Chapter 33. The End of Regulus
6x Minutes After the War Council Ended, First District
"How are you going to take responsibility? You thought you were so great doing that vicious, terrible thing! And the result is that your expectations were completely dashed!!! It ended in failure!! The massive sacrifice was utterly in vain!! What kind of joke is this?! How are you going to compensate for your foolish actions!?"
Regulus looked at Reinhild with contemptuous eyes while tapping his own head with a finger. Regulus, emerging from the dust, still had spotless clothes, and his face once again bore a sneering smile, his tone regaining its composure.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump
Reinhild, who had maintained her peak condition, immediately noticed it—she noticed that Regulus's heartbeat was coming from inside her own body.
"So that's it. To survive, you abandoned your dignity and accepted the existence you loathe. I thought you would at least maintain your arrogance as the 'Optimal One' until the end. Now it seems you—"
"Shut up. Don't act so high and mighty and lecture me. How are you going to shoulder the responsibility for killing my wives?"
Regulus interrupted Reinhild, his expression twisted. Reinhild said no more. She took a deep breath and assumed an attack stance.
"They were all my ideal wives. How much time do you think I spent gathering so many? Are you trying to make me, in my old age, be without a wife or partner by my side, lonely and like a widower? Until I find new wives, you are obligated to remain connected to me!"
Regulus, having regained his invincibility, paid no attention to Reinhild's actions. He spread his arms, lifted his head arrogantly, and proclaimed the correctness and reasonableness of his actions.
[Divine Protection of the Empty Hand]
"What are you doing?" Regulus's tone held confusion, because Reinhild, standing before him, struck a punch into her own chest. It was the technique Winston had invented to defeat Reinhild, a fist art that destroys the body's internal organs.
Thump, thump—
With the help of the Divine Protection, Reinhild perfectly replicated the force from that time.
A powerful force exploded inside her body. Of course, the technique was not successful; it only caused Reinhild's heart to temporarily stop beating.
"But whatever you do or say, it sounds like you're refusing to admit defeat. Oh, of course, refusing to admit defeat is the privilege of the loser. Go ahead and fully exercise your rights."
Thump, thump, thump~~
Reinhild suppressed her body's instincts and listened to the heartbeat coming from Regulus's chest, a faint smile on her lips.
"Savoring the feeling of superiority—while watching the performance of the loser is the right of me, the victor's... Agh!"
Reinhild delivered a punch to Regulus's chest. The fiend's body instantly flew away and crashed heavily into a nearby building.
Regulus lost consciousness for a moment, but the severe pain throughout his body instantly brought him back from his coma. He found himself falling towards the ground, and then he noticed the clothes, stained with fresh blood, rapidly approaching in his vision.
[Lion's Heart]
The desire for survival made Regulus use his invincible Authority.
Reinhild, who noticed the disappearance of Regulus's heartbeat, no longer held back. Her leg instantly crossed a distance with a speed that could warp space, kicking Regulus squarely on the chin.
BOOM~~~
A gale swept through the surroundings. The Authority Regulus instinctively used while enduring the severe pain only protected his body. A shadow vanished into the twilight clouds at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
"WAAH!!!"
His heart began to beat violently, making up for the beats it should have done during the 5 seconds of time stop in just 1 second. Such intense beating caused Regulus excruciating pain, and he spat out another mouthful of blood. Only then did he get a chance to observe his surroundings. He realized he could no longer see the Water Gate City; even the sea of clouds felt incredibly distant.
—What kind of joke is this? How could such a stupid development happen!!!
Regulus's eyes flashed with hatred. He glared down, thinking of his encounter in the Water Gate City.
—Enough!
Regulus once again activated his Authority for an instant, using his still-mobile right hand to fix the air behind him, bringing himself to a stop.
"Hoo, hoo~~~"
—Though I don't know what you care about, I just need to destroy the entire city, right? You will live the rest of your life steeped in regret!
[If you stop your time for 'invincibility,' you must stop the heart inside your body as well.]
[I was not careless! Your ability is quite troublesome, but this distance shouldn't affect the Water Gate City, right? I will completely shatter your combat capability here.] (PS: Communicating via Divine Protection of Telepathy)
Regulus stared in shock at Reinhild, who had appeared beside him he didn't know when.
[I'm not bragging, but I'm confident in my leg strength. I once leaped from the ground onto the back of a flying dragon already in the clouds.]
"Monster...!"
"Yes. I am a monster who hunts monsters. It's time for you to face judgment."
[Lion's Heart]
Regulus hastily used his Authority to completely stop his time. The next instant, Reinhild's stormy barrage of attacks struck.
—"
The pain of his heart stopping made Regulus abandon any attempt at mockery.
He endured the intense pain, moving his arm little by little, then showed a triumphant expression and swung his arm downwards. The sea of clouds below instantly split open, revealing an even lower layer of clouds. Layer by layer, the clouds were separated.
Finally, the massive lake enveloping the Water Gate City came into Regulus's view.
—Why?
The wild laughter on his face froze, because the lake, which looked like a tiny green bean from this distance, did not crack open as Regulus had expected.
[Thanks to your inability to conceal your ability, I was able to confirm the range of your Authority.]
Regulus looked at Reinhild, confused. Even now, he hadn't recalled the time a year ago when he had thrown Reinhild into the air.
However, Reinhild offered no explanation.
She continued to attack Regulus, circling around him. The third time his heart stopped was now reaching its fourth second under this counterattack. Oxygen deprivation in his brain made it impossible for Regulus to concentrate and change the way he used his Authority.
—So painful, don't want to die, so painful, don't want to die...
The pain felt throughout his body reminded Regulus of the consequences of releasing his Authority, but the prolonged heart stoppage also made the feeling of death loom over him. Regulus surpassed his usual 5-second limit for using the Authority for the first time, and every moment after the 5-second mark felt excruciatingly long and painful.
The pain remained frozen in that instant due to the time stop, but the feeling of death intensified every second. Finally, his weak will was crushed by death.
Thump, thump, thump, thump~
Reinhild's expression showed a slight shock as she noticed Regulus's heartbeat. Only 7 seconds had passed since Regulus activated his Authority.
"Cough, cough, cough...!"
Regulus noticed Reinhild's change in emotion, but the agony of releasing [Lion's Heart] left him speechless. Reinhild, too, snapped out of her shock at the sound of Regulus's coughing. The next instant, the girl's fist truly landed on Regulus's flesh for the second time.
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