Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 345

Victor, still clutching his trembling hands, glared at Harmon.

Victor felt better physically, but the shock in his mind was still strong.

Just seeing the sword strike was scary. It could destroy everything in a 100-meter circle. Victor had only tried to stop the shockwave after the strike, to protect the barrier.

He only blocked the shockwave coming towards him. But the force hitting him felt like the whole room squeezed in and punched him.

‘How could I, who am not even a swordsman, fail to withstand the aftereffects?’

How could a human wield such power?

He had never even imagined it.

And so, he was certain.

‘If that man intends to harm the Saintess, I cannot stop him.’

– If the Holy Sword seeks to take the Saintess, do not resist, but let her go.

He could also understand the meaning behind his lord’s command.

The Holy Sword. The name struck his heart with a completely new and immense presence.

And in that shock, Victor failed to stop Ilia, who was already approaching Harmon.

“L, Lady Ilia!”

He belatedly recognized it and shouted.

“It’s alright. Stand back.”

The one he was supposed to protect instead soothed him with a faint smile.

Feeling powerless at the sight, Victor gritted his teeth and immediately followed behind her.

Harmon bowed slightly. “Holy Knight Commander Harmon greets the Saintess,” he said, his voice deep and serious.

Victor stared at Harmon, his feelings mixed with fear and confusion. *At least he’s respectful,* Victor thought, watching the man closely. He still looked like a monster, but his words were polite.

Ilia nodded. “I know what the Church said about me,” she replied calmly. “But you are being very respectful, Commander.”

“Saintess, if you had ever met the Saintess properly, you would know something is very wrong with the Church’s story,” Harmon said.

Ilia was inwardly relieved at the words of the Holy Sword, who was known for being rigid. It seemed that the worst-case scenario she had imagined would not occur.

“Then, did you come to find me?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know I was here……?”

“There were those who helped me.”

Ilia said, turning to look behind her, but Harmon found it difficult to trust the masked figure.

“Your skills are considerable, but may I know from whence you hail?”

“I am sorry, but I cannot reveal that yet.”

Harmon’s eyebrows went up when she said no.

“I need to be sure this isn’t just Church politics, Saintess. If you’ve brought in outsiders, I have to follow my orders too.”

His hand moved back to the hilt of his sword.

That single movement caused the surroundings to be enveloped in a grim aura once more.

It was not merely a feeling. In an instant, the dust and dirt in a dozen meters of space rushed out, placing the masked man and Victor within his domain.

Victor was about to leap forward, but a slender arm blocked his path.

“Absolutely! Absolutely not. I can swear it to God.”

Harmon looked deeply into Ilia’s eyes. He saw a pure, bright light there, a holy light he recognized from true clerics. It was impossible to fake. Doubt started to fade from his face.

“……I will believe you.”

“Thank you.”

Harmon immediately lowered his guard at her words, and Ilia greeted him with a smile.

Victor was bewildered, unable to keep up with the change, but the two of them paid no heed to his reaction and immediately began to continue their conversation.

“What on earth happened?”

“You may find it hard to believe…….”

Ilia went straight to the point and explained the situation.

She spoke in detail about everything she had experienced, citing the unreasonable measures currently being taken by the Church as evidence.

By the time the appeal added to that long story was over, the long night had passed and dawn was breaking.

“Truly…… it is a difficult story to believe.”

Was it because the story was so enormous?

Harmon’s expression as he said those words was as hard as stone.

“The Pope’s legal advisor, Sententia, is one of the nine divine relics. I cannot believe that His Holiness, who possesses it, could not protect his own mind.”

“……I, too, would not have believed it if I had not seen it myself. But it is certain that Tracy has a method of circumventing divine power to manipulate minds!”

“To be able to manipulate the power of God……. Do you know that the very statement is blasphemy?”

Ilia’s face momentarily hardened at Harmon’s chilling voice.

Harmon, who had been watching her with a heavy expression, then sighed and continued.

“If it had not been the Saintess who said those words, I would have carried out the punishment myself.”

The meaning contained in his sighing tone was clearly goodwill.

However, that did not mean that Harmon was completely convinced.

“I will return to the Church and judge after seeing it with my own eyes. Please understand that I cannot respond immediately.”

“……It could be dangerous.”

“There is no danger. If what the Saintess says is true, then they will not have the ability to brainwash me or the Saintess.”

“Even so, if they were to forcibly restrain the Commander…….”

“Who?”

“No matter how powerful the Commander is, what you can do within Noviens now is…….”

“Quite a lot is possible. If I declare a state of emergency under my authority, the Holy Knight Order, the strongest military force in the Holy Kingdom, will follow my words rather than those of His Holiness the Pope. Even if that is not the case…….”

Who would dare restrain me?

The unspoken words were clearly etched in the minds of Ilia and Victor.

And unfortunately, Harmon’s confidence also applied to them.

“So, you must come with me. My heart and mind tell me to believe the Saintess, but I ask you to understand that my position and status do not allow me to do so.”

