The Regressor and the Blind Saintess - Chapter 68

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

◈ The Regressor and the Blind Saintess ◈

Chapter 68: Strange Phenomenon - 2

──────

Vera left the tent.

He had decided to do so after weighing the odds of an immediate battle.

Garthea was one of the Demon King's legion commanders. Vera knew how vicious that commander was. More than knew, had he not seen it with his own eyes?

An opponent he could not be certain of defeating in a direct fight. Enemies in every direction. And the only weapon he had was a single, very short dagger.

There was nothing shameful about retreating when the situation clearly called for planning ahead.

Those left behind mattered more than his pride. Vera knew that now. That was why he ran.

Only after he had put considerable distance between himself and the tent and reached the road leading to Dovan's smithy did Vera stop running.

His heart plummeted at what he had just seen. His thoughts were in disarray.

Garthea, the Fortress Destroyer.

The Demon King's First Standard-Bearer.

Only now could Vera understand its identity.

‘The king of the Third Kingdom...’

Was Garthea.

A hollow laugh escaped Vera.

‘...It isn't impossible.’

If Todd was Garthea, several things made sense.

‘Garthea first appeared in the lands of the Kingdoms Alliance.’

The first event after the Demon King rose was the fall of the Western Kingdoms Alliance. It was Garthea who had brought it about.

In his previous life, Garthea's origins had never been revealed, but now that he connected that with what he had seen, the answer was obvious.

Garthea had been a king of the Alliance, and every minister of the Third Kingdom who knew its identity had died. That must have been why it had remained unknown.

Yet there was still something he could not understand.

‘...The Alliance was never unified in my previous life.’

Garthea was Todd.

Todd wanted to unify the Alliance.

To do that, Todd intended to eliminate Dovan and the kings of the other four kingdoms.

That much was clear. So why had Todd remained silent in Vera's previous life? Why was Todd moving so openly this time?

As he considered it, Vera found the reason in himself.

‘...Because I intervened.’

Could Todd have grown impatient because the Holy Kingdom had intervened?

The thought came to him.

Vera recalled Todd's condition inside the tent.

‘Todd was unstable.’

Todd had been unable even to maintain his own body properly. It had continually broken apart, regenerated, and writhed in agony.

Vera could not know for certain, but the spellcraft Todd was carrying out was likely meant to accept the Demon King's energy into Todd's body.

Spellcraft to become Garthea.

He continued building assumptions in his mind.

‘If the spellcraft is completed when the Demon King rises.’

If Todd had remained silent until then.

‘...If Todd loses his reason the moment the spellcraft is completed.’

If that was why Todd, having finally completed the spellcraft, destroyed the Alliance.

That explained Todd's silence.

And if he assumed that, there was also something about Dovan that made perfect sense.

‘To preserve the Alliance's division while remaining silent, Todd would have needed to kill Dovan.’

Without Dovan, the Alliance would remain divided until the spellcraft was completed. From Todd's perspective, Dovan had to die.

Vera accelerated his thoughts and assembled the clues.

He connected the scattered pieces through chains of cause and effect, trying to make them into a single event.

As he continued thinking, Vera suddenly felt the chain of events snap at one point.

His expression crumpled.

‘...I can't account for the Demon Sword.’

Todd becoming Garthea. Why Dovan had to die. Why Aisha had to take up the Demon Sword. He could infer all of it, except for one thing.

‘If Dovan dies at Todd's hands, completing the Demon Sword is impossible.’

It was also tied to why he had first suspected that something would happen to Aisha.

Dovan was the one who had to complete the Demon Sword. If Dovan died, would the Demon Sword not remain unfinished forever?

The chain of events he had put together could only be fully complete if Dovan forged the Demon Sword at its end.

Yet when he came to a conclusion based on his deductions, that one part still remained empty.

‘There's definitely something I missed.’

Something he had overlooked.

Something he had failed to consider.

An event that would create Dovan's hatred, the resentment to be engraved into the Demon Sword.

Vera retraced his thoughts. The events he had slowly woven together returned to their first fragments.

He put those pieces together and took them apart again several times, but nothing led to the Demon Sword's completion.

Clench.

Vera's fist tightened.

Impatience surged within him.

He needed to go back at once. He needed to prepare.

Todd was carrying out spellcraft below and could emerge at any moment, yet Vera could not think of that one missing piece. Fury rose within him.

His thoughts, clouded by impatience, began to seek another way.

‘...I'll confront Todd as I am.’

His gaze turned once more toward the tent.

If he could not know what would happen anyway, then he would render all of it meaningless and kill Todd.

He would make it so none of it ever happened in the first place.

As he continued that line of thought and weighed his chances, something that could only be called anxiety suddenly welled up within him.

He was not in perfect condition. His single dagger was the extent of his armament.

What if he fought Todd like this and failed to win?

What would happen to Dovan, Aisha, Rene, Norn, and Hella just beyond this?

Stagger.

Vera found himself taking a step back.

Rene would die.

Fear abruptly seized him at that thought.

Suddenly, the final image of her he had once seen rose to the surface of his mind.

His heart pounded harder. His breathing became rough.

‘It would be better to flee...’

What if he woke everyone in the smithy and planned for the future?

The moment that thought crossed his mind.

Thump.

Vera felt his heart seize.

“Hah...!”

Jolt.

