SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 282

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 282: Final Vote (3)

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A shout was heard.

"Family Head!"

"Snake God!"

Until now, the spectators had watched our fight as quietly as possible. The Sword Saint had shouted earlier, but as Viper said, he was an old man and therefore entitled to some respect. It was only proper for outsiders to stand back quietly during a duel.

But now that the duel had concluded, they rushed in urgently.

"Stop!"

"You lot stop right there!"

And those people immediately divided into two groups, facing off against each other.

On one side stood the King of Death Family, led by Ester. She had been the Demon King of Autumn Rain, Preta, a daughter, and now a family Advisor of our lineage, always ready to counsel me right or wrong.

On the other side stood the Ghost Tribe, led by a figure clad in a pure-white helmet and full-body suit. This was the leader of the 256-Color Ghost Squadron that had joined at the end of the Dragon-Riding Competition.

"Why are you blocking us, you clowns old enough to know better, strutting around in color-coordinated costumes!"

"And where are you lot going to play hwatu, dressed in matching black? Our RGB Code 000000, ~The Real Black~, could wipe the floor with you by itself."

"Even lacking sense in making aliases!"

"And what’s your alias?"

"I was once called the Saintess of the Wilderness, the Demon King of Autumn Rain, and Preta. Now, I am known as the Advisor of the King of Death Family!"

"Uh, what... that’s actually kind of cool..."

The leader of the Ghost Troop hesitated while scratching the back of their helmet, but Ester paid no mind.

So, I had to step in and stop Ester.

"Ester. Let it be."

"No, Family Head! I cannot!"

Her defiance came immediately. Slightly shocked at the thought that she might already be entering a rebellious phase, I lowered my head. Ester ground her teeth and glared at the Master of the Celestial Martial Clan.

"The Celestial Martial Clan Master’s words to you, Family Head, are arrogant and disrespectful to the point of being unbearable."

"......."

"There is always a chance that you might go astray? Ha. Falling into demonic obsession, slaughtering commoners and citizens without distinction, and then killing every human being in creation to erase the screams filling the human world as though they had never existed, before gathering only those deemed worthy of survival into a tiny paradise. Master of the Celestial Martial Clan, is that the danger you claim our Family Head presents?"

"Right."

Viper barely propped himself up on his palms, then slid on the grass and fell back into the mud.

"Damn it...."

Feeling embarrassed, he gradually calmed his breath.

He said,

"Just as you said. I believe your Heavenly Demon could fall into demonic obsession at any time and unleash a massacre unlike anything creation has ever seen."

"......You."

Ester gritted her teeth.

"How long have you been observing the Family Head? Without knowing the people around the Family Head, what kind of people they are, and with what resolve they have taken up the lineage's flag. Despite all of us swearing to assist the Family Head with our lives and honor! Yet still..."

"It's not about 'yet still.'"

Viper coughed, clogging his neck wound with mud, but it didn't stop the bleeding.

"It's exactly that."

"......What?"

"You won't be able to stop your Family Head if he falls into demonic obsession."

Ester clenched her fists.

"Ha. I may have declined, but I am still the Demon King of the Autumn Rain. When my tears become raindrops and sweep across the Three Thousand Worlds, ogres, orcs, goblins, and countless monsters fall as raindrops and form an army. I cannot even be compared to a mere swordsman who has only advanced his realm a little."

"Yeah, you guys are strong... damn strong."

Viper coughed out blood.

Then he smirked.

"But can you stop the Family Head if he falls into demonic obsession?"

"Yes. Of course. Even if it costs my life..."

"No, that’s not it. Imagine the specific situation. Did you really hear what I said? Huh? We're talking about your Family Head, Kim Gong-Ja."

Viper looked around.

Like a sword slave who had stood in the middle of the Colosseum until exhaustion left his shoulders drooping.

"Who is Kim Gong-Ja? Huh? Take a good look at the Heavenly Demon of our age. He did not fall into demonic obsession even when his master died. He simply accepted it as grief. With so many people in the world who deserved to die, he had every reason to unleash a lion's roar and demand why his master had to be the one, but he did not. He just... cried a little as he saw his master off. When you look closely, this bastard is hard as nails."

Sitting in the Colosseum of the jungle, Viper raised his voice.

"Whether the world is ending or the heart of the woman he loves most is being torn apart, ah, he stays sane! He never falls into demonic obsession. He grips his sanity with both hands, perhaps thinking that he will be nothing if he lets go, and keeps living. No matter what hell rises right before his eyes, this man has never succumbed to demonic obsession."

Clap, clap, clap.

Viper clapped his hands. Small wounds covered their backs, but he had apparently brought bandages in advance and used this respite to administer first aid. Even so, every time he clapped, splash, splash, splash, blood streamed from the wounds that had yet to close.

"Such impressive patience. His level of controlling his mind is almost superhuman."

"......."

"Young lady, what kind of truly fucked-up thing would Kim Gong-Ja have to witness before he fell into demonic obsession?"

Silence ensued.

"He's seen the world end countless times, so that won’t do. He's seen the world end in especially horrible ways. That won’t work either. So what would it take? Truly... when human malice, combined, crushed, and so concentrated that just being close or smelling it makes you think, [Ah, this is hell]... Only that might do it. Only then, our Family Head, the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult, might finally lose his mind."

Viper chuckled.

"Then, you. All of you retainers. Could you stop Kim Gong-Ja?"

"......"

"Would you want to?"

"......"

"I do not know what hell you will see then. I cannot even imagine it. But if it is a hell so horrific that Kim Gong-Ja loses his sanity... and he sets out to kill everyone who created that hell, everyone who stood by, and everyone who walked past pretending not to notice..."

Viper glanced around.

