Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 290

Viktor stopped. A strange feeling, like a wrong note in a song, made him pause.

He was sure no normal guard could see him. His special suit hid him perfectly, and he moved like a ghost in the shadows – almost as well as the real ghosts he’d fought before.

But something felt wrong. A feeling that things were not right bothered him more and more. If someone asked him what was wrong, he couldn’t say exactly. It was just a vague feeling, but it was strong.

‘The guard strength is as the information stated….’

Swish.

From shadow to shadow, leaping over the inner walls of the Royal Castle of Tahiti, he scanned again, but there was nothing unusual in the movements of the guard.

‘Then why does it feel so out of place?’

He had a strange conviction that he shouldn’t simply dismiss this feeling.

Eventually, Viktor stopped in the shadows inside the wall and carefully thought about everything he had seen during his infiltration. He knew that the southern nights, with summer approaching, were quite short, but he needed to identify the source of this strange feeling before moving on.

Fortunately, he was able to find the reason before too long.

‘…The knightly level of the guards is lower than I thought.’

He hadn’t noticed it right away because he was passing through so quickly.

He hadn’t investigated closely, nor did he have the time.

Perhaps it was just a mistake. But Viktor was certain. It wasn’t as strong as his lord’s special senses, but his senses were so sharp he could know who someone was just by feeling their presence, even without seeing them, told him so.

‘Below the rank of regular knight, not even strong knights. They’re wearing knight armor, but they’re like students learning to be knights.’

The knight in charge of the night watch should be a regular knight, and the overall supervisor should be a mid-level knight of the deputy commander class, but their level was significantly lower.

It was unlikely that the Tahiti Kingdom’s knight selection criteria were unusually low.

Since long ago, different groups of people, called Ancestral Races, moved across the land. Humans came to dominate the continent and prospered alarmingly. People who could use special powers, were once the strongest knights in ancient times, had long been the minimum qualification for a knight.

But to give the knighthood to those at the level of knight trainees?

It was something that could make people think the kingdom was very weak and in trouble. In the case of a kingdom that was already considered weak, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it could be the beginning of the collapse of the nation.

Then there was only one possibility left.

‘The real knights have been pulled out to somewhere else? Why?’

Even after staying in Tihinan for nearly ten days, he hadn’t heard any rumors of a major incident in the kingdom. That meant that the high-level forces, the knights, had disappeared without it being known to the outside world.

Why?

Why?

But the time for that worry was short.

‘If the guard strength has been reduced, all the better for me.’

He didn’t care about the kingdom’s circumstances. Once an idea came to him, he would try it out.

He had been influenced by the behavior of the person who had had the greatest impact on his life in recent years.

His movements began to be more daring and faster.

In front of the inner castle of the Tahiti Royal Castle, which was more than 700 years old and extremely antique.

In front of the main palace of the inner castle, which was quite large compared to the size of the country, a group of people rushed out.

A loud commotion that was not suitable for the late night hours.

Moreover, one of the dozen or so people was being half-carried out by two people, covered in blood.

“Bloody hell. What’s all this fuss in the middle of the night?”

“I’ve heard a lot about how strange wizards are, but those guys are too much. Dick is….”

“Shhh. Be quiet. What if someone hears….”

“Does it matter if they hear! Dick is now….”

“If you get caught, you’ll end up like Dick.”

“Is that what you’re saying right now…!”

“Ugh….”

“Dick! Stay strong! We’ll take you to the priests soon, so hang in there until then!”

Only after hearing the injured man’s groan did they stop arguing, and in that gap, an intruder who had crossed the ceiling above their heads was able to move more easily into the inner castle.

Of course, the intruder, who was still listening to everything, tilted his head slightly as he moved at a rapid pace.

‘Wizards?’

Even a kingdom is still a country.

There was also a magic tower in the Kingdom of Tahiti.

However, it was small in scale, and in fact, it was known that they did not frequent the royal castle these days because their relationship with the royal family was not good.

But wizards at this time….

‘Wizards have been added to the existing guard force.’

Viktor kept that in mind and carefully entered the main palace through the open window.

And at that moment.

Viktor frowned at the faint sensation that swept through his body. It was such a subtle feeling that an ordinary person wouldn’t have even noticed it, but he knew exactly what that feeling meant.

‘Mana!’

The direction it pointed was one.

‘Boundary magic……. Bloody hell!’

Things had gone wrong.

Boundary magic that covered the entire main palace was by no means an easy task.

The casting of the magic itself would not be very difficult, but if the scale was very large, the story would be different.

To maintain that magic over the entire main palace, which was a very large palace, a considerable amount of wealth, especially magic stones, would be needed.

