WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 174: Like Last Time

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Two days had passed since they joined up with Soha, and they were steadily drawing closer to the Wall of Severance after entering the Wisdom Mountain Range.

Kyle had never visited the East in his previous life.

There had been no particular reason to go. By the time Kyle, the Sword Demon, was born, the world had already been at war. If the Dark Age had ended early and the world had become peaceful, perhaps his nature would have drawn him across to the East. But the Sword Demon died before the Dark Age came to an end.

Still, while he had never been to the East, he had met several martial artists from there. Curious about it, he would ask what their homeland was like.

Most of them gave the same answer.

[Quit talking shit and kill me, you bastard!]

It could not be helped. Most Eastern martial artists he encountered on the battlefield had crossed over after hearing that wars were endless beyond their homeland. They were either mercenaries seeking money, called ronin in their own lands, or more skilled practitioners who had come to prove their martial prowess in foreign wars.

Naturally, he met such people on battlefields. Back then, everyone on the battlefield except the Sword Demon himself was an enemy. If he found their clothing, appearance, or martial arts different from those of this continent interesting and wanted to talk, it was only natural to beat them half to death first.

In any case, after much coaxing, he picked up a few things about the East. That continent differed from the West in many ways.

First, the East had no kingdoms or kings. Instead, clan lords ruled their own territories. From what he had heard, they were not all that different from the lords of this continent aside from the terminology.

"Among them, five are considered the great houses."

Soha spoke brightly.

"Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. There are countless clan lords in the East, but most of them serve one of those five great houses."

"So the five great houses are kings, and the clan lords under them are something like territorial lords."

"Similar enough. If you get into the details, they are different from the empires and kingdoms on our continent, but you probably don't need to know that much."

Soha smiled softly.

"The knowledge my family has of the East is over three hundred years old. Contact was cut off after the Severance, so things in the East may have changed greatly."

Three hundred years was a long time. The Dark Age on the western continent had lasted only around forty years, yet countless families and kingdoms had fallen during that time.

"So the land we have to cross into is basically unknown territory."

Soha's face held no worry or fear about the journey ahead. It was full only of excitement and anticipation.

Kyle gave a hollow laugh.

"Aren't you nervous, Sis? This morning, you probably never imagined you'd be leaving like this."

"That's why I'm even more excited. Little brother... Ahem, Commander. Your family may have a free-spirited culture, but Izelion, where I was born, was closed off in many ways."

Soha glanced at Lucia, whose eyes had narrowed sharply, and corrected her form of address. She still had no intention of giving up on calling Kyle her little brother.

"Those born with Izelion blood spend most of their lives in Izelion territory. The only chance we have to leave is during our coming-of-age ceremony, and even that isn't long. Other than that, there are only major events like the last imperial party."

"How do people even live in there?"

"Mostly by being self-sufficient. Izelion territory is very large. Things we can't obtain inside are brought in regularly..."

"I'm genuinely curious. How do people in Izelion have children?"

"Hahaha! It isn't incest. We marry distant relatives, or find a husband or bride candidate during our coming-of-age ceremony and bring them back."

"Even though joining Izelion means being bound to the family's fate?"

"Not everyone is satisfied with their current life, you know. People in hopeless situations naturally want to improve their circumstances. Even if it means accepting that the children they bear may die and become trees, or perish along with the roots."

Soha's smile faded.

"My mother was one of those people."

According to Soha, it was blood that bestowed Izelion's fate. Husbands and wives brought in from outside did not become trees when they died, nor did they share their fate with the roots.

But those born of Izelion blood were trapped by that fate from the moment they were born.

[That is no different from a curse.]

Fragment muttered.

[Not figuratively. I mean it literally. It is probably an Eastern art. A curse of blood... of heredity.]

'Can a curse remain in place after more than three hundred years?'

[Whether it is magic or a curse, its power and duration depend on who cast it and what level they stand at. Look at the Sword Tower. The Sword Tower made by Dragon Queen Velatus remains intact even after five hundred years, and the magic and seals within it are maintained without special repairs.]

Fragment's voice was full of pride in the Dragon Queen Velatus, who could be called the source of Fragment's existence. No, it was more pride in Fragment's own self.

'If Velatus tries to stab me in the back, you won't join her, right?'

[You do not need to worry about that. If Velatus bears hostility toward you and threatens you, I will never take her side. This is a magical oath that goes beyond a pact.]

'You don't intend to take my side, though?'

[How could I, a fragment of Velatus, stand against her? Besides, why do you keep assuming you will fight Velatus? You have no reason to fight Velatus, and Velatus has no reason to fight you.]

'Doesn't it all seem suspicious? She suddenly tells me to come to the East because she'll give me her heart. Normally, doesn't giving away your heart kill you? Or can dragons survive without one?'

[Probably... probably not.]

Fragment stammered, as if uncertain.

[But Velatus is an ancient dragon who has lived for a long time. She has a great purpose in protecting this world. That is why she aided Ruin Alastor and even built the Sword Tower. Velatus wants to give up her heart to strengthen the Sword Tower's seal, so she intends to sacrifice her life for the world in a noble...]

