WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 187: Flame (2)
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3.
In the dark space, the sound of drums echoes.
Doom...
No, it's not the sound of drums. Thud. It seems like footsteps, but since no one is moving their feet, it's not that either. Thud. Thud. Thud. The actors, one-eyed, one-armed, one-eared, who were already isolated on the stage, swiftly turn their heads towards the direction of the sound.
I am there.
Wrapped in flames, I crawl onto the stage.
-Wagar...
Flame Emperor.
The actors shiver.
-Kar...
-Ke.
-Karkasa...
A fearful trembling. Carrying every last tremor on their tongues, the actors whisper among themselves like snakes submerged in shadow.
-Shi.
-Lak.
-Gur.
This is no language of the present. It comes from long ago, from the age when they gathered acorns beneath the Primeval Tree, when voice and speech had yet to become distinct. The actors murmur in the whispers of that age. Shi. Lak. Gur. Shi. Lak. Gur.
-.......
The ominous whispering has silenced the audience.
The Hopgoblins could not understand the language murmured by the ancestors in ancient times.
But it's not about understanding.
The audience held its breath. The green-skinned beasts could feel the foreboding and anxiety their own vocal cords produced most naturally.
-Shi.
-Lak.
-Gur.
The actors circle around me in fear. Shi. Each step they take resonates with my Aura, playing music. Lak. As their steps slow, so does the music. Gur. As their steps approach me, the music intensifies.
-Wagar.
My flames spread across the dark stage.
[Yes.]
I move on all fours like a beautiful savage.
[I am the Flame Emperor.]
A growling moan escapes my lips.
The approaching actors hesitate and flinch.
[I am the fire of the world.]
My voice is distorted by Aura.
A beast-like growling emanates from my mouth.
[I am the successful one.]
The stage floor shakes, and the air in the dark audience area trembles.
Aura smelling of blood.
The melody is strange, and the rhythm is odd. Shi-lak-gur. Bizarre music plays. Shi-lak-gur. With a mocking laughter that insults the world and ridicules humans, the audience in the front row shudders.
[Envy me. Be jealous. Worship me.]
What comes from my mouth is merely a hiss, a flick of the tongue. No need for more words. I speak not with words but with sounds of Aura.
[The world is just kindling to burn me a little more.]
Shi.
[I find your jealousy tiresome. I want you to recognize my annoyance. Fire cannot burn alone. You, insignificant beings, must exist as endless fuel around me.]
Lak.
[I sneer at my own success. By doing so, I sneer all the more loudly at those of you who never succeeded. I scorn the attention you pay me. Therefore, I scorn those of you who receive no attention all the more.]
Gur.
[I am humble.]
[I observe everything with indifferent eyes. With a calm face, I look upon all life. Even my success loses its heat before my eyes. But since I am more successful than anyone, I constantly remind you of my success.]
[Indifferent eyes.]
[With a calm face.]
[Thus, your success ceases to be success. Because you have not succeeded, your suffering becomes worthless. From your greatest hardship to your smallest success, everything before me is insignificant, insignificant.]
I step forward.
Flames rise.
The actors scatter in shock. They are fleeing.
-Wagar!
Laughter clings to my teeth.
[You act like humans.]
[But there is only one human in this world.]
[The name of the only human, it's 'I'.]
The flames grow fiercer.
My fire envelops the stage and swallows the audience.
-Gasp
Groans echo among the seats.
Some spectators instinctively release their Aura to counter my fire.
I laugh deeper, and the music plays louder.
[Only I am human.]
My flame easily twists and captures the audience's Aura.
Then six tongues of flame gently stroke one audience member's neck.
-......, Ugh....
A spectator in the front row convulses. Were they the 21st ranked warrior? Their eyes bulge as they sweat profusely.
The theater is now a hellfire.
[I introduce my success and say 'it's nothing.']
[Then what are you, who failed to achieve even nothing?]
[Less than nothing.]
[Merely dust that failed to become anything.]
The laughter of the Flame Emperor.
The movements of the Flame Emperor's arms.
I look around the stage with the Flame Emperor's smile.
The actor, the one-eyed Arika, flinches as our eyes meet.
[I love beasts that expose their tender necks.]
I charge.
The one-eyed Arika screams and runs away.
[The purity of trusting someone. The innocence of exposing oneself.]
[These are soft enough to swallow in one bite!]
Flames rise where Arika tries to escape.
The one-eyed Arika shrieks and turns to run in another direction.
I block him again with a curtain of fire.
I corner the prey.
-Save me!
Arika's mouth moves, but no sound comes out.
Just as Aura can create sound, it can also block it.
I snatch Arika's scream midway, crushing it.
[Why run?]
-Save me, please....
[Do not run. I am your father.]
Arika screams until his throat is hoarse.
-Please! Save me, don't kill me... Don't kill me...!
But his voice does not reach the audience.
To them, Arika merely mouths silently and struggles desperately.
-.......
The audience watches in breathless silence as the mute death throes unfold.
[My child.]
I slink towards Arika.
[I will not harm you.]
I imprison Arika within a curtain of fire.
Closing in, narrowing his space to move.
Arika collapses like a child trapped in a small room.
-Don't kill me...
[It's okay.]
-Please....
The one-eyed child sheds tears.
-Save me, mom...
At that moment.
