WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 162: Cave Fire (2)
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“I’d like to hear the opinions of the others.”
The Heretic Inquisitor addressed his companions.
“Will you surrender to me? Or will you stand with the King of Death against me? Ahaha. I’m fine with either choice.”
“…Isn’t this an act of betrayal?”
The Black Dragon Master held her forehead. Perhaps a headache was throbbing. She gave a sharp look to the psychopath she had known for a long time.
“We swore not to be hostile to each other, remember? Once on that night. Once when we conquered the 28th floor with the King of Death. I thought a vow repeated twice would carry more weight…”
“It’s alright this time! Whether I win or you win, the stage will be cleared either way. We all will be victorious. It’s just a matter of differing approaches to victory!”
“Sigh…”
“I will stand behind the King of Death.”
The Sword Saint declared.
“I’m weary of a life chasing quick results and came to the tower seeking change. Now that I’m here, I don’t wish to revert to my old ways. Temple Master of the Omnipotent God. Though you’ve courteously offered surrender, I too, must courteously decline.”
One by one, the companions shifted their stance. Step by step. The Heretic Inquisitor watched their movements with a smile.
“Aha.”
Five stood behind me.
“As expected! I truly lack trust!”
No one stood behind the Heretic Inquisitor.
Until yesterday, a few had sympathized with the Heretic Inquisitor. The Countess did. But now, after spending a day witnessing the conditions of their respective tribes, no one sided with him.
“You’re not untrustworthy.”
The Paladin spoke.
“We all know you’re a great guild leader. And that you’d be [the worst parent]. Children tend to resemble their parents. Leaving the children entirely in your hands… I’d feel more secure leaving them with Viper.”
“Huh? Why drag me into this when I’ve been quiet?”
“It’s a compliment. You’d make a better parent than the Heretic Inquisitor.”
“Hey hey… what a compliment. You might as well say I'd be a better leader than Hitler.”
6 to 1.
Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, the Heretic Inquisitor continued to beam.
“What’s your plan now, King of Death? The city I built is strong. The slaves have already forgotten their past wildness and submitted to the Mountain Snail Tribe’s rule!”
The Heretic Inquisitor seemed confident.
“You must have seen the Earth Spirit Tribe's secret meeting. There, they wouldn’t have condemned or slandered the Mountain Snail Tribe! They just conducted their rituals. That’s how solid the Mountain Snail Tribe’s rule is!”
‘As expected.’
He knew about the goblins' meeting but left it unchecked.
Like me, the Heretic Inquisitor could turn invisible. Having ruled here for 200 years, he wouldn’t have missed the secret meeting.
[It doesn’t matter. It’s no significant threat.]
That must have been the Heretic Inquisitor’s assessment to leave the meeting be.
“I'm sorry, but your tribes have lost hope. They merely mourn and commemorate the past. My 200 years made that possible. King of Death! Do you have a way to raise those who have kneeled?”
"......."
I quietly surveyed the underground world.
Dawn was breaking.
From the ceiling of the underground city, a streak of blue light flowed. The goblins, with heavy eyelids, crawled out of their pits. In the old world, the last to sleep and the first to wake were always the slaves.
“I'm not the one to raise them.”
I opened the [Civilization Shop].
Items in the shop were displayed.
+
[Oracle Message] - 20p
[Animal Possession] - 40p
[Appearance in Dreams] - 100p
[Prey Search] - 5p
[Bronze-rank Settlement Search] - 80p
[Tribal-rank General (Lottery)] - 100P
[Bronze-rank Technology Invention (Lottery)] - 1,000P
·
·
·
+
I selected one item from the list.
“I'm just a small catalyst to help the children stand up."
Soon, the Tower's voice inquired.
[Purchasing ‘Oracle Message’.]
[20 race points will be consumed!]
[Your current race points are 995.]
I didn’t stop there.
[Purchasing ‘Oracle Message’.]
[20 race points will be consumed!]
[Your current race points are 975.]
I poured nearly all my points into it.
[Purchasing ‘Oracle Message’.]
[Purchasing ‘Oracle Message’.]
[Purchasing ‘Oracle Message’.]
I recalled the time I had been forced to endure entirely alone. Four thousand days of regression. When I tried to bear four thousand deaths by myself, what helped me was none other than a voice.
[You have died.] The Tower’s voice.
Every time I died, the Tower notified me of my death. Even if I returned, the Tower knew.
The fact that someone in this world was watching me, remembering me.
In really tough times, that fact comforted me.
[Purchasing ‘Oracle Message’.]
Now it was my turn to be someone’s comfort.
[20 race points will be consumed!]
[Your current race points are 215.]
I purchased 40 Oracle Messages.
The Heretic Inquisitor was still grinning. He wouldn’t know what item I purchased.
By then, I had designated forty individuals as recipients of the oracle, including the goblin priest, the pit chiefs responsible for each pit, and sword slaves resting in the gladiators' quarters.
‘…What should I tell them?’
I pondered.
‘I don't want to tell them to rebel against the Mountain Snail Tribe. Whether to revolt or to obey, it's for the goblins to decide. What I need to give the children is not the choice itself. It's to help them make their own decisions.’
The message could only be a single sentence.
After much thought, I chose the oracle to send from the words I could say.
[The White Lion is with you.]
Pause.
A mother applying water to her child's face flinched.
[The White Lion is with you.]
A supervisor just leaving the pit, picking up a stone axe, twitched.
[The White Lion is with you.]
In a cramped shelter, a gladiator was startled.
