The Regressor Can Make Them All-Chapter 379

“...”

Meirin silently stared at the three unexpected drop-ins before shifting her gaze to Se-Hoon. The look in her eyes was demanding an explanation, accusing him of having planned it all along.

But upon seeing how she was filled with suspicion, Se-Hoon hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

“I didn’t have any say in this.”

“...”

“I’m serious! If I wanted to smuggle the armor out, I’d do it secretly. I’m not dumb enough to do it so openly.”

“...”

“I mean... it’s not like I’m their guardian... or anything...”

Despite his explanations, Meirin’s skeptical look did not go away. Feeling wronged, Se-Hoon sighed.

So this is why they weren’t replying to my texts...

In the beginning, he had warned them not to leave Babel recklessly, fearing they’d meet an untimely death. But recently, he had loosened the reins, confident they could handle themselves.

And now those three who had repaid his goodwill with betrayal stood before him, looking unbearably smug. But while he wanted to smack each of them, oddly enough, he wasn’t actually mad.

After all, that was just how they were.

I guess it’s my fault for letting my guard down.

If a dog ripped apart one’s couch because it hadn't gone on a walk for a long while, whose fault was it? Not the dog but the owner’s, for not taking it out in time.

Se-Hoon accepted he had been too relaxed, thinking they were more obedient than before. He noted down that he had to talk to them about the matter later, as he had to focus on handling the current situation at the moment.

At least this isn’t as awful as it could be.

His primary goal was to secure or destroy the Golden Origin Armor without making an enemy of Meirin. For that end, the hardest part had been getting his hands on it despite being at Meirin’s side, but with the three barging in, a new opportunity presented itself.

Now I just need to clear up Master’s misunderstanding.

Thankfully, she still trusted him to some extent. If Meirin had truly believed he had betrayed her, she would have subdued him on the spot or distanced herself immediately. Falling into thought, Se-Hoon started thinking of how to explain himself.

“Hmm...”

Observing his reaction, Meirin shrugged.

“Well, it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to let them take it.”

“...What? Are you okay with that?” Se-Hoon looked at her in surprise.

Exhaling a breath of smoke, Meirin nonchalantly replied, “They took him down first. What are we supposed to do? Complaining about it here would just make me look petty.”

To the uninformed, it might have looked like the three had simply gotten lucky and overpowered their opponent while they were off guard. But in reality, it wasn’t so simple.

Right before Nicholas could fully unleash the power of the Golden Origin Armor, the three had forced their way into a barely noticeable opening—one that even experts would have hesitated to exploit.

If they were just mere lackeys, that guy would’ve been able to counterattack immediately.

While the three drop-ins might still be considered as amateurs, they were all carefully selected and trained by Se-Hoon himself, someone even Perfect Ones and Ten Evils were wary of. Under such a man, if one let their guard down around those three for a moment, the three’s fangs would be buried in their throat.

Meirin knew well that it was better to back off now than to fight such a trio.

“However...”

Thud-

With a flick of her hand, the Resentful Blood familiar scattered on the ground and transformed into sharp spikes that shot forward, piercing the accomplice of Nicholas that had been secretly preparing something.

“Arghh!”

Clank!

The Resentful Blood spikes, now acting as shackles, pinned the accomplice’s limbs to the floor.

And upon turning back to the three, Meirin smirked at their stunned expressions. “You guys are still sloppy with your finishes. Be careful; you might end up paying for it in the future.”

Their expressions stiffened in one go. She was right—if it had been an actual battle, they should have taken out Nicholas’s accomplice the moment they neutralized him.

“What were you guys even doing? You should’ve finished him off immediately!” Luize telepathically complained to the two.

But at those words, Amir and Sung-Ha immediately glared at her.

“Don’t you think we should be the ones saying that?”

“If you were done suppressing this guy, you should’ve taken care of his ally right away. You got caught up in showing off again.”

“...”

The completely correct retorts left Luize at a loss for words.

As if they didn’t forget, too.

