Chapter 379: Troika (1)

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

[Succession Complete..]

[51.73%...]

[You have risked your life to activate Dragon Breath against a target the dragon race bitterly despises.]

[The Breaths you left behind stirred with joy in the abundant mana.]

[Your Affection with the dragon race has increased dramatically.]

Dragons were individualist

Dragons cared nothing for reputation, being fiercely individualistic by nature. However now, I'd receive their instinctive goodwill.

[Dragon Breath is the sovereign of magic.]

[Due to your use of Dragon Breath, your magic resistance has permanently increased.]

[Anti-Demon A– has been restored.]

[Anti-Demon A+ has been acquired.]

[— Undesired possession, brainwashing, suggestion, and madness were fundamentally nullified.

— Artificial magic of B-rank or lower was nullified. You also gained similar resistance to natural phenomena imbued with elemental power.]

[The level cap for all magic has increased by 5.]

[Your combat power against dragon offshoots has increased significantly.]

[You have unlocked Light That Cannot Be Bound in the form of a sword.]

[You have unlocked Darkness That Settles Like a Moan in the form of a sword.]

[You have cut away a portion of the Demon King's soul.]

[The level cap for Swordsmanship has increased.]

[The beings of the Forgotten Portraits are watching you.]

I quietly stared at the status windows that kept rising.

I managed to sever one of Bassago's hands and probably wounded him, but there's no level-up message.

Crack! Crack, crack!

Gith-Za-Rai's tendrils threaded between my bones and vertebrae, constricting with menace. "What are you looking at?"

She was probably offended that I dared ignore her, but she didn't seem intent on tearing me apart. My jawbone and limbs had been dismantled, ground fine, and laid neatly on the floor. That was the state I had been in when this scenario began.

I think I forced my way out around this point, last time...

Glinting with a red aura, her tendrils tightened even more, probing every nook and cranny. Strength flowed into me. She wouldn't crush me. Probably. Besides, I wasn't about to just stand there and let her do as she pleased.

Vmm.

I activated my Domain.

Sensing the recoil, Gith-Za-Rai cautiously drew her tendrils back. "Huh?"

I matched her movement and focused on the knot in my Inventory, unfolding my Freezing Domain. Heat and sound vanished again within my Domain. Whether it was ice or lightning, having a clear image made it much easier to domesticate it. Or maybe it was because of that knot.

Gith-Za-Rai flinched and hurriedly stepped back two paces.

Clatter, clatter!

The limbs within the Domain began to move bit by bit, reattaching themselves to me. When I finally slotted my jawbone back into place, Gith-Za-Rai fully withdrew her tendrils, eyes round as she asked me, "Huh? Why do I suddenly feel traces of a dragon coming from you? What in the world happened?"

Crack!

I loosened up briefly.

[Vision Reduction has disappeared.]

[Omnipotence Suppression has disappeared.]

Even though I had fully escaped from her barrier, she made no attempt to force me back inside. I watched her silently clenching and unclenching her fist with a grave expression.

She's not going to suddenly punch me, right?

I remembered how she had once crushed Bassago's former priest with her bare hands. I should move the conversation along quickly. "Gith-Za-Rai."

"Speak."

"Extract the memories of the humans who came here with me. The imperial guards must have already reported the ambush point back to the main force, so you have no choice but to withdraw now, don't you?"

Crunch.

As her fist closed in empty air, her tendrils wrapped around my Domain once more. Pressure pressed in from the outside. Heat and sound cracked and splintered as they were forcibly driven into my Domain.

"I am not trying to fight you!" I reasoned.

"I know. I just wanted to test the suddenly elevated stature you've gained."

"At least I have enough strength for you to hear me out, then," I said.

"Owain, bring those things from earlier," said Gith-Za-Rai.

"By your command," replied Owain.

Soon after, Owain brought the imperial guards' bodies. Gith-Za-Rai sank her hand into the skull of one twitching corpse and extracted the information directly.

When the necromancer finished extracting the information, she said, "Dullahans, rally."

Rally... rally... rally......

Her low voice spread evenly through every jagged corner of the cave, perhaps carried by a subtle use of mana. I couldn't help but flinch at the way her voice ignored the basic principles of sound.

