The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 501

Pitter- patter- pitter- patter-

Listening to the light winter rain that had just started, Se-Hoon looked around the interior of a bus rest stop near an abandoned rural village that he was currently waiting in.

“Hm… well, I guess this is fine for now.”

Although his original plan had gone slightly off track, he’d still successfully escaped Japan, so it wasn’t a major setback. Checking the concealment he had cast over the bus stop by blending several powers into Spirit Weaver, Se-Hoon then glanced at the girl sitting on the bench inside the stop.

The black-haired girl was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. She was someone who had always given off a doll-like aura, but now, she looked so lifeless she might as well have been an actual doll.

“…”

In just a few months, the girl—Erika—had changed so much that she was almost unrecognizable. Watching her in silence, Se-Hoon let out a small sigh before sitting down beside her and staring out at the slowly falling rain.

“…So what now?” Se-Hoon quietly muttered.

Usually, when someone staged a kidnapping, they did it with a plan in place. Se-Hoon, however, didn’t have a clear one for dealing with the Inoue family. Yet despite that, he had gone ahead and kidnapped Erika first.

Of course, anyone who heard that would have thought he was utterly mad—but there was just no better option from Se-Hoon’s perspective.

I can’t even probe them easily now.

If it were early last year—when he was just a promising rookie of Babel and nothing more—he would have made contact with the Inoue family and slowly gathered information. It was a time when he lacked the power to control the situation and the Inoue family hadn’t been on high alert.

Sigh…. things are different.

The young man, who was once merely a student, now stood shoulder to shoulder with the Perfect Ones. On the Inoue family’s side, though, their allies—the Demon Force and Watchers—were on the verge of full collapse.

If Se-Hoon were to approach them now, it would be no different from dropping a nuclear bomb in their lap. And considering they were supposedly in the middle of some secret scheme, that would especially be the case.

Their reaction would be obvious.

Whether they pushed ahead with their original plan or made a gamble in a state of panic, a disaster was inevitable—and there was no telling what kind of collateral damage Erika would suffer. That was why Se-Hoon cut off the possibility at its root by discreetly pulling Erika out while creating a temporary pause in their operations.

Well, it’s not like I have to worry about getting caught.

Before regressing, he would have been forced to flee constantly by the wanted notice that would ensue. Now though? He could escape even a global manhunt with ease. In the first place, though, he had the authority to shut down any investigation unilaterally. What was there to fear?

Still… I guess dragging this out too long isn’t good.

The more time he gave himself to think, the more time he gave the Inoue family to make their move. Realizing the problem, Se-Hoon quietly considered his next move, hoping to act before the Inoue family made theirs.

Swish-

Erika slowly opened her eyes, woken up by her hair slipping off her shoulder and brushing against her cheek.

“…”

Her gaze looked so natural, like she had only blinked for a second. With that gaze, she silently scanned the unfamiliar surroundings, only turning her head toward Se-Hoon once she finished.

“…”

The first thing Se-Hoon noticed was that her violet eyes had sunk even deeper since their last meeting. There was an unreadable calm in them, making Se-Hoon pause for a moment.

“…It’s been a while. You doing okay?”

A normal greeting, one far too casual for the current situation. However, Erika didn’t seem the least bit shaken. She simply stared at him in silence, then slowly nodded after a moment.

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

Her response was short and concise—just like always. Seeing that some parts of her remained unchanged, Se-Hoon smiled slightly without even realizing it.

“…?”

Erika tilted her head and looked at him with a curious expression.

“Hmm? What? Do I have something on my face?”

“…It’s nothing.” Shaking her head, Erika glanced around the bus stop interior once more. “Where is this?”

“A countryside town in Korea.”

“You brought me here?”

“Yeah.”

Se-Hoon answered honestly. Had he taken her while she was outside, he could’ve claimed he rescued her from a Demon Force outbreak—but of course, he hadn’t.

Not like a lie would fix this, anyway.

If the Inoues were preparing something massive, Erika most likely knew at least a portion of it. After all, given her origins—an artificial lifeform created to control the Heaven’s Well—it was more than likely she played a crucial role in those very plans.

