Chapter 64 |
WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (64)
Gin groaned, unable to comprehend the chaos unfolding before him.
The barrier that had long protected the village was being dismantled.
Traps surrounding the village erupted all at once, demolishing not only the buildings painstakingly erected by the villagers but also flipping the ground itself.
The fog that had hidden the village was...
Disappearing.
"Why...?"
The howls of werewolves in the distance, a growing, ominous aura of killing intent, slowly engulfing the entire village.
Faced with such an unbelievable scene, Gin uttered those words in a daze when suddenly, a sharply gleaming axe blade hovered before him.
The person holding it was his mother.
"Take a weapon, Gin."
"Mom?"
He looked at his mother with trembling eyes as she offered him the handle of the axe.
"Mom?"
"I know how to use magic, you know. Even though I've turned into a werewolf, it's still useful..."
She softly smiled, igniting a darkly tinged flame at her fingertips, and somewhat forcibly placed the axe in Gin's hand.
"Your father is fighting alone. I need to go out there too."
"But, Mom, I..."
―Boom!
The sound of gunfire from outside made Gin flinch.
It was the sound of his father, who had taken all the guns and ammunition, firing the triple-barrel shotgun.
Due to loading buckshots instead of slugs for a wider spread, a single shot echoed like a bomb, followed by the agonized howls of werewolves.
A trusty weapon that had saved the family's lives several times.
But after two more shots, his father would be vulnerable while reloading.
―Boom!
Now, only one shot remained.
"Gin."
His mother, unable to hide her urgency, tried to smile as she whispered to him.
"Just hide a little longer. They will come to help us. So stay hidden until then, okay?"
"Mom...!"
"Go now."
She pushed her son into a pre-dug tunnel in the living room floor, biting her lip.
Regret for not hiding him better was now meaningless.
She should have realized sooner that there was a traitor.
She should have noticed why Quinodon had so quickly become aware of Gin's existence...
'Maybe I wanted to believe they were like family, and they were just being friendly because we were family...'
Recalling her conversation with Gin, she bit her lip hard, then shook off her thoughts and collapsed the tunnel entrance.
Activating a prepared magic circle, she magically erased any trace of her son, urging him with deep concern.
"Don't come out no matter what happens. Understood?"
"But Mom...!"
"No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, never! Promise me, you'll listen to Mom, okay?"
"Okay, I promise."
―Boom!
The third gunshot rang out.
She could no longer wait and dashed outside, hurling the dark flames she conjured in both hands.
Gin reached out towards his mother as the dirt at the entrance collapsed, darkening his view, but ultimately, he grasped nothing as his vision was blocked.
―Honey!
―Gin?
―I've hidden him. If we can just hold out until they arrive... Get lost!
His parents' desperate voices came from outside.
With his mother's help, his father successfully reloaded and fired the shotgun again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gin took those sounds as a sign that his parents were still alive.
As long as he could hear those sounds, his parents were holding on.
Please, let Jun and his party arrive before the gunfire stops...!
―Over here!
A familiar voice pierced through the gunfire at that moment.
It was the voice of the lady next door, who had always looked after Gin and worried about him as much as his mother did.
Could it be that she had brought Jun here?
Excited and happy, he almost emerged from the barrier when―― the distinctive rough breathing of a werewolf halted his movement.
―Dark Mage Yuri, Gunman Kei... Exactly. Where's their wolf cub?
―He must be inside the house; I didn't see him come out!
She was indeed the guide.
Not for Gin, but for the werewolves hunting him.
―Tolomea... It was you.
―Tolomea? Why.
A resigned voice from his mother Yuri, his father Kei genuinely puzzled.
Gin felt he shouldn't hear what came next.
A chill ran down his spine, and the cold wouldn't leave.
―Why? Because I want to get out of this godforsaken place. Quinodon promised me that.
―What... What do you mean?
―And honestly, I never liked him. He's Yuri's son, right? Ah, don't look at me like that, Kei. It would've been cleaner if I had died last time, but now it's come to this.
―Last time...?
He needed to cover his ears.
He had to cover his ears.
Pretend he heard nothing.
He had to stay hidden here.
―Yes, last time. But those damn outsiders got involved and messed everything up.
―Didn't you care about Gin?
―Of course, at first, I tried to tolerate him because he was your son, Kei. But Yuri's blood is in him after all. He's not my son.
―I still don't understand what you're saying, Tolomea...
―How long are you going to keep up this melodrama?
Cover your ears.
Just cover your ears.
Now!
―You might as well listen a little since you've already won.
―We need to find the wolf cub. That's the boss's order.
―Sigh, fine. Then kill that woman now. I'm sick of seeing her.
―You don't get to decide――!
―Kei, no. You were supposed to be spared. Just hold on a little longer, okay?
―I'm sorry, dear... Please, take care of Gin.
―Wait, Yuri... Yuri!
Cover your ears.
Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears. Cover your ears.
Cover your ears!
―Wait―― Why! We had a magical contract!
―Ah, I forgot to mention earlier. I'm no longer under the boss's command. Can't you see the Vrykolakas's mark has been removed? I'm free today and no longer have to obey him.
―My God―― Kei! Kei―― Cough!
―That's why I can kill you too.
―What about the contract, just...
―Do you think it's right to spare a traitor? And you dared to bind us with a contract. There's no way we could tolerate such insolence.
―You'll... pay for this...
Soon the voices faded away, and Gin no longer needed to cover his ears.
The lone werewolf, left behind, started wreaking havoc around, searching for Gin, when suddenly, something flew through the air.
―Kuk?!
―…I'm a bit late.
A young man's voice.
It was the voice of the man who had pointed an arrow at him when they first met.
Gin never imagined that he would come to rescue him.
