Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

Chapter 46

REAPER SCANS

Only three days after leaving the ravine, Allen arrived at the forest hed located the witch to be in.

We we have arrived, sir.

The coachmanwho hadnt made a single stopappeared tired of the nonstop driving. The frame of the carriage had slightly bent and was covered by scratches everywhere.

Ill go alone. If a day passes and I don't come out, go ahead and return to the city.

The coachman hid behind a distant rock with a frightened look on his face, as though he could feel that the witch was here.

Y-yes, sir.

Allen smiled briefly at him before looking at the dim forest ahead of him.

Did he say that theres no name for the forest? I mean, I guess there are no herbs or mushrooms or anything like that. It is just another forest, like any other

Allen thought of the questions hed asked about the forest while still in the carriage.

He wasnt going to allow anyone else to go into this forest anymore.

Its not like there arent any other forests around here, so people should be able to stay away from here.

The word witch, alone, was ominous enough. That people would shy away should be the natural result.

As though she were displeased with simply looking at the forest as Allen had been, Vestlawho waited by Allen's waistlinemurmured:

Hey, didnt you say were almost outta time? Aren't we gonna go?

No, I need to check this out for a moment.

Allen squinted and stared within the forest. His senses rushed out and headed towards the depths of the forest, but Allen couldn't feel anything there.

Almost as if there werent a witch.

Could this be a trap?

Hed stretched his senses out into the forest the second he stepped out of the carriage, but hed been thwarted by the trap that the witch had likely prepared to counter him and hadnt been able to find a thing.

Thisll be my first time fighting a real witch.

Allens heart beat slightly quicker than usual. Hed never battled a witch before, not even in his previous life.

Whats wrong? Scared? Earlier, you struck a pose and proclaimed, Witch, I'm coming for you!

Who said that?

Allen smirked and grabbed Vestla's handle.

It was a new feeling, chasing the witch and destroying the source of the curse that ate away at his people. It was something that Julius had done in his previous life. Allen just had a strange feeling about doing the same thing himself.

He narrowed his sensing range to just his immediate surroundings and stepped forward. The old leaves rustled and crumbled at his paceneither slow nor fast. The moment he took another step

Step.

Oh.

his surroundings changed. 

But Allen wasnt taken aback.

The moment before the landscape around him changed, he had sent out a thread and lowered his posture.

Even without granting us a proper greeting, I'm sure she knows we're here.

Who knows if she's watching in secret and making preparations?

That's funny.

Allen moved without lowering his guard.

The forest was quiet. Submerged in silenceabsent even the buzzing of insectsit was reminiscent of his time at the Spring of Spirits. However, unlike that forest filled with vitality, this one was gloomy, as if fully deprived of life.

A bleak wind blew across the barren path.

There were no living creatures in the dead forest.

Even after the witch dies, this land will remain distorted.

As he continued on to the center of the forest, where the witch was meant to be, Allen opened his mouth.

Do you know anything about witches?

Hm not really? Ive never seen one directly, so I dont really know anything.

They're crafty buggers. They ruin peoplecast the curses that are going around now. You really dont know anything?

I knew maybe a thing or two like that?

I thought so.

Allen deliberately acted as if he were showing gaps in his defense during his conversation with Vestla, yet nobody attacked.

Once theyd reached the center of the forest without any trouble, Allen realized the strangeness of the situation. 

Why is no one attacking?

Huh, I don't know. Maybe she ran away?

Hed thought that monsters, zombies, or, at least, her servants would try to attack him.

Allen picked up his pace. Something was off. Had she not prepared anything? It was weird, but it didn't make sense to run away now. It'd be better to set a trap of his own, instead

Was the forest always this big?

What?

Allen stopped walking.

What?

Ah, I didnt mean to kick you. Are you alright?

No, not that. What did you say before?

Was the forest always this big?

Good catch.

Allen bit his lip and kicked the ground, as if he realized something.

Violent steps smashed trees and rocks, blowing dust away. Surprised by his sudden actions, Vestla cried:

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What are you doing?! What if someone attacks you!

