A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 162

Puuuk-! “……!” The moment the broken sword hilt plunged into the space between its eyes, just as U-jin had foretold. A change occurred. Paaat-! First, a deep blue light shone out. It wasn't the common color seen when uncontrolled Mana lingers. This was true both in terms of its appearance and the qualitatively different aura it exuded. It was a vivid blue, clearer and more distinct than that. It was the light of the azure sea, like the color of one of Valencia's eyes. “……!” The change that occurred with the brilliant blue light was astonishing. First, the bundle of tentacles, which had been uncontrollably proliferating and growing in size, stopped moving. The bundle of tentacles, which had been growing exponentially in a short time, had already reached the size of a high-rise building and was still continuing to expand as if that wasn't enough, but. The moment U-jin plunged the sword into the space between its eyes, all its movements ceased in an instant. …That wasn't all. The tentacles, which U-jin had named the ‘Fragment of the Primordial Demonic Beast’, stopped proliferating and soon after began to shrink. As if an unraveled skein of yarn was being rewound, they instantly tangled together and reduced their size. It was truly a surprising event. After all, this was the bundle of tentacles that had continued to grow as if unfazed even when the great Tom Hardist had sliced it dozens of times. He hadn't been holding back either; he, who possessed combat abilities conservatively estimated at the baron level, had struggled against it. For a mere half-broken sword hilt to cause such a thing was something that couldn't be explained by its appearance alone. “…Hero!” Sure enough. Eliya called out to U-jin, her voice like an exclamation at the astonishing situation. Although she didn't say it outright, her voice contained a question demanding an explanation of the situation. That wasn't all. “……!” “……!” Jerry, who had been silently watching the situation, and Tom, who was shaking off the tentacles clinging to his hands, were also staring at U-jin as if they couldn't believe what was happening. However, despite being aware of the gazes demanding an explanation, U-jin couldn't give them a proper answer. It was true that U-jin had created the situation, but he didn't fully understand it himself. ‘…….’ Of course, unlike the others, U-jin at least had a guess. 『…Between the eyes.』 『Strike between the eyes. Child.』 Through the continuous Sword's Cry and the voice he heard when he was slammed into the wall, he knew that the current situation was caused by some kind of interaction between the Fragment of the Nameless Sword he was holding and the trait of being a Beastkin. But that was the extent of it. In reality, all he had done was follow the voice of unknown origin and stab the sword between the white tiger's eyes. Just as the sword hilt, obtained in the process of acquiring the Demonic Sword Chiyou, had not been part of his plan, the current situation was also outside of U-jin's plans. He had carried it around because he felt something was unusual about it, but U-jin had no idea it would be helpful in this way. Therefore, if anything, U-jin was the one who wanted to ask how this was possible. Kkumul kkumul- Soon, all the grotesquely spread tentacles subsided. The stab wound that U-jin had inflicted on the white tiger's body in the mental world also squirmed and healed. The white tiger that returned had a much more intense presence. Its eyes, which had been empty and dead-like, were now filled with a brilliant golden light. An appearance that perfectly suited the name White Tiger. It was such a powerful image that for a moment, one would forget it was a ‘Thought Form’. Then. 『…It has been a long time.』 As its filled eyes took on a vibrant life, a clear voice was heard. 『Valencia.』 * * * A clear voice came from the Thought Form. U-jin realized it was the same voice that had spoken to him earlier, telling him to strike between the eyes. ‘…I thought it was the sword.’ At first, he had thought it was a lingering thought within the sword speaking to him, as had been the case with the Demonic Sword Chiyou. Of course, it was already extremely rare for a lingering thought in a complete Holy Relic to speak, so it was nonsensical to think that an incomplete fragment could speak directly through its thought, but. Since it was the sword pointed out by the Demonic Sword ‘Chiyou’, he had known from the start that it was no ordinary sword, and because of the strong Sword's Cry he had heard earlier, he couldn't think of any other possibility. But that wasn't it after all. He didn't know the exact method, but it wasn't the sword; Allen Tigris III's Thought Form itself had spoken to him, telling him to strike its brow. The voice of the Thought Form, which had regained its form, was identical to the one U-jin had heard when he was slammed into the wall. 『…It has been a long time, Valencia.』 “…….” Although the image of her father greeted her, Valencia couldn't answer. …Of course, it wasn't because she didn't want to answer. It was simply that she couldn't open her mouth, unable to believe the current situation. She had succeeded in breaking U-jin's Mana Chain that she had been trying to sever, and her father's voice, which had been practically erased from her mind, was now speaking to her right before her eyes, but. