Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 362

362―――――

A Tactical Retreat for Victory

Sion elaborated on the details he knew and shared them with Ive.

“The current enemies on this side are the Holy Prussen, the Fairies, the Cultists, and the Celestials.

Among these, the Cultist forces and the Celestials warrant the most caution, especially since these Celestials are very cunning and deceptive. What you see is not all there is, so you must be even more careful.

So far, only mid-tier Celestials have engaged on the battlefield.

Most of the high-tier Celestials have been wary of the demons and haven’t revealed themselves on the battlefield.

More than anything, they probably believe that the current human forces can be handled by the mid and low-tier Celestials.

And that’s actually true.”

It was fortunate that the number of Celestials was small; otherwise, the continent would have been engulfed in flames long ago.

From the start, the population of this vast continent wasn’t in the hundreds of millions or billions like on some planets. Naturally, the author adjusted the number of Celestials for the sake of ‘balance.’

From the lowest to the highest rank, Sion remembered that their total number didn’t even reach a hundred.

Among them, the low and mid-tiers made up the majority, and the reliable high-tier Celestials numbered less than fifty. He knew that the top-tier Celestials, their strongest force, numbered less than eight.

With such a small number, they couldn’t afford to do anything foolish that would incur the animosity of all races. They would have to fight both the other races and the demons, and if that happened, the remaining Celestials could be wiped out.

No matter how high-tier a Celestial was, they would die if their heart was pierced by a spear or their neck was cut. Therefore, they had no choice but to always plan carefully and act cautiously in everything they did.

‘So, they started working on the demons first.

Using their image to turn the demons into public enemies, pushing away their most powerful nemesis on their own, and at the same time preventing the races of the continent from joining forces to resist them.’

The Celestials believed they could handle one or two opponents at a time.

In fact, even a mid-tier Celestial had the power to withstand a high-ranking knight on the human side, and a high-tier Celestial above them could easily subdue one such high-ranking knight.

“Ive, don’t you know?

Recently, the number of newly appointed high-ranking knights has been strangely low. Even if you combine Hispania and Nudia, they used to have more than twenty, but this time there are less than ten.”

“…Isn’t that just because skilled knights aren’t emerging?”

“Of course, that could be the case.

But what if someone was secretly eliminating those who could grow into high-ranking knights, one by one, in advance?”

Sion didn’t know for certain if the Celestials had really done such a thing.

He was just running his brain full throttle in a direction that was favorable to their side.

However, if that brain-generated theory had some persuasiveness, it could be easily accepted by others.

“Wh, what?

So, the Celestials secretly intervened among us humans and tried to control even that?”

Just like Ive in front of Sion, who looked very flustered.

Sion didn’t say anything further.

It was as if to say that you should think and judge for yourself.

In fact, he had some conscience, so he didn’t explicitly answer ‘Yes!’ to that, but it already seemed like a sufficient ‘Yes’ to Ive.

“That can’t be.

Even that part…”

“If there is anything pure in the world, it is only one thing: death.

Everything else.

Me, you, the Celestials, and the demons are all races that act according to their desires.”

Then Ive repeatedly muttered, ‘In the world,’ and covered his head.

If the Celestials were really at that level, they might have been preparing to break through this defense line without his knowledge and had almost succeeded.

King Saradin of Nudia had not yet fallen, and the army, which was Nudia’s main force and last bastion, had not yet completed its reorganization.

Ive suddenly became worried after hearing about the possibility of an unexpected event.

He was getting anxious, worrying that something he had missed might actually become a fatal weakness strangling Nudia.

“Calm down, Ive.

Nothing is certain yet.

However, the enemies are coming.

That’s for sure.

With the victory just now, the enemies have bought time to regroup their comrades, but they will grit their teeth and rush in to take revenge for it.

It will be a disaster if you foolishly collide with them and end up breaking.

If the enemies were aiming for that, if they expected a picture of Nudia holding its ground with the belief that it could not retreat, it would be a big loss.”

“…But the enemies might not have expected that.”

“Of course, that’s true.

However, there’s no point in insisting on this place any longer.

You can stop the enemy’s ‘army,’ but you can’t stop the fanatical energy they’re spreading.

I’ve heard news that cultists have targeted the Nudia army’s barracks several times around here.

Am I wrong?”

Clearly, the war was taking place in their homeland, Nudia.

However, the ones who kept bothering and harassing the Nudia army were the same Nudia people.

To be exact, they were the cultists from the east and south who were deeply absorbed in the teachings of light and secretly mixed in among the refugees to take their place.

Whenever the Nudia army fought against the Holy Prussen, they always targeted the granaries or armories, and the situation was so bad that they had to dispatch separate troops to stand guard.

