Not A Regressor-Chapter 343: Black Sky (7)

“So, it was all just an act from the start?” Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip as he glared at the incoming wave of black clouds.

Cassia, still in his arms, gasped for breath. “Haa, haa. W-What do you mean it was all an act?”

As if she could still hear the Heavenly Demon’s voice, she bit her trembling lips.

“Everything.”

The magic circle had been nothing but a distraction. Its true purpose wasn’t to unseal the Heavenly Demon, but to control the demonkin.

That’s why, when I killed the first demonkin, a soul-like thing escaped and returned to the magic circle.

In other words, the magic circle had nothing to do with breaking the Heavenly Demon’s seal from the very beginning.

“W-Wait! What are you saying?!” Cassia shouted in a panic, “They clearly said the Heavenly Demon was sealed!”

“And who told you that?”

“T-The demonkin in Niflheim...”

“Those puppets?” Kwon Oh-Jin motioned with his chin toward the demonkin engulfed by the black clouds.

Cassia’s expression stiffened. Of course, she hadn’t blindly believed them. “T-Then... why hasn’t the Heavenly Demon made any direct moves until now?”

The Heavenly Demon hadn’t revealed himself in years. Instead, he only intervened indirectly by possessing puppets or using the Black Heaven’s Domination like he had on Cassia.

If he hadn’t actually been sealed, why would he rely on such tedious methods? Given all the circumstances, it made perfect sense to believe he had been sealed because he had never once shown his true form until now.

“I don’t know,” Kwon Oh-Jin replied.

Even he didn’t understand the Heavenly Demon’s ultimate goal, but he knew one thing for sure.

We need to escape those black clouds.

He resumed running with urgency as blue lightning crackled fiercely around his legs.

Rumble!

A wave of black clouds charged forward like a scene from a disaster movie, devouring everything in its path. The wave was fast, but thankfully, it wasn’t fast enough to catch up to Kwon Oh-Jin’s group.

At this rate, we can escape.

He glanced back and sighed in relief. Then, Isabella, who had been running beside him, suddenly staggered and collapsed.

“W-What?! What’s wrong?!” Song Ha-Eun rushed to her side and helped her up.

Isabella clutched her head, her face turning pale as snow. “A-A voice... I hear a strange voice...”

“A voice? Whose voice?”

“This voice is...” Isabella trailed off and looked at Kwon Oh-Jin. Her pupils trembled with confusion because she knew the voice in her head all too well. “Mr. Oh-Jin’s voice...?”

“What? Why the hell would you hear his voice?” Song Ha-Eun frowned in frustration and quickly put Isabella on her back. “We don’t have time for this! Let’s move!”

Song Ha-Eun took off running again with Isabella on her back.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s face twisted as he trailed behind. “Shit...”

Cassia had warned him before they came here.

The influence of Domination is growing stronger.

That meant the Black Heaven’s power had grown stronger as well.

If this keeps up...

Cassia and Isabella would both fall under the Heavenly Demon’s control, turning into his puppets. It would all be over if that happened. Just escaping the black clouds was hard enough. If either of them turned against the group, they would have no chance of getting out alive.

Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip and turned to Riarc beside him. “Riarc.”

“If you’ve got time to talk, use it to run, kid.”

“Take Cassia and get out of here.”

“What?” Riarc shot him a look like he was speaking nonsense.

Kwon Oh-Jin passed Cassia into Riarc’s arms.

Even while sprinting at full speed, Riarc caught her with ease. “W-Wait! Then what about you?”

“I have to stop that." Kwon Oh-Jin came to a halt and turned to face the incoming wave of black clouds.

“Don’t tell me that crap, kid! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“If I leave it, we’ll all die.”

Riarc’s face twisted with rage. “What do you mean?!”

The wave of black clouds was fast, but not fast enough that they couldn’t outrun it. However, he didn’t have time to explain the Black Heaven’s Domination to Riarc.

Kwon Oh-Jin only faintly smiled and turned around. “I’m counting on you.”

“Y-You damn brat!” Riarc tried to shout after Kwon Oh-Jin, who headed toward the black clouds growing closer.

“Damn it!” Clenching his teeth, Riarc kicked off the ground with Cassia. “Don’t die, kid...”

Kwon Oh-Jin’s distant back lingered in Riarc’s eyes like a fading memory.

