Not A Regressor-Chapter 302: Sky Mountains (8)

Vega shrugged and sharply glared at Felis. “What a foolish question. Isn’t it only natural for me to be by the side of my sole apostle who inherited the Stigma of Lyra?”

“The apostle of Lyra...?” Felis’s gaze shifted to Kwon Oh-Jin. “Y-You’re an apostle of the North Star, meow?”

Unlike her previous friendliness, she now seemed hostile.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded and subtly moved his right arm behind his back, ready to draw Dantalian at any moment. “That’s right.”

“I’m disappointed, meow! I finally found a human I wanted as my servant, and you turn out to be the apostle of the North Star?!” Felis slammed down her front paws in frustration and fiercely bared her teeth.

She shot a jealous glare at Vega and scratched at the ground irritably with her claws.

“Give up the Stigma of Lyra right now and become my servant, meow!”

She wasn’t even pretending to be reasonable anymore. He had heard the Celestial of Felis was known for her jealousy, but he hadn’t expected her to lack this much common sense.

Kwon Oh-Jin prepared to take out Dantalian and respond when a voice, cold as a winter gale, resounded. “Did you just tell my child to give up the Stigma of Lyra?”

Just like when he had first met Vega, her emotionless eyes locked onto Felis.

“M-Meow?!” Felis flinched and instinctively stepped back in the face of Vega’s killing intent.

Vega stared her down and continued chillingly. “Why would my child abandon the Stigma of Lyra to obtain something as useless as the Stigma of Felis?”

“W-What did you say, meow?”

“You may have been cast out of the Sanctum, but you were once also a Celestial.” A hint of mockery crept into Vega’s previously expressionless eyes. “How dare a mere false star defy the authority of a North Star?”

Felis’s expression stiffened. “What did you just say, meow?”

“My child is not someone that a mere false star could ever hope to claim.”

Her tone now completely resembled a stern mother-in-law from a melodrama. If she just shouted, “You thieving stray!” the episode would be ready to air.

Kwon Oh-Jin glanced between Vega and Felis and clicked his tongue.

Yeah, there’s no way this will get resolved through a peaceful conversation.

Felis was one thing, but Vega also seemed far more agitated than usual. Considering Felis had been demoted to a false star after being banished from the Sanctum, Vega’s words likely struck a nerve.

Vega must’ve really snapped at the mention of giving up the Stigma of Lyra.

He didn’t blame Vega. Felis’s unreasonable attitude annoyed him too. The cat likely wouldn’t respond to reasonable talk. In a situation like this, provoking the opponent and throwing them off could be the smarter play.

While Vega distracted Felis, Kwon Oh-Jin quietly addressed his companions.

“Riarc, Isabella, Ha-Eun... Remember the path down we saw earlier? Run for it when I give the signal.”

“You’re just gonna leave her alone?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“She’s just a manifested version of herself anyway. There’s no point in fighting her.”

As long as Felis was here, chances were that Behemoth wasn’t far off. He had no intention of fighting a Star Spirit in this fog.

“Even if we do fight, the first priority is getting out of this fog,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“Right. Let’s do that,” Isabella replied.

“Okie. So, we just bolt when you say so?”

Kwon Oh-Jin took a deep breath and started counting in his head.

One, two, three.

Felis opened her mouth to shout while glaring daggers at Vega.

“Now!”

Kwon Oh-Jin and his group sprinted toward the edge of the Sky Mountains without looking back. Of course, Vega hadn’t been briefed on the plan and remained behind with a confused expression as she watched them flee.

It’s fine. Vega can return to the Sanctum and come back!

Vega always reappeared near the silver pendant she had given him, and that pendant was currently around his neck. Even if they got separated, she could just return to the Sanctum and find them again.

In the front, Riarc swiftly dashed through the thick fog. “This way, kid!”

The wire grew taut as the distance stretched between them. The bushes beyond the fog rustled violently, and something charged toward them at high speed.

Felis shouted from far behind, “Where do you think you’re going, meow?!”

“Oh-Jin! It’s those damn spiders we saw earlier!”

“Damn it.”

He had expected Felis to have something up her sleeve, but not this fast.

“I’ll stop them from surrounding us!” Isabella slashed her wrist and thrust her arm forward. A blood storm swept through the approaching demonic beasts and instantly tore apart hundreds of them, creating a path through the chaos.

“Kid, there are too many of them!”

Hundreds, thousands more surged in and quickly closed the gap again, even more than the first wave. It wasn’t just the spider demonic beasts. Several other creatures they had never seen before also attacked them.

Did every single demonic beast in the Sky Mountains swarm over here?

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes and scanned their surroundings. With thick fog blanketing the area and demonic beasts closing in from every direction, it was impossible to tell where to go.

“I’ll guide you from above! Head the way I point!” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“O-Oh-Jin!”

