Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

Allen realized the lateness of his response, and looked into her eyes as she stared at him.

“I don’t like being robbed of my possessions. Even worse, a maid… Unacceptable.”

“Thank you… Really…”

Allen gazed blankly at her before turning his attention towards Francisca. 

“Miss Francisca, do you know where they went…?”

As he tried to ask her how far they had gone, the soldiers waiting around began shouting.

“We’re being ambushed!”

“Sir, it’s an ambush!”

“Get into position! Quickly! Let’s go!”

Allen quickly lifted his head.

“Aaaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaahhh!”

“Uuuurrrrrgh!”

Chimeras swarmed around them. The monsters charged with their legs suited for moving in the mountains, kicking their feet off the ground.

They appeared suddenly in the hundreds from every direction—from behind and from the front, the left and the right.

However, Allen wasn’t surprised by their sudden appearance.

‘This far into the forest should be sufficient.’

The reason why he had brought so many soldiers was to match the number of the hundreds of chimeras.

"Fall in line! Move the wounded out! Follow the drill!”

The soldiers who’d been trained in the manor responded quickly. And in an instant, their four-sided defense formation was complete.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Clang!

“Die, monster!”

Stab, gash.

Allen blocked and counterattacked. As the battle continued on, the number of monsters began to decline.

He watched the scene unfold, waiting. 

Until suddenly, Francisca cried out, “Sir! There are more coming!”

She turned to face the north.

Allen looked around the forest surrounding them.

Even in the middle of the day, the gloomy atmosphere and the well-grown black trees around them combined into one huge mass, creating a darkly shaded space.

“They’re coming!”

Fransisca’s complexion changed. She quickly equipped a black shield. 

Simultaneously, dark figures rose from the shadows, moving to strike her.

Clang!

“I can’t believe you reacted in time… Annoying, as expected.”

Her attacker was the chimera who had run away into the mountains after leaving the manor. 

The demon-looking, three-meter-tall monster covered in red muscles. 

Upon recognition, Linbelle instinctively cried out, “You…!”

Regnor chuckled.

His red eyes curved into crescents. He didn’t hide his joy. It was as if he were genuinely happy to see her.

“Oho… It’s Inellia’s little puppet! You’ve saved me the trouble of coming to visit you on my own.”

“Keep my mother’s name out of your mouth!” 

Allen grabbed her, who was about to spring to attack, and moved away from Regnor.

The soldiers were shaken by the giant chimera’s appearance, but began to calm down at Francisca’s unrelenting courage. 

“Linbelle, calm down.”

“…Alright.”

Linbelle clung to Allen’s arm as she stared down the monster in silence.

Regnor smiled brightly at the furious expression of the child who would’ve attacked him if not for Allen’s interference.

“Haha, don’t look at me like that… You’re making me blush.”

Allen glared at him. 

‘Where’s Inellia? She’s not here… Which means that she must be at the workshop.’

A giant circle began to spin around his heart, producing a piercing roar.

“Miss Francisca.”

“Yes, sir?”

Allen then pulled out a thread of mana.

“I’m sorry, but could you please handle him for me?”

He knew that their best chance was for the two of them to join forces and take down the chimera. And mathematically, he knew that a 2-to-1 ratio would provide a better advantage than a 1-to-1.

Helping the soldiers get rid of the chimeras and then heading to the workshop would definitely be the better choice.

‘But…’

The thought that he had to go to the workshop right away was plaguing his mind.

The future he had known kept changing. 

The formerly incompetent baron now took the appropriate actions. Allen had taken in Inellia as a maid to save her, but then she was kidnapped just as she had been before the regression.

He couldn’t let the future be swayed any more.

‘Maybe, if I wait any longer than this…’

What he lived through in his past life would be repeated.

Therefore, he had no other choice than to ask Francisca this favor, even though he knew it would be a burden for her.

However, he believed in her, who would someday be called the Bedrock Witch.

“If you do me this favor, I will certainly reward you.”

“Alright.”

“I pro—Huh?”

“I understand, so go on ahead.”

Allen looked surprised at her quick consent and turned around. 

He’d been concerned about how far she’d differed from his understanding of her future self for some time, but hadn’t had too much time to think into it. 

“Thank you.”

