There is nothing as meaningless as pitting common sense against absurdity. It doesn't work, which is exactly why it's absurd. No matter what choice is made, it's not the right answer, and conversely, doing nothing is not the wrong answer either.
The regressor did nothing and watched people die, but it was ultimately the right choice. Because the regressor was alive.
For now, at least.
'Fight? Don't fight? Tch. What should I do?'
If it were to survive, she considered running away while Sangun killed the Black Tiger Army... but even that made her tilt her head in doubt. Even in the urgency, the regressor calmly assessed the situation.
'Even if I run away alone, I'll just be hunted and killed. To survive even a little, it's better to make everyone run in different directions. Otherwise, I can only lie flat and hope the tiger spares me... Damn it! Even that is just offering my life to the tiger's whims!'
It was the same for me. As long as I couldn't read Sangun's thoughts, I couldn't confidently say that turning my back and running away from a beast was the better option.
'I can survive. But...!'
The regressor was also a being close to absurdity. Having obtained all kinds of means, she had a secret plan to break through even this crisis. However, that was strictly a story that only applied to the regressor.
'What about Hughes? Ende? And Azi, who lost the crown? Should I leave them to die at Sangun's hands and run away?'
The regressor could run away. She could temporarily escape the absurdity, observe the situation, and had the ability to change the circumstances after regressing.
However, the regressor chose not to run away. She, who could start over using even this experience as nourishment even if she died, wanted to see what came next.
'No! After working so hard to get things this far...! If I run away here, this iteration ends with this! What will happen to Azi who lost the crown, how the Wolf King with a complete crown will be different from last time, what changed because of Hughes's intervention! I need to know that! If I run, I won't know anything!'
Seven colors of light flickered in the regressor's eyes. The lights of the Seven-Colored Eyes merged into one, capturing what lay beyond the light in her vision. The cursed eyes once called the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes and the Eyes of Destiny flashed, reflecting the regressor's impossible past.
The realm she had once reached, if only briefly. Instead of the principles she could never grasp no matter how hard she tried, there was a time she practiced magic to learn a Unique Demon Path. It ultimately ended in failure, but thanks to that, it became an opportunity for her to better understand the power of relics.
Reflected in the Eyes of Destiny was Shea, who had been engaged in magic.
Magic power flowed from a non-existent future. The present that diverged from the observed destiny. To fill the gap between the two, it absorbed magic power from all things. The regressor's subspace, Rene's Pocket, opened on its own. Magic power flowed from the numerous treasures and magical artifacts the regressor had collected, assisting her.
'I don't need to win! Just driving them away from here is enough! Just making them act capriciously is enough! It's reckless but... Sangun is originally a being that acts on whims!'
If it were for fighting, ki techniques would be better. The regressor was a half-baked fool who couldn't even learn a Unique Demon Path. But this wasn't a fight; it was about puffing up and making noise to threaten Sangun. What was needed wasn't a sword, but a gong.
The regressor focused the rampaging magic power into Cheonaek. Using Cheonaek, which contained the sky and swallowed lightning, as a catalyst, she drew out the extreme of wind and lightning magic.
Sangun, who had annihilated the Black Tiger Army and killed the Marquis, also turned its head. Two strands of Sangun's whiskers twitched.
The regressor struck with all her might against it.
"Heavenly Sword Technique, Storm Eagle!"
The atmosphere spread its wings as a massive storm. The wind rampaged wildly, sucking in and launching everything around. Sand and dust spread wide, crying out like a bird of prey. The air and the ground rubbed together, generating static electricity without any divine power.
At this point, it wasn't even wind. Even a torrential waterfall couldn't compare to this force. In the fierce rapids, ordinary humans suffered just from being exposed to it. The beastkin screamed at the wind that seemed like it would pluck out all their fur.
"Aaaargh!"
"Run!"
"No! Get down!"
The story that a giant snake remains fine even when hit by a storm must have been because the storm was weak. At the wingbeat of the Storm Eagle, the ground sank and boulders rolled like pebbles. Fortunately, instead of hitting people and rolling on, the boulders got caught somewhere, creating a structure to partially shield from the wind.
"I'm alive...!"
"Toeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeng!"
"Ah, shit, it's noisy!"
If it hadn't been for Kito, dozens would have died just from the aftermath, but the regressor didn't have the luxury to care. If they didn't drive Sangun away, everyone might die!
"Get outttttt!"
