I’m Not a Regressor

※ Caution ※

This chapter is gory.

‘What the fuck.’

Mana tingled his skin.

A bewildering thrill ran down Ohjin’s spine.

‘Why does that bastard have a phase 2? Wasn’t his position mid-rank Templar? Why do obstacles that feel like mini-bosses keep popping up out of nowhere?’

‘I don’t have much time.’

Even at that moment, the extreme pain that seemed to be tearing apart his body was intensifying.

He had already confirmed that he couldn’t endure the ‘Overload’ state for a long time in the last battle he had used it in.

‘I need to finish this as fast as possible.’

Ohjin bit his lips.

He pointed the tip of the spear that was engulfed in Lightning Flames at Arshad Khan.

“Hmpf!!”

Bang!—

The ground under his feet was pulverized.

Blue lightning flickered across the dark factory.

“It’s futile,” declared Arshad Khan with a cold voice as he slowly swung his scimitar.

His sword strike was slow and relaxed like before; however, the power harbored inside was on a completely different level.

Ttututututututu!!!—

The raging tornado of black feathers followed his sword strike. Hundreds and thousands of feathers shot down at Ohjin’s head like a violent rainstorm.

“Kugk!”

Stopping in his tracks, Ohjin quickly held his right arm forward.

Bang!—

Without even being able to confirm whether the wire was stuck to the rebar, he surged mana into his shooter with everything he had.

Ohjin’s body quickly moved to the side like a fish caught onto the hook of a fishing rod.

‘Hey, there’s way too many of these!’

Despite his fast reaction speed, he wasn’t able to completely escape the scope of the black feathers.

Black feathers shot down and created powerful explosions.

He reflexively threw up a lightning wall.

The power contained in the feathers was considerably weaker compared to before, but their numbers were to the extent of being excessive.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!!!—

“Ugh!”

Ohjin was sent flying back from the explosion.

The red of his muscles were exposed as his skin peeled back.

“Argggh!”

Ohjin chewed his lips and barely managed to take his stance.

Nevertheless, he had only been caught by the edges of the explosion and had managed to avoid most of the damage.

Having said that, the power difference was still overwhelming.

After receiving the Black Star’s Blessing, Arshad Khan was so strong that no method that could allow Ohjin to face him came to mind.

“You’re as good at running away as ever.”

A listless voice was heard from behind his back.

“……!”

Ohjin quickly turned his body and thrust his spear upwards.

From crotch to the head…

The spear wrapped in Lightning Flames split Arshad Khan’s body in half.

Piles of intestines and blood spurted out of the split body.

‘No, there’s no way it’ll end this easily.’

“You’re sharp.”

As he had expected, Arshad Khan’s body that was split in half turned into black feathers and disappeared.

Swoosh!—

A scimitar swung low, aimed at Ohjin’s right thigh.

He blocked it by slamming his spear into the ground.

Claaaang!!!—

The scimitar encompassed in black light struck the spear’s shaft with an impact so powerful that it felt more like a battering ram.

“Argh!!”

Wringing out mana with his all, Ohjin created his Lightning Flames.

The blue flames made of lightning engulfed his entire spear and flared up.

‘Shit… this mana consumption!’

The warnings earlier had said that his mana consumption would increase dramatically since his body had yet to meet the requirements. With a penalty being stacked on top of a skill that consumed a lot of mana by default, it caused his mana to be reduced at an extremely fast pace.

He was confident he would be second to none when it came down to the sheer amount of mana, but, even with that immense storage, it wasn’t easy to maintain his Lightning Flames.

“Ho. To think that you’d block that as well.”

Arshad Khan looked at Ohjin with surprise.

But a moment later, he smirked while looking at Ohjin’s legs that were shaking.

“Yet, I wonder… how much longer will you be able to last?”

Owooong!!—

Black lights scattered out with explosive power.

The blue flames that engulfed his spear started to fade as it was pushed back by the black lights.

“Kugh!”

Ohjin clenched his teeth and barely endured the attack.

Gathering what rapidly dwindling mana he could, he desperately pushed back the scimitar.

No—

He tried to.

“It’s pointless.”

Once more, the black lights became darker.

Arshad Khan put on a cold and derisive smile.

“No matter how much you struggle—”

Crack! Crackkk!—

Like a cracking glass, the silver spear engulfed in blue flames started to fracture.

“—You cannot escape… from the time of owls.”

Crash—

The spear shattered into fragments and pierced into Ohin’s body.

