The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 325

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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 325
325. The Crucible of Chaos
“Hah….”
“W-what is that?”
A colossal eye tore through the fabric of space, and everyone stared at it with gaping mouths.
Some turned their gaze away, too afraid to look upon it directly.
Others clamped their hands over their mouths and held their breath.
Among them, Ryu Min showed no outward reaction, though his expression had grown rigid.
‘The oppressive force is no joke.’
Even I, who had subdued Artaros the God of War, felt like a mouse before a cat in Chaos’s presence.
I felt infinitely small, as though facing the vast expanse of the universe itself.
[P-Primordial God, we greet you!]
Artaros, gazing up at Chaos, immediately prostrated himself.
In that fleeting moment, I caught sight of his expression.
‘Artaros is afraid?’
Judging by his intermittently trembling shoulders, it was unmistakable.
An oppressive force so overwhelming that even an immortal being trembles before it.
Truly, he deserves to be called the Primordial God.
[Pathetic wretch. I knew it would come to this the moment you returned defeated by a mere human.]
[….]
[Did you dare betray me and conspire with a human?]
Artaros’s shoulders flinched.
My conversation with Black Scythe had been discovered after all.
[…I have no excuse.]
Artaros could not even lift his head.
Yet he opened his mouth as if he had something to say.
[It was unavoidable to fulfill my desire. I beg your understanding….]
[Your desire? You mean breaking the curse of immortality?]
Artaros’s head snapped up in surprise.
[Ah, you knew?]
[Of course I knew. Did we not make a pact? I promised to lift the curse of immortality if you did as I commanded.]
[Pardon?]
As Artaros’s eyes widened in bewilderment, Chaos clicked his tongue in disapproval.
[Fool. You’ve even forgotten the promise you made with me. Or perhaps… you’ve been made to forget?]
[Forget? What do you….]
[Still don’t understand? You’ve been played by that human. He deliberately erased your memories of me.]
Artaros’s eyes widened as he turned his gaze.
He looked toward me as if asking whether what had been said was true, but received no answer.
[Tsk, tsk. How pathetic. All you needed to do was dispose of the humans here, and I would have lifted the curse. Yet you were deceived by a human and even harbored thoughts of betraying me.]
[I-I apologize, Chaos. I never intended….]
I hastily tried to make excuses, but Chaos opened his eyes with a look of disappointment.
[If you retain any memory of me, you would understand why I am called the God of Destruction.]
[…Yes, I do.]
[So many Divine Beings defied my will and perished—beyond count. Some I condemned to eternal torment in the dungeons beneath Tartarus.]
[….]
[Since you attempted to betray me, you too deserve imprisonment in that place. Yet even such suffering would be a light punishment for you. Therefore.]
Chaos paused before speaking.
[I will not kill you.]
[Pardon?]
[I will do nothing. No imprisonment, no curse lifted. Mere existence itself shall become your torment.]
Artaros’s body trembled violently.
Though some of his memories had been erased, he remembered all too vividly how terrible a life without death could be.
[Master, please kill me. If you would only lift the curse and grant me death….]
[No. That would be a reward for you, would it not? You must be punished. Punished by eternal life.]
Artaros’s mouth fell open in a daze.
His expression was one of despair, but only for a moment.
His face shifted to one willing to do anything to achieve his desire, and he looked up at Chaos.
[The loss of my memories with you, Lord Chaos, was not of my own will. Please, grant me another chance.]
[Another chance?]
Artaros’s murderous gaze turned toward Black Scythe.
[I will slaughter that damned human and every worm here as you command. So….]
[How will you kill them when you cannot even remember your combat techniques from before?]
[….]
[You will simply remain still. I have no intention of entrusting tasks to a useless failure who cannot even accomplish what he is ordered to do.]
With those words, Chaos gazed down at the group with a chilling expression.
[Leave these humans to me. Since I am here, I shall kill them myself.]
No one failed to understand Chaos’s words.
One look at those eyes was enough to send shivers down the spine—grasping his intent was hardly difficult.
-D-did he just say he’d kill us directly?
-So we’re just going to die like this?
-There’s no way we can beat that.
I heard the thoughts of the despairing group, but I refused to give up.
After enduring Round 20 this far, I could not fail at the very end.
‘Persuading Artaros won’t work. Chaos has already seen through the entire plan.’
Then there was only one path forward.
Either persuade Chaos, or fight and win.
‘I have to try something before we fight.’
I attempted conversation first.
“So you are Chaos? I read about you in Artaros’s memories. You’re the one who ordered him to kill me.”
[I have no desire to speak with a lowly human.]
“Don’t do that. Tell me. Why are you trying to kill us?”
I studied Chaos’s eyes, but his thoughts remained impenetrable.
My Eyes of Insight activated, yet most of the information was obscured.
[Chaos]
└ Race: Divine Being
└ Disposition: Evil
└ Status: Primordial God
└ Peculiarities: ….
└ Weaknesses: ….
‘The fact that I can’t read his thoughts means he’s incomprehensibly powerful.’
Even without that, I could sense it through my skin.
Whenever I met that eerie gaze, my entire body tingled with dread.
Because of this, I had to avoid combat and find a way to resolve this peacefully.
“Hmm? Answer me. Killing a worthless human like me wouldn’t benefit you at all, would it?”
[Quite the silver tongue, human.]
I could tell from Chaos’s gaze alone.
A look of dismissal, as if I wasn’t even worth conversing with.
‘There’s no point in saying anything more.’
I’d tried to humble myself and find a breakthrough by any means, but I’d failed.
Communication was impossible.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to fight?’
This was the one thing I wanted to avoid, but it seemed unavoidable.
