Not A Regressor - Chapter 335

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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 335
Interlude – An Encounter (1)
Three days had passed since we repelled Deimos and the Golden Knights.
Yet Kwon O-jin and his companions remained within Deimos’s Castle, unable to venture beyond the territory.
While Ha-eun and Isabella had escaped without serious injury, Kwon O-jin still bore the lingering aftereffects of the blessing, and Baek Moo-gang’s crushed arm had yet to fully recover.
“Mmm.”
Light filtering through the window stirred me awake.
Though the sun naturally never rose in this subterranean city, the sacred relics installed in the ceiling emitted luminescence at designated hours, creating the illusion of dawn.
“Oh my, you’re awake, Kwon O-jin?”
A sweet voice that tickled my ear.
Turning my head, I found Isabella resting her head on my arm, smiling radiantly.
“….”
Her beauty was so breathtaking it momentarily stole my breath.
Golden hair that seemed melted from precious metal, skin as pure white as frost flowers, and lips gleaming with a crimson hue—all conspired to captivate my gaze.
The soft sensation against my arm and her warm breath brushing my ear made me swallow hard.
“Why are you….”
“Shh, Elder Sister might wake.”
Elder Sister?
“Mmm. O-jin…”
Glancing to my other side, I saw Ha-eun resting her head on my opposite arm, fast asleep.
‘When did she come in?’
I let out a short, hollow laugh as I gazed at Ha-eun, her arm wrapped around mine as she slept.
“We came to wake you together, but you were sleeping so soundly that I lay down beside you for a moment. Elder Sister fell back asleep in the meantime.”
I must have been sleeping so deeply that I hadn’t noticed them entering the room.
The aftereffects of the blessing were clearly more severe than I’d realized.
“Ugh. What time is it? I feel like I’ve been asleep for ages.”
“Oh, just a moment.”
Isabella pressed firmly against my chest as I tried to rise, drawing closer.
A soft exhale escaped her lips.
Isabella licked my neck, her breath warm and deliberate.
Along with the ticklish sensation came the sharp feeling of her fangs piercing my skin.
“Hah.”
Despite the fangs sinking in, no pain registered.
Instead, an intense wave of pleasure flooded through my entire body.
I stifled a moan, enduring the exquisite sensation that set my whole being ablaze.
“Mm. Gulp, gulp.”
After drinking a few mouthfuls of blood, Isabella withdrew from my neck.
She wiped her lips with a white handkerchief, nodding with evident satisfaction.
“Your blood tastes especially exquisite in the morning, Kwon O-jin.”
“Is it really okay to talk about it like you’re having your morning coffee?”
“Hehe. These days, I feel like my day doesn’t start without this.”
That sounds like an addiction to me.
“That’s right. I’m addicted. Not just to your blood, but to everything about you, Kwon O-jin.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“What?”
“No, that line just now was a bit….”
Pretty cringeworthy.
“Eek! I-I just drank so much blood that my head got all heated up!”
“I’m addicted….”
“O-Kwon O-jin!”
Realizing in retrospect just how cringeworthy her words had been, Isabella’s face flushed crimson as she pummeled Kwon O-jin’s chest with her fists.
“Ugh… What’s all this noise first thing in the morning?”
Ha-eun, who had been sleeping soundly beside me, rubbed her eyes and sat up.
“Elder Sister, Elder Sister. Do you know what Bella just said?”
“Huh? What did she say?”
“Kyaaaa! S-Stop! Right now!”
Isabella shrieked and clamped her hand over Kwon O-jin’s mouth.
Kwon O-jin burst into giggles and got up from his seat.
“I slept so long, I’m starving.”
“…You’re not eating today, Kwon O-jin.”
“Why not?”
I didn’t even ask her to say anything.
“I don’t know.”
Isabella, thoroughly sulking, huffed through her nose and shut the door with a bang as she left.
“What? Why is she acting like that after what she just said?”
