The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 518

“What is this even…?”

An engagement arranged without an ounce of prior discussion and even disturbing talk of turning that very fiancée into a shikigami? Ryuuma, who had never once questioned his family’s decisions over the past decades, couldn’t help but do so now.

“What exactly is going on? An engagement, a shikigami… what are you even talking about?!”

“Please calm down, husband. I’ll explain everything.”

“…”

Husband—Ryuuma’s expression hardened at the unfamiliar and jarring term of endearment. Mizuki, though, was unfazed.

“I’m from the Saotome family. In the past, we worked under the Inoue family when the Seeker created the Heaven’s Well. And even now, we’ve continued to maintain a relationship through various deals.”

“…”

“The most common of those deals has been the trade of shikigami created from processed humans. I’m one of those creations as well. Are you with me so far?”

Mizuki had spoken plainly about her clan and origins, but the content of her words was anything but plain. The act of transforming living humans into shikigami? That had been a forbidden technique for a long time, being strictly prohibited unlike during the early days.

Despite that, among these individuals, the practice of turning living humans into shikigami was apparently thriving in secret.

They’re all completely insane…

Ryuuma had a single thought: if it were up to him, he would’ve wiped out both clans and everyone involved without hesitation. Of course, the Ryuuma of the past had not thought or offered such straightforwardness.

“I see. I understand.”

The Inoue of the past had been far more deranged than they were now, so to Ryuuma—raised in such madness like a slave—Mizuki’s story wasn’t anything that would stir emotion. Instead, all it did was add a new piece of knowledge to his collection: Ah, so they use people like that too. No more, no less.

“What do I need to do from here on?”

“You’ll undergo an assimilation ritual with me at regular intervals. Normally, we would complete the process within a month, but due to my subpar aptitude, it may take up to a year.”

Because of that aptitude, Mizuki had been the cheapest “item” offered by the Saotome family. She was perfect for the Inoues, who had no intention of upgrading her to A-grade and planned to just dispose of her should she fail again; the best way to minimize their investment as much as possible.

A combination of a reject and a defective product then…

The marriage between the deadweight abandoned for failing to meet his family’s expectations and the defective item unable to inherit her clan’s techniques properly was obviously the last-ditch effort—final experiment—of both families to get some worth out of their respective “failures.”

“I’ll be in your care going forward.”

“I’ll also do my best to serve you.”

Just like that, their wedding ceremony ended quietly in a reception room with nothing more than a formal exchange of greetings.

From that day on, life continued as usual without changing much. The family head and relatives still viewed Ryuuma with contempt, and even the family’s sorcerers and servants continued to ignore and ostracize him.

One thing, though, had changed: Mizuki was now always by his lonely side.

“It’s cold today. Shall we head in early?”

“You’re hurt again? Honestly… hand me the bandages already; I’ll wrap it for you.”

“You seemed hungry, so I prepared some food.”

Although Ryuuma’s life was horrible enough to destroy a person utterly, he could still distinguish between good and evil to some extent. And in Ryuuma’s eyes, Mizuki was far too upright to be labeled a fellow failure.

“…Why do you live like that?”

Three months into their marriage, while disrobing for the assimilation ritual, Ryuuma had suddenly found the question leaving his mouth. On a normal basis, he wouldn’t have bothered with such a meaningless question, but that night, he felt an overwhelming urge to ask the woman standing quietly behind him.

“Why, you ask…” Mizuki paused for a moment, then reached out with her pale white hands to embrace him from behind. “Then why do you live like that, Husband?”

“…”

“Scorned by the family head, despised by your siblings, and ignored by your servants—why do you continue to endure such a life?”

Hearing her scornful whispers in his ears, Ryuuma felt a sensation he had never felt before. His stomach churned, his head spun, his breath grew short, his fists clenched so tightly they trembled from lack of circulation… it all came together to make him feel as if someone was crushing his heart with their bare hands over and over again.

Grimacing from the pain, Ryuuma clutched his chest.

Swish-

Mizuki’s pale hand gently settled over his.

“Once you find the answer to my question, I’ll answer yours then. So for now…”

Her hand guided him forward….

Se-Hoon frowned, seeing the memory that followed grow unbearably saccharine, so he quickly skipped past it.

The next day, and every day from then on, Ryuuma kept repeating Mizuki’s question to himself.

Why am I living like this?

What was the purpose of his existence? Mizuki’s question that fateful night had marked the turning point. Thanks to her, the discarded outcast—once merely a broken gear in the system—began forming his own identity as “Inoue Ryuuma.” Now the gear could finally turn, allowing the power that had remained stagnant for decades to surge at last.

