Not A Regressor - Chapter 165

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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 165
The Next (3)
“What… the?”
“What… what just happened?”
“Deneb’s Apostle was knocked out in a single blow?”
The Constellations stirred in disbelief.
They stared at the Colosseum Arena, dust still settling through the air, their expressions incredulous. Yet no matter how many times they looked, the result remained unchanged.
Liu Yi-hao, the Silver Sword.
Though he was the youngest of Deneb’s 12 Apostles, he was a formidable awakener whose reputation had been built on exceptional prowess—and yet, less than a second after the match began, he had collapsed with his eyes rolled back, unconscious.
[…Uh, um.]
Spica, who was hosting the proxy match, looked down at the arena with a stunned expression before awkwardly smiling and raising her hand with a flourish.
[The victor is Kwon O-jin, Apostle of Lyra Constellation! Could he have been careless? An unbelievable result has unfolded!]
Only after her words ended did the Constellations, who had been in shock, begin to applaud one by one.
“This… this can’t be right.”
Deneb was equally flustered by the unexpected outcome.
Though Liu Yi-hao was the youngest of his Apostles, he was an awakener who possessed a Star rank equal to Kwon O-jin’s.
No.
In fact, “equal” was not even the right word. Liu Yi-hao had reached 7-Star over a year ago.
Considering that even among those with the same 7-Star rank, proficiency created enormous gaps in power, it was only natural that Liu Yi-hao, who had reached 7-Star far earlier, should have overwhelmed Kwon O-jin.
But the result was the opposite.
Far from overwhelming him, he hadn’t even managed a proper attack before being knocked unconscious in a single strike.
“Tch!!”
Deneb gritted his teeth in frustration, glaring at Kwon O-jin.
His hand, resting on the armrest, trembled slightly.
Allen placed a hand on Deneb’s shoulder.
“Calm yourself.”
“…I know.”
Deneb answered curtly.
If he showed panic here, the other Constellations would certainly mock him again.
“Bring Liu Yi-hao. Treat his injuries first.”
“Understood.”
Allen nodded and descended into the arena.
[Well then! Next, Deneb’s Apostle will be….]
Spica trailed off, looking toward Deneb.
“Ivan. Ivan goes next.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ivan Berov.
An awakener ranked ninth among Deneb’s 12 Apostles.
His rank was not far removed from Liu Yi-hao’s, but he was an awakener who had reached the early stages of 8-Star, not 7-Star.
Considering the vast gap that a single Star rank created, there was no need to worry he would suffer as pathetically as Liu Yi-hao had.
‘Still, I’d prefer to send out someone of higher rank.’
Deneb bit his lip with an anxious expression, gazing at the Constellations filling the spectator stands.
It was such a well-known fact that every Constellation was aware of the relative strength and weakness among Deneb’s 12 Apostles.
Given that many Constellations already thought Deneb was childish for the rule requiring him to defeat three opponents, sending out an Apostle of higher rank without warning would result in humiliation regardless of victory.
“Don’t worry, Papa!”
Ivan spoke the Russian word for father with a hearty laugh.
“Liu Yi-hao simply let his guard down! Now that I understand his true capabilities, I’ll go face him!”
“Is that so?”
A faint smile played across Deneb’s lips.
The boy’s deep blue-black eyes turned toward Ivan.
“Then I’m counting on you, Ivan!”
“Yes!”
Ivan effortlessly lifted a greatsword of absurdly massive proportions in one hand and leaped down.
Boom!
As he landed on the Colosseum Arena floor, his nearly two-meter frame sent a heavy shockwave reverberating through the space.
[Deneb’s next Apostle to enter is Ivan Berov! An awakener renowned for his devastating sword technique!]
Spica’s cheerful voice echoed across the arena.
Ivan grinned at Kwon O-jin.
“I apologize for underestimating a skilled opponent like yourself! I’m sorry on Liu Yi-hao’s behalf!”
“I see.”
Kwon O-jin chuckled and gripped his spear.
“Was it really because he let his guard down?”
Even if he hadn’t let his guard down.
Liu Yi-hao was not his match.
