WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 164: Reverberation
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Ascension Platform.
As he left the Sword Hall with Julius, Kyle turned the name over in his mind. The summit of the Sword Tower. The place where Ruin Alastor had ascended four hundred years ago, and a place only the Family Head could enter.
He had heard about it before and thought he would like to see it one day. Still, he had never expected an opportunity like this.
‘You lived for nearly a hundred years after I died.’
He could guess how lonely that life had been. Ruin had carried responsibility his entire life and fulfilled it until the end. The only satisfying, enjoyable conversation he had ever shared through the sword was with Sword Demon Raikal, which was why Ruin had said he regretted killing Raikal.
‘You knew Ascension was dangerous, too.’
Every Ascendant before Ruin had been incomplete and failed. If a being capable of Ascension died without ascending, they entered the belly of a sky god. If they attempted Ascension, they entered the belly of an outer god along the way.
That was why Demon King Astaros had urged Ruin to kill himself and left Baal behind. Yet Ruin had not killed himself.
It could not have been confidence that he would succeed where others had failed. Ruin had attempted Ascension because of responsibility, the same way he had lived his life. In the end, Ruin succeeded, and because of that, every human in the world gained a Spirit Root. Humanity, once said to be the weakest race, had escaped that weakness through Ruin.
‘No, maybe... when you faced Ascension, you felt longing. In that era, every human but you was weak. If your Ascension could make humanity strong, then maybe one day, someone would ascend and ease your loneliness.’
Ruin had ascended long ago, so he could not answer that question. Still, Kyle thought it would not have been strange for Ruin, who had likely remained lonely until the very end, to harbor such a longing.
‘Maybe that longing is why you reincarnated me.’
This reincarnation was not Ruin’s intention alone, though. Kyle gripped his necklace tightly. There was clearly someone who regarded him as a Turning Point and wanted to use him.
“The Ascension Platform.”
Julius, walking ahead, spoke.
“It is deeply connected to the burden our family has carried since its beginning. In other words, our destiny. That is why only the Family Head may enter, and only the Family Head knows all the truth.”
“Does Uncle Karthan not know this truth either?”
“No. Normally, I should not tell you the truth yet. But... you inherited the Founding Ancestor’s sword. That means you need to know sooner than most.”
“The truth...”
Kyle tilted his head and murmured. Julius was usually followed in secret by members of the Funeral Knights, his personal guard, but Kyle could not sense even a trace of them now.
“First, I will tell you of the family duty unrelated to the Ascension Platform. The masters of Alastor who have surpassed the Boundary Realm, along with the elite of the Aurora Knights assigned to the northern border, know of this duty.”
“I finally get to hear it?”
Kyle grinned and perked up his ears.
“I had a feeling. It has to do with the Cultivation Floors, right?”
“Yes.”
Julius nodded slowly.
“The Sword Tower, made and gifted by the Dragon Queen. It is, in a sense, the threshold of this world, a Seal that prevents beings from the outer sea from invading it.”
“A Seal...”
“You saw it while you stayed in the Cultivation Floors. During the day on the lowest floor, remnants of the outer gods roam freely. At night, by the sea that rolls in, byproducts drift about.”
On the first floor of the Sword Tower, before the central elevator that only the Family Head could use, Julius continued.
“Both are born from the outer gods’ mana. More precisely, mana gathers and becomes byproducts, while that which cannot become byproducts turns into remnants.”
“Are there beings like that on every floor?”
The Cultivation Floors of the Sword Tower stretched from the sixth floor to the ninth, and Kyle had only entered the sixth so far.
“Their rank differs, but such beings exist on every floor. As you likely guessed, the main duty of the White Night Knights’ elite is to clean the Cultivation Floors.”
“Clean them...”
“On the sixth floor, the outer gods’ mana is thin, so the byproducts and remnants born there cannot cross the floor’s Seal even if left alone. But the farther out one goes, the stronger the outer gods’ mana becomes, and the stronger the remnants and byproducts born from it become as well. If left alone, the mana grows denser and threatens the Seal. That is why they must be cleaned out regularly.”
“What about the eye that drifted beneath the sea on the sixth floor?”
“That was only a gaze. Its true body lies far beyond, beyond the outer sea. It is powerful enough to capture a being with its gaze alone, but it does not threaten the Seal itself.”
