Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1467. Continental War (47) [Illustration]

— It’s presumed to be Dr. Michele.

"Presumed?"

— Yes.

"If it’s Dr. Michele, then it’s Dr. Michele, and if not, then it isn’t. What do you mean by 'presumed'?"

— I’m not exactly sure what happened either, but I clearly saw him together with a young man. He looked just like a younger version of Dr. Michele, so that’s why I said "presumed." I apologize if that caused any confusion.

"No. No, it’s fine. There was no one else besides them?"

— Yes. It was definitely just the two of them. Of course, I can’t rule out the possibility that I failed to check properly...

I suddenly realized that asking any more questions was pointless. I couldn't properly recognize the doctor’s assistant either, so there was no way someone like Lee Chang-Ryeol would notice her. Even if she had been there, she was probably hiding herself or concealed inside a subspace similar to what Commander Jin had created.

At this point, it was reasonable to think that I ought to focus more on the new information I had just obtained because...

‘He got younger?’

I heard Michele had become younger...

‘He definitely seemed like an... ordinary human.’

Even when I looked at him with Mind’s Eye, I didn't remember seeing anything unusual. He was clearly just an ordinary person, and he didn’t even seem particularly remarkable.

From experience, relying on the Mind’s Eye was the most rational thing to do, but perhaps he had the ability to perceive or bypass it.

‘That’s possible too.’

Of course, as always, I had faith in Mind’s Eye. The most likely possibility here was that something was wearing Dr. Michele’s shell or that he was being influenced by something else.

Naturally, I arrived at the conclusion that the one occupying his body could be the doctor’s assistant. I had no idea what exactly was going on, but one thing was certain—this was bad news.

‘Ha... damn it. Kim Hyun-Sung must have an idea about this, too, right? Damn. Now he’s even getting younger and pulling all kinds of crazy crap. Isn’t it about time to just cut ties already?’

Of course, I had no idea what words they were using to shake Kim Hyun-Sung, but it was only natural for me to think that their objective aligned with ours.

Perhaps Kim Hyun-Sung had belatedly realized what was happening across the continent. Otherwise, wouldn’t he have beaten those Brigade bastards to death the moment he returned to the first life?

It seemed he understood that unnecessary intervention was inappropriate. Of course, he could have some other goal, but I figured he had his own reasons for doing this. Otherwise, there’d be no reason for him to be wandering around using the hexagrams.

‘Whether he’s the real doctor or a fake doctor, something’s taken over the doctor, or he made a contract with a demon. If there’s a damn problem, he could have just talked to me and asked me for advice, couldn’t he?

'Why the hell is he traveling all over the continent with a bunch of random assholes? Does that make any damn sense? What the hell is he even doing?’

I turned the Telescope toward the area where Lee Chang-Ryeol said he spotted Kim Hyun-Sung, but there was nothing in sight. It seemed he had already left. The only thing visible was Lee Chang-Ryeol, missing one arm, and he was sprinting fiercely.

I felt annoyed for some reason. Honestly, I wanted to run straight to Kim Hyun-Sung, but...

“Hoo...”

I couldn’t exactly burn everything down just to chase after him.

"Commander Jin, please proceed with the operation in coordination with Miss Hee-Young."

— Understood.

"It’s not that I don’t trust Mr. Chang-Ryeol. I just want to be prepared in case some other kind of problem occurs."

— Got it. I’m sorry for not living up to your expectations.

"I’ll be there within six hours... no, within four. Please make the preparations."

— Okay.

For now, I had no choice but to move quickly. After pulling the hood off one of the corpses lying nearby and putting it on, I slipped back into the tunnel I’d come up through and escaped the chaotic battlefield.

Honestly, I couldn’t be sure that I could wrap all of this up in such a limited time, but four hours was the absolute limit I could allow myself. Any later than that, and I wouldn’t be able to meet Kim Hyun-Sung. I couldn’t imagine Lee Chang-Ryeol being able to hold him for any longer.

Since the Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep was recalled at the time, Kim Hyun-Sung probably couldn’t reveal his presence either and go all out. Despite that, I believed Chang-Ryeol still couldn't keep him pinned down, even if he had both arms intact.

— What about Dr. Michele...

"I’ll leave it up to you."

— By that, you mean...

"Do you not understand? If possible... take care of him yourselves."

— Yes, sir. We’ll handle it.

‘Exactly four hours. Just four hours.’

I kept glancing around through the telescope as I hurried forward, tossing off the outer coat I’d been wearing. Wrapping myself in bandages was also necessary. I figured I had to deal with the biggest problem first.

‘Damn it, first things first, Jung Jin-Ho.’

At this point, the biggest threat was obviously Jung Jin-Ho running wild. Wherever that bastard went, the balance of that place would collapse. No, he was already rampaging enough to turn the battlefield into a mess.

Right now, he seemed too distracted with venting the stress he got from Ryu Han, but eventually, if he intended to regroup with the brigade members, he’d have no choice but to break away from that flock.

‘Two wings should be fine, right?’

After carefully taking out two wings, I immediately rolled around on the ground. Naturally, the blood and chunks of entrails from the corpses inside the tunnel stuck all over me.

I looked at myself through the Telescope, and for something thrown together in a hurry, it wasn’t half bad visually.

‘Well, I’ve got wings now. Forget everything else, having wings is what really matters.’

Those wings were smeared with blood and bits of flesh to the point where they might as well look red. There was no need to even mention my entire appearance. All I had on were bright red cloth and bandages, and even those bandages were stained red in many places.

