Not A Regressor - Chapter 52

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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 52
Transcendence (2)
“What… what is that?”
The Awakeners locked in combat with the monsters stared at Choi Jong-chul, now transformed into a beast, their jaws hanging slack.
A monster with eight grotesquely split mouths, the arms of a mantis, and the lower body of a serpent.
Though its frame wasn’t particularly massive, an aura of malevolence utterly incomparable to the other monsters erupted from it in violent waves.
“Ugh! A human… transforming into a monster!”
“What is this thing!!”
The Awakeners contorted their faces in horror and raised their weapons.
They formed a circle, surrounding Choi Jong-chul.
“Capture that one first!!”
“That must be the boss!”
The Awakeners rushed toward the transformed Choi Jong-chul.
They were seasoned Awakeners with considerable experience and skill, having been selected for this subjugation operation.
“Interfere? You dare… interfere?”
Choi Jong-chul’s gaze fixed upon the Awakeners.
-KWAAAACRAAASH!!!
“AAAAHHHHH!!”
The serpent’s tail extended to dozens of meters in length, then swept through the surroundings like a whip.
An Awakener struck by the tail shrieked as he was hurled through the air.
“Interfere? Don’t… no one… no one… no one…”
CRUNCH!
The tail snatched the airborne Awakener mid-flight.
The pointed tip of the serpent’s tail pierced deep into the Awakener’s left chest.
“Cough! Gack!”
“Help? Will you… help? Yes? That bastard? You must… kill him?”
Choi Jong-chul’s mouth twisted into a grotesque smile.
UUUUUUUNG!
The black aura coiling around his body flowed through the tail and poured into the Awakener’s body.
“Cough! Hack! Grrrrgh!!”
The Awakener’s body swelled like a balloon, and soon needle-like spines began erupting across his entire frame.
“Grrgh! KRAAAAAAHHH!!”
In less than ten seconds.
The Awakener caught in Choi Jong-chul’s grasp had transformed into a monster.
“UUUUUAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
“What… what!!! How… how is this possible…!”
The Awakeners trembled, their faces twisted in shock.
A monster that could transform humans into beasts.
It was a phenomenon none of them had ever heard of.
“KRAAAAAAHHHHH!!”
“Mi, Min-chul! Snap out of it!!”
A corrupted Awakener attacked another Awakener.
They seemed to have known each other.
The attacked Awakener floundered in panic, unsure what to do.
-Crunch!!
“Gack! Cough!!”
A fountain of blood erupted.
A horrific scream pierced the air.
“Mi, insane!”
“B, blood!! Don’t get caught by that tail!!”
The Awakeners cried out urgently.
But.
Whoooosh!!
The serpent’s tail, split into five branches, targeted the Awakeners.
As time passed, the number of Awakeners caught by Choi Jong-chul’s tail steadily increased.
One, then two.
The number of Awakeners decreased while the number of corrupted beings grew.
‘Damn it.’
Kwon O-jin bit his lip as he watched the corrupted beings multiply.
‘This isn’t good.’
If time continued like this, the growing number of corrupted beings would become uncontrollable.
I had to kill Choi Jong-chul as quickly as possible.
But.
“…Damn it.”
I looked down at my body, now stripped of its blessing.
That overwhelming sense of omnipotence from before was gone.
“Sigh.”
Still, I couldn’t run away.
No. Given his mobility, he’d catch me even if I tried to flee.
Besides, it was me he was targeting in the first place.
‘I have to kill him here.’
But how?
“….”
I studied Choi Jong-chul intently, my eyes gleaming sharply as he pressed the Awakeners.
More precisely, the black aura flowing from his body.
‘It’s not just coming from that black sphere.’
I turned my gaze toward the City Center where the black pillar had erupted.
From the City Center at the heart of the collapse, black miasma was seeping upward in wisps.
And the black aura rising from there was.
‘Flowing into Choi Jong-chul.’
Others wouldn’t understand, but
to me, who could sense the power of Black Star, the energy surging from the City Center was clearly flowing into Choi Jong-chul.
‘Then.’
Kwon O-jin gripped his spear tightly.
“O-O-jin!”
I heard Song Ha-eun’s urgent cry.
“You have to kill him right now…!”
“Sister.”
I grabbed her shoulder as she rushed toward Choi Jong-chul.
“I need to ask you for something.”
“What? A favor at a time like this!”
Song Ha-eun bit her lip anxiously.
“See that black mirage-like thing over there? Go straight to it and destroy whatever’s emitting it.”
