I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 295

“……”

It was a fleeting moment, but Mikasis tilted his head, a flicker of confusion crossing his mind.

Until just now, Shinwha had been relentlessly attacking him.

At first, he thought he could handle it, but the power and intensity kept escalating.

This far surpassed the power of Shinwha that he had witnessed during the battle against the Lechnat Knights.

From the moment Shinwha unleashed the fourth stage of the Explosive Fist, Mikasis felt he had miscalculated from the start.

Defend first, then counterattack.

This was Mikasis’s tried-and-true strategy, one that had served him well with a high success rate.

Based on a solid defense, identifying the opponent’s weaknesses and exploiting their vulnerabilities unexpectedly always yielded the best results.

But this time, it was different.

He was so preoccupied with defending that he struggled to find any openings in Shinwha’s attacks, and the offensive only intensified.

In the end, he couldn’t withstand the onslaught and was blown away. He honestly thought he was about to suffer a major blow.

So, he instinctively mustered all his strength for a counterattack, but Shinwha didn’t approach.

His counter-ploy to the ploy had backfired.

Why?

Just as he was about to rise and find the answer to that question.

Thud! Thud, thud, thud!

“Ugh!”

Mikasis groaned and immediately sat back down, a sharp pain searing through his abdomen.

He tried to stand again, but his body refused to cooperate.

‘This, this can’t be happening…’

He didn’t need to look to know something was terribly wrong with his peritoneum [the membrane lining the abdominal cavity].

Torn and ruptured.

He didn’t understand why.

And then.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Aaaagh!”

A second explosion ripped through him.

It felt as if someone had packed his stomach with explosives and detonated them all at once.

The assault didn’t end there.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Shinwha’s Strange Fist, delivered with impeccable timing, unleashed a cross-shaped shockwave that slammed into his face.

It was a devastating blow that pummeled him from head to toe.

“Ugh……”

He had so much he wanted to say, but all that escaped his lips was a groan.

The sword he had dropped from the previous impact lay within reach, but he lacked the strength to even extend a hand.

Gurgle.

“Ah……?”

Mikasis shifted his body slightly to the side, trying to reach for the sword.

He could distinctly feel a cool, wet sensation along the wound.

It was his intestines, spilling out through the gash in his abdomen, exposed to the open air.

‘He saved the 9th and 10th stages [referring to the Explosive Fist technique].’

Shinwha dusted off his hands and walked toward Mikasis.

He was walking right in front of him, but Mikasis didn’t even have the strength to twitch.

Shinwha remained silent.

He expected Leccero to burst out at any moment.

But judging from the fading aura, it was clear that Leccero was also nearing his end.

If he gave him more time here, Leccero might succeed in completing the sub-altar.

“I, I……”

Thump!

“Cough!”

Shinwha, who had already turned his gaze to the altar, grabbed Mikasis’s hair and yanked him up with all his might.

And then.

Thud! Thud! Thud, thud, thud!

He slammed Mikasis’s face headfirst into a nearby rock. Like cracking a walnut against stone.

Three times was enough.

The first impact turned his face into a bloody mess.

The second shattered his facial bones.

The third pulverized his skull and cranial bones completely.

That was the end.

After confirming Mikasis was dead, Shinwha sprinted toward the Wailing Wall with every ounce of strength he possessed.

He didn’t expect to pass through it unscathed.

From the beginning, he had been prepared to use the Flower of Rebirth [a magical item that grants resurrection] without hesitation.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Whoosh!

Soon, Shinwha’s body plunged into the Wailing Wall, engulfed in searing heat.

Just in case, he activated the Avatar buff [a temporary power-up] to surround his body with similar flames, but…….

‘No dice.’

It was useless.

Shinwha died as he passed through the Wailing Wall and was resurrected after a brief delay.

Shinwha was counting on that ‘time difference’.

It wasn’t that he came back to life immediately after death; there was a gap in between, however fleeting.

Perhaps it was a minor oversight by some absolute being who designed the ‘Flower of Rebirth’.

Anyway, he died.

One Flower of Rebirth was consumed, and Shinwha achieved his objective by gaining new life through the flower.

Tap!

What Shinwha saw as he landed on the ground with a pristine, new body was none other than Leccero.

Leccero hadn’t even considered the possibility that Shinwha would survive and cross the Wailing Wall.

Of course, he had come back to life after dying, but to Leccero, who was unaware of the Flower of Rebirth, it defied all logic.

While Leccero was struggling to process the embarrassing and absurd situation.

“Leccero, you son of a bitch……!”

Shinwha unleashed all the pent-up anger he had been suppressing and punched Leccero.

At the same moment as his resurrection, his magic power was also fully restored, so even his energy was overflowing.

Thwack!

“Cough!”

With a satisfyingly resounding blow, Leccero’s body went flying.

It was a hit he took completely off guard, without even having time to raise a protective shield.

