The Final Regression
The final memory.
“Just how much more… how much more do I have to do?! How much more!!”
A cry filled with bitter resentment echoed through the cavern like thunder. The thirty-ninth regression. When he finally reached the nesting ground of the Titan hive mind, he had believed he would break free of this horrific curse. After enduring countless deaths across the cycles, he had arrived at the end of the journey. The losses among his allies were lighter than in any previous regression. This was the first time he had reached the heart of the Titan nest with so little damage.
Until that moment, Lutus Edan had thought leading the full force of Graveyard Fortress was the correct answer. Surrounding the frontline and deploying annihilation formations from all directions. Organizing and deploying small strike teams. Accelerating technological development to drop bombs powerful enough to wipe out the entire nest. Unlike the previous regressions where every attempt had failed, Lutus could finally witness a brilliantly shining hope.
“Commander! Just trust us!”
“Too bad, Commander. We can’t let you hog all the credit for saving humanity by yourself!”
“Don’t worry. We won’t die. No matter what happens.”
Morale was sky-high, and supplies were perfect. After several failures, he had established countless grand strategies. He had even customized dedicated weapons to match each individual’s abilities. There could be no more perfect preparation. He had even obtained the rank of Supreme Commander—something he had never achieved in the previous cycle—and poured every last military resource of humanity into the operation.
Then why… why was it happening again?
Lutus turned his head with hollow eyes. His subordinates were impaled on the sharp thorns protruding from the walls. The reconnaissance captain who never lost his sense of humor. The assault captain he used to work out with after duty hours. They showed no signs of movement. They had promised they wouldn’t die. They had said everything would be fine.
His head turned again. The bodies of those near the entrance had been completely obliterated, leaving no trace. The light of annihilation. Those struck directly by the laser-like beams had crumbled into ash without even time to scream.
Again. He had lost them again.
It had been a fatal mistake. What he believed was the right answer had actually been a trap. The enemy had waited until a sufficient force had entered, then used all their power to literally devour the intruders who had dared set foot in their nest. Comrades who rushed in to save wounded allies died alongside them. Others threw themselves in front of attacks aimed at their commander and were killed in the process.
Thud thud thud thud—
Amid the sound of approaching Titan footsteps, Lutus, lying collapsed in despair, heard a faint voice.
“Com… mander…”
A silver-haired woman moved her lips. Arhen Orca, Brigadier General. His comrade who had stood by his side from the first regression to the thirty-ninth, and his lover across every cycle.
Lutus rushed to her and grabbed her hand.
“Arhen…!”
Her body was so cold it trembled. When he turned her slightly, he saw a gaping hole in her side. Lutus frantically pulled a treatment kit from his bag. It was a miraculous medicine that instantly regenerated biological tissue in localized areas. He had obtained it after several regressions. Just like always, he would save her this time too.
No. He had to save her. He could not lose her again. After pushing her away, after saving her, he could not let her die like this once more.
“No, no… Stay with me. You know that, right? You always said there’s nothing willpower can’t overcome…!!”
Lutus sprinkled the medicine over the wound. The white powder that coagulated blood and promoted skin regeneration seeped in, but the bleeding would not stop. Instead, thick blood kept gushing out.
“…Poisoned… I’ve been poisoned… There’s… no hope…”
“Shut up! If it’s poison, then here—the antidote…!!”
Arhen stopped his hand as he rummaged through the bag, tears streaming down his face. Her trembling fingers weakly grasped his palm.
“What about… Leah…? Where’s Leah…?”
Lutus could not answer. Supply Officer Major Leah Gilliard had also been caught in the light of annihilation. Her body was nowhere to be found.
“She went first…? Hehe… At least… I definitely won this one… They say rank doesn’t matter if you die before your superior…”
“Please, stop talking.”
“What about… the others…?”
He could not answer that either. Anyone could see that Arhen was the last survivor of this operation.
“We failed… didn’t we…? I really thought we would succeed this time…”
Her sigh, forced out through unbearable pain, was enough to shatter what remained of Lutus’s will. The sight of her, so wretched and miserable, broke him completely.
“It’s okay… We have… the next time, don’t we…?”
“…”
“Just like always, we’ll meet again through Akasha… Okay? One more time… Just like this, one more time… We’ll try again, right?”
