The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 278

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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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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 278
278. Escape
[Aaaahhhhh!]
[P-please, save me!]
[M-Michael!]
Screams erupted through the Training Grounds of the Heavenly Realm at an unseemly hour.
Each cry became a final farewell.
[Angels Eliminated: 37/100]
…
[Angels Eliminated: 51/100]
[Angels Eliminated: 83/100]
…
…
Brilliant light cascaded across the Training Grounds.
Yet knowing that radiance was the blood of angels, the sight could hardly be called beautiful.
[Angels Eliminated: 100/100]
[You have fulfilled the conditions to use Demon’s Blessing.]
[You may activate Demon’s Blessing by speaking its incantation whenever you wish.]
‘Now I can use the blessing.’
Ryu Min pulled his lips into a smile and shifted his gaze toward the remaining angels.
The 5th Rank Angels who met his eyes fled in terror.
To them, Ryu Min was no different from a demon.
‘About twenty of them left?’
Though they scattered like chaff, Ryu Min did not pursue them.
He had already achieved his purpose of stacking the count.
Besides, he had no intention of using Demon’s Blessing now.
It would be wasteful to use it merely to capture a few 5th Rank Angels, and he had no time to kill Michael.
[You have abandoned your position during the round.]
[If you do not return to the progression location within one hour, your player status will be revoked.]
[Time remaining before status revocation: 00:15:21]
‘I can kill Michael anytime later. Besides, killing him now would be a loss. He’s the only angel who wants me to survive until round twenty.’
For now, returning to the Other World was the priority.
Otherwise, all the power I’ve accumulated would vanish like a mirage.
While I paused to think, I let countless angels escape, but it didn’t matter.
To return home, I needed only one.
“You there.”
[Kyieeeek!]
As Ryu Min approached, the angel hiding in the corner startled violently.
It tried to flee, but its wing was caught by Ryu Min’s brutal grip.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
[P-please, save me. I’m b-begging you….]
“You want to live?”
The Angel nodded vigorously, as if the question itself was absurd.
“Then take me to the Other World.”

* * *
The goddess’s face creased with worry.
‘Why is the report taking so long?’
By now, Michael should have already handed Black Scythe over to Phlunikthos.
Yet no report had arrived from Michael.
Nemesis voiced her displeasure and searched for Michael with divine sight.
She intended to scold him if he’d simply forgotten to report.
‘Huh?’
But a far graver matter awaited her.
‘What is that fool doing there?’
She saw Michael sleeping somewhere in the Heavenly Realm.
Yet something was odd—blood stained the corner of his mouth.
‘Surely not? It couldn’t be….’
Nemesis immediately searched for Black Scythe.
She found him descended to the Other World, not the Demon Realm.
Accompanied by what appeared to be a hostage—a Combat Angel.
‘W-what on earth happened? Why is that wretch in the Other World…?’
She could guess what had transpired, but she refused to accept it.
One thing was certain: she needed to wake Michael and demand answers.
Zzzzrip—
She tore through space and materialized before Michael.
[Michael! Wake up! Michael!]
She prodded him awake with her foot, and he slowly opened his eyes.
[Ugh, ah? Y-yes, Nemesis?]
[What is the meaning of this? Why has Black Scythe returned to the Other World?]
[Ah….]
Confusion flickered across Michael’s face.
In that moment, Nemesis realized her suspicion had become reality.
[I-I’m terribly sorry…. I was in the process of transferring him when he suddenly attacked and my memory….]
[Y-you… fool!]
Black Scythe had ambushed Michael and fled.
It appeared he’d coerced the Combat Angel at his side into descending to the Other World with him.
At that very moment, reports materialized before Michael’s eyes in rapid succession.
[Y-yes, Nemesis. The 5th Rank Angels who were training have been attacked. It appears to be Black Scythe’s doing….]
Michael reported while gauging Nemesis’s reaction.
The twitching beneath his eyes revealed just how infuriated he was.
Nemesis unleashed the fury he’d been holding back.
[How… how could you possibly let a prisoner slip away after capturing him!]
[I sincerely apologize…. Even if I had ten mouths, I would have nothing to say in my defense.]
[And you shouldn’t! Of course you shouldn’t!]
Nemesis, who had been shouting furiously, shoved Michael’s back as if this was no time for excuses.
[What are you doing? Go at once and recapture the criminal!]
[Y-yes, understood….]
But Michael trailed off, his gaze lifting blankly.
[Why do you hesitate?]
[That is… Round 17 has ended.]
[What?]
It appeared Round 17, which had been underway, had concluded.
When this happened, the gates to the Other World closed to all angels except the guide angel.
For any other angel to forcibly open the gates and descend would consume 90% of their power.
[Michael! If you descend now, could you still capture Black Scythe?]
[That… that would be impossible. With 90% of my strength depleted, I cannot subdue him….]
[And I cannot intervene directly myself, can I!]
Direct interference in earthly matters was forbidden by divine law.
This was why he had sent angels instead of acting personally all this time.
[This cursed! Cursed Michael! Why did you have to fall asleep!]
[….]
He hadn’t fallen asleep by choice—he’d been knocked unconscious—but Michael merely bowed his head without protest.
[What are we to do now? We agreed to hand Black Scythe over to Phlunikthos before Round 18 began!]
[I… I will meet with Phlunikthos and request a little more time.]
[You must succeed in this negotiation—you absolutely must! Otherwise, you will bear the responsibility for losing Black Scythe!]

