Not A Regressor - Chapter 318

—————
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 318
A Faded Promise (10)
Fire blazes.
Savage and fierce, as if to devour the entire world.
Flames danced freely through the air like living things, wrapping around the charging Demon Race warriors and scorching their bodies.
“Aaaaaargh!”
The acrid smoke rising from burning flesh blanketed the Cavern Chamber like the mist that clung to the Sky Mountain Range.
The searing heat—fierce enough to incinerate souls—prevented the Demon Race from even approaching Ha-eun, their screams of agony piercing the air.
“P-Please! We have to kill her quickly!”
Among them, there was one Demon Race warrior who had broken through the inferno and reached Ha-eun.
“What’s with you calling me ‘that woman’ and ‘this bitch’ right off the bat? Seriously?”
Ha-eun shifted into a boxing stance, her footwork light and practiced.
Though her stigma specialized in ranged and area attacks, her natural reflexes and rigorous training had honed her close-quarters combat to rival anyone’s.
Crack!
She bounced forward rhythmically and unleashed a straight punch at the Demon Race warrior charging toward her.
The sound of a shattered nose accompanied the warrior’s body as it flew backward.
“That’s it!”
My body feels light as a feather.
Even my casual punches carry tremendous force.
With nimble footwork, I struck down each Demon Race warrior that charged through the flames, one by one with my fists.
“Graaaagh!”
Roars more terrible than any beast’s cry, screams of anguish.
The Demon Race warriors caught in the inferno consuming everything around them began to fall one by one.
“Insane… I’m so strong, am I really this powerful?”
Ha-eun stared down at the corpse of the fallen Demon Race warrior, her eyes wide with disbelief at what she herself had accomplished.
While she was intoxicated by the electric thrill coursing down her spine,
“Kugh!”
“Huh? What… what is it?”
A Demon Race warrior, covered in terrible burns and lying on the ground, suddenly grabbed Ha-eun’s ankle.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Black clouds of energy began to pour forth from the horns sprouting from the warrior’s forehead.
“Die…!”
As the black clouds flowing from the horns gathered into the hand gripping Ha-eun’s ankle,
Crack!
A black spear flew at tremendous speed, piercing straight through the Demon Race warrior’s head.
“…Oh.”
“You can’t let your guard down until the very end, sister.”
“Ugh. Sorry. I got too caught up in the moment.”
Ha-eun scratched her head with an embarrassed expression, disappointed at the incomplete finish.
Kwon O-jin approached Ha-eun, who had transformed into her Dragon-race form, and couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
‘She’s become absurdly strong.’
Originally, Ha-eun’s rank itself was higher than mine.
But in truth, she possessed the weakest power among our group.
It wasn’t that Ha-eun lacked skill—rather, Isabella and I simply wielded power far beyond normal standards.
But now.
‘That flame she just unleashed… in terms of raw power, it might rival Isabella’s?’
Reducing nearly thirty Demon Race warriors to ash in less than ten minutes.
That was something I couldn’t accomplish without resorting to the Void Blade.
‘I can’t match her anymore when it comes to fighting multiple opponents.’
Ha-eun had always possessed abilities optimized for one-versus-many combat.
But after absorbing the dragon’s soul this time, her power had transformed into something approaching a strategic weapon.
‘Though one-on-one still seems to be her weak point.’
If this were a game, Ha-eun would be a mage—unleashing powerful area-of-effect spells from range.
Though she’d learned some close-quarters combat, compared to a warrior like me who specialized in melee, her skill was still lacking.
Even though she’d let her guard down, the fact that a half-dead Demon Race warrior merely grabbing her ankle sent her into a panic showed how unprepared she was.
‘But if she had a reliable vanguard to keep her body safe.’
Ha-eun’s power could reach that of an awakened one with an 11-star rank—or perhaps even beyond.
“So? So? I’m incredible, right?”
Sensing the tremendous power she’d gained, Ha-eun puffed out her chest with pride.
I chuckled and nodded.
“Any other symptoms?”
“Other symptoms?”
“Yeah. Like the Dragon God’s voice echoing in your mind.”
“Hmm… no, nothing like that.”
Ha-eun shook her head firmly.
“What about that body of yours?”
“Oh, this?”
She ran her fingers over the crimson scales covering her nape and part of her cheek.
Whoosh.
The scales receded into her body, and Ha-eun returned to her normal human form.
“It seems to happen only when I use the dragon’s power.”
“Can you control it freely?”
“Yeah. Since dragon’s power was already something I used, it’s just a bit tiring if I use it for too long.”
If that were the case.
Ha-eun had obtained tremendous power with no risk, no aftereffects whatsoever.
Without any special effort.
Without any particular hardship.
Like a protagonist who found an opportunity in a cave after falling from a cliff.
‘What is this feeling?’
Like watching gears that don’t mesh together.
I furrowed my brow, my lips trembling with an inexplicable anxiety.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing.”
I forcibly severed the thoughts rising in my mind.
There was still work to be done.
I could afford to think about it later.
“Sob… sob. Caleos…”
Kelion still clutched the half-melted corpse of the Dragon God, tears streaming down his face.
Ha-eun hesitantly approached Kelion.
“I… um, I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would happen.”
It wasn’t intentional.
The Dragon God’s soul, which had been slumbering in the soul stone, had inexplicably settled into Ha-eun instead, so it seemed certain that the Dragon God had never awakened and had died.
“…No. It was I who brought the Dragon’s maiden to this place.”
Kelion, who had been shedding tears, shook his head with a powerless expression.
He had unsealed the barrier with his own hands and brought her to where the Dragon God slept—he couldn’t blame her now.
If there was responsibility to bear.
It lay with his own helpless self, who could do nothing as the Dragon God died before his eyes.
“Let’s move outside for now.”
I wanted to leave Kelion, drowning in despair, alone a while longer.
But as long as the Demon Race that had invaded the Kingdom remained, I couldn’t waste time here.
‘Even if fifty of them died here, there are still that many more.’
If I included the demon beast legions that hadn’t come to the Lair, the total forces would be even greater.
And.
‘There were no executive-class demons among those who came to the Lair.’
Executive-class Demon Race warriors who possessed strength a tier above ordinary demons—like Kalike, whom I had faced in the Kan Kingdom.
There should be a commander leading over a hundred Demon Race warriors, yet none had shown their face in this Lair.
‘It’s impossible that so many came to attack the Kingdom without a commander.’
They were likely still commanding the remaining Demon Race forces outside.
‘If I could join forces with Isabella…’
Now that Ha-eun had received the Dragon God’s power.
If I could rendezvous with the Dragon-race forces Isabella commanded, it would be entirely possible to completely drive the Demon Race from within the Kingdom.
‘Let me try contacting Isabella first.’
I retrieved a communication relic from my pocket.
Just then.
Whirrrrrrr.
Perhaps our thoughts had aligned.
Before I could make contact, Isabella called first.
-Did you succeed in awakening the Dragon God?
Isabella asked point-blank if the Dragon God had awakened.
“No, we failed to awaken the Dragon God.”
-What? You failed?
A voice tinged with bewilderment.
“I’ll explain later. How are things outside?”
-That’s actually why I called. I had something to report.
Isabella continued in a low, measured tone.
-The Demon Race forces are retreating right now.
“What?”
The Demon Race forces were retreating all of a sudden?
“…What do you mean by that?”
-I’m not entirely sure myself. Until just moments ago, some of their forces were still pursuing us… but then a sudden retreat order came down, and they’re all pouring out of the Kingdom. I thought you must have succeeded in awakening the Dragon God.
That’s why she was so flustered when I said I failed.
“So all the Demon Race forces have completely withdrawn now?”
-Yes. The Dragon-race are in a complete festival atmosphere, saying the Dragon God has awakened.
“….”
An unpleasant sensation, like grit grinding between teeth, spread through me.
Would I have to go out there now and pour cold water on their festive spirits, telling them the truth—that the Dragon God hadn’t awakened but was dead?
“…I’ll tell them. Let me do it.”
“You will?”
“Yes. It feels like something I need to say myself.”
Ha-eun clenched her fists with a hardened expression.
“…I’ll go with you.”
Kelion rose to his feet, leaning on his staff for support.
“….”
I watched the retreating figures of Ha-eun and Kelion as they walked toward the exit of the Lair, my expression bitter.
We had won the war.
The casualties were minimal, and we had reclaimed the Kingdom that was taken from us.
But.
The god they had yearned for so desperately over the past hundred years would never open their eyes again.
Never, for all eternity.

