Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 111

Underground Waterway

Clang! Clank!

Diana frowned at the coordinated attack of the three assassins. “Swift and concise,” she thought. But that wasn’t all. The combined assault of three was unpredictable, with strikes aiming for her vulnerabilities. She couldn’t just stand there; she would be overwhelmed.

Sigh.

Diana exhaled lightly, determination setting in her eyes. “Time to draw out the power!”

She slammed her foot down hard.

Thud!

A powerful energy burst forth from her body. The assassins circling her, looking for an opening, flinched momentarily. Their murderous intent only intensified.

“Are you finally getting serious?” “Until now, it was too boring!”

Ilgwi and Igwi, the first and second assassins, laughed maniacally as they charged at her from behind. They casually thrust their seemingly languid swords forward.

Whoosh…

A crimson aura emanated from the swords, enveloping their forms. Their speed increased exponentially, hidden within the growing red energy.

Assassin Technique – Blood Typhoon

The spiraling red energy resembled a raging crimson typhoon.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The twin typhoons tore through the underground waterway’s floor, hurtling towards Diana with terrifying speed. If she remained, she would be torn apart by the violent storms.

Gulp.

Diana steadied her breath as the typhoons neared. The determination in her eyes blazed fiercer, and she gripped her greatsword tightly.

Flex.

Her forearms bulged momentarily.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the blood-red typhoons unleashed by the assassins reached her, “Uraaah! Cha!”

Diana let out a battle cry and swung her greatsword with both hands as if it were a club. The greatsword, as large as an adult man, swung at the incoming storms. It was like children hitting a ball with a stick in play, but the outcome was vastly different.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The typhoons, struck by Diana’s greatsword, pressed on with even more ferocity, but only for a moment.

Flex.

The veins and muscles in Diana’s arms popped out.

Crack!

Ilgwi and Igwi, the typhoons they had become, tilted violently towards Diana in an instant. And then…

Crash!

Having exhausted all their mana, Il-Gwi and I-Gwi were flung away at incredible speed.

Bang!

They crashed into the wall, and Diana’s lips curled into a slight smile. It was at that moment…

With a Thud!

Gasp!

Diana spat out a clot of blood that rose in her throat.

A sharp pain flared up behind her back, spreading rapidly throughout her body until…

Thump!

Her greatsword clattered to the ground.

Trembling, she looked down at her abdomen.

A sword, like a metal spike, had pierced her, its tip protruding from her front.

“Kehehehe! I get to taste it first?”

Samgwi, the last of the three assassins, had seized the moment when Diana’s attention was on the other two to strike.

He withdrew the sword from her abdomen and brought it to his lips.

Lick!

“Such a sweet flavor. Truly exquisite!”

The assassin’s eyes curved like crescent moons as he licked Diana’s blood from the blade.

Having pierced the energy center in her abdomen, Diana’s extraordinary strength should have been sapped.

“Hey! Wake up, everyone!”

At Samgwi’s shout, Ilgwi and Igwi, previously slammed against the wall, snapped their eyes open.

They began to laugh, a chilling sound that raised goosebumps.

They cracked their necks as they emerged from the wall.

“Damn! That was close to death.”

“Giggle, giggle, but we didn’t die, did we?”

With the blade in her abdomen and Ilgwi and Igwi regaining consciousness, Diana’s demise seemed inevitable.

“Ah… I refuse.”

At Diana’s quiet murmur, Samgwi tilted his head in confusion.

That’s when it happened.

Growl…

Feeling something amiss, Samgwi’s eyes widened in shock, and he leaped back.

Ilgwi and Igwi, who were approaching from a distance, also froze in place.

Samgwi, who had retreated, trembled as he looked at Diana.

The smile vanished from his face, leaving only bewilderment.

“But… I pierced her abdomen.”

The abdomen houses not only the organs but also the energy center, the Danjeon.

He had destroyed it, yet Diana’s aura was more ferocious than before.

And then…

“This is madness!”

Diana’s pierced abdomen was healing at an unnaturally rapid pace.

It was a regenerative power beyond human belief.

Samgwi’s arms shook uncontrollably as he screamed.

“What sorcery is this?!”

His arms trembled as if poisoned.

And that wasn’t all.

Thump! Thump!

His heart pounded as if it would burst any second.

Then, Diana, who had been standing quietly in front, slightly turned her head.

Samgwi’s eyes met hers.

“What… what is that?!”

Diana’s eyes were no longer human.

Yellowed, with elongated pupils, they resembled a cat’s.

Suddenly, Igwi let out a roar and charged at Diana.

“You dare make me tremble?!”

Energy surged in Igwi’s sword.

But it was not firm; it undulated, and was incomplete.

It was to be expected.

Such energy was the exclusive domain of the superhuman. Ordinary people couldn’t wield it.

Yet Igwi had managed to infuse his sword with half-formed energy by pouring in massive mana.

It might not match the cutting power of true energy, but its destructive force was comparable.

The energy-laden sword swung swiftly towards Diana’s neck.

Ilgwi and Samgwi had no doubt it would sever her head.

Clang!

But an anomaly occurred.

Igwi’s sword stopped abruptly, as if blocked by something, right before Diana’s neck.

Despite Igwi’s flushed face indicating he was exerting full force.

Ilgwi and Samgwi soon realized what was stopping Igwi’s sword.

“Nails?!”

“Igwi, it’s the nails!”

Diana’s nails, though not fully infused with energy, were blocking the sword.

Igwi’s face contorted monstrously as he quickly reached into his robe.

Just as he was about to pull out various hidden weapons…

Crash!

Whoosh!

