WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 128: Compatriots (1)
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1.
-Hero, have you regained consciousness?
Kim ■ blinked blankly.
A wasteland turned to ruins.
There, holding a sword, stood Kim ■, motionless.
-Where is this...?
-You were just engaged in a fierce battle.
A voice came from the sword. The voice of a goddess. The tone of the constellation that had summoned him. Kim ■ recognized the goddess but felt somewhat hazy in his head.
How did he end up here?
It was as though his memories had been coated in soot. Whenever he tried to remember, even when he tried to dig through them with his fingers, all he found was the dry crumble of black dust.
-Hero, you fell into the enemy's trap.
The goddess sounded choked up.
-Faced with an overwhelming surprise attack, battling further would have led to certain defeat… For the first time, you used the power of the Salvation Sword.
-Salvation...
-Yes. When you discard something, it grants you the power to save in proportion to what you discarded. You discarded [one character of your name].
Kim ■ finally realized what the soot in his memory signified.
-That's right. Yes, that's what happened.
He had forever discarded a letter from his name.
No matter what, Kim ■ could no longer recall his original name.
In return, he gained the landscape before him. His own strike had turned the surroundings into ruins.
The group that had cunningly attacked him with evil tactics and stratagems had vanished without a trace. Once again, the hero had survived an unsurvivable ordeal.
-…It's not so bad?
Kim ■ murmured.
-I never liked my name anyway. To think I gained such power by just losing a single letter.
Kim ■ was mildly surprised at the value his name held.
To him, his life before coming to this world had no value at all.
At least, that's how Kim ■ thought.
-Hwiya.
-Yes, Hero...
-I can save this world a bit faster now.
Discarding a worthless time to obtain a valuable landscape.
Kim ■ knew what he had to do.
-But first, let's create a new name.
Leafanta Aegim.
Leafanta, in ancient language, meant 'Human of the Wilderness.'
Kim ■ had never called himself Leafanta. But at some point, people began to revere him as Leafanta, calling him by that name.
Kim ■ became a man from the wilderness.
2.
The land scoured by the mages was a wasteland.
I, like a gust of wind, swept across the ruins transformed into desolation.
The man with silver hair watched me calmly.
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The First Form.
Sword of Starving Death.
The gesture of a child who died of starvation is embodied in the sword. Claws that scratch the heavens. The most primal action and the most primal scream, I aimed to split Leafanta Aegim's head.
“...Enhanced senses. I sacrifice an hour.”
Leafanta Aegim gripped his sword. Clash! My blade collided with his sword. Leafanta Aegim blocked my attack and looked at me expressionlessly.
His blue eyes.
"An unusual sword technique."
In his other hand, he held a diary.
"Is this a martial art using aura as Ki? Traditional martial artists obsess over Ki techniques. You must have learned this sword technique from the unorthodox faction, not the orthodox, and that must be the Demonic Cult you mentioned..."
I swung my sword.
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Second Form.
Sword of Parched Death.
A parched wind blew across the wasteland. Stale sand and dust swirled. Death by thirst. There was a person who had dried up and died without being able to drink a single mouthful despite seawater lying all around, and to that person the world was a desert. I summoned that desert and sent it raging at Leafanta Aegim.
“Enhance defense. I forsake the taste of water.”
Facing the desert wind, Leafanta Aegim blinked. Clash! Again, my sword was halted by his swordplay.
"This way of fighting is not good. King of Death."
His voice resembled a desert.
"You are a righteous man. If your justice is built upon correct logic, then you..."
"Baraya."
I chanted the prayer.
"Baraya."
The only prayer I allowed myself.
The red aura roared. My blood boiled. My accumulated memories, the landscapes of death I had collected, the cause and effect I had walked through, answered the prayer.
"Agabaraya."
There were deaths from not drinking seawater amidst the ocean. Deaths from drowning in seawater. The ways people die are so diverse that every alley I once gazed upon, every ground I once tread, had been a record of someone's death.
