Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 382

382―――――

Not yet!

Not yet!

The battle didn’t last long.

No, from the start, it was a battle that couldn’t last long.

It was as if a flood had swept through the space where the ant colony was fighting. Kim Yu-hyun’s appearance was, in a word, overwhelming.

No matter how strong the knights and soldiers of Holy Prussen were in their faith in the light.

No matter how strong the fairies and the Celestial Race were in their mission, it was all useless in the face of Kim Yu-hyun’s sword.

The Holy Prussen army, whose front and rear were completely collapsing, began to retreat haphazardly, showing an unsightly sight they had never shown before.

However, even if they retreated with a certain formation, there would still be casualties. Those who were too busy running away, breaking ranks and discipline, were just easy prey.

Swish―.

Kim Yu-hyun, having retrieved his sword, contemplated whether to take Ekaterina and Shiela and clean them all up.

Killing people was still not a pleasant thing, but if he let them live and his people were hurt again, he would surely hate his own incompetence.

With the soldiers of Hispania and Nudia also exhausted, he judged that there was no one to annihilate them if he didn’t step in. It was just as he was about to move.

“Kim Yu-hyun.”

At the familiar voice, Kim Yu-hyun stopped and turned around.

A beautiful young man, boasting a jet-black mane, sat on a black horse, looking at him, utterly out of place in this gruesome battlefield.

“That’s enough.

You don’t have to chase them today.”

“···Are you sure?

Now is a good time to wipe them all out, right after completely defeating the enemies.”

“Of course, it’s a good moment.

But if we go any further, things might get a little twisted.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“This is just right.

The resistance of Hispania and Nudia.

And the war situation turned upside down by the appearance of a hero.

There’s no point in adding unnecessary bloodshed to that.”

If Zion had only thought about winning, he wouldn’t have sent Kim Yu-hyun to the south, and he wouldn’t have left Luciana, Trisha, and Lia in the center.

Once you lose your justification, you lose even if you win, and if you lose, you really have nothing left.

But if you hold on to that justification to the end, you gain allies every time you win, and you have fewer defectors even if you lose.

Zion was using that very part to continue to increase the forces that supported him, and at the same time, he was continuing to divide those who followed the Celestial Race.

“Right now, you need to be a hero who saved the Allied Forces, not be seen as a merciless slaughterer who chases down enemies retreating without order.

That’s more harm than good.”

“But if we let the enemies go like this···.”

“They may become swords and spears that return to us.

But I don’t think we need to be afraid of rusty and broken swords and spears.”

Morale is very important in the military.

With the top Celestial Race members being smashed by Kim Yu-hyun’s appearance, and the Dragonkin going wild, what soldier could maintain their sanity and shout to fight with morale?

It was amazing enough that they weren’t panicking.

‘A completely collapsed army.

More than that, we need to be careful of the Celestial Race’s mouths.’

Perhaps the Celestial Race secretly wants Kim Yu-hyun to massacre their allies.

In a situation where the army’s morale is at rock bottom, what can raise it again is to increase anger towards the enemy and, at the same time, belittle the enemy to instill a sense of being able to fight.

If Kim Yu-hyun, the hero of the Allied Forces, is somehow framed as a slaughterer, or even as a follower of the Demon Race or a high-ranking Demon Race disguised as a human, they will be able to gather the scattered public sentiment and morale again.

‘That won’t do.

Absolutely not.’

Kim Yu-hyun must remain a hero and guardian of the Allied Forces forever.

If even a slight scratch is made on that, the Celestial Race, fairies, and fanatics will jump at the chance to bite and tear at him, and then we would have to calculate all sorts of measures and pay attention to it again.

“Kim Yu-hyun.

Tell me honestly.

Aren’t you tired?”

“To answer honestly, yes.

There were some strong enemies, but it wasn’t to the point where I would say I was tired.”

“Then pretend to be tired.”

“···Excuse me?”

Kim Yu-hyun’s reaction to Zion’s sudden order is, what is he talking about?

Pretend to be tired?

Wouldn’t it be better to pretend to be fine even if you’re not, to raise morale?

“This war isn’t something you or I can do alone.

Everyone has to fight, everyone has to resist, so that they don’t have any other thoughts and can focus on this fight.

It’s good to have a reliable shield, but you can’t make them rely on it too much.

Humans are originally the type to betray you even when they’re relying on you.”

“···.”

Zion didn’t miss Kim Yu-hyun’s noticeable reaction to the word ‘betrayal.’

In fact, Kim Yu-hyun had a history of being betrayed by those who claimed to believe in him in the Murim [martial arts world].

As a result, he lost the woman he loved and floundered in the abyss of despair.

