I’m Not a Regressor

“KruruRuK!!”

“Kirarak!”

The surrounding demon beasts let out intimidating growls.

Ohjin observed the situation with a stiff expression.

‘Fuck.’

Although it was something unbelievable…

Although it was something he didn’t want to believe…

He had a rough understanding of what was going on.

‘So this is the hidden card that bastard was hiding…’

The ability to control those hideous monsters was the reason he had such a confident expression.

‘And that ability was obtained through the Black Star Organization.’

Ohjin observed the black marble grasped in Choi Jungchul’s hands.

A star relic that radiated an unpleasant energy—like the one he had felt at the gate in Mok-dong.

Inside his hands was a star relic imbued with the power of the ‘Black Star’.

‘He’s controlling the demon beasts using that.’

It was the only logical conclusion, as the stigma of Aquarius had no such ability that controlled demon beasts.

‘Goddamnit.’

It was quite the coincidence. The one he preyed on in order to obtain the stigma of Aquarius turned out to be a member of the Black Star Organization. It was to the point where he started to suspect that someone was intentionally manipulating the situation.

“Fufu. Why is your expression so dark? Didn’t you know all along?”

Choi Jungchul’s mockery was heard.

Strength unconsciously entered the hand that was grasping the spear.

‘The flow of the situation isn’t all that bad.’

In any case, Vega’s trust in him had increased from this incident, and the need to create fake evidence in the future vanished.

However, the problem was—

“Kuaaaaaaaa!!”

“Karuruk!!”

“…”

—that there were too many demon beasts surrounding him.

He would be able to face them alone if they numbered around ten, but they far exceeded that amount.

“Fuu.”

He breathed out.

It was the worst situation, but…

From the beginning, he had insurance backed up for situations such as these.

“Vega, I’ll leave it to you.”

[Alright.]

He knew that the blessing’s usage would increase the burden on Vega, but it couldn’t be helped.

[Go, my child.]

Vega raised her hand while sitting on his head.

Owooong!—

The radiant silver rays of light that poured out flowed into Ohjin’s body.

[Use that strength to rewrite destiny’s page once again!]

With Vega’s shout—

Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!—

—blue lightning swept across the area.

The devastating strength started to boil up, starting from the deepest parts of his body.

“Haa.”

Exhilarated breaths seeped through his lips.

He felt the sense of omnipotence he hadn’t felt in a while.

The demon beasts that once felt threatening suddenly felt like sick puppies.

‘It’s different.’

It felt completely different from when he was blessed back inside the gate in Mok-dong.

‘My level has changed since then.’

Ohjin had made great strides in his growth through the past three months of training, even to the extent that the incredibly prideful Riak had acknowledged him.

As strong as he had become, the blessing’s effects had also become one step more impactful.

“Well then.”

Smirk—

The tips of his mouth twisted up.

“I’ll return soon.”

Taking deep and long breaths…

Unfolding his crouched legs…

—He sprinted.

Bzzzzzzzzzzttt!!!—

“Kuaaaaaaa!!”

“Kruk!! Kraaak!”

As she slashed out a single spear strike, a storm of blue lightning spread forward like a maelstrom.

Far past the point of simply burning their flesh, he had turned two demon beasts into ashes—resulting in their immediate death.

“KAraaaaaak!!”

Monsters with mantis-like arms spread out their wings and flew towards him.

“So what?”

Ohjin reached out his hand.

Rumble!—

Lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck down the demon beasts.

“Krieeeek!!”

The demon beasts that flew through the sky soon dropped down after getting struck by lightning as if they were lightning rods.

“Ha.”

Ohjin laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

Creating lightning from nothing but air…

It was a skill that he could never dare to mimic in his normal state, but— 

“This is driving me crazy.”

—it was as easy as breathing at that moment.

“I’m going to get high on this.”

Bang!!—

Ohjin kicked off as he ferociously bared his teeth.

Gripping his spear, he turned around to where the demon beasts were gathered up.

He pulled his right arm as far back as possible.

Twisting his body and centering himself over his hips—

“Fire in the hole!”

—he threw the spear.

Swoosh!—

Like a comet that flashed across the night sky, the silver spear hit the earth.

And then—

Bzzzzzzzzzzzt!!—

“KiaaaaAaaa!!”

“KrrrRrrrruka!”

—The blue lightning condensed inside the silver spear was unleashed at once.

Swirling sharp bolts of lightning spread out.

The bodies of beasts that were hit became oxidized.

A pungent smell entered his nose.

“Ugh, it’s even more disgusting because they smell nutty.”

Taking quick steps, he rolled his body the moment he landed.

Bam!—

A demon beast’s claw struck down on the spot he had just landed on.

“Kiiiiiiiiek!”

Drrrrrrr! Bang!—

A monster jiggled out from the ground and jumped at him.

“Hmpf!”

Another monster with a mouth that split up into eight sections shot up from the cracked ground.

“Krruruuu!”

The demon beasts that escaped the lightning storm’s influence ran at Ohjin as they let out fierce growls.

Flutter!—

The mantis demon beasts that were rolling on the ground shot up into the skies once again.

“Tch.”

Front, back, left, right.

Even up and down.

Ohjin was entirely surrounded by demon beasts.

Despite it being the worst situation—

“Stop struggling.”

—Ohjin smiled as he spread out his arms.

