Chapter 476: Flip Suicide, and You Get 'Live'
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 476: Flip Suicide, and You Get 'Live'
What should one say when asked, "Do you want to destroy the world?" Naturally, you’d deny it. No one in their right mind would want to shatter a perfectly fine world.
What if you aren't in your right mind? What if you truly want to destroy the world? Even then, rational thinking dictates you should deny it first. If you rashly admit it, you’ll get a mace to the face from a hero trying to save the world.
What if you’re so completely insane that you obediently confess your world-destroying plans? Anyone with that level of intelligence is already dead. It’s impossible.
So, my answer is already decided.
And for that very reason, I can't give it right away.
“Shei. Before that, let me ask you something.”
“I asked first. If you're trying to dodge the question again…”
“Just listen. You're not the only one with questions.”
I replied with a hint of irritation, looking up at the Regressor.
“What’s your relationship with the Sanctum?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You’re searching for the King of Sins and warning of the world’s destruction. Not only do you know the future, but you also have your hands on all sorts of treasures, including Chun-aeng. Isn’t it obvious? The fact that you have a close relationship with the Sanctum is something even a passing dog would know.”
“Woof!”
Azzy nodded in agreement, though she didn’t understand the meaning. Correction. It seems the passing dog doesn’t know.
In other words, everyone but the dog knows. The Earth Sage, Tyr, even Hilde suspected a connection between the Regressor and the Sanctum the moment they saw her. Honestly, they did everything but say it out loud.
“That leads to the next question. Just how close is your relationship with the Sanctum? What kind of dirt do you have on them that they’d give you treasures they wouldn’t even give to the Saintess?”
At the piercing question, the Regressor muttered as if she’d been struck.
“I knew I’d be found out someday… So you finally noticed.”
Right. A bit late to admit it… Wait. What? Someday? Finally?
I was trying my best to have a serious conversation, but I couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted at her.
“What do you mean, ‘found out someday’?! It was completely obvious from the start!”
“What? How?”
“I just told you! Just look at you! Chun-aeng, the Pocket, those seven-colored eyeballs of yours! You expect not to get caught when you're plastered with Divines related to the sky, space, and light?! What are you, an ostrich? If you can't see it, it doesn't exist?”
No one ever believed your excuses, we just didn't bother to pick them apart! Even Tyr felt that way!
‘Sure, if you examine every little thing, it might seem suspicious. But to know right away? Is the King of Humans some kind of genius?’
Genius, my ass. Did she think "even a passing dog would know" was just a figure of speech? Examine every little thing? Just one of those things is strange enough!
Unaware of how suspicious she appeared, the Regressor tried her best to feign composure.
“You’re surprisingly well-informed about them. Most people just think they’re rare treasures. As expected of the King of Humans?”
“There she goes with ‘as expected of the King of Humans.’ I knew from the beginning. You’ve been suspicious from the moment we first met! You were a walking ball of suspicion from head to toe!”
The truth was, I’d figured most of it out with mind-reading. But the Regressor, oblivious to that, was quite flustered.
‘He noticed from the very beginning? All that time in the Abyss? And I never realized…!’
That’s because you… Ugh. Never mind. I’ll let it slide, since she was holed up by herself, supposedly for personal training, and I did throw up a smokescreen.
I pressed her sharply.
“If you answer me honestly, I'll answer you honestly. Who are you?”
It wasn’t a question the Regressor was unfamiliar with.
Her young age. The bizarrely overwhelming power that contradicted it. Abilities that could be talent or perhaps something more. The Regressor had always lived under such suspicion. It was unavoidable, as the background and narrative of the power she accumulated were reset in the next timeline.
I know how she got that power thanks to mind-reading… but I still have to ask.
It’ll make her bother me less.
The Regressor bit her lip and racked her brain for a moment. But she wasn’t me, and it was impossible for that head of hers to concoct the perfect lie to overcome this entire situation. She quickly gave up and answered honestly.
“I have no relationship with them.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“It's true. I have no ties of favor or enmity with them right now. These things were ‘given’ to me. I don't consider myself indebted to them for anything, and I have no intention of returning them.”
‘I'm grateful, but that's all. It's a relationship of mutual use.’
It wasn’t a proper answer without mentioning the premise of ‘regression.’ But it was also the most honest answer she could give under the circumstances.
Only a fool would believe an answer like that. But since I'd already read her mind, I guess I could be a little lenient. I replied in a slightly softer tone.
