A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 74

Jegal Cheon.

He was a ‘2-Star (★★) Hero’ who had an exclusive contract with the Mount Hua Sect’s Guardian Constellation, the ‘Sword Saint’.

Having built a reputation through various battles in the War against Demons within the Murim Empire and earning the title ‘Hwasan Taedo)’.

He was one of those who lived with a sense of pride in his position.

Of course, compared to the direct disciples of other sects or the children of direct bloodlines under the patronage of a Sect Leader, it was hard to say his achievements were great for the time he had invested.

Still, considering his humble origins, he held the pride that he could at least be called a ‘veteran’.

Indeed, he could now skillfully handle most unexpected situations that arose in the War against Demons, and it had been a long time since he’d felt the emotion of ‘panic’ while carrying out a request.

Therefore, he thought.

The ‘Defend the Peninsula’ mission he had accepted as an emergency request would be no different.

‘A sudden appearance of a Magical Beast horde?’

Of course, it wasn't without its strange points.

In fact, if he were to scrutinize it, the very circumstances that led to the ‘Defend the Peninsula’ request were quite unfamiliar to him.

A sudden appearance of Magical Beasts.

At a glance, it might seem plausible, but from a common-sense perspective, it was impossible.

It was only natural.

Throughout the Order's territory, there were cathedrals, and their central role was precisely to ‘detect invasions by the Demon King's Army’.

If it were so easy for a horde of Magical Beasts to attack without being detected by the intricate invasion detection magic installed by The Order, they would have lost the War against Demons long ago.

The detection magic installed in the cathedrals was that meticulously and finely designed.

It was set to detect an invasion the moment a Titled Demon took even a single step into an area designated as The Order's territory.

No, strictly speaking, it wasn't limited to ‘Titled Demons’.

As long as it was a ‘Magical Beast from the Neutral Zone’ or ‘an alien entity with threatening levels of mana’, the detection magic circle would activate the moment it was sensed within The Order's territory.

Of course, if only a horde of grunt Magical Beasts attacked without any Titled Demon-class creatures, it wasn't entirely impossible for a battle on the scale of the War against Demons to occur without an alarm.

But the possibility was extremely slim.

In the first place, if it was a horde of Magical Beasts that a region couldn't defend against with their own strength, it wouldn't be a naturally occurring attack based on their instincts.

In that case, there was bound to be a leader-class Magical Beast, equivalent to a Titled Demon, leading them.

‘A happening caused by an error in the detection magic.’

That was how Jegal Cheon viewed this ‘Defend the Peninsula’ request.

He thought there would be nothing surprising this time either. It would probably be resolved on its own after he arrived on-site and crushed a few units of Magical Beasts.

A run-of-the-mill request.

A run-of-the-mill Magical Beast extermination.

A run-of-the-mill.

...honey pot request that he had experienced countless times.

However, those thoughts were instantly erased from his mind the moment he witnessed the scene for himself.

“……”

The reason was simple.

At the place he had arrived at without any preparation, thinking it was a honey pot request, he was greeted by a ‘bewilderment’ he hadn't felt in a long time.

A battlefield twisted in a way that couldn't be described with ordinary words.

Although the unique sense of release that comes after a battle lingered here and there, an unknown tension still filled the air.

And it wasn't hard to find the cause.

“…That's.”

A horde of countless ‘Deep Sea People’ breathing brazenly in the center of the battlefield.

And the three humans standing in their midst.

That was the source of this inexplicable atmosphere.

‘……!’

That wasn't all.

The scene that unfolded before his bewilderment could even subside…

…was something that even Jegal Cheon, who prided himself on having seen it all, found utterly incomprehensible.

—…Kill each other.

The young woman, who looked to be around twenty, standing among the Magical Beasts, muttered something as she scanned them with an indifferent gaze.

Simultaneously with her murmur, the remaining horde of Magical Beasts began to attack and devour one another.

Crunch—

Kkuueeek—!

