Infinite Regressing Knight

Chapter 14: Stage 2. Celestial Stone (7)

Sebastian wore a dumbfounded expression.

"What? In front of the mages?"

"……Yes."

"You are a pirate. Ignorant bastard. No, damn it! I'm the ignorant one. I'm the idiot!"

After that, Sebastian went on a long tirade bordering on self-hatred.

I didn't know how strong this man was, but I didn't feel the same ominousness as Velicaya.

Rather, he felt more dim-witted.

Besides, he didn't want to work or think, so his self-defense mechanisms were quite weak.

Thanks to this, Dominic was able to obtain a lot of information.

"What kind of wealth and glory am I going to enjoy by being stuck in this strange place……"

Sebastian was helping Velicaya's research and maintaining this tower.

He was also the one who kidnapped humans to the forest.

Then, was this man the one who cast magic on the mountain range around Slash-and-Burn Village?

Dominic lowered his head and only exuded an atmosphere of apology.

Then, Sebastian, who had been huffing and puffing, gradually regained his composure.

"Well……. Still, since one person came, at least the miscellaneous tasks will be reduced."

"……I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Want to eat?"

Sebastian handed him a huge cookie he had never seen before from his robe pocket.

I didn't want to eat it, but I chewed it out of necessity, and it tasted surprisingly sweet.

Sebastian, watching that, took out the same thing and ate one himself.

In a natural atmosphere, he threw out a question as if without a thought.

"What was that stone from before?"

"That? It's a raw material."

"A raw material?"

"The energy source that powers this tower, and the material used in Velicaya's experiments."

"But why do the beasts have it?"

"Because they're beasts that were drawn in by the tower's magic and rolled into the spatial cracks. They unknowingly build up their inner core while licking the tower. Like Mana Refinement."

I didn't know exactly what he meant, but I nodded.

It seemed that this man would say anything haphazardly if you didn't let the flow of the conversation be cut off.

"When I first discovered this tower, there was an incredible guy. He had been licking the tower for decades, maybe centuries. He was someone I couldn't even dare to approach, but Velicaya barely killed him. I thought we were all going to die, for real."

The nuance was strange.

Until now, I had thought that the witch Velicaya had built this tower, but that didn't seem to be the case.

You wouldn't express that you 'discovered' something you made yourself.

Besides, the fact that he didn't know whether it was decades or centuries meant that they also didn't know the origin of this tower.

"But don't play with your hands here. If Velicaya finds out, you'll really die."

"Yes. I've heard that she's a scary person. Silver hair and reddish-brown eyes. Right?"

"Silver hair my ass. I'm the one with silver hair. She's just always angry, so the heat must have gone to her head."

Sebastian, having finished eating the cookie, put his hand in his robe pocket and threw a black bead into the air.

The bead floated in the air.

However, the number was enormous.

"A hundred, right?"

"……That seems about right."

"Sigh."

Sebastian, who had been concentrating for a while, waved his hand, and the hundred beads merged into one.

Surprisingly, when the black beads merged into one, they became a pure white bead.

It emitted a pure white radiance as if it were something sacred, and an enormous energy was felt.

"Isn't it strange?"

"Yes?"

"We came here to avoid the eyes of the Celestials, so why is there Celestial power? I really don't understand this."

Celestials?

Could he be talking about the Valkyries of the Heavens?

Dominic wanted Sebastian to say more, but he grabbed the pure white bead and began to lament his fate again.

"Velicaya caused the accident, but why am I a fugitive too? Damn it."

"Haha……."

"Let's go, newbie. I've filled my quota, so I'm really going to rest."

With those words, Sebastian began to head towards the tower, swinging his arms.

At that moment, Dominic rushed at Sebastian.

If I followed him into the tower, I might gain more information.

But I could also meet Velicaya and be killed right away.

I had already gained a lot of information.

Now was the time to take practical benefits.

Dominic, who had quickly approached Sebastian, stretched out his left arm.

Judging from the circumstances, Sebastian was weaker than Velicaya, but stronger than Dominic.

So, the intention was to give up his left arm and have the ring on his right hand make contact with the bead.

However, Sebastian's actions were something Dominic had never imagined.

"Hey! What's wrong!"

He was startled and jumped back, and then spoke to Dominic without taking any action.

"What is it. Did you get a sense of professional duty as a pirate? This isn't the sea. Get a grip!"

I was dumbfounded.

This man was still not abandoning the assumption that Dominic was a 'newbie' even while being attacked.

"Even if you steal this and run away, all you'll get is being chased by the Magic Tower or the Seven Knights. Let's go to the tower quietly. I'll keep it a secret."

As the situation turned out like this, Dominic was also very flustered.

But I had already started.

Dominic dashed again and stretched out his left arm again.

This time, I even gathered mana.

He was even considering a suicide move of grabbing him with his left arm and detonating Mana Burn if necessary.

"Ma, Mana Burn? You're using something so barbaric? A mage?"

Sebastian was appalled.

"You bastard! You were a spy!"

Sebastian, looking somewhat betrayed, waved his hand at Dominic.

An unknown force surged, distorting the space.

And what was in that space was Dominic's left arm.

But, Dominic resisted.

Pa pa pa pat!

The mana, with its increased emission speed, was quickly scattered into the space.