Bang!—

Six wires tangled up like a net.

“Well, this is only going to make it easier for me.”

Bzzzzzzzzt!—

Blue lightning ran across the wires.

The demon beasts that were pouncing on him from all directions turned into ashes once they met the sparking lightning.

* * *

* * *

“Haa, haa.”

Even though he was in a blessed state, it seemed like using such an enormous amount of mana in a short span of time was strenuous.

His breath turned a bit rough.

Catching his breath, he turned his head in Choi Jungchul’s direction.

“W-What is this…”

Choi Jungchul was shivering with his mouth opened wide.

He even rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“I-It makes no sense!!! H-How can a 3-Star Awakener…!”

‘Though I'm ranked 4-Star now. Well, it doesn’t make sense for 4-Star Awakeners either.’

The fact that his strength was incomparable to other 4-Star Awakeners was true, but displaying his current amount of overwhelming prowess was all thanks to Vega’s blessing.

“Damn it! Damn it! Goddamnit!!!”

Like an old woman who had failed to get a marriage partner for the fortieth time, Choi Jungchul hysterically scratched his cheeks.

He scratched his cheeks so hard that skin started to tear out as blood dripped down, he then held out the black marble and wailed.

“Kill him! Kill that son of a bitch, you pieces of shit!!!”

“S-Sir Jungchul! Please calm down!”

It seemed that the bald man had run over after hearing the commission. He tried to hold back Choi Jungchul in a rush.

“I-If this continues, the plan will—!”

“Fucking plan? Don’t you see that fucker snickering? Huh? Are you blind?!?!”

Choi Jungchul ground his teeth as he reached his hand out at the bald man.

“Kugh! Kuk! W-Wait—!”

Crack, crunch!—

With the horrifying sound of bones crushing, the bald man’s head deformed.

As if he was stuck between two hydraulic presses, the bald man’s entire body was crushed.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!!!”

Choi Jungchul stared at Ohjin with his red bloodshot eyes.

“KILL THAT BASTAAAAAAAAARD!!!!”

His cry filled with madness echoed out in the city that had become ruins.

“…What’s wrong with him?”

Ohjin furrowed his brow as he looked back at the wailing Choi Jungchul.

However you looked at it, he didn’t seem to be in a normal state.

‘Is it because of that star relic?’

Choi Jungchul’s body was gradually becoming submerged in the cold energy that poured out of the black marble.

“Let’s deal with that first of—”

Before he was able to finish his words.

“KaRrrrrrrrruK!”

“KiaaAaaak!!”

Thump!—

More demon beasts appeared from inside the debris of collapsed buildings.

Their numbers had substantially increased compared to before.

“Goddammit.”

It was hard to approach Choi Jungchul when demon beasts were frenzied with only Ohjin in their sight.

[Uu… M-My child. W-Will… you be alright?] Vega asked with a pained expression while enduring the commandment’s restriction.

Vega rather looked more tired than Ohjin, who was directly facing off with the demon beasts.

“Sorry. I think it’ll take a bit longer.”

Collecting the wires once again, he stretched out his hand.

The silver spear he had thrown at the group of demon beasts floated up and returned to his hand.

“KarrRuk!”

Blue lightning shot past the demon beasts.

Two to three demon beasts would become black ash whenever he swung his spear once.

However.

‘There’re too many of them.’

The momentum of demon beasts was hardly decreasing.

‘Are the demon beasts all over the city gathering here?’

Ohjin bit his lips as he swung his spear at the demon beasts in the back that were headed his way.

“Haa, haa.”

His breath got coarser the longer the battle continued.

No matter how stronger he became after receiving the blessing, there was still the limit of stamina and mana.

‘Goddamnit.’

Ohjin, who had shot over thirty Blue Lightnings in succession, made distance as he stepped back.

“Kugh.”

A horrifying pain as if an axe swung down on his head came over him from overusing mana.

‘I can endure any amount of pain.’

The problem was that his mana that seemed boundless was slowly reaching its limit.

Ohjin thrusted out his spear with an anxious expression.

‘If only my mana surged up like back then.’

Unfortunately, he couldn’t intentionally induce that state.

“Haa! Haa! Haa!”

Gasping for breath…

He couldn’t even estimate just how many demon beasts he had killed.

Tens? Hundreds?

In any case, the number of corpses was stacking up at a rapid pace.

Munch—

“Argh!”

A demon beast that had slipped past the storm of lightning bit him on the shoulder.

“Fuck!”

“KurrRuuk!!”

“Kisaaaaah!”

In the small gap that was created with his injury, three demon beasts squeezed past the storm as they opened their mouths.

[M-My child!]

Vega’s startled shout was heard.

“Hah…!”

Ohjin grunted as he raised his spear.

Slip—

“…!”

Because of the gushing blood, the palm that was grasping the spear shaft suddenly slipped.

‘Shit…!’

When he urgently tried to back off—

Fwooooooosh!!!—

—crimson flames coiled around the three demon beasts.

“Kihaaaaaaak!!”

The demon beasts that were wrapped in flames screamed out as they writhed in agony.

‘Flames…?’

He turned his head.

“Ohjin, you…”

Ha-eun’s expression violently distorted as she stared at Ohjin’s shoulder that was dripping blood.

“Didn’t you promise that you wouldn’t get hurt?”