EP.213 Great Strength Requires Strong Ropes
No matter how exhausted Historia was, she was a Six-Star. It was common sense that the stronger the individual, the harder they were to capture. Moreover, seeing Historia bound by mere iron chains, the Regressor expressed her doubts.
"Anyway, did you really catch her? Did you use some suspicious method, or was there anything fishy?"
"Didn't you see it? Wearing sturdy full-body armor, I reliably lured the opponent into a trap and then pushed Ria back?"
'I did see it. The final attack motion was quite smooth. It flowed like water, as if you had practiced it beforehand.'
Oh, Regressor. That's the correct answer for the first time in a while.
It was a choreographed motion we had practiced in advance to recover my miserable practical score. Originally, the script was for me to narrowly lose, but today Historia fell down on her own.
I even had an excuse prepared for this. I said boastfully.
"You might not know, but I was actually in the same class as Ria. We used to spar together. My Qi is much weaker, but I know the weaknesses of her martial arts inside and out. Right, Ria?"
Historia, who should have chimed in on time, only watched languidly. I rattled the chains in my hand, urging her to answer. Historia opened her eyes as if waking from sleep and nodded.
"Ah, yeah."
"See? She says it's true too."
Hehe. I even fooled the training instructor with this. Would you, who only watched from a distance out of the corner of your eye, really know?
At that moment, Historia, who had been lazily chewing on a cigarette, spat out.
"Huey. Fire."
"Ah, here."
I quickly lit it with a standard military magic. Once she had something to relieve her boredom, Historia took a satisfied drag. She flicked her lit finger to extinguish it, and the Regressor's suspicions deepened even further.
"Commander, isn't she strangely confident? It feels like she let herself be captured on purpose."
"What? A Six-Star let herself be captured on purpose? By me?"
"Yeah. The Commander surrendered too obediently. She must have some ulterior motive."
Half correct. To be precise, I was the one pulling the strings. It was a sharp observation, but it felt a bit off to see the Regressor suddenly acting sharp.
Feigning wounded pride, I shouted like someone who had just been stabbed.
"What? So you're saying my subduing of Historia is just a fake achievement, that she only played along? Is that what you're saying?"
This was an approach the Regressor hadn't expected at all. So much so that the Regressor, who had been looking at me with suspicious eyes, was startled.
'What? She took it that way?'
"What I mean is, well, no. A reasonable suspicion."
"Reasonable suspicion? You're just doubting me as you please? Do you want to belittle me that much?"
'This guy is completely offended and taking it the wrong way!'
I wasn't particularly offended, though. Somehow, because you were acting sharp, I unconsciously did it too. Did I tease her too much? Should I stop...
'Was that really the only problem? Like a petty brat?'
Cancel. I'm going all the way.
Flustered, the Regressor lowered her voice to soothe me and said.
"There are suspicious points."
"What's suspicious? Because I'm a failure and a criminal, you can't believe in my achievements?"
"No, if she wanted to escape, she could have just jumped off the meta-conveyor belt. It's strange that she let herself be captured..."
"Wait! Why would you tell her that! Ms. Shae. You're telling a prisoner how to escape right now!"
"Ah!"
At my point, the Regressor hastily covered her mouth. She carefully checked Historia's reaction, then lowered her voice and trailed off.
"No way. Do you think the Military Nation would send a Six-Star without a plan? They would know at least that much."
'They would know... right? I didn't really just tell her the escape method, did I?'
Oho. Is that so. I was about to give Historia a subtle signal... but stopped. Historia still had a languid expression, but a playful glint, unseen for a while, was flashing in her eyes.
Historia opened her mouth with the cigarette still held between her lips.
"Ah, so there was that method. Thanks for letting me know, cutie. As you told me, I'll consider that as a way to escape when the surveillance thins out."
"Eek?!"
Now this is true supporting fire. Taking advantage of Historia naturally playing along, I took a step further.
"Wow! Now you're leaking classified information to the enemy to undermine my achievements? You're a spy! This won't do. I need to report this to the public security bureau quickly!"
"I'm not! I'm not a spy... Wait! I'm already being chased by the Military Nation, so what does a spy or the public security bureau matter to me!"
Yelling at the top of her lungs, the Regressor looked at Historia this time. Historia stood still with a brazen face.
'Tch, is she pretending not to know just to tease me, or is she just teasing me...! One thing's for sure, the Commander and that guy are pissing me off to a similar degree! Just like classmates!'
If you're getting teased by Historia too, isn't that your own problem? I heard she's good at defense, but it seems she's developed into a counter-attacker in conversations rather than aggressively probing others.
Anyway, Historia looked so relaxed and peaceful that it was hard to think of her as a prisoner. She even knew how to escape.
Troubled, the Regressor opened her spatial inventory and rummaged through her pockets.
"Anyway! You're a prisoner. I don't know what you're thinking, but if you're a Six-Star, you'll find a way to break free from iron chains. So I'll tie you up again with this."
The object the Regressor pulled out of her pocket while yelling was a thin, long skein of thread, painted alternately in green and gold. Recognizing the identity of the thread with its faint luster, I asked.
"Heavenly Silkworm Silk?"
"That's right. It's tough and durable, and has the property of absorbing Qi, so no matter how much Qi is infused into it, it only becomes sturdier and won't break. To tie up the Commander, you need at least this much."