Kyle nodded at that. If that eye had been an outer god’s true body, the byproducts on the sixth floor would not have been so weak, and simply avoiding its gaze would never have been enough to protect himself.
“The White Night Knights clean only the seventh and eighth floors. From the ninth floor onward, only masters of the Boundary Realm enter. The Cultivation Floors have the Dragon Queen’s blessing, the Life Thread, but the mana on the ninth floor cannot be endured through the Life Thread alone. One must open the Upper Dantian and attain a Heart Realm strong enough not to collapse beneath the external pressure of that mana.”
The elevator arrived. Julius stepped inside first and continued.
“The Cultivation Floors, the outer sea, are beyond the world and connected to the sky at the same time. From the ninth floor onward, they nearly touch the outside. The beings born there are not remnants or byproducts, but children of the outer gods, demons.”
“Demons?”
“They are different from the demon you met. They are not Ascendants who crawled out of an outer god’s belly, but beings born from the outer gods’ mana and blood.”
“I know the Boundary Realm masters of our family are strong, but wouldn’t it be difficult to face beings that are children of the outer gods?”
“It would be, if it were only us. Did I not say it touched the sky? The ninth floor is a battlefield between angels and demons. Angels stop the demons trying to enter farther in, while we lend our strength to the angels’ side and protect the Seal. Even at the Boundary Realm, we are insignificant compared to them...”
Julius paused and smiled bitterly.
“Still, at the border entered through the Sword Tower, we receive many blessings. You will understand what that means when you enter the ninth floor someday.”
Sky gods belonged to this world, while outer gods came from beyond it. Naturally, the sky gods would reject outer gods trying to enter from outside.
“The angels on the ninth floor blessed us, but we could not communicate with them. Perhaps it may be different for you.”
“Hmm, maybe the angel I met just happened to like humans?”
“That may be.”
Julius chuckled softly.
“Kyle. Why do you think the Family Head of Alastor must be the strongest in the family?”
It was an unexpected question after that laugh. Kyle had never considered it before, so he blinked at Julius for a moment.
“Hmm... because everyone follows the strongest?”
“There are times when popularity matters more than strength. Even Gerhard, for example, does not have much sword talent, but if he sat in the Family Head’s seat, he would run the family very well.”
“That may be true, but you do not intend to make Uncle Gerhard the Family Head. In the end, strength matters more than popularity in our family... Hmm, is it because you need enough strength to throw family members into the outer sea border if they defy the family duty?”
“That is not entirely untrue. The Life Thread and blessings may exist, but the family duty is unpleasant in many ways.”
Julius snickered and turned away.
The elevator was still rising. Kyle tilted his head. The Sword Tower was tall, but it only had eleven floors. The elevator had been ascending far too long.
“Where are we going?”
“To the Ascension Platform.”
“It is taking too long.”
“Because that place is the ceiling and the end of the world.”
Julius murmured.
“It stands at the boundary of this world even more than the Cultivation Floors do. The reason Alastor’s Family Head must be the strongest in the family lies there.”
Kyle focused and stared at the elevator doors. He tried to peer through the tightly shut gap, but could see nothing. Only then did he realize that, at some point, this space had become completely isolated.
‘The boundary of the world.’
If Julius was right, then even if someone climbed the outside of the Sword Tower to the highest floor, reaching the Ascension Platform would be impossible.
“We have arrived.”
With those words, the elevator doors opened.
The Ascension Platform was nothing like Kyle had imagined. The summit of the Sword Tower, the place where Ruin ascended, a place connected to the sky. He had pictured something like an altar beneath an open ceiling, but all that spread before him was a white space.
There was no ceiling, floor, or wall. Nothing that could be called a boundary existed. Only endless white extended in every direction.
Kyle followed Julius out. Though his feet stood on something, the sensation of standing on solid ground was faint. A pure white space stretching infinitely in all directions, with no above or below. Only now did Julius’s words, that this was the ceiling and end of the world, truly sink in. This was not the inside of the Sword Tower, but a strange boundary whose location he could not fathom.
At the center of that white infinity stood a staircase.
It was formed from condensed light layered step by step. The staircase began at the center of the white space and stretched upward.
“Follow me.”
Julius walked toward the stairs. As Kyle followed, he felt an intense sense of wrongness. Every particle that formed the white of this place felt like an eye watching him. It was unpleasant, and not only his mana, but his body itself would not move as he wished. This space, or perhaps beings beyond the boundary, seemed to be suppressing him.
