The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 128: Alba!

The Demon, now no longer just a head but a full-on undead bastard, followed Ignotus, dragging its pack of Malevolent Undead, those ugly, long-limbed things, behind it.

They swarmed him, protecting their master like loyal dogs...

If dogs could screech and look like nightmares.

Ignotus didn’t know how Letum had managed to tame the Demon, but he understood one thing: it always attacked whoever attacked it.

Which meant... the Malevolent Undead could be used as a perfect shield for Ignotus. If Letum attacked even a single one of them, their attention would turn to him as well, something that he certainly wouldn’t want.

But it sure as Hell was something that Ignotus wanted, or rather, needed. It was the only way he saw himself getting out of this alive.

"Perfect."

His mutual destruction plan had been initiated.

"COME AT ME!"

While dodging in between them, he raised his hand, his light gathering at his fingertips.

And they rushed at that light like moths.

His grin was ear-to-ear as he fired off a blast, not at Letum, but at one of the Malevolent Undead, sending it flying towards the man, wanting to squash him.

But that would’ve been too easy.

Letum moved fast.

Way faster than his hulking body should’ve allowed, nearly blinking out of the Malevolent Undead’s way.

In a few moments, he was directly before Ignotus, who casually stared up at the man.

"A bit slow, no?"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Letum’s rage ripped loud as he came down with both fists.

Ignotus quickly stepped back, easily dodging it, and then stepped to the side, dodging another attack. This one came from a Malevolent Undead that had come from behind him.

"Really slow."

"DIE!"

The ground cracked under Letum as he swung wildly.

Each attack, though missed, sent shockwaves everywhere around him.

Even in his rage, he somehow still didn’t hit the Malevolent Undead, but Ignotus wasn’t about to let that be.

Dodging a Malevolent Undead’s swing at the last moment, he casually pushed it into one of Letum’s shockwaves, which exploded it into black pulp.

"...damn."

Ignotus muttered.

’I guess that’s what happens when you stack Strength Runes.’

A single attack, even when faced with [Wise Fool], would do him in.

After all, the Runebearer before him wasn’t only of strength but was also a Shepherd.

Thankfully, and again, he was too enraged to use his Synaxis...

Or perhaps he couldn’t use it for whatever reason.

Either way...

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Ignotus dodged another swing, rolled back, and flicked his sword up in one motion.

Letum stomped again, shaking the ground while screaming like a lunatic:

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Though the sight of him stomping the ground repeatedly might make most forget, he wasn’t the only one to worry about.

Around them, the Malevolent Undead shrieked and lunged, their large claws scraping the ground.

Ignotus spun his sword, the glow of [Wise Fool] flaring as he blocked every strike in one swing, then countered with the next. He cleaved through two at once before quickly following through with another, killing two more.

Thankfully, he could use his [Wise Fool] on these creatures, as they were only Younglings.

"Next!"

Dodging more blows, he danced with them, ducking low and in before swinging again, cutting three into mushy halves.

But his fun was short-lived.

A shadow fell over him.

"...oh, right. You."

Letum’s punch came from the side, catching him before he could recover.

Ignotus was expecting that, however, instantly activating a flash of light beneath him, blasting him up and out of range.

Letum followed almost immediately, meeting him high in the air, above their little battlefield.

Ignotus stabbed his sword preemptively, his [Wise Fool] triggering to deflect the coming punch.

"RAAAAAAAAAH!"

And sure enough, it came alongside Letum’s rumbling roar, only to be caught by Ignotus’ blade.

It, with a lot of effort, was deflected to the side.

But another punch came right after.

"Persistent bastard—"

BOOM.

Ignotus barely dodged that one, flickering light bursting from his palms as he shot himself straight down, crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop away from certain death.

Thankfully, that earlier deflection had given him enough time to use his light once more.

But though he escaped death, he had dropped straight into the jaws of another, as dozens of Malevolent Undead came rushing at him at once. And this time, he didn’t have light to help him. The Rune’s activation period had ended.

"Not today."

Ignotus wasn’t in a state to block, so he had to use what he had saved up. One of the ten Runes on his Hands of Lethe glowed bright for a moment.

Click!

The nearest claw froze in midair, its ’attack’ stolen, allowing him a moment to collect himself and kick straight through the gap, breaking out of the ring of monsters...

Just in time to see Letum charging again.

He punched out, and Ignotus dodged left.

The resulting shockwave tore through the entire group of Malevolent Undead behind him.

"My brother aims better than you."

Ignotus lunged in return, stabbing toward Letum’s head.

Letum swung at the sword in an attempt to break it, but the weapon vanished mid-swing.