They dropped the whetstone while sharpening their dagger.
[The White Lion is with you.]
This person you worship as a god is powerless.
This person has no power to overturn the earth and no miracle to shake the heavens.
All I can do is voice a single sentence.
[The White Lion is with you.]
That was the first oracle I delivered.
-.......
The old goblin, lying on the cave floor, stirred. The priest, using the charred remains of wood as a staff, struggled to stand up. Crunch. The stick couldn't bear their weight and broke, but the priest was already on their feet.
-Gorrr...
The elderly goblin laboriously traversed the labyrinthine underground cave. With each step, their pace quickened. Using not just their feet but also their hands, the old goblin climbed upwards, further up from the underground.
-The White Lion has spoken to us...
The priest grasped a rock with their front hand and pushed off the cave floor with their back foot. Red aura flowed from their aged flesh. The aura, resembling flames, carried their voice throughout the cave.
-The White Lion has spoken to us!
The echo resounded.
-The White Lion has spoken to us!
Dozens of paths branched through the goblins' underground caves. The priest roared with Aura, and the voice echoed down those many paths, into shafts sealed long ago after their rock salt ran out and into the salt mine where the dawn shift had begun.
-He has spoken... to us...
-The White Lion has spoken to us!
The echo of the priest's voice finally reached the entrance of the mine. There, the goblin pits were located. Goblins drinking water from jars at dawn perked up their ears.
-The White Lion has spoken to us...
Then the elderly priest collapsed. They had wrung out their very life to expend every last drop of Aura.
-He has spoken...
The elderly priest lay on the ground, not reserving any strength to rise again. Their own voice still echoed back at them. As their voice echoed, the priest closed their eyes.
-Ker.
-Kekkerkek...?
The goblins stirred. They peeked out of their pits, all eyes fixated on the mine's dark entrance, where echoes still resonated.
-Kerk.
One of the supervisors, who had received an oracle from me, stood up while setting down a child.
-The White Lion has spoken to us!
Before the old goblin's final echo faded, the pit chief shouted. It was not just one voice. Dozens of Earth Spirit Tribe members who had received the oracle raised their heads one after another.
-At last, the White Lion has returned!
-I heard it too! Kerk, I did!
-He said he is with us!
That was all. The children who received the oracle, desperate to share this with their kin, urgently cried out. Just that was enough to unsettle the Mountain Snail Tribe overseers.
-What's this, lime? Why are these creatures suddenly...
-Quiet! Everyone quiet!
-From now on, any mold that raises its voice will be disciplined with the whip!
The snails crawled out of their towers, brandishing their tentacles. Crack! The sound of a whip made several goblins cower. Even though some Earth Spirit Tribesmen continued to shout, the Mountain Snail Tribe didn't spare any and whipped the instigators.
"......."
The Heretic Inquisitor hummed and stroked his chin.
“I see. You activated the Oracle Message? Simple yet effective. But King of Death, your points are limited. You can’t send an oracle to even thousands, let alone tens of thousands! This disturbance can be managed by the Mountain Snail Tribe---."
I didn’t wait for him to finish speaking.
Immediately, I purchased the next item.
[Purchasing ‘Prey Search’.]
[5 race points will be consumed!]
[Your current race points are 210.]
It was an item I had already purchased once.
I quickly used the item.
‘Please locate the nearest lion.’
A map formed in my mind.
It was the Colosseum. Right next to the arena was an animal enclosure where five lions were caged. A lion nonchalantly gnawed on a cow bone.
‘Okay.’
I purchased the third and final item from the shop.
‘I will buy Animal Possession.’
The Tower responded.
[Purchasing ‘Animal Possession’.]
[40 race points will be consumed!]
[Your current race points are 170.]
Before the Heretic Inquisitor could finish speaking, I possessed one of the lions in the Colosseum. Whoosh! My vision twisted. As if a fuse had blown, my mind darkened.
But only for a moment.
The next instant, I was inhabiting the body of the lion.
“Grrrr…”
Unlike the previous stage, this lion did not have white fur. Its mane was an ordinary brown.
But that didn’t matter.
“Grrrum. Grrr.”
Regardless of the fur color, a lion's roar is a lion's roar.
I drew up Aura from throughout my body. Aura carrying a red fragrance surged from my heart. Thump! I poured the full beat of my heart into my voice and let it burst forth.
“Grrrruk!”
Beasts in the opposite cage were terrified.
“Grrrrrrr!”
My roar leaped over the bars and escaped the animal enclosure. It echoed through the plaza where the Colosseum stood, down the streets opening from the plaza, along the wall roads used by the Mountain Snail Tribe, up to the underground city's ceiling, and finally into the pits dug by the goblins.
‘I am here.’
Though I could not see them through the lion's eyes, I knew.
Now, the goblins are undoubtedly listening to my call.
Hearing my voice.
“Grrrr…”
I took a deep breath and then...
“Guru-!”
I unleashed a powerful lion's roar.
The name of the place that had become the Earth Spirit Tribe's homeland. The name I had given it. The first name and letter we had shared, and the cry that had finally become a faith. I bellowed it.
“Guru!”
The response did not take long.
-Guru...
From across the great cavity, a shout echoed back. The shout was infinitely smaller than my voice carrying aura, but my ears did not miss the goblins’ cry.
"Guru!"
And then.
They didn’t miss it either.
[An uprising occurs in Slimepolis!]
[The Earth Spirit Tribe rebels against the Mountain Snail Tribe!]
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