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Chapter 438: Regret (4)

A day passed.

Despite the time flowing, this damn illusion still hadn’t shattered.

In the meantime, I focused on gathering information about this wretched world.

First off, it was indeed the world of my past life.

I knew that as soon as I laid eyes on it.

‘This damn world.’

Crunch.

The more I thought about it, the more my teeth grit. I began to understand what ‘regret’ meant, as mentioned by Tang Je-mun.

The time I regretted the most.

Was it not the time that sent me back there?

If so, what a cruel test it was.

The very fact that I was sent to a world I wanted to forget and never experience again.

It was like hell for me.

This was not a return to the past.

I knew it was just an illusion.

I had hopes that perhaps if I stopped the events that were supposed to unfold in this world, the future might change.

But deep down, I knew that wouldn’t happen, and I realized this desire was futile.

That’s why it felt like hell.

To be in a place where nothing could be changed and just watch it unfold.

It was more than enough for me to call it hell.

‘What does she expect me to realize in this place?’

I pondered while brushing the shimmering waves aside with my hand.

I couldn’t grasp Tang Je-mun’s intentions.

What was the purpose of this trial? What did she mean by ‘choice’?

I had no idea.

I could only stare blankly at the river with heavy eyes.

My reflection in the water came into view.

The face reflected was utterly unfamiliar.

It was not my face.

I touched my face with my hands.

There was a dissonance between the feeling of touch and what my eyes saw.

‘Only the appearance has changed, but the feel is the same.’

It felt like I was wearing a facade of some illusion.

If anything, it could even be called a more natural mask.

‘Age… am I about the same as now?’

It meant I only just looked old enough to be called a young man.

‘Is that why I didn’t get recognized?’

I began to understand why the Demon Sword Queen hadn’t noticed me.

My fierce gaze was nowhere to be found; instead, it was replaced with a slightly softer, droopy look.

It was the exact opposite.

Still, it was too awkward to call it my face.

Setting my face aside, I glanced around.

This seemed to be somewhere in Sichuan. I wasn’t familiar with the area.

‘What time zone am I in?’

That was the most critical part. What point in time was it now?

I lacked the means to pinpoint that.

‘First… the Demon Sword Queen is alive, and Sichuan has fallen.’

If that’s the case, then the Poison Empress must be dead.

“…”

Even after uttering that to myself, I bit my lip. Sichuan, fallen to demons, would likely mean the Martial Alliance was sending all they had to reclaim it.

But even so, the operation would fail.

‘…because I’m here.’

It was a bit of a twisted arrogance, but it was the truth.

The Heavenly Lord seemed to have shown up in full force in Sichuan, but any further infiltration was impossible.

If he revealed himself, the Heavenly Demon would descend upon us.

The Heavenly Demon issued a serious warning.

While she’d overlook the escape of the Poison King and the Tang Clan’s bloodline to Shaolin out of generosity.

If the Three Eminent Beings intervened in this matter, she would also reveal herself.

Such an arrogant warning.

It was amusingly effective.

Given that I had seen the Heavenly Demon’s power, I knew her words were not mere bravado.

In addition…

‘Right now, the Demonic Sect isn’t actively attacking.’

They could immediately push into Hanam and topple the Righteous Faction.

Yet for some reason, the Heavenly Demon had ordered to occupy Sichuan and wait.

How long had it been?

‘About a year or two.’

Somewhere around that time.

I didn’t remember the exact date.

Back then, I wasn’t in a state to grasp the flow of time.

‘So, when is it now?’

What point am I at in the waiting period initiated by the Heavenly Demon?

I needed to ascertain that.

Because the end of this waiting period was…

‘The death of the Demon Sword Queen….’

It was the moment when the war would truly begin, marking the fatal moment for the Demon Sword Queen.

I shifted my gaze to the Demon Sword Queen staring blankly at the river.

She was simply gazing at the water, not seemingly searching for anything at all.

“…Demon Sword Queen, no matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem right.”

“…”

She was lost.

I had almost forgotten.

I should have noticed from the start that the Demon Sword Queen was hopelessly lost.

‘…I let that slip my mind.’

From the get-go, she was the type to turn left when everyone else went right.

If told to go straight, she’d end up retreating or even veering to the side.

I should have known that clearly, yet I just followed along without a second thought.

‘What should I do?’

Should I casually suggest going that way?

Even that wasn’t easy.

‘…I might get my head chopped off for messing around.’

If it were Nangong Bi-ah, I wouldn’t hesitate to give her a couple of playful knocks.

But if I treated the Demon Sword Queen like that, I’d have lost my arm and my head simultaneously.

