Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1449. Continental War (29)

I wasn't about to doubt Chang-Ryeol’s abilities, but there was no way I could just sit back and wait comfortably for him. I couldn’t rule out all sorts of variables, after all. Thanks to that idiot, Holy Sword Hero, he ended up with a deep wound in his side.

It wasn’t enough to spill his guts, thankfully, but it was enough to make him realize how close he was to Death. Sure, he had the Lee Ki-Young potion set in his supplies, but his base Endurance was low...

‘He must be exhausted from the bleeding.’

I had no doubt that he’d landed a hit on Ryu Han, but what came after that was the real problem. The 4-2 Front was packed with soldiers, thick and tightly arranged like a spiderweb, making every step forward uncomfortable.

Since the forces were fully divided, there were probably named officers positioned along the way. Not just Ryu Han, but other Five Tiger Generals could be there, too. I wasn’t worried that Chang-Ryeol couldn’t handle them despite his wounds, but...

‘The real question was how much damage he had taken.’

If he were to face so many enemies while still recovering from the fight with Ryu Han...

‘What could be worse than Chang-Ryeol dying here?’

“...”

“...”

It was one of those moments when one couldn't help but overthink.

“We’ll keep moving,” Palette instructed.

“Yes, Miss Palette.”

‘Ah, damn it.’

While running with Palette and guiding the troops at a brisk pace, I kept scanning the surroundings with my Telescope. I could’ve taken the time to secure an escape route, but first of all, I had to locate Lee Chang-Ryeol.

I checked the area where he fought Ryu Han first, but there were no signs of him.

The fight had ended some time ago, so I opened the comms immediately, but...

‘Why isn’t he answering?’

Had he lost it?

‘Why isn’t he contacting me?’

'Is he in a situation where he can’t communicate? Is he hiding?'

Even the comms were dead. If he couldn’t move, staying put would be safer than trying to run away. It'd make sense to say that he found a decent shelter and was resting to recover, but still, I was feeling uneasy.

‘Damn it, this is driving me crazy. Man, do I have to turn back? I should at least ask Commander Jin to check on him...’

It was one of those moments where I had to pass a quick word to Commander Jin while my mind was spinning with a dozen other worries.

Out of nowhere, I heard Palette’s voice. “Republic forces are twenty minutes ahead.”

“...”

“It looks like we won’t be able to avoid a fight along the route,” Palette added.

‘Damn it, it’s one problem after another.’

I was suddenly reminded that our escape was still ongoing. We had a brief respite inside her smoke, but the area was still completely surrounded by Republic soldiers. Chang-Ryeol and I were basically cornered, and frankly, there was no one around to help or worry about the other.

I wondered if pushing forward with Alps could allow me to locate Lee Chang-Ryeol, but...

‘Palette will die.’

And the Holy Sword Hero would die with her...

Of course, Lee Chang-Ryeol couldn’t be weighed against the other two. If I judged things logically, even if it meant abandoning them, saving Chang-Ryeol was the correct choice, but the Holy Sword Hero's death meant this entire first life would end in failure.

Even before that, I had no confidence that I could break through multiple enemy lines with just Alps at my side.

‘Maybe I should just trust Chang-Ryeol.’

The situation was far harder than it looked. We simply never had the proper chance to check our surroundings while hidden in Palette’s smoke. Enemy troops could be stationed just a few dozen meters away—no, even just a few meters away.

Some soldiers could have wandered into the smoke without realizing it and gotten lost themselves, and judging by how quickly we were about to encounter the enemy, the upper command of the 4-2 Front had to have already learned about us.

Nearby units would have received orders and were probably searching this area by now.

After hearing Palette’s report, Oksana spoke up with a grim expression. “There’s no time to rest.”

“We’re deep in enemy territory, and we’ll be completely surrounded if we don't move fast.”

“How about heading toward the conflict zone? If we move to the Union’s front line, the enemy won’t be able to chase us.”

“Maybe forcing a path through on one side...”

“How about retreating to the rear...”

“Retreating to the rear would only make us collide with incoming reinforcements, so charging through the front would be the better option.”

Everyone spoke as the prospect of battle loomed, but none of the ideas were particularly viable. Especially the idea of heading into the conflict zone, which was practically a suggestion to die together.

Sure, if we managed to reach the conflict zone, shaking off our pursuers would become possible, as the Republic couldn’t afford to burn down the whole house just to kill a few pests and risk getting caught by the allied army instead.

The problem was that getting there wasn’t easy at all. It would have been easy hours earlier, but now, the front near the conflict zone was already being established. Going that way meant encountering enemy commanders and at least two of the Five Tiger Generals.

In the end, forcing our way through the conflict zone would require at least twice our current strength, if not more.

‘Damn it, the longer we stall here, the more complicated this gets.’

Republic forces were still on the move, and if we were going to strike the enemy command and push through the conflict zone, we had to do it now.

‘Maybe we should just go for it.’

There was a good chance Chang-Ryeol had already crossed toward the conflict zone anyway. The front was still in the process of being formed. Moving an entire group across would be difficult, but for an individual, it wouldn't be that hard.

If Lee Chang-Ryeol understood the situation here, there was no way he would turn back toward us. There was always the risk of being tracked, and he would want to put as much distance as possible between himself and Ryu Han.

“The enemies are entering the smoke.”

‘It felt like the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together.’

“Sir, you need to make a decision.”

“What will you do, sir?”

I was not the type to throw dice on a low‑odds gamble, but if Lee Chang-Ryeol's life was on the table, then perhaps it was worth the roll.

