The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

In the Death Squad camp — specifically, inside Lysandra’s tent.

Evelyne stepped into the tent and found Lysandra seated, reading a book on battlefield tactics and strategy.

”Come in, Evelyne,” Lysandra said when she noticed Evelyne standing at the entrance of the tent, simply looking at her.

Evelyne entered, sat down beside Lysandra, and looked at the book she was reading.

Lysandra gave her a sidelong glance, but said nothing.

”Did you go to meet Ravian?” Evelyne asked suddenly.

”Yes,” Lysandra said, not lifting her eyes from the pages of the book.

”Why?” Evelyne asked.

”Why?” Lysandra repeated, finally looking at Evelyne, though a clear frown had settled over her beautiful face.

”I mean, why go to him at that hour, especially after what happened earlier when he woke up?” Evelyne corrected herself.

”Because I wanted to, Evelyne. Since when do you ask these kinds of questions?” Lysandra answered coldly, then turned the question back on her.

Evelyne was slightly taken aback by the sudden edge in Lysandra’s tone.

”What is it, Lysandra? It was an ordinary question. It wasn’t like you to go out at such a late hour, let alone go to meet a man. It just didn’t seem like the Lysandra I know.”

”Whether I go out late or early is my decision, Evelyne. And I did not go to meet some man. I went out to meet my teammate, one of the most prominent talents in this entire camp, if not the Empire itself, as well as the disciple of the Marquis and Company Commander, Sir Karius Dmitri. I also returned something that belonged to him. Does that satisfy your curiosity?” Lysandra said, staring at Evelyne.

Evelyne remained silent for a moment, calmly looking back at her.

”And since when has Lysandra Veyla — daughter of William Veyla and granddaughter of Grand Duke Alexander Veyla, one of the Empire’s Five Calamities, those singular beings of overwhelming power — ever cared about such things? That was all that piqued my curiosity,” Evelyne said, frowning as she puffed out her cheek in irritation.

”And since when does Evelyne, daughter of Count Mark Arden, one of the wealthiest merchants in the Empire, always ask such strange questions? What exactly do you stand to gain from questions like that about what happened between Ravian and me?” Lysandra said, a note of disappointment in her voice.

Evelyne nearly froze in place.

” ’What happened between Ravian and you?’ Do sentences like that come out of your mouth so easily now? You’ve only known him for a few days!” Evelyne could hardly believe what she was hearing, but there was something else in her voice besides disbelief.

Lysandra paused for a moment as well, realizing what she had said, but she continued anyway and did not pay it much mind.

”And what is so strange about saying that? Has spending too much money made you foolish or something, Evelyne?” Lysandra said, completely rejecting Evelyne’s imaginary notions.

The two of them suddenly fell silent, staring at each other with irritation, though Lysandra’s silence was clearly colder than Evelyne’s.

...

In Karius’s room.

”So, you saw Ravian sneak into the forest for some unknown reason while carrying the corpse of a Ninth-Rank orc, only to coincidentally run into a group of three orcs: two ordinary Tenth-Rank Awakened Beasts, and one Ninth-Rank Wandering Beast?” Karius repeated what he had heard from Antonius.

”Yes, my lord,” Antonius confirmed.

”And then you saw them nearly discover him, but he managed to slip away and even assassinated one of the two Awakened Beasts the moment it came out alone, without making a single sound while doing so?” Karius continued, his eyes widening as though he were listening to the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life.

”Exactly, my lord.” Antonius nodded with complete seriousness.

”And then, when he realized he was about to be discovered, he went to the river and used the corpse of the orc he had just silently killed as bait to lure the Ninth-Rank orc toward the edge of the waterfall, then stayed hidden in the violent current until the right moment and pushed the Wandering Beast off the waterfall cliff?”

”Mm... yes?” Even Antonius was beginning to question his own sanity now that he was hearing Karius repeat everything back to him.

Silence fell over the room for a few moments as Karius and Antonius stared at each other, and then—

”Hahahahaha!” Karius burst into mad laughter, slapping his thigh with both hands in disbelief.

”That little bastard. I sent soldiers to protect him, but it turns out we need to protect everyone else from him!” Karius said, the joy on his face more obvious than it had ever been before.

”Ninth Rank? He nearly killed two of them in three days while still at the Tenth Rank? And he was unconscious for two full days out of those three.”

”That boy is the pure definition of supreme talent paired with the cunning of a fox,” Karius said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye after laughing so hard.

Then, after he finished, he decided to ask about the last thing that had been stirring his curiosity.

”And you left as soon as you saw him overwhelming the remaining Tenth-Rank orc, correct?” Karius said, the curiosity in his eyes even stronger this time.

