Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 176

The sight of my father, sealed within all manner of restraints, was harrowing. His skin clung to his bones, so emaciated that at a glance, one might mistake him for a mummy.

As Yan gazed blankly at his father’s form, Momon stealthily poked his head out and let out a sigh.

“Heavens… To think such a manifestation could be forcibly realized.”

Yan frowned and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Do you see the countless chains and shackles embedded in that man’s body?”

Yan turned his gaze towards his father. The restraints were not meant for a man but rather a great beast.

“Those are no ordinary bindings. I don’t know the principle behind it, but… they’re forcibly stealing his power. And with that as the foundation, they’ve created the environment outside.”

At Momon’s explanation, Yan clenched his fists tight.

“So, father is trapped in this wretched place, imprisoned by his own self?”

“That’s one way to see it. Shall we move forward?”

At Momon’s words, Yan strode ahead. Fortunately, no magical guards or obstacles arose to cause mishap.

But the closer he got, the more rigid Yan’s expression became. His father’s pitiful state became ever clearer.

Approaching right up to the front, Yan bit his lip hard and reached out towards the chains.

“Stop!”

Momon halted him.

Yan, with eyes ablaze, looked at Momon, who barked fiercely.

“You, who usually have such a sharp mind, why have you become a fool? Do you think nothing will happen if you free your father just like this?”

Yan snapped back to his senses. His mind had heated up without him realizing, at the sight of his father’s misery.

“Thank you.”

“Save your needless thanks, and cool your head first.”

Taking Momon’s advice, Yan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and composed himself.

Then he glared at the chains binding his father.

Yan’s eyes sparkled as he discovered something. The chains were engraved with indecipherable characters.

Though versed in many languages, he had never seen such a script before.

But Momon seemed to recognize it.

“How can this be… Surely, these are characters forgotten a thousand years ago!”

Momon, usually unflappable, was visibly shocked.

Yan, seeking an explanation, looked at Momon, who swallowed hard before speaking.

“They’re called Celestial Script.”

“Celestial Script?”

“In ancient times, there was a floating island of advanced civilization called Skyhold, inhabited by a race known as the Celestials. This was their script. Of course, they perished long ago in an unknown catastrophe, and the last surviving Celestial died a thousand years ago.”

Celestials?

A familiar race name.

Yan, whose face hinted at recognition, exclaimed, “The Founding Emperor!”

“Ah, you know of it? Correct. The Founding Emperor slew the last Celestial.”

Yan suppressed his curiosity. Now was not the time for leisurely inquiries. That could wait until after everything was resolved.

So, he asked, “Then how do we break these chains? Is there a condition or something?”

Momon shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“Records of the Celestial Script are exceedingly rare, so research has been impossible. We’re not in a position to decipher it here and now.”

A valid point.

Yet, for Momon, who seemed to know everything, to be so passive…

Yan bit his lip hard.

Then Momon snorted.

“Why such a downcast face? There is a way to save your father.”

Yan’s head shot up.

“What is it!”

“You must enter your father’s mind.”

Yan wore a rare look of bewilderment.

“…What?”

“You must enter your father’s mind”

* * *

In the shadow of the Black Tower, Yan grappled with finding a way to save his father.

Boom! Crash!

Outside, Damian and Owen were locked in a fierce battle against Vulcan. Both were of legionnaire caliber, and though the task was daunting, they believed they could defeat Vulcan. Yet, when they clashed, Vulcan’s resistance was unexpectedly formidable. It wasn’t just resistance; it was an overwhelming force that pushed them to the brink.

Damian, who had been parrying Vulcan’s storm-like barrage, quickly retreated and shouted, “Old man! Can’t you fire off another one of those shots?”

“Mana’s running dangerously low!”

“What about the synthetic elixir you took from him?”

“You know how much mana my weapons consume! I’ve already scraped the bottom of the barrel!”

“Damn it! You’re no help, old man.”

Even Damian, who always maintained a calm demeanor, couldn’t afford such luxury in this dire situation. The crazed orc seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment. Now, even blocking that massive axe was becoming a struggle, and evasion was all Damian could manage.

Gritting his teeth, Damian pulled out a synthetic elixir from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth.

Crunch!

Though it was a small amount, his depleted mana saw some recovery. He could have restored more if he focused on absorption, but Vulcan, who closed the distance in an instant and swung his axe, was the problem. The truth that larger size meant slower speed didn’t seem to apply to this orc.

Swoosh! Whoosh!

Damian narrowly dodged the axe, but such was the force that even without a direct hit, his cheek was sliced open, and blood flowed. His face hardened rapidly, not from the pain, but because he couldn’t move his feet. Looking down, he saw a large green foot pinning his own. Vulcan’s goal wasn’t to kill him with the axe but to immobilize him.

“Damn it!”

It was a blunder. He had been so focused on the axe that he failed to notice such a simple trick.

“Kuhuhu.”

Vulcan let out a sinister laugh as he raised his axe high. Its large shadow loomed over Damian’s face.

Boom!

Owen, who had been covering Vulcan’s rear, hastily fired his hand cannon, but to no avail.

“This, this madness…!”

Vulcan’s back, unlike before, remained unscathed. Owen rushed in with his greatsword, but Vulcan’s axe, already charged with power, was descending upon Damian.

Quickly, Damian drew another shadow sword from the darkness and lifted it above his head.

Boom!

The wasteland echoed with the explosion. The impact of the axe colliding with the shadow sword created a fierce wind that swept the surroundings.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Damian’s face turned pale. The situation was the same as before, but Vulcan’s strength was now on a different level. The shadow sword slowly began to press down towards Damian’s nose.

Tremble. Tremble.

