WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 271

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The regressor proves himself (11)

Choi Ji-won and the three players had been waiting outside the cave, soaking in the morning sun.

"...Did it actually work?"

"Whoa..."

They couldn't hold back their admiration at the sight of the dark mage shuffling toward them, leaning on his staff. Half of it was shock that I'd actually pulled it off. The other half was shock at the dark mage's grotesque new appearance.

"So then that... the Ice Dragon? We're going to hunt it now?"

"But the clear condition is killing the dark mage..."

"What do we do..."

"Shut up. I'll die soon enough."

"..."

The dark mage snapped, and the French woman's mouth clamped shut.

"I've wanted to enter the Tower my whole life. Never thought it'd happen like this."

He let out a breath that could've been a sigh or a hollow laugh, glanced at us for a moment, and started walking somewhere. It seemed to be a signal to follow.

"What are you all doing!"

The Captain followed right behind him. He snorted through his nose and started walking toward the dark mage. The players exchanged wary glances before falling in line behind him.

"We're going up."

The dark mage's cave sat around the middle of the mountain. Which meant heading up from here meant heading toward the summit.

"...There's nothing up there, is there?"

Obviously, I'd already gotten a look at the shape of the mountain on the way here. It was just... an ordinary mountain. No sign of anything monstrous enough to be called an Ice Dragon.

Or maybe. Sometimes dragons existed in human form. Maybe some tiny human was hidden up there somewhere. That would actually make sense.

"Oh, he stopped."

But the dark mage didn't walk long before he came to a halt. It wasn't far from his cave at all.

"Can you see it?"

The dark mage pointed at the summit.

"...See what?"

"Look closer."

"I don't see anything! You idiot!"

"..."

At the Captain's outburst, the dark mage narrowed his wrinkled eyes and looked up at the summit again.

"...Hard to make out, I admit."

The dark mage swung his staff, and a dark crimson flame shot toward the peak.

Kwaang!

With a small explosion, the ice covering the summit split and slid off to one side.

"..."

"..."

Everyone's breath caught at the same instant. As if by silent agreement, every gaze locked onto the same spot. No one blinked, no one made a sound, even as their eyes slowly went bloodshot.

It was... a dragon. There was no other way to describe it.

Scales of a bone-chilling blue. Teeth larger than anything that blue could belong to. Two massive horns. The slit pupils unique to reptiles.

I'd actually seen a dragon before, back in New York, before I regressed. So the thought didn't come to me, wow, a real dragon.

If anything, it was the opposite. That beautiful dragon felt... unbearably unreal. I couldn't believe something that massive could be alive and breathing. I couldn't believe it was trapped in ice right now, its eyes slowly moving.

"Guh."

Someone made a sound like the air had been knocked out of them. The dragon's eyes were fixed clearly on us. An incomprehensible pressure bore down on the air itself. A difference in rank. That was the only way to put it.

I focused on my soul to resist it. Forces that lay beyond normal perception were usually tied to the soul, one way or another.

"...What is that thing."

Only after focusing on my own soul did I understand. How noble, how immense a being that was. Fallen now, maybe, but it had clearly once stood at the very top.

Blink.

The Ice Dragon's eyes blinked. The moment they did, the snow covering its body sloughed off and poured outward like an avalanche in every direction.

"Hup!"

"Block it!"

The players were beyond the level where snow like that could sweep them off their feet. Stones and chunks of wood mixed in made it sting, but by pouring out mana and swinging their weapons, they managed to hold their ground.

"Oh, no!"

The Captain panicked. He was looking toward the direction of the village. That was the real problem. If this kept up, the village would end up buried in snow.

Thud.

At the same moment, the staff struck the ground, and a giant crimson hand burned away part of the snow. It happened to be aimed right at the village.

"..."

"..."

I wanted to call it hypocrisy, but this wasn't the time. We turned our attention back to the Ice Dragon. It had shaken off the last of the snow, its full form revealed to the world.

Chwaak!

The Ice Dragon spread its wings wide. Glittering flecks of snow drifted from the sky, achingly beautiful. The unfurled wings blotted out half the sun.