I’d have to show him that even a worm will writhe when stepped on.
That’s when I noticed a Demon Tribe member backing away in my field of vision.
It was Sitri, the highest-ranked demon from the Demon Realm I’d brought with me.
“Sitri.”
[U-uh….]
“Get ahold of yourself.”
Sitri, who had finally torn his gaze from Chaos, looked at me and spoke in an urgent tone.
[Y-Your Majesty! I, I believe it would be best if we departed now. I beg of you, please, let us escape from this place….]
“There’s nowhere to run. We’re trapped here.”
[B-but surely we won’t know unless we try, will we?]
I knew without trying.
Players are locked within the Boss Room until the boss is defeated.
“Fine. Let me try once.”
Just in case, I attempted to use a skill to warp to the Demon Realm.
As expected, it didn’t work.
“I was right. Until the boss is defeated, I’m completely trapped here.”
[Ah….]
“Ah, but you—since you’re not a Player—you might be able to return to the Demon Realm.”
Sitri’s eyes sparkled with hope at those words.
It was a pleading gaze, begging me to send him away.
‘He’s begging like that—should I send him? He’s useless anyway.’
Ryu Min let out a quiet chuckle.
“Fine. You go too.”
[R-really, sir?]
“Yeah. I’ll send you. Go.”
[I-I’m grateful… ah, no, I’m sorry for leaving alone….]
“Hurry. Before I change my mind.”
Sitri, who had been stammering incoherently, quickly cast a warp spell at my words and vanished.
[One rat escaped, but it hardly matters.]
Chaos stared down at me with terrifying eyes, as if to say that what he truly wanted was humans.
[Now then, shall we begin? I’ll enjoy watching you all descend into chaos.]
In an instant, Chaos’s eyes flashed with light.
The players who met his violet gaze became entranced, raising their weapons as if possessed.
“W-what are you doing? Snap out of it, ahhh!”
A blade pierced through an ally’s heart.
Other players joined in, turning the already-dead corpse into a grotesque skewer.
Thud, thud—thud, thud—!
In mere moments, one of our own fell dead.
“Ahhh! Why is this happening!”
“S-stop attacking!”
“Have you lost your minds? Why are you suddenly doing this!”
Blades clashed in every direction as the area descended into absolute pandemonium.
‘The moment I made eye contact with Chaos, I was instantly brainwashed.’
Of course, I had been looking at Chaos at that moment too.
But.
[A powerful mental barrier has blocked the mental attack.]
Thanks to the rune of my mental barrier, I could gaze upon that violet light and remain unaffected.
“Ahhh! Don’t stab! I said don’t stab!”
“Stay back! I’ll kill you!”
“Dammit, weren’t we in the same party? How are we getting hurt?”
“I don’t know! The party must have disbanded!”
“These bastards have all gone insane!”
“They’re not insane—they’re brainwashed by that monster!”
I quickly counted the players attacking our allies: thirty-five.
Nearly half of our forces had been brainwashed.
They were the ones who had been making eye contact with Chaos.
Among them were some familiar faces.
“Russell! Stop this!”
Ryu Min grabbed Russell’s arm as he swung his hammer toward his own allies.
“Grrrrgh…!”
Watching Russell struggle with all his might despite being unable to move, Ryu Min understood the truth.
‘Those aren’t the eyes of a sane person. I won’t be able to break the brainwashing with words.’
Having made his decision, Ryu Min raised his fist.
“My apologies.”
Crack—!
Russell’s nose caved in, and he lost consciousness immediately.
I’d controlled my strength, so he wouldn’t die.
‘Knocking them all unconscious is the only way.’
Whether they’d attack again upon waking was uncertain, but I had no other choice.
I sought out the maddened players and delivered the same treatment with my fists.
Crack—! Thud—!
The brainwashed players fell one by one.
Though rendered combat-ineffective, at least they wouldn’t attack their allies anymore.
As I raised my fist again, I suddenly froze.
The person before me was none other than Christine.
‘Christine is essential combat strength in this situation. I can’t knock her out.’
Given that we might need her resurrection skill, I couldn’t bring myself to strike her.
‘There’s no helping it.’
I grabbed Christine by the shoulders.
“Christine! Look at me!”
“Ahhhhh!”
As she thrashed to break free, I fixed her with my violet eyes.
“That’s an order. Snap out of it and help the others.”
[You have used Dominion.]
[Temporary Skill – Dominion]
-Remaining Uses: 7
-Targets Used: Black Scythe, Yamtti, Krishi
As I commanded through Dominion, Christine’s movements became calm and composed.
The wild madness in her eyes faded, replaced by clarity.
“Huh? What was I just…?”
“Are you back with us?”
“Black Scythe…?”
“Until moments ago, you were brainwashed by Chaos. Just like those people over there.”
Following my gaze, Christine turned to see the maddened individuals slashing wildly at their comrades.
“I… I was like that?”
“Yes. I used Dominion to bring you back to your senses.”
“Ah, thank y—”
“Skip the gratitude. Can you heal the injured for me?”
“What about the dead? Should we revive them?”
“Use potions of life to bring them back, but don’t use resurrection skills.”
Ryu Min chose to preserve the single-use resurrection card—a resource too precious to squander on just anyone.
“Understood.”
With her acknowledgment, Ryu Min launched himself into action.
Thwack—!
Those still dazed from the chaos, I struck unconscious once more, while those I deemed worth saving, I awakened through dominion magic.
“Are you coming to? Alex?”
“Y-yes, thank you so much. Black Scythe.”
As I continued rescuing the survivors, I realized I had expended all but a single dominion magic.

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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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