'Sorry, but I don't believe in such grand causes.'

Kyle answered flatly.

'The people who mindlessly shout about great causes are usually obsessed with petty self-interest.'

[Did Ruin Alastor not Ascend for the sake of the world?]

'That's because that bastard was a once-in-a-lifetime lunatic. He's a psychopath obsessed with morality and responsibility.'

[Velatus may be the same.]

'I don't know. I only spoke to Velatus briefly, but... that lizard didn't seem obsessed with morality or responsibility.'

Then what was Velatus obsessed with?

A possibility lingered in Kyle's mind, but he did not dwell on it. Uncertain possibilities created prejudice and narrowed both the mind and one's view. Even now, was he not thinking negatively just because Velatus rubbed him the wrong way?

Perhaps Velatus was a very, very kind dragon.

"We need to be careful from here on."

Soha, who had been leading the way, stopped walking. Her tone was completely different from the one she had used moments ago.

"We've entered the Wall of Severance's territory."

The Wisdom Mountain Range was a massive range called the spine of the world, cutting the entire continent in half from north to south. Kyle's group had entered from the side of Adera Mountain, which bordered Izelion Forest. No matter where one entered, the Wall of Severance stood along the same line.

That pale gray wall could not be seen unless one entered its territory. From outside the mountains, there was only sky. Even if one climbed high enough to look beyond it, nothing on the other side could be seen.

"Oh..."

Kyle looked up with a quiet gasp.

A pale gray wall towered as if it would reach the end of the sky. That was the wall that split the continent along the Wisdom Mountain Range and cut off all exchange with the East.

"The Wall of Severance absorbs all mana around its boundary."

Katarina spoke.

"That is why nothing can live within this boundary. Not grass, insects, or animals. This boundary is called the Ashland."

Just as she said, the place they had passed through barely ten minutes ago had been full of grass, trees, insects, wild animals, and monsters.

But from this boundary onward, there was no sign of any of them.

The soil beneath their feet was no different from ash. There were no trees or grass, only barren ridges stretching onward.

"Insects, animals, and monsters do not enter this place at all. Their instincts keep them away. Humans are the only ones who come here."

Soha rubbed the dry, ash-covered ground with her shoe.

"As Lady Katarina said, the Wall of Severance devours mana. Once all mana is drained, it begins draining vitality. The closer you get to the wall, the stronger its pull becomes."

That was why attempts to explore beyond the Wall of Severance had always failed. The expeditions organized so far had either dried up and turned to ash while crossing the Ashland and attempting to breach the wall, or given up and returned partway through.

"Martial artists in the Boundary Realm can resist the pull to some extent, and their internal mana is abundant enough to reach the Wall of Severance by crossing the Ashland. But for anyone below that realm, entering the Ashland itself is suicide."

"Uh, um."

Jade broke into a cold sweat at Soha's words.

"Among us, only the commander and Lady Katarina have reached the Boundary Realm. Does that mean the rest of us are going to die here today?"

"Don't talk weakly."

Kyle spoke sternly.

"All of you endured the Cultivation Floors. With that experience, you should be able to resist it."

The Cultivation Floors were a place where mana was rigid and constricted. Enduring there for a long time naturally improved one's ability to control their own mana.

"From what I can see, we should be able to endure it until the wall."

Kyle muttered as he looked at the Wall of Severance rising beyond the ridge.

Jade let out an incredulous laugh.

"And once we enter the wall, we dry up and turn to ash? I'll follow the commander's orders, but wouldn't us coming along just hold you back?"

"Velatus said she would open a path. And if you don't want to hold me back, crawl after me if you have to. You can only break through a realm by surpassing your limits."

"What an impressive theory of grit."

"It may be obvious, but that doesn't make it wrong."

Kyle answered calmly and glanced at Soha. She had never visited the Cultivation Floors of the Sword Tower, nor had she reached the Boundary Realm.

Soha snickered at his look.

"You don't need to worry about me. Izelion has an art called the Breath-Sealing Art. It slows the loss of mana in the Ashland."

Since Izelion had longed to return to the East for hundreds of years, it seemed they had prepared measures for crossing the Ashland.

They began advancing again.

Kyle and Katarina took the lead and climbed the ridge. Just as they had been told, the pull draining their mana grew stronger the farther they crossed into the Ashland.

'This is similar to the entrance of a Secret Realm, but different.'

Kyle kept pace with his knights as he thought.

Secret Realms breathed. They drew in the mana of the surrounding space, then expelled it again. Mana around a Secret Realm became oversaturated, causing the environment to change into something bizarre.

But the Wall of Severance only devoured mana. It never released it.

"The Ashland is slowly expanding."

Soha whispered.

"Little by little, but clearly. In the distant future, this entire mountain range will probably become ash."

Would it invade the continent after that?

Kyle narrowed his eyes at the Wall of Severance. Why had Velatus crossed into the East, and what had happened to that land? Why was that enormous wall continuing to expand its territory?

Everything was filled with questions.

"Haah... haah..."

The group finally climbed the ridge.