“You need to cherish and cherish you as a shield and a sword, and make them recognize you as a hidden weapon to be used at the last moment, not think of you as something that can be drawn and swung around at any time.

If you seem to have no problems even after such a great performance today, the soldiers will probably have even greater expectations, right?

Ah, that man can do even more than this.

He can fight more on our behalf.

Like that.”

“···.”

“That won’t do.

It’s true that you did a great job in a big event like today, but you’re also incredibly exhausted.

In a bigger battle later, if others don’t do their part as they did today, even a strong person like me can eventually be broken.

So you have to fight harder than today, hate and be wary of the enemies more strongly.

That’s what you need to instill in them.”

At Zion’s words, Kim Yu-hyun let out a sigh and looked at Zion.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth like this.

“I understand what you’re saying, Zion-gongja [a respectful title, like ‘Lord’ or ‘Sir’].

I also know very well how fickle and shallow people’s hearts can be.

But if we just get rid of all the enemies in front of us, that won’t happen, will it?

There won’t be any more enemies to drive us into a corner.”

At that, Zion sighed inwardly.

This guy always suffers and cleans up the mess, so he doesn’t know, but originally, post-processing is much more difficult and frustrating than the process.

He thinks that he only needs to clean up the immediate burden, but after that, the person who was cleaning up the burden together becomes a burden and lies down. This happens very often.

‘Should I call it the law of conservation of morons?’

The vacancy left by the retreating enemy is always filled by someone who was once an ally.

It was hard enough with just the moron enemies, but when the guys we believed were allies start acting like morons as substitutes, there’s nothing more infuriating and frustrating than that.

“I’ll say it again, this place isn’t a battlefield where only you can fight, where only you have to fight.

It’s a battle that everyone has chosen, a battlefield where everyone has the will to participate.

You will always step in at important moments.

But you can’t give the feeling that everything will be fine if only you are there.

Humans are originally like that.

At first, they are grateful for what you do, but later they take it for granted as a right.

Then, when they think they’ve sucked everything out, they immediately kick you out.”

“···.”

Zion’s words were based exactly on Kim Yu-hyun’s past.

Kim Yu-hyun in the Murim world, where he was just fighting and winning.

But people are not so pure, not so kind, and they don’t think about him.

What they think about first and foremost is themselves, that’s what humans are.

Of course, there are exceptions, but let’s skip that because it’s not important right now.

“To put it simply, let’s make everyone here remember this fight as their own work, their own past, their own achievement, and their own glory.

Later, if some crazy bastard picks on this, or if the enemies say some strange nonsense again, the people here shouldn’t just go over it like reeds, saying, ‘Is that so?’

They should show infinite animosity, saying, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ and become a fence for you.”

And a fence for me as well.

Muttering that last word only to himself, Zion got off his horse and patted Kim Yu-hyun on the shoulder.

“···.”

Kim Yu-hyun looked at Zion and wondered how many people had ever said such things to him.

There were many who told him to sacrifice himself for others, who said it was his duty, but there were very few who told him to think about himself first.

Maybe, maybe even if he included Zion, there would only be two.

‘He’s really similar to my senior brother.’

Perhaps that’s why he, who has a personality that doesn’t trust people easily, trusts and follows that noble man named Zion Klausen.

A person who always puts himself and his people first, rather than others.

Even if that may sound extremely personal or selfish to some, he is a person who moves forward with conviction and without wavering in his words and actions.

Kim Yu-hyun himself couldn’t do that, and considering how many people suffered because of that, he was feeling considerable curiosity and favor towards Zion, who was completely different from him.

“More than that, there’s a face I haven’t seen before.”

At Zion’s words, Kim Yu-hyun let out a sigh and pointed to Shiela, who had come up behind him, and opened his mouth.

“This is Shiela, a high-ranking Celestial Race member who I once clashed with.

Perhaps Lord Rishikida remembers her.”

“Rishi?”

“Ah, yes.

That’s right.

At that time, she was a Celestial Race member who was coming to Hispania when the Queen was still a princess.”

When Rishikida answered that way, Zion squinted slightly and looked at the Celestial Race member.

The name Shiela was a character that was mentioned once or twice in the novel and never appeared again.

Thanks to that, there was almost nothing he knew, and in this case, he had to rely entirely on Kim Yu-hyun’s judgment and thoughts.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Yu-hyun.

I’m Shiela, Zion Klausen-gongja.”

“···.”

Whether she knew Zion’s worries or not, Shiela greeted him as if she were a normal heteromorph [a being of different form or species] living very well among humans.

Rishikida, who had fought a great battle with her, was guarding Zion’s side with extreme vigilance, but Shiela waved her hand at the sight.

“I know what you’re worried about.

