Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 472

News spread quickly: Lord Clayton was gone from Kyle Castle. The leaders of McLane, who were about to return home after leaving some soldiers behind, quickly called a meeting.

*A loud bang echoed as the door crashed open.* “Lord Damian!” Victoria shouted, rushing into the room. Damian sighed, a tired sound, but stepped towards her, his face showing concern. “W-What happened?!” Victoria stammered, her voice shaking.

“Like you heard, Lord Clayton… well, he’s gone. His body is gone. It looks like he was kidnapped,” Damian explained.

“What were the guards at Kyle Castle doing?!” Victoria demanded, her voice full of anger.

Victoria’s voice was sharp with worry, but no one corrected her. Everyone knew how much she respected Lord Clayton, her teacher.

Logan shifted uncomfortably, avoiding Victoria’s angry stare. “We made security stronger after the Saintess came back. But… I worried that rumors were spreading. And it seems…”

Damian spoke calmly, taking over. “The report says it was something they couldn’t stop.”

“Why?” Victoria asked, still tense.

“All the knights guarding inside the castle were found asleep,” Damian explained. “They were hit by strong magic, it seems. But no one was hurt.”

*The enemy was strong enough to stop anyone, but they didn’t kill anyone.*

“That’s right,” Logan added quickly. “If they wanted to kill Lord Clayton, he would be dead. And robbers couldn’t get inside the inner castle.” Damian nodded and smiled gently at Victoria, trying to calm her.

“Yes,” Damian said. “It might not make you feel better, but at least Lord Clayton is probably alive.”

“Are you even hearing what you’re saying?!” Victoria’s voice rose again, still worried. Damian quickly added, “If they just wanted to kill Lord Clayton, or take his body, there would be dead people. But not even one soldier is dead, let alone a knight.”

“Does that mean…” Victoria started to think.

“Maybe they want to talk,” Damian guessed. “Maybe they hope we won’t attack them right away. They will probably contact us, or you, Lady Victoria, soon. They will want something.”

*Why else would someone take the body of an old mage like Lord Clayton?* Damian’s idea made sense.

“But who would be brave enough to kidnap Lord Clayton and ask McLane for something?” someone asked.

“Maybe the Empire, or the Kassel Magic Tower,” suggested the Sword Master. Ronian agreed. Who else would risk angering McLane, now stronger than ever after beating the Empire?

“But if they want to fight, why didn’t they kill anyone?” someone asked.

“Maybe they want a deal, not a fight,” someone else said. “Like asking us to stop attacking, or give back land we’ve won. Something that looks good for them.” Luther and Wicken agreed.

The Sword Master spoke, his face serious. “Your Majesty, I must warn you… if they ask us to give back the lands we’ve taken…”

“No,” Damian said firmly, cutting him off. “Absolutely not.”

The Sword Master stopped talking, looking at Victoria. Victoria’s face fell at Damian’s words. Logan shook his head calmly.

“They won’t ask for something too unfair,” Logan said. “It will be something like a promise not to attack each other, or changing how much money they owe us from the war.”

Luther looked confused. “But didn’t you already plan to only do that anyway?”

“They don’t know what we’re planning, you fool,” someone snapped back.

“…Want to fight?” Luther asked, still confused.

“…Think about what’s happening!” someone else said, annoyed.

Everyone sighed at this familiar argument.

“I hope that’s all they want…” Logan thought, tapping his fingers on the chair, worried. Victoria stepped closer to him.

“Your Majesty,” Victoria said, her voice firm. “Whoever took Lord Clayton, even if they ask for something unfair, please just give me some time. I will fix this.” Victoria’s face was determined.

*’She wants to handle it herself…’* Logan thought, sighing softly. He stood up, placing his hands on Victoria’s shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

“Lia,” he said gently, using her nickname. “This is not your fault. It’s my job to fix this.”

“But…” Victoria started to protest.

“Even if they try to talk to you secretly, I will take care of it,” Logan said firmly. “I owe Lord Clayton so much. I have to save him. I will save him.”

*Logan’s words could sound like empty promises, since they knew so little.* But Victoria nodded quickly, her worry seeming to fade.

“Yes,” she said. “If you say so, Your Majesty, I believe you.”

Logan smiled a little, surprised at how quickly she calmed down. *’She really trusts me,’* he thought, feeling grateful. *’And I can’t let her down.’*

“Yes,” Logan said, his voice stronger now, like a promise to himself. “Trust me. I will fix this.”

“Yes,” Victoria repeated, her eyes shining with belief. “If you say you will, then it will be done.”

Logan felt a strange, almost too strong, belief in her eyes as she spoke. He patted her shoulder and stood up.

But then…

“Then we don’t need to talk about this anymore,” someone said.

“Of course,” another agreed. “Because Your Majesty will fix it.”

“So, it’s all settled then?”

“If Your Majesty is going to handle it, then it will be fine.”

Damian, usually so smart, started saying strange things. Soon, everyone in the room was nodding in agreement.

Logan stared at them, confused. But thankfully, two people reacted differently.

“Wait,” Logan said, frowning. “Why is everyone acting like this?”

“Logan,” his mentor said slowly, “there’s something… strange about your words. I can feel it.”

His wife, who always understood him so well, nodded. “Yes, there is something.”

