Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan – Chapter 183

Translator: FenrirTL

Editor: Doodle

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< Chapter 183: Temporary Squad Leader No 5 (3) >

‘An artifact capable of absolute defense and attack reflection. That essentially means three extra lives.’  

For Theo, who was bound to take on increasingly dangerous missions, there couldn’t be an artifact more appealing than this one.  

The limitation on its number of uses was unfortunate, but that was a compromise he could live with.  

『It seems to be a temporary divine relic imbued with the blessing of the God of Causality.』  

Rodbrok appraised the ring as she scrutinized it from different angles.  

‘The God of Causality?’  

Theo thought of the god who had shown favor to him while he climbed the White Tower.  

The reason why the god—or goddess—persisted in revealing such benevolence to him remained an unsolved mystery.  

『Indeed. Causality signifies a predetermined cause and effect. However, it also implies the possibility of altering the result by introducing a “variable” to the cause.』  

Rodbrok stroked her chin thoughtfully as she continued.  

『To provide something like this, even if it’s limited to three uses, during such a time must mean… the God of Causality has seen something in this future.』  

“This mission… it won’t be something to take lightly.”  

『Exactly. It may also mean that what you have to accomplish during this mission isn’t limited to a simple assassination. The time lines perceived by the gods of the Pantheon are far deeper and broader than ours.』  

“Do you mean…”  

『It likely indicates that the invasions of the Outer Gods you’ve witnessed will intensify. Particularly, the <Nameless Sovereign> seems poised to rampage the most.』  

It could be interpreted as a preemptive measure.  

The implication was that both the <Nameless Sovereign> and the Sacred Demon Church would act with even greater boldness, urging Theo to prepare thoroughly.  

The God of Causality, concerned for Theo’s safety, must have provided this artifact imbued with divine blessings.  

Currently, the Pantheon was so preoccupied with fending off the Outer Gods’ invasions that they could spare little attention for the management of the world.  

Even so, for them to provide an item of such value meant they had paid a substantial price.  

It underscored just how much they were worried about Theo.  

‘What could it be? Is Torkel backed by something? Could he be linked to the Sacred Demon Church or the <Nameless Sovereign>?’  

This mission could also reveal secrets related to the Black Dragon or the Lord of Plum Blossom Palace, whose circumstances gave the impression of being on the run.  

In any case, Theo had no intention of faltering.  

The artifact might prove most useful in assassinating Torkel, who would likely be protected by the formidable Black Iron Cavalry.  

Shwiiiiik!  

As Theo mulled over these thoughts, Umbra flapped its wings with renewed vigor.  

In the distance, Troyban’s base gradually came into view.  

*         *         *

The Sacred Demon Church was a kind of heretical cult.  

It was deemed a dangerous sect that the Empire had to reject and eliminate at all costs.  

Thus, the Empire periodically organized punitive expeditions against them, mobilizing various military forces alongside the electors.  

Notably, decades ago, a massive punitive force led by Ragnar had annihilated even the Sacred Demon Church’s hidden main temple.  

For a time, not even a whisper of the Sacred Demon Church remained, thanks to the heroic deeds of Kyle Ragnar.  

But a cult was still a cult.  

Its roots ran so deep that it could never truly be eradicated. Whenever the world fell into chaos, it would slither back into the open, raising its head once more.  

This time was no different.  

With the Imperial Family’s authority plummeting and inexplicable natural disasters erupting across the continent, countless refugees emerged.  

To the common folk with no hope for tomorrow, the Sacred Demon Church’s promises of salvation in the afterlife were as sweet as the devil’s whispers.  

‘The High Priest shall return soon… and so shall our resurrection draw near!’  

Cardinal Vector let out a booming laugh.  

Look around, even now.  

So many faithful had willingly gathered, yearning for the resurrection of the great god.  

“Behold! The great god has spoken: ‘O my people, why do you lead such sorrowful lives? Why do you endure nothing but suffering and persecution? It is because the world you dwell in is false—!’”  

On the altar, composed of 999 steps, a priest clad in immaculate white robes stood. Addressing 9,999 fervent believers, he delivered his sermon with fiery conviction.  

“The only way for you to be saved is to escape this false world. And I shall aid you in doing so. From the shadows buried in darkness since the dawn of creation, I shall return, halt the regeneration of this false world, and free you from its chains—!”  

As the priest continued, the bronze braziers flanking the altar glowed ever brighter.  

Fwoooosh!  

The black flames danced wildly.  

The surrounding temperature soared.  

The sight of the praying worshippers, their hands clasped in devotion, rose in unison.  

Madness.  

There was no other word to describe the scene.  

Vector silently observed the spectacle.  

The ritual was reaching its climax.  

“Quite the crowd you’ve gathered,” said a middle-aged man as he approached Vector.  

Vector’s lips curved into a faint smile as he recognized the man.  

“For Brother Ed, who usually shows little interest in sermons, to grace us with his presence—could it be you’ve finally resolved to devote yourself to the god?”  

Ed Troyban.  

In the North,

Once recognized as Ragnar’s Soaring Dragon, the man who had now reclaimed his position as Troyban’s heir curled one corner of his lips.  

“Unfortunately, I’m an atheist.”  

“What a pity. To turn away when the miracle of the divine is right before your eyes…”  

“Isn’t my father’s devotion to the Sacred Demon Church enough on its own?”  

“That may be true, but I couldn’t help but mention it in regret.”  

The relationship between Troyban and the Sacred Demon Church was more than a simple alliance.  

