Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 183

Yan and young Yan arrived in the neighboring city, evading the watchful eyes of the revolutionaries. They had hoped to buy some time, but the revolutionaries’ response was unexpectedly swift. Communication had been cut off, and a new encirclement began to form, eventually reaching the city where Yan and young Yan had sought refuge.

Hiding in a back alley, Yan wiped his forehead, pondering deeply.

‘Why did Owen try to kill me when I was young? Was he loyal to the leader from the start?’

But that seemed unlikely… Owen’s face, glimpsed briefly, was desperate.

Yan bit his lip.

‘Thinking hard now will only reveal so much, and it might not even be the truth. So…’

He would have to interrogate Owen outside.

But first, he had to put an end to his father’s lingering doubts.

Yan came to this conclusion and peeked around the corner.

Despite the suspicious men who had entered, the local guards and knights seemed to have no intention of stopping them.

The lord of this place must be in cahoots with the revolutionaries.

‘After all, the neighbor of the supreme commander’s residence couldn’t possibly be just an ordinary noble.’

Just then, a commotion erupted not far from them.

“What are you doing!”

“Hey, knights! Can’t you see these fellows?”

“You dare to search our carriage?”

It seemed the revolutionaries had tried to inspect a carriage, but its occupants were from a powerful faction as well.

“Wait here for a moment. If someone tries to take you away, scream.”

“Yes, yes.”

Leaving young Yan behind, Yan stepped out of the alley. He knocked out a passerby and changed into his clothes.

Disguised as an ordinary citizen of the domain, Yan walked towards the source of the disturbance.

“Just a quick look, alright? Have you hidden something suspicious inside?”

“This guy’s for real!”

An officer of the revolutionaries and a man in a black uniform were at a standoff over the carriage.

Seeing the man in uniform, Yan’s eyes sparkled, and the corners of his mouth lifted.

‘Such a perfect opportunity has come.’

A chance to overcome this crisis had sprung to mind.

* * *

The man facing off against the revolutionary officer was none other than an agent of the Special Task Force and an instructor of the Dragon Cavalry Project. The Special Task Force, a high-flying agency of the empire, could easily dismiss the revolutionary’s search demands.

And not just that.

“Show me your identification badge. You don’t seem like a noble or a knight, which is quite suspicious, isn’t it?”

Instead, it was the revolutionary officer who found himself under pressure.

The Task Force agent had the right to demand identification if the person’s identity was uncertain or suspicious.

The revolutionary officer’s eyes narrowed at the instructor’s demand.

“And who are you?”

“An agent of the Special Task Force. Show your badge now, or I’ll take you in.”

The instructor pulled out a badge proving his affiliation with the Task Force.

The revolutionary officer’s face contorted.

Getting entangled with the Special Task Force during a coup was more than just a headache.

But that was only for a moment.

With a sly smile, the revolutionary officer rummaged through his clothes.

“Just a moment, please.”

The instructor stared piercingly at the officer.

That’s when it happened.

As the revolutionary officer drew not an identification badge but a dagger from his clothes, the instructor’s eyes widened.

He tried to draw his sword quickly, but the revolutionary officer was faster.

Thump!

In an instant, the dagger pierced the agent’s heart.

He looked at the revolutionary officer with disbelief in his eyes.

But his breath quickened, and soon he collapsed to the ground.

The revolutionary officer immediately called his subordinates.

“Dispose of this.”

At his command, the subordinates began to move the body of the Special Task Force agent somewhere.

* * *

“Damn it, of all places, a Special Task Force agent had to be here.”

The revolutionary officer clicked his tongue in displeasure.

The death of a Task Force agent would surely stir up quite a commotion in the city.

“We need to search quickly and leave.”

He peered into the carriage that the instructor had been pulling.

At that moment, an alarm rang through his senses.

“What’s going on…?”

Thwack.

As the revolutionary officer turned his head, a dagger buried itself into the nape of his neck.

His eyes slowly lost focus.

Yan caught his body and shoved it into the carriage, scanning the interior.

About five children were shackled by the ankles and blindfolded.

They were shivering, huddled together—perhaps roughed up by the instructor.

‘They must be the ones being taken for the Dragon Cavalry Project.’

Nothing would change the predetermined fate.

Yan quickly freed them from their blindfolds and shackles.

“Those who can run, run.”

The children’s eyes widened in shock, but Yan didn’t wait to hear their words and turned away coldly.

There was no time to care for them now.

He emerged from the carriage and immediately began to chase after the revolutionaries who had taken the agent’s body.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to spot them.

They were digging fervently in a nearby clearing, perhaps intending to bury the body.

‘Two of them.’

Yan’s eyes flashed as he assessed the number of his foes.

Thud!

In an instant, Yan reached the digging revolutionaries and swung his sword, Ascalon.

“Gah, ack!”

“Ugh!”

The revolutionaries’ heads flew off, and they collapsed lifelessly.

Yan rolled their bodies into the hole they had dug and then glanced aside.

It was the body of the Special Task Force agent and the instructor of the Dragon Cavalry Project.