“B-But… But Sir Allen…” Linbelle intervened, briefly worried about how the woman who’d helped her would be fighting the monster.

“She’s strong. She’ll be able to handle it alone.”

“She’s strong… Because Miss Fransisca is strong…”

She brooded over those words as she clenched her fists so hard that they turned white.

“Okay, then. Let’s go, sir.”

Regnor, watching these conversations as if watching a play, began to move slowly.

“Are you all finished with your chit-chat now?”

Black smoke slowly began to rise up his body. His body, which could be considered a weapon all on its own, began to gradually expand.

“I love this scene. Friendship, loyalty, faith. It really does make me look like a villain. Hahaha. But…”

Regnor suddenly disappeared.

“Who ever said I’d let you go?”

Allen intuitively weaved mana into a tangible shield.

It broke after only a few seconds of sustaining attacks, but that was enough time for Allen to dodge. 

Boom!

The ground shook, sending clumps of dirt flying.

Soldiers quickly affixed themselves into their positions on the battlefield. 

The world was filled with monsters and other supernatural beings. They knew full well that even a hundred men could not beat one of them.

“Try to dodge…”

At the very moment that Regnor moved to attack Allen, a massive tentacle came crashing into him. 

Thud, thwack, crash!

Regnor slammed through multiple large blackwood trees one after another before falling onto the ground.

Moments after, the tentacle rushed into him once more at a crazy high speed.

“Go! Quickly!” shouted Francisca from behind, holding Regnor off.

“Well then, I’ll entrust this to you.”

Allen sprinted straight away with Linbelle.

A voice filled with fury and a series of loud explosions echoed behind him.

* * *

* * * 

Allen was lost in his memories.

Things hadn’t gone this way in his past life.

Through Julius’s capabilities stated within the ‘Quest Window’, he was able to anticipate the attack on the city and devised a strategy to prepare for the attack in advance.

Allen tried his best to prevent any opportunity for Julius to intervene in the situation, interrupting any plans he may have had.

Yet the only result was the devastation of the city.

Allen headed for the sorcerer's workshop in an attempt to make up for his mistake with a great victory. 

The trail to the workshop was faint. However, the great number of mobilized chimeras made the trail easier to track. As such, only a day had passed before they found the sorcerer's workshop. 

The security around the workshop was lax.

Nonetheless, it appeared to be the workshop of a sorcerer who was at a level that was recognized to have created hundreds of stupid and weak chimeras.

Because of that, he was able to break through its defenses and move through the workshop as easily as he could’ve if the soldiers had been with him.

After finding it, Allen, unable to withstand the horrors of the giant laboratory, ran away…

‘I heard later that Julius dealt with the chimera sorcerer after he appeared.'

That chimera sorcerer hadn’t been all that strong. 

That was all, and that was the end.

So then why…

“Lower your head, Linbelle.”

“Yes, sir!”

Linbelle quickly lowered her head, falling to lay face-down on the ground.

A giant ax passed over her head, creating a violent and forceful breeze.

A chimera, the owner of the ax, let out a bizarre roar before collecting its weapon.

Dozens of chimeras swarmed around them. 

With his back pushed against the wall, Allen sent a light shockwave towards the approaching chimeras.

Thud!

The nearby chimeras fell, creating an opening.

Using both hands, Allen entwined and unthreaded his mana into various figures. It wove into intricate shapes around the workshop.

‘There are so many. Is this really the same place?’

Until he’d first entered the cave, he’d used only his memories to guide him.

However, even more than the traps and the events of the city that he hadn’t been able to foresee, the strong chimeras feasting on the citizens forced him to abandon what he recalled from his past life.

Allen swung his hand, motioning a shockwave towards his opponents and exploding it at their heads.

More chimeras cried out from behind him, filling the void he’d just created.

Realizing the endless nature of this chain reaction, Allen felt like he needed to find a way to end it all at once.

His mana circle began to rapidly spin around.

Whirrrrrrrrr.

The mana began to gather together, releasing a foghorn-like roar as it once again formed itself into a thread.

Spirits, Sound, Shock, and Space.

Allen combined those four concepts in his mind, transmuting them into reality through the magical systems he understood.

‘The essence of mana is not to understand the world or its exploitation.’