I open my jaws wide and bite Arika's neck.
My fangs do not pierce the flesh.
Instead, Aura, filled with murderous intent, slices into the flesh.
-Aaaaaaah!
Arika struggles.
He screams, engulfed in agony.
I no longer contain the sound. I let his screams burst out and resonate through the theater.
-Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!
The audience, who until now had only witnessed silent struggles, flinched at the sudden eruption of screams. What unfolded before their eyes couldn't be dismissed as mere 'acting.'
-What...
-That, that....
Some swallowed hard. Some groaned. A few in the back rows, mistaking it for reality, got up and ran out of the theater. But most of the audience, mesmerized by the flames, stared blankly at the stage.
[I am the fire of the world.]
The hunt doesn't stop.
In the midst of the inferno.
I become a beast intoxicated with blood, chasing the next prey.
The one-armed Yumar and the one-eared Sakum scream and flee.
-Save us!
The music flows.
-It's chasing us! The monster is chasing us!
I am not at fault.
If there is any fault in me, it's the fault of the world that birthed me. It's the fault of the world that made me this way.
People merely flow along the bends into which the world has forced them.
If they live as they were made, where is my fault in that?
[Let's dance!]
Shi, Lak, Gur.
[The whole world is my stage!]
Shi. Lak. Gur.
[Do not resent me. I am just like you. Merely a being born of this world.]
[I am just stronger.]
[It's nature's law that the weak are eaten by the strong. So, should you not blame the world, not me?]
Flames bloom riotously.
I become wild, running rampantly.
I breathe fire to my heart's content and sink my teeth wherever I please.
-Aaaaaah!
The one-armed Yumar falls. The one-eared Sakum is downed.
It's okay. They are mere beasts.
To humans, beasts are nothing more than meat, so this is not murder, but merely slaughter.
Doom!
The drumming intensifies.
Doom!
Blood-red flames incinerate the theater.
After all three actors collapse, my roar shows no sign of stopping. Shi! Lak! Gur! The audience trembles, watching the fiery dance writhe on the stage.
-Ugh...!
A young spectator faints. Frothing at the mouth, they collapse onto the shoulder of the person next to them, who is too stiff to help.
Doom!
Finally, the music reaches its climax.
A group of guards burst into the theater, slamming the doors open.
-Everyone stop! We are the law enforcement under the Fire River Council!
Burly Hopgoblins swarm in, surrounding the audience.
-Everyone, stop! Stop everything!
-We received reports of mass murder and arson taking place here! Anyone who ignores this warning and moves will be arrested as a subversive!
That broke the spell. The air, stretched taut with tension, snapped like a string.
Only then did the audience begin to breathe, having held their breath till now.
-Gasp
-Guh... Oh, Huh...!
All around the theater, spectators crumpled like collapsing husks.
Their strength drained, sliding off their seats.
"Uh."
My immersion had broken too. I frowned at the officers. I had no idea how grave a report had driven them to storm in like this, but the Hopgoblin officers were watching every direction.
-Start the rescue!
-Where's the arsonist!?
-There are people down on the stage!
The Hopgoblins rushed towards the actors. The one-eyed Arika, the one-armed Yumar, and the one-eared Sakum. They mistook the actors lying on the stage for 'casualties.'
Of course, there were no actual casualties in the performance.
-No... wait a minute.
-No need to help me up. I'm fine!
The actors waved off help, rising one by one.
-Any injuries? Head wounds?
-No, I'm totally fine!
-We heard there was a mass slaughter here. Where did the perpetrator flee? Were you taken hostage?
-What...
The one-eyed Arika looked incredulous.
-What mass murder and hostage? That never happened.
The one-armed Yumar shouted.
-We were acting! In the middle of a performance!
The officers hesitated.
-...Acting?
-Yes! We were performing! We're a troupe, the Bullshit Troupe! This is a theater, and we were right in the middle of a play!
-......
Meanwhile, I was being held by officers who had misunderstood the situation. I could easily break free if I wanted, but I went along with them, astonished by the absurdity of it all.
The officers slowly turned to me.
-We received a report of a fire...
I nodded.
Fwoosh.
Aura flared from my fingertips.
"It's my Aura. It resembles fire."
-...We heard some beast had mauled innocent people to death.
"I was playing the role of a bastard, and those senior actors were playing the victims. Naturally, I took them down during the play."
In short.
"It seems the acting was so realistic that someone reported it."
-......
Realizing their mistake, the officers' expressions changed from alert to embarrassed.
The audience already began to stir.
-What's this.
-Who reported it...?
Reactions quickly escalated.
-What about the play?
-Don't tell me it's over like this?
-What's happening!
-These stupid law enforcement runts!
-Always barging in first and thinking later!
Buzzing all around.
The chief officer's face quickly soured.
I grinned broadly and approached the chief officer.
"What now, officer? Seems like today's performance is ruined."
-Uh...
"My apologies, everyone! Due to this unfortunate incident, today's performance ends here! In obedience to the officers' order for everyone to stop, the Bullshit Troupe will stop! Please leave in an orderly fashion under the officers' direction. Ah, but..."
I smiled widely at the officer.
"Will you cover the refunds for the performance?"
-......
The audience exploded.
The city's theater scene also exploded that day.
Because of a play that was "too realistic and resulted in a police report."
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