Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 325

Storm Before the Storm

“···The one who wins and survives is good.”

Vanessa slowly repeated Zion’s words, lost in thought. It was a statement that perfectly resolved her worries and coincided with the current situation. After a moment, she smiled faintly and opened her mouth.

“It’s fortunate that you don’t stand on the opposite side of me, Zion Clauzen.”

“You flatter me.”

“It’s not flattery.

I shudder to think of you attacking me with such eloquence.”

“Why wouldn’t I follow Your Majesty?

And I would be very embarrassed if I were on the opposite side of Your Majesty.

Because Your Majesty is also a very great person.”

“Your flattery has increased a lot.”

“It’s not flattery.

If Your Majesty wasn’t an outstanding person, why would I serve you as my ruler?”

It might be a slightly dangerous remark, but Zion finished speaking without any change in his facial expression.

Vanessa was silent for a moment at Zion’s words, then smiled again.

“Having a reliable subject like you supporting me makes me want to pull myself together and do my job.”

“Ahaha, if it sounded that way, then you heard correctly.”

“···I felt sorry for causing you worries, but I feel so relieved that you resolved them so quickly.”

Unlike before, the light of worry had almost disappeared from Vanessa’s face.

She is now the ruler of a country, so she understands exactly.

The winner, the survivor, can manipulate the past to their advantage.

The defeated, the dead, and the disappeared will be swept away by it, and whether they were good or evil, their end will ultimately lead to only one thing.

Immediately, the Celestial Race also achieved victory in the war against the Demon Race in the past and used it to spread the fear of the Demon Race throughout the continent, telling people to stay away from them.

Thanks to this, the Celestial Race became the good that saved the continent, and the Demon Race became the evil that opposed that good and was defeated.

‘The winner bears no risks.

The loser takes everything.’

So, it doesn’t matter what methods Zion uses.

What lies he tells, what smokescreens he creates, what races he brings in, in the end, the victor can change it to their liking.

If you are defeated and die as a result, you don’t just lose your life.

You die feeling wronged, and you have to live the rest of your life being ridiculed.

‘···No.

If we lose this time, whether we live or die, we’ll all burn to death together, so I should be grateful that I won’t be ridiculed, but screw that.

I have to win no matter what.

I have to win and survive.’

Yes, he will definitely survive.

He’s been doing all that crap to survive, and he’s made all sorts of preparations to proudly shout that he survived.

“It would be best to move discreetly so that the kingdom’s people don’t experience anxiety.

They will naturally know when the time comes, but until then, it would be good to keep the confusion to a minimum.”

“You are right.

I will continue to monitor the situation, so you too should strengthen Clauzen’s defenses even more.

And get in touch with Nudia.”

“Understood.”

After finishing those words, Zion ended the magic communication and moved his steps without rest.

As a result of issuing a summons through Lilith, all the members of the group except Sirien were gathered in the room.

“Everyone’s here, Zion.”

At Lilith’s words, Zion nodded and looked around at those sitting in front of him.

Starting with Lilith, Rishikida, Lucia, Ria, and Trisha.

On the opposite side, Eos and, most importantly, Kim Yu-hyun were seated.

In addition, Zhan, who is not here but is constantly preparing in the north, and Helen, who is constantly collecting information from the capital and sending it here busily.

“···But I really didn’t expect that woman to actually come when I told her to come?”

The reason Zion is expressing doubt.

That was because of Ekaterina, who was clearly in the back alone.

After being beaten by Kim Yu-hyun before, she rushed at him again as soon as she recovered, but was defeated again.

The Yongin [a race known for their incredible strength and resilience] woman who repeated that several times even followed her to the Clauzen Frontier Territory.

But lately, she hadn’t been challenging Kim Yu-hyun anymore.

It wasn’t that she was scared or had given up.

Because she was still glaring at Kim Yu-hyun with her eyes twinkling.

But since she didn’t try to fight again, it was natural for the others to look uneasy, as if they were holding a bomb that could explode at any moment.

“It’s not like I’m here because I like it.”

Ekaterina mumbled in a low voice, picking at her ear as if grumbling.

Then, she stared blankly at Kim Yu-hyun and continued.

“Honestly, I want to fight more, but that human man told me.

He said that we have an important fight coming up soon, and he doesn’t even have time to fight me, who is only at the level of 잡것? (a *japgeot* [a Korean term for a worthless thing or person]).

So I asked him what he was fighting against, and he said it could be the Celestial Race?”

“···So?”

“What do you mean, ‘so’?

Are you saying that I have to wait here blankly because of those Celestial Race bastards?

So I said.

I’ll pluck all the wings off those Celestial Race guys and kill them, so hurry up and finish that fight and fight me again.

If I help, that man will have no reason to avoid fighting me anymore.”

At Ekaterina’s words, Zion had to let out an absurd laugh inside.

To be honest, he was worried about how to get that battle-crazed woman to join this side.

But Ekaterina came up with a way to help Kim Yu-hyun and finish this quickly so that she could fight him sooner and more often!