Advisor Ester, Chief Warrior Uburka, Shadow Kim Yul, Head Steward Silvia Evanair. Even the Sword Saint, who wasn’t officially part of the family but volunteered as a bodyguard.

“Could you all... stop Kim Gong-Ja?”

“We are..."

“If anything, you would probably follow Kim Gong-Ja around, seeing red as you slaughtered the bastards who made that hell.”

"......"

“In other words, the entire family and the entire cult would fall into demonic obsession and massacre the whole world. Wow. What a picture.”

Viper laughed lightly.

“Among you are a former Constellation, a current active Constellation, a hunter who earned an alias for slicing up Constellations, an Apostle who almost destroyed the world with the power of Constellations. The rest aren't ordinary either. The elites of the Demonic Cult who survived the end of the world. The elite! Nearly a thousand subordinates capable of at least high-level Demonic Arts...."

Thud.

Viper picked up a stone and tossed it.

It fell in front of Ester.

“Looks like an easy force to destroy a world, right?”

"......"

“If the Heavenly Demon falls into demonic obsession, it’s natural for the entire family to follow suit, and if you all, fully obsessed, roam the tower, then that’s the end of the world. The end.”

Thud.

The second stone came to rest against Uburka's forepaw.

And then.

“King of Death.”

Thud.

“Heavenly Demon.”

Thud.

“Hey, Kim Gong-Ja.”

Thud.

“You need me."

"......."

“Without me, you’re doomed."

"......."

“When you feel like you’re about to go mad, when you think, ‘How can someone create such a hell? If you’re human, shouldn’t you at least do this much?’ When you start to get enraged, when your heart races and blood rushes, turning your body red with anger.”

Thud.

A small stone flew and tapped near my heart, just where Viper had pressed his fist earlier.

Looking over, Viper was grinning.

“I’ll be there to restrain you.”

"......."

“If you can’t be restrained, I’ll kill you.”

So that's it.

And the moment I fall into demonic obsession and am executed by Viper, the Orthodox Faction wins.

No.

It would mean the defeat of the Demonic Cult.

“Ha."

I laughed.

“What a long... a battle that will take so long... 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? Maybe even centuries. Liǎofàn. Are you proposing a martial contest that lasts for centuries?”

“That’s right.”

Viper laughed.

“From my perspective, it’s like getting a contract job that lasts centuries, so thank you.”

Hmm.

Right.

“Alright, Liǎofàn.”

Ester looked up at me.

“Family Head……?”

“Ester. A martial contest has no time limit to begin with. To determine whether Demonic Heaven or the Orthodox Faction was right, Master and the Head of the Martial Alliance fought no fewer than 990 bouts. They continued fighting throughout the destruction of their world, yet still reached no conclusion. There is no reason to be impatient.”

Ester took a deep breath. Then, as if spitting fire, she said,

“Family Head, you will never fall down the wrong path.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Well, because I have already walked down that path.”

I thought of the clouds mixed with ashes, of the rain pouring down red.

Yes.

That's right.

“Thank you.”

“So even if you seem to be straying, we will all unite to persuade you, grab you by the scruff of the neck if necessary, and pull you back.”

“I trust you.”

“There's no need for someone like him, though."

“But still, I might fall down the wrong path.”

I patted Ester's head.

Then I looked at Viper, who was roughly wiping his mud-covered face with his hands.

“Liǎofàn.”

"......."

“Thank you.”

I bowed my head.

“For making this effort for my sake. For devoting your time to defeating me. Truly, thank you.”

"......."

“You said you were jealous of me, but it wasn’t an ugly jealousy. You didn’t slander me. You didn’t plot to harm me. You just looked at me straight, acknowledged your jealousy, and tried to beat me. I think... you are beautiful.”

"......."

“If anything, I am ashamed of my own complacency in thinking that dazzling you with my Flying Ki Swords would make your jealousy fade on its own... even though you had overcome that jealousy long ago. You are remarkable.”

I rose. It was difficult to breathe with the area over my heart caved in as deeply as Viper's protruding knuckles, but I endured it and walked toward him.

"......."

Seeing me approaching, Viper seemed a bit tense.

‘Yes.’

I know.

What to say at this moment, at this time.

‘It’s inevitable to feel tense.’

Facing the person you’ve envied, the person you’ve admired, finally coming face to face, meeting at the same eye level, what would you want to hear from them?

What do you desperately want to hear?

What do you need?

As someone who envied and admired Yoo Soo-Ha more than anyone, I know.

“Liǎofàn.”

I lightly tapped his shoulder.

“You are every bit as much of a lunatic as I am.”

"......."

“I don’t dislike good madmen. I like them. You even thrust your fist into my heart... really, you’ve worked hard.”

"......."

“You were like the protagonist.”

I smiled broadly.

“But if you think that’s enough to cut my neck when I fall into demonic obsession, you’re far from enough. Train harder. Don’t neglect your practice.”

Liǎofàn made a baffled face.

“Look at this guy talking. If someone saw this, they’d think you just won?”

“Come now. You were the one who told me to imagine the specific situation before speaking. You know my combat power will rise if I fall into demonic obsession.”

“What kind of calculation is that…”

Liǎofàn laughed helplessly. I also sat down in front of him and laughed.

“Let’s have a drink.”

Soon someone brought drinks. The cups were prepared, and they were filled with liquor.

Then a petal fluttered down from a branch and settled on the surface of the drink.

[Counting complete.]

The observing tribe had made their decision.

[Option 2 Votes: 00.00%.]

[Option 1 Votes: 100.00%.]

[Stage Clear.]

Perhaps what they had watched was not the stage, but the clear liquid that flowed from a certain lone eye.

“Yeah, let’s have a drink, Kim Gong-Ja.”