‘It’s no fun when no one is fighting back.’
没有人反击的时候就没有乐趣了
Michael stared at the corpses strewn about the field while smoking a rolled tobacco. Ash-grey smoke mushroomed up in the air. This cigarette was manufactured by the second generation of craftsmen. The reason why Michael enjoyed hunting demons or going on a ‘business’ trip was because he got to smoke the cigarettes he liked so much, to his heart’s content.
迈克尔一边抽着卷烟，一边盯着散落在地上的尸体。灰白色的烟雾在空中如蘑菇般冒出来。这种香烟是由第二代工匠制造的。迈克尔之所以喜欢猎杀恶魔或者出差，是因为他可以尽情地抽他喜欢的香烟。
In <Eden>, smoking was an ‘evil’, a sin.
在伊甸园，吸烟是一种罪恶。
Michael smoked through several cigarettes in a row and as he fell into a chain of thought, stubbed it out by rubbing it against the exposed flesh of a dead corpse.
迈克尔连续抽了好几支烟，当他陷入一连串的思考时，他把烟头擦在暴露在外的尸体上，把烟头熄灭了。
‘Have I taken too long?’
“我是不是花了太长时间?”
「What do you mean, too long? It’s only just begun.」
“太久”是什么意思?这才刚刚开始
Michael heard the voice reverberating within his head and frowned deeply.
迈克尔听到那个声音在他脑海里回荡，皱起了深深的眉头。
‘Shut up.’
“闭嘴。”
「Hurry, wake me up. Unshackle me already.」
“快点，叫醒我，快给我解开镣铐”
Michael pulled out a new cigarette.
迈克尔抽出一支新香烟。
He had been hearing this particular Fable’s voice for a long time. And whenever he did, Michael simply had to burn through more cigarettes, one after the other.
他听到这个特别的寓言的声音已经很长时间了。每当他抽烟的时候，迈克尔就不得不一根接一根地抽完更多的烟。
‘Now isn’t the time.’
现在不是时候
Michael took another long drag of the rising smoke.
迈克尔又吸了一大口上升的烟。
[Nebula <Eden> has issued a new revelation.]
[星云伊甸园发布了新的启示]
*
[Archangel hunting, is it? It does sound rather interesting.]
[猎杀大天使，是吗?听起来确实很有趣。]
Asmodeus grinned brightly to reveal two rows of pearly-white teeth after hearing my offer.
阿斯莫德斯听了我的提议，高兴地笑着露出两排珍珠般洁白的牙齿。
[It’s not just any other Archangel, but the ‘Saviour of the Corrupted’, too…. Are you being serious about this?]
[这不是普通的大天使，而是‘堕落的救世主’......你是认真的吗?]
“Of course.”
“当然。”
[However, aren’t you in a friendly relationship with <Eden>? If you do something like this, won’t you end up as their enemy?] “Doesn’t matter. I’m a Demon King, after all.”
然而，你和eden的关系不是很友好吗？如果你做了这样的事，难道你不会成为他们的敌人吗“没关系。毕竟我是恶魔之王。”
Even if I didn’t mean it, I still had to say it out loud. Because… I’m trying to convince none other than Asmodeus here. And the Demon King itself seemed to be seriously agonising over my suggestion at the moment.
即使我不是那个意思，我还是得大声说出来。因为...我正在试图说服这里的阿斯莫德斯。此时此刻，恶魔王自己似乎也在为我的建议而苦恼。
“Do give it careful consideration. You need the syllable [Gru], right? On top of that, you’ll be able to earn a Fable concerning an Archangel, too. 「The One who Hunted Down a Great Archangel」…. Doesn’t the thought alone excite you?”
“一定要仔细考虑一下。你需要音节[格鲁]，对吗？除此之外，你还可以获得一个关于大天使的寓言。“追捕大天使的人”。这种想法难道不会让你兴奋吗?”
