Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

"Nice work!"

"Sir Allen, great job! I’m proud to call you our leader.”

"Well, that was incredible!!”

Allen waved his hand with a humble expression.

"It was nice to be able to see all of your skills, too. Well, I have something I need to do… I'll be on my way."

His team members looked disappointed, but they didn't think they needed much more from him after having just confirmed his skills in person.

"See you later."

"I look forward to wine tasting with you, Allen."

"If you're ever curious about healing techniques, please reach out anytime!"

"I'll see you next time.”

Allen let out the sigh he’d been holding back once he felt that he was far enough away from his teammates.

"…Compared to my own talent, they’re so lackluster."

To be more specific, they were each utterly useless.

Ariel could only shoot arrows to and fro without any coordination or prior notice.

Evan, overconfident in his ability, charged in after any moving lifeform he could find.

William nearly passed out from exhaustion after using one healing spell a grand total of one time.

Allen and his mental sanity were exhausted after safely completing the raid while simultaneously controlling each aspect of their journey.

⟬So, tell me. How did you make it out alive?⟭

'Isn't it because there was no other choice?' 

Allen smiled wryly.

Their individual skills weren’t necessarily bad. To be more precise, the most accurate way of describing them would be to say that they were simply inexperienced.

Excluding William, they were nobles, so they had surely received a great deal of education. Of course, he would’ve appreciated it if they could’ve gained a little more experience, accordingly. 

However, whatever they tried to adjust their actions in an effort to be more useful always ended up redirecting their blows toward him or someone else in the group. Overall, their presence was more of a detriment than a benefit.

Even assuming no other outside events occurred, he was going to need to pay as much attention as possible to his surroundings during the practice-raid if he had to be with them. 

Allen walked briskly out of the basement where the simulated ruins were being held. He looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was at the highest point in the sky.

⟬Where are you going now? Do you want to go practice your swordplay?⟭

'That would be nice, but… I haven't been paying that much attention to practicing magic lately.' 

Going to the training ground on his own to organize his thoughts and practice training his magic would be justified, but there was a place he had to stop by first.

⟬What are you up to here?⟭

'You never know what could happen.' 

Thus, he arrived at the library.

Located in a separate building on Academy grounds, the library was huge, standing 12-stories high. Allen walked in without delay.

As he entered, a librarian wearing round glasses gave a small bow.

Allen looked around with a sense of familiarity, unlike when he first came.

Bookcases were filled to the brim with books, not an empty space to be found. Each was organized by discipline—including the humanities, natural sciences, spiritual contracting, engineering, and magical theory.

The sectioned books were the painstaking result of converting the knowledge excavated and received from countless ruins, a representation of the history of work cultivated by those of the Academy thus far.

The library was graced by the scent of old paper to match the calm atmosphere.

It was a place where one could borrow from a multitude of theoretical books, even sorcery guides.

If ever there were a place where he could find some method of magic or clue to find his brother, he figured that it would be here.

Allen went straight to the seventh floor, the floor designated for magic books. The walls, maze-like in orientation and awash with knowledge, were demarcated with numerically categorized labels. Allen looked around and approached a librarian with a familiar face who was organizing books.

"Do you have any new books?"

"What? Oh, Allen, it’s you." The male librarian smiled and answered with a slightly troubled face. "The book you're looking for…”

"Yes, have you received any books about spirits or tracking like we talked about last time?"

At Allen's elaboration, the librarian smiled bitterly and shook his head. "No, the soul system is rare and particularly understudied, as you know… None of our new arrivals are at all related to the subject.”

The librarian continued in an apologetic tone as Allen's face darkened a little. "If you really want a book in that genre… It would probably be faster to try for it at auction or wait for our mass arrivals to come in next quarter. As you may know, the books in the library are just copies."

"…Is that so?"

"Oh, of course, there would probably be a way to acquire the type of magic book you’re looking for using merits…”

Afraid that his voice would be too loud, he looked at the students around him before he answered quietly. "As far as I know, you’d need about 1,000 merits to locate what it is you’re looking for… It might be a bit of a challenge.”

1,000 merits. It wasn't as flashy of a reward as taking his pick from the Academy's storage or taking private lessons with one of the Top Eight, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a waste of his merits.

"I see… Thank you."

"I will tell you immediately if any sort of relevant book comes in."

Allen bowed to him for his consideration, and the librarian waved his hand in apparent dismissal.

"Well then, I’m off."

The librarian nodded and continued to organize the books.