I’ve already told Yu-hyun, but if Zion Klausen-gongja wants, I can explain exactly what our descendants of light have been thinking and what they’ve been doing so far.”

Zion already knows what the Celestial Race has been thinking and what they’ve been doing.

That means he can tell whether this high-ranking Celestial Race woman is lying or whether she has really surrendered.

Zion looked at Kim Yu-hyun and nodded to mean, ‘Can I really trust this woman’s surrender?’ and Kim Yu-hyun scratched his forehead as if he had a headache and frowned, but nodded to mean that he could be trusted.

‘It seems like something strange happened with this woman.’

In fact, in the novel, Kim Yu-hyun had a romantic vibe with a Celestial Race woman.

Of course, as befits a full-fledged protagonist suffering novel, she eventually chose the path of completing the mission of her race, and Kim Yu-hyun naturally killed her when she tried to stop him.

Kim Yu-hyun lived a life where he really couldn’t be happy.

Because of that, Zion knew very well that he unknowingly wanted a peaceful life, and that he wanted to live that life with people he loved and cherished.

He used that in various ways and eventually brought him this far.

“Well, let’s talk about you and your great Celestial Race later.”

“I understand.”

Even though he spoke in a subtle tone that belittled the Celestial Race, Shiela doesn’t react at all.

If she were a Celestial Race member, she should have said something about how a human was criticizing the descendants of light, but it was impossible to know whether she was really acting or whether she was so infatuated with Kim Yu-hyun that she would even abandon her position as a Celestial Race member.

“Master, it seems like the battlefield cleanup is almost done.”

“Is that so?”

The enemies retreated, and the work of transporting the wounded and handling the dead from both the allies and the enemies was roughly coming to an end.

Zion, who had been aiming for this very moment, called out to Kim Yu-hyun, who was standing blankly and looking at what he had done.

“Kim Yu-hyun.”

“Yes, Gongja-nim [another respectful title].”

“As I said before, there are no innocent people in war.

If you don’t want to see your people get hurt while worrying about others, don’t think weak thoughts and don’t say stupid things.

You are not a monster or an enemy who massacred those who fell there, but a hero who saved our Hispania and Nudia.

Just think about that.

If you show a weak side, people won’t pity you, but they’ll look down on you for showing a weakness.

And they’ll try to use you.

The stupid ones will shout that it’s good to be saved, but later they may say that you’re actually a monster or a demon.”

After saying that, Zion handed over the horse that he had prepared in advance.

He deliberately prepared the most handsome white horse and told Kim Yu-hyun to get on the saddle.

Then, he deliberately put Kim Yu-hyun further ahead than himself.

“Lord Kim Yu-hyun!

Lord Kim Yu-hyun!”

The soldiers in the eastern region of Hispania, who recognized him first, cheered.

He had recently wreaked havoc on the soldiers of Nudia, and this time he showed the very sight of a disaster against the Holy Prussen army.

If there is a god, it would be enough to think that he sent a hero named Kim Yu-hyun to punish the false light and save those who were suffering from that light.

“The Sword of Hispania!

The Sword of Hispania!”

Following that, the knights and all the soldiers of Hispania shouted and cheered loudly.

They had survived the terrible battlefield just a moment ago, and for that reason, they were very tired and exhausted, but the appearance of the hero who had saved them from that hell was so overwhelming that they even forgot about that.

“A sword that judges the false!

A light that punishes the hypocrites!”

Nudia also saw his performance very clearly.

He completely overturned the war situation with just one sword, and he simply suppressed those terrifying Celestial Race members who were massacring the allies with just his strength.

Although that man had slaughtered his comrades in the past, it would be right, and good for everyone, to call him a hero who saved them, rather than an enemy of Nudia.

“Lord Kim Yu-hyun!

Lord Kim Yu-hyun!”

Even a Celestial Race woman and a Dragonkin are following behind him.

Looking at that sight, many people gathered here will probably think this.

A story that people have heard and grown up with as much as the story of the descendants of light.

A story about a great human hero who is followed even by the Celestial Race, the noblest race in the world, and the Dragonkin, the strongest race except for the Demon Race.

“···.”

Kim Yu-hyun looked at the soldiers and then glanced at Zion, who was following behind him.

Asking a question that was quite frustrating from Zion’s point of view, asking what he should do.

‘If I set the table, please eat, please.

Yu-hyun.

How long do I have to spoon-feed you?’

Clap clap clap!―

When Zion clapped, all the commanders around him clapped.

At that, all the soldiers clapped and cheered, celebrating the appearance of the hero who had punished the false and hypocritical light that had been arrogant.

Kim Yu-hyun blankly looked around, then gave a light smile and properly showed the sight of a hero as Zion wanted and as they wanted.