Infinite Regressor, Chapter 435 - I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

The Undertaker. "We couldn't bring everyone at once, so some were left behind." With a light step, the saint advanced. The ground where she set foot was no ordinary place. It existed only within my dream, manifested from my memories—a separate dimension. A false regressor's divine realm. "Still, we managed to bring most—." Suddenly, she paused. For the first time since tirelessly working to make the hastily revised plan a success, her eyes took in her surroundings. "Oh my. This place is...…" "……." Words failed not just her alone. The raid members who arrived simultaneously in my divine realm with the saint, whether it was Dang Seo-rin or Lee Ha-yul, were too busy looking around, dumbfounded. The first to speak was Yu Ji-won. "Hmm. So many corpses." Next was Oh Dok-seo. "M-many? This is beyond that! There’s nothing but… corpses!" Oh Dok-seo's description was accurate. At the deepest layer of the subconscious, where this place descended via me as a medium, the horizon was nothing but a nightmare scattered with corpses. A sea of corpses and blood. In this place, where no word could seem to penetrate through the carcasses, only such a name might barely be permitted. “Wow.” Sim Ah-ryeon's eyes sparkled. Already on her knees, she was sifting through the bodies, seemingly delighted like a child with colored fingernails despite the blood beneath her nails. "T-this... looks just like me! It's my face! But there are leaves sprouting everywhere... I've become the World Tree! Guild Leader" "Ugh." Dang Seo-rin made a disgusted face. "Why do you find such things appealing enough to dig through?" "Well, this is the deepest part of the Guildmaster’s mind, right? Seeing my bodies here in abundance… doesn't it feel good?" “You’ve got a twisted taste, for real!" Indeed. This divine realm, 'The Cemetery of the Sea of Corpses and Blood,' was essentially an unfiltered reflection of the world as I saw it. Surely Sim Ah-ryeon isn't the only one lying amidst the corpses here. The saint was stepping on her own forearm, Dang Seo-rin's retreating heel pressed against her own cheek, and at the edge of Yu Ji-won's gaze lay her severed torso. “Sister…?” Meanwhile, Cheon Yo-hwa, with a dazed expression, glanced at the newly arrived reinforcement in this divine realm. "Hmm. Guten Tag-. Meine Schwester?" With a bright smile, Cheon-hwa waved. Her other hand remained firmly interlaced with mine. "Is it really you, sister? Like, are you twins?" "Yo-hwa. What is the true nature of 'real'?" "Yes?" "In this world, the only true existence for me is senior here. Oh, of course, you too! But for convenience, for convenience." "......Yes?" "In other words, those remembered as true humans by the senior can also be deemed true humans. You know the trickle-down effect, don’t you, dear junior? It applies to humanity's essence as well." "……." "In that sense, having received the trickle-down, or rather standing under a faucet with my mouth wide open, drinking the cascading water, this body is indeed human among humans. The Eve to Adam, if you will. Final answer? Yes-aha! Final answer!" "…Ah, I see. That’s the kind of person you are." Yo-hwa's complexion filled with understanding, resignation, and a touch of disdain. The bond of sisterly affection strengthened at lightning speed. Just as the reunion of divided families began, an earthquake erupted from beyond the horizon of corpses. Boom...! Simultaneously, every raid member turned their gaze. Boom, boom...! The corpses trapped in the tremors scattered. Some soared into the sky and curiously descended slowly. Thud! One flew right in front of them, adding another number to the pile. Just nearby, Sim Ah-ryeon winced. “Heek!” The stirring beyond the horizon was relentless, and the corpses flying toward us showed no signs of letting up. Encapsulated in each was the face of Go Yuri. "……." Encapsulated was the word, indeed. The corpses varied by gender and size, but only the faces bore 'Go Yuri's skin,' meticulously preserved. It was the cruelest prayer. Lifetimes consumed in reincarnation mumbled a single name endlessly like a mantra. "It's coming." A mumble from someone. Ohohoho...! The horizon squirmed, then from it emerged a mass of crimson flesh. Its size was immeasurable. Even the previously vast sky shrank to a mere stifling backdrop at its presence, while the earth groaned under cramped pressure. 'Hello?' 'What is life?' 'Nice to meet you.' 'Haha.' 