It reappeared half a heartbeat later, materializing right beside Letum’s side, making it obvious that the entire move was a feint. Ignotus had used his inventory just to finally reach him and cut through him.

Or, at least, he wished to have.

The blade stopped, stuck halfway in.

"...huh?"

Immediately retrieving it into his inventory, Ignotus tried to step away but was too late.

Letum’s massive fist filled his vision.

It was directly before him.

He could not dodge it.

’DAMNATION!’

Ignotus poured every last Rune from his gloves into that instant; nine, all gone in a single moment.

The punch’s ’attack’ was stolen, and it barely missed him, grazing the side of his cheek.

And yes, he was forced to use all nine of the remaining Runes as the attacker was of a higher rank. Since Divine Relics worked alongside the Soul, it demanded a lot more when a weaker user faced a stronger opponent.

"Great..."

Ignotus stumbled back, his breath heavy.

"No cards left."

He couldn’t even catch a breath before Letum went wild again, slamming the ground in fury.

Luckily, that also drew the Malevolent Undead’s attention, and they all lunged at him.

The perfect distraction.

Ignotus took the chance to breathe, for real this time, and weaved through them, away from that maniacal bastard.

’I really did bite off more than I can chew.’

Eris sighed in his mind.

’I told you so.’

Surprisingly, She didn’t seem too worried.

Something that Ignotus picked up on pretty quickly.

’You’re unusually calm for the worst fight I’ve had... why is that?’

She didn’t answer... at least not with talking, as he felt Her gaze drift somewhere.

He followed it, and near the edge of this thicket of trees, beside a massive cracked boulder, something small and white moved.

"...what?"

He squinted.

It was fluffy?

The thing had four legs and one little horn.

Yes, it was a familiar dog-wolf thing.

"...you’ve got to be kidding me."

The same one-horned white dog he’d saved back then.

It was just... standing there, watching him.

And the Malevolent Undead didn’t seem to react to it.

The same applied to Ignotus now that he was closer to this ball of fluff.

It could influence the Demon’s mind, and since Letum was currently being overrun by them, Ignotus was now allowed to stand around and do absolutely nothing.

"Well, I’ll be damned."

Ignotus’s grin widened.

"You’re my good luck charm, huh?"

Eris giggled softly.

’Indeed. Duel-Fated, remember?’

He walked toward the little creature while Letum roared behind him once more, fighting for his life under the horde.

"Hey... little one."

Ignotus kneeled.

"Thanks for the help. I almost died there."

The dog stared up at him.

"Is this for me saving you back then? Thanks, and you’re welcome!"

Again, it said nothing, but slowly...

Wooof.

It brought itself close to him with a whine and rubbed its fluffy head on his leg.

"Aww, so you do remember me."

He reached out and patted its head, almost forgetting the war happening next to them.

"You’re softer than I remembered. How are you so clean in this shithole?"

It tilted its head, almost offended.

"You’re so cute, isn’t that right, Eris?"

She giggled in agreement.

’Who’s a good boy~.’

The dog actually wagged its tail.

’Hm?’

Ignotus tilted his head.

"...wait, you can hear Her?"

It barked once, almost politely.

"Huh. I guess you can..."

He smiled a little, rubbing its fur again.

’Even in this life you surprise me... Alba. It seems we truly are Fated.’

Ignotus sighed softly and asked:

"Do you have a name, little guy?"

The dog shook its head, understanding him.

"Alright then, let’s fix that..."

Not finding that surprising, Ignotus began to list out names.

"How about... Seth?"

It looked like it wanted to die.

"No? Okay, Smith?"

Even worse.

It flattened its ears and looked away.

"Alright, fine. Snow?"

Worse, the dog gave him a look that screamed, "Over my dead body!"

"Is that too basic for you? Wow, picky. What about Ignotus’s Mighty Dragon?"

Much, much worse, the dog turning around like it was ready to walk away from him forever.

"...Okay, okay, calm down."

Ignotus laughed.

"How about... Alba?"

That actually made it pause.

Its tail wagged once, then again and again.

"I believe it means white... will you let me call you that again?"

The dog didn’t understand how this ’again’ came into the equation, but it didn’t bother to think about it. Its ears were up, its tail wagging wildly now, traumatized almost, wanting this name before Ignotus could change his mind.

’Aww, poor thing...’

Eris laughed in his head, ignoring that word as well.

’You’ve tortured it into agreeing.’

"Hey, I’ll take it."

Ignotus lifted the little guy up and revealed him to the grotesque battlefield before them.

"Welcome Alba, everyone!"