The Broken Possessors of the Infinite Regression Academy - Chapter 180



Chapter 180 – Aria – 6

“This… this is, nonsense, impossible… this is impossible!”

Aria looked around the hallway, which was beginning to gradually collapse just by standing there. Any further movement would cause the entire area to collapse.

I couldn’t control the power that was about to overflow. The wall I had been leaning on for balance had long since collapsed, unable to withstand the evil force. As a result, I had to stand precariously, with nowhere to lean on.

“The seal… has been released, you say… … ?!”

It was an absolutely astonishing thing. How on earth could that be? The woman who handed over the light must have been a bundle of trauma to Mira.

If the prediction was correct, Mira would have been traumatized and unable to do anything as soon as she saw the woman, and the woman would have simply stabbed Mira and banished her from her deep memories.

If even this simple task failed, one of two things could happen: either Mira had overcome her trauma, or she had refused the order.

“… … Surely, you didn’t have any memories left, did you… … ?”

And, Aria thought, the latter was overwhelmingly more likely.

“Damn you… …! I didn’t put in free will… …!”

Harsh words came out of Aria’s mouth.

There was a clear limit to the memories that could be read through the fragments of the world, so Mira was granted a sort of free will to more perfectly embody the woman she remembered.

He told me to fill in the missing memories by acting them out myself.

But what if the woman thought of herself and recalled memories related to Mira from the past? That would explain why the seal was broken. She would clearly value her relationship with Mira more than Aria’s orders.

By being obsessed with eliminating room, you end up creating new room. And that is also very fatal.

“Ugh… … Ugh… … .”

I gagged again. Clear saliva flowed down the corner of my mouth. The reason didn’t matter right now. If I continued like this, my body would burst in no time. I had to do something about it.

Aria tried to extract some of the power and spread it across the world, while absorbing as much as she could, but the amount that came rushing in was much greater. It was as if she was intentionally spreading it out.

‘Is that so…?’

I thought I knew what Mira was thinking. Instead of regaining her strength and fighting back, she was trying to push harder until I couldn’t hold out and broke the connection.

This simple and ignorant method seemed to suggest that he had not found a way to sever the connection, but it was not at all fortunate. It was clear that if he continued on this path, he would soon achieve what he wanted.

“What! What’s going on—Aria?!”

I could see Leona running from afar. She was dressed in a mess, as if she had rushed out in such a hurry.

The buttons on her dress shirt were pushed up two notches instead of one, and her skirt was halfway down her hips instead of her shins. She had no time to even put on socks, so she was wearing shoes on her bare feet.

It was fortunate that she was holding a holy sword, otherwise it wouldn’t have been strange at all for her to be called an exhibitionist slut.

Leona, who had been running towards this side without paying attention to her own appearance, stopped next to Aria at incredible speed as soon as she saw her suffering in the middle of the destroyed hallway.

“Hey, what happened? Are you okay?”

Aria slowly raised her head. She saw Leona fidgeting, her face filled with worry.

The thought crossed my mind that I might be able to use that.

It’s an absurdly small capacity to overcome the situation, but if you push it to the limit, you can temporarily relieve the pain and buy time to prepare a countermeasure.

Even if her body bursts and she dies, unlike Aria, who is a unique being, Leona can be ‘created’ again at any time. Just finish the job and then recreate her.

“I… …Leona. Could you give me your hand for a moment?”

Aria stretched out her hand with difficulty. As her center of gravity shifted just a little, the hallway split open even more with a loud crack. The screams of the students echoed through the hallway that had become a scene of chaos.

“Oh, your hand? Why your hand all of a sudden?”

“Okay, now that you mention it, hurry up… … .”

“Even if you suddenly tell me to do that… … .”

Leona hesitated. Aria’s head started to bulge as she watched her. Why should she hesitate when she’s afraid of being reborn anyway?

At the same time, I felt annoyed.

“We’re friends! Can’t you even ask me to give you a hand?! What are you hesitating for!”

A scream erupted. A shockwave-like, invisible wave swept through the hallway. With a sharp sound, all the windows were shattered. The walls and floors, already precarious, trembled as if they would collapse at any moment.

If it had been Aria before the power flowed back, she would not have thought much about Leona’s reaction. She would have considered it more important to act as if she were normal.

But Aria now wasn’t that cool-headed.

It was because of the feeling of an inexhaustible force surging into me, the pain that came from it, and the fear that my body might explode and die right before I reached my goal if I continued like this.

“… … .”

Leona stepped back hesitantly. Her half-outstretched hand froze. Her golden eyes stared at Aria in disbelief. Aria didn’t even like that expression.

“… … There’s something Mira told me a while ago.”

The hand that had been half-extended towards Aria went back down. The other hand holding the holy sword seemed to be gradually gaining strength.

“If you had to trust only one person between yourself and Aria, who would you choose? If something were to arise, you might be the first one to be suspicious of Aria.”

‘Ms. Mira… said something like that?’

I tried to calculate when that statement was made. The estimate came easily. When everyone gathered at the palace due to the succubus queen’s proposal for a ceasefire. It was definitely that time.

“I told you not to talk nonsense while listening… … but now I think I know why. Aria, you’re acting a little weird right now.”

