Shei finished speaking with a trembling voice.
"That's it. It was a pathetic life, and I was a pathetic person. Back then, I knew nothing, and had no information worth mentioning."
"Why? That's also valuable information. It's about the Military Nation starting a war and invading the Allied Nations. Hilde, do you know anything about this?"
Hilde was wearing a cunning smile, as if something had clicked.
"It's the Third Advance Operation against the Allied Nations! The Allied Nations' Juggernauts are extremely threatening weapons in terms of war scale, so they tried to execute a disruption operation using spies, false information, and decoy units! They selected the most useless personnel among the Level 1 citizens to put in the decoy unit, and it seems you were coincidentally chosen for it!"
"...Hmph. Right, that must have been it."
"Right~? The command headquarters only established the operation plan, and it's a secret operation managed under strict security, so how did you know about it even though they haven't even carried out that plan yet~?"
Hilde, who looked at Shei as if interrogating her, soon smiled brightly and answered.
"Wow~. It really seems like Shei is a regressor!"
"...I really hate the Military Nation. No matter how many times I regress, I can never like it."
"Why~? Please like it a little! If you had revealed the fact that you're a regressor, the Military Nation would have been your greatest ally!"
"They wouldn't believe me. Even if they did, I'd pass on the Military Nation."
Shei was born in the Military Nation, and lived a miserable life in the Military Nation. Then eventually she was used as bait and died.
The one who killed Shei at that time was the Association Master of the Allied Nations. From what she heard, it seemed to be the Raging Storm Association Master, but... there's no way to know now. As Shei said herself, at that time she was someone who knew nothing about what an Association Master or a Juggernaut was.
"When I died like that and regressed for the first time, I woke up curled up in a square room. While hearing the sound of someone being dragged away."
About 1 year ago from now. When Shei had just turned eighteen and was thrown into reality. Shei returned from the distant future. In that body at that time.
Shei said, extending her hand far out.
"I thought I had a prophetic dream. Everything I experienced was so tasteless, monotonous, and unhappy that it felt like a dream I just let pass by."
"If it's a prophetic dream, that's the power of a Holy Maiden. Did you ever think you were a Holy Maiden?"
"I didn't know that well back then either, and if I were a Holy Maiden, I wouldn't be living so pathetically... Though it seems that's what happened in the end."
It's a strange story. All Holy Maidens are formed by the blessing of the first Holy Maiden's prophecy. Because of this, the prophesied Holy Maiden is personally attended to by the Holy Sword Brigade, and is protected in the Holy Imperial Court's inner sanctum.
But it seems Shei never had such an opportunity.
"Since I thought it was a dream, and I didn't know if there would be another regression. In my second life, I just tried to escape the Military Nation and survive. But even then, the Military Nation was my enemy."
"Enemy~? What country would just stand by and watch a citizen raised on their taxes try to escape on their own!"
"True. Police, border patrol units, public security... An ordinary, powerless Level 1 citizen like me receives suspicious glances just for moving to another region. So to escape, I had to borrow the power of the Resistance."
"Even if the Resistance lacks talented people, they wouldn't have accepted you that easily~?"
"I knew what would happen in the future."
No matter how insignificant a life Shei lived, she could at least hear news. And knowing the future is an incredibly huge weapon.
"Exactly 6 months after the point I regressed to, the Bottomless Abyss reversed flow, and the disasters hiding within it walked out. Progenitor Tirkhanjaka, the Earth Immortal wielding Jizan, and the corpse monster woven from the vengeful spirits of the Bottomless Abyss. Progenitor Tirkhanjaka ate all the humans along its path as it returned to the Principality, the Earth Immortal wielding Jizan marched straight toward the Holy Imperial Court, and the corpse golem rolled toward the Vassal State. An unprecedented state of emergency was declared across the entire Military Nation. Fortunately, the disasters bypassed the Military Nation so it was fine, but those disasters dealt a massive blow to the Holy Imperial Court and the Imperial territory."
"..."
Hilde made a stung expression. Shei noticed that reaction and asked.
"Was that also an operation?"
"N-Not quite an operation, more like a breakwater to avoid any potential crisis that might occur in the Military Nation~. Hahaha~."
"The Military Nation lacks mystery, so they probably intended to use the disasters of the Bottomless Abyss as military force if necessary. Yeah. Maeiel also mentioned that. They knew about it, but it erupted faster than expected so it was difficult to respond."
Hilde had operated as the Divine Ark Ziekhrlund in the Military Nation, protecting the Military Nation's secrets in the darkness. However, it seems the secret was too large for just one Holy Maiden's Holy Sword Brigade to guard. Hilde said with a deflated expression.
"Did the Holy Maiden even know about that~? My motivation as the Public Security Director is dropping~."
"It's because you hid things like that that war broke out in the world. In particular, a conflict arose between the Azalia Republic and the Roveria Vassal State, which suffered great damage from the corpse golem. They succeeded in defeating the corpse golem, but the plague that flowed out from there swept through the area near the border. Unable to reach an agreement on the disposal of the corpses from the Bottomless Abyss, the two sides eventually started a war."
"We didn't hide the corpse golem~? That's the first time I've heard of it!"
"Ah, that corpse golem was probably the soldiers that the Overlord buried alive in the distant past."
