“Fairy Dragon is my owned monster!”
I shouted quickly so Chatterbox wouldn’t do anything foolish. Gyeol settled on my shoulder and wrapped his neck tightly around .
“Nine minutes.”
Fortunately, Chatterbox showed no particular reaction to the suddenly appearing monster. He seed confident that nothing I did would matter. I summoned the Harmless King’s power to my wrist.
“How did you get in here?”
The King of Harmlessness bowed his body and looked down at Gyeol. Gyeol’s wings fluttered.
“That teleport just now... it didn’t feel like Transcender’s power.”
Gyeol looked up at instead of answering. It bothered that it might not have been Transcender power, but there was no ti to dwell on that.
“Gyeol, help .”
“...Okay, Daddy.”
His golden eyes blinked. He seed worried it might strain , but he didn’t voice it. He understood it was unavoidable. All the more reason I had to get through this alive.
“...Ugh.”
The fairy dragon’s mana enveloped , sharpening the Mana Sigils that had grown dull. I traced the remnants of the Harmless King’s power that had lodged in my body.
The endless mist stretched out before . Every tiny droplet in the fog was a mory. People’s mories flowed in and connected within it. And those mories—
[Devour.]
Luga Peya’s voice echoed in my mind.
[Our nourishnt is mory. We absorb mories to gain power. Do you rember the humans of the world I once subjugated?]
Choi Seokwon. The S-Rank Hunter who had contracted with the Harmless King. He had spread fog, devoured people’s mories, and transford into an SS-Rank monster. He sacrificed half his lifespan to reach SSS-Rank, then fell into my trap and died at the hands of the Doll Knight.
At that ti, he’d only consud the mories of a single region, not a whole nation. But now he was connected across the globe. If I devoured all those mories—
[I advise you not to be too greedy.]
Luga Peya said in a playful tone.
[Right now, the mories you can devour are only those that originate from you. If you steal all of them, you won’t survive either~]
“What? What does that an?”
[mory is relative. You rember the clouds drifting across the sky and the sunlight sparkling through them, you rember fish leaping in the river and birds flapping their wings. Most mories are born when soone encounters soone or sothing. There are almost no mories that are purely ‘you.’]
I felt innurable mories spread throughout the world. They all contained , yet they weren’t mine.
[Therefore, being forgotten can an the total annihilation of one’s existence. Of course, normally if a few people forget you, it doesn’t directly harm you. But deliberate erasure is different.]
A tentacled finger poked my cheek.
[If countless people forget you at once, your very existence might be erased from this world.]
...For so reason, I briefly thought of twenty-five-year-old Yuhyun instead of myself. Luga Peya laughed, saying it wasn’t so easy to be forgotten.
[With your power, you won’t be able to devour mories beyond those of Han Yujin I showed you~ Just so you know.]
[Only the ones you showed —wait a second.]
Devouring that ans... Chatterbox said, “Six minutes.”
[So you’re saying everyone will forget that I returned by Regression? And that the from before Regression, too?]
[Lower-ranked people—maybe Advanced Awakened—won’t be completely forgotten. Your existence value is much higher than S-Rank, but your stats are too low! So you can’t fully absorb mories of those with higher rank or value. They’ll rember you sporadically, or perfectly.]
That was a relief. It would still be a headache if Advanced Hunters rembered , but better than nothing.
[Even if you survive this and escape, I was worried about how you’d sort things out. I can breathe easier now.]
[But the emotions remain.]
[...Huh?]
[The feelings born in those who saw you. Even if the mories vanish, so will feel pity for Han Yujin, others inexplicable anger. If soone claims you regressed, they might believe it more easily—or reject it more strongly.]
mory leaves traces even in a fleeting brush. Luga Peya humd.
[Even if you erase mories, you can’t return perfectly to the way things were. You’ve already changed.]
No doubt, things would inevitably be different from now on.
“Four minutes.”
I heard Chatterbox’s voice. At the sa ti, mories surged toward . They all saw the sa events, but each received them differently. So focused on the pre-Regression story, others on the post-Regression events.
Though it was my story, I sensed mories where others rembered it more vividly. So mourned Yuhyun’s death and rejoiced at Yerim’s heroics. Others were enamored with Peace. Many couldn’t believe what they’d seen, treating it as an extension of the party or a staged show.
