Im Not a Regressor

Chapter 209: Snakes Head (2)

Where exactly did you find their traces? Ohjin asked, his eyes narrowed.

-Itll be faster for you to come and see for yourself.

But

-Ah, if this is about the Queen of Snakes, do not be worried. I secretly observed the surroundings myself for around a week, and it fortunately seems that she is not present.

Hmm. Ohjin thought about it and nodded his head. Considering how confident Cheon Sanggil was, it would be safe.

-Werent you the one to solve the demonic beast incident last time? I would like some assistance.

That is true Ohjin narrowed his eyes and started to think.

He couldnt just sit still and do nothing when he was told that a fissure leading to the Demon Realm had opened in the middle of a city.

It was right to do whatever he could as fast as possible before an irreversible event happened like in San Fruttuoso.

Hmm

However, Ohjin felt an unpleasant, strange feeling like there were a few missing pieces of the puzzle.

Gramps, how are you doing?

-Hm? There were other people with you?

Ah, yes. Im with Ha-eun and Isabella.

-Even better. I happened to be planning on contacting both of them as well.

It certainly wasnt something Ohjin could take care of alone.

When do we need to be there by?

-The faster the better. It appears that no demonic beasts have exited the fissure yet but we dont know what will happen as long as it remains open.

I agree. Ohjin nodded and stood up. Well head over right after were finished preparing.

-Understood. Then Ill hang up and contact the guild.

Beep

The call ended.

A fissure that leads to the Demon Realm I wonder why it suddenly appeared in Korea of all places, Isabella wondered with a hardened expression.

Its likely to have to do something with the Snakes.

Then isnt it too dangerous to go there right now?

That doesnt mean we can turn a blind eye to it.

A fissure right beneath a city was the equivalent of a ticking time bomb. Well, it wasnt likely for Ohjin to take damage if it did explode, however

I need to do something, even if its just to maintain my hero title.

If news that he didnt participate for fear of his own safety happened to spread, his hard-earned reputation could hit rock bottom in an instant.

I cant let that happen.

He felt to the bone how useful the name Lightning Wolf was when he covered up the Damien incident with Isabella.

If Isabella and Ohjin hadnt made a name for themselves in the meantime, they wouldnt have been able to avoid gazes of suspicion when huge news such as a Seven Star dying got out.

I also now have a personal reason to chase the Snakes.

Is it because of the Heavenly Demon?

Yeah.

The identity of the Heavenly Demon

There was probably no living existence who knew more about that being other than the Queen of Snakes.

It does seem to be pretty serious with how Gramps was acting.

Why? Was it different from normal?

Mhm. No matter how busy he is, he usually talks about irrelevant stuff a lot. This time, he only brought up the important points.

To put it nicely, he was flexible in his speech, but one could also say he spoke in a sly manner. Ha-eun would know that best as one who was instructed directly under Cheon Sanggil.

Lets start preparing.

Okay, then Ill head home and wash up.

Tell me if theres anything you need and Ill tell Roberto to get it for us.

Alright. It seems that well have to eat from the lunch boxes later.

Fufu. Dont worry. Ill make them for you whenever you want.

Ohjin, Ha-eun, and Isabella individually prepared what they needed before leaving home and inspected their equipment.

After he finished inspecting his wire shooters, Ohjin took out his spear that was in the shape of a folding knife and carefully polished it with an oiled cloth. Once he was done with that, he prepared the orange bracelet and gauntlet he hadnt had an opportunity to use recently and recovered the mana that he expended during his short meditation and training.

Is everyone finished preparing?

Ohjin came out to the living room in a fully-armed state.

Ha-eun, wearing skinny jeans and a rider jacket, along with Isabella, holding a staff embedded with a large golden gemstone, were waiting for him there.

Yes. Were finished.

Im a bit tired from getting beat up earlier, but it cant be helped.

Um. That was

I know you wouldnt have done it if you knew this would happen, so stop putting on that expression.

Ha-eun smirked and lightly pinched Isabellas cheek.

Ah.

Like it was her first time getting her cheek pinched, Isabella stroked it with one hand as her eyes widened. Her lips slowly turned into a smile while she was looking at Ha-eun.

Its about time we leave.

Will it be okay? Arent you hungry?

Ill eat my fill there.

It was more efficient to summon Vega once they arrived since her time on Earth was limited.

Alright! Lets go and catch that snakes tail in a jiffy! Ha-eun lightly stepped out the door.

* * *

Hmm. So this is Sokcho. Isabella exited the car and furrowed her brow as she took a brief look around Sokcho.

The downtown area of Sokcho had been damaged severely by the demonic beast incident half a year prior and hadnt been able to recover yet. The many construction sites seemed to be proof of that.

This is an inhabited city correct?

Its like this due to the attack of demonic beasts gramps mentioned earlier. Ha-eun took out a cigarette from her jacket and bit it with a bitter look on her face.

There werent casualties because they had already evacuated everyone in advance before they went on with their demonic beast subjugation operation, but they couldnt prevent the destruction of their homes.

It wasnt like destroyed buildings could be reconstructed in a day. More time would be needed for the people who live in Sokcho to see the original appearance of their hometown.

Ha-eun, where did the black energy spike up again?

Oh, somewhere around there.