Squelch—

It was a cruelty on a different level from the occasional infighting between creatures seen on the battlefield.

As if harboring hatred for their own kind, they were throwing everything they had into devouring each other.

“……”

How could he possibly describe the emotions he felt at that scene of utter pandemonium?

Displeasure? A sense of depravity?

It was… an unsettling feeling, as if he had peeked at something he shouldn't have seen.

It couldn't be summed up with a simple assessment like ‘bizarre’ or ‘strange’.

It was something utterly unacceptable by the common sense of the Upper Plane he had experienced and built up until now.

‘…First.’

Pushing aside the revulsion welling up from deep within his chest, Jegal Cheon approached them.

…After all, he hadn't come here just to spectate.

Thud- Thud- Thud- Thud-!

“Battalion, halt.”

“Halt!”

Thud-!

The thousand warriors of the Mount Hua Sect's unit, who had been marching behind him, stopped in unison at the command.

A strange atmosphere began to flow between U-jin's group and Jegal Cheon.

After staring at Sim Cheong for a moment, Jegal Cheon issued a low command without looking back.

“Present arms.”

“Present arms!”

At his command, the warrior unit flawlessly spread into formation and assumed a combat stance.

Taking two steps forward, Jegal Cheon questioned U-jin and Sim Cheong aggressively.

“State your affiliation and names.”

“……”

“…Otherwise, I will consider you enemies and cut you down.”

It was a rather aggressive and rude tone to take in a situation where nothing had been judged yet, but Jegal Cheon didn't think his tone was excessive at all.

The inexplicable revulsion he felt deep in his chest.

The bizarre scene he had just witnessed.

A single word that suddenly came to mind was justifying his thoughts, telling him that such treatment was only natural for them.

…An answer soon returned.

“Hero candidate, Seo U-jin.”

It was a rather curt answer to explain the situation, but it was a faithful response to what Jegal Cheon had asked.

“…Hero candidate?”

…However.

Hearing the answer and accepting it were two different matters.

U-jin had clearly stated his identity as a Hero candidate.

But Jegal Cheon thought his calm demeanor, completely unfazed despite numerous spearheads pointing at him, didn't match the identity U-jin had revealed at all.

“…You're telling a pointless lie.”

After a moment of deliberation, Jegal Cheon concluded that U-jin was lying. He drew the tachi slung across his back and took another step forward.

“It seems you didn't quite understand my question, so I'll ask again.”

“……”

“Could it be that your identities are…”

Shing—

“…of the Demonic Cult?”

* * *

“Could it be that your identities are… of the Demonic Cult?”

Hearing the man's voice and seeing his blazing eyes, Loxy intuitively knew that things had taken another bizarre turn.

“…The Demonic Cult, the Demonic Cult. That damn Demonic Cult.”

The battle had ended early thanks to Sim Cheong's bizarre ability to control Magical Beasts, which she had displayed since gripping the Demonic Sword. That part was a result Loxy couldn't have wished for more.

‘…I'm going to get a neurosis at this rate.’

Seeing how things were unfolding, it seemed they were misunderstood again.

From what U-jin had told her in the underground cave where Blindman Sim was, Loxy thought the ‘Demonic Cult’ seemed closer to heroes than villains.

But it seemed unlikely that the foolish man holding a sword bigger than his own body knew that.

“…Well, he's not wrong.”

…And it seemed U-jin had no intention of explaining it all to him either.

Haaa—.

Loxy let out a sigh that escaped her unconsciously.

‘…….’

Not a single day went by normally.

Starting with things going wrong from the very beginning in the Gateway Zone.

Then being attacked by an Oni and left behind while riding the Guardian Train.

On the cliffs of Kunlun where they were stranded, he suddenly grabbed her and dived off, and as if meeting the Ruined Baron ‘Shuten’ wasn't enough, they even met ‘Isaac Einstein’ in person.