“Well, she just mentioned that my blood has gotten more delicious lately.”
Fearing I’d go hungry all day if I told the truth, I deflected with a vague answer.
“Hmm… Is it really that delicious?”
Ha-eun tilted her head as she gazed at Kwon O-jin’s neck.
“Hey, let me try your blood too. Use a knife to cut your neck a little.”
“What kind of crazy thing are you saying?”
Why would I cut my neck?
“No, just a little scratch, you fool. Why are you acting like it’s a horror movie and I’m asking you to slash it open?”
“That’s enough from you.”
I gave Ha-eun’s backside a sharp smack with my palm and stretched.
“Ow.”
Was it the aftereffects of the blessing?
Despite sleeping far longer than usual, my body felt heavy and sluggish.
“How’s your body feeling?”
“Still sluggish.”
“Geez, who told you to dope yourself up like that?”
Calling a Constellation’s blessing “doping.”
Well, if we’re being honest, the effects are somewhat similar.
“Oh right, I saw that mutt came by earlier?”
“Riak?”
“Yeah.”
Riak, who had been taking refuge in the Star Palace due to the acrid sulfurous gas, had apparently returned.
‘Makes sense—there’s a purification system within the Territory.’
Though I couldn’t quite grasp the exact mechanism by which it operated.
The air within the Territory, which should have been unbearably foul, was maintained in a state as pristine and refreshing as if one had descended into a remote mountain valley.
“Let’s go eat, Elder Sister.”
“Yeah. Just give me a moment to tidy up my hair.”
Ha-eun, her crimson hair tied back and cascading to her waist, followed me out of the room.
“Ah! Good person! Did you sleep well?!”
As we walked down the long corridor, a cheerful voice reached us.
“Did you rest comfortably?”
“Yep! I slept wonderfully!”
Baek Moo-gang nodded enthusiastically, fluttering the letter he held in his hand.
Ha-eun approached him with a grin spreading across her face.
“I heard, Grandpa. You finally read the letter?”
“Yeah! Kwon O-jin helped me!”
At the sight of Baek Moo-gang nodding with a radiant smile, a gentle smile blossomed on Ha-eun’s lips.
Seeing him so animated, it seemed the letter contained nothing but kind words.
Ha-eun playfully jabbed Baek Moo-gang’s shoulder with her elbow, her smile mischievous.
“Come on, what did it say? Don’t tell me there were embarrassing things written in there?”
“That’s… hehe, a secret!”
“Aw, why~ you could tell me, Grandpa.”
“I won’t tell you!”
Baek Moo-gang shook his head stubbornly while Ha-eun pursued him relentlessly, pressing him about the letter’s contents.
Boisterous laughter echoed through the corridor.
“….”
I watched Baek Moo-gang’s retreating figure, my lips pressed firmly together.
Exhaling a deep sigh, I followed the two of them toward the Restaurant.
Upon arriving at what we called the Restaurant for convenience—though it was an ornate hall grand enough to host a ball—I spotted Isabella preparing the meal, with Riak seated beside her.
“So you’re finally awake, brat.”
“Yeah. When did you get here?”
“A few hours ago, but you were sprawled out dead to the world, so I’ve been waiting.”
Riak clicked his tongue disapprovingly and launched into a tedious lecture beginning with “A warrior should…”
I waved my hand dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah, enough. What brings you here?”
“Ugh. Vega sent me to check on your condition.”
So Vega had sent him.
“How is Vega doing?”
It was merely sound suppression, but she had still used the Sacred Domain and even blessed me at the end, so it would have taken a considerable toll.
“Well, it’s not a condition you need to worry about.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Still, she won’t be able to manifest for a while.”
Kwon O-jin nodded and took a seat at the table.
Today’s menu was simple frozen pork cutlet.
It was convenient fare—just thaw it out, oil up a pan, and fry it.
‘For frozen food, the quality is actually pretty decent.’
I was licking my lips in anticipation as the cutlet sizzled in the pan.