At the bottom of the Bottomless Abyss lie 200,000 vengeful spirits who were buried alive and died. In that land where the Earth Mother Goddess turned a blind eye to the Great Ancestor's sins, decay does not occur, so the corpses slept while retaining their forms.
"If someone performed a black magic ritual with those corpses, something like a corpse golem could be created. It wouldn't be easy, though."
"What! We didn't know what was at the bottom of the Bottomless Abyss either! So that's not the Military Nation's fault!"
"Anyway, it happened because of what you did, so it's your fault."
That's not wrong. They created Tantalus with similar intentions.
Shei said with her arms crossed.
"Anyway, at that time I didn't know the detailed circumstances either, so I couldn't predict the exact time or events. But the outline was roughly correct. So the Resistance trusted me and took me to the border. There I met the leader of the Resistance and received an offer to join them, but... I, who just wanted to survive somehow, refused that offer and left the Military Nation."
She met the princess who was the leader of the Resistance at that time. It was early in her regressions, and Shei at that time had no leisure, so they couldn't become completely open with each other.
And there was also a reason Shei couldn't completely let her guard down. Shei said, gripping her arm tightly.
"But you know. I was still bait even then."
"Bait?"
"Yeah. The Military Nation had planted spies in the Resistance too. The secret police who were investigating me came up with an operation to track me and wipe out the Resistance in one blow. Without knowing that, I essentially delivered Public Security directly to the Resistance headquarters."
Shei's emotions are revealed. The fundamental aversion, distrust, and sense of betrayal toward the Military Nation started from there.
"While the Resistance and the Military Nation's Public Security Bureau fought each other, I desperately ran away to survive. Not caring how many people died behind me. I kept running with my ears covered and my eyes turned away. I probably went all the way to the Allied Nations. Because there was nowhere else to go. After barely escaping, I hid my body in a secluded place. And I slept as if dead."
Shei, who said she had abandoned everything and ran away solely to survive, shrugged her shoulders.
"And when I opened my eyes, I had regressed and returned to the Military Nation. I died without even realizing it while I was asleep. So vainly despite all that struggling."
Who could have killed her? The beasts of the Allied Nations aiming for money? Or the Military Nation's secret police who pursued Shei? Or just wild animals?
Anyone would be plausible. Anyone could have done it. Shei personally experienced that fact. And also that to survive, she first needed to become strong.
"That's when it started. Having confirmed that I would return even if I died, I decided to fight back rather than run away. I was going to be dragged around and die anyway if I didn't have power. Isn't it better to do something than that? I continued resistance activities while learning the basic formation qi cultivation I acquired at the Military Nation's training center and the qi cultivation of the Resistance knights."
Shei didn't even remember the subsequent regressions in detail. They weren't as impressive as the first regression, and the actions she took were just similar.
"3rd time, 4th time, 5th time, 6th time. I acted to destroy the Military Nation. I joined the Resistance, I joined mercenary groups, I even posed as a prophet. And I died in a different way every time. But there were results. I, who at first died like a bug caught by Public Security, eventually became someone chased even by Generals and Six-Star Generals."
"With that level of skill, wouldn't it have been better to be on the Military Nation's side~?"
"Why would I."
It's probably not just because her first memories were bad. She must have instinctively realized that being in the Military Nation would only result in being used. Shei was hostile toward the Military Nation, and the Military Nation was hostile toward Shei.
"The Military Nation tortured me, turned people against me, deceived me, and betrayed me. There were times I just committed suicide because I couldn't endure the torture. How can I join hands with such a nation? I can never like them no matter what."
Shei is honest, so she probably couldn't hide her emotions, and the Military Nation must have known that too. They probably didn't even think of winning her over.
Shei and the Military Nation repeated fierce battles. In the time we don't know, they dug into each other and shed blood. The Military Nation was powerful, but Shei had the weapon of regression. As she repeated regressions, Shei only grew stronger.
"No matter what, I eventually realized that if my strength was insufficient, I couldn't accomplish anything. For the 6th regression, I decided to enter the Empire's Martial Palace to train my qi cultivation. Because I had a lot of money obtained from future information. I was going to use it all as donation and focus only on training without thinking of anything else."
The Sword Empress, who had been quietly listening to her disciple's story, spoke softly.
"...Libra Palace."
"Huh? How did you know when I haven't even mentioned it yet in this regression?"
"The only Martial Palace that takes money is Libra Palace."
"Yes, that's right. At Libra Palace, you can receive lessons from better teachers if you pay money. If you paid a fortune, the Lord of Libra Palace, Libra, would personally give instruction. I earned a lot of money too, but with that amount, I couldn't receive direct instruction from the Lord of Libra Palace."
"Good. It doesn't suit you."
The Virgo Palace Lord nodded as if satisfied by something. Shei, having finished her chat with her master, continued speaking.
"But my training was sluggish, and I was a failure who couldn't even learn Qi Sensing despite spending that money. Even taking elixirs didn't change anything. Then one day, while I was just idly spending time at Libra Palace, the world suddenly changed. That incident occurred. Something that put the true fate of the world at stake, different from the petty fights between me and the Military Nation."
It probably changed from that point on. Shei, who simply wanted to take revenge on the Military Nation and survive, was caught in an even larger vortex of fate.
Perhaps feeling tense even recalling it, Shei, after wetting her throat, finally opened her mouth.
"...The King of Sin, and the War of Judgment."