The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 388

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

The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Side Story Episode 12
12. The God of Time
‘I knew you’d come here.’
When I eliminated the Host, another might appear in its place.
Ryu Min had made that assumption, dealt with the Host in Montana, and waited.
Fortunately, his prediction proved correct.
However.
‘This isn’t a Host… is it?’
Reading its thoughts, I discovered it was a superior species called a ‘Seed’, not a Host.
Though it resembled one, it differed from Hosts, which moved solely for human bioelectric energy.
‘Its thoughts aren’t simple—they’re complex. It even possesses enough self-awareness to name itself.’
The Seed before me now was named Voluark.
It had appeared under Deorant’s command as a seed of destruction meant to collapse the worldline.
‘Now I understand the relationship between Hosts and Seeds.’
Above the Hosts existed a higher form: the Seeds.
The Seeds’ purpose was straightforward.
Once the Hosts gathered enough human bioelectric energy to reach a certain threshold, the Seeds would emerge and harvest it.
In essence, Hosts were honeybees diligently collecting honey, while Seeds were wasps that devoured those bees.
What both shared was that they operated under Deorant’s command to collapse the worldline.
I could even discern the detailed method of collapse.
‘A Seed that absorbs Hosts grows progressively, accumulating the vast energy needed to collapse a worldline.’
Billions of humans would be required to gather that much energy.
In other words, worldline collapse would occur only after humanity had nearly gone extinct.
Ultimately, the linchpin of collapse wasn’t the Host—it was the Seed.
‘Without Seeds, worldline collapse cannot occur. Yet I can’t ignore the Hosts either.’
In a brief span, I gleaned meaningful information from Voluark’s thoughts.
That these creatures possessed self-awareness unlike Hosts, and possessed a degree of intelligence.
‘But they’re still within my grasp.’
That very intelligence could become the noose around its own neck.
Hadn’t it appeared to absorb a Host, only to fall into my trap?
The Seed Voluark glared and demanded an answer.
“Who are you?”
“You should already know about me, shouldn’t you?”
“Could it be… the one who’s been hunting Hosts…?”
“That’s right. I am Black Scythe.”

