The Heroine Stole My Regression

53 – Eve (6)

Four women, each possessed of striking beauty, stared at me with differing expressions.

What did I just say?

I raised a hand and touched my forehead. A slightly damp sensation. I must have sweated a bit while unconscious.

Yoo Hana offered me a handkerchief.

“Thanks.”

I inhaled slowly and surveyed my surroundings. Judging by the time, I hadn’t been out for too long.

Luxurious furnishings, crisp bed linens, and a massive monitor mounted on the wall.

‘This is…’

It came back to me. The place I’d been hospitalized after collapsing from that mystic elixir.

Back then.

“Hae-in, are you alright…?”

Si-on asked me, her expression deeply worried.

I nodded, just enough. Objectively speaking, I was fine.

Mentally, there was a lingering fatigue, but it was bearable. No point digging myself into a hole, nothing would change.

“I’m alright. It’s nothing. I just had a little chat with Chang…”

I gestured vaguely toward Chang who was beside me, trying to sound nonchalant.

But their expressions, seeing my calm reaction, weren’t good at all. Somehow desolate, and tinged with sadness.

What is this, am I about to die?

I wondered if the doctor had told them about some disease I didn’t know about, and asked cautiously.

“Do I have some terminal illnes—”

That instant.

“What? You’re awake?”

The door to the ward burst open.

It was Park Gwang-cheol, holding a basket of apples. He must have heard the news already, and come to see me.

Entering the room with a confident stride, he shook the basket, showing it off.

“Looking good!”

He casually pulled an apple from the basket, and *crunch*. Took a bite.

“…What’s with the apples?”

I asked, dumbfounded.

“Just thought I’d bring some, but looks like you don’t really need them…”

Park Gwang-cheol’s gaze slowly swept across the room. And soon, it landed on the four figures standing directly in front of me.

He quietly counted them with his finger.

One, two, three… four.

He paused, his lips pressed together in a line, and nodded slowly. Then, glancing at me, he cautiously gave a thumbs up.

“Enjoy these among yourselves~”

With those words, he dropped the basket onto the table next to my head and immediately turned to leave.

I stared, bewildered, as he departed the room, and inwardly thought,

‘What the…’

Still, seeing his face looking hale did lift my spirits.

I’d only seen him looking utterly hopeless for a while there…

I’d mostly come back to my senses, too.

Seemed a good time to get myself moving.

What I’d witnessed.

Real or not, I had to prepare, regardless.

Slowly, I rose from the bed and picked up Catastrophe, which was resting nearby.

“…Hah.”

I’d tensed up in case something happened when I touched it, but thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

I leaned the spear against the bedside for a moment and turned around.

Then I addressed the women standing behind me.

“Let’s get some food. Do you all have time?”

Cheon Yeoul and Yu Hana were always around anyway, but Sion and Kang Arin seemed to have come especially.

Seemed right to buy them a meal at least.

Kang Arin nodded first. Following her, Yu Hana, Sion, and Cheon Yeoul silently agreed.

“Okay.”

I had some things to discuss, so this worked out well.

They stood silently, still watching me.

“Could you all step out for a moment? I’ll change and be right out.”

I tugged lightly at the clothes I was wearing as I spoke.

I was still in my patient gown.

“……”

However, they exchanged hesitant glances, with a subtly strange expression.

I observed their reaction for a moment before speaking again.

“Aren’t you going to leave?”

Just let me get dressed.

When I pressed them once more, the door finally opened, and they filed out of the room.

*

A private room in a secluded eatery.

We sat around the dining table.

Before I could even consider what to eat, Sion had already suggested eel.

Having collapsed, I needed nourishing food, all four of them insisted vehemently.

I simply accepted.

-Sizzle.

“….”

Only the sound of eel grilling filled the room.

Come to think of it, this was the first time this particular group had assembled.

While I had become relatively close to each of them individually, they weren’t to each other.

Especially Sion, who wasn’t even in the same class.

Inevitably, an awkward atmosphere began to settle.

Someone had to break the silence.

I raised my head and looked across the table.

Cheon Yeoul, seated there, kept transferring pieces of sliced eel onto my plate.

“Cheon Yeoul.”

At the sound of her name, she looked up, startled.

“Huh?”

I set down my spoon and asked.

“Paladin of the Order, do you happen to take on requests too?”

In an instant, four pairs of eyes turned to me in unison.

The Trial of Aldebaran.

I distinctly saw it within. A scene of three Apostles gathered together.

Three Apostles?

That was the kind of power that would usually appear in the mid-to-late main story.

Frankly, I can’t believe it. Even for an evil god, Apostles were strategic weapons.

In any case, having seen it, what I had to do was crystal clear.

To balance the scales of power.

If that really happened, one Vanquisher team wouldn’t be enough. We’d need to call in another team to at least even out the strength.

