I'm an Infinite Regressor, But I've Got Stories to Tell-Chapter 436

“I’m not afraid of anything anymore!”

The Heavenly Demon, Oh Dok Seo, shouted.

“Because I’m not alone!”

Some of the raid members who heard that line seemed moved.

They must have taken it literally — “not alone = there are comrades.”

“……”

On the other hand, some of the awakened ones, including me — especially those from the Japanese Archipelago who had a certain expertise in magical girl tropes — wore subtle expressions.

They were cultured and educated enough that they couldn’t help but wonder, “What? Is she asking to get her head chopped off?”

However, surprisingly, just this once, Oh Dok Seo’s words were not a mere joke — they contained a fragment of truth.

She truly wasn’t alone.

—“You insane shrine maiden!”

Rumble—!

A voice, degraded through the speakers, boomed out.

It came from the laptop that Oh Dok Seo was carrying under her arm.

Then, from the laptop’s screen, a tiny pixelated dwarf girl jumped — and in an instant, her body expanded to full human size.

—“For heaven’s sake, could you stop stacking clichés already?! Do you have any idea how hard I’ve been working behind you cleaning up your messes and fixing things?!”

The white-haired girl, furious to the point of fainting, was none other than—

Why hide it?

It was the very operator of All Creation’s Play, who had once mocked the world and made monsters tremble.

“Wow.”

Cheon Hwa nodded cheerfully.

“Look who it is. The loser of the last era.”

Her fingers were still laced with her twin sister’s, so it couldn’t be helped that she greeted her that way — though, even in another situation, she probably wouldn’t have been any more polite.

All Creation’s Play frowned at the rudeness.

—“Ha? Spare me, you disgrace of a forgotten god who wagged her tail at mere humans.”

“Gasp! The truth hurts so much! But what a pity… it would’ve hurt even more if it hadn’t come from the one who said, ‘I’ll give up all my power and dignity to a mere human if only they let me live.’”

—“……”

“You joined humanity ages ago and got yourself an authentic certification mark, didn’t you? But you— you spent every last coin you had and signed a surrender document! Even if this subjugation ends, at best you’ll be a C-tier blue-haired V-tuber!”

—“……”

“Kyahahahahaha!”

At that miraculous verbal duel, All Creation’s Play’s shoulders trembled violently.

Fortunately, crimson tendrils of flesh were rushing in from all directions.

The noise was deafening, and the raid members were too busy forming ranks behind the Heavenly Demon’s barrier.

Oh Dok Seo shouted.

“Hey! All Creation’s Play! You’re underpowered!”

—“Haah… seriously, how did I end up bound by fate to a shrine maiden who isn’t even like a shrine maiden…”

“Shut it and handle those tentacles! They’re all buffed with special effects, it’s too much!”

—“Ye-ye-yes, understood!”

Their relationship was different from the one I remembered.

I could infer the reason.

‘Right. Those two went through thousands of cycles together, breaking through new routes each time.’

To Oh Dok Seo, who had once fought alone to prevent the tragedy of June 17th, the forgotten god in that laptop must have been her first true companion.

Ordinarily, the term “companion” could never apply to such a being… but through me, All Creation’s Play had become remarkably humanized.

After countless trials and deaths together, it was only natural they’d become close.

‘There are stories I don’t know — even here, in a realm I could call my own sanctuary.’

Of course—

There were also stories I did know.

“Samcheon World.”

Dang Seo Rin raised her broom.

“Just defending won’t get us anywhere. We’ll break through first. Everyone, follow me!”

“Yes!”

The raiders of Samcheon World formed ranks and soared into the sky.

Oooooooooo——!

Countless crimson tentacles twisted sharply, turning to intercept the witches of Samcheon World.

Even the slightest hesitation meant death beneath the waves of those tendrils, but the witches did not falter.

Their dizzying flight paths — polished through endless drills and real battles — drew geometric contrails across the sky.

Even if their enemy was a reincarnator who had lived and died billions of times, the mission of humanity’s vanguard remained unchanged.

When they faced the Ten Tribes, when they shot down meteor showers—

Their first duty was always the same:

To open the sky.

“What are you all doing?!”

From below, under the cracking heavens, Yo Hwa, who was leading the dance of corpses on the ground, shouted.

“Move forward with Oh Dok Seo! Use the barrier as a shield and advance! Ah, seriously— sis! Don’t just stand there, move with me!”

“Ah. I’m a rear-support-type tactician…”

“Now!”

The warriors of Baekhwa High advanced.

If each witch of Samcheon was a pilot embroidering the night sky with starlight, the warriors of Baekhwa were legions — Roman soldiers with shields pressed forward.

Sky and ground.

Both forces split the red mass between them. Humanity’s army slowly closed in on the horizon where the Outer God’s domain lay.

‘They’re fighting well.’

They were never meant to be mere extras. They too had temporarily regained fragments of their past lives.

‘The finest veterans of humankind.’

My countless regressions bore witness to that truth.

Through all those loops, not once had I insisted on clearing everything “alone” or “by myself.”

‘Perhaps it was all to reach this moment…’

I had raised them.

‘Everything was inevitable.’

When we held Busan.

When we seized Sejong.

When we retook Seoul.

When we secured Pyongyang.

When we defended Sinuiju.

“It’s not as bad as I thought! We can do this!”

“Whoa, what was that? Axes just appeared out of thin air!”

“Time-stop, you idiot! It’s the Saintess!”

“If you’re slower than the broomstick brats, you’re dead meat!”

On every front I had stood, they had been there with me.

Thus, there was no doubt — they were humanity’s strongest army.

A—Aah—Aaaah—!

The witches’ commander sang.

Dang Seo Rin’s mantle slipped from her shoulder, glittering like the Milky Way.

