The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 740: Looks Like I Can Let Loose (2)

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, observing Ghislain for a long while.

For years, he had been watching the elves' forest. He incited a group of orcs—long hostile toward elves—to provoke a conflict. Afterward, he recruited a few dark mages to gradually inflict damage on the elves.

Having long observed them and gauged their strength, the Salvation Order finally began preparing for a full-scale invasion.

They discreetly joined the orc assault, sparing no effort—even unveiling their arcane secrets.

With that, they managed to completely corrupt a portion of the forest.

“There were clearly no traces of human involvement.”

He had assumed the prideful elves would never stoop to seeking help from humans, but just in case, the Salvation Order kept watch to see if they would.

As expected, the elves tried to resolve the problem on their own.

The Order observed how long it took the elves to purify the corruption. They had a rough idea after watching them fight the orcs, but they needed a more accurate measure of the elves' total power.

If even one elf existed who could summon the Spirit King, their entire plan would need to be revised.

But no such being appeared. The elves attempted several purifications but ultimately failed to stop the corruption and withdrew.

“We confirmed it repeatedly. What we’ve gauged is the full extent of the elves' power.”

That’s why the Salvation Order resolved to invade. They had prepared forces that would guarantee victory.

They took on the role of invading various parts of the forest first, sowing confusion so the elves couldn’t gather.

Then, when the orc army and dark mages joined the battle, they could crush the elves completely—without even giving them a chance to ask the humans for help.

While other elven forests existed, none were as critical as this one. Even if they destroyed only this forest, the entire elven race would plunge into chaos and despair.

But then...

“Why is a human Transcendent here?”

Transcendents were rare even in the human world. And someone of that caliber wouldn’t wander alone.

People at that level typically held high positions in the kingdom, commanding armies.

Momentarily confused, the middle-aged man turned back to Ghislain and asked,

“Have the humans decided to intervene in the forest’s affairs?”

“I was just taking a walk and thought I’d help when things got troublesome.”

“Where is your army?”

Even as he asked, the man spread his energy outwards. A Transcendent couldn’t possibly be alone.

Yet... he felt nothing. The only one here was the Transcendent before him.

Ghislain slung his staff over his shoulder and grinned.

“Do I need an army? I figure I can handle the five of you by myself.”

“...You bastard.”

The man’s expression hardened coldly. He had no idea where this confidence came from. No one in the Salvation Order ever acted carelessly—they could not afford to let their movements be discovered.

That’s why even now, he remained cautious.

For Ghislain, on the other hand, the more time he could drag this out, the better. So he extended his staff and asked:

“So... is the Demonic Realm starting to move for real now?”

“...How do you know that?”

“I know quite a bit about you bastards.”

“......”

The man furrowed his brow. Who in the world didn’t know about them?

But no one—not even dragons—knew when or how the Salvation Order would move. That wasn’t knowledge a mere human could possess.

Staring intently at Ghislain, the man’s eyes suddenly gleamed.

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“I heard there were some who interfered with our operations in various kingdoms. They called themselves the ‘Julien Mercenary Corps.’”

“......”

“And there’s supposedly one peculiar bastard among them.”

Raising his hand slowly, the man continued.

“A mad Transcendent. Astion.”

— I’m not mad!

— Though I suppose I’m madly in love.

Lowering his stance, Ghislain grinned. With how wild he had acted, it would’ve been strange if he hadn’t ended up in the Salvation Order’s intel network.

“Yeah. I’m Astion.”

“I don’t know how you came to know about us... but I assume you found clues while working on kingdom matters.”

It would take time for the Pope to inform the other kingdoms about the growing influence of the Demonic Realm. Which meant... they still didn’t know that Ismoken had been captured.

The man stared coldly at Ghislain and sneered.

“Perfect. Now I can take care of a troublesome pest right here.”

“If you know who I am, then isn’t it only polite to tell me your name too?”

“You’re right. One should at least know the name of the person who’ll kill them.”

With an arrogant tilt of his chin, the man declared,

“I am Munareff, Executor of the Order, the one who inscribes the laws of our faith upon this land at the command of the Voice from the Abyss.”

At that instant, black energy surged from Munareff’s hand.

KWAANG!

