Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 142: Again

"What... what just happened?" Lewis gasped, looking over the railing into the dry, empty pit below. The boiling blood had vanished entirely. "Did we die? Did we do it wrong?"

Mercius adjusted his grip on his sword, narrowing his eyes at the sight around them. But Percival was as still as a solemn statue.

His head remained raised up as he stared into the darkness where the giant clock hung. He watched it flared to life once more.

⸢03:00⸥

"We’re back on the ground again!" Lewis realized. "Everything reset. Why? Did we fail? We reached the top, didn’t we?"

"Yes, we did," Percival muttered, his brows drawing together in a deep frown. "Maybe we weren’t fast enough. Maybe there’s a mechanism we missed on the door. A trigger."

He wasn’t certain. In fact, he wasn’t certain of anything he was saying. But there was no time to begin to recalculate.

The sound of the geyser erupting echoed from the pit below them again. Their heads fell in unison as the blood lake started riding, the steam raising high, scorching their skin.

"No, no. Not this again!" Lewis panicked. "I was almost roasted alive from the heat alone just now."

"We have to start immediately," Percival ordered, his voice hardening. "We know the path now, and we have more time. Move!"

Lewis opened his mouth to complain, but Percival wasn’t sticking around for it. He sprinted up the spiraling stairs, his Agility allowing him to take them three to four at a time.

"Oh, hells!" Lewis swore as he ran after the Hero, preparing mana blasts in his hands just in case.

As he sprinted up the steps, Percival’s eyes scanned the walls. "Mercius!" he called. "Take position in front to clear the way. The Bats will be here soon!"

"As you command!" The Brackenbutcher leaped from behind them and landed before, Paragon Blade in hand as he marched forward, ready to cleave any of the winged Demons that sought to obstruct his master.

Just seconds after, as Percival had predicted, the swarm of Demon Bats descended again. But this time, Percival noticed something terrifying.

Everything was moving like a sequence, a simulation. These weren’t just similarities, they were identical.

The bats dove from the exact same brass gears at the exact same second. As Percival reached the thirtieth step, he didn’t even look up before ducking.

The colossal pendulum swung overhead, whistling through the air precisely where it had the first time.

It was a perfectly choreographed dance of death, and Percival understood that now. However, he just didn’t know if it meant anything.

His blue eyes raised to the clock. TICK TOCK!

⸢1:20⸥

He hastened his steps, using ⸢Grave Step⸥ to cut the distance, helping both himself and Lewis—who was significantly slower.

The Demon Bats, as expected of them, did all they could to stop their ascent.

"Left side, Mercius! Sweep them!" Percival barked, remembering a swarm would show up at that exact time.

Mercius adjusted his stance effortlessly, his Paragon Blade intercepting the wave of bats before they could even unhinge their jaws.

Lewis looked at Percival, sweat almost blinding him. "You noticed it too?" he said. "It seems this whole thing is a simulation! Everything is going exactly like last time!"

"That only means we can do it better this time. Shoot your offensive spells in places where you remember the Bats came from!"

Lewis nodded, catching on to the rhythm. As he climbed after Percival, he preemptively cast his mana blasts into the dark spots where he knew the enemies would spawn.

Demon Vampire Bats appeared milliseconds before they were reduced to dust, not even given the chance to interfere with their climb.

This allowed them to climb faster and more efficiently. They tore through the swarm, ducked the guillotines, and outpaced the rising blood.

Then, with a breath of glory, they hit the top.

Lewis collapsed on the floor with his chests heaving, his robes soaked with bat gore and sweat. Percival, untired, quickly approached the iron door.

He ran his hands over the fractured clock face, searching for a hidden lever, a keyhole, a loose stone. Anything he had missed the first time. Anything at all.

But his search was futile. The door was completely solid.

"There’s nothing here!" Lewis yelled as he pounded on the door. "What now? Are we supposed to break it?!"

Mercius stepped forward. "Shall I, Master?"

Percival looked at his Soul Soldier, and then at the door. He’d run out of options so there was no reason not to try.

With his master’s nod, Mercius raised his greatsword and it heavily against the iron.

CLANG!

The great, S-Grade sword didn’t even leave a scratch. It was protected by absolute system invulnerability.

Percival stepped back, his mind scrambling despite his calm demeanor. He looked at the timer.

⸢00:20⸥

"We survived," Lewis panted, wiping sweat from his eyes. "We made it with time to spare. It has to open. It has to."

"We can do nothing now but wait," Percival said.

Lewis heaved in despair.

As the seconds trickled by, they stood on the landing, surrounded by the blistering heat of the blood boiling just inches below the edge.

They waited in agonizing silence.

⸢00:03⸥

⸢00:02⸥

⸢00:01⸥

⸢00:00⸥

BOOOOOOOM.

The bell tolled. Suddenly, it happened again.

The world smeared into violent streaks of crimson and shadow as the nauseating lurch tore through their bodies.

"No!" Lewis cried. "No! Not this again!"

SLAM!!

Percival hit the iron grating at the bottom of the tower, his greaves steady atop the rust.

Lewis collapsed completely, falling flat onto his back, gasping for air as if he were drowning. "I can’t... I can’t do it again..." the Arcanist wheezed, his limbs trembling violently. "My stamina... it’s gone."

Percival froze.

He looked up at the clock, which had cheerfully reset to ⸢03:00⸥, and then at his interface.

His mana, which had been full when they entered the room, was down by the amount he had used to cast Skills during the climb. His stamina bar was visibly depleted.

He remembered the Bats and the pendulums; the way they had attacked in the same pattern without a single difference.

It was like the environment alone was resetting. Not them.

It was like they were time traveling.

Percival’s eyes widened.

"It’s not a simulation," he whispered.

"What?" Lewis croaked from the floor.

Percival looked up at the towering, impossible machinery, as he finally understood the true cruelty of this Encounter Zone.

"It’s a time warp."