episode_0076

My consciousness fell heavily, down, down, down… It felt like I was plummeting from an unfathomably distant height.

I couldn’t suppress a scream, the kind only uttered by those in dire peril, due to this incredibly awful sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

But I swallowed the scream inwardly, letting out a silent cry.

‘Aargh….!!!!!’

This was the backlash and punishment I always received, even in my life before regression, whenever I overused the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art beyond my capabilities.

Do you know the myth of the boy who flew towards the sun with wings, only for his wings to melt and send him plummeting?

The boy met his doom by flying too high, beyond what was appropriate for him.

It can be seen as a bitter lesson: one cannot escape the consequences if they become too intoxicated by power or emotion.

And so it is with the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art that I mastered.

A demonic art, the greatest of its era, created in the distant Eastern Continent in ancient times, its origins obscure, let alone its founder.

The Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art grants immense power to its user, and through that amplified sensation, it makes one feel incredibly high.

But what if one, intoxicated by such immense power, burns a flame beyond their means and flies too high into the sky?

As a backlash, they experience an infinite plunge of consciousness, melting in the sun just as I am now.

If I keep plummeting endlessly like this, will I fall somewhere into hell?

In truth, I’ve never fallen to the bottom, so I don’t know what lies at the end of this plunge.

I only knew from my pre-regression experience that if I continued to fall like this for nine days, plunging to the very bottom of my consciousness and even further, I would endure the pain of every single blood vessel melting before finally waking up.

A cruel, bottomless fall, which even after waking and returning to reality, would leave me suffering considerably from pain and aftereffects for some time.

This is precisely why I was reluctant to accept and use the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art again after my regression.

Controlling this damned demonic art is incredibly difficult, and enduring the backlash after excessive use is more arduous than I could have imagined.

Even Semere, who tried to raise me strictly like imperial parents teaching the art of kingship, seemed heartbroken when she saw me in pain, though she didn’t show it.

But it’s fine.

Even before regression, I generally don’t like regretting decisions I’ve made.

By my choice, I learned the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art, and because of that, Semere was able to conquer Kashmir far faster than she had planned.

No… in truth, she was far smarter than a fool like me. It’s more accurate to say she saw the limits of my potential, made a harsh but massive investment, and succeeded.

In any case, I also learned this peerless demonic art, which allowed me to fill the gaps in my Heartscape and, furthermore, grind Sephiroth into dust, thereby completing my revenge. So she has nothing to apologize for.

The same applies after regression.

Because I drew forth the remnants of the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art, which had remained dormant in my soul, and reignited them through Irha’s special concoction (…), I am who I am today, and my surroundings exist as they do.

It was because of this power that I was able to successfully rescue Mirha, and my precious subordinate no longer has to mourn or lose her pristine and pure self.

Similarly, this time too, I pushed myself somewhat beyond my limits to raise my realm and confront them, but because of that, I was able to successfully defeat Antikrea and protect Rosalie-ssi.

As I fell, the sky’s color changed from blue to purple, then finally dyed a deep, bloody red.

‘Here it comes…. Oh, dear… Oh, dear… I even regressed, but the world is still a hellfire… Oh, dear….’

As I muttered softly to myself, under the reddish sky, my dantian in my lower abdomen, my mana heart in my chest, and my brain in my head were steeped in a heat so intense they felt as though they would burn away.

The internal combustion organs within the human body—named lower dantian, middle dantian, and upper dantian in the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art’s secret manuals and other Eastern martial arts texts—were being thoroughly destroyed.

…

However, I desperately suppressed my agonizing screams.

Fearing that any scream I let out here might pierce my consciousness and leak into reality.

Someone was surely beside me, fallen asleep as if unconscious, waiting anxiously for me to wake up, and for now… I didn’t want to show them my suffering.

Amidst the red sky, I desperately collected my thoughts, confronting the searing pain that felt like it would melt me.

I closed my eyes, and as I had always endured alone, I confined myself within this distant sky…

[Do not be alone. Do not trap yourself in a fiery pit; escape the past and live the changed present. I, the nameless flame, Rakshasa, born from the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art, and Seolhwa, bloomed from the ice flower… all of us are the results of choices forged and found by the master of ‘this life’. Not only us, but also the connections the master has formed and severed in this present life…]

However, a voice echoed in my head, youthful yet serious and mature.