This time, she thought it would end after fending off a large-scale Magical Beast horde, but now some foolish man had shown up, misunderstood the Demonic Cult, and was pointing a sword at them.

Loxy had wondered if, with this continuous series of outrageous events, she might eventually build up a tolerance to this absurd journey, but…

“…So it was true.”

“……”

…She just gave up.

This wasn't the kind of thing one could ever build a tolerance to.

Every single step U-jin took was on the line between life and death.

“…So remnants of the Demonic Cult were still around.”

At U-jin's response, which seemed to confirm they were from the Demonic Cult, the man gave a sardonic smile as if his prediction was correct. He channeled mana into his drawn tachi and asked U-jin.

“Then are you the Heavenly Demon?”

“…Not me.”

Ssk—

“She's the Heavenly Demon.”

U-jin shrugged at the question and pointed to Sim Cheong as he answered.

As the gazes naturally shifted to her, Sim Cheong opened her mouth as if to defend herself.

“…It is true that I have inherited the position of the Heavenly Demon.”

“……”

“…However, the Demonic Cult is not the nefarious place you think it is. The Magical Beasts are merely subjects controlled by my ability—.”

…Of course, she couldn't finish her sentence.

“Shut your mouth, you vicious wench.”

“……”

At that curt dismissal, the now-silent Sim Cheong realized the man misunderstood the Demonic Cult.

Perhaps.

It was the misunderstanding that all her predecessors had likely faced, a fate she too would have to endure—the destiny of a hero cast as a villain.

“Because of the Righteous-Demonic Great War you bastards started 100 years ago to swallow Murim, my Jegal Family was ruined. Did you know that?”

She didn't.

She didn't know exactly what happened 100 years ago, nor what the Jegal Family the man spoke of was.

However, there was one thing she knew for certain.

She knew that it was neither her fault nor her predecessors' fault.

But for some reason, Sim Cheong felt no desire to persuade him.

‘…Why bother.’

It was true that a sense of injustice washed over her at his scathing anger.

But she wondered if persuasion would even work, and she felt no need to justify herself to a man who seemed to have no room for dialogue.

She just.

…wished that the man before her would disappear.

“……”

Hatred, an emotion she was feeling for the first time in her life.

In that moment, overcome by the strange feeling that blossomed within her, Sim Cheong unconsciously began to raise the sword she was gripping.

Her subconscious was consumed by the emotion that stirred and rose within her.

Thak—

But before the sword could be raised all the way, U-jin pressed her hand down and took the sword from her grasp.

“…Orabeoni.”

“……”

In response to Sim Cheong's call, U-jin simply shrugged instead of answering.

And soon after.

“…Allow me to express my deepest gratitude in advance. It seems taking the head of you, the Heavenly Demon wench, will be a great help in me reaching 3-Stars.”

Jegal Cheon declared a ‘death threat’ disguised as gratitude towards Sim Cheong.

At that mutter, Loxy's eyes glinted with a strange light.

‘…2-Star?’

Unlike his foolish head, she realized that the man named ‘Jegal Cheon’ possessed a high level of skill.

To say he was reaching for 3-Stars meant he was already at the 2-Star level.

A 2-Star Hero was a core Hero-class asset in the War against Demons. While not strong enough to lead the course of a major battlefield, in a small-scale battle, they were influential enough to turn the tide at will.

It seemed unlikely he would lie in this situation.

If he truly was a Hero with a 2-Star rank, it was a fact that he was not an opponent even U-jin could take lightly.

Regardless, he was the owner of enough military might to turn the tide of battle.

And unlike their side, which had just arrived on the battlefield fresh and full of energy, her side had already poured all their strength into a fierce battle for hours.

Objectively speaking, their side was at a significant disadvantage.

The Hero ranking wasn't just an expression of the highs and lows of martial power; it was an indicator of the absolute difference in class.

Well, of course.

“My head, you say.”

…That wasn't to say she was worried about U-jin.

Hoo—.

“…That last comment seems to have been a bit dangerous.”