Yan quickly stripped the uniform from the corpse and donned it himself.

Then he rummaged through the uniform’s pockets.

A few sheets of paper emerged.

Coordinates for a rendezvous with the successor to take over the carriage and several personal dossiers.

The dossiers contained information about the children trapped inside the carriage.

Yan tore them to shreds and buried them along with the bodies of the revolutionary officer and the agent.

* * *

Before reaching the meeting point, Yan drew a dagger from his cloak and slashed it down his shoulder and arm. His uniform was quickly stained with vivid red blood.

The sudden act of self-harm startled young Yan, who fumbled to grasp his hand.

“It’s okay,” Yan assured, his voice heavy with resolve.

“We’ll be apart for a bit, but I’ll come back for you soon. Stay put.”

“Yes…” Young Yan nodded, sensing the gravity of the situation.

Marked with evidence on his body, Yan led his younger self to the rendezvous.

There, a man clad in the Special Task Force uniform awaited them.

“Are you in charge of the trainee supply?” he asked Yan.

“Yes. You’re later than I expected,” Yan jested, but the uniformed man showed no reaction.

Instead, he stared sternly at young Yan, then back at Yan with suspicion.

“What happened?”

Yan immediately understood the implication—there were fewer trainees than promised.

“We were ambushed.”

The uniformed man’s eyes narrowed, scanning Yan’s body.

The shoulder and arm were torn, the surrounding area soaked with blood.

A hint of doubt faded from the man’s eyes.

“What occurred?”

“We were attacked by unidentified assailants.”

“How strong were the enemies to abandon all the trainees?”

The uniformed man’s voice carried a note of reprimand.

But Yan was prepared for this.

“They were stronger than me, one by one. And I stayed to report their identity after the attack.”

“Their identity?”

“I feigned escape and hid nearby to overhear their conversation. They seemed to be part of a group called the revolutionaries. I had to abandon the trainees to bring this information.”

The uniformed man’s expression hardened at the mention of the revolutionaries—a secret organization exposed years ago by a Special Task Force agent meddling with the Beowulf ducal family.

They had attempted to use the Beowulf bloodline for slaughter.

It wasn’t surprising that such audacious foes would disrupt the Task Force’s operations.

The man sighed heavily.

“This is a serious turn of events. Have you reported this to the higher-ups?”

“No, I lost the communicator and personal dossiers during the attack.”

“Hmm, understood. I’ll take over the trainee and report this. So, the dossier for this trainee is also missing?”

Yan nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then, regrettably, we must list the origin as ‘unknown.’”

The man muttered, looking at young Yan.

“We might need to erase memories, just to be safe.”

Yan’s gaze flickered.

‘Memory erasure?’

As Yan mulled over those words, the man gave a slight nod.

“From now on, I’ll take charge of this trainee. Please proceed to the next area for trainee recruitment.”

“Yes, take care.”

Yan bowed to the uniformed man and sent a telepathic message to the restless young Yan.

-Don’t worry too much. I’m going to save father now.

He knew it wasn’t the father from his visions but his real father.

Having dealt with the masked man, his father would have held on until now.

‘So, I will save father!’

At that moment of determination.

Tick.

A sound he had heard over a hundred times echoed in his ears again.

Yan’s face set hard.

Not because he thought he would regress again, but because memories flooded in like a deluge.

Scenes connected like photographs unfolded in his mind, dozens, hundreds of them.

Dizziness overwhelmed him, making it hard to stand.

Yet, Yan watched each scene unfold amidst the chaos.

Memories of having his memories erased before entering the training camp.

Watching the man who handed him over to the training camp instructor.

Watching the man break through numerous enemies alone.

Promising to return as he laid his mother’s favorite flowers on her grave, thinking he would never come back.

Leaving his father and departing from the home they once shared.

And then.

Yan swam through a waterfall of countless memories.

And he reached a bewildering conclusion.

‘…Was it me who placed myself among the revolutionaries?’

His past self was saved by his present self.

Was this place not his father’s vision but the actual past?

Could his past and future selves coexist in the same place, at the same time?

It was beyond comprehension.

‘No… Father must have known something. Could it be!’

Yan feverishly untangled the knotted threads in his mind.

Just then.

The next scene that emerged froze Yan’s body and mind.

A couple was soothing a whining child in front of a small cabin.

“Look here, Yan… One, two!”

Click!

Yan instinctively knew the whining child was himself.

His father had always been Argon, and the woman covering her mouth with laughter was…

‘The mother I saw in the pendant.’

Yan stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him.

It was before his mother passed away.

The scene where they took a family photo at her urging, the process of creating the family photo in the pendant.

‘…Finally.’

He could face his mother’s visage.

She was beautiful, her eyes brimming with vitality.

Despite her youth, she was a mother willing to do anything for her son.

Drip.

A single tear traced down his cheek.

“Ah… Ahhh.”

A mournful cry escaped his lips.

It felt like the last missing puzzle piece in his heart had clicked into place.

And with that final scene.

Crack.

Crumble.

The vision shattered once more.

And his sight flickered out.