The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 140: Found You~

This Colosseum Trial was a free-for-all in a sense, or at least Ignotus saw it as one. Which meant that he wasn’t thinking of helping his people like last time, something that everyone knew or at least predicted.

So when they finally met on the day of the Trial...

"STRANGER!"

"STRANGER!"

"STRANGER!"

In the Colosseum’s arena, under the crowd’s screams...

"STRANGER!"

"STRANGER!"

"STRANGER!"

Many were cheering him on, while many others cursed his name...

"GO KILL YOURSELF!"

"DAMN YOU, LOWLIFE!"

"YOU ONLY GOT LUCKY!"

Lykos, Ulv, Mer, and Aur held serious faces.

They all faced Ignotus, who swaggered in with Gaia on his arm, looking relaxed as ever.

"Look who’s finally here."

Noticing them first, Ulv crowed, clapping the shoulder of his Lord.

Mer danced up and latched onto Ignotus’s arm like she always did.

"And since when were you two an item?!"

Gaia quickly pulled Mer away from Ignotus and bopped her on the head with the flat of her staff.

"D-Don’t cling to him!"

Mer squealed with delight.

"Aw, I was only saying hi!"

Gaia stared her down, only to let out a "Hmph!"

Something that made Mer squeal even louder:

"You’re sooo cuteee~!"

While those two played around, Lykos gave Ignotus a long, awkward stare.

After letting out a breath and looking down, a single word left his lips:

"C-Congratulations."

It was small, but Ignotus saw it for what it was:

A gift.

He knew that it took the wolf-boy a lot to say that.

So Ignotus gave the wolf-boy a nod that, for once, didn’t mock.

"Thank you."

Ulv clapped his Lord’s shoulder a second time before bringing Ignotus to a half-hug.

"Congratulations, brother. May your House Calamity thrive."

Ignotus nodded at him as well and then glanced to his left.

His eyes landed on Aur, who separated the now giggling girls.

"Keep the show to a minimum; you’re ruining our image."

The bird-folk wasn’t exactly friends with the group, but she remained close with them.

Facing death together made you attached, no matter what type your personality was.

Ignotus was an exception, of course, but that didn’t matter for now.

Clack!

Lothar’s cane came through, cutting the chatter short.

"Disciples and... Acolytes, it’s time."

Because indeed, it was time. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

This Shepherd’s arrival meant only that.

"As you now know, some later than others..."

His eyes turned to Ignotus, who’d skipped all classes.

"This Trial will be of cleansing Corruption."

He pointed at the eight massive projections blooming in the air, each one mapping out glowing sections of the Corrupted land.

"Everyone is required to wear a Divine Mask. Lose it, and even a Butterfly won’t save you."

The Disciples all stomped loudly.

"Yes, Shepherd Lothar!"

And that made Ignotus raise a brow.

’It seems like they grew too... yeah, maybe the classes aren’t as useless as I thought.’

Still, that didn’t mean that he thought about joining any.

He had many more important matters to attend to.

Mostly, he didn’t want to be lectured...

But he wasn’t about to admit that.

"Then let’s begin!"

Lothar tapped his cane, and everyone sat down.

They closed their eyes, and their breaths slowed.

One by one, they equipped their Divine Masks.

Ignotus did as well, his Stranger’s Mask.

"Good luck."

The spell had activated.

...

A blink later, Ignotus opened his eyes to a dark world.

Or rather, it was a land that had been painted with rot.

Trees still held shape, but their green was replaced with black, while pulsating veins crawled all over their wood. And the veins didn’t stop there. Beneath him was the same, thumping veins everywhere, making it seem like the place was alive with a stuttering heartbeat.

If the sky above wasn’t blue, he’d have thought that he was in another world entirely.

Everything felt... wrong in a way his Soul despised.

His House was far from here... he couldn’t have this.

And so, slowly, he peeled the mask off.

’Be careful.’

Grinning at Eris’s usual reminder, he closed his eyes.

"Let’s find this Demon."

***

"JUST WHAT IS HE DOING?!"

The outside commentary went wild, even as the Trial had just begun.

Lothar, floating before the projections, wanted to find any chance at shitting on the kid; though he’d set that goal aside last time, it had yet to change.

"Perhaps he’s turned suicidal!"

John Tzetzes, the Inquistor who annoyed Ignotus back then, had joined Lothar in his commentary endeavors, perhaps for the first time since forever, now floating next to him.

Though he had yet to say anything, even when Lothar was introducing him to the crowd earlier. But that didn’t mean that he was out of it; no, rather, his eyes seemed to show amusement.

Perhaps he knew what Ignotus was planning to do...

Perhaps Ignotus was the reason he came here.

***

And indeed, Ignotus was planning something.

He didn’t rush, letting the rotting silence stretch.

Corruption pushed through, reaching his lungs.

He could feel it slowly devouring his Divinity.

—

[• D: 1145/1147 •]

—

Using his Divinity to sense where he could move, he began to walk.

—

[• D: 1143/1147 •]

—

Meanwhile, his reserves continued to tick down, devoured by Corruption.

—

[• D: 1141/1147 •]

—

He was using it as something of a Corruption counter.

—

[• D: 1139/1147 •]

—

If the rate at which it dropped increased, then...

—

[• D: 1135/1147 •]

—

Ignotus would be nearing a Demon.

—

[• D: 1127/1147 •]

—

’You should go quicker now.’

Agreeing with Her, he opened his eyes and began to run.

—

[• D: 1121/1147 •]

—

He felt the pull a little more.

—

[• D: 1115/1147 •]

—

The Corruption chewed at his Divinity even faster.

—

[• D: 1094/1147 •]

—

Way, way faster.

’It’s done.’

Ignotus was heading in the right direction.

There was no need to waste any more Divinity.

—

[• D: 1091/1147 •]

—

His Divinity loss had paused the moment he reequipped the Stranger’s Mask.

"I’ve found you~!"

***

"JUST HOW CLEVER IS HE?!"

Lothar’s voice reached all in the Colosseum.

His tone had quickly changed, mockery traded for shock.

He leaned forward in disbelief, his eyes wide as the projection followed Ignotus rushing through the blackened forest.

"The boy had just used his loss of Divinity to triangulate where the Demon is!"

And for the first time, John, calm as ever, adjusted his glasses and added:

"Ignotus is no doubt the fastest to find the correct direction."

That was enough to set the stands on fire.

"STRANGER!"

"STRANGER!"

"STRANGER!"

His haters had their voices drowned.

It was to be expected.

After all, the rest of the students were still only finding their bearings, not used to a realm so far from normal. And that alone revealed just how experienced Ignotus was compared to them.

They couldn’t wait to see just what he’d do next.