But despite silently grumbling, she accepted she had indeed let emotions cloud her judgment.

As she reflected on her mistake, Meirin, who had been watching them, suddenly spoke up. “By the way, what exactly do you mean by ‘that’?” she curiously asked.

“...What?”

“You said it earlier. That, ‘that’s yours.’”

“T-That’s, um...”

Realizing she had blurted out something embarrassing in the heat of the moment, Luize quickly became flustered—which made Meirin’s eyes gleam mischievously.

“I think you need to give me a clear answer. Otherwise...”—Meirin casually slung an arm around Se-Hoon’s shoulder and flicked her cigarette—“I might just take that by accident.”

“...”

Grind-

Seeing Luize’s eyes glowing blue with anger, Se-Hoon, caught between them, made an odd expression.

These two really don’t get along.

More accurately, Luize always disliked Meirin.

Even the Blast Dog would openly grumble whenever the topic of his master came up. He had always just thought there was some hidden history between them, but now, he began suspecting it was because their personality and values just clashed.

“Don’t provoke her too much. She holds grudges for a long time.”

“Oh? That’s unexpected.”

“I do not!”

At the sight of Luize, who looked like a hair’s breadth away from sulking, Se-Hoon chuckled and removed Meirin’s arm from his neck.

“Anyway, Boss. Are you really okay with this?”

“With what? Giving away the Golden Origin Armor?”

“Yeah. What about your client...?”

If it were just any client, it wouldn’t matter. But if they were dealing with Offering—which was a high chance—and things went south, Meirin could be used as the material for their experiment instead.

“Ah. They’re no problem. It wasn’t a mandatory retrieval mission in the first place, anyway.”

“...Then what was it?”

“The request was to secure it if possible. If not, they just wanted an analysis—how it reacts when a new owner puts it on, that sort of thing.”

“...”

Se-Hoon’s eyes narrowed. The Golden Origin Armor, which had vanished for years, had suddenly resurfaced. Furthermore, the development of bioweapons was progressing earlier than before. On top of it all, Offering had just instructed Meirin to observe the Golden Origin Armor’s effects? The ominous clues began to piece together—

“Move!”

An urgent shout without explanations—just an immediate, desperate command.

However, instead of questioning it, the three immediately heeded it. They didn’t know why Se-Hoon told them to, but they trusted him.

And that trust saved them.

Woosh!

Shadows erupted from the ground where they had just been standing.

He noticed us...?

So the rumors were true. He’s not ordinary at all.

Let’s retrieve the Five Element Equipment and retreat immediately.

Turning toward the Golden Origin Armor, their attackers—the Black Killers, a group of assassins that hid in the darkness to wait for the perfect moments to strike—headed for it.

Click.

But just then, something inside Nicholas’s body that had been previously sealed by the Golden Origin Armor was unleashed.

BOOM!

An enormous shadow surged forth. Caught in its wake, the Black Killers vanished without a trace, while everyone else turned to see what had passed them in the blink of an eye.

Crunch-

A grotesque mass of flesh writhed behind them, devouring the assassins. The sight made Luize’s expression twist in disgust.

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Dozens of unknown beings were squirming inside the hideous flesh.

“Ugh... AAAAAGH!”

Suddenly transforming, Nicholas’s bones snapped as his flesh twisted grotesquely. His body sprouted to three meters tall, now covered in stitched-up muscle and protruding white spikes. Then a pure white mask—sewn onto his flesh—hid his face.

“That’s...” Amir’s eyes widened.

Recalling the countless reports and sketches he had heard and seen when working in the underworld, his gaze naturally fell upon the object in Nicholas’ hand.

Gurgle-

A grotesque greatsword, formed from fused flesh and bones, stared back with its dozens of eyeballs.

Terror filled the onlookers’ eyes, and soon, its name was whispered by one of the heroes in horror.

“Demon’s Edge...”

The air froze instantly at the appearance of the monster—a Ten Evils that frequently roamed the polluted lands, slaughtering friend and foe alike—which only a Perfect One could stop.

