Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 71

“He hid how strong he really was, and now he moves even faster than we thought. He must have a powerful magical item. Logan McLaine.”

It wasn’t a forced, altered voice, but a clean, sonorous one.

Moon Knight, Plantz, had given up trying to hide his identity.

“Maybe he didn’t show himself before because of his special power?”

Having revealed his silver Force Blade, there was no need to deny it.

“I’ll take that artifact as tuition. Is it inside your armor?”

“Huh? Tuition?”

“I will teach you how scary the world can be. You are a rich young man traveling alone, and you will be robbed on your way home.”

“Aren’t you ashamed of the name Moon Knight?”

“……I was already ashamed, so I was going to make the lesson extra harsh. It’s fortunate for you that you came this far out.”

Unlike before, Plantz’s voice vibrated with murderous intent.

“Don’t let him run,” Plantz said quietly to his men. Then, he moved like lightning.

*Whoosh!*

His sword came down with the force to cut the world in half. It was much stronger than his first attack, like the first one was just a hello.

Logan used his faster body to jump away, missing the blade by only a little bit.

He wanted to get close and fight back, but then he felt a cold danger and quickly rolled backwards.

*Whoosh!*

A silver light flashed past where he had just been, making a strange, tearing sound.

Logan barely dodged it and felt cold sweat on his skin.

*A whip?* he thought, his heart pounding.

It was so fast, but he saw it. The silver blade was long and thin, like a whip. It moved in a way that made no sense with the sword.

As if to confirm that it wasn’t a mistake.

Soon, a whip-like silver light occupied the surrounding space, aiming for Logan’s entire body.

Scritch!

Whoosh!

Bang!

“Kugh!”

It was already difficult enough to parry the relentlessly attacking sword, but from the end of the sword, blades of Force over two meters long poured out irregularly like whips.

The sword and power moved faster and faster, making a silver wave that covered everything like a dream.

A silver feast pouring from the dark sky.

One of the other masked men, seeing the beautiful sight, muttered unconsciously.

“Moonlight……”

Of course, Logan, in the center of that silver wave, was dying.

He had been using the Gravity Sword since earlier, but it didn’t work at all.

Logan, gritting his teeth, decided to bring out all the cards he had.

“Combine!”

Golden light flickered on Logan’s sword, and soon eight layers of golden waves poured out against the silver wave.

“Hup!”

Wham!

The golden wave was not as fancy as the silver wave, but it filled the space with strong power, pushing everything back.

When the silver and golden Forces collided, dust spread everywhere with a roar.

Flash!

A golden line momentarily flashed through the space amidst the thick dust.

“Wh-what!”

“Wait. Plantz’s Force is steadfast.”

Even without the enemies’ voices, Logan was feeling it too.

Logan’s complexion, hidden in the dust, was pale with despair.

‘Damn it! There’s no sensation. It’s a failure.’

Thanks to using the 1st and 2nd forms of the Divine Sword Secret Art, Wave Cleaving and Iron Cleaving, in succession, Logan fell into a state of exhaustion.

Because of that, he couldn’t clearly feel the direction of the murderous intent pouring out from the front.

“Ugh!”

He just moved his sword forward and jumped back without thinking. It was the best he could do in that moment.

Bang!

“Urp!”

But that wasn’t enough to completely block the attack, and Logan, unable to withstand the impact, rolled over and barely managed to stand up.

Then, through the settling dust, he saw Plantz, whose mask had flown off, revealing his face.

His hair, eyes, and even skin, which had originally appeared only white, were now flushed red for some reason.

Judging from the felt momentum, it didn’t seem to be due to an injury, unfortunately.

“That was thrilling. I almost died if I had been careless. Amazing. How did you do that? Surely this isn’t an artifact either. Is this the Secret Art of the Sword Master I’ve only heard about……”

‘He’s more talkative than I thought.’

Hooo.

Cough.

He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together, but it wasn’t easy.

If it weren’t for the abilities amplified by the Boots of the Wind God, he would have collapsed, vomiting blood, from the previous attack.

‘Is it still too much for me to face him?’

The Moonlight Knight, Plantz, had already made a name for himself as a top-tier knight more than a decade ago.

He flattered himself that he had done well to come this far with a body that hadn’t been at the advanced level for long…….

“……Like hell I would!”

“What?”

Kaah, spit.

Spitting out the blood that had surged up to his throat made him feel better, at least for a moment.

“Cough… I… I have one more… Secret Art… but… I’m not very good at it yet…”

An exhausted body, depleted Force, and a stronger enemy than himself.

Now, all he could rely on was bluff and luck.

Fortunately.

“Oh! Really? I’d love to see it. Show it to me, young master.”

The man was very careless and arrogant.

‘Great!’

And as soon as those words fell, Logan focused his strength on the tip of his sword with all his might.

Now, there was only one thing he could trust.

Divine Sword Secret Art 3rd Form.

A secret art that he had barely managed to grasp the direction of, even after nearly a month since reaching the advanced level.

‘I can do it.’

Whoosh.

His muscles were losing strength, his Force was barely holding on, and a powerful enemy was glaring at him.

It was the worst possible condition to concentrate.

But he forcibly fixed his trembling arms and legs by wrapping them in Force, and used as much energy as he could to follow the Force pattern of the new secret art.

‘Even with the background of being a disciple of the Sword Master, all I’ll do is not kill him. I’ll take the Boots of the Wind God and Lux and turn him into a cripple. Focus!’

He made himself angrier by thinking about what Count Bipros would do. Luckily, it worked.