Dominic didn't know much about magic.

But he knew that mages caused miracles by arranging mana.

So, he detonated Mana Burn close to his left arm in order to disrupt the mana arrangement.

Bang!

From the impact, his left arm turned into a rag.

Pain surged, but the intention was successful.

The moment Dominic's left arm, breaking through the space where the magic had disappeared, tried to grab Sebastian's neck.

Drip-

With the sound of a water droplet falling, pressure surged like a wave.

That erased Dominic's left arm from the world.

The area below his shoulder was crushed like the corpse of a soldier crushed by a fortress gate.

"Keuk!"

A groan escaped from the extreme pain.

But.

Thud.

The ring worn on his right hand.

It was already touching the pure white bead.

From the beginning, trying to attack Sebastian was a ruse.

What I was trying to get by throwing my left arm was just contact.

But.

"……?"

Nothing happened.

"What are you doing?"

Sebastian, with a puzzled expression, looked at Dominic, who was battered.

Could it be that the ring could only absorb black beads?

Was the white bead, which was the combination of a hundred black beads, impossible?

In the meantime, Sebastian was trying to separate the white bead from Dominic's ring.

But it was impossible.

"Huh?"

Because the ring was holding onto the white bead with tremendous suction power.

"Uh oh?"

Sebastian, startled, held the white bead with both hands, but nothing changed.

Originally, the ring hardly made any sound when filling the pattern.

You could hear a faint sound that you could only hear if you concentrated.

So Dominic thought he might have filled the pattern once without realizing it.

Probably, in the plains he entered after killing the Squirmers.

Because for some unknown reason, I had thought I had become stronger.

But now.

Whoooooooooosh-!

The sound of wind blowing in the fields could be heard.

It was the sound the ring made as it absorbed the white bead.

"No!"

Sebastian attacked, and Dominic couldn't avoid the magic.

Because the ring was stuck to the bead, he couldn't move at all.

Bang!

His sternum was crushed and extreme pain surged, but Dominic smiled.

Because the white bead had disappeared in an instant as soon as the absorption started.

Dominic, writhing on the floor with his broken body, barely raised his right hand.

Then, he looked at the pattern.

Flash.

Once.

Flash.

Twice.

Flash.

Three times.

The Heat Haze within the pattern repeatedly filled and disappeared.

When it filled for the fourth time.

"You bad bastard!"

Crunch!

Dominic's head was crushed.

It was death.

***

His whole body was suffering as if submerged in a furnace.

Mana was boiling like lava, and fire ants seemed to be gnawing at the mana hole.

The heat soaring throughout his body rose to his bone marrow, and then a coldness as if trapped in eternal snow cooled his entire body.

Enormous pain was felt, but he couldn't lose consciousness either.

He had no choice but to endure the pain completely.

At that moment, a thought suddenly came to mind.

Fugitive.

Yes, I was a fugitive.

I had always fled from an irresistible fear.

I fled from Kedral, fled from the truth, and fled from my parents' corpses.

And, I fled from pain too.

But what if I had this power back then?

Was there a need to run away?

Instead of enduring the harsh successor lessons, wouldn't I have killed Kedral in an instant?

Wouldn't I have destroyed everything that made me afraid?

Yes, I would have.

If you have power, you have to wield it.

Isn't that enough?

That thought filled his head and expanded as if it were unmistakable.

In that daze, Dominic shook his head without realizing it.

Hadn't I thought about it while looking at Jarrot and Search Team 8?

The opposite of fear is understanding.

Humans can overcome fear by understanding.

So, I would have tried to understand Kedral instead of fearing him.

Because I have power.

If what makes me afraid is no longer scary, then why would I destroy it?

I could just understand it.

I would have lived like that.

So…….

Peacefully…….

…….

…….

Dominic, who had been swimming in a sea of thoughts as long as eternity.

"Gasp!"

Opened his eyes.

***

"Commander!"

"……Jarrot."

"Are you okay?"

Looking around, it was the fork in the mountain range.

A new iteration had begun.

"What happened?"

"You suddenly collapsed. You had a fever and then your whole body became as cold as ice……"

Jarrot's face was full of worry.

"I'm okay."

He got up to check his body, but his whole body was as light as a feather.

In addition, all the terrain that made up the mountain range was recognized even though it was not seen with the eyes.

The range of perception was expanded and reconstructed as if a bird was looking down at the ground from the sky.

I felt like I could read the angle and trajectory and catch an arrow even if someone was hiding and shooting an arrow.

'What is this…….'

Was it because I absorbed the ring's pattern?

How many times did I absorb it?

I definitely confirmed it up to three times.

"Commander?"

"How long was I unconscious?"

"It's been over 30 minutes."

"I'm late. We're moving."

"Yes? But your body……."

"I've gotten better. No, I've gotten better."

It wasn't just better, I felt like I was reborn.

But it was an inexplicable phenomenon, so I didn't say it out loud.

Time was delayed because I fainted.

So, I would enter the forest at a different 'time' than when I arrived at Slash-and-Burn Village at full speed.

It could be the point where I meet the pirates, or the point where I meet Edgar's group looking like ragged soldiers.

It didn't matter what it was.

After all, the goal in this iteration was clear.

The Celestial Stone.

Breaking through Velicaya and touching the Celestial Stone.