* * *
I had reclaimed the Kingdom from the hands of the Demon Race.
Yet the atmosphere within the Kingdom was as dark as a house of mourning.
The death of the Dragon God.
It dealt a far greater shock to the Dragon-race than I had anticipated.
Not an abstract deity to be believed in and followed.
The Dragon-race had fallen into profound despair at the death of the merciful god who had once sacrificed his life for them in the past.
Having lost even the will to restore the ruined Kingdom, the Dragon-race sat listlessly on the streets like puppets stripped of their souls.
“Sob… Waaah!”
“Lord Caleos… How could you leave us behind…?”
“We believed you would awaken…!”
The wails echoing throughout the Kingdom did not cease even as days passed.
Though victorious in war, they resembled nothing more than defeated soldiers.
For them, the Dragon God Caleos was quite literally ‘hope’ itself.
The despair that filled the void left by vanished hope consumed the Dragon-race faster than any plague.
Among them, there were even those who made extreme choices.
“Sigh. What am I supposed to do about this?”
Ha-eun exhaled a deep sigh, her frustration evident.
Just today alone, three Dragon-race members had taken their own lives.
“…Is a god really that important?”
Ha-eun, crouched on the bed, murmured as if unable to comprehend.
Isabella gently patted Ha-eun’s shoulder in comfort.
“For the Dragon-race, the existence of the Dragon God is closer to a parent than a deity.”
A being who remained to the very end to protect them, though they were nothing but slaves.
For the Dragon-race, the Dragon God Caleos was far more than merely a god to believe in and follow.
Their sole hope and salvation.
The pillar that had sustained them for a hundred years had crumbled, so it was only natural they had fallen into such profound despair.
“And besides, the Dragon-race was born to serve and revere dragons, wasn’t it?”
It was carved into their very lives and souls.
The ideology that they could only survive by serving someone.
“They absolutely need a dragon—a ‘god’ to believe in and follow.”
But.
That god was already dead.
“…There’s no way.”
A deep sigh escaped Ha-eun’s lips.
“No, there is a way.”
“Huh? What way?”
I rose from the chair where I had been lost in thought.
I placed my hand gently on Ha-eun’s shoulder and spoke softly.
“You become the ‘god.'”
If the God has fallen.
Then we need only create a new one.

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