The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 189

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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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Episode 189
189
Count Zapin watched as the current Magic Tower and the Ancient Empire’s Magic Tower clashed against each other.
Had the previous era possessed greater strength?
The current Empire’s Magic Tower was being pushed back considerably.
Nowhere on this vast Battlefield showed any advantage.
Though we were outnumbered, the quality of our soldiers was never inferior.
In fact, it was overwhelming.
The war progressed easily enough, yet Count Zapin’s expression remained dark.
And for good reason—they too were innocent citizens of the Empire.
I was fighting those who wished to protect the Current Emperor.
Those whose loyalty could be called noble.
Of course, among Marquis Kawen’s soldiers, many were not like this.
Yet they were undoubtedly subjects of the Empire nonetheless.
Empire citizens drawing swords and spears against one another, spilling blood.
How could one not grieve at such a sight?
Because of this, I asked.
“Will you truly not stop?”
….
The knight standing before Count Zapin said nothing.
Rather, his eyes simply trembled fiercely.
Count Zapin regarded him.
A knight who was both the Emperor’s sword and the Emperor’s shield.
The Imperial Knight Commander.
I knew well, for the Imperial Knight Commander had always struggled tirelessly to protect the Imperial Capital.
What manner of person the Emperor was and whether he was worth protecting.
That was why his eyes trembled so.
The Imperial Knight Commander and Demoros were different.
Unlike Demoros, who upheld chivalry even as Count Whinter rotted away, the Imperial Knight Commander served and protected the Emperor, yet also served and protected the Empire itself.
Was that not why he guarded the Imperial Capital without rest?
I already knew well.
That the Emperor was devouring the Empire.
And that Marquis Kawen was the orchestrator.
It was impossible not to know.
I witnessed his rotting nature every single day.
I had seen many deeds that would shatter chivalry itself.
That was why he wavered.
Above all, I would never become such an Emperor.
Were the people of my Territory not said to live more happily than any other Territory?
Surely I would become the Previous Emperor.
But….
The Imperial Knight Commander squeezed his eyes shut.
The wavering pupils were hidden behind closed eyelids.
As if they had never wavered in the first place.
“…I cannot do that.”
“I respect you.”
“…I can only be grateful. And I apologize.”
He already knew it well.
Victory had already fallen to Count Zapin’s side.
Marquis Kawen was nowhere to be found on the battlefield, doing who knows what.
The Magic Tower was being overwhelmed by the spirits on the other side.
The common soldiers and knight trainees were beginning to fall helplessly to the travelers.
And groups of travelers appearing from thin air, emerging from nowhere.
Occasionally some joined the Empire’s side, but compared to the other faction, they were hopelessly outmatched.
How had it come to this?
From when Marquis Kawen began manipulating the Emperor?
Or long before Marquis Kawen revealed his ambitions?
When the Previous Emperor fell suddenly ill?
There was no way to know.
I simply raised my sword and pointed it at Count Zapin standing before me.
Seeing the Imperial Knight Commander’s conflicted expression, Count Zapin also drew his blade.
The sharp metallic ring of steel sang out.
With the keen sound of the blade echoing, they focused entirely on each other.
As if time had stopped in this vast battlefield, silence fell, and they concentrated only on one another.
When the surroundings seemed to fade away and only each other came into view, both moved simultaneously without hesitation.
The Imperial Knight Commander sliding forward as if gliding on ice, while Count Zapin stepped forward with rigid, measured strides using footwork techniques.
Their very footwork seemed to reveal their opposing natures.
The Imperial Knight Commander’s swordplay was graceful and fluid, drawing curves through the air with elegant flourishes, while Count Zapin’s heavy greatsword pressed down on all sides with the weight of each rigid, deliberate step.
Boom! Crash!
All the space around them felt heavy.
Even the air itself seemed to grow dense, yet the Imperial Knight Commander paid it no mind and fluidly evaded the crushing force.
Softness overcomes hardness.