“So you're not hostile toward the Sanctum, I see.”
“Right. I’ll join hands with anyone if it means I can save the world. And the Sanctum, which has always sought to establish righteousness in the world, is the most trustworthy of them all.”
“And yet, that same Sanctum rejects the King of Humans. You do realize that from the King of Humans’ perspective, neither the Sanctum nor you are very trustworthy, right?”
“That’s why I’m asking you!”
The Regressor gripped Chun-aeng. The blade, embedded in my right shoulder, trembled. She had no intention of striking me down yet, but one never knew. The Regressor was someone who could do what needed to be done.
“The King of Sins who will destroy the world. That's a corrupted King of Humans! And you're a King of Humans, too! So tell me the truth. What are you planning to do to the world!”
Now she’s ready to listen. With the build-up complete, I chose my words carefully.
How should one answer a question that has a predetermined answer? It’s obvious, isn’t it?
She's not asking me a question. She wants to believe. She's asking me to give her a reason to.
“I'm the same as you, Shei.”
“Like me?”
Then I have to make her believe.
“It’s the same for me. I don't really care whose side you're on, or who you really are. Just like how I didn't take sides when you fought the Earth Sage and just let it slide, I have no intention of killing or destroying someone just because they’re problematic or suspicious. I don’t have the ability to, either.”
The Regressor acts on her whims. That’s because she can just throw this life away if she feels like it. Mistakes don’t matter to her, which, ironically, gives her more leeway to be reasoned with than the perfectionist Sanctum.
In other words, no matter how well I play my cards, my head could fly off because of one of her moods. The thought sent a cold sweat down my back.
That’s why I posed a question back to the Regressor—to evoke a sense of empathy, that we were both in the same suspicious position.
‘He says it doesn't matter… He's right. What I do is more important than who I am. And he's definitely pathetically weak compared to the King of Sins.’
Mhm. Yes, yes. She gets it.
If you want to persuade someone, you can't fight them from opposite sides. That's just a fight. True persuasion is starting from the same place and walking forward with compromise. Highlighting our common ground made her see me as pathetic…
What? Pathetic? Hey, the King of Sins is the weird one here, I'm perfectly normal! A perfectly normal King of Humans!
‘But, he's the King of Humans. The King of Humans is dangerous. Even if he hasn't gained power now, the power humanity possesses will eventually become the King of Humans’ power. If they unleash the malice they've honed by pointing swords and spears at each other, the King of Humans will one day become the King of Sins.’
As I fumed internally, a thought I read made me pause.
What? She knows the secret origin of the King of Sins? Even I don’t know the details of how that happens.
Of course, I couldn’t take the Regressor’s thoughts at face value. It was knowledge gained from a past timeline I couldn’t read, and it was highly likely she’d heard it from someone else. If the Sanctum engraved that knowledge onto her blank-slate brain, she’d believe it as truth. I couldn’t be certain.
But that wasn’t the important part.
If she knew that, how has she managed not to show it until now?
Did she purely forget? Or was she subconsciously avoiding thinking about the King of Sins?
Either way, that’s pretty incredible. As I marveled inwardly, the Regressor managed to ask her final question.
“What if… humanity wishes for its own destruction? What if ordinary people come to believe they’d be better off dead?”
Humanity wishing for its own destruction? What a stupid thing to say. I answered the incredibly foolish question immediately.
“I've lost all the authority that comes with being the King of Humans, so I can't say for sure… but if that time comes, I don't think it'll be a ‘King of Humans’ problem anymore, will it?”
“…Tch.”
It was an undeniable truth. Left with nothing to say, the Regressor withdrew Chun-aeng. The blade, which could have torn off my right arm, meekly sheathed its fangs.
The Regressor stepped back with a sullen face and asked me.
“Did the King of Humans come to the Abyss to find Mother Earth?”
“There’s no point in hiding it now. Yes, well. That’s right.”
‘I was right. Hughes infiltrated Tantalus with a hidden agenda! Well… I guess I’m not one to talk, since I came down here looking for Jizan. But my suspicions were justified!’
Yeah. But I don't regret lying. If I had readily revealed my identity back then, I might have started this journey with my right arm chopped off.
“Why are you searching for the Divines?”
“I’m under no obligation to answer, but I’ll be honest with you.”
I said, making a show of it while adding a bit more credibility to my words. Then, I revealed my true purpose.
“To catch up to humanity.”