Chapter 139
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Regressor Handles It All
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Crackle—
The trees, charred black like lumps of coal, crumbled powerlessly and shattered, sending pale gray ash and acrid smoke billowing into the air.
The scorched earth had devoured even the flames of the Flame Heaven Blade, reducing everything to cinders. In that blackened world, Lee Se-hun slowly let out his breath.
"Hoo..."
The first time he'd used Demonic Blood Energy since his regression.
His Soul-Link Divine Demon Magic wasn't fully established yet, so he'd forced it out—and fortunately, its power hadn't been too shabby.
'About seventy percent of my pre-regression output... Master would lose his mind if he knew.'
The key to Demonic Blood Energy was manifesting the full power of any stored armament, anytime, anywhere.
Yet he'd lost thirty percent of it. If Master saw these results, he'd berate him for days, calling it pathetic.
'And it felt a bit rushed, too...'
The sole reason Lee Se-hun had beaten the Flame Blade Hunter and the Flame Heaven Blade was simple: the flames of the Sacred Flame Ring created by his Demonic Blood Energy had been a superior force.
Put another way, everything else had been pushing him back. If both the Flame Heaven Blade and the Flame Blade Hunter had been intact, his head would've been lopped off before he could burn them all.
'I'm still a long way off.'
Even if your weapons are top-tier, they're meaningless if you can't wield them properly. As Lee Se-hun reflected on his shortcomings once more,
Crack!
A massive fissure spread across the Sacred Flame Ring in his hand, and its flames vanished.
"Hm. Looks like it's done."
Weapons manifested through Demonic Blood Energy merely recreated the armaments imprinted on his soul. Once their power was spent, only an empty husk remained before they faded away.
Staring at the Sacred Flame Ring, now reduced to a charred lump like coal, a sudden thought struck Lee Se-hun.
'Come to think of it, the material I used to make this was the Puppeteer's Surtr, right?'
Before his regression, the Puppeteer had used the Flame Heaven Blade to craft an automaton. Recalling that its fragments had gone into the Sacred Flame Ring, Lee Se-hun looked ahead.
The Flame Heaven Blade, barely embedded in the ground amid the blackened wreckage.
Its vessel and core utterly ruined by the flames, beyond any use. Lee Se-hun sighed at the sight.
'What a waste...'
In that state, it was hardly salvageable as material. Shaking off his regret, Lee Se-hun turned to check on Kim In-cheol.
Kim In-cheol lay slumped on the ground like a corpse after taking a chin hook from him. He'd controlled the flames, so there were no new burns—but the problem was his prior injuries.
'No hammering in that condition...'
His left hand's mana circuits were nearly destroyed, unable to hold mana, and his right bore traces of mana crystallization.
As a craftsman, his career was effectively over. Staring at the pitiful sight, Lee Se-hun shook his head.
'I'll think about it later.'
Sorting out the situation came first. As he moved to rouse Kim In-cheol,
Swish.
Black shadows emerged over the charred forest. Recognizing their hazy presence from when they'd aided Yeom Seong-ha earlier, Lee Se-hun sighed.
"These guys have no sense of timing..."
The fight had just wrapped up neatly, and here they were ruining it. Suppressing his rising irritation, Lee Se-hun assessed the situation.
His Greed Iron body enhancement was spent, and the Sacred Flame Ring had exhausted its power. All he had left was depleted mana and a body at its limits.
'Using Demonic Blood Energy again would be risky...'
At his current level, forcing it without materials could fail—and it was dangerous regardless.
Facing the encircling shadows, Lee Se-hun pondered briefly before deciding.
'Better than getting dragged off pathetically.'
He'd risk some injury. Steeling himself to activate Demonic Blood Energy again by cycling his blood, when—
Squelch.
Blood trickled from the wound on his chest.
"...?"
The heart wound he'd fully healed with Soul-Link Divine Demon Magic had inexplicably reopened. Forgetting the enemies around him, Lee Se-hun looked down in confusion.
'What the...'
The activation process was identical to pre-regression. So there was only one explanation for this.