“…What about you?”
“I need to hold him back.”
I spoke while watching Choi Jong-chul thrash about wildly.
After all, it’s me he’s after.
He won’t chase her even if she leaves this place.
….
Song Ha-eun clenched her fists tightly.
Conflict flickered in her dragon eyes.
She probably didn’t want to leave me alone and go somewhere.
But if it’s her.
If it’s the Song Ha-eun I know.
“Understood.”
Yes.
That’s my sister.
“I’m counting on you.”
In terms of pure firepower alone, Song Ha-eun overwhelms me now that my blessing is gone.
If she can’t destroy that black mirage, then it truly can’t be destroyed.
“Remember the promise we made? If you break it again, I’m really getting angry!”
Song Ha-eun turned and ran off.
“A promise.”
Yes.
It’s not with anyone else—it’s with my sister, so I have to keep it.
I chuckled softly and walked slowly toward Choi Jong-chul.
“Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”
Kiiiiick.
Choi Jong-chul’s gaze turned toward me.
A chilling murderous intent prickled down my spine.
“Why are you so full of questions?”
I raised my middle finger, taunting Choi Jong-chul.
“Even your mother probably doesn’t know why she gave birth to you. What makes you think I would?”
“Ah, ahhh. Ahhhhhhhhh!!”
Boom!
Choi Jong-chul launches forward, his feet propelling him through the air.
The serpent’s tail extends and whips like a lash.
‘Faint, but intelligence remains.’
If his mind had completely vanished, he wouldn’t have reacted to the provocation.
-Whoosh!
The pointed tail tip aims for my head like a spear.
I barely twist my neck, evading the tail.
‘Fast.’
Choi Jong-chul’s attacks were so swift and menacing they were difficult to track with the naked eye.
‘But.’
Compared to Riak, it’s laughable.
-Kwaaaaaaang!
The serpent’s tail crashes against the ground.
Stone fragments scatter in all directions.
I concentrate mana into both legs.
Crackle! Crackle!
Blue lightning wraps around my calves and feet.
“Huff!”
I draw a sharp breath, lowering my body in a sliding motion as I dash forward.
The distance closes.
The tail that had struck the ground shoots toward my back. I roll forward to evade it, then drive my spear downward, launching myself skyward as if vaulting with a pole.
In an instant, I move behind Choi Jong-chul and thrust the sharp spearpoint toward his back.
-Thud!
‘Damn it.’
The spearpoint fails to pierce the outer skin and bounces off.
A sharp pain runs through my palm.
Whoosh!
Choi Jong-chul’s arm, shaped like a massive sickle, descends like a pickaxe.
‘I can’t block this.’
My expression hardens.
I’ve concentrated all my mana into my legs, leaving nothing for my arms.
If I take this head-on, I’ll lack the strength to hold my ground.
-Crackle!
“Ugh!!”
I detonate a thunderbolt directly in front of me.
The blast’s recoil sent my body flying backward.
“Running? Again? You think you can escape?”
Choi Jong-chul closed in with terrifying speed.
Before my airborne body could even land, a mouth split into eight grotesque segments yawned open and descended upon me.
“Damn it!”
I cursed harshly and reached out my hand.
*Twang!*
I barely dodged the descending maw using my wire shooter.
“It’s futile, you know?”
*Whoosh!*
A serpentine tail lashed out at my body as I was pulled by the wire.
*Crack!*
“Ugh!!”
A dizzying impact shook my entire frame.
In the blink of an eye, the snake’s tail coiled around my body.
‘Thunderburst!!’
The moment the tail wrapped around me, I concentrated mana into both arms and unleashed Thunderburst.
*Crackle!*
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
As Choi Jong-chul thrashed, I slipped free from the loosened coils.
“Hah! Hah!”
My breathing grew ragged.
‘My attacks aren’t working at all.’
He showed signs of pain, but that was all.
Choi Jong-chul’s outer shell bore not even a scratch from the direct hit of Thunderburst.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
Choi Jong-chul’s eyes gleamed with savage intensity.
“It hurts! It hurts so much!!”
*Slash! Slash!*
He flailed both arms about like a madman.
His arms, which had taken the form of a massive scythe, split into dozens of blades and rained down upon me.
‘So his arms can transform too, not just his tail!’
I fired Thunder Feather at the incoming blades.
*Ting ting ting ting!*
The lightning-wrought feathers deflected the slashing scythes.
But—
“Tch!”
I rolled my body urgently to the side.
A scythe I’d failed to deflect grazed me perilously close.
