Chapter 118
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: The Regressor Makes It All
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Kaboom!
The dark clouds blanketing the night sky unleashed furious winds and rain, while towering waves surged wildly, relentlessly slamming into the passenger ship.
The ship trembled incessantly, as if an earthquake had struck.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the passengers who had been enjoying their trip grew tense, and an emergency announcement blared out.
[Due to a sudden mana storm, the ship is experiencing severe turbulence. For your safety, passengers are requested to return to your cabins and secure yourselves...]
A mana storm had erupted unexpectedly at sea.
It wasn't common, but like a sudden downpour on a clear day, it happened often enough that the passengers relaxed and grumbled.
"Damn it. Why today of all days?"
"We came all this way to have fun."
They wanted to ignore it, but defying orders during an emergency could get them suspected of being villains.
So the passengers obediently followed the crew's instructions back to their cabins. Moments later, a colorless, odorless gas silently seeped from the vents.
"Did we play too hard today...?"
"No point going out anyway. Might as well sleep early...?"
The passengers inhaled the gas and naturally drifted off to sleep on their beds. The raging storm and waves that had threatened to capsize the ship calmed in an instant.
Once the entire vessel fell completely silent, the doors that had been shut swung open. Those who hadn't fallen asleep—the Black Arms staff—sprang into frantic action.
"We're almost there—move it, fast!"
"Check the cargo and prep it for immediate unloading!"
They had altered the route to reach Black Arms' hidden artificial island in about twenty minutes. No one knew what kind of fit the Black Arms owner, 'Owner', would throw if they weren't ready by then, so everyone hustled desperately.
Naturally, those coordinating the entire ship grew busy as well—the Central Control Room.
"Move all cargo from Sector C-22 to B-12!"
"Can't you see the other sections aligning? Do it in order! In order!"
"A-10 and A-11 still not connected? They're screaming about the path being cut off!!"
It was the control hub managing the passenger ship's interior, divided into puzzle-like sections via spatial magic, and securing the cargo holds.
Even normally busy preparing for potential intruders, during disembarkation prep like now, they fielded demands from the entire ship, making it utter chaos.
"Unlock security on D-11 sector, quick."
"I'm unlocking others—tell them to wait!"
Staff sat at a round table, furiously tapping panels. Each time, the central hologram of the ship split and recombined, displaying the status.
As shouts flew and they scrambled in the Central Control Room, one staffer spotted something odd.
"Huh? Why is the elevator...?"
An elevator descending from the cabins.
Normally, during disembark prep, elevators were locked between sections and off-limits, so someone must have boarded.
"Team leader! Someone's on the elevator...?"
"Has to be that cargo team leader asshole! Just shove it into any warehouse!"
"Y-yes, sir."
The staffer snapped to attention at the irritable team leader and averted his eyes.
Causing a fuss now would just get him chewed out for not handling his own job.
Shrugging at the descending elevator, the staffer thought,
'Well, no one below team leader rank can move it anyway.'
During prep, all elevators were rigidly fixed by spatial magic—without a team leader card, they wouldn't budge.
As always, handling it flexibly, the staffer tapped the panel to reroute it to a warehouse.
And then...
"...Huh?"
The elevator ignored the command and accelerated downward.
"Wait—Team...!"
Finally sensing something wrong, the staffer urgently called for the leader, but it was already too late.
Kwaaaang!!!
The elevator from above smashed through the Central Control Room's ceiling, and red emergency lights flashed as sirens wailed everywhere.
In the blink of an eye. As everyone froze in shock, black-gloved fingers pried from between the elevator doors.
Krunch!
The doors ripped apart like paper, and out stepped a sunglass-wearing young man and a veiled girl—Lee Se-hun and Erika.
"Hmm... More high-tech than I expected."
Staff manually controlled sections separated by spatial magic.
Cruder than Babel's Shangri-La from the exchange meet, but requiring admin approval to move sections made it secure.
