Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 184

Crack.

The sky, more turbulent than before, ripped apart in long, jagged tears.

The sight of the dark abyss beyond constricted the heart, and cold sweat drenched the clothes.

Clouds that once floated idly were now pressed down to the ground as if crushed by an unseen force.

The entrance they had used was long since flattened, indistinguishable from the rest of the land.

The chain reaction of anomalies soon affected the very ground they stood upon.

The earth heaved once.

Crash!

A violent tremor shook the ground as if heralding an earthquake.

Owen’s face twisted in frustration.

“Damn it! What in the world is happening?”

Damian and Theo rushed past Owen, shouting as they went.

“Head for the black tower, now!”

Owen turned his head towards the black tower.

For reasons unknown, the area around the black tower remained uncollapsed.

Biting his lip, Owen followed in the wake of Damian and Theo.

* * *

Upon reaching the Black Tower, they sensed a colossal wave of mana emanating from within.

Damian gazed upward with a somber look, his eyes drawn to the floors above.

A profound darkness lay over the distant stairs, obscuring what lay beyond.

Even Damian, who prided himself on his night vision, found it challenging to pierce through the gloom.

Yet…

“…This mana doesn’t feel like Yan’s.”

He was certain; this mana wave was not Yan’s.

Theo spoke with a stern face, “We must ascend. What choice do we have? The fact that this area alone is intact suggests this is our only path.”

Owen and Damian nodded gravely.

Thus, the trio began their ascent up the dauntingly high staircase.

After a considerable climb, their eyes sparkled upon discovering a passage in place of the stairs.

As the mana’s pulsation grew stronger, Theo drew his sword.

Behind him, Damian and Owen armed themselves with a throwing knife and a dagger, respectively, and loaded their hand cannons.

Fully prepared, they advanced slowly.

The magnitude of the mana wave they felt as they emerged from the darkness was bone-chilling.

At that moment, the darkness receded, revealing the interior.

Yan lay before Argon, collapsed as if unconscious, and behind him stood a platinum-haired man with curly locks, his hand raised aloft.

His concentration was so intense that veins bulged beside his eyes.

The electrifying wave of mana emanating from him made the trio gulp.

“Remarkable, isn’t it?”

“…Considering the sheer amount of mana, even our father would struggle, wouldn’t he?”

“He doesn’t seem to be from the revolutionary army or the empire. Who is he?”

Though they had encountered many formidable foes from the revolutionary army and the special task force, none had ever exuded such an overwhelming presence.

The mana’s torrent surged skyward, and they could only sense a fraction of its true force.

Yet, even that was enough to roughly gauge the curly-haired man’s strength.

At least a second-class superhuman.

Without looking at the trio, the curly-haired man spoke.

“I understand you find me suspicious, but if you wish to live, refrain from any foolish actions and stay put.”

Owen’s face contorted at the man’s commanding tone.

“Who are you to order us around…”

He was about to retort harshly when his mouth snapped shut.

The man, who had been gazing skyward, shifted one eye to look at them.

Their bodies stiffened under his gaze, as prey does when facing a predator.

They were astounded.

He hadn’t even exuded a killing intent or aura.

Merely his gaze.

That alone was enough to suppress three superhumans to such an extent!

Moreover.

Owen glanced up, catching sight of the space tearing apart, held together only by the man’s unleashed torrent.

The thought of the sheer power required to perform such a feat was unimaginable.

Despite the need to save Yan and Argon, their bodies refused to obey their will.

“It’s fortunate you know your place.”

The curly-haired man, seeing them immobilized, twisted his lips slightly and refocused his gaze skyward.

Time passed.

Damian, Owen, and Theo remained frozen, statuesque.

The curly-haired man continued to unleash a tremendous mana torrent into the sky.

Then, the moment came.

“Ugh.”

After nearly thirty minutes, Yan groaned, having been unconscious.

Simultaneously, the ominous sounds from outside ceased.

Struggling to regain consciousness, Yan stumbled repeatedly, trying to stand.

The curly-haired man also sighed in relief, lowering his hand that had been held high.

“I’m exhausted.”

The formidable aura that had radiated from the curly-haired man dissipated.

“Haah!”

“Phew.”

Finally, the trio could breathe freely.

Damian looked at the curly-haired man with subdued eyes.

‘Could he have been forcibly supporting a collapsing space?’

Then, Owen rushed to Yan and Argon.

“Hey, Yan! Are you alright…?”

Owen abruptly stopped speaking.

Ascalon had somehow appeared at his throat.

