Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 180

Yan turned his head, following the aura of his father, back to the vicinity of the village he first discovered. As he sharpened his vision to survey the village, Yan’s face hardened. Dark smoke was billowing from the village. It was clear, even if unspoken, that an urgent crisis had unfolded.

“Wait here for a moment!”

The command was cut short as young Yan, who had been seated on a wooden chair, seized the moment.

Crack!

With all his might, the young Yan clutched at the hem of his garment.

“I want to go with you too.”

“What?”

As Yan turned, the young one spoke with a quivering voice.

“Ah… Whenever father says such things, he always comes back hurt!”

Moved by the young Yan’s sobbing, Yan shook his head and embraced him, a silent promise that no matter the gravity of the situation, they would face it together.

* * *

Yan’s Arrival in the Village

Upon arriving at the village, Yan immediately headed towards the place where the most potent energy was felt. As expected, there stood Argon, his face set hard as stone, vigilantly watching ahead. When Yan approached, Argon turned his head, his eyes widening at the sight of young Yan in his arms.

“Good heavens!”

“He wouldn’t let go of me. But what seems to be the trouble…?”

Yan glanced around, his gaze falling upon the charred remains of the dead near the village houses.

Then something caught his eye.

The form of the clothes they wore.

‘Rebels?’

They were identical to the uniforms he had seen several times at the rebel headquarters.

‘Wait a minute… Could it be?’

Yan’s thoughts were interrupted by the intense killing intent and formidable energy that began to ensnare his senses from behind.

An intrusion.

Judging by the energy felt, there were at least four superhumans.

Yan cried out urgently.

“We must leave this place at once…!”

“No.”

A tremendous force erupted from Argon, like a volcano coming to life.

He swung a sword, whose origin was unknown, towards the front.

Swoosh!

A crescent-shaped flame surged forward.

“Screams of agony!”

“Fire, fire! Save… save us.”

The hidden enemies screamed in pain as they were engulfed in flames.

After the attack, Argon shouted to Yan.

“It’s fortunate you’re here! There’s a secret passage in the fireplace of the living room with the blue roof behind us. Take Yan and hurry out of here!”

The secret passage seemed to be quite long.

But it was young Yan who responded to Argon’s request.

“No!”

With tearful eyes, the young one shouted, filled with the resolve never to leave his father behind.

Yan chuckled at the sight of young Yan.

Then he said to Argon.

“The boy refuses to go. I will help. Surely we can overcome this obstacle, can’t we?”

Even if there were five superhumans, here were two as well.

Besides, with the experience from his past life, he knew the abilities of the rebel legion commanders, and with his father’s hidden power, they had a good chance of winning.

That was the moment.

Thud!

Five masked men appeared before them.

Yan’s face tensed up as well.

The aura emanating from these five masked men was unmistakably that of superhumans.

Who would have thought he’d be facing five superhumans all at once?

‘Huh?’

Yan’s eyes gleamed as he scrutinized the masked men.

It was the large one.

The green skin and physical features visible through the clothes.

It was familiar.

‘That’s Vulcan.’

Having seen the legion commander before entering the deep world, it was impossible not to recognize him.

Then identifying the rest of the masked men was not a difficult task.

The leader, followed by Craig and Gilliam, Vulcan, and the last one…

‘A legion commander pretending to revolt against the leader but actually siding with him.’

The candidates were Aisha, Electus, and Castro Chang.

Or it could be a completely different third party, but that was unlikely.

Then the masked man at the forefront stepped forward.

“Have you been well?”

Yan recognized the voice and could guess who it was.

‘The leader.’

And it seemed his father had realized the same.

Argon smirked.

“Look here, Aquinas. If you’re not going to change your voice, why bother wearing a mask? And bringing along these strangers to boot.”

Yan’s eyes shone.

It was just as he had initially thought.

This moment was a reenactment of the past he had heard from Damian.

“The leader attacked the commander-in-chief with outsiders he had recruited.”

Yan could tell that this moment was the time Damian had spoken of in the past.

The leader shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s a friend who wants to hide his face.”

At his words, Yan’s eyes darkened.

It seemed there was a traitor among them, just as he had thought.

“Is that so?”

Argon sneered, but then glared at the masked leader with blazing eyes.

“Did it really have to come to this?”

“If you had just given it when I asked nicely, none of this would have happened.”

“Given what? What are you…”

Argon frowned, then suddenly his eyes widened as if he had remembered something.

“Surely not that item?!”

He then shouted in anger.

“I’ve told you time and again, that’s not a divine relic but a cursed object! A perilous item…!”

“That’s for me to decide.”

“…You madman.”

Yan listened to their conversation, his eyes sparkling.

‘That item?’

He wasn’t sure what they were talking about.

But from their conversation, it seemed to be something more significant than he had imagined.

Greed began to stir within him.

Yan’s gaze became steely.

“Just hand it over quietly, and I’ll ensure your and your son’s lives are spared.”

At that moment, Argon’s telepathic message flowed into Yan’s ear.

-I’ll buy us some time. Take Yan and run from here. Anywhere is fine, just hurry!

But Yan shook his head at his words.

He didn’t know what his father’s attachment was, but it was undoubtedly deeply connected to this place.

So.

‘Help father.’

Yan drew Ascalon and said.

“That will be difficult. If I run away from someone who has shown me kindness, I won’t be able to sleep peacefully.”

With those words, Yan set down his younger self he had been holding.

Then he kicked off the ground and lunged at the weakest-looking masked man.

“Good sir!”

At that sight, Argon’s face turned pale as he shouted.

