The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 26: Have Them Go Extinct

***

Blinking Her eyes open, Achlys blankly stared down at Ignotus.

She did so for a while, a multitude of thoughts going through her head.

Only after a few minutes had passed did something happen.

A shift was felt.

His Soul...

Ding!

It had changed.

—

╔═══════════════════╗

║NEW SOUL GLYPH ACQUIRED!║

╚═══════════════════╝

[Dealer]

[Description: You are the God of Blacksmith’s heir... each Rune could be your Joker. A Dealer, a Deck Builder, a Jester, who can do what all cannot, changing the very makeup of your Runes, better synergizing them with your truth.]

[Requirements: Receive Achlys’s... Favor.]

[You Have Stepped Closer To Divinity.]

—

Ignotus bowed slowly.

"Thank you, Goddess Achlys."

She stayed silent for a few moments longer before something of Her death suddenly enveloped him.

"Don’t come here ever again."

He, in a mere fraction, found himself out of the valley and by the Oblivia River once more.

Ignotus touched his neck, making sure that it was intact, and then nodded a few times.

’I’d better stop taking advantage of Gods.’

Yes, that’d be a smart idea... yes.

Too bad he wasn’t going to stick to it, something that Eris knew full well.

She didn’t know what Achlys saw in his memories, but She was sure of one thing.

No way She would ask... She knew better than to, and besides, She respected his privacy, happy enough with what was revealed... even if She was incredibly annoyed that it was revealed to that death mist before Her.

So for now, Eris stayed out of it, allowing Ignotus to focus on where he was going next, since that was what all of this had led to.

"You’re back!"

But a certain someone didn’t have the same consideration as Her.

"That was quick. Did you get what you needed, Young Lord?"

It was, of course, Felix.

"Hm..."

Ignotus looked at him for a while, seemingly having forgotten him again.

"You’re quite a forgettable guy, aren’t you?"

Felix quickly bowed.

"I will try to be more memorable!"

After staring at him for a while, he chuckled and looked away.

Soon, Ignotus would be making his debut at the Saint Academy, so he needed to be prepared.

All he currently had was Luck after all, and that didn’t do much when faced with a ball of fire... or ten.

That meant that he had to get some muscle on his bones...

He had to GRIND!

And sure enough, he knew exactly the best place for that:

A lush jungle filled with Mischievous Monkeys!

Thankfully, it wasn’t far, so it wouldn’t take long for them to get there.

What was going to be difficult, however, was getting in, as it was a land belonging to another of their vassal Houses.

Of course, he could just reveal himself and demand entry, but that would just get him caught. His father had undoubtedly sent out word for his capture to every Main House and Lower House in the area.

So Ignotus would have to somehow sneak past the patrols and cut his way into the jungle with Felix in tow; only then would he be safe.

Well, safe from other Runebearers, the monkeys were dangerous... though mostly annoying. Each one he faced in his past life always knew how to kite him.

To kill them effectively, one had to follow a certain strategy, and so, on the way there, he repeated this ’strategy’ over and over, making Felix think that he had somehow gotten crazier... Only for him to eventually join in with a stick he’d picked up from the ground.

A step forward, a stab to feint, then another step forward and an actual, fully extended stab, ingraining it into their bodies.

Repetition was muscle memory’s love language.

IGNOTUS WOULD NOT MESS UP AGAIN.

...

Hours later, Ignotus, still by the river, had his eyes on something else.

Up ahead, past the treeline, was a wide clearing, a large field of grass stretching out.

Far, far beyond that, he could see the faint shadow of walls and rooftops... a manor.

’Ha... nailed it.’

He scratched his chin, satisfied.

Though his memory wasn’t all that great, he still managed to find himself in the right place from familiarity alone. But of course, the moment he thought so, he heard it...

Crunch!

Feet crushing the grass off to the left.

His smile returned, and his heart began to drum quickly.

"Oh, Young—"

Without hesitation, he shut Felix up and dropped him flat into the bushes, falling alongside him, his chest pressed to the earth, letting the branches and dirt cover him.

A patrol came into view, and with it came the jangle of steel.

Yeah, these were the guards he was expecting.

Ignotus could not have the patrol spot them.

So he stayed there, as did Felix, breathing hard but dug in, watching them go past.

His chest pounded, though unlike the butler, that wasn’t nervousness but enjoyment.

When they were gone, Ignotus rose slowly, brushing a leaf off his cheek, while Felix let out a long breath.