"That's... supposed to be sealed?"

Someone muttered it. No one else said it out loud, but they were all thinking the same thing. That's the sealed state?

Kuung.

The ground shook just from the dragon settling its body. It didn't take any further action. It simply folded its wings again, hunched at the summit, and stared back at us.

But that alone was enough.

"...Can we actually win this?"

Can we win... the question surfaced.

Only then did it hit me. This dark mage was on the weaker side even in his own world. He was one of those who'd had his strength capped for failing to enter the Tower.

Obviously, there had to be plenty of people stronger than him. And if beings that strong had chosen to seal this thing away instead of fighting it, there had to be a reason.

"That dragon used to be called the guardian dragon."

The dark mage spoke flatly.

"Wise. Strong. Quiet. The kind of dragon suited to a role like guardian, keeping still."

"Then why seal something like that..."

"It used to be a gold dragon originally. Not sure if you know this, but gold dragons normally wield holy magic, but—"

"But—?"

"Something went wrong. It swallowed something it shouldn't have, and turned that blue."

"..."

"That thing isn't in a normal state either. It's being crushed under its own power, dying slowly. Its people sealed it away because humans were going to die faster than it was."

Not that it matters anymore, the dark mage added.

Saaak.

Around then, the white particles pouring off the Ice Dragon's body reached us.

"Ugh..."

The particles carried a bitter chill, and the players had to raise their mana just to fight off the cold. The Captain seemed to be gritting through it on willpower alone.

This cold was similar in nature to my own ability, cold that bit down to the bone, but there was a difference between mine and the dragon's. My cold felt solid, dense, like it wanted to freeze everything in place and stop it there. The dragon's cold was sharp, like being stabbed over and over with a spear at random.

"Wait."

While I was gathering my thoughts, Choi Ji-won took a step forward.

"Hmm..."

She held her sword extended straight out, moving forward one step at a time. Right, she had a trait that let her gauge an opponent's strength.

"This isn't easy."

She spoke carefully.

"The aura gets stronger the closer I get. If I actually reached its side, I don't think I could fight properly at all."

"Like my chill?"

"Probably. Except this one feels more aggressive."

The power called cold was useful in situations like this. Just being nearby was enough to sharply limit an opponent's combat ability.

Of course, I had cold resistance, so I'd fare a bit better, but this wasn't an opponent I could beat alone.

I glanced over at the three players. Judging by their bloodless faces, they wouldn't be much help.

If the players were like this, the Captain, closer to an ordinary person, would be even worse off. So the actual usable force here was the dark mage, me, and maybe Choi Ji-won.

"What about... talking it out."

"If that were possible, we'd have already done it. You think we're idiots in our world? That thing already lost its intelligence."

"..."

The Italian man started to speak, then immediately fell silent. He had a point. If talking had been an option, they'd have tried it already. Their world was staring down its own destruction. Of course they'd have tried something that simple first.

"Because of the seal, it can't use its mana. It still 'carries' mana, though. There's nothing to be done about the mana leaking out naturally like that."

"Anything else?"

"Its heart is currently being gripped by the demon of the seal. The Ice Dragon can't leave that mountain."

"Then if we hit it from range..."

"Can you pierce those scales? Those are a dragon's scales, after all."

"Hm."

If there was anything working in our favor, it was that the thing had lost its intelligence. A beast without intelligence could be hunted. There was a good chance it would fall for a trap, even a clumsy one, if we set it right.

On the other hand, working against us... that was a dragon. Sealed or not, its baseline stats weren't something you could compare to anything else.

"Why not just release the seal! What's the point of holding back!"

The Captain snapped from beside me. The dark mage shook his head.

"If, by some chance, this isn't the Tower, it won't end with just us dying. There's a chance those people are climbers who got lucky and wandered into the ward while out of their minds."

So in the end, he had no intention of undoing the ward unless the Ice Dragon was dealt with.

It didn't look easy, plain and simple. If Ji-won, the dark mage, and I gave everything we had, could we win? Hard to say. I couldn't promise anything.

"Actually... there's one method with decent odds."

But it wasn't hopeless either.

One idea had come to mind.

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