“···I told her to do that, but if Young Master has a different opinion···.”

“It’s not bad.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so she’ll be a decent force.”

“What are you talking about, human man?

I’m only here to fight that human, Kim Yu-hyun.

Don’t even think about giving me strange orders.

Unless you want to die.

I don’t have much patience.”

Ekaterina bared her fangs at Zion and immediately threatened him.

She has tremendous confidence in herself, and due to the racial characteristics of someone who hates being ordered around, she would feel very uncomfortable in this position.

But there was one person besides Kim Yu-hyun who wasn’t intimidated by Ekaterina.

“What was that?

That lizard 년? (bitch)?

Say it again, what did you just say?”

“I told you not to give orders if you don’t want to die.

Demon, do you have any complaints?”

“···Hah, I don’t want to waste the magic power I worked so hard to steal from Zion in a place that’s not even a battlefield on some strange 년 who’s not even a dove.

How should I tear you apart so that people will say I tore you apart beautifully?”

“I was putting off fighting you, Demon, because I was worried about Kim Yu-hyun, but if you’re going to come in like this, I welcome you.

Come on, hurry up.”

The two women formed an aura as if they would explode and clash at any moment.

The atmosphere was so fierce that not only Lucia and Ria, but also Rishikida, a high-ranking knight, Eos, who was almost on par with Zhan, and even Trisha, who rarely got scared, were on edge.

A touch-and-go situation that felt like it could explode at any moment continued.

Lilith’s red eyes flashed even more eerily, and Ekaterina’s mouth stretched wide, about to reveal her fangs.

“Stop it, Lilith-nim.”

“Shut your mouth, Ekaterina.”

The two men opened their mouths to stop the two women.

Of course, one was in a very gentle voice, and the other was in a very fierce voice.

“Don’t stop me, Zion!

I guarantee that lizard will ruin things.

I doubt how we should trust a 년 who’s crazy about fighting!”

“Calm down and just watch, Lilith-nim.

I said that everything has its use.”

“Are you not even listening to me?

I clearly said that I wouldn’t follow your orders··· Cough?”

Ekaterina suddenly let out a rough breath without finishing her words.

Kim Yu-hyun, who had jumped up from his seat, grabbed her neck with a rough hand.

“Keugh!”

“I told you to shut your mouth.

If you raise your voice one more time···.”

“Keu, keuheuk!

Why, are you going to kill me?

Then, I welcome it!

If I can die in your hands··· Keoeok!”

Even if she was a Yongin, even if she was a being with great recovery power, she was still a being who lived by breathing.

Ekaterina was now barely able to breathe and was looking at Kim Yu-hyun, who was holding her neck as if he would break it at any moment.

“Don’t get me wrong.

Don’t think I want to see you in good shape.”

“···.”

“If you keep blabbering, I’ll cut off all your hands and feet and throw them on the street and roll them around.

If you try to recover, I’ll cut them off again, and again, and again, and make you into a rolling lump of meat.”

No being in the world, not even Lilith, the highest-ranking demon, could say such things to a Yongin.

Their recovery power was something even the demons shook their heads at, and their characteristic of becoming stronger and stronger the more they fought was the reason why the Celestial Race had long ago defined them as an evil similar to the demons.

Kim Yu-hyun was threatening such a Yongin, saying that if he wanted to, he could play with her at any time, cutting off her limbs like pruning a tree.

‘Will that work?

She’s a completely crazy woman in the first place.’

As if she didn’t think much differently from Zion, Lilith was still glaring at Ekaterina with fierce eyes.

She was also having a rather eerie thought that if she said something nonsense again, she would really tear that lizard’s mouth apart this time.

But the next words that came out of Ekaterina’s mouth were quite surprising.

“···If you’re not going to kill me, let go of this··· Let, let go.”

“···.”

“I don’t want to be remembered as a stupid 년 who died from suffocation···.”

At her words, one of Kim Yu-hyun’s eyebrows twitched, and Lilith let out a sigh.

Zion was also quite surprised and exclaimed inwardly, but Ekaterina’s words, although she tried to say it in a roundabout way, were ultimately ‘Let go of this.’, that is, ‘Save me.’

Kim Yu-hyun seemed quite surprised to hear such words from Ekaterina’s mouth, and after staring at her for a while, he released his hand, which had been holding her neck so tightly that it seemed like he would break it at any moment.

Ekaterina, who had barely caught her breath, coughed and took a deep breath.

“Hoo, hoo··· I really don’t think you’re human.

Cough!

How can you think of strangling our Yongin to death with one hand?”

“Don’t mess around and answer, Ekaterina.

Don’t ever say that to Zion Gongja-nim [a respectful title, similar to ‘Lord’].

If I see you acting recklessly one more time, I’ll give you the most miserable life, not even a fight with me, to the 년 who wants to die fighting honorably.”

“···Okay.

I get it.

Stop glaring at me like that.

Damn···.”

Ekaterina didn’t seem to care much about being humiliated in front of humans, demihumans, and demons.

