Not A Regressor-Chapter 333: Treasure Hunt (12)

Like crushing candy, the shattered pieces of gold disappeared into Deimos’s mouth.

Comp, crunch.

His muscles and flesh swelled grotesquely. He looked horrifying, as if he were the very embodiment of greed.

His eyes grew out of focus like someone high on drugs.

“H-Huuuuuh.” Sticky drool dribbled from his gaping mouth. “M-More... I need more treasures.”

His crazy eyes turned toward Baek Mu-Kang, specifically, to the sword in his hand. It was a random sword that Kwon Oh-Jin had tossed to him, just one of the countless in Deimos’s collection.

“You dare touch... my treasure...!”

With the sound of bones twisting, his enlarged body, now several meters tall, began to move.

Crack! Crunch!

A monstrous howl of pure greed and madness echoed throughout the vault. “How dare you covet my treasures!”

Not a single treasure could be given out. Not a single piece of gold could be spared. Every treasure in this world had to become his flesh, bones, and blood.

“Are you hungry?” He heard someone in his head.

A memory from a long time ago resurfaced. He recalled when the young man approached him as he starved to death in a dark mine tunnel. Blue flames burned within the young man’s sunken eyes.

“Want me to tell you how to never be hungry again?” the young man whispered sweetly. “This is what those rocks you mine every day look like when they’re refined. We call it gold.”

How could he ever forget the radiant golden light that lit up the dark, suffocating tunnel? That beauty nearly brought him to tears.

“Isn’t it strange? You break your body mining this stuff, and yet this is your first time seeing gold.”

It was strange, unfair, and absurd.

“But there’s a way for you to own all this gold... Want me to tell you?”

The offer sounded as sweet as sugar, but he shook his head instinctively because it sounded too ridiculous to be true.

The young man laughed brightly. “Hahaha. I’ve never told a lie in my life. Not once.”

Just then, a tremendous shock shook the vault.

Boom!

“Krrrrrr!” With a guttural snarl, Deimos swung his Star Sword at Baek Mu-Kang.

A tsunami of white flames devoured the surroundings and engulfed the elder.

Fwoosh!

“Aaaagh!”

“Elder!”

Baek Mu-Kang began to turn black as the white flames consumed him and necrotized his skin. Kwon Oh-Jin desperately sprinted forward and punched the incoming flames. A wave of blue lightning burst from his Lightning Form arm and knocked the white flames away.

“Vega! Give me your blessing!

“Alright!”

A brilliant silver light surrounded Kwon Oh-Jin. His Stigma on his left chest flared with a bright light.

“Hup!”

He condensed the boiling mana into his right arm. Drawing his arm back like a bow, he slammed his foot down and threw a punch.

A wave of lightning that swallowed sound itself engulfed Deimos.

“It’s. No. Use.” Deimos took the full brunt of the lightning and charged at Kwon Oh-Jin in his massive form.

“Kugh!”

It felt like getting hit by a dump truck. Kwon Oh-Jin went flying back and coughed up blood.

“Don’t hurt nice people!” Baek Mu-Kang slashed with his sword.

Despite being covered in blackened wounds, his icy mana surged into the sword with greater force.

Crack, crack, crack!

The ground froze along the sword's sweeping path, and his icy sword energy sliced through Deimos’s grotesquely swollen body.

“Kraaaaa!”

A wide sword wound appeared along Deimons’s collarbone to his pelvis, deep enough to expose his internal organs. However, his flesh instantly regenerated the moment he shoved a handful of gold into his mouth.

Having fully healed, Deimos charged toward Baek Mu-Kang and violently kicked him.

Boom!

With a heavy thud, Baek Mu-Kang slammed into the wall. “Agh.”

The sword in Baek Mu-Kang’s hand fell to the floor and rolled to Deimos’s feet. Deimos picked up the sword and opened his mouth wide, biting into the sword and swallowing it whole. Then, he slowly walked toward Baek Mu-Kang.

Crunch, crunch!

“Do you want your Star Sword back?” Deimos asked, playfully waving the sword back and forth as if taunting him.

“Give me... back my... treasure!” Baek Mu-Kang crawled across the floor and stretched his arm out toward the Star Sword.

Deimos raised his massive foot and stomped on Baek Mu-Kang’s arm.

Crunch!

“Aaaagh!” Baek Mu-Kang’s arm bent at an unnatural angle. “My arm... It hurts.”

Curled up like a shrimp, he clutched his broken arm.

“Do you feel like giving up now?”

Without answering, Baek Mu-Kang staggered to his feet. He looked so injured that it wouldn’t be strange if he collapsed on the spot. However, his eyes, surrounded by wrinkles, shone with unwavering determination.

“This treasure... It's precious to me. I must retrieve my treasure.” Baek Mu-Kang stared intently at the white sword in Deimos’s hand.

Deimos scoffed at the unshaken resolve in his eyes. “Ha. Then... what will you do if I eat your treasure?”

Deimos opened his mouth wide and brought Deneb’s Star Sword to his lips.

“N-No!” Baek Mu-Kang hurled himself at Deimos.

However, Deimos kicked him again and sent him rolling helplessly across the floor.

Whack!

Deimos coldly looked down at Baek Mu-Kang. “Treasures belong to the strong.”

It had always been that way ever since the narrow, dark mine tunnels.

“You have no right to this treasure,” Deimos said.

Baek Mu-Kang’s eyes trembled at those words. He bit his wrinkled lips and forced his tattered self up. “I know...”

From the moment he first received the sword, he knew he didn’t deserve it because he was a fool, a good-for-nothing who couldn’t do anything on his own.

“Someone precious... gave it to me.”

