The Broken Possessors of the Infinite Regression Academy - Chapter 289



Chapter 289 – Side Story: Time Gate – 2

“… … This is where Aria is.”

Leona looked around with a slightly complicated expression. The explanation she had heard from the Heavenly God and the Demon God was not very good, so her mood seemed to have become even more depressed.

It is said that the gate was formed when the last remaining foreign substances stuck to Aria during her time of suffering. This means that the stronger the monsters that appear here, the greater Aria’s suffering.

Even before we could enter the building, the Maker, who was once the commander of the Demon King’s army, suddenly appeared and attacked us. Leona, who was still feeling complicated, couldn’t help but feel confused.

It was a combination of only the most essential of the Empire’s military powers, so although Maker was crushed in a matter of seconds, it was clearly not a good sign, so they decided to go get Aria as quickly as possible.

“Let’s hurry. All we can do is get you out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Yeah. That’s right. That’s what it’ll be like.”

Leona held the handle of eternity with a face of firm determination. She did not bring the holy sword and the holy spear. There was a possibility that the foreign matter floating through time might stick to them.

The celestial god said it would be okay, but the very possibility itself was problematic, so I declined on my side to prepare for the unlikely event. Right now, the celestial god is holding onto the monster that’s trying to jump out.

“… … Yes. It’s my story. I have to finish it with my own hands. Yes, Leona. You can do it.”

It was a small sound, but it wasn’t completely inaudible. Leona muttered as she steeled herself.

That was the reason why Leona and I entered the gate alone, leaving everyone else behind. To finish the story with the hands of the original protagonist, and with my hands standing by the original protagonist’s side in Aria’s place.

Laura refused, saying she was not worthy to end the story of this world.

“Coming.”

“I checked.”

Soon, a halo of light gathered to form the shape of a gigantic creature. A centaur, covered in gold all over and with one side of its face completely sunken in, was approaching, wielding a double-edged axe.

Dozens of faces were stuck to the severed shoulder, covering half of the upper body. Furthermore, the condition of the lower body was not good either.

Leona aimed for Eternity. It was a slightly awkward posture, perhaps because it wasn’t the holy sword she had been using for years, but her body quickly adapted and began to emit blue mana.

Her blue hair was covered in blue mana and swayed. Her golden eyes sparkled. Leona also kicked the ground and rushed forward to meet the rushing centaur.

-Chae-ae-aeng!

Eternity collided with the double-edged axe. Despite the considerable difference in size, Leona was not pushed back at all. The blue mana surrounding Eternity gradually grew stronger, and the centaur was thrown back.

The blade cut through the golden halo. The severed body seemed to roll across the floor, then, as if turning back time, it clung to me and attacked me again.

“Leona! Next to me!”

From noble mtl dot com

Another golden halo appeared in the empty space. I quickly warned and ran towards it. The halo of light gathered together and formed a shape of something.

It was Circe, the former commander of the Demon King’s army, who was killed by Astaroth, who had ascended to the throne as the Demon King.

Her conical hat rose higher than her head, her gait was staggering, and her tattered dress contrasted with her glamorous body, visible even through the golden halo.

Above all, tongue-shaped tentacles were writhing and protruding from every orifice in its body: from its left eye, its nostrils, its ears, and its mouth.

The only normal eye, its right eye, was half-rolled over and unfocused, and its throat expanded and contracted ominously as tentacles moved in and out of its mouth.

Even between her legs, which were barely covered by her dress, there were five tentacles wriggling. I didn’t really want to imagine where they were placed or where they were sticking out.

I approached Leona from behind and blasted the thing away before its tentacles could reach it. Its dismembered body slammed into the opposite wall. Leona frowned as she reacted a step too late.

“Thank you, Mira! Eeeeek!”

The guy stood up, looking fine in that brief moment. The tentacle sticking out of his mouth was writhing and emitting light.

‘They said we were invincible before they pulled out the nuke.’

I said that they wouldn’t die even if they were killed because they were parasites of Aria and were repeating time. It meant that dragging out the battle would be nothing more than a waste of time.

He swung his Dragon Sword to cut Circe’s body into pieces, splitting her upper body into dozens of pieces, and then cast a spell on each piece to scatter them in all directions. This should buy him a few seconds.

Then, a tentacle made of light shot out from the remaining lower body and flew towards Leona, who was one step to the side, rather than me, who was right in front of me. I had just cut off two of the centaur’s legs.

I cut it in the middle, and Leona, who sensed something strange, hurriedly dodged away, but the severed tentacle continued to extend and wrapped around the centaur, pulling it in.

The centaur that had fused with the lower body simultaneously transformed into particles of light and disappeared. Leona, who had been fighting against the endless time, stared blankly at the sight.

If he hadn’t avoided it, he would have been caught.

“… … What is that? It was clearly cut off?”

“Well, you said that if you judge what happens here using human common sense, you’ll end up with a big nose, so I guess that’s also intertwined with time.”