A face that looked ordinary, common brown eyes, pressed down on them with a terrifying pressure. It was not rough, as if he did not intend to inflict harm, but the aura that bound his entire body so that he could not move covered all sides.

What it meant was clear.

“Don’t be ridiculous! How do we know what you’ll do!”

The masked man, Victor, blocked the Saintess and drew his sword.

Harmon’s eyes flickered slightly as he watched Victor, who had cut through his aura and leaped forward in an instant.

A slightly surprised face.

Harmon, who had been looking at Victor and Ilia with heavy eyes, took a step back instead of putting more pressure on them.

But that one step was the only thing that had changed.

“If you refuse, I will no longer be able to believe the Saintess’s words. Give me your trust.”

“Saintess! There must be another way. You don’t have to follow him!”

At that moment, when Harmon’s words and Victor’s shouts were chaotically intersecting.

“……If I am captured, it would be enough of a justification for the Commander to return to the Holy City. Very well.”

“Saintess!”

Victor, surprised by the unexpected words from Ilia’s mouth, turned his head sharply to look at her.

But she simply shook her head calmly.

Do not resist. This is the best way.

Victor, who had read the message, gritted his teeth.

And then, Harmon set fire to his heart.

“Do you dislike being dragged along powerlessly? You seem like a young fellow, so your competitive spirit must be great. I might give you a chance; will you try to attack me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re making a big mistake right now…….”

Victor, who had been provoked by Harmon, was further fueling his fighting spirit, but a voice from behind stopped him.

“Don’t get excited. Commander Harmon is only trying to find out your identity.”

“The time to return to the Holy Kingdom is long, Saintess. You’ll find out anyway…….”

Harmon did not deny Ilia’s words.

At that, the face of Victor in the mask became even more distorted, but Ilia simply answered with a calm face.

“No. He will return to where he needs to be.”

“……I cannot accept that.”

“You will have to accept it. Otherwise, the Commander will see the Saintess take her own life.”

Unlike her calm tone, she had already taken out a small dagger and was pointing it at her neck.

A stream of blood flowed from the delicate skin touched by the gleaming blade.

“Saintess!”

Behind Victor’s scream of horror, Harmon asked with a stiff face.

“Are you serious? Why would you go so far?”

“I cannot cause any more trouble, having received help.”

“They may be trying to use the Saintess. I have never heard of a group with a superhuman of such a young age…….”

“If that is really the case, then I will tell you in detail at that time.”

Ilia cut off Harmon’s words with a resolute face.

Harmon closed his lips with an even stiffer face, but a backlash erupted from an unexpected place.

“Saintess! I have my mission too! I can’t just leave after putting the Saintess in danger…….”

“Your mission must have been to get me to meet Commander Harmon. So, go back to ‘that person’ now. That is the proper course.”

“But…….”

“Even if things go wrong, please tell them that I will not forget their grace. I am truly grateful to you as well. ……I will not forget.”

Ilia bowed politely.

The sight of her leaving her last words as if she was facing the end of her life made it impossible for Victor to simply turn away.

Crack.

The sword, clenched and swung, shortened the space in an instant without a sound.

Wham!

A sudden roar erupted between Victor and Harmon.

She could not follow the movement, but Ilia knew that it was something that should never have happened.

Eyes wide with shock, her open mouth naturally let out a scream.

“No!!”

But fortunately, the collision ended there.

Two swords crossed in the shape of a cross. Gray aura and silver aura mixed with radiance were fiercely intertwined, and drops of blood dripped from under the black mask.

It was a sight that clearly showed where the superiority lay, even though it was only a single collision.

But at that moment, the masked man, Victor, was no less impressive than the Holy Sword.

Harmon looked at Victor with surprise in his brown eyes, and the red and blue heterochromatic eyes that appeared through the slightly torn mask glared at him sharply.

“If anything happens to the Saintess…….”

Unthinkable words flowed from his blood-soaked mouth.

“……You, I will definitely kill.”

He was clearly outstanding, but still far from perfect. It could have been seen as ridiculous, but Harmon nodded with heavy eyes.

“……I will keep that in mind.”

The unique color of the aura, the unique heterochromatic eyes, and the blue hair that was slightly revealed through the torn gap.

It was a characteristic that would soon reveal his identity with a little investigation, even if it was not immediately.

But Harmon did not find this young superhuman, who had laid bare the identity that the Saintess had tried so hard to hide, ridiculous at all. Rather, the sincerity felt in this exchange of swords only weighed down on his heart.

‘Is that outrageous story true?’

It was an event that would bring another huge upheaval to the Church, which had gone through great ups and downs. However, the hope that it would not be so was already rapidly fading.

It was not just a concern for the Church.

‘Can magic that invades divine power exist? How can that be?’

It was an issue compounded by a problem that shook the very foundation of his ideology.

Harmon already felt that the road to the Church was too far and distant.