Infinite Regressing Knight

Chapter 10: Stage 2. Celestial Stone (3)

The witch with long silver hair and her whole body adorned with black accessories.

Dominic was embarrassed, but he didn't show his emotions.

Instead, he stared at Velicaya's eyes, which were close enough to touch his nose, and waved his hand as if to tell her to step back.

Velicaya tilted her head and stepped back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can't you see? I was hiding."

"Hiding? Why?"

"Because I'm not hungry."

"You're not hungry?"

"It hasn't been long since I had a meal."

At Dominic's words, Velicaya burst into laughter.

It was like looking at a pet dog doing tricks.

Looking around, he couldn't see anyone, including Hanshuya or Edgar.

Could it be that they had already been kidnapped?

"You're funny. Do more. Don't you have anything else to say?"

"You should take the hungry people, why did you come all the way here?"

"Well, because you were observing that?"

"What is that?"

"Hmm. Actually, I don't know either. Or, should I say it's hard to define?"

"Doesn't it have a name?"

"Celestial Stone."

It wasn't a special name.

Philosopher's Stone, Celestial Stone.

Weren't they modifiers that were easily attached to magical tools with vaguely mysterious effects?

And most of those were scams.

"You don't even know what it is, and you chased after me just because I was watching it?"

When Dominic clicked his tongue, Velicaya made a dumbfounded expression.

"Ordinary humans can't materialize that. They can glimpse it for a moment, but you're not like that, are you?"

Velicaya raised her hand and tapped Dominic's nose.

"So let's go together! I'll give you super delicious things because you're a precious test subject! What do you like?"

"Before that, there's one thing I want to ask."

"That's strange? Why are you trying to dig up information? You can't pass it on to the outside anyway, can you?"

"Because I'm curious."

"Why aren't you scared? I don't dislike the fact that you're confident, but no matter how I look at it, you're just an ordinary human, aren't you?"

Dominic made up his mind as he looked at the witch tilting her head.

He couldn't give up the initiative.

"Shut up and answer me. Velicaya, belonging to the Black Magic Research Tower."

"Huh? Huh?"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"How did you know my name?"

"Who knows."

The situation Dominic feared most was Velicaya being aware of his infinite regression.

If that was the case, he would be being manipulated by Velicaya.

But fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

Velicaya's surprise was real.

At that moment, the witch, who had been showing such a rich expression that felt like innocence, stopped as if she had broken down.

She didn't blink, and she didn't breathe.

Her life force disappeared in real time, as if she had become a wax doll in an instant.

He even felt an impulse to think that he could cut her down now.

Then the witch made a Hmm sound and regained her vitality.

"That's strange. I just considered all the possibilities, but there's no way you could know my name?"

"How do you know that? You can't remember everyone you've met since you were born, can you?"

"Why can't I?"

"……."

It was hard to believe, but she didn't seem to be lying.

"Well, unless you're a higher being than me… But you're so weak?"

"If you answer my question, I'll tell you the truth too."

"Hmm… Okay! I'm curious about what you're going to say, even though it's probably a lie! So? What are you curious about?"

"What happens when you come into contact with that stone?"

"Ah, that? You get to experience the future."

"The future?"

"Yeah. You get to see the singularities that may exist in the future."

"What if there are no singularities in the future?"

"Wouldn't you see a blank white paper? But there's no one who doesn't have singularities. It's just a matter of whether you can reach it or not."

"What exactly is a singularity?"

"A point where continuity disappears and deviates from causality."

If that was the case, hadn't he already experienced it?

By starting the infinite regression.

"But you shouldn't even think about touching it. Humans will die no matter what."

"Why?"

"You could say that knowing the singularity itself affects existence? But aren't I being too kind?"

Velicaya, who said that, jumped back.

Then, she leaned against the stone that stretched from the sky and opened her mouth.

Nothing happened to Velicaya even though she touched the Celestial Stone.

Could it be that everything was a lie?

It didn't seem like it though…

"Okay, now it's your turn. How did you know my name?"

"I killed a monster you call a Squirmers and met you."

"Squirmers? Really?"

"Yes. When the alert was activated and I endured the countless shadow monsters rushing at me, you came to find me. It was a basin like a plain."

"……Huh?"

"At that time, you told me your name. Velicaya, belonging to the Black Magic Research Tower."

"I, I don't remember? Was I mind-controlled?"

"I don't know about that."

"So? So what happened to us? When exactly was that?"

"We……"

Dominic was about to speak but stopped.

Then he frowned as if he was pulling out mixed memories, and staggered for a moment.

At the same time, he naturally moved forward half a step.

"What? What's wrong? Are you sick somewhere?"

"I feel dizzy for a moment……"

Dominic ran out.

Bang!

It was dangerous to detonate Mana Burn on his body, but he didn't hesitate.

Mana Burn, which exploded from his back, added propulsion to his dash.

The distance to the stone was only 1m.

If it was this much, he could break through it.

Even if he was hit by magic, he would endure the pain and…

"Ah."

At that moment, Dominic's arms disappeared.

They weren't cut off.

They disappeared as if they had never existed in the first place.

Surprisingly, he felt comfortable.

Like someone who was born without arms from the beginning.

His speed slowed down as the arms that provided balance disappeared, but his feet were intact.

He kicked off the ground and used his body……!

"Aaaah!"

His feet disappeared too.

Dominic, whose arms and legs had disappeared, tried to move forward somehow, but there was nothing he could do but flounder on the ground.

"You're like a turtle."

When Velicaya waved her hand, Dominic floated in the air.

