Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

As my gaze shifted, there was a white cat wearing a mask and looking at me with a wagging tail.

They jumped up the wall and turned around, as if they wanted me to follow.

‘Was this a new chance?’

It was obvious that the Constellation intended it, but I followed it to reach Preeminent Fury.

Arriving in a dreary alley, the cat stopped walking. It jumped up once, did a somersault, and turned into a human.

To be exact, a cat with a female silhouette was standing and wearing a mask.

“Nyang. Halfblood, you want to know where Preeminent Fury is, right?”

Then, unexpectedly, it spoke.

‘It’s a Phantom that follows Preeminent Fury.’

When I tried guessing who she was by looking at her, she spoke while touching the mask with her front paw.

“Just in time. Preeminent Fury was looking for you as well, nya. Follow me and I’ll guide you.”

Oh, look at this.

I tried finding it on my own, and in the end, it came directly to me.

“However, there are conditions, nya.”

Conditions. I focused on what she said.

“Conditions?”

“It’s simple. Bring me the head of Ho Sung-Ah, the daughter of the Baek-Ho family. Then I’ll personally guide you.”

[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 25’, ‘Cruelty-Stained Greeting’, smiles softly.]

Seeing the notification of the Constellation, I massaged the bridge of my nose.

“What’s wrong, nya? You have to prove yourself for me to take you to Preeminent Fury.”

“Every damn person wants some proof or a performance…”

Crack.

Aura began to rush out of my body.

Under my unexpected power, the fur of the cat Phantom stood on end and she backed away from me.

“Did Preeminent Fury order this?”

“Y-Yeah!”

It was easy to tell she was lying.

I was sure that Preeminent Fury’s order was just to guide me.

“I’m starting to get tired of marching to the beat of your drum.”

Crack.

The surrounding land began to split.

The rising aura began to encroach on the air and sparked.

I loosened the tie around my neck and glared.

“I’m doing it my way.”

“Nyang?!”

As I jumped up, the cat Phantom tried to run away.

But she couldn’t beat my agility. I grabbed her by the tail and pinned her to the ground.

Then I spoke to the cat Phantom who was trembling with fear.

“Cats have nine lives, right? Let’s test that out.”

“…Nyaang.”

Smiling scarily, the sad meow of a cat echoed softly.

* * *

Afterward, because I suppressed her completely with fear, the cat Phantom began to guide me obediently.

“Don’t think about setting a trap. No matter what, I’ll get out.”

“…Okay, nyang.”

Perhaps because I kept releasing my aura from behind, the cat tensed her shoulders and continued leading.

“From this point forward is the sanctuary. Most of the other Phantoms are staying here.”

Passing by a few similar alleys, I frowned at the mountain scenery that suddenly appeared.

‘It even has a magic barrier around it.’

Without following the set route, I could never reach it.

‘I had no intention of searching through this large Floor, but why make it so complicated? I wouldn’t have found it on my own.’

Does Ju Yeon-Hwa know this path?

It occurred to me that even the four great families might have only roughly guessed Preeminent Fury’s location and hadn’t been able to confirm it.

“It’s big.”

The unusually large trees rose up into the sky.

I followed the cat while looking at trees of different sizes extending over 50 meters.

“Mong Mong.”

A voice reached my ears. It seemed the cat’s name was Mong Mong.

She halted her steps and turned to face a huge tree.

Through the trees, a Phantom that resembled a Native American chief appeared wearing a huge mask. They pointed a spear at me and questioned Mong Mong.

“Is that him?”

“Yes.”

“You brought him safely.”

After giving me a once over, the Phantom quickly stepped on the roots of trees that emerged from the ground.

“Follow me. I’ll guide you now.”

The cat, Mong Mong, slipped back when she heard that the guide was changing.

I grabbed Mong Mong by the scruff of her neck.

“Where do you think you’re going? You must follow to the end.”

“Nyang, didn’t Chasa say he’ll guide you?”

“If it’s a lie, there should be someone to take revenge on, right?”

Mong Mong sighed when she heard that I would take her to vent my anger.

“Don’t worry. If I was going to do that, I wouldn’t have brought you to the sanctuary.”

That seemed true, but…

Anyway, I took Mong Mong and followed Chasa inside.

Chasa was riding a huge tree, but it wasn’t that hard to chase after him. After a long time, we arrived at a remote house.

Seeing a house that appeared to have been burned once, I entered the yard while recalling the story Ho Baek-San told me.

“You’re here.”

A woman’s dry voice came from inside.

In the yard sat a woman with her red hair tied up, and one could tell with a glance she was a beauty.

At the same time, I realized she was Preeminent Fury.

“Preeminent Fury.”

Calling her name, I approached her.

I finally met her. The one I’d been looking for to climb this Floor.