Unfortunately, Asmodeus wasn’t to be swayed that easily. No, rather than that, it was shooting me a proving gaze as if to ascertain what my true intentions were.
不幸的是，Asmodeus没有那么容易动摇。不，与其说是这样，倒不如说是向我投来一个证明性的目光，好像要弄清楚我的真正意图是什么。
I decided to throw an even bigger bait at this juncture. “Well, that’s disappointing. As a member of the ‘Gourmet Association’, I figured that you’d be different from other Constellations.”
我决定在这个关键时刻抛出一个更大的诱饵。“哦，那真令人失望。作为‘美食家协会’的成员，我认为你会与其他星座不同。”
Asmodeus’s long, slender brows quivered noticeably after hearing my words.
阿斯莫德斯听了我的话，细长的眉毛明显地颤动起来。
[Your understanding of the Demon King, ‘Asmodeus’, has increased by a great deal.] [Your understanding of the applicable individual is quite high.] [2nd Stage of ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ has activated!]
[你对恶魔王‘阿斯莫德斯’的理解增加了很多][你对适用个人的理解是相当高的。]“全知读者视角”第二阶段已经启动
Now that’s the first time I heard such a message.
这是我第一次听到这样的消息。
Finally, the skill level of the [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] had risen up high enough to let me take a peek at the inside of selected Constellations. And right afterwards, I could hear Asmodeus’s inner thoughts.
最后，无所不知的读者视角的技能水平已经提高到足以让我窥视选定星座的内部。就在那之后，我能听到阿斯莫德斯内心的想法。
「He’s utterly, hatefully arrogant, this ‘Demon King of Salvation’.」
“他极其愤恨地傲慢，这个‘救世魔王’”
Its inside was like a thick, sticky swamp. Listening to the private thoughts of a being looking back at me with a pair of quietly withdrawn eyes was making me feel rather uncomfortable.
它的内部就像一片粘稠的沼泽。听着一个人用一双静静地收回的眼睛回望着我的私人想法，让我感到相当不舒服。
Its thoughts continued on.
它的思绪还在继续。
「A trap that I want to fall into this badly, is it….」
“我非常想落入这样一个陷阱，是不是...”
As expected, it wasn’t for nothing that Asmodeus had climbed up to the position of the ‘Candidate for the future Great Demon King’. It had already figured out that my offer was a trap.
不出所料，阿斯莫德斯爬上了未来伟大恶魔之王候选人的位置，这并非毫无意义。它已经发现我的提议是一个陷阱。
「It’s likely that the target of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is the ‘Saviour of the Corrupted’.」 「And he wants to use me and other Constellations to hunt down Michael and steal the ‘Modifier Necklace’ afterwards.」 「It’s commendable that he’s using his brain so much, but well, it’s a bit irritating to pretend that I fell for his schemes, isn’t it.」
「很可能「救世魔王」的目标是「堕落的救世主」“他想利用我和其他星座追捕迈克尔，然后偷走修改者项链”“值得称赞的是，他如此频繁地使用自己的大脑，但假装自己相信了他的计划，有点令人恼火，不是吗?”
Asmodeus’s expression gradually changed into an icy one. Unsurprisingly, it seemed that this much convincing wasn’t going to be enough.
阿斯莫德斯的表情逐渐变成了冰冷，不出所料，这么多的说服力似乎还不够。
「Michael is a difficult angel to fight against, even when he’s being restrained by the Probability of the 2nd generation….」
“迈克尔是一个难以对抗的天使，即使他被第二代的可能性所限制...”
Asmodeus’s conflicting thoughts were gradually finding their heading now. A faint killing intent seemed to ooze out from its long nails.
阿斯莫德斯的矛盾思想正在逐渐找到它们的方向。一丝杀戮的意图似乎从它的长指甲里渗出来。
I could sense Anna Croft next to me tense up and get into her battle mode. Maybe, she used the [Precognition] and saw something that was about to happen.