Shff, shff.

Four headless knights emerged from the darkness all around the cave, with Gilaut being the last. Nevertheless, he arrived before us in a brisk, crisp manner, less than fifteen seconds after her call rang out. Counting Owain, the five Dullahans surrounded the two of us in a ring and stood at the ready.

Gilaut...

Seeing him again stirred a warm, familiar feeling in me, but remembering that he was being erased forever left a bitter aftertaste.

"Now speak," said Gith-Za-Rai.

They were gathered here so they would all share the information.

Before I began, there was one thing I had to confirm. "Before that..."

"What now?"

"Can you put up a barrier that keeps any being from hearing what I am about to say?"

Gith-Za-Rai's eyes sparkled brightly. "Hooh. Tell me, then, just who are you conscious of?"

"The beings of the realm for example."

She reached out and took my wrist with a warm hand. "Ahahahaha."

A message floated in the air: her Affection toward me had risen by 5.

"I block them out as a rule. I have just made it even harder for them to hear the details, so your worries are pointless."

So that's how it was... Come to think of it, I told her about my regression last time, too.

Yet none of the Demon Kings I had met ever mentioned it. I had to assume that even Bassago could not eavesdrop on her.

"Good. Owain, Andrei, Fenrir, Hamelain, and Gilaut." After calling their names in turn, I started my explanation, "The legionaries down below... If the assassination of the emperor succeeds, every one of you will be sacrificed."

I began with the details of the assassination plan. One by one, I laid out everything about the Red Flake Assassins' Order, the Blue Fox, the Ashen Knight, and the Lindbrum. I explained how I had met Gith-Za-Rai up to this point, and how she had reacted each time. I showed her my Inventory just as I had before. I also told her that just as I'd confirmed in the imperial archives, the bodies of the Heroes were mostly stored there, and that there was no way I could receive any reward for the original commission.

"You already know, but every single one is genuine. There's no room for doubt."

Even the Dullahans let out murmurs of awe. Up until that moment, Gith-Za-Rai simply stared at me without a single reaction. Her lips didn't move at all. Her gaze was fixed on me, yet her eyes seemed to be looking past me, at something far beyond. A strange distortion flickered in them.

I continued. "As for how I obtained this... there's a guild called T&T... but the timelines... Anyway, listen. There's something called the Tropin Brigade now, so..."

I told her everything, about Naneow, Isaac, and the orb that absorbed Isaac and Naneow.

Bzzzzing...

[Access denied.]

[An error has occurred.]

[You do not meet the minimum informational requirements for comprehension.]

"Ugh... what... what is this noise...?"

"Ghh... I... can't... hear..."

It was the same phenomenon as before. However, unlike last time, even though the knights were writhing in pain, she didn't rush to save them. She kept her tendrils wrapped around herself in a circle, her expression grave. Only after a long moment did she finally extend her hand and pour black energy into them.

Was my story really that interesting? Did she get that drawn in?

Maybe the reason was simple: I'd just become better at explaining because this was the second time I'd told it. In that case, I should tell her everything. The retelling went much faster. What had taken more than two hours the first time, I now finished in less than one.

"Now you're planning to go to Ember. Through the forgotten path beneath the cave. But you must not go that way! Because..."

I didn't leave anything out. Everything about how Bassago had set a reversal-engraving trap beneath the cave, how the other Demon Kings had besieged her, and how even the neutral zone's lord coveted Lindbrum's power.

For the first time since my explanation began, she reacted with something akin to disbelief. "A Demon King, that punk... hahaha!"

Then, she closed her mouth again. I told her about how she'd have to ascend the Demon King's Throne to lift the curse of reversal on her engraving. I told her how I had swung the two daggers at the end, released their power, escaped from Bassago's Domain, and died. I even told her everything I had obtained by entering the Demon Realm itself, by being toyed with inside the illusion prison.

"You kept the daggers, didn't you?" I asked.

Her eyes widened before she gave the faintest nod. With that last hollow laugh, she fell completely silent. It was unnerving, yet I continued. I told her that eventually, I would have to save her. I had to complete the scenario.

I explained the scenario involving Rubia and Rena, the other participants. There was no reaction from Gith-Za-Rai or the Dullahans.