Into his collarbone and shoulders, his stomach and thighs…

The sharp fragments dug into his flesh.

“—Ah.”

“It’s over.”

With his cold declaration—

Slash!!!—

—the scimitar encompassed in black light severed Ohjin’s right arm.

Blood gushed out of his arm, cut clean off right under his elbow.

“…You avoided the attack in that situation?”

Arshad Khan’s eyes widened in surprise.

He had originally been aiming for his neck, but because Ohjin moved back using the short gap created from when his spear broke apart, he ended up cutting one of his arms instead.

“Well… all that accomplished was prolonging your death slightly.”

Whether it was his arm or neck, the fact that Ohjin had been incapacitated didn’t change.

A warrior without an arm couldn’t go on.

‘This is the end.”

Arshad Khan’s grip on his scimitar loosened.

His languid gaze headed towards Ohjin.

With the sharp fragments that were created from the silver spear being destroyed pierced into his body, Ohjin was pathetically clasping onto his right arm.

It wouldn’t be surprising if he died from shock, judging by the amount of blood that gushed out. 

At this rate, even if his neck wasn’t cut off, he would die on his own.

“—It’s over?”

“……!!”

“Who decided that?”

Bang!—

Ohji, who had been lying on the ground, shot back up.

* * *

* * *

He clenched the fist on his remaining arm and charged at Arshad.

“Ha.”

Arshad Khan looked at Ohjin like he thought it was ridiculous.

“You’re persistent.”

His expression spoke out that he was fed up with it.

‘Slow.’

Ohjin’s movements were extremely slow after losing close to fatal amounts of blood.

Arshad Khan turned his body to the left and lightly swung his scimitar at Ohjin’s left arm.

Slice—

The scimitar smoothly cut halfway into the left arm.

Blood poured out from the arm, split from fist to elbow.

It wasn’t cut off as the right arm had been, but it looked so horrifyingly painful that it being cut off would have probably been better.

“It would’ve been better if you sat still. Needlessly acting up—”

Cutting off Arshad Khan’s words—

“I said… don’t go and decide the ending… on your own!”

—Ohjin swung his right arm that had only his elbow remaining.

Pow!!—

“Argh!!”

Unable to imagine that he would get attacked by a forearm-less arm, Arshad Khan took the hit to the face and fell down.

After climbing on top of Arshad Khan’s body, Ohjin slammed his forehead down like a hammer.

“This! Is! Just! The! Beginning! Got it?!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!—

Once, twice, thrice.

Even while the skin on his forehead was getting torn off, he continued with all his might.

“But! Why! Do!! You!!! Keep saying it’s over?!!!”

“Aaaaaahk!!”

Arshad Khan swung his fist out of reflex and struck Ohjin in the face.

Crack! Cruck!—

His nasal bones shattered.

His cracked front teeth mixed with blood and pierced into his throat.

His broken collarbone dug up to his eyeballs.

Despite that…

He didn’t stop.

He didn’t back off.

Again and again.

He struck down his forehead with his all.

“Kugk! Y-You crazy bastard!!!”

“Kyhak!!!”

Arshad Khan quickly got back up and kicked Ohjin’s stomach.

Ohjin threw up blood and rolled on the ground.

“Ugh!”

With an extreme grimace, Arshad Khan stroked his nose.

Wet blood dampened his hands.

“Goddammit!”

Vulgar language flowed out on its own.

Receiving that kind of injury despite being in a ‘blessed’ state…

And by an opponent whose entire body was ripped by fragments of a broken spear with the other arm severed…

“Don’t go and decide the ending on my own…?”

Step by step, Arshad Khan approached the collapsed Ohjin.

He violently stepped on Ohjin’s knee.

Cruunch!!—

“Aaaaaaah!!”

The leg deformed under the weight of his foot.

“Here!! Isn’t this what you wanted?! What are you staying down so pathetically for?!”

Like putting out the ashes on a cigarette, he increased the strength in his step and rubbed the tip of his foot onto Ohjin’s broken ankle.

He could see that the broken bones were tearing through Ohjin’s skin and poking out.

“Stand up! Why won’t you stand up and fight?!”

“Arg! Aaaaaahh!!”

Arshad Khan thoroughly stepped on Ohjin’s body.

He made sure to give Ohjin the maximum amount of pain.

He trampled on his arms and legs.

“Haa, haa!”

Just like that, how many more minutes passed?

“……”

At that point in time, Ohjin was not even able to scream.

