The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 537

Fwoosh-

Flames of brilliant, warm hues softly blanketed the Sanctuary, gently flickering as the power that filled Eun-Ha’s entire body faded. She had poured everything into that last strike.

“…”

With her Soul Furnace dissipated as a consequence though, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself if Karl were to counterattack and would likely face death. But even so, rather than retreating, Eun-Ha just stared at her clenched fist—more precisely, her knuckles that had collided with the Crown of Original Sin.

Crack-

A fine fracture spread across the once-radiant golden crown, and a single stream of blood trickled down from Karl’s forehead. A minor injury that would have healed before blood even flowed was bleeding freely.

“…Impressive.”

Feeling the blood, Karl looked toward the six who had fought him.

Craaaack!

Having lost all power, the Crown of Original Sin shattered into pieces; golden light and glass fragments rained down. The light that had filled the church along with the stained glass in the air followed suit, cracking and breaking to scatter a mysterious light that overlapped with the colors of the decrepit church.

“…”

Jake stared blankly at the radiant display, seemingly colored in victory celebrations.

I feel like dying, but this kind of seems like it’s worth it… huh?

The moment Jake looked up, revealing the proud smile on his face, he abruptly realized the change in his condition. Not only had his depleted mana and stamina fully recovered, but all injuries from burns and fractures to torn muscles had completely healed?

“This is…”

In their current situation, how many people could heal wounds this cleanly? Naturally, Jake first glanced at Se-Hoon, suspecting him… only to see his friend shaking his head.

That left one option: he turned to Karl, standing ahead.

“…Did you heal us?”

If it were the Pilgrim, then perhaps his mind—corrupted by Apostate—had returned to normal.

But alas, to Jake’s hopeful gaze, Karl could only give a bitter smile and shake his head.

“Regretfully, that was not my doing. It’s likely that the divine mana simply healed you as it dispersed.”

“Ah…”

“Well, is the person responsible for sealing me here right now? If you don’t mind, I’d like it done quickly.”

Karl’s voice as he looked at the four standing closest to him was tinged with bitterness.

“Otherwise, I might try to kill you all once my power returns.”

“…”

“…”

Noticing the serenity and murderous intent twisted in his voice, Aria let out a sigh while Eun-Ha’s expression hardened.

“Erika.”

Stepping forward at Eun-Ha’s call, Erika approached Karl and retrieved a shard of the Heaven’s Well—stained with the mud of the Abyss of Demons—from within the Bound Celestial Garment.

Heavenbreaker’s Dominion: Calamity Sealing

Swish!

Released from the Celestial Bound Garment that was wrapped around the shard, dark chains shot out and tightly bound Karl’s body. Tainted with the Abyss of Demons, the chains were nearly fatal to Perfect Ones.

And with full control of the Sanctuary now under Se-Hoon’s control, Karl especially couldn’t resist the seal.

“So it’s done. Thank you.”

No longer able to move a single finger, let alone perform a miracle, Karl nodded weakly. Seeing that, the strike force turned to Se-Hoon. If Karl couldn’t regain his sanity on his own, the only remaining option was for Se-Hoon to intervene.

“Pilgrim.” Se-Hoon directly met Karl’s eyes.

“Yes?”

“Do you truly wish to kill us?”

“Yes.”

Even despite all his power being sealed, Karl still answered without hesitation; his unwavering eyes were locked onto Se-Hoon’s.

“Because that is his wish.”

“…”

Se-Hoon sighed internally. Karl hadn’t referred to Apostate himself but Apostate’s wish specifically. The distinction between the two was subtle, but not when it came to the beings tied to the world’s laws

So even if Apostate is killed, he’ll still act according to his wish…

In that case, there was only one way to revert Karl: Apostate, Karl’s sole and devoted follower, had to cancel his own wish. However, for someone who had descended so deeply into madness, such a thing occurring was essentially impossible.

Knowing that thing, Tuner definitely took precautions.