“Ugh, uh… … What’s wrong with me, Leona… … I’m having a hard time, yeah. I’m just having a little, hard time… … My body hurts… … .”

“Then why is it hard? Tell me why. Tell me where it hurts. I’ll help you.”

She was beginning to doubt. Aria had already declared that it would be difficult to convince Leona.

If Mira hadn’t said that, I would have just assumed that Leona was in so much pain that she lost her senses for a moment. But by giving her some leeway, I began to suspect that maybe she really was strange.

If I take a little more time, it might be possible, but in this situation, it’s impossible. Before that, I’ll have to choose between bursting my body or exhausting my strength.

Aria coughed loudly. The accumulated power was boiling over. She had to take action as soon as possible.

“… … If you just say a few words, it’ll be over. That everything’s okay. That it’s nothing… … If you just say those words, it’ll be over. Okay? Please, Aria… … I don’t want to lose you or Mira… … .”

Leona pleaded with tears in her eyes, but Aria, already consumed by pain and fear, did not accept it at all. She simply found it disgusting.

For over a thousand years, Aria has wandered alone in a world where time has stopped, and has experienced a world where time stops when there is no reader.

The eyes that looked at others other than oneself had already become irreversibly distorted a long time ago.

“You dare… … doubt me… … ?”

The blue pupils flashed delicately. How dare I, a mere character in a novel, dare to be a real human being?

“Look at you now, Aria! It can’t be helped! Why on earth are you like that?!”

“… … Okay, then. I don’t need it either. I can just make it again anyway.”

A magic circle appeared next to Aria. The purpose had changed. From something to be used, to something to be disposed of. The once clear and brilliant blue eyes were filled with poison.

Leona, who saw that sight, shed tears and lifted the holy sword. She really hated the situation that had become just like Mira said.

The magic circle changed into a large fireball. The blazing fireball flew straight at Leona. It was just a single fireball, but the aftermath was anything but simple.

The fireball caused an explosion the size of a building as soon as it hit Leona’s raised holy sword. The flames shot up as high as a spire and spread as far as a building, engulfing the entire dormitory.

Despite the size of the flames, the explosion did not spread into a large fire. The force was so great that everything it touched was sublimated.

-Kagagagagagagak!

Thanks to the power of the holy sword and the protection of the warrior, Leona barely survived the flames and was blown backwards for a long time before crashing into the park ground, knocking down the trees and being pushed back.

“It’s hot… …!”

As soon as my body stopped, I hastily used healing magic. When the warrior’s protection and healing magic combined, my skin, which had been red and burning, returned to its original state.

However, the healing magic did not return her clothes, so Leona had to stand up wearing only a half-burned shirt.

The skirt that had been hanging precariously had been taken off while she was being pushed across the floor, and was now hanging around one ankle, and her underwear was a mess, covered in dirt.

I didn’t have time to worry about my clothes. I looked at the place I had flown to. The nearby building had almost completely evaporated.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

It clearly looked like basic fire magic, but it was a low-level magic that could produce that much power? It was hard to believe, but it was a situation where I had to believe.

‘Really, things have gotten weird.’

In fact, from the moment I first saw Aria today, I felt a strangely uneasy feeling somewhere. It was like walking with mud filling the inside of my shoes.

That was also the reason why I hesitated to reach out. If it had been the usual Aria, I would have followed along without even having time to think, but the uneasy feeling somewhere made me hesitate.

In conclusion, following my intuition was the right answer.

‘mummy…….’

You said that if something like that happened, you would be the first to suspect Aria. Did you know that something like this would happen?

Leona staggered to her feet. Her vision, enhanced by her protection, caught sight of Aria in the blazing haze. She was clutching her chest, breathing heavily, and writhing in pain.

My heart sank again at the sight of someone seriously ill. He was my childhood friend whom I had known for 18 years. There was no way I could shake off my feelings so easily.

‘no.’

Jilkeun, Leona closed her eyes. She must not weaken. That person is no longer Aria. From the moment he attacked her, she should not have seen him as Aria.

Because if it’s the Aria I know, there’s no way that would happen.

-Kwaaang!

Leona, who was muttering to herself as if brainwashing herself, opened her eyes to the sound of something exploding.

Aria had reached right in front of her. Behind her, she could see the scorched ground. Leona, who had almost called out to her, “Aria,” as she had done for the past dozen years, swallowed her words.

It was because I had met with a pair of delicate eyes that I had never seen before. I couldn’t believe that they were the kind and innocent eyes of Aria.

“… … Anyway, blood. If it bursts, I can make it again.”

Aria, mumbling something incomprehensible, was about to reach out and grab Leona’s neck when her body flinched and stepped back. She turned her head in the direction her gaze was directed.

Someone was walking out of the cross-shaped gap in the air.

“mummy?!”

It was Mira. Just like Aria, she had a frozen expression on her face.

From noble mtl dot com

“Watch out, Mira! Aria… …!”

I don’t know what the hell happened, but Leona had to warn her first. She had to let her know that she was no longer the Aria she knew. And that she was much stronger than before.

“know.”

Despite Leona’s warning, Mira aimed at Eternity with an expression that showed no signs of panic.

“Whose original was that?”