A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 106

Thomas. L. Hardist.

His Moon Madness had been different from a young age.

While his other brothers could barely endure the pain, writhing in agony, his own pain was on a level that was impossible to bear from the start.

As a child, he used to scream his lungs out every full moon.

Although it wasn't exactly accurate to make a quantitative comparison of its intensity, if he had to say, Tom could confidently state that his Moon Madness was at least twice as painful as that of his brothers.

‘…….’

Of course.

Having a strong manifestation of Moon Madness wasn't entirely a bad thing.

The intensity of the Moon Madness was a direct indication of how strongly the blood of the ancestors flowed within him.

And that, in turn, meant he possessed outstanding natural talent as a warrior of the Silver Wolf Tribe.

Indeed, Tom showed an unparalleled growth rate even within the Lycan Clan.

When his brothers of the same age were just beginning to participate in battles, he was already a Decurion in charge of his own combat unit.

And by the time his brothers became Decurions, Tom had already risen to the rank of Centurion, leading them.

For a time, Tom was even proud of the fact that he experienced such a strong Moon Madness.

Of course, the extreme pain was agonizing all the same, but he figured one eventually gets used to pain, and if he considered it the price for great power, he could endure it as much as needed.

But as time passed, and after losing his family in a certain incident.

Tom came to realize that it had all been his own arrogance.

The true agony that Moon Madness bestowed was not physical pain, but the horrific memories of the past that consumed his mind.

It was the mental anguish brought on by those vivid recollections.

Every time the full moon rose, his father, who had died in his stead, would lose his life all over again.

The scene of the mother and younger brother he couldn't protect dying before his eyes was vividly replayed.

It was on a different dimension from any physical pain he had ever experienced.

As if all his previous suffering had been nothing, those memories tormented his mind, vivid and cruel.

Physical pain dulled with time, but painful memories had no expiration date.

Throb-

Today was another one of those days.

…The hell that visited every full moon, a horrific day no different from usual.

The moment he opened his eyes, his father's death was drawn before him, and the screams of his mother and brother pierced his ears vividly.

Realizing his Moon Madness had returned, Tom clutched his throbbing head and sought high ground nearby.

And he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Awoooo-

That was the cause of the Howling, which had come to be known as the ‘Mad Dog’s’ eccentricity.

It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed one-sided massacres.

In the first place, fighting while enduring the throbbing pain from the scars all over his body was not a pleasant affair, and there was no particular reward for him for committing such acts.

However, the reason he did this every time was simple.

…Because he couldn't endure it.

He deliberately did it because he felt he would go mad from the agony if he didn't move his body and find something to focus on right in front of him.

At the very least, when he moved his body and killed mutants indiscriminately, it felt like the screams of his family ringing in his ears were somewhat muffled.

Stab-

Just as he had finished off all the relentlessly swarming mutants and was about to end the last one’s life.

He felt an unknown presence behind him.

Splash- Splash-

A presence that approached, stepping through the blood without any intention of hiding its presence.

The man with black hair, white skin, and a red earring looked at him, the corners of his mouth lifting as he offered a greeting.

Grin-

“…Long time no see.”

‘Long time no see?’

Tom, who briefly searched his memory at the unexpected greeting, shook his head.

That face, that voice.

And above all, that scent was a first.

Normally, he might have thought it was his own mistake, but right now, he was under the influence of ‘Moon Madness’, a state where the acuity of his senses far surpassed the norm.

There was no way he was mistaken.

“…Get lost. If you don’’t want to die.”

Stab-

Therefore, Tom ignored his greeting and warned him as he finished off the mutant.

It had been a very long time since an upstart who had just entered had tried to talk to him, but his personality wasn't kind enough to explain the situation, and…

The throbbing in his head made it difficult to think for long.

‘…….’

But despite having warned him with all sincerity, the man did not leave.

He was looking at him calmly, as if he had some business with him.

“…I believe I told you to get lost.”

Even at the repeated warning, he was unmoving.

Seeing that arrogant attitude, Tom couldn't hold back.

No, in the first place, two warnings were more than enough patience on his part.

He had no idea what the man was thinking, provoking him while his Moon Madness was acting up, but from this point on, it was the human’s fault for not listening.

He couldn't even control his own temper when it was stirred under the influence of Moon Madness.

Splash-

The moment Tom took a step forward, filled with fury.

“Looks like it’s rising outside. The full moon.”

“……!”

Tom had no choice but to stop in his tracks.

The full moon.

Moreover, he said it while looking at him, at this very moment, at this timing.

There was no doubt.

This man knew about ‘Moon Madness’.

“You… How do you know that?”

Shrug-

“Well…”

“……”

“I know a thing or two. My partner I work with outside is also a Beastkin.”

What a joke.

Moon Madness wasn't something anyone could know just by being a Beastkin.

Especially since so much time had passed after the dissolution of the Beastkin Nation, the number of Beastkin who still knew about Moon Madness had to be extremely small.

Even the few individuals that came to Tom's mind had a slim chance of still being alive.

There was no way he could bluff his way through with a simple story about knowing a Beastkin.

‘…….’

At that strangely calm attitude, Tom realized.

This man hadn't just followed the sound of the Howling in the Darkest Dungeon. He had come looking for him with some other purpose from the very beginning.

“…Don’t be ridiculous. Moon Madness isn't something you can know just by being a Beastkin.”

“……”

“You… You didn’t just follow the sound here, did you.”

Growl-

“…If you don’t want to die, you’d better explain it to my satisfaction. Why you know about it, and how much you know.”