Therefore, the essence of the world is demonic.
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Third Form.
Sword of Drowning Death.
"......."
Leafanta Aegim swung his sword.
“Interception enhanced. I forsake the smell of the ocean.”
“How much do you think you can keep discarding?!”
“As long as my life continues.”
I clenched my teeth.
‘I understand now.’
As I unleashed attack after attack, I glared at Leafanta Aegim while he blocked each one. Watching the silver-haired man, I realized something.
'This man represents one of the endings I could reach.'
A hero who had mastered demonic arts to their limit.
150 years ago, the Guardian Spirit confronted this hero.
Thus, when he fought my master -the Guardian Spirit had exclaimed.
『I'll teach this guy ways to be happy.』
What becomes of a person who only sacrifices himself.
The Guardian Spirit knew because he had seen it firsthand and fought my master knowing it.
If I didn't have the Guardian Spirit.
If I hadn't met Raviel.
If I had believed [I could sacrifice as many of my memories as necessary].
Then eventually, I would have become like the man before me.
"Leafanta Aegim!"
I swung my sword.
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Fourth Form.
Sword of Freezing Death.
Leafanta Aegim swung his sword.
“I forsake both the warm and cold winds.”
Our swords crossed.
“Did you mention justice!”
“I did mention it.”
Our eyes met.
“If I am just,”
“Then you wouldn’t threaten my life,”
“You…”
“I…”
Our voices collided.
“Did you say so!”
“I did.”
Our clashing voices pushed against each other.
I cried out like an angry wave.
“Then what is your justice!”
Leafanta Aegim's voice spread like rain, covering my shout.
“My justice. It is the eradication of constellations,"
“Why!”
Leafanta Aegim said he couldn’t answer.
But as the Guardian Spirit said, Leafanta Aegim was now bound to be talkative, trying to buy time he could sacrifice. He opened his mouth.
"-Constellations rob humans of their freedom of choice."
He spoke of justice.
“Goodness is based on human freedom. Therefore, constellations that infringe upon it are evil.”
He spoke of good and evil.
“You mentioned defeating the [Immortal Missionary of Happiness] constellation. Then you know. Humans living there were infected by the constellation, forced into happiness without choice.”
He spoke of rights.
“What about the [Warhorse of the Eternal Plains]? Under that constellation’s hooves, the world becomes nothing but a battlefield, an arena. Even everyday conversations turn into sharp disputes. There’s no room for human freedom there.”
He spoke of freedom.
I swallowed his rain-like voice and shouted.
"Did you say humans must be free!"
"Yes."
"Then…"
I swung my sword.
"What are you!"
"I am…"
"Nothing but a machine that moves as written in the diary! Where is the freedom in that!"
"A valid point."
Leafanta Aegim, while swinging his sword in his right hand, never let go of the diary in his left. His indifferent eyes scanned the diary.
"I will answer it this way. If sacrificing my own freedom can save the freedom of others, it is only right to do so. I decided that, and at the moment of decision, I was free to choose. Therefore…"
"Don't make me laugh!"
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Fifth Form.
Sword of Death by Poison.
"By doing so, how are you any different from the constellations you just mentioned!"
"......."
Leafanta Aegim faltered, but only for a moment. He swiftly defended against my strike, which had gathered up all the poisons of the world.
“I forsake the scent of all flowers.”
"A week of smelling flowers, watching sunsets, drinking, eating, feeling the wind, and it's all useless! You just keep forsaking it!"
"...Constellations exert a harmful influence on the world. They infect humans with their mental images and manifested phenomena. Within those influences, humans can only become one and the same. There is no room for choice, so..."
Leafanta Aegim recited from his diary.
"I, to give humans at least the freedom of choice, will eradicate constellations,"
"How is that,"
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Sixth Form.
Sword of Death by Disease.
"any different from what you do,"
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Seventh Form.
Sword of Bludgeoning Death.
"That's what I'm asking!"
"……I forsake all dreams I've had for a week, the pain when I was injured, the scenery of morning, day, evening, night..."