Yan, now alert, asked Owen with a chilling gaze.

“Who… are you?”

* * *

Damian and Theo, who had been watching the scene unfold, rushed over, shouting.

“Yan! What are you doing right now!”

“Hey, put that away immediately, will you?!”

Both were baffled as to why Yan suddenly had a knife to Owen’s throat.

It was, perhaps, understandable.

They hadn’t been where Yan had just been.

Owen had tried to kill him when he was a child, by any means necessary.

If what he had seen was a figment of his father’s imagination, it would be strange to act this way.

‘But that was definitely the real past.’

How his father made it possible, he couldn’t say.

But now, with long-hidden memories surfacing, he could state with certainty.

He had time-slipped across the timeline, saving his younger self and placing him in the Dragon Soldier Project training camp to seek safety from the revolutionaries.

“Maybe… there’s a reason for this. Let’s talk it out, shall we?”

Yan watched Owen, who wore a look of dumbfounded concern.

The very man who had desperately tried to kill him was now worryingly out of character.

‘Wait, something’s off.’

Yan felt a sense of dissonance.

Still holding Ascalon to Owen’s throat, he spoke.

“Hold on.”

Yan scrutinized Owen’s face.

It was subtle but…

‘Something’s definitely not right.’

The Owen he had seen in the past had more wrinkles than this one.

Which meant…

‘Has the Owen of the future crossed the timeline to the past?’

Yan asked, half in disbelief.

“When father was attacked by the leader, where were you?”

Owen scowled, puzzled by the sudden question.

It was Theo who responded, not Owen.

“I don’t know what you want to hear, but at that time, Owen was on a mission with me. The leader had us sent out to keep us separated.”

Yan looked at Damian, who nodded in confirmation.

“Right. I was tied to the training camp due to my position as the head instructor, but I kept in touch with Theo.”

If the other two said as much…

‘My hunch was right.’

The Owen here and now was indeed different from the one who had tried to kill him or the young Yan in the past.

No, the same Owen, but now ignorant of those events, that much was certain.

Yan bit his lip.

Should he kill Owen here and now, or bury this incident and use him to his full potential? It wasn’t an easy decision.

Opportunities to utilize a third-class superhuman weren’t plentiful.

‘I’ll have to look into this slowly.’

First, he’d save his father, then consult with him about this matter to find an answer.

After all, the time slip wouldn’t have happened without his father.

With his thoughts settled, Yan sighed deeply and withdrew Ascalon.

Then, he bowed slightly in apology.

“I’m sorry. There was something I needed to confirm.”

“Something to confirm? What could it be that you’d go this far!”

Owen exploded in annoyance, having had a knife to his throat.

“Ugh.”

A voice came from behind.

Yan quickly turned to look at Argon.

His father, unlike himself, seemed to have a hard time regaining consciousness.

It was, perhaps, to be expected.

After being imprisoned in such a barren place for over a decade, his mind was being eroded.

Yan looked at the curly-haired man, Momon, standing afar with his arms crossed.

“Is it alright now?”

[The collapse of the psyche has stopped, and the celestial patterns on the chains have disappeared, so he should regain consciousness soon.]

Relieved by the response, Yan reached out to his father.

At that very moment.

The chains clinked unpleasantly against each other.

“…!”

A warning bell rang in Yan’s mind.

For some reason.

Yan instinctively leaped backward.

And at the same time.

A tearing sound!

“Argh!”

Blood spurted from Yan’s chest as flesh tore.

Had he not retreated so quickly, his body would have been cleaved in two.

The sudden turn of events had the onlookers shouting.

“Yan!”

“What on earth!”

“Commander, that’s your son!”

Owen yelled in horror, while the other two had already lunged towards the commander.

Yan, with no time to tend to his wound, hastily turned to inspect his father.

His own blood and flesh were stuck under his father’s fingernails.

Growling.

His father growled like a beast, glaring at Damian and Theo, who stood in his way.

The blood vessels in his eyes had all burst, turning them red, and the veins throughout his body seemed ready to burst through his skin.

It was clear he wasn’t normal.

He had thought that saving his father from the psyche would be the end, but what else was left unsaid!

Another tear!

Amidst it all, his father tore at his own clothes.

Though nothing but bones remained of his emaciated body, Theo and Damian were extremely wary of him.

Yan saw something and ground his teeth.

“That bastard leader…”

It was because of what he saw between the torn sleeves.

There, the celestial patterns that had been on the chains were engraved.

Only.

They were more densely packed than on the chains.