I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 258

“I told you it was one-touch.”

Shinwa smiled.

“Keuhuk…….”

Castillo couldn’t make any sound other than the sound of air escaping.

As Shinwa said, Castillo suffered two major blows from a single attack.

The first blow was the Stellard sword that grazed past his cartilage.

Castillo’s tough and strong skin failed to protect that particular area.

Like slicing off flesh with a sashimi knife, Shinwa’s blade cut through the side of his knee, severing Castillo’s right leg.

At the same time, the second blow passed by Castillo’s side, a casual semicircle without looking back.

Swish!

It sharply cut the back of Castillo’s head, specifically around the cervical vertebrae [the bones in the neck].

This was also an area that the suit couldn’t protect, and it was impossible to block unless he wrapped his hands behind his head.

In fact, if Shinwa had shown his intention from the beginning, Castillo could have blocked it easily enough.

However, Shinwa had been engaging in exploratory attacks against Castillo all along.

Then, like a final, decisive blow, he instantly raised his Transcendental Acceleration to the maximum and slashed in an instant.

Castillo, unable to keep up with Shinwa’s speed, visually recognized that he had lost his right leg.

But he didn’t notice the more critical injury, the severing of his cervical vertebrae.

“Ugh……!”

A scream erupted, not from Castillo himself, but from his subordinate who was watching his back from behind.

The flesh and bone, with blood dripping from the wide-open wound, were exposed.

The gaping wound was spewing blood, as if a fountain of blood would erupt at any moment.

Castillo’s skin was still shimmering, showing off the might of his enhancement, but it was a meaningless shimmer.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

As Shinwa leisurely walked towards Castillo, he met the eyes of numerous subordinates.

Shinwa smiled calmly, and they couldn’t even look him in the eye.

It was a situation where a perfect superior-inferior relationship had been established, like a wild beast looking at its prey.

“Hey, boss.”

“Keokeok. Keok.”

“Can’t speak? Should I help you speak?”

Thwack!

“Kkeuaaaa! Son of a……!”

After Shinwa forcefully tapped the back of Castillo’s head, a rough curse immediately burst from his mouth.

But that was only for a moment.

Crack-.

Eventually, the flesh, unable to withstand the wound, split open, and Castillo’s head fell forward.

Of course, it was separated from his body, a scene that was virtually beheading.

“Hiiiik!”

Everyone froze.

“Haaaah!”

No, only one person still wanted to protect his honor, shouting and rushing towards Shinwa.

It was Castillo’s adjutant, Pedro.

But.

Thwaaaaaack!

Pedro, who was hit directly by Shinwa’s explosive punch, died instantly without even screaming.

Shinwa’s explosive punch, which accurately struck his left chest, burst Pedro’s heart like a balloon.

It was an instant death that might have been fortunate for him.

“Keuk.”

Thump!

Pedro, who had rushed towards Shinwa and was struck down in one blow, collapsed onto the deck with his eyes wide open.

“Now, it’s time for confession.”

Shinwa said to the subordinates who were staring blankly at him with his arms crossed.

As if the boss had changed, they were even bending over halfway.

“Each of you takes out all the loot you have on the ship and all the artifacts you have and puts them in front of you. Do it.”

“What is…….”

Swish!

“Remember. I told you before, I won’t let anyone cross the line.”

Thud!

Another life disappeared in the place where Shinwa passed by.

There was no guilt.

These guys roamed the seas, extorting countless innocent Awakened ones.

“I won’t say it twice.”

At the sound of the coldly laid-back voice, the movements of the crew became frantic.

They had lived like outlaws, but they were the ones who could smell death faster than anyone else.

Unfortunately, they had no grand cause or loyalty for a death for honor.

About 10 minutes later.

‘If I sell all of this, the price will be quite high. At least 300 million dollars, no matter what?’

Considering the exchange rate fluctuating around 1,200 won [South Korean currency], it was virtually close to 350 billion won worth of goods.

The more money, the better.

Shinwa contentedly took the artifacts and expensive items one by one.

Because he took even the small rings without leaving anything behind, the crew members were virtually naked.

They had given everything they had, so they thought they should gain Shinwa’s mercy and leave this hellish place.

But right then.

“Haaap!”

Shinwa shouted and then released magic power directly to the center of the hull.

That is.

“Ah……?”

He was going to destroy the power source. He had struck the engine and fuel tank.

The next moment.

“S, s, son of a…….”

The shadow of despair fell on everyone’s eyes.

Only then could they realize.

Shinwa would not ‘kill’ them, but he would not let them return ‘safely’.

And.

Eeeeeng! Eeeeng!

The alarm they didn’t want to hear went off.

It was the sound of the Rolana Kingdom’s Coast Guard coming.

“…….”

Despair, frustration, resentment, resignation.

It didn’t take long for these four emotions to mix together and become a state of self-abandonment.

They had been robbed of everything by Shinwa, and now their only remaining bodies were about to be imprisoned.

It was a checkmate.

* * *

“You are really amazing. If these guys are determined to hit and run, there is no way to stop them…….”

