SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 234

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 234: King of Death (1)

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I placed my hand on Preta's shoulder.

Swoosh!

A black whirlwind enveloped Preta. After raging fiercely, it gradually shrank from the size of her body to the size of her head, and then to the size of an eye. At some point, the tiny whirlwind collapsed into a little bead.

This little bead was the [Earth Bone Dragon's Box].

Preta's memories resided here.

Within this tiny box lay everything... the nameless doppelgänger devouring a village girl to become a saintess, then falling to become a witch, creating a paradise before vanishing without a trace. Everything was inside this tiny box.

"......."

Soul.

Perhaps the closest word to describe it.

I looked down at Preta's soul resting on my palm.

"Preta. Can you hear me?"

The bead on my palm moved ever so slightly.

"From now on, I will consume your memories. I don’t understand the principle, but... instead of being stored inside me as a box, it turns into black liquid and sinks into my heart."

The sound of distant rain reached my ears. From the next neighborhood, or maybe the one beyond that. Clouds that had passed through poor alleys would soon reach this old Hanok.

"Preta."

The pitch-black bead glistened.

"Just now, Jaa Soo-Jeong made an important point."

The bead remained motionless.

"If I give someone a physical body with my skill, it should be their decision to accept it."

Inside the black bead, whirlwinds continuously swirled.

"No one in this world can choose to be born. No one can choose their parents. That is true not only of people generally considered unfortunate. Even an unparalleled genius, a legendary beauty, or a great saint has no say at the moment of birth. All seven billion human beings are unfortunate in the sense that they were born without wanting it, or even being capable of wanting it."

The bead.

"That's why this moment, where [you can decide who gives you life], is very, very special."

The swirling bead just faced up towards me.

"Preta."

"......."

"Would you become my daughter?"

Silence.

The summer rain, after passing through the neighboring district, reached the street of old Korean houses. Its drainage system had hardly changed since the Japanese occupation, so whenever it rained, all anyone could do was pray that the street would not flood.

*For those who do not remember, Hanoks are Old Korean style houses.

The rain poured down the old, worn streets.

"......."

Rain also fell in my palm. Plop! Plop, Plop... Droplets bounced off my hand into the wider air, gathering in the crevices of the old wooden floor. Some raindrops escaped, but in my palm, the water slowly pooled, submerging half of the pitch-black bead.

"Preta."

To this small, submerged being,

I pleaded.

"Will you become my daughter?"

The bead bobbed forward as if swimming. It was the only way it could communicate, but I knew it was nodding.

"Yes."

I raised my left hand and slowly grasped the submerged bead in my right hand. Then, equally slowly, I placed Preta's soul into my mouth.

I closed my mouth.

Swallowed firmly.

"......."

The bead turned into a black liquid, flowing down my tongue. As it flowed, it split into dozens, then hundreds of streams, infiltrating my organs.

It was a shadow. The shadow that had been gnawing at my organs suddenly, as if having found its target, surged towards one place in the human body.

The heart.

Dozens and hundreds of strands of shadow constricted my heart, coating it in soot. Its function was unaffected, but shadows now lay across it, and every patch of darkness depicted someone's memories.

"The Earth Bone Dragon's Skull."

[Activating skill.]

Swoosh!

The shadows that had bound my heart were suddenly released. They rushed up my esophagus, into my mouth, and onto my tongue. Hundreds, thousands of black afterimages surged out of my body.

".........!"

When it emerged, it was nothing more than a bead.

It rolled across the rainy deck, plop, plop, plop. Each bounce made the bead grow exponentially.

Finally, the bead grew so large it occupied the entire deck---

"......."

At that moment, the giant bead shattered.

-Meow!

Meow yelped. Nyaa! Nyaa! Meow! Amidst its cries in the rain, the bead's shell melted into a shadow.

And she stood upon that shadow.

"......."

Ester.

Dressed in simple clothes a country girl might wear. A small basket for picking usable vegetables while surveying the farm.

The girl, who belonged in the middle of a rice field, was born from the egg of a shadow.

"Ah......."

Watching Preta look around bewilderedly, I recalled a scene I had once seen.

Ah.

I see.

Those who enter the tower come with nothing. Money, identification, even clothes, socks, they enter the tower completely bare, as if just born. They pass through a long tunnel and reach a square called Babylon.

And they receive a new name, an alias.

All this was a metaphor and mechanism for [You are reborn].

All of it was the Tower Master's way of saying, [You are all my new children].

"Preta."

Just like.

"What name would you like to have?"

What I am doing now.

"......."

The Demon King of Autumn Rain took a while to answer. Not because she had nothing to say, but because, despite having a ready answer, she hesitated to voice it, unsure if such luxury, such a miracle, was permissible for someone like her.

"Es... Ester..."

She cried.

"My name is... Ester... please, call me Ester..."

I nodded.

I guessed why she chose the name of the first human she killed as her new name. She decided to live a life in place of someone else.

"Alright."

Understanding her heart, I gave her the name.

"Ester."

"Yes. Yes, my lord."

"Now I am not just your lord, but also your father."

In front of the avatar of a god who wished to be everyone's mother, I spoke to the life I had created.

"There will be many challenges ahead. Always cherish the person right in front of you. You now have the power from your [Constellation] days, so there's hardly anything you can't accomplish with a sword. But you still need so much more."

"Yes, yes... Sob. Yes......"

Calling her name as she cried, holding her breath,

"Ester."