So it was said that the gentle could triumph over the strong.
As if to prove those very words, the Imperial Knight Commander pierced through the suffocating weight closing in from all sides and swung his blade toward Count Zapin.
The sword, drawn with graceful curves through empty space, possessed a mesmerizing beauty that captivated the eye itself.
But against such a blade came Count Zapin’s descending sword.
It was neither graceful nor beautiful like the Imperial Knight Commander’s blade.
If the Imperial Knight Commander’s sword drew curves through the air, Count Zapin’s was a straight line—a perfectly straight line.
A heavy, thick line extending from heaven and falling to earth.
The greatsword rained down from the sky.
Crash―――――――bang!
Clang―――――――ring!
The two blades collided head-on.
The Imperial Knight Commander hastily withdrew his sword and retreated, desperately trying to dissipate the impact, while Count Zapin neither budged nor resisted—instead, he channeled the shockwave directly into the earth below.
Crack!
A massive fissure tore through the ground where Count Zapin stood, absorbing the impact, while the Imperial Knight Commander scattered the heavy shockwave through his blade in every direction, sending waves of force rippling outward.
Even after dispersing the impact, dozens of soldiers caught in the aftermath were sent reeling—the force was absolutely devastating.
A true master of the greatsword, without question.
Most tellingly, a thin line of blood trickled from the corner of the Imperial Knight Commander’s mouth.
He had done everything he could to channel the force away, but it seemed he had exceeded his threshold—unable to fully dissipate the impact.
By contrast, Count Zapin stood without a scratch, completely unharmed.
In the first clash, both had moved simultaneously, but this time Count Zapin took the initiative.
The greatsword swung down with crushing weight.
Yet it was far from ordinary.
The moment the blade began its arc, the Imperial Knight Commander sensed it.
‘…It’s pulling everything toward it.’
That greatsword had long since transcended into a realm of mastery.
Because of that, it generated a gravitational force around itself—an ability that pulled its target inward.
Even the Imperial Knight Commander was being drawn toward it.
That was why he couldn’t fully dissipate the impact before.
But now that he understood, things would be different.
With that conviction, the Imperial Knight Commander moved his feet once more.
He slid backward at a speed even faster than before.
Yet Count Zapin walked his own path, undeterred.
The Imperial Knight Commander was faster.
Pivoting his body to slip past Count Zapin’s left side, he raised his blade to strike.
Count Zapin stamped his foot down hard.
Boom!
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shook violently as if thunder itself had erupted from the earth, and in that instant, the Imperial Knight Commander lost his footing.
He had naturally expected to raise his blade and block.
But he was utterly caught off guard.
He tried desperately to regain his balance on the trembling earth and move, but—
Because his center of gravity was shaken, Count Zapin’s blade came faster.
Screeeeeeeech!
The heavy greatsword swung with brutal honesty, unleashing a savage wind blade that tore through everything in its path.
A blade wrapped in an aura blade.
If he didn’t block it, he would die.
The Imperial Knight Commander felt it too and raised his blade, but it wasn’t enough.
He had to mitigate the impact somehow, or he wouldn’t survive.
So I abandoned my compromised stance and pushed off the ground, launching myself into the air.
At the same moment, Count Zapin’s blade descended upon the Imperial Knight Commander.
Thud——————Crash!
A shockwave that seemed impossible to have come from a sword reverberated outward, and the Imperial Knight Commander, unable to withstand it, was hurled backward through the air as if shot from a cannon.
He planted both feet back on the ground and managed to dissipate some of the impact.
But he couldn’t disperse it entirely.
His compromised center of gravity had taken too much of a toll.
Though he’d blocked with his blade, the arm wielding it was torn to shreds.
His other arm fared no better.
The gauntlet, shattered all the way to his shoulder, had served its purpose.
“Cough.”
The Aura Blade’s impact had shaken even his internal organs, and he coughed up blood without restraint.
The gap in power was simply too vast.
