SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 33

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 33: Red Sword (3)

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Rain poured down.

A blaze may engulf a vast plain, but it must burn outward from a single ember; a river may overflow to the base of heaven, but it must begin with a single droplet.

I might not claim to be a blaze, but I was an ember; I might not call myself a river, but I was a droplet.

"Hmm."

Rain fell. The old man stood in the middle of the flowing current.

He nodded lightly towards me.

"Let's fight together, young man."

The top-ranked hunter.

The Sword Saint.

Commander of the Imperial Knights.

Joined the battle.

"Ahaha!"

The rain continued.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Splashing through puddles, a voice approached with laughter.

"I could have been here sooner. Leading an entire troop isn't as simple as it seems!"

The owner of the voice was one-armed. In the street swept by the red beam, where only puddles remained, the one-armed priest stood tall.

"Thank you, Hunter Kim Gong-Ja."

The Heretic Inquisitor adjusted his hat with his remaining hand.

Rain fell.

Through the blurry rain, something rushed from behind the Heretic Inquisitor. It cleaved through the rainwater, surging forward.

"We'll take over the time you've bought for us."

Thousands of soldiers.

Avoiding the collapsed buildings, leaping over sunken pits, parting the puddles, soldiers of the Empire were rushing in. Not just soldiers, there were others too. Citizens without armor, people of the Empire without helmets. With almost bare bodies, they flooded in.

"By the order of the Grand General, everyone."

The Heretic Inquisitor smiled broadly.

Thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians screamed.

"Slaughter the bastards who bared their fangs at the Empire."

The fourth-ranked hunter.

Master of the Temple of Omnipotent God, the Heretic Inquisitor.

The Grand General of the Empire.

Brought reinforcements.

"Oooooo!"

Rain fell.

Droplets merged into a river.

The monstrous army, once a fearsome tide, had now halted. Like a high tide frozen in place, the monsters hesitated at the gate. The tide had turned, the flood became an ebb, and at the broken gate, the current flowed backward.

"God is with us!"

Rain fell.

"Long live the Aegim Empire!"

Rain fell.

'Ah.'

Swept away by the rainwater, I couldn’t tell when it had begun. Was it because time had slowed? Suddenly, I became the first droplet of the overflowing stream, running along.

A refugee from a small border kingdom swung a spear on my left. A farmer who had worked the fields of a now-destroyed Imperial village struck with a pickaxe on my right. When I looked back, a hunter dressed no differently from me raised a sword.

They kept saying something,

"----."

"------!"

But I couldn't understand.

Was it the sound of rain? The shouts of people? The screams of the monsters? Was it because time had slowed? Or was it because I had already become a mere droplet, swept away with them?

Or was it because I was swinging my sword?

"-----!"

Forward.

"------."

Even more.

Until the fire burns every field and the water floods every corner.

Just a bit more, a little further forward.

"Hey."

Tap.

Something touched me. It tapped my shoulder. Cutting through tens of thousands of voices and the sound of hundreds of millions of raindrops, it spoke to me. It was a one-eyed figure wearing an eyepatch.

"Well done. I should have arrived sooner. Tsk! I was delayed gathering not only my personal guard but our guild members as well. But don't worry. From here on, we'll show you exactly why we're called Chun-Moon..."

The figure paused abruptly.

"......"

Suddenly, it stopped talking and just stared at my face with its one eye.

"You're not listening. Are you immersed? You're quite something. I like it."

The figure chuckled softly.

"Hey, my name is Liǎofàn. You probably can't hear, but that's fine. You saved my life back in the audience hall. What good is being the Celestial Martial Clan Master if I let a debt go unpaid? Just focus ahead. I'll take care of the left side. Consider it a huge privilege."

The figure raised a sword.

"No one has ever died on my right side."

Rain fell.

"Go on, rising star."

I swung my sword.

"I'll protect you."

The current grew fiercer.

Flowing more violently.

"Sorry I'm late! I was busy looking for the Emperor of the Empire. Found them, but they had already taken poison and committed suicide. It seems difficult to gather forces using the Emperor's authority. My apologies."

"It's alright. No need to gather more forces here. Rather, Lady Paladin, join the fight."

"Of course. Hm? Why is Hunter Kim Gong-Ja...?"

"Don't bother him now."

Rain fell.

"That guy. He's savoring his golden time."

Rain fell.

"Pitiful beings."

"Given time, do you really believe it belongs to you?"

"The power of the goddess who cared for you is waning. Now, there is no god in the Empire. What will you rely on? Will you prove yourselves? Then so be it."

The mocking laughter flowed with the rain.

"Show me."

A red glow.

But there were things blocking my way.

A lot of them.

"Hey, Witch! Get the mirror up quick!"

"I know. I missed it once, but I won't give it a second chance."

"Old man! When the Witch scatters the beam, let's cut it together!"

"I alone am enough."

"It's coming, everyone!"

Rain fell.

"-Scatter."

Six beams of light flashed. The light of mirrors. The red beam hit the first mirror and slid off. Smash! The first, second, and third mirrors shattered. But the fourth one didn't break and completely deflected the red beam.

