Chapter 94

“Found him? Really?”

“Yes! The location is confirmed!”

For the past few days, I’ve been training, sparring with Hatred, and teaching the juniors. Then, out of nowhere, Chubby informed me about a self-proclaimed “regressor” superhuman.

Apparently, that guy got hooked on making billions by trading Medals. If he’s a regressor, why not just bet on sports or play the lottery? Why go this far? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. In the end, he’s aiding monsters, making him an enemy of both the Fairy Realm and the human world. So, whatever, I’ll just kill him. That’s all.

“His current location is on an island in Jeolla Province! This island!”

“…Why? Seriously, why there?”

“Probably because the island villages are isolated and hard for the government to reach! Plus, there are a lot of islands!”

“Still, this seems a bit excessive…”

Looking at the map, he’s deep inside the islands. Hmm… I don’t get why he’s going this far. Maybe this self-proclaimed regressor is, like, really young? I’m not that old myself, but this guy’s way of thinking is just… weird.

“…Huh? A call?”

“Who’s it from?”

“Ah~ It’s from the Hero.”

Suddenly, the Hero called me. I don’t know why, but I’ll answer.

[Hello?]

[It’s the Hero. Why’d you call?]

[Well… I wanted to share some info about that self-proclaimed regressor.]

…So, he knew I was going to kill him and called. Plus, the timing is perfect… or rather, since the Hero is now connected to the Fairy Realm, he must’ve heard about it.

[Oh? So… what do you know?]

[That guy, at first, wasn’t much, but suddenly he got insanely strong. Maybe it’s because he’s a regressor, but it seems like he’s using past experiences to rapidly grow in the present.]

[…Is that really a regressor ability?]

[I don’t know. He says it is…]

Hmm… Well, that info alone is helpful. At least it doesn’t seem like he can create worldlines. So, he’s probably just feeding his past experiences into the present. Still, this is just speculation based on limited info, so I could be wrong. But he’s probably not beyond this scope.

“Let’s hurry and deal with him. There’s a limit to how many Medals there are, but letting him spread them around is bad news.”

“Understood!”

Alright, then… let’s go see what kind of brat he is. Just because he got one ability, he’s causing all this trouble.

“…There are way too many islands.”

“That’s the island!”

I came to an island in Jeolla Province to stop the Medal trade and deal with the self-proclaimed regressor. I don’t know if he’s allied with the island village cartel, but I just need to eliminate the Medal trading group led by the regressor. If they’re involved, I’ll kill them; if they deny it, the government can handle it. Not that I expect much from the government.

“…What’s with the hiding? The location’s weird, but the place is built so extravagantly. Is he an idiot?”

“Who knows…”

Really, this is just sigh-inducing. Whatever, I’ll just wipe it out with [Energy Blast].

“…Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“My mana… it’s not being controlled properly.”

“…Yeah, there’s some weird interference.”

I don’t know where or how he got it, but having a jamming device that disrupts mana to this extent… Probably Pandora’s side played a little prank after seeing his Medal trading antics. There’s no way a mere superhuman could pull this off otherwise.

“Looks like the guest we’ve been waiting for has arrived?”

“…So, you’re the self-proclaimed regressor.”

“Hehe, thanks for calling me that.”

Just as I was thinking, someone showed up as if they’d been waiting. Judging by his tone, he’s the “self-proclaimed regressor.” And… yeah, he’s definitely a kid. The epitome of a rebellious high schooler causing trouble.

“Kuku… How’s this? All the stuff I got just to deal with you?”

“Where’d you get this?”

“Who knows~? I got it from a pretty lady who calls herself a witch.”

My predictions are spot on. This seems more like a spontaneous prank than a plan, but… it’s annoying.

“Well… all that’s left is your weak body, right?”

Hmm… Even though it’s strong enough to prevent me from forming my [Energy Blade], it’s not like I can’t use mana at all. I can still use the mana particles inherent in my body. Especially if I switch to [Physical Enhancement], I can get about 1/10th efficiency. There’s no way I can’t deal with him with this. Alright, first… a strike to the solar plexus.

“…Oh? You dodged that?”

“…I told you, didn’t I? I’m a regressor. I’ve seen through all your moves!!”

“……”

I might’ve underestimated him a bit. Even without using [Physical Enhancement], I’m attacking with the intent to kill, but he’s dodging, deflecting, and even trying to counterattack. Plus, he knows how to manipulate mana, even using mana-based attacks. With his high mana capacity, it’s no wonder he’s so confident.

…But, it’s clear this kid’s thinking is shallow. No matter what he does, no matter how many times he regresses… he hasn’t even considered the insurmountable gap in power. Plus, he doesn’t realize I haven’t even released my First Ability, let alone my full power. Well, with the jamming device, he might think I can’t release my abilities. But, it’s just a kid’s shallow knowledge and ideas. It’s no wonder he can’t consider all possibilities.