The voice of my Heartscape’s Nameless Flame, the nameless flame itself, gently protected me, riding through the harsh red sky.

The events, joys, and pains I experienced before regression… all changed by my altered choices.

Therefore, I must instinctively and ceaselessly contemplate this changed present, and habitually demonstrate actions befitting it.

What changed the most were the various ‘connections’ surrounding me.

Unlike before regression, Ras Etgard is no longer a solitary stray dog.

[Burn all nine heavens and seek the Upper Heaven above them. Even if you fall from the edge of the sky, isn’t it the way of a warrior to grit their teeth and climb back up countless times? Don’t foolishly self-destruct by enduring alone~ that’s what I mean. Flames must always aim higher. The Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art was created for that purpose.]

The voice of Rakshasa followed, playfully teasing and scolding me, yet simultaneously offering advice filled with deep, poignant affection.

Was it ‘All streams flow to the sea’ [a proverb meaning all things ultimately return to their origin]?

Whether it’s the peerless demonic art that burns the nine heavens, the magic core wielded by the Queen of Witches, or the legacy and essence of martial arts accumulated by the accursed Sephiroth Imperial Family, the ultimate goal is the same.

For no matter what their names, their essence lay in ‘fighting’.

For humans to continuously transcend the limits of their strength and ultimately reach the supreme realm.

Before regression, I had glimpsed, however faintly, a fragment of an even greater and newer realm, one that lay beyond the nine heavens destined to burn away.

That swaggering Rakshasa fellow was telling me that there’s a heaven beyond heaven, encouraging me to keep striving higher.

These clever little flame brats. When I enter the Heartscape again later, I’ll have to play ball with them to my heart’s content…!

Is this what it feels like to raise sons well, a heartwarming sensation like this?

Hehehe… If my sons are this much, what about our cute little daughter?!

Seolhwa might seem cold and aloof at first glance, but her affection for me is quite deep, so she’ll surely console me in her seemingly indifferent way, right?

It was a moment I was already looking forward to. Heehee!!

[Don’t talk to me, I’m busy. And I need to expand my ice flower garden, so bring me lots of this and that.]

…

However, because of Seolhwa, who was acting aloof like a teenage daughter, my heart felt a little sad.

Seolhwa, if you act like that, Daddy will be sad…!

As if she had read my thoughts, Seolhwa’s words continued.

[Because you forcibly drew out Rakshasa’s power so much, my ice house all melted, you see. Hmph! And anyway, if I cultivate the ice flower garden, it’ll all just end up in your mouth, so don’t you dare sulk.]

Ah…!

After hearing Seolhwa’s grumbling, I immediately understood the situation.

Originally, Raurava is an extremely high-level technique, dangerous enough to cause instant death if used at my current realm.

Because I received an immense, wholehearted buff from Rosalie-ssi, that gambling-like choice, made in a fleeting moment, seemed to have melted away all of Seolhwa’s carefully constructed ice house.

If she lost her home in a fire, it’s certainly understandable that she’d act so testy…!

Still, the Emperor promised to bring good elixirs soon, so perhaps Seolhwa’s ice house can be rebuilt quickly?

Anyway, listening to the scolding, worries, and advice from the three little brats made the immense period of pain somewhat bearable.

Finally, I ended that seemingly endless fall and suffering, landing on solid ground.

…

Before regression, I had continuously endured immense pain and a bottomless fall until just before waking, so to set foot on solid ground now…

It was quite a surprising situation, one I was experiencing for the first time.

I silently surveyed the unfamiliar landscape where I had landed.

I had always thought that at the end of the bottomless fall caused by the backlash of the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art, there would be an endless abyss of hell. But the scenery here was very different from what I imagined.

It wasn’t a hellish landscape that seemed to embody death… This was rather soft, hazy, and at the same time, beautiful.

Like a landscape reflected in clear rainwater pooled on a crisp, clear autumn morning after the rain.

A scene beautifully distorted yet transparently reflecting the water’s light, making it even more beautiful than reality itself.

“We have decided to call such beauty a ‘dream’, my dear child.”

A sweet, soft, and fragrant voice reached me.

I turned my head to look, and there stood the most beautiful woman in the world.

That appearance, somehow very familiar, was none other than…

“Rosalie-ssi…?”

The woman chuckled, then instantly appeared before me, cupping my face with her soft hands and caressing it.

