Not A Regressor - Chapter 193

—————
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 193
Monsters of the Sacred Oil Site (4)
The onslaught of monsters—a war unto itself—had finally ended.
The once-beautiful resort lay smothered in viscous blood, its structures ravaged as though swept by a tempest.
“Damn it! These wretched bastards!!!”
A fierce voice dripping with exasperation accompanied scorching flames that danced through the air like living things.
Two monsters staggering in retreat were engulfed by the inferno, reduced to ash.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
I leaned my back against a building wall, breathing heavily.
Hours upon hours of continuous combat.
Or rather, it was less a battle and more a one-sided massacre.
“This is absolutely exhausting, damn it….”
Even with the ability to annihilate hundreds or thousands at a time, the sheer number of monsters that had assaulted the village meant it took considerable time to eliminate them all.
‘This would’ve been impossible if the monsters hadn’t suddenly weakened midway through.’
I couldn’t fathom what method Kwon O-jin had employed.
But midway through, their movements had abruptly slowed, and the scorching heat they radiated had cooled considerably.
Thanks to that, I was able to dispatch the remaining creatures as though I were simply trampling scattered ant colonies rather than engaging in genuine combat.
Of course.
Even that proved arduous given their sheer numbers.
“Still, it’s finally over. Thank goodness.”
Those hiding inside buildings were beyond my reach, but at least all the visible ones had been dealt with.
I brushed aside my sweat-dampened hair and opened my cigarette pack.
It was empty.
I flipped it over and shook it hopefully, but nothing emerged except tobacco crumbs.
“Damn.”
I irritably kicked the empty pack aside.
I walked alone through the street, which lay in ruins as though ravaged by a hurricane.
Vega and Riak had already exhausted themselves in fierce combat with the monsters and been summoned back.
As I trudged forward in this solitude.
“Hm?”
I spotted Kwon O-jin approaching from the distant shoreline.
He too bore the signs of battle—his entire body was drenched, looking like a drowned rat.
“O-jin!!!”
My eyes lit up as I sprinted toward him, my feet pounding against the ground.
I leaped up and threw myself into his arms.
“Where are Vega and Riak?”
“They used up too much energy, so they returned to the Star Palace.”
“I see. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Hehe. Would I get hurt by these pathetic mutts?”
I shrugged my shoulders with a proud expression.
“By the way, where did you go?”
“Into the sea for a bit.”
“What?”
Ha-eun’s eyes went wide as saucers, her mouth falling open in shock.
“Y-you went in there?”
The sea was so densely packed with monsters that you couldn’t even see the water, yet he’d ventured in alone.
Ha-eun’s expression flooded with worry as she ran her hands over Kwon O-jin’s body, checking him from every angle.
“Doesn’t look like you’re hurt anywhere… hmm. At least this part seems fine.”
She kneaded and prodded.
“Hey, where exactly are you touching?”
“Tee-hee! Despite that cocky mouth, your body’s being honest with me!”
What was this woman talking about?
“Fortunately, you don’t seem to be injured anywhere… huh?”
As Ha-eun continued palpating his body, her eyes widened in a perfect circle.
What caught her gaze was the Lyra Constellation stigma etched on Kwon O-jin’s left chest.
More precisely, it was the eight strokes carved beside that stigma.
“E-eight? O-jin, you became an 8-Star?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, wow, wow! Insane! You’re already 8-Star?! You just became 7-Star not long ago!”
Ha-eun bounced up and down with delight as if it were her own achievement.
Her eyes shone like stars as she grasped both of Kwon O-jin’s hands firmly.
“Now you’re just one step away from 9-Star!”
For Awakeners, “9-Star” carries special significance.
It’s when the body undergoes reconstruction, granting power incomparable to anything before.
‘Even when I was 7-Star, I could barely take down 9-Stars… if O-jin becomes 9-Star…’
She swallowed hard.
Dry saliva traveled down her throat.
Just imagining it sent shivers down her spine.
“I just became 8-Star. 9-Star is still far off.”
“You always say that, then the moment I blink, you’ve leveled up again.”
“That’s…”
Well.
It was true that my growth rate was abnormally fast.
“Anyway, we can think about that later. What about the village?”
“I’ve cleared everything around here. As for over there… I’m not sure.”
Ha-eun pointed to the opposite side of where she, Vega, and Riak had been defending.
It was where the road leading to another village was located.
‘If that area broke through, things wouldn’t end with just a normal disaster.’
Kwon O-jin clicked his tongue while gazing toward the opposite end of the village.
Had he been familiar with the geography here, he would have taken Ha-eun there first, but since this was his first time in this place, he’d prioritized defending where the most people were gathered.
‘Well, at least I’ve done what I could.’
I couldn’t claim to have perfectly protected the village from the monster assault, but since I wasn’t responsible for this place nor its administrator, wasn’t this enough?
“Then let’s head to the other side of the village and deal with the remaining ones.”
“Got it.”
Just as Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun were about to head toward the opposite side of the village.
“That side is… fine.”
Isabella walked over from the opposite side of the village.
Her white one-piece dress soaked in dark crimson blood.
The way she walked unsteadily, breathing heavily, looked so precarious she could collapse at any moment.
“Isabella!”
Kwon O-jin quickly approached and supported Isabella.
Isabella looked up at him with a weary smile.
“Our family’s employees have blocked the passages to prevent the monsters from reaching other villages.”
“….”
Isabella’s voice as she spoke was so thin it seemed it could break at any moment.
‘Is this the curse’s influence?’
It didn’t seem to be this severe before.
