Reincarnated and Regressed Villain - Make heroines beg for forgiveness

Chapter 184: Chapter 184- Some Old memory

[Host, in the present state, it will take 15 days]

'As expected of him,' Ryuk glanced at the young man, realizing how his body was blessed enough to adapt even to the Artifact, which had the ability to degrade anyone's strength stats to 1.

This meant that if Wyrncoil—the artifact Edward possessed—was used on him, there was a significant chance that Edward would recover much sooner than the artifact's usual effect duration, which was a whole month for anyone else.

BAM!

"...I.."

Finally, upon hearing a fading voice accompanied by the punch, Ryuk turned his attention towards the young man, while the man beside him, gritting his teeth, kept his fist clenched and looked downward.

"It should be enough, Regina," he commanded while slowly rising from his seat, composed yet slightly feeling something off about everything.

After all, Edward was subdued much more easily despite the title he held.

"Can he leave now?" the man inquired with a frustrated tone, lifting his reddened gaze to meet Ryuk's, whose face formed a smile.

"Yes—?!"

Ryuk's eyes instantly turned towards the young man pressed on the ground, whose heartbeat seemed to stop. There wasn't any movement, as if Edward Abernathy had died.

"N-no, E-edward?" Even the man slowly rose from his seat, looking towards the lifeless body of his son, something which wasn't expected in the first place.

"Regina, is he dead?" Ryuk inquired, lifting his feet to approach them.

ALERT!

[ WARNING! ]

SWOOSH

In that moment, his amber eyes seemed to contract due to a golden hand shrouded in light materializing through a soft mist formed just a meter away from his face, appearing scaled yet fast enough to make everything nearby stop, as if in a time freeze.

'?!'

SWISH

SCRHCH

'Huh,' due to everything being so sudden, even with reflexes taking over, Ryuk's body tilted his head to avoid that golden claw, yet the speed was far too strong, leaving a deep gash across his cheek.

Ryuk's instincts screamed at him, barely giving him enough time to register the glowing hand before it disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving behind a trail of shimmering particles that gradually faded into the air.

'...System, what was that?' His amber eyes narrowed, scanning the place, trying to figure out the source of the attack.

DING!

[Host, it seems a plot has been triggered.]

'What plot?' Not understanding what it meant, Ryuk inquired before suddenly realizing something as he turned his gaze towards Edward Abernathy, who lay on the ground.

WHOOSH

The young man on the ground was suddenly bathed in a soft golden light. The lifelessness that had pervaded his body moments ago dissipated as the light pulsed, and his fingers twitched.

'Is it a second Awakening?' Regina also increased her force and exerted tons of pressure to keep Edward's body pressed down, her eyes narrowed while observing the subtle movements in his once lifeless body as a golden energy started to shroud him.

Edward's eyelids shot open, revealing eyes that gleamed with an otherworldly golden luminescence.

'He is retaliating.' Unexpectedly, Edward's body was trying to push back against her force, slowly standing, as if the millions of tons of weight were nothing.

Technically, there is a difference between power and force, which right now seemed more bent in Edward's favor, as his force subtly surpassed the power exerted by Regina for those fleeting moments.

"Leave him, Regina," Ryuk firmly stated, his cheek's wound already healed as his cold gaze observed Edward's body, which was breaking through limits. In place of his prosthetic hand, a golden one had appeared.

SWISH

Regina glanced at Ryuk and nodded before her body disappeared and arrived beside him, her hand gripping the sword hilt.

"Liege, he is going through Second Awakening," Regina informed the black masked man beside her, gazing towards the now standing blonde-haired man, whose body was shrouded in a golden aura, intensely resonating with the surrounding mana.

"N-no, it's something else."

Interrupting Regina was the voice from beside the masked man. Standing there was a blonde-haired man whose emerald eyes reflected the golden light, which soon appeared to dissipate all the darkness in the surroundings.

'System, show me his status window,' Ryuk commanded.

DING!

?????????????????????????

INACCESSIBLE******

?????????????????????????

'....' Seeing how the System wasn't able to show the details about Edward, it was clear that whatever that thing was, it was very important to something highly related to the world's will.

? This vessel is broken. How did this happen? ?

Suddenly pulling Ryuk out of his thoughts were the layered voices coming out of the golden figure, intensely glimmering in that place, observing his own body.

'Vessel?' Ryuk noted that word while also focusing on the reverting double-layered voice appearing as if possessed by something.

? You, did you do this? Hmm, these memories. ?

Another voice came out of Edward, whose gaze was fixed on the black masked man, narrowed.

"Yes, it was definitely me," Ryuk replied to the figure who had arrived just half a meter away from him, standing not even a hand's distance away.

? Why did you do it? ?

Tilting its head, the golden figure inquired, now encapsulating Edward's body drenched in the golden glow with visible curiosity for a human to harm its vessel.

"Because I can?" Ryuk replied again, realizing that something was amiss in the surrounding space. Yes, a moment ago when this figure appeared, things were normal. But right now, time was frozen.

Only he and this Edward, more specifically the figure possessing him, were moving.

"K.. i .. ll."

Narrowing his eyes, Ryuk focused on that subtle fading voice coming through the golden figure, clearly understanding that it was Edward's consciousness.

