WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 80: The Scent of Snow (3)
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5.
Master could not undergo surgery right away.
“I’m sorry. I need to rest for a bit...”
The Head of the Martial Alliance’s procedure had just finished. Both the Apothecary and Medicine King were exhausted from performing the surgery. The Apothecary collapsed from fatigue, and Medicine King silently slipped into a hot spring with his mouth agape.
"......"
Master frowned and looked down at the Head of the Martial Alliance.
“Old man. I came to see you because you lost your Dantian.”
“What a remarkable first visitor to my sickbed. Sure, enjoy yourself with those eyes.”
“How do you feel?”
The Head of the Martial Alliance, lying on a straw mat, chuckled.
“I feel light. Like I could ascend to immortality.”
“You're delusional. How can someone who hasn’t even undergone a complete transformation think about ascending…”
The Head of the Martial Alliance smirked.
“Your face looks lighter too. Demon, have you decided to undergo the procedure?”
“...Yes.”
Master sighed.
“I just poured out a year's worth of cultivation and swung my sword to my heart's content. It was the last time in my life that I communed with my inner power.”
“Ho!”
The Head of the Martial Alliance’s eyes sparkled.
“That must have been a magnificent sight. It is a bitter shame I could not watch from this sickbed. So, what did you cut down?”
“I tried to cut down winter but failed. The realm of life and death was far beyond reach.”
“Oh, what a shame. But cheer up. It’s a realm unexplored in history, right? If it were easy, the history of the martial realm would have been overturned six times by now.”
The Head of the Martial Alliance laughed heartily.
Master looked down at the old man’s laughter and spoke.
“Namgung Woon. You…”
“I don’t regret a thing.”
The Head of the Martial Alliance cut her off.
“With the world ruined like this, surviving three years was a fortuitous blessing. Being treated by physicians from the outer lands was another. Taking a disciple in my old age and preserving the lineage of the orthodox martial world when I was certain it would end was another blessing! And when such blessings overlap, does that not become a miracle? I am simply grateful for the miracle.”
"......"
“Hmm. The only regret is that I couldn’t conclude the Great Orthodox-Demonic War with you, Demon. Well, a perfect life doesn’t exist. Our disciples will handle the rest.”
“Yes. They will.”
Master smiled faintly, a wistful smile. However, when she turned to look at me, her eyes held a firm belief.
“If this is where my life has led, I will accept it.”
It was not the face of someone happy to accept it, only of someone willing to do so.
Even the sweetest candy must be melted and swallowed several times.
Was Master savoring the end of her life, breaking it into smaller pieces?
"Hmm."
I nodded.
“Master, I need to step out for a moment.”
“Huh? Where is there to go in this world now?”
“Think of your disciple catching some fresh air. Don’t worry.”
“...Telling me not to worry only makes me more concerned.”
Master quietly furrowed her brows.
“Are you getting yourself involved in something dangerous?”
“I will return by the time your procedure is completed.”
I performed a formal bow.
My movements might still be awkward, but my heart was fully in it.
“Please take care during your procedure, Master. When you wake up, your unworthy disciple will be waiting for you."
Master had accepted her end.
Now it was my turn to give back her life.
6.
I left the cave and crossed the snowfield.
Crossing the snow, I recalled what this world looked like before its destruction. The Martial Realm. Were there thickets there? The Rivers and Lakes. Did water flow there?
“My Lord.”
Across the snowfield.
“I have carried out your command.”
Where once thickets may have grown and rivers flowed, in the middle of the snowfield, Preta was kneeling on one knee.
“Did you find them all?”
“Yes."
Preta answered, her head bowed. Snowflakes clung to her hair, showing how long she had been waiting there.
“As you commanded, my Lord.”
I had given Preta a task previously.
“There should be martial arts-using zombies scattered around without direction.”
“Find them.”
“Find those in black martial robes and those in white swordsman robes.”
During the past three years of the ongoing Great Orthodox-Demonic War.
Many zombies had 'disappeared.'
The bodies of the Martial Realm were blown by the snowstorms and swept away in blizzards.
“439 zombies of the Demonic Cult. 478 of the Orthodox Faction. A total of 917 missing corpses.”
But that wasn’t all.
“560 zombies of the Demonic Cult and 521 of the Orthodox Faction, not missing but gathered nearby, adding up to 1998 in total. All present.”
Preta bowed her head a bit more.
Beyond her slender shoulders.
“They have been brought here.”
The zombies were lined up on the snowfield.
My skeleton legion held the zombies on both sides. It was morning. The zombies, weak to sunlight, wouldn't move, but even if the sun was obscured by clouds, the formation wouldn't collapse immediately.
“Good. Well done.”
I nodded.
