Global Disaster: I Will Slay Gods In This Second Chance!-Chapter 44: Regressor Inflation
A heavy silence fell on the table.
Everyone couldn’t help but furrow their brows, but ultimately kept silent.
After his introduction, the room had evidently dropped in temperature.
Even those who were lax earlier found themselves shifting uncomfortably, recalling an unpleasant memory.
There was a reason why Zold was rarely, if not never at all, called by his title. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
His title’s mere existence was like a sharp knife that poked through everyone’s pride, reminding them of the fact that there were mountains beyond mountains.
Which one of them here didn’t believe they were the strongest once?
None.
In their previous life, all of them believed that they were the best of the best—
But that belief crumbled when they met Zold for the first time.
All of them here had at least competed or fought against Zold once.
The result?
Zold won all of them.
Whether it was magic, science, weapon mastery, martial arts, or gambling...
It was as if the man had bottomless depths, having no weakness or flaws.
He touched upon all areas of specialization.
No matter what they threw at him, he had an answer for everything.
What kind of terrifying concept was that?
As Awakeners, everyone here was familiar with the Imperfection Law.
Grisha, with his superior physical strength, cannot practice magic.
Even Fabian, who seemed entirely perfect, had a few weaknesses.
But this law that encompassed every Awakener didn’t seem to apply to Zold at all.
Everyone gazed at him, a mix of vigilance and curiosity.
The time they each met Zold varied, but by that time, decades had already passed since the calamities.
How strong was Zold at the beginning?
As soon as this thought appeared in everyone’s minds, an urge to test themselves out against him flared inside them.
Zold smiled slightly, feeling no pressure from their stares.
Seeing that everyone had introduced themselves, there was no need to wait any further.
Morgana tapped the table, breaking the silence.
"... Let us begin."
Everyone immediately shifted their gaze, looking at her solemnly.
Morgana cleared her throat, speaking slowly.
"Let’s talk about the Ninety Ninth Era Ending Calamity first."
Once she heard no complaints, she continued in a low tone.
"I’m sure we all have questions... the final calamity, the hurdle that no universe before us could overcome is Regression."
"But why?"
This question lingered in everyone’s mind.
Calamities were supposed to be fatal, even if they were somewhat beneficial, their risk and danger shouldn’t be small.
But this regression didn’t seem fatal or dangerous at all.
If anything, it was purely a benefit to all of them.
A chance to try again? Who among here didn’t have past regrets?
But at the same time, nobody here was a naive child.
It was impossible for something so good to come their way without a price.
It wasn’t just a mere feeling, they knew for certain that something was definitely wrong about this calamity.
At that moment, Secret Holder Kaya spoke, smiling casually.
"Isn’t it obvious? The Ninety-Ninth Era Ending Calamity is us."
Everyone frowned at her words, but no one interrupted her.
"Think about it."
Secret Holder Kaya raised both of her hands, spreading them wide.
"Each of us is the strongest awakeners in the history of humanity! One of us alone could change the entire future, but fifteen of us?" She paused, then chuckled. "The situation changes entirely. Fifteen isn’t necessarily better than one, especially when each one of us comes from different backgrounds."
She grinned.
"The fact that we’re having this Global Summit..."
As she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the hall, causing the air to grow heavy.
"... shows that we have different interests and goals. I don’t need to say the rest, do I?"
Her words directly exposed the truth in the room, but no one disagreed.
Because she was right.
At that moment, Maria suddenly spoke, looking at her intently.
"Having different goals isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We can compromise for cooperation, unless none of you are willing?"
Everyone frowned, glancing at Maria with a troubled expression.
Her question didn’t seem like a question at all, but more like a threat.
Nagito shook his head, answering in everyone’s stead. "We’re definitely willing, but if members can group up to force another member to submission, then that’s not cooperation, isn’t it? It’s coercion."
Maria fell silent, his words hitting the core issue.
She was obviously referring to their alliance with Morgana.
Suddenly brought up, Morgana frowned deeply.
"No one’s going to do that, Nagito." She suddenly said, shaking his head. "That’ll break the team’s trust and credibility. No one is stupid here."
Nagito hummed, not answering her.
He didn’t need to say what was in everyone’s mind—
’How could you be sure?’
People like them had already dealt with too many betrayals and schemes.
Unless they could read each other’s thoughts, they would never be able to fully trust one another.
Even in their past life, their cooperation as a team was solely to increase their chances of survival.
Forming a friendship at that time was a matter of responsibility, not by choice.
Hence, it didn’t matter whether it was just them overthinking—
The reality was that being stupid was better than being dead.
Morgana fell silent, her gaze locking onto Nagito, a trace of anger appearing in her eyes.
But Nagito lowered his head, a smile appearing on his lips.
A tense silence emerged from the table.
But just before Morgana could speak, Michael suddenly intervened, chuckling quietly.
"Then doesn’t that simply mean they’re weak? If the others can gang up to subdue them, they were never a threat to begin with."
Morgana widened her eyes slightly, surprised.
Everyone raised their brows, even Nagito’s lips curled, as if he heard something interesting for once.
Earlier, Nagito was specifically referring to Michael as the one being ganged up on.
In a sense, he was speaking up for him.
But as if Michael hadn’t understood, or disdained his help, the man continued indifferently.
"If the problem is that there are too many regressors, like Princess Kaya said, then there’s only one solution."
"Reduce the number of Regressors to a tolerable amount."
"Or does anyone disagree?"
As he said this, the smile on his face seemed especially devilish.
Everyone’s expressions couldn’t help but subtly change.
"Oh? Then, Beyond... how would we decide who will be removed?"
Maria suddenly asked, a gentle but emotionless smile forming on her face.
"Isn’t it simple?" Michael chuckled. "A fight to the death! That way, if they die, they can only blame themselves for being weak."
Maria narrowed her eyes, tilting her head as she spoke coldly. "Then, you wouldn’t mind if I kill you right now?"
Her smile was small, but nevertheless, it didn’t fail to make the others feel a chilling sensation.
Maria was definitely the kindest among their group. But sometimes, the kinder the person was, the more terrifying they were when they snapped,
The room suddenly turned tense.
Michael suddenly shifted his gaze, his wide smile intact. "Saintess, you should be careful with your words. Some things can’t be taken back once said—"
Woosh!
The air suddenly twisted, causing everyone’s expressions to change into disbelief.
Standing on his seat, Michael raised both of his arms, crossing them against one another.
Sschk... sschk,,,
Two sharp, long wounds opened up on his arms, bleeding terribly.
Maria disdainfully cut him off.
"Silence."
At that moment, Michael really fell silent, veins popping out of his forehead.
Boom!
Dark red aura suddenly condensed outside his body, flowing like a tide!
From Maria’s body, a silver platinum aura condensed as well.
Just as Michael was about to attack, a calm, ethereal aura suddenly neutralized both of them.
"Enough."
Zold said, glancing at the two of them.
Michael and Maria’s expressions changed, noticing that their aura combined couldn’t even push back Zold.
Seeing them fall silent, he shifted his gaze to Morgana.
"Morgana, continue with the main topic."
