SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 320

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 320: The Unceasing Path (2)

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Tick.

The needle grazed the white flesh of the clock, marking a scar that was destined to be there.

"......."

“How many times must I explain it for you to understand? I have nothing to do with Lady Goldencup! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"

I blinked my eyes.

As I blinked, the blond crown prince in front of me raged. Since we were alone in the audience room, he must be venting his anger at me.

"Lady, you've completely misunderstood me as a person!"

"......."

It felt like a long time had passed.

Yet, it seemed like only a brief moment had elapsed.

Was my sense of time damaged? It was as if every strand of my hair had dissolved in lukewarm water. Am I swimming in Raviel's dream, or is Raviel swimming through my time?

'Either way.'

I fanned myself with a fan.

'It doesn't really matter.'

There was no need to distinguish between us.

Meanwhile, the prince's voice grew louder and louder.

"It's utterly displeasing! Your tone, it's as if- as if you think I'm being unfaithful to you. Me, the foundation of the empire!"

I looked beyond the crown prince's golden hair.

Tick.

An extravagantly gilded wall clock devoured its own flesh and discarded time.

"……Wait. Lady, when someone is talking to you, where are you looking?"

"I apologize. I was looking at the clock."

"The clock? You mean to say even conversing with me is a waste of time?"

"Not at all. It's just that a clock continuously passes the same place as if it never knew it had been there before. Perhaps, the condition of eternity is oblivion."

"What? ……What are you talking about?"

“You shouted yesterday. You forget what you shouted yesterday. You were nagged yesterday. You forget what you heard yesterday. The day before that, and the day before that, a week, a month, a year. You forget and forget again, discard and discard again.”

"......."

"The scenery that you passed just yesterday. The places where my touch lingered just yesterday. Yet, they seem entirely new, as if foreign. And thus, people live eternally. A thousand years ago, and a thousand years from now."

"I really don't understand what you're saying."

The crown prince furrowed his brow.

"Are you admitting that you misunderstood the relationship between Lady Goldencup and me?"

"Your Highness."

I raised my fan.

"In the course of history, you are not the first nor the last to make excuses after betraying love."

"......."

"Those who evaded a day by claiming it was a misunderstanding or a mistake were also not the first. They all met their ends and lie dead in their graves. Please be wiser. Would the impending disaster change just by getting through today?"

"I don't understand what you're saying!"

"Lady Goldencup cannot love you."

The crown prince paused.

"What?"

"She fundamentally loves herself. Don't you see?"

"......."

“She may indeed harbor affection for Your Highness, but what truly delights Goldencup is [the image of herself secretly sharing love with the crown prince].”

I spoke calmly.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't share love. To share love with such a person, you must become a follower, Your Highness. Earnestly beg for Lady Goldencup's love, as if receiving mercy, and accept her favor. Only such a relationship will make both you and her eternally happy."

"......."

“However, Your Highness is the foundation of this nation. You are the one who must stand highest. Would such a person bow his head to the mere daughter of a baron's house? If Your Highness bows, the officials will bend at the waist after you and the people will prostrate themselves in turn. Then the ruler of the entire country will be that young lady, not Your Highness.”

I gazed intently at my fiancé.

“Do you truly intend to pick up the entire country and hand it to that young lady's family?”

Splash!

"......."

Drip. Drop.

Water dripped down my temple.

In front of me, the blond man was seething, holding an empty glass.

"You're the worst kind of person."

It was a meaningless curse.

Yet, even if it was the most trivial insult from the most insignificant person, the wound I received was still a wound, and the surface of my heart stung slightly.

"Why can't you understand me even once? I'm struggling too. It's hard! The prime minister nags endlessly, I have to attend unfamiliar places and keep a solemn face! Of course, being born into the great Ivansia lineage, you wouldn't understand! But..."

"But."

I looked at the prince expressionlessly.

And I thought.

“But what, Your Highness?”

Should I replace him?

"......."

The current emperor is a saintly ruler.

But there are countless cases where a tyrant ascends to the throne immediately after a saintly ruler's death, leading the country to ruin. If the empire's fate is to last only one more generation, it wouldn't be bad to start preparations from now.

As a last resort.

For this certain end, I could spread spies across the country, assassinate obstacles in advance, and prepare to incite rebellion at the right moment.

"Your Highness."

He was hesitant.

The crown prince involuntarily stepped back.

“I understand Your Highness more deeply than anyone. Ever since childhood, I have striven tirelessly to love you. This love may look insignificant, but it is the best I can do. Within my heart, I cannot nurture a candle flame any larger than this.”

"......."

"Dismiss Lady Goldencup. That is the way for Your Highness, for the country..."

"Monster."

The crown prince reached for the doorknob.

"Such a monster."

And he fled.

"......."

Tick.

Time flowed.

"......."

Tick.

Water droplets wetting my hair fell with the ticking of the second hand.

"......."

Suddenly, I realized.

I had been betrayed.

"Ah."

It's tedious.

[Unable to find the alias of the skill target.]

In that tedium, a bit of anger coagulated.

[Unable to find the true name of the skill target.]

Tick.

But.

It's tedious, and it's a tedious life.

[Unable to find the appearance of the skill target.]

Tick.

Certainly.

[Re-enactment failed.]

Gong-ja,

As for you, I...

[Substituting the data necessary for manifestation.]

Tick.

It's tedious.

"......."

I blinked my eyes.

As I blinked, I... this one realized that this body was sitting cross-legged.

Had I fallen asleep while sitting like this? Or had I briefly entered a state without thought or conception, only to slip all the way back out after failing to grasp enlightenment?

"Lord Heavenly Demon."

The sounds of the world reached me.

"......."

I slowly turned my head.

