The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 596: Let Me Tell You an Old Story (1)

"Hmm."

Ghislain fell silent, deep in thought.

How could Ereneth possibly know about this? She hadn’t regressed like he had.

He had always suspected that Ereneth was hiding something, but she had never explicitly spoken of such direct threats until now.

Since she had brought it up, it was time to press for more details.

The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Ghislain gathered everyone and moved to a spacious conference room. Once they were settled, he asked, "Explain in detail. Why would a dragon attack humanity?"

Even in his past life, the reason had remained a mystery. The dragon had appeared suddenly, harboring immense malice toward humans.

The dragon destroyed everything indiscriminately, sparing neither human settlements nor monsters.

It even attacked the Salvation Order and the dimensional Rifts indiscriminately.

In theory, it could have been considered an ally, but by the time the dragon’s rampage began, it had already annihilated several human kingdoms. Humanity had no choice but to unite against it.

Ghislain was curious about why the dragon went on its rampage, but his current concern was the timing. In his past life, the dragon hadn’t appeared for several more years.

"Did I change the future again? I haven’t done anything related to the dragon."

Ghislain knew that his interference had been advancing the timeline of major events. The Salvation Order’s rise, for example, had occurred sooner than in his past life. However, this had allowed him to eradicate the Salvation Order before it grew even larger.

But the dragon? He hadn’t done anything to influence that.

Ereneth seemed to organize her thoughts before finally responding to Ghislain’s question.

"The dragon wants to kill someone."

"Who?"

"The one called the King of the Salvation Order. In the ancient war, we called him the Adversary."

"So this dragon is killing humans because it wants to find and kill the so-called Adversary?"

"Yes. If the dragon cannot find the Adversary, it intends to kill all humans."

As she spoke, Ereneth cast a sidelong glance at Julien.

"Hmm..."

Ghislain folded his arms, lost in thought.

Ereneth clearly still suspected Julien. Before addressing that, however, there was something more pressing to clarify.

After gathering his thoughts, Ghislain spoke again. "We don’t know your past. What exactly is the Salvation Order’s true purpose? Who is this king they’re seeking, this Adversary? What kind of being are we talking about?"

"..."

"And what about this ancient war you mentioned? Without understanding that, we can’t make sense of what you’re saying. Why are you and the dragon so desperate to kill the Adversary? Are they just another megalomaniac trying to conquer the world? That doesn’t make any sense."

Everyone knew that Ereneth despised the Salvation Order. She had suddenly appeared to aid Ghislain in their fight against the cult.

At the time, she had claimed that she had been hunting the Salvation Order for a very long time, but she hadn’t offered any further details.

Back then, Ghislain hadn’t pressed for answers. Now, the situation demanded clarity. To understand her warnings, they needed context.

Ghislain was asking her to explain.

"..."

Ereneth remained silent for a moment. She had withheld the truth because humanity was already fighting the Salvation Order, and she hadn’t thought it necessary.

But to prepare for the battles to come, it was time to reveal at least part of what she knew.

With a long sigh, she slowly began to speak.

"Let me tell you about the myths and wars of long ago—stories humanity has long forgotten."

***

Long ago, this land was a prosperous and peaceful world ruled by four goddesses.

All beings worshiped these goddesses and enjoyed a life of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) abundance, free from any conflict.

It was nothing short of a utopia—a true paradise.

This peace was shattered by an uninvited guest from a distant realm.

The guest was a deity from another dimension.

He sought out the four goddesses and pleaded for their help.

His world was on the brink of destruction, and his creations were facing annihilation. He begged them to save his people.

To reach them, he had sacrificed his divinity, breaking through the dimensional barrier thought to be impenetrable.

The goddesses, moved by his plight, decided to help. They allowed his creations to migrate into their world.

These pitiable beings bore a striking resemblance to the humans of this world, so the goddesses believed there would be no issue in their coexistence.

Though they were creatures of strong will and desire, these traits were seen as another driving force for progress.

But a problem arose.

The beings from the other realm could not withstand the overwhelming laws of this universe. Crossing the dimensional barrier caused them to lose their sense of self, leaving only their destructive instincts.

Each one transformed into a monstrous entity upon arrival, bent solely on destruction.

The goddesses, recognizing the threat, sealed the dimensional gate. They could not allow their world to be destroyed as well.

The deity from the other realm was enraged. Despite their monstrous transformation, those beings were still his creations, his children.

He believed the goddesses had broken their promise and forcibly reopened the gate.

Countless beings from the other realm poured into this world, bringing misery to its inhabitants.

The people of this world gave the foreign deity a new name: Demon God (Ma-shin).

The deity became known as the Demon God.

Lower deities and creatures from the other realm continued to flood into this world. The goddesses had to act.

Thus began a war.

The armies of the Demon God clashed with those led by the goddesses.

It was a cataclysmic war that brought the world to its knees. Countless lives were lost, and the fighting seemed endless.

But after a long and arduous struggle, the war ended with the goddesses’ victory. Their world was saturated with their divine energy, granting them the upper hand.

The dimensional gate was closed once more, and all the invading entities from the other realm were eradicated.

However, it was far from a complete victory.

The Demon God was powerful. In their battle against him, the goddesses ultimately lost their physical forms and could no longer directly intervene in this world.

Only their will remained, allowing them to watch over the world. A select few could communicate with their will, becoming clergy.

A world without the goddesses’ direct care.

Paradise was lost.

The remaining inhabitants had to fight for survival.

Life was not easy for them.

The Demon God’s body lay across the land, lifeless, while his soul vanished into the cosmic order.