Kwon O-jin frowned and seated the supported Isabella on a nearby bench.
“What exactly are these monsters?”
“…I don’t know.”
Isabella shook her head and bit her lip gently.
“The Gate should have been thoroughly managed by our family….”
Isabella clenched the blood-stained hem of her one-piece dress with an expression of incomprehension.
Kwon O-jin considered whether to tell her that someone had deliberately caused the dragon vein to go berserk, but then firmly sealed his lips.
‘Not yet.’
If she asked how the berserk dragon vein was suppressed, his answer would become difficult, and besides, there was something he wanted to verify personally.
“I should head back to the Mansion. I need to speak with Uncle Gilford about this situation.”
Isabella’s eyes gleamed coldly as she gazed toward the Mansion.
Since Gilford was the one managing San Fruttuoso, she seemed intent on pressing him about this crisis.
Kwon O-jin nodded and gently lifted her from the chair.
“O-jin?”
“I’ll take you there.”
The curse’s influence had grown so severe that she could barely walk properly, so I couldn’t let her go alone.
“Ah… th-thank you.”
Isabella lowered her head shyly, her cheeks flushing red.
“Ugh.”
Ha-eun watched the scene and pressed her forehead as if her head ached.
She wanted to wedge herself between them and cause trouble, but seeing Isabella’s gasping, breathless appearance, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Let’s go.”
Kwon O-jin headed toward the Mansion, carrying Isabella in his arms.
Stepping over the corpses of monsters scattered along the roadside, we arrived at the Mansion.
“M-madam, the next head of the family! Are you unharmed?!”
Gilford rushed toward Isabella with urgency, his thick belly jiggling with each frantic step.
As Isabella descended from Kwon O-jin, she coldly swatted away Gilford’s outstretched hand.
“What on earth is happening here?”
“W-well, I’m not entirely certain myself.”
“You’re uncertain? Isn’t my uncle the one responsible for overseeing this place?”
“Y-yes, that’s true, but….”
Gilford stammered, his expression thoroughly deflated.
His eyes were brimming with fear and anxiety.
“Sigh.”
Isabella exhaled deeply and fixed him with a sharp glare.
“Once the cleanup is complete, I’ll be establishing a disciplinary committee. Don’t even think about glossing over this.”
“W-wait! Madam, the next head of the family?!”
Ignoring Gilford’s desperate calls, Isabella walked into the Mansion.
Kwon O-jin narrowed his eyes as he observed Gilford hurrying after her in a panic.
‘Did he do this?’
As the one in charge of San Fruttuoso, it would have been easy for him to tamper with the dragon vein.
But Gilford, trembling without even managing to meet Isabella’s gaze properly, didn’t seem capable of causing a dragon vein to run amok.
‘Even if he were capable, there’s no reason for Gilford to cause the dragon vein to rampage.’
The moment the dragon vein ran amok and the monsters went berserk, he’d be cast out from the family regardless of his branch status—would anyone be mad enough to trigger such a catastrophe?
‘Someone with enough authority and power to interfere with the dragon vein, yet capable of evading suspicion.’
Only one person came to mind immediately.
My gaze shifted toward Isabella.
If it were her, wouldn’t she be able to freely interfere with the dragon vein?
Even if the dragon vein’s rampage caused significant damage, couldn’t she simply pin all responsibility on Gilford?
‘…No.’
I shook my head, abandoning that line of thought.
Isabella, like Gilford, had no reason to cause the dragon vein to rampage.
‘Then who, exactly.’
Why would someone cause the dragon vein to run amok?
As I continued pondering this mystery.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!!
A helicopter descended toward the Mansion, accompanied by a gust of wind strong enough to turn clothes inside out.
“What….”
Isabella squinted as she watched the helicopter touch down on the landing pad constructed beside the expansive garden.
The helicopter door opened, and a middle-aged man with platinum blonde hair slicked back stepped out.
A man with the handsome features and toned physique of a noir film protagonist.
Paulo Colgrande.
The current head of the Colgrande Family and Isabella’s father.
Paulo approached Isabella, radiating a charisma so overwhelming that merely beholding him made one’s breath catch in their throat.
But only for a moment.
“Ah! My beloved daughter! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
Paulo came shuffling forward with quick, clumsy steps—as if he hadn’t just been exuding that suffocating charisma.
Whoosh!
Paulo pulled Isabella into a rough embrace.
“I heard what happened…! You must have been through so much!”
Paulo’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at Isabella’s blood-soaked dress, then he turned his head and fixed a cold stare on Gilford, who was trembling violently.
“How dare you wound our princess… You should prepare yourself.”
“N-no, sir, it wasn’t like that!”
“Isn’t this disaster a result of your negligence?”
“That is… well…”
Gilford lowered his head, his expression crumpling.
“Don’t worry, Father. This isn’t my blood.”
Isabella spoke with a bright smile.
“Thank goodness! Thank goodness!”
Paulo shed tears profusely, tightening his arms around Isabella in the embrace.
‘Father.’
Kwon O-jin’s eyes gleamed with realization.
I’d thought their faces resembled each other somewhat, but so that man was Isabella’s father.
‘From what Isabella said, I thought they had a poor relationship.’
The way he’d immediately boarded a helicopter and rushed here the moment he heard the news—to look after Isabella—seemed quite different from what I’d been told.
And Isabella, smiling as she assured him the blood on her clothes wasn’t hers, seemed like the most dutiful daughter imaginable.
“You’re getting sweaty, so could you perhaps let go and step back a bit, Father?”
And now, infused with fire-attribute power.

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