“Your regression ability… how does it work? It doesn’t seem like you’re restarting your entire life, right?”

“W-why would I tell you that?!”

Hmm… From his reaction and tone, I get it. His regression ability isn’t a full restart of his life. It’s probably a half-baked regression ability that only lets him go back to the moment he became a superhuman. Still, even that’s a pretty good ability.

Anyway, that’s probably why he couldn’t just make money from lotteries or stocks and started this mess. Superhumans only started appearing less than half a year ago, so all the important events have already passed. With nothing significant to change, he probably looked for ways to gain an advantage, like weakening magical girls, and this jamming device is one of them. If he really thinks he’s gained the upper hand with just that… it’s kinda, no, really laughable.

“By the way… you know what?”

“Are you trying to distract me with words now?!”

“No, it’s not that… do you know why I’m called 「Rampage」?”

“W-what…! More importantly, how are you still standing against my attacks?! With that weak body that can’t even use mana! I’ve regressed so many times… I’ve even trained my martial arts to surpass you!!”

…I think it’s about time to wrap this up.

At first, I was cautious because he’s a regressor, but now I don’t feel the need to be cautious at all.

“If you don’t know, I’ll tell you. …Third Ability, 「Rampage」.”

“?!! What’s with that mana…? The jamming device should be fully operational?!”

“Normally, yes. But you see… magical girls are different from superhumans like you. We govern 「Concepts」. That’s why, like fairies, our bodies are entirely composed of mana particles. So, completely neutralizing a magical girl’s power is impossible. It’s perfectly bound to our soul and body, making it incredibly stable, to the point where a mere jamming device can’t properly disrupt it.”

“C-concept…?”

“And the 「Concept」 I govern is 「Rampage」. This 「Concept」 can make your jamming device, and even… your mana and ‘abilities’ go berserk, rendering them useless. In other words, I can stop you from regressing. How’s that? You thought you could mess around with your half-baked regression ability, but now you’re truly facing death, huh?”

“T-that’s impossible… In all my regressions, I’ve never heard of anything like that…”

“Of course you haven’t. What kind of idiot would tell a human something like that?”

First, I’ll use 「Chaotic Frenzy」 to prevent him from activating his ability at will, then… I’ll use 「Rampage」 to completely block the ability itself from activating. I don’t know what triggers his regression ability, but as long as I make it go berserk and stop it from working, that’s enough.

“G-go away… go away…! Don’t come any closer!!”

“…Honestly, if you hadn’t messed with the Medals and just lived normally, I wouldn’t have bothered you.”

“W-what…?”

“But you not only messed with the Medals, you also got involved with a witch. So… I have no choice but to kill you. Once you become an ‘enemy of humanity,’ even if you’re just a kid, there’s no forgiveness.”

“H-hic…!”

Kids are really just kids. So confident earlier, but now that death is right in front of him, he’s crying and looking pathetic. This is why superhumans who get a little power and start causing trouble are so disgusting.

“Really… a kid with a bright future ahead, blinded by money, doing something like this… And thinking that even after regressing so many times, he could close the insurmountable gap in power. No matter how much you try, there’s a limit to what a mere superhuman can do.”

“P-please spare me… I won’t do this again, please spare me…! I don’t want to die…!!”

“I told you. There’s no forgiveness for someone who’s become an enemy of humanity. Just die.”

I grabbed the self-proclaimed regressor’s head, used 「Rampage」 to neutralize his regression ability, and then used 「Domain Collapse」 to erase him without a trace. With this, he’s properly dead without being able to activate his regression ability. After all… the Third Ability is literally the power to make ‘anything’ go berserk. Even if I can’t make 「Concepts」 themselves go berserk, everything else is fair game.

“Rampage! Are you done?”

“Yeah. Let’s destroy that extravagant idiot’s base too.”

“Understood! Oh, and I checked—it’s fine to kill everyone inside too!”

“Really? Well, coming here in the first place means they’re already people who deserve to die.”

By the way, how should I destroy this building? I just want to wipe out this part, but it’s a bit tricky. Hmm… Oh, right. Since we’re here, let’s test the range limit of 「Domain Collapse」 and use it to destroy this place. My mana control has improved a lot, so it shouldn’t be as bad as last time when I blew up part of Antarctica.

“…This is fine. I can use 「Domain Collapse」 on Earth now.”

“This is not fine at all!! Half the island is gone!!”

“Sorry about that. But it’s much easier to recover than last time, right?”

“That’s not the problem!!”

Wow~ My mana control has definitely improved. Training my mana control 24/7 really paid off!

“Are you even listening?!”

Alright, time to go home and eat some bread.

“Rampage~!!!”