The regressor swung Cheonaek with all her might. The Storm Eagle, now dark enough to see its form, was shot toward Sangun. Like an eagle greedily grasping everything on the ground and trying to fly away.
It looked like an eagle, but it had no physical substance. Even after swinging her hand through the air a few times, only large ripples formed in the wind; the storm itself did not disappear. Sangun frowned and lowered its body. The jeogori and skirt fluttered madly.
- But it was not pushed back. Gripping the ground with its feet, even as pebbles bounced off it, Sangun kept its posture low, glared at the regressor, and walked slowly. Even with the wind obscuring its vision, Sangun's two shining eyes pierced through everything and gazed at the regressor.
It was a sight that would make anyone flee in terror, but instead of running, the regressor drew up more power. Lightning flashed from Cheonaek.
"Heavenly Sword Technique, Thunder Hammer!"
A bright yellow light flashed from the Storm Eagle's maw. The lightning the regressor had gathered from Claudia's Lightning Falls. That power arose within the storm.
She had no intention of dealing damage. How much would Sangun suffer from being struck by lightning in a storm swirling with dust? Instead, the regressor focused her power on the thunder. The lightning strike rode the wind and created a vibration.
Rumble.
A noise as loud as Sangun's roar tore through the world. As if it would echo across the vast Enge Plains, the massive power was entirely converted into noise, racing across the ground and the sky. Boulders and sand bounced in place from the vibration, and even the air shook, creating a visible heat haze.
She refracted space with Cheonaek and fired that noise toward Sangun. A deafening roar that would make any beast cover its burst eardrums and flee tore through the world.
As if having screamed every sound in the world for a moment, a muffled silence flowed past the ears.
Storm, light, noise. The regressor, who had unleashed every power that beasts would hate, suddenly raised her head.
'...Huh? Where's Sangun?'
Sangun had disappeared from her senses. The regressor's senses were almost as sharp as a beast's. Even now, seeing 'everything' with the Eyes of Destiny, there was nothing the regressor couldn't see.
'Did it run away? I hope so. Please tell me it did! But, if it didn't...!'
Still, the regressor couldn't let her guard down.
A tiger is fast and strong. And above all, silent. It conceals its presence, approaches its prey, and snaps its neck in a single bite.
Sangun's concealment of its presence was almost akin to a divine authority. The regressor, who had opened her Eyes of Destiny, scattered her senses widely. Though she had lost track of it for a moment, the regressor's eyes were also peerless treasures.
The three powers of seeing temperature, seeing depth, and seeing through found something leaping through the storm and noise. And it was terrifyingly fast! An illusion arose as if the tiger's stripes were gradually growing larger within the swirling cloud of dust.
The regressor moved the moment she sensed it. At that very moment, Sangun, tearing through the darkness, lunged like lightning.
"Cheonaek...!"
Even though she unfolded space, scattered the wind, and reacted with the Heavenly Wheel Sutra,
Sangun's foreleg pierced through everything and struck the regressor.
The small body pierced through the storm and dust and flew like a cannonball. The regressor holding Cheonaek was swept up in the storm, fluttering like a kite without even touching the ground.
'Ugh...!'
However, the regressor fared better than Marquis Lapaeno. The Heavenly Wheel Sutra, the peerless ki technique created by the Sword Empress, reacted even to Sangun's strike. Ki, magic power, muscles, strength—everything moved to deflect the strike of an overwhelmingly powerful being, barely managing to save her life.
No one could match the number of times the regressor had fought life-or-death battles against overwhelmingly stronger opponents. Thanks to the experience accumulated through repeated regressions, she could maintain consciousness even in this storm.
'Don't fall! This won't kill me! No, even if I die, it's not over! Compared to the King of Sins, the intent and strength to kill me are lacking!'
Floating up into the air, she rode the wind and surveyed below. Fortunately, Sangun was only glaring at the regressor.
'If I hold my ground in the air, I can buy some time! The tiger doesn't have wings, so it can't leap up here. If I buy time and then run...!'
However, even for the regressor, there was no experience of fighting Sangun one-on-one. There was no need to stick her head into a tiger's maw.
Piercing through the storm, the great tiger soared. Stepping on the pebbles and gravel floating in the air, snatching at tree roots or wooden beams, it leaped up. While the regressor was gathering her wits, Sangun had already leaped within arm's reach.
It was too fast and powerful to avoid. Feeling the pure difference in 'power', the regressor gritted her teeth.
'...Even with this, it doesn't work...?!'
