not cut unless it made direct contact.

"Your movements are light."

A whisper.

Kyle's senses caught something strange.

Crrrack!

The flesh forming the floor rippled, then rose toward Kyle as tentacles. Kyle immediately twisted in midair and swung Baal. The disgusting tentacles were cleanly severed.

A sharp warning prickled through him again.

Time split apart.

At some point, the demon was above Kyle's head, and his fan was descending. The moment he decided to arrive, he had already arrived. The Boundary Realm kneaded the laws of the world according to one's will. The demon did it as naturally as breathing.

"Hm?"

Bang!

Fenris, drawn with his left hand, blocked the fan. The demon's eyes gleamed at the sight.

"How did you know?"

Movement in the Boundary Realm was determined by will. To someone who had not opened their Upper Dantian, it was a speed too fast to even perceive. Yet Kyle had sensed it and responded.

The demon could not help but be surprised. The Kyle he saw was an ordinary person who had not even opened his Upper Dantian, so how could he respond to the world of the Boundary Realm?

"Strange. Truly strange."

Fenris in his left hand, Baal in his right.

He had reacted on instinct, but he was not familiar with this. He had tried dual wielding a little in his previous life after handling all sorts of swords, but this was far too difficult. The size and shape of the two swords were completely different, making it even harder.

"You do not mutate from mana, you do not go mad from looking upon this one, and you can read this world without opening your Upper Dantian."

The demon muttered as he continued striking down with his fan. Baal was difficult to swing at this range. Kyle made his decision and immediately stored Baal in the Out-of-Place Artifact.

[Masterrrr!]

Baal was sucked into the Out-of-Place Artifact with a scream. Kyle held Fenris properly and met the fan's attacks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fenris did not break as it received the fan. Each impact made Kyle's Sword Force shudder as though it would collapse, shaking his insides.

Flower buds bloomed around the demon. Instead of opening, the buds turned their heads toward Kyle.

Then they bloomed.

The flowers opened wide, and eerie mana burst from within them as light.

Slaaash!

Dozens of beams crossed the space. Kyle narrowly evaded them, then ran again the instant he landed. Fenris and Baal. He had to use the two swords according to the situation. Kyle put Fenris into the Out-of-Place Artifact and drew out Baal.

Violet Sword Force collided with the demon's light.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Every time Baal swung, the carved slashes cut apart the lines of light surrounding him. The demon's eyes narrowed as he watched.

"A cursed blade bearing the authority of annihilation... what is that sword?"

Kyle had neither reason nor time to answer the demon's question. He was using everything he had without holding back. The senses of his body, the spiritual sense of his Spirit Root, and his experiences from his previous life, he poured all of it into the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon.

'Not enough.'

His twisted lips formed a smile, but his teeth were clenched. This insufficiency was maddening. He had known it in his head, but it was infuriating that his body could not do it.

'Why?'

What was he lacking? He had opened his Upper Dantian in his previous life. So why would it not open now? Was his body still too young? It was true that fifteen was a young age, but Kyle's body had long passed the point of being called young. After being overdeveloped through the Cultivation Floors, it had already reached maturity in Kyle's eyes.

Experience? Yes, experience. He had experience he understood in his head. Yet his Upper Dantian would not open. Layla had just died after the demon pierced her head. Had she really been so much better than Kyle? Even she had opened her Upper Dantian, so why could Kyle not?

Why would his Upper Dantian not open? He had thought about it many times before and reached a guess. Different experiences from his previous life. Since he had reincarnated into a new body, perhaps he needed new experiences. Since his Upper Dantian would not open, he had wondered if that was the reason.

He could not be certain, since this kind of trial and error was new to him. The way Sword Demon Raikal had opened his head was not through a Spirit Root and dantians like it was now. So he had trained to suit the changed human body of this era, learned various cultivation techniques and sword arts, and accumulated experience.

Yet even at this critical moment, his Upper Dantian would not open.

'Do I need something besides experience?'

Did he lack battles? Did he lack brushes with death? Did he lack desperation? If he did, he had to fill that gap today, right now. If he could not open his Upper Dantian, he would die. His responses based on experience and senses had their limits.

'This is different from Lizet Beliar. That bastard is used to this kind of fight.'

Lizet's realm had been incomplete, but the demon was different. Even if he was not in perfect condition, that power was dangerous. Kyle had not died yet only because he had somehow been responding.

He was cutting down flowers that bloomed without warning. That was not only because of his experience from his previous life. It was because of his senses. Even now, Kyle's senses were becoming more familiar with these phenomena.

'How can this be possible?'

He did not have a moment to breathe. Kyle continued swinging Baal as he considered himself. A body born with the Chaos Spirit Root. A body raised by consuming the scraps and byproducts of the outer sea. A sixth sense and spiritual sense were abilities any veteran martial artist or mage could possess, but Kyle's senses were far sharper than theirs.

Yet this went far beyond being sharp. This was a world where one could not stand without opening the Upper Dantian, but Kyle was observing it without even setting foot inside it. And because he observed it, he responded.

'My Upper Dantian...'

The skin all over his body, his senses, his flesh, no, his soul felt the current.

Not the flow of mana. No, it was different. This was not mana. A space filled with dark magic and mana. Different from the force that formed this disgusting, ominous world. A more personal, unique power, and the flow it created.