As soon as their conversation had concluded, Vestla immediately shared her thoughts.

⟬Just wait. You came yesterday, too.⟭

‘The book could have come in today.’

⟬If it was so easy to find, you would have found it already. In the first place, if the demon took his body, wouldn’t he be waiting in hell?⟭

‘Do you know where hell is?’

He had told Vestla that his brother had been taken away by the demon and that his original soul had disappeared as a result. In fact, there was no discernable difference except that he was not a demon, but just a different human on the inside.

⟬…But this doesn't solve the problem.⟭

'That's right.' 

Allen walked out of the library with a wry smile.

He had gone to the library several times since arriving at the school. The base of knowledge there was more likely to give him an answer than anywhere else.

That was because the knowledge there was more well-supported than anywhere else.

So, he had stayed up a few nights and searched for books on topics with related keywords such as ‘souls’, ‘space’, and ‘tracking’…

'I didn't get much from that, though.’

Well, he had succeeded in learning more about magic. He was able to acquire knowledge that he hadn’t known before about the workings of spatial, soul-based, and contractual systems. With that, he began to understand the foundation for a new system of magic that he had been trying to study ever since meeting Linbelle and Inellia.

However, he had found nothing about magic for tracking the movement of souls.

No, it was impossible to find any relevant published theory.

There were already so few books on the spirit system, but even fewer were available to the public. He couldn’t ask for access to the prohibited books, as they were designated as dark sorcery.

"Ha…"

He knew that being impatient wouldn't solve anything, but it was still frustrating.

He just wanted to know where Julius’s spirit was.

He was so surprised to learn that Julius's body didn’t contain his brother’s soul. If it weren't for the mystery surrounding its current whereabouts, he would’ve yanked the intruder’s soul from that body.

As Vestla continued her thoughts, she spoke in a cautious tone, different from her usual.

⟬Allen, I'm sorry to say this, but… If… If…⟭

The moment of hesitation didn’t match her character at all. When Allen looked down toward Vestla, her blade trembled slightly.

⟬Well, what if his soul hasn't disappeared somewhere?⟭

She spoke without stopping, perhaps encouraged by Allen's silence.

⟬As you know, I’ve been alive for quite some time now.⟭

A few thousand years… Not too long.

⟬…But in every instance when I’ve seen a demon possess a body, it typically devours the soul… it rarely stores the soul away somewhere else.⟭

“……”

⟬And… the spirits that are taken into custody like that are typically quite special beings… Heroes and such… And Allen, your brother was…⟭

Even if he were an aristocrat, he was still just an ordinary person. Vestla hastened to add an extra excuse in response to his silence.

⟬…I'm not saying that your brother wasn't special, but… there are very few people who really are considered to be so valuable… and demons are picky with that kind of thing… so he may no longer be with us… and I’m not saying that I know that for sure, but… I think it’d be good to prepare yourself, maybe…⟭

"No."

His steps halted. Allen cut off her words, rambling on.

"He must be somewhere. Obviously."

Vestla replied, feelings complex as she was met with his determined resolve. ⟬…Yeah, of course. I’m sure you’ll find him.⟭

He must be alive. His soul must be somewhere.

Or else, what could that voice have been? The one he heard right before coming back? Or what was with that sense of déjà vu he got during the trials in the Heavenly Forest? His soul had existed before Allen’s regression. There definitely had to be another reason why his soul couldn’t be found afterward. Or so he thought.

‘It has to be…’

The shadow that followed under Allen's feet vanished into the wide expanse of shade.

Even though it was always hovering around his feet.

Allen walked faster than normal for no reason. He couldn’t afford to face any setbacks in the dungeon practice-raid. 

* * *

* * * 

The hidden ruins west of the Academy was the location of exploration that had failed multiple times over. There, the spirits of the rookie mercenaries now exuded the metallic smell of blood.

The ogre-stained floor became messy with dust intermixed with dried blood. Fragments of the broken walls scattered across the piles of bodies. 

In the middle of that mess, Heisel murmured softly, "How did he know all this?”

"How did he know so much about how this would turn out… Cough."

"What's the problem with that…?"

Finishing off a survivor with a quick slice of a neck, he shook off the blood splattered on him.

There were bodies all around them. Dark sorcerers with strange markings on their faces, and witches with wrinkled-covered faces.

Joining them, armed mercenaries were also scattered across the floor, their eyes now void of light. Some of them appeared to be holding the hands of the dark sorcerers. 

