“······Thanks, Yoo Jin. I won’t give up. Please.”
“I can’t give up. I’ve come too far for that.”
“······Yeah.”
With her eyes closed, Mi Jeong is rubbing her chubby cheek against my chest and smiling brightly.
A vibrant expression I hadn’t seen before.
But her voice is hoarse and shaky.
As soon as I heard her voice, I realized.
Regardless of the Guardian Knight’s activation status, this is indeed the Mi Jeong I know.
However, is she the same as before? Not quite.
For a while, Mi Jeong had avoided confronting her past, but not anymore.
She has faced it and overcome it.
I am with Mi Jeong in her past.
We are together now and will be together in the future.
Mi Jeong chose to walk the path of suffering with me instead of pursuing happiness.
I must take on that responsibility.
I have no intention of abandoning her.
“Tell me, how much do you know about this facility? Alicia probably doesn’t know about it either······.”
“Well, how much do you know about me, Master of the Magic Tower?”
“······.”
In an instant, the old man’s lips trembled.
He may be a genius in magic, but it seems he’s not so skilled at hiding his emotions.
It’s certain he has seen me before.
Now, the question is whether or not he’s a fellow regressor······.
“Master of the Magic Tower, how many times have you gone through this?”
“······!”
I’ve got him hooked.
He’s trying to suppress it as best he can, but I can catch a slight tremor in his facial muscles with my enhanced eyesight.
I may not be on Yerina’s level, but as a fellow superhuman, I can detect some basic lies or nervousness.
‘He knows about regression.’
His reaction is way too bewildered for a mere misunderstanding.
He has realized what I mean by ‘time rounds’.
This guy definitely knows something about regression.
“Zero time rounds. So I still haven’t successfully regressed.”
“Eh?”
“How did you know I’m researching regression? Ah, I see······. So you were studying it too? I’ve dedicated my life to the method of separating the soul to defy the flow of time, while you were attempting to send memories instead of the soul! I finally understand the significance of our conversation! Surely, that method seems more economical and faster······. But even if it succeeds, you’d just be a second person with the same memories, while I myself remain in this timeline, which presents a critical problem—”
Suddenly, the old man mutters to himself and seemingly enters his own world as if he has found enlightenment.
He’s totally off the mark.
This guy isn’t a regressor.
Just your average mage studying regression.
His research on the soul was ultimately for the sake of regression.
Looks like he’s had a past he wishes to undo.
A little while later.
Once the old man calmed down, I was able to speak to him again.
“Can I leave now? I’d like to express my gratitude for providing the facility.”
“Oh, no. I’ve learned much more. Memories instead of souls, huh······. You’ve just given me an unforeseen method to consider. It’s worth researching. I must thank you. But, let me ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“That jewel in your bag. If you could just let me take a brief look at it, I’d have no further wishes.”
Are you talking about Kali’s dead soul?
I felt something rattling inside, and it seems the old man also sensed it and is interested.
If I expose Kali’s dead soul, there’s a risk of being tracked by Belphegor or Luna······.
But this is the basement of the Magic Tower.
It’s completely isolated and shielded from the outside, so there’s no worry about being found out.
As I opened the wooden box in relief, the old man’s eyes widened.
I thought it was simply because he had never seen such a large Mana Stone before.
“Ah, AAH!.. Please close it again! I’ve never seen something so horrific!”
“Why are you saying that?”
“Whom did you kill?! Whose soul is it that looks this dreadful?!”
“······?!”
The old man screams in terror and starts to panic.
My body stiffened.
According to the old man’s words, who has the sight to see souls······.
‘Kali’s soul?’
This mass of demonic energy.
The Mana Stone is Kali’s soul.
“Now get lost! I think I’ve seen enough!”
“Yeah. Thank you······.”
Waving my hand at the old man as he hurriedly retreats.
We left the White Magic Tower.
With Mi Jeong, who was gripping my hand tightly without hesitation.
······And also with the nameless one, who was still hiding and shivering under my sleeve.
‘If this is Kali’s soul······.’
I’ve certainly gathered enough hints.
The true identity of this Mana Stone is Kali’s soul.
And once it accumulates enough, it will transform into ‘some form’.
That form could be······.
‘Kali’s true revival?’
Isn’t it a return to the form of a soul?
