The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 135: Sweet Dreams

"I’m no saint, but I don’t believe myself to be weak either."

Indeed, Sebastian was someone ancient.

A being the realm itself had chosen to lock away.

Ignotus looked at that ’being’ through the metal bars for a while, his eyes gleaming faintly in the dark. It seemed that whoever had gotten that insane Rune in his past life had gotten it from this man’s very corpse. Ignotus came down here too early.

"Well..."

He let out a long breath.

"I’m in good company, it seems."

Ignotus chuckled, the sound echoing.

"No wonder you’re so strong."

Sebastian tilted his head, the long curtain of matted hair sliding to one side; his similarly gray eyes’ dulling a little behind it.

"Is that all?"

Ignotus blinked.

"Hm?"

It seemed Sebastian was expecting more of a reaction.

Unfortunately, he was dealing with Ignotus, someone who never acted the way anyone wanted, practically the most unpredictable existence in this stratum, and one day perhaps even in this entire realm.

"You want more?"

Sebastian stared for a moment, only to shake his head, actually giving up.

"No, never mind. Just... listen up, boy."

He pointed at his legs, bound in thick, rusted chains that still shimmered with Divinity.

"I’ve been hunted ever since my irregularity was discovered... the realm knew me as a Heretic. That was when I was just a Shepherd. Still, I survived, outran them, killed many of them, broke their rules, and tore apart their neat little hierarchy. For a while, I thought I’d destroyed their whole apparatus; consequently, their control."

He smiled bitterly.

"But Mors caught me."

Somehow, the air grew colder.

"They experimented on me... learned of my irregular Soul Glyphs."

He sighed, a sound that seemed to carry centuries.

"Then they locked me down here. I haven’t seen sunlight since."

Ignotus crouched slightly, his expression surprisingly neutral.

"Sebastian... may you be happy to know Mors is dead."

The prisoner’s head snapped up.

"Are you... sure?"

Ignotus nodded.

"Besides the Gods Themselves, I’m the most sure one in this world."

He knew, rather, he’d personally heard of it from the source...

From his very son, Nex, the one who all but killed him in his past life.

Those two words could make it arguable, but Ignotus was sure that such information would never change; butterfly effect or not, he’d forever be dead...

And that made Sebastian stare blankly, his lips parting.

"...then, who—?"

"His son, Nex, the new Lord of Death."

Ignotus answered quickly.

"He took over. And they caught me a mere day after I initialized my system."

For a second, Sebastian looked alive again.

"Then... they built something from my ruin."

"Yes."

Ignotus chuckled a second time.

"It seems after catching you, they’ve developed some sort of detection spell for those of irregular Soul Glyphs like ours... and it seems Heretic became a more bestowed title."

The old man went silent while Ignotus continued: 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"I’ve already had three—"

’Four.’

Eris corrected in his mind, and he listened:

"—four assassination attempts on me. It’s only been a few weeks."

Sebastian lowered his head.

"...I’m sorry."

Ah. He was blaming himself.

Ignotus waved a hand dismissively.

"Please. Don’t worry about it. It’s only more fun this way."

That got a small laugh out of the ancient prisoner.

"’Fun,’ he says... You really are a strange one."

"Hey, I take pride in it."

They both laughed at that—two lunatics who began to share war stories through prison bars:

"Once, they sent seven of Death’s hounds after me, all Shepherds. I killed six before the seventh bit off my arm. Fortunately, it wasn’t the first time I lost a limb, so I killed him with it and later reattached it at a healer."

Ignotus sat down.

"Not bad... not bad at all~. Well, a highlight of mine was a few days ago when I baited a group of assassins to poison my people before killing them."

"You what?!"

"They didn’t actually drink any poison; it was all acting to get the assassins in the hall and trap them there. It was a bit tough to act all enraged and regretful, but hey, it did the job."

"...it seems you’re absolutely deranged."

"Thanks."

Their laughter echoed through the corridor.

In a place where nothing had truly lived for centuries, that sound felt almost ominous.

After a while, with Ignotus finding himself sharing even more stories, Sebastian waved a hand.

"Alright, alright. That’s enough of that; let’s talk about why you came here."

"Right."

Ignotus turned around and relaxed his back against the metal.

"I need a Rune that can synergize with my Luck Element. And maybe, while we’re at it, you could give me a tip or two about Synaxis, Blessed Sebastian, since you’re... a Class Three. Beyond the complete transformation level, a Runebearer with an actual Rune Domain."

"Enough flattery, boy."

Sebastian’s smile was obvious.

"Sure, I can give you advice and a Fune, but not for free."

Ignotus’s grin vanished.

"...You want me to kill you, don’t you?"

That actually made the old man flinch.

"How did you...?"

"I’ve seen that look too many times."

Ignotus answered flatly, not mentioning the other way he knew.

"Most would tell you to hold on, to try to find a way out, or to hope the world has something left for you."

Standing up and facing the cell, Ignotus returned his sword.

"I won’t."

He looked straight into Sebastian’s dim gray eyes.

"I’ll kill you."

There was silence for a moment before the prisoner sighed in relief.

"...Thank you."

His smile weakened.

"You won’t get any fragments of my Soul for it—I’ll have to destroy it completely to give you the Rune. But hey, don’t complain too much; you’ll get to see what a high-class death and Rune Domain look like."

Ignotus nodded.

"House Death did that to you?"

"Yes. They Rune-Leashed me before locking me here."

Hm, indeed, there was no other way.

The Rune Leash prevented him from passing any Rune.

That one Rune alone was supposedly impossible to remove, so the fact that he was about to do it, well...

"Tell me."

Ignotus raised his sword.

"What’s the fastest way for me to trigger Synaxis?"

It neared Sebastian’s barely thumping heart.

Sebastian looked at the weapon, then at the boy holding it.

"Everyone has their own path. You... need to learn who you are."

Ignotus tilted his head.

"I already know about that, and I’m sure I’ve got it... I’m an unhinged, twisted maniac whose Soul had long since gone black."

Sebastian chuckled, his body trembling all of a sudden.

"No. More than that... much, much more. You’re likely missing something essential."

The blade touched the prisoner’s chest.

"Self-discovery, huh?"

Sebastian tried to nod but couldn’t.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to; his Runes did the talking for him.

THUMP.

All around the two, Runes began to appear.

Runes in many a color, a few glowing gold.

Within moments, Sebastian’s appearance changed.

What once was an old man turned young again.

Further than that, his gray hair changed to purple.

Strings appeared all over his body, propping him up.

He’d become a puppet, and the prison cell his stage.

Yes, it had literally turned into a stage.

Or rather, every single cell did.

And Ignotus was its final act.

His sword was the key.

One that he pushed...

"Ah."

Deeper in.

"Yes."

It pierced through skin...

"Hm."

It reached past muscle...

"Kill me."

It slid through bone.

"...thank you."

Finally, the sword reached Sebastian’s heart.

The man’s eyes softened, losing what remained of their brightness one breath at a time.

"Ah... finally... it’s so quiet..."

"So... so quiet..."

"I can sleep."

Ignotus slowly pulled the sword free...

"Your Hell has ended, my benefactor."

And straightened up again.

"Sweet dreams."

The puppet fell.