SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 268

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 268: White Lion (1)

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-Baraya, Baraya!

“My heart is a torch!”

-Agabaraya!

“I shall achieve parricide!”

The Earth Spirit Tribe sang the song from the Blood Flower Drama with gusto, while before them I narrowly, barely, and by the thinnest margin evaded the axe Uburka swung.

But my heart churned with unease.

I shrieked while dodging the sixth blow.

“Hey! Don’t sing Baraya here, you maniacs!”

“What’s wrong with singing it?”

“Don’t sing if I tell you not to!”

The doctrine of the Demonic Cult is widely spread among the Earth Spirit Tribe.

Through the cultural enterprise of the Blood Flower Drama. Through the military doctrine of the Demonic Heavenly Formation as well, the Earth Spirit Tribe lived according to the Demonic Cult’s teachings, whether consciously or unconsciously. “Agabaraya” was a refrain that raised their morale, and they were free to sing it as often as they pleased, but...

“You are trying to catch one man, and you are even chanting Baraya, Baraya for it! What!? When you fought the Ki Dragon, you did not use the Demonic Heavenly Formation and merely sat there circulating your energy. Why are you unleashing your full strength to hunt me!?”

“Ugor.”

Hearing my words, Uburka sneered.

“Don’t you really understand, daddy?”

Swoosh!

Uburka swung his axe widely, destroying everything within its radius. Just the wind pressure alone shredded the palm trees, rocks, and all life forms in between. “Damn!” If I hadn't quickly retreated, at least a heel would have been crushed.

“To us, daddy is everything.”

“What?”

“Everything, I say.”

Thud.

Uburka approached with red light in his eyes, his gaze so intense that it made my heart skip a beat.

‘What?’

I wondered whether he had drawn up too much true energy and fallen into qi deviation. But that was impossible. Uburka was not so unskilled that he would succumb to qi deviation, and in our Demonic Cult, falling into qi deviation and thereby [losing to oneself] was considered a disgrace.

Just…

“You still don’t fully realize how significant daddy is to us. You haven’t truly felt it.”

Uburka was raising aura throughout his body, to the extent that I mistook it for a frenzy.

“What are you saying? Of course, I am your closest friend..."

“That’s what I’m saying. Ugor. Daddy, you really don’t know yourself.”

Uburka chuckled lightly.

Then, as if his previous words were a joke, he opened up.

“Daddy said it himself, you gave us letters. Seeing daddy meticulously creating characters for our tribe, even though I knew it intellectually, it felt differently.”

-Ugor! It was worth seeing.

The blushing Earth Spirit Tribe, the Asuras, chimed in from behind. “Ugor!” “Ugor!” Their chorus added momentum to Uburka’s words, like a red wave turning into a giant tidal wave approaching me.

“Do you remember the first day daddy taught us letters? The day you taught us how to make sounds?”

"......."

I clenched the hilt of my sword.

From the red wave, an ominous aura was surging.

It was like the sensation I had when Constellation Killer approached to kill me on the 50th floor. Something bigger, stronger, and perhaps more desperate than me. The chilling murderous intent I felt when that thing pointed its sword at me, was now palpably present in this red wave of children.

I estimated the distance and spoke.

“I remember. As vividly as if it happened yesterday.”

“Father taught letters to children whose intellects were not yet fully developed. As he taught them, he first created characters only for the things they loved, the things they played with, and the things that brought them joy.”

"......."

“Gently.”

Mud is ■.

Sky is O.

Sun is ☆.

Moon is ★.

Water is ~.

In the soft mud, carving out with the claws of a lion, teaching the little goblins letters, those days are still brilliantly preserved in my mind.

As a warm memory.

“Daddy could have known many languages. But you knew we only needed about seven words in our life. Thus, you could have reproached us.”

Why see the world so narrowly?

This is a tree, and that is a mountain.

Learn more, know more.

“But you didn’t reproach.”