“You’ll find out once we fight!”
Ivan raised the greatsword high in his grip.
Brilliant white light poured forth from the Cygnus Constellation stigma carved into his left chest.
As the flowing light condensed like dew upon the blade of the absurdly large greatsword.
“Hyuuuaaaaaah!!!”
Boom!
He stomped the ground fiercely and brought the greatsword crashing down toward Kwon O-jin.
The distance between Kwon O-jin and Ivan exceeded thirty meters.
No matter how massive the greatsword, it should have been impossible to reach—
-Crack-crack-crack-crack!
In an instant, white energy erupted explosively.
Bitter cold radiating from the blade’s edge swept through the surroundings, and a blade of ice spanning several meters flew toward Kwon O-jin.
-Clang!
Kwon O-jin reflexively raised his spear to block the sword strike.
Unable to withstand the impact, his body slid backward across the arena floor.
The numbing cold transmitted through the spear shaft left his palms bruised and discolored blue.
Kwon O-jin’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘Is this the ability of the Cygnus Constellation’s stigma?’
A stigma that wielded ‘frigid energy’ with absolute freedom.
I’d heard the rumors, but experiencing it firsthand brought a pressure unlike anything else.
‘But.’
Kwon O-jin gripped the spear with his blood-soaked hand and grinned wickedly.
It was a formidable ability, certainly.
Yet the Lyra Constellation’s stigma I possessed was in no way inferior to the Cygnus Constellation’s stigma in terms of raw power.
‘Exceed.’
Crackle!
Azure lightning coursed through my body.
The mana circuits contracted violently, adding explosive velocity to my movements.
The dragon vein’s mana dormant in my left heart flowed forth, seeping into the lightning.
“Azure Dragon Formation.”
A dragon-shaped bolt of azure lightning shot toward Ivan.
Ivan calmly raised his greatsword and swung it toward the approaching lightning.
“Hraaaaah!!”
With a fierce shout, the lightning split in two.
The electricity that flowed along the blade spread through his body.
“Grrgh! That’s quite the sting!”
A cry of pain escaped Ivan’s lips as the lightning coursed through him.
But only for a moment.
A white aura emanating from his stigma drove back the azure lightning.
“Let’s see if you can block this!”
With confident expression, he swung his greatsword.
Frigid energy surged around the greatsword enveloped in white light.
Boom!
The ground heaved and undulated beneath the icy wave that poured forth from the blade strike.
A destructive slash of devastating power.
Watching the tsunami-like wave of ice bearing down on me, I lowered my body.
“Why would I need to block it?”
Crackle!
Lightning ignited across my legs, launching my body skyward.
The icy wave swept beneath me as I rose.
Ivan grinned as if he’d anticipated this, swinging his greatsword toward me suspended in the air.
“Blizzard Smash!!”
A rapid upward slash from below.
White aura erupted like a fountain, targeting me.
“Ha! Now I have a reason to block!”
Ivan poured white blade energy toward me, grinning wickedly.
Right now, Kwon O-jin was suspended in mid-air.
Unless he could move his body freely while airborne, he had no choice but to defend against Ivan’s assault.
And if that happened.
‘He won’t be able to endure it.’
Ivan was confident that in terms of pure destructive power alone, he could rival even high-tier Awakeners.
Just from blocking the casual sword strike moments ago, Kwon O-jin’s palms had split open and bled.
This attack contained roughly five times the force of that first strike.
This time, it wasn’t merely his palms that would freeze—his entire arm could easily become a solid block of ice. Such was the overwhelming might contained within this assault.
—Crack-crack-crack!
Space twisted violently.
The white aura Ivan unleashed spread like a net, closing in on Kwon O-jin.
With no space to evade, Kwon O-jin gripped his spear tightly as the white aura bore down upon him.
[It has arrived! Ivan Berov’s signature technique—Blizzard Smash! Can Awakener Kwon O-jin truly withstand such a powerful attack?!]
Spica’s eyes gleamed as she cried out with fervent enthusiasm.
Blizzard Smash.
A unique skill Ivan Berov had created himself, its formidable power was so renowned that even among the Constellations, legends of its might circulated.