"Just moving as written in the diary! Constellations at least know what they are doing, but you just act as per the text!"
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Eighth Form.
Sword of Burning Death.
"Your name is not [Slayer of Heavenly Constellations]!"
Leafanta Aegim.
"You are [The Constellation that Kills the Heavens]!"
"If killing Constellations is your sole mission and duty, then start by killing yourself! Constellation that Kills the Heavens!"
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The Ninth Form.
Sword of Self-Inflicted Death.
My sword pierced Leafanta Aegim. But what was slashed was not his body, but the diary. The old notebook he couldn't take his eyes off.
It was split right in the middle.
"......."
Pages fluttered in the air.
His days and days scattered like petals.
"……I forsake, a second."
Leafanta Aegim muttered.
After his fierce battle with the Magic Tower's spiders and the battle that followed against me, all the memories he had accumulated over the week were exhausted. At last, Leafanta Aegim had run out of ammunition.
"I forsake, a second."
Yet, even at this final moment, Leafanta Aegim did not cease to function. There was still something left to sacrifice. No, the sacrifices were unending.
"I forsake, a second."
Moment by moment.
He sacrificed the endless present, swinging his sword, summoning his aura, protecting himself.
"I forsake, a second."
Yes.
"I forsake, a second."
That is your scream.
"I forsake, a second."
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven is the sword that answers all screams.
"I forsake, a second."
I had traced the screams of the snowfield, the heart, and the child to come this far. Naturally, at the end of them waited your scream, the scream that had created them all.
"I forsake, a second."
Leafanta Aegim muttered, swinging his sword. His voice lacked tone, so it was colorless. His eyes lacked soul, so he was heartless. The colorless and heartless man with disheveled silver hair continued to block my sword strikes.
"I forsake, a second...."
Then my sword sliced through his shoulder.
"……I forsake."
He did not stop.
"I forsake, a second."
He kept swinging his sword without stopping. Blood ran from his shoulder and burst from his calf. Each time my sword continued its assault, red fell upon the ashen wasteland.
"I forsake...."
I drove into Leafanta Aegim's guard. He could not stop my charge. Thud! Driven backward by me, Leafanta Aegim fell. I came down on top of him and pinned him there, then raised my sword high.
"Leafanta Aegim."
"A second...."
"I will reap your scream."
And then I pierced Leafanta Aegim's heart.
"------."
Blood surged from Leafanta Aegim's lips. His esophagus was blocked. His mouth was sealed. Leafanta Aegim, with an expressionless face, looked up at me. Even as he did, his lips moved, but his voice was muffled by the blood.
"......to, ....... ......."
But that's the nature of a scream.
".............."
Blood flowed from where Leafanta Aegim's heartbeat resided, from where his voice dwelled. The blood spread out in concentric circles. Leafanta Aegim's silver hair, tinged with a blend of white and gray, was soaked in the pool of blood.
"......."
Slowly.
He closed his eyes.
[Your existence becomes better defined.]
A soft voice echoed.
[Hunter Kim Gong-Ja is leveling up.]
[Your skill slots have expanded.]
[You are now a C-Rank hunter.]
[May fortune be with you.]
It didn't end there.
[Your existence becomes better defined.]
[Hunter Kim Gong-Ja is leveling up.]
The voice of the tower declared.
As if all the causes and effects I had walked through thus far exploded at once.
[Your skill slots have expanded.]
[You are now a B-Rank hunter.]
[May fortune be with you.]
The surroundings fell into silence.
I quietly withdrew my sword from his heart. Leafanta Aegim's body was tranquil. As if death had been preordained for him, he lay in his blood pool, expressionless.
At that moment.
[‘The Lonely Seeker’ is shocked by Leafanta Aegim's death.]
[‘The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth’ watch you warily, disbelieving the situation.]
[‘Warhorse of the Eternal Plains’ expresses astonishment at Leafanta Aegim's death.]
The worlds cried out in shock.
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