Yet, hearing that voice, Gin strangely didn’t think 'I'm saved' or 'It's a relief.' He just felt empty and void.
All the relationships that had kept him human, the solid framework, had shattered.
As if they had never existed, they vanished.
―You...!
―So, it has come to this. How tiresome, history repeats itself.
―I'll kill you!
―Tch, so foolish.
A fierce battle ensued, filling the air with noise, but to Gin, it sounded faint, as if coming from a faraway place.
He was focusing inwardly.
Inside his empty heart, he felt an emotion surging that he had never experienced before in his life.
It swelled so immensely in an instant that it seemed about to engulf his entire mind.
It was too hot, and as he opened his mouth to let it out, a sudden burst of heat blacked out his vision.
"Aah."
He realized.
This was the instinct of a werewolf.
The instinct he had desperately suppressed since birth was now emerging.
Hatred, anger, the urge to destroy and kill.
These were new emotions to him, yet they felt eerily familiar.
If suppressing these emotions was what made one human, then he no longer―― wanted to be human.
Wouldn't it be more satisfying to become a wolf, forget everything, and tear apart all that he hated?
"Aah."
He gripped the silver axe in his hand tightly.
A weapon harmful to ordinary werewolves just by touch, given by his mother.
Only now he understood why his mother entrusted it to him.
His overcoming of silver wasn't about returning to being human.
'I am a beast. I can never be human.'
But if there was one difference from other beasts, it was that he loathed those disgusting kin―― and had sharp claws of silver.
Then, his path was clear.
If only he had realized a bit sooner.
If he hadn't run away like a coward, if he hadn't been foolishly mistaken.
Perhaps his parents wouldn't have died.
―Are you listening?
The man's voice reached him.
The sudden silence around him indicated the battle had ended.
―If you want to survive, it's better to keep hiding.
As if knowing Gin was hiding, he continued.
―But if you're prepared to die for revenge… I'll help you as a senior.
It could be a tease or a trap.
But the moment Gin heard those words, he impulsively broke the barrier and leaped out.
Yet, there was no one there anymore.
Except for a black book lying on the blood-soaked floor―― 'Shadow Stalker', a skill book.
"Why."
Even Gin knew this was an incredibly valuable item.
Though filled with questions, he wasn't in the state to ponder over them.
He acquired the skill book right away.
And soon started hunting his own kind.
―Awooooooooooo!
A chilling howl that seemed to freeze the soul halted everything on the battlefield.
KiJun instinctively looked up and saw the moon disappearing in the sky.
More accurately, it was being swallowed by a massive shadow.
The ruins darkened in an instant, and the werewolves around, deprived of the moon's grace, were severely weakened; some even reverted to their human forms.
"What is that...?"
―It's a Legendary grade enemy.
Lucy said calmly.
―But you know, Contractor. It seems less like a werewolf and more like just...
"Yeah, just a wolf―― a giant wolf."
Even the overflowing werewolves looked up, stunned.
That shadow was not the leader of the invading werewolves.
Nor was it the opposite―― Yes.
Now he understood.
"The werewolves just stumbled upon an existing ruin."
KiJun realized his ridiculous mistake.
Perhaps the werewolves he defeated earlier being treated as boss-level confused him further, but they were only bosses in name.
The thieves who had occupied the ruin could never become its true owners.
"This can't be happening."
A weak, transformed werewolf shivered, looking at the shadow landing on the hill where the village once stood.
"Was this village the seal of the ruin's owner―― Did the boss know this?"
"There's no way. If that thing appeared, we'd all be dead. The boss wouldn't have sent us to our deaths."
Panic spread rapidly.
KiJun also realized why the ruin's owner had appeared now.
Wasn't the village's location too perfect from the start?
Hidden in fog, surrounded by traps.
The perfect place to conceal and seal something――!
―The owner of the ruins, Hati, the Moon-Swallowing Wolf (Legendary) appears!
―You are facing a Darkness/Evil attribute boss monster. The title effect [The Last Hero (L)] activates, enhancing all abilities by 30%.
―You are facing an enemy of a higher grade. The title effect [Transcender of Limits (L)] activates, granting a dramatic positive adjustment.
―Contractor!
"Hurry, Ur――!"
―Kiit!
Thankfully, as soon as he laid eyes on the enemy, all title effects activated.
Unfortunately, even from this distance, the enemy's combat prowess was absurdly strong――!
―Awooooooooooo!
The giant wolf, Hati, howled and swung its front paw through the air.
A blue energy surged like a tidal wave, sweeping across the area and erasing hundreds of werewolves caught in its path.
An absurdly powerful destruction that only brought laughter.
If the thousands of werewolves were an army, then that wolf was a calamity that could crush an army with a single step.
"Strong enemy."
"Yes. I was prepared for a Legendary, but―― it's beyond imagination."
To add, his teammates were scattered, NPCs were involved, and Quinodon, a worrying factor, was still present.
But of course, KiJun didn't back down.
He still had things to protect there.
He couldn't possibly retreat.
"My first Legendary grade opponent since that demon, this will be a good fight."
"I’m counting on you this time too, Lucy. And Ur as well, of course."
―Kiit.
Ur, sensing KiJun's resolve, responded energetically and jumped off the ground.
Hati, along with everyone on the battlefield, noticed KiJun and Ur soaring high in the sky.
Not just Hati, but even the werewolves who had been cowering and his battling party members focused on him.
When receiving the attention of everyone, there was only one thing he had to do.
"Come at me――――!"
That was Blinding Taunt.
"Come on, you dumb mutts, bring it!"
Shining brightly all over his body.
KiJun shouted, echoing through the ruins.
―Awooooooooooo!
Of course, the ruin's owner gladly accepted the taunt.
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