“Now, bring the zombies to me one by one.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Skeletons dragged a corpse over. When it reached me, I had already drawn my holy sword. The winter was cold. However, the blade, sliding through the winter air, would be colder still.
······Baraya······
Somewhere, the wind blew. Like rain gathering in a lake, the wind gushed into the valley. In the valley, the wind of the world seemed to mimic a human voice.
······Baraya······
Far away. The wind chanted a scripture.
When falling, all sounds resemble human voices.
I overheard the sound tumbling in the wind and swung my sword.
······Agabaraya······
A clean cut.
The zombie’s head split apart.
“Phew,”
I kept cutting through the corpses.
Relentlessly.
As the zombie's head burst, fragments flew.
“Next!”
“Yes!"
The skeletons quickly brought the next corpse. Preta coordinated the skeleton legion. As I found my rhythm, Preta quickly brought the corpses, and if I seemed tired, she slowed down the pace.
“Faster! We’ll finish all of them before dusk today!”
“Yes, my Lord!”
Our execution ritual flowed like the wind.
A total of 1998 corpses.
No matter how still and unresisting they were, slicing them with a single sword wasn’t easy.
“Huh, hoo... hoo…”
I had been pondering all along.
‘How can I achieve a perfect ending?’
What kind of ending would completely satisfy the Master?
‘How should a person's life turn out to be complete?’
I wanted it sincerely, without a hint of falsehood.
That’s why I could come to a conclusion.
‘Just becoming a disciple isn’t enough.’
Master going mad and rampaging would be a bad ending. A definite bad ending. But is my [Discipleship] truly a happy ending?
Literally, would the Master be happy and satisfied with this ending?
‘No.’
A Normal Ending.
[Discipleship] is not a complete ending. It barely satisfies the criteria for an ending.
Even if I declared it over now, the Constellation Librarian would probably accept it, and the 22nd floor would be cleared, but...
“Huk! Huk…”
I couldn’t be satisfied.
“My Lord, just a little more strength! We have only half left!”
[Shiny is cheering for the Hero with all her might!]
Eventually, dusk fell.
The sky turned red, and the snowfield purple.
“Hoo, hoo…”
I didn’t know how much time had passed. Seven hours? Eight? Something like that. Anyway, I kept swinging my sword without rest. My clothes were drenched in sweat and gore.
“Last ten, my Lord!”
10 left.
I looked ahead. Indeed, only 5 from the Demonic Cult and 5 from the Orthodox Faction remained. I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly, gasping for breath.
Just a little more.
“Five left!”
Just a bit more.
“The last one! Really the last one!”
I crushed the head of a Demonic Cult member in a black robe. The frozen brain of the zombie shattered like ice. Right after cutting down the 1998th zombie, my knees gave out, and I collapsed into the snow.
“Haah, ha… Huh…”
“Your hard work is appreciated, my Lord! You have truly endured much!”
Preta was so delighted she looked ready to skip around. She had worked just as hard for more than half a day.
Preta, always stoic since joining my shadow, seemed genuinely happy for the first time.
“Why? What’s so fun?”
I caught my breath and asked. Preta realized her expression had softened for a moment and quickly returned to her usual stoic face.
“...Merely imagining the sight you will reveal fills my heart. I have not met your master in person, but I am certain she will be pleased. Not simply pleased... truly, deeply so.”
“Right.”
I lay in the snow, smiling.
“I hope she is very happy.”
The cure was developed.
I was acknowledged as Master’s disciple.
Finally, I had also obtained my Guardian Spirit's permission.
The journey here wasn't easy.
But finally--- I’m ready to witness the ending of this world.
7.
A week passed.
“Hmm. Being without a Dantian feels quite empty.”
Master and the Head of the Martial Alliance recuperated together for a week. Fortunately, there was no need for a separate sanatorium. This cave, with its open-air bath, was the best place to relax.
“Even when I try to circulate my energy in meditation, not even a bit of Ki accumulates. Without Ki, I feel unnecessarily anxious. Ah, this must be how people who cannot use martial arts feel…”
“I rather feel more at ease now. Frankly, I haven't felt like I was really alive lately! All day, I had to block my cervical Ki points, keep my heart moving. Oh, my, oh my.”
The Head of the Martial Alliance sighed, soaking in the hot spring.
“Now that I can breathe without any thoughts, it feels like I’m truly living! All thanks to the children from the outside world.”
“Y-you have been through a lot...”
The Apothecary stuttered as she finished examining Master.
“That's it for today's check-up. Both of you show no abnormalities. At this point, you can be considered fully recovered. If... if you get bitten by zombies again, you won't get infected…”
“Thank you.”
Master raised her hand and patted the Apothecary's head. The Apothecary flinched and briefly drew in her shoulders.