Whoosh.

It took some time, but the Force followed his will.

The image he had built in his mind gradually took shape.

“Done……”

The moment Logan was about to grit his teeth and swing his sword.

He widened his eyes as he confirmed Plantz, who was already in front of him.

“Die!”

The man’s sword was aiming precisely for his heart.

‘Bloody hell…….’

Time seemed to flow very slowly in the heightened senses that faced the crisis of life.

In that time, Logan finally saw a coin-sized hole in the man’s right chest.

A clear trace of what the Iron Cleaving from earlier had created.

And a bit of blood flowing from the man’s mouth.

It brought not a sense of accomplishment, but a sense of futility.

‘This bastard…….’

Logan realized at that moment that the man’s flushed complexion and excited tone were, in fact, a bluff.

His senses were blurred, so he couldn’t properly feel the touch, and his vision was narrowed.

Moreover, he thought the man had fallen for his bluff and had even wasted time unnecessarily.

The one who was deceived was not him…….

‘Me.’

The moment the enemy’s pale face and gritted teeth approached.

Logan’s anger fueled the incomplete secret art.

Whoosh.

A 10-meter-tall golden pillar appeared above Logan’s head in an instant.

The moment a giant sword, shaped like a sword and over 1 meter wide, soared up.

In the momentarily heightened senses, within the slowed time.

Only he moved at a normal speed.

And Logan slammed the sword down vertically.

“Die!”

“You die!”

Wham!

The giant sword hit the ground with a very loud crash.

Rumble.

The ground shook incessantly as if there was an earthquake, and thick dust rose, completely covering the dim crescent moonlight.

“Sir Plantz!”

“Captain!”

Neigh!

“Are you alright?!”

“F-find the Captain first!”

The noisy trio of advanced knights were able to find their captain only after some time had passed and the dust had settled.

He was sitting down with a look of exhaustion next to the deeply split ground, which seemed to be tens of meters long.

Cough.

“……I, I dodged it. I should have just died with him.”

The top-tier knight, vomiting blood, kept repeating the same words endlessly, unable to take his eyes off the split ground.

His eyes were filled with a vague fear that could only be felt by a human who had seen something unknown.

* * * Cough.

Tap tap tap.

Logan kept coughing up blood as he rode the horse.

It went as he wished to steal the enemies’ horse instead of his own, which had died due to the aftermath of the battle, but he couldn’t help but feel regretful about other things.

‘I could have killed him…….’

Plantz. He could have finished off the enemy’s top-tier knight.

If his insides hadn’t been shaken by the man’s last sword strike.

He couldn’t help but feel regret, but that was also greed from another point of view.

‘I would have died if I didn’t have the Boots of the Wind God.’

Besides, the man’s strength had also decreased a lot, perhaps because he was seriously injured.

Thanks to that, it ended with just his insides being shaken.

However.

‘Next time…… I can win.’

He could defeat a top-tier knight even with the level of an advanced knight.

Considering that the difference in ability increases exponentially as the level rises, it was absurd.

The visions and treasures he possessed were powerful enough to create such absurdities.

Just gaining that conviction was worth enough.

Was it because he felt so relieved?

Logan could no longer hold on to his fading consciousness.

Neigh.

Thud.

The ride back to his territory was long and painful. Every bump on the road made his injuries hurt more.

A shadow tumbled amidst the dust rising behind the horse running alone without a rider.

Even though it was an accident that would have left an ordinary person seriously injured, there was only a smile on the fallen rider’s face.

* * * McLaine Territory was in an uproar.

It was because the Grand Duke returned to McLaine Territory after two weeks, looking like a beggar. His clothes were torn and dirty, his face was bruised, and he walked with a limp.

“I fell off my horse while dozing off. Haha.”

The Grand Duke laughed with a ridiculous excuse, but no one questioned him.

Except for one person.

“You may have abandoned the horse, but at least you brought back your sword.”

“Would I only bring back the sword? From those guys……”

“So, it was Bipros’s doing after all?”

He was about to explain and boast about getting the Boots of the Wind God, but his father cut him off with a heavy look.

“Yes. I tried to prepare as much as I could, but it almost became dangerous. They gave me a very high evaluation over there.”

“……If they have eyes and ears, they should. Anyway, I’m glad you are safe. When you didn’t return… I feared the worst.”

‘It’s probably because of my Sword Master teacher, not because of me.’

His father’s expectations, who had belatedly begun to feel pride in his son, were a bit excessive, but that wasn’t important right now.

“We should formally protest to Bipros…… but we shouldn’t, should we?”

“That’s right. Just bear with it for now.”

On the way back, he was attacked by the Moonlight Knight Plantz and three advanced knights.

If McLaine insisted on that, Bipros would dismiss it in a word.

Do you have any evidence?

How could Logan, who is only 21 years old, have safely returned after being attacked by such a powerful force?

Then, they would pick a fight, talking about tarnished honor.

It was difficult to do that yet.

“For now, it’s been established that I attended the Count’s birthday and even received a gift, so it will be difficult to pick a fight with any excuse.”

“……The family is powerless, so you have to suffer humiliation. This father has no face to see you.”

“The day to repay that humiliation will come soon. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Father.”

“Alright. I will. I will never forget this.”

Logan smiled inwardly as he watched his father grit his teeth and strengthen his resolve.

‘Yes. This is enough for now.’

While the family continued to exert all its strength until the civil war began, he had other things to do.

‘I need to train those guys first, and then…….’

Logan’s gaze turned to the northeastern sky where the capital, Grand, was located.