How did that thing end up here...?

Is it a fake? But if that were the case...

Even from hundreds of meters away, the monster’s presence sent shivers down their spines. It was as though even a single wrong move would cost them their heads.

The heroes all broke into cold sweats, their tension rising. Then—

Thud-

Kicking off the ground, Demon’s Edge launched toward Se-Hoon, swinging its massive blade.

BOOM!!!

With an earth-shattering roar, the ground split apart in all directions. The sheer force of the strike hadn’t cut the ground, but pulverized it instead.

Still petrified, the heroes could only watch as the dust cleared. Only for it to reveal a scene far from what they had expected.

“Hmm...”

Se-Hoon was still standing in the same spot, completely unharmed, with his left foot pressing down on the greatsword. He was observing Demon’s Edge from up close, who had stopped mere inches from him. And after a pause, he made a small smirk, as if he had realized something.

“You’re a fake.”

“...!”

Nicholas, who had transformed into Demon’s Edge, flinched and immediately tensed his arm to swing again.

“Abgrund.”

Whoosh!

A pitch-black sword shot out from the Netherworld.

CRASH!

Plunging into Nicholas, Abgrund sent him skidding back dozens of meters, tearing up the ground beneath him. However, Nicholas had survived, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow to his heart by raising his greatsword like a shield to block.

Still, his condition was dire.

Drip, drip-

His muscles were shredded and black blood streamed endlessly from his wounds due to the head-on hit.

Wracked with pain, Nicholas looked at Se-Hoon in disbelief.

What kind of monster is he...?

Although he had heard Se-Hoon wasn’t just some ordinary blacksmith, he had never expected him to be able to unleash such an attack without preparation.

Meanwhile, as Nicholas reeled in shock, Se-Hoon was also inwardly a bit taken aback.

He blocked that?

His original plan had been to impale Nicholas with Abgrund, then activate the weapon skill, Abaddon, to finish him in one fell swoop.

Given that Abgrund was fully charged with darkness mana, he had assumed it would work. But the mana had ended up running empty before he could even activate the skill.

Wait... could he be part of the Demon’s Edge Corps?

Recalling his pre-regression life, he remembered the notorious group known as the Demon’s Edge Corps, followers of Demon’s Edge. Like Demon’s Edge itself, they wielded bioweapons and mimicked its abilities, spreading their infamy far and wide—just like Nicholas.

Realizing the likelihood of the ominous possibility, Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes. And at that moment, Nicholas made his move.

Thud!

He suddenly bolted in the opposite direction, trying to escape. Seeing that, the heroes who had been petrified in fear all sharpened their gazes.

Lee Se-Hoon just said it was a fake, didn’t he?

And given that he’s wounded...

This is our chance to impress Lee Se-Hoon!

Although they had hesitated before, the heroes now moved in unison.

Found it...!

Analyzing the changing positions of those surrounding him, Nicholas abruptly changed direction and charged at those closest.

Boom!

His legs exploded with power as he shot toward them. Mid-flight, his massive greatsword twisted violently and his flesh burst apart, expanding like a grotesque mouth.

Staring at the maw of writhing flesh, resembling the jaws of a giant monster, gaping wide, the targeted heroes’ eyes widened in horror.

This...

He’s trying to eat us...!

Recalling the assassins who had been devoured earlier, they all moved to dodge or counterattack.

However, the writhing flesh moved faster and was just about to swallow them when two people appeared before it.

Whoosh!

Emerging from their stealth state, Sung-Ha and Amir stared down the flesh that was Nicholas.

Idiots!

Their sudden appearance exhilarated Nicholas rather than alarming him. He had been expecting such a situation ever since the moment he noticed no one was by Se-Hoon’s side.

I’ll use them as hostages to escape!

He adjusted his plan, and his greatsword transformed once more.

Crunch!

The writhing flesh rapidly contracted, and Nicholas’s arms swelled as the greatsword accelerated at terrifying speed.

