Regression Is Too Much - Chapter 368



368 – Regression (16)

The angel, specifically the one who appeared to be the senior, reacted quickly and accurately.

The senior angel had already noticed my presence by the time the junior angel had said ‘S-Senior?’ It was clear when I saw the briefest flicker of panic in his pupils.

However, he didn’t show any sign of having noticed me, uttering things like “I told you I hate being interrupted the most” while secretly deploying his power in the background. Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed.

‘This is bad.’

Unfortunately, I was concentrating on seeing souls. I immediately spread my magic power and interfered with him.

Honestly, I just threw it out there without knowing if it would even work. Angels’ power isn’t like magic, nor like a soul – it’s a third kind of power. If I had to put a name on it, it’d be something like ‘divine power.’ So whether my chill could even touch it was a complete unknown.

– *Patzz*

“?!”

Thank god, my magic *could* interfere with divine power. I couldn’t freeze his power, but I managed to disrupt it.

“Run! Scatter!”

“Uh, uhh…”

The veteran angel didn’t stop just because his divine power faltered. He was steadily breaking down my magic, struggling to buy time. Maybe 20 seconds, no, maybe 10 seconds, and they’d manage to escape. The safest thing was to not look back and just run like hell.

“Hurry up and go!!!”

“My, my legs are wobbly…”

He didn’t. Guess they have some kind of camaraderie. I cracked my knuckles and approached the two of them. It was too late to run now.

“Wh-what, what, what do we do…”

“…Haa.”

The veteran angel pushed the junior angel back and stepped in front.

“Who are you? What do you want? If there’s anything I can do, I will cooperate as much as possible.”

He stepped forward willingly, raising both hands to show he meant no harm. My magic had already filled the space, so he’d realized that further resistance was pointless.

“…”

“…”

I didn’t answer him, just kept watching. The angel met my gaze without flinching. He looked like a young man, but his eyes held a hidden, sharp glint. He didn’t make a move, probably trying to observe me as much as possible. He seemed cautious.

‘This is an unexpected situation.’

To be honest, I didn’t expect to find an angel here. I just grabbed them because they were there. I didn’t have any plans. At best, I would just threaten them, and try to get some information.

But there’s no intel. I have absolutely no idea what angels can or can’t do.

Not knowing the opponent’s capabilities, I can’t define the scope of my demands, and asking directly would only expose my ignorance. The moment a threatener reveals their lack of knowledge, it’s far too easy to be turned around and used.

Yet, repeatedly regressing to gather information has its own risks. The old man on the 15th floor said, ‘Be cautious of regression when archangels are nearby,’ but who knows if that applies to regular angels too. The way this one’s acting, it seems like an angel with some experience.

More importantly, this is within Archangel Raphael’s designated floor. Unlike the other archangels, Raphael hasn’t left the tower, and naturally, that means he could already be watching me. He could intervene at any moment.

It’s just a guess, but Raphael is probably aware of my regressions to some extent. The fact that he hasn’t intervened yet likely means he’s at least neutral, but whether he’d remain neutral if I overstepped with an angel is another matter entirely.

Ugh, headache. I came here with the intention of just wiping out all the monsters, but why are there suddenly angels and shit? I wish someone would just give me an easy answer… and right as I thought that,

“Me! Me me me!”

“?”

“?”

“I wanna touch that! Machine!”

“Ah, no, sir, you can’t!”

Suddenly, Um Hong-jun dashes toward the machine radiating divine aura, and a junior angel tries to hurriedly stop him.

“What’s this button?”

“Don’t touch it… That is, that’s, what was it… I don’t really remember…”

“Idiot!”

“No, I’m not!!!”

“What’s this one?”

“Ah, no!!!”

Um Hong-jun breaks through their ironclad defense and presses a pure white button, and *poof* a wolf appears out of thin air.

“Woah!”

“Stop! Get back!”

From noble mtl dot com

It was definitely the wolf I’d seen on the fourth floor. But the wolf was just lying motionless on the floor, like a robot with its power off. It seemed like it wouldn’t move without additional input.

“I bet pressing this will make it move…”

“How did you know that! Get away from there! I said get away!!!”