Quickly grasping the controls, Lee Se-hun asked Erika beside him.
"Think you can do what I mentioned?"
Erika, scanning the interior, nodded at his question.
"If I can figure out the mana pattern."
"Good. Then..."
As Lee Se-hun turned to find an operator,
Whoosh!
The space before him rippled, dozens of spikes materializing.
Dart-like projectiles blanketed every direction, as if thrown by dozens at once. And behind Lee Se-hun, out of sight, a man suddenly appeared, slashing viciously with twin daggers.
The Central Control Room team leader, an A-rank spatial ability user, had waited for the elevator drop and struck in one breath.
'Got him...!'
Using spatial jumps to hurl darts everywhere and targeting vitals from a blind spot.
Dodge before activation, maybe—but surrounded like this, no escape. Even he deemed it a perfect ambush, eyes gleaming.
Thung!
A red meteor shot from inside the elevator.
Pang—!
The rushing fist's shockwave deflected the incoming spikes. Then the black-gloved fist hammered the team leader's solar plexus and gut in a flash.
Bam! Crack!
His under-armor shattered, bones crumbling.
The red-haired bodyguard, Ryu Eun-ha, who had seized the rolling-eyed team leader's throat, spun and roundhouse-kicked another staffer's jaw lunging at Erika.
Crack!
Jawbone shattering, the staffer's eyes rolled back. Ryu Eun-ha hurled the team leader's body at him with full force.
Kwaaang!
Both slammed into the wall. The others gaped at the sight.
The two best fighters in here downed in seconds without resistance.
"Anyone else?"
The staff sweated coldly at Ryu Eun-ha's indifferent sweep of the room.
'Th-that's gotta be S-rank.'
'One wrong move and we're done.'
No matter what, this monster decided their lives.
Drained of all fight, they didn't twitch. Meanwhile, Lee Se-hun, scanning around, lit up.
'That's the guy.'
Examining the unconscious team leader's mana flow via Tu-an, Lee Se-hun replicated it in his palm.
"Something like this should work."
"Mm... Got it."
Erika examined the sample Lee Se-hun made and placed her right hand on the control panel.
Vmmm!
Silver mana extended from Erika's hand, burrowing into the controls and rooting across the entire Central Control Room.
Watching, the trembling staff puzzled.
'What? Just overlaying it?'
'Why bother?'
Not dismantling or hijacking the magic circle—just recreating it on top.
What could such pointless action achieve?
As they wondered, Erika finished the magic circle perfectly and withdrew her hand.
"Done."
"Good."
Two identical magic circles overlapped.
Confirming the framework complete, Lee Se-hun placed his black-gloved right hand atop the device, recalling the spatial ability manual he'd read.
'For spatial abilities, density matters more than size.'
When two spatial users vied for one space, the higher density claimed priority.
Meaning, even if a B-rank poured more mana than an A-rank, the A-rank always controlled first.
'Basically like access rights.'
No matter how many user accounts, admins override—like spatial abilities.
Here, Lee Se-hun had an idea.
'Two control magic circles side-by-side—which does the space obey?'
An A-rank user's order, or a transcendent Summit Climber's?
The outcome was obvious. From the black glove, the ring of Ascension's power seeped in.
Clank—
The entire ship began reassembling under Lee Se-hun's command.
"...?"
Amir Singh, reading in his chair, suddenly furrowed his brow.
A faint vibration from below. An impossible tremor during disembark prep—he sensed trouble.
"What's wrong?"
Space rippled, and a subordinate cloaked head-to-toe in black cloth replied quietly.
"Something's happened below the ship."
"Specific cause?"
"All sectors blocked by spatial magic—even entry impossible."
"...?"
Amir's eyes narrowed slightly at the report.
Maybe minor, but it could jeopardize his 'deal'.
After brief thought, he closed the book and stood.
"Rally the contracted bodyguards. I'll contact Madam..."