With the warning, Tom tensed his body.

In truth, at a glance, the man wasn't a target he needed to be particularly wary of.

The amount of mana in his mana circuit seemed to be around that of a 1-Star Hero at best, and his body’s muscle density was also unimpressive.

However.

Tom did not let his guard down.

One thing Tom had learned through countless battles was that the habit of judging an opponent solely by their power was not a good one.

Rather, feeling a sense of suspicion from the very fact that the man was standing before him despite not being powerful, Tom raised his guard even further.

“…Moon Madness”

The man, who had shrugged once at his question, now came out and said the word openly as he slowly approached.

“It’s a unique symptom commonly experienced by the numerous Canine Tribe members who make up the largest portion of the Beastkin……”

Splash-

There were no flaws in the man’s explanation, which flowed like water as he took one step at a time.

As if reading from a dictionary right in front of him, he recited the details of Moon Madness and its mechanisms.

He even spoke of the existence of the ‘Lycan Clan’, which only a minority within the Beastkin knew about.

He recited the information much more precisely and in greater detail than Tom had expected.

‘…What in the world.’

He couldn't guess his identity at all.

If he had been an overwhelmingly powerful being, he might have been able to accept it somehow.

But for someone who reeked of a novice to be spouting such top-secret information, he had no idea where to even begin to connect the threads of his thoughts.

“…Would that be a sufficient answer?”

Splash-

Looking at the man who had come right up to his nose and was looking up at him, Tom pondered.

‘…Should I kill him?’

The man’s purpose, his intentions, and his identity.

He couldn't guess any of it.

It seemed like he was trying to induce carelessness, with the hidden intention of ending his life at any moment.

Seeing his detached attitude, it also seemed like he genuinely felt the current situation was no big deal.

‘…….’

Whether it was the former or the latter, if he were to kill him, now was the perfect time.

He hadn't shown any signs of movement yet, and this close proximity was the range he was most confident in.

Throb-

The headache that was already squeezing his head intensified, and Tom’s mind became a tangled mess.

Shhk-

And, as if he knew, the man thrust a hand into his pocket and spoke.

“…Well, I’m sure you have a lot of questions right now.”

“……”

“But for now, let’s light this pressing matter first and then we can talk.”

‘Fire?’

It was another out-of-the-blue statement.

To suddenly talk about lighting a pressing fire, without any rhyme or reason.

For a moment, Tom wondered if he meant he would use a fire-attribute skill to burn him, but he didn't feel any movement of mana.

‘…It's not a skill or magic.’

But he didn't relax his guard just because he couldn't feel any mana.

In the first place, the man's personal physical strength was not the target of his vigilance.

What he was wary of was the ‘unknown something’ the man possessed, whatever it might be.

He didn't know exactly what it was, but Tom was sure of one thing: it was something incredible enough for him to act so boldly.

And Tom’s gaze, which had been quickly scanning the man's body, fixed on the pocket he had thrust his hand into.

‘…Is it in there?’

Considering he had put his hand in his pocket at this dangerous timing, there was a high probability that this ‘unknown something’ was inside that pocket.

No, considering the limited possibilities of the location, there were no other options.

For someone with only the power of a 1-Star Hero to be this composed in front of him, there had to be a weapon in that pocket powerful enough to kill or subdue him for certain.

Pfft-

A rough picture formed in Tom’s mind.

It could be a high-grade artifact that could manifest fire-attribute magic, or, with a slim probability, it could even be a Divine Instrument.

No matter how much of a novice he was, he was someone who possessed the mana capacity of a 1-Star Hero.

Such a person would be able to at least roughly gauge how strong Tom himself was.

To not flinch from that gap in strength and act so boldly, it had to be something of that caliber.

However.

Tom was confident.

‘…You’ve underestimated me.’

Whatever the method of using what was in that pocket, he was confident he could move faster than it.

While he was a complete amateur in the use of mana, in terms of physical ability, he possessed overwhelming specs that were second to none.

Although he had ultimately let him get away, there was a time when he had nearly fought and captured a baron-rank demon all by himself.

No matter how great the Divine Instrument the man possessed was, a weapon was just a tool.

The user was what mattered.

This was something even the usual Tom would be confident in, let alone the Tom whose physical senses were heightened by Moon Madness.

For him, stopping a 1-Star Hero from activating a weapon was easier than twisting a child’s wrist.

“…You're quite formidable.”

At the man’s subsequent mumble, Tom was certain.

…A Divine Instrument.

He was sure that the thing in that pocket was a Divine Instrument.

He didn't know its exact appearance, but.

What a terrifying-sounding name.

A Divine Instrument —no, judging just by the feel of the name, it might even be a Demonic Instrument, said to contain the power of a legendary demon god.

Gulp-

And so, in the silence that flowed as the man fumbled in his pocket, Tom swallowed once.

Swoosh-

The moment the man pulled his hand out of his pocket.

FWOOOOSH-!

Tom shot off from his spot at his maximum speed.

KABOOM-!

As if his instantaneous speed had reached the speed of sound, the mountain of corpses he had been standing on exploded with a deafening roar.

Tom’s form seemed to vanish from its spot.

Of course, he hadn't really disappeared.

He was just charging at U-jin at a speed the eye couldn't follow.

Screeeech-

However.

Tom, who had been charging at such an incredible speed, abruptly stopped his outstretched hand right in front of U-jin’s nose.

Halt-

‘This is…….’

The reason was simple.

From the unknown Divine Instrument that U-jin had pulled out of his pocket.

A very, very familiar scent was wafting from it.

“…A cigar?”