"Sword Saint! Viper!"

Someone shouted.

"Hup."

A breath was drawn.

"Yaaaaa!"

And exhaled.

The sky split.

In the moment between taking and releasing breath, the sky split open. Even the red beam was cleaved in half. It was like a vast sea parting on both sides.

The wide-open waterway.

Five voices chattered in their own way.

"Look! Look! I'm far from done!"

"Capering about without a shred of dignity."

"Now’s our chance!"

A voice whispered.

"I'll instantly teleport us right in front of the Demon King. Everyone, stick with me!"

"Hurry up! If the Demon King summons more monsters, it'll all be for naught!"

Five voices overlapped one after another.

Gathered in one place.

And then.

"Kim Gong-Ja!"

Someone reached out their hand.

Rain streamed down that person's face.

"Catch this!"

"......"

"We don't have time, hurry!"

Suddenly.

The moment that had seemed eternal came loose.

I could see the people around me.

I could hear the sounds nearby.

Not just that. Where I was, how I ended up here, everything came flooding back all at once.

I was in the middle of a battlefield.

The Empire's army and citizens were now clearly pushing the monsters back. An endless stream of hunters poured from the collapsed gate. The follow-up participants. Finally, hunters who realized the situation of the 12th floor stage had plunged into battle.

"Hunter Kim Gong-Ja!"

Leaving countless people behind us, we stood at the very front.

The direct path to the Demon King was empty, as the red strike of the Demon King had swept away even the monsters. Monsters would soon swarm, but not yet.

"Hurry!"

There, the hunters gathered in one place.

It looked somewhat comical.

The Heretic Inquisitor rode on Viper's back. Viper scowled fiercely and gripped the Sword Saint's forearm. Frowning even more deeply, the Sword Saint rested a hand on the Paladin's shoulder. The Paladin impassively held the Witch's left hand.

'...This would go viral if it were a photo on the internet.'

Such was the terrifyingly magnificent scene that I was lost in absurd fantasies when the Witch shouted.

"You! If you don't grab on now, I'll leave you here!"

The Witch extended her right hand towards me.

'Ah.'

And then I realized.

This scene was about to disappear.

The sharp exchange I had with the Sword Saint.

How the Sword Saint had finally withdrawn his sword after the Paladin persuaded him.

The apology the Sword Saint offered me.

The brutal murder of three hunters by the Heretic Inquisitor.

The fights we had.

The ceasefire.

Our united battle.

'All will vanish.'

Everything.

Like the rainwater that flows away to nowhere.

'They won't remember.'

But…

-What are you doing, partner?

That was enough.

-Now it's time to hunt the boss mob, kiddo.

Even if it's not remembered, it doesn't vanish.

I have my sword.

There is one human here who died on the 1st floor. There is one ghost who died on the 99th floor. No one knows of their deaths, yet we two have come this far.

"Understood."

When I return, nothing will have changed.

The Sword Saint will still doubt me, and when the time to select rewards comes again, the hunters will doubt or kill each other again.

"Let's go."

But I have grown stronger.

I won't let innocent people die anymore. I won't stand by while the Countess, the head of Sang-Ryun, is killed and contact between the outside world and the Tower is severed. I now had a fair idea who the traitor was. I was certain.

I will do better.

"Alright!"

The Witch firmly grabbed my hand.

"Transport!"

In the next moment, we leaped from the sky. Five of us landed simultaneously. In front of us stood the majestic Demon King, holding its sword.

-Interesting.

The Demon King was black, like a shadow that had taken human form.

-The heroes of the goddess, is it?

It had a face but no expression. Arms but no hands. Legs but no feet. It was as if the Demon King wasn't really standing on the ground but about to sink into it.

No. It was actually sinking. The Demon King's body continuously flowed downwards. Its skin was murky like dirty water, flowing and surging up anew.

The master of nightmares.

A moving shadow.

An endlessly flowing darkness.

-Heroes, do you know that there is a traitor among you? Surely you must. You know, yet you desperately patch up your trust, folding and pasting together the torn scraps. Do you think those rags will become a garment that can cover you?

Was there a need to listen further?

At least in my view, there wasn’t.

I, holding a sword, charged.

"Kim Gong-Ja!?"

The Paladin's alarmed voice came from behind.

"No! Wait! Don't attack alone! We need to cooperate and launch a joint attack-."

I'm sorry.

See you in the next life.

You won't remember today.

-Ho.

The Demon King chuckled as it watched me charge alone.

-Fool.

It was a strange laugh. The Demon King's face had no eyes or mouth, so the laughter seemed to flow from its skin. The shadowy, murky substance flowed and surged, bursting into laughter.

-Are you here to kill me, hero?

The Demon King swung its sword.

An attack I absolutely couldn't stop at that moment.

Just before the blade reached me to sever my neck.

"No."

I didn’t try to block with the holy sword.

It was unnecessary.

Instead, I just respectfully raised my middle finger.

"I came here to let you kill me, bastard."

Let's settle this in the next life.

I clearly saw the Demon King's laughter freeze for a moment.

"-----!"