The First Success
The First Success
In her first regression, Frien had not seriously contemplated the phenomenon she was experiencing.
Because the mere fact that Daniel — whom she had believed dead — was alive before her eyes meant she had no need to think about anything else.
Having embraced Daniel almost reflexively, Frien poured out her longing, telling him she had missed him.
Daniel, who found this puzzling, calmed Frien down for the time being.
When her tears finally subsided, Frien had been about to explain the whole story to Daniel but stopped short.
Because within that familiar landscape, other people who should have been dead were also perfectly alive.
Only then did Frien realize that she had returned to the past.
She also instinctively knew that recklessly revealing knowledge of the future might cause something terrible to happen.
Because she could not tell who among those present was a traitor.
The only traitor confirmed so far had been Major Rodel alone.
So Frien resolved to do what she could.
"Division Commander! I want to join the reconnaissance in force as well!"
Frien knew that after the reconnaissance in force, the soldiers' morale would decline and the mood within the army would grow unsettled.
She also remembered that Major Rodel had exploited that unsettled mood to assassinate Daniel.
If it were up to her, she wanted to say that the reconnaissance in force should be postponed, but since it was impossible to change the operational situation merely with the words of a single medical officer, she expressed her intention to participate in the operation instead.
Frien had confidence in herself.
She judged that since she had honed her abilities all this time, she would be able to handle any enemy ambush adequately.
That was a miscalculation.
"It's an ambush! Captain Frien! We have to run...!"
Along with a Peok! sound, her vision dropped downward.
That was probably the sound of a bullet lodging into her head.
Kudangtang─
When she opened her eyes, she was in the command and control room.
"Frien? What's wrong? Are you all right?"
Time had turned back.
She was not sure of the cause, but time was repeating itself every time she died.
Though flustered, Frien felt hope.
'If I can continue to turn back time with each death...'
Because saving Daniel was, quite literally, 'a matter of time.'
Clenching her fist tightly, Frien hoped to join the reconnaissance in force once again.
This time, since she knew the enemy's attack point, she conveyed a warning to the battalion commander to be careful.
The battalion commander, as expected, did not believe her and the ambush commenced.
Since it was a future she already knew, Frien responded as calmly as possible.
While paying as much attention as she could to the enemy's attacks, she spread her black mana and healed the allied soldiers.
However, there was a limit.
Kudangtang─
"Frien? What's wrong? Are you all right?"
Having barely pulled herself out of the shock of death, Frien thought.
That it was impossible to anticipate every attack from enemy soldiers closing in from all directions.
'Then...'
She had to somehow prevent losing her life to an enemy bullet.
But blocking enemy bullets with a mana shield was impossible.
Because if that were possible, mages would not have needed to vanish from the modern world.
After agonizing over it repeatedly, Frien conceived the idea of forming a mana shield only around the area near her head.
If she could protect just her head, she could avoid instant death, and as long as she avoided instant death, she could restore her body through black mana and avoid dying.
She thought of narrowing and re-narrowing the density to block the bullets.
Having formulated her plan, Frien immediately set out for the battlefield.
However, applying a theoretical technique in actual combat was not such an easy matter.
Because no matter how much she narrowed the density, the bullets pierced through the shield and reached her head.
But Frien did not give up.
Because she thought that if the theory was sound, all she needed to do was refine the amount of mana or the skill with which she handled it.
In the end, on her eighth cycle, Frien succeeded in forming a barrier made of black mana and deflecting a soldier's bullet.
At last, a path forward was visible.
Having successfully applied the theory in combat, Frien drove out the enemies from the ambush point and even launched an assault on the enemy's reserves.
Because she believed she had to root out Daniel's enemies.
Everything was going smoothly.
That is, until something erupting like dragon's fire engulfed her body.
At the sudden cautery pain, Frien let out a scream.
She continued restoring her body through black mana in order to survive, but it was not enough.
Because the speed at which she burned was far faster than the time it took for her skin to regenerate.
The more she used black mana, the more the pain increased and only the moment of death was delayed.
Thus, Frien died once more.
Having returned to the past, Frien's hands trembled as she recalled the intense agony, but she did not despair.
Time was infinite.
She simply needed to identify what had been done to her and deal with it.
Going out to the battlefield once more, Frien learned that the thing that had burned her was not a legendary dragon.
Because the culprit that had driven her to death was a flamethrower wielded by an enemy soldier.
The problem was that she could not know where the flamethrower soldier would strike from.
Because every time she began a new cycle, the number of soldiers she could save kept changing, causing the battlefield's composition to shift subtly.
The enemy also approached covertly through the trenches, making it even more difficult to ascertain.
That said, if she stayed in the rear, the soldiers would not fall within her healing range, which was a problem.
Thus, Frien had no choice but to suffer through the flamethrower attacks.
Though she died screaming every time, it was not as if Frien was making no progress.
Because the speed at which her skin regenerated was growing faster and faster.
Finally, upon reaching her twenty-first cycle, Frien became immune to the flamethrower.
The pain remained, but she was now able to restore her body so quickly that mere flames could do nothing to her.
After her long efforts, having killed the flamethrower soldier and even dealt with the battalion commander, Frien felt exhilaration.
Since she had strengthened her abilities and led the reconnaissance in force to success, she now felt certain that she could save Daniel.
Forcibly suppressing her excitement, Frien immediately embarked on her next plan.
She had decided to eliminate the traitor, Major Rodel.
Having secretly procured a dagger, Frien came face to face with Major Rodel.
Pretending to engage in ordinary conversation, she drew the dagger and swung it, but failed.
Tiing─
Because Major Rodel's skin, coated with Seraile's mana, easily deflected something like a blade.
Shoving the bewildered Frien aside, Major Rodel drew a revolver and immediately pulled the trigger.
Along with the gunshot, Frien began a new cycle.
She was not sure of the reason, but Major Rodel could not be killed by ordinary means.
However, time was infinite.
After employing various methods, Frien deduced that she could wound Major Rodel if she channeled mana into the dagger and swung it.
Having succeeded in cleanly killing Major Rodel on her twenty-fourth cycle, Frien attempted to determine whether there were any more traitors hiding within the division.
Because she thought that if they continued to hide like rats and relay information to the Republic, Daniel would have no choice but to be defeated.
However, she could not find any.
As a result, the division's secrets continued to leak out, and Daniel ultimately suffered hardship.
Thinking that if things went on this way, the disastrous past would repeat itself, Frien regressed.
Since she had plenty of time, she thought she could take her time searching from now on.
But there was no way Frien could easily uncover a traitor that even Pelf, the intelligence staff officer who had received Daniel's investigation order, had failed to find.
The traitor was operating so thoroughly, leaving no evidence behind whatsoever.
However, no matter how meticulously the traitor operated, overcoming Frien the regressor was impossible.
After repeating cycles and monitoring commanders and staff officers at every level one by one, Frien realized who the traitor was.
The commander of the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.
Having confirmed that this despicable bastard was the traitor, Frien swung her dagger without hesitation.
It was a brilliant achievement accomplished on her forty-ninth cycle.
The Armored Reconnaissance Battalion commander and Major Rodel.
Having killed two traitors, Frien felt a sense of liberation.
'At last...'
She believed she had resolved all the problems and succeeded in saving Daniel.
It was a miscalculation.
Daniel was dead.
He had collapsed onto the desk in his office, bleeding, without any forewarning whatsoever.