* * *
‘What? That bastard?’
Voluark regarded the man who claimed to be Black Scythe with suspicious eyes.
No matter how I looked at him, nothing seemed particularly special.
He appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary human.
However, the scythe draped across his shoulder seemed far from ordinary.
The fact that he carried a scythe also matched what I had heard.
‘Could that creature really have killed the Host…?’
It was impossible.
Yet the evidence before my eyes was far too clear.
My gaze fell upon the corpse of the dead Host.
“Where are you staring? Do you want to absorb that?”
“What?”
Voluark asked in surprise, then hastily composed my expression.
My true intentions were exposed, and I inadvertently revealed my emotions.
‘How did that bastard know? That I wanted to absorb the Host?’
No, how did I even come up with the idea of absorbing the Host in the first place?
‘I don’t understand what’s going on.’
One thing was certain.
‘I must kill that creature here and now.’
Whoosh—
Voluark sharpened one arm into a blade-like edge.
I would swiftly eliminate that arrogant human and absorb their bioenergy.
And I would also absorb the corpse of the Host lying dead here.
Yet the opponent showed not a trace of tension.
Rather.
“Want to fight? I’ve been wanting to test just how strong you are anyway.”
He provoked me instead.
Of course, I was not so foolish as to fall for such a crude provocation.
“How audacious. So you’re trying to shake my emotions and lure me into carelessness, but that won’t—”
The moment I spoke, the world turned black.
I wondered if night had suddenly fallen, but no.
I had been completely severed from the world.
Soon enough, I realized where I had been trapped.
“Y-you! How did you create a Spacetime Rift barrier…?”
“Never mind that.”
The opponent flicked his finger.
“Come at me. I’ll let you have the first move.”
“You damnable creature!”
Unable to contain my rage any longer, I lunged forward.
In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance and thrust my black blade forward.
Even then, the human remained motionless, standing like a wooden statue without any response.
‘It’s over!’
The moment I thought that.
Clang!
My blade struck against a wall of darkness.
“Your speed passes. Much better than the Host.”
‘It got blocked?’
My blade, transformed from black liquid, boasted destructive and cutting power capable of slicing through steel like tofu.
Yet despite this pride, it was blocked far too easily.
“Since you attacked first, it’s my turn now?”
Ryu Min swung his crimson scythe.
Whoosh!
“Ugh!”
The speed was beyond imagination.
After dodging several times, I reached a point where evasion was impossible.
Clang!
I had no choice but to block with my blade.
‘Grrgh! What kind of strength is this…!’
The impact transmitted through me was beyond comprehension.
Impossible to believe it came from human strength.
“You block once and act surprised? Try blocking more.”
Ryu Min’s scythe danced.
With each swing, Voluark scrambled to defend.
Clang clang clang clang clang—!
“Ugh, grrgh!”
Though I managed to parry the attacks, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
‘What… what’s happening? Even a player shouldn’t be able to produce this kind of speed and power…’
Deciding this wouldn’t do, Voluark jumped backward and created distance.
I needed a moment to catch my breath.
“What? Already tired?”
“Shut your mouth, human.”
Voluark crouched down, watching for an opening.
‘The moment he approaches, I’ll ambush him with black rain.’
Voluark drew an imaginary line between himself and his opponent.
Once that line was crossed, he would unleash the rain and kill him.
Soon, the opponent entered striking range.
‘Now!’
Spreading my body like a flying squirrel, I unleashed the liquid of death.
Splatter splatter splatter splatter splatter—!
Black rain scattered in all directions.
There was no space to evade, no time to react.
Or so I thought.
‘He vanished?’
“I’m up here.”
“Gasp!”
I jerked my head up at the voice from above.
Slash!
“Aaaagh!”
My arm was severed, and an unfamiliar agony coursed through me.
“Your speed is impressive, but your durability leaves much to be desired. You fail.”
“Gah, you… you bastard!”
Liquid sprayed from the severed edge as I retrieved my fallen arm.
As my arm reattached and restored itself, Black Scythe watching from the side smiled.
“Your regeneration passes. But you still feel pain—how ironic.”
“I told you to shut up!!!”
I lunged forward with bold defiance, but the outcome was entirely reversed.
“Cough!”
It was Voluark who collapsed, spewing black liquid uncontrollably.
“You can never defeat me. You cannot escape the Spacetime Rift unless I release you.”
“Ugh… how can a human possess such power…?”
“Do I still look like an ordinary human to you?”
“…”
Voluark fell silent.
There was no room for rebuttal.
“What now? Want to continue?”
“…”
“If you wish, come at me again. I can entertain you all day long.”
In truth, Voluark had no intention of attacking further.
No matter what I did, victory seemed impossible.
‘The gap between him and me is like heaven and earth. My chances of winning are zero.’
All that remained was to wait quietly for death.
But.
“…”
My opponent showed no intention of killing me.
If he did, he would have launched another attack before all this idle chatter.
‘What’s his reason?’
I didn’t fully understand, but the situation wasn’t unfavorable.
‘If I seize this opportunity… a possibility might emerge.’
Just a single drop.
If I could only detach a single drop of my biomass and attach it to him?
I could absorb his bio-energy and reverse the situation.
‘After all, he’s just human. If I get even one opportunity, killing him won’t be difficult.’
Isn’t that what a brain is for in moments like these?
Voluark spoke to Black Scythe.
He was planning to lower his guard and launch a surprise attack.
“Who exactly are you?”
“You should know about Black Scythe, right?”
“Black Scythe? Is that your name? How unusual.”
“Don’t play dumb. You must have heard from Arkizar that I’m a Player? And that I was looking for an opportunity through biomass.”
“What…?”
His plan was exposed before he could even begin.
The opponent had already noticed.
What scheme he was plotting.
But the most shocking thing was that name coming from his mouth.
“H-how do you know Arkizar?”
“How do you think I know?”
Ryu Min deliberately posed it like a riddle.
To make his opponent suspicious and use their imagination.
“I knew you would come looking for the Host. Voluark.”
“Y-you even know my name?”
“I wonder how I knew beforehand?”
“C-could it be…!”
Voluark’s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
‘There’s a traitor on the inside. Someone leaked information that I would come this way!’
Now that he thought about it, something was off.
When he came to collect the corpse, Black Scythe appeared as if he had been waiting.
How could Black Scythe have been waiting for him?
And where did he even hear the name Arkizar?
‘Information definitely leaked from our side!’
Someone among the Seeds had leaked information to Black Scythe.
That assumption proved correct.
Because Black Scythe revealed it brazenly.
But the information from his mouth was quite shocking.
“Arkizar gave me the information. He said to lure you out and eliminate you.”
“What…?”
He never expected that traitor to be Arkizar.
“Arkizar warned you, didn’t he? Not to touch the Host in the United States. He did that on purpose.”
“…What?”
“Arkizar predicted that if he warned you, you would become suspicious instead and come to absorb the corpse. And that prediction turned out to be exactly right.”
“I… was played by that bastard…?”
Voluark was shocked, but of course it was a lie.
Ryu Min had simply read his true thoughts and fabricated a plausible story using his informational advantage.
The creature had no idea of this fact.
“Arkizar intends to eliminate the Seeds. He plans to erase every single one except himself.”
“Why on earth…?”
“To monopolize the credit for collapsing the world line. To him, the Overseer, the other Seeds are nothing but competitors.”
“….”
So he was trying to eliminate the Seeds.
It was undeniably shocking.
Ryu Min laughed inwardly at Voluark’s foolish expression.
‘He’s believing the lie as if it were absolute truth.’
It couldn’t be helped.
After all, I’d mentioned both the Overseer and Deorant.
‘A convincing lie always requires a grain of truth mixed in.’
Ryu Min explained, but this didn’t fully resolve Voluark’s doubts.
“Why are you telling me the truth? No, more than that—who exactly are you?”
“Me?”
Ryu Min answered as if he’d been waiting for this question.
“I am the God of Time.”
“A… god…!?”
“I sensed the alien presence of the Host and descended here by borrowing a human body. By chance, I encountered Arkizar, and he submitted.”
“Submitted…?”
“It means he agreed to cooperate with me. In exchange for providing the Host’s location, I agreed to eliminate the Seeds. But now I intend to switch partners—from Arkizar to you.”
Ryu Min extended his hand toward Voluark as he spoke.
“Cooperate with me. Then I’ll give you the chance to take revenge on Arkizar.”

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