■■■(?)
「Stronger.」
I do not know how long it had been. The adrenaline has long rid me of my sense of time.
[Wind Mimicry]
My torso shifted into the formless wind, weightless and untouchable. I merely gazed at the arrow, sharply coated in mana as it flew past the nothingness of my chest and embedded itself into a nearby tree.
"That fucking regressor…" Shin was no where to be found. After I had turned around for just a few seconds, he vanished into nothingness.
I glared at the Demon Captain positioned on a tree in the distant who was watching silently. He eyed me like a helpless, lost prey in a endless ever-expanding forest. "You have good instinct, for a weak human. To think someone like you were capable of wiping out my soldiers." A trace of an arrogant smile appeared on the demon's face as he raised his bow, preparing for another attack.
I was already too tired, the amount of demon soldiers I had to fend off for my life of beyond my expectations. But to think I would have to go against a demon captain… I will die.
I-I… will… die?
「Stronger.」
As those thought manifested I felt a strange sense of otherworldly force invading my body. Normal, I would've started panicking as I look for a way to escape this situation. Yet, there was something within that made my emotion flare, perhaps it was the adrenaline and anger that had made me lost my sense of reasoning. But I felt it. I'll survive. I'll kill. I'll get stronger.
「Stronger.」
「Are you just going to allow such lowly creature to defy you, ■■■?」
"Such impudent."
Then, I'll bring this world to its knees.
[Absolute Probabilities Manipulation]
—-
[???]
「So it seems, you have broken free from the cycle of ■■■ and returned at last, ■■■.」
A mysterious voice echoed within a dark empty world. This was a world where the Dawn of Beginning and the Horizon of End intertwined, a realm in which not a single being dared to enter. This was the [Void].
「It pains me to see you in such a pathetic state, ■■■. Though, I am in no right to speak nor can I blame you as I am also a fool myself.」
「However, that is fine. As long as we all can return back to each other's embraces, I shall be satisfied, no matter the outcome.」
「I have something to confess. The truth is, that prophecy, that you believed in dearly, are filled with lies. Many, many lies. You can despise me all you want, but, this is merely the only way.」
「Even so, I believe and will forever hold the conviction that, no matter how many times it takes, ■■■ can overcome this cruel and unfair trial and seek the end we desired.」
「Please, save me.」
—-
[12 hours prior]
(POV - Shin)
"how refreshing…" I muttered and let out a sigh as I stabbed the Undying Gluttony in the large pile of corpses under myself.
Demons. Disgusting demons. I have always wondered how much of these things I have killed. Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? I do not know.
Each day as sent one of these hideous creatures back into death's embrace, I also wondered if I was one step closer to ending my cycle of regressions.
How many times have I truly witness the [Absolute Reset]?
I have only told him that this was my 726th round because it was how much I estimated it to be. In reality, I did not know. I have lost count since the 100th regression. And I have also lost count of many I watch the inevitable sufferings in this world, even my so called 'friends' was not an exception.
I have a dreadful feeling that the number of my regression was much higher than I anticipated. Though, it is not the time to think about such insignificant details, after all until I have completed my purpose and break this cycle regression, my rights to sink into the eternal darkness of death will forever be taken away from me.
"Why was I chosen to go through this eternal hell?" As I uttered those words, I could feel a writhing, painful cry echoing within my soul, radiating from the tiny speck of mana of a higher plane of existence.
"Just why did you choose me…?" I asked, just hoping for any kind of reaction that would answer to my own question.
Yet, nothing…
"A human?" It was then a deep voice echoed through the silence of the rotten land in the distance.
Standing up slowly and retracted the Undying Gluttony from the pile of corpses, I lifted my head up and gaze at the approaching army of over a hundred demon soldiers.
"We have heard of the report about signals of soldiers being severed in the Forest of Decay, but to think it was the work of a puny little human." The demon with golden runes running along its pitch black skin spoke as it walked forward.