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape with a look of utter disbelief. No sound came out, but her mouth, continuously opening and closing like a fish, proved her bewilderment. Had she been given more time, Valencia would have suppressed her overwhelming emotions and reacted somehow, but. “…….” She was not given any more time. After leaving a quiet word for Valencia, he almost immediately turned his head towards U-jin. And then. Jiiing-! Fixing his golden eyes on U-jin, he lightly pawed the ground once. And at the same time, a message appeared in the system window. [Warning! An unknown power is encroaching upon your mind and body.] [You are being forcibly drawn into the domain of .] Before he could even finish reading the sentences, the world tilted—kiwootung—and twisted diagonally. All the background and objects in his vision vanished in an instant. In the blink of an eye, within a grayish-white space, only the distinctive golden eyes of Allen Tigris III and U-jin himself remained. ‘This is…….’ An Inherent Barrier. …It was a rare space. U-jin could pride himself on his experience being second to none, having even gone through Regression, but. He had entered an Inherent Barrier less than ten times in total, including all his experiences before Regression. It was especially difficult for a being other than a Constellation to possess a unique domain in this world. ‘…….’ Frozen time. A space that can be altered at the caster's will, and so on. The characteristic aspects were, in fact, not much different from a mental world. However, an Inherent Barrier was on a different level from a mental world, which could be entered simply through a Succubus's ability. If a mental world was literally a ‘space of imagination’, this was a space that actually existed in the physical realm. Of course, unless one was a Constellation, it usually existed not in the visible physical realm but in a distorted, invisible plane that couldn't be entered by normal means. While the effects in a mental world were limited to the mental domain, all experiences here were applied to reality. To put it simply, in a mental world, one could only inflict the ‘experience’ of having an arm cut off, but here, if an arm was cut off, it was ‘actually’ cut off. Therefore, U-jin could not let his guard down. He had a hunch that something had changed due to the Nameless Sword's effect, but he still didn't know why Allen Tigris III had drawn him into this place. 『…So it was you. The one who held the Sword of the Son of Heaven.』 The golden eyes spoke to U-jin. ‘…Sword of the Son of Heaven?’ It was a name he had never heard before, despite his numerous experiences before Regression. But it was obvious what it was referring to. “…Are you talking about this?” As U-jin asked, lifting the broken sword hilt, the being exhaled softly and replied. 『…Heh.』 “…….” 『So you swung that sword without even knowing what it was, child?』 Shrug- “You told me to. Allen Tigris III.” 『…….』 “What was I supposed to do when there was no other way? I had to do as I was told. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing in that situation.” …It was absurd, but he wasn't wrong. From U-jin's perspective, that was certainly the case. The eyes blinked twice, as if at a loss for words. Soon, he revealed his form from the darkness, shook his massive head twice, and muttered. 『…Then what on earth made you trust my words and follow them? What would you have done if the situation had worsened?』 His appearance, just as seen outside, featured distinct golden eyes. However, there was one peculiar thing. The blue particles that formed his body were scattering. Very slowly, but little by little. They were flaking away like a rock eroding in the wind and rain. Watching this sight, U-jin skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “…Let's skip the introduction. It seems you're back to your senses, so why don't you explain things, Allen Tigris III.” 『…….』 “…It doesn't look like you have much time.” He wasn't certain, but from the figure's appearance revealed in the darkness, U-jin could roughly guess the current development. ‘…….’ He didn't have much time left. The particles flaking off his body could have been a meaningless effect, but if that were the case, there would have been no need to deploy an Inherent Barrier. They were falling away slowly now, but in terms of outside time, the process of annihilation was likely happening so fast it could be called ‘instantaneous’. He figured that was also why only he had been called. Bringing multiple people into the Inherent Barrier would require more power, and the more power consumed, the faster that process would become. After all, U-jin was the one who had directly performed the process akin to ‘purification (淨化)’ that occurred when he plunged the sword between its eyes. …Sure enough. 『…What an audacious fellow.』 After leaving this brief, incredulous comment for U-jin, he said. 『…Listen well, child. It will be of help to you once you hear it.』 He began to tell the truth.