Narua, who had the lowest realm among them, was naturally breathing the hardest. Her face was pale, but she had not collapsed even once on the way up.

Narua touched her parched lips and muttered.

"I, Narua... if I die, I want to die on a battlefield. Not in a place like this."

"You're not dead."

Kyle snickered and looked over his knights.

Lucia, who seemed to be in the best condition, was slightly pale. Bruno and Jade looked worse than she did. Still, not a single person had fallen behind, and Kyle felt proud as their commander.

He nodded with satisfaction.

"I raised you all well."

"...Did the commander really raise us?"

"Narua learned more from the castle lord and Lord Aslan than from the commander."

"Kyle, do you know that you've spent more time outside Gladiheim than in it since forming the Sword Wolf Knights?"

Jade, Narua, and Bruno complained, but Kyle did not back down.

"I gathered you into the knight order. I built the foundations that allowed you to absorb the teachings of the castle lord and my father. I asked both of them to teach you. So I'm allowed to be proud of your growth."

"As expected of Sir Kyle."

Only Lucia bowed her head in sincere admiration.

Kyle accepted the response of his loyal vice commander and turned around.

The Wall of Severance.

It looked like enormous steam. Gray currents that resembled smoke, fog, and flame rose high into the sky.

They truly reached the sky. Their tops pierced through the clouds and continued beyond them, with no end in sight. It was impossible to cross the wall through the sky, and impossible to go around it. It rose from the Wisdom Mountain Range on the continent, but it rose in the same way even in the seas beyond the continent.

That wall literally split the world in half.

[This is absurd...]

Fragment groaned.

[For a barrier of this scale to be maintained for over three hundred years... This... makes no sense.]

'Why does it make no sense?'

[How much mana do you think is needed to maintain a barrier of this scale? No matter how efficient its magic formula is, maintaining a barrier this large would require an immense amount of mana. But look. The Ashland is far too small for something that maintains such a massive barrier.]

Fragment's voice trembled.

[Life does not enter the Ashland because instinct keeps it away, but mana circulates throughout the entire world. Outside mana would flow into the Ashland as well. Yet even that cannot maintain a barrier of this scale.]

'Isn't that why the Ashland is gradually expanding?'

[Did she not say it was expanding only little by little? I made a simple calculation. To maintain a barrier that splits the world in half, most of this mountain range should already have become Ashland. The fact that it has not means...]

Fragment could not finish.

The possibility in Fragment's mind was too horrifying to say aloud.

Kyle could not ask what Fragment had thought of. The currents rising to the sky trembled and began to part slowly.

[Ah.]

Velatus's voice, full of delight, came from beyond the opening currents.

[You have finally come. Ruin's arran...]

"If you spout useless nonsense like last time, I'll turn around immediately and never come near this place again."

Kyle fired back before Velatus could finish.

Katarina and the others turned toward him in surprise, but Kyle glared and shouted at Velatus beyond the wall.

"By useless nonsense, I mean the things you said last time that made me lose my temper and insult you. You aren't to say anything about me."

[...]

Velatus fell silent for a moment.

[I... Hmm. Fine, I understand. Human, you came here as I wished, so I shall open the gate.]

Fortunately, that damned lizard understood what he meant.

[Once you enter the gate I have opened, do not resist the current. Entrust yourself to it. Before long, you will reach the other side of the wall.]

"And after that? Will I meet you right away?"

[No. I cannot move freely, so once you cross the wall and move away from that place, my followers will come to receive you.]

Velatus's voice grew distant.

[Human, our meeting is near. I am looking forward to it.]

With those final words, Velatus's voice could no longer be heard.

Kyle swallowed a sigh of relief that his identity as the Sword Demon's reincarnation had not been announced. Then he looked at the wide-open gate.

Only smoke swirled within it beyond the gray currents. Nothing else could be seen.

"I'll ask just in case. Does anyone want to turn back?"

Kyle looked over his knights, but no one said they wanted to return.

Instead, Bruno let out a long sigh and pushed Kyle from behind.

"Stop testing us and get in already."

"You all have plenty of grit."

Kyle grinned and stepped inside as he was pushed.

* * *

"Ah."

In a gray cradle, the Dragon Queen opened her closed eyes.

"You came. You finally came. Ruin's arrangement. Ruin's lingering attachment."

Unlike her beautiful voice, the Dragon Queen's appearance was wretched. Her jewel-like scales had lost their color long ago, and most had fallen from her body to become part of the cradle.

Her wings, once large enough to cover the sky, had lost all their membranes. The bones were dry and twisted like dead winter branches.

Her scaleless body was black with rot, and blood and pus boiled from her festering wounds.

The ruler of dragons, the Dragon Queen.

Velatus, the oldest and final dragon.

Her gray eyes trembled as she spoke.

"Go greet him, my followers. That human is Ruin's arrangement and Ruin's lingering attachment, so greet him with affection and respect. Remember this as well. Never, never approach that wall."

At Velatus's whisper, the followers crouched around the cradle rose.

Eyes covered in several pairs of wings stared at Velatus.

Loathing and contempt churned in Velatus's eyes as she looked back at them.

Footnotes:

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