Flinch.

The young person in black trembled at the shoulders when our eyes met.

I knew their name.

"You are the Ghost-Soul Flame Demon."

"My apologies."

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon prostrated themselves.

"How dare such beings disturb the sovereign's practice... I have committed a crime worthy of death!"

"Such fuss. Enlightenment is said to be a peace so quiet that nothing can disturb it. If it were to be disturbed and broken, then it wasn't enlightenment to begin with."

I smiled.

"It's as if I awoke from a light sleep. Rather than ruining my enlightenment, I'd prefer to receive an apology for interrupting a pleasant nap."

"Uh... um... sorry...?"

Tsk.

“What an unrewarding subordinate to tease. Keep your head planted there.”

"Ah! Yes!"

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon seemed to find that much easier and immediately responded.

"Then, I will report!"

"I'm listening."

"Firstly, we've circulated a proclamation throughout the land to evacuate the people."

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon continued speaking with their head planted upside down. Even with their head supporting their entire body, they did not waver, proving that they were indeed one of our cult's properly trained elites.

"Many people did not believe the words that a plague was descending from the heavens, but when we showed them those already affected by the contagion, tightly bound and paraded around, even the most skeptical had no choice but to believe!"

"......."

I see.

For months now, a mysterious illness had been spreading throughout the martial realm.

This was still a world from before I, in my master's body, met the white final curtain.

"Well done."

"It is an honor!"

"But what use is fleeing from a moving plague? One cannot build a hut under the sea or pitch a tent above the clouds. The edge of the sea under the sky will be the last refuge for the people."

"......."

"However, it's merely fulfilling the duty towards humanity. I am proud of you all for choosing to comfort the people, even for a day, rather than seeking refuge on an island where you could have lived another day."

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon corrected their posture and prostrated themselves properly.

"Loyalty!"

Beyond them, hundreds of elites prostrated themselves.

"For the Demonic Way of the Heavens!"

Further on, tens of thousands of disciples kneeled.

"For the Survival of the Common People!"

A lofty echo resounded through the headquarters of the Demonic Path.

I sat on a stone platform and bowed my head.

The peak of the Demonic Cult, having reached its zenith at this time, spread before me.

"......."

It's tedious.

Despite the world facing destruction, what exactly is this eerily calm tedium?

It's not triviality. It's not boredom. I haven't lived in a world small enough to be considered trivial, nor have I led a leisurely life to be considered boring. I have always lived on the edge, fighting for survival through all seasons.

'Did I give it my all?'

Yes.

'Did I take responsibility for what needed to be accounted for?'

Yes.

'Did I shoulder what I didn't need to?'

Undoubtedly.

'Was it good to wield the sword?'

Perhaps.

'Was I happy?'

I don't know.

"......."

I slowly nodded.

‘I can answer yes to a thousand questions.’

All disciples of the Demonic Cult bowed their heads. Only the sky could see and know my nodding gesture. Thus, I was nodding to myself, using the white sky as a mirror.

‘Only two questions, the ones I answer with “perhaps” and “I do not know,” leave me listless now.’

I want to know.

"NamGung Woon."

I spoke.

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon slightly raised their head.

"Yes?"

"Send a letter to the Head of the Martial Alliance, NamGung Woon."

"......."

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon asked no further questions. They simply brought paper, brush, and ink.

I flicked my fingers.

Paper.

The paper floated in mid-air, stiffening.

Since mastering the art of controlling swords, this body had become less bound by tools. As the Ghost-Soul Flame Demon swallowed a quiet exclamation, I moved my finger once more.

Brush.

My finger became the brush shaft, and the inner power gathered at my fingernail became its tip. I gathered the ink at a single point and swept it across the page; even with empty air between the paper and me, nothing hindered my writing.

Ink.

Thus, black letters were written, each holding a full sixty years of my inner power.

"Burn it."

I laid my hand down.

"How dare I..."

"A plague may ravage the world, but the world remains, and life persists after awakening. This is my will. If it's a will, it will remain even if burned."

"......."

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon, trembling, set fire to my paper.

The flames, transferred from a candle, quickly consumed the edges of the paper. The fire devoured, turning the path it passed black, and spread wildly.

"Ah."

But the letters were not consumed by the flames.

Instead, they blazed.

The ki contained in the ink held the letters firmly. The letters became embers, fixed in place, burning brightly mid-air, even as the fire consumed their base.

Though disease circles the world and cannot be cured,
Can human beings not soothe a human affliction?

A hundred years of life hang upon a single second of death.

Come forth, Martial Realm.

My hundred years await here.

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon trembled and prostrated themselves.

I glanced at the martial attainment I had just engraved in the air.

“I will write one more, so take it to that bastard who leads the Martial Alliance. Carry it there yourself and burn it with your own hands before NamGung Woon and all the Martial Alliance rabble. It is a pity I cannot see their faces myself.”

"Yes, Lord Heavenly Demon."

The Ghost-Soul Flame Demon's voice faltered.

I muttered indifferently.

“The moment the embers consume all the ink and end as ash, I will take it that you have refused to answer the Great Orthodox-Demonic War.”

The disciples marveled at the words I inscribed in the air. They considered it a miracle. Just like rain falling from the sky and flowers blooming from the earth, the embers suspended between heaven and earth were evidence to them, a permission that they were still allowed to exist in this world.

They shouted.

"For the Demonic Way of the Heavens!"

Tap.

Something landed on the tip of my nose, causing me to look up.

"For the Survival of the Common People!"

Snow was falling from the sky.

It was the first snow.

"For the Demonic Way of the Heavens!"

Yes, NamGung Woon.

You will not betray me.

But.

"For the Survival of the Common People!"