'Mother.' With each undulation of gigantic tentacles, waves coursed across its surface. The faces, arms, legs, and gestures of Go Yuri formed a myth made flesh, singing a hymn. Though it was a babble unintelligible to most. To the master of this divine realm, and the recipient of a tenfold layered song implanted in the heart by Hecate, it was all crystal clear. ‘Ah?’ ‘How many days are left where I'll find beauty in the sky?’ ‘What a coincidence.’ 'Guild Leader.' 'Let’s become one.' 'Doctor?' 'Today is too early,' 'I say.' 'The deed is not yet done.' 'Only I can do it.' The mumble held no significant meaning. Merely due to too many reincarnations piled beyond the living, causing reversed energy in the gestures. "Ugh...!" "It's too loud!" "Everyone, cover your ears!" Unlike me, unable to comprehend the outer noise, the raid members groaned in pain. "The Undertaker." The saint spoke urgently. "We can't predict when 'that' will start using its powers again. It seems like it's even stronger." "It's not a mistake. Right now, Go Yuri and I are inseparable. When she enters my divine realm, she's also strengthened." "…We entered here based on your suggestion, Undertaker. Do you have a plan?" "Naturally." I smiled. "Don't you realize yet?" "What?" "It's not just Go Yuri who becomes stronger here. I know not only Go Yuri's life but every one of yours entirely. For instance, even the instance where the saint fell as an outcast oracle." "…!" The saint's eyes widened. "Then…? Hold on." She raised her arm, stretching out her fingers. "…Impossible." A moment later, for once, an expression of astonishment spread across her face. "It's true. Even if I stop time, I'm not exhausted at all. I feel like I can easily counter if someone accelerates time... it’s that kind of sensation." "Ah! So you've grasped how senior’s divine realm works now!" Cheon-hwa laughed gleefully, dopamine running rampant in her excitement. "Exactly! As long as senior permits, you can unleash the full potential of your prime here!" "Prime…." "Yes! Our senior isn't called a genius supporter for nothing! Even such a feat is possible!" Only then did Cheon-hwa release her clasped hands. Instead, she grasped the hands of her twin sister. Covering both of them. "Huh?" "Yo-hwa, don't worry. After this operation ends, we'll all get an Udumbara detox shot, returning us to humanity." "W-what are you talking about?" "Ah, little sister. This is the first and last stage where we can run wild without worrying about the aftermath." Cheon-hwa's eyes curved into crescents. "Laplace," At that moment. "O progenitor and parent of all things, and also their offspring. Descend upon us at this time and place." The world twisted. Among the corpses making up the sea, only those of Cheon-hwa and Yo-hwa were caught in a vortex, swirling around the sisters. The corpses formed 'hands.' One corpse’s hand grasped another's, and those without hands had twisted toes mimic the role of hands. Corpses bloomed like flowers, tirelessly. The form or contour of the bodies mattered not. Arms sprouted from bellies, and faces vomited from chests. "Ah." Yo-hwa's eyes trembled. If her own outline could be like this, what of anything else? A power that mocked all boundaries, a force taunting all creation, fortifying Yo-hwa left her no choice but to shiver. "This is…" "The role originally allocated to us sisters." Cheon-hwa smiled brightly. In earlier cycles, Yo-hwa was renowned as a necromancer. Though the necromancy that blurred the line between life and death was, to Laplace, a mere fundamental feat. "Our family's primordial deity, one that can only be entirely bestowed through the bodies of twins, it’s this damned Outer God." "……." "Our lives were ruined by it, so who’d complain if we benefited from it? Don’t worry. This sister will escort you nicely, one by one." "…Yes. No, uh, okay. Please, sister." "Alright. How about we send a little jab of greeting to our senior who came long before us?" One of the corpses drew a sword. Even the sword was spontaneously generated from the corpse. Swish! Like it were an offering of self-sacrifice, the corpse drove the blade into where its heart should be. Upon the willing sacrifice. Oooo...! At that very moment, a spurt of blood gushed forth from a section of the approaching crimson mass on the horizon. The volume of that single gush matched a rushing river, quite literally turning the blood into a flowing river in this sea of corpses and blood. "Hmm." Cheon-hwa's eyes narrowed slyly. "I thought [Teleportation] would be the most troublesome, and I intended to erase that ability first. Looks like something random got erased, eh?" "The teleportation was likely possessed by the version of Go Yuri that remained in reality, not the flesh mound." I stated. "How