Kugung—
A vibration on another level. Certain now of an incident, Amir barked.
"Move, now!"
The subordinate vanished instantly. Amir hurried to the table.
"Hoo..."
He hated contacting her, but couldn't botch the job. Lips pursed, he pulled an ornate censer from his subspace pocket—
Thud!
The whole cabin plunged downward.
"What the...?"
Like the ship collapsing entirely?
At the incomprehensible shake, Amir's gaze went to the window by the table.
"What...?"
The sea-view window now showed a massive steel wall.
'A wall? Where'd that come from...?'
What was happening to this ship?
As Amir froze in confusion,
Kwang!
His subordinate, with gathered bodyguards, burst in desperately.
"Young master! The ship's structure is deforming!"
"Deforming...?"
Amir looked outside again.
The encircling steel walls resembled corridors and passages. Realizing late,
'They pulled my section downward?'
Impossible on a normal ship, but feasible on this spatially divided vessel.
'To do this, they'd need the Central Control Room seized and controls hijacked... Who?'
Seizing the room, fine—but mastering controls? Even an S-rank spatial user would struggle.
A traitor among staff? Black Arms double-crossing? And who was the real target?
'No time to ponder.'
Realizing urgency, Amir reached for the censer—
Pakang!
Part of the outer wall opened, a youth cloaked in silver mana shattering the window and invading.
"...!"
Amir reflexively dove behind the table as subordinate and bodyguards charged the intruder.
Perfect response assuming all others hostile. Flawless in reaction, but—
Whoosh—
Insufficient against the red meteor that followed.
Kwaaaang!
The charging men flew out the door. Ryu Eun-ha landed calmly.
"I'll hold them as long as I can."
With that, she dashed out, the cabin shaking again as the door sealed with a wall.
'Separated again.'
Not just dropped—an apparent A-rank+ pinning them, rescue hard.
Alone now, Amir slowly turned to face Lee Se-hun.
"No way the world has fools that stupid... How foolish."
Recognizing the casino punk Lee Se-hun, Amir wryly smiled.
His Heavenly Eye was sharp, but he should've suspected once. Self-reproach met Lee Se-hun shrugging casually.
"First times are always like that. No need to beat yourself up—I'm just special."
Amir's eyes twitched at the cheeky reply, but he regained composure.
"I see. If you'd been this open at our first meeting, it might've been more fun... A pity."
"Fun for you, maybe. Not for me."
"Who knows? Whatever your goal, our aims might align."
Chatting leisurely, Amir scanned Lee Se-hun's gear.
'Weapons: two mass-produced high-grade daggers, longsword at waist. Suit hides armor, nothing special.'
Silver mana likely a body-enhance buff. Nothing else notable. Gaze wary,
'What’s he waiting for in that sorry state?'
No time to waste chatting—why delay?
Waiting for something? Or exhausted from the setup?
Normally, Heavenly Eye for judgment—but useless here, so pure instinct.
'For now... wait.'
Time pressed them more. Amir calmly bided.
As he prepared to strike—
"All done?"
Opposite, Lee Se-hun raised twin daggers.
"Here I come."
Vmmm!
Crimson mana on one, black on the other.
Infusing daggers with fire-attribute 'Crimson Ring Flame' and dark-attribute 'Moon Shadow', Lee Se-hun slashed them together.
Bond Engraving 'Adversary Ink-Black Stone' Activates.
The Lv.2 bond stone extracted from Yeom Seong-ha unleashed its power.
Pang—!
The two attributes resonated, erupting a massive shockwave.
Immense pressure piercing inward halted Amir mid-lunge, sweeping his surrounding 'blades'.
Crash!
"?!"
'Transparent Ice Blades'—razor-thin ice.
His prepared technique grasped and shattered at once. Eyes wide,
"Take this!"
Smack!!
Through the shards, Lee Se-hun's kick slammed Amir's chest full force.
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