I said.

"Learn much."

On a rainy day, it opened its eyes.

It had no name, no form. It was more of a shadow. On that rainy day, a shadow opened its eyes and saw the first living creature that shone upon it.

-Ribbit.

It didn't know what this creature was. There was much it didn't know. Only the sound... the sound of the rain. The croaking sound from all around enveloped it. The rainwater carried a sweet fragrance.

Just like now.

When the nameless monster became Ester, it was granted an ordinary human life. When Ester was called a saintess, a noble and holy future seemed to shine upon her. When the saintess fell to become a witch and turned into the Demon King, destroying a world, she never felt that she was truly born.

She just lived as life was given to her. Becoming a saintess was not because she was holy, but because she could replace a dead child. That's what others saw and called her an angel, a saintess... No. She just lived.

She just wanted to live.

-Ester.

Only now, at this moment,

-Learn much.

Ester was born.

"......."

Ester held a massive black sword. It was the sword that rolled out with her from the bead she was born from. The red sword that had made her undefeated and the strongest during her time as the Demon King.

Ester picked up the red sword. It was overly massive compared to her small stature. But to Ester, this sword was as good as her soul.

Pulling her own soul toward her was effortless, so Ester easily raised the greatsword high.

"Pitiful life."

Ester's face darkened.

As if reciting her own prayer.

"It takes all my strength merely to prove my own existence here."

The red sword slowly moved.

"Today, I look up to heaven and let out my first cry."

And then,

The swung sword emitted a roaring sound.

The red light emitted by the great sword split the world.

The falling raindrops were split in half, the clouds scattered, and the sunset hidden behind them was shattered to pieces.

"......."

Reflecting the brilliant colors of the sunset, raindrops fell down. Each drop seemed to contain gold, and the old Hanok was suddenly covered in a golden hue.

[The Demon King of Autumn Rain manifests.]

Jaa Soo-Jeong blankly watched the golden shower in the middle of the courtyard.

Raviel, who was sitting on the deck, and Uburka, also quietly looked up at this mysterious rain.

"It's beautiful......"

Jaa Soo-Jeong turned to Kim Gong-Ja and smiled.

"You, Mr. Gong-Ja, possess so many beautiful things."

"......."

Kim Gong-Ja nodded.

"Yes."

Kim Gong-Ja spoke.

"Today is the day Ester is born."

And this was not only the day Ester was born.

Countless cultists prostrated themselves in the old courtyard. There was so little room that many had to prostrate themselves atop their fellow cultists' shoulders.

499 of them.

Except for one person, the Demonic Cult had not lost their spirit even after losing their old master.

"Blood Demon."

I called the name of the burliest man among them.

"Yes, Vice-lord!"

"You followed the Heavenly Demon, handling all sorts of chores. If there were evildoers to deal with, you handled it, and if there were houses to be built for disciples, you built them. You not only eradicated evil but also worked for the people, so you are a secretary among secretaries, and a worker among workers."

"Thank you! Vice-lord!"

I nodded.

"Ghost-Soul Flame Demon."

"Yes, sir."

"Whenever the Heavenly Demon formed an intention, you served the Heavenly Demon with strategy and resourcefulness to make it reality. Though your entire realm was buried beneath the snow and every strategy and scheme froze under the snowfield, it was your devotion that allowed the Heavenly Demon to form a final resolve."

"......."

I nodded again.

"Moon Shadow Demon."

"First of the Four Demon Lords, Moon Shadow Demon, commander of the Shadow Corpse Troop. I answer the Vice-lord's call."

"You planted agents throughout the realm and learned before anyone else that the snowfield had come upon the world. You raced in every direction to guide the Martial Alliance's last elites and assemble Demonic Heaven's final warriors. Without you, we could not even have contested supremacy upon the last surviving patch of the martial world."

"......."

I nodded once more.

"Sword Demon."

"Speak, Vice-lord!"

"You are strong. In our last battle, we won against the Martial Alliance. If we weren't strong, no matter how beautiful the battle or how worthy of being passed down in tales, what good would it have been? We needed to win first."

"Hahaha! You're right! I want to hug you for that, Vice-lord!"

"You all."

I turned to face the 499 followers.

"We could win because of you. No, our master could win because we were there."

The followers' eyes ignited with a quiet flame.

"Did our master only achieve victory over the Martial Alliance?"

"No!"

The followers responded in unison.

"Did our master only win against the Head of the Martial Alliance, Namgung Woon?"

"No!"

The followers shouted as if spitting blood.

"Then, against what did our supreme master achieve victory?"

Over the evening sky split by Ester, the people of the snow that had once perished shouted.

"The world!"

Indeed.

"The Heavenly Demon defeated the world!"

I nodded.

"Even if eternal snow falls and covers the earth, even if all people are buried in the snowfield and freeze to death, the master never gave up on anything, never doubted the sword. Thus, the master sliced through the snowfield."

"Demonic Heaven!"

"Glory to the common people!"

"But still, there are many worlds challenging us."

I pointed to the sky with my finger.

There was only the split sunset, but my hand was pointing to the tower beyond, and everyone present knew that.

"There are still, still so many worlds our master has yet to cut down that they could make one's mouth bleed!"

The followers' murderous intent peaked.

"Shall we inherit the teachings of Demonic Heaven?"

"Baraya!"

"If there are many worlds to conquer, is our task clear?"

"Baraya!"

"Then live!"