Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 203

At the village entrance, Damian and Theo eyed the unexpected visitors with a frosty gaze.

“Shouldn’t they be in the south by now?”

“Indeed. To think they could afford to leave their post amidst the raging war.”

As the two growled, the man and woman before them wore contrasting expressions; he scowled, while she remained impassive.

They were none other than the commanders of the Revolutionary Army.

Third Legion Commander, Aisha von Liepenhagen.

Seventh Legion Commander, Electus.

Why these humans, who should be clashing with the south, had come to Armenia was beyond anyone’s guess.

Damian and Theo made it clear with their imposing stance that any foolish move would be met with immediate retaliation.

Aisha von Liepenhagen was the first to break the silence.

“I intend to withdraw from the Revolutionary Army. Or rather, it would be accurate to say I have already left.”

Her gaze briefly shifted towards the group she had led here.

Among them was Karam, who had once competed with Yan in the officer selection trials.

Theo frowned at her declaration.

“Do you expect us to believe that? Weren’t you the one determined to overthrow this empire and restore your fallen nation?”

Silence.

Aisha’s ambition had been to resurrect the dynasty that had crumbled under the might of the Caballan Empire.

Without the ongoing war instigated by the supreme commander, her goal would be unattainable.

Should the Revolutionary Army fall, no force would remain to challenge the empire.

Thus, her only option was to stake everything on this war.

After a moment of silence, Aisha spoke again.

“The war waged by the Revolutionary Army has deviated from my vision.”

Damian scoffed at her words.

“Madness, blood, flesh, death, victory, and defeat. The war has all the necessary elements, yet you say it’s different from what you envisioned? Did you imagine a war from fairy tales?”

Aisha met Damian’s mockery with a steady gaze.

“Do I look like a fool to you, Damian?”

“If I were to judge by your whining here, it would be strange not to think so.”

Damian’s biting criticism made Aisha bite her lip.

“You haven’t seen the grotesque nature of this war, so you can speak so lightly.”

“At least I’ve seen far worse than you could imagine.”

Damian snorted, then turned his attention to Electus, who had been watching with interest.

“And what about you?”

“I’ve come a long way to join your side.”

“Our side?”

Damian let out a derisive laugh.

Electus was the least trustworthy of the Revolutionary Army.

The idea of him joining their ranks was absurd.

Just then, a familiar voice echoed from afar.

“Very well.”

Both commanders and Damian turned towards the voice.

Owen and Yan were approaching.

Damian, with a furrowed brow, asked, “Are you serious?”

Yan stood before Electus, looking him in the eye.

Just a year ago, even his disciple could barely defeat him.

Now, Yan felt he could take on Electus himself.

He had gained much insight and strength over the year.

Electus felt the same, sensing Yan’s growth.

Until the officer selection exam, he had been confident in his victory over Yan.

But now, he wasn’t so sure.

‘Has he surpassed me in just one year?’

A sense of inferiority surged within Electus.

Yan, noticing this, curled his lips into a smile.

“Yes, where else could we find such formidable allies as these two? And the troops they’ve brought can be mobilized immediately.”

Electus twisted his mouth, forcing a response.

“…Your mind is as sharp as ever. The elves I’ve brought are all above level seven.”

Despite Yan’s approval and Electus’s words, Damian and Theo were hesitant to accept them.

Then, Yan’s telepathic message reached their ears.

-Please accept them for now. Aisha may be one thing, but Electus can be discarded when necessary.

Their eyes widened slightly.

Electus sensed the sudden shift in atmosphere but couldn’t pinpoint its cause.

And so, two commanders of the Revolutionary Army and their followers came to stay in Armenia.

* * *

One Hour Later

Yan, with only Aisha in tow, entered the mansion.

“Will you be alright?”

Damian’s inquiry was met with a nod from Yan.

After ensuring Electus had completely vanished, Yan closed the door.

Aisha’s brow furrowed at Yan’s actions, puzzled by what he intended to discuss so privately.

“Please, follow me.”

Yan led Aisha to a certain room.

Knock, knock.

Upon Yan’s rapping, a voice from within beckoned.

“Enter.”

Hearing the voice, Aisha blinked in surprise.

It was a voice she knew well, yet she couldn’t immediately place who it belonged to.

As Yan opened the door, revealing the scene inside,

“Ah, Argon?!”

Aisha’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of Argon, recuperating in bed, missing an arm.

* * *

Argon greeted Aisha with a faint smile.

“It’s been a while.”

“Indeed. Over a decade, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, it has.”

Their conversation was laced with awkwardness, unavoidably so.

Argon had recruited Aisha but failed to support her to the end.

And Aisha, knowing full well what had befallen Argon at the hands of the supreme commander, had chosen to remain neutral for the sake of her own goals.

A lengthy silence ensued.

Then Aisha, turning to Yan, asked,

“You managed to rescue him, I see?”

