Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 358

“The Emperor demands the Holy Kingdom surrender, or the Pope must give up his position to the Emperor.”

A deep voice came from the dark room. A person in a very dark robe was speaking.

“[This is crazy!]” But the old man’s voice on the speaker sounded calm.

“Yes, but Elder Gares’s group went too far. If we don’t do what they want, the Emperor’s family will hunt us down again.”

“[About that… something feels wrong. I think things went wrong from the beginning.]”

The black robe bit his lip. He was worried about what was happening now. But the Tower Master seemed stuck thinking about something in the past that was already decided.

“Tower Master, I’m sorry, but we need to think about the future, not the past. We’ve already lost many people, and too much is known now. If they start hunting us again, it will be terrible.”

To influence the Holy Kingdom, many important leaders and skilled people have already shown their true selves and taken action.

The black robe’s words were not an exaggeration.

“[A disaster? Yes, it is a disaster. Then, try to delay them as long as you can. I will look for him in the Demon Forest while you do that.]”

The black robe knew who ‘him’ was and why the Tower Master wanted to find him.

‘But this is not the right time for that!’ he thought angrily.

The black robe felt frustrated. The Tower Master was their most important person, but he didn’t seem to understand how dangerous things were.

“Tower Master, I know the Holy Sword, the Ancestor’s relic, is important, but right now, the situation is…”

“[Even if I go to the Holy Kingdom, it won’t matter.]”

“Yes?”

[We can’t fight the Empire directly. Not until we get what we truly want. Even if we win some small fights, they are too strong. They will push us back and destroy us in the end. So, we must delay them.]

“But the Emperor gave us a deadline! Only one month! The hunt could start then! If that happens, we might have to hide for hundreds of years again!”

“[I know. But if we agree to that crazy demand, we will have nothing left to bargain with.]”

“Yes?”

[Make the Pope say they surrender? People will immediately reject that. But the Empire will use that as an excuse to attack the Holy Kingdom. If normal people disagree with what the Pope says, it will be the perfect reason for them. And once that happens, the Empire, the Emperor, won’t need us anymore.]

“Does that mean…?”

[The time for us to work together will end… it can’t be stopped. So, we have to delay them. We need to decide how this will end, at least.]

“Tower Master…”

[I don’t know what the Emperor will do. But try to survive as long as you can and escape with the Bracelet of Supremacy. You can leave the others behind.]

“Are you saying we should abandon the leaders who are already in the Holy Kingdom?”

[It would be best if you could take them.]

But that’s impossible.

The black robe understood what the Tower Master didn’t say.

[While you do that, I will find the Holy Sword. Then, after we have three powerful objects, including the one I already have, we will wait for the war.]

“Is a war really going to happen?”

[Yes. The Empire has been secretly preparing for this for many years. Now, even the Emperor can’t stop it. We can use the war that will spread everywhere.]

“So, the prophecy is true…?”

[We will make the time when the gods are gone come faster, and bring our god to this world. That is the only way to make all our dreams come true.]

The old man looked very sure as he said this.

“What is this dog?” Aileen asked, curious. She was happy to see her husband back at the palace, and now there was a silver puppy following him.

Its fur was very shiny, like polished silver, and its eyes sparkled like bright jewels. It was so cute, you couldn’t help but look at it.

But her husband’s answer was strange.

“It’s like a secret weapon, I guess.”

“A dog?”

“Woof!” Tir barked, annoyed that Aileen kept calling him a dog.

But when he barked, he was still small, only reaching up to someone’s knees. He looked more cute than scary.

“Oh, how cute.”

“Sniff.”

Tir seemed happy as Aileen stroked his head, even though he turned his head away a little.

‘It’s more than just the contract,’ Logan thought, smiling a little. He remembered making the contract with Tir in the Demon Forest.

The contract was made with a special power, a shared wish between two beings. This explained why Tir, who had been freed from a magical prison and taken his master’s power, was still here in the Demon Forest. It also explained why there were no more divine beasts like him left in the world.

Long ago, a wise person called the Sword God wrote in a book called the Divine Sword Vision that divine beasts got their power from people’s wishes and worship. But after a very old time called the Mythical Age, people’s wishes became weaker. As the world changed and became more modern, people stopped worshiping divine beasts.

These two changes happened faster and faster. Even when the Sword God lived, divine beasts were already starting to disappear.

‘When the world was created, after the Mythical Age ended, the Creator wanted divine beasts to disappear after they finished their purpose.’ The Sword God also wrote that they were sad creatures who were going to die out anyway. So, we should care for them, even if they are not useful. If Tir took the power of wishes from the essence and made a contract, he could live a full life.

But things didn’t go as planned. Maybe even the Sword God and Taron, who could see the future, didn’t expect Tir to eat that power.

So, Tir now was a creature who didn’t need a contract with anyone.

But Tir still wanted to follow Logan. In the end, he even made a contract that was not fair to himself, just to help Logan, and came into the world.

And the reason was probably…

“You understand me? Wow, you’re so smart!” Aileen said happily.

“Whimper.”

Tir leaned his head into Aileen’s hand as she gently stroked him.

Because they both had the same wish power, Logan could feel Tir’s feelings a little bit from the start. After they made the contract, Logan could understand Tir’s thoughts completely.

– Feels good. Warm.

– It makes my heart feel funny.

And.

– …I miss someone.

“Woof!” He even felt sadness for someone from long ago who wasn’t here anymore.

Tir’s feelings were so strong that Logan felt his own heart ache.

“You were lonely,” Logan murmured. ‘Maybe I should have petted him more on the way back,’ he thought. Logan reached out his hand, feeling Tir’s sad but warm feelings. He wanted to pet Tir now, with Aileen.

Suddenly, *thud*.

