The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“Senior! Senior Cyan!”

Despite Luna’s anxious call, there was no response from beyond the falling rocks.

If he’s safe, it would be reassuring to at least acknowledge it.

Suddenly, Luna rose to her feet and began to manifest mana, stepping back a bit.

-Woowoong.

Seeing this, Karun quickly grabbed her hand.

“Please calm down, Luna! Do you intend to destroy the ruins?”

“Let go.”

It was a short and concise response, but Luna’s eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger.

Perplexed, Karun involuntarily released her hand.

“Explain yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you suddenly destroy the intact ruins?”

At her sudden inquiry, Karun furrowed his brow and responded.

“Why on earth would you say such a thing?”

Luna, without any signs of wavering, quietly spoke while looking at Karun.

“Aziz Pereira…”

“…?”

At the untimely call, the owner of the name looked puzzled.

“The 7th-grade holder of the Land attribute research department from the western region of the Kingdom…”

It was his identity information recorded in the Society.

“While Karun distracted the Crown Prince and diverted attention, didn’t you cast magic from behind?”

“W-What are you talking about? I was just…”

“Shall I hold you in my arms to confirm whether you used magic or not?”

All the wizards participating in the expedition were individuals with a certain level of magical grade and had a certain position in the Society.

In other words, they couldn’t help but know about her unique abilities.

Aziz, who could not bear to nod his head, ended up avoiding her gaze.

“Meaningless suspicions are inappropriate, Luna. Let’s just leave the ruins for now. I will ask the remaining members of the Society for help outside.”

Karun, with his voice subdued, suggested Luna to leave.

“Help? For you who are indulging in futile attempts to promote magical development?”

At this, her face suddenly turned cold.

“Is it a help message for those who are doing nothing but nonsense? The unnecessary concerns…”

The faces of the other Society members except for Karun froze momentarily.

Meanwhile, Karun, with a calm gaze, looked straight at Luna.

A fierce fight between a man and a woman in an unknown space where you never know when or what will happen.

“In the end, it doesn’t change anything, Luna…”

With raised eyebrows, Karun spoke to her sympathetically.

“Don’t you also know, Luna? What truly benefits the Society, the Kingdom, and yourself? It’s not about paying attention to such unnecessary matters…”

“That’s your ignorant opinion.”

She released the bluish mana she had secretly created as if to show it off.

“I’m not your puppet.”

Flash!

In an instant, a bright light appeared in the darkness, blinding their eyes.

The Society members, whose vision was momentarily blocked, turned their eyes in pain.

As they quickly regained their senses and turned their gazes back, only dust was swirling where she had been.

Luna was fleeing in another direction where the rocks hadn’t fallen.

“Damn it!”

Karun commanded the Society members with a contorted face.

“Two of you stay here to monitor the situation, while the rest go after her. If she reappears, make sure to capture her alive, by any means necessary!”

“What about those inside?”

“Kill them.”

It was a succinct answer without a hint of hesitation.

“There seems to be no chance of escape for them anyway…”

For them, Cyan and Set’s lives were of no concern.

It was their duty not to squander the golden opportunity handed to them by fate.

As Karun gazed towards the direction Luna fled, he muttered quietly,

“Everything is for the advancement of humanity…”

With this almost like a spell, they proceeded into the depths of the ruins, where their destination was unknown.

* * *

I thought my body would split in half and fall forward, but I was hit by a completely unexpected blow.

Of course, avoiding it wasn’t difficult.

But as I regained my posture and looked at the creature again, I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes.

“What is that?”

The severed bodies of the demon didn’t fall to the ground, but instead rapidly reattached themselves, slowly regenerating at an accelerated pace.

It felt like wading through a swamp or a pile of mud rather than a living creature.

The Balrogs I knew didn’t possess such exceptional regenerative abilities.

This was not an innate ability of the creature but rather someone summoning it who had cast a regeneration spell on it.

What kind of hybrid is this?

[What kind of idiot created something like this?]

Perhaps sensing my discomfort, Kaeram also frowned, expressing displeasure.

The Balrog looked at me in confusion, but once again manifested mana from his hands.

It wasn’t the same attack magic as before.

Rather than for the purpose of destruction, a limiting barrier was created to prevent damage that would occur in battle with me.

As they are said to have power comparable to that of dragons, Balrogs are also one of the races that can use magic.

However, compared to humans or dragons, their intellect was not that outstanding, and as they were a race whose pure instinct for destruction and destruction took precedence over their intellect, they were notorious even in the demon world.

The fact that this Balrog had erected a barrier to protect the ruins suggested that whoever summoned it implanted a sense of guardianship in it rather than a destructive nature.

However, that doesn’t mean reasoning with it would be effective.

Regardless of its instincts, the bottom line remained that I had to kill it.

First, I backed away for a moment to assess the situation.

If this Balrog was indeed the creature known among the locals as Remiharam, then it was likely summoned through the power of the Tome.

