WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 31: Red Sword (1)

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1.

No one knew.

No one knew why, precisely when, or where it had appeared.

It sought no one's understanding for its existence.

"Pitiful creatures."

Only, whenever it appeared, red rain fell.

"You who do not see humans as humans."

And wherever that rain fell, blood soon flowed.

"Born as humans, you devour humans. Do you console yourselves by calling that the fate of humanity? I shall call it the karma of beasts. Why should I refrain from slaughtering beasts today?"

The nightmare rain.

It was when I had deliberately allowed the general NPC to kill me on the eleventh-floor stage. I had glimpsed the general's trauma. In that nightmare, the general was screaming.

So were countless other humans.

"Retreat!"

"The rain again..."

"Run to a land where the rain does not fall!"

The small border kingdoms fell first.

The great nation that had gathered those kingdoms beneath it fell next.

Then the other small nations that had used the great nation as their bulwark collapsed without a sound. Each time a country fell, humanity's domain grew narrower. Each time a royal house and its altars vanished, humanity's history grew shorter.

Only the rain fell.

"To somewhere the rain does not fall..."

The rain fell.

"It is over. This is the end."

The rain fell.

"Goddess, do not forsake us..."

And the rain fell.

Humanity's steadily shrinking domain had dwindled to a mere handful of land, and its steadily shortening history had only a single page remaining.

The historians conserved their old quills. In silence, the civil officials accepted that their own hands were destined to write, “And thus humanity became extinct,” on the final page of the history books.

Only one empire now remained on the continent.

"Pitiful creatures."

The master of the nightmare.

The king of all monsters.

And so the last historians gave it a name.

"Be consumed by your own malice."

Demon King.

2.

Rain fell.

Light shone.

The rain poured toward the earth, while the light surged into the sky.

The light of the holy sword I held aloft pierced the red storm clouds.

"Ooh..."

Where the light shone, the drops of blood ceased to fall.

Their faces drenched in blood, the soldiers looked up at the sky.

The rain had stopped.

"O Goddess..."

That was all.

The red raindrops ceased.

Not all the rain had stopped.

It was just where the light of the holy sword shone that the rain halted.

A small pause. A faint light.

"The Goddess..."

"God protects our empire!"

Sometimes, small things were enough.

Especially for humans who had little left.

To the people of the empire, their territory was but a handful of land left. History was nothing but the last unfilled page. This was known to the kingdom's citizens, the soldiers, the officials, and the nobility.

That's why there was not a single NPC in the audience hall.

Because the Prime Minister abandoned governance.

Because the Grand General gave up on the military.

Because the Imperial Guards no longer protected the emperor.

Because the Knights did not uphold their duties.

An empire abandoned by all.

Therefore, the tower had chosen the empire as its stage.

Like the children abandoned in a mansion on the 10th floor.

"Stand up!"

The Witch cried out.

One by one, soldiers began to rise to their feet. Some leaned on the walls to stand, others on their spears, and some were helped up by their comrades.

"Stand up!"

The Witch commanded them to become the last walls of the empire. Yes, they were to be the walls. Her cry echoed off the walls, reaching every soldier of the empire.

"Stand up!"

"The Prime Minister is here! She stands with us!"

"The Founder's Sword protects us!"

Thus, the walls became walls, the spears became spears, and the soldiers became soldiers.

"Stand up, quickly!"

"Such disgrace in front of the Prime Minister!"

Lieutenants ran around, slapping the backs of the soldiers. The soldiers snapped back to reality and adjusted their helmets.

Red raindrops rolled off the tips of their helmets. But the rain no longer blinded the soldiers. They looked straight ahead.

"Huh..."

The Witch let out a small sigh.

The black aura that had been emanating from her gradually subsided. Perhaps she had overexerted herself using the aura. Not only red raindrops but also clear beads of sweat were visible on her forehead.

"...Why?"

The Witch turned to me.

"Have you never seen a Ukrainian giving a speech?"

"Uh..."

"There are a lot of commies in our country."

The Witch slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

I belatedly realized she was smiling.

"I don't like communists, but they do give good speeches. There's something to learn from them."

"Yes?"

"...It's nothing."

Her face returned to its usual blank expression, and the corners of her mouth fell again. What had the Black Dragon Master been talking about?

-No.

The Sword Emperor chimed in.

-It seems like she's just embarrassed because her dad joke didn't land.

'Eh? Was that a joke earlier?'

-Don't know. It seems like it from the context. But if you react like you just did... Never mind. Zombie, you should never join a group and mingle with superiors. Just keep walking the hunter path like now, okay?

I didn't understand.

But one thing was clear.

"Kim Gong-Ja, what will you do now?"

The recent speech by the Witch had somewhat reversed the situation.

"For now, we need to hold out on the walls."

"That's right."

I gazed at the red horizon.

Countless monsters surrounded the Demon King. The Witch's S-rank skill was Teleportation. But even if we teleported over there, there was no guarantee the Demon King would be the one to kill me. I would probably be surrounded and killed by monsters in the blink of an eye.

First, I needed to create a one-on-one situation with the Demon King.

"We need to bring the hunters here while the NPC soldiers hold the line. Then we won't be pushed back in the fight. If the Demon King deploys more monsters to force a breach in the wall..."

"If it does?"

"Then, teleport me in front of the Demon King."

The Witch stared into my face.

"A commando raid, then."

"Yes."

"Are you prepared to die?"

A natural suspicion.

I was still only an E-rank hunter. Whatever the limits of the Demon King's strength, if a mere E-ranker could take its head, the continent would never have fallen in the first place.

Outnumbered. Outmatched. No words could fully express just how unfavorable my position was.

But to me, death did not signify defeat.

"I intend to win."

My death was a stairway leading to victory.