Furthermore, ordinary people who come and go on a regular basis should be allowed to pass through, and only outsiders should be filtered out. However, a royal castle usually has hundreds or thousands of permanent residents, and even the servants change frequently.

In the end, it was a method that even McLaine’s royal castle, Granfia, could not implement due to the necessary manpower and the enormous consumption of magic stones.

But in a mere kingdom?

‘And it was such a subtle magic that I couldn’t even feel it before I entered.’

It was something that overturned the perception of the Tahiti Kingdom’s magic tower power, but the immediate important issue was not that.

‘Retreat for now.’

Viktor wasn’t stupid enough to continue the work even though he knew he had been caught.

However, he had to hesitate again as he was about to leave the main palace.

‘There’s no change…?’

The surroundings were too quiet.

If the boundary magic had been activated, there should have been some kind of response. The Knights and soldiers should be moving, and the royal castle should be in an uproar.

But no matter how hard he strained his eyes and ears, he couldn’t feel any movement.

That made Viktor conflicted.

If he hadn’t known anything about boundary magic, he would have retreated immediately, but the knowledge of boundary or tracking magic that he had learned from asking his brother many times as soon as he took on this mission, and the information about the Kingdom of Tahiti, deepened the conflict.

‘It’s difficult to operate this level of boundary magic normally with the kingdom’s wealth or manpower. It doesn’t make sense to keep such a subtle magic going.’

The first King of Tahiti was a powerful mage. He was also a wizard who used very special and powerful magic.

So, he had heard that the royal castle in the early days of the kingdom was equipped with all sorts of powerful magical systems that were second to none to the imperial family of the empire.

Then….

‘Could it be that the magic itself isn’t subtle, but just a weakened magic circle that was left behind?’

Once he made that inference, it began to feel as if it were true.

Moreover, a mission was a mission.

If he retreated now, could he find out the identity of this magic, even with Grick sent back?

No, could he even try again?

‘Impossible. I can’t go back now.’

Besides.

‘I volunteered for this mission alone to take risks and push my limits.’

Rather, he was worried that the mission would be too easy because of the existence of the stealth suit when he first set out.

Even if it was real boundary magic.

‘I’ll break through head-on.’

It was a conclusion that was even reckless, but Viktor rekindled his will. And at that moment, his body disappeared again as if it were seeping into the royal castle.

Viktor’s movements, who had re-entered the royal castle, were more cautious at first. But as he got closer to the depths, he gradually felt relieved by the sight of the guard force, which was no different from the information.

Unlike the knights on the walls, who were not even knights, there were troops of definite knight level patrolling the inner perimeter. It would be difficult if he was discovered, but it was easy to avoid their eyes as they moved along a set route.

Thanks to this, Viktor was able to reach the King’s bedroom safely. It had only been 30 minutes since he entered the main palace.

‘The King’s residence, the next target is only about 10 minutes away from here….’

Donati Pello became his confidant by making Leon Tahiti king, and King Leon was said to cherish him so much that he even allowed him to stay in the royal palace.

To be more precise, it was said that because he became king suddenly, by taking power from the old king, he set even his bedroom in the depths of the royal palace, where there were no windows, and kept Donati Pello, whom he could trust, by his side at all times.

Flame’s Eye, the group Viktor worked for, believed the Duke’s hatred of homosexuals was so strong that they wouldn’t even put Viktor in a nearby room.

The Duke liked to appear strong and fearless in public, but secretly, placing Viktor far away was a cautious, even fearful, move. Viktor thought this made his mission easier.

“The Duke and Donati Pello must both be killed instantly, before the other one notices and runs away,” Viktor thought.

He reviewed the plan again, took a breath, and hid in the shadows of the hallway, waiting for the patrol to move as far away as possible.

“Now!”

With a soft scratch, Viktor broke the lock. Then, with a louder thud, he kicked the door open and jumped inside.

“Gasp!?”

He was shocked to see a blade coming right at him. Flash! Bang! A sudden light and a loud noise exploded in the room.

“Kugh!”

“Hmm…”

Viktor slid back from the impact, revealing his figure in black stealth clothing.

‘Damn it!’

The magical device Viktor used, an old tool for assassins, was losing its power because he wasn’t using it in the way it was meant to be used.

“Ho, you blocked that? It was an unexpected surprise attack, but you’re quite something,” a voice said.

Viktor quickly regained his composure and looked ahead. He saw a man who didn’t look like the Duke Leon Tahini he had been told about.

The man had blue eyes, neatly combed brown hair, a well-groomed brown beard, and stylish sideburns. Viktor knew who it was immediately.

‘Greg.’