In that case, there would be a core of mana concentrated somewhere in its body.

Summoned creatures typically have a core of mana akin to a human heart.

Destroying it would lead to the immediate demise of even the most resilient summoned creature.

Once I confirmed the path, I immediately manifested the power of the mist.

“Shadow Fourth Style: Sensory Detection!”

Infusing mana into the manifested mist, I probed the interior of the Balrog.

Streams of mana flowed throughout its body like the veins of a person, converging and accumulating into one main flow, much like rivers converging into a sea.

They gathered at the head, precisely at the center of the forehead.

That’s it.

I needed to shatter that condensed core of mana.

There was no reason for me to hold back within the confines of the barrier.

With the dark mist enveloping Kaeram’s sword tip, as soon as I finished preparing to crush the core, I dashed forward.

Sensing the imminent destruction of its core, the Balrog spread its deteriorating wings and unleashed a gust of wind.

It was a menacing blade wind that could cause rocks to crumble, but to me, it was merely a breeze.

I leaped lightly like a bird in flight.

“Dance of the Sword: Steadfast Roots!”

With a swift thrust, the blade pierced through the thick skin and connected with the core of mana.

As the mist surrounding Kaeram’s sword seeped into the Balrog’s body, the creature did not resist or even scream.

“….!”

Finally, its body collapsed forward as its knees buckled.

Once the core was destroyed, the same level of regeneration as before wouldn’t occur.

It seemed like it was dissipating, and smoke began to rise from the Balrog’s body.

Hmm.

It feels somewhat anticlimactic.

Although I had dealt with the situation without major issues, it left me in a somewhat awkward position of not having gained much insight into the relationship between this creature and the Time.

Since I couldn’t interrogate an incapacitated summoned creature, my only option was to kill it.

Although I briefly considered searching its body, the summoned creature had already completed its dissipation, leaving behind only dust.

“….!”

Or so I thought, until I noticed something small and dark, about the size of an adult’s thumbnail, amidst the swirling dust.

It was the only remnant left from the Balrog’s body, having survived the complete dissolution of its tissue and fur.

I quickly picked up the object as if retrieving a fallen coin.

It had a thin, dusty surface that seemed fragile, like it would tear with the slightest force and dissolve into mush if it touched water.

Without needing a closer look, I realized it was… paper.

[Hey, hand that over!]

Somewhere amidst the solidifying mist, Kaeram materialized and swiftly snatched the paper from my hand.

As she examined it with a puzzled expression, her face contorted noticeably.

[Why would that idiot drop this?]

The atmosphere suggested she knew what the paper was all about.

When I attempted to ask her about it, she interrupted.

[It’s what you were looking for, Master.]

She tossed the paper back to me.

“What is this?”

[It’s a fragment of the Tome, of course.]

Kaeram responded with a somewhat uncomfortable expression, observing my stunned reaction.

[The bastard’s right here, right now.]

* * *

Expecting a maze-like structure, Luna found herself on an open path that stretched endlessly ahead.

Even for an ancient relic, it seemed too simplistic.

She had hoped for at least a fork in the road or some kind of trick to buy her some time, but this grim ruin offered her no assistance.

If she continued like this, she would soon be caught by the pursuing members of the association.

That would render her journey following Cyan pointless.

“Ugh!”

Gasping for breath as she ran, Luna stumbled and fell, her feet failing to keep up with her haste.

As she hastily rose to her feet, she soon confronted something rather unpleasant.

“Not good…”

There was no visible way back, only a dead end.

Luna’s frustration turned into determination.

She refused to let herself succumb to despair.

Instead, she resolved to break through.

“If there’s no path forward, then I’ll make one.”

Even if it seemed impossible, breaking through was better than sitting down and shedding tears.

In the past, she might not have even considered running away.

But now, in the dwindling moments of her life, she felt differently.

Whether being tossed around by fate or by others, she had always believed her existence to be meaningless.

But not anymore.

Somewhere amidst the bleak prospects of the future, a small path had appeared.

It was a path she could tread upon by her own volition, a path solely meant for her.

Though she couldn’t see what lay at its end, she knew she had to find out.

With that resolve firmly in her hands, she prepared to chant the spell to break through the barrier.

But just as she was about to do so, something unexpected happened.

“…?”

Suddenly, a strange black orb appeared before her.

Luna, taken aback, lowered her hand and met the orb’s gaze.

To her surprise, the small orb expanded rapidly, enveloping her body and creating a small opening that seemed inviting.

Inside the opening, a strange energy flowed, and it emitted a tempting light, as if beckoning her to enter.

Luna, almost involuntarily, stepped into the opening.

“….”

Inside the orb, things weren’t much different from before.

It resembled the passageways of the ruins Luna had traversed earlier, except for one notable difference: there was someone else there besides her.

“….”

Sitting in the middle of the passage was a man with jet-black hair, partially crouched down, his eyes holding a hint of curiosity as they fixed upon Luna.

————