Not A Regressor-Chapter 338: Black Sky (2)

Kwon Oh-Jin returned to his group and shared the information he had learned from Cassia. The Heavenly Demon was currently sealed in Niflheim, and a ritual to break the seal would be held in just one month.

“A ritual?” Isabella asked.

“I-In just a month?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

Their expressions hardened at the shocking news.

As they took in the information, Riarc turned to Kwon Oh-Jin. “Where in the world did you get this information, kid?”

“I found out while rummaging through Deimos’s corpse.”

Kwon Oh-Jin pulled out a communication Astral Relic from his pocket. When he infused it with mana, a stiff voice began listing the instructions related to the sealing ritual. The order told Deimos to provide offerings and Astral Relics for the ritual.

Of course, Kwon Oh-Jin had pre-recorded the fake voice coming from the Astral Relic since he couldn’t exactly say he had gotten the information from the Serpent Queen.

“T-Then we’re screwed, aren’t we? We only have a month left!” Song Ha-Eun said.

“We’ll have to stop the ritual.”

They couldn’t let the Heavenly Demon break the seal.

“How do you plan on stopping it?” Riarc asked.

“First, I’ll gather as many forces as I can.”

They needed the beastkin and dragonkin’s help. No matter how strong Kwon Oh-Jin’s group was, they didn’t possess the numbers to attack an entire kingdom by themselves.

“Me too! I’ll help you!” Baek Mu-Kang raised his hand with a bright smile.

Kwon Oh-Jin chuckled and nodded. “I’m counting on you, elder.”

“Yup! Just leave it to me!” Thumping his chest, Baek Mu-Kang unsheathed Deneb’s Star Sword from his waist.

Having reclaimed his powerful Astral Relic, Baek Mu-Kang had become a key member Kwon Oh-Jin could rely on.

With Baek Mu-Kang joining the mission, they needed to contact the dragonkin and beastkin next to seek their cooperation.

“The Dragonian Kingdom is relatively close by, but the real issue is the Khan Kingdom.”

Only one month remained. To gather the Khan Kingdom’s forces within that time, a few conditions had to be met.

First, someone had to know their way over the Sky Mountains. Second, they needed someone fast enough to reach the Khan Kingdom within a week. Third, that individual had to possess enough influence to suddenly show up and convince the beastkin to attack Niflheim.

Among their group, only one of them fit all three conditions.

“There’s no one else but you... Mr. Riarc,” Isabella said.

Riarc furrowed his brow as if he already had a headache. “Ugh.”

His keen instincts allowed him to perfectly recall any path he had walked. He also possessed lightning-fast mobility, and as the former Khan, he held tremendous influence. No one was more suited than Riarc to rally the Khan Kingdom’s beastkin.

“Haa. Fine. I’ll go.”

“You sure you’ll be okay alone?”

Riarc snorted at Kwon Oh-Jin. “Hmph. Worry about yourself, kid.”

Kwon Oh-Jin faintly grinned and nodded. “Head back to the Sanctum for now. I’ll call you once we get out of this volcano. Oh, and tell Vega about this too.”

“Okay.” A silver shimmer rippled around Riarc.

In an instant, he vanished into the air.

“Let’s pack up and head out too.”

“Are you sure you're okay, Oh-Jin? Didn’t you say you were still feeling the aftereffects of the blessing?”

“I’m not fully recovered yet, but I can still move.”

Truthfully, even just a little movement left him exhausted. He would’ve preferred to rest for a few more days. However, he couldn’t afford to relax with only a month left until the ritual.

“Want your big sis to carry you?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“Carry me? Yeah, no.”

“I’m stronger than I look, y’know?” Even if Song Ha-Eun specialized in long-range combat, she was still a high-ranking Awakener.

Carrying someone like Kwon Oh-Jin wouldn’t be hard.

“No thanks.” Just imagining himself piggybacking on her made him feel indescribably humiliated.

Song Ha-Eun clicked her tongue at Kwon Oh-Jin’s sharp rejection. “Darn, and I was planning to squeeze your cute little butt on the way.”

What the hell is she talking about?

“I’m kidding, gosh.” Song Ha-Eun giggled as she lightly pinched his cheek. “Don’t worry so much. Everything’s going to work out.”

Was she trying to ease his nerves? Because it worked.

Kwon Oh-Jin laughed in disbelief as he looked at Song Ha-Eun. She always joked around and pretended to be carefree, but he could see right through her after spending his entire life with her. He knew exactly how much she worried about him.

Ha-Eun.