Crack!

Finally, I understood why. Several tendrils curled beneath her suddenly shone blue and stabbed into her skull.

"W-what are you doing?!" I asked.

Fwhoosh!

One of her eyes flushed blue, and her hair shot upward as if electrified. Then the blue tendrils drove themselves one by one into the armor of the dazed Dullahans. Even pierced like that, the knights did not move.

"Damn it."

In the next instant, Gith-Za-Rai seized the stiffened Dullahans and vanished.

Did I say something wrong?

No. I wanted to save them. I wanted to save her. I had provided the information more earnestly than ever.

Does she not believe me?

Perhaps the idea that her own Demon King had betrayed her was simply too absurd to accept. Still, I had no choice but to trust Gith-Za-Rai's judgment and give her every piece of information my regression had earned.

Well, maybe it worked out.

I decided to organize my thoughts alone for a moment. Looking back, maybe it was a blessing. Had I stored her corpse or her daggers in my Inventory, Gith-Za-Rai would have disappeared entirely. At the very least, she would have been warped beyond recognition.

Her corpse had been stolen by Moloch. I had felt stupid for wasting all three daggers just to kill myself, but now, I wondered if it had actually been incredible luck.

I need to be careful...

A warped timeline. Rubia, Rena, Isaac and Naneow were gone. The fact that Gith-Za-Rai was still here, unchanged, gave me a disproportionate sense of relief. If I had lost her because of my own mistake, the loneliness would have been unbearable. In a world where everyone else had disappeared, I would have wandered helplessly, crushed by despair.

I had barely survived a crisis where even she could have vanished. I regretted my recklessness.

Me, alone in the Demon Realm.

There were too many beings here on a completely different level. Trying to obtain information in the Demon Realm had been far too naive. Bassago could have taken everything, including Ashton's book, and I'd never have returned.

Even obtaining the information I did was pure luck.

What if I had failed to regress? What if I had been trapped forever in that tiny space and gone mad?

[Remaining Points: 98]

I didn't even get to change classes.

[Current Purchasing Power: 97.5%.......]

I couldn't use the Hero Shop either.

I couldn't let that happen, not when I was so close to two major breakthroughs. Glancing down at my wrist, I discovered the vast sum of Demon Realm currency I'd once held was gone without a trace.

Meaningless...

I lost track of time as I drifted through my thoughts.

"Whew..."

Gith-Za-Rai reappeared, walking slowly, her hair, which had been standing on end, settled back down. She was alone.

"Uh... and the Dullahans?" I asked.

I wouldn't have cared much before, but after fighting alongside Gilaut, I felt a genuine concern for them.

The necromancer let out a helpless, sarcastic laugh. "They'd all lost their minds halfway through. I supplied mana to stabilize them. It'll take them longer to catch up with the information."

Perhaps I had said too much...

"You truly believed they could fully digest all that information? Even I nearly went mad."

"My apologies."

Yet her expression looked strangely refreshed.

"So, you believe me?" I asked.

Gith-Za-Rai nodded. "Of course. If this isn't real, then nothing is. Heh... I think this is the first time I've ever felt this kind of excitement. It's exquisite, as though my veins would melt. Perhaps everything up until now was fake, and only this is real..."

Even after hearing that her entire other half would be overturned into a curse, she seemed more alive than ever. Her smile was genuine, overflowing with vitality and delight.

She slowly reached for my hand. "Good. Then, from now on..."

Several Affection messages had been building above my head this entire time. I didn't bother checking them. It was unnecessary.

Her face was the very picture of anticipation, her pale cheek dyed with a faint flush. My bones rattled faintly. Seeing her like that, I wanted to save her even more. I wanted to help her.

Should I suggest going to slay the Demon King using Lindbrum's power? If that was impossible, should I suggest lifting the engravings first? If they could be removed, maybe her necromancy power would change.

Perhaps, we could even uncover the hidden Lindbrum power together. Where would that power even be found? I wondered, curious and excited, as I watched her lips.

However, what she said next was the last thing I ever expected to hear, "Let's go find Rubia and Rena."

"What?"

"You didn't mishear me, did you? Rubia. Rena. Those two are the key."