WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 175: Why All of a Sudden

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Velatus had told them not to resist the current and to entrust themselves to it.

Kyle had wondered what she meant, but the moment they entered the opening in the Wall of Severance, an enormous current seized him and the others. They had been warned beforehand, so everyone let the current carry them without resisting.

The sensation was similar to being sucked into a Secret Realm, so Kyle could not help imagining the worst again.

'I swear, nothing good has ever happened after entering a place like this.'

Honestly, Kyle himself had enjoyed those experiences. In the Beltua Island Secret Realm, he had been able to fight a powerhouse like Lizet Beliar. In the Black Cube's domain, he had fought a life-and-death battle for the first time since reincarnating.

Still, those had only been enjoyable experiences from Kyle's perspective. Looking back, they had also been filled with misfortune. Lucia had been branded with the Demon King's brand in the Beltua Island Secret Realm, and the battle in the Black Cube was only a good memory because he had survived it. He could easily have died.

The point was that memories were only enjoyable when one could look back on them. Kyle vaguely imagined that this time, too, misfortune might pile up like before.

Not long after, the current carrying him stopped.

Thud!

Kyle sprang outside and caught his balance before he could fall.

'I'm not the only one who got thrown out, am I?'

Fortunately, that worry was unfounded. Katarina, Soha, and the members of the Sword Wolf Knights emerged from the wall after him.

"Is everyone all right?"

They did not appear injured, but they might have suffered internal injuries or mental contamination. Once everyone confirmed that they were fine, Kyle looked around.

The Wall of Severance had appeared around three hundred years ago. It had been about a century after Ruin Alastor's Ascension, around the time every human on the continent developed an organ called a Spirit Root.

Before then, it had been possible to interact with the eastern continent. Yet after those gray currents rose, crossing became impossible from both the West and the East. In other words, Kyle and his group were guests from beyond the wall, the first people in three hundred years to cross the Wall of Severance and witness the current state of the East with their own eyes.

"Looking only at this place... it doesn't seem much different from the other side."

Kyle muttered as he surveyed the gray landscape. Perhaps because they were near the Wall of Severance, this place was also Ashland, where mana and vitality had been sucked away by its pulling force. Nothing remained nearby except dried-up heaps of ash.

"Velatus said her followers would come greet us once we moved away from the wall. Then we should first leave the Ashland."

Katarina spoke as she studied the surroundings.

"Before we decide our priorities, we should confirm whether we can return."

"Yes."

Kyle nodded in agreement. They had only crossed the wall because Velatus had opened the gate. Could they return across it without her permission? Velatus's invitation might have held an intention different from what she claimed, so securing an escape route was important.

"Mm... I don't think we can return from this side."

Kyle muttered as he examined the Wall of Severance towering behind them. No gate opened, even when he approached. Could they force their way through, then?

Rather than doing something as foolish as entering it himself, he stood close to the wall and felt it with his aura sense.

Tingle...

His instincts warned him.

'This won't work.'

If he entered that, he would die. If an opponent holding a sword or weapon came to kill him, he could fight them and kill them first. The same went for a mage.

But this was not something that could be dealt with in that manner.

It was less an enemy with hostile intent and more a natural disaster. If he tried to force his way through, he would only turn to ash alive.

'Could you break through with your magic?'

[Probably... impossible. The mana maintaining this wall alone is at an absurd level. It would require an enormous amount of mana just to pierce a single point through it.]

'But I have a lot of mana.'

[No matter how much you have, it is still at a mortal's level. To force your way through this wall, you would need at least a hundred humans at your level.]

Fragment said that, then fell silent for a moment.

Kyle sensed anxiety and fear in that silence.

'Don't keep worrying by yourself. Tell me plainly. What have you been imagining since earlier?'

[I am merely making... an assumption.]

'What assumption?'

[I told you earlier. The Ashland in the West is far too small to maintain a barrier as large as the Wall of Severance.]

Fragment looked around through Kyle's eyes.

[There is Ashland on this side as well, but it is nowhere near enough to maintain the Wall of Severance for three hundred years. That naturally means it is drawing mana... fuel, through another method.]

'What other method?'

[Velatus... and the dragons who follow her may be expending their power.]

'Saying "you don't know" sounds rather vague.'

[I have not seen it with my own eyes... That is why it is an assumption.]

'Is that your only assumption?'

They could not remain standing around and talking forever, so Kyle started walking. They first had to leave the Ashland.

'I think you find another assumption more likely. Just tell me plainly.'

[Dragons...]

Fragment let out a long sigh.

[They are an arrogant race. They believe themselves to be the greatest and most noble beings in all creation. To them, everything except themselves is no different from grass, insects, or animals.]

'...'

[Dragons do not consider themselves part of the world. They believe the world exists for them. That is why dragons are indifferent to most conflicts in the world. Conflicts between grass, insects, and animals cannot threaten dragons.]

Something came to Kyle's mind as Fragment spoke. The Angel he had met in the Beltua Island Secret Realm, and the outer god he had seen in the Black Cube.