The forces, once strong enough to overthrow a city, were all decapitated, necks separated from bodies and floor painted red.

Around them stood an altar, the production of which had been halted just before their magic was to be injected in. It began to absorb blood little by little, offering a pathetic glow.

“Their magic didn’t leak at all… that’s why I didn't notice it. So how did Julius find out?”

Heisel swung his sword with an emotionless expression. His white mana, the feeling of which did not match his personality at all, formed a halo of swords and fell upon the altar.

Crash!

In an instant, the altar had crumbled into pieces and the magic circle, still in perfect condition to be activated, slowly lost its light.

“Are there any more of these going on in other places? How many are they trying to make?”

Heisel laughed.

A gate connecting our world to demons.

He didn't intend to involve himself so deeply until he talked to Julius.

He’d already lost his life once, and he didn’t intend to reconnect with them.

He was too worn out.

He had no choice but to live as peacefully as he could in this life. He only came to the Academy for the sake of entertainment and, perhaps, to resolve his little bit of curiosity regarding the descendent of the warrior. 

Or that was how it was supposed to go.

Thump.

Heisel crossed the room to where the altar was located and opened a door leading to another secret room.

"…I don't like this."

Light from the outside poured into the dark interior.

Perhaps a result of the light source entering from behind, there were dark shadows cast around their eyes.

"There’s so much to do."

Was it a challenge? Or was it just a coincidence?

There in the room, demons had been tied to laboratory benches and neatly dissected. It appeared that the dark sorcerers and the demons hadn’t quite been in such a copasetic relationship as once thought. 

Heisel’s eyes betrayed no emotion. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a scene like this.

Step, step.

The blood on the floor sloshed between each step.

"If it was their intention to just send the demons that they summoned in here, it would be best to just ignore it…”

There was no need to interrupt and let them know that he was alive. How long did he suffer before he died? He didn’t need to be used again.

Was there really any need to repeat that in this lifetime?

He just wanted to live a leisurely life. He could just look for treasures he’d heard of in his previous life and check out the little myths that interested him.

If he ever got tired of that, he thought it would be nice if he could go on a sea expedition.

"You pushed Allen away, yet you have the nerve to hesitate here."

Heisel stopped thinking and turned himself around.

Pause.

Heisel made eye contact with a head which must have been rolling on the floor for a while now.

The owner of the head, who he figured had passed away quite some time ago, seemed to have gone through a lot of hardships. The head wasn’t intact, dried up and full of stab wounds.

Heisel resumed his steps again and then squatted in front of the head.

"Well…"

When he closed my eyes for a moment, several scenes came to mind. Memories, fading into his consciousness little by little. Images of demons. Of fighting wars, battling with warriors.

Heisel shook his head quickly.

"Ah, why am I thinking about all that again?"

His chin dipped down, and he spat out, "You’re pretty cute, huh."

Heisel grinned.

She was dead now, but she surely would’ve been a beauty in her animate years.

"Your skeleton isn't bad either. You would have been popular, if you were still alive."

Perhaps because his words were so unexpected, the already dead head seemed to be looking back at him with astonishment in her eyes.

Heisel slowly rose.

"I should go now."

This time, he headed for the exit without stopping. Looking back, he couldn't distinguish the body’s head from the rest since the light flooding into the interior was so strong. 

"Damn…"

The settlement that had hidden this little place had already all but disappeared. He raised his fist high into the air. 

‘I really didn't want to use this…’

He had no other option. There was no way to demolish a building like that without using his demonic powers. When he lifted his fist, a huge fist rose, its shadow swallowing the ruins.

"Even in such a dark place, beauty shines through. But isn’t beauty only valuable to the living?”

It wasn’t like he particularly cared about how the people he knew looked when they were still alive. But it definitely mattered even less when they were already dead.

"If you're ever born again, have a good one. Please don’t try to take revenge on me. Well then…”

Heisel paused. After chewing over the words a few times, he smiled as if it didn't matter.

"See ya."

He lowered his fist.

Formation - Scourge of God: Flagellum Del

The punishment of Heaven fell. A huge fist the size of a meteor struck the ruins. The remains that had withstood time for a good, long while were smashed into pieces within seconds, sucked into a pit of sand.

The resulting sandstorm swept over his face. Heisel stared blankly at the scene and recalled the information Julius had given him.

"…One more is supposed to appear a little later."

It would likely be the day of the dungeon practice-raid.

He didn't think he’d be able to participate in that activity.

He had something else to do.