“You’ve fought enough, blocked enough, and endured enough.

Ive, you must already know.

The Nudia army is very tired, and this place is too far to receive support from the relatively safe western Nudia or beyond Hispania.

That’s why you were secretly taking out reliable people to find and eliminate the cultists in the western region, with the possibility of pulling the defense line back in mind, weren’t you?”

Then Ive was greatly surprised and stared at Sion with wide eyes.

As if wondering how he knew that, how much he knew.

“Even though they are cultists, they are still the same Nudia people on the surface.

Even though you know that it would be a fatal weakness if the news spread that you, a nobleman and prime minister of Nudia, were arresting, imprisoning, or even eliminating the people of the kingdom, there is only one reason why you are pushing ahead with such a thing.

In the end, Ive, you thought it would be better to retreat at the right time rather than insisting on this defense line, take a breather, and then aim for a counterattack when the enemies are sluggish.”

“…”

What the hell is this man?

How can he speak so calmly and confidently, as if he had gone into his head and come out?

Ive was beyond surprised and was now even getting scared.

No ordinary people, or even any of the so-called intelligent people, would be able to make such accurate predictions by investigating and gathering evidence so extensively with such confidence in their guesses.

It was more believable to say that he was reading the future.

‘There was a part in the novel that said that some resistance forces in Nudia tried to rebuild their defense line in the west but failed completely.’

When he recalled that and investigated, it turned out to be true.

It wasn’t officially implemented yet, but Ive was preparing to pull the defense line back at any time.

“What do you think, Ive?

I think I’ve said everything I need to say.”

“…”

Ive had nothing to say.

What could he say here? Sion Clausen.

That man had already done everything for him.

Ha, Ive sighed, stared at the unbelievable man in front of him for a moment, and slowly opened his mouth.

“To be honest, Sion Clausen, do you know that you’re making my position very difficult?”

“You’re worried that your argument won’t be well received because you were planning to move the defense line by taking advantage of the time when the enemies retreated after focusing only on defense, but you suddenly won a victory.”

“…That’s right.”

The continuous waves of enemy attacks, the forces that had turned into cultists after being taken over by the teachings of light despite being people of the kingdom, and the anxiety that the defense line might be breached and everyone might die.

If he had said that he would move the defense line when such worst-case scenarios overlapped, the commanders and soldiers would have welcomed him with open arms.

But now the situation had become strange.

The Hispanian reinforcements had arrived, and under the command of their hero, Sion Clausen, they had succeeded in attacking the enemy and inflicting great damage instead of focusing on defense.

Even if they were the Holy Prussen protected by the descendants of light, they knew that they would eventually be hurt, die, and collapse in the face of stronger power, so they would now have confidence that they could do it too.

‘It’s hard to win once, but once you get on the flow and entrust yourself to it, the next thing is easy, the commanders and the veteran soldiers on the battlefield know that.’

So they would say to fight more on this defense line.

They would say that they could do it enough, that the Hispanian reinforcements had arrived and even the Yongin [Hero] who killed the Celestials had come, so what were they afraid of and why were they moving the defense line that they had been defending until now.

In normal times, Sion would have pretended that he couldn’t win and stuck to this defense line.

Public sentiment was heavenly sentiment, and the voices of the soldiers on the battlefield had more power than any commander’s speech.

But now the situation itself was completely different.

If they messed around carelessly, they would not be beaten up a few times and run away crying, but their heads would fly off.

Even if Ekaterina was there, it was obvious that even the Yongin would be in danger if more than two top-tier Celestials focused on her.

Of course, Ekaterina might be happy that a place to die had been created, but if she was defeated and died, the morale of Hispania and Nudia would plummet this time, and if that happened, the highway would be blown open before Kim Yu-hyun arrived!

‘People should know their place.’

Thinking so, Sion said to Ive.

“You said that you, Ive Gi Lestion, have the military authority of Nudia.”

“That’s right.”

“Then show me.

Show me your ability and Nudia’s strength.

Are they just intoxicated with one victory and don’t know what dangers are coming, or are they just nominal military authorities who can’t even persuade and move such people, or not.

Show me.”

What is the most important thing to be wary of in a fight?

There are many things, but Sion cited ‘an overly optimistic attitude’ as one of them.

If things go well on this side, the opponent will use any means to ruin that flow.

An excessively negative attitude and worry prevent you from moving when you need to, but an excessively optimistic attitude also prevents you from moving when you need to.

―

Crunch―.

Kiryuela, a high-tier Celestial, gritted her teeth and looked around the battlefield.

The place where a fierce battle had taken place, and the place where they had suffered their humiliating first defeat.

‘How could this happen when we were away?’