我能感觉到旁边的安娜·克罗夫特紧张起来，进入战斗状态。也许，她利用了预知能力，看到了即将发生的事情。
However, I wasn’t worried in the slightest. Because, it was about time that a situation even her [Precognition] couldn’t have predicted began, that was why.
然而，我一点也不担心。因为，是时候开始一种情况了，即使是她的[预知]也无法预测，这就是为什么。
Like clockwork, Asmodeus’s expression became rather weird.
阿斯莫德斯的表情就像钟表一样，变得相当奇怪。
「….Mm?」
“...嗯?”
The demon’s briefly-hardened expression shifted into one filled with complicated emotions. Its eyes danced around as if it was reading something in the empty air.
这个恶魔短暂的硬化表情变成了一种充满复杂情感的表情。它的眼睛跳来跳去，好像在空中读什么东西似的。
And so, how much time passed by like this? Countless emotions flitted in and out of Asmodeus’s eyes before they finally landed back on me.
那么，这样过了多少时间呢？数不清的情感在阿斯莫德斯的眼睛里掠过又掠过，最后又回到了我身上。
[Fufufu. Well, this is…. It’s so hard to figure out the will of the <Star Stream> sometimes, you know.] “….What do you mean by that?”
福福。这是..。你知道，有时候很难弄清楚星流的意愿“......你这是什么意思?”
[I was just talking to myself. Very well. I accept your offer. Let’s try out this Archangel hunting thing, then.]
[我只是在自言自语。很好。我接受你的提议。那么，让我们试试这个猎杀大天使的事情。]
Asmodeus’s announcement caused Anna Croft’s eyes to go completely round in shock. She then formed a puzzled expression next.
阿斯莫德斯的声明使安娜·克罗夫特惊呆了，接着又露出困惑的表情。
Completely disregarding her, the Demon King smacked its lips and concentrated on sending a message to someone somewhere. It was probably busy communicating with other ‘Seekers of the End’ right about now. And at the same time, a message from a certain someone entered my head.
魔王完全无视她的存在，抿着嘴唇，全神贯注地向某个地方的某个人发送信息。此时此刻，它可能正忙于与其他“末日探索者”进行交流。与此同时，一个来自某人的信息进入了我的脑海。
「(Did I do well?)」
“(我做得好吗?)”
‘You did. Thank you, Sang-Ah-ssi.’
你做到了，谢谢你，桑-阿-西
The reason why Asmodeus changed its mind? It probably read a certain ‘revelation’ just now. More specifically, the fake ‘revelation’ Yu Sang-Ah and I had cooked up and spread around, that was.
阿斯莫德斯改变主意的原因？它可能刚才读到了某种启示。更确切地说，是我和余桑雅伪造的“启示录”四处散播，就是这样。
It said, 「The corrupted Archangel will die by the sword of a ‘Swordmaster’ on the island of the aged Forgotten People.」
上面写着:“被腐败的大天使将在被遗忘的老人之岛上死于剑师之剑”
*
“….Another revelation was made ”
“......又有新发现了 ”
The Bureau was also turned upside down by the news of a new revelation. The first place to be affected by this was the sales department.
新发现的消息也把调查局搞得天翻地覆。第一个受到影响的部门是销售部门。
“Sir, we have a sudden spike in the sale of the Swordmaster-related skills!”
“先生，我们的剑士技能销售突然出现了一个峰值!”
“Replenish their stock immediately! Call the related subcontractors and tell them to speed up the output of the mass production-type Stigma!”
“马上补充他们的库存！打电话给相关的分包商，告诉他们加快大规模生产型污名的产量!”
“B-but, even then, our stock is running low, sir!!”
“但即便如此，我们的存货也快用完了，先生!”
“D*mn it…. Where did all the Fable manufacturers disappear to?! Ah Who was it again? Right, if we request the ‘Mass Production-type Maker’, then….”