Whoosh!

He abandoned all finesse, relying solely on overwhelming brute force. And though it was brief, he had actually managed to replicate the raw power of Demon’s Edge.

Realizing they had only a split second before the gap completely closed and they were hit with that raw power, Sung-Ha and Amir moved.

Clank-!

Ice spikes shot up from the ground, impaling Nicholas’ body and freezing him solid.

Crack!

But the ice shattered in an instant, and the greatsword continued to descend upon them.

Woong-!

However, at the moment it was about to crush them, Sung-Ha’s twin spears struck the same spot on the greatsword simultaneously. Immediately, the waves from the resonance between them burrowed into the greatsword, disrupting the energy within.

Unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough.

Crunch!

The flesh comprising the greatsword just absorbed the mana, pausing for just a second before completely neutralizing the counterattack.

Got them!

Now Nicholas was sure he wouldn’t fail.

CLANG!

Following up, Amir stuck his ice dagger at the exact spot Sung-Ha’s spears had pierced. To Nicholas, though, it was just an ordinary attack—too weak to matter. Once again, he felt the thrill of victory.

Crack-

But then the ice dagger shattered, releasing a stored spell.

Triple Resonance

Fire, darkness, and ice mana—three incompatible types of elemental mana were forcefully bound by Luize’s incantation, and they detonated inside the greatsword.

BOOM!

The sword disintegrated into dust. And with it, Nicholas’ power diminished without pause.

“Wait... No—AAARGH!”

Crack-

With its core obliterated, the Golden Origin Armor went berserk and began transforming Nicholas’ body into a mass of flesh, expanding uncontrollably.

It desperately needed a new host, so naturally, it turned toward the strongest person present—Se-Hoon.

“Hey! Finish it off already!” Luize urgently shouted from a safe distance, having already retreated with Meirin.

Seeing it as well, Se-Hoon reached for his chest, ready to draw his weapon—“...oh”—but stopped and simply just watched the flesh approach.

Crunch!

The grotesque mass engulfed him, leaving the three who had been so sure he would handle it frozen in shock.

Then, all at once, they dashed toward him.

“Wait.”

Meirin stopped them with her sharp voice.

“Let’s wait first.”

“What?”

“It looked like he was about to dodge it but didn’t. That means he’s up to something.”

Her words made them hesitate. They had thought the same thing—but the sheer horror of the flesh had made them react instinctively.

Crunch- Squirm-

Even now, the grotesque mass pulsated ominously, scattering demonic aura in all directions. Looking between it and Meirin, the three hesitated.

And in the end, Luize was the first to speak.

“...We have to pull him out.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“I do.”

Luize looked at Meirin with an icy expression.

“But you I don’t trust.”

While Meirin appeared friendly toward Se-Hoon, it was nothing more than an objective assessment, like one would make of a tool. She lacked any human emotion or connection, and Luize had sensed that instinctively.

“...It’s such a hassle when one is too capable.”

Meirin sighed at Luize’s outright hostility. Whether she really had no intention of harming Se-Hoon, there was no point in explaining further to Luize.

So instead, Meirin activated her Blood Art.

Thump-

A pulse of power surged from deep within her heart. Sensing it, the three immediately prepared for battle.

Splurt!

Something was ejected from the mass of flesh before the fight broke out.

Thud!

Looking toward the item, they all saw a naked, unconscious man landing on the ground with a dull crash. Recognizing that it was Nicholas, the four turned their gazes back to the flesh mass.

“Tsk. Gonna have to wash this again when I get back... hm?”

Stepping out of the flesh mass, Se-Hoon dusted the blood splatters off his clothes. And when he looked up and glanced around a second later, he finally noticed the tense atmosphere between the four.

Something was off. Realizing that fact, Se-Hoon’s gaze flickered briefly before he reached into his jacket and pulled out the Golden Origin Armor that hadn’t been there before.

“Ta-da~”

“...You son of a—!”

Luize’s furious swearing rang out across the battlefield.

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