“What is it… Wait,” Logan said, his brow furrowed as he started to understand. He looked inwards, focusing on his own soul.

His soul, which had grown so strong as an Aura Master, was now even bigger and brighter than before, as if it had broken through a barrier.

Logan felt a strange light inside him. It was not like the feeling of wanting something very much that came from deep inside.

And Logan could understand what it meant.

Logan thought, “This is my own power, the power of my will.” It was not just wanting something really badly. It was something stronger, coming from his own mind.

And words spoken with such firm will…

“Shatter.”

*Crack!*

It becomes reality.

Logan’s eyes went wide. The chair he was just sitting on was now broken into pieces on the floor.

He hadn’t used the Force. He had simply wished for the chair to break and spoken the word.

This is like…

“Magic!?”

It felt like magic! This was strange, even more than just surprising. Getting a new power should be exciting. But Logan felt worried. He knew right away that this power could cause big problems.

“Damian.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Logan wanted to test his new power on people. He turned to Damian.

“Damian, I need you to do something. Say something really mean to me. The worst thing you can think of.”

Damian nodded politely, then instantly changed his expression.

“Hey! You think you can just do anything you want? Why even ask for my advice then! You know how much work I have to do, you idiot! Mmph, mmph!?”

The Sword Master, startled by the sudden act, hurriedly covered Damian’s mouth. Only then did the other superhumans realize something was wrong and look at their lord with surprised eyes.

“Y-Your Majesty, what is this?”

“Why is Damian acting like this…?”

“Come to think of it, why were we just about to leave without even preparing countermeasures?”

“Well, because His Majesty would take care of it… Gasp!?”

The other superhumans looked at Logan, confused. One of them asked, “Your Majesty, what’s going on?” Another one said, “Why is Damian acting like this?” Someone else suddenly realized, “Wait a minute… why were we about to leave without planning anything? Oh no!” Damian, still with his mouth covered, looked around, totally lost. “Why? What did I do wrong? I just did what Logan told me!”

Amidst all of this, Logan let out a deep sigh and covered his face.

Dealing with Clayton’s case was put on hold for the time being.

He had ordered an investigation according to protocol, but no one expected the knights of Kyle Castle to achieve anything.

Leaving only the assumption that the kidnapper had some kind of purpose, he instructed them to immediately report if Victoria or her siblings contacted them separately.

And Logan locked himself in his room and meditated. For now, solving the sudden problem was his top priority.

Logan knew his power was growing stronger, what they called ‘rising in realm.’ This was usually a good thing. People dreamed of reaching the highest level, the ‘divine realm,’ like becoming a god. Logan could even become the first ‘Aura Master’ to do it. This should have made him happy.

But an absurd side effect had occurred. The cause was easily identified after several experiments.

Logan realized that as his soul became stronger, he could change things around him, like magic. Because he was also a powerful Aura Master, someone who could control battles, this new magic power caused a strange problem.

The souls of others who had been under the battlefield dominance would carry out even the strangest orders if he gave them.

It was a perfect trait for a monarch, but…

At this point, it’s hard to see me as human, isn’t it.

A hollow smile lingered on his lips.

Everyone follows his words. Without any disagreement or resistance.

In this situation, it would be abnormal to be seized by a desire for domination and rejoice. If he were a normal person, he would want to live harmoniously among human-like people rather than being alone among puppets.

But should he give up his own development because of that?

Even if he didn’t know for sure, Logan sensed that he could reach the realm of the divine as soon as a certain trigger occurred in this state.

But he wasn’t very happy about it. It was also his intuition that even his teacher and wife, who had been holding out, would follow his words like dolls if that happened.

What should I do…?

A worry he had never even imagined before filled his mind.

Should I give up?

He knew how to stop his power from growing. He could hurt his soul a little bit, and then not let it heal completely. If he did that, his power would stay where it was. He wouldn’t become more powerful, but he could go back to being normal.

But being able to be reborn as a superior being was also an irresistible temptation for humans.

Give up the ecstasy of that promotion?

Whether they were knights, wizards, or even low-level ability users, once they tasted the joy of ecstasy, they would never forget that pleasure and crave it for the rest of their lives.

Even if they were someone who knew that they had reached their limit and could no longer develop.

People always want to become stronger. It’s a feeling that’s hard to give up, even if you know you can’t go any further.

But Logan soon came to a conclusion.

“Why am I even worrying about this?”

Tch.

He chuckled as he realized he was caught up in unnecessary worries.

Logan thought back to when he had been given a second chance, a chance to go back and fix his mistakes. He had used this chance to help his kingdom win against a powerful empire. Maybe other great Aura Masters in the past, like the legendary Sword God, had faced similar choices.

As a result, he was able to relieve the resentment in his heart to the fullest, and he achieved everything he wanted.

Now all that was left was the aftermath.

Something he could do or not do.

“I will live as a human being. By my family’s side.”

Logan muttered to himself as if vowing to himself.

Family. Yes, that was enough.

Divine being?

If he couldn’t live like a human being by the side of his loved ones, he didn’t need such a grand realm.

Perhaps some of the Aura Masters, starting with the ancient Sword God, did not break their own limits because they knew this fact.

Yes, there must have been someone like that.

Logan set his path with such conviction. And he sharply honed his soul and embodied a sword in his mind.

A very small scratch will do. There’s nothing dangerous about it.