It was closer to a blood pact.  

This was because Granada Troyban, the head of the Troyban family, was a zealous believer in the Sacred Demon Church.  

Of course, Granada, who took as much pride in himself as any Ragnar, had not submitted entirely to the church.  

For him, religious faith and secular authority were separate matters.  

However, it was undeniable that the once Granada sincerely served as an “Apostle” of the Sacred Demon Church.  

Ed’s efforts to aid the church’s restoration and his participation in this resurrection ritual stemmed from these circumstances.  

‘A god’s resurrection, huh? How ridiculous.’  

Watching the ceremony grow increasingly fervent, Ed scoffed quietly.  

If such a god truly existed,  

If the entity they spoke of was genuinely omnipotent,  

Then why had the Sacred Demon Church suffered so many rises and falls? Why hadn’t this world already fallen into the hands of that god?  

And why, of all things, would this “resurrection” even be necessary?  

If victory was preordained, what was the point?  

The god Ed had observed till now was far from perfect—it had suffered defeats and even fallen at times.  

‘It shouldn’t have been sealed in the first place.’  

Ed was aware of why the <Nameless Sovereign>, at the height of its might, had been inexplicably sealed away.  

The cardinals and bishops explained it as the god resting after performing too many miracles.  

But the truth was that the entity had been temporarily sealed due to some form of magical restraint.  

Otherwise, this absurd ritual to break the seal wouldn’t even be necessary.  

And,  

‘The one who managed to do that was Theo, wasn’t it?’  

Theo Ragnar.  

Initially, Ed had regarded him with contempt and hatred, dismissing him as insignificant.  

Now, however, Theo intrigued him—he wondered just how far the boy could grow.  

“You’ll come here yourself to stop this resurrection ritual, won’t you? Now, show me. What will you do this time?”  

As he muttered softly to himself, a flicker of madness glimmered in Ed’s eyes.  

It was the obsession with Theo that had spawned this madness.  

And the madness of waiting until the ritual reached its final moments, only to shatter it with his own hands.  

“Still, I’m not worried in the slightest. If you observe what’s about to unfold, Sir Ed, you will have no choice but to believe in the divine!”  

Cardinal Vector spread his arms wide as though he were ready to receive the blessings of a god pouring down from the heavens.  

His face flushed crimson with elation, and he was submerged in a deep state of rapture as the resurrection ritual neared its climax.  

“There is only one way to welcome the great god: to believe in His return! So I ask you, my lambs, do you believe in His return?”  

“We believe!”  

“We believeee!”  

The priest’s question elicited a thunderous response from the gathered devotees. Madness fused with madness, heating the air of ecstasy even further.  

“Do you believe in His salvation?”  

“We believe!”  

“We shall believe!”  

“Do you believe in His apocalypse?”  

“Yes!”  

“O God, bring about the apocalypse!”  

“Then prove your faith!”  

“How… How shall we do so?”  

“We shall give it! Be it wealth, we offer our wealth! Be it wives, we offer our wives! Be it children, we shall offer our children!”  

The growing madness completely overrode the believers’ rationality, forcing grotesque black shadows to spill forth from their warped minds.  

“Offer the most precious thing you can for Him!”  

At the priest’s command, the devotees picked up the daggers they had carefully laid beside them.  

They gripped them in reverse, and without hesitation, sliced into their left chests, ripping out their hearts and crushing them in their hands.  

Splurt!  

The blood from 9,999 hearts, mingled with the madness of 9,999 souls, gushed forth. The blackened blood formed a river that steadily pooled and flowed toward the altar.  

“O God, return to this place and deliver us from this world!”  

With the final offering of the priest’s heart, ten thousand lives were sacrificed.  

Ed grimaced at the sickening scene but refrained from commenting.  

The truly revolting sight was only just beginning.  

Rumble!  

Crunch, crack!  

From the massive pool of blood gathered on the ground, black tendrils began to sprout one by one.  

The tendrils writhed, entangling and twisting together like the vines of a tree, coiling higher and higher until they appeared ready to pierce the heavens.  

“Ah…! The tree rises! Soon, the buds will form! Soon, the flowers will bloom, and within them, the god shall reside!”  

Vector, fully consumed by madness, appeared as though he had just gazed upon a god, his face overtaken by rapture.  

‘That’s supposed to be a flower? What a joke.’  

Ed suppressed the impulse to draw his sword and cut down the grotesque sight before him.  

It was grotesque in every sense of the word.  

Something that could never exist under the ordinary laws of evolution.  

A chaotic amalgamation of deathly auras, demonic energy, frigid despair, and the essence of annihilation, all tangled together in a repulsive mess.  

Any creature with even the faintest grasp of normality would instinctively recoil in disgust.  

Crunch, crack!  

As more tendrils latched onto the mass of writhing tentacles, they formed a gigantic bud, reaching tens of meters in size.  

And just as the colossal bud began to open,  

And just as Cardinal Vector’s face was about to overflow with ultimate joy,  

Whoosh!  

Suddenly, the sky darkened as thick shadows spread overhead.  

Dozens, no, over a hundred shadows.  

Naturally, Vector’s gaze shot upward in shock, and Ed, following suit, turned his eyes to the sky.  

For the first time, Ed allowed himself a smile.  

‘They’re here.’  

The ones he had been waiting for so eagerly had finally arrived.  

A legion of white wyverns blanketed the sky above.  

It was the White Armored Dragon Cavalry.