Boom!

“Guh…!”

The sorcerer, who had long used “training” to teach Ryuuma, had now fallen to his knees and hands. Ryuuma had mastered all the spells he had previously failed to learn and even created a new one: the Living Painting.

Then, just six months later, the now S-rank Ryuuma became the beacon of hope for his family’s revival.

“Hahaha! He’s truly my son! At last, he repays our family’s grace!”

“With this, we can assert dominance among the Three Great Families.”

“Just dominance? Nonsense! At this rate, we may even be the first to produce a Perfect One among the Three Great Families! Then, we too, could become a global power like the UD Group!!!”

Ryuuma’s parents hadn’t said a single apology for their past atrocities. After all, to them, “disciplining” a child who failed to meet expectations was only natural. In the first place, there was neither need nor reason to apologize.

So to them, the result justifies the means.

In Se-Hoon’s eyes, none of them were sane—but there had been no one to point that out. Even Ryuuma himself had no interest in whatever nonsense his parents spouted.

If I just think a little more… if I reflect more… maybe I’ll find the reason I live.

To answer Mizuki’s question—and to hear her answer in return—Ryuuma had put in effort of his own volition for the first time in his life.

But on the day he reached S-rank, which was just before his and Mizuki’s first anniversary, Ryuuma could not find Mizuki. So, to find out, he attended the family celebratory banquet to ask.

“Mizuki? Ah, you mean that defective item? We are going to dispose of it.”

His father, drunk, had replied with a smile.

“Dispose…?”

“Of course. An S-rank like you shouldn’t be saddled with defective goods. We’ll find a better candidate to make your shikigami.”

Perhaps it was the alcohol he had never tasted before, but Ryuuma felt nauseous; his father’s voice continued to echo harshly in his ears.

“The Saotomes said they’d send a properly made one. Hmph, it’s only natural since they screwed up last time.”

“Screwed up…?”

“Ah, I guess you didn’t know. Well, it’s nothing serious.”

Still drunk, his father sneered.

“It got pregnant.”

“…What?”

“Tsk, I clearly told them to send one without reproductive functions… they must’ve just skimmed the check because it was defective.”

Ryuuma’s vision became distorted; his father’s voice became warped with noise.

“Maybe they got greedy after seeing your talent… Hmm? Did we dispose of her already? No, not yet. It’s just locked up. We figured that mishandling the assimilation ritual could cause issues for you.”

“——”

“What a stupid question. Of course, the child will be eliminated. That defective womb’s spawn is worthless. At best, it’s a nuisance.”

“——”

“And after that? Well… we were going to kill it or send it back, but your brother asked for it, saying it might aid his development. If that’s true, it could actually be quite useful…”

His head spun, his breath caught, and his heart throbbed with unbearable pain—the incomprehensible sensations were overwhelming. Not wanting to bear it any longer, Ryuuma excused himself and ran.

Shoving aside the family sorcerers guarding the halls, Ryuuma’s feet never stopped as he rushed to the underground prison. And there he saw her: Mizuki, locked in a cell.

“Oh, my… why are you here?”

“…Why?”

“Yes?”

Her wrists and ankles were ragged with shackles; her body bruised and beaten. Yet what hurt Ryuuma the most wasn’t the sight of her injuries. No, not at all. It was her expression. As if her treatment were natural, she waited quietly to be discarded.

Ignoring the pain in his chest, Ryuuma shouted, “Why… why didn’t you say anything!”

If she had told him sooner, maybe he could’ve prevented it.

Mizuki calmly looked up at him.

“There was no reason to.”

“…What?”

“I am not your property, Ryuuma. I belong to the Inoue family head.”

Her soft voice pierced his ears like a blade, shredding his mind.

“If he desires to dispose of me, then that’s the end.”

The child in her womb, Ryuuma’s feelings—none of it mattered to Mizuki.

Ryuuma staggered back. She was just… denying and trampling… everything? Everything that they built?

“I… I…”

What should he ask? What answer should he give? Everything he had wanted to build was collapsing. Ryuuma was about to break.

“…Do you want to own me?”

And at that moment, Mizuki’s soft whispers had entered his ears.

“If so, there’s only one way.”

Become the family head—and her new master. The moment his brain connected the dots, his mind cleared and his heart turned cold.

