The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 529

“Lea, how’s the progress of the Divine Mana Conversion Device?”

Upon his return from the cathedral, Se-Hoon wasted no time in organizing the items needed for the prayer.

“Umm… probably around ninety-five percent… no, actually, I haven’t fixed that part yet, so ninety…? Mmmm, maybe more like eighty percent? Considering the output, though… let’s just say seventy-five…”

Lea mumbled and groaned, struggling to assess the completion status.

“Being generous… maybe about fifty percent?”

“It dropped again?”

To the conclusion Lea gave after a long while, Se-Hoon returned an incredulous look. For some reason, the progress of the Divine Mana Conversion Device seemed to be ever-declining?

“Y-You told me to take my time and do it properly, remember? I’m just following the instructions you gave me…!” Lea stammered, defending herself with a sheepish smile.

“Hm… well, you’re not wrong.”

Like Lea said, the culprit continually pushing her for further improvements on something that could’ve been finalized long ago was indeed himself. That was why he couldn’t really blame her for it.

“Then let’s just wrap the project up at a reasonable stage and start production. I’ve got urgent use for it.”

“What are… oh, is it for the election?”

“That’s right. Do you have a prototype ready?”

“Wait a sec.”

Getting up from her seat, Lea rummaged through a chaotic pile of miscellaneous parts before eventually pulling out a long stick.

“Here it is.”

In her hand was a Divine Mana Conversion Device—a Sanctified Branch—which was made from a branch of the Divine Tree planted in Paradise, the special district of the Pilgrimage Church that was established last year in Babel.

Taking it, Se-Hoon gave it a quick once-over. It was essentially a stick picked up from some hill that had been fashioned crudely, but upon examining the flow of mana, its true nature was revealed.

Swoosh-

Looking at the pure white particles emitted by the Sanctified Branch, which was absorbing ambient mana, Se-Hoon infused it with some of his mana and a hint of his synesthetic mindscape.

Light. Sword.

Woong!

The white particles dissipating surged back into the Sanctified Branch, merging with Se-Hoon’s synesthetic mindscape before turning golden and converging outward from a single point to form a sword: a perfect manifestation of Divine Magic without divine mana, just pure mana.

“Nicely done,” Se-Hoon said in approval, observing the sword from all directions.

With his own eyes, he saw it absorb mana and convert it into a pure white aura—Faith—which was then shaped with the user’s synesthetic mindscape to generate divine mana and manifest it as Divine Magic. It was a perfect replication of the creation process of divine mana.

Yes, after extensive refinement, every stage of the mechanism was now activating flawlessly at long last.

“This seems field-ready. Which part of it still isn’t working properly?” Se-Hoon asked, tapping the holy sword.

“Ummm,” Lea made a troubled face. “Everything else is fine, but the purification function still isn’t working as intended.”

“Ah… that part, huh.”

Along with its regenerative ability, the purification of demonic aura was one of divine mana’s signature traits. It was also the part Se-Hoon had paid most attention to while initially designing the device, yet it remained incomplete.

“It’s not that it won’t activate at all, right?”

“Right, but the output is only forty percent purified. At that point, it’s more efficient to just blast away the demonic aura with mana.”

“Hmm… that is disturbingly low.”

Se-Hoon stared at the Sanctified Branch, which was still generating Faith, with a thoughtful expression.

Come to think of it, the Divine Mana Conversion Device I made before regressing also had iffy purification capabilities…

Back then, he assumed it was just due to his lack of technical skill. However, even with the current completeness surpassing that one, the function still fell short. In other words, the chance that it was a different cause went up.

Maybe the output of the purification isn’t derived from divine mana itself but from the power of Grace?

Seeing Se-Hoon fall silent, mulling over the problem while toying with the Sanctified Branch, Lea began poking him on the cheek like pressing a doorbell.

“Trying to come up with a solution is good and all, but maybe save it for later? There are only five days left until the election.”

“…True.”

“So how many do you need? If I rush it, maybe I can manage about a hundred…”

“Five hundred.”

Lea’s finger froze midair as silence fell over the workshop.

“…You meant to say fifty, right?”

“Nope. Five hundred.”

“…”

“…”

Their eyes met for a long second—Lea made a run for the door, only to bump straight into Se-Hoon, who had silently blocked her path.

“…That’s solid.”

“Don’t say weird stuff,” Se-Hoon said, peeling her off his chest. Looking down at her again, Se-Hoon gave a long, tired look and sighed.

“Fine. If it’s really too much, I can ask someone else. It’s not like there’s no one else I can entrust it to.”

“…Really?”

“In exchange, I’ll need you to help me build the power stabilizer for the Planetary Reinforcement—”

“Five hundred it is! I’ll finish it in four days!”

Spinning on her heels, Lea rushed to prepare for the production of Sanctified Branches despite the obvious headache it was going to bring.

“…”

Yet her changing tune so fast only made Se-Hoon frown.

She used to leap at any challenge that looked tough…. Has she lost her edge?

In truth, rather than Lea losing her edge, it was more accurate to say that the things Se-Hoon made now reached the realm of Perfect Ones—in other words, out of her scope. Naturally, Se-Hoon wasn’t aware… or rather, he knew it was “difficult.” It was just that he simply believed Lea’s talent and skill could handle it.

I guess I’ll have to push her through it, even if I have to force her.

If he had to guess, the showdown with Puppeteer wasn’t far off. It was better to hone their capabilities as much as possible before then.