Wow, that's so precious. Even at Cheonui Mubong, we couldn't get a large supply of it, so Sepia complained endlessly when I asked her to make a wrapping cloth out of Heavenly Silkworm Silk.
The Regressor unwound a skein of Heavenly Silkworm Silk and held it in both hands. The continuously pulled silk struck the air, making a threatening sound.
"That'll be better for you too, Commander. Heavenly Silkworm Silk is tough, but it's not as hard as iron chains, so it'll hurt less... at least. Only when you have no intention of escaping, that is."
"Hmm. I'm a prisoner, so do as you please."
"Alright. Hughes, undo the chains."
"There's no need."
Clamping the cigarette between her teeth, Historia put force into it and snapped the iron chains. A bone-chilling cracking sound was heard as the broken and severed iron chains clattered down behind Historia.
Even after snapping the iron chains with the strength of her arms, Historia's arms only had a few faint red marks.
"Hoo. That hurts."
Without it hurting at all, Historia feigned pain.
The reason humans cannot throw off iron chains is that iron chains are harder than the body. No matter how strong the force, if the flesh is weaker than the chains, the first thing to be crushed is blood and flesh.
The same goes for Qi Masters who have achieved Qiankun. Infusing Qi doesn't make their own bodies harder. Even if their strength increases, that strength also harms their own body, so when they are bound by chains, they cannot escape with half-hearted resolve. That is the reason the Military Nation's restrainment suits were created.
However, from the moment a person grasps Kan, the calculation changes a little. If they can circulate Qi inside their bodies to strengthen their flesh itself, common sense no longer applies.
They are safe even if they fall from a high place bare-handed, and even if they tear up a restrainment suit or smash iron chains with their own strength, their skin is only slightly pressed. They reach the state of a superhuman, transcending humans in a fundamental sense.
Beyond that, if they reach the Principle... from then on, they surpass even superhumans.
The Regressor clicked her tongue briefly.
'To achieve Qiankun at that age, grasp Kan. And touch Li. I only touched it slightly, but... Tch, what is God doing? If you're going to give a regression anyway...'
Finishing her short reverie, the Regressor muttered.
"...Hmph. As expected. You could have broken free anytime."
"Don't worry. I definitely ran out of strength earlier."
Rubbing her wrist as she replied, Historia observed the Regressor through the drifting cigarette smoke. The smoke rose into the sky, but Historia's eyes sank even deeper.
'Huey is Huey, but what exactly is her identity? According to the report, she entered Tartarus of her own accord. She's not the Military Nation's secret weapon, nor is she something Huey created. The power of the treasure is surprising, but her Qi is even more so. Especially when she suddenly got stronger at the end...'
Historia recalled the moment she fought against the Regressor. That final moment.
Historia had never been defeated by anyone since Hamelin. Not only among those her age, but it was also hard to find a match for her even in the Military Nation, making her a genius among geniuses for whom the Absolute Spear had stepped in personally. Having even reached the edge of the Principle at a young age, she was truly the pride of the Military Nation.
Yet she had suffered a definitive defeat at the hands of the much younger-looking Regressor. It was especially hard to dismiss the last moment simply as the power of the treasure.
Knowing the inside story, I just nod and think, 'Ah, she's a Regressor, so of course she can do that,' but both the Military Nation and Historia must have felt a shock like a bolt of lightning struck their heads.
'Especially the last moment. For a brief second, her hair grew longer and her body seemed to mature. What was that? A seal? Or did she reach the Principle at that age?'
"What are you doing? Hold it out."
The subtle battle of exploration ended as the Regressor sharply flicked the Heavenly Silkworm Silk once. Historia slowly extended her arm in front of the Regressor.
"Here, tie me up."
"Put your arms behind your back and turn around."
Historia obediently followed the Regressor's command. The Regressor tied Historia up with the Heavenly Silkworm Silk without letting go of her tension.
The Heavenly Silkworm Silk, said to be such a precious item, bound every corner of Historia's body. Even as her whole body was being tightened, Historia miraculously managed to mutter with the cigarette still in her mouth.
"...Ugh. Cutie, your hands are rough compared to how you look."
"Why do you keep calling me cutie and all that? There's barely any age difference."
Absorbed in tying the knots, the Regressor replied without thinking. Half as probing, or half as an expression of discomfort, Historia initiated the conversation.
"You look like you're about to enter middle school. At that age, the difference between you and me is like heaven and earth."
"What heaven and earth! I'm nineteen!"
"Nineteen? Really? Aha. You had stunted growth."
"Stunted growth? You're the one who's tall like a beanpole!"
'It's true I had stunted growth...! But I've grown now that I've gotten enough nutrition. I shouldn't be treated like a kid!'
That's true. Historia is just tall, slightly smaller than me.
The Regressor's speech is curt and her temper is short, but her height isn't short. Though she isn't on the taller side.
"You need to fix your manners, cutie. What you should say to someone bigger than you isn't 'beanpole,' but 'older sister.'"
"Older sister? Did you hit your head? What nonsense."
'Ah. Right. She still has the Agharta mask on, so she must look like a guy. Is that why she called me a kid too?'
Why did she cross-dress if this was going to happen? It's still an unanswered question. What kind of wind was blowing over the Regressor before she fell into Tartarus.
Uh, wait a minute. Come to think of it, the way she's being tied right now... and Historia looking uncomfortable...
I subtly pointed it out.
"Ms. Shae, your method of tying reveals some impure intentions."