A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 143

“…Command.”

It was a meaning of a completely different nature from the meaning of Martial Arts that Tom Hardist had known until now.

A sword strike is for cutting.

A fist is for striking.

He had thought that no other meaning existed, nor was it necessary, but his thoughts changed after experiencing it right before his eyes.

It was certainly different.

And it was not meaningless.

To be precise, while it was meaningless to use in their current duel, the potential that sword held was limitless.

He had never seen it directly, so he couldn't know in what form the command drawn by that dark energy would be manifested.

But if the vision he had just seen was not a delusion, but connected to the sword's ability.

The ability that sword possessed was not an efficient means of delivering force.

Rather, it was closer to a form of command for leading a large army.

‘…Interesting.’

It was an ability that existed in a realm completely opposite to the martial arts he pursued.

It seemed she couldn't bring out its true power yet, but it looked like it would be quite entertaining to watch once it got on track.

A type of martial art he had never experienced always pleased him.

Moreover, Tom grew expectant of what the pinnacle of that martial art, which seemed to be its complete opposite, would contain.

“How was it?”

“…You have talent. For sure.”

Tom nodded and replied to Shim Cheong's question.

It was of a completely different nature, so it was difficult to make any predictions, but if she, who still looked to be of a young age, could conjure such a vision, it seemed she had talent.

“Hmph. That is something I was already aware of.”

“……”

“Well, still, if you have anything to point out, please do. I know well that having talent means I'm still very lacking.”

Although Shim Cheong showed a satisfied smile as if indulging in self-praise, she immediately requested Tom for criticism.

When they had crossed swords before, if there was one thing she had keenly realized, it was that her own level was still far from enough.

Although she had used the flick that knocked her out as a pretext, she hadn't come to Tom just for that.

She had come with the thought that he surely had something to teach her.

Therefore, she spoke with considerable anticipation.

…But.

“I can’t.”

“……?”

What came back from Tom immediately after was not advice, but a shake of his head from side to side.

The reason was simple.

Of course, it was true that Tom had trained in martial arts for a long time and was superior in talent and skill to any other being here.

But those were years spent pursuing a martial art in a completely different direction from Shim Cheong's.

“…I can teach you what I know, but there is nothing I can teach you about that.”

If she had asked him to fix her sword path and teach her efficient force delivery and training methods, he was confident he could, but giving advice in *that* direction was an unknowable realm for him.

Rather, if he rashly spouted just any words, he might inadvertently close off the potential her sword held.

Because to Tom's own senses, it seemed to be located at the literal opposite end.

Instead.

“I can teach you the principle of the technique you mentioned.”

“…Oh. Very well.”

Tom said this while forming his fingers into the shape for the flick that Shim Cheong had first mentioned.

With an expression that showed a hint of disappointment yet also anticipation, Shim Cheong knelt on both knees and sat before him, like a young student at a village school.

Tom, deliberately avoiding her sparkling gaze, looked to the side and began his explanation.

“The principle itself is nothing that special.”

“……”

“It's a method that uses the explosion that occurs when air collides at an overwhelmingly fast speed.”

Although Tom described it as nothing special.

In truth, a living creature causing a sonic boom was in itself an incredibly special occurrence.

In the Lower-Dimensional Plane, only aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could create such a shockwave, and supersonic literally meant a speed faster than the speed of sound.

Now, his body's toughness had reached its limit, and he experienced a sonic boom whenever he moved reasonably fast.

But it wasn't like he could create sonic booms as easily as breathing from the very beginning.

“I don't know what it's officially called, but in my experience, it felt similar to the ‘thunder’ that occurs when lightning strikes. If you shrink it down overwhelmingly, even on this small scale.”

Tzzt—

Tom paused for a moment, and after the brief sound of air splitting.

KWAAANG—!

The tremendous roar that Shim Cheong had heard just before fainting erupted from his fingers.

For a moment, the air around Tom's body shimmered, and a gust of wind, *hwaak—*, spread out.

“Hoh……”

From Shim Cheong's perspective, it was an astonishing scene even seeing it again.

She had already been thinking, just as he'd said, that Tom's technique was similar to the 'thunder' she had heard not long ago.

Because she found it fascinating that such a tremendous natural phenomenon, even a miniaturized version, could unfold from a person's hand.

“A momentary change in pressure occurs like this, and its shockwave shakes the inside of your head.”

“……”

“My actual finger didn't touch your forehead. The shockwave merely shook your head and made you faint.”

“Ah… so that’s why.”

At Tom's explanation, Shim Cheong's hand went to her forehead.

