Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan

Chapter 257

“You had a fine retainer.”

For the first time, Kyle offered praise.

The unwavering loyalty Farell had shown toward Hilda had left a strong impression, even on him.

“…Are you envious?”

“To be making jokes in this situation… it seems you’ve finally come to your senses.”

Kyle let out a dry chuckle and lowered his sword.

There was no need to take the life of someone who had so little left to cling to.

“For the first and last time, I have a request,” Hilda murmured, her voice faint as she gently caressed Farell’s lifeless head. “Give this child a proper burial.”

Kyle nodded. “So be it.”

Farell’s actions had already condemned him as a criminal deserving the harshest of punishments, his body meant to be displayed as a warning.

But Kyle agreed nonetheless, and Hilda smiled softly. Farell’s unwavering loyalty had moved even Kyle.

And she knew.

Kyle wouldn’t honor such a request for her sake.

But for Farell, he would.

Hilda did not include herself in the plea.

She had broken the taboos of Ragnar by forging a pact with an external deity. The punishment awaiting her body would be merciless, and she held no regrets about it.

Only a faint sadness lingered—had she upheld the pride of Ragnar just a little more, had she lived up to Farell’s expectations of a master, perhaps things might have been different.

She realized this too late, a regret she had no time to amend.

Finally, she voiced the question that had always gnawed at her.

“Why are you so strong?”

From the moment she stepped into this world, she had stolen the opportunities Kyle needed to achieve enlightenment.

Yet, Kyle’s strength remained unshaken.

Even when she seized the fortunes that should have been his, the difference was negligible, as though she had taken nothing more than a trinket.

Kyle’s monumental power bore no cracks.

“For you, each moment was fleeting, but for me, every single one demanded absolute caution,” Kyle replied.

Hilda couldn’t understand his words.

She, too, had been cautious.

But the difference lay in the depth of desperation, the intensity of the struggles.

And that, she found difficult to accept.

“You only ever enjoyed the fruits of your privileges. You never bore the weight of anything.”

Kyle’s words felt like a hint, an answer to the question she had pondered her entire life.

She remembered something Kyle had once told her during a duel:

"You wouldn’t understand. You’ve never shouldered anything, not even once."

The meaning of those words finally dawned on her.

“You must have rewritten the lives of everyone around you countless times simply because their paths didn’t suit your whims.

Did you never consider that by denying the lives of others, you yourself deserved to be denied?”

Kyle’s voice carried both clarity and bitterness.

The sin of regression, of countless lives invalidated in pursuit of her desires.

Hilda understood now, and with that understanding came a sense of peace.

“So, even with the connection to the deity severed, this body refuses to die properly…”

Tears fell.

The sin of greed, her indifference to others, weighed heavily on her.

Her once graceful hands, so adept at slicing through rain, grew gnarled and aged, like those of an old crone.

“If I had known death would come so disgracefully, I would have preferred to fall to your sword…”

Hilda felt death creeping closer, starting from her extremities, a dry and hollow end.

She wished, at the very least, to see Farell’s face one last time. But cruelly, his visage remained only in the faint sensation of his touch.

“This child will be waiting for me… but I suppose our paths will diverge.”

With what little strength she had left, Hilda pulled Farell’s body closer and embraced him tightly.

“Don’t wait for me, child. Once I’ve paid for my sins, I’ll come find you…”

She whispered these words to Farell before the long, tumultuous journey of her life came to its quiet end.

Kyle watched her die in silence.

The battle’s end felt hollow, but not entirely unsatisfying. He felt he had come to understand Hilda a little more in her final moments.

The clawed hand of the deity, which had ripped through dimensions, faded completely, and the sky returned to its natural state.

“With her like that, no one would recognize her even if I brought back her head.”

Kyle set both bodies ablaze where they lay.

Even if a burial had been requested, for Farell, there was no greater honor than to rest eternally with his master.

Kyle offered no words of mourning.

He simply watched the flames consume their bodies before turning and walking away.