"Let's go! I'll give you back your hands and feet when we go home!"

A sense of crisis resonated.

At this point in time, the witch didn't know about his infinite regression.

But what if she found out by carrying out various experiments after being dragged to the tower?

Or what if she extracted the secret with magic?

A moment might come when he could neither live nor die.

At that moment, Dominic's mana surged.

Mana Burn.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to get angry?"

When Velicaya waved her hand, Dominic's mana scattered.

Moreover, that wasn't the end.

Surprisingly, Velicaya had created a mana vacuum state in the surrounding area.

As if it was natural that mana didn't exist in this space.

Dominic was embarrassed, but his reason moved.

‘No. This is a lie.’

This was impossible.

There was no way in the world to eliminate another person's mana.

If that was possible, the wizard would have conquered the world.

He just didn't understand Velicaya's technique because of the difference in level, but the laws of mana couldn't have changed.

Dominic calmed his mind.

Originally, swordsmen were those who presented a sword to something they couldn't understand.

He couldn't understand Velicaya's technique.

But that didn't mean that the sword in his heart had disappeared.

Dominic contemplated his mana, which was sleeping deep in the mana hole.

They were suppressed and crushed, but they hadn't disappeared.

If that was the case, then it was enough.

The surging mana gathered in Dominic's brain.

"Huh?!"

Bang!

It was the third death.

* * *

It was another fork in the road.

"Commander?"

"……Run."

"Yes?"

"Run. The Pathfinder stays by my side."

As Dominic suddenly started running, the 8th search team, who were flustered because they didn't know what was going on, belatedly followed.

Many thoughts swirled in his head.

Eight Fiends, Velicaya, Celestial Stone…

It was an iteration where too many events happened in an instant.

Unknowable information was scattered, and distant questions tempted Dominic.

But Dominic thought that he shouldn't be buried in that now.

To reach a great truth, what he had to do was to organize small pieces of information one by one.

So, what he had to do now was……

‘Time.’

This time, he was going to reach slash-and-burn Village as quickly as possible.

He had to see if this really created a difference in the entry point of the forest.

While running like that, Dominic examined the Pathfinder.

The Pathfinder, who looked to be in his late 50s, ran so well that he couldn't believe his age.

There were signs that he was flustered because he didn't know why he was running suddenly, but his speed wasn't behind the 8th search team.

So much so that he was suspicious because of his stamina.

‘Can he run that much at that age? Is his stamina good because he is a herbalist who goes around the mountains?’

Dominic, who was thinking that, spoke to the herbalist.

“How old are you?”

“A-Are you talking to me?”

“Yes.”

“I’m thirty-two years old.”

"Lie."

"Yes?"

"……No. I was rude."

He was briefly embarrassed, but he didn't let go of his suspicion.

How long had they been running like that?

slash-and-burn Village began to appear.

“slash-and-burn Village is in sight ahead!”

“We enter.”

Dominic, who entered slash-and-burn Village, then looked at the 8th search team.

Jarrot, Marshall, Dave, Jeff…

Everyone was the same.

And this gave Dominic a great sense of relief.

He rarely understood what was going on so far.

But what was certain was that he would save them and end the infinite regression.

He would not remain a ghost wandering forever in closed time.

What followed was still the same.

The Squirmers appeared, but he didn't cut it down.

Dominic didn't take his eyes off the Pathfinder.

The Pathfinder was puzzled when he arrived at slash-and-burn Village, and he was afraid when the monster appeared.

When the darkness spewed out from the monster's mouth, he looked like he was about to faint.

It was a reaction of an ordinary human.

But when he entered the forest.

“Where is the Pathfinder?”

“I can’t see him.”

There was no Pathfinder.

Had he failed to enter?

Or had he avoided entering and ran away?

Could it be that he had fallen somewhere else alone?

It was an unknowable matter.

Judging by his actions alone, he seemed like an ordinary person who didn't know anything, but he couldn't jump to conclusions.

There was a need to investigate even if he repeated a few more lives.

Dominic looked around at the scenery of the forest while thinking that.

‘What point in time is it now?’

He arrived at slash-and-burn Village as quickly as possible, so was it faster than last time?

Or was it randomness?

The problem was that there were no elements in this forest to feel a sense of time.

He couldn't know the point in time until he met Hanshuya or the Eight Fiends.

Dominic, who was thinking that, headed to the base camp, but this time he couldn't find any traces of people.

Still, the fact that the Eight Fiends were gone meant that the entry point had changed.

“Prepare for camping. This is our base camp.”

Now, all he could do was wait until he encountered Hanshuya's group.

While catching shadow monsters and filling the pattern.

* * *

-Kkieeeeeeeek!

Easy, many, and slow.

These were the three thoughts that came to his mind while hunting shadow monsters.

‘Easy’ was about fighting the monsters.

Originally, Dominic didn't have much difficulty killing one or two shadow monsters.

What was scary about these monsters was that they didn't know fear and their numbers were enormous.

The individual's combat power was not a big problem.

So hunting after obtaining mana was much easier.

Of course, he shouldn't be careless.

If he was surrounded by dozens of monsters without an escape route, it could be dangerous.

However, if he said this in reverse, it meant that the battle fought near the safe zone was easy.

‘Many’ was because no matter how many he killed, it didn't feel like the overall number of monsters was decreasing.

Even if he killed countless monsters, the overall density didn't decrease.

It seemed impossible to reduce the number of shadow monsters through continuous hunting.

Finally, ‘slow’ was about filling the pattern.