The blow sent Ghislain skidding backward. At the same time, the four priests beside Munareff dissolved into black mist.

FWAAAAHH!

The mist spread rapidly, surrounding Ghislain from all directions. Still sliding back, he slammed his staff into the ground and looked around.

A part of the mist fluttered and reformed into a black robe. From it, a priest leaped out.

KAAAANG!

The attack was blocked by Ghislain’s staff. But the second priest struck immediately after.

FWAAAH!

Black chains shot out from all sides, targeting Ghislain’s limbs. He stomped his staff into the ground and used the rebound to lift himself into the air.

Before the chains could catch up, Ghislain pointed a single finger at one of the priests.

“Lightning Bolt.”

KWAANG!

Thunder roared from his hand, and the pursuing priest was struck squarely by the bolt, flung backward.

It was a low-circle spell, but Ghislain had packed an immense amount of mana into it. A normal person would’ve died on the spot.

But the priest’s body was quickly wrapped in black energy, the wound regenerating rapidly.

“Just like cockroaches, as always.”

Even in the future, their regenerative powers had always been a headache. And these stronger ones regenerated even faster.

Before he could finish the thought, the third priest appeared behind him.

Ghislain twisted his body to dodge, but the fourth priest's blade-like aura slashed across his side.

SLAASH!

Blood splattered. Ghislain gritted his teeth and swung his staff in a wide arc.

CRAAACK!

“Guhack!”

A sickening crunch followed by a scream. The priest’s side caved in and he was sent flying, unable to maintain balance.

But as Ghislain moved to press the advantage, another priest raised a hand in mid-air.

KWAANG!

The blackened hand struck Ghislain’s shoulder. Ghislain used the force of the blow to spin his body and swung his staff.

KWAANG!

A priest’s face was suddenly crushed on one side by Ghislain’s staff. Even as the blow landed, the priest couldn’t fully grasp what had just happened.

Given the force he had exerted, the opponent should have been slammed into the ground or lost balance from a shattered shoulder.

And yet, even while being struck, the man had twisted his body and counterattacked. It was a move that defied the priest’s understanding of combat.

Before anyone realized it, Ghislain had landed back on the ground. Without even looking back, he jabbed his staff behind him.

THWACK!

The priest who had been rushing from behind was struck in the abdomen, sent flying through the air.

In the blink of an eye, all four priests had taken hits and been knocked away by Ghislain. They quickly turned into black mist to widen the distance and began healing their injuries.

Their eyes were filled with disbelief. This situation made no sense.

They were among the strongest in the Salvation Order—capable of taking down most human Transcendents in one-on-one combat.

Yet even with four of them attacking together, they couldn’t overwhelm him. On the contrary, they were the ones taking losses.

Munareff, the one leading them, was no less shocked.

“Impossible... Has humanity's level risen even further?”

The enemy far surpassed the strength the Salvation Order had accounted for in their estimations of Transcendents.

Cold sweat trickled down Munareff’s back.

The number of Transcendents in the Human Alliance vastly outnumbered the Salvation Order’s high-ranking priests. That was only natural, given the population disparity.

Even if they opened dimensional rifts and filled their armies with Riftspawn, they couldn’t win a war if they were outnumbered in Transcendents.

“That’s why we trained each high priest to be able to face two, even three Transcendents...”

On top of that, they had used every possible method to weaken humanity’s strength.

And yet, this Transcendent was still this powerful. The wars to come would be anything but easy.

“He must be killed here!”

The fewer Transcendents in the Human Alliance, the more advantageous it would be for the Order. They couldn’t afford to let such a powerful one slip away.

KWAANG!

No longer content to watch, Munareff hurled himself toward Ghislain. The other priests launched their attacks as well.

As the black energy surged from every direction, Ghislain raised his mana to the limit in response.

ZIIIING—!

A glowing blue magic circle spread around him in an instant. Dozens of overlapping formations began pushing back the incoming dark energy.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The five priests were undeniably powerful—each of them ranked above the average human Transcendent.

But Ghislain held his ground, fighting them on equal footing. And he was doing it in Astion’s body.

The strength he wielded now wasn’t just physical power. It was everything he had built up over time.

BOOM! BOOM! KWAANG!