“Arhen, I… I can’t anymore…”
Lutus could not finish. The arm that had been holding his hand fell limply to the ground.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!!
The sound of the Titans’ footsteps grew even closer. At least two hundred of them. Maybe more.
Lutus stared silently at Arhen for a moment, then picked up a pistol rolling on the floor. No more tears came. He had finally realized the truth.
Lutus Edan—he himself was the one who had to carry this entire mission on his back. He must not selfishly long for connection with anyone. That stubborn belief that they could all succeed together had only created this utterly miserable ending.
“I’m sorry, Arhen. And everyone else.”
Lutus opened his mouth and shoved the barrel inside. The precise angle to pierce the brain.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!!
‘There will be no more memory restoration through Akasha.’
Perhaps this could be called an epiphany.
‘To kill a monster, I too must become a monster. A monster who allows no one close, who views people strictly as tools.’
The final essence of victory he had realized at the end of the thirty-ninth regression. It was an unbearably cruel burden for the human named Lutus Edan. But as the commander of Graveyard Fortress, the Empire’s sentinel, the Lion of Defense, and the fiancé of the women he loved, it was a burden he had to bear.
Without hesitation, Lutus pulled the trigger.
Bang.
With that final gunshot, his consciousness flew far into the distant void.
Lutus Edan met his thirty-ninth death. Along with the human heart he had never been able to abandon.
39th Cycle — TERMINATED
Final Memory Preserved
Lutus naturally opened his eyes.
A morning without the blaring alarm still felt difficult to get used to. It was just as alien as a quiet dawn without the roar of artillery, gunfire, or air-raid sirens.
He rose from the bed and stood directly in front of the mirror.
“…I look like shit. It’s about time I cleaned this up.”
To anyone who didn’t know him, he would look exactly like a vagrant. The messy, unkempt black beard and the tangled hair. Though if one included his visibly solid, muscular build and the countless scars covering his body, he looked more like a PMC mercenary or combat soldier than a mere drifter.
But he was neither a soldier nor a mercenary.
He was an officer of the Empire—one of the carefully selected elite granted that honor—and a high-ranking commander with full authority over the foremost defensive fortress. Brigadier General Lutus Edan. Commander of Graveyard Fortress, the frontline strategic stronghold bordering Titan territory.
He was the greatest contributor and war hero who had led humanity’s war of survival to ultimate victory.
Yet Lutus Edan had never once accepted that title with joy.
It was only natural. It was something that simply had to be done. If anyone else had possessed this cursed ability of his, they could have achieved the same result. Being praised for it only brought him shame.
During forty deaths, countless people had died before his eyes. Every time he closed his eyes, the vivid memories made him shudder. That was why he had to take powerful sleeping pills even on vacation.
Perhaps if someone else had received this ability, humanity could have been saved much faster. Someone like Supreme Commander Arthur Philias, for example.
…
Lutus let out a deep sigh. Thinking such thoughts now was utterly pointless. In the end, humanity had achieved victory. Not a single one of his subordinates at Graveyard Fortress had died. And the women had not become entangled with him.
The ultra-high quantum computer Akasha.
Until now, Lutus had used Akasha to restore the memories of his subordinates from before the regressions. He had believed that would lead to victory in the last cycle, but the truth was that not restoring memories through Akasha had been the correct answer.
Now they too would be freed from him and could live their own lives. It was for the best. Being involved with him had only ever brought them death. They deserved to be happy.
“Because I decided not to have any regrets.”
Lutus muttered to himself as he picked up the uniform he had tossed in the corner and put it on haphazardly. Of course, even that was done without care. He had long since forgotten about the tie, his pants were baggy, and he didn’t even bother wearing the blazer that was supposed to go over his shirt.
After today, he would never see these people again anyway. As soon as he issued the disbandment order, he planned to leave this place.
Honestly, he was sick of it. The six-sided building made of layered gray concrete and the surrounding fortress facilities. It wasn’t called a graveyard for nothing. With an architecture that blatantly resembled a cemetery, it was a relief it wasn’t openly mocked as the underworld or a coffin.
…Though he seemed to recall it had been called that once.
But now, it truly didn’t matter. Not in the slightest.