I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 243

243.

Sydney, Australia.

At the top of the ‘Golden Tower,’ the Golden Sky Guild’s headquarters, which stood tall in the heart of the city.

The top floor was strictly off-limits to anyone except the guild master, Jacob Woodward, and key executives.

Although it was just a seat near the elevator, it still held a certain weight.

There, a woman was lost in thought, biting her lip tightly.

Despite being in a large, private office, she wore high heels.

Sitting in her chair, she tapped one foot and pouted with a displeased expression.

“I need a turning point…”

Ayla Blanchet.

That was her name on Earth.

Her original name, her apostle name, was Rania Itana. A completely different name from what she was called now.

Click. Click. Click.

Her eyes and hands busily scanned the news of one person on the monitor.

Elijah Rowe.

The number one figure who dominated the Awakened world in the United States, and an apostle like herself.

To Ayla, Elijah was a colleague, but also her biggest rival.

This was because Ayla was far behind Elijah.

This was largely due to the fact that her rank was lower than expected when she crossed over from the Nas continent and was forcibly awakened.

So, she had problems building her own guild, so she joined the Golden Sky Guild.

Thanks to that, she was where she was now, but conversely, it was also acting as a limit to her growth.

“That Kang Shin-hwa! He must think Elijah is a better lifeline. Judging by his lukewarm reaction to me…”

Ayla was displeased.

Of course, it was an emotion born out of inferiority. If she had been better than Elijah, this wouldn’t have happened.

In any case, the fact that she didn’t have a reliable ally always acted as an Achilles’ heel for her, as she wanted to increase her guard force, whether it was followers or anyone else.

Then, she happened to connect with Shin-hwa and thought it was a very good opportunity, but Shin-hwa was more cunning than she thought.

He seemed to cooperate, but he only pushed and pulled, making Ayla anxious.

In the Nas continent, she had always pushed things forward as she pleased, or as she felt like it.

She hated being dragged along like this. Especially if the other party was a ‘follower’ who was lower in rank than her.

“Should I have bet on Kang Shin-hwa by offering him bigger benefits or other incentives? If he sticks with Elijah, there’s no answer.”

Ayla had a very high opinion of Shin-hwa’s potential.

From his talent to his social influence and ripple effect, everything was perfect.

It was surprising that the Klizard Combat Unit [Likely a military or mercenary group] had such a talent.

However, there were many cases where people who were insignificant in the Nas continent awakened on Earth and made a turning point.

The representative example was Bellic, who stuck to Elijah like a leech.

When he was in the Nas continent, he was the lowest-ranking manager who cleaned up the trash and waste around the altar.

“Kang Shin-hwa, you damn X! This guy is messing up all my calculations!”

Bang!

Ayla was angry and slammed her desk.

If time passed smoothly like this, she would be ‘smoothly’ eaten by Elijah later on [meaning she would be overtaken or defeated by him].

To turn this situation around or create a variable, she had to bring Shin-hwa to her side.

And.

‘I need to speed up the black magic alchemy. If I use the bodies of homeless people who died without ties and the bodies of awakened people who were embezzled… I can accelerate it.’

She was thinking of drastically increasing the intensity of the black magic she was secretly practicing.

As much as that, the dark energy and mental madness in her body would run wild, but she was confident that she could control it enough.

To avoid being pushed back in the power struggle with other apostles later, awakened talent was not enough.

She needed some other definite weapon.

‘If I can succeed in charming Kang Shin-hwa just once using a succubus… I might be able to control Kang Shin-hwa as I please.’

Ayla’s interest was entirely focused on Shin-hwa.

Not only her, but Elijah was also very interested in Shin-hwa. Both of them saw him as a game changer.

“I have to hurry.”

Ayla jumped up from her seat. Her personal greed was more important than her duties as a guild executive.

Black magic alchemy.

It seemed that she had to place her bet right here for the upcoming game.

* * *

At the same time.

‘I know exactly what that Libein has been up to with this space-time movement buff [a temporary enhancement or advantage].’

I was tracking Ayla.

Space-time movement is characterized by being possible only in places you have visited before, and I had been to Australia before.

So, I immediately crossed over to Sydney and used the Invisible Ring to deploy invisibility.

I had plenty of magic power, so there was no problem in maintaining the invisibility unless there were any other variables.

Since I came here with the intention of only targeting Ayla, I had no intention of jumping into the Golden Tower like a moth to a flame [meaninglessly rushing to one’s doom].

Even if she was a key executive of the guild, she wouldn’t be living her whole life inside the building.

Anyway, whether it was for personal business or dungeon-related business, she had to go outside to work.

I was going to aim for that time.

Ayla was the problem, not the people around her.

‘If I kill Ayla, Elijah, and Lechero, my work is done. There’s nothing more to do.’

While moving, I confirmed one more thought in a more definite and concrete form.

After all, the element that shook the board after the Great Disaster was ‘Lechero and his legacies.’