“I guess I’m quite a celebrity.”

“There’s no one in this world who doesn’t know you.”

“I suppose so.”

Having said so, she rose lightly from her seat.

“The reason for calling you is simple. The Degenerate God you killed… You inherited its Authority.”

The words of Preeminent Fury reminded me of what happened then.

[You inherited the Authority, ‘Contagion’.]

There was definitely something like that.

Seeing me standing silently, Preeminent Fury continued to speak.

“You need to use that Authority.”

“Use it? Where?”

“On humans.”

My stare became questioning as she spoke, but Preeminent Fury calmly began to explain.

“Your Authority, Contagion, is a special power that turns living creatures into Phantoms. With that power, humans can also be turned into Phantoms.”

“What do you gain from turning humans into Phantoms?”

“I’ve grown tired of them. No matter how many I kill, humans continue to crawl out like bugs.”

Her voice was enveloped in hatred.

“Change all the problematic people.”

Her words were humanity’s death knell. Extinction by Phantomization.

Preeminent Fury seemed to harbor such deep hatred toward humans.

“If you don’t want to…”

“Then, it’s an order.”

At that moment, the appearance of Preeminent Fury changed.

Her eyes turned red. We made eye contact, and I tilted my head, as if saying ‘What are you doing?’

Seeing my reaction, or lack thereof, Preeminent Fury also began to wonder. Soon, she frowned.

“Does it not work for a halfblood?”

Did she use some sort of power?

Seeing me still looking at her with questions in my eyes, Preeminent Fury spoke, and her own eyes now seemed exhausted.

“That’s enough. If you decline, there’s no way for you to resist. Because, if you rebel, your life will end. The first person you’ll turn into a Phantom is Ho Baek-San. I have the power to control Phantoms, and now I can turn my enemy, Ho Baek-San, into my eternal servant.”

And as soon as Preeminent Fury uttered the words, I let out a small sigh.

“Preeminent Fury.”

I called her and Preeminent Fury immediately gave me a questioning look.

“Ho Baek-San is dead.”

“What?”

As if she’d failed to understand the words I uttered, her eyes were almost question marks.

Then, perhaps because I didn’t answer again, her exhausted eyes gradually grew bigger. She began to step closer to me.

“Say… Say it again. What happened to Ho Baek-San?”

“He died. The epidemic took him today.”

“How could that happen? He’s the strongest person I know. There’s no way he’d die from something like the epidemic…”

She spoke, unable to believe it, and her voice sounded as if something had been lost.

“Mong Mong! You went to pick him up, so tell me what you’ve seen!”

When Preeminent Fury hurriedly shouted at Mong Mong, she spoke carefully with her tail stiff.

“Well, when I went, I did hear some humans talking about Ho Baek-San. They said he was about to die, but, well…”

“When she came to meet me, I’d left after seeing the end of Ho Baek-San.”

When I confirmed Mong Mong’s words, which were faintly tinted with fear, Preeminent Fury covered her face with one hand and staggered back.

“Really… Really, he’s dead?”

Her face slowly became a mess as her previously exhausted expression melted away.

Surrounded by tens of thousands of emotions, she seemed to be overwhelmed by something she couldn’t bear.

“Ho Baek-San is dead…?”

‘Could it be?’

It was only now I understood why Preeminent Fury’s first target to turn into a Phantom was Ho Baek-San.

“No… No, no, no. Who… Who will stop me now? Who will stop my rage?!”

Preeminent Fury did not want Ho Baek-San to become her servant.

Preeminent Fury…

Hoped that Ho Baek-San would rise again and truly stop her.

She believed that if Ho Baek-San was a Phantom, he would fight off the epidemic and come to defeat her.

‘The destruction of mankind? No, she didn’t want that.’

Now, I recognized it with a glance.

Preeminent Fury no longer had time to worry about destroying mankind or anything like that.

She had left everything to Ho Baek-San.

Regardless of whether mankind was destroyed or not, she only wanted Ho Baek-San to stop her.

Preeminent Fury was an empty doll whose anger was so old she forgot how to stop it and only relied on the person who’d stopped her for so long, Ho Baek-San.

Recognizing her will, my gaze wasn’t a happy one.

At the same time, I saw the only way to clear this Floor.

The reason why I was still on Floor 27 even though I had reached Preeminent Fury, and the meaning of the yet-to-be-reached Floor 28.

‘This attempt is…’

“Lies, don’t lie. That fellow, that fellow, and I…”

With her face still covered, she began to slowly collapse as large teardrops formed in her eyes.

Those were tears of red blood mixed with lost anger. The sight of Preeminent Fury in such despair convinced me.

‘A failure.’

“Kill Preeminent Fury! Ha Chun-Sung!”

At that moment, I heard a voice from behind.

Apsara stood there.

Did she follow me?