It was fortunate that he had instinctively cast armor magic before Shinwha’s fist connected with his face.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just been sent flying; his neck would have rotated at least 720 degrees.

“You bastard!”

Continuing to curse, Shinwha charged at Leccero, giving him no respite.

Leccero wasn’t stupid.

He was a cunning and clever bastard.

He was a highly rational demon who could devise a counterattack at the slightest opportunity. So, Shinwha had to press his attack even harder.

The next moment.

Kee hee hee.

“Damn it.”

As expected, Leccero used black magic.

It was a vile spell that extended the grasping hands of the dead from beneath the ground to hinder his opponent’s movements.

Black magic that prevented the dead from resting in peace, binding them to the black magician’s will forever.

Swish! Rustle! Rustle!

“Damn.”

Shinwha, who was about to advance, retreated when he saw his legs dissolving wherever the skeletal fingers touched him.

As expected, 9th class black magic was on a completely different level.

It was terrifying that the mere touch of the summoned minions could melt flesh.

“Yeah. That’s the black magician Leccero I know! I was worried. I was worried you were going to die right after getting hit once.”

“Kaa-ack, spit.”

Leccero spat out phlegm mixed with blood, gingerly touching his cheek, which felt numb and devoid of sensation.

Leccero had never been struck so hard by anyone in his life.

Leccero, who had always walked the path of the elite and held the highest position, had never faced a true rival.

Of course, there was no one skilled enough to even scratch his face.

The only one who could be considered a rival was Oblan.

But he was an enemy weakened by the lingering effects of an injury, with clear limitations.

Shinwha carefully glanced back and forth between Leccero and the core of the altar.

He wanted to destroy the core first, but there was no way Leccero wouldn’t anticipate his intentions.

When he destroyed the five sub-altars earlier, the core was the one he had smashed with all his might.

It wasn’t that he was overestimating Leccero, but even in his past life, Leccero was a formidable opponent who forced him to be constantly wary.

He would even sacrifice his own arm or leg as bait to set up a deadly trap.

Shinwha and Leccero were alike in that they would use any means necessary to achieve their goals.

So, he couldn’t afford to think and act simplistically.

If you make a mistake against a clumsy opponent, you might get away with it once or twice, but if you make a mistake against Leccero, you will die.

Of course, the same logic applied in reverse.

“Time traveler, what’s your name?”

“What are you going to do with my name?”

“I just want to hear it.”

“It’s Kang Shinwha.”

“Kang Shinwha… An unremarkable name.”

“Did you expect me to have some fancy name?”

“I have never done anything to make you hold a personal grudge against me. Our cult has done nothing to you either.”

“That’s right. You haven’t done anything. Not yet.”

“Not yet……”

“Don’t try to persuade me with logic or theories. From the beginning, your goal was to have not only the Nas Continent but also other dimensional realms in your grasp.”

“……”

“What’s so important about not doing anything now? The dream you’re dreaming is a dirty, garbage-like dream anyway.”

“You’re full of anger.”

“I am. Because the world I live in was devastated because of you in the future, and all my comrades died.”

“Judging by your reaction, it seems that I in the future was successful?”

“Yeah. Congratulations, you XX [expletive].”

“Nevertheless, the fact that you are diligently meddling in this moment means that there is someone in the future who is guiding you.”

“Wow, you’re so smart. That’s right.”

“If I kill you, I, Leccero, who exists in all timelines, will become an omnipotent being!”

“Why? Does imagining it already make your XX [expletive] throb? Ah! You’re impotent, aren’t you? I heard you sacrificed your lower body as a sacrifice while refining black magic to the extreme.”

Did he hit a nerve?

Leccero frowned.

“……What, was it real? You should have denied it immediately, you idiot!”

“All connections with the apostles have been severed.”

Leccero changed the subject.

It was something he was curious about.

“Ah, that. Four apostles are dead, and I disrupted the Great Shift ritual with Kasron. Now all the insurance you have is gone.”

“That’s impossible.”

“We’ll see if it’s impossible if we try the Great Shift now? If the Great Shift happens, my words are a bluff, and if it doesn’t… I’ll have to die.”

“It would be faster to kill you.”

“Correct. Let’s fight without regrets. I need to cut off your head so I can rest comfortably.”

“I will grant you eternal rest.”

“Yeah. You can say anything you want. If that’s all it takes, then I’m a god and an absolute being too. Enough with the bullshit, come at me. Isn’t it a perfect day to die!”

At Shinwha’s shout, Leccero looked up at the sky, and dark clouds were already gathering, threatening rain.

And.

Pat. Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter. Swish.

Soon, it started to rain.

A heavy downpour suddenly intensified, pelting Shinwha and Leccero’s bodies.

Whoosh!

Soon, a strong wind picked up.

It was a sudden change in the weather, as if someone had flipped a switch.

Swoosh.

Leccero dispelled the Wailing Wall, which was no longer useful.

It was no longer necessary for Leccero, as it restricted his movements.

And.