It wasn’t like there were no disappointing parts at all, but still, at this level, it was probably enough to make someone nod in approval. Of course, I kept checking Jung Jin-Ho’s location the whole time.

‘Looks like he’s still playing around a bit. Looks like he’s having a great time.’

It felt like I could make up for what the visuals lacked, and the place my gaze settled on was the path between Jung Jin-Ho and the Brigade members. It was out of the battlefield’s influence and was surprisingly quiet.

I was worried about running into people while retreating, but this wasn’t a situation where I could be picky.

As soon as I arrived, I immediately cast an alchemical summoning spell, and it didn’t require any special catalyst. After all, what I was trying to create was a sea of red.

Spurt!

With wet squelching noises, blood and chunks of flesh exploded out from a round mass of meat.

Spurt!

‘Ugh! Damn it, that’s disgusting. Damn!’

Spuuurt!

The terrain dipped slightly, so something like a lake of blood began forming in the center. Pieces of ruptured entrails were hanging from fallen trees, and the foul stench of blood prickled my nose.

‘There’s still a bit of time before he gets here, right?’

Details mattered more than anything. If I was going to be soaked in blood anyway, it was better to be properly drenched. I figured it would be better to spread it further, so I decided to spread them all over the trees and rocks in the distance. It even seemed like it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make something shaped like a temple.

Of course, with so little time, it looked unstable, like it could collapse at any moment, but it was disposable anyway, and when making this kind of structure, wasn't making it look grotesque, ugly, and ready to fall apart the point of creating it?

The more details I added here and there, the more convincing it looked.

Meanwhile, that bastard Jung Jin-Ho was still busy killing people without pause. It was to the point that I started wondering if I was just wasting my time. Of course, even while grumbling to myself, I didn’t stop moving.

To dye the wings a deeper red, I dipped them into the lake of blood, and I felt even heavier when I stood up. I’d bet anything that in this state, there was no way I could fly. Looking around once more, I found myself nodding in agreement.

‘Wow. Even Jin-Ho hyung’s damn grandfather will fall for this.’

When I lightly dipped myself into the stagnant pool, an even more convincing sight was made.

'Damn, everyone who looks at me will say that I'm Death's incarnation.'

It wasn’t intentional, but some of the smoke Lady Palette had spread around was slowly drifting over here, which made it look even more believable.

Right then, Jung Jin-Ho had just finished his little bit of fun and started heading this way.

'Should I clasp my hands together? Or spread my wings? Or maybe just slowly float up over the surface of the lake?'

I was still going back and forth over what pose would be best when...

“W-what is... that...?” a voice rang out.

‘What do you mean what... It’s obviously Young Dea—’

There was one small problem...

‘Who the hell are you guys?’

The first one to spot me wasn’t Jung Jin-Ho.

“W-what the hell... damn it... what the hell is... is that supposed to be...?”

I felt like the visuals were really doing their job.

“Fuuck... ugh... What the hell is that thing?!”

‘Ah, damn it.’

What caught my eye were about thirty deserters. I couldn’t tell whether they were from some mercenary company, a guild, a clan, or just random runaways, but they clearly looked convinced that they were facing something unknown.

“Damn it... daaamn it... We just barely got out of that hell...”

“Hngh... huh... That thing... I’m not the only one seeing that, right? Captain?”

“...”

“I’m not... the only one seeing it... right?”

From the ones who had collapsed to the ground to those simply staring this way blankly, they all showed different reactions. The one thing they had in common was that none of them could turn their backs toward me. They had clearly decided that if they showed their backs, the unknown thing in front of them would attack them.

Like they were facing the Grim Reaper itself, they couldn’t move an inch.

“Captain... are we... are we already dead?”

“W-what?”

“Maybe... we already died and ended up somewhere like hell...”

“...”

“If not, then what the hell is that... that thing... Something like that doesn’t exist. I’ve never seen... never even heard of anything like that... or... maybe... haha... hahaha... maybe the Reaper himself has come to take us... hngh... huff... haa... huh...”

“...”

“...”

“Get a grip.”

“H-how am I supposed to...?”

“We’re not dead yet. I don’t know what that thing in front of us is... but what matters is we’re still alive, and we’re getting out of here alive.”

“...”

“Everyone, get yourselves together!!!”

‘Wait, who the hell is that guy? He’s got guts. Damn.’

“It’s just a damn boss! That’s all it is, so think of it that way! We’ve survived countless life-or-death situations! We just made it out of that hellish battlefield alive! And now you’re just going to throw your lives away here?! Are you going to abandon the people waiting for you back home just like that?!

"Are you seriously going to give up and die for nothing?!”

‘Wait, why is this getting so heated? Damn it.’

“Whether that thing’s the Grim Reaper or some random easter egg that popped out of nowhere, we’re going to make it back alive.”

“C-Captain...”

“Think of it like we always do, like we’re hunting a boss. We’re just short on information this time, that’s all. Remember the ones we’ve taken down before. That thing’s nothing more than a small angel.”

‘I’m not a boss, damn it.’

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

‘I’m not a boss, you idiots.’

“Did you not hear me?! Everyone!!! Prepare for battle!!!”

‘Damn it, I’m not a boss!’

“Uaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”

The moment they raised their weapons...

“Aaaaargh! Aaaahhh! Help me!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaahhh! Aaahhh! Damn it! Wh—aaaargh!”

A large, hulking man had charged into their flock and was literally butchering the people right in front of him. The figure visible to my eyes was obviously...

‘Jung Jin-Ho.’

I had a lot to think about regarding what pose I had to show him first, but right now, at this very moment...

“...”

“...”

There was nothing more fitting than splitting my mouth into a wide, tearing grin.