“该死.....。寓言的所有制造商消失到哪里去了?！啊？是谁来着？对，如果我们要求‘大规模生产型制造商’，那么......”
In the meantime, Bihyung was quietly observing the developing situation from within this crucible of confusion and chaos. The Great Dokkaebi ‘Baram’ addressed him from the side.
与此同时，比亨正在这个混乱的熔炉里静静地观察着事态的发展。伟大的多卡比·巴拉姆从侧面称呼他。
[Bihyung, you should start a new scenario.]
[Bihyung，你应该开始一个新的方案。]
“….I’ve already done so, sir.”
“我已经这样做了，先生。”
A new message was floating up on the scenario observation screen that flickered into life just then.
就在这时，一个新的信息浮现在情景观察屏幕上，闪烁着进入生活。
[Sub-scenario, ‘Archangel hunting’, has commenced!]
[子场景，‘大天使猎杀’已经开始!]
Soon, the sight of the Constellations hiding within the forest and the plains rushing somewhere en masse showed up on screen. They had all purchased Swordmaster-related Fables from the [Dokkaebi Bag] just now.
很快，屏幕上就出现了隐藏在森林中的星座和奔腾向某个地方的平原。刚才他们都从[多卡比包]那里购买了剑师相关寓言。
“Will it be fine to open a scenario like this one, sir? Surely, <Eden> would strongly oppose this.”
“开启这样一个局面可以吗，先生?艾登肯定会强烈反对的。”
[We have already obtained the Scribe’s consent. He said that it doesn’t really matter. We’ve already compensated them, so there’s no need to hold back.] “To think, he’d allow one of his angels to be used as the subject of a scenario…. That doesn’t sound like what the leader of the Absolute Good would do.”
我们已经得到了抄写员的同意。他说这不重要。我们已经补偿了他们，所以没有必要退缩。]“想想看，他会让他的一个天使成为一个场景的主角.....。这听起来不像是绝对善良的领袖会做的事情。”
[That’s how the ‘Absolute Good’ operates. For the sake of the Greater Good, they would trample on smaller Good every now and then.] “I’m aware of that, sir. But lately, it’s becoming harder for me to understand them.”
这就是“绝对善良”的运作方式。为了大善，他们时不时地践踏小善。]”“我知道，先生。但最近，我越来越难以理解它们。”
[Regarding?]
[关于?]
“Just what are <Eden> and the Demon World thinking? Them agreeing to go ahead with the ‘Great War of Saints and Demons’ scenario, and…. Wouldn’t they all perish together if they do this?”
“伊甸园和恶魔世界到底在想什么？他们同意继续进行“圣魔大战”的情节，和..。如果他们这样做，难道他们不会同归于尽吗?”
Baram stared at Bihyung with unreadable eyes before forming a smirk.
巴拉姆用读不懂的眼睛盯着Bihyung，然后露出一丝得意的笑容。
[There is a saying about how short life is, but ‘art’ would go on forever.] “That’s a saying from Earth, isn’t it, sir?”
[有一句谚语说人生苦短，但是‘艺术’永远延续下去。]“这是地球上的谚语，不是吗，先生?”
[Correct. Those are words that exalt the story’s eternal nature. But, you should be aware of this - such a notion is false. Even the greatest Fable will die sooner or later. It’s just that, compared to the length of a Fable’s lifespan, a human’s life is simply far too short, that is all.]
正确。这些话赞美了这个故事永恒的本质。但是，你应该意识到这一点——这样的概念是错误的。即使是最伟大的寓言也迟早会消亡。只是，与寓言的寿命相比，人类的寿命太短了，仅此而已。]
Baram’s voice seemed to contain the regrets of an innumerable length of time. Indeed, those words belonged to a Dokkaebi that had continuously told the tales of Constellations for a truly long time.
