The Unexpected Twist (1)

I returned to my room and took a shower before sitting down on my bed.

[worthlesshonor.text]

I began to read through the middle part of the novel again and just as I remembered…

I am trying figure out the number of rounds Shin has regressed base on his behavior I had witness towards an anomaly like myself.

Eva Varon, the prophet, her existence was only known to Shin from the 423rd round, but he only managed to get her to become an ally in the 726th round.

However, before that, starting from around the 300th round or so, right after the round in which had manage to successfully inflicted a single wound on the demon king, anomalies started to become more apparent, it completely caused chaos each round, and it always begin 2 years after the [Absolute Reset]

This was the work of Eva, the prophet, when she was under control.

Therefore, two things can be deducted, first Eva only gain her power two years after the [Absolute Reset]

Two, it was most likely that Shin was only anxious about an anomaly that occurred so quickly during the round and not because he is suspicious of me for being a puppet or another unknown prophet, given how passive he was at the moment.

Because if he were to be aware of the existence of the prophet, he would've forced information out of me before killing me with no hesitation

So it's safe to assume he maybe around the 300s at the moment. But I shouldn't let my guard down.

"Haa…" I'm worried.

If the fact is true, since this would be considered the 'early rounds', Shin would be quite naive and a bit reckless.

And I'm not sure what my fate would be like in the face of [Absolute Reset].

I'll have to be on high alert…

—-

As it was just orientation, and I didn't have class in the afternoon, I figured I should take a walk around the city

With the great power and intellect of the demon king from a higher plane of existence, in just a mere decade, the demon race was able to push humanity into a corner

The central of human's domain, City of Alys, governed by the royal palace, it's essentially the last defense line and a safe haven that is meant for nurturing soldiers, naturally its defense should be impossible to breach.

But, I still had to be cautious…

With the power to manipulate Time, Space, and Matter, a couple demons could also slip inside the city

In reality, that demon king from the higher plane of existence could absolutely wipe out the entire human race in just a couple of days with it's power, or he could summon an entire army right in the middle of the city.

But it chose not to and restricted its power, not just for the sake of amusement, but also because it didn't want to be noticed by the Origin too quickly.

I walked around the city, and was just amaze and was in daze by the architecture and layout of it

Kind of give a futuristic vibe, while also maintaining a medieval type of style, I don't know, but it looked cool

"Let's see" I opened up my phone to check how much currency I have, after all it would be a waste not to try some food from another world

[Total Balance: 19,998,678 C]

"Uwah… grandpa is generous" I muttered as I looked at the amount of money

After all, he was quite the hero back in the day

For your reference, 100,000 C is just enough for you to rent 1 month in a nice apartment with all the necessity included, so this should be enough to get me going for a while.

"Oh, Jin!" It was then a voice called out to me

"Fucking sh-" before I could curse my power of attracting calamities magnets I realized, 'Right, he was supposed to be here… damn my luck is shitty in this world huh?'

"Shin…" I turned around and greeted him, before purposefully changing my expression to that of surprise, "You got blood on you."

"Oh this? Don't worry it's not my blood, just went out and test my spear on some mana beast" he lied as naturally as he breathed

In truth, instead of training and all that, he infiltrated an auction house in the black market and forcefully stole a spear.

The spear was known as [Undying Gluttony], it once belong to Shin's master, Akal, a gentle demon, who extremely despised the war.

In all honesty, I really respected Akal when I first read about his existence.

He was not only gentle and kind, but he was also wise.

The gentle demon took Shin in after he had just arrived in this world, when he was still a nameless boy who had no memory of his own existence, when he was still weak and fragile, when he has not been granted the 'wildcard' [Boundless Regression], when he was just boy with no purpose at all.

Even until the end, Akal's smile never wavered as he exchanged his life for Shin's

"All right, I'll be heading off"

"Wait!" I stopped him as I just remembered thT I'm not familiar with this area, "You know any good place to eat around here?"

"Well… hmm… ah, just walk to that intersection there and turn right, you should find a place with huge sign that have extremely bright color, I heard their Karaage is quite good" Shin answered as he point out the direction

"Alright, thanks" I thanked him before walking towards the location he pointed at, but I couldn't help but felt a bit weirdly familiar and uneasy about the information he gave me.

It was a quick 2 minute walk, and currently I was in front of a place with a giant colorful sign that wrote 'Paradise Spice', and that feeling of uneasiness grew even more

I frowned trying to brush off the uneasiness and hesitantly enter.

The interior was quite beautiful looking, and kind of remind me of a bar in my past world, but it had this sort of antique feeling to it, it was quite warm inside as well.