“…Twe!”

Arshad Khan spat out the blood that had built up in his mouth.

He ended up getting more excited than necessary because of Ohjin’s unexpected retaliation.

‘Crazy bastard.’

A chill ran down his spine as he recalled his appearance of when Ohjin slammed down his head while screaming out in madness.

He had faced many opponents, but not even in the Demon Realm could he see a monster that was so tenacious.

‘Still…’

Arshad Khan calmed down his ragged breath and looked down at the unconscious Ohjin.

It was hard to make out the original shape of his body.

‘Now it’s really over.’

“Fu, fufu.”

Laughter flowed out on its own.

“Hahahahahaha!! Finally, finally!!”

An exhilarating thrill.

Rather than the feeling of triumph, the feeling of ‘relief’ that he didn’t have to fight with that crazy bastard any longer preceded it.

After laughing for a long time…

“…How pathetic.”

Fuu—

A deep sigh flowed out instead of laughter.

Arshad Khan clicked his tongue and placed his hand around the seven flicks that were engraved next to his stigma.

A 7-Star Awakener had barely won against a 4-Star Awakener, even after receiving the blessing of his celestial.

If Cheon Doyoon found out about that fact, he would immediately deprive him of his Templar position.

However…

Despite knowing that—

‘Still… it’s over now.’

—He couldn’t suppress his lips that curved into a smile.

Drip, drip—

“Hm?”

A cold sensation was felt on the top of his head.

One drop, two drops.

Droplets of rain sank into the earth.

“Now that I think of it, they said that a hurricane was set to arrive today.”

He narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the sky filled with black clouds.

Shwaaaaaaaaa!!!—

Without it even being 30 seconds since the first drop, rain poured down with frightening momentum.

“Kugk!”

A short grunt flowed out of Arshad Khan’s mouth as rain landed on his injuries.

‘Did I overdo myself?’

He slightly raised his clothes and looked down at the stigma on his left chest. Grotesque veins were popping up around the stigma of the Owl Nebula.

“I should head back.”

When thinking of the price that would soon come for using the blessing, he needed to escape from that place as fast as possible.

‘…I’ll need to contact that person to inform them that the operation was successful.’

—The one who had told them that the Lightning Wolf and the Valhalla guild were in a cooperative relationship.

He recalled the ‘King’s Delegate’ that was leading the Black Star Organization in the stead of Cheon Doyoon, who didn’t show himself to the world often.

‘They said that they are currently in the Association.’

In that case, he needed to be careful when contacting them.

Arshad Khan put his scimitar into his belt and turned around.

Thud, thud—

He moved his feet as he stepped on the dry ground.

“Hmm?”

Something…

Felt off.

‘It’s… dry?’

He stretched his hand out onto the ground.

Dry dirt slipped down through the spaces in his fingers.

“…Huh?”

How could ‘dry dirt’ appear inside that fierce downpour?

As he looked around the surroundings, he could confirm that it wasn’t happening on that one spot, but the entire area.

Yeah.

As if…

The pouring rainwater was getting absorbed by something.

“Where… are you going?”

“…..!!!!!”

Arshad Khan turned his body around in great haste.

“W-What. H-How…?”

He looked at Ohjin, who was slowly getting back on his feet with his eyes wide open.

“To be honest, I didn’t calculate this happening.”

Stumble, stumble—

Ohjin got up.

He stepped on the ground with his broken legs.

Crunch, crunch!—

As if a recording was played in reverse, his legs that were twisted at freakish angles found their original place.

The broken leg bones that pierced out of his skin retracted themselves back into his flesh.

“Well, you received the Black Star’s Blessing or whatever, so shouldn’t I have this kind of blessing as well?”

Bubble, bubble—

New skin grew on the surface of his flesh.

Both of his cut arms returned to their original appearance like it never happened in the first place.

“Haa.”

Ohjin spread his arms out wide towards the rain that was pouring down.

Cold droplets hit his skin.

He gently closed his eyes and received the rain with his entire body.

[The surroundings are filled with the energy of water.]

[ The effects of 《Water Affinity Lv MAX》 increase dramatically!]

“Back then… you said it was the time of owls, right?”

Baring his pure white teeth, he laughed.

He slowly opened his closed eyes.

“Then…”

“From now on…”

“—It’s the time of the Lightning Wolf.”

Underneath the black sky that was covered by thick clouds…

A pair of azure eyes gleamed ferociously.