The demon captain, with a vicious grin, stopped within a few meters in front of me, it stared into the emptiness in my eyes before making morphing its expression into that of disdainful one. "This world was meant to be ruled by us and us only. Do you understand what I am saying, you lowly being? You are extremely fortunate, if not for the kindness of the Great Lord, not a single one of you would be standing here right now…"
"…"
"Hmph! No matter, Surrender yourself, human! If you do so, I shall give you the right of a painless de-"
"I must say, I am quite grateful for your consideration, you just made my job easier…" I sent him a smile seething with bloodlust that rendered him motionless in fear. "Though that offer of 'death' does sound quite attractive, I do not believe you are the one fitting for the job…"
[Eternal Mimicry - Mana Alteration]
[Eternal Mimicry - Inescapable Gamble]
A large translucent arena like structure was erected out of thin air between myself and the army
< Inescapable Gamble - No being shall have the right to leave until only one survivor remains >
"The 'Great Lord's Kindness', how laughable. The eternal curse of time had granted me the power to transcend fate itself, yet you dare believe in such a foolish notion? On this land, I am the one with true authority of life and death. This world is already at my mercy…"
I emotionlessly walked down the pile of corpses and slowly made my way towards the army of over a hundred raging demons soldiers.
"D-Do not be afraid, he is just one human! Charge!!" When the demon captain regained his composure, he quickly issued an order to quickly eliminate me.
For some this may be a fearful sight, yet I could only feel boredom with pity as I indifferently stared at the demons soldiers that would soon to become a mush of flesh hanging from my spear.
[Forbidden Mana Art - Weapon of Distortion]
My spear began glowing brightly through dimness of the sky in the land of the demons. As I slowly walked towards the approaching army, almost as if the fabric of the world was being
torn, space warped, and a powerful distortion ran along the path of Undying Gluttony as I held it in my hands.
I slowly and gracefully raised my spear at the direction of the approaching army of demons.
There was one more thing that bothered me.
Jin Shinpei, the anomaly.
A weak man who claim himself as a prophet with a weapon that has the ability to kill even the Origin. For the past few days, I couldn't quite get it off my mind. No matter how I thought of it, it just didn't make sense
I did not know what weapon he was possessing, I would've thought him as some delusional man who knew more than what he could handle if not for 'him'.
I slowly slashed the Undying Gluttony horizontally. With every second passing, the aura of distortion flared. The Undying Gluttony shook violently within as it tried to fully harness the power of distortion.
At the end of its path, the world seem as though it had came to a standstill. The demon soldiers ceased their movement, not due to fear but because they have already left this world.
The silent seem to stretch for eternity before the empty corpses of the demon soldiers devoid of their souls, slowly, one by one, fell and vanished without a trace.
'He' gave me the feeling in my gut that told me that Jin Shinpei knew his own limit and his own potential.
That day as I met his eyes when we both came out of our dorm, maybe that was why 'he' stop me from eliminating such grand an anomaly right there an then?
"Just who was Jin Shinpei, and why did you stop me from killing him, O' Great Calamity of Beginning?"
…
Not a single trace of reaction. No answer.
…
"If I were to reach the end of my journey, will all my questions be answered?"
The tiny speck of otherworldly mana shook with grace within my core, though it was subtle, it gave me the answer I needed.
"That will be a promise." That was all I could say right now. No mattter how much I force it, it would get me nowhere, after all.
"…"
"You can show yourself now." I called out to the presence in the distance that seem to have been following me for quite a while.
The whistling of the winds around me began to rage, yet I felt no hostile intent. The gale in the air came to together as one, they merge to form a figure of a youth with jet-black hair and silver-white eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, my gaze fixed his figure.
—-
(POV - Jin Shinpei)
"I figured you would be here," I said as I glanced at the piles of corpses of demons that filled my stomach with slight unpleasant feeling in the stomach.
Demons was a race that had a reproduction rate, combining the fact that their numbers outmatched ours by folds, it can be easily understood that the size of the human domain's army would not even be comparable to a tiny portion of the demon.
With such a high resource of manpower, camps of the demons are positioned everywhere surrounding the human domain, mainly it was to keep the humans in check, however, with a mere order of the demon king, they could begin a war if they wished.
This lone regressor, before the war, for every second of his life that he had a chance, for hundreds and thousands regressions, Shin had been killing millions of demons and getting rid of thousands of demon camps just so the casualties of war could be reduced.
As for the matter of why he was not found out, it is because the demon soldiers' and even demons captains', unless they were on an important mission, runes connection to the demon king is insignificantly weak. It just goes to show that the demon king himself does not care about what happens to them and see no value in them other than being useless pawns.
In statistics, without Shin's effort, the casualties on humanities' side would've have increased by more than tenfolds.
"Right, you are a prophet, after all," Shin muttered in a slight audible volume. "But how did you escape the eyes of the demons? Surely you would've ran into some on your way here."
"I took the path in which you use to clear the many camps," I answered.
"I see. What do you need? It's dangerous place for a weak man here."