But his body, imbued with divine energy, was anything but ordinary.

The energy and lingering thoughts emanating from his corpse began to alter the world. Animals and plants exposed to this influence transformed into monstrous creatures.

Humanity once again suffered, this time fighting these monsters.

But even that was a minor issue compared to what came next.

The remnants of the Demon God’s thoughts were filled with a singular purpose: to reclaim this world and save his people.

Over time, some humans became tainted by these remnants.

These individuals sought to reopen the dimensional gate, perform rituals to summon the Demon God, and bring salvation to those trapped in other realms.

This marked the birth of the Salvation Order.

The ones they sought to save were not the people of this world.

They aimed to rescue the inhabitants of other worlds who had been trapped and suffering for eons in the void between dimensions.

The Salvation Order first established itself on the land where the Demon God’s body lay.

That cursed land, steeped in malice and rage, became a place no one dared to approach. It came to be known as the Demonic Realm (Ma-gyeong).

Those who followed the Salvation Order were safe within the Demonic Realm but could not easily venture beyond it.

The goddesses had created the ultimate lifeforms, the dragons, to guard against the entities from the other realm. These dragons watched over the Demonic Realm.

Even so, the dragons themselves could not enter the Demonic Realm freely. The malevolent energy within was too much for even them to bear.

For centuries, the followers of the Salvation Order sought a way to harness the Demon God’s power.

Eventually, they succeeded in tapping into a portion of that power, enabling them to open small dimensional gates.

Thus, a new war began.

One could argue that human history has been marked by the constant battle against the Demonic Realm.

But it wasn’t only the Salvation Order that advanced during this time.

The elves flourished in their forests, the dwarves built vast underground cities, and humans established sprawling empires and vibrant civilizations.

They pondered ways to seal the Demon God’s land and eradicate the Salvation Order.

Meanwhile, the Salvation Order sought ways to resurrect the Demon God and claim this world.

For thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years, these opposing forces clashed.

That is, until the war of a thousand years ago.

***

"......"

The people listening to Ereneth's tale all had blank expressions.

The story was so absurd and far-fetched that it was difficult to take seriously. While it had a semblance of plausibility, it was too fantastical to believe outright.

Ereneth nodded as if she understood their skepticism.

"It’s merely a myth meant to explain why the world is the way it is. Naturally, it won’t seem logical, and there may even be distortions. But I shared it because understanding this myth is key to grasping the Salvation Order’s goals."

After taking a brief pause, she continued.

"The Salvation Order has its own version of this myth. They claim that this world originally belonged to them and that we exiled them. But their ultimate goal aligns with the myth I told you."

The listeners nodded. Myths are often like that—difficult to believe as literal truth. Most dismissed it as a fanciful story that provided some insight into the motivations of the Salvation Order.

However, not everyone was so easily placated.

All eyes turned toward one person, whose immense aura was practically radiating fury.

It was Parniel.

"How dare you... spout such blasphemous nonsense before me?"

Thud!

The devout servant of the goddesses, known as the Saintess, was genuinely enraged.

A myth, in her eyes, was the foundation of a religion and the cornerstone of sacred teachings.

For someone to fabricate or distort such a thing was nothing less than an affront to divinity and a denial of the church itself.

Parniel had never heard of such a myth before. For an elf to invent something she, as the Saintess, was unaware of was outrageous.

"You... are a heretic."

Ereneth smirked at Parniel’s words.

"It was a common myth a thousand years ago. The church deliberately erased it from the records and kept it hidden."

"Where do you get the audacity to spew such lies?"

Boom!

Parniel’s massive mace came crashing down toward Ereneth. Yet Ereneth didn’t even flinch.

Clang!

Ghislain drew his sword and intercepted the blow, but the sheer force caused him to stagger, bending to one knee.

"Are you kidding me?"

The strength behind the attack was far beyond her usual. Parniel was clearly livid.

Ghislain realized he had to de-escalate the situation. If the two fought now, they’d never get the answers they needed.

"Parniel, hold on a second."

"Step aside."

"Let’s hear her out first. We haven’t even gotten to the part about the Adversary yet."

"...Hmph."

After glaring at Ereneth for a long moment, Parniel finally withdrew her mace.

The members of Ghislain’s faction, watching from the sidelines, hid their smiles behind their hands.

‘We all know how you feel, boss.’

‘It’s always the peacemaker who has the toughest job.’

‘Ah, this is better than a show.’

Ghislain’s ability to mediate between powerful outsiders like these was unique to him. It was the reason situations like this inevitably fell into his lap.

Noticing the amused looks on his subordinates’ faces, Ghislain’s lips twitched. He didn’t need to ask to know what they were thinking.

He glared at them briefly, mentally filing away his revenge for later, before turning back to Ereneth.

"So, according to that myth, Rift Beings are the inhabitants of another world?"

"Yes. And the light that creates the Mutants is the soul energy of those trapped in the void between dimensions."

"And those creatures are crossing over because they want to live in this world?"

"Exactly. They see this world as the promised land, their paradise."

"Ha, this place? Paradise? They’ve got to be kidding. This world’s exhausting enough as it is. But I guess the grass is always greener on the other side."

"......"

"Fine, so that’s the myth. But what about the Adversary and the war a thousand years ago? What’s the story there?"

Ereneth fell silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts before speaking.

"After centuries of humanity’s struggle against the Demonic Realm, a new enemy emerged. From within the Salvation Order came a genius unlike any in history."

Thus began Ereneth’s tale of the Adversary—a figure from a thousand years ago who was stronger than anyone else of their time.