[See, I look like a total villain here.]
I saw Han Yujin with a vile expression abusing Han Yuhyun. A laugh escaped at those idiotic pre-Regression ramblings. Even when shown directly, so would cling to their beliefs.
[...Is that really ?]
On the other hand, I also saw a fragile Han Yujin who looked like he’d collapse at the slightest tap. So many had changed so drastically it was hard to believe they were the sa person. My head throbbed under the endless mories. The Harmless King tapped my shoulder.
[You can’t see them all. Do you dissect every grain of rice when you eat?]
Of course not. I stop examining the rice in my bowl and swallow. I ceased inspecting mories and accepted them like drinking water.
“Two minutes.”
Gyeol squeezed my shoulder tightly. The fog of mories thickened. The King of Harmlessness, Luga Peya’s power, the nacing presence of Chatterbox—all pressed in on . He was still stronger than I, but I felt it might be possible. From rabbit before a tiger to rabbit before a leopard, at least.
“One minute.”
Chatterbox’s lips curved into a clear line, staring at as if eyeing ripe fruit.
“What could this be?”
He must be sensing it—that the Harmless King’s power was gathering within . His smile deepened.
“My fog.”
What the hell.
“You’re talking nonsense from start to finish. There’s nothing of yours here!”
Before the final minute ran out, I leapt at Chatterbox. The pale mist spread and wrapped around his legs. I swung my fist at his irritated face. I wish I’d heard a solid thud, but he easily evaded. And at that mont—
“Szzz!”
Dark red strands shot toward him, targeting Chatterbox, not .
“The Harmless King’s staff.”
Chatterbox looked at with satisfaction. Growls of the monsters attacked the strands and were torn to pieces. The staff, now owned by its master, floated into my hand.
“You refused. Yet you accepted the fog yourself.”
“Idiot, this is my power.”
“It is the power of the fog.”
“My mories amassed this.”
The power Chatterbox had graciously handed over was not his gift. It was the product of mories Han Yujin had painstakingly built. But Chatterbox didn’t even acknowledge it. He rely examined with pleasure. His composure overflowed. I knew it, too—that Chatterbox still had the advantage.
[...Choi Seokwon reached SSS-Rank on that mory—and I should easily surpass L-Rank.]
[Your base stats are low. And he submitted to and sacrificed his lifespan~]
His stats. I maintained my focus on Chatterbox without relaxing. He probably still had no intention of killing .
“Gyeol, hold tight.”
“...Okay, Daddy.”
I floated the staff beside and drew the Descendant’s Blade—
Whoosh!
“Ah!”
As soon as the blade slid out, its fla clashed with the fog. Startled, I sheathed the sword back into my inventory.
[The elent doesn’t match. Fog is water-aligned. But it’s prickly enough—maybe its personality is nasty?]
The Black Dragon didn’t seem kind. I instead drew another A-Rank sword from my inventory. Chatterbox was still unard. A Maze Mage might be weak in close combat. But you never know—
“Now, truly—”
“...!”
Chatterbox dropped before as if from thin air. Teleport? I lunged back to evade but my combat sense warned . I spun, dropping low. A white-gloved hand erged where my neck had been, snatched at empty air, then vanished. I rolled forward to create distance and summoned dense fog around .
Through the mist, I glimpsed a tall figure. Teleportation was his specialty. Seong Hyunjae’s combat sense was weak against teleportation. The gap between prediction and movent was too small to counter—at best I barely dodged.
[Don’t you know any weakness of Chatterbox?]
[That’s not the Chatterbox I knew. He abandoned all that.]
As Luga Peya said, the old Chatterbox had disappeared as a sacrifice. Then this one wasn’t a mage? Chatterbox, the party host.
“I’ll just adjust his appearance.”
Chatterbox waved lightly. A wind rose, slicing through the mist in dozens of razor-sharp blades.
Clang! Clang!
I swung my sword to deflect the wind. Even the breeze gouged the earth and split trees. Rocks’ surfaces grated apart, making frown. As if trying to flay my skin.
“I’m not going beyond the Facts!”
My skin is pretty flawless, thank you very much! I kicked aside a falling tree trunk strongly. The trunk flew through the air and shattered before Chatterbox. I leapt among the splinters. Dark red strands entangled to bind him, but he vanished in an instant. I landed where he’d been and quickly scanned around. He’d teleported further away, holding a flowing white dress.