I have to get stronger. Life and death situations. This was the only perfect opportunity. Sure, I could develop my skill in PRSM Academy and I am confident that I could be one of the strongest human if I trained hard enough based on the skill I have been provided with. However, I needed to get there faster and fiercer, and experience was the best way. "I would like to join you, I need to become stronger as w-"
"Denied. Go back. I don't feel like becoming a babysitter." Shin shot me down immediately and began to walk away.
It was a blunt and direct answer. In a normal circumstance, I would've start my internal monologue about respecting other's opinions and answer; however, the regressing son of a bitch underestimated my stubbornness.
—-
"What are you still here?" Shin asked in a deadpanned voice as he slammed a lifeless corpse of a demon onto the ground.
[Wind Mimicry]
"What do you mean?" My voice echoed through the whistling of raging wind as I materialized behind a demon soldier and implanted my daggers into his runes.
"Never mind." He heaved a tired sigh.
[Eternal Mimicry - Mana Alteration]
"Here, at least conceal your true mana signature," he said.
I suddenly felt a weightless invisible blanket covering my body. "Does that mean you agree to train me?" I said jokingly in a excited tone
"No. Fuck off. I can tell, you're not going to leave just because I asked you so. Do what you want, if you die following me, that is your fault." He began walking to the next destination again.
This should be good enough for now, it should be good training for my [Wind Mimicry], combat prowess and even stamina, I made sure to bring a lot of potion for this.
Though, [Absolute Probabilities Manipulation] is the most important thing I have to focus on training. After all, it may be the only weapon that can truly harm the Origin.
What I can do as of right now is quite limited if I do not want the eyes of the Origin is descend. I have an idea of how much of [Absolute Probabilities Manipulation] I could use to not arouse the Origin's attention as well as not harming my mental state, working within those range may be the only way in which I could train my Wildcard right now.
We continued to walk deeper into territory of the demons, I estimated it has been around 10 hours. My control and mastery of [Wind Mimicry] and [Silent Wind - Concealment] felt as though it had increased a bit, after all, it was situation of continuous combat.
Shin cleared many more camps while I deal with some of the small fries when I have the chance to. Though I knew him best, I always amazed of his power. But of course, his power was not something he had been granted. It had been from his and will and effort of hundreds of regression without breaking. Not matter how I thought of it, it will forever be admirable to me.
A wanderer from an exiled world. A regressor harnessing the power of the [Absolute Reset]. A hero who refused to give up.
He was not a being that 'fate' can define and control. The Origin never had stood any chance from the beginning.
"Hm…?"
It was then in the midst of our journey. Shin had vanished without a word.
—-
[Absolute Probabilities Manipulation]
The world came to standstill. The absolute authority of scale of probabilities envelope my mind with a sense of omnipotent. I watched as even a single trace of my movement cause the raging distortion to twisted the fabric of reality itself.
The scale shifted in my command, causing the slight unbalance that is capable of defying the law of world itself.
Power began to surge within me as I vanished and materialized next to the demon captain. In crazed madness, I began my onslaught. I buried the dagger deep right into his runes, then I slashed and slashed. Our eyes met. The demon stared at me to wide, bloodshot eyes, unable to process a single thing.
"you dare oppose me?"
With all his might, he kicked the ground for a slight retreat before summoning a glowing crystal of rainbows from his dimensional storage, quite possibly an artifact that can be use for escapes, but chaos has already invaded my mind, I can't tell what it is, and I can't tell if I am even controlling my body anymore.
Not allowing the filthy creature to catch a breath, my speed heightened again as I emerge out of thin air in front of a demon before slicing the artifact in half and once again implanted my dagger into its damaged runes.
The demon writhe in extreme pain trying to hard as it can push me away, yet I did not budge. I slammed the demon to the ground causing the earth to shake for mere moments, the demon struggled violently, therefore, I ridded it of its limbs, then I began to slash, cut, and pierced. The demon let out a blood curdling scream, thus, I allowed my dagger to run through the inside of its mouth.
Ruthlessness. There was no mercy. No emotion. I just had to kill. To survive.
As I embedded my daggers into the demon who has already left this world a few moments ago, silence descended on the land.
I gazed at the empty lifeless body that had been ravaged. Then, I looked down at my own bloody hand that was was trembling as it grip the daggers.
This was me. Yet, this was not me…
I could not understand.
「For all eternity, never shalt thou forget, ■■■.」
Who am I?
Then, I returned to the darkness' embrace.
—-
[???]
「…」
「How intriguing. It seems, The Third Anomaly has appeared.」