She had been thinking it was strange that despite taking a blow powerful enough to knock her out, it had ended with just a reddened forehead.

“It’s not something I use often, but a technique I occasionally use for subjugation, not killing. Of course, if applied, it could certainly be used for killing, but…”

“Teach me!!!”

Before Tom could even finish his sentence, Shim Cheong cut him off and shouted.

“I must learn that magnificent technique.”

The disappointment of not receiving advice on her swordsmanship had vanished without a trace. The sparkling eyes from before were once again in her gaze.

It seemed she was quite taken with the technique after seeing it again in person.

And.

“…Hmph!”

Shim Cheong's straightforwardness quite effectively lowered Tom's guard.

Because of his powerful body, fearsome appearance, and the numerous scars all over his body, almost every being feared him.

It was a first for him to have a child, who could still be called young, approach him so unreservedly.

Besides.

When she was praising a technique he had painstakingly created with such sparkling eyes, who could possibly refuse?

Without even realizing that his guard was being lowered, Tom raised the corners of his lips a little more and thought.

‘…A training method should be helpful.’

It was difficult to give direct advice on her swordsmanship because they were walking completely different paths, but that wasn't Tom's only strength.

Rather, his training methods, which could be called the process, were his greatest strength, even more so than his completed martial arts.

Since he had nothing else to do, all he had ever done while confining himself in the Darkest Dungeon was to correct and train his martial arts.

And even if they were looking in different directions, he felt it would be fine to teach her about physical training.

With a somewhat satisfied expression, Tom explained to Shim Cheong.

“First, you need training. It’s a technique that’s only possible if you can reach the instantaneous speed to create a shockwave in the air.”

“Ooh.”

“And what you need for that is.”

And carefully raising both arms to form the shape of the letter ‘ㄴ’, he added in a low voice.

“…Progressive overload.”

* * *

At that same time.

“You look like a mess.”

“……”

Loxy was meeting with U-jin, who had suddenly come to see her.

“Looks like you haven't been sleeping well?”

“……”

On the surface, they were clearly words of concern, but for some reason, Loxy found them offensive.

…In fact, it was only natural.

The reason she was in this state, unable to sleep properly, was all because she had been forcibly dragged into U-jin's dream.

The horrifying things she had seen and experienced in there had crawled into her own dreams, and she had spent countless nights, so many she couldn't even count the days, with nightmares.

She had had them so often that she had reached the point of getting used to them.

But the dark circles under her eyes were proof of how arduous that process had been.

…Besides.

She was a Succubus who dealt with dreams in her own right.

She had been most confident when it came to dreams, and her home ground was the dream world.

Yet now, the thing she feared most had become dreams themselves.

To the point that if she were to choose one thing she wanted at this very moment, she would choose ‘a deep, dreamless sleep’ without a second thought.

So, seeing the very person who had driven her to this state shamelessly spouting words like ‘You look like a mess’ in front of her, she couldn't help but feel anger welling up.

In fact, she had been planning to unleash a torrent of anger if she got to speak with U-jin alone.

‘…….’

…But.

When actually in front of him, Loxy, despite having her head full of things she wanted to say, couldn't bring herself to open her mouth.

“…Um, there's something I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“By any chance…”

The reason was simple.

‘…This is definitely.’

It was because she felt an aura from U-jin that shouldn't be coming from someone who had just returned from the Darkest Dungeon.

Somewhere familiar, yet so very alien.

Something that should never be felt from U-jin.

That's right.

‘…A Demon.’

The unique, ominous, and fearful feeling of a Titled Demon.

A dangerous scent, a class apart from simply strong Named Monsters, one that could only be felt from Demons who had directly received a title from the Demon King, was coming from U-jin.

Naturally, Loxy had no idea how to take it.

‘…….’

Frowning deeply at the completely incomprehensible situation, Loxy hesitated several times before cautiously asking.

“Um, by any chance… have you defected?”

“……”

“To the Demon King’s side?”

And U-jin's answer to that was.

Thwack.

“…Would I?”

A flick to the forehead.

“Well… you’re not entirely without a sense for it, though.”

With a small smirk, U-jin activated his Mana Circuit and formed a Mana whip above his palm.

And upon seeing that whip, Loxy's eyes widened.

The reason was simple.

It was because the familiar aura of a Demonic Species was present on the whip he had formed.

“For now, I'm only telling you. A lot of things happened in the Darkest Dungeon.”

Shrug—

“It's a bit much to explain in detail, but one way or another… it seems I’ve become a Demon.”