Yet the Imperial Knight Commander refused to yield, raising his blade once more.
Watching his right hand tremble, he grasped it with his left hand as well.
Sensing his resolve through the two-handed grip on his sword, Count Zapin nodded in acknowledgment.
“Let’s see this through to the end.”
“…Very well.”
Both of them poured their full strength into their auras and clashed once more.
* * *
“That side is an absolute feast of monsters.”
At Kan’s words, Ren gazed toward the direction he indicated with an uneasy expression.
A battlefield where Aura Blades clashed against Aura Blades, scattering aura in all directions—a true monster’s arena.
It was the Imperial Knight Commander and Count Zapin.
Watching them, Ren found herself swallowing hard without thinking.
What level could they possibly be to accomplish such feats?
And what could she and her companions even do among such NPCs?
Such doubts momentarily clouded her mind, yet despite them, they were performing remarkably well.
At first, they’d faced only the most basic soldiers.
Basic soldiers, perhaps, but soldiers of the Empire nonetheless.
They possessed the strength of levels in the 40s to 50s at minimum.
Yet for Ren, they were far from overwhelming.
Wielding the Holy Sword Arondight, she scattered radiance and cut down the surrounding soldiers.
Witnessing her display of true ranker prowess, Kan found himself laughing and shaking his head without thinking.
“You really are remarkable.”
“…”
In the past, Ren would have thought Kan’s words were sarcastic.
But now they sounded different somehow.
His voice carried a strange mixture of melancholy and joy intertwined.
Ren didn’t let it show, clenched her jaw, and swung her blade with even greater speed.
As users arrived one by one on this side, the enemy began deploying their own forces in equal measure.
Given that their numbers were summoned at roughly the same rate, it seemed the overall user forces were evenly matched.
But they didn’t have what we had.
“Krraaaagh! Everyone, scatter! We can’t block that!”
“T-Tanker! Get the tankers up! Aaaagh!”
“M-Madness! A-Arrows! They’re pouring down!”
As arrows rained from the sky like a deluge, soldiers desperately sought out tankers, but the tankers were already overwhelmed.
Deflecting the falling arrows while protecting their teammates—an impossible task.
But without unity, they were nothing but fodder for the arrows.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk!
Dozens upon dozens of arrows embedded themselves into the ground and bodies alike.
And Han Yu-na, the architect of this devastation, moved frantically across the battlefield, drawing her bowstring again and again to provide support wherever needed.
Barmon was doing much the same.
“M-Mages! Dispel! Cast dispel now!”
“W-We can’t! What do you want us to do?!”
“D-Defend! Block it! Damn it!”
“Aaaaaaagh!”
Boom! Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
Explosions detonated in sequence, incinerating the clustered users indiscriminately.
Above all, spells cascading from the sky sealed their escape and decimated them.
The remaining users were mopped up by Barmon’s Guild members who arrived afterward.
Barmon flew low through the sky, providing support across multiple fronts just as Yuna did.
Both of them were absolutely formidable.
Ren and Kan couldn’t help but swallow hard watching them.
While they themselves were exceptional, these two transcended all earthly limits.
They were almost too daunting to even look upon.
But the true monster was elsewhere.
A beautiful woman rode the Yellow Dragon, wielding sword and shield while unleashing celestial blades that swept across the entire battlefield.
She moved her blade with frantic precision, activating skill after skill.
The Yellow Dragon wasn’t merely carrying Lin through the air.
It opened its maw and unleashed torrents of colossal energy, incinerating everything in its path.
While not quite possessing Jin-woo’s raw destructive power or the terror he inspired, Lin too struck fear into the hearts of her enemies.
Even more so than Barmon or Yuna.
“…The world is vast indeed. Shall we join them?”
“…Yes.”
At Kan’s words, Ren nodded, and together they launched themselves onto the battlefield, drawing their blades.
One wielded a demonic sword infused with the power of the Demon King, the other a holy blade imbued with the power of the Hero.
The war raged on.

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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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