"......."

“Instead of reproaching, you wanted us to fully explore this small world we had. You didn’t teach us that [the rain will stop soon, so don’t worry]. Instead, when we were scared and trembling in primitive fear because the rain was hitting the earth in anger, you were the first to cry out.”

-Keeeee!

Using the goblin word for rain, [Ke].

If translated into modern language...

Water is coming.

-Kerererer! Keeeee!

On the earth, on the land, water is coming.

Huddled in the hut while the torrential rain poured outside, the little goblins shrank their shoulders. To the primitive Earth Spirit Tribe, the torrential rain was a kind of deity. The deity was angry, raining down.

‘Maybe we’ve wronged the deity.’

In a tribal society where language hadn’t evolved, it was difficult to even form such a clear sentence. In reality, it was more like broken words [We, sky, wrong?].

Unable to articulate even their own fears, it was that kind of era. Such was their tribe. A time when the color of the sky wasn't fixed, the reason for the sun and moon's orbit was a mystery, and every born life trembled in fear of what attacked from outside and the unknown inside.

-Kerererer! Keeeee!

Then someone cried out.

-Kere! Kee! Kerere, Kee!

Water is coming.

Water is coming to the land.

Just that mere cry.

Amid the rainforest and torrential rain, it felt as if the entire world would be swept away by the flood at any moment, but the white lion roared defiantly. Water is coming. Water is coming. Water is coming…

-Kere...

-Kererk...

It was a spell.

An incantation clearer than any uttered by a sinister diviner.

-Kerer...

-Kee... Keeeee!

Several goblins left the hut and approached the White Lion. Already half the hut was submerged by the heavy rain, so there was no hesitation in their steps. They climbed the high rock, the slippery rock wet with rain, missing several times. They kept crying out while climbing.

-Keeee!

-Kere, Kee! Kere, Kee!

Water is coming.

Water is coming to the land.

When dozens of goblins finally struggled to the summit, the White Lion was there with its chin held proudly high, gazing up at the dark sky.

-Kii...

The goblins gasped for breath, engulfed in fear.

They were afraid. The dark clouds seemed to boil over with the deity's wrath, ready to unleash at any moment. Lightning, thunder, storm. To the goblins, who knew so little, all these were divine powers.

They could not be understood, controlled, or avoided. There was nothing to do but submit... Nothing but hope the spirits favored and cherished us enough to let us pass safely through this day...

-Keeeeee!

Still, the White Lion roared.

The world was wrapped in a gray giant and everything was gloomy, while even the comforting moisture reeled in confusion as the swift wind tossed it about. At a moment when it would not have seemed strange for the world to end, the White Lion simply raised its head and roared.

-Keeeee!

Water is coming.

-Keeeeeeee!

Water is coming.

-……Keee, rrr. Kerrr…

-Keeeee…….

-Kerrrr....

The little goblins began to cling to the White Lion's body. They clung to its paws, tail, torso, and mane, trembling fearfully.

They couldn't understand why the White Lion was roaring, why they were drawn here by that cry, or why they felt the need to echo the White Lion’s wails, but...

-Keeeeeeeee!

-Kee, keeeeeee!

-Kerrr! Kee!

The goblins shouted with all their might.

Water is coming, they said.

Water is coming.

ㆍ

Thud.

The all-night downpour had now eased. The goblins perched on a distant rock first noticed this. Thud, the raindrops on their beak-like noses felt lighter. Thud, the raindrops on their crinkled green foreheads were gentler.

-Kee……

What was happening?

-Kerrr...?

What miracle was unfolding?

-Keeeee.

The goblins all looked up at the White Lion. Drenched in the night's rain, its mane hung long, but the White Lion's eyes shone brighter than the morning sun just beginning to rise.

The water, the water that seemed like it would destroy the world, had receded.

-Kekerkker.

The White Lion growled contentedly.