***

Theo felt the heartbeat of his sword.

For the first time, the abstract concept seemed strikingly clear to him.

The vivid, pulsing energy coursing through the blade tickled his hands, urging him to swing it.

The name of the sword seemed to whisper insistently, prodding at his nerves.

Crunch!

With another strike, the Sublimation Gate showed signs of crumbling further.

Yet, Theo felt no satisfaction.

If it were Kyle, he thought, the gate would have been severed in a single blow. The image of such precision gnawed at his mind.

‘It’s not about strength. I need to see something deeper—something fundamental.’

Theo had already surpassed the brilliance of Kyle's strikes.

His power was more than enough, evident in the cracks now forming on the formidable gate.

‘I need to see where to cut.’

His eyes narrowed as he focused, seeking not the surface of the gate but the essence that lay beyond it.

To do that, he knew he had to change.

He recalled the Glass Domain he had once unfolded—a realm etched with his flaws, a space he had wanted to hide from everyone.

Now, Julius and the Plum Blossom Sovereign were watching.

Normally, he would have hesitated, fearing their disappointment or disgust upon seeing his vulnerabilities.

But now...

‘I trust them.’

He believed in them.

And they had shown their trust in him.

For so long, they had stood by him, and now even Kyle had placed his faith in Theo by entrusting him with this mission.

If that was the case, then he would succeed.

Without hesitation, without help.

Because he wasn’t merely following in Kyle’s footsteps—he was striving to surpass the man who had been his goal from the start.

Despair turned to hope.

Pain transformed into joy.

Fear became certainty.

Envy gave way to admiration.

Theo channeled the storm of conflicting emotions into a single strike, baring his inner world while simultaneously confronting the essence of the external one.

His thoughts accelerated, transcending the boundary between self and other.

With each moment of clarity, more and more was revealed.

Even an object like the gate had a path to its core, a truth embedded in its foundation.

Rumble!

The enhanced Drake’s Blade began to crackle with black lightning.

As the energy surged, Theo’s surroundings were dyed in shadow.

“What is that?”

“Is that… Theo’s inner world?”

Both Julius and the Plum Blossom Sovereign stared in shock.

The vision Theo displayed bore a resemblance to the Bright Dragon Emperor’s domain—yet it was different.

“No, it’s more than that…”

“It’s… something else entirely.”

There was a madness beyond what the Bright Dragon Emperor had ever shown.

Yet, within the twisted, chaotic expanse that mirrored an Asura’s realm, a single thread of light shone through.

It wasn’t much—just a single beam of light.

But it radiated as though it were battling to dispel the suffocating darkness, burning brightly like the resolve of a child rising after their first fall.

The beam illuminated Theo, descending upon him like a spotlight, like a guiding North Star.

Whirl!

A fierce wind began to swirl around him.

Theo’s sharp eyes fixed on the Sublimation Gate, the shadowed obstacle that stood in his way.

What did it matter if he had failed once—or even twice?

If he succeeded the third or fourth time, who would dare call him a failure?

Gripping the hilt of his sword, Theo poured every ounce of strength into his arms.

The black lightning raging along the blade grew fiercer, and storm clouds gathered overhead.

As darkness consumed the world and silence descended, Theo’s resolve solidified.

‘I will succeed this time.’

With that determination, Theo unleashed his strike.

The Draconic Venom activated, surging through him and accelerating the force of his attack.

Crack! Crackle!

A torrent of lightning roared forth, colliding with the Sublimation Gate in a deafening explosion.

The ground shook, and the surrounding area was torn apart in an instant.

“Guh!”

Julius and the Plum Blossom Sovereign struggled to withstand the shockwave.

Even with their magic fully deployed, they could do little more than endure the overwhelming force.

The sheer power of Theo’s strike rippled beyond the Naga’s Forest, reaching the allied forces stationed outside and causing them to recoil in fear.

BOOM!

The sound of the gate being ground to dust reverberated through the air.