***

Kwon Oh-Jin looked up at the wave of black clouds rushing toward him with a deafening roar.

“Haa...” His legs trembled before the overwhelming force.

He felt scared, even terrified. He wanted to turn and run away. Maybe running was the right choice.

“Ha...” Kwon Oh-Jin bitterly laughed and steadied his shaking legs with both hands.

If he ran away now, the Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven would swallow everyone else. Isabella, Cassia, Riarc, Vega, and—Song Ha-Eun...

“Fuck,” he spat out a harsh curse and forced his hunched body upright.

There was only one way he could stop that wave with his current power.

Open Heaven.

Of course, even using Open Heaven probably wouldn’t stop the black clouds entirely. At best, he would stall it for a moment.

But that’s enough.

If he could just buy enough time for the others to escape, that was all that mattered.

Kwon Oh-Jin pressed his hand against the left side of his chest and bit his lip.

“Those who pass by me—”

“My child!”

Just as he began to chant the incantation, Vega flew toward him.

Startled, he dropped his hand from his chest. “Vega?”

He assumed she had fled with the others, so why was she here?

“As I thought... You were here.” Vega looked at him with sorrow in her eyes.

The Kwon Oh-Jin she knew would stand alone to face the Heavenly Demon to protect the others.

“Vega! You shouldn’t be here! Run—!”

“My child.” Vega began to glow with a dazzling silver light as she returned to her true form.

Her beautiful silver hair shone like the Milky Way, and her golden eyes sparkled like the stars.

She gently embraced Kwon Oh-Jin and softly stroked his back. “You always try to shoulder too much alone.”

What is she doing? This isn’t the time for this.

“You know what.”

I don’t know, and I don’t want to. Just run, please. All you have to do is go back to the Sanctum, so why are you still here? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Do you know how happy I was to have met you?”

That’s not important. Can’t you see the black clouds getting closer? Why are you saying this now?

“For the last time, there’s something I must tell you. ”

Stop talking like this is the end. You sound like you’re saying goodbye.

“I... love you.” With a gentle smile, Vega stroked his cheek.

Kwon Oh-Jin stared at her with trembling eyes. “Vega, you’re not thinking of...”

“Hehe. At this rate, I can’t even scold Spica anymore.” Blushing with embarrassment, Vega walked past him and headed toward the black clouds.

Woong!

The brilliant silver light coming off of her widely spread across the ground. A suffocatingly immense energy radiated from Vega.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Kwon Oh-Jin rushed toward her.

Thunk!

However, he violently bounced away as if he had hit an invisible wall.

“N-No.”

He didn’t even need to think about what she was trying to do. To stop the Black Heaven, she was activating her Sacred Ground.

“Are you insane?! You, of all people, know what happens when you use your Sacred Ground!”

Just because the restrictions of the Law had weakened didn’t mean that it had disappeared completely. If Vega summoned the full extent of her power to stop the Black Heaven, she would vanish forever.

“Vega! Vega! Fuck! I said stop!” Kwon Oh-Jin pounded his fists against the invisible wall in front of him, desperately trying to break into the Sacred Ground.

It was useless. He couldn’t break through with his own power.

“I-I need to use Open Heaven.”

The only way to get into Vega’s Sacred Ground and stop her was by using Open Heaven.

If I use it...

All the lies he’d been telling until now would be exposed. After unleashing the Black Heaven in front of her, he couldn’t possibly keep babbling about being the Heaven-Defying Star anymore.

“Ah, ugh...”

His hand trembled as it hovered over the left side of his chest. His vision twisted, and cold sweat ran down his back as his breathing grew short.

W-What do I do?

The world darkened as he crouched over and trembled violently. Everything came to a halt as if someone had pressed pause.

The black wave about to devour everything, the silver Sacred Ground shining radiantly, the wind brushing against his cheek, and the dust blowing in the air—Everything stopped like someone had flicked the power switch off.

“What...?” In the frozen world, Kwon Oh-Jin slowly stood up in a daze.

He couldn’t tell whether the world had stopped or if he was just hallucinating.

Rumble.

In the pitch-black world, someone began walking toward him with slow, heavy steps. The man looked exactly like him.

The Heavenly Demon smiled at Kwon Oh-Jin. “Told you, didn’t I?” His dry voice crackled. “That we’d see each other again soon.”