The Kali that Luna resurrected was an incomplete being.
Reconstructed her personality through the memories left in the corpse, so although she spoke and acted like Kali, she wasn’t entirely the same, fixating on strange things.
That’s why she must have coveted it as soon as she saw this Mana Stone.
If she had the soul intact, she could be fully revived.
What if it was stolen then······?
Maybe Sola would have turned into a bloody mess, and I would have met a horrific end at the hands of Kali.
Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
‘This needs to be sealed.’
This isn’t some random box where I can expect surprises.
It’s an object that’s far more sinister.
The horrifying acts I’ve seen in Mi Jeong’s past reinforced that conviction.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think revival is possible.”
“Uuuh?”
I whispered while gently stroking the nameless one peeking out from my sleeve with my pinky finger.
Once the soul is freed, the body it will inhabit will most likely be the nameless one.
Kali’s wish won’t be fulfilled.
The nameless one will not become a monster wearing the guise of a Great Druid.
I won’t allow that to happen.
.
.
.
In the vast plains.
Suddenly, a dark energy began to gather in the peaceful fields.
As space opened, a pitch-black shadow leaped out.
|Ah, AAH! AAAAA!!!|
The black figure screamed and fell to the ground.
The aura of the Great Demon had completely vanished.
He was merely lamenting his ugly pain, weakly trying to close the space behind him.
|Jill Diner, you bitch! Why did you interfere and ruin my beautiful fool act?!|
Black blood flowed profusely from his abdomen.
It was a serious and fatal injury.
Thinking that he fell for the Priestess’s scheme and ended up like this made the Great Demon feel furious.
He didn’t doubt Sola’s betrayal.
But when he arrived in Cologne to assess the situation, Sola was imprisoned, waiting for execution on the guillotine.
In fear of losing Sola with time slipping away, the Great Demon became impatient.
That impatience robbed him of time to think.
And he unwittingly stepped into the Priestess’s trap.
In an instant, numerous barriers wrapped around the Great Demon.
At the same time, Sola, freed from her bindings, drew her sword and charged at him, while hundreds of mages revealed themselves and cast spells towards the Great Demon.
Up to that point, there were no issues.
It was shocking, but still a level of ambush he could break through and escape from.
He could have prepared a stronger trap than this, but he likely intentionally scaled it down out of fear of getting caught.
So he shook it off and immediately tried to escape, but.
The Priestess’s holy magic was mingled into the air, crumbling the Great Demon’s plans in an instant.
Every time the Great Demon attempted to use demonic energy, the Priestess’s magic would cling to him, preventing any spellcasting, whether it be magic or curses.
A brutal hand-to-hand battle ensued.
The Great Demon tried to break through the encirclement as Sola relentlessly pursued him to choke him.
He lost his head multiple times.
Limbs were severed dozens or hundreds of times.
But the Great Demon kept recovering his flesh and attempted to escape.
Though he lost a lot of strength, it was the Priestess who ran out of energy first, not the Great Demon.
After a chase that lasted for dozens of hours, he could finally use his demonic energy again.
He swiftly forced open a rift and successfully escaped into an unknown vast plain.
|Damn you! How did you join hands?! What happened to Luna?!|
He lost his powers so effortlessly.
It was one thing that Sola, whom he intended to take in as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, had turned against him.
But after ‘that one’ regained their powers recently, and now with such heavy losses, he had been stripped of much of his strength······.
|Definitely, it was that bastard’s scheme!!!|
The mastermind behind this setup was all too clear.
If the Four Heavenly Kings were involved, it was bound to be that obnoxious guy who constantly meddled.
That pest who travels with the Blood Ghoul girl, surely concocted this plot.
|If I get caught in this state, I won’t even have bones left······|
In an instant, the balance of power tilted.
With most of his plans relying on ‘that one’s’ powers dashed, his options to capture the guy were severely limited.
If it continued like this, the only future would be a catastrophic hunt like Kali, where one by one, he would fall prey to him.
A countermeasure was necessary.
And a countermeasure that did not involve ‘that one’s’ power meant there was only one option.
|I have no choice but to ally with Luna······!|
Though it’s unsatisfactory, this time calls for the ultimate plan.
The Undead Legion.
It was time to unveil Luna’s ultimate weapon.