“Does it seem that way? Rosalie… If you think so, then I am Rosalie. Now, would you look again?”

The woman, identical to Rosalie-ssi, looked at me with a slightly playful but very affectionate gaze, the kind Rosalie-ssi often gave me.

Truly similar, yet just a tiny bit… as different as an ant’s antenna, was the feeling…?

As I focused and looked again, her appearance began to shift into various forms.

Semere, Pisces, Irha, Marisa, Professor Isera… the forms of various beauties shifted back and forth…

As she transformed her appearance, she even changed into the form of Lea Iorca, the Empire’s Hero whom I had killed.

And she, who had taken the Hero’s form, slightly furrowed her beautiful brows before returning to her original appearance, identical to Rosalie-ssi.

“Wait…! Child, you are truly more of a womanizer than you appear. Aren’t there too many women asleep in your unconscious, no matter what?”

“…??? I just thought of pretty women, so they flashed by… But who are you?”

All sorts of beauties vividly flashed by, so I idly thought of the Hero too, and she kindly changed her appearance for me, yet now she’s scolding me for nothing…!

Lea Iorca, the Empire’s Hero, was one of the top three beauties I had encountered before regression, so wouldn’t it be a waste not to see her now, given the chance?

The unidentified woman, who looked exactly like Rosalie-ssi, then let out a deep sigh and muttered to herself.

“You like women so much… I worry Rosalie might have a hard time… No, wait, Rosalie is the prettiest anyway, so it doesn’t matter!”

Even as she mumbled, her excellent articulation meant I could hear everything clearly, just like Rosalie-ssi.

Then, she cleared her throat, ‘Ahem,’ and simultaneously gave a charming eye-smile.

“I am the one who spins threads of illusion. A woman who weaves dreams from gathered skeins, one by one. I dare boast that there is no more beautiful being in this world than myself… Would that be too annoying?”

Her playfully smiling appearance was so much like Rosalie-ssi’s, but speaking in such an archaic and difficult manner was a bad habit.

Since she didn’t seem to be Rosalie-ssi anyway, I decided to scold this pretty woman.

“Spinning threads of illusion, weaving dreams? Weaving dreams like fabric, handling them like cloth… Your words are too difficult! Just say you’re a succubus. Why do you beat around the bush so much? Words should be concise. Tsk!”

“Oh my… Child, your mind might be like a fiery pit… but unexpectedly, your deductive reasoning is quite good, isn’t it?”

She, who greatly resembled Rosalie-ssi, genuinely surprised, clapped her hands playfully and made a fuss.

Honestly, she looked so much like Rosalie-ssi, and that meant she was incredibly beautiful and cute, being such a stunning woman.

“If you read the unparalleled masterpiece ‘Logic Type, Get Out’ ten times, your deductive reasoning is bound to improve. Well, inferring about an entity isn’t really that difficult anyway.”

“Would you tell me how you guessed my identity, clever child?”

To her, who was smiling brightly and delightedly, I answered with a hint of smugness.

“The word you emphasized the moment you appeared: ‘dream’. Your astonishing beauty. The seductive magic in your voice. Your ability to vividly manifest the illusions I wished to see. The meanings hidden in your enigmatic self-introduction…”

“Oh my… How clever you are. And your smugness is rather cute.”

“Lastly, there’s even the ‘Tears of the Succubus’ mixed into the strange medicine Irha made inside my body. I’ve accepted it into my body throughout two lives, and I’ve always felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. Especially these days, as I can observe my body more clearly. And lately… the frequency of stimulating dreams has also increased.”

As I finished speaking, a little shyly, our ‘Succubus’-ssi chuckled delightedly and gently stroked me.

“Thank you for recognizing who I am. Regression… you are a child experiencing a miraculous event that cannot be explained by reason or logic. Do you know how surprised I was to feel the remnants of ‘me’ remaining within your body? I had clearly never seen you before, yet a part of ‘me’ was inside you.”

Just as the remnants of the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art remained within me as Rakshasa, it seemed this Succubus, in Rosalie-ssi’s form, had also left her traces somewhere within my body.

“I was at the very bottom of the place you call the lower dantian. Your power of ‘Heartscape’ and my power of dream manipulation were a perfect match, like a match made in heaven. It was also a great stepping stone that allowed you to grow very rapidly in your life before regression.”

