Not A Regressor - Chapter 166

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

I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 166
What Comes Next (4)
“What? You’re going out there, Xiaolin?”
Deneb stared at Xiaolin with a bewildered expression.
Xiaolin gave a light nod, her face expressionless.
“Yes.”
Deneb looked troubled.
Xiaolin was an 8-star awakener, the same rank as Iban who had just fought.
But she possessed an extraordinary achievement that Iban could never hope to match.
“Even so, sending you out—someone who has defeated a 9-star awakener—is….”
She had defeated a high-ranking awakener of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces in a one-on-one duel.
And not against some novice who had just reached 9-star rank, but against a genuine high-ranking awakener who had maintained the 9-star realm for considerable time.
That incident had become the catalyst for the world to recognize just how formidable the awakeners of Polaris truly were.
“This is the last match anyway, isn’t it?”
“That’s true, but…”
Deneb’s expression grew conflicted.
If he suddenly sent out Xiaolin, ranked fifth in the order, he couldn’t escape the criticism of the other Constellations.
“Why don’t I just go instead?”
A woman who had been lounging beside Xiaolin rose to her feet.
If Xiaolin resembled a solitary flower blooming in a snowy field, this woman radiated the vibrant, lively energy of wildflowers dancing across an open meadow.
“…You can’t, sister.”
Xiaolin let out a deep sigh as she watched the woman fidget eagerly, as if ready to rush out that very instant.
Xiaoran.
Xiaolin’s older sister and the fourth-ranked member among Deneb’s 12 Apostles.
Though they differed by only one rank, there existed a decisive gap between Xiaolin and Xiaoran.
“You’re a 9-star awakener, sister.”
“But you’ve defeated a 9-star awakener too, haven’t you?”
“That was only possible because my opponent wasn’t a Polaris awakener.”
A high-ranking awakener of Polaris.
The weight of that title was incomparable to any other Constellation.
“Well, it probably doesn’t matter whether you or I go out there.”
“Still.”
No matter how much she was willing to endure the criticism of other Constellations, Xiaoran stepping forward would cross a line.
“Ugh! I want to go out there and fight too!”
Xiaoran stomped her feet in frustration.
Xiaolin pressed her palm against her forehead as she regarded her carefree sister, as if her head ached.
“Why are you so desperate to go?”
“I want to smack that arrogant bastard’s face!”
Xiaoran glared sharply at Kwon O-jin, who had openly disrespected Deneb’s Apostles.
Xiaolin gently grasped her sister’s shoulder to restrain her and stepped forward.
“I’ll handle that instead, so you just stay put.”
“Ugh.”
“In any case, it’s fine if I go out, right Deneb?”
Deneb regarded Xiaolin with a contemplative expression before sighing and nodding.
“Very well.”
Since this was our final chance, it made sense to deploy our strongest force to guarantee victory.
Xiaolin gave a light nod and gracefully stepped onto the railing.
She ascended with the elegant poise of a swan taking flight, descending into the Colosseum Arena.
[The next opponent is… huh? Snow… Xiaolin the Snow Blossom?]
Spica blinked in bewilderment as she watched Xiaolin land in the arena.
“Hmm.”
“Sending out Xiaolin is a bit much, even so….”
“It seems Deneb really didn’t want to lose.”
“Ugh, if this is how it’s going to be, we might as well not have a proxy match.”
The Constellations’ reactions were equally cold.
Regardless of how unexpectedly Noe-rang had dominated Deneb’s Apostles, suddenly fielding the fifth-ranked warrior was excessive.
It was like suddenly having a national team player crash a youth tournament.
[Hmm, an unexpectedly formidable opponent has appeared! The next awakener sent by Deneb is Xiaolin the Snow Blossom! She’s famous for having defeated a 9-star awakener!]
The Constellations didn’t even applaud, their expressions turning cold as they gazed down at the arena.
Their eyes seemed to ask whether there was any point in continuing the match.