Judging by the aura, all the opponents were superhumans who had stepped into the realm of the extraordinary, and it was a recklessly bold charge.

In the end, Argon bit his lip and charged with Yan towards the masked men.

* * *

Yan’s Confrontation with Vulcan

Yan faced Vulcan, a foe he had glimpsed from afar, familiar with his techniques and habits.

And yet.

‘Using Berserk here would sweep allies along in its fury, so it’s not an option.’

Without Berserk, Vulcan was as good as the weakest link.

Thus, the priority was to swiftly eliminate Vulcan.

Unlike before, where Yan had concealed his true abilities, this time he unleashed his full power from the start.

He dove towards Vulcan, brandishing his sword, Ascalon, with swift precision.

In that fleeting moment, a surge of sword energy blossomed on Ascalon.

Swoosh!

The sword energy slashed across Vulcan’s chest.

Caught off guard, Vulcan had no time to react.

Green blood spurted as Vulcan let out a pained roar, flailing his massive arms wildly.

It was a desperate struggle, but the strength behind it meant serious injury if even grazed.

Yet, Yan did not cease his assault, continuing to swing Ascalon relentlessly.

In less than a second, ten swift strikes exploded upon Vulcan’s body.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Had Vulcan used Berserk, he might have dodged or withstood Yan’s strikes.

Whether it was an order from the leader not to use it, or an inability to do so,

Vulcan could only scream as he was being sliced, showing no signs of the red flush that should accompany Berserk.

Yan’s eyes gleamed.

‘Is he weaker because this is the past, not as strong as in my era?’

If this reality was fifteen years prior to Yan’s time,

then even a future third-tier might now be a fourth-tier.

It meant Vulcan likely couldn’t freely control Berserk at this moment.

That’s when it happened.

Boom! Whoosh!

A wave of intense heat blew in from afar.

So scorching that unprotected skin would have surely burned.

Yan turned his head.

And involuntarily gasped at the sight.

“Wow.”

His father, engulfed in azure flames, was single-handedly pushing back the leader and three legion commanders.

Not just holding them off, but slowly gaining ground.

Dozens of sword energies and spells, along with black thorns, were launched at his father but turned to ash before even reaching him, thanks to the blue flames.

‘Thorns?’

Yan’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the thorns.

No one within the rebel ranks had such a skill, not according to Owen and Damian.

Then it must be a hidden power of one of the traitors he suspected.

Yan plunged Ascalon into Vulcan’s heart and leaped towards the masked man unleashing dozens of sword energies.

It was Gilliam Waterford.

A man who became a vengeful ghost after losing his lord to the empire.

Gilliam clicked his tongue at Yan’s charge, halting his assault on Argon.

“Such a rat.”

Yan grinned at Gilliam’s chilling gaze.

Then he spun Ascalon, gripping it in reverse.

As Gilliam swung his slender sword to strike Yan down.

Whoosh! Boom!

A fireball from nowhere scorched Gilliam’s side. The sudden attack disrupted his focus.

And in that moment.

Thrust!

Yan’s Ascalon pierced through Gilliam’s crown.

Yan turned with a bright smile. There was Argon, looking at him with a troubled expression.

-You should have run away!

Telepathy from Argon rushed in, so urgent that he slipped into informal speech.

But Yan ignored Argon’s plea.

The tide of battle was overwhelmingly in their favor.

The leader’s limbs were being severed one by one, and his father seemed to have plenty of fight left.

With this momentum, they could surely push back the legion commanders and awaken his father!

As Yan moved again, Argon bit his lip.

“Was I wrong this time?”

Muttering words of uncertainty, Argon rejoined the fray.

* * *

Yan had marked his next target, a masked figure he presumed to be Craig.

The aura emanating from the figure was formidable, stronger than Yan’s own, yet it seemed to pale in comparison to the future.

It was a moment of clarity for Yan’s hypothesis.

As Yan charged, Craig waved his hand, and two magic circles unfurled in the air, spinning violently.

Craig, whom Yan had pegged as a swordsman, turned out to be a mage—an unexpected twist.

But it was an advantage for Yan.

‘No one has faced as many archmages as I have.’

He had been bequeathed countless spells by Momon and had learned how to counter mages.

The weakness of a mage is an attack during casting!

Yan drew a dagger from his cloak and hurled it at Craig.

“What the—!”

As Craig uttered his shock, the dagger, charged with ferocious energy, thrust towards his forehead.

Crash!

It seemed Craig had some protective barrier, but it was insufficient against the dagger imbued with Qi.

And then, in an instant.

Thud!

The background froze, and the surrounding noise ceased.

For some reason, Yan couldn’t move, as if he were fixed in place.

‘Wha- What’s happening…!’

Yan tried to turn his head in alarm, but it was impossible. His body had turned to stone.

The magic circles etched in the air stopped spinning, and Craig, too, was frozen with a look of panic.

And then.

Crackling.

Crunch.

The sound of something breaking filled the air.

It was impossible to discern what was happening. No one spoke a word as if someone had intended this silence.

Only the sound of something shattering could be heard.

Then, Yan’s vision began to darken, as if he were falling asleep.

Yan desperately tried to grasp this mysterious situation.

‘No, this can’t be…!’

Regardless of his will, his vision darkened completely.

How much time had passed?

His body, stiff as a statue, relaxed.

Yan opened his eyes hastily.

Flash!

Before him was not the battlefield but a field bathed in purple hues.

Yan looked around with a bewildered expression, and then something caught his eye.

“What is this…”

It was a peaceful village, as if nothing had happened.

Yan, staring blankly at the village, spoke with a trembling voice.

“…A return?”