Rather, she was somehow looking at Kim Yu-hyun and pouting her lips as if she was inwardly upset, and mumbled something, but the sound was too small to understand.

“···There was a brief disturbance.

I’m sorry, Zion Gongja-nim.”

Kim Yu-hyun sits down and announces the end of the situation.

At that, Zion waved his hand as if it was okay and refreshed the surroundings.

“Well, everyone might have been a little surprised to be suddenly gathered like this.

But I had no choice but to do this because of the news that just came in.”

“I’ve heard the story roughly, Zion.

The movements of the Holy Prussen are strange.”

“Nyaang?

Is the Holy Prussen a human kingdom that values the teachings of light the most?”

“That’s right, Ria-nim.

I met some people from there when I was in Nudia, and they were people who prioritized the teachings of light above all else.”

“···Do they give you anything good for believing in that?

I don’t know why they do that.”

“You have to concentrate, kids?

Anyway, they said that the Holy Prussen or whatever they’re called have blocked everything by land and sea.

They’ve suddenly locked their doors after trading well until now.”

“If what Lilith Unnie [older sister, used as a term of endearment] said is true, Hispania and Nudia will be harmed, but the Holy Prussen won’t be able to stay intact either, right?

They’ll have a lot of immediate losses.”

“They must have judged that it’s become a time when they don’t need to calculate gains and losses anymore.”

At Zion’s words, the women all turned their heads and looked at him.

They seemed to think that something about the ‘time’ he was talking about didn’t feel good.

“You remember what I said before, right?

That what you naturally believed to be good, light, and right might not be.

That nothing is certain and nothing can be trusted.”

“···.”

“··· ···.”

“It seems that the 가면 놀음 (*gameon noreum* [a Korean term for masquerade]) is starting to get boring.”

Then Lilith reacts first.

She smiles very seductively, says that she knew this would happen, and lightly loosens her fingers.

“So, what humans and other races like to 빨아주는 (*ppalajuneun* [a Korean slang term for sucking up to]) is now fading, right?

They’re so 대단 (*daedan* [a Korean term for amazing or great]) because they’re 속이 시커먼 (*sogi sikeomeon* [a Korean idiom for black-hearted]) inside, right?

They’re very 대단 (*daedan*).”

“···Zion, that means···.”

“Think about which race the Holy Prussen is a kingdom for, Lucia.

Is it really their own will that they, who have always tried to show only good appearances while saying things like the will of light, have suddenly changed?”

“···.”

Among those gathered here, the one who had the most favorable image of the Celestial Race was Lucia.

Like other humans on the continent, she grew up listening to stories about the battles between the Celestial Race and the Demon Race, and knew that the Celestial Race were good and righteous beings.

But as she spent time with Zion, she began to realize that what she had naturally thought was the truth was not, and she realized that what others believed might be wrong.

“Of course, I hope that’s not the case either.

Because I don’t know what kind of chaos will come if that happens.

But if what we’ve been worried about is true, then we’ll have to fight now.

With those who believed in what was right, with those who believed in what was good, and with those who still believe in them.”

“···.”

“Are you confident, Lucia?”

If she had said these words in the early days, Lucia would have shown a reaction of not knowing what to do.

Because she would have to struggle between what she had believed in and the person she had in her heart.

But now, there was no need to worry for long.

Because Zion had already taken the lead and used all his tricks to draw a picture that was more favorable to this side.

“There were already many people who were doing all sorts of strange things while wearing the name of light.

But seeing that those who are called the descendants of light are silent, I can see what their level is.”

“···Ria, are you confident too?”

“Nyaang?

Are you asking the obvious?

If everything the Celestial Race said about peace and prosperity was a lie in the first place, then all of our demihumans would bare our fangs, right?

To betray us after we believed in them like that!”

Paching!

Ria, who even takes out her claws.

When Zion turns his head and looks at Rishikida, she blinks her eyes and looks back at Zion.

Meaning that her answer was already decided, so there was no need to ask again.

“I don’t need anything else, if they antagonize Zion-nim, then they are my enemies.

Enemies that must be burned to death.”

Trisha, who was creating small flames by flicking her fingers, muttered in a blunt voice.

He was worried, but as expected, nothing like that happened.

These are the people Zion had put all his heart and soul into turning around from the beginning, and in addition, when it comes to the Celestial Race, they would think of the negative events that have happened recently rather than positive images, so everyone would say that without any hesitation.

“Kim Yu-hyun?”

Finally, he glances at the most important person.

Even if everyone else says okay, if he tilts his head, it’s a 망 (*mang* [a Korean term for ruin]) tree at that moment.

As Zion looks at Kim Yu-hyun with a slightly nervous face, he maintains silence for a while and then slowly opens his mouth.

“I don’t need false good and hypocritical justice that ruins my life.”

As he has something in his hand, he naturally has regrets and feels like he doesn’t want to be taken away.

That was the emotion that Zion had worked so hard to instill, and this was the moment when that effort finally came to fruition.

“Then from now on, I will explain the future plans.”