'What's going on…' But the disturbing and eerie feeling was starting to make my stomach churn.

I sat down and ordered a dish of karaage, 'didn't realized this dish would still exist many centuries later'.

"You're making a scene"

"Please, I insist you refrain using those type of language"

It was then I heard some voices outside of the shop bickering about something

My eyes squinted before widening as I finally realized why my stomach have been churning from this uneasy feeling.

It wasn't because I knew that those voices belong to Jun-seo, Eliss, and Mia, no, it was much more than that

I slowly turned towards the corner of the restaurant and my heart dropped.

A man in black cloak was sitting there gazing at the entrance of the restaurant, waiting

'Arthraz….' The name manifested itself in my mind as I looked at his figure

This was the first major incident.

One of the top ranking demon captain, in the beginning of the story, he was sent on a mission to eliminate these three potential threat of the future

However, he ultimately failed after Shin manage to interrupted his plan in the 0th round, it had became such a repetitive event from each round that the author didn't even bother writing it anymore after a while

I was honestly careless…

'It should be alright, Shin will come after all…' I reassured myself

But… why did he pointed out this restaurant for me, what is actually going on?

Is he putting me through a test?

"I'm telling you! That guy was such an assh-" Mia opened the door and stopped in her track as she locked eyes with me,

"It's you!" She pointed

At the same time, Jun-seo and Eliss gazed at me curiously

"Isn't he the guy who ranked last in our class? I can't remember his name" Jun-seo said with pitiful smile

"…" While Eliss just wordlessly stared at me in curiousity.

Ignoring them, I silently got up and head towards the bathroom at the back, making sure not to look at the direction of the man in black cloak

'From what I've remembered, as soon as the trio sat down, Arthraz would use his skill [Shadow Storm] and take Eliss as hostage and that would be when Shin would appear out of thin air and end him'

I have to observe…

Swoosh

I walked further into the back and I shift my entire body into wind just before turning the corner and concealed my mana normally (preventing leakage), allowing me observe without having my presence be known.

'As I'm not wasting my energy doing anything in this state I should be able to have [Wind Mimicry] active for about 30 minutes minutes' I thought as I went back to becoming a stalker of the wind

—-

"He disappeared… but it was definitely that guy…" Mia said in annoyance

"So you got annoyed just because of what a rank 1897 said? How pitiful… ain't that right Eliss?" Jun-seo scoffed

"Hey! Fuck off asshole! That's exactly why I should be reacting like this, like who does he think he is?" Mia retorted

"Now, now, please lower your volume and be aware of where we are right now, Mia" Eliss said with calming voice, "Though, he has quite a mysterious ability… I witnessed it when I was testing my bow next door…"

"Tch… whatever…" Mia murmured

"Owner, may we have a table for three?" Eliss requested

"Right this way, Your Highness" the owner bowed before showing the trio to their table

As they arrived at their table…

*Slam*

The sound of the wind raging resounded. Destroying everything in its path, immediately the trio was engulfed in a tornado of blackness.

Shrieks of terror filled the area, emergency warning of a high level demon echoed within the city

[7 Swords of the Fallen Gods - Malicious Kindness]

[The Great Surge - Limit Breaker]

Two powerful beams of light suddenly penetrate through the tornado of shadow, creating a large crack

Two figure emerged from the crack, one holding a rapier and one holding a shinning sword. The duo landed and glared at the source of shadow tornado

"Hehehe.... as expected of the heir of the Golden Faith Clan, and the young mistress of the Gentle Storm Clan, truly such amazing and abnormal magical prowess... but unfortunately, it is my victory..." As the storm dispersed, a large figure with deep red eyes, jet-black skin, and golden runes running all across its body revealed itself, holding Eliss by the throat

"Eliss!" Jun-seo shouted, "Release her, you bastard"

"I will, if you decide to compromise with my request..." Arthraz sneered as he tightened the grip on Eliss' throat, "But, of course, that really wasn't a request, it was an order, if you don't follow it, well let's just say... a certain someone won't get to see tomorrow's sunlight..."

'What is going on... Shin is supposed to appear already...' I was getting anxious, this is not how it was supposed to go, if Eliss, or any of those two were to be killed, Humanity were doomed to fall

Was he really testing me?

'Shin... you bastard, where are you...?'

Arthraz took out an black orb and tossed it on the ground, and suddenly a purple void-like portal suddenly erected out of thin air

"A Portal…?" Mia murmured anxiety began to manifest in her mind.

"Now, as you probably might have guessed, I don't really have that much time to spare, please step into this portal..."

