Not A Regressor - Chapter 124

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 124
Where the Dragon Sleeps (7)
“The mana itself hasn’t changed much.”
Perhaps it was because the dragon vein’s mana was restricted according to Heukcheong’s blooming stage.
Even after absorbing the entire dragon vein, I felt no significant change.
‘It hasn’t disappeared.’
I could feel it.
The torrential current of mana that flowed as fiercely as a swollen river.
A colossal mass of mana that even I—someone whose talent for handling mana had astonished even Vega—dared not touch.
The mana from the dragon vein that flowed into Heukcheong was coiled within the black storm clouds, proudly displaying its majesty.
“Well… I’ll figure out how to handle this later.”
Right now, there was something more important.
‘I need to find my sister first.’
As long as Vega was with her, she couldn’t have been seriously hurt, but I couldn’t help worrying.
I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated my mind.
‘The Canis Major constellation mark.’
Countless scents rushed into my nostrils.
“Ugh…”
I grimaced at the sharp pain, as if my head were being pierced by an awl.
When too many scents flooded in at once, using the Canis Major constellation mark always left my head throbbing like this.
‘Found her.’
Familiar.
The scent that had always been by my side.
I followed Ha-eun’s scent and moved forward.
I descended the collapsed dungeon floor as if it were stairs.
‘Hm?’
As the distance closed, a scent different from Ha-eun’s—warm and gentle like a spring breeze—entered my nostrils.
“Oh, Kwon O-jin?”
There I saw Isabella supporting the unconscious Ha-eun.
“You’re… you’re safe!”
Whoosh!
She approached me with a bright smile, but then suddenly stopped in her tracks.
With a hardened expression, she stared at my right arm.
My right arm, which had only received emergency treatment with a potion, hung limply like a wet rag, and the area near my shoulder was caked with blood from when the arm had been severed.
“Kwon O-jin, your arm…”
“There was a bit of a fight inside.”
“H-how could this happen!”
Isabella rushed toward me in a panic.
Her eyes glistened with tears, and her expression looked as though she might collapse and sob at any moment.
“It’s fine. I’ve already given it emergency treatment.”
“Just a moment.”
Isabella lifted her staff with a worried expression.
Whoooooom!
Brilliant golden light erupted from the tip of the staff.
“Aries Constellation Aries, bestow thy healing light upon thy lamb.”
She recited the incantation with considerable solemnity.
Knowing her true identity, I couldn’t help but smile inwardly, but the effect was undeniably real.
Whoooooom!
As golden light enveloped my drooping right arm, its movement became considerably easier.
“Thanks.”
I lifted my right arm slightly and shook it.
“I’m relieved.”
Isabella wiped her chest with a sigh of relief.
She carefully touched my right arm with her hand.
Or rather, she kneaded the blood-soaked shoulder with her fingers.
….
Knead, knead.
“Isabella?”
Knead, knead, knead, knead, knead, knead, knead, knead.
“Haa, haa… gulp.”
Ragged breathing escaped from between her lips as she gazed at the blood-soaked shoulder with an intense stare.
Her pink tongue traced her red lips in a suggestive manner.
Vega twisted her body and caressed the blood-soaked shoulder like a precious treasure.
“Um… Miss Isabella?”
What the hell.
This is terrifying.
“Ah…! I-I’m sorry!”
Isabella, who had been staring at the blood-soaked shoulder while smacking her lips absentmindedly, suddenly looked up with a startled expression.
“I was just checking to make sure the treatment worked properly.”
“Oh, yeah.”
No matter how I looked at it, that didn’t seem like she was checking if the treatment had worked.
I’ll just let this one slide.
“What about my sister?”
“Ha-eun is unharmed.”
Isabella turned to look at Ha-eun, whom she was supporting, as she spoke.
True to her words, not a single scratch was visible on the unconscious Ha-eun.
[Did I not tell you to trust me?]
Plink.
Silver dust scattered as Vega poked her head out from Ha-eun’s pocket.
Vega’s face bore deep exhaustion, having expended considerable power to protect Ha-eun.
“Thanks, Vega.”
[It was merely my duty. But then… where did you leave the Dragon’s Heart?]
Vega glanced around, studying me carefully.
She clearly believed I had obtained the Dragon’s Heart and cleared the Dungeon—as one would naturally expect.
