Not A Regressor - Chapter 214

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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 214
The Serpent’s Head (7)
“….”
Kwon O-jin stared intently at the Dimensional Rift, now reduced to half its original size, his expression hardening.
Himself and Isabella.
If only one of them could escape from this place.
‘The other person left behind.’
He bit his lip firmly and slashed at the bundle of tentacles hurtling toward him with his spear.
Squelch!
Yellow pus erupted from the severed end of the tentacle, splattering across the ground.
The earth melted away, releasing a sickly acrid smoke.
“Krrrrgh! Kererek!”
Kwon O-jin tightened his grip on the spear as he watched the mother beast closing the distance between them with each passing moment.
‘Could I kill it?’
If Isabella and I combined our strength.
Could we perhaps slay even this absurd beast?
“…No.”
He shook his head, biting his lip firmly.
If only Isabella and I were in peak condition right now.
But we had just finished hours of continuous, unrelenting combat.
‘Even if that weren’t the case, it would still be far from easy.’
According to Vega, she sensed the aura of a holy spirit.
Considering the absurd power that Riak possessed, facing a beast that had inherited a fragment of a Constellation’s soul was utterly unreasonable.
‘Then.’
Kwon O-jin turned to look at Isabella.
Isabella was fiercely wielding her blood-red scythe, blocking the tentacles advancing toward Kwon O-jin.
‘If one person must remain.’
Between myself and Isabella, who should be the one to stay?
“….”
The deliberation was brief.
Polaris’s Constellation or whatever else they might claim—I was still only an 8-star, while Isabella already possessed power among the upper ranks of 10-stars.
Wasn’t it obvious who between us could actually ‘survive’ this place?
“Haa, haa. Kwon O-jin! Why aren’t you entering the Dimensional Rift quickly?”
During the brief moment when the relentless onslaught of tentacles faltered under her assault.
Isabella rushed over and grabbed Kwon O-jin’s arm, pulling him.
“Hm?”
Isabella frowned as she gazed at the black Dimensional Rift, now reduced to half its original size.
The words she had heard from Vega moments ago—’the Rift’s aura is precarious’—naturally surfaced in her mind.
“Kwon O-jin… surely you don’t mean…”
Isabella could easily discern why the Dimensional Rift had suddenly shrunk to half its size and why Kwon O-jin stood motionless instead of rushing into it.
“….”
“….”
My gaze and Isabella’s crossed through the empty air.
“I’m sorry, Isabella.”
I bit my lip and lowered my head.
I would have rather died than say these words.
I knew I shouldn’t be saying them.
“Please━ stay here.”
If one of us had to remain behind no matter what.
It had to be.
“Ah.”
Isabella let out a soft gasp, her expression tinged with shock.
I rushed to continue.
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely come back to rescue you.”
There wasn’t just one Dimensional Rift leading to the Demon Realm.
An awakener with transcendent power like Isabella could easily evade those demonic beasts and hide herself away.
If she could buy me time, I would mobilize every resource at my disposal and return here.
“I’ve encountered Deneb’s Apostles before.”
It wasn’t a pleasant meeting.
But if Vega bowed her head directly to Deneb, he would chuckle at the sight and help her regardless of his nature.
I recalled the suffocating aura I’d felt when facing Allen Oskal.
If someone counted among the strongest in the Seven Stars, they could surely stand against that Black Star’s holy spirit.
“…I see.”
Isabella gazed at me with sorrowful eyes, then a faint smile graced her lips.
“You’re right. If someone must stay, it should be me.”
She understood this truth better than anyone.
Even right now, she possessed far greater power than I did.
Wasn’t it only reasonable that the one with the higher chance of survival should be the one to leave?
“…I’m sorry.”
I clenched my fists and bowed my head deeply.
Isabella gently patted my back in consolation.
“It’s alright. I understand everything.”
Her hand was tender as it stroked my back.
“Because you have Elder Sister Ha-eun.”
“….”
My expression hardened like stone.
Isabella laughed softly at my rigid face, as if amused.
“You said those words because you were thinking of your sister, who would be left alone, didn’t you?”
“…That’s not—”
“Hehe. I know that Elder Sister is the person you cherish most.”
Isabella added the words “not yet” carefully.
“I’ll definitely come to rescue you.”
Kwon O-jin kept his head bowed low, offering only an indefinite promise.
Isabella gazed at him with a tender expression.
Seeing him tormented by guilt brought a strange sense of peace to her heart.
At least it meant that Isabella Colgrande had carved out a place in his heart deep enough to make him feel this weight of remorse.
‘Thank goodness.’
Isabella brushed her chest and allowed herself a faint smile.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The ground trembled beneath her feet, and she could see the mother beast approaching.
Isabella looked up at the grotesquely formed mother beast and bit her lip firmly.
‘Can I escape?’
As Kwon O-jin wished.
Could she survive alone against that beast?
‘…It won’t be easy.’
She had already expended considerable strength in the previous battle.
If she were at full strength, it might be possible, but in her current state, the likelihood of breaking free from the beast was slim.
However.
“Well, escaping alone shouldn’t be difficult for me.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. In fact, having you here would only hinder my escape.”