“I was lucky. I just happened to spot them. I eliminated the boss and the resisting guys, and the rest are like this, as you can see.”

“You said they were small fries earlier, but they all have bounties on their heads. And it’s even bigger than last time?”

“Please take care of the settlement yourself. I’m too lazy to calculate and check everything one by one.”

“This is…… Our kingdom is always indebted to you. His Majesty the King is so embarrassed.”

“It’s enough if nothing happened. I’m glad that I was able to help the kingdom’s coast guard.”

“We sincerely thank you on behalf of everyone. There will be a major announcement about this incident at the kingdom level. There are more SNS channels than I thought. We are planning to actively promote it.”

“Haha, feel free to do so. Then, please take care of the follow-up.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

The conversation with John, the captain of the Rolana Kingdom’s Coast Guard, ended like that.

The battle itself was not long, but the extreme tension was maintained, so my body was drained of energy.

So, I went back to the coast and stumbled on the white sand beach with my legs slightly loosened.

“Shinwa! Are you okay?”

Marina ran over in a flash and looked at me worriedly, touching my body here and there in a hurry(?).

“I’m a little tired, but why are you touching there?”

“Huh? I was wondering if you were hurt, if you were bleeding somewhere, or if you had any wounds.”

“Don’t you usually look at the face first in that case? Why the waist?”

“E, eek! Why do you keep nitpicking!”

Thwack!

Thanks to Marina’s refreshing back smack, I came to my senses.

Contrary to her worries, there was not a single wound on my body.

“I saw it from afar. Shinwa…… Stop surprising people. Where is there an Awakened who single-handedly destroys pirates?”

“Here I am.”

“I’m telling you not to use cheat keys and fight alone. I thought I was going to die suddenly running out there.”

“Creative suicide?”

“That’s what I mean. No, I wondered why you were running when there were so many fast ships and Awakened ones? Do you know how urgently I contacted the Coast Guard?”

“Thanks to you contacting them quickly, they arrived just in time. It was nice timing.”

“Does the Coast Guard take care of the follow-up?”

“Yes. I entrusted everything to them. I also asked them to settle the bounty themselves.”

“Do you trust them?”

“Whether I trust them or not is not important. The question is whether they can think of playing tricks on me.”

“Hehe, that confidence is very attractive. You’re like a crazy person, but you’re cool. Hehe.”

“You have a unique taste.”

“I’ve always been like that. Unique fashion, unique tastes…… etc. You’ll know more about it in detail when we get closer later.”

“I’ll pass on that. It’s enough as it is now.”

“Anyway, the iron wall is still there. It’s terribly boring.”

“That’s a relief then. If it was fun, we would have been much closer than now.”

“Hahaha.”

We exchanged jokes like that and sat down on the sandy beach.

We laid out the bottled beer and dried snacks that Marina had prepared while coming to the island.

And when we lit a fire with small pieces of firewood that we had obtained in advance.

A bonfire was created that was perfect for watching and spacing out.

For a long time, we sat there without saying a word.

I was washing away the slight fatigue that came after the battle with silence.

Marina also seemed to be enjoying being away from everyday space and being on an island that was no different from an uninhabited island.

It was also an atmosphere that was naturally created because the construction workers had hurriedly withdrawn due to the appearance of the pirates earlier.

How much time had passed like that? Marina carefully broke the silence.

“These days.”

“Yes.”

“I keep having nightmares. It’s a dream of a man I’ve never seen before being chased by someone urgently. But the background is not Earth.”

“Then?”

“The man is desperately running away in lush forests and canyons that you would see in fantasy novels or movies.”

“…….”

Nicholas naturally came to my mind without me realizing it.

Of course, I didn’t say it out loud.

It was like forcibly applying it to her dream because I was thinking too much.

“Can you tell me more?”

“In that dream, guys wearing black cloaks relentlessly chase the man. You can’t even see their faces, so it’s even more eerie, right?”

“Do the nightmares repeat?”

“Yes. So, I’m really afraid of sleeping these days. It’s like someone rewinds it and plays it repeatedly when I fall asleep.”

‘Nicholas, you bastard…… Is the situation really that bad? It can’t be like this otherwise.’

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed to be Nas Continent and Lecherou’s black magician, and Nicholas.

Is it a prophetic dream?

That being said, the target that Nicholas is projecting memories and images onto is completely wrong.

There’s no point in telling Marina now.

‘How much time is left, anyway?’

I’m getting more and more impatient.

If I didn’t know about his suffering, I might have pretended not to know.

But didn’t I hear the message that he desperately conveyed while holding back tears?

Even for Nicholas, who is fighting for his life, I must fulfill the mission entrusted to me.

‘I’m really almost there. Just a little bit…… Just hold on a little longer, Nicholas.’

Without realizing it, I put my hands together as if praying to the bonfire, begging and begging again.

I hoped that my thoughts and heart would surely reach the guy who was wandering somewhere in the future.

I hoped he would hold on a little longer until I saw the end of the tiresome evil ties.

It was a desperate wish.