I shook my head with a bitter expression.
“I didn’t leave it behind. It was taken from me.”
[W-what? You’re saying you didn’t clear the Dungeon?]
“Right.”
[Such…]
Vega’s face registered shock at the unexpected turn of events.
“What happened inside, sir?”
“The Black Star Society was there.”
I gave a brief explanation of my battle with the Night Hunters and my encounter with Cheon Do-yoon.
“The Black Star Society? You mean the organization that committed terrorism in South Korea not long ago? The news said they were all captured…”
I shook my head quietly, observing Isabella’s frightened expression as she asked, clearly bewildered.
“The leadership still hasn’t been caught.”
“I see…”
“Well, in any case, I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
“No, sir. I’m just relieved you’re safe.”
Isabella retrieved a communication crystal from her pocket.
“Since we don’t know when the Black Star Society might appear again, I’ll call for a helicopter right away.”
“Sure.”
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!
The helicopter arrived quickly, as if it had been waiting nearby.
I climbed aboard the helicopter, carrying the unconscious Ha-eun in my arms.
“I’ll transfer the commission fee to your account shortly, sir.”
“But I didn’t even clear the Dungeon.”
“Hehe. Still, you came all this way. Of course we should pay you.”
“Hmm… understood.”
Well, if they’re offering, there’s no reason to refuse.
“This time it didn’t work out as hoped, but… would it be alright to request your services again in the future?”
“Absolutely. I’m always available.”
She was an unpredictable woman, impossible to read.
But if her peculiar obsession with me was genuine, there was certainly potential to use her to my advantage.
‘This time alone proved useful.’
No matter how naturally I could lie to others,
I couldn’t deceive someone by spouting random nonsense without substance.
Cheon Do-yoon’s deception this time likely stemmed from information he’d obtained elsewhere about Isabella’s interest in me.
“I’ll contact you again soon, sir.”
After returning to Seoul by helicopter.
Isabella waved her hand and departed.
“Phew.”
Kwon O-jin carried Ha-eun on his back and returned home.
After laying her on the bed and stepping outside, Vega came flying through the air with a cheerful chirp.
[How did such a thing come to pass? The False Star Sect you mentioned has not yet appeared.]
“The timeline has shifted.”
[If the timeline has shifted….]
“Originally, those bastards wouldn’t target the sacred relics hidden in Baekdudsan for several months, but it’s been accelerated.”
[It is not merely the timeline that has changed, is it?]
She was right—it wasn’t just the timeline that had shifted.
The organization targeting the sacred relics had changed from the Black Star Society to the False Star Sect.
“I’ve given it some thought, and it seems the Black Star Society will eventually change its name to the False Star Sect.”
[Change its name?]
“I told you before that I didn’t know much about the Black Star Society, remember?”
[Hmm. I recall you said you had some suspicions about it at the time.]
Vega nodded in agreement.
“What I remember is not the Black Star Society, but the False Star Sect.”
This explanation also accounted for my lack of knowledge about the Black Star Society.
[Ah, so that is how it came to be.]
Vega stroked her chin and nodded thoughtfully.
[In your previous life, you would have been merely a fledgling awakener at this point in time… so you never knew of the Black Star Society before it changed its name to the False Star Sect.]
“Exactly.”
Though truthfully, whether before or after the name change, I knew nothing of them either.
“I mentioned before that there was an organization led by the Heavenly Demon, right? That is the False Star Sect.”
[But now they worship the Black Star, not the Heavenly Demon, do they not?]
“It seems the Heavenly Demon has not yet appeared.”
[Then….]
Vega’s eyes narrowed.
Based on the clues obtained from Kwon O-jin thus far, there was only one conclusion to be drawn.
[It is when the Heavenly Demon appears that they will change their name from the Black Star Society to the False Star Sect.]
“Perhaps.”
I couldn’t know for certain whether the Heavenly Demon actually caused them to change their name.
But it was more consistent to let Vega believe that narrative.
‘Eventually, the Heavenly Demon must appear anyway.’
To keep hidden the fact that I possess the Black Heaven, I must create someone else to be the Heavenly Demon.
Only then could I survive.
‘Now it’s no longer a matter of hiding from Vega.’