While Uhm Hong-jun and the angel were arguing, I glanced at the senior angel and spoke.

“Is that device used to create monsters?”

“…That’s right.”

“Hmm.”

So, the monsters invading the fourth floor’s citadel were being created by that machine. Hmm…

I was hesitant to just outright assault the angel. And threatening him wasn’t really an option, since I didn’t know what to even threaten him *with*. Plus, I was trying to avoid too many regressions. Yet, I still needed to extract information. A lot of conditions to juggle.

But watching Uhm Hong-jun hopping around like that, I could vaguely figure out a concept.

“Give me a reward.”

“…Huh?”

“Finding this place is a great achievement, isn’t it? I’ve been watching, and my achievement level hasn’t gone up.”

Of course it hadn’t. There was no achievement for finding this place. It’s like randomly breaking through a wall into a bugged space in a game. It’d be weird if they had an achievement ready for that.

“Then give me a separate reward, like you did on the second floor.”

I subtly hinted that I was the one who negotiated with Raphael on the second floor. I was projecting myself as *that* player, the one who did strange things to achieve achievements.

I didn’t come here to stop the monsters, or because I knew the future. I just came here to hunt achievements. Reputation? It’s okay if it spreads among the angels. Let’s go in with confidence.

“…If you’re talking about a reward.”

How would the angel react? Would he give me a ‘reward’? Or would he admit that the situation was complicated and call for an archangel?

“Let me operate the machine.”

“…Understood.”

The angel’s choice was electronic. Yeah, even if they acted calm, I guess they were still scared of the archangel’s punishment? Good.

“Hongjun, they said you can touch it as much as you want.”

“Huh? Really! Thanks!”

“Uh, ah…”

Pushing aside the junior angel, who gaped and despaired, Uhm Hongjun enthusiastically started operating the machine. The wolf lying on the floor grew larger, then smaller, its fur changed color, and now it was even glowing – he seemed to be having a blast.

So… this machine summons and manipulates monsters, huh? This machine must’ve played a big role in why the fourth floor’s difficulty is so incredibly variable.

Wait a second. Just a second. But if we can control that machine right now… hmm… isn’t there a way to make the most of this?

While I was pondering, an idea suddenly struck me and I yelled out to Uhm Hongjun.

“Hongjun!”

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Can, uh, can you summon monsters that have bad compatibility with each other?”

“I’m just pressing buttons randomly? But I’ll try!”

Hearing my words, Uhm Hongjun started operating the machine as he pleased.

A moment later, a cat-shaped monster appeared in the air, and the wolf monster, which had been collapsed from exhaustion, slowly got back on its feet.

The two beasts, recovering and looking around briefly,

“Meeeooow!!!”

“SCREEECH!!!”

Immediately, they charged at each other!!! Skin tearing, eyeballs popping, blood splattering everywhere, yet the two monsters showed no sign of stopping.

“…Not bad.”

I dredge up memories from before my regression.

Monsters are inherently creatures closer to beasts. Yet, it was always a question why they approached the citadel in such an orderly fashion.

But seeing that machine’s existence, it seems there’s some kind of manipulation at play, keeping them from fighting each other. So, what if I send in monsters to disrupt that manipulation? No, what if I don’t just stop at disrupting it, but actually pit monsters who already hate each other against each other and then send them towards the citadel?

Do I remember what I was agonizing over before? That while it was possible for me to save everyone, there was also a downside.

If I go ahead and kill all the monsters alone, the growth of everyone else stops. The 4th floor is the most dangerous in the early stages, but it also gives the most experience. If I kill all the monsters alone, even though I can’t gain any experience from it, people might survive, but their growth will definitely slow down a lot. (Even if I give out elixirs, it doesn’t bring back lost experience.)

“…How.”

Now, the veteran angel’s face is practically like that of a dead person, but there’s no helping it. What needs to be done, needs to be done.

“Hong-jun, I have an idea.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Saving everyone, not revealing my identity, and even dealing with the experience issue…

“From now on…”

I can catch all three rabbits that I couldn’t before.

Like a regressor should.