*Slash!*
My side grazed by the sickle split open, blood spilling forth.
‘My firepower is insufficient.’
A direct confrontation would mean certain defeat.
Even if I evaded attacks and aimed for vital points, I couldn’t inflict significant damage.
‘With the amount of mana I can expend in a single burst, there’s no way to kill this bastard.’
I’m in a tight spot, but the total reserve of mana remaining is still considerable.
The problem is that using all of it at once is impossible.
It’s like trying to drain a massive water tank through a thin hose—there’s no way my firepower could be sufficient.
‘What should I do….’
My mind churned with confusion.
-BOOM!!
“What? Are you? Thinking? So? Deeply?”
“Grrgh!”
A relentless barrage of attacks.
Strikes poured down with a speed that left no room for thought.
“Damn it!!”
Barely managing to evade was my limit.
I couldn’t match Choi Jong-chul in either strength or speed.
‘If only I had the Blessing!’
I wouldn’t be suffering so helplessly—
“….”
My body trembled as I caught myself mid-thought.
‘When did I start thinking such pathetic things?’
The moment I’m cornered, the first thing I do is rely on another’s strength.
How utterly shameful.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
‘Don’t hope for miracles.’
Didn’t I know this already?
From a distant past I couldn’t even remember.
Haven’t I felt it keenly all along?
‘Focus.’
I bring to mind what I can do now, what I must do.
“He? He he? Getting? Close? To your limit?”
Choi Jong-chul’s mockery reaches my ears.
I ignore it.
“Haah.”
I exhale roughly.
‘The amount of mana I can expel in a single burst is limited.’
It won’t increase unless I raise the ‘rank’ of my stigma.
‘In that state, the only way to amplify the power of mana is━.’
I think it through.
“Ah.”
A short exclamation.
Kwon O-jin’s eyes sparkled.
If the water flowing from the hose lacks sufficient force.
‘Then I just need to narrow the hose’s opening.’
By forcibly compressing the circuit through which mana flows and adding pressure, I can expel mana with far greater intensity using the same amount.
Forcibly compressing the mana circuit.
Had another Awakener heard such a thing, they would have recoiled in horror at the sheer absurdity.
‘When did I start worrying about such things.’
A faint smirk tugged at my lips.
“Huu.”
I draw in a deep breath.
Crack! Crackle crackle!!
I wrap lightning around my left heart, where the mana circuits concentrate.
I forcibly compress the mana circuits as if narrowing a hose’s opening.
-Boom!!
“Gack!”
The sensation of being struck in the chest by a colossal blunt weapon.
My back arches like a shrimp’s, my entire body convulsing violently.
“Ughh! Uweeeek!!!”
A dizzying, searing agony.
I twist and writhe, spitting up dark crimson blood.
‘It hurts.’
It hurts.
Is this what it would feel like to split open every fiber of flesh and shove a thick hose through, then turn the faucet to maximum?
The sensation of scalding oil ravaging my body instead of blood.
The excruciating pain sears my mind white-hot.
‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’
The agony is so overwhelming I feel consciousness slipping away.
Incomparably more terrible than the dozens of successive deaths I endured fighting Riak.
But.
“Cough! Gack! Graaah!”
I endure.
I do not stop.
Pain can be ignored.
Suffering can be borne.
If it’s a problem that can be solved by enduring.
Then it’s nothing at all.
‘Until now.’
There had been nothing but problems that couldn’t be solved by endurance alone.
-Crack! Crackcrackcrackcrackcrack!!!!
I intensified the pressure on my heart.
‘It’s not enough.’
Concentrating pressure on just one point would shatter my balance.
‘Not the heart alone—my entire body.’
I crushed every mana circuit flowing through my entire frame.
Accelerated mana rampaged like a wild beast as it tore through the constricted pathways.
“What? What? Again? What?”
Choi Jong-chul flinched and staggered backward.
“Cough! Cough!”
He spat blood while gripping his spear tightly.
My consciousness flickered on the verge of collapse.
The excruciating pain didn’t stop—it intensified.
But.
-Crackle!
One more step.
Forward.
-Ding!
[You have acquired《Exceed (Exceed) Lv1》.]
[Warning! Your current body is not suitable for using Exceed!]
[You have entered ‘Overload’ status.]
[Skill deactivation is recommended!]
Red warning windows materialized before my eyes.
A grin spread across my face.
Kwon O-jin laughed brightly.
“Screw it.”
A torrent of azure lightning swept across the surroundings.

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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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