And if she had taken on that role willingly…

“Well. I should get going then.”

… then there was only one reaction she could have now.

“Wait.”

“…”

Just as she stood up without hesitation, Se-Hoon moved to stop her. And in that same instant, the air inside the bus stop tensed faintly. A faint trace of hostility leaked from Erika, clashing with Se-Hoon’s mana that had instinctively flooded the area to lock everything down.

Feeling the oppressive force pressing down on her from all sides, heightened by her heightened sensitivity, Erika quickly realized there was no escape—no spell or technique could help. With no options, she looked straight at Se-Hoon with eyes full of resignation and her acceptance of death.

Under that gaze, Se-Hoon could only give her a bitter smile.

“I’m not trying to hurt you. You got hurt because of a mistake I made, so I stopped you.”

“…”

Only at those words did Erika finally check her own condition and notice there was a strange sensation she hadn’t felt until now: a faint boundary had been drawn across her body, mind, and soul. It took her only a moment of observation to determine the cause.

“I see. The power of Boundaries….”

To escape the Inoue family estate with Erika, Se-Hoon had used multiple powers. Instead of teleporting simply, he took a route that went through the Netherworld. Otherwise, considering the Heaven’s Well that Erika had been lying in and the Inoue family’s rituals, too obvious of a trail would have been left.

And Se-Hoon’s decision had indeed been correct—though it produced one unexpected variable.

“I used the power of Boundaries on you to prevent erosion from the Netherworld, but for some reason, an anomaly occurred. There’s no visible issue yet, but considering your body’s makeup, anything could happen.”

“…”

“I’ll fix it as quickly as I can, so just stay put until then. After that, even if you choose to return, I won’t try to stop you.”

Considering his proposal, Erika silently looked down at her body for a moment before slowly nodding.

“Alright.”

Immediately, Se-Hoon let out a quiet sigh of relief. Everything he said was true… but he had intentionally waited to address it. He needed a reason to keep her here, even briefly, until she inevitably made the decision to return.

Seriously… nothing ever goes smoothly.

If he hadn’t extracted her without a plan, he would’ve had to persuade her in the middle of enemy territory—which, in other words, meant his decision was the right one after all.

Feeling justified, Se-Hoon stood up and squatted down in front of Erika.

“Can you give me your hand for a sec?”

“Okay.”

Gently taking the right hand Erika extended with his own, Se-Hoon began channeling Spirit Weaver into her.

Swish-

Spirit Weaver seeped softly into her body.

Normally, when injecting barrier magic into a human body, there would be at least some faint rejection. As an artificial lifeform created through sorcery, though, Erika’s body naturally accepted the barrier without resistance.

Truthfully, he felt less like he was examining a living person and more like analyzing a meticulously crafted doll. His eyes perceived her as human, yet the tactile sensations in his hands said otherwise—an uncanny mismatch that made Se-Hoon furrow his brow.

“…”

Although he hadn’t felt great when he first discovered what Erika truly was, now… now he felt far more intense emotional fluctuations.

I guess I’ve changed too…

Unable to define the feeling, Se-Hoon forcefully pushed aside the stray thoughts to focus solely on controlling Spirit Weaver under Erika’s silent watch.

Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter-

The rainfall outside grew heavier, washing away the faint sounds beyond the bus stop. For just for a moment, the world seemed to consist only of Se-Hoon and Erika. They were enveloped in a private stillness.

“…You’ve changed,” Erika began softly. “You’re like a different person from last year.”

It was the first time she had started the conversation since she had woken up.

Continuing his work, Se-Hoon calmly replied, “How do you think I’ve changed, exactly?”

“Your eyes. Your expression. Your tone. Everything.”

His eyes, once fixed on something else, were now looking straight ahead. His expression, once always rigid no matter the emotion, had relaxed. His voice, once steeped in fatigue, held fresh vitality.

She didn’t know exactly what those changes signified, but after observing Se-Hoon up close, Erika had a hunch.

“You feel like someone who’s finally stepped out of the past.”

“…”

Se-Hoon paused, still holding her hand. Although he had faintly realized it himself… he had been intentionally avoiding the thought. Yet, before his face, Erika had pointed it out directly, making a bitter smile creep onto his face.