“Huh?” Logan stopped. Tir moved back a little and lifted his paw, stopping Logan from touching him.

‘But weren’t you lonely?’ Logan wondered.

“Sniff.”

It felt like Tir was saying, ‘But not you.’

Tir turned away from Logan and rubbed his head against Aileen’s leg again.

Logan held out his hand to the silver dog, but Tyr just turned his head away, nose in the air. Was he still sulking? Logan froze, feeling a pang of embarrassment. It was silly to feel rejected by a dog, even one as unusual as Tyr.

Aileen, who had been watching from the doorway, laughed. “Hahaha! Looks like someone likes me more than you, Logan!”

Logan sighed, a small smile touching his lips. “…Tyr,” he said softly.

Aileen, still chuckling, replied, “Yes?”

“That creature’s name is Tyr,” Logan explained. “And he’s not just any dog.”

Logan patiently explained to his wife that he hadn’t meant to be late, telling her what had made the divine beast sulk.

“Oh… Is he really that strong?” Aileen looked doubtful, even after Logan’s explanation.

After all, Tyr, who had been so friendly from the start, was now purring happily on Aileen’s lap, fast asleep. Except for his mystically glowing, soft silver fur, he looked like a cute puppy.

“I promise you, he is. Even I can’t easily guess what would happen if I fought him as I am now.”

“That strong…? Wow, Tyr. You’re quite something,” Aileen said, realizing Logan wasn’t joking, and stroked him admiringly. The beast, lying on her lap with his eyes closed, seemed to smile contentedly.

A divine beast who liked his companion more than his owner.

Logan felt another wave of disappointment but quickly changed the subject.

“Did anything strange happen while I was gone? I gave clear instructions, but…”

“What could have happened? You were the one doing all the dangerous things.”

Logan winced and looked away from his wife’s sharp look.

The trip had been longer and more eventful than he had said when he left. It seemed now wasn’t the time to make excuses about how necessary it had been.

Luckily, Aileen sighed softly and quickly told him what he had been wanting to hear.

“The two sites have been finished recently, and the magic circles are almost set up at those two sites, as well as the three fortresses on the western front, including Kyle.”

“Already…?”

“The preparations you mentioned are almost done. Maybe that’s why everyone seems even more tense.”

‘Everyone’ probably meant those close to him who knew the Empire’s invasion was coming soon.

Aileen’s face was slightly flushed, showing a bit of worry along with her happiness at seeing her husband after so long.

Feeling his own heart pound as if the tension had moved to him, Logan took a deep breath and hugged his beloved after so long.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

“Of course. It has to be.”

He felt better with his wife’s gentle pat on his back, but then she said something unexpected.

“It’s been too quiet here without you.”

Logan laughed at Aileen’s unexpected words.

“Hahaha.”

“Woof!” Tyr, woken up by the sudden noise, frowned and barked. Even after that, laughter echoed for a while from inside the royal palace.

Not many days had passed since Logan secretly returned to the palace when Viktor, the guard knight who had disappeared around the same time, arrived at the royal castle, covered in sweat.

Flap.

Thud.

“Open the gates!”

“Huh.”

“Sir, Sir Viktor!”

“Loyalty!”

While the guard checked his ID and opened the gates, Viktor looked at the horse that had collapsed, foam at its mouth, and sighed. At first, he had felt sorry for the collapsing horse, but even that feeling had faded after seeing it happen so many times.

The result of nearly ten horses’ unwilling sacrifice and endless sprints fueled by boundless energy was a miracle: crossing the continent in just half a month.

The only downside was that he had lost nearly 10kg, which no one would believe even if he told them.

‘Damn it.’

However, the person who had made that miracle happen was only worried about the Saintess’s safety and what would happen in the Holy Kingdom. Also, he felt helpless because he couldn’t do anything about it.

The amazing power that the Holy Sword had shown him a month ago kept coming to mind.

That man who was probably on his way to the Holy City by now.

‘If I were stronger than him, or even a little bit similar, I wouldn’t have let the Saintess go like that….’

The more he thought, the more he hated himself.

“The Emperor?”

“Yes?”

“Is His Majesty inside?”

“Of course, he is, it’s working hours, isn’t it?” The knight said, as if wondering why he would ask such a thing.

Only then did Viktor realize he was being impatient. He calmed down and controlled his breathing.

“Sir Viktor, go in.”

However, as soon as another knight spoke, he forgot about trying to calm himself and had to rush into the inner castle.

And on the way, he met both an unwelcome face and a welcome one.

“Viktor?”

“Oh, Sir Viktor? Where have you been rushing off to?” His friend Ronian and his rival, Louisa von Aserian.

The strange sight of the two of them walking side by side, smiling, caught his eye. They almost looked like lovers.

He wondered how that could be, but he didn’t have time to think about it right now.

“It’s not important for you to know.”

He couldn’t talk about his mission with Louisa there, even if Ronian was there.

As Viktor tried to pass them, Louisa spoke with a strange look.

“If someone very strong is sweating that much, it must have been something very busy. Or quite difficult.”

Viktor had to glare at Louisa with a fierce look.

The fact that he was superhuman was a secret. Yet one of the people who shouldn’t know it knew the truth.

Viktor’s fierce gaze shifted to Louisa’s side, to his friend Ronian.

But Ronian, seeing his look, just shook his head with a wry smile.

‘He seems fine, though.’

Then this woman figured it out on her own.

What should he do?

Scary thoughts filled his already tense mind, and then another voice continued, annoying him even more.

“His Majesty knows too, so there’s no need to look at me so fiercely. By the way, would you mind telling me where you’ve been? That would really make it a secret.”

Viktor simply turned away without saying anything.

‘Reporting on the mission comes first.’

He had to ignore Louisa’s meaningful gaze fixed on the back of his head as he turned away.