Xiaolin ignored the Constellations’ gazes and approached Kwon O-jin.
“I’ve observed your abilities well. I humbly request to learn from you.”
She bowed respectfully and placed her hand on the sword at her waist.
Kwon O-jin activated the Canis Major Constellation stigma and assessed her aura.
‘She was deliberately sent out.’
The aura emanating from her was so dense and profound that it made me question whether she and Iban truly possessed the same star rank.
A chill ran down my spine.
My heart, which had been calm until now, began to race and throb.
‘It’s been a while since I felt this.’
A tension so acute my lips grew parched.
Heat bloomed at the back of my head, my consciousness floating as if intoxicated.
That exhilarating sensation—felt only when encountering a true ‘powerhouse’—made Kwon O-jin’s body tremble.
“Good, now this is what I’m talking about.”
Kwon O-jin smiled brightly and adjusted his grip on his spear.
He hadn’t felt this tension when facing Liu Ohao and Iban.
He—who had tasted death dozens of times under Riak’s training to experience this suffocating tension—could not help but relish this moment.
There was no way he wouldn’t enjoy this situation.
“I noticed it when you fought Iban earlier, but you seem like someone who doesn’t experience fear.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a perfectly normal person.”
Not experiencing fear?
“My heart feels like it’s about to burst even now.”
“…But how can you smile like that?”
Xiaolin looked at Kwon O-jin as if she couldn’t comprehend it.
“Fear can be suppressed.”
“Pardon?”
“If it can be suppressed, it can be overcome.”
It’s nothing at all.
-ROOOAAARRR!!
I push off the ground and surge forward.
Crackle!
Thunder blazes along my footprints as if scorching a line across the floor.
As I rush toward Xiaolin, I lightly step off the air itself.
“Hup!”
Twisting my body mid-air, I drive my spear downward.
Not a two-dimensional attack, but a three-dimensional one using Thunder Step.
Like a general mounted on horseback driving a spear downward, my weapon descends toward the crown of Xiaolin’s head.
“It seems your claim of being a ‘normal person’ was incorrect.”
Xiaolin calmly looks up at the spear thrust aimed at her crown, then draws the sword at her waist.
Whiiiing!
The moment the blade leaves its sheath, a terrifying chill sweeps through—like standing outside in the dead of winter in nothing but underwear.
-Clang!
No deafening roar. No impact that shakes the earth.
With a clear, bell-like ring, the spear aimed at my crown is violently deflected away.
“Ugh!”
A terrifying cold spreads through the spear shaft.
From just a single collision, the entire spear has turned white with frost.
“Even if you can utilize space three-dimensionally.”
Xiaolin slowly swings the blade she’s drawn.
A sword strike that moves sluggishly, as if using the Hourglass Constellation’s mark.
Following the elegant slash like a swan’s wing beat, white energy traces patterns through the air.
“Ultimately, if the attack point is fixed, it’s meaningless.”
Just as she said.
Whether I can freely step through the air or fly about.
The final destination of my attack is her body.
If I can only catch where my spear tip is ultimately heading, blocking it is not difficult.
And beyond that.
“If my body freezes solid, it becomes even simpler.”
Whiiiing!
A biting wind sweeps down as if standing atop a snowy mountain peak.
Following the white energy tracing through the air, a dizzying chill spreads like poison.
“Haah, haah.”
White breath escaped from my lips.
The frost that had covered the window now enveloped my entire body.
My movements had noticeably slowed.
With each step, a sharp pain pierced through my entire body as if needles were stabbing me.
[Aah! Awakener Kwon O-jin is completely covered in ice! Will he be unable to display the same prowess as before?!]
Spica’s voice rang out with heightened excitement, as if trying to warm the chilled atmosphere.
Her efforts bore fruit—the Constellations who had shaken their heads with cold expressions before the match began to focus on the battle once more.
“Phew.”