So, at least he was alive. But the question remained, what is this thing in front of him?

? You don't have to fear me, I just want to know the reason. ?

That voice again inquired, not finding the masked man's answer reasonable, looking calmly while ignoring the plea of the vessel inside which he was, pleading to kill this man.

After all, the entity was feeling something very familiar from inside this black masked man, making it have the patience to not kill him first.

"Heh, you seem to be confused here, Aternum"

'?!'

A voice caused the golden figure's eyes to widen, hearing an unrecognizable voice before turning towards it to look at the landing figure of a woman wearing a black dress and deep, intensely burning amber eyes.

Thud

Landing on the ground, Drishti lifted her gaze to look towards that golden figure shining in the golden light, yet fading behind the light emitting from her as she firmly stated, "Reasons are needed for weaklings. Stronger ones just follow their mood. It's just this simple."

? How do you know my identity, Human? ?

'Aternum? Wasn't that,' Ryuk thought, overwhelmed by unknown events yet calmly considering the familiarity with this name and where he heard it, making him remember the person from whom he heard this name.

'Wasn't Mother mentioned it?' Reminded of a conversation twelve years ago, due to his sharp memory, he had noted those words which were:

::That girl possesses the bloodline of an Aternum.::

These were the words spoken to him while referencing Celestian Reinguard, also known as the daughter of the Sword Maiden, who lived her whole life inside a facade of a boy.

'So, it's some race.' At that time, the conversation was about how Celestia possessed absolute memories due to her dormant bloodline containing the ancestors of an Aternum, making Ryuk think that it was just some single individual who possessed memory-related powers or something. But now...

'System, is it done yet?' Ryuk inquired.

[Host, only the time inside Titanora is frozen, and it seems the surrounding mana is resonating with his unknown energy.]

"Leave that identity thing and tell me, which clan do you belong to?" Drishti firmly inquired, her cold gaze burning with intense mana seemed to push back all the surrounding energy trying to restrict her.

? ....For a mere human, you know more than— ?

"Was it Sanctum?" Drishti kept looking at the bright golden humanoid figure while noticing each facial expression, noting how the energy was trying to heal the crippled body of Edward while delaying time.

Yes, she could see the subtle movement around Edward's prosthetic hands, yet it was useless. This made Drishti form a smile as she glanced towards Ryuk, who seemed unaware of the thoughts going through her mind.

'?!'

? Who are you? ?

Suddenly, hearing some names regarding his own existence, the entity appeared before Drishti's figure with the same speed as with the black masked man, completely instant. Yet, he only got to see the background, not the woman.

"You want my help?" Drishti asked the masked young man beside her, ignoring the golden figure ten meters away. She had arrived beside Ryuk much faster than the golden entity.

"...What do you suggest?" Ryuk inquired, weighing the consequences of fighting someone of unknown strength. If it was inevitable, he would not retreat.

"Hm, he will not die even if you kill him. He'll come again with countermeasures against your ability," Drishti said, folding her arms and gazing at Edward's glowing figure. The golden face appeared like a statue with widened eyes, as if this woman had known him since the beginning of time.

"Help me then," Ryuk said, seeing how Drishti came down and offered her help. Despite her earlier proposal for a deal, it was clear the situation was severe. Given her calm demeanor, he couldn't gauge just how severe it was.

Drishti glanced at Ryuk before turning towards the figure, who seemed to lift his palm for something, causing the surrounding golden particles to slowly gather around his arm.

? Whoever you are, this ends here— ?

"SUPPRESS," cutting off the figure's words was a calm and soft voice from Drishti.

TING!

As if a stone thrown into water causing ripples to form, an invisible energy originated from Drishti, scattering all around before finally passing through the figure.

'!?!'

? TH-THIS! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIV....?—THUD

The figure, influenced by something, recognized the energy suppressing him and exclaimed but was extinguished.

'He knows her,' Ryuk thought, hearing the last words of the golden light before Edward's body fell to the ground.

He understood that the expression and those words were directed towards Drishti. Even in that overwhelming situation, Ryuk could at least derive the meaning behind those last words.

The tone, words, and finally those eyes of the figure clearly screamed that he was sure Drishti had died previously—maybe in some previous life.

Understanding that the figure only recognized her after experiencing her use of Authority, it was clear that—

DING!

[ Goblin Pheromone Perfume is Ready!]

'Huh? Aren't you on time', Hearing the sudden notification from the System, Ryuk glanced towards Edward's unconscious body lying on the ground.

With time still frozen, it was the perfect opportunity to exchange gifts.

tap tap

Ryuk approached the lying figure of Edward, fallen face down with his back visible.

SWISH

A bottle of spray materialized from his inventory into his hand, glowing green.

He stopped above the young man, looking down at his back before shaking the bottle and bringing it closer.

SPRAYYY!

'....' Drishti, who was about to dispel the frozen time, halted upon seeing the masked young man's approach Edward's body which seemed unusual, added with him spraying something.

Already coming to a conclusion, with a twitch visible on her face, Drishti inquired to double-check her doubt, "Did you just spray a perfume smelling like a goblin on his butt?"