A tiger was no different from a disaster, hence the term 'tiger calamity'. A death that humans could not resist spewed out its savage nature right before her eyes. The foreleg fell at a speed invisible to the eye. Feeling a sense of helplessness and despair, the regressor... swung Cheonaek with the momentum she had built up.
A sharp blade on Cheonaek sliced Sangun's hand. The tough fur was sheared off, and a very small scratch appeared on the skin.
A very small wound. The price paid to inflict it was horrific.
Kwaaang. The regressor's body dropped like lightning. Skin burst and muscles and bones twisted. Spewing blood from her mouth, nose, and ears, the regressor plummeted toward the ground. She was already half-dead before hitting the ground, but after falling, it was even more gruesome.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
Blood burst from her mouth like an oil well. She trembled violently in excruciating pain, unable to move her body. The footprint of Sangun vividly appeared over her body, and a red aura was wavering through her clothes.
'Ah... it hurts... ugh!'
At least she had reacted to the fall itself with Cheonaek and the Heavenly Wheel Sutra, but the blow she took was too great to reduce all the impact. Capillaries burst, and her eyes were stained red with blood rather than the Seven-Colored Eyes. The magic power that had filled her entire body also scattered in all directions.
And Sangun, who had struck the regressor down, had hit her so hard that it was now floating in the air. If that fell to the ground, the regressor would depart.
To the next iteration.
"No, Sangun here..."
Nothing was the right answer anyway. If Azi and I had run away while the regressor bought time, would we have survived? Falling this quickly, it wouldn't be strange to be chased down and killed.
I couldn't read minds, nor had I seen the future. I recalled a low possibility in a desperate situation.
Wolf, promise. Sangun had made a promise with the wolf. It must be a king's promise. Then.
"Azi!"
There was no need to speak. Azi, having finished her treatment, was already running toward Sangun. However...
"Arf?!"
As her entire body blurred, she momentarily lost her balance and fell. She tried to get up and run again, but her gait already looked unsteady.
It was a low possibility. Azi was neither a dog nor a wolf, and she had even handed over that crown. Expecting her to judge that she had the right to intervene in the promise was too optimistic an assumption.
Still, I had to try.
I glared at the falling Sangun and ran toward it. Perhaps the laws of gravity applied equally even to tigers, as it was falling from the air with its skirt flipped up.
Even in that state, its gaze was still fixed on the regressor. Whether it felt threatened, it was full of the intent to kill.
I looked at Sangun and shouted.
"Tiger!"
What on earth did I have right now? Cards? As if they'd work. Demon God? I'm not the Demon God itself, and using it as a tool would just tickle it.
Damn it, I have nothing. The only thing left is the hollow symbol of the King of Humanity... I don't know if this will work, but.
"I am human! The promise has been kept. The wolf is no more! That is a wolf!"
I shouted desperately, but it didn't even look at me. Did I speak too softly? Given its keen hearing, it couldn't have not heard me. It was simply ignoring me because my presence was weak and I didn't represent anyone.
Then how about this. I drove Jizan into the ground and scooped it up like a snow shovel. Dirt and boulders soared up.
I was nothing special, but Jizan wasn't. Sangun finally looked my way. Having grabbed Sangun's attention, I shouted.
"Tiger, hold on! The target of your promise is gone, so you have no reason to leave the mountain now..."
As I shouted, Sangun suddenly curled its body. Then, as it forcefully extended its limbs, its body instantly accelerated toward the ground. What? What did it step on to jump? It looked like it was just swimming through the dust.
I got its attention, but will I be okay? I'm a king in name too, so it wouldn't just kill me, right?
The moment I thought that, Sangun disappeared the instant its foot touched the ground. In the blink of an eye, Sangun was looking at me from inches away. A savage nature that made my knees weak was directed at me.
I couldn't move my hands or feet. Cold sweat soaked my body. Faced with instinctive fear, I desperately greeted it.
"Tiger, nice to..."
The words didn't continue. Because my breastbone collapsed from Sangun's strike.
My chest and back touched. Blood spurted from my crushed lungs. That annoyingly thrust punch, in a single blow, twisted my flesh and bones. Like the filling spilling out when you press down on a meat dumpling, something bright red flowed out from my torn skin, reflected in my retina. The shockwave exploded over my clothes, and my body flew away as if hit by a horse.
Fuck. To think I'd suffer a tiger calamity.
This is why I shouldn't have gotten involved with the regressor.
There wasn't even time to feel the pain. Like an ordinary person facing an angry tiger, crushed by those massive forelegs, I suffered a tiger calamity.