His body shuddered. Staggering from the sudden pain, he finally collapsed to his knees.

Vera's hand went to his left chest.

He immediately knew the source of the pain. It was the covenant engraved upon his soul.

[I will live for the Saintess.]

The covenant was reacting to the thought he had just had.

Startled by the sudden pain, Vera soon bit down on his lip and cursed.

‘...I can't run.’

That would go against this covenant.

Running like this was not for Rene's sake.

Turning away from those who would fall in the place he left behind went against Rene's beliefs, against the premise of upholding the most natural principle.

Why had it remained silent until this very moment, only to react now?

Vera had no such question.

He knew.

It was reacting now because he had clearly recognized that thought as wrong. Because the events he had experienced since leaving the Holy Kingdom had carved that truth deep into his heart.

Grit.

Vera's teeth ground together. His eyes trembled with unease.

Having lived his entire life for himself, Vera had known no fear. Only now was he coming to understand the fear born from loss.

He was cornered.

Realizing that he could neither go forward nor retreat, Vera stared blankly at the ground.

The thoughts that had continued without pause suddenly stopped, leaving every direction before him unclear.

Tick.

The sound of a second hand moving rang out.

Vera raised his head.

Tick.

The sound came again.

Vera sprang to his feet and gripped the dagger in a reverse hold.

‘Have I been discovered?’

Had the Third Kingdom's army noticed his infiltration and come for him?

As that thought passed through his mind, the sound of the second hand came again.

Tick.

Listening to it, Vera suddenly realized that the sound was familiar.

Déjà vu.

A strange familiarity that could only be described that way.

Tick.

The sound came from the dark thicket.

Tick.

There was no presence. No sound of footsteps. Only the ticking of a second hand.

Tick.

Suddenly, Vera began walking forward.

It was not intentional. He moved on instinct, without realizing it.

Tick.

For some reason, he felt that he had to follow the sound, and his feet carried him into the darkness.

Tick.

Vera's feet stepped onto the dry earth of midwinter.

Tick.

The sound grew louder as he drew closer.

Vera slipped into the dark forest.

Tick.

Then the world overturned.

Whooosh!

Vera drew in a sharp breath. The thoughts that had drifted blankly until moments ago snapped back into place, and the breath came naturally.

At the bizarre phenomenon unfolding before him, every one of Vera's senses began sounding an alarm.

The world flowed.

The sun and moon alternated. The world flickered.

Bare trees budded in an instant. They put forth leaves, bloomed, and withered once more.

Greenery spread across the ground, then quickly faded.

It repeated three times.

Twelve seasons passed in an instant as Vera stood in their midst, holding his breath as he watched what appeared next.

Tap!

Footsteps full of urgency.

Vera turned toward their source and saw...

‘...Aisha.’

It was Aisha Dragnov.

Her body was more mature than it was now. Her short golden hair, which had rested at her shoulders, now fell to her waist. Aisha ran with a sword clutched to her chest, and she was in no state that could be called good even as a joke.

Her entire body was red, as if she had been submerged in blood.

Dust and dirt clung thickly to her.

Something, either blood or tears, streamed down her cheeks.

As Aisha ran in that state, her feet suddenly tangled beneath her, and she fell through Vera.

Thud.

“Ugh...!”

At the dull impact and muffled groan from Aisha, who had fallen through him, Vera flinched before continuing his thoughts.

‘...An illusion.’

What he was seeing was an illusion.

His gaze turned toward Aisha again.

“Ahhh...”

The older Aisha let out a sound that could have been either a sob or a scream. Her body trembled piteously as it repeatedly shook.

Vera approached Aisha and reached out his hand.

His outstretched hand did not touch her. It simply passed through her body.

Vera narrowed his eyes.

‘What is this?’

What kind of phenomenon was this?

As he considered that, Aisha ground her teeth hard enough to make a sound and muttered.

“...I'll kill them.”

Vera's fingertips trembled.

“I'll kill them...”

Aisha rose to her feet. Her exposed eyes were bloodshot and gleaming.

Whiiine!

An ominous cry.

Only then did Vera's gaze turn to the sword Aisha had been clutching to her chest.

‘The Demon Sword...!’

Vera's breath caught.

The Demon Sword was crying.

“Everyone...”

Aisha continued to mutter.

“...I'll kill them.”

A dark crimson light settled over the Demon Sword.

Aisha staggered away.

She disappeared into the dark forest.

As Vera blankly watched her retreating figure.

Crack.

Space split.

Craack.

The sky twisted. The earth warped. The forest spread before him began tearing apart in every direction.

Crash!

The world shattered around him.

Then the forest where Vera had originally stood came into view.

“Hah...!”

The feeling of his awareness collapsing made Vera's breath stop. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and shook off the sensation. When he opened them again, he saw...

Flinch.

A robed stranger.

Vera held his dagger out before him. He lowered his body and raised divine power.

He immediately assumed a fighting stance against the stranger who had appeared so suddenly.

Vera's gaze pierced the stranger.

A thoroughly worn robe that would be better called rags. The inside of a hood filled with such deep darkness that he could not see within. And...

‘...A clock?’

A large pocket watch hung from the stranger's neck.

Tick.

The second hand moved, producing the sound.

The ticking he had been hearing until moments ago.

As Vera stared in surprise, the stranger raised their right hand.