In that place where the black mist swallowed all light, only the glowing blue streaks drawn by Ghislain’s staff tore through the darkness.

The darkness was cleaved repeatedly, blue flashes splitting the mist apart like screams echoing through a void.

The priests were struck again and again, knocked back repeatedly. On top of that, Ghislain’s magic exploded around them, adding to the chaos and unrelenting pressure.

As the battle dragged on, Munareff’s back was soaked in cold sweat.

“Th-this can’t be happening... He’s this strong?”

Munareff couldn’t understand it. He could acknowledge that the enemy’s techniques surpassed theirs—but in terms of pure strength and speed, there wasn’t a massive gap.

With this many assailants, the man should’ve already taken serious damage and collapsed.

“So why...?!”

The enemy kept narrowly avoiding fatal blows—so narrowly that even successful attacks failed to do major damage.

No, rather than just avoiding, the enemy was pushing them back, little by little.

Amidst the confusion, Munareff suddenly noticed something was off.

“My perception... is distorted.”

Attacks that he was certain would hit missed by a hair’s breadth. At first, he thought Ghislain was simply dodging well.

But the more they fought, the more bizarre it felt. Like someone drunk, unable to judge distance properly.

That shouldn’t happen to a Transcendent.

Thinking back, it only happened at critical moments—only when Ghislain was in danger.

“This bastard... what kind of trick is this?”

A technique that could distort a Transcendent’s perception—he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, even as it happened.

Looking around, he realized none of the other priests had noticed. Only he had caught on to the subtle discrepancy.

“Everyone, go all in! We must kill him here and now!”

KWAOOOOM!

Gnashing his teeth, Munareff released all his power. There was no point saving strength to face the elves now—following the original plan was already impossible.

He had to kill this dangerous man here.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The other priests also began attacking at full strength. As their relentless assault resumed, Ghislain—who had held the upper hand—started to get pushed back.

His eyes darkened as he blocked their blows.

“Hmph... this might be it.”

These enemies were no joke. They were the strongest foes he had faced since returning to the past.

If it had just been the first four, he could’ve killed one or two and escaped.

But that Executor bastard was the problem. Stronger than the rest, and now even beginning to notice the subtle force Ghislain only used in dire situations—Will Power.

Ghislain hesitated for a moment. If he went all in here, he could definitely take out at least two of them.

“No. Not yet. I haven’t grasped the full extent of their strength.”

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

ROOOOOAAAAR!

From afar came the roar of orcs and the thunder of a vast army approaching. There were dark mages among them too.

And Ghislain had no idea how many more priests the Salvation Order had brought.

Going all out here would be reckless. He had already spent a considerable amount of mana.

Time to retreat. He had bought enough time—surely the elves were ready by now.

“That’s enough for now.”

From here on out, he needed to fight alongside the others.

While retreating, Ghislain suddenly drove his staff into the ground. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» His overwhelming mana surged through it and spread into the earth.

In an instant, the ground trembled violently.

KWAOOOOOM!

Cracks split the ground, and with Ghislain at the center, a massive shockwave exploded outward.

Chunks of rock and clouds of dust flew into the sky. The priests chasing Ghislain were blasted back by the sudden force.

Using the opportunity, Ghislain turned and sprinted away, shouting,

“I’ll save Round Two for later!”

The priests moved to give chase, but Munareff raised a hand to stop them.

“Leave it. It’s too late.”

Munareff wrestled with the fury boiling inside him. One human had derailed their plans from the very beginning.

And even with all five of them attacking together, they had failed to bring him down. The humiliation stung.

“I should’ve killed him, no matter what...”

He wanted nothing more than to chase him down and end it—but doing so now could mean walking into an ambush from the elves.

Forcing himself to calm down, Munareff turned his head.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The great orc army was drawing near.

The elves had likely finished their battle preparations too. At this point, it was better to strike with brute force alongside the orcs.

It didn’t matter if they all died—they were brought here as expendable pawns anyway.

That runaway Transcendent was powerful, but with the full army pressing down, he could still be killed—even with the elves’ help.

The Salvation Order had spent years preparing for this war.

“The time has come to trample this forest completely. And that arrogant bastard—I’ll kill him with my own hands.”

Munareff’s eyes gleamed with murderous rage.