The Regressor Can Make Them All-Chapter 557

Clatter-

Metal shards from dozens of automatons rained down on the stage and audience, filling the air with the pungent stench of metal.

Aren’t those...

Puppeteer’s narrowed eyes glinted at the sight of the three hounds that each represented a loyal knight.

One was in crimson armor with twin spears, another in snow-white armor that wielded an ice dagger in reverse grip, and the third was in blue armor that had magic arrays draped all over. The three were all standing protectively around Lea.

Are they referenced from Lee Se-Hoon’s Warhound...? No, they must be its successors, Puppeteer deduced, matching them with a familiar image that surfaced in her mind.

The appearances were slightly different, but more than that, their atmosphere had completely changed. Unlike the previous models that simply mimicked Se-Hoon, those three were clearly modeled after others.

Click-

Reacting belatedly to the arrival of the Hound Knights, Lunatic finally sent the information into Puppeteer’s mind.

[Hound Knights]

[Maverick: Modeled after Yeom Sung-Ha]

[Swindler: Modeled after Amir Singh]

[Chatterbox: Modeled after Luize Valente]

Having been incorporated into Lunatic’s “script,” the three new characters and their details naturally became known to Puppeteer as well.

Their base specs already far surpass most Single Digits. If they also carry the skills of those they’re modeled after on top...

It was no wonder they had swept away the automatons on stage in the blink of an eye.

Now done assessing the threat that Lea’s new forces represented, Puppeteer turned her gaze toward her daughter.

“...”

“...”

The two of them stared at each other in silence, one looking up from the stage and the other down from the balcony. Over the past decades, there had been countless things they’d wanted to say... but now, facing each other, both knew that no words would truly reach the other.

Rumble-

There was no path left for retreat, so there was no more reason for compromise. With the imminent announcement of the final curtain call, both sharpened their nerves in preparation.

BOOOOM!

And with that massive explosion from outside shattering the silence, the final act began.

Snap!

Hundreds of balcony seats instantly appeared along the empty walls, and the automatons stationed on each all aimed their cannons at the stage before opening fire.

KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!

Modeled after Single Number 5 Gandiva, which specialized in artillery fire, the scale of the bombardment was akin to hundreds of S-rank heroes launching a barrage in unison.

Unless one was a Perfect One, it was virtually impossible to keep their life intact against such an assault—

Fwoosh!

A massive crimson ring flared to life, incinerating every single incoming blast. The twin spears of Maverick, the knight in crimson-black armor, destroyed it all with one sweeping motion.

BOOM!

The difference in scale that was like a lake versus an ocean, one utterly overwhelming, didn’t matter at all. Maverick’s flame ring effortlessly blocked the bombardment as though it were inconsequential.

Woong!

Maverick mimicked Sung-Ha’s unique skill, Complete Source Resonance, to create the Dual Wave System that scattered the focal point of the bombardment. At that point, the balance was destabilized and had turned in on itself.

So brute-force headcount tactics won’t work here.

Puppeteer’s next thought was that she might win if she could simply outlast Lea’s stamina, but that situation seemed unlikely.

Woong!

The seven rings surrounding a golden sphere—Sphere’s core—make it clear Lea was continuously chanting an unknown spell. Whatever it was, Puppeteer instinctively knew that the more time passed, the more disadvantaged she would become.

Then I have no choice but to change tactics.

Snap!

With another snap of her fingers, a new stage mechanism—a polyhedral mirror, shaped to resemble the sun—descended from the ceiling with a whir of wires.

Woong!

“!”

The sudden appearance of the strange new contraption caught Lea off guard. Because of that, she wasn’t able to respond to the automatons on the balcony aiming their bombardments at it.

Rumble-

Thousands of blasts were drawn into the mirror, vanishing without resistance. Those unanchored bursts of force were all being compressed into a single point beneath the concept of “sun,” which the mirror then directed as a single beam of light toward Maverick.

Agneyastra

Descended from the heavens, it thoroughly crushed the flame ring.

BOOM!

The entire theater was engulfed in light. When it faded, however, everything was still intact. Inside Lunatic, the blast that could have erased a tiny continent from the map was but a mere dramatic special effect of a scripted play.

There’s still damage...

Rumble-

Puppeteer focused on the faint tremor creeping inward from the outer walls. Using Agneyastra had drained enough power that it allowed the Tower of Heroes to burrow closer to the inner sanctum.

I’ll have to be careful from here on.

While the outskirts could be sacrificed, the core could never be allowed to fall. Adjusting and reinforcing Lunatic’s defenses, Puppeteer turned to look at the stage that was still dimming from the aftermath of the explosion.

Crack-

There was a massive ice pillar at the center of the stage. As cracks spread along its melting surface, it soon shattered, revealing Lea and the Hound Knights.

“Huff... huff...”

Lea was gasping, her face pale as a sheet, and Maverick’s armor creaked, half-melted. Even though they had pushed the Dual Wave System to its limits, they still couldn’t completely hold back the blast. It was only by borrowing the strength of the other two knights that they barely survived.

“You still want to keep going?” Puppeteer asked.

Ignoring her, Lea continued to catch her breath while meeting her eyes. Then, when she recovered a bit, she raised just one specific finger.

“...So you still haven’t learned your lesson.”

Whirlllll!