Ha-eun, who was smoking and looking at the people walking lifelessly in the streets, rubbed her cigarette on an ashtray and put it out.

There was a large hole about 300 meters in diameter in the middle of the city next to the Expo Tower that was in the middle of construction. It was like a sinkhole had appeared.

* * *

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

An old man wearing a hanbok waited for Ohjins party near the fences with danger warnings all over them.

Thank you for coming right away. Cheon Sanggil extended his hand towards Ohjin with a friendly smile.

Is the Heavens Grace guild yet to arrive?

I received contact that theyll be here soon. He turned around and walked past the warning fences.

There was an unpleasant, sticky energy flowing from beneath the seemingly bottomless hole.

Is that where were heading?

Thats correct. Cheon Sangil slowly nodded his head.

Ohjin sighed and waited until the Heavens Grace guild members arrived.

Come to think of it, what are your future plans with Guardian?

Hm? What do you mean by that?

Havent three out of seven members died?

Ahh, right. Cheon Sanggil nodded as if he had remembered something hed forgotten about.

Well, casualties cant be helped during an operation.

That is true.

His reaction was much more easy going than Ohjin imagined it would be.

Ill try to recruit more people after this matter is over. We can think about who to recruit when that time comes, Sanggil said while looking down at the black hole.

Ohjin nodded and observed the surroundings. Come to think of it, is Lee Woohyuk coming?

I tried to contact him, but I heard hes gone into seclusion.

Seclusion?

Isnt he on the doorsteps of 9-Star?

It was indeed about time Lee Woohyuk advanced into the ranks of a high-rank Awakener.

Vroooom

While they were looking around and exchanging smalltalk, a couple of large vans arrived at the scene.

Heavens Grace members wearing improved hanbok stormed out.

Is everyone here?

Yes, sir!

The members stood in a neat line and bowed to Sanggil as if they had gone through army training.

Then lets head in. Sanggil faced away from his guild members and started to move.

There were stairs around one meter in width on the outskirts of the deep hole.

Ohjins party followed him down the narrow stairs, and when they were around one hundred meters down

Can you feel it?

Sanggil turned around and spoke to Ohjin.

There wasnt a subject in his sentence, but he didnt need one to understand what he was referring tothere was ominous mana rising up like a haze from the hole.

Yes. He could realize there was something extremely ominous below even without using the stigma of the Hunting Dogs.

That is the fissure I discovered.

As they went down approximately 30 more meters, they saw a small fissure around one meter in size.

What was the trace of the Snakes you mentioned?

Come over here. Sanggil pointed to somewhere near the black fissure.

There was a bizarre magic circle drawn there, and in the middle of it was a hand-sized medallion engraved with the shape of a snake.

This is Ohjin looked down at the snake medallion in the middle of the magic circle and narrowed his eyes.

Indeed, it was the exact same medallion as the ones possessed by Cheon Doyoon and Sosuke.

Is it about time I call Vega?

Vegas senses were a lot more exceptional than his in that area. Ohjin touched the silver pendant hanging around his neck, and she appeared out of thin air with radiant light.

[Hmm? Where is this?]

It looked like she felt the unpleasant mana in the area since she spoke with a frown on her face.

Ohjin explained what happened in a simple manner.

[A fissure that leads to the Demon Realm]

Vega furrowed her brow while looking at the black fissure leaking the unpleasant mana.

[How did you find this place?]

I happened to come across it while chasing after the Snakes. It appears to have been here for quite some time.

[No.] Vega firmly shook her head.

[It hasnt been long since this fissure was created.]

It hasnt been long since it was created?

[Correct.]

Then how long has it been?

[I cant give you an exact time but around ten days? I believe it has only been somewhere around there.]

That would mean Sanggil discovered the fissure only three days after it was created.

Ohjin narrowed his eyes and examined the black fissure.

Whats its state like?

[Hmm. Its maintaining an incredibly stable state.]

Theres no chance of demonic beasts or anything else coming out?

[I cant say that the chances of it happening are nil, but it is indeed low. Dont monsters normally come out of fissures that are unstable?]

Thats true.

It was the same in San Fruttuosofundamentally, monsters would only exit a fissure when it was stimulated or in an unstable state.

Then does that mean its safe for now?

Ohjin approached the black fissure and slowly extended his hand.

Then the moment the tips of his fingers made contact with the fissure

Rumble!!

the hole trembled as if an earthquake was happening.

Wh-Whats going on?

Ohjin!

[My child!]

Ha-eun looked around with shock while Vega and Isabella urgently called out Ohjin, who quickly took his hand out of the fissure and backed off.

However

C-C-C-Crack!!!!

Like cracked glass breaking, the black fissure that was merely one meter in size suddenly started to expand.

Five meters, ten meters, thirty meters

The fissure expanded at a rapid speed and swallowed up everyone within the hole in an instant.

Damn it!

Bang!

Even as the fissure swallowed him, Ohjin quickly used his wire shooters and wrapped them around Ha-eun and Isabella.

His consciousness faded along with the feeling of his body getting sucked into somewhere.

In his hazy mind

-Youve come.

he heard the whispers of someone who had a thrilled, ecstatic voice.

-Ive been waiting for you.

Ohjin lost consciousness without any sort of chance to identify who the voice belonged to.

Ugh

Where he was lying when he opened his eyes was inside the Demon Realm.