The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 82: YOU BASTARD!

The road to the Maze wasn’t really a ’road.’

Ignotus walked on buildings that sat sideways through blood and jumped through the remains of stone bridges floating on the surface. Every few meters, the ground was swallowed whole by another pool of blood.

It was weird, chaotic, unpredictable, and, again... exactly how he liked it.

He kept steady, walking through it all with his sword on his shoulder, always ready for a fight.

Later on, he didn’t doubt that assassins would be descending on him.

Back in the Colosseum, he saw more students than he did in that first and last lecture he attended.

Even if one were to assume some of them couldn’t make it, but that many? No doubt those were allowed in at the last minute.

Perhaps they were watching him even now.

Still, Ignotus wasn’t worried.

Their existence only added an extra flavor to this Dive. So he didn’t rush and enjoyed the journey to the Maze...

Or tried to, at least.

It was somewhere far ahead; he could feel it even without his divine guide.

Oh, and speaking of...

’Hey, Eris, this place has a Blood Rune, right?’

’...’

His divine guide didn’t answer.

’...Eris?’

Was She out of Divinity?

He could still feel Her, it was just that Her presence was weak.

’Hm.’

Usually, She was supplied with Divinity through him.

So maybe now that his Soul was here, it somehow messed up that process?

’Damn... the spell is that strong?’

Ignotus didn’t really think about that before, as again, he was never involved in the Academy much, but now...

He couldn’t help but wonder who was responsible for such a sophisticated spell.

’I won’t be surprised if it’s Mors himself—’

A blast of heat punched the air, interrupting his thoughts, melting the cracked tiles in front of him.

"Hm?"

Ignotus stepped back as the ground split open, and when the fissure spat out blood, a boy in tattered armor pierced through!

Tilting his head, Ignotus stared at the boy as he rushed to his feet while looking around in a panic, utterly afraid of facing any monster.

Yet, unfortunately for him, his eyes fell on something worse than most monsters.

"Hey there~!"

Ignotus.

"Ah..."

The boy didn’t know that, though, so he smiled in relief, happy to have survived.

"Thank the Gods."

Chuckling, Ignotus took a stance, his sword returning to his inventory.

"Oh, don’t thank Them just yet."

He wasn’t about to use his sword against a little kid.

"I’m surprised you survived being down there..."

Still, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to fight him.

"Duel me, Oliver."

The boy interested him; after all, it was the same guy who tried to fight him a week ago.

And though confused, his fellow student took a stance, only to then have his eyes widen, just now realizing who was before him.

"I-It’s you!"

He aimed his staff at Ignotus, its veins glowing with orange light.

"Now you won’t be able to weasel out of this..."

The boy was trembling, but that didn’t stop him from trying to sound cool.

"I’m Oliver of House Ash, son of Mark. Face me, in the name of—"

Ignotus raised a hand.

"Shh. I don’t want to remember your brother’s name... he’s worthless. Don’t be like him."

He pointed up at the eight parts of the sky around him.

"We’ve got an audience, so make this interesting, alright?"

Ignotus’s grin widened, and Oliver, too stunned to talk back, nodded his head.

"A-Alright."

***

Both Lothar and the crowd were speechless.

They could only watch as Ignotus took over the commentator’s role.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Ignotus Experience!"

With both his hands raised, his eyes glanced at them.

"Watch closely; I’ll only do this once!"

And they did just that.

*** 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"...Are you even taking this seriously?"

The Magma Disciple blinked, clearly regretting his life choices, something commonly faced by those opposite Ignotus.

"Always."

Before those words could echo for even a second, the ground exploded.

A line of magma ripped through where Ignotus had been, but he was already gone, sliding across a broken pillar and surfing over it with a rock.

"Up!"

Lava burst under his feet, and he jumped, flipping once before landing in a smooth crouch.

Oliver snarled and hurled another spell.

This time, it was a ball of magma the size of a wagon.

Leaving his surfing days behind, Ignotus ducked low.

It whooshed past and crashed into a dead building behind him.

The explosion made him stumble forward as debris rained down on him.

"Oh~ hot, hot, hot—!"

Another blast came, only for him to sidestep it by a hair.

Oliver’s jaw dropped.

"Stop moving!"

"No."

Ignotus backflipped onto a ledge and jumped up, using a dangling rope from the building leaning down above them to swing behind his opponent. Then, completely unnecessarily, he dropkicked him in the back.

"Urgggh!"

Oliver fell screaming as magma sprayed everywhere.

"Come on, kid! You’re supposed to be a natural disaster, not a candle!"

Beyond frustrated, the Magma Disciple roared, raising both arms while still on the ground.

Two balls of magma materialized and transformed into tiny rivers of molten flame that lunged forward.

"Finally!"

Ignotus sprinted straight towards them.

The audience probably thought he’d lost it, running headfirst into magma.

But at the last moment, he jumped, the heat nearly roasting his boots. Only to then twist midair, grab Oliver by the arm, and use his own momentum to flip him upside down.

"Clench your teeth!"

BAM!

He slammed the poor kid headfirst into the ground, hard enough to crack the floor.

The magma spells sputtered out, and the poor boy groaned, knocked unconscious.

"Haa..."

Ignotus stood up, brushing dust off his clothes.

"That was great~!"

He threw his arms out dramatically to the invisible crowd.

"I give that fight a solid nine out of ten. What do you guys say?"

***

"WHOOOOOOOOOOAH!"

"YOU’RE THE BEST!"

"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!"

The crowd had gone wild.

***

"..."

"..."

"..."

Given no response, at least none that he could hear, he turned around... and stopped.

Someone else was approaching his position.

Another student.

Short black hair, pale face, and sharp eyes.

It was someone Ignotus was familiar with.

Someone that even he heard about.

"...you’re Judas, right?"

The boy hesitated.

"Yes. How did you—"

Shing.

Ignotus moved before the question finished...

And Judas’s head fell before his mind registered it.

Watching it, Ignotus exhaled slowly, lowering his bloodied blade.

"Good. I thought I was mistaken."

He sighed and looked up.

"Sorry, everyone..."

His grin was gone.

"I’m retiring from commentating."

Just as he said that, he began to walk off toward the Maze, humming away.

***

Much like earlier, both Lothar and the crowd were stunned.

That headless boy was dead, and no...

Not only in the dungeon.

He was truly dead.

There was no Butterfly on his person.

Many questions floated around in their minds.

First among them was a simple why?

Why did Ignotus kill Judas so ruthlessly?

Though again, not all asked such questions.

They didn’t ask anything, rather.

One man out of that lot appeared enraged.

So enraged that his veins were nearly popping out.

And that, combined with their familiar appearance, could only hint at one thing...

"YOU BASTARD!"

This man was Judas’s father.