The Heroine Stole My Regression-Chapter 66

All combat personnel, including Vanquisher, stood by in unison before the storm of lightning.

The moment that massive force field disappeared, they were ready to charge in.

“Please...”

Park Gwangcheol stared into the storm of lightning before him.

Unconsciously, his grip tightened.

Because of the destructive flow of mana, they couldn’t see what was happening inside at all.

—Crackle!

The erratic surges of electricity made it even harder to know what was going on beyond the storm.

He definitely saw Haein’s attack land accurately.

But right after that, the Apostle released a burst of lightning, and their vision was completely blocked.

It felt like an eternity had passed, though in truth, it was only a fleeting moment.

Then—

—Pzzzzzt...

The force field blocking their view slowly began to fade.

And the first thing they saw—was Jeong Haein.

Jeong Haein was clinging to the Apostle’s body with all his strength, still holding his spear.

His entire body was charred black, a total mess.

The Vanquisher members grit their teeth and turned their eyes toward the one who had reduced Haein to that state.

However—

The target didn’t even flinch. The spear was still lodged in its heart, and it simply stood there, unmoving.

—Flash!

Park Gwangcheol and Lee Dohyun moved at the same time.

Lee Dohyun’s blade flew toward its neck, and Park Gwangcheol’s fist struck its side.

—Crack.

It felt like striking an old, brittle tree. The creature’s body offered no resistance, allowing the sword and fist to penetrate without effort.

—Thud.

The head came off easily, flipping through the air. A trace of confusion passed across Lee Dohyun’s face.

The severed head spun once—then dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

Only then did they see the Apostle’s face.

Its features had completely stiffened. The skin was dried and shriveled, as if all moisture had been drained away.

It looked like the mummified corpse of someone dead for centuries.

Its skin was cracked open, looking as if it would crumble with the slightest touch.

And in the center of that decaying chest—

A black jewel emerged from the cracked flesh.

—Thump... thump...

It pulsed like a living heart.

Just looking at it exuded overwhelming malice.

An alien energy radiated from it—so twisted, they couldn’t even bring themselves to touch it.

“What... is this...”

Before the frigid corpse, no one could find words to speak.

And then—

Jeong Haein’s body began to fall from midair.

“Ugh—”

“Catch him!”

The support that had held him up—the spear lodged in the Apostle—was now gone. His body lost balance and plummeted dangerously.

—Thud!

The old man shot up like lightning and snatched Haein from the air.

He held him in his arms and checked his breathing.

“...Hah.”

The old man let out a sigh of relief.

He was alive.

But—his condition was critical.

Still airborne, the old man twisted his body and flew straight toward the Paladin forces.

Immediate first aid was needed.

“I’ll take care of him!”

Sophia, the leader of the Paladins, rushed over.

It was clear just by looking—his injuries were severe.

He needed high-level healing magic.

After safely passing Haein into Sophia’s care, the old man turned back toward the center of the battlefield.

Lee Dohyun tilted his head briefly, then ran a finger across his throat.

A hand signal—target eliminated.

“......”

It was certainly good news. Everyone here had felt the Apostle’s power firsthand. Killing something that strong was a massive victory.

And yet, no one cheered. Only silence descended.

“Khk...”

“My lady...”

Paladin priests and Cheongpungdae members choked back sobs.

In the blink of an eye—without time to intervene—they had been taken.

No one was able to protect them.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The old man sank to his knees, covering his forehead with one hand.

“Sion...”

Once again, he had failed to protect her.

He had promised.

“I don’t... have the face to see you...”

Her mother—daughter of Ha Taeseong.

The woman whose face he could no longer bear to look at—he had sinned against her again.

And then—

—KRAKOOOOM!!

At that moment, explosions of mana erupted across the battlefield.

Wind, shadow, chains—

Each blast of mana possessed a different elemental attribute.

And they all originated from the spots where the girls had been taken.

Waves of malicious energy surged in all directions.

“Prepare for combat!!”

At the old man’s shout, every combatant immediately raised their weapons.

Vanquisher reacted first.

Before them, a pillar of silence rose.

Mana trembled as it rippled through the pillar. Instinctively, they felt it—

Something was about to emerge.

Everyone held their breath and waited, tense.

And finally, the pillar of silence vanished, revealing the figure inside.

It wasn’t the Apostle.

It was Ha Sion.

She was drenched in blood, unconscious and lying on the ground.

Wounds covered her body, and blood dripped from her nose and lips.

But—she wasn’t dead.

Everyone here had braced for the worst.

But Sion looked perfectly—alive.

The old man rushed to her in a heartbeat and checked her condition.

He took her pulse, listened for breath.

“She’s... alive.”

The words came out with difficulty.

And in that instant, the emotions everyone had been holding back burst forth.

“Ah...”

Seong Ara collapsed on the spot.

Park Gwangcheol placed a hand on his forehead and let out a long sigh.

Then came the cries—

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“Saint!”

“My lady!!”

“Vice-captain!!”

As the other pillars vanished one by one, the kidnapped girls began to return.

All of them were heavily wounded—but in the end, every single one of them had survived.

“We’re here to assist!!”

At that moment—

Reinforcements from the Association began arriving from the distance.