Even if it was, the one who had forcefully remade the demon Apostate into an obsolete human was almost certainly Tuner. He, of all people, would surely have installed a failsafe like Apostate’s death to lock Karl’s rampage in place.

In other words, persuading Apostate wasn’t essentially impossible but flat-out impossible.

Then… two conclusions remain.

Create another obsolete human similar to Apostate who could wish for something different, and either kill or seal Karl. Of the two, the former was the most certain… but making an obsolete human was far from simple. As for the latter, Karl being neutralized wouldn’t erase the Pilgrim from the world completely and would thus leave dangerous variables.

Now I understand why Baek-Yeon was so wary of the other Perfect Ones.

Unlike demons, who disappeared completely upon defeat, the Perfect Ones remained as laws—making a clean resolution impossible.

Right now, to truly resolve this crisis, the law itself—Karl—had to change.

Tsk. Feels like I’m chasing my own tail…

Frustrated, Se-Hoon’s expression twisted—

Rumbleeeee-

Feeling the Sanctuary ominously quaking all of a sudden, everyone’s eyes widened. And before anyone knew it, Aria’s Dawnlight was at Karl’s neck.

“Shall I deal with him?”

Thinking, Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes, then shook his head briefly later.

“Forget it. He isn’t the one who’s causing this.”

“Then who just—”

“It’s from above.”

Responding to Luize, Se-Hoon turned his attention to the sight of his main body—the inside of the sealed Salvation Radiance on the surface.

Throughout the barrier, cracks had spread. And above the head of the wildly attacking Apostate… was the reformed Crown of Original Sin.

Se-Hoon grimaced.

“It looks like some of the Pilgrim’s power was transferred to Apostate when he was sealed.”

Now, on top of being Karl’s only follower, Apostate had become some sort of proxy that could wield Karl’s power personally with Karl being incapacitated.

The crown is weaker than before… but the real problem is its power.

Apostate, who previously needed to rely on prayer to channel strength from Salvation Radiance, no longer needed to do so with the Crown of Original Sin.

Rumble-

Now, by the second, Dream Manifestation was collapsing faster and faster, leaking the golden light of Salvation Radiance intermittently. Time was short.

A way to eliminate the Apostate and alter the Pilgrim’s law…

Se-Hoon looked between the two battlefronts. How could he separate a crazed follower from the God who wished to save him? He wracked his brain, agonizing over it—a thought struck him out of the blue.

Taking a moment to flesh out the details, Se-Hoon then turned to Karl.

“Pilgrim.”

“Yes?”

“Do you truly wish to save Apostate?”

Not expecting that question, Karl flinched. But, upon realizing the sincerity in Se-Hoon’s question, his eyes slowly widened as his expression turned as unwavering as before.

“Yes… shamefully so. That is genuinely now my wish.”

His reply, layered with countless emotions, brought about a heavy silence.

“I see…” Se-Hoon eventually said, nodding. “Understood.”

It would be a gamble, but it would be one worth trying… after all, the Revelation hadn’t issued a warning. So, with that conclusion, Se-Hoon looked Karl in the eyes.

“Then I will help you out.”

Woong!

The Crown of Original Sin atop Se-Hoon’s head flared with radiant light.

***

BOOM!

So persistent.

CRACK!

Disgusting.

BLAM!

I’ve had enough…!

Overwhelmed by seething emotions, Apostate’s face twisted. Responding, the Crown of Original Sin—divine authority that had been bestowed upon him by his God—unleashed another miracle.

RUMBLE!

Black spears rained from the sky like a storm. Each was a Spear of Blasphemy, weapons of guaranteed destruction that were forged with divine mana to slay enemies in a single strike, which was comparable to divine punishment.

And yet, a bombardment of such weapons was raining down. Even Apostate’s former self as one of the infamous Ten Evils would have struggled to withstand.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

However, the enemy before him endured as though it were nothing much.

With each slice of his sword that glinted like starlight, thousands of spears were split, deflected, or buried into the ground.