She was the lone star that descended into his life, once as dark as the night sky. Kwon Oh-Jin treasured her more than anything. He would do anything and everything for her.

You must also feel the same.

Thinking of the young man who looked exactly like him, Kwon Oh-Jin bitterly smiled.

Song Ha-Eun flinched as her cheeks turned red. “W-What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Maybe she sensed something in his eyes. She kept glancing at him with an expectant look.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go pack.”

“How boring.” Her excitement quickly deflated as she pouted and turned back toward the room.

Kwon Oh-Jin watched her retreating figure with a faint smile.

Just then, a coldly calm voice called out, “Mr. Oh-Jin...”

This time, he flinched. Unlike Song Ha-Eun, he flinched out of pure fear.

“Can we talk? Just the two of us?” Isabella asked.

“Uh, yeah? S-Sure.” Swallowing hard, he followed Isabella.

Once they were inside the room, Isabella locked the door behind them.

Click.

He looked at her nervously, worried that she would explode with jealousy over Song Ha-Eun again. “Uh... Isabella?”

“All that information you mentioned earlier... You got it from my sister, didn’t you?”

However, he hadn’t expected her question at all.

“How did you know?”

“Such important orders wouldn’t be sent through a mere Astral Relic. And also...” She trailed off as her eyes narrowed and stepped toward Kwon Oh-Jin to sniff him. “You smell like another woman.”

What is she, a dog?

He stared at her in disbelief. Come to think of it, he recalled Cassia saying something similar once.

Why are these sisters so alike even in their weird aspects?

Even Riarc, a beastkin, hadn’t noticed anything. How could she?

“You met with my sister, didn’t you?”

After a pause, Kwon Oh-Jin sighed and nodded. “Haaa, you’re right.”

“I knew it!” Isabella stomped and got up close. “M-My sister didn’t do anything to you, did she?” She groped his thigh.

And why are you touching me there?

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed deeply and shook his head. “Nothing happened, so don’t worry. All she did was tell me about the Heavenly Demon.”

“Really?” Isabella looked at him suspiciously.

Kwon Oh-Jin, tense like a cat in cold water, asked, “Didn’t you two have a good relationship?”

“We used to...” Isabella trailed off and bit her lip.

She recalled the last time she saw Cassia before coming to the Demonic District.

“Or maybe... I’ll take him for myself?”

With those wicked eyes, Cassia had confidently declared that she would steal Kwon Oh-Jin away. No trace of the gentle sister she once knew remained. Even if Cassia kindly approached her like in the past, Isabella couldn’t easily accept her.

“My sister... tried to kill you, Mr. Oh-Jin.”

“She was under the Heavenly Demon’s influence—”

“I know.” Isabella knew Cassia hadn’t been in her right mind back then.

Despite knowing that, the thought of Kwon Oh-Jin nearly dying stirred up a chilling, murderous aura within her.

Kwon Oh-Jin gently stroked her cheek as she bit her lip with a complex expression. “Anyway, nothing happened, so don’t worry.”

“Alright...”

His touch softened her fierce expression.

He briefly considered telling her that Cassia was worried about her, but let that thought go.

That’s something they should resolve between the two of them.

Though the sisters were now entangled in a complicated relationship, things could return to how they once were if the right moment arose.

“With boobs that tiny... What do you mean by ‘take him for yourself?’” Isabella whispered under her breath.

Things can go back, right...?

“Ahem. Let’s get packing.”

The Dragonian Kingdom wasn’t that far away, but they didn’t have enough time to be leisurely either. Only one month remained until the ritual, and they had an endless amount of preparations before then.

***

In a space filled with thick black clouds, a hollow sigh echoed throughout the distant darkness. “Haaa.”

The man’s eyes were full of deep exhaustion, and a dry smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Still... I’m glad I got to talk to you,” he murmured, lying down on top of the black clouds.

Rumble.

The dark clouds drew closer, coiling around him.

“Kughhh...!” He groaned in pain as his body began to melt away within the clouds like ink dissolving into water.

Bit by bit, the black clouds consumed him. As it overtook him, he thought of the other Kwon Oh-Jin he had just met.

If I... also had the Stigma of Lyra like you... Would things have turned out differently?

He laughed faintly. It was a pointless thought now. No matter how much steel one reinforced a crumbling structure with, its collapse couldn’t be stopped.

Still, his seal was almost broken.

“Just a little longer.” A dry smile returned to the man’s lips. “Now... everything is ready.”

Rumble.

Even as the black clouds engulfed him, the ghostly blue flames blazing in his eyes burned fiercely.

“It’s time for you to keep your promise, Vega.”