Dozens, hundreds of troops swept across the battlefield, quickly moving to evacuate the wounded.

Only then did the survivors breathe.

The tension that had been wrapped around their throats finally eased.

They could feel it—they had survived.

Some quietly let out a sigh of relief,

Some collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

Others simply folded their hands and prayed in silence.

The mission to eliminate the Gangneung Demon Colony.

Casualties: 0.

Four Apostles—cause of retreat unknown.

Apostle Barkas—terminated.

An unprecedented victory in the history of mankind.

And likely, one that would never be repeated.

This battle ended in victory—for humanity.

***

I opened my eyes.

Behind me, I felt the softness of a bed.

“Ah...”

A sound that barely resembled my own voice escaped my throat.

It was closer to a metallic rasp.

Maybe because I just woke up, I couldn’t grasp the situation at all.

My eyelids were heavy. My head was a mess, filled with the shock of impact.

My last memory.

I was curled up, holding my breath.

And I remember—just barely—driving a final blow into Barkas’s heart.

Judging by the fact that I’m alive right now, it must have worked... I guess that’s good.

Wait a second.

What about the others?

Forgotten memories began to surface. One after another, rapidly.

Four of them had been kidnapped.

Even if I did manage to take down Barkas, it would’ve been flat-out impossible to fight off the remaining four Apostles.

Which means—

I sprang up reflexively.

“Ah... fuck.”

My entire body screamed.

My joints creaked, and my muscles felt like they were being ripped apart.

—Creak.

It felt like every cell in my body was shrieking at me to stop moving.

But I didn’t have the luxury of listening.

Nurse call.

I reached out.

Right beside me, on a nearby table.

I saw a small, red, protruding button.

My fingertips trembled. I slowly dragged my body toward it.

And then—

—BANG!

I slammed down on the button hard enough to nearly break it.

Collapsed like that for several seconds—

—Tap tap tap tap.

I heard hurried footsteps rushing down the hallway.

From the sound of it, more than one person.

—SLAM!

The door burst open violently.

At the same time, the room lights flicked on all at once.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Patient Jeong Haein has regained consciousness!”

A voice shouted the moment they entered.

Doctors in white coats and medical priests.

Some checked machines. Some rushed toward me.

“Can you hear me?”

A priest waved his hand in front of my face.

“Please try to move your fingers!”

“I’m fi—”

Before I could even finish the sentence—

—BEEEEEEP!

An alarm blared from the machines.

Nurses began moving urgently around me.

“Ah, fuck...”

My vision blurred from the sudden wave of pain.

And once again, darkness returned.

When I opened my eyes again, the old man was sitting in front of me.

“You okay?”

“No.”

Not even a little.

Better than before, but still utter hell.

He’d just finished telling me what happened.

Four Apostles repelled.

Barkas—killed.

Zero casualties.

And most importantly—

All the key figures returned alive.

They’d already recovered and were now back attending classes at the academy.

An unbelievable outcome.

“How... how did that happen?”

“You played a big part in it.”

That’s what the old man said.

Right after I took down Barkas, the explosions and pillars ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ all erupted at once.

In other words, his death must have been the trigger for the forced retreat of the other Apostles.

The old man added that if they’d arrived even a little later, the kidnapped girls might not have made it.

So that’s what it was.

Even the appearance of five Apostles at this point in the story had been strange.

Dispatching an Apostle was a massive risk for the Evil God too.

To them, Apostles weren’t disposable pawns.

They were powerhouses granted divine abilities by the Evil God—forces comparable to divinity itself.

Sending them out meant delaying the Evil God’s resurrection.

So they must have built in some kind of auto-trigger mechanism tied to the Apostle’s death—a loophole to minimize their risk.

They likely never imagined one of them would actually die.

And there’s no way the Evil God would personally bear that burden.

In the end, because of that careless setup, both the Evil God and the Apostles had suffered massive losses.

One of their most valuable assets was dead, and the rest were repelled.

‘With this much...’

There’s no way they’ll show up again anytime soon. I can say that with confidence.

Wait. Suddenly, a question popped into my head.

“Hey, old man. Didn’t you say one of the Apostles was killed?”

“Yeah. Dead.”

The old man answered firmly.

“Then... was there anything left? Something kind of sticky... dark... maybe looked like a black orb?”

The Evil God’s remnant.

The source of the power that turned them into transcendents and formed the foundation of the taboo.

If that thing really did die, there should’ve been something left behind.

“...There was.”

Got it.

This was an unexpected jackpot.

If I could study and analyze that remnant, even I couldn’t predict what might come out of it.

But one thing was certain.

We’d found a clue to understanding and possibly reversing the Evil God’s and Apostles’ power.

In the original game, it was just a dummy item—some loot you never actually used.

But I’d always believed in the potential of that setting.

Even the lazy scraps of lore I wrote... this world was bringing them all to life.

An unforeseen calamity had come crashing down.

But we overcame it.

And with that, came an equally unexpected reward.

A future I’d once glimpsed through hardship—

"Total annihilation of Vanquisher."

That grim ending.

But now, right before my eyes, was the old man looking back at me.

The outcome was completely different from the future I knew.

“...Ha.”

A smile formed on my lips without me even realizing it.