Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 173

“…It’s definitely pointing here,” Owen muttered, his face a mask of confusion as he surveyed the surroundings.

Before him lay nothing but a steep cliff, its angle nearly perpendicular, with no other paths in sight.

Frowning, he glanced down at the artifact in his hand.

The compass needle spun ceaselessly—if anything, it was clear that the mana waves were pointing right here.

At that moment, Theo stepped forward.

“If it’s pointing here, there’s only one answer, old man.”

With a determined gaze, he drew his sword, stirring up mana.

A significant flow of mana surged around him.

Yan watched Theo and clicked his tongue in admiration.

‘He’s getting stronger by the day.’

When he had seen him in the mining town, Theo seemed to have just stepped into the realm of superhumans, but in just a few months, he had reached the threshold of maturity.

The vividly visible mana was proof of that.

“Haap!”

With a powerful shout, Theo swung his sword towards the cliff.

The sword’s energy, like a whip, lashed out and poured onto the cliffside.

Rumble!

A long, nail-like gash appeared in the middle of the cliff, and stones embedded around it tumbled down.

But that was all.

No hidden entrance opened, nor was there any sensation of a magical device breaking.

Theo’s eyes narrowed with frustration.

“Ha, it’s holding up, isn’t it?”

His pride wounded, he gripped his sword again, ready to swing until the desired scene unfolded.

Yan stopped him.

“If even your sword energy can’t make a dent, brute force might not be the answer.”

“That’s something we’ll only know after trying.”

“If the cliff collapses, we might face unforeseen problems.”

“Yan’s right. What if the entrance disappears because of you, Theo? How will you take responsibility?”

“Tch.”

Theo grimaced at Damian’s biting words but seemed to agree with Yan, as he sheathed his sword and stepped back.

Yan approached the cliff and reached out his hand, then closed his eyes and walked around.

Whoosh.

After touching various parts of the cliff for a while, Yan stopped abruptly at one spot.

He opened his eyes and stared at it.

It was an ordinary stone wall, indistinguishable from the rest.

‘But here, I felt a trace of mana, ever so slight.’

Yan spread his palm and infused mana into the spot that felt off.

The mana flowed through his fingers and was absorbed by the stone wall.

If it had been an ordinary wall, it would have cracked or crumbled.

But this wall greedily sucked in the mana like a desert swallowing water.

When the amount became a burden even for Yan…

Whoom!

The stone wall emitted light, and an unexpected transformation occurred.

Rumble!

What they had thought was a solid cliff began to swirl like liquid.

The sight was so bizarre that it hardened the expressions of the onlookers.

After swirling for a while, a dot appeared in the middle of the wall, and it gradually expanded into a dark, cave-like opening.

Owen pointed at the dark cave with a baffled expression.

“Is this… magic?”

Damian shook his head.

“If it were magic, we would have noticed. It seems like orcish sorcery.”

Yan agreed with Damian’s assessment.

“That seems likely. If it were magic, you all would have known.”

He himself had come and gone from this place several times without realizing something was hidden.

It was only because Owen was certain of this place that they could find it—if not for the artifact he brought, discovering this place would have been impossible.

Theo drew his sword and slung it over his shoulder.

Then, as if there was nothing to fear, he moved to enter the cave.

Damian shouted at Theo.

“Theo! Don’t rush in recklessly!”

Theo snorted and gestured towards the cave.

“If we don’t go in, then what? Wait here forever?”

“We don’t even know what’s inside…”

“That’s why we go in. How can we prepare for what we don’t know?”

It was a reckless suggestion, but it was the correct one.

Yan thought the same as Theo.

“If it gets too much, we just run away.”

At Yan’s words, Owen and Damian shook their heads.

But, having no other alternatives, they followed Theo and Yan into the cave.

* * *

The cave was a continuum of darkness, not a single speck of light penetrated its depths.

Owen, disliking the oppressive silence, cracked a light joke.

“Are we going to wander endlessly until we all become lost?”

It was a joke that fell flat, but that was the least of their worries.

No one responded to Owen’s attempt at humor, prompting an awkward cough from him.

“Can a cave really be this deep?” Theo murmured in a low voice.

Damian clicked his tongue in agreement.

“Seriously. Feels like we’ve walked kilometers already, and still no end in sight.”

Yan too sensed something was amiss.

After a few more minutes of walking, the group fell silent.

Light finally began to seep through.

Yan and his companions hastened towards the light.

The scene that unfolded before them left everyone dumbstruck.