He quickly cut the wire connecting him to the others and used Lightning Steps to leap high into the air.

Vega’s Hunting Dog!

Crackle!

Blue lightning burst out in all directions as the movements of the demonic beasts flooded into his mind. The fog dulled his senses, but unlike the clouds of the Black Heaven, it didn’t block everything completely. He could at least figure out where there were fewer demonic beasts.

“A hundred meters to the right! Then turn left and run!”

“Got it!” Isabella charged forward with her arms outstretched.

Blades of blood rained down in every direction and tore through the demonic beasts in their path.

“Oh, fire!” Song Ha-Eun pulled out her cigarette and aimed at the swarm.

A massive wave of flame crashed into the demonic beasts like a tidal wave.

“This way!”

Lacking the ability to destroy as many creatures compared to them, Riarc took on the role of a guide and led the group according to Kwon Oh-Jin’s instructions.

“Oh-Jin! You too, come down now!”

“Got it!” Kwon Oh-Jin stopped using Lightning Steps and landed on the ground.

Rejoining the group, he cut down the encroaching demonic beasts as he followed behind Riarc. For a moment, it looked like they would escape the encirclement without much trouble.

“I told you, I won’t let you escape, meow!” Felis shouted again.

At the same time, a black aura burst out into a wide circle and engulfed a certain area.

Woong!

That’s...

Kwon Oh-Jin had seen this before.

“Damn it... She’s created a Sacred Ground?”

The Sacred Ground was a place created by the authority of a Celestial. An absolute space that twisted not only the laws of physics, but even life and death itself. It began to swallow Kwon Oh-Jin.

This cat is out of her mind!

Creating a Sacred Ground inside the Sanctum, where no restrictions of the Law existed, was okay. However, using this outside of the Sanctum was a different story. She would have to pay the price.

Even Vega, a North Star Celestial, was bound for a hundred years after using it. For someone like Felis at a much lower tier, she could very well be erased from existence entirely.

“Agh!” Kwon Oh-Jin resisted the intense pulling force and struggled to escape the Sacred Ground.

Felis suddenly appeared right behind him and scoffed. “Hmph! It’s no use, meow!”

“Mr. Oh-Jin!”

“Oh-Jin!”

Isabella and Song Ha-Eun rushed toward him, who was being sucked into Felis’s Sacred Ground. The wires tied around them grew tangled and slowed them down.

“Ugh!”

“D-Damn it! The wires!”

They cut through them within a second and ran toward Kwon Oh-Jin.

Woong!

However, the Sacred Ground Felis had created already vanished completely and took Kwon Oh-Jin.

***

“Ugh...” Kwon Oh-Jin groaned and clutched his throbbing head as he opened his eyes.

A forest covered in fog came into view. He was still in the Sky Mountains, but not where he had been just moments ago.

Did she teleport me?

Before he could even wonder where, the pendant around his neck glowed, and Vega appeared.

“My child!”

Just as Oh-Jin expected, she had returned to the Sanctum and reappeared.

Vega rushed forward and fumbled his face around in a panic. “A-Are you alright? Are you hurt?!”

He gently calmed her down and nodded. “I’m okay. I’m not hurt anywhere.”

“Thank goodness.” Vega calmed down a bit and looked around cautiously. “This place is...?”

“This is our nest we’re staying in,” Felis said from beyond the fog.

Vega’s expression twisted into a fierce scowl, and she snapped in Felis’s direction. “You used a Sacred Ground?! Do you even understand what that means?!”

“Hmph! You think I used it without knowing what I was doing?” Felis snorted and shrugged casually. “With his power, shifting space just a little doesn’t come with any penalties.”

His power?

“You mean the Heavenly Demon?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

He no longer needed to be polite now that Felis was an enemy.

“Oh my, so you already knew?” Felis grinned slyly, her lips twisting into a mocking smile.

Kwon Oh-Jin frowned and bit his lower lip. He already suspected that she was connected to the Black Star Celestials and the Heavenly Demon, but never imagined she also possessed the power to create a Sacred Ground without facing any restrictions from the Law.

“So, why go through all the trouble of dragging me here using a Sacred Ground?”

“Didn’t I already tell you, meow?” Felis’s eyes gleamed as she slowly looked him up and down as if eyeing prey. “I’m going to make you my servant.”

This motherfucking cat.

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed and barely suppressed the wave of curses rising in his throat.

“I have no plans on becoming your apostle.”

“Haha. Let’s see how long you can keep saying that, meow.” Felis smiled leisurely as if holding back a hidden trump card.

That trump card revealed itself much sooner than expected. Heavy footsteps echoed from beyond the fog.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

A chilling growl could be heard. “Grrrrrrr.” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Though the dense fog still obscured its form, Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t need to see it to know what was coming.

“Behemoth...”

The ruler of the Sky Mountains emerged from the fog.