He could never give it up.

“Give it back! Aaaaaaaah!” With a roar, he rushed at Deimos with his bare hands.

All the weapons scattered around had been destroyed by the wave of lightning. The sword Kwon Oh-Jin had thrown at him had already been chewed up and eaten. Nonetheless, his Stigma of Cygnus flared brightly and blossomed snowflakes in the air.

Woong!

The white snowflakes gathered and formed a sword even nobler than Deneb’s Star Sword.

The Snow Sword slashed at Deimos.

Whoosh!

A tide of snowflakes crashed down on Deimos.

“I told you. It’s no use!”

White flames burst from the Star Sword, colliding with the tide of snow.

“Argh!”

“Aaaagh!”

The shock from the clashing snow and flames engulfed them. The immense impact left both of them seriously wounded, but Deimos greedily chewed on chunks of gold and regenerated his wounds once more.

“Hehehehe!”

The injuries were too severe to recover fully, but Deimos was in far better shape compared to the completely destroyed Baek Mu-Kang.

With his grotesquely swollen hand, he grabbed Baek Mu-Kang.

“Agh! Argh.”

Crunch, crack!

Like being crushed in a high-pressure press, the unbearable force crushed down on Baek Mu-Kang as he groaned in agony.

Deimos sneered viciously. “No matter how hard you struggle...” With madness in his eyes, he tightened his grip. “The treasure is mine—”

“Hey.”

Deimos’s eyes snapped open as he turned his head. He had been so focused on Baek Mu-Kang that he completely forgot about Kwon Oh-Jin, who was standing right behind him.

“Kinda hurts my feelings, y’know? You’ve been ignoring me like I’m not even here.”

The black spear pierced straight through Deimos’s back.

Gush!

“Kugh!” Coughing blood, Deimos staggered.

After taking significant damage from Baek Mu-Kang and still not fully healed, even an archduke like him couldn’t remain unscathed.

“Graaaagh!” The skewered Deimos desperately crawled along the floor, reaching for more gold.

However, six strands of wire shot out and restrained his arm.

Bang!

“N-No. M-My...”

“I told you. It’s not yours, you bastard.” Kwon Oh-Jin stepped toward him.

I need to end it now.

Plenty of gold and treasures that could fuel Deimos still filled the vault. He had to finish this before Deimos could regenerate again.

“My child! It will be dangerous if you use any more mana,” Vega shouted urgently.

Kwon Oh-Jin was already dangerously close to passing out.

I’ve maintained Lightning Form for too long.

He could only maintain this state for thirty seconds to a minute at best, but he had kept it going for over five minutes. Even with Vega’s blessing, continuing any further would be a serious risk.

“Someone precious... gave it to me.”

The image of Baek Mu-Kang, staggering upright even in his severely injured state, passed through Kwon Oh-Jin’s head.

Kwon Oh-Jin faintly chuckled and drew in all the mana he could muster. “Aaaagh!”

Perhaps because he used too much mana, the Stigma on his chest felt like it was being branded by a hot iron press. The pain felt unbearable.

“Stop, my child! You must stop! Any more and—!”

“He said it was precious.”

Precious enough to wander this desolate Demonic District for years alone. Precious enough to keep going even as his skin rotted and his bones broke.

“I know that feeling too.”

Even if it wasn’t an object like Baek Mu-Kang’s treasure, Kwon Oh-Jin also had treasures he wanted to protect no matter the cost.

Crackle!

His right arm, still in Lightning Form, burned with blue lightning.

If one arm isn’t enough...

Kwon Oh-Jin transformed both arms into Lightning Form and clasped his hands. Then, he raised them high and swung down like a hammer.

Kraaaaaa!

A raging surge of blue lightning engulfed Deimos.

“Agh.”

His grotesquely swollen physique shrank, returning to its original form.

Kwon Oh-Jin stepped in and took Deneb’s Star Sword from Deimos’s limp hand.

Deimos turned his head and let out a twisted laugh. “He, hehehe. Struggle... all you want.”

The light began fading from his eyes.

“Because soon... He... will awaken...” He trailed off, never to speak again.

Kwon Oh-Jin stood over him in silence, then turned toward Baek Mu-Kang. “Here. The treasure you were looking for, elder.”

He held out Deneb’s Star Sword.

“A-Ah.” Baek Mu-Kang trembled as he received it, gently stroking the hilt with shaking fingers.

Then, he twisted the bottom of the hilt, revealing a small hidden compartment.

Click.

The Star Sword rolled across the floor.

Clink.

“What...?”

“He, hehe.” Baek Mu-Kang smiled brightly, holding something he had taken out from the sword hilt.

It was a light and dirty square-shaped envelope, all crumpled up.

“Elder, that’s...”

“My wife wrote me a letter before she died. I’m a fool, so I put it in the hilt to not lose it.” Baek Mu-Kang beamed as he held the worn-out envelope. “This is my treasure.”

It was a gift from someone dear to him.

He held the precious treasure close to his chest. “I’m sorry... my love.”

He recalled the day she died. The day he caused her death. He remembered it clearly and all too well.

“I’m sick of dumplings! I don’t want them!”

Her sad eyes watched him throw a tantrum. Those calloused, worn hands gently patted his back to calm him. The fragile figure headed back to work despite being sick.

“I’m sorry... I came back too late...” He curled up, clutching the envelope to his chest, whispering and sobbing endlessly.

I’m sorry for making you wait. I’m sorry for being a fool. I’m sorry for being picky about your cooking. I’m sorry for making things so hard. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry I couldn’t make you happy.

“I’m sorry you met someone like me... I’m sorry.”