”Yes, my lord. I secured the area quickly while he was fighting the final member of the orc group, and just before I left, he had already driven both daggers into its neck after completely overwhelming it in agility and reaction speed. What was strange was that the overwhelming strength advantage orcs usually possess in battle did not appear at all during their fight,” Antonius said, recalling the one-sided battle he had witnessed.

Karius nodded in satisfaction, the smile never leaving his face, because the greater an individual’s soul talent, the more the advantages of other races shrank before them. And that was exactly what had happened between Ravian and the orc of the same rank.

”But there is still something that puzzles me, my lord,” Antonius said, placing a hand on his chin in concentration.

”What is it?” Karius asked.

”Ravian used the Tenth-Rank orc’s corpse as bait and covered his body with it, exploiting the darkness of night so they could not distinguish the physical differences. But in that case, would it not have been better to cover himself with the Ninth-Rank orc’s corpse instead, so he could conceal his body more completely using the larger corpse?”

”Instead, he chose to leave the Ninth-Rank corpse hidden and took the Tenth-Rank one, which was only slightly larger than himself, risking his body being seen behind it.”

”I mean, he may have been reluctant to sacrifice the Ninth-Rank corpse, but this was a life-or-death situation,” Antonius said, and with every sentence, he felt as though something was missing.

”Exactly,” Karius said suddenly.

”Hmm? What do you mean, my lord?” Antonius did not understand his meaning.

”It was the size. Although the Ninth-Rank orc would have been better for covering his body while running, allowing the two of them to merge into one large silhouette, that was still at the edge of our camp. It is almost impossible for any other race comparable to a Ninth-Rank orc in size to appear there.”

”And if such a being did appear, it would make the other Ninth-Rank orc suspicious instead of making it chase the smaller body without hesitation.”

”What Ravian did was exploit the orc’s predator instinct. He carried the smaller body and ran at full speed while trying not to reveal his own body, which triggered the Ninth-Rank orc’s instinct to chase and prey upon him, making it underestimate its target.”

”Not to mention, running while carrying the corpse of a Ninth-Rank orc would have been nearly three times harder for him than running while carrying a Tenth-Rank orc. So imagine running with that burden while a beast specialized in muscular strength is right behind you. Being caught would become almost inevitable,” Karius explained calmly, having understood what Ravian had done from the very beginning, and that was what made him even more impressed.

Antonius remained quietly silent for a few moments.

”He is a monster, my lord... an extremely dangerous monster, and we must be wary of him... in the future—” Antonius tried to bring up a certain matter, concern appearing on his face, but Karius raised his hand at the same time.

”Silence,” Karius said without looking at him.

”That is my disciple, Antonius. I am the only one responsible for his safety and for any future actions he takes. I do not want anyone else to learn of this matter. Is that understood?” Karius said, turning to look Antonius in the eye.

”As you command, my lord.” Antonius did not hesitate even as he bowed in obedience.

”And there is no need to follow him again when he goes out... let him do as he pleases,” Karius said after a few moments of thought.

Although the order was even stranger this time, Antonius did not hesitate again.

”As you command, my lord.”

...

In the deep forest, inside a cave whose entrance was sealed by a boulder roughly three meters in diameter, one no ordinary human could possibly lift.

A young man lay there with pale skin, but it was not the pallor of a sick person or a vampire. It was a healthy paleness with a faint flush of red. He was surrounded by blood and fallen white hair, and most terrifying of all, there was skin around him that resembled human skin, making it look as though he had shed his skin like a snake.

But that young man’s body was not missing any skin at all. Even his hair was still there, though unlike the strands fallen beside him, it was glossier and longer. And his face, contrary to what might have been expected, was not ugly at all. It was not even average. It resembled the face of a noble young man, above average in appearance and somewhat handsome. It was not extreme beauty, nor anything transcendent or unnatural, but a simple, composed, masculine handsomeness that suited his new sharp jaw and straight nose.

The young man lay there with his eyes closed, and suddenly—

[Ding!]

[The absorption process has been completed successfully.]

[Basic-Grade Sovereign Pride Physique — Progress: 50%]

[The body has been completely reconstructed.]

[The Void energy in the host’s body has increased significantly.]

[The first transformation has been completed, and the host has passed through the first bottleneck.]

[All of the host’s physical and physiological abilities have increased significantly. The host is now physically invincible at the Tenth Rank, regardless of the opponent’s race, talent, or unique physical constitution.]

His eyelids parted, revealing two beautiful ruby-crimson eyes behind them, carrying an air of calm and refinement, as though he were the most rightful and dignified person in that place.

[The host may now view the requirements for ascending to the Walker Rank.]