“This doesn’t seem like the inside of a cave, does it?”

“To think there was such a place near the Forest of Beasts.”

Theo looked ahead with a tsk.

Beyond the exit lay a wasteland filled with bone fragments, vast and seemingly endless.

The only structure in sight was a dark tower, small in the distance.

“Old man, there was no such terrain on the map around here.”

“Does this mean the orcs have connected spaces with their sorcery?” Theo asked, looking up.

“Most likely,” he answered himself.

Above was not the cave ceiling but a gloomy sky.

As the group stared out into the wasteland, Momon peeked out and let out a sigh.

[To think such a thing was possible…]

Yan’s curiosity piqued as the usually silent Momon spoke up.

“Why? We’ve seen gates before.”

[Would I react like this to a teleport gate?]

Yan tilted his head.

“It’s not a teleport gate?”

[If I’m seeing this right… this is a Mindscape.]

“…What?”

Yan immediately grasped what Momon was implying.

He was suggesting that this place was not a real location but someone’s mindscape.

“A mindscape can create a space this vast?”

Yan whispered, wary of being overheard.

[That’s why it’s so preposterous. To create such a massive space with a mindscape is nearly impossible. The only human I know who could…]

Momon trailed off, but Yan understood what he meant.

“…You mean the Founder?”

[Well, as far as I know.]

“Could the Four Dukes do it?”

[Impossible. Do you think the domain created by Duke Beowulf could last a whole year?]

Yan shook his head.

Even if Duke Beowulf was formidable, a domain was a projection of one’s concepts and ideals into the real world.

It was a technique difficult to maintain for more than a day, even with a generous estimate.

[It’s akin to maintaining such a domain continuously.]

Momon’s words made Yan sense the gravity of the situation.

[And your father you’re searching for is probably at the core of this mindscape.]

“A core? Can such a realm have one?”

[The entity that sustains this mindscape.]

Taking Momon’s advice, Yan nodded and turned his gaze towards the distant black tower.

It looked suspicious enough to house a core.

Damian seemed to think the same, pointing towards it.

“I can feel the flow of mana from there; there must be something.”

Owen and Theo nodded in agreement.

Thus, Yan and his companions began their trek towards the black tower where the mana flowed.

After some time, Damian, leading the way, came to an abrupt halt.

Without a word, the others understood the situation.

“…Enemies.”

“Yes.”

A piercing malice and ferocious will emanated from ahead.

Soon, the foes revealed themselves.

Green-skinned, with long fangs and grotesque faces, they were orcs, a race that had nearly been driven to extinction by the Founder.

Yan smirked slightly.

“It seems we’ve found the right place.”

“Indeed. The presence of such orcs means…”

One by one, the orcs began to emerge.

Before long, the barren wasteland, previously only visible as bones, began to fill with a dense crowd of orcs.

Their numbers were so vast, it brought to mind wars with barbarian tribes of the past.

Yan and his companions each drew their weapons.

Owen with his hand cannon and greatsword, Damian with his dark shadow blade, and Theo with his long, pristine sword.

Click!

And Yan gripped Ascalon.

The orcs, making clicking noises, slowly closed the distance, eyeing Yan and his group.

The thick aura of killing intent and battle spirit emanating from them was a testament to why they were called a warrior race.

Yan and his companions tensed as the encirclement tightened, readying their mana for the confrontation.

That’s when it happened.

Roarrrrrrr!

A thunderous roar echoed in the distance, and something like a cannonball flew towards them.

It landed precisely in front of Yan and his group.

Boom!

A crater formed upon impact, and from within, something that resembled a cannonball rose.

This orc’s face was larger than the others, and its muscles were as solid as rocks.

However, its skin was not green like the others but a yellowish hue.

“The Second Legion Commander and… the Vice Commander… this will be interesting…”

Despite the awkward speech, an orc using the Continental language was unheard of.

Moreover, the violent aura emanating from him was incomparable to any ordinary superhuman.

Vulkan grinned, revealing his sharp fangs.

“Here… lies the Supreme Commander… You’ve come… to find him… right?”

At Vulkan’s words, Owen and Damian’s faces hardened.

If their purpose was already known, a clash was inevitable.

Theo snorted and pushed past them, moving forward.

“Weren’t we planning to kill them all anyway? Why such faces?”

He looked up at Vulkan with a deep smile.

A tense current began to flow between the two.

Revolutionary Army’s 5th Legion Commander, Vulkan.

He was the monster who would be known as the Orc Lord in the future, having slain countless knights.