The Heartscape realm is a state that humans with poor imagination or manifestation abilities can absolutely never enter.

This is because it’s a realm that can only be entered by completely awakening the upper dantian, which is the brain, going beyond mere physical strength.

The core of the Heartscape realm is to pull the vague and indistinct realm of illusion into the real world and manifest it.

Therefore, I, who harbored a dream-manipulating succubus far below my lower dantian, must have been able to achieve leaps and bounds in growth despite my weak physique.

“It’s late, but thank you. Thanks to Succubus-ssi, I’ve had a good shortcut.”

Polite as I was, I offered my thanks to this beautiful and gracious benefactor.

“There’s no need to be so grateful. In a way, I’m parasitic within your existence, so paying rent is only right. In any case, it’s truly a pleasure to see you in person like this. I… I want to become your peace. A true dream must fulfill such a role. When you wish to escape, when you are in too much pain, when you fall into a bottomless hell, I will catch you and hide you in my embrace.”

Wasn’t a ‘succubus’ a wicked demon that tempts people and voraciously absorbs their vitality, leaving them withered?

But why is she so kind? If Rosalie-ssi was my Health Mama, then this Succubus was my Succubus Mama.

Reading my bewildered expression, the Succubus-ssi gently pinched my cheek and continued speaking.

“I won’t eat you, child. She chuckled softly… A succubus isn’t as terrifying a being as you imagine. Rather, you could say it’s a pitiful existence, misunderstood and prejudiced against. A succubus is a benevolent and comforting being. Just like Rosalie, that child.”

“What’s your relationship with Rosalie-ssi? Are you her sister? Her mother? Or if not, her grandm—”

Bonk!

“Ow! Why did you hit me…!”

I couldn’t finish my sentence and received a slightly spicy bonk on the head.

“Child. It’s not right to say such things to a woman. I merely taught you manners. Hmm… Well, I can’t give you a clear answer to your question for now. You scolded me for speaking difficultly, but beings who have reached transcendence cannot give straightforward answers, as if cutting a radish with a knife. Oracles are not clear because causality has determined it so.”

Ugh… this is difficult.

But in the words she casually dropped, there was a clue.

Succubus Mama said she was a being that had reached ‘transcendence’.

Could that incredibly benevolent and beautiful woman be the being who reached ‘shedding’ that Semere once spoke of?

“Results, answers. These two alone are not important. Rather, the process and the anguish of reaching them are more valuable and significant. Even without impatience, child, you will be able to obtain the answers and fitting results for your own life. Though I am fallen, my eyes are still clear.”

“Fallen…?”

In response to my question, she gave an enigmatic smile, much like Rosalie-ssi’s, and then began to fade slightly.

“Ahaha. This is all I can tell you. I hope you walk through a reality as beautiful as a dream. I, from this place, will watch the world through you and await the day we meet again. Hmm… I’ll leave you with this: I want to cheer for Rosalie, okay?”

Hearing someone so much like Rosalie-ssi say they wanted to cheer for Rosalie-ssi made me feel strange, as if I were witnessing self-encouragement.

“Now, then, quickly rise and return to reality. If you return now, it will be a precious gift for someone.”

A gift, she said.

So beautiful that she left behind a dreamlike haziness, long unforgettable even after waking, the Succubus-ssi faded away.

“Next time we meet, call me …..”

However, her final message… her truly important name, was accompanied by a strong, unsightly noise that marred the haziness up until then.

And that unpleasant noise pulled me from the beautiful, rich, and plush dream world, which felt like Rosalie-ssi’s embrace, back into harsh reality.

…

When I opened my eyes, it was a familiar ceiling this time.

My body felt slightly sticky, as if I had sweated a lot while unconscious.

And soon, every muscle and joint in my body began to scream with intense pain.

Swallowing a groan, I looked around.

Judging by the darkness around me, it was probably late evening… or night?

The serene May moonlight and cool night breeze flowed in through the window, but a scent even more beautiful first captivated my heart.

A loveliness that made even the pain throughout my body bearable.

“…Ras…?”

Just moments ago, I had spent time with a woman who looked very much like her, but no matter how similar someone might be, this person was the only one in the world for me.

“Happy birthday, Nuna.”

On May 16th, before Rosalie-ssi’s birthday passed, I was fortunate enough to return to reality from my dream.

The birthday present is… hmm… me?