Despite mustering all his strength, Damian was running out of energy to block Vulcan’s strike. Owen, closing the distance quickly, swung his greatsword at Vulcan, but the orc didn’t even bother to look back. It seemed he was determined to deal with Damian first, regardless of any damage he might receive.

Just as Damian’s face turned ashen, the temperature around them plummeted. The ground beneath Damian, Owen, and Vulcan whitened.

A single white flake fell upon Damian’s brow.

A cold sensation spread.

‘Snow?’

A flush of color returned to Damian’s face, and at that moment, a familiar voice was heard.

“I really didn’t want to use this, but you’ve forced me to reveal my trump card, you monster.”

It was Theo’s voice.

Damian shouted with all his might, “Hurry up and do something! We’re about to die while you’re lying there!”

Theo chuckled and muttered, “Then stay put. Who asked you to step in?”

Veins bulged on Damian’s temple. They had known each other for a very long time, but…

‘He’s still as irritable as ever.’

Yet, despite his temper, his skills were as reliable as anyone’s.

And at that moment…

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

From afar, ice surged from the ground at a terrifying speed. The ice didn’t just rise; it transformed into a tidal wave-like form, advancing towards Damian and Vulcan.

Beowulf’s secret technique.

Frost Soul Second Form – Ice Seal.

It was a technique that Lorena of the Beowulf family had not mastered for years. It was, perhaps, to be expected.

‘Ice Seal’ was a technique of such difficulty that even the most extraordinary beings dared not attempt it. Only those with supreme control over mana, able to fully command it even to their target, could learn this secret technique. It was a feat possible only for someone with Theo’s talent or a superhuman like the Duke of Beowulf.

And the power of the technique was as immense as its difficulty.

As the ice tsunami surged near, Vulcan’s face twisted in fury as he lifted his axe from its descent upon Damian and stomped the ground, retreating with a speed that belied his massive frame. This was a stark contrast to his earlier tactic of absorbing Owen’s attacks with his body, indicating the sheer force contained within the ice wave.

Suddenly, Vulcan’s eyes widened in alarm.

Crack!

Something had seized his ankle. Looking down, he saw a long shadow wrapped around it, connected to the black shadow sword Damian had thrust into the ground. Damian’s lips twisted into a smirk.

“How does it feel to be caught by the same trick?”

Just as Vulcan had pinned Damian’s movement by crushing his foot, now Damian had ensnared Vulcan’s ankle with a ‘shadow trap.’ The result was the ice tsunami crashing into Vulcan’s body.

Roar!

In an instant, Vulcan’s arms and legs were encased in ice. He exerted his strength to shatter the ice, possessing the brute force to break it with his fingers, but for some reason, not even a small crack appeared. Frustrated that the ice wouldn’t break, Vulcan began to thrash wildly, screaming in rage.

Damian pulled a pouch from his pocket and hurled it towards Owen.

“Elder! Eat up!”

“Chuckle!”

Owen snatched the pouch in mid-air and poured its contents into his mouth.

Gulp!

The synthetic elixir turned into liquid and spread throughout his body. Half of the mana that had been depleted in his core was replenished. Owen raised his hand cannon.

“Vulcanus!”

As he shouted, blue sparks began to fly from his shoulder again.

Zzzt. Zzzt.

The sparks traced a pattern from his shoulder, down his forearm, to his wrist, and finally to the hand cannon. A round, fiery red orb emerged from the muzzle, unlike the spear of lightning, a blazing sphere.

Owen grinned.

Racial Secret Technique, Vulcanus

Second Form

The Chariot Pulling the Sun.

The advancing fiery red orb stretched and transformed into the shape of a chariot. A large sphere was attached to the back of the chariot.

Neigh!

The horses neighed and charged towards Vulcan, scorching the earth black as they passed, leaving embers in their wake. The horses, with Vulcan’s arms and legs bound, leaped at him, and the sphere at the end of the chariot exploded.

Whooosh!

A tremendous pillar of fire erupted around Vulcan.

Scream!

Inside, Vulcan screamed in unbearable pain.

But the three did not just stand by and watch. Far away, Theo, who had used the Frost Soul, placed his hand on his sheath.

Frost Soul First Form – Winter Solstice.

Slash!

Then, he moved towards the pillar of fire at a speed close to that of light. When he reached the front of the fire pillar, a sword was drawn from Theo’s sheath, emitting a brilliant white light. Simultaneously, white lines were drawn across Vulcan’s charred body.

Crackle!

Fizzle.

Vulcan’s body crumbled into dust.

Without leaving a single piece of flesh, Vulcan died. Theo, who had annihilated a legion commander in an instant, slumped to the ground.

“Ah, that was tough.”

He sheathed his sword and massaged his sore arm.

“By the way, that orc. Why did he smile before dying?”

It was only for a moment, but Theo saw it clearly. Just before Vulcan turned to ash, a smirk had curled at the corner of his mouth.

Owen, who was supporting Damian, clicked his tongue at Theo.

“As expected, your swordsmanship is insane.”

To carve up a body that had withstood a hand cannon with a sword…

At that moment, Damian made a comment that irked Owen.

“I thought he would be at the elder’s level since they’re both legion commanders… but to be such a monster.”

Owen’s expression twisted in anger.

“What are you talking about! If I were just a bit younger, that guy would have been…”

“Stop the chatter and let’s move to where Yan went.”

While the two were engaged in their noisy conversation.

Theo was quietly looking up at the sky.

Owen, finding his behavior strange, asked.

“Hey, Theo! What are you staring at?”

Theo pointed his finger towards the sky.

“That.”

“…?”

Owen looked up in the direction Theo was pointing, and his face began to harden.

With a trembling voice, he asked.

“What… what is that?”

The sky, which had been normal until they entered.

Was shattering like glass.

Beyond it, the vast darkness made Owen unknowingly kneel.