My thought was that if I eliminated that cause, I wouldn’t have to worry about other things.

It was the same thought I had since I returned.

Super hero? I don’t dream of such a thing. I never want it.

‘The day Lechero dies is the day I retire.’

As I refined my thoughts, the final conclusion became very simple and clear.

Lechero’s death was a celebration to announce my retirement.

Lechero’s death would mean that all the apostles were dead.

It would also mean that Jang Dong-shik’s problem was solved in some form.

Of course, I thought that the countless turning points I had made thoughtlessly since I returned could change the future.

But that was something to worry about then.

And no matter how many variables there are here, it didn’t seem like it would be a bigger problem than Lechero.

“Hmm?”

Right then.

After entering the city, I was quietly looking around near the Golden Tower when I saw something.

Was it a sign that things were going well?

Ayla was coming out of the building.

And instead of entrusting the driving of the car that had been waiting in advance to the driver and going, she was driving herself somewhere… a very private movement.

“Then…”

I started chasing the path of the sports car that Ayla was riding in.

It was like looking down from the top of the building, but it was easy to pinpoint the location.

My modified eyes weren’t just for show.

Fap. Pat. Pat.

Soon, I lightly jumped between buildings, narrowing the distance to match the movement of the car.

No one would know I was there because I was invisible and there was almost no noise.

Ayla would be an SS-rank Awakened right now.

However, in my past life, when I used magic power amplification as a maximized ability, I sometimes exerted power that greatly exceeded one rank.

If I take it high, I can judge that she is an Awakened who can produce the destructive power of SSS-rank. In terms of instantaneous firepower.

‘I never had to fight you in my past life except for mock duels, but now I’m going to cut off your breath.’

Even though I had already thought a lot, I frowned as I recalled the reality that still tasted bitter.

But there was no mercy for traitors. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a traitor in her past life, but that Nicholas and I were too dull to notice.

I’m just making her pay for her sins before she commits bigger sins.

‘….’

I thought as I chased Ayla.

I’m working so diligently and really hard, what is Nicholas doing right now?

Is he okay?

I prayed that he would be safe and sound.

* * *

“Catch that bastard!”

“You rat-like bastard! How long do you think you can run away like that?”

“Hmph, seeing you guys doing such a bad job, I’ll be fine for decades.”

“Chase him to the end! Lechero-nim has promised the Duke’s seat of the Crivia Territory for that guy’s head!”

“Oh, then if I cut off my head and bring it, can I become a marquis too?”

A man was being chased.

He was running endlessly to the north.

The background surrounding him was changing into a landscape where the land was becoming increasingly barren and covered with a lot of unmelted snow.

And in the far north, there was also a mountain covered with eternal snow.

It was the death mountain range attached to the ‘Nightmare Forest,’ which was known for its extreme cold.

There was only one person being chased, but the number of people chasing him was well over 100.

All of them were wearing black robes and running with the emblem of the Lechnat Order [A group or organization] fluttering.

“Anyway, those X’s don’t know how scary Awakened talent is. Do I look like a pushover?”

The man smiled and pointed to the two black magicians running at the forefront with his fingers.

He just tapped twice with his index finger as if ‘designating’.

“Die…!”

“My enemy, my foe!”

The black magicians did not recognize friend or foe at all and began to attack each other as if possessed by something.

It happened in an instant, and the black magicians fought each other in a melee before exploding.

‘Damn it… there’s no end.’

Unlike his relaxed expression, the man’s insides were burning black [meaning he was feeling intense stress or anger].

Above all, the problem was his exhausted stamina and the wounds he had been stabbed here and there due to the continued chase.

Sizzle! Booooo!

Gulp, gulp. Gulp, gulp.

In the end, he had no choice but to reach for the forbidden drug.

He had no choice but to borrow the power of ‘drugs’ to forget the pain and somehow exert superhuman strength to escape.

‘Damn it, I’m going to die from withdrawal symptoms before I die at their hands. I told you not to do drugs, what are you doing?’

The man sighed self-deprecatingly and ran with more strength.

Fortunately, the ‘mental confusion’ he had deployed against the black magicians in front worked, and confusion was induced.

In the meantime, he used the acceleration artifact to escape the chaotic scene and hid himself narrowly.

Shortly after.

A large group of black magicians rushed around him, but he was not caught thanks to his deliberate stealth.

“Where did he go?”

“He must have continued north.”

“Nicholas Hagen. If we kill that guy, everything will be over. Search every inch and find him. We must kill him!”

“….”

In the darkness, the man bit his lip tightly.

His name was the name that Shin-hwa recalled and chewed, tore, and tasted whenever he had time! It was Nicholas Hagen.

‘Shin-hwa, please, please….’

Nicholas wiped away the thick sweat and blood flowing down his forehead and clenched his fists.

A glimmer of hope, expectation, dream.

All of this depended on Shin-hwa’s hand, who was wandering somewhere in 2020.