Greg, one of the top knights Donati Pello had brought, pointed a sword with toothed blades at Viktor. The sword breaker didn’t suit his handsome face.

“I heard the reports, but you really came. Are you really alone? Does MacLane have so few talents?” Greg asked.

With that one sentence, Viktor understood many things.

The barrier magic from before was indeed a barrier, and he had foolishly walked into a trap.

Next to Greg, another top-tier knight, Natman, held a short spear, his eyes shining. A dozen or so knights lined up behind him, making it a perfect trap.

‘The information was leaked.’

They knew he was from MacLane and that he would come alone. The only people who knew about this plan were the Lord, Dwayne, Damian Nadal, and Grik, who had accompanied him. They were all key figures who couldn’t be distrusted. But where had the leak come from?

As Viktor’s thoughts raced, Greg spoke.

“Well, why don’t you just get caught quietly? Greg’s skills are a bit scary, you know.”

Viktor focused on Greg’s strange habit of referring to himself in the third person.

“…If I get caught quietly, what do you guarantee?” Viktor asked.

He modulated his voice using Force.

Greg frowned at the skill, which required considerable talent, but he answered the question.

“Ho? Hmm. First, to show our good intentions, your life is guaranteed, of course. If you cooperate, I might be able to help you succeed in places other than MacLane.”

It seemed the enemy in front of him wasn’t very smart.

He answered as asked. Whether it was true or not, Viktor could understand the enemy’s purpose.

‘They want to capture me and use it as evidence of this assassination attempt.’

That would cause enormous harm to the Lord and MacLane.

‘The worst thing is to be captured. Even if I die, I have to get outside the Duke’s castle.’

This mission was already a failure, so he should find out as much as possible from this lacking guy.

“How did you know I was coming alone?” Viktor asked.

The key was the word ‘alone.’ Knowing about the assassination attempt and knowing he was coming alone were different things.

The answer was unexpected.

“Hmm? Well, it’s simple. We check all the outsiders coming into Tahinan with magic. We just had to find the guy who disguised himself using magic.”

Tens of thousands of people entered Tahinan each day. Checking all of them with magic meant they had almost the same level of magical power as the Empire.

“…Are you telling me to believe that?” Viktor asked.

“Well, the guys in the back alleys of Tahinan also helped narrow down the candidates. There were a few, but I never imagined that two guys would come and that only one of them would invade. If there was no magic mark, I couldn’t have imagined it was that guy,” Greg said.

‘What mark?’

Now that things had turned out this way, it seemed like he was telling the truth. But Viktor still couldn’t believe it.

It seemed like he was chattering to deliberately cause confusion.

“The duchy’s magical power is completely unexpected, including the barrier magic from before. I can’t believe it,” Viktor said.

“Huh? What? You came in knowing you were caught in the barrier magic? Are you stupid?” Greg asked, surprised.

“Well, believe it or not,” Viktor replied.

Greg shrugged, his face full of composure.

Just when Viktor thought there was no more information to be gained, he suddenly moved without warning.

Wham!

“Cough!”

Viktor’s gray Force Blade, swung forward instantly, knocked Greg away and immediately struck Natman, who was holding a short spear.

“You bastard!”

Wham!

Natman reacted urgently, but proving that there was a difference in level even among top-tiers, he was also knocked away instantly.

As Viktor rode the momentum and was about to jump into the surrounding knights, the walls of the residence burst open, and a group appeared.

They wore black robes.

A rough voice came from the person at the front.

“Oh, was Duke Donati a lower priority? I’m late.”

Viktor’s face hardened as he realized what the subtly glowing gray energy from his body was.

‘A Magician!?’

Even a superhuman who wasn’t in the information had appeared.

“Heh, you answered all the questions I asked, so you thought I was an idiot? The real idiot is you, you bastard! Kah, spit!” Greg spat out phlegm mixed with blood, smiled slyly, and nodded toward the superhuman.

“You’re late, Gerohin-nim,” Greg said.

Then, he smiled leisurely and pointed his sword at Viktor again.

“Well, kneel down quietly, if you don’t want to see something rough.”

His expression was completely different from before.

Only then did Viktor realize that the chatter at the beginning was an act disguised as composure.

But…

‘I can’t just get caught.’

– Right now, you will never lose to top-tier knights of the same level.

– You have mastered Flame’s Divide, so even if you face an Aura User, you will be able to withstand it to some extent.

– You can have enough confidence.

He recalled the voice of his teacher and Lord, and tightened his grip on his sword again.

“Something rough?”

It was a much more dangerous moment than he had expected, but in a way, he had been hoping for this situation.

“Try it if you can,” Viktor said, smiling with a dangerous look on his face.