Even the wails of the dead, drawn to the Sublimation Gate, were drowned out by the fury of the black lightning.

Molecules composing the gate were burned away, and the storm’s black spear pierced the heavens, unrelenting in its intensity.

‘Just a little more!’

Theo refused to let up, drawing on the last reserves of his strength to amplify the attack.

Shatter!

The Sublimation Gate convulsed violently.

The sky quaked with an ear-splitting resonance as a massive ripple tore through the void.

Theo knew—it was nearly over.

But his body had reached its limit.

Pain surged over him in waves, threatening to consume him.

He gritted his teeth, unwilling to collapse.

‘Damn it…’

As exhaustion threatened to overtake him, a voice suddenly broke through the fog of his mind.

“Knock.”

The clarity of the voice pierced through his inner haze like a beacon.

“Knock ceaselessly. Forge yourself like a blacksmith tempering a single blade over a lifetime. There is no such thing as impossible. Only the unknown exists.”

The words reignited Theo’s waning spirit, pulling his consciousness back to the surface.

“Turn the unknown into the known. Forge your history. Make your body the finest sword this continent has ever seen.”

In that moment, a powerful yet soothing energy coursed through Theo’s body.

‘This is… Kyle’s mana.’

The familiar warmth, blazing like fire yet gentle as a summer breeze, stabilized his fraying spirit.

“Feeling better now?”

With his focus restored, Theo tapped into his full potential, his strength recovering rapidly.

Grinning despite himself, Theo stared ahead.

He had reached a sensation unlike any he had ever felt before, sharper and more refined than anything prior.

BOOM!

Light erupted as the Sublimation Gate shattered, disintegrating into oblivion.

A storm of black lightning roared through the air, carrying the last remnants of Theo’s power.

The rain stopped, and the barren wind swept through the scorched battlefield.

“Incredible…”

“What… is this?”

Julius and the Plum Blossom Sovereign gazed at the smoldering aftermath, sparks still crackling on the ground.

‘There’s no other word for it. He’s a monster.’

Julius let out a hollow laugh, staring at Theo in awe.

***

Having pushed his power past its limits, Theo took a long time to stabilize his mana.

By the time he managed to gather himself, Kyle let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head.

“From now on, keep at least 20% of your strength in reserve.”

“So I can handle unexpected situations, I assume?”

“Exactly.”

Julius and the Plum Blossom Sovereign both chimed in, though laughter tinged their scolding.

Even Kyle allowed himself a faint smirk.

And then—

•  

[Congratulations! You have successfully destroyed the Sublimation Gate and proven yourself capable of inheriting the role of Executor, completing Scenario Quest #12.]

[Rating: S]

[Reward: ???]

[As an additional reward for achieving an S-rank evaluation, the following skills will be upgraded: Synesthesia, Might, Nirvana.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

·
·

A flood of messages appeared in the corner of Theo’s vision, but he couldn’t focus on them.

Kyle stood before him, shrouded in radiant light, as if this would be his final moment.

The Sublimation Gate was gone, leaving behind only the devastation caused by its destruction. In its wake, Kyle’s glowing form scattered shimmering rays of light as he ruffled Theo’s hair.

“Big brother…”

Julius and the Plum Blossom Sovereign, who had been smiling moments ago, now stood behind Kyle, unsure of what to do.

It seemed as if even the slightest touch might cause him to ascend. Their outstretched hands hovered, hesitant.

“Is Robert still not here?”

Kyle’s gaze turned toward the outside, where he knew the Black Dragon was stationed.

Moments later, a sparrow flitted through the air, wings fluttering furiously as it approached.

“My apologies for being late, big brother. The storm delayed me,” came the reply.

The sparrow transformed back into Black Dragon, who now stood before Kyle.

Now, everyone Kyle had wished to see in his final moments was present.

Yet Kyle’s focus was fixed on one person.

“You’ve done well.”

Kyle turned his gaze to Theo, his expression softening with a faint smile.

“You did exceptionally, but remember to learn control.”