Sorting out some plans, Se-Hoon told her to add a few more functions to the Sanctified Branch before slipping away from the workshop—and Lea’s scowling face—into the Netherworld.

Clang! Clang!

Approaching the sharp clangs resounding from the base of the Black Tower, Se-Hoon found Meirin chiseling away.

Clang!

Meirin, who had her usual unkempt indigo hair in a bun and sleeves rolled up, had a lollipop in her mouth instead of her usual cigarette as she worked with focused attention.

Clang!

With each swing, her hammer and chisel made from the Demonic Blood Art clearly shaved off parts of the tower’s surface.

Looks like she’s making good progress.

In the time he hadn’t seen her, the originally plain base of the Black Tower had been transformed into a smooth and streamlined shape, etched all over with tiny inscriptions.

Looking at the Black Tower now, which was taking shape according to his blueprint of a memorial tower to console the dead, Se-Hoon wore a curious expression.

I knew it’d suit this place, but… this is better than I imagined.

Meirin’s work, which made the tower blend in so naturally like it had always been a part of the landscape, made Se-Hoon stare in appreciation—

“How long are you just gonna stand there watching? Come help already.”

Hearing Meirin’s call, Se-Hoon realized he had been staring for too long.

“Ah, okay.”

As he walked over, Meirin, resting a hand on her hip, asked bluntly, “Your thoughts?”

At those words, Se-Hoon chuckled. From the confidence in her tone, she wasn’t asking out of genuine curiosity. She already knew the answer and just wanted it confirmed.

“You did a lot better than the blueprint.”

“Hmph. Of course I did,” Meirin said, nodding smugly.

Smiling, Se-Hoon arrived at her side and studied the processed section of the Memorial Tower from up close.

It’s different.

From a distance, it blended seamlessly into the Netherworld. Up close, he could sense a clear boundary radiating outward from it. It gave off an alien feeling… like the tower existed elsewhere despite being right in front of him.

Intrigued, Se-Hoon studied it closely.

“It’s already linked, huh…”

“It happened naturally during the construction,” Merin replied, hearing his murmur.

The Memorial Tower that Meirin was building—the power stabilizer—had two major functions. First: to stabilize Terra’s use of the power of Boundaries and prevent it from running wild. Second: to act as a conduit linking the living world with the Netherworld.

Of the two, the second function was especially important. After all, when the Golden Ring would inevitably threaten to over-alter the planet, it would be that link that would allow the excess power of Origin to be drained.

Blending two different worlds…. Hmmm, I thought it’d be a pain, but to think the connection happened so naturally during construction.

The creation of the structure that fused the planet and Netherworld was so seamless that everything felt like that was just how it was meant to be.

Maybe it’s because it’s like a reflection of myself?

A mysterious object born from the Blessing of the Eternal that was infused with his own synesthetic mindscape. With many questions remaining, Se-Hoon continued observing it in search of answers.

“Well?” Placing a fresh lollipop in her mouth, Meirin looked at him. “You didn’t call ahead. I doubt you’re here for something pleasant.”

“Mm, actually…”

Hiding nothing, Se-Hoon briefly explained the conversation in the underground Sanctuary. And after hearing it all, Meirin frowned.

“I see… so that fake prophet is finally cracking. Tsk”

“?”

Se-Hoon raised an eyebrow. She had never spoken negatively about Karl before?

“Did something happen between you and the Pilgrim?”

“Not really.” Meirin tapped her shoulder with the hammer. “It’s just that I simply can’t stand how someone who led mass executions of ‘heretics’ is now worshipped like a saint.”

“Ah…”

Se-Hoon gave her a bitter smile. Although most spoke favorably about Karl nowadays, in the early days of the Pilgrimage Church, perception of him had been starkly different. Why wouldn’t it have been when all emerging religions created by those who awakened divine mana were wiped out by the Church?

He is especially thorough when it’s about heresy.

Se-Hoon recalled how even he was immediately checked by Karl for signs of heresy upon confirming he used divine mana. If he was like that now, then those who witnessed the Church’s inquisitions firsthand—like Meirin—truly had every reason to feel uneasy.

“Well, that’s just my opinion. Don’t worry about it. More importantly, what do you need for this operation?”

“I’m thinking of using the new Memorial Tower to suppress the Pilgrim’s power. But to do that, I need to install a few devices…” Getting back on track, Se-Hoon explained his current plan.

“I see. The Memorial Tower alone might be tight, but if the other two are completed in time, it should work.”

“That’s what I’m thinking too.”

A lantern for the power of the Anatta and an arrow for the power of Perception—if they added those to the Memorial Tower, they could respond to any variable Karl might throw at them.

“However…”

Seeing Meirin’s look of concern, Se-Hoon immediately questioned her about it.

“Is there something bothering you?”

“I’m not sure how the Demon Force will move.”

“Ah.”

True. While their influence had waned, they couldn’t completely discard the possibility that they might still interfere, like with the Inoue family. And considering that Tuner had been the one to push Wurgen into madness…

Guess I’m lucky that Apostate is dead.

If Apostate—who worshiped Karl rather than the Golden Ring as “God”—was still alive, things could easily have gone far worse. Just the thought of it gave Se-Hoon a strange sense of unease.

“…Hmm. That’ll do, then.”

Hearing Meirin’s voice, Se-Hoon focused on her again.

And Meirin, who had finished crunching the numbers in her head, met his gaze directly.

“You should just become the pope yourself.”