Besides, in that final scene, the Apostles retreated hastily when the Association’s support arrived. An apparent move to avoid friction with other organizations.

It was, in the end, only a hypothesis, but with more powers vying for attention, the odds grew that they, too, would hesitate to engage in reckless battle.

Therefore, I must gather them.

Even if no Apostle arrives.

One might think it’d be simplest to just not go to the place at all, but that would likely prove impossible.

The ‘Annihilation of the Vanquisher,’ triggered by a mere line of script, unrelated to the protagonist’s original path.

Even if avoided now, it would inevitably return, later, in an unknown form, even more colossal.

Thus, it’s best to prepare as thoroughly as possible within the expected parameters.

That was the lesson learned in the Aldebaran ordeal.

I acknowledged my complacency.

And as I did, the flaws in my plans naturally began to surface.

‘A shock treatment, this is.’

Not a pleasant experience, but if something is gained, it has meaning.

The story is long, and many trials are still to come.

“I accept your request,”

She replied in a quiet voice.

So, in conclusion, I needed the Paladins’ aid.

They primarily utilized attacks based on sacred energy.

One of the few forces capable of confronting an Apostle.

I looked directly into Chun Yeoul’s eyes and spoke.

“Really? Then I’ll put in a request.”

The Paladins, the core force of the Order, did not accept external commissions.

However, an exception existed for the command of a single individual.

A being to whom the Paladins swore allegiance.

The Saintess.

It was time to reap the benefits of the relationship I had cultivated with her, and the Order, thus far.

Chun Yeoul set down her chopsticks.

“The details?”

I swept my gaze across the table once before answering.

“An Apostle.”

In that instant, the air above the table grew heavy.

“It seems an Apostle has emerged.”

An Apostle was said to appear.

It was a story few would readily believe, perhaps.

Since the Archfiend was sealed by the previous-to-last Hero, most Apostles had either been wiped out or fallen into a deep slumber, and those who remained had thoroughly concealed themselves.

Thus, most heroes of this era had never directly encountered an Apostle.

Their wickedness and strength were known only through historical records.

The recent Shanghai Mana attack—that was the first official Apostle assault in decades.

When the initial attack was reported, the Chinese Hero Association dispatched multiple A-Rank Heroes without so much as a warning. The records of the past remained, but they hadn’t grasped the practical threat posed by an Apostle.

And, within mere hours, contact was lost. The result was annihilation.

That’s how much the existence of an Apostle was regarded as something of a legendary monster.

I observed Cheon Yeoul’s reaction.

Whether she believed me or not, it didn’t particularly matter.

If the Paladin merely remained on standby nearby, we could fight together when the Apostle appeared.

And if the Apostle didn’t appear?

That would simply be a joyous thing. The best possible outcome, without bloodshed.

Of course, I might be dismissed as having spouted nonsense. In the worst case, a rift of distrust could form with the Order.

‘Doesn’t matter.’

My honor, my prestige, such things were of no importance.

The goal was singular.

‘To prepare for the worst.’

Having seen a future where I failed to do so, that alone was enough.

“It’s alright if you don’t believe me.”

I continued, calmly.

“I will pay the cost, so just stay on standby at least…”

However.

Cheon Yeoul didn’t hear me out to the end. She rose from her seat, closing the distance in an instant.

She brought her face close to mine, grasping my hands tightly.

The tips of her fingers trembled slightly.

“I believe you.”

A small, but firm voice.

My gaze met hers. Those blue eyes were unwavering, clear.

I, for a moment, lost my words.

“Uh.”

In the end, I could only chuckle and nod.

*

A colossal hollow, severed from the world.

Dark, cold.

Before the man garbed in black, the celestial body always held its dim light.

“…!”

A tiny fissure appeared in the sphere.

From that crack— a faint, but definite nebula bloomed.

Swirling afterglow erupted, tearing through the cosmic veil.

“… Hahahahahaha.”

A parched laugh escaped.

In this space where every direction was blocked, a path had finally opened for the first time.

Where that path led, even he could not know.

But only one thing mattered.

The path, it had opened.

-KUGGGGGGG.

The stone gate blocking the enormous hollow slowly groaned open.

From within, out of the pitch-black darkness, emerged beings of unclear form.

These were unlike anything before. Larger, more numerous, and imbued with a more distinct will.

The man’s lips parted slowly.

“You are better than I.”

The world line shifted once more.

But through countless regressions, he had learned something. That the world was not so easily swayed.

If you forcibly twisted the flow to change the outcome, you must pay a price befitting it.

The man stood abruptly.

He grasped the spear already drenched in demon blood, exhaling a long breath.

“… This time, it’ll take a while.”

Celestial light, a faint glimmer, illuminated him.

Beneath that light, the man’s face and body were entirely scarred.

Yet, for him, there was no room for regret, no choice to halt.

Now, it was time to—

Endure the world’s restraints.