Having grown this close to her, even if my possession of the Black Heaven were exposed, she wouldn’t turn on me as easily as flipping a hand.
But the real problem lay with the other Constellations.
There existed a prophecy that the Black Heaven would devour all Constellations, and as long as they believed it firmly, the existence of the Black Heaven must never be revealed.
‘To pull this off, I need to play the role of a regressor far more convincingly.’
A star of reversal that would save the world from the darkness of the Black Heaven.
How many beings could possibly suspect that this star of reversal was the master of the Black Heaven itself?
The more I solidified my position as the star of reversal, the more the Constellations would have no choice but to trust and rely on me.
[Then it’s quite the problem. A precious sacred relic has fallen into the hands of forces that serve the Heavenly Demon in the future….]
“I’ll reclaim it.”
Though I’d been forced to retreat this time, I had no intention of simply handing over the dragon’s heart to Cheon Do-yoon.
[Do you have a way?]
“Not yet.”
Against an opponent who had defeated Lee Woo-hyuk without him even being able to lift a hand, there was no method to seize the dragon’s heart.
But if there was no way, I would simply create one.
Whether by using Isabella or by becoming strong enough to surpass Cheon Do-yoon myself, I would obtain the dragon’s heart by any means necessary.
[Sigh. The future is already beginning to change… I’m not sure whether to be pleased or troubled by this.]
“The future will diverge further from what I knew anyway.”
If anything, that was better.
I’d never truly known the future to begin with.
Now I simply had one more convenient excuse to fall back on whenever unexpected variables appeared.
[Then you may also find yourself in unforeseen danger….]
“Don’t worry. I came back to change the future in the first place, didn’t I?”
I smiled softly and looked at Vega, whose expression was clouded with concern.
“This time—I’ll create a future where you can smile without worry.”
[My child….]
Vega’s cheeks flushed slightly as she settled onto my shoulders.
[Still, be cautious for now. We cannot know what those wicked ones intend to do with the dragon’s heart.]
“Understood.”
I’d already planned to lie low for a while anyway.
[Then I shall take my leave. Using so much power has intensified my restrictions.]
“Sure. See you later.”
Vega returned into the pendant.
“Phew.”
After Vega left, I exhaled slowly and turned my body.
I entered the room and looked down at Ha-eun lying on the bed.
I removed the damaged prosthetic leg from her leg.
‘I’ll need to order a new one.’
As if to conceal her empty right leg,
I pulled the blanket over Ha-eun.
* * *
-So the Leech Queen has found herself a man?
“Yes. A being called Noe-rang.”
-Ah, I’ve heard of him. A man for that blood-starved witch… that’s hard to believe.
A badge etched with a serpent’s mark flickered with black light, and a woman’s voice tinged with amusement flowed through.
-Well, in any case. Congratulations. When I heard the Leech Queen was heading your way, I was a bit worried, but it seems you’ve safely obtained the Dragon’s heart.
There was something fervently manic in her voice.
“Hehehehe. This is all thanks to the Serpens Queen lighting my path forward.”
Cheon Do-yoon bowed deeply toward the badge etched with the serpent’s mark.
-No, that’s not it. I merely
the Heavenly Demon
relayed their words exactly as they were spoken.
“How is that person doing…?”
-Hehe. Do-yoon.
The voice that had carried such strange fervor suddenly turned glacial.
-Shh.
“…!”
Flinch!
Cheon Do-yoon’s shoulders trembled violently.
“I-I apologize, Serpens Queen.”
-Hehehehe. Everyone makes mistakes. So I’m counting on you to find the other one as well.
“I’ve already determined where it is.”
-Is that so? Then that’s a relief.
The voice that had turned cold regained its fervent edge.
-Then I’ll trust you, Do-yoon, and wait for your contact.
Crack!
The serpent-marked badge that had been emitting black light shattered into fragments.
“Phew.”
Cheon Do-yoon wiped the cold sweat trickling down his forehead and rose to his feet.
He gazed down at the blue sphere clutched in his hand, his lips curling into a smile.
“Now that I have the heart in my grasp…”
He picked up a photograph from the table.
Within the rectangular frame was the image of a beautiful woman with reddish-brown hair.
“…it’s time to obtain the eyes.”
Hehehehe.
A grotesque laugh echoed with chilling resonance.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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