“This old man and I owe you our lives. It cannot have been easy to help complete strangers.”
“O-oh, no... I only did what anyone ought to do...”
“To regard the right thing as only natural is remarkable. To act on what you regard as natural is more remarkable still. Child, you are extraordinary for your young age.”
“Eek. But, no, that’s not…”
The Apothecary was rendered immobile under Master’s patting. She was quite shy but didn't seem to dislike it. Watching them felt heartwarming, like observing affectionate sisters.
"Hmm."
But I couldn’t just keep feeling heartwarming.
“Boss. Then are both of them free to move around now?”
“Yes, yes! I set a longer recuperation period just to be safe. They can move and exercise without any problems.”
Okay.
“Master. Head of the Martial Alliance. Let’s go for a walk with me.”
“A walk?”
Master tilted her head in confusion.
“I’m delighted to go for a walk with my disciple... but why with that old geezer? If I go with that old thing, even a pleasant walk will turn into a muck walk.”
“Listen to that. I am the one who should refuse a stroll with an old demonic fiend and a young demonic fiend. You dim-witted master and disciple can go by yourselves.”
Their reactions were as expected.
“No.”
I shook my head calmly.
“You both must come.”
“Hmm...?”
Master and the Head of the Martial Alliance exchanged glances. They seemed to realize that this wasn’t just a casual walk I was proposing. Both wore expressions as if expecting something interesting.
“Alright. My disciple must have some scheme. I don’t intend to stroll with that old thing, but I’ll willingly play along with my foolish disciple.”
“Bah. Whatever young Demon has planned, it'll be trivial. I have no expectations.”
We left the cave.
It was cold. Like the first day I descended into [The Veritable Records of the Heavenly Demon], today was also winter.
The difference from that day was that both Master and the Head of the Martial Alliance could no longer use their Ki. Never again.
I held Master’s hand with my right and the Head of the Martial Alliance’s with my left. That way, I could use my Aura to transfer warmth to them.
“Master.”
“Yes.”
“Head of the Martial Alliance.”
“Yeah.”
“You both said that your only regret was not concluding the Great Orthodox-Demonic War. It’s regrettable, but that’s a problem we, as your disciples, have to solve from now on...”
The two leaned on my warmth as we crossed the cold winter path.
“But I think differently.”
Was it unfamiliar because it was their first time out in a week? Or was it their bodies, now unused to walking without Ki? Both Master and the Head of the Martial Alliance walked a bit clumsily.
“The Great Orthodox-Demonic War is your rite. Even if the Celestial Martial Clan Master and I fight, it would be only an ordinary duel, never the Great War. Only a contest between the two of you can be the Great Orthodox-Demonic War. You are the ones who have preserved the Demonic Cult and the orthodox faction until now.”
“Disciple...?”
“Thank you.”
We reached the snowfield.
“Thank you for not giving up for the past three years.”
The place where corpses had once spread like a forest. A forest of human figures. Now, this place was just a clean snowfield, devoid of any bodies.
“Thank you for coming here every morning to gather the zombies again. If you both had given up and left the zombies as mere corpses to be lost, we would never have been able to recover them.”
The life you lost.
The scenery you should have enjoyed.
To return that to you, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Ghoul Reincarnation.”
My shadow spread across the snowfield.
[Activating skill.]
Shapes like snowmen rose from the shadows, one after another. Some shadows wore black robes. Some fluttered white sleeves. They gradually took on human forms, marveling as they looked down at their hands.
“Disciple, what is this...”
But none were as astonished as Master and the Head of the Martial Alliance.
“Think of it as a dream. It’s okay to dismiss it as an aftereffect of losing your Dantian. If you believe I have learned a strange magic that can temporarily bring back the memories and bodies of the dead, that’s fine too.”
“Master. Head of the Martial Alliance.”
Ghoul Reincarnation was complete.
“The world of the demonic path has not ended yet.”
The Demonic Cult's elite followers. One thousand.
“Martial Arts hasn’t forgotten Chivalry, and Chivalry hasn’t lost Martial Arts.”
The Orthodox Faction’s elite warriors. One thousand.
“The fate of the Demonic Cult doesn’t end with mere zombies, and the orthodox martial realm isn’t devoured by corpses.”
The true Great Orthodox-Demonic War.
That was their wish.
“If the Demonic Cult is to vanish from this world, it should be solely by the sword of the Orthodox. And if the Orthodox Faction truly must perish, it should only be at the hands of the Demonic Cult.”
"......"
“I report to the leader of the Demonic Cult and beseech the Head of the Martial Alliance.”
I smiled.
And performed a formal bow.
“Decide who the final master of the martial realm will be!”
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