I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 246

246.

The moment arrived.

Perhaps he wasn’t so bad after all, as I received a call from Elijah.

“Yes, this is Kang Shin-hwa.”

I answered the phone as politely as possible.

I planned to make Elijah an enemy eventually, but the timing wasn’t right just yet.

-Am I interrupting your busy schedule?

“Not at all. The weather is nice and cool, so I was just enjoying a beer.”

-Beer, huh… Our group owns a brewery. I should have offered you some of our product.

“Haha, I’d be honored if the opportunity arises. But what brings you here so suddenly…?”

I asked carefully, as I didn’t have any immediate need to contact Elijah.

Even though I always acted like I knew everything in front of him.

I had to occasionally give him the impression that I was clueless, to lower his guard.

-Have you recently contacted or met with Isla?

“What do you mean by recently? I met her once around early April.”

-I mean yesterday or today.

“If I had met her yesterday or today, I’d be calling from the airport, or I wouldn’t have been able to answer the phone.”

Isla’s name came up unexpectedly.

They were the only two Apostles who knew of each other’s existence.

I didn’t know if Isla was aware, but he seemed to be monitoring her every move in considerable detail.

-Hmm… So, there hasn’t been any contact, right?

“Is something wrong? I’m getting worried all of a sudden.”

I said something I didn’t mean.

If someone who knew the full story saw me, they’d think I was a psychopath.

There was a cold corpse lying in my subspace [a personal dimension or storage space], yet I was pretending to know nothing.

-Isla, who manages her schedule meticulously, has been out of contact since she left the guild this morning.

“Could she be in the middle of a dungeon raid [a challenging mission within a specific area]?”

-That’s impossible. The Golden Sky Guild has many connections who have taken my money, and there was no such schedule.”

He seemed to be watching Isla closely. No, it wasn’t just watching; he seemed to have recruited people around her.

Isla might not have known it, but from this point on, she was already under Elijah’s control.

Then, when Isla joined our Nine Lords in my previous life, perhaps…

‘Elijah had either completely won her over, or he had definitely restrained her and obtained internal information.’

This kind of speculation became possible.

If Leccetro was the final boss of the Nas Continent, then Elijah was the final boss of Earth.

Indeed, he was an opponent I couldn’t guarantee victory against.

VVIP and Livyane, regardless of their high rank, had emotional or impulsive tendencies, so I could find openings in their defenses.

But I couldn’t easily predict Elijah.

“Do you suspect anything?”

-No. Never mind if you don’t know. I just wanted to confirm if you had met with her.

“No. The timing doesn’t match at all. Unless I have the talent to transcend space.”

-I suppose so. I was wondering if there was a secret meeting. I already knew that Isla was very interested in you.

“Haha, is that so? But Isla still has many shortcomings.”

-A follower who dares to evaluate an Apostle… Isn’t that too dangerous?

“I think it’s something I can say when facing a higher and greater Apostle.”

-The flattery is impressive. Is this a Korean-style reception?

“I would be grateful if you could just feel my sincerity. Hahaha.”

I said something I didn’t mean.

I was just trying to appease Elijah. After all, he was no longer useful to me.

If we were to meet again, it would be when one of us dies. In other words, a life-or-death decision.

-To be honest, I wish she would just die. I never liked that b*tch from the beginning.

“Is that so?”

-She’s a troublesome collaborator. Greedy but incompetent. Anyway, I’ll contact you again. I’ve been talking too much.

“Yes, thank you.”

In Elijah’s last words, there was a hint of him welcoming her disappearance.

The Apostles’ solidarity was like sand. There was truly not even 1g of adhesive force in their bond.

Whether it was intentional or not, I felt like I knew why Nicholas had regressed me to this point in time.

“Elijah Low…”

I looked up at the night sky.

I repeated the name of the last remaining target like a mantra.

Unlike VVIP and Livyane, who had walked into their own deaths, and Isla, who was easy to find.

Elijah was a walking fortress and a person who didn’t easily reveal his weaknesses.

How could I find a plausible opportunity? And what level of power would be appropriate to face him?

My worries deepened as the calculations weren’t easily made.

Tock. Tock.

The passage of time was not entirely pleasant.

* * *

The next day, in the afternoon.

“Wow! This is fun! Shami, let’s go over there! Chloe, come on!”

-Chloe! Let’s follow Sohee!

-Euaeong!

Shin-hwa was sitting on a bench in the playground, drinking an Americano he had gotten with Jang Dong-shik.

Jang So-hee was running around with Shami and Chloe, enjoying the cool afternoon breeze.

“Looking at So-hee, I can see why someone would become a daughter-fool [someone excessively fond of their daughter]. She’s really pretty.”

“She takes after her mother. But Kang Shin-hwa, I’ve been wondering about something for a while now.”

“Hmm?”

“Even if you look at our face value, I’m much older than you, but why is our conversation so comfortable?”

“The one with the power is the older brother.”

“…That’s a strangely difficult statement to refute.”

Jang Dong-shik let out a hollow laugh.