‘This...’
Kyle swallowed. He had felt suppression of mana in the Cultivation Floors, but this was on another level. Each step was unbearably heavy. To force his unresponsive body to move, he needed not mana, but will.
‘If I had not opened my Upper Dantian, I would not even be able to breathe here.’
Kyle raised his intent. Only then did his sluggish steps begin to move forward. Julius, who had turned to watch him, let out a faint laugh.
Grandfather and grandson climbed the staircase of light. They were certainly ascending, yet Kyle could not feel it, and their footsteps made no sound. Still, the higher they climbed, the stronger the pressure became. Sweat beaded on Kyle’s forehead, and his legs trembled.
A shiver ran through his entire body. The higher they went, the closer they came to the boundary. Every step consumed more intent and mental force than a sword swung in a life-or-death battle.
“Is this why the Family Head has to be the strongest?”
Kyle asked, sweat dripping from his face.
“Certainly. If it were Uncle Gerhard, I think he would collapse the moment he stepped in here, let alone climb the stairs.”
“You underestimate Gerhard too much. He has at least one foot in the Boundary Realm. He would not collapse, though he might manage one step.”
Julius’s voice was calm as he climbed ahead. When he glanced back, a teasing look crossed his face.
“These stairs are easy enough for even this old man to climb, yet you look to be having quite a hard time. Shall I help?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Tsk, tsk. At this rate, it will be a long time before I pass the Family Head’s position to you.”
“Is it just me, or do you seem a little happy, Grandfather?”
“It is not just you. You have always been so full of yourself because everything comes easily to you. Honestly, seeing you struggle now is enjoyable.”
“That is cruel.”
Julius laughed again at Kyle’s complaint.
The staircase that seemed as if it would never end finally did. If there had been only a few more steps, Kyle might have exhausted his mental force and intent, then collapsed. He steadied his breathing and climbed the final step.
The moment he did, the scene before him rippled wildly.
Then he saw it. A massive rift.
A rift in space. Beyond the end of the staircase, space twisted and warped. Kyle could not help stopping when he saw that distortion.
“What does that look like to you?”
Julius asked quietly. Kyle answered honestly, voicing what he felt.
“It looks like a Sword Mark.”
If someone swung a sword at the highest point of this white world and sliced through the white from above, a trace like that would likely remain. Julius slowly nodded at Kyle’s answer.
“You saw it correctly. Yes, that is a Sword Mark. It is the final trace left by the Founding Ancestor when he ascended four hundred years ago.”
Kyle shuddered at that answer. The trace of the last sword Ruin had swung. Of course, the mark alone could not tell him clearly what Ruin’s swordsmanship had been like. Yet Kyle could guess how, and in what posture, Ruin had swung his sword.
‘From above, downward.’
He had likely stood a little farther forward. Kyle looked down at the floor, then froze. Deep in the floor made of light was a groove. As Kyle stared at it, Julius spoke.
“That is where Fenris was embedded.”
As if in answer, Fenris trembled. The wolf that appeared without being called looked down at the groove for a moment. A hint of longing lingered in its eyes, and Kyle grew annoyed for no reason, tapping the hilt.
‘Hey, do you like that bastard more than me?’
The wolf lifted its head and glared at Kyle in response to his inward grumbling. Kyle ignored it as it wagged its tail and rubbed its head against him.
‘Jor is still better. You do not know any master but me. Right?’
He casually addressed Jor, but for some reason, she did not answer. Kyle tilted his head, and Julius continued.
“That Sword Mark was left when the Founding Ancestor ascended. He cut with his sword, splitting the ceiling of the world. Then he embedded Fenris and went beyond it.”
Kyle let out a quiet sound of admiration. Ruin had not simply cut downward with his sword. That Sword Mark remained vivid in this place even after four hundred years.
“I have heard that there was originally no staircase here. Only endless white. This place is now called the Ascension Chamber, and these stairs are called the Ascension Platform, but originally, there were not even names for them. It was simply an empty place.”
Listening, Kyle looked back at the stairs.
“No one can climb here without following the Founding Ancestor's path. The stairs we climbed are nothing more than the footsteps left by the Founding Ancestor.”
