WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 87: The Reader’s Heart (3)

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Light flowed from my sword, enveloping the black dragon.

[The Sword of Pity resists absorption!]

The force resisting me was formidable. Black poisonous energy overflowed like sewage during the summer monsoon. It was like a black panther startled awake after sleeping quietly until someone suddenly prodded it.

[The Sword of Pity is bewildered.]

[It rebukes its sister, asking whether she has betrayed Leafanta Aegim.]

[The Goddess of Protection soothes her sister.]

My holy sword's light and the dragon's shadow tumultuously intertwined.

[The Sword of Pity demands proof of the new master's worthiness.]

White and black.

Neither side seemed willing to back down easily.

[The power of a Constellation is immense. It must never be bestowed upon one who is unworthy. The Sword of Pity does not yet recognize you as its new master.]

"Fine."

I quietly observed the sword embedded in the black dragon's chest.

"There's logic in that. But how do you suggest I prove my worthiness?"

Corrupt energy leaked from the dragon's corpse. Dense venomous energy, more profound than ever before, took shape.

A dark angel.

An angel formed entirely of a murky substance from toe to head.

[It is a fragment formed when the Goddess's compassion broke away.]

[If you have proven to be someone's idol -]

[Now, you must prove your ability to feel compassion for others.]

The expressionless angel spread its wings.

Even the wings were tainted.

From the outstretched black wings, thick droplets of dark saliva fell.

[It requests to momentarily entrust your body and mind to it.]

"Why is that necessary?"

[To glimpse into your memories.]

The light emanating from my holy sword intensified.

[The Goddess of Protection disagrees. Traveling together will inevitably show whether you are a worthy master. There's no need to take unnecessary risks.]

"No, it's fine."

I sheathed my sword.

"I can't carry a sword that doesn't trust me, even if it's a world renowned blade. If it makes me uneasy, I can't bear it. Come! Come and steal whatever you like from my memories until you're satisfied."

At the moment I spread my arms wide,

[The Sword of Pity tests your compassion.]

The angel's wings enveloped my vision. Like a mother bird wrapping its wings around its chick, the massive black wings surrounded me.

Darkness encompassed me.

Then, dream-like visions flowed before my eyes.

「Kind sir.」

A garden engulfed in flames.

「Just bear with it a little longer....」

「Poor souls.」

Paradise shrouded in smoke.

「The world has become emptiness.」

A peony blooming red in a snowy field.

「My dear disciple.」

The garden, paradise, and snowy field rapidly passed by in succession.

Suddenly, the darkness brightened.

The angel's wings that had covered my vision disappeared.

[.......]

The black angel hastily retracted its wings and looked at me. Although still expressionless, its black eyes betrayed an undeniable sense of bewilderment.

[You are......]

"I am not perfect."

I spoke first.

"I'm weak to people's kindness. I desire their favor. I go out of my way for it. I love being praised and struggle to be seen as a 'good person' by others. That might be my weakness."

The fragment of the Constellation closed its lips.

"And your previous master was no different in being imperfect."

[.......]

"I don't yet know what grand purpose Leafanta Aegim has in killing Constellations. It might be a noble act. But, even so, I'll hold Leafanta Aegim accountable."

I drew my sword and pointed it at the black angel.

"If you think your previous master was perfect and made no mistakes, then don't follow me. I don't need such a sword."

The black angel slowly began to speak.

[Do you intend to kill Leafanta Aegim?]

"If he is someone who deserves to die."

[Can you promise that your judgment will not be influenced by personal emotions?]

"I don't know."

I spoke honestly.

"My master died. The martial realm crumbled. Too many people were hurt and died; I'm not sure. But I promise to do my best."

[.......]

"Then, if I seem to stray, do your best to correct me. I will do my best. You do your best. That's what it means to be together."

The black angel's wings crumbled.

[My power is pain.]

[Those cut by me will feel pain, but their bodies will never be wounded, nor will they die.]