With that, my consciousness snapped...
It felt like my back had fallen into warm, soft water. A sense of buoyancy, not knowing whether I was floating or sinking, enveloped my body.
Cozy. Like wanting to stay in bed in the morning, I too felt the desire to just keep sinking. But suddenly, recalling Sangun, I kicked my feet and snapped out of it.
What is this? Coming to my senses, it was pitch black in every direction. No matter how much I flailed my arms and legs, nothing caught. My feet didn't touch anything, only kicking at the air.
Is this the afterlife? That can't be.
An unrealistic space where dead beasts leave their bodies behind, only their consciousness is transferred to be judged by religious standards, and then given eternal punishment or reward accordingly actually exists? Regression is more realistic than that nonsense. Regression is at least simple.
But I am but a mere beast. If such an unrealistic space actually exists and dragged me here, I should play the role of the most devout believer right now. No, it's not even acting. If it's real, I should repent, believe, and follow right now.
[Unpleasant thought.]
What? Who is it? Someone reading the mind of a telepath!
If it's a god, I am so sorry. This foolish beast possessed such stupidity that it could not believe anything it couldn't see, and thus failed to accept your teachings. As punishment, I was torn apart by Sangun, so please forgive me with your generous mercy.
[You're not dead yet. Don't close your eyes.]
...I wasn't dead? That can't be. I don't have the Heavenly Wheel Sutra, divine power, or vampire traits. Could I survive that strike?
[You can. Because I'm inside you.]
What are you?
[I am you. You are me. I am the one who came inside you.]
What are you talking about? I can't be two. Show yourself.
[-Alright.]
And what appeared before my eyes was a beautiful girl with silver hair and red eyes, with skin so pale it was almost white. Not expecting to see that figure here, I was considerably flustered.
What is this? I am you, so I thought it would be something like the King of Dogs and Wolves again regarding the King of Humanity... Why is it Tyr's form?
Tyr spoke to me in a tone that didn't sound like Tyr at all.
[You must not die. You cannot die. You must live. Because we have to meet again.]
The sentiment is appreciated, but words alone won't keep me alive. Many things are necessary to survive.
[Open your eyes. Breathe. Move your heart.]
Do you think that's as easy as it sounds?
[You have to.]
No, I don't have the strength.
[You do.]
What?
[Strength.]
Something touched my empty hand. Spade 6, the Demon God's Card. It probably contained Tyr's Demon God, but it only made my body a bit sturdier. Even if I understood my own body, without ki techniques, I had no way to use it...
[You will not die. You will remain unchanged and as you are. Just as you gave your heart, I have given you a god.]
Demon Gods are not perfect. Demon Gods are universal concepts and excellent tools, but they do not provide perfect help to all humans. Like the vampire that strips free will or the golden mirror that collapses the body, they ignore the trivial differences of individual humans and lead them according to their own flow.
...No. It is not the Demon God that is imperfect, but humans. The universal principles of the Demon God are too vast and wondrous to care for each individual human. In the process of using the Demon God, individuals are crushed and suppressed, causing harm.
This is why they are called Demon Gods.
[Live.]
However, Tyr's Demon God was pulsating within me.
A vampire? No. If I were a vampire, the Heart's potion wouldn't have had any effect. This isn't preventing me from changing, but solely keeping me alive. So that I don't die.
Originally, if I were resurrected like this, the Homunculus dilemma should have mutated me. Like the Golden Mirror's Homunculus or Tyr's vampire, my essence would change, so I had desperately rejected that change.
[Just as you are, because we must meet again.]
Unique Demon Path, huh.
Tyr's shadow spoke with the exact same face as Tyr in the darkness.
Just as I gave my heart to Tyr, Tyr gave me a Demon God. Just as I recalled Tyr's heartbeat and gifted it, Tyr engraved my body as it was and breathed life into it.
The reason I could give my heart to Tyr without mutation was because I was the King of Humanity. Conversely, the reason Tyr's Demon God resurrects me without mutation is because I am the King of Humanity. Because I can read the Demon God and make it my tool.
Thanks to becoming a Demon God, I gained regenerative power. Or perhaps Tyr became a Demon God in order to give me regenerative power.
I'm not really sure, but at the very least, I won't die from being hit. It didn't block change itself, so if my body gets torn apart and eaten, that's another story, though.
For now, that's enough.
With the sensation of my body surging, I opened my eyes and came back to life.