The Heroine Stole My Regression

39 – The Mind (3)

That was close. He’d rushed as fast as he could, but he’d been a hair too late.

Without a decent foothold, it might have been even harder.

The plaza was still a mess.

Medusa’s severed head rolled to a stop on the ground, scattered snake corpses around it.

Beyond that, the professors and heroes watched him. Their gazes were a mixture of surprise and wariness.

They had every right to be surprised.

Medusa was no pushover.

-Wooom-

The harpe in his hand trembled faintly, gradually losing its light.

‘Is this the end?’

He’d said before that the harpe was basically a one-use item.

This was why. Having slumbered within stone for so long, the weapon lost its power after a single use.

It was that powerful, and it was only thanks to this thing that he was able to slice through Medusa’s neck in one clean stroke.

He should probably find a new weapon soon.

He sheathed the harpe at his waist and composed himself.

It wasn’t over yet. In fact, this was just the beginning.

He looked around.

And moved toward the most familiar face.

Do Han-sung, the instructor in charge of his Class B.

“Instructor.”

He was issuing orders to various heroes while tidying up the battlefield.

Evacuating the wounded, reorganizing the remaining forces, and discussing countermeasures.

As I approached, he looked at me directly.

And, as if questioning, spoke to me.

“Student Haein. Just how…”

I cut him off, launching straight into the heart of the matter.

“A pincer movement. Medusa was merely bait.”

Dohan Seong’s expression froze for a moment.

“…Pardon?”

Then, chewing over my words, he quietly parted his lips.

I had no time to wait for his reaction.

“Just now, a demon came looking for me.”

I hurried to continue.

“He saw through my desires and whispered, ‘I can give you everything.'”

His eyes widened dramatically for a fleeting instant.

Then, he quietly murmured.

“…Moras.”

He knew too. Moras was a demon with that much recognition.

“If that’s true, then everyone here needs to go.”

He was right. The fiend used clones. Capturing many clones was meaningless if we couldn’t find the original.

“Just a moment!”

A hurried voice came from behind.

I turned my head.

A man approaching with hurried steps.

His shoulder boards bore the emblem of some guild.

He called out resolutely.

“If Moras really did come, then capturing him is a must, that’s true.”

He stated firmly.

“But we can’t have everyone moving. Reversing the trace to the ones who summoned Medusa takes priority.”

“If those hiding summon yet another monster? We’ll be unable to respond then.”

I pondered. His words were not wrong.

The monster is only Medusa. They have no other prepared monsters to summon.

Yet, it’s strange that I know this fact. No evidence, and the logic to persuade is flimsy.

‘What to do.’

I deliberated briefly.

Ideally, everyone would chase Morass. But those words weren’t wrong either, so to compromise appropriately and quickly….

It was then.

“We will handle the Puppeteer’s pursuit.”

A composed voice.

Simultaneously, the atmosphere shifted.

My gaze turned unconsciously.

And I confirmed the figures standing there.

A woman in silver armor. And priests following her.

Another armed group of the Order.

Paladins.

If there are ‘Crusaders’ following the Hero, then there are ‘Paladins’ following the Saintess.

A smile blossomed on my face.

She regarded us calmly.

And spoke again.

“We will pursue the Puppeteers.”

“Therefore, the rest of you, please chase Morass.”

The man who had been arguing nodded in agreement. In truth, finding Morass was easier than tracing back to the Puppeteer.

Moreover, the Paladins are a group specialized in tracking demons. He had no reason to refuse.

As the situation settled, Do Han-sung looked at the other Heroes.

He issued an order firmly.

“Evacuate the injured to the ward quickly, and those fit for combat will disband immediately and pursue Morass.”

His gaze turned toward me.

“Student Hae-in….”

His eyes flickered for a moment.

A short sigh escaped him, followed by a weighty voice.

“After witnessing that just now, to tell you not to go…it would be a senseless thing to say, wouldn’t it.”

And he added, as if to emphasize the point once more.

“But please, be careful.”

I gave a curt nod.

Now, it was time to move.

Kill Moras, and find the original. That was the best-case scenario.

*

Unlike the clamor outside, here, a sacred silence reigned.

Within the moist air, the faint glow of candlelight flickered across the cool marble floor.

At its center, a statue of a goddess stood, her expression serene.

She gazed down with a gentle smile.

Her gaze seemed to embrace all those within.

It was the Church of Arcadia, located on the Gaon estate.

Cheon Yeoul exhaled softly.

She knelt there, her knees on the cold floor.

The cool marble brushed against her skin, sending a shiver through her.

She folded her hands neatly.

Within them, she tightly clutched a crucifix given to her by someone.

“Goddess…”

With a tranquil heart, she slowly began to pray.

A soft light spread through the stained glass. Hues of every color painted the inside of the church.

A sacred fragrance filled the space.

The faint scent of a burning candle, the weighty aura emanating from aged timber.

How much time had passed?

The outside grew silent, and the interior of the church sank into an even deeper stillness.

And then—

-Tap, tap.

An unfamiliar presence.

No.

The expected stirring.

Cheon Yeoul, her gaze fixed on the goddess statue, quietly opened her eyes.

And parted her lips.

“Are you lost, perhaps?”

Her voice was gentle and warm.