[Pain without injury is my true ability.]

The angel's form collapsed.

It turned into black water.

[New master.]

[I swear to serve you to the best of my abilities.]

Whoosh!

The black saliva swirled and poured into my holy sword, like a fierce flood. The sword absorbed all the water like a parched desert fox.

[The existence of the Goddess of Protection becomes more defined.]

The transformation didn't stop there.

-Oh, oh......

The once Constellation of this martial realm, the divine beast.

Even the blade embedded in its chest flowed down and was absorbed by my sword, causing the black dragon to moan.

-Ohhh......

The black dragon had been slain long ago. It no longer had the will to express anything verbally. It just groaned, tired of life, like an exhausted old woman.

-Ohhh, oh......

Eventually, the dragon's corpse melted into essence.

Its horns crumbled like dry coal. Its scales melted like candle wax. A beast that once reigned as a myth in a world met its end.

And then winter crumbled.

The eternal snow of the mountains collapsed. It was an avalanche.

Standing at the summit, I could look down at the world as the snow crumbled beneath my feet.

"Winter is the season of death."

The Head Librarian looked at the earth beside me.

"You ended the lonely season by your own hands."

The white avalanche engulfed the white world. However, the land left behind after the avalanche was no longer white.

The brown color of the earth shone through.

The brown was the flesh of this world. Finally, after a long winter, the earth began to bare its skin.

"......"

Why does the spring breeze smell so different from the winter wind?

Did my master know where the scent of spring came from?

"...Head Librarian."

"Speak."

"My stage-clear reward lets me see people's characteristics. I can see which plots and characters they prefer."

"I am aware."

The Head Librarian exhaled.

"I oversee the 21st to 30th floors. The special reward you received was also prepared by me. Hmm. As it was a gift from me, of course, I would know."

"Your preferred character includes the Constellation Killer."

"Indeed."

"Why do you favor the Constellation Killer? Leafanta Aegim kills Constellations and wanders the world. He's more likely to be hated than liked. I don't understand why you would favor him."

“Hmm.”

The Head Librarian closed their right eye.

"Since you've asked, I'll tell you. I have a long-held dream."

"A dream?"

"Yes. To appear directly in the novels I love!"

The Constellation's eyes shone with innocence.

I was perplexed.

“Appear directly... Is that not something you could do right now? You can travel freely through the Apocalypses.”

"Haha. You don’t understand a reader's heart. There's a difference between 'intervening' in a novel and 'appearing' in it. No, it's truly different."

The Head Librarian covered their mouth with their sleeves and chuckled.

"From the perspective of an Apocalypse, I am nothing but a foreign body. A foreign substance, an invasive species... a being that should never have existed in that world. The Constellation Killer who slew the dragon of the martial world and I are alike in that respect."

"......"

"I don't want to intervene in novels as such a foreign body! No, that wouldn't be right. Like a character who has always been part of that world, as an equal among other characters, I want to appear as a legitimate character! That is the dream of me, a reader of all thoughts."

I still didn't quite understand.

Noticing my expression, the Head Librarian smiled gently.

"Then, let me ask you. Why didn't you kill the Heavenly Demon?"

"......"

“The Heavenly Demon attained the realm of Killing Heart at the final moment. Though unable to retain the power held in life, if you had taken the Heavenly Demon among your Ghouls, the memories retained would surely have made the Heavenly Demon an army unto herself. Your master held such deep affection for you that she would have remained a stalwart ally and an excellent teacher. Why did you not kill the Heavenly Demon?”

"…That's because."

"Shh."

The Head Librarian placed a finger on my lips.

"It's okay. You don't have to say it. I already understand."

Gently.

The fingertip pressed against my lips.

"You didn't want to interfere with your master's final moment. It's the same for me. I don't want to directly intervene in the endings that these worlds have reached. Your heart and mine are not different…"

Gradually, the landscape melted to the horizon.