Mia and Yun-seo looked at the Arthraz silently, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation

"You, what is your goal…?" Yun-seo asked

"Enough with the useless conversation… it doesn't what my goal is… and also this won't buy enough time for reinforcement to arrive… don't you get it? It's my victory…"

"…"

"…"

Arthraz tightened his grip even further a statistic smile, causing Eliss lose her consciousness, "Maybe you haven't me, so let me repeat myself, either you step through this portal or I will personally stain my own hand with the blood of the great Princess of Alys..."

"Tch…" Yun-seo clicked his tongue hesitantly and silently took a step forward, while Mia continued to froze unable to move

"Good job, as expected of Yoo Yun-seo, the heir of the Golden Faith Clan, you understand the gravity of the situation... now just step right through, and Eliss Alys be back in your arms..." Arthraz laughed manically as he slowly hovered Eliss' body towards the the amethyst colored portal

'No... this is bad... he's going to throw her through the portal!' Before, I even realized it adrenaline began to rage within my body as I shifted back to my physical form

Is this a test? Who gives a shit anymore!? If Eliss is dropped through that portal, everything would be over.

I immediately activate [Silent Wind - Concealment], ' I have exactly 3 second to pull this off, or else Eliss might be taken"

3

I silently slammed my feet against the floor, and burst forward at high speed

2

As the distance between Arthraz and I shortened rapidly, I swiftly took out my daggers, and my adrenaline continued rage

1

When I was close enough I immediate activated [Wind Mimicry], letting the the momentum take control, I pass through body of the still unsuspecting demon and arriving at his front

0

With whistling of a flying arrow, I shifted back to physical, twisting my body at high speed, slashed the arm holding Eliss and viciously implanted my dagger on the area just above his core with deadly accuracy.

It was discovered during the war that a demon's weak point was just right above their core, then it was later known that it was because there was a mark, like a seal, that was implanted onto them by the demon king, connecting himself to every demons in the land.

"Gr-ARGHHHHHHH" Arthraz writhed in pain as he lost his grip in Eliss and staggered backward uncontrollably before quickly regaining his balance

Jun-seo snapping out of his daze, quickly grabbed Eliss and fell back

"You… dare…?" Arthraz seethed as he glared at me with bloodshot eyes which sent shivers down my spine

"Tch… that wasn't enough…" The one in front of us was a top-ranked demon captain, we could most likely stall him for quite a while, until Shin arrives that is.

'Shin… that bastard…' I cursed

"I apologize as my worthless self is unable to drag these lowly being back to Paradise, but please have no worry, I shall dispose of them, and graciously present their heads to you, My Lord" Arthraz spoke as his mana that is tainted with demonic energy began to ran rampage and shook air around him

"Crazy bastard…" I muttered as I held up my daggers and got ready to shift with [Wind Mimicry]

Mia and Jun-seo also got ready to activate their Skills

"HAHAHAHA THIS IS YOUR FATE YOU LOWLY SCUMS, FEAST YOUR EYES UPON MY POWER, THIS IS WHAT YOU GET, FOR HARMING THE GREAT ARTHR-"

We watched silently as a figure suddenly manifested itself from thin air behind the crazed demon

And as he nonchalantly drew a majestic line with his spear, distortion raged along the path of his spear, a spatial tear was cleanly created, and the demon's head was no long intact with its body

"Hey, did I miss anything?" Shin asked with smile as he kicked the lifeless demon body down

'This fucker…' in truth I was already seething with anger, I didn't know what kind of shit he was taking, if only he was here from the beginning this whole event could ended much better

if I were just half a second late, Eliss would've been taken, and Humanity would began its inevitable downfall.

But, of course, I couldn't express it out loud, instead I just sighed and silently walk towards the seat and sat down, still trying to calm my adrenaline

"Shin, thank god… I was so worried… I thought Eliss was g-going to hic… -g-going t- hic" Mia began to fell to her knee and sobbed

"It's okay, it's okay, the demon is gone now, and the Princess is safe" Shin reassured her in a comforting manner as he patted her head

"How's her condition?" Shin asked as turned towards Jun-seo who was holding Eliss is his arms

"She's alright, just unconcious…" Jun-seo answered with an annoyed expression, of course, he couldn't just admit the fact that Shin was on another level easily, even after witnessing it for himself

"That's good…" Shin then stood up straight and began to slowly walk towards my direction, but then his demeanors unexpectedly shifted, his warm smile vanished without a trace, replaced by an expression that was ice cold and indifferent, the gaze of his sharp, golden eyes mercilessly exerted an overwhelmingly suffocating pressure

Then suddenly…

"Shall we have a talk, just you and I?" His voice sent chills down my spine, I knew, deep within my gut, it wasn't a request, it was order…