SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 198

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 198: Erosion (3)

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A newly opened route to uncharted lands.

In the so-called New Continent, there naturally lived indigenous people.

However, the kind of tribe they were was extraordinary.

"Dream Demon?"

Quite extraordinary indeed.

-Yes, King of Death... that's correct....

Right after getting hit exactly 59 times by me, the Dream Demon raised its hands submissively. Incubus. Succubus. The Dream Demon tribe, often with names ending in 'bus,' were indeed the original inhabitants of the New Continent.

I cracked my knuckles left and right.

"Oh? My question seems to lack substance to you? Do you lose strength and become listless when asked? Should I take care of your spirit?"

-No, King of Death! We are brimming with energy!

“From now on, answer only what I ask, and answer nicely. If your way of speaking isn’t nice, I’ll make your face nice instead.”

-Yes! King of Death!

"Good."

I nodded in satisfaction.

The Guardian Spirit looked deeply moved.

-Kim Zombie, this guy... He's really mastered the art of beating people up!

When you glare into the abyss, the abyss glares right back. After being broken in by the Guardian Spirit and drilled by my master, I had unwittingly become a specialist in beating people senseless.

"All the crew members on this ship have passed out. Did you do this?"

-Yes! It was our doing!

"How?"

-Our species lives by parasitizing the dreams of other animals!

The Dream Demon confessed.

-In fact, from our perspective, dreams are reality. What you call reality is, conversely, a dream for us. We thought we were the only sentient beings until you crossed the ocean, and since then, it's been one shock after another….

"Hmm."

A tribe that takes dreams as their true life.

"So, you don’t have a physical body?"

-If you mean a body as you understand it... Yes, we don’t. Our common sense is too different from yours for normal conversation.

"Yet, communication seems to be going quite well."

-Ah. That's because we are currently occupying the mind of this beast.

The 'beast' the Dream Demon meant was the ship’s Mountain Snail Tribe captain. Their habit of calling people beasts gave me a glimpse of the Dream Demon tribe’s narrow, one-track worldview.

-We share the memories of the beasts whose dreams we devour. Thanks to this, we know a lot about you. Over the past 24 years, we've been planning meticulously after the shock of meeting you.

"A plan?"

-We've never encountered beasts with such overflowing memories. From our perspective, it’s like a feast. A banquet... The shock was beyond words.

"Hmm."

"Our children knew nothing about you."

-Well, we strictly parasitize in dreams... We don't have a true form. We choose an appearance from your memories that seems appropriate. You have never seen us, and even if you did, you would just dismiss it as a dream.

Incidentally, the current form of the Dream Demon was that of the Flame Emperor.

I had ordered it.

I couldn't bring myself to hit Raviel's face, even if it was fake. Before being my love, Raviel, with her beauty alone, is a treasure of the universe. How could I, as a cultured citizen, mistreat such a treasure?

-I... It's the first time someone whose dream has been devoured by us is still fine like you, King of Death.

The Dream Demon confessed softly.

-So, it’s fascinating. How did you know it was a dream right away? How did you even enter our dream in the first place?

"My memories should tell you everything."

-That's the strange part, King of Death. Your memories don’t read well. Only fragments can be scanned. This is... quite unusual.

The Dream Demon kept glancing at me with a look of wonder.

I roughly understood how things had played out.

‘Because of the [Appearance in Dreams] item.’

This isn’t my dream. It’s the consciousness of the Mountain Snail Tribe captain.

I used the item to enter the mind of another.

That’s why my consciousness is only partially accessible to the Dream Demon.

‘A race that lives only in the world of dreams.’

Fascinating.

"Well, it seems my mental strength is so strong that illusions don’t work on me."

-Strange. That shouldn’t be the problem...

"You are an interesting race, I get that."

I changed the subject.

"So why did you needlessly capture these sailors and put them to sleep? Because of you, this ship has turned into a ghost ship. They might die of dehydration."

The Dream Demon hesitated cautiously.

Seeing the Flame Emperor’s face on this creature, performing such gestures, felt like my stomach acid was about to synchronize with my spit.

Perhaps because it was an incubus, its muscles had even been upgraded from the original Flame Emperor’s. Its shoulders were broader and its chest firmer. Maybe it was my imagination, but even its face seemed to radiate a sparkling halo.

Disgusting.

-Ugh!?

"Ah."

By the time I came to my senses, my palm had already gotten into a minor collision with the Dream Demon’s cheek.

-Why are you hitting me again!?

"It’s just that... your face kind of provokes a beating...."

-King of Death, didn’t you order me to take on the appearance of this creature!

"Sorry. Anyway, why did you capture a perfectly good ship?"

The Dream Demon started to stammer, then hesitated.

-This... I'm not sure if I should tell you. This matter might be confidential to our tribe.

"Might be?"

-Yes. We had never imagined there were beings beyond the sea. Especially such delectable ones. So, after 24 years of deliberation and discussion, we only recently came to a conclusion.

The Dream Demon opened its mouth.

-We decided to invade the land where you live.

Invasion.

-Currently, this ship isn’t the only one under our control. All 33 ships crossing the ocean are under our control.

“.......”

-We put all the beasts that trespassed in our territory to sleep as well. The vanguard set sail ten days ago. We belong to the follow-up force.

That’s when I realized something odd.

‘The quest window.’

A hologram appeared before my eyes.

It listed the tasks to be completed on the 35th floor.

I focused on the part written in the lower paragraph.

…the new continent is a fresh world only for the seven tribes.