That made sense. Kyle could only nod. Could he have climbed on his own without those stairs? Thinking about it calmly, it was impossible for Kyle as he was now. Merely walking up those steps had consumed an enormous amount of mental force and intent. Without them, he would not have been able to rise at all.
“Can you climb without the stairs, Grandfather?”
“I could. It would be very difficult.”
Julius answered with a bitter smile.
“Even if I climbed it, I would not leave footsteps as clear as his. Much less a Sword Mark.”
Grandfather and grandson turned their gaze back to the Sword Mark.
“That is... a mark left by someone who tore open the ceiling of this world. It has not healed in four hundred years.”
Kyle could only laugh weakly. Fenris had shown him how incredible Ruin had been in his final years through his sword, but seeing such clear traces again left him in awe. Ruin had been born as one human, held only one sword, and cut the world apart.
“Kyle.”
Julius raised his right hand.
“The reason Alastor’s Family Head must be the strongest in the family is to climb this Ascension Platform.”
Crackle!
Lightning energy condensed. Julius drew Thunder Roc, steadied his breathing, and fixed his eyes on the rift. Lightning energy churned deep within his golden eyes. Slowly, Julius raised Thunder Roc over his head.
“The Family Head of Alastor comes here regularly.”
Rumble!
Thunder Roc, held overhead, let out a thunderous roar. Power beyond comparison to the sword Julius had swung in the Sword Hall gathered in Thunder Roc. Kyle swallowed and stepped back. The full strength of Julius, the Thunder Emperor, was poured into a single strike.
“Because the Family Head of Alastor must swing a sword at that Sword Mark.”
Purple lightning blazed from the blade like the sun. With a deafening thunderclap, the sword came down. That immense slash was drawn into the rift.
At that moment, Kyle saw it. The Thunder Emperor, Alastor’s Family Head, had wrung out every bit of his strength for that blow. Yet before it even reached the rift, it shrank rapidly. The enormous bolt of lightning lost most of its light the moment it was about to be swallowed by the rift.
“As you can see.”
Julius said as he caught his breath.
“An ordinary sword cannot even reach that rift. Even if it reaches it, it cannot cross it, and a sword that cannot cross has no meaning. On top of that, this proof becomes more difficult with every generation.”
Julius sheathed Thunder Roc and turned to Kyle.
“The Family Head of each generation must always surpass the Family Head before them. Only then does it have meaning. If they cannot prove their sword to that rift... the Seal of the Cultivation Floors weakens.”
“Weakens?”
“Yes. Like... a Reverberation. When the Family Head proves their sword, power, greater power, returns from beyond. That power strengthens the Seal.”
“Who...”
Kyle asked in a trembling voice.
“Who is sending that power?”
“I do not know. In the last four hundred years, no Family Head has been able to say with certainty what it is. It may be the mystery of the Sword Tower, the nature of that rift, or the Law of the world. But every Family Head before me, myself included, has believed the same thing.”
Julius looked back at the rift. In his eyes was the same powerful longing Kyle had seen when he looked at Kyle’s sword.
“That the Founding Ancestor beyond it is answering our swords.”
Kyle could not help shuddering at those words. Perhaps, perhaps Ruin was waiting beyond Ascension. Kyle had secretly entertained that thought before, but it had only been his hope, with far too little reason to support it.
Now it was different. If Reverberation returned from that rift, then it had to be Ruin’s answer. Kyle could not help believing it with all his heart.
“The Reverberation will come soon.”
Julius whispered. Kyle immediately looked at the rift. The rippling grew stronger, and light churned within it.
Fwoooosh!
The rift poured out light. There was no sword in it. Only immense power. Yet that power held none of the violence of hostility or oppression. It even felt warm.
The immense warm current passed over Kyle and Julius, filling the white space before being drawn somewhere else.
“...”
Kyle could only stand with his mouth slightly open for a moment. It was regrettable that he could not feel a sword in the returning power, but it was true that something stronger than what Julius had sent out had returned.
“...Can I.”
Kyle swallowed and asked.
“Can I try swinging once, too?”
“If you still have the strength for it.”
“I have enough for one swing.”
Kyle suppressed the pounding in his chest and gripped Fenris. Julius stepped aside with a satisfied smile.
“If you can, then swing.”
Julius placed a hand on Kyle’s shoulder.
“That is why I brought you here.”
Footnotes:
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