With the harsh rain gone, leaving only gentle raindrops to moisten the plains, the White Lion pointed towards the droplets falling from the sky to the earth and declared.

-Kekerkker.

The goblins tilted their heads, engulfed in a strange feeling. They echoed the White Lion’s words.

-Kekerkker?

-Kekerkker.

Rain.

-Kekerkker.

Rain.

-.......

Rain.

-Kekerkker.

And that day, the Earth Spirit Tribe realized something.

The White Lion might have simply intended to teach them the word "rain." But it was more than that. The impact the White Lion had on the Earth Spirit Tribe, the legacy it left, was far too immense to be contained in a mere word.

-Kekerkker!

The Earth Spirit Tribe triumphed over fear.

They could have huddled in their safe huts, trembling, hoping the deities would spare them, praying and muttering prayers. They could have prepared altars and sacrifices to appease the deities' wrath, offering a goblin every rainy season, thus wasting a thousand years.

Trembling in fear, they might have named [rain] differently. Not water flowing over the ground, but water pouring from the sky, water sent down in a god’s anger. Thus [rain] would itself have become a spirit, and its name might have been something like [The One Who Sweeps Away the World] or [The One Who Rules the Terror of Autumn], a name far longer and far more dreadful in its resonance.

“But.”

Uburka.

The living witness of the Earth Spirit Tribe held his axe aloft.

“It didn't happen that way.”

"......."

“Daddy didn't just teach us letters. No, he did, but he taught us something far greater. Daddy taught us victory!”

It was a victory over fear.

The world was covered in the unknown, where one had to burrow into the earth, crouching under small huts, mere refuges from the world.

“Thanks to daddy, we conquered water.”

-Ugor! Ugor!

“Thanks to daddy, we conquered fire.”

-Ugor! Ugor!

“Thanks to daddy, we conquered thunderstorms, rivers, the sea! We even conquered the salt hell beneath the earth!”

-Ugor! Ugor!

“Kekekekekeke!”

Uburka spread his arms wide and shouted.

“It's not the name of a terrifying deity, but simply rain! Just rain! Something we triumphed over, something we shook off our fear of! To us, kekekeke is not just a letter, but the name of a war we won, thus our proud trophy!”

-Kekeruk!

“Sky! It’s not a punishing deity. We stripped the sky of its divine status. Sky! Just the sky! We admire the purple silk it drapes at dawn, shed tears at its lazy evening blush, but it's no different from pity for a defeated foe! Sky! It too is a name we plundered.”

-Ugor! Ugor!

“There are two ways to write letters. To carve fears into characters. While other tribes developed the character for fire out of fear, needing to escape it, hoping it wouldn’t come, we etched fire into our letters to celebrate our victory! It’s a prey we successfully hunted and captured! We carved the character for fire in our damp caves and laughed over it!”

-Gor!

“Gor!”

-Gor!

“Gor!”

In the pre-dawn jungle, not the sky, but a fire ignited on the low ground.

“That's the name our fire bears!”

The multitude of Asuras ignited their aura.

“When they feared fire, dreaded it, tried to escape it, tried to control it, we just shouted at the fiery red Gor.”

-Ugor!

“Good!”

The flames intensified.

“Fire, beautiful! Beautiful!”

-Ugor! Ugor! Ugor!

They were all elite members of the Fire River Council. As trainees they had taken their first steps in martial arts through the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven. After becoming full-fledged warriors, each had learned the Demonic Heavenly Formation, and upon finally reaching the required realm, each had claimed a seat on the Fire River Council. They were the elite of the elite.

“Daddy!"

At the forefront, Uburka stood with open arms, laughing.

-Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

Behind him, excited Asuras shook their spears, swords, axes, and fists.

"Daddy didn't just teach us letters! Nor did he teach us the world! Nor did he merely teach us how to win! He didn't just teach us to face the fears ingrained in every living thing, to confront them, to coexist, and overcome together! What did daddy give us? What is daddy to us? Is daddy just a teacher who taught us many things?”