Sometimes, he forgets his current age and recalls his age from his previous life, so this kind of thing happens.

Besides, he and Jang Dong-shik were ‘roughly’ connected, so there was no need to be overly polite to each other.

“Well, should I start being polite to you now?”

“No. What’s the point of asking for politeness from someone who saved my life? Rather, aren’t you the one I should offer my life to if you need it?”

“I guess you’re grateful.”

“I’m very grateful. If you need to use my life as a tool, you can tell me anytime. Just promise me that you’ll take good care of So-hee until the end.”

Shin-hwa, who has no experience with marriage or childcare, couldn’t fully understand Jang Dong-shik’s love for his daughter.

But what was certain was that Jang Dong-shik was very grateful to him for what had happened before.

It wasn’t a pretense but a sincerity that could be seen in Jang Dong-shik’s eyes and actions.

“Enough. Tell me about Ricanella.”

“Apostle Ricanella. According to what you’ve found out, Elijah Low in America is Ricanella, right?”

“That’s right. She’s the only Apostle who survived besides you.”

“I expected it, but I had no way to confirm it… Then, the most difficult enemy remains.”

Jang Dong-shik’s expression didn’t look good as he stroked his chin.

Even Isla, who was relatively submissive to Elijah, was like that.

Everyone seemed to be burdened by him. There must be a reason.

“Tell me what you know.”

“Ricanella was the most favored by Leccetro among the five Apostles. As you know, I was out of his favor.”

“It’s amazing that you were sent here even though you were out of his favor.”

“Because my relatives were taken hostage on the Nas Continent. Anyway, Leccetro took better care of Ricanella.”

“Don’t the Apostles each think they were more favored?”

“That’s right. But if you were to rank the five Apostles of Pentanas as the first to fifth child, the first child would undoubtedly be Ricanella.”

“The highest expectations?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what artifact it is, but she definitely received a separate artifact gift before the dimensional transfer.”

“There wasn’t one for the other Apostles?”

“No. It’s just a guess, but it was probably a material to help Elijah’s additional awakening.”

“A material to help with awakening. Well… are you talking about something like an Awakening Stone?”

“That’s right. Apostles and followers each received an Awakening Stone as a gift. But what Elijah received in addition was similar but a little different, something much better. It was a deviation as much as Leccetro’s expectations.”

It was just a guess in my previous life, but Jang Dong-shik’s confirmation made the assumption even more certain.

“Now I can explain the powerful force that Elijah has.”

“He’s a very scary guy. Even when he was on the Nas Continent, he knew how to maximize the efficiency of his black magic and necromancy.”

“Compared to you?”

“I’m more of a theorist, and he was a complete practical type. He was also called the Little Leccetro.”

“Little Leccetro…”

“You said that Elijah is showing a lot of interest and favor to you, right?”

“That’s right.”

“That means he’s being the most wary of you. The talents he kept close to him were all eliminated in the end.”

“…Why?”

“Because he doesn’t want to see someone more talented than him running around.”

“…”

A moment of silence passed.

Shin-hwa felt that his thoughts were different from reality.

He thought it was a favor shown because he wanted him to be his right-hand man like Belik.

But it was to put him under his influence and then cut off his head later. Thinking about it, his spine tingled.

“Kang Shin-hwa.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t ask what you saw and thought with your future vision or whatever. But does Leccetro’s existence conflict with the future you’re trying to prevent?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded without hesitation. There was no problem with affirming this level of question.

“I told Leccetro from the beginning. If you twist the balance of dimensions, there will definitely be dysfunctions.”

“It seems like there was something learned.”

“Our Nas Continent. A thousand years ago, we were involved in the Holy War and the Dimensional War for that reason.”

“The names of the wars are not ordinary.”

“It was the karma left by a god who twisted the balance of dimensions with personal emotions and amusement.”

In my previous life, I had picked up a few things about Nicholas and the history of the Nas Continent.

Compared to Nicholas, who was very interested in the history of the Nas Continent, Shin-hwa only picked up what he happened to hear.

Looking back now, there are times when I regret not paying more attention then.

“It seems that the one who led those two wars to victory was the first emperor, Jared von Yucales.”

“That’s right. He literally beat the Demon King Reknat to death and drove out the Dark Church. We should have completely eradicated them back then…”

There was anger in Jang Dong-shik’s voice, as if he were cursing the ‘Dark Church,’ which was also his origin.

It was because of the karma and evil deeds that Leccetro had built up.

Leccetro was the one who drove Jang Dong-shik, a pure researcher and theorist of the Dark Church, into a dirty abyss.

Leccetro was pure evil.

“Ah, sorry. I’ve been rambling for too long. Anyway, I have a gift for you. I hope you like it.”

Jang Dong-shik hurriedly changed the subject and picked up something he had put down under the bench.

It was an object wrapped in a cloth, so I couldn’t even guess what was inside.

Soon, the moment Jang Dong-shik unwrapped the cloth and revealed the contents.

“This is…?”

Shin-hwa’s eyes widened.