With no way to pinpoint his location right now, the least we could do was smash through the enemy commanders or clash with one of the Five Tiger Generals, which would make escaping far easier for him.

The situation looked bad, but every arrow was pointing in the same direction. I wasn't sure about the second life, but in the first life, I would never lose by following the arrows because here...

‘Everything was connected here.’

Getting a card like Palette at this exact moment didn’t feel like a coincidence.

Calling it "inevitability" felt more accurate.

“What are you going to do, Jin Yoo?” Sung Ji-Hoon asked.

“What do you think, Mr. Ji-Hoon?” I asked.

“I don’t really know. But...” he paused.

“Yes?”

“I don’t think anything will change if we just keep running,” he said.

“...”

“We came here to stop the war, didn’t we? You said that, and right now... right now... I feel the same way as you do,” he added.

'If you throw out lines straight out of a shounen manga like that...'

“...”

“...”

‘I'll end up being swayed...’

“Prepare for combat. Enemies are entering the smoke!” I ordered.

“Get ready to fight!”

“Prepare for battle! Shields up! Shields up! They’re coming!”

“Aaaaaaah!”

Kaboooooom!

Of course, I had no choice but to shout, “We’re heading to the conflict zone!”

“Okay.”

“We’re moving toward the conflict zone!”

“Move! Damn it! You idiots, move!”

“Move quickly! As fast as you can!”

“Mages, start casting your spells!”

The enemy forces that charged blindly into the smoke collided with our troops.

Boom!

‘Damn it, this isn’t going to be easy.’

To be honest, this was about as much as we could expect from Palette at this point.

It was true that her smoke could become tangible, but she was spreading it in all directions to keep the enemy from pinpointing our position, so the strain on her was massive.

The smoke filled nearly a fifth of the front. It was nothing to a true mist summoner, but for Palette, who had to produce the smoke by herself, it was anything but easy.

“We have to break through,” I instructed.

“Break through!”

Kaboooooooom!

“Aaaaaaagh!”

“You terrorist bastards!”

“Contact the main force!”

The moment they spotted us, I saw enemy mages trying to cast spells into the sky, probably signal flares to announce that they had found the Keepers of the Moonlight.

Palette clearly understood that as well, as she blocked the rising bursts of light with her smoke. The spells detonated inside their own lines, turning the enemy camp into a sea of fire.

Boom! Boooom!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

“Agh! Put it out! Damn it, put out the fire!”

“Damn it! You traitor! After we took you in out of pity, you dare betray the Republic?!”

‘As if you were the one who took her in.’

It was a good result, but the more smoke Palette used, the worse things became for us. The range of the smoke couldn’t shrink too much. The amount she could produce was limited, and if she wasted it in the wrong places, the smoke covering us would disappear entirely. A reduced area was just as bad as not having any smoke.

‘There was no reason to advertise exactly where we were.’

The smoke only had meaning if it blanketed everything; hiding a narrow patch with smoke would just point out the location of our troops. The current range and density were perfect for letting us blend into the enemy forces.

There was no way Palette didn’t know that.

She was using the smoke to shield endangered allies and suppress enemy mages, but this situation clearly wasn’t something she welcomed. Sure enough, her brow was tightly furrowed, and it felt like she was constantly searching for another path.

She understood that her smoke had to last until we struck the enemy commanders and broke into the conflict zone.

“Mr. Ji-Hoon!” I called out.

“I know!”

This wasn’t the time to be picky about anything. Sung Ji-Hoon drawing his sword and jumping straight into the battlefield was to be expected.

“Enemy troops are entering the smoke from twelve o’clock and eight o’clock!”

‘Ha, damn it.’

“It will only take a few minutes for them to reach us. The smoke can’t block out the noises,” a calm voice said.

‘Should we split the forces? Cut off some of them and have at least some of us escape. Damn it, is it too much? Should I have played this purely by the numbers?’

“Aaaaaaagh!”

“Aaaagh! What is this? Damn it!”

“T-this is insane!”

“Shake them off, you bastards! Move, now!”

“Mom...”

“Aaaaaaagh!”

The fight in the cramped front lines was dragging on. The spears and shields the soldiers carried grew heavier. Their steps faltered, and they started getting isolated as well.

‘Damn it, we have to break through.’

“W‑what the...”

‘Just one more piece...’

“Sir!”

“Aaaaargh! Medic! Where’s the medic?!”

Just then, a powerful explosion echoed from somewhere nearby.

Naturally, I swung the Telescope toward the source...

“...”

“...”

Union forces. There was no mistaking it. For a split second, I wondered if we’d accidentally crossed into the conflict zone, but no matter how I adjusted the Telescope, we were still deep inside Republic territory.

The confusion wasn’t limited to us; the Republic soldiers were even more thrown off than anyone else.

“Damn it! What the hell?! The Union bastards are here!”

“Aaaaaah! Run! Damn it! Run!”

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

“Request reinforcements!”

“Fire the signal flares!”

“The smoke is blocking our spells!”

“Then use anything! Try something!”

“Push through!”

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The numbers pressing forward were by no means small. Looking at Palette’s face, she, too, looked surprised. She hadn’t expected the Union forces to come and aid the Keepers of the Moonlight.

Still, perhaps there was no part of this she hadn’t accounted for, as a cautious smile tugged at her lips.

Up ahead, a loud voice rang out.

“It’s the Black Rose Salon!”

“...”

“It’s the new Black Rose Salon!”

The pieces of the puzzle lost four years ago had finally come together.

The young ladies ahead were lighting up the way once again.