“Guess you got me.”

While he still had no clue how to persuade her properly, she had already seen straight through him.

“That reaction is different, too. If it were last year…”

“You would’ve seen me with my guard up high. I was prickly in a lot of ways back then,” Se-Hoon finished.

No matter how decent his personality was, the fact remained: he had failed to save the world once and lived through a bizarre regression. How could he have stayed calm knowing that?

Acknowledging her point, Se-Hoon deactivated the boundary within her and continued.

“For people like us, our synesthetic mindscapes are already well-formed, so we usually don’t change easily. If we take one more step from here, we become like the Perfect Ones.”

“…”

“But that also means… until you take that last step, until you reach the end, you can still change.”

The entire time, Se-Hoon had been mulling over how to persuade Erika, but in the end, there was only one answer he continued to arrive at.

“You said earlier you’d return to your family, right?” He looked her in the eyes and asked earnestly, “Is that really the best choice you can make?”

An artificial being created solely to control the Heaven’s Well—that was what the Inoue family had made and defined as “Inoue Erika.” It was a view that Se-Hoon didn’t agree with at all.

If I’ve formed a bond, that person is guaranteed to have an actual personality.

No matter what others said or thought, Erika was someone who longed for a connection with others and herself. He knew that, which was why instead of giving her an answer, Se-Hoon replied with that question. Because an honest conversation was the only way to move forward with her.

“…”

Remaining silent, Erika just gazed into his eyes, then slowly lowered her gaze to stare at her right hand in his.

“You erased the powers? All of them?”

Thinking she was avoiding his question, Se-Hoon was about to respond—but stopped and gave her the answer she wanted instead.

“I erased them all before I asked.”

“…I see.”

Taking her hand back, Erika gently clasped her right hand with her left.

“Then the thoughts I’m having now… aren’t because of this anomaly.”

Surprised by the deeper meaning hidden in her words, Se-Hoon met her eyes.

Erika looked back.

“I don’t know if I need a change like you. I’ve never lived with that kind of awareness,” she began in a whisper.

If he’d started spouting things about humanity or morality, she wouldn’t have cared and would’ve just gone back to her family.

“But… whether returning to the family is the best choice or not… I think I do need more time to think about that.”

Even if she returned now, she would only fulfill a predetermined outcome—or fail because of external interference. That was why Erika took the option of finding a third, better way. It would mean going against her family’s wishes for now, but it would be worth it if it brought them greater benefit in the end.

That’s a great excuse. Se-Hoon smiled subtly.

People who moved for the greater good often started uncovering their own desires in the process. And once Erika discovered her desires, what exactly it was that she wanted, the path forward would become clear.

“So what now?”

“Hmm… Do you want to travel a bit? You’ve never really had the freedom to wander, right?”

From kidnapping to unauthorized rescues, and now to Erika’s runaway rebellion—a revolutionary turn of events.

“Hm.” Erika mulled over Se-Hoon’s suggestion, then spoke calmly. “That could work, but there’s one problem.”

“What is it?”

“If I stay awake, they can track me through the Heaven’s Well. So—”

BOOM!

A deafening crack of thunder split through the downpour, and outside the bus stop, dark figures began appearing one by one: assassins dispatched by the Inoue family.

Seeing the fully armed sorcerers and shikigami revealing themselves, Se-Hoon immediately understood what Erika had been trying to say.

“So that’s what you meant. We don’t have the luxury of wandering, huh.”

Woong-

The sorcerers surrounding them worked fast, quickly activating a barrier around the bus stop to seize control of mana and the ley lines for a large-scale ritual. Their actions made it blatantly clear: they didn’t care whether Erika was caught in the crossfire.

Crack-

That was why Se-Hoon stirred up his mana without hesitation, causing distortions to appear naturally across his face and body—just like when he abducted Li Wen as the chief of the Three Dogs.

Stepping out of the bus stop, Se-Hoon’s words resounded in the air.

“Well, I’ll just get you the time you need.”

WOOOOOONG-

Torrents of water mana—Silver River—burst upward like a tidal wave, crashing down to swallow every enemy in sight without exception.