Others have already established their homes and live on this land. At present, there is imminent discord between adventurers and natives! A one-sided massacre might even occur.

Is it invasion, coexistence, or expulsion?

The seven tribes are at risk of annihilation. Lead them!

*However, failure in leadership may result in the extinction of one or more tribes.

‘I see.’

I realized.

‘It's not the [natives] of the New Continent who are in danger.’

The quest window clearly stated that [the seven tribes are at risk of annihilation].

‘It's our children who might be massacred!’

The counterattack of the natives.

That was the crisis of this era.

As soon as I woke up, I immediately told my companions the truth of the situation.

As the story unfolded, the expressions of Black Dragon Master and Uburka grew increasingly grave.

"......Indeed. This is completely opposite to the history of our world.”

Black Dragon Master murmured.

“I was trapped by my own preconceptions. I assumed the New Continent would be the side invaded and the natives the ones massacred... Of course. If the natives are stronger, the course of the invasion could be reversed.”

“It's not a matter of strength, Ugor.”

Uburka frowned.

“No matter how strong a warrior is, there are things in the world that can't be resisted. Like [sleep]. Everyone must sleep. Dream Demons, you said.... A tricky tribe to deal with….”

“King of Death. You said the invasion has already started?”

“Yes, senior.”

I nodded.

“They said they parasitized the sailors aboard the ship that set sail ten days ago.”

“Is there no way to wake up voluntarily from the dream?”

“That's up to the Dream Demons.”

I recalled the story I had just heard.

“They purposely give the happiest dreams to prevent waking. Conversely, they can induce nightmares to wake someone early. Hmm. In my case, the Dream Demon appeared in the form of Raviel.”

“......That's dangerous.”

Sssshhhh, the waves rippled. The movement of the waves caused the ship to sway.

In the middle of the vast open sea.

Not a single one of the dozens of crew members had opened their eyes.

“Resisting unhappiness is one thing, but resisting happiness is another. Especially if one is lost in a dream that literally fulfills their [dreams]… They will not try to escape until their body dies.”

“Yes. The quietest massacre in history is about to happen.”

Black Dragon Master clicked her tongue.

“We can't delay. Let's move quickly.”

“What about these sailors?”

“We can't just ignore them.... We have to save them.”

We tied up the 32 crew members with ropes, one after another. From afar, it looked like dried pollacks strung together.

Uburka took the end of the rope, and Black Dragon Master firmly grasped Uburka’s hand.

"......."

Uburka stared blankly at Black Dragon Master’s face.

“Hm? What is it, my junior’s son?”

“Nothing. Ugor.”

Uburka murmured softly and turned away.

Huh?

This guy, could it be...

“Boring. Teleport!”

As Black Dragon Master activated the skill, a total of 35 people were teleported simultaneously.

Normally, since we are spiritual bodies, we can't directly apply skills like this without possessing someone else's body.

But Uburka, as this world’s Constellation, served as a bridge. The Black Dragon Master was touching Uburka, and Uburka was touching the sailors, allowing every one of us to receive the skill’s effect.

“Great!”

With the success of teleportation, Black Dragon Master's expression brightened.

A sudden sea breeze gusted past, tossing her dark black hair.

“We'll move to the New Continent like this. Make sure you hold on tight so you don't fall off!”

"......."

Uburka kept sneaking glances at Black Dragon Master’s face. She was too busy using teleportation to notice. Then again, the Black Dragon Master probably could not read a hobgoblin’s expression. It is difficult to infer the emotions of another species from its face alone.

‘Uh-oh?’

But it was very clear to my eyes.

I could feel it.

My intuition, honed through my romance of the century with Raviel, began to twitch.

‘Could it be that he's really...?’

While my romantic antenna was busy catching signals, we quickly arrived at the coast. There was a port built on the shore.

A pioneer village.

A place every explorer, merchant, and soldier who crossed the ocean dreaming of the New Continent passed through at least once.

We gently landed in the village square and looked around.

“......It's too quiet.”

Eerily silent.

“There's no sign of life at all.”

Despite being a fairly large village, there were no sounds of people.

Not only was there no sound, but there were also no shadows moving in the streets.

A cold silence pressed down on the air.

It was like a ghost town.

“Have the Dream Demons already gotten to them?”

Anxiety crossed Black Dragon Master’s face.

“Probably. Let's explore for now.”

I entered a nearby building.

Sure enough, people were asleep in the bedrooms.

“It seems the village was invaded while most of the residents were asleep.”

The situation was similar in other buildings.

Every one of the village’s more than five hundred residents had collapsed.

“Most are lying in bed, with only a few sprawled in taverns or on the streets. The Dream Demons targeted when humans are most vulnerable.”

“The same is probably true for other pioneer villages...."

“They probably aren’t much different. The Dream Demon said they had launched a full-scale invasion. Sadly, quite a few people have already died of malnutrition.”

“If the Dream Demons cross to our continent on the ships' crews, the situation will spiral out of control.”

It would spread like a pandemic.

The children of the continent would fall into an eternal sleep overnight without understanding why.

“......There might be survivors who haven't been affected by the Dream Demons. Wait here, I'll check the other villages and come back. Wait for me."

Black Dragon Master didn’t wait for a reply and disappeared with teleportation.

Her ink-black aura lingered like an afterimage, circling the space she had vacated.

Uburka and I were left alone in the square. Uburka stared blankly at the spot where Black Dragon Master had just stood.

'Hmm.'

It does seem to fit, right?

“Hey. Uburka.”

“Ugor. What is it, daddy?”

I asked straightforwardly.