Chapter 715
[Hastings activates the Hidden Unique Holy Spear ‘Time of the Regressor’!]
Rumble!
Crimson sparks erupted.
At the same time,
Gurgle! Gurgle!
The solid ground softened like mud.
What writhed and surged out from it were the tentacles favored by the Ancient Beings.
Each tentacle had a single eye, and each eye was imbued with a completely different Mana attribute.
This Hastings looked nothing like the one from before.
All the Karma he had accumulated through countless regressions was about to be unleashed.
A chill ran down his spine.
Goosebumps rose all over Jinhyuk’s body.
‘As expected…’
Could a goblin’s body really reach such a state just by repeating regression over and over?
Just standing in front of him made it feel as if his cells were being scorched dry.
Vwoooom!
The light gathered at the tip of each tentacle poured out all at once.
Baaang!
Jinhyuk vacated his spot.
With [Demonic Heavenly Army’s Advent] and [Sword Demon’s Heavenly Spirit Step] activating at the same time, his movements left afterimage after afterimage behind.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Puuung!
Every place he had been standing just moments before turned into a wasteland.
It was an unbelievable carpet bombardment.
The number of multicolored light beams fired was beyond anything a single individual should have been able to use. There were too many to even count.
Their power was just as absurd.
Tap! Tap!
Thanks to his bizarre, irregular movement, he managed to dodge them here and there, but simply evading them would not let him close the distance to Hastings.
Then…
[Unique Holy Spear: Rainbow Bridge activates!]
Crackle…!
Indigo and green energy coated Jinhyuk’s sword.
Slaaash!
The incoming beam of light was split cleanly in two.
Simply defending with Superior Color alone would make it possible to block, but the efficiency plummeted. Only by using the proper color for the characteristic of each beam was the optimal method of attack completed.
“Impressive. I heard you could copy abilities, but I didn’t know you had even obtained Medrey’s power. And your understanding of that power is, as expected, incomprehensible.”
Hastings looked genuinely surprised.
There was an insurmountable gap between hearing about something and seeing it with one’s own eyes.
“You’re not the only one surprised. To possess this much power and still choose to side with the Ancient Beings. Did you really think you could stop the destruction without defying them?”
“What it means for Azathoth to awaken. And why I had no choice but to make that decision. You will never understand.”
“No.”
Jinhyuk split another beam of light in half.
The severed beam scorched the ground pitch-black.
Then Jinhyuk looked Hastings straight in the eye.
He knew better than anyone what it meant for Azathoth to awaken.
The strongest existence that could not be opposed.
A mere insect facing such an absolute being would have no choice but to prostrate itself in awe, its mind shattered beyond repair.
But.
Trying to avoid it simply because the target was despair itself was not what someone who truly wished to protect the [Tower of Trials] would do.
Their goals were different.
Their aspirations were different.
And above all.
The weight of how deeply they understood and cherished the [Tower of Trials] was different.
Rattle.
The shattered beams of light broke into countless fragments and poured down.
“I wouldn’t have made that choice.”
“You mean… you would have fought? Even knowing it was a battle you could never possibly win?”
“There is no such thing as ‘absolute’ in the [Tower of Trials]. Everyone is given the right to climb the tower. And anyone can reach the Summit of the Tower.”
“That’s idealism. Just because the rules are written that way doesn’t mean the possibility to achieve it actually exists.”
At Hastings’s sigh, Jinhyuk slowly opened his mouth.
“Floating stones and stars filling the night sky. When you stare at the galaxy beneath its five moons, you lose all sense of time.”
He simply recited the scene he had seen.
“…!?”
Hastings’s pupils trembled violently.
“You… how do you know that…?”
“The Summit of the Tower is open to everyone. And no existence can monopolize the end of the tower forever.”
New heroes were always welcome.
Sae Yeongeonhwan had definitely said that.
As he longed for a new wind to blow through this stagnant world.
“Let’s end this here, Hastings. I have people waiting for me, so I need to go back.”
[Infinite Library opens!]
Two books were selected from among the countless volumes.
As the pages turned, Jinhyuk’s armament and Mana changed completely.
[Unique Holy Spear – ‘Outlaw of the Wilds’ activates!]
[Unique Holy Spear – ‘Chrono Spear’ activates!]
Crackle…!
A red light flashed at the muzzle of [Billy the Kid’s Pistol – X Model].
He could not fully recreate his prime without [Napoleon’s Crown]. Even so, a pressure on an entirely different level from when he used the [First Blade] spread out.
“…You certainly know how to leave someone speechless. But it seems you don’t know everything either. At least within this space, you will never be able to defeat me.”
After staring at Jinhyuk for a moment, Hastings seemed to make up his mind and took out the Sacred Relic he had received from Jang Bo-kyung.
To be precise, it was the item given by Shub-Niggurath.
[‘Iob’s Unstable Dice’ develops a crack.]
[Elder God’s Mana is extracted.]
[Conditions are met.]
[Unique Holy Spear ‘Time of the Regressor’ – Infinite Constraint Regression activates!]
The Unique Divine Art reacted to the item and began to transform into something heterogenous.
In an instant,
a strange wavelength spread through the area.
Jinhyuk reflexively summoned the [Zodiac Constellations – Constellation Banquet].
However.
[The navigation of the Constellations comes to a halt.]
[The twelve Constellations lose their light.]
The Barrier didn’t work?
Using the Lost Language, countless characters were sucked into Hastings’s domain.
A kind of Unique Barrier.
And moreover, it was a Great Barrier used by the Elder Gods… no, perhaps something that surpassed even that.