Those beings had shown Kyle a feeling of fondness, as if they were looking at some small, cute animal.

[Think of the Dark Age five hundred years ago, when you lived in your previous life. The war that spread throughout the western continent. Did dragons intervene at the height of that war? No, they did not. It was only a conflict between grass, insects, and animals.]

'But they intervened after the Dark Age ended.'

[Only the Dragon Queen Velatus intervened. Even then, she did not intervene in the war of the Dark Age. Velatus... contacted Ruin Alastor. I do not know why. Perhaps Velatus is an unusual dragon. Even among humans, are there not those who take great interest in beings far smaller than themselves, such as grass, insects, and animals?]

Fragment fell silent again.

The anxiety and fear in that silence were stronger than before.

[Velatus created the Sword Tower and made Ruin and his descendants guard against the outer sea. She even said she would give you her heart. I... I believe Velatus has a noble cause for the sake of the world. But in the world she wishes to protect, how much value would human lives hold?]

'...'

[You humans hunt, raise, and eat animals because you need them. You do not feel guilty about it. Of course, some might, but most would consider it natural.]

Fragment's voice sank low.

[Dragons would think the same way. No, they would be worse. Dragons believe that the world and everything in it exist for them. There are humans in the East... perhaps millions, perhaps tens of millions. Living beings with mana, existing for dragons, insignificant fuel.]

Kyle understood what Fragment was trying to say.

He also understood the source of the anxiety in Fragment's voice.

Fragment was afraid of coming to hate Velatus.

[What would an arrogant race choose? Would they reduce their own noble lives to maintain the barrier? Or would they offer up things as numerous and insignificant as insects? By a dragon's reckoning, it would not even be a question worth considering. No, the very concept of consideration would not apply. Just as you do not feel sorry for a horse when you make it pull a carriage.]

Kyle walked across the gray land without answering.

[If this assumption is correct, civilization in the East has already collapsed. The great houses and clans would be relics of the past.]

There were many strong people in the current era. That was because Ruin had Ascended and rewritten the Law of the human race, creating Spirit Roots.

Humans had not been nearly as strong in Kyle's previous life.

Furthermore, humans had not become strong immediately after Spirit Roots appeared. Every new thing required time to adapt to. Martial arts had flourished in this era because, once it became natural for all humans to have Spirit Roots, the systems of martial arts rapidly developed.

The West had been given enough time to develop that way. There had been no great wars there since the Dark Age.

But what about the East?

Had they been given enough time?

Had the dragons allowed them to have it?

Why would they?

'It is a rather extreme assumption.'

Kyle thought as he ran his hand across Fenris's hilt.

'Why Velatus came to the East in the first place. Why she separated this place with the Wall of Severance. Everything about it is unknown, but I think this sturdy barrier... feels as if it was built to hide from something.'

Velatus could not have crossed into the East simply because she wanted to see it. There had to be a clear reason why Velatus and the dragons had crossed into this land shortly after Ruin's Ascension. There also had to be a reason why they needed to imprison this land behind the Wall of Severance.

If dragons, a race said to be arrogant, had no choice but to do this, then this method must have been the best one. They had fled and hidden from something even they could not handle.

That was why Fragment's assumption felt right. Dragons who had fled and hidden from something would not maintain the barrier by reducing their own lives. They would have used the countless human lives around them as fuel to strengthen the wall that protected them.

'Three hundred years have passed, so I expected things to have changed... but civilization might have collapsed.'

Kyle clicked his tongue and glanced at Soha.

"Where exactly is the Mok Family?"

"Close. It is directly below this mountain."

Soha pointed below the ridge.

"At the eastern foot of the Wisdom Mountain Range. Once we descend the mountain, we will immediately enter Mok Family territory. That is why Izelion settled on the western foot of the range in the first place. We are positioned back-to-back with the main family, with the mountain range between us. It is also the direction the Spirit Tree's roots extend."

"So you were relatives with a mountain between you. Though you have not seen one another for three hundred years."

"That's right. So..."

A faint tremor entered Soha's voice. It was impossible to tell whether it was excitement or tension.

"Once we descend the mountain, it will be a reunion after three hundred years."

The fate of her family rested in her hands.

She did not think too hard about how she would persuade the main family she was meeting after three hundred years. If a request was not enough, she would get an answer through force if necessary.

Soha smiled softly and turned toward Kyle.

"Little brother commander, what will you do if the Mok Family refuses to free Izelion?"

"We will make them free Izelion. Grandfather wishes for it, and I promised the Izelion Family Head as well."

"Even if you have to draw your sword?"

"Wouldn't that be the easiest way?"

"You would go that far for Izelion. I do not know how this older sister can repay you."

"I am doing it for Izelion, but also for Alastor's honor. Grandfather and I each made a promise to the Izelion Family Head."

Katarina smiled with satisfaction and nodded at his answer.

Kyle's response was full of the awareness expected of an Alastor pureblood, and it was also a response worthy of the next Family Head.