A night sky burning with sacrificed lifespans.

—Aaah—Aaahhhh—!

That starlight would never fade.

Vines of flowers wrapped around Dang Seo Rin’s body. Each time she sang alone, black violets bloomed.

They were the branches of the World Tree raised by Shim Ah Ryeon.

Ah—Aaaah—Aaah—!

For every lifespan burned, the World Tree returned it.

A combination that was, quite literally, “theoretically the strongest.”

Though Dang Seo Rin had once hated plants more than anyone, she was also the one who harmonized most perfectly with the World Tree.

Aaaaaaaah———!

The sky.

Her song never stopped, and the red-fleshed cosmos was restored to humanity’s starry night.

Under their goddess’s night sky, the witches laughed in joy and sped even faster.

“Teacher!”

“Senpai, we’re sniping all the dangerous powers!”

The earth.

The corpses of humans, who had died countless times before, died again — dragging the powers of red flesh down into the underworld.

Moments ago, the tentacle hordes had seemed endless, but now they burst one by one, spilling blood.

The Saintess blocked half their advance, and Oh Dok Seo blocked the other half.

Between those two halves — in that gap between earth and sky — humanity marched forward.

“Mr. Matiz.”

The sea.

Yoo Ji Won vomited up a seven-colored ocean.

“Go ahead. I’ll support you.”

Once, she had been the girl who wished silently for the world to sink.

But now, the sea spreading from her fingertips did not drown those marching toward the horizon — it lifted them up.

All around, infinite aura thickened.

The song raining from the night sky blessed them, and the aura rising from the sea seeped into their souls.

“Yeom Jang! This is our chance!”

From the left, the Sword Star shouted as he charged forward.

“Do not worry about the flank, Jang Do-woo.”

From the right, the Sword Marquis murmured.

“No matter what happens, I shall see you safely to that monster.”

I nodded.

And ran.

Each time my steps struck the earth, aura rippled to the horizon.

The blissful art of Walking on Water.

I wasn’t the only one to reach this realm — yet the luxury of running across a Milky Way reflected in the night sky felt entirely my own.

‘When I cut down that reincarnator, this miracle too will shatter — like a midsummer night’s dream.’

The scenery blurred past.

A magical girl crying Nyaaaang! as she spread her umbrella spell.

An awakened one roaring to rally his comrades.

‘Someday even these memories will fade, and when I meet one of them in some faraway village, all that’ll remain will be a vague déjà vu.’

A little brother — muscles bulked up, yet still a support, not a tank or a dealer.

A child wielding puppet-strings to slice through the red flesh barring my path.

‘It may be lonely, but not unbearably so.’

Because they were alive.

‘If life is but a dream,’

Then when I awaken—

‘I’ll say it was never a nightmare.’

A long dream, a daydream of eternity.

Oooooooo——!

By now the red flesh was right before me.

A step across the horizon — and it was upon me.

Crack!

Even cornered like this, the ancient reincarnator still had one final move.

Tentacles pierced through both the Saintess’s and Oh Dok Seo’s defenses, lunging straight for my heart.

‘Go Yuri.’

I blocked the strike. My sword — Doha — shattered in my grip under the pressure.

But it didn’t matter.

There was a blacksmith who had always forged a blade for me every time the world was reborn.

In the valley where all artisans had long perished, I still received my sword.

Those gifts, linked to the number of my deaths, now formed a forest of blades along my path.

I ran.

I cast aside my broken sword and drew another — one that had been buried in my heart.

‘Did you call me greedy?’

The red flesh’s rage did not cease.

Swords broke again and again.

The monster born from the wound that had ruined entire lives came at me like crashing waves.

A man needs a staff to cross a stream — that was why I held Doha’s sword as my staff.

‘If I’m allowed a single desire—’

From the left, red flesh leapt from the shadows, seizing its perfect chance — but Emmitt Schopenhauer intercepted it.

‘—It’s that for you too, this world won’t be a nightmare.’

From the right, crimson tendrils tried to explode themselves to take me with them — Hong Bi Cheong severed them in one stroke.

Ooooooooo——!

I kept running until the end.

When the heavens, earth, and sea rippled together—

I swung my sword.

――――――――――……!

A scream.

The red flesh convulsed unnaturally.

It struggled to gather its collapsing mass, but the gash it bore would never heal.

Having stared too long into the Void, it became the Void itself — an unlife.

An ancient nightmare was collapsing.

Through the falling blood, I reached out my hand — and felt something grasp it.

“—Ah.”

There, a girl with pink hair, on the verge of tears, had her wrist caught in mine.

One single human, surrounded by all these nightmares.

At last, the nightmares that had chained her — that she could never escape on her own — were bleeding away.

Her pink-stained hair slowly turned back to its original black from the tips upward.

“Go Yuri.”

Regression. Reincarnation.

There are names for such fates.

“You were the one who always woke me every morning, loud and insistent.”

Since human life always leads to death, every act of living is also an act of dying.

And on that path, there was always someone who, having failed to stop their own destruction, had finally let go.

“This time, it’s my turn to say it.”

“Ah…”

“You’ve overslept far too long. Both you, and I.”

I pulled her wrist.

Held the one who had died with me, and would die with me again.

“The night is over now.”

“……”

Go Yuri’s expression broke.

And then, she leaned into me, surrendering her weight.

“…Yes.”

With the warmth and weight of a human being, she whispered in my arms.

“Yes, Mr. Go Yil.”

Reincarnation.

Alias.

Someone’s family.

Someone’s sister.

Someone’s daughter.

Salvation.

Wound.

Despair.

Hope.

Nightmare.

Rank: Outer God.

Subjugation — complete.

“You were always my sun.”

And then— 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Someone’s afterstory begins.

—Savior Ω. End.