I exhaled white breath and placed my hand over my left chest.
Whoosh! Crackle, crackle!
Blue flames ignited above my palm.
I spread the Thunder Flame, which I had only applied to my weapons until now, across my entire body.
The blue flames engulfed my body as if burning it, and the frost settled on my skin melted away.
“Indeed, you don’t surrender easily.”
Xiaolin nodded with cold eyes and gripped her sword.
She had never expected to defeat him with a single attack from the start.
If he were such an easy opponent, Liu Yi-hao and Iban wouldn’t have fallen so pathetically.
“But regardless, the outcome won’t change.”
Xiaolin lightly stomped her foot while gripping her sword.
Her martial robes fluttered as her form glided forward.
A graceful sword strike was unleashed toward me.
-Clang! Clang, clang!
I raised my spear to block the sword strike.
With each block, a piercing chill transmitted through the spear to my hands.
‘I can’t endure this for long at this rate.’
As the exchange continued, the sensation in my hands grew increasingly numb.
‘Then.’
My eyes gleamed sharply.
While enduring the relentless chill and sword strikes.
‘Now!’
I pulled my spear back sharply.
A sword strike was unleashed toward the opening, as if she had been waiting for it.
I extended my left arm to receive the strike.
The gauntlet on my left arm absorbed the stigma power embedded in her sword.
The gauntlet instantly blazed with crimson light.
I directed the gauntlet on my left arm toward Xiaolin.
-Boom!
The stigma power absorbed by the gauntlet blazing with crimson light exploded, targeting Xiaolin.
“Hmm.”
Xiaolin’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she retreated to evade the explosion.
Kwon O-jin pursued her sliding form with rapid strides, thrusting the spear he’d withdrawn backward in a straight line.
‘Azure Lightning.’
Crackle crackle crackle!
A fan-shaped expanse of blue electrical discharge spread wide, targeting Xiaolin.
“Useless.”
Xiaolin spoke coldly, sweeping her blade as if drawing a line across the ground.
Crash crash crash crash!
A colossal ice wall materialized along the blade’s trajectory, rising high into the air.
The blue lightning pouring down like a tidal wave scattered and dispersed against the ice barrier.
In that instant, the ice wall exploded, and razor-sharp ice shards engulfed Kwon O-jin.
“Damn it!”
Kwon O-jin stumbled backward, his expression one of genuine alarm.
Xiaolin seized the opportunity without hesitation, charging toward him.
Between the chaotically scattering ice fragments, her blade traced an elegant arc.
Squelch!
“Gahhh!”
Kwon O-jin’s abdomen was pierced by Xiaolin’s blade.
Though I’d barely avoided the vital organs, the bone-chilling cold flowing along the embedded blade caused the flesh around the wound to rapidly necrotize.
My lips turned deathly pale, and my legs trembled precariously.
As my vision grew hazy—like a castaway freezing to death in an endless snowy field—
[Awakener Kwon O-jin in critical condition! Critical! It appears he’ll struggle to even move his body!]
Spica’s voice rang out with excitement.
The Constellations watching the spectacle gasped and shook their heads in disbelief.
Murmurs drifted among them: ‘So there was no reversal after all,’ ‘Still, this is enough to prove his abilities,’ and similar sentiments.
“It’s over.”
Xiaolin spoke coldly, channeling mana into the blade piercing Kwon O-jin’s abdomen.
[My, my child!]
Vega’s urgent cry reached my ears at that very moment.
“Over, you say?”
The corners of my deathly pale lips curved upward in a sinister grin.
I grasped the blade embedded in my abdomen roughly.
The instant Xiaolin’s eyes widened and she attempted to withdraw the blade, I drove it deeper into my own body while seizing her arm.
“Who decides when it’s over?”
Crackle crackle!!
Blue lightning surged along the arm I’d seized, flowing into Xiaolin.
“Kyaaahhh!!”
A cute shriek burst from Xiaolin’s lips.

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