The essence of the understandable world was contorted by the will of man.

Allen thought to himself of a means to reverse this situation. Of some kind of weapon they could use to take down their enemy.

His circle spun at a high speed to extract more mana.

‘It doesn’t need to be that strong.’

He only needed enough to neutralize his enemies.

The Space he had learned throughout his life as well as his understanding and imagination of the soul started to combine and materialize.

He materialized a combination of the spatial control and soul skills he’d been studying throughout his life.

The thread began to weave itself behind his back. Just as a life-long seamstress would have done themself.

With sophistication. With detail. 

The creation was none other than a magical phenomenon.

One by one, each technique was created at Allen’s will. His mana flashed gray and gathered into the form of a huge drum.

‘Yeah, this amount of mana was around the limit of a Rank 1 sorcerer, but…’

It was enough.

“Linbelle, cover your ears.”

The chimeras, a little bit stronger than the ones that had been headed towards the city, flocked to him with their giant axes.

He closed his eyes.

He could feel Linbelle crouching by his side, her voice shaking with fear.

Allen made sure to keep her away from danger while coordinating his next attack.

The gray drum floating behind his head wiggled around and began to vibrate on its own.

He stayed calm, like a true musician.

“Call of the Cradle.”

Thump!

The hollow rumble of the drum resounded.

Gray waves spread from it, winding around the chimeras like a snake. Allen continued motioning his hands, as if signaling that it wasn’t enough.

Thump! Thump!

“Skreeeeeeee!”

“Uwooooh!”

The spreading shockwaves began to cling to the chimeras like a curse. From afar, the waves appeared to meld together into a gray fog.

Thud! Crash!

Suddenly, the monsters began falling to the ground, landing in a running position.

Shortly after, as silence settled around him, Allen waved his hand again.

The gray drum then faded and disappeared, then he opened his eyes.

“Phew…”

“Is it all over?”

Allen chuckled as he crouched down to see her with her eyes shut and ears covered tight.

“Yeah.”

He patted her shoulder and watched as the darkness in her wide, round eyes lightened.

“Sir, this… It’s…”

As she hurriedly approached him, Allen lowered his head.

“Take a closer look. It's not dead yet."

“You’re so amazing. If I were that strong…”

She wouldn't have had to watch helplessly as her mother was dragged away.

Allen understood. He’d tried to change the future in order to avoid that situation.

“You can become that strong too.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. Magic is difficult, but you could pick up swordsmanship.”

In his memories, she was the strongest person he’d ever known.

Allen smiled at her as she stared at him with a look of surprise.

He was nothing compared to her as he remembered her.

‘I can’t believe she’s so surprised by this amount of magic.’

The magic he used may have seemed great to her, but it actually displayed only half of his potential.

‘Magic whose weaknesses are clear as well as inconsistent in influence.’

The magic he had used could’ve been easily blocked if one covered their ears from the sound.

He had intentionally kept her out of the magic’s path just in case. It wouldn’t have had any effect on her anyway, since she’d covered her ears.

The same goes for its effectiveness.

The efficacy of this kind of magic depended on the opponent’s mental fortitude. 

It was highly effective against the chimeras with low intelligence, but against a remarkable warrior, it would be entirely useless.

‘And…’

If the chimera sorcerer had watched this battle, Allen couldn’t even dream of using the same skill in the next battle.

He didn’t think that his next opponent would be stupid enough to be affected by the same thing twice.

Since the moment he stepped into the workshop… No, since the moment he’d first run into the chimeras, he must’ve figured it out himself. 

He surely had to know how things would have to be.

He picked up one of the swords left scattered around his surroundings and slashed the neck of a fallen chimera. 

Slash.

“It’s your job to cut their throats and stab their hearts. Can you try it out?”

“Oh, okay. I’ll do my best.”

Linbelle managed to raise a sword and embarked on her task of chopping off monster heads.

It was awkward the first few times, but she began carrying out her task more properly after a few tries.

‘She’s a natural talent.’

“It’s all done.”

Hearing her call, Allen came to his senses.

“Well…”

Not long after, they left the area.

And somewhere beyond, about a distance away.

Within the depths of the workshop, an ominous vibration began to reverberate.