"I have a trump card too. Trust me."

The Witch sighed.

"Alright. Every hunter has their secrets. I hope your sword is sharp enough to kill that boss monster."

Of course, that was my intention.

-What an amusing trick you play, Goddess. 

Then, it happened.

-Such a pitiful last struggle. Light, huh? What use is light to those who cannot harvest tomorrow's grains? Have you too become pitiful, comforting these wretched beings?

The Demon King's voice sliced through the battlefield.

-Then let me show you the light as well.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted.

The Witch and I remained alert, keeping an eye on the Demon King. That's how we knew what the loud noise was.

It was a sword.

Slowly.

From the distant horizon, the Demon King slowly swung its sword. Time seemed to slow down. It was as if a different time flowed from the Demon King's sword, as if the sword was trying to cut through time itself.

But the Demon King's sword didn't slice time, it cleaved the sky.

As it cleaved the sky, the sword strike was already a beam of red light.

The beam targeted the city gate precisely and pierced it.

A massive explosion followed, and a dust storm surged.

The Witch and I instinctively closed our eyes. As we did, the surroundings were engulfed in dust, and screams echoed from beyond. The soldiers were screaming. Sounds of collapse followed.

Shortly after.

"Cough... Cough..."

When the dust storm subsided a bit, we turned towards the direction of the screams. Despite the pain from the dust in our eyes, shock overcame the pain.

The Witch coughed and muttered.

"...Is that power really weakened?"

The city gate had crumbled.

The Demon King sneered.

-Pitiful beings.

Red rain poured from the dusty sky.

The laughter mixed with the dust in the sky and the rain on the ground.

From heaven to earth, scorn echoed.

-Are you still an empire?

But it wasn't just the gate that had fallen.

The red beam continued beyond the shattered gate. The streets were crushed, buildings on both sides of the avenue crumbled. Finally, even the towering Imperial Palace was caught in the beam.

*Boom!*

Part of the palace collapsed. Like a ship colliding with an iceberg and sinking, the splendid palace leaned and slowly sank.

From afar, the sound of the empire's palace being destroyed echoed.

[A hero has died.]

Nearby, a voice echoed.

[She was not a minion of the Demon King.]

A voice announcing someone's death.

"......"

My ears were ringing.

The Witch and I glanced at each other for a moment.

"...That was where the audience hall was."

The Witch spoke first.

"The Sword Saint, the Heretic Inquisitor, and Viper should already be out of the audience hall. They will each be leading the knights or the Imperial Guard here. The Paladin will be busy searching for the emperor on your orders. That leaves..."

The Countess.

"...To die first."

The Countess was not the traitor.

"You jerk."

The Witch muttered quietly.

That was all.

She didn't send off her fallen comrade with many words. Instead, she shook her head a few times, perhaps her own way of saying goodbye.

"Black Dragon Master. If the Countess truly died in battle, then the outside world and..."

"Now is not the time."

The Witch spoke softly.

"Let's focus on what's in front of us now."

The second strongest hunter in the tower was just staring.

Staring at her prey beyond the horizon.

"Even the Demon King can't keep firing attacks like that. Kim Gong-Ja. Help me defend the fallen city gate."

The red dots on the mini-map were changing.

The monster army approached like a wide wave, but now they sharpened like awls.

Were they attempting a breakthrough?

"Yes."

The awl pointed to the city gate.

The opening created by the red beam.

"That's what I was thinking too."

I grasped the Witch's hand.

She nodded.

"Teleport."

We teleported to the fallen city gate.

-Chirp chirp!

-Keck! Ki! Kiik!

-Groooar!

Monsters had already rushed up close. Arrows flew about. Archers on the walls fired, but it was insufficient against the red tide. Goblins, orcs, skeletons, all sorts of monsters howled like beasts as they charged.

Only about two minutes remained until the first wave reached us.

-Zombie.

The Sword Emperor's voice came.

-Even if it's just for a minute, or 30 seconds, it doesn't matter.

Dozens, hundreds of monsters broke through the dust cloud and charged.

Behind them came tens and hundreds of times as many monsters, advancing amid clouds of dust.

-Hold the line alone.

There was no ally blocking my path.

-To win this war, you need to become a beacon of hope for everyone.

Thus, I stood alone at the front line.

-Hold the line. Even if it's just for 30 seconds. Showing that you alone can hold back these monsters is what's important. It's not the person who survives for 30 years who is called a hero. It's the person who gives a desperately needed 30 seconds to everyone. That person is the true hero.

I dropped my backpack to the ground.

-Become a hero.

I pulled out a glass bottle from the backpack.

The future Master Alchemist's elixir in the bottle.

-I'll help you.

One gulp. Two gulps. Three gulps.

I swallowed all the elixir in the glass bottle.

-I promised to teach you swordsmanship until the 20th floor, didn't I? It's a bit early, but it's practice time.

Thump.

My heart pounded.

-Place your back foot at an angle.

My heart surged at intervals of one second.

-Plant your front foot straight on the ground.

My heart beat faster and faster.

-Now, look straight ahead.

I looked.

-Two goblins are at the front. They normally have poor eyesight, but now they are squinting because of the dust cloud. Instinctively, they'll swing their swords widely, trying to hit anything. Stab them before they can swing.

My heart rate increased, and my 1 second felt longer.

-Your holy sword only shines, but it's perfect for blinding your opponents. In a fight, an absolute 1 second isn't important. Only a relative 1 second matters. Blind your opponents with your sword and take that 1 second from them.

Thus, my 1 second was a bit faster than my heartbeat.

-Here they come.

My sword would be a bit faster than my 1 second.

-Let's go, partner.

The Sword Emperor stood beside me.

-It's time to become a hero.

I swung my sword.

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