'Something's changed.'
His body, his soul—something had altered through the regression.
As Lee Se-hun panicked at the realization, the Demonic Blood Energy backlash erupted throughout his body.
Drip...
Blood tears streamed down, dyeing his vision red. Then something viscous surged up from his throat.
"Cough...!"
Black blood erupted from his mouth. Clutching his chest wound as his body spiraled out of control, Lee Se-hun staggered.
"This is just fucking perfect..."
His consciousness faded, and he collapsed forward.
Thud!
Lee Se-hun hit the ground. The shadows that had him surrounded—the Conductor's assassins—exchanged glances.
They'd confirmed from his fight with the Flame Blade Hunter that he was extremely thorough.
[Better cut off his limbs before approaching.]
[Agreed.]
To eliminate variables, one assassin whirled a broad, rectangular blade chained to iron links and hurled it at Lee Se-hun's arm.
Slice—
A golden sword aura neatly bisected the blade and the assassin.
The assassin's corpse crumpled without realizing its death. The survivors jolted in shock and turned toward the source of the sword aura.
"Hmm..."
A woman with golden hair closely examined the Sacred Flame Ring Lee Se-hun had held.
Unable to fathom when or how she'd appeared, the assassins froze solid.
[Dangerous...]
[Already in her range...]
Dozens of meters away, she didn't spare them a glance, as if they were beneath notice.
But they knew any twitch would mean getting sliced apart somewhere. The assassins could neither flee nor attack—they just stood frozen, watching.
The woman—Aria Myers—continued inspecting the Sacred Flame Ring, then wore an intrigued expression.
"Fascinating..."
She'd arrived too late to see the full fight, but the scene made it clear: Lee Se-hun had felled his foes with this sword.
Yet its quality was laughable compared to the results—especially the materials. Unnaturally so.
'Even drained of power, traces should remain... but there's nothing.'
If the materials' value was 1, a typical craftsman would yield about 100. But Lee Se-hun had produced ten, a hundred times more.
"..."
Beyond impressive—defying logic. Aria stared at the empty husk of the Sacred Flame Ring for a long moment, then turned.
Boom!
The assassins gritted their teeth and charged as one.
Ampoules hidden in their teeth shattered, swelling their bodies grotesquely as reason fled their eyes.
A final desperate struggle for survival. Aria casually swung the hollow Sacred Flame Ring horizontally.
Slash—
The golden light cleaved everything before her.
The charging assassins, surrounding trees—all split along the sword's arc and collapsed.
Having effortlessly dispatched dozens, Aria looked back at the Sacred Flame Ring in her hand.
Crumble.
Fissures spread fully, turning it to ash that scattered.
An inevitable end for a mere husk from the start—but Aria stared at her palm as if entranced.
'Just now...'
For the briefest instant—a mere flicker—it had felt like an extension of herself.
A faint sensation, barely one percent, but one she'd never felt in her life. It burned vividly in her mind.
"..."
Gazing at the ash on her hand, she brushed it off and approached Lee Se-hun. Squatting, she peered down at him.
His face twisted in blood-soaked frustration, as if indignant at his sudden collapse. Aria studied the fierce expression briefly.
"You're worth looking forward to."
She murmured with an amused smile.
A bond has been established with target 'Aria Myers'.
Whoooosh
A bizarre wind howled over the North Pacific. Hearing the raging gale, Ludwig, hovering in midair, scanned his surroundings again.
Rumble!
Enormous scars etched across the sea.
Like endless cliffs below, seawater poured endlessly into the gashes, forming massive waterfalls.
Surveying the surreal vista, Ludwig made a troubled face.
"Was that a bit much...?"
They'd only meant to grab an ankle, but it escalated when they sized him up for a kill. He'd countered seriously.
As Ludwig awkwardly eyed the ruined sea, a mocking voice leaked from the white void.
[Twisting the planet's axis and acting so casual. Wonder if the others think the same.]
"I'll fix it right away, so it'll be fine."
[Fine, my ass. Soon enough...]
Bzzz!