'Forgive me, Brother... but that child could not be more suitable to become the next Family Head.'

His appearance bore the symbols of the family, and his swordsmanship was genius-level. She had known that already, but she had learned much more about Kyle on this journey.

More than anything, she liked his personality.

"But what exactly is the Spirit Tree that they treasure so much?"

"Mm... according to what has been passed down in our family, it is an eastern divine spirit that founded the Mok Family. In fact, the Mok Family is not the only one. The Five Great Houses of the East all worship divine spirits like it."

"Divine spirits..."

"There are religions in the West as well, right? They may call them by different names, but they probably worship the same gods."

Unlike the outer gods that came from beyond the world, belief in the sky gods originated in this world. Since ancient times, humans had worshiped natural disasters and supernatural things as gods.

As they continued talking, the group left the Ashland.

The landscape changed the moment they crossed its boundary, and their bodies knew it. The mana leaking from them stopped, and ambient mana seeped into them like water filling a dry jar.

Soil appeared amid the gray earth. Then dry grass, green grass, and finally trees.

It was living land.

Birds sang, insects flew, and the wind carried the scent of grass.

"Phew..."

Jade let out a breath that could have been either relief or admiration. After everyone had walked through the land of death for half a day, the greenery looked like paradise.

Kyle, however, focused on something else.

There were signs of human activity on the mountains on the other side. In the West, expeditions were periodically sent to the Wall of Severance, and Izelion's people had entered the Ashland many times as well.

But there were no such signs here.

More precisely, the traces were far too old.

Even the path down the mountain was like that. What appeared to have once been a well-maintained official road had now been swallowed by thick grass. Along the roadside stood collapsed structures that might have been signposts or shrines.

"It seems to have gone unmanaged for a long time."

Katarina muttered.

"Surely the people of the East must have tried to cross the Wall of Severance as well."

"Could they be using another road...?"

The nature of the tremor in Soha's voice had changed. She, too, was beginning to feel uneasy.

Just as Katarina was about to reply, she stiffened and placed a hand on her sword hilt.

Kyle raised his head as well.

Something was flying over the eastern foothills.

"A bird...?"

Narua tilted her head.

Normally, one would think it was a bird. It was flying through the sky, flapping its wings.

But soon, everyone realized that it was not a bird.

Several pairs of wings sprouted from a single body. The wings were neither white nor black, but gray. And the body from which those wings sprouted was a giant eyeball.

Those bizarre beings were flying straight toward them.

"W-What is that?"

Jade grabbed his sword hilt in alarm.

Katarina had already drawn her sword, but her eyes were filled with confusion.

"Kyle. That is..."

"It looks like an angel."

According to Julius, the ninth floor of the Cultivation Floors was both beyond the world and connected to the sky, a place where Apostles of the sky gods and children of the outer gods roamed freely.

Katarina had likely entered the ninth floor many times, so she should know what Apostles of the sky gods, angels, looked like.

"They're a little... much smaller than the Angel I saw."

The Angel that had told Kyle, ::Do not fear::, had been far larger than the beings flying toward them. Its eye had been bigger, it had possessed more wings, and each wing had been densely covered in small eyes.

But these were different.

The number varied by individual, but they had at most four pairs of wings and only one eye.

"Young angels? In any case, stay on guard, but do not attack. They could be Velatus's followers."

Velatus had said she would send her followers to greet them, so that was probably the case.

'I thought her followers would be young dragons or something.'

They belonged to Velatus, so Kyle had naturally expected that.

[Bizarre...]

Fragment spoke in a stiff voice.

[They possess the aura of dragons... but they are not dragons. What exactly are they...?]

The followers came closer.

Six followers stopped high above the group. Their giant eyes looked down at Kyle all at once.

An eerie silence passed. There was not even the sound of flapping wings.

Then the followers slowly began descending.

There was no hostility in their movements or gazes. If anything, they were cautious. They descended with the manners of those trying not to be rude.

The lead follower descended close to the ground. Its wide-spread wings folded, and its eye half closed.

Then a sound that could barely be called a voice flowed from within. It resonated as though several people were speaking over one another.

[O one prepared by Ruin. Mother... Her Majesty awaits-]

The sound abruptly stopped.

"...?"

Kyle's eyebrow twitched.

The follower's half-closed eye widened and fixed on one place.

Around Kyle's chest.

More precisely, inside his collar, where his necklace rested.

'Cold.'

The necklace that had awakened Lavian. The necklace that had reacted to the threads connecting Alero and Ludmia. The necklace given to him by the Angel in the Beltua Island Secret Realm was now becoming as cold as ice.

The follower's eye began trembling.

The other followers that had descended after it reacted the same way. Their eyes, awkwardly suspended in midair, stared at Kyle, at the place where the necklace hung.

Then veins began bulging from their huge eyes.

Kyle could feel what the emotion rising in them was.

Fear.

"Hey, why are you suddenly..."

[Kyyaaaaaaaaaah!]

Before Kyle could finish his question, the followers screamed.

Footnotes:

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