A father who cursed and bound all direct bloodlines to secure his position. A mother and siblings who colluded with other families to steal the seat of power. Such greedy and disgusting people. From them, how should he protect Mizuki and claim the headship?

Ah.

He recalled the currently ongoing celebratory banquet attended by every major family figure. To prevent intrusions, the event was also in complete isolation.

Piece by piece, it all came together with Ryuuma’s emotions to form a single plan.

“Die.”

Crunch!

Feeling something crushed in his hand, Ryuuma abruptly woke up. His surroundings had changed completely. Everywhere he looked… the banquet hall was strewn with crimson remnants so mangled they could no longer be identified.

“…”

Moonlight filtered through the collapsed ceiling.

Ryuuma stared blankly at the trembling survivors in a corner of the hall, then slowly looked down at himself.

Drip- drip-

Only now did he realize his body was soaked in blood from head to toe—and it wasn’t his own blood.

“I…” Ryuuma murmured absently.

Although he had now become the new family head—and Mizuki’s master—there was no joy. All he felt… was the inescapable sense that he had crossed a line from which he could never return.

“Ah… ahh…”

As he sank to his knees, staring at his bloodstained hands in realization, a pale hand reached out from behind and covered his eyes.

“It’s okay.”

A gentle voice, so faint that it had almost nonexistent warmth. Having somehow escaped from her prison, Mizuki embraced the blood-soaked Ryuuma and shielded his eyes.

“You did nothing wrong. So don’t blame yourself.”

“But… I… I…”

Feeling him trembling in her arms, Mizuki made a tender expression.

“You simply fulfilled the ‘role’ you were given.”

“…My role.”

“Yes. You performed your role as the new family head; you did so perfectly that no one can deny it.”

She, too, was nothing but a tool fulfilling her assigned role. She displayed neither morality nor emotion. Just purpose.

Ryuuma knew; he knew she was saying nonsense. But her gentle whispers soothed his heart nonetheless. He wanted to find peace in believing it.

And sensing his desire, Mizuki continued her sweet, gentle whispers.

“The memories of tonight will haunt you forever. No matter how much you try to forget, they’ll keep surfacing to curse you.”

“…”

“But if you just stop thinking—if you only devote yourself to your assigned role—then they won’t be able to hurt you. I’ll block that curse for you.”

The ruined banquet hall and the moonlight that had once revealed his sins both vanished. In the darkness brought by her pale hand, Ryuuma’s heart sank deeper into the depths.

“If I accept this… will you stay by my side forever?” he muttered weakly.

“Hmm… that might be a little difficult. You see, I’m meant to die for the inheritance to pass on.”

“…”

And with those words, Ryuuma finally understood just how worthless he was to her. If he refused his role, if he got in the way… then she would simply leave.

Terrified of that future, Ryuuma spoke before he knew it.

“The child…”

“…Yes?”

“Don’t get rid of our child…”

Was it because he needed something to prove she had existed? Or because he hoped for a miracle? Mizuki paused, wondering which, then let out a small laugh.

“You’re truly a foolish man.”

Her pale hand withdrew from his eyes, revealing the pale moon gazing down at him through the shattered ceiling. But then a talisman inscribed with the word ‘seal’ fell over his eyes, replacing her hand and sinking him into darkness once more.

“All right. But in exchange, you must fulfill this role for the rest of your life.”

Inherit the Saotome family’s forbidden techniques. Continue the vanished Seeker’s will. Endlessly pursue knowledge.

“For that is the role of the one who inherits.”

Swish-

Ryuuma’s memory ended, plunging everything into darkness.

Slowly, Se-Hoon became aware of his body once more.

Drip- drip-

He looked up to see Ryuuma’s figure appear before him: a man soaked in blood, weeping endless black tears. Even decades later, he couldn’t escape his past.

“…”

Se-Hoon watched in silence.

“Thus, I entrust to you all of my memories, my entire synesthetic mindscape… and the curse she left behind.”

Woong!

With Ryuuma’s slow voice ringing in the air, something deep inside Se-Hoon resonated in response.

Rumbleeeeee-

The entire space quaked violently.

“In accordance with the roles assigned to us, we shall now conduct the Open Gate Ritual once more.”

Wooooong-

The fusion of their synesthetic mindscapes and powers began unleashing an overwhelming, ominous force that made Se-Hoon narrow his eyes.

Ruin Projection: Evernight Seal

Far away, in the domain of the Harbingers of Destruction—the very bottom of the Abyss of Demons—the Destroyer of Ruin formed a mudra and summoned the power of ruin.