* * *
As I stepped onto the ground of the Other World, I exhaled in relief upon seeing the warning window disappear.
‘If I’d been just 15 minutes late, I would have lost my qualification.’
And it wouldn’t have stopped at mere disqualification.
I would have lost all the power I’d accumulated and reverted from a player to an ordinary person.
Of course, losing my qualification and being freed from the Survival Game wasn’t something I’d been wishing for.
The real problem was that the Angels would never let me return to Earth.
‘I wonder what Michael is doing right now. He’s probably being reprimanded as we speak?’
Even if he faced criticism, it would only be for letting Black Scythe slip away.
He would never suspect that Michael had deliberately let me escape.
‘Since gods can only see like with far-sight but can’t hear conversations, I shouldn’t have been discovered.’
I’d already learned from Michael that gods possessed abilities similar to far-sight.
That they could only see, not hear conversations.
‘For now, I can rest easy. I don’t need to worry about gods chasing after me.’
Something about how Heavenly Realm beings consumed 90% of their power crossing into the Human World.
How they could only be targeted in the Other World where the rounds took place.
How gods couldn’t intervene directly on Earth due to some divine law.
I’d gathered quite a bit of information from Michael.
Even that there existed another being of even higher rank above the Archangel.
‘His name was Artaros, if I recall correctly.’
I’d thought Michael was ranked first in the Heavenly Realm, but I was wrong.
There was one more.
Archangel-Commander Artaros.
The strongest being in the Heavenly Realm.
He was the true heaven above heaven.
‘But since he’s classified as a Divine Being with a fundamentally different rank, he’s excluded from the Archangel hierarchy.’
That was why Michael was called the sole Archangel.
‘The being I saw in the previous round must have been Artaros for certain.’
There was something about him that felt different from ordinary Angels, and it turned out he was a Divine Being.
‘The being who cursed me out in the Heavenly Realm was also a Divine Being—the goddess of retribution, Nemesis, I believe?’
Though with that purple skin and alien-like face, calling her a goddess felt somewhat off.
‘Still, it wasn’t a bad experience to face a god, even if briefly.’
I’d gained valuable information from encountering Nemesis.
Unlike Michael, I couldn’t read a god’s thoughts.
‘Whether it’s just Nemesis or all Divine Beings, I’m not sure….’
It was information worth noting if I ever faced Artaros.
His thoughts might be unreadable as well.
‘I’m not sure why the one I saw in Round 16 still hasn’t revealed himself….’
When the time came, we would meet.
With that thought, I turned my head.
It was time to let go of my guide.
“Hey.”
[Yes?]
“Disappear now.”
[Understood.]
The 5th Rank Angel who had been following me stopped in his tracks and quickly chanted a return spell.
-Stupid human bastard. I thought you’d kill him, but you let him live? As soon as I get back, I need to report this to my superiors. We should slaughter all these vermin humans.
As the pathetic angel’s thoughts transmitted into my mind, I let out a hollow sigh.
“This won’t do.”
[Huh?]
Those were the angel’s final words.
Thunk— roll—
With an expressionless face, I severed his neck and spread my black wings, soaring into the air.
I had intended to return to the Barracks, but there was no need.
[The war has ended in victory for the Kingdom Alliance.]
[You will return to the waiting area shortly.]
Returning to the Monochrome Space, I encountered the other players.
“Black Scythe?”
“Oh, it’s Black Scythe!”
“Where have you been?”
“You should have seen how we pushed back the Holy Empire’s forces!”
“It was truly a magnificent moment!”
The believers lamented missing the highlight like fans who had missed the best play in a soccer match, but there was no need for me to watch.
I already knew how it would unfold.
‘I’ve already witnessed it dozens of times.’
I already knew the Kingdom Alliance would emerge victorious.
Having poured nearly six billion gold into it, losing would have been unbearable.
[Welcome. 286 commanders of the Kingdom Alliance.]
The guide angel who had been waiting wore an expression of surprise.
[First, congratulations on your victory in the war. To triumph with such a disadvantaged Kingdom Alliance… honestly, I’m shocked. I had no expectations whatsoever.]
The players themselves hadn’t realized it.
That they would survive so easily.
‘This is all thanks to Black Scythe providing us with gold.’
The people gazed at Black Scythe with grateful eyes.
[The two idiots who chose the Holy Empire have already been eliminated, so you don’t need to search for them. Shall we review the results of Round 17?]

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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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