Moreover, walking alongside the Demon Sword Queen towards this abysmal situation reminded me of the horrors once more.

‘There’s not a single place that doesn’t smell of blood.’

Everywhere was filled with the remnants of war. Occasionally, rotting corpses exuded foul odors, and spotting corpses floating on the river was not unusual.

‘…’

All I could do was bite my lip while watching that sight.

‘No matter how I think about it….’

What a filthy memory.

I forced down a sigh and moved forward.

In an area slightly removed from the center of Sichuan, there existed a building that had once dominated the commerce in Sichuan.

The Demonic Sect had repurposed it for their use.

What we referred to as the Great Hall.

As I approached the building, a figure resembling a gatekeeper bowed his head.

“I greet the Deputy Lord.”

Those words were directed at the Demon Sword Queen.

Deputy Lord. Right, that was the position she held in the Black Flame Sect.

The Demon Sword Queen, with her murky eyes, asked the gatekeeper.

“…Where’s the Great Lord?”

“The Great Lord is waiting inside.”

At the gatekeeper’s words, the Demon Sword Queen nodded.

Then the gatekeeper glanced at me with a puzzled expression, which prompted the Demon Sword Queen to add.

“…New recruit.”

“Oh, a new recruit?”

Hearing the Demon Sword Queen’s words, the gatekeeper immediately smirked.

“A cute one has shown up. Let’s meet later, newbie.”

“…”

His smile was brimming with intrigue and fresh delight.

‘What was that guy’s name again?’

I tried to jog my memory, but it slipped away.

In my past life, I didn’t have the leisure to even remember a gatekeeper’s name.

I offered no reply and simply followed behind the Demon Sword Queen.

As we went along, I kept mulling things over.

‘Is this really okay?’

Venturing back into the den of demons on my own two feet—was it truly acceptable?

Especially if the Heavenly Demon discovered me, it’d be the end.

‘…But is there any other way?’

If this trial is ultimately about facing my regrets.

I thought there must be something around the Demon Sword Queen and my surroundings in this life.

‘…It could also be a method to see the Divine Sword.’

There had to be a story to that too. However, my instincts bizarrely pointed me here.

Thud.

As I continued down the corridor, I caught sight of a massive door at the end of the quiet silence.

The moment I stepped towards it.

“…Gah…!”

Unintentionally, I gasped.

For beyond that door lay an overwhelming aura of killing intent and hostile energy.

Cold sweat broke out.

My heart raced on its own accord, and my defensive instincts flared to protect me.

Yet, it still wasn’t enough to shield me.

Crackle.

As my breathing started to go awry, a short burst of energy wrapped around my body.

It was the Demon Sword Queen’s protective barrier.

“Hah…?”

That allowed the breath I had been holding to finally escape, and my pounding heart gradually calmed down.

It seemed the Demon Sword Queen had deployed a barrier around me.

‘…Why?’

I had to look at her with curious eyes.

After all, she wasn’t the type to show such kindness to someone she had just seen a few days prior.

Aware of my gaze or not, the Demon Sword Queen continued moving forward.

Finally, we reached the door.

Creeeak—!

As the Demon Sword Queen approached, the door began to open on its own.

It opened slowly, and as the crack widened, a surge of demonic energy spilled out.

It was intense.

The demonic energy was overwhelming, and the atmosphere inside felt even more severe.

Filling the room was demonic energy, and kneeled before me were figures lined up in rows.

Each one radiated an unsettling amount of demonic energy.

There wasn’t a single weak-looking demon among them.

As I grimaced at the swirling energy around us.

“It seems you’re late.”

A deep voice rang out from the throne at the far end of the room.

The thick killing intent embedded in that voice caused me to swallow hard.

With his words, the demonic energy filling the space began to stir.

Desperately pushing back against the constricting energy, I finally lifted my frozen head to look at my opponent.

In response, the man’s purple eyes turned towards me.

He hadn’t changed at all.

Seeing him made me want to burst out laughing inside.

With his weary gaze and the overwhelming killing intent swirling around him.

The massive amount of demonic energy he possessed disturbed the surroundings, and the energy mixed with that of the other demons kept them from raising their heads.

Though he appeared to have a significant presence,

‘What a pathetic sight.’

To me, he was just an incompetent insect.

Someone who could not face anything and merely fled in cowardice.

That fool was right in front of me.

As I looked at him, I thought.

‘It’s been a while.’

Just the first instance since coming into this past life.

‘You pathetic fool.’

I met the gaze of the Black Flame Demon Emperor.

 

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