Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1452. Continental War (32)

‘Where did Chang-Ryeol go... Why is that guy standing over there like that?’

I was briefly flustered by how intact Ryu Han looked at first glance, but when I stared at him with Mind’s Eye, I saw that he was injured.

I didn’t know whether he recently met a priest for treatment or had healed himself with potions, but I could still see some lingering fatigue and injuries on him. It was also obvious that severed parts of his body and areas that had taken severe damage were forcibly reattached or healed rapidly.

On the surface, he looked completely healed, but damage of that sort could never truly heal, even if it appeared to be healed. Tanks with high Stamina and Endurance recovered relatively quickly, but ordinary frontline fighters needed sufficient rest.

What stood out most of all was the fact that he was currently poisoned. The poison had to have come from a certain someone.

‘He’s the pride of the Blue Guild. It’s the work of Blue Guild’s assassin, Chang-Ryeol.’

It wasn’t poison strong enough to cause death, but he was taking continuous damage from it. It looked like he had tried to detoxify it, but there was no way these primitive first life guys could neutralize Chang-Ryeol’s poison.

Lee Chang-Ryeol himself was well-versed in toxins, and he had probably refined the samples I occasionally handed over to him, so even I didn’t have a complete grasp of what kinds of poison he possessed or how many.

Of course, I knew the one thing all of his poisons had in common—ordinary cure spells or ordinary antidotes would never work on them. If one wanted to detoxify them with a cure spell, one needed Saint-level holy power, and antidotes would always be useless unless they were made by me or by someone highly skilled in alchemy.

Given the situation, even if Lee Chang-Ryeol had used a relatively weak poison on him, there was no way he could detoxify it. At best, all he could do was reduce the pain.

‘Chang-Ryeol... looked like he was really angry.’

“...”

“...”

It seemed like Lee Chang-Ryeol had left him with something quite painful. It looked like a neurotoxin, and the only reason that the killing machine wasn’t crying out in agony was because of his condition.

If it were anyone else, they'd be screaming as if they were being ground to pieces. As expected, losing an arm and being wounded on the side had to have dealt a serious blow to his pride, and the fact that it happened right in front of me probably made him even angrier.

Even if the reason behind his injuries was Alps and Sung Ji-Hoon, Lee Chang-Ryeol’s pride was still injured.

‘Still, he does seem to be alive.’

Ironically, the moment I confirmed Ryu Han’s condition, I felt a bit more certain that Lee Chang-Ryeol was somewhere out there, alive and well.

Of course, Lee Chang-Ryeol was probably not yet in a state where he could decide whether to kill the guy or let him live, but if he truly had no leeway, he wouldn't have left him alive.

If it had been a truly urgent situation, Ryu Han would have long melted away from the poison. Leaving poison like that behind was, for him, a form of petty revenge.

‘Though calling it petty revenge feels like it'll hurt him a lot...’

There had to have been a reason he had to retreat midway. It was probably around the time the Republic forces were pouring into the 4-2 Front. He had to have decided to hide himself for the time being, and while he was at it, he poisoned Ryu Han as well.

As a result, Ryu Han ended up benefiting from the troops entering the 4-2 Front. Of course, it didn’t seem like he was moving together with the troops right now, but unfortunately for us, his target still hadn’t changed, and it even looked as though the other Republic soldiers were finally starting to become aware of us as well.

What we thought were loaches turned out to be massive serpents, and there was no way they would just leave them to run rampant in their own front yard.

Just then, another figure appeared beside Ryu Han, and I couldn’t help but frown at the sight of him.

‘Valentin Alexandro[1].’

‘Fighter of Ronaf.’

Another of his epithets was the Slaughterer of Ronaf. He looked exactly the same as when I saw him long ago in the neutral nation of Laios. The scar on his forehead was apparently a result of a beating he had suffered at the hands of Hee-Ra noona.

His massive build and even his unpleasant voice, which sounded like he had a ton of phlegm in his throat, remained the same.

He bared his teeth as he mocked Ryu Han, but the way he did it looked like a frightened dog barking, and his eyes, for some reason, seemed wary of Ryu Han. It was like he was gauging Ryu Han's mood. He looked like someone with anger management issues, yet surprisingly, the sight revealed how well he was actually controlling his anger.

‘That bastard couldn’t even move in front of Commander Jin either.’

— A deep wound in the side, a severed left arm, and you're even poisoned... I never imagined you’d be in this state one day. If the troops hadn’t arrived at the right time, you would’ve died. Ryu Han... just who was your opponent?

— ...

— ...

— He was one of the Keepers of the Moonlight. I didn’t ask for his name.

— Keepers of the Moonlight... Are you talking about the ones inside that smoke right now? Well, I did hear rumors that the Hero was with them. Did you get beaten by that hero?

— No, it wasn’t the Hero.

— Hah, how ridiculous. Just some wanderer beat you? Not even a hero? Are you joking with me right now?

‘Does he look like he’s joking right now?’

Valentin Alexandro seemed to know that as well, as he stopped speaking midway. He realized that Ryu Han wasn’t the kind of man to joke or spout nonsense.

— Interesting.

— ...

— About the Keepers of the Moonlight... I've been hearing many things about them, and from what I've heard, people from the Magic Tower, some commanders of the Republic, and even some from the Union had joined them.