Winding up, polyhedral mirrors began rising all around the audience seats. Red lights shone down on them, turning each mirror into a miniature sun. In the blink of an eye, Puppeteer had created multiple Agneyastras with Lunatic’s power.

With all of them surrounding her, Puppeteer looked down at Lea with a cold glint.

“Then try stopping this.”

She swiped her fingers, and then dozens of suns fell from above.

Seeing that, Lea hurriedly pulled Maverick back and sent Swindler, the knight in white armor, to the front.

Crackle!

The entire stage was consumed by frost. Mimicking Amir’s unique skill and Frost Alchemy, Swindler’s Spatial Freezing Mechanism locked the stage down to suppress the copied Agneyastras.

But it was only temporary.

WHIRLLLLLL!

If one sun was frozen, two more appeared. Then four. Then eight. The suns were multiplying faster than Swindler could stop them. There were just so many that even the chilling power of the freezing mechanism began losing ground.

This won’t do...!

Lea’s mind raced. She could use the strength of the other knights again and still hold out, but if she just kept burning through the Hound Knights’ power, they’d have nothing left to strike back with.

So, in that case... Lea quickly wrapped up the enchantment on Sphere before pulling a crimson hairpin from her hair and plunging it into the core.

“Analog Stellar System, Activate.”

Woong!

The seven orbiting rings instantly aligned as an invisible wave burst from Lea, shaking the entire stage. All the spells she had been inscribing into Sphere pierced deep into the inner layer of the set in one go.

Phase Manifestation: Stage Shift

Flash!

The stage lights froze white. The sun mirrors stopped glowing.

“Swindler!!!”

Heeding Lea’s cry, Swindler, who had been solely concentrating on defense, raised both hands toward the stage and brought them down. Immediately, the frozen mirrors that looked like planets all tilted downward and plummeted toward the audience.

“?!”

Taken aback, Puppeteer was visibly shocked. However, that hadn’t stopped her from rearranging the set once again.

Slide-

A mountain range rose on all sides, formed of massive panels.

BOOM!

The dozens of frozen planets crashed into the mountains, devastating the audience section. Following up, Lea quickly issued a new command to Chatterbox, the blue-armored knight.

Clatter!

The dozens of spells wrapped around Chatterbox unraveled and dispersed, then three activated through Environmental Assimilation Computation, which used Luize’s Incantation Magic as a model.

Cooling. Freezing. Crystallization.

Crackkk!

The coldness blanketing the audience area, already covered in frost, further intensified. Pale white lighting reigned across the theater, commanding Puppeteer and all her automatons to freeze in place.

Just a bit more...!

Having created an opening, Lea squeezed out the last of her power and focused the red spotlight on Maverick. With fuel, the extinguished flames rapidly roared back to life.

FWOOOSH!

Additionally, the armor on Maverick’s back split open to reveal concealed thrusters that created dozens more flame rings that all began resonating in unison. The fiery light converged on the tips of its twin spears, then...

Swoosh-

A crimson comet cut through the audience to pierce through Puppeteer.

BOOOM!

The delayed explosion and shockwave obliterated the frozen audience seats. The pale white lighting faded, and the stage returned to its original state.

“Huff... huff...”

Having burned through all her mana, Lea clenched her lips and braced herself for the rush of exhaustion. Using the Sphere’s Stellar Analog System to steal Lunatic’s control was not a tactic she could afford to use twice. That had been her only chance to end it.

Puppeteer...

Her gaze turned to the far end of the audience—she was right there, pinned against the wall by Maverick’s spears that impaled her head and heart. There... was no trace of life remaining in her limp form.

“...”

For her long-standing nemesis, it was a strangely hollow end. Staring in silence for a moment, Lea then gave the final order.

“Burn it.”

Fwoosh!

Flames burst from the twin spears and consumed the corpse completely. Only then, seeing its ashes, did Lea finally let out a sigh of relief.

...It’s over. For now.

She wanted to collapse right there, but the battle wasn’t finished. Tuner and Beast King were still inside Lunatic; she needed to seize the stage’s control through Sphere—

“Impressive.”

Puppeteer’s voice echoed through the theater.

“To think you managed to seize control of Lunatic in that brief moment... if I’d been unlucky, that would’ve killed me for real.”

“...”

Lea’s face tensed.

“Which is why it’s such a shame. If you had completely taken over, you could’ve learned the true genre of the play being performed.”

She had thought she was dead. And yet Puppeteer was completely unharmed.

But although the situation was shocking, it wasn’t wholly unexpected. Even Lea had felt it ended too easily.

“This isn’t some tragedy where a child kills their parents, you know.”

Lea didn’t move, frozen in place—but not from shock.

“Rather, it’s a heartwarming comedy. One where a long-lost family reunites at last.”

Something had literally paralyzed her the moment the voice rang out.

What... is going on?

Struggling, Lea tried to force the Sphere to activate again—

“Now then, shall we begin again?”

Flash!

The spotlights all focused on center stage. There, Puppeteer reappeared with a smile on her face.

“This time, let’s head toward the proper ending.”

Swish-

The blood-red curtain dropped once again as the spotlights vanished without a trace. The entire theater was swallowed in pitch-black darkness.

—Act 3, Scene 1: Reperformance

The tale of the two began again from the very beginning.