did you manage to erase a regressor’s abilities?" "Well, it’s more intuitive, hard to explain. But basically, I run a simulation of Teacher Go Yuri’s reincarnation where she awakens teleportation, then overlay a scenario of me stabbing her with a sword." "…It's akin to a blank canvas, I suppose." "One more strike." Swish! The corpses dancing around Cheon Yo-hwa and her sister self-sacrificed once more, three pulling out blades this time simultaneously. Oooo...! Three of the red tendrils among the fleshy mass dripped like melting wax. The fundamental essence of their bleeding stemmed from the death of these tendrils. "I just eliminated [Sound Barrier], [Mind Reading], [Sensory Corruption]. How's that, senior? Isn't it impressive?" "So that’s why Go Yuri was so desperate to divide Laplace into Infinite Void and Mastermind as well." "Exactly, exactly. Traditionally, the final boss wasn't this hunk of flesh but us sisters…" Thud! Thud-thud-thud! Suddenly, the corpses dancing in the circle had their chests split open, and soon their hearts burst, collapsing to the ground. At a glance, around six hundred had fallen. "…Hmm." Cheon-hwa's confident smile turned ambiguous. "T-this, Teacher Go Yuri is reacting rather strongly? The simulation is getting intense." "…Did you get reverse-killed by three Go Yuris in the simulation, leading to six hundred versions of yourself dying?" "A slip-up, a slip-up! Just a minor mishap because I'm not thoroughly accustomed to handling Laplace yet. Oh, the more potent powers are mostly clumped towards the latter reincarnations, making things tricky—." Thud, thud-thud! As she spoke, the corpses in the circular dance had their hearts cleaved with increasing frequency. The alarming rate of heart-splitting surgeries had Cheon-hwa flustered. "Ah, crap! Is the raid team just gonna sit around on us?! What are the healers doing?! Hurry, someone heal us!" “U-uh.” Sim Ah-ryeon replied in her usual absent-minded voice. "I've never healed something that was already dead... this is a first…." What unfolded from her fingertips was unlike anything usual. It was a steady, pervasive healing touch. From the bodies of the twin sisters buried deep within the sea of corpses, flowers began to bloom. From their split chests and the places where their hearts had burst. Soon, red spider lilies lined the riverside. The blood-stained corpses rose again, hand in hand, joining the eternal dance of the round. "Ooh!" Cheon-hwa let out an exclamation of awe. "As expected of Sim Ah-ryeon! The most hated yet the best healer in the senior's party! I knew we could count on you!" "Hearing that from someone I've never met before... doesn't affect me at all...." "But anyway, this completes our perpetual motion machine! Now, without dragging it out any further, let's quickly deal with Teacher Go Yuri's powers――.” Just then. Without warning, tentacles extended from the crimson mass on the horizon, crashing down upon the circular dance. "Ugh." Godspeed. The sisters didn't even have a moment to react. The seemingly eternal dance of the corpses was halved in an instant. Even this outcome was because I quickly stepped forward and slashed away the tentacle that was aiming for 'this side'. Had I not acted, the tentacle would have hit not just the edges of the circular dance but its center, covering the Cheon Yo-hwa sisters. "S-senior." "The aggro is too high. You're dealing with the most sublime and cruel Outer God. I understand the dopamine rush from winning a gamble with a 0.1% chance, but one mistake and it's all over." Even before I finished speaking, tentacles began to strike repeatedly. This time, it wasn’t just one but tens of thousands. [My apologies.] Most were cut down midway. [The cancellation-type abilities.] Still, tens of thousands of tentacles remained. Holding the hilt ready for battle, I realized I didn’t need to step forward. Boom! The wave of tentacles, about to sweep us away, exploded as it hit an 'invisible wall'. The shattered tentacles’ blood didn't flow towards us either. The 'transparent barriers’ resembled car windows smeared with rain as they became soaked with liquid. "Whew." With a decisive step forward, a girl with hair as red as blood passed by me. Glancing back, she carried herself with the assurance of someone who believed they existed in the most remarkable pose of their life. "Myself." With a nihilistic expression that could make Dazai Osamu pale and Edgar Allan Poe lose his jaw. "Heavenly Demon, Descend." "……." The prime of the literary girl. A.K.A. The Writer Who Strikes Back at Readers. "Confirmed. Cool." It was the return of the most hideous being.