As the Constellations watched with bated breath to see how Kwon O-jin would defend against this attack.
“Hah.”
Kwon O-jin exhaled sharply and curled his body in mid-air.
Crackle, crackle-crackle!
Blue lightning scattered like mist around his body.
He uncoiled his body in a spring-like motion, and ‘stepped’ upon the blue lightning that dispersed like fog.
“L-Lightning stepping?”
One of the Constellations gasped in astonishment, recognizing the technique.
Lightning stepping—a technique known to belong to Vega’s Spirit Guide, Riak.
Even Riak, who possessed top-tier prowess among Spirit Guides, had required decades to master this technique. Yet an Awakener who had only recently awakened—merely one year ago—was now executing it directly.
“But the space to evade….”
Perhaps because the technique was still imperfect.
By the time Kwon O-jin created the lightning step in mid-air and pushed off from it, Ivan’s attack had already reached point-blank range.
Kwon O-jin stared at the white sword strike hurtling toward him—
And without hesitation, threw himself directly into it.
“W-What?!”
Ivan’s eyes widened in shock.
He was throwing himself into an attack that even his full defense might not stop?
—Whoosh!!
Kwon O-jin’s body plunged into the net-like white sword strike.
It seemed as though his body would be shredded instantly by the sprawling net of blades.
Yet, as if perfectly interlocked.
Through gaps in the sword strike that seemed impossibly nonexistent, Kwon O-jin’s body slipped through cleanly.
Without even a scratch to show for it.
“T-this is impossible!”
An exclamation of shock burst from Ivan Berov’s lips.
A net of white sword slashes spread across the space.
He had escaped from that sword technique without a single wound, even though not even a mouse could have slipped through?
No, even if there had been a narrow gap through which a single person could barely escape, this was still impossible.
‘How in the world did he—without losing his mind—!?’
Suppose there was a narrow passage through which a person could barely squeeze.
If all the walls of that passage were made of sharp blades, how many people would be able to throw themselves into it without hesitation?
Even within the Sacred Domain where one cannot die, pain still exists.
He must know that if he deviated even a single millimeter, his entire body would be shredded to pieces—so how could he throw himself into such a passage?
“I told you.”
Crack! Crackle!
Kwon O-jin descended by stepping on the blue lightning bolts created in midair as if they were stepping stones, a smirk spreading across his face.
“There was no reason to block it.”
In an instant, Kwon O-jin landed before Ivan Berov.
He drove the spear shaft downward toward the solar plexus of the man frozen in shock.
-Thud!!
“Gaaahhh!!”
Ivan Berov, struck by the spear shaft, collapsed on the spot while clutching his solar plexus.
“Bleeeegh!!”
Vomit spilled from his mouth, and he collapsed again without rising.
“….”
[….]
Silence spread throughout the Colosseum Arena.
Spica, who was serving as the announcer, cried out with a visibly flustered voice.
[T-the victor is Awakener Kwon O-jin! Awakener Kwon O-jin! Following the first match, he overwhelms Deneb’s Apostles without a single wound in the second match as well!]
Cheers erupted from the Constellations filling the spectator stands.
Those who had anticipated an overwhelming defeat showered Kwon O-jin with hot praise for the unexpected reversal.
“Now that’s what I call an Apostle of Polaris!”
“Truly, Vega’s Apostle!”
“Where did you find such talent?”
If they were human, it would be similar to watching a cockfight.
The Constellations watching the match showed a reaction far hotter than imagined.
Kwon O-jin, hearing the pouring cheers, flicked his hand toward Deneb again.
“Next.”
“….”
Deneb’s expression twisted harshly.
Even Ivan, whom he had believed in, had been defeated in an instant.
Now only one chance remained.
If he lost here, he would have to offer his divinity to Vega.
“I’ll go next.”
It was then.
A woman who had been observing the tournament with composed eyes stepped forward.
Deneb’s eyes widened in surprise as he turned to regard her.
The woman’s name was Xiaolin—she carried an icy chill about her like a solitary flower blooming in a snow field.
She held the fifth rank among Deneb’s 12 Apostles.

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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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