Diana’s nails shattered Igwi’s sword and, not stopping there, slashed his throat.

Roll…

Igwi’s severed head rolled to Ilgwi’s feet.

Ilgwi looked dumbfoundedly between Diana and Igwi’s head at his feet.

“How… The Danjeon was destroyed…”

Normally, the mana stored within the body would be lost.

But Diana, instead of weakening, had performed the miracle of shattering an energy-infused sword.

Scenes from earlier flashed through Ilgwi’s mind.

“Those cat-like eyes and nails! You… you couldn’t possibly be…!”

Ilgwi began to tremble as he realized Diana’s true nature.

Possessing unprecedented strength without using the Danjeon.

Eyes and nails like a beast, and regenerative power beyond human.

There was only one race with all these traits.

Just as he was about to speak…

Boom!

The ground where Diana had been standing moments before exploded.

“Ugh!”

And suddenly, Diana appeared right in front of Ilgwi, her face cold as she grasped his throat.

Ilgwi’s eyes filled with terror.

“Run! And tell the special task force commander her identity…!”

“Shut up.”

Snap.

Before he could finish, Ilgwi’s neck was effortlessly broken.

With the situation reversed, Samgwi collapsed on the spot.

Diana, having thrown aside Ilgwi’s body, slowly walked towards Samgwi.

“Are you the last one?”

And so,

The feared trio of death met an ignoble end, unworthy of their fearsome reputation.

* * *

In front of the cage where Lia was trapped.

“Hmm.”

Yan fiddled with the iron bars of the cage she was confined in.

He could feel the mana intricately entwined in a complex structure.

It was likely a device designed to block Lia’s special abilities.

Yet, Lia’s power was already seeping through the bars and flowing outwards.

Even now, the gravity pressing down on Yan was growing stronger.

At that moment, Momon clicked his tongue in disapproval and advised,

[“Are you planning to boil and eat the restraint orb I gave you before?”]

“Ah!”

Caught up in the urgency, Yan had forgotten.

He quickly pulled out an interdimensional pouch and found the spare ability restraint orb that Momon had prepared.

Just holding it seemed to alleviate the crushing gravity.

Then, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

Yan swiftly turned his head.

Relieved at the sight of the newcomer, he exhaled.

“Director, is that you?”

“What, you wish it was those madmen?”

“No, not really.”

Yan assessed Diana’s condition.

She looked weary but not severely injured.

Then something caught Yan’s eye.

The abdominal area of Diana’s top was stained with blood.

It looked as though she had been pierced by something like a metal spike.

However, the skin visible through the hole in Diana’s abdomen was unscathed.

Others might think she was just wearing such clothes, but not Yan.

He knew her true identity after all.

‘Such a monstrous physique.’

Then Diana approached Yan and clicked her tongue.

“Is this the child’s ability?”

She looked into the cage with a shocked expression.

Inside, Lia was still trembling, her pitiful expression suggesting she had lost her senses.

“How pitiful.”

“Indeed, pitiful.”

“But why don’t you take the child out?”

“I can’t.”

Yan picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it through the bars.

And then…

Crunch!

The pebble instantly turned to dust and settled on the floor.

“Entering in such a berserk state with bare skin is akin to suicide.”

“So, are you just going to stand here and watch?”

“That’s not the case.”

There was a limit to how long the chief instructor could stall the special task force commander.

Yan, with a couple of restraint orbs on his wrists, tensely grabbed the door of the cage.

The lock hanging in front was easily breakable.

After all, the cage was designed more to seal abilities than to confine.

“Should I go in?”

As the lock broke, Diana asked with a worried look.

Her concern was understandable.

With her robust physique, she could likely withstand the gravity.

But that wasn’t enough.

‘The special task force commander might arrive, so I need to finish this as quickly as possible.’

If Lia’s power continued to surge, Yan would be better equipped to handle it than Diana, who was ignorant of it.

[There’s only one way to get inside. You must reverse the gravity magic as you enter.]

-You could just cast the magic for me instead.

[I’ve used up all my magic recently! Even the detoxification magic I cast earlier was done by scraping together whatever mana I had left.]

Yan bit his lower lip at Momon’s words.

While he might handle gravity magic, reversing it was nearly impossible for him.

Then, Momon continued reluctantly.

[Tsk, I’ll assist you.]

Gravity magic was high-level magic.

Reversing it was even more challenging.

But with Momon’s continuous support, it was worth a try.

Yan stepped into the cage.

A weight unlike any before pressed down on his entire body.

If he stayed like this, his body would be flattened.

Yan immediately cast the spell.

“Reverse Gravity!”

An enormous calculation formula filled his mind.

It was so difficult that even average mages and scholars would give up halfway.

It was inevitable.

Due to Lia’s power, the gravity was erratic and uncontrollable.

Then Momon extended a bone-like hand from within his robe and touched Yan.

The overwhelming calculation that had been confusing Yan’s mind filled up at an unbelievable speed and disappeared.

Momon had moved Yan’s mana to perform the spell’s calculations for him.

‘This is Momon’s true power…’

Yan was astonished.

Momon, seeing Yan’s reaction, shouted.

[Focus!]

Yan shook his head vigorously at Momon’s cry.

Now was not the time to be impressed by Momon’s skills.

Lia stood not even twenty steps away.

He could feel her pain as she stood there, having lost consciousness.

And it seemed she had cried from the severe ordeal, as there were dried tears near her eyes.

Seeing this, Yan took a deep breath.

His eyes filled with determination.

“Wait.”

The promise to always protect her.

It was a promise made without much thought to Lia.

“But it’s time to go home.”

Now was the time to keep that promise.