巴拉姆的声音里似乎包含着无数时间的悔恨。事实上，这些话属于一个多卡比，他在很长一段时间里不断地讲述着星座的故事。
[Did you know? Once upon a time, stories with no distinction between good and evil didn’t exist within <Star Stream>.]
[你知道吗?很久很久以前，星流没有善恶之分的故事。]
“Yes, I know.”
“是，我知道。”
[But, what about now?]
(但是，现在呢?)
Screams from the Constellations killed by Michael’s blade could be heard coming from the screen. And there were other Constellations silently peeping at this battle.
从屏幕上可以听到被迈克尔的剑杀死的星座的尖叫声。还有其他星座在默默地窥视着这场战斗。
These Constellations were sponsoring someone else, they were busy swearing at others, or were fully enjoying the show. Coins exchanged hands, and cries of pleasure and despair continued to resound out.
这些星座赞助了别人，他们忙着咒骂别人，或者全神贯注地享受着这场表演。硬币交换着，欢乐和绝望的呼喊声不断地响起。
And within this spectacle, not one person seemed to care about either good or evil.
在这种景象中，似乎没有一个人关心善恶。
“Ah….”
“啊......”
As he spat out that short gasp, Bihyung finally understood the Great Dokkaebi’s wisdom. Baram addressed his junior once more.
随着他的喘息，比亨终于明白了大多卡比的智慧。巴拉姆再次对他的下属说。
[This is a war to stop them from disappearing.]
这是一场阻止他们消失的战争
*
For the next two days, Anna Croft and I prepared for the hunt. Asmodeus didn’t act with us, though.
在接下来的两天里，我和安娜·克罗夫特为狩猎做好了准备，但阿斯莫德斯没有和我们一起行动。
[Let us meet again on the hunting ground at midday, two days from now.]
我们两天中午在狩猎场再见面吧
It left those words behind and disappeared on us. I was pretty sure that the Demon King was getting ready to hunt down an angel in its own way.
它把那些话留在身后，消失在我们眼前。我非常确信恶魔之王正准备以自己的方式猎杀一个天使。
There were around 30 minutes left until midday. The promised location for our Archangel hunting was the ‘Fertile Forest’ located on the north of the island.
离中午还有大约30分钟。我们打猎天使长的理想地点是位于岛屿北部的肥沃森林。
Just before we reached our destination, Anna Croft threw me a question. “Do you really think we can pull this off?”
就在我们到达目的地之前，安娜·克罗夫特向我提出了一个问题。“你真的认为我们能成功吗?”
“You’re going to help me out, aren’t you?”
“你会帮我的，对吧?”
“Even if it’s me, I can’t predict the [Future] all the time. You already know this better than anyone.”
“即使是我，我也不能一直预测(未来)。你比任何人都更清楚这一点。”
“It’s fine to read the nearest future for the time being.”
“暂时看看最近的未来是可以的。”
What I needed to avoid were the unseen variables that might happen in the near future. And Anna Croft’s [Precognition] was the most suitable skill for avoiding such things.
我需要避免的是那些在不久的将来可能发生的看不见的变量。而安娜·克罗夫特的[预知能力]是避免这类事情的最合适的技能。
“….What will you do if I decide to betray you? If my target is you, then….”
“...如果我决定背叛你，你会怎么做?如果我的目标是你，那么...”
“I know that’s not the case.”
“我知道事实并非如此。”
From the get-go, I couldn’t have been her target. Why? Because she was inserted into the scenario way before me.
从一开始，我就不可能是她的目标。为什么?因为她在我之前就被安排进了这个场景。
She narrowed her eyes to a slit and asked me again. “….By the way, since when did you stop using polite speech to address me?”
她把眼睛眯成一条缝，然后又问我。“......顺便问一句，你什么时候开始不用礼貌用语称呼我了?”
“Oh, now that I think about it, you’re right…. Should I address you with polite speech again, Ma’am?”
“哦，现在我想起来了，你是对的......夫人，我应该再用礼貌的语言来称呼你吗?”