At one point, after the strong giants body had advanced through the forest, tearing down everything in its path, Allen stopped.

Arent sorcerers supposed to be rational people?!

Take a look around.

What do you mean, Look around! Youre just going to destroy it all Huh?]

Vestla, whod been nagging him as much as possible, suddenly stopped.

We shouldve already left the forest at this pace, but what about the surroundings?

There was nothing different about it, yet Allen never made a fuss. The broken tree had returned to its original place, and the smashed rock remained intact, as if nothing had ever happened to it.

Huh? Huh? Whats going on?

From Allen's hand, she looked around several times and said in a puzzled tone:

Is this a hallucination? No, it cant be.

To be precise, it's a barrier composed of an illusion.

Allen frowneda rare sight.

I should have known from the moment you came to that conclusion, but I was careless.

He had simply let it go with a vague acceptance that, of course, a forest housing a witch would feel so strange. The fact that the Spring of Spirits had a similar appearance helped sell the forests appearance to Allen.

Would it have been wiser to have avoided the barrier and looked for her in a different way?

Allen thought coldly.

What are you going to do, then? Is there a way to break out of the barrier?

Vestla asked in a rather serious tone. Allen slowly thought through his viable options.

Reverse calculating the barrier was always impossible.

He only knew the basics of the barrier system, so it was out of the question.

Then, is there no other choice but to break down the entire space where the barrier is?

As they had moved away from the entrance of the forest, theyd missed their opportunity to break the barrier down at its edgethe easiest location to do so.

So, then, what?

Ill open a gap.

There were direct and indirect points of contact between the barrier and spatial systems. Although he may not have been quite as efficient as a sorcerer skilled in the barrier system, itd be possible for him to withdraw his own body.

This method was the most feasible because itd be almost impossible to find the central axis of the barrier, the only other place where they could try to destroy it.

Allen quickly pulled together the threads scattered around him and pulsed out countless small shock waves. The waves vibrated through the space to search for a crack in the barrier.

A barrier this huge cannot be perfect.

If he could find even one small weakness, he could open a gap.

Allen's hand tapped sound in the air busily, like it was searching for something. The barriers axis wasnt over here. If you twisted this little wheel over here, then

Got it.

Allens countless skeins of thread pierced into a single point in the air and began to twist themselves about each other. He felt something being forced open.

* * *

* * * 

The amount of mana consumed by this was unusual.

Tsk, should I have studied barriers, too?

Creeeeaaaaak

Just when he thought he could escape safely if he had just a little time.

Hurry, Look over there!

Vestla, whod been quiet to avoid distracting Allen, suddenly yelled.

Allen's eyes looked at where Vestla had shouted for him to.

Groan.

Shriek!

Gurgle.

Skeletons, ghouls, zombies, banshees, and other monsters.

Were they real? Or were they another fantasy? Either way, Allen and Vestla really were inside the barrier.

Allen took a stance with a smile on his face.

"You were right, Vestla."

Ahaha, really, now?

Allen glared at her, and Vestla hurriedly closed her mouth and flew into Allen's hand.

"Dont speak so carelessly next time."

Yes.

As Allen swung, his threads weaved to form dozens of needles, flying toward the bodies.

I hope we can get this all done with today.

Bang!

A wave of bodies approached.

* * *

Allen's sword struck down onto headless rusty armor. With a rattling sound, the figure turned into a pile of scrap metal split in half.

But that wasn't the end.

As if filling the gap left by the now-halved ghoul, a zombie with cracked, rotten skin pushed its way into his face. But as soon as he shook his fist, its head exploded, soaking the air with rotten brain juices.

How many were left?

Vestla!

One minute!

Allen shouted and launched Vestla into the air, and she quickly checked her opponents numbers.

There're still a lot! What if their numbers never decrease?

Allen frowned. They were not realthey were illusions.

No, they could be a characteristic of the barrier, just like how those trees and rocks returned to their original state.

Either way, this spelled bad news for Allen.