“Enjoy your meal, Kwon O-jin.”
Isabella smiled brightly as she placed something charred black onto my plate.
‘What is this?’
Was it charcoal?
“Um… Isabella.”
“You’ll eat every last bit without leaving anything, won’t you?”
“….”
It seemed I wouldn’t be eating properly for a while.

* * *
“Well then.”
After finishing my meal (?), I descended into the Golden Treasury where the fierce battle with Deimos had taken place.
The vault bore the unmistakable scars of the brutal combat, transformed into a war-torn wasteland.
I gathered all the treasures Deimos had accumulated into one place.
Most of them were shattered or crushed by the aftermath of the battle.
‘The magical power dwelling within them still remains.’
Like how a smartphone’s battery still holds charge even after the device breaks.
The function as a sacred relic was damaged, but the magical power contained within persisted.
‘And.’
My gaze turned toward Deimos’s fallen corpse.
Even days after Deimos’s death, his body continued to radiate the formidable magical power of a Constellation.
“I can’t just leave this behind.”
I smiled wickedly and firmly sealed the vault’s door to prevent anyone from entering.
The dozens of layers of barriers protecting the vault remained intact despite the battle’s aftermath, so without the sacred stone that served as a key, no one could enter.
After carefully confirming that no one was nearby, I stood in the center of the vault and slowly closed my eyes.
‘Heukcheon.’
Rumble, rumble.
Black clouds of mist erupted from my body, enveloping the surroundings like fog.
The dark clouds that flowed from Black Heaven greedily consumed the magical power dwelling within the hundreds and thousands of sacred relics that Deimos had accumulated over the years.
“Ugh.”
A torrent of magical power as massive as when I had absorbed the dragon vein surged into my body.
‘This is beyond what I imagined.’
In terms of pure magical quantity alone, it seemed comparable to the Dragon God’s soul that Ha-eun had absorbed—an absolutely staggering amount of power.
Of course, while the quantity was absurdly vast, in terms of quality it fell far short of the Dragon God’s soul.
‘So I haven’t even touched the main course yet.’
The sacred relics Deimos had gathered were merely an appetizer.
Rumble.
The black clouds, having devoured all the magical power within the sacred relics, began to swarm around Deimos’s corpse like ants drawn to sugar.
“Hah.”
Deimos’s magical power flowed into my body.
Perhaps because it contained the power of the Heavenly Demon.
A magical energy different from that dwelling in the sacred relics—something that felt strangely familiar—gathered toward my heart.
And then.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Black clouds erupted explosively from every pore across my entire body.
The swirling clouds of Black Heaven.
Along with a clear chiming sound, a blue message window materialized before my eyes.
[Black Heaven has reached the Tenth Celestial Bloom!]
The tenth bloom of Black Heaven.
The black sky crouching in my heart surged up like an active volcano.
[A portion of Awakened One Lee Shin-hyuk’s memories will be transmitted!]
I closed my eyes gently, wondering what memories would flow in this time.
Crackle, crackle, crackle.
The swirling black clouds began to scatter and coalesce repeatedly, as if convulsing.
‘What?’
I furrowed my brow at this sensation I had never experienced before.
[An unidentified force is interfering with the transmission.]
[Error detected.]
[Transmission is being cancelled.]
“Gaaahhh!”
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
My vision twisted and faded to black.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in darkness where not a single point of light was visible.
“What… where is this?”
I was looking around in the dimly lit space.
“So this is the first time we’re talking directly?”
A voice came from beyond the darkness.
A voice far too familiar, almost unnervingly so.
“You….”
Kwon O-jin turned his head toward the source of the voice, his expression hardened into rigid lines.
A crackling sound pierced the darkness.
Azure flames ignited within the shadowy depths.
“You already know, don’t you?”
A youth emerged from the black clouds, bearing an appearance identical to his own.
“I am you.”
The Heavenly Demon gazed at Kwon O-jin and offered a radiant smile.

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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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