When they heard the news that the demons had suddenly appeared in the border area of the Holy Prussen and rushed there with others, most of the demons had already fled and only the beasts were left making a mess.

As they were reluctantly slaughtering the beasts and spending time, urgent news came.

The unbelievable news was that the proud army of light that had been pounding Nudia was on the verge of annihilation due to a sudden enemy attack.

‘Why are those cowardly people of Nudia, those who seemed to be just waiting for the day of judgment, suddenly doing this?’

He had questions, but resolving them was a matter for later.

Kiryuela immediately spread her wings and headed there, and the mid-tier Celestials under her followed.

And on the ground, the believers who had defected from Nudia followed with weapons.

“…Damn bastards!”

When they finally arrived at the place where the terrible things had happened, the mid-tier Celestials screamed like that.

The deaths of the Holy Prussen soldiers were of no interest.

The reason they vomited was because of the bodies of the Celestials scattered here and there a little away from the place where the battle had taken place.

They had been killed so brutally that they couldn’t even close their eyes, and among them were Masael, a high-tier Celestial, and two of his companions.

“…”

Kiryuela bit her lip.

Even though they, the Celestials, the descendants of light, were strong, their numbers were ridiculously small.

Even the generational change was the slowest, so one loss was the same as the loss of the entire race.

Flutter, flutter―.

The fragmented corpses and wings torn from their bodies fluttered helplessly in the wind.

Leaving aside the low and mid-tier Celestials, they had lost as many as three high-tier Celestials.

Moreover, they didn’t die in good shape, but someone had dropped a piece here and a piece there as if they were playing a prank.

Just as Kiryuela was about to vent her anger once again at the scene that was laid out as if boasting about what she had done.

“…Yongin.”

A very thin and delicate voice was heard in her ear.

Then Kiryuela instinctively knelt down on one knee without even having time to think and greeted the owner of the voice.

There were only a few people in the world for whom even she, a high-tier Celestial, would kneel down like this, the most noble, the purest, and the most beautiful being.

“Sha-nim [My Lord].”

It was the top-tier Celestial.

The woman called ‘Sha’ rolled her eyes and examined the dead Celestials, closed their eyes one by one, and opened her mouth in a voice filled with pity.

“To think that the Yongin would side with the sinners.

I wondered, but it’s a bit unexpected.”

When she first received the report of the Yongin’s appearance, she thought it was just a pastime for a race obsessed with fighting.

They lived to fight strong people, but they couldn’t eat only delicacies every time.

Sometimes they had no choice but to eat cheap food and junk food, so naturally, the Yongin, who were much weaker than themselves, even those who were not able to fight at all, slaughtered them as they pleased.

For that reason, the previous slaughter of the Nudia army was just a coincidence, just that much, and that was the opinion of the top-tier Celestials, but it seemed that that was not the case.

‘There’s something we don’t know, something we didn’t expect.

Something that even the Yongin would move.’

She thought everything would be perfect, but things had been slowly going wrong since before she even started, and now things were developing in a completely different way.

This is not a coincidence.

A necessity disguised as a coincidence, and someone’s prank disguised as a necessity.

Sha thought so, closed the eyes of all her comrades, and got up from her seat.

“Sha-nim.

As Ru-nim said, I will first collect the soldiers of the Holy Prussen.”

“I think that’s what they want.

Not Ru, but our enemies.

A pretty good sinner.”

“…Yes?”

“It seems like they want to buy time.

That’s why they retreated so hastily.”

“Then, do you think it would be better for Sha-nim to go and punish the sinners as they are now?”

“That’s what I think.

We can complete our task faster if we don’t move as they want.

However···.”

The woman, who was pure white from head to toe, turned her body and looked at the place where the soldiers of the Holy Prussen were.

The eyes that looked at them contained emotions that other Celestials did not have for humans: compassion, pity, and a little bit of apology.

“…I can’t ignore their pain.”

“If you just tell me, Sha-nim, I will attack immediately.

They will also think that everything is part of the task and jump into the battlefield with a smile.”

“Then you can’t do that, Kiryuela.

Even though they are all beings who will return to the light together, you must cherish and be grateful for those who sacrifice themselves for the task.”

“…”

Kiryuela wanted to ask if she had to show such a sight to humans, but she held back.

She couldn’t dare to openly express her opposition in front of the top-tier Celestial.

‘That’s a shame.

I wanted to go straight in and see the person who drew all the pictures so far.’

Thinking so, Sha turned her body, fluttering several pairs of wings that were different from other Celestials.

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

Maybe 500 episodes···.

Or I’m aiming for a little more than that.

Wouldn’t you guys remember it as ‘Ah, I read it with fun!’ if it was that much···!

The Celestials who ascended by Lilith in episode 58 have been changed from high-tier > mid-tier Celestials.