The demon.

The intangible force flowing from him. That current. The waves of his mind and soul.

Pop!

A blood vessel burst in Kyle's crimson eyes. Blood fell from his eyes like tears as he saw the pale waves.

'Is it really closed?'

The waves tangled and gave rise to flowers. The instant a bud formed and was about to bloom, Baal cut it down. The waves he had cut separated into strands and began to join together again, but Kyle's body accelerated.

'How can this happen while it is closed?'

Even in his previous life, when he had opened his head, he had never seen through things this sharply, this accurately. How could he do this now, when his head was still closed? Was it because his body was strange too?

'What is my body for?'

If this reincarnation was a gift born from the regrets he had before death, then who had bestowed this gift? If every event in this world had cause and reason, who had arranged this reincarnation, and for what purpose?

'Ruin Alastor.'

His body accelerated, and his consciousness accelerated with it. What he wanted was lightning, one fierce flash in an instant. Violet lightning pierced through the petals that had not yet bloomed and rushed toward the demon.

'Was it you?'

The demon's wide-eyed face drew closer.

An instant.

Kyle went beyond a moment too short for human consciousness to measure. His body and mind sought only one result, and he tried to decide it.

::I Cut::

Baal split the space.

"Huh."

He had decided, but he had not arrived.

The demon's fully opened fan blocked Baal.

"You really are strange."

The demon thrust his face close. His pitch-black eyes flashed.

"What kind of creature are you? Your head is closed, so how are you cutting through this one's attacks?"

Power was pushed back by greater power. So was will. Will was driven back by stronger will. That will followed the rank of one's existence. Though he had crawled up from the belly of an outer god and lost much, the demon was an ancient freak who had achieved incomplete Ascension.

"No... is your head really closed? Strange, truly strange. The world is in chaos now, but no matter how chaotic it is, how could something like you..."

The demon's muttering stopped as his eyes widened.

Baal was pushed far back by the movement of the fan. Kyle could not retreat, and the demon's hand flashed toward him and seized his chest.

"Yes. It is you."

The demon spoke in a trembling voice. His wide eyes quivered as he whispered to Kyle.

"You are the Turning Point."

A bright smile spread across the demon's face. The hand gripping Kyle's chest, its fingers, dug inward. He did not feel his skin or bones being pierced. The demon simply inserted his hand into Kyle's chest as naturally as if he were putting it into water.

"You have given this one a reason."

The demon whispered in a voice full of delight. The fingers in the center of Kyle's chest grasped his heart.

"You sinful bastard."

Thump.

The moment the demon's fingers touched his heart.

Crunch!

Something bit into the demon's fingers.

Startled, the demon pulled his hand out. Blood burst from his fingers and stretched out from Kyle's chest in a crimson line before being sucked back inside.

"What...?"

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Kyle's bloodshot eyes went blank for a moment. The sound of his heart beating was too loud.

No, this was not the sound of his heart beating.

It was Jor, coiled within Kyle's Middle Dantian, twisting her body.

::Ascendant Flower Immortal::

Jor opened her mouth.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Jor had opened her mouth, but that voice was not Jor's.

Woooooo!

The necklace he had received from the Angel grew hot and wrapped itself in light.

::Annihilate him::

The voice borrowing Jor's mouth whispered.

"A Forgotten Dragon that cannot even return!"

The demon twisted his face and roared.

Boom!

The demon's palm strike slammed Kyle's body into the floor.

"Fine, I'll kill you and claim you! That's why this one returned in the first place!"

The fan dropped sharply.

Spiritual energy filled with killing intent poured down toward Kyle.

All of it felt strangely slow to him. The pounding in his chest, the voice borrowing Jor's mouth, the demon's babbling. None of it was worth much of Kyle's focus right now.

What Kyle needed to focus on was struggling not to die. He had no intention of dying today. Too many people would grieve for him, too many things remained undone, and too many swords remained to be swung.

The inside of his body was too hot.

It felt as if flames were burning within him. When he thought it was hot, it became cold. It was as though the flames had turned to ice. Then the ice slowly melted and became a liquid that was both cold and hot, swirling through his body. It seemed like liquid, but it became wind, then earth, then stone. It kept changing, again and again.

He wondered when he had felt this before.

Five years ago, when he first dreamed a spirit dream. When he first awakened the thing called the Chaos Spirit Root. The dream he had that day. The feeling he had when the world that could contain anything and become anything first entered his ten-year-old body was the same as this.

That day, Kyle had seen a sword in his own world.

He had thought that world was a sword.

::Annihilate him::

'Shut up.'

A sword only mattered when someone wielded it.

If Kyle was a sword, then naturally Kyle had to wield that sword himself.

Throb.

The nape of his neck tingled sharply. The slowly descending spiritual energy had become tens of thousands of petals, preparing to cover Kyle.

Watching it directly, Kyle swung his sword.

Slash!

The petals were cut apart.

The demon stared down at Kyle from the air, frozen in place with his eyes wide.

Kyle stroked the throbbing back of his neck with his left hand as he staggered to his feet. The necklace was still hot, but the voice that had borrowed Jor's mouth was gone.

"Did it..."

Blood dripped from Kyle's eyes, nose, and mouth as he smiled.

"Open?"

It felt different from before.

Yet similar to his previous life.

Footnotes:

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