“…”

Seeing the graveyard of spears now covering the desert, Apostate’s rage was rekindled—which caused another miracle to surge forth.From the earth, sulfur soldiers rose and seized the embedded spears before charging in…

BOOM!

Only for them, too, to be sent flying by the enemy that rushed through the sulfur soldiers to massacre them without hesitation.

“…”

Apostate was in disbelief. Just how was Se-Hoon, someone who had never ascended to the top of a Tower of Heroes or sunk to the depths of the Abyss of Demons, able to wield such power? The sight was so surreal that it brought back memories of his last few conversations with Tuner.

“The scariest thing… is that he doesn’t even recognize his limits.”

“That guy? He treads into unfathomable realms even Perfect Ones and Harbingers of Destruction can’t reach—like it’s all nothing to boot.”

“At this point, you can’t label him as a simple genius or prodigy. Honestly… all I can say is that he’s terrifying.”

Recalling Tuner’s evaluations of Se-Hoon, Apostate finally heard the emotion he himself hadn’t realized escape his lips.

“I’m… scared.”

The sulfur army, the spears that could kill even Perfect Ones and Harbingers of Destruction, and the planet-splitting greatsword—every single one fell before Se-Hoon.

Crack!

While the dream overlaying Salvation Radiance was slowly collapsing, that was it. He had divine miracles at his disposal, yet that was it.

That monster, who was resisting whatever miracle he threw at him with his own strength, had probably prepared countermeasures for everything.

Even if I escape from here… could I even kill—

WHACK!

Apostate’s fist smashed into his own head, cutting off such blasphemous thoughts.

WHACK! WHACK! CRACK!

The Crown dug into his skull, tearing flesh and splattering blood. Soon enough, it was even smashing through it, digging into his brain.

“No… I… would never doubt… never never never—!!!”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He smashed his head over and over, refusing to let a trace of such blasphemy remain. Only after did he stop, heal, and glare at Se-Hoon with a bloodied face.

This is all because of you.

Because of that repulsive monster, his faith and God’s miracle had been doubted.

Because of his fear of Se-Hoon, Apostate’s mad-beyond-reason mind completely broke—and so, he activated a mechanism he swore never to use.

Stab-

He pierced his temple with a finger to activate an artificial organ Tuner had planted.

Crack- Crunch!

His once-stable spine instantly began shattering as his body collapsed like dominos and his blood flow reversed. The brutal self-destruction acted like a magic array, activating dormant genetic material in his body.

Whoosh-

Black mist gushed from his form. Bathed in it, his flesh that had been altered into an obsolete human began regenerating backward into a demon.

Woong!

Naturally, the sudden transformation caused the Crown to flare. Then, in the blink of an eye, golden cracks had spread across his body as the light clashed with the demonic aura.

“Grgh…!”

Enduring the utter agony the simultaneous regeneration and destruction brought, Apostate clenched his fists and recalled Tuner’s warning.

“Don’t ever think that you’re reverting to a demon. Always assume that your body is contaminated and that the Pilgrim’s power is healing it. Because if you force those two powers into equilibrium…”

CRACK-

His head split; all thoughts ceased.

“Then… like him, you’ll be able to toy with the world~”

CLICK!

The moment the whisper echoed in his ear, the two powers inside him meshed to end the regeneration-destruction loop. Apostate, his body blackened by demonic aura with streaks of golden cracks—unstable yet balanced—then stood. At that moment, the Crown that had been split in two re-fused around his skull.

Grind-

His head was forcibly held together by the Crown. Thanks to it, his broken thoughts reconnected… and Apostate instinctively understood what he had become.

The Prophet.

The one who receives the revelation of God first.

Looking down at himself, the Prophet examined the power within him.

With this power…

Beholden with a contradictory force that defied the laws of the world itself, he, too, could now kill Se-Hoon. With that realization, the Prophet looked forward…

“Sorry I’m late.”

Squelch!

And pierced himself right in front of Karl, who had a bitter smile, between the eyes with a Blasphemy Spear.