"We... we were almost—"

"Quiet."

Shutting him up for a second time, he stepped forward a little, crouched by the path they’d left behind, and squinted at the ground.

The prints in the mud gave their rotation away.

"Fifteen..."

He counted, his lips moving silently.

"Maybe more."

His grin tilted further up as he scanned his immediate surroundings.

If each patrol had about five Runebearers, that meant at least there were three patrols for this stretch alone, and from the looks of it, one group remained before him in the forest.

"Alright... good to know."

Ignotus nodded once at the mud and slipped back into the green.

Felix quickly followed, and they kept themselves low, walking carefully.

Each step was slow, with Ignotus focusing on his ears, hunting for the smallest noise.

Rushing here was a death sentence; patience was survival, and that he knew how to do well.

Minutes dragged by until finally—

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

He heard footsteps again, now off to his right, thirty meters or so, just past a row of trees.

Unfortunately, they were getting closer, and that meant they’d take the path next to them.

’I would’ve gone off if I just knew my way around...’

Grumbling, Ignotus dropped flat again, pulling Felix alongside him while quickly smearing mud all over their clothes.

Since Ignotus was on the edge, closer to the path, he tried harder to blend into the ground and slowed his breathing until even he had trouble believing he was there.

Oblivious to their presence, the guards walked right past, and though one man’s boot sank close, so close Ignotus could have reached out and grabbed his ankle, he still wasn’t detected—

Thud!

’Ah...’

A satchel slipped from a guard’s belt...

It hit the ground right next to him.

"Fuc—got to get a new one."

The guard cursed under his breath, bending down to pick it up.

Ignotus froze, his heart hammering more than ever, watching the man kneel so near that they almost met eyes for the briefest of heartbeats.

In that ’heartbeat,’ Ignotus could see the man’s face: tired, alert, with that small, human tilt of a person who’s seen enough to be careful and not enough to be suspicious of a mud pile pretending to be noble "trash."

’Dammit.’

Hand on his sword, Ignotus’s muscles flexed, preparing himself to lunge, believing that this was it.

"I’m too old for this shit."

But then, thankfully, the guard stood back up, turned, and walked away.

Yeah... he didn’t notice, unknowingly escaping a stab to the neck.

Ignotus might’ve been weak, but he wasn’t going to get captured.

He knew full well what end awaited him then.

And yes, he didn’t mind blood on his hands.

...it wasn’t like it was going to be a first.

Ignotus stayed still until the sound of boots faded; only then did he breathe.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... Fuck."

Felix had it even worse, mere moments away from having a panic attack.

The stress was literally about to kill the poor guy.

Still, Ignotus didn’t seem to care.

He was thinking about someone else.

’Eris almost screwed me over with that one.’

He held no doubt that Calamity was what nearly did him over... still, he didn’t blame Her; this was what he signed up for.

And Eris, who, of course, watched what happened, lowered Her head.

Ignotus was right. She was the reason that happened and would be the reason for many more unlucky events like it, worse events, much, much worse...

That was how Her Runebearers lived, under constant Calamity, and she could do nothing about it; that was just what She was, the Goddess of Strife and Discord.

’I’m sorry.’

Letting out a small chuckle, Ignotus shook his head, then pushed himself back up again.

’Don’t worry about it... I knew what I was getting into when I kneeled before you.’

She said nothing more after that, nor did he, focusing on the now, knowing that he’d get used to this sooner rather than later.

"Alright..."

He glanced at Felix, gesturing for him to move.

"That’s enough sneaking."

He dusted his clothes and picked up his pace.

"Let’s go quickly now; slow means death."

Sure, there could still be more patrols ahead, but the patrols behind them would be circling back soon. If they kept crawling, the patrols would just walk straight into them again.

It was better to risk it and cut quickly through.

So they, after demudding themselves, moved faster, slipping through the trees, ducking under branches, and weaving through the thick green.

Felix somehow managed to catch up, perhaps due to the adrenaline pumping in his veins; his mind locked on the only goal: get inside.

And before he realized it, they were there...

The inner sector of the jungle.

Almost immediately, Ignotus’s eyes caught movement.

Up in the branches, stretched out lazily as if it owned the place, sat a Mischievous Monkey.

A fairly large, strong-clawed monkey, its tail swaying like it was waving hello, mocking him.

Ignotus stopped and planted his feet.

"Step back, Spoon..."

He raised his blade with both hands, settling into a stance, his gray eyes becoming alive.

"I’ll have them go extinct~."