The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

”You will not arrest him inside my mansion on the basis of a single lie and a death that hasn’t been proven to have any connection to him,” Earl Patrick interjected.

Robert regarded him indifferently.

”He lied about how he entered, and there is neither a record nor a witness proving that he passed through the gates. This is no longer a mere absence from the ledgers, Earl Patrick. There are matters even you are unaware of, and I cannot afford to take them lightly,” Robert said.

”Can’t he be questioned here?” Larette quickly asked, cutting into their exchange.

”I will need to search him, examine his soul energy, verify his true identity, and then question him about the route he used,” Robert replied, stepping closer to Ravian.

That final word settled heavily in Ravian’s mind.

The route he had taken.

If Robert used the abilities of Truth during the interrogation, Ravian would never be able to fabricate a story that protected the waterway or the camp he had fled from.

That would open the door to far greater torment.

The moment they learned he had come from the City of Light camp, they would send men to verify his story. The news would eventually reach Karius, who would most likely come to investigate in person.

And then...

There was also the route by which Ravian had entered the capital. They would discover that something was wrong with him—that he had changed so radically in such a short time—as well as his infiltration of the fortress, which had almost certainly been discovered already.

All of that would only lend more weight to the suspicions connecting him to one of the Fourteen Taboos—or worse...

Connecting him specifically to the Seven Sins.

That would lead him to something far worse than death.

He could refuse to answer now, but they would never release someone who refused to explain his secret entry into the capital. It would only deepen their suspicions.

’I can’t let them take me.’

The thought struck Ravian instantly.

He lowered his hands from the armrests and positioned his feet so that he could launch himself forward at any moment.

Robert turned away from the earl and Larette, noticing the subtle change in Ravian’s posture.

”Don’t,” Robert warned quietly.

Ravian didn’t look at him.

The disinterested look remained in his eyes as he ignored the warning and surveyed his surroundings.

He looked toward the glass window set into the left side of the room, then measured the distance separating him from the door.

The younger detective stood in front of the door, while Robert was positioned partially between Ravian and the window.

Shmichael stood near the desk and wouldn’t intervene in any case.

Larette remained beside the chair opposite him, her eyes betraying her fear of what was about to happen.

Earl Patrick had resumed his seat behind the desk, observing everything with cunning calm. He also seemed less hostile toward Robert now that he knew the detective was connected to Truth, one of the Fourteen Taboos.

There was no perfect route—but Ravian didn’t need one.

He needed only a single moment.

One moment in which their senses would be thrown into confusion.

’Void Shadow.’

’Absolute Focus.’

Ravian’s presence vanished.

It was as though Void Shadow’s effect had intensified even further.

His image before their eyes remained unchanged, but his soul energy and life force faded from the senses of everyone present, as though the figure sitting in the chair had suddenly become a mirage with no real existence.

At that very instant, Ravian gave Robert one last look, showing not the slightest regret for whatever consequences might follow, then pushed off the ground with both feet.

The chair shattered behind him, and his body shot toward the window at a speed no one expected from a Tenth-Rank Awakened.

”Rayan!” Larette gasped.

Ravian didn’t so much as glance at her. His eyes remained locked on Robert.

To his surprise, however, Robert didn’t move from where he stood.

He didn’t raise a hand.

He didn’t draw a weapon.

Only his glowing eyes tracked Ravian, as though a targeting system had locked onto him.

Ravian sensed the danger before he saw it.

Absolute Focus took hold, and the world around him slowed within his perception.

A thin black line appeared in the air and rapidly extended toward his neck.

It resembled a minuscule fissure cutting through space itself.

Ravian threw his body downward at the final instant. The line passed over his white hair, severing several strands before extending into the wall.

The stones split apart without a sound, the black line leaving an indelible mark across them.

Ravian landed on one hand and spun around, changing direction toward the door.

But his mind was racing.

’What was that?’

He didn’t know what Robert had attacked him with, but there was no doubt that it was extraordinarily dangerous.

Robert was equally surprised.

For the first time, his expression changed.

The small, calm smile disappeared, replaced by genuine seriousness.

”You dodged it?” Robert asked, his voice sharpening in surprise.