A vibration interrupted before the voice finished. Ludwig pulled out his phone and read the message.
[Fix it quickly] - Karl Andersen
Karl Andersen, a fellow Summit Climber and founder of the Pilgrimage Church. Ludwig wryly smiled at the personal message.
"Mm... guess it was a bit much."
If Karl—who shielded the world with his barrier 'Pilgrimage Road'—was urging him, the impact must've been severe.
Grasping the situation, Ludwig waved lightly at the wrecked sea.
Groooan
The deep gashes and spatial distortions vanished without trace, restoring the North Pacific to its original form.
Residual effects still roiled the waves wildly. Ludwig pressed both hands down gently.
Whooo
The chaotic sea calmed as before, revealing pristine blue waters.
He hadn't erased every battle aftereffect, so a few coastal tsunamis might hit—but the Hero Association could handle that.
"Now for the rest..."
Finishing cleanup, Ludwig turned, and his surroundings shifted naturally above Babel.
The commotion centered on Borsippa. Looking down, he spread his mana instantly to assess.
'Damage... less than expected.'
If the Vermilion Bird's barrier, Heavenly Vermilion Soulbind, had fully deployed, whole districts would've been razed. Yet no spread beyond the fires.
Partly because the barrier hadn't fully formed at first, and Yeom Seong-ha—splattered in blood—had kept toppling pillars to weaken it.
'And they captured the Vermilion Bird alive without killing it...'
Spotting Louise tightly binding the Vermilion Bird as she paced anxiously, Ludwig checked elsewhere.
Lee Se-hun, cradled in Aria Myers' arms, being carried to the infirmary. Checking for grave injuries, he seemed fine despite the blood.
'But... something's off.'
Wounds too peculiar for battle alone.
Intrigued, as Ludwig peered closer, Aria—racing along the road—glanced right at him.
"...Hoh."
She casually looked away, but she'd clearly sensed his gaze.
[At this rate, she might Summit before Iron Block.]
Iron Block—Ryu Eun-ha. The voice praised Aria's talent in comparison. Ludwig nodded.
"Likely, at this pace... but Department Head Ryu has changed lately too, so it's not certain."
[Maybe. But look—that fool messing around.]
Following the voice, Ludwig turned toward the Ascus Infirmary where they headed.
Medical teams rushed to the Borsippa incident. Amid the chaos, one room lay eerily calm.
"Already there... Ah, damn. They've arrived."
Howard Grant, chatting in a chair, grimaced and eyed Lea Clodel—bound tightly to the bed, immobile.
"You'd better think it over."
With that, Howard stood, opened the window, and climbed atop it.
Looking up at Ludwig's sky perch, he flipped him the bird.
Thud
He hurled himself downward with all his might.
"Wha—wait... Puppeteer, sir..."
Crunch!
A brief death cry, and Howard Grant perished.
For Borsippa's third-year top student, an absurdly pathetic end. The voice spoke pityingly.
[Borrowing power means accounting for the backlash... Talent's useless if you're an idiot.]
Exceptional talent and noble bloodline.
He'd thought his deal with the Ten Evils equal—but he was disposable trash, relayed a few words and discarded.
Pitying Howard's pathetic death, Ludwig murmured.
"And he hadn't even fully bloomed..."
Bittersweetly regarding the corpse, Ludwig surveyed all of Babel to mourn and conclude.
[How will you handle them?]
To the faintly expectant voice, Ludwig replied calmly.
"Every last one, without exception."
[Good. Let's get to it.]
Heeding the urging, Ludwig slowly extended a hand toward Babel.
A colossal transparent cube engulfed the entire artificial island—his spatial construct. Clenching his fist slowly,
"Spatial Isolation."
The cube compressed to fist-sized in an instant.
Shrinking as it sifted the island like culling weeds. Bringing it to his hand, Ludwig peered inside.
Crunch
Incomprehensible masses tangled like sludge, filling the cube.
Gazing at it, he flicked his hand lightly.
Whoosh
The 'intruders' who'd sullied the grounds vanished tracelessly. All commotion ended.
```