Yet, within it, not a tremor to be found.

“This space is reserved only for the Holy Maiden or higher-ranking clergy. Outsiders are not permitted, so would you please leave?”

But the intruder did not answer.

Instead, he drew closer.

-Clack.

The sound of his steps ceased.

And, at that moment.

“Hahaha…”

A low, unpleasant laughter, shattering the church’s stillness.

A peculiar resonance, as if whispering in her ear.

“Holy Maiden, you needn’t hide it from me.”

She slowly turned her head.

There, stood a man wearing a mask.

A black robe melting into the darkness, the mask’s contours blurring in the dim candlelight.

Moras.

He wore a subtle smile.

From beyond the mask’s mouth, he whispered mockingly, softly.

“Everyone has desires.”

He took a step forward.

“And surely, even the Holy Maiden is not an exception.”

Cheon Yeoul returned her gaze to the goddess statue.

And muttered briefly.

“I shall summon the Paladins.”

But Moras gently shook his head, as if he already knew.

“It’s no use.”

He chuckled softly.

“There is Medusa, waiting outside.”

In that instant, Cheon Yeoul’s shoulders trembled, almost imperceptibly. Moras didn’t miss it.

He stretched the corners of his mouth in a near-tearing grin.

“Then, if you would, show me. Would you reveal it to me? That desire.”

Beyond his mask, the black pupils of his eyes bled crimson.

For a moment, the very air seemed to waver.

Moras’s ability – the Awakening of Desire.

It was the power to unearth the truest desires, buried deep within the hearts of others.

Even desires the subject themselves were unaware of possessing.

That crimson gaze spread towards Cheon Yeoul.

-Shhh-

The air hung heavy, oppressive.

And, in that moment.

Moras’s body froze.

“…?”

His laughter ceased.

And the pupils, spreading from beyond his mask, began to tremble.

“…What?”

What he saw.

Was not a wavering faith.

Nor a lust for power.

Nor any worldly craving.

But the two most primal desires nestled deep within Cheon Yeoul.

One of which was.

A ‘profane desire’ beyond measure.

A physical union with the man Jeong Hae-in. But not mere communion.

Beyond that, painted vividly and starkly beyond imagining—a desire too intense to even utter.

And the other was.

A ‘pure desire’ beyond measure.

Utter annihilation of the Evil God.

So impeccably pure, it bordered on madness.

At that unsullied, almost devotional will, Moras’s lips tightened.

“This is…”

A chill, instantaneous and profound, ran down his spine.

He, who manipulates and seduces desire.

The resurrection of the Evil God was knowledge humanity must never possess.

And yet.

Cheon Yeoul already knew.

Moras began to retreat, one step at a time.

‘I must tell them.’

The thought hammered in his mind.

Cheon Yeoul remained composed. No, rather.

She was smiling.

And then.

-Rustle…

The cross clutched in her hand.

Quietly, turned to dust and vanished.

“Finally,”

She murmured, barely a whisper.

The divine power of Iano.

The moment she completely absorbed the power that had held divinity for so long.

At the very same instant—

— Thump.

Space warped.

The interior of the church began to breathe, as if it were alive.

-Rattle…

The wooden doors closed on their own accord.

Stained glass windows flushed crimson, the soft light previously emanating from them now flickered violently.

But, that light soon turned to a chilling blue.

A hallowed azure washed over the space.

Moras knew it instinctively.

Now, the space was shifting. No, not shifting, but being ‘reorganized’.

“…What is this?”

He stumbled backwards.

This energy, as a fiend, was not one he should ever be near.

“What is this?!”

But no one answered.

Only.

The mistress of this space.

Slowly rising, she declared her name.

“The Sanctum has opened.”

The instant her voice echoed,

the church floor blazed with a blue light, and holy glyphs were etched into existence.

Moras’s body was seized, held fast.

The direction of gravity warped.

The space itself was changing, centered on her.

Sometime in the future,

that ‘Sanctum’ which had bound and burned tens of thousands of fiends—

was being recreated here.

Her fingertips twitched.

Around Chun Yeoul, brilliant banners bloomed in the air, floating.

It was as if, like a destiny long decided, they began to envelop her.

Chun Yeoul’s attire slowly transformed.

No longer the habit of a nun.

Instead, what embraced her form was—

like an emissary of the gods, the garb of a celestial maiden.

Thin cloths, woven with white and azure, draped around her.

Moras’s body knelt on its own accord.

As if being forced to prostrate before a god.

She whispered,

“Here, your god holds no sway.”

— *Whhoosshhh.*

A cerulean light began to envelop the sanctuary.

The light was fundamentally different from any divine power before.

It was not power born of ancient faiths, but,

power stemming from absolute belief directed at one person,

devotion to only *’one human being’*.

The being she served in this space was not a goddess, but a singular existence within this world.

“So, bow. To the god I serve.”

And Cheon Yeoul lowered her hand.

That instant.

— *Crack!*

Moras’s body shattered in an instant. Not even a scream was granted.

His doppelganger, without a chance to transmit memories to the original, was obliterated by the pure ‘Law of Divinity’.

She slowly closed her eyes. And again, knelt.

Folding her hands neatly.

To the only god she served.

To the being she loved.

She began to pray again.