If the goddess herself is advising you not to try to make rational judgments, then it’s probably better to just not think about it. The gods and demons must have said it for that purpose.

“Let’s just keep moving. That’s just wasting time anyway.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Unless you separate the core, the damaged time will repeat forever, and because of that, even if you kill them, they will be resurrected forever, so you should prioritize reaching the core. This was the same advice given by the Heavenly God and the Demon God.

We followed his words and faithfully headed towards the center of the gate. And we encountered countless fragments of time.

Former commanders of the Demon King’s army, monsters from the first world, monsters that appeared inside the gate, and monsters from this world.

Even the Pope of the Starlight Church.

The guy was walking with difficulty, like a zombie from a 1900s horror movie, and all the while, his bony arms were waving as if he was trying to attack us somehow.

Leona looked with disgust at the golden figure, half-skeleton and skin pressed together, as if it had been burned to death by the sunlight.

“You don’t look well, Leona.”

“I never thought I would see that face here again. If it had been before, I wouldn’t have known, but now I know what kind of guy he was. How he treated Rosaria, what he thought of the saint, how he looked at me. I know all of that, so it’s even stranger to think of him in a positive light.”

Rosaria was able to maintain her chastity because she was a saint, and if Leona hadn’t been a warrior, who knows what would have happened to her. The conspirator was the Succubus Queen, so that says it all.

For Leona, who didn’t particularly have good feelings toward Astaroth, he must have been the very embodiment of disgust. Eternity cut down the Pope, who was walking towards her like a zombie, with one stroke of his sword.

The body cut by the blue blade turned into a golden halo. Perhaps because he was a normal human, he didn’t show the incredible regenerative powers of the ones I’ve met so far, like regenerating after being cut by a sword.

“Guys like that can come out a bit more.”

Leona said with a regretful tone. It seemed as if there had been that much piled up.

“We just need to go a little further.”

As we got closer to the nuke, the surrounding scenery became more and more precarious, as if to prove that time had become unstable.

In a space where fragments of broken pieces are flying upwards instead of downwards, you might be attacked by a flying monster, or if you step on a piece of debris floating in the air, gravity will act differently on each piece, causing you to slide to the side.

Space is warped so that when you stretch out your arm right next to someone, they appear far away, or time itself in a certain section is endlessly rewinding, repeating the last five seconds forever.

The core that arrived after going through all that was far beyond expectations. Leona, who saw Aria, shook her hand with a very nervous face. I held her hand as a sign of calming her down.

“… … .”

Leona, startled, clenched her hands even more tightly and interlocked her fingers.

“aria.”

The mouth called the name of an old childhood friend. Aria, before our eyes, was struggling miserably, entangled in countless golden threads.

A flash of golden light flowed through the tens of thousands of threads in real time, and each time the light flowed out, Aria’s fingertips gradually became fainter.

It was as if he had been caught by a spider and was being sucked of his bodily fluids. He approached Leona, who was at a loss for words, grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. The golden thread surrounding her body broke unexpectedly easily.

I caught the body that was about to fall helplessly to the floor. Aria, held in my arms, was breathing hard and groaning. Her body had stopped fading away, but her weakened expression remained.

The fragments of time that had been rushing in from all directions just a moment ago had melted away. At least the gate seemed like it would hold out a little longer. It seemed like there was no need to escape right away.

Blink, my eyelids opened.

“… …Ms. Mira.”

Blue eyes, the exact same color as Leona’s hair, were looking up at me.

“Yes, Aria.”

“I… … tried my best. I pulled in everything I had left… … I’ll be safe now… … everything… … .”

The hand that held my arm tightened. But it didn’t last long before it broke and flowed away. It wasn’t just fading away, it was truly gone.

“Okay. Go out and talk.”

“… … But, I might not be able to go out.”

“Who said that?”

He turned around. Leona, who had been listening to the conversation, approached Aria with a pale face. Her eyes busily scanned her arms and legs, which were fading away.

“… … What do you mean, I might not be able to go out?”

“What are you talking about? That’s nonsense. I can’t let you disappear from here, so I know that.”

“I’m sorry, Leona… … for the things I once said to you… … everything… … .”

“… … Okay! Just focus on getting out! Whether I get angry or not, I’ll go out and do it!”

Leona looked around anxiously as if trying to find her way. However, Aria’s body was becoming increasingly faint, so she was only anxious.

“Leona… … .”

“Okay! Don’t say anything! I’ll save you somehow… …!”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“……yes?”

Leona, who came out of the gate while swallowing her tears, just blinked and froze at the words of the Heavenly God and the Demon God that she was fine. The others were the same, and Aria, who was involved, was no exception.

“No, we told you… … that if we just took out the nukes, there wouldn’t be any problems… … .”

“I clearly said that, so why are you asking me to spare your life?”

“Then, the body became faint?!”

When Leona protested as if it was unfair, the angel pointed at Aria. Her body had soon returned to its original color.

“I was just stuck in time and had a hard time adjusting after coming out.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Leona and Aria, who had been hugging each other and crying in the middle, blushed at the same time.