“Yes.”

“May I then hear the story that went untold before?”

Yan looked puzzled.

“The nature of your relationship. You avoided the topic last time, didn’t you?”

“Ah.”

Yan let out a sly grin.

“He is my father.”

Aisha’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Father and son?”

“Yes.”

Aisha looked at Argon with astonishment.

She had always assumed Argon had no children.

But then, memories of the past surfaced in her mind.

‘Now that I think about it… even during his days as the supreme commander, he would disappear for days, and no one knew where.’

Argon offered Aisha a bittersweet smile.

“I’m sorry I never told you. I had to keep my child’s existence a secret, just in case.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t something I needed to know. But…”

Aisha’s gaze drifted to Argon’s right shoulder, where an arm should have been.

Argon scratched his cheek with his left hand.

“I lost it as the price for my life. Got off rather cheaply, I’d say.”

At Argon’s jest, Aisha let out a snicker.

“Losing an arm is a fair trade for life. I would have done the same without a second thought.”

Yan discreetly wiped his nose.

After all, it was he who had severed that arm, not his father.

Having exchanged brief pleasantries with Argon, Aisha turned to Yan.

“So, what’s the reason you brought me here? To let me know Argon is alive?”

Yan shook his head.

“You witnessed the recent war firsthand, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. And I realized the war the supreme commander desires is different from what I had envisioned.”

Yan’s eyes sparkled.

“Tell me everything that happened that day.”

Aisha closed her mouth tightly, then, looking into the earnest eyes of Yan and Argon, she slowly began to recount the events of that day.

* * *

Aisha, along with all the legion commanders, had gathered at the southernmost tip.

The forces brought by the commanders, coupled with the secret army nurtured by the supreme commander, amounted to a formidable host of forty thousand.

Aisha felt a surge of elation as she surveyed the assembled might of the Revolutionary Army.

‘…Could we truly topple the empire with this force?’

A dream she thought possible, yet had nearly given up on, seemed within reach.

-Advance, all troops.

At the supreme commander’s order, the forty-thousand-strong army began to cross the empire’s border.

They laid waste to several southern territories in no time.

It took less than a day—precisely half a day.

The commanders, including Aisha, were intoxicated by the consecutive victories.

But their euphoria was short-lived.

After demolishing eight territories, the ruler of the south made his appearance.

The Sun Duke, perhaps mindful of the rumors swirling about, had brought only knights and superhumans of the fifth rank or higher to confront the Revolutionary Army.

The Revolutionary Army’s forty thousand against the mere thousand of the Sun Duke and his knights.

The scales of victory seemed clearly tipped.

That was what Aisha and the other commanders believed.

And then the battle commenced.

The commanders could only marvel at the Sun Duke’s terrifying divinity.

In less than an hour, he had decimated ten thousand of their troops.

The problem was the supreme commander.

He seemed indifferent to the carnage, holding only a strange orb, merely observing.

“This is hardly a challenge.”

Hearing the supreme commander’s words, Aisha realized.

This war was but a stepping stone for some ulterior motive of his.

Only after half the Revolutionary Army had perished did the supreme commander step forward.

“You must be their leader.”

“Yes, I am the supreme commander of the Revolutionary Army, Aquinas.”

“Juda Caballan.”

The exchange between the Sun Duke and the supreme commander was brief.

With those words, they began to draw upon their full power.

And so, the clash of the faction leaders unfolded.

Each collision thundered through the heavens, and the shockwaves rent the earth.

The vast plains were nearly shattered.

In the midst of this,

“Are we going to stay here and die, or what?”

Electus posed the unsettling question.

“What are you talking about in the middle of a war?”

“Don’t you see what the supreme commander is doing? He doesn’t care whether we live or die. Didn’t you just see that?”

“…”

“It’s clear he has some other scheme in mind, and whatever it is, it’s not going to be good for us.”

“So what do you propose?”

“We both have people to lead. Seeing how the supreme commander is acting, he wouldn’t blink an eye if we all died… We should plan for the future.”

“The future?”

“Yan.”

Aisha’s eyes widened.

She immediately grasped what he was implying.

And so, seizing the moment when the supreme commander’s attention was fixed on the Sun Duke, Aisha and Electus led their legions away from the battlefield.

* * *

“…And that’s how I came to be here.”

Yan and Argon listened to Aisha’s tale with heavy hearts.

“As expected… Father, you share the same thoughts, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Yan and Argon exchanged a knowing look.

“The supreme commander fought the Sun Duke to complete the White Flame Jade.”

“…And soon, the White Flame Jade will be finished.”

And once the White Flame Jade is complete…

‘It’s what the Founder has always desired.’

Yan rose abruptly from his seat.

“We must support the Sun Duke immediately.”

Before the White Flame Jade is completed, the supreme commander must be stopped.