The ice on the lake thawed, and the sun shone over the water's surface.

"I refuse to intervene. Then, there is only one way for me to become a character in a story."

"What is it?"

"It's simple if you think in reverse. Instead of me going to the characters of the novels, the characters of the novels come to me."

The Head Librarian whispered.

"Leafanta Aegim, the Constellation Killer, constantly travels between worlds, killing Constellations. Someday, he will visit my world, the Great Library of Myriad Thoughts."

The Head Librarian smiled.

"To kill me."

The Constellation took something from within the robe. A book. It looked different from the other Apocalypses. Above all, it was worn. Perhaps it had been taken out and read dozens or hundreds of times. Like an old author's notebook, the leather of its cover was rubbed thin and frayed.

[Leafanta Aegim’s Epic]

Such was the title embroidered in gold thread.

"......"

"I am waiting. For the day when the Constellation Killer visits the library. When he comes of his own accord, following the narrative of his story, standing before me. On that day, I will finally become a character in Leafanta Aegim's story."

"Even if that story's end is your death?"

"Of course."

The Head Librarian smiled brightly.

The Constellation gazed down at the thawed land.

The Head Librarian's sleeves fluttered like a dancing crane.

"To die at the hands of the protagonist, what a grand epilogue, no?"

4.

There is something further to tell as an afterword.

"Ah, Vice-Lord."

Before returning to the library, I stopped by the cult members. I wanted to make certain that preparations for my master's funeral were proceeding properly.

"Welcome!"

"Please, come in, Vice-Lord."

The cult members gave fist-and-palm salutes as soon as they saw me. For some reason, however, they looked panicked. It was not merely one or two of them; every cult member was in a fluster.

I tilted my head in confusion.

"Has the funeral already finished?"

"No, Vice-Lord. The funeral is yet to take place, but..."

"What happened?"

The cult members watched one another uneasily.

"Well..."

"The Heavenly Demon's body disappeared."

One of the Four Demon Lords, the Blood Demon, spoke. They were a member often referred to as the Blood Ghost Troop Captain by my master.

"What?"

"It's best if you see for yourself, Vice-Lord."

I hurriedly followed the Blood Demon.

Shortly, we arrived at the spot where I had laid my master's body.

And there, I was at a loss for words.

"Suddenly, all the snow in the world began to melt. The Heavenly Demon's body also vanished... We are sorry. It happened so quickly that we had no time to respond."

Where the snow had melted.

My master's body was nowhere to be seen.

No matter where I looked, it was gone.

"Our guess is that the Heavenly Demon's internal energy was so pure that, over time, the body naturally melted into Ki and disappeared..."

Only red flowers were blooming.

In the spot where my master's body last lay. Where her arms reached, her feet touched, her hair fell. There, crimson peonies bloomed extravagantly.

-Remarkable.

The Guardian Spirit, silent until then, murmured.

-This world's Constellation left only a curse upon death, but your master left flowers. Better than that clueless Constellation.

I approached the flower garden and bent down. I stroked a peony petal with my fingertips. The petal trembled faintly and rubbed its red cheek against my index finger.

It was the first spring to bloom in this world.

"Of course, we are still preparing for the funeral."

The Blood Demon spoke from behind me.

"Please, Vice-Lord, attend as well..."

"No."

I shook my head.

"It's enough. Don't hold the funeral."

"No?"

"This is sufficient."

I stood up.

I turned and looked over the cult members.

"Although I inherited the legitimate lineage and became Vice-Lord, some of you may still be unable to accept me in your hearts. The strong are supreme. In our cult, it is customary for the strongest martial artist to hold the highest position."

"Let us replace a fussy funeral with martial duels. Funeral custom calls for offering what one treasures most. And what do we treasure more than our swords? Let us offer our swords to my master."

I smiled.

"Come at me."

Spring is coming.

As with all who live.

My next story will begin on a higher stage than ever before.

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