— Personally, I thought they're commissioned by the Empire, but to think there are people actually running around claiming that they’re trying to stop the war...

— ...

‘Valentin, that bastard... He wasn’t just an empty-headed brute after all.’

I could understand why First Commander Jin sent Valentin Alexandro here.

— Hmph. I was just thinking about having some fun before clashing with the Empire bastards.

‘No, you don’t need fun. Just be quiet and stay there.’

Before Valentin Alexandro could turn his back on Ryu Han, the latter opened his mouth.

— Don’t lay a hand on the Saint.

After a brief moment of surprise, the Slaughter of Ronaf turned around once more to look at Ryu Han.

— And if I refuse?

‘Why provoke him?’

Rumble!

The clash of killing intent began, and their killing intent was so thick it made the air tremble. Part of me wished they would just tear each other apart right there in a mutual slaughter, but unfortunately, Valentin Cowardsandro was far too rational to engage Ryu Han in a bloodbath.

Perhaps there was something in him that only allowed rational behavior in front of the truly strong. As expected, the moment he met those emotionless black pupils, the Dog of Ronaf instinctively shrank back with his tail lowered.

I didn’t know if he wanted to duel through killing intent or if he had simply underestimated Ryu Han because of the injuries Chang-Ryeol had inflicted on him.

There was also a chance that he simply wanted to reassess the power of the First Seat, but in the end, I saw him lower his tail.

‘Looks like he still wants to keep his pride.’

— I’m joking. Hahahaha...

‘That didn’t sound like a joke.’

— Honestly, I don’t care what happens to some saint. My prey is the one who made you like that, and the one called the Hero. I have no interest in anyone but the strong.

‘If you’re interested in the strong, go trade attacks with Ryu Han, damn it.’

— ...

— I don’t know what your goal is, but I suppose I don’t need to know. As always, it’s probably something pointless. Still, since it’s your request, I’ll humor you. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll take responsibility for unavoidable accidents that happen during battle... hehehe...

— ...

— It seems an interesting opponent appeared since Cha Hee-Ra.

‘You got crushed by Hee-Ra noona. You’d run away if you met her.’

He was wearing a vile grin, but that despicable bastard was probably very unlikely to touch us at all. I bet he had already given explicit instructions to his subordinates. I didn’t know whether Ryu Han was aware of just how despicable he was, but it seemed to be a satisfactory answer for him as well, as he quietly nodded and stared at the smoke again.

The way he watched the intermittent lights like a stalker was downright chilling. He looked as though he wanted to move right away, but he decided to restrain himself upon sensing that he had yet to fully recover.

‘Try resting all you want. It’s not like your injuries will heal fast.’

The problem was that he and I were bound to meet. And it wasn’t just Ryu Han. I knew we would inevitably run into the Five Tiger Generals, but the fact that our opponent would be Valentin Cowardsandro made me frown.

No matter how despicable he was, he still earned the title "Slaughterer of Ronaf." It was obvious that he would be strong against the weak, and honestly, it felt like there was no way to avoid him even if I wanted to do so.

‘Ryu Han is injured, so we might have a chance with Ji-Hoon.’

'Yeah, this is an opportunity, damn it. An opportunity to give our Holy Sword Hero some confidence, and an opportunity to complete that idiot.'

With the way he was making the Holy Sword shine so brightly, the chance that he could win against a fully healed Ryu Han was zero.

‘Chang-Ryeol really did us a big favor.’

If there was ever a moment he could win, this was that moment. Ryu Han was still healing, and he was also poisoned. This was his only chance to win. Sung Ji-Hoon himself was already burning with an unnecessary sense of rivalry toward the guy, so surpassing him here would be more than just a victory for him.

“Yaaaaaah!”

“Mr. Ji-Hoon!” I called out.

“I know!” Sung Ji-Hoon yelled.

‘The Holy Sword’s damage isn’t bad, and his condition is good.’

“Lady Palette!”

‘The coordination is solid. No mental issues. He's warming up too.’

The nonlethal route was still a bit over the line, but...

‘If he gets desperate, he’ll figure it out on his own.’

Once he confirmed with his own eyes that Ryu Han was still alive, he wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that Lee Chang-Ryeol was dead and fly into a rage, so there was no real problem about making him make a move.

The most urgent thing right now was probably conveying the information I had to Paint.

While the battle was still raging around us and the troops were cutting down the Republic army to advance forward, I spotted the bastard drawing closer through my Telescope.

I wanted to circle around and warn her at the right time that he was coming, but...

“...”

“...”

In truth, I wasn’t even sure that a warning was necessary. From far away, I could already see trees tilting over along with loud cracks. He was the type of person who loved to draw attention to himself.

In the end, with a thunderous crash, I saw something massive drop to the ground.

‘Impatient bastard.’

Paint identified the uninvited guest and frowned. “The Slaughterer of Ronaf.”

“...”

“Valentin Alexandro?”

A phlegm-laden peal of laughter erupted in the distance. “Hehehe!”

“...”

“...”

“Ssshhh.”

“...”

“Hoooooo.”

Immediately afterward, Palette's smoke turned into spears that rained down on Valentin.

1. first appearance ch 303 ☜