Chapter 48: Very Depths of the Abyss (2) (1/2)
Ha Saetbyul.
That was his lover whom he had imagined the future with for the first and the last time ever.
When the Regressor’s head was about to be muddled with various thoughts, status messages came one after another.
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock(EX)] reads hostility sent from the other side of the Horizon of Providence.]
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock(EX)] observes an existence that has escaped the boundaries of time.]
[Opponent: [Superhuman Ha Saetbyul]]
[Explanation: There has been interference from the existence on the other side of the Horizon of Providence, who holds hostility against the regressions. The life of Ha Saetbyul the superhuman has changed immensely.]
[Ha Saetbyul of the Seventh Iteration: In this iteration, Ha Saetbyul was unable to work at the orphanage for a long time. Due to a firing error of superhumans under the International Hunter Association, the orphanage was destroyed, and Ha Saetbyul was reborn as a demon by signing a contract with the existence of abyss out of her hatred against superhumans. The existence contracted with Ha Saetbyul is [The Seventh Lord of the Abyss, Lakshata]. Although Ha Saetbyul had felt doubt at the intense hatred that came to her from the other side of the Horizon of Providence, she forgot most of it while contracting with Lakshata. One of the memories that reached her from outside the timeline includes a portion about you, the Regressor.]
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock(EX)], reveals extreme hostility against the existence that hates you!]
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock(EX)], wishes for you to solve this problem as soon as possible!]
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock(EX)]…]
The Vintage Clock showed animosity against the hostility that had arrived from the other side of the Horizon of Providence, to the point that it seemed to be in a seizure. It was firm and resolute.
Even in the previous regressions, never had the Vintage Clock been this vehement.
After reading through the change that had happened to Ha Saetbyul, Yu Jitae went back to the profile in silence and viewed the data related to Prototype X again.
Other profiles had pictures of the superhumans, but there weren’t any for this one. In doubt, he asked Ryuunosuke who was vacantly sitting down in a corner of the office.
“Why does Number 42 not have an image.”
“…Who knows. Someone must have forgotten to put it on.”
“Do you remember this woman’s face?”
“I do. It was a cute face, but she didn’t show her face for that long. Though rare for an operator, she was wearing a full-plated armour.”
A full plate armour? Ha Saetbyul in the past wasn’t wearing something like that.
That wasn’t the end to the odd situation. After floating up a status message, [Searching…] for some time, the Vintage Clock opened up another window.
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] observes an item that is outside the world’s timeline.]
[Opponent: [Arma’s Longsword]]
The target pointed at by the Vintage Clock this time, was the protector’s sword which was hanging on Yu Jitae’s waist. It was the object which had been handed over by Bom earlier that day.
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] will stop the hostility sent from the other side of the Horizon of Providence before it could reach you.]
[The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] is fighting the hostility…]
He unsheathed the protector’s sword and raised it. As the authority of the Vintage Clock was influencing it, the sword was filled with the invisible aura of Vintage Clock. After contemplating about the current situation for some time, the Regressor returned the sword back to its sheath.
Then, he spoke to Ryuunosuke.
“Change my position from wing guard to operator.”
“…It’s nothing difficult, but why?”
It was because Ha Saetbyul was an operator.
“Your family is in Tokyo right?” While speaking of Ryuunosuke’s weak point, Yu Jitae left the office as his clone followed him from behind.
***
There was a mountain with no human presence inside a certain conflict zone. Yu Jitae, who had been carrying his steps forward with no real objective, stopped his feet after reaching that place.
His clone likewise stopped its feet.
Yu Jitae sat down on a tree stump. Then, he took out the protector’s sword and filled his fingers with killing intent before sharpening the blade with it.
Shink, shink…
His index and middle fingers followed down the blade. There were no abrasives or whetstones present, but the sword was nonetheless getting sharper and shaper. With a cloudy gaze, the Regressor stared at the sword and sharpened it slowly for a long time.
The existence beyond the Horizon of Providence.
Someone who was dissatisfied with his regressions and thus held hostility.
It was hard to guess who it was and what made it do this. Besides, the extent of its power, was still hard to judge.
But now he had a gist that he could understand what it was thinking.
Literally. It was ‘hostility’ itself.
It was leading him to annoyance, despair, or ruin.
As the proof, that guy had bothered to increase the strength level of Wei Yan and made Ha Saetbyul into Prototype X. ‘Your ex-lover, who was tortured and killed by your own hands a long time ago – kill her once again with your hands’ was what it was saying.
Shink…
His hand grinding the sword gradually accelerated.
The blade was already sharp, but Yu Jitae did not stop his hands.
After the second round of regression,
So after he killed Ha Saetbyul and killed himself, Yu Jitae had never gone looking for her. He avoided bumping into her when they happened to be near each other. In the early iterations, it was from guilt and in the recent rounds, he just had no reason to face her, and thus kept his distance. Perhaps that was why that guy had misunderstood.
‘That guy’ doesn’t know me very well.
That was Yu Jitae’s conclusion.
If that guy really knew me well, it wouldn’t have worked in such an inefficient way.
Maybe it had heard or seen some random stuff somewhere. Despite that, that guy was pretending to know him very well, and he found that to be impudent.
When he thought deeply about it, he slowly started feeling angry from inside.
That was when his clone interrupted his contemplation.
“My lord. If you have anything to order, please do so.”
The only existence that remembered a portion of Yu Jitae’s repeated history – [Shadow of an Archduke (S)] speculated what it had to do.
“If you so wish, I will take care of this, and will keep everything that happened inside my own memory without taking it out.”
Yu Jitae shook his head without saying a word.
* * *
Early the next morning.
The 71-man raid team gathered together.
As the squad had been brought together in a hurry, the members had different nationalities and associations, and in turn, they weren’t very close to each other. This was why Prototype X was able to fit in.
There was no-one who would seriously question the addition of one superhuman into the operator position and the name value of Ryuunosuke, one of the 12 Zodiacs of Japan, had enough power as well.
“…So you’re not going to cause any problems right?”
“Yes.”
“Please take care of your work and leave quietly. I really feel pressured with you around.”
Realising the position he was in, Ryuunosuke did not make a commotion about it.
Yu Jitae, who already knew the type of person Ryunosuke was, had been expecting this. He was the kind that understood the authority of power. Perhaps by now, he was hoping that Yu Jitae would finish his business quietly before disappearing without a word.