“I’ll now let you taste a part of the pain I’ve endured. For your information, the outcome of this battle will have no meaning in determining your future.”
“What do you…”
Before he could finish speaking, Hastings charged forward.
It was a reckless advance, completely different from the way he had preferred to keep his distance and fight at mid-to-long range until now.
‘What?’
Jinhyuk tilted his head.
It was an incomprehensible move.
The posture was far too awkward.
It had so many openings that it looked as if any strike would land.
It felt a little suspicious, but responding came first.
Shrrrrk…!
The blade extended as he lunged at the approaching Hastings.
But.
The moment the [Serpent Sword] was about to pierce Hastings, Hastings’s movement twisted in an unpredictable direction.
By a hair’s breadth.
The blade, which had only grazed a layer of skin, sliced through empty air.
‘What the…!’
That such a posture was even possible from there.
More than that, he could not believe Hastings had the boldness to make a move like that in a situation where the slightest mistake meant instant death.
Jinhyuk increased his speed by three levels.
Thinking he would end it this time.
But.
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
The result was the same.
He even mixed in the opening techniques of the [Nine Yin Sword Demon] and Demonic Martial Arts, but Hastings dodged by the narrowest margin as if he had already memorized everything.
The movements were clumsy and crude, yet Jinhyuk could not even brush Hastings’s collar.
Slash!
Hastings’s blade grazed Jinhyuk’s arm.
Fresh blood welled from the wound.
[Unique Ability ‘Blessing of the Stars’…]
The moment a golden light tried to flicker,
Boom!
“…Kgh?”
Jinhyuk’s body swayed violently.
The wound was not healing.
Not only that, it was getting worse at a terrifying speed.
His consciousness blurred.
He tried using Mandala and even [System Manipulation], but he could not reverse the life force draining from him.
And at that very moment.
[Regression to 1 minute ago.]
[Memory is preserved.]
The world’s time reversed.
⁕⁕⁕
“Huuuk…”
Jinhyuk drew a deep breath.
Could it be…
Did a regression just happen?
And in such a short amount of time?
“An unfamiliar sensation, isn’t it? But you’ll get used to it soon enough.”
Hastings spoke flatly.
“You regressed too? With your memories intact?”
“The structure is simple. Whichever one of us dies between you and me regresses. For your information, it took me 128 attempts to dodge your first attack. And 535 attempts to dodge the next one. I had to die 2,538 times before I could evade your last strike and successfully land my own.”
As if describing part of his daily routine,
Hastings explained how he had managed to wound Jinhyuk.
“Then with a structure like this, it makes sense that you could dodge all my attacks with clumsy movements. But doesn’t that also make it impossible for either of us to win?”
“That’s correct. In here, the concept of ‘victory’ becomes inevitably diluted. But there is one decisive difference between you and me. I have become as accustomed as possible to this Constraint Regression. But can you, experiencing it for the first time, really withstand the pressure that comes with it?”
How flashy one’s skills or abilities were.
Whether one possessed innate talent or natural sense.
None of that mattered anymore.
What mattered was enduring without being swept away by the massive current of time.
Enduring without losing one’s sanity.
That was the true mark of a strong person.
The battle between the two resumed once more.
⁕⁕⁕
The Divine Authority that could be used only under extremely limited conditions through Shub-Niggurath’s Sacred Relic and Hastings’s Unique Holy Spear.
That was the essence of Constraint Regression.
Once. Twice…
Ten times… a hundred times.
And then countless times beyond that.
As the battle between Hastings and Jinhyuk continued, short regressions repeated endlessly. Even if one killed the other, it never ended.
The two mortals trapped inside an infinite shackle kept fighting their endless battle.
How much time had passed like that?
They came to understand everything.
How the other attacked and defended.
What patterns the other used.
All of it.
The point had already come where attack and defense no longer held any meaning.
‘Why… won’t you give up?’
Stab!
Hastings, who had just driven his blade into Jinhyuk’s heart, wore a look of complete incomprehension.
[Regression occurs.]
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
This time, Hastings was the one struck.
His shattered heart flew high into the air.
[…Regression occurs.]
Nothing changed.
It only rolled back a little each time.
‘You should give up. You should resign yourself. That’s normal.’
Stab! Stab! Stab!
Blades tore through flesh.
All kinds of magic and skills shredded the opponent’s vital points.
[Regression occurs.]
[Regression occurs.]
[Regression occurs.]
[Regression…]
[…occurs.]
In a situation where one’s mind should have collapsed, that would have been natural.
Someone cast into darkness should have begged to be saved. Begged to be taken out of this hell. Just as he himself had once done.
It was only natural to cling to an existence with even greater power.
But.
“…”
Jinhyuk continued trying new methods.
If it did not work in the 1,983,050th iteration, then in the 1,983,051st, he tried something else.
‘He doesn’t break.’
Hastings bit his lip hard.
No matter how great an ordeal stood before him, the blazing light in those eyes refused to die.
Tap.
[Glacial Sculpting activates!]
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Frozen spears flew straight toward Hastings.
A pattern he already knew.
He had memorized the angle and timing perfectly.
New Mana gathered at Hastings’s fingertips.
[…occurs.]
A short message floated up.
And then.
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
The frozen spears pierced straight through Hastings’s body.
Red blood soaked the floor.
“…”
A tremor ran through Jinhyuk’s pupils.
The regression completion message, which he had assumed would repeat again, did not appear.
Instead.
Ding!
A Status Window that completely overturned all expectations appeared.