“I’m curious about the drawer’s interior.”
Damn, teleportation is totally broken. And I had no clue how to wield the Harmless King’s power. I’d strengthened my body, but how to apply mories in combat? Should I conjure a Luga Peya illusion?
[Why would you use it like that?]
Luga Peya pointed at the staff, puzzled.
[...It’s a fake, so no teleportation.]
If it could teleport like when Luga Peya used it, it’d be useful.
[It’s not teleportation. The branches of the Crimson Fog Tree are mories I cultivated. Each branch is a mory—a playback of mory.]
What are you talking about? It looked like teleportation, but it wasn’t?
Rumble, the ground shook. Alard, I leapt into the air and gathered dense fog beneath . As I sprinted, the ground sank, revealing a circular pit. Vroom, a motor-like sound as a black hole began sucking in earth and fog—my fog!
[The branches were always there. It revives past mories!]
“What?”
I pulled out a bomb and threw it into the pit. Boom! The explosion paused the drawn-in fog. I fired the staff’s tallic strands at the pit. Clang, clang clang! A clamor as the circular space cracked until it shattered.
“Dad!”
Just as I thought I could catch my breath, a chill ran down my neck. Chatterbox had appeared right behind , reaching for my arm. The fog beneath vanished, and I dropped down to evade his grasp.
“Explain yourself!”
[I’ve never taken a disciple, even if I subjugate them~]
“A disciple? What—”
[Dislike it?]
“Teacher!”
I rolled across the ground, shouting. Bang, bang! Sharp tallic shards—like surgical scalpels—embedded where I’d stood.
[It’s not ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ teleportation; it’s materialization. There was an apple on the table. You ate it, but the mory of the apple on the table remains. You pull forth that mory into reality.]
“He seems to favor close combat.”
Chatterbox reappeared before , extending his hand as if inviting a dance. Instead of grasping it, I swung my sword. His palm flipped up and knocked the blade away with a clang. Staggering from the recoil, I saw his other hand reach for . Gyeol growled and ducked low like kneeling, avoiding the strike. I planted one hand on the ground and kicked at Chatterbox’s leg, but he vanished in an instant.
“mory, manifestation.”
Changelings’ ability occurred to . Gyeol once said his power amplified the Harmless King’s, so the affinity was poor. In other words, it could help now, too.
“Gaining power through people’s gaze is the sa for .”
Chatterbox spread his arms. This spectacle was still being broadcast worldwide. A cluster of white lights appeared around him. What was he going to do—
Thud!
“Kuh!”
I felt a strong impact on my back. Spinning away, I saw Chatterbox’s image. Wait—there!
“He’s disgusting in every form!”
“One entity appears in countless spaces simultaneously. That’s one feature of the broadcast.”
I swung my sword. Thankfully, Chatterbox’s projection shattered and blurred away. It was far weaker than the real one. The problem was I couldn’t sense the copies—only the real body.
“What else could there be? A stage transformation?”
Plop, the ground I stood on turned into a swamp. Before I could step back, it changed again into a tal floor, trapping my legs. Insane.
“As the party host and broadcast owner, my experience is brief, so there are still immature aspects.”
He didn’t know his own ability? Clang! I dug into the tal floor with sword and strands of the staff.
[When I fought you, my power’s properties put at a disadvantage. I’d never properly set foot in this world. But you fought here, right?]
Revive mories of your own. Luga Peya said. The mories here—Chatterbox’s projections appeared within the swirling fog.
Snap!
A flash of light sparked. It was only an S-Rank current, but each spark replayed a mory. Again and again, as far as my power reached, dozens of tis, amplified by the Changeling effect until the layered lights forced Chatterbox to close his eyes. His projections shattered and vanished. I reached for the staff.
[mories exist everywhere. You said the staff’s strands are mory itself, right?]
Exactly. Dozens of strands disappeared—and reappeared. Chatterbox teleported—
Zzzzt!
There was mory there, too. His coat was torn. Then—
Clank-
Hundreds of golden chains spread, trapping his teleportation.
Kraaaang!
Bombs—nearly a thousand where there had been dozens—detonated at once.
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