-Ugor! Ugor! Ugor!

“No! Then what is he? Is he a god? The creator who gave us the earth and the sky, allowing us to breathe? Is daddy merely a god to us?”

-Ugor! Ugor! Ugor!

“No, he is not!”

[The Muscle Pig Dreaming of Parricide roars.]

“Then what is Father to us? My beloved brethren! My people who love the damp water as I do, who are enthralled by falling rain, whose eyes tremble when the sky sobs, and whose hearts throb when flames surge upward! What is Father to us?”

-Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

“That's right!”

Uburka laughed heartily.

“Daddy is, our world!”

Ah.

“Daddy is everything to us!”

I am.

“In this world, we have conquered everything! I, Uburka, have even conquered death. Hence, we can joyfully sing every word. Every sentence is a trace of overcoming fear! Every conversation is a continuous celebration of our victorious battles! We are brave, we shed tears, we respect everything in the world that fought us, yet we laugh because we have won and will continue to win!”

-Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

“Except for one thing.”

Uburka pointed his axe at me.

“Daddy.”

"......."

“Kekerkker!"

"......."

A white creature descended from the sky.

In the language of the Earth Spirit Tribe, it signifies.

Not a demon, nor a god, but…

“Our world!”

The world.

“Born in your world, opened our eyes in your world, smelled in your world, stepped in your world, we were happy! Ugor! With all sincerity, I cry out, Kekerkker! We love this world!”

The entire jungle.

From among the palm shadows and undergrowth untouched by dawn, the entire jungle surged upward. Upon the dead soil of the turtle said to have created this continent, the Asuras who now ruled it raised their beacon fires.

The Demonic Heavenly Formation.

Hundreds of thousands of Asuras ignited their Baraya together.

“Now, it's time to put the final mark on the last thing we haven't conquered!"

-Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

To them, I was a much greater entity than I thought.

I had become such an entity to them.

"......."

I closed my eyes.

The sensation of the world’s flames engulfing me.

Strangely, these flames, brimming with love and affection for me, were not hot. Only the joy of trying to defeat me heated my heart.

There couldn’t be a softer flame to stoke the heart.

‘So, it is.’

I recalled the scene of my Master slicing through the snowy mountains.

What the Master had in mind at that time was not the towering peaks.

‘Can a person also become a world to someone?’

The Master had surely sliced through the seasons at that time.

She had cut through the time that froze all life.

She had sliced the world.

‘Yes.’

I gripped my sword handle.

“Those who wish to become gods to someone must be prepared to be parents.”

I drew my sword with a long, scraping sound.

“And those who wish to be parents must also be prepared to become the world.”

White.

The holy sword that had been with me for a long time now shone brilliantly.

Having given the fire life, a lifetime, and a world, the sword that had once been a goddess shone white in answer to my responsibility.

“You are fire, suitable to burn the world.”

I took out a pair of gloves from my pocket.

Thud.

I threw the white gloves, scented with Raviel, towards the lush foliage.

“Before a duel, it's a martial realm’s law to reveal oneself. Our Demonic Cult, originated from the martial realm, must also uphold the respect for our ancestors.”

While being ready to summon the army of the King of Death Family at any moment.

“I am the second-ranked hunter of the City of Ascension, the emissary of the Aegim Empire, direct disciple of the Peony Withered in the Snowfield, Vice-lord of the Demonic Cult, the one and only moon of the Ivansia Ducal House, head of the King of Death Family, and your...”

Towards the children who have continually triumphed for thousands of years.

I spoke of my history, which had been victorious for even longer.

“Kekerkker.”

I brandished my sword.

That moment.

[World Naming.]

['Unnamed World -30-1316782' is officially registered.]

[The name of this world is “The Lion World.”]

“사자세계(獅子世界)” means “Lion World.”

Thud.

Something fell onto my sword.

[May fortune accompany the Lion World.]