Isabella continued in a composed voice.
Whoosh!
Just then, the tentacle attacks that had paused resumed.
“Tch!”
Crackle, crackle!
Kwon O-jin urgently raised his spear to block the ferociously charging tentacles.
Was the beast seeking revenge for its dead offspring?
The beast relentlessly targeted only Kwon O-jin, firing tentacles at him.
‘If it’s like this, I can’t volunteer as bait like you did earlier.’
Isabella brought her wrist to the blade of the blood-red scythe in her hand.
Slash!
Her artery severed, crimson blood erupted like a fountain.
“Hah.”
A blood-red tempest began to swirl around Isabella as she exhaled deeply.
“W-wait, Isabella?”
“I’ll protect you until we reach the Dimensional Rift.”
Slash! Slash!
The blood-red storms swirling around Isabella violently tore apart the tentacles that shot toward Kwon O-jin.
With a worried expression, she grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the Dimensional Rift, which had shrunk to half its original size.
“Isabella, I should be the one….”
Kwon O-jin, being dragged along by Isabella, finally couldn’t hold back and spoke.
“Hehe. Did you know this, O-jin?”
Isabella looked at him and smiled softly.
“If you had said you’d stay back then, I would have used my ‘Command’ to force you away regardless.”
“….”
“Don’t worry. No matter how strong I am, I can’t face a Holy Spirit directly, but escaping is hardly difficult.”
Isabella spoke to O-jin in a reassuring tone as she arrived before the Dimensional Rift, now reduced to half its original size.
As the rift drew closer, the fear she had desperately tried to suppress began to grow stronger.
‘…Perhaps.’
The terror that she might never see him again.
The dread that this might be the last time.
These became heavy shackles that bound her feet.
‘It’s alright.’
Even if I never see him again.
Even if we can never meet once more.
If I can save him with my own life.
If I can only protect this beautiful and precious hope newly kindled in my heart.
Then this fear meant nothing at all.
“Kerrrgh! Kergh!”
Boom! Grrrrgh! Bang!
The earth trembled once more as if struck by an earthquake.
The mother beast, which had been at considerable distance before, now moved its long legs like a cockroach and had already reached right before them.
Isabella turned her back to stand before the rift, blocking the way.
“Go quickly, O-jin. There’s no time.”
The crimson storm enveloping her body was gradually weakening.
“….”
O-jin gazed down at the black rift, now reduced to 50 centimeters, his eyes narrowed.
Alternating his gaze between the black rift and Isabella’s turned back, O-jin gave a small nod.
“Alright, this distance should be enough.”
“O-jin! Why aren’t you going quickly?”
When Isabella, holding back the tentacles, turned her head in frustration.
“Mmph?!”
O-jin swiftly wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips against hers.
Caught completely off guard by the unexpected kiss, Isabella’s eyes widened and her body went rigid.
Confirming that her body had gone limp, O-jin.
“Hup.”
Gripped her waist tightly and hurled her into the half-remaining rift.
“O-jin! What are you—!”
As Isabella’s body vanished into the black rift, the remaining half of the dimensional tear sealed completely shut.
“You’re quite the exhausting young lady, aren’t you?”
Kwon O-jin chuckled softly and turned his back on the Dimensional Rift, now completely sealed.
‘I feel a bit guilty toward my sister.’
He brushed his fingertips against his lips, still feeling the soft touch lingering there.
It was certainly wrong to kiss Isabella while I had Ha-eun as my lover, but there was no other way to force her into the Rift without giving her a chance to ‘command’ me.
‘I’ll probably get lectured when I get back.’
Kwon O-jin let out a quiet laugh as he lifted his gaze.
“Kerrrgh!”
“Damn, I still can’t get used to this form.”
The mother beast let out a grotesque shriek, her mouth torn open so wide that it split all the way to her temples.
A cascade of yellow pus poured from within her maw, drenching down over Kwon O-jin’s head.
“Shit, seriously.”
Kwon O-jin cursed under his breath as he created distance using Brain Tremor Stomp.
But the spray was far too wide in range.
One stream of the cascading yellow pus struck Kwon O-jin directly.
“Kugh!”
Sizzzzle!
The three shields Kwon O-jin had conjured in front of him melted away in an instant.
The orange bracelet around his wrist lost its glow and snapped clean off.
“Damn it.”
I was fond of that one too.
Kwon O-jin frowned as he looked down at the bracelet lying on the ground.
“Kergh! Kerrrgh!”
The mother beast, thinking she had completely cornered her prey, let out a grotesque laugh from her torn mouth.
Kwon O-jin looked up at the mother beast, lost in thought for a moment.
Between myself and Isabella, who should remain?
Between the two of us, who could actually ‘survive’ here?
“Why would I even hesitate about that?”
Thinking about it logically.
Wasn’t it obvious that my chances of survival were higher if I stayed?
“Kerrrgh! Kergh!”
“You think so too, don’t you?”
I slowly raised my hand and placed it over my left chest.
I recited the incantation in a low voice.
“Those who pass through me━ to the Garden of Sighs.”
Black clouds erupted upward in a violent surge.

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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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