Gurgle, gurgle.

A ghoul, revealing his hideous muscles, fell towards him head first with his knife-like nails still shining. Allen hit the air, bending the ghoul with a huge shock wave. He stomped the lowered head with his foot, collapsing the head into itself with just a touch.

The waves of monsters approached Allen ceaselessly. Even though hed been able to take a look through Vestlas eyes, there were still so many that he couldnt see an end.

Allen used his new body.

With his overwhelming physical ability, he shattered the corpses bones, and blocked attacks with steel-like skin as a shield.

As he battled wave after wave of monsters, Allen thought. 

Theres no end to this.

As if the witch had started manipulating the monsters, at some point they cleverly arranged themselves into formations and began to move in a way so as to finally start chipping away at Allens strength. 

Physical strength isnt the problem.

He didnt think that his giant's body would collapse as a result of these kinds of attacks.

However, if the attacks were to continue, his mind would become tired, even more than his body. 

Vestla! Grow!

Got it! Ha! 

Allen caught her body, falling under its heavy weight, and twisted it through the air. He screamed, feeling as though his muscles were going to break. The air around let out a swooshing noise as a shadow formed over their heads.

A slow-moving sword may only lead to overwhelming violence as a result of its weight.

Crash!

A ten-meter-wide divet in the ground formed around Allen as small pieces of meat scattered on the shattered ground and rolled around.

Even if I do this, itll all go back to its original state.

But it didn't matter.

It was all to create a crack.

He immediately let go with his hand and gathered his threads. If these monsters were the servants of his opponent, and if those servants were subordinate to her, then

I can take them away.

[Contracts], [Domain], [Force], [Capture].

The four concepts drawn from his imagination mixed and transformed into a single technique. His thread split into thousands of strands and went for the fallen bodies lying on the ground.

The flesh began to wriggle and regather.

Allen laughed, satisfied as he witnessed the thread mixing itself into the flesh.

Forced contract.

As his core worked tirelessly, his hands moved delicately like a puppeteer.

Go, monsters.

Attack each other like crazy.

Before he even knew it, the monsters, whod returned to their original forms completely, began to confront the waves of corpses still rushing towards him.

Allen supported their every movement with his senses, conjuring up a splitting headache.

'I can't keep doing this for long

He didnt know much about the summoning system, so he had no choice but to control them manually.  Since they were already dead, Call of the Cradle wouldnt work. He needed to find a way to escape as he bought time.

Seeing Allen troubled, Vestlafloating next to himopened her mouth with a reluctant voice:

[There is a way out.]

Allen endured the headache as he turned his head. The illegible characters engraved on Vestlas black surfacesomething hed thought just a decorationbegan to flash and glow.

Vestla, what is this?

Once I do this, I don't know how long itll be until I come back. It could be a monthor even a year.

Didn't you say you had no special abilities?

Allen asked in a disbelieving tone through his headache. Vestla replied, bewildered:

Well, I only realized it a few days ago! Come on, make a choice quickly!

Escape here now using her ability, or wait it out and find another way?

His answer came quickly.

It'd be a shame to use her powers now.

He didn't know what kind of ability shed have, but if there was only one chance to take that risk, itd be much more useful to use it during a more significant and/or life-threatening moment than now.

But it wasnt like there was anything else he could do otherwise. 

It wouldnt be easy to escape the barrier unless his opponent left, first.

If we were to keep tearing down the forest until we found the axis of the barrier, instead

Most of the bodies that were controlled by Allen were already incapacitated, and time wasnt going to stop.

Hurry up and decide! You said you had work to do!

Okay, lets go.

The moment that Allen opened his shut eyes and made his decision

Shimmer.

The white book suddenly opened, and letters began to write themselves onto the white paper.

The book connected to confirms the conditions. s presence is known! The target associated with is nearby! They want to stop !

The conditions are met. (tentative name) is manifested!

Three steps to the right. Two steps back. A shock wave reaching up to 400 meters within eight seconds.

"This is"

A new variable had emerged.