Ravian didn’t answer. He looked toward the door—or, more precisely, at the person standing in front of it.

The younger detective.

The instant Ravian landed, he pushed off the ground with his palm and both feet, launching himself toward the younger detective. He intended to take him down and open the door before Robert could form another attack like the previous one.

But then an immense pressure exploded throughout the room.

The windows and floor shook violently.

The marble cracked beneath Robert’s feet, while the chandeliers rattled loudly overhead.

The soul energy Robert had kept confined within his body from the very beginning poured outward, spreading around him like a compressed sea finally released from behind a dam.

It was a crushing pressure, even for Ravian’s current body.

The air vanished from his lungs.

His movement halted for a fraction of a second beneath the weight of that energy alone.

Then the System window appeared before his eyes.

[Warning!]

[A Seventh-Rank entity has been detected.]

[Classification: Riftmaker.]

[Ding!]

[A target meeting the requirements has been discovered.]

[The target is an extremely dangerous variable-type target. Please proceed with caution.]

[First Reward—subduing or killing the target: 15 extra lives.]

[Second Reward: a Seventh-Rank relic belonging to one of the Fourteen Taboos. The Host may choose which Taboo’s relic to receive.]

Ravian’s eyes widened.

’Seventh Rank?!’

His confidence wavered as he read the information.

He looked over his shoulder at the Ambassador of Truth behind him.

And he saw him.

Robert remained standing where he was, a calm yet grave expression on his face as waves of soul energy rippled outward from him.

He was their source.

At that moment, Robert swept one hand horizontally through the air.

In the next instant, a horizontal black rift opened before his hand and shot toward Ravian, widening as it traveled.

Ravian’s eyes widened as he watched the spatial rift close in.

’So this is no longer an arrest.’

The indifference in Ravian’s eyes only deepened.

Escaping Robert with his current strength was impossible.

”You’re the one who asked for this.”

Ravian’s voice came out as cold as frost, making Robert frown.

’What is this guy plann—’

Robert’s thoughts were abruptly cut short when he saw that Ravian wasn’t attempting to evade the spatial rift.

Instead, Ravian continued charging straight toward the study door, exactly as before.

Robert’s eyes widened as he realized that Ravian’s target had shifted to someone else.

”Raphael!” Robert shouted at the younger detective.

”Huh?”

The younger detective didn’t understand what was happening.

He threw his notebook to the floor and raised his fist, preparing to punch Ravian, who was only three steps away.

”No! Get out of his way!” Robert screamed, pushing off the ground and launching himself toward them in the same instant.

”Rayan!” Larette screamed when she saw Robert charging toward Ravian.

Raphael swung his fist at Ravian’s face.

Ravian merely shifted to the right and evaded it.

For a single instant, Robert thought Ravian wasn’t going to do anything to Raphael after all—

Then Ravian’s hand closed around the younger detective’s neck, his expression utterly cold.

”Be more careful next time.”

The moment those words left Ravian’s mouth—

Crack!

The loud sound of breaking bone rang throughout the room, and Raphael’s neck bent at an unnatural angle.

”Kyaa!” Larette screamed at the sight, while Shmichael stepped in front of her to block her view.

”No!” Robert screamed as he watched Ravian break his assistant’s neck.

But Ravian wasn’t finished.

Still gripping Raphael by the neck, he hurled him toward the spatial rift, which was now less than half a meter away.

Shlick!

Srrriiish!

The sounds of splattering blood and severing flesh rang out at once as the rift sliced Raphael’s body in half horizontally—then vanished.

In that instant, the look in Robert’s eyes transformed into pure hatred.

He formed another rift many times larger than the first—so vast that it swallowed Ravian’s entire field of vision.

”Go to hell!” Robert said in an ominous voice.

”No!” Larette screamed.

Blackness filled Ravian’s vision as the rift blotted out everything before him.

Yet despite it all, the smile on his face remained wide—almost insane—even as death closed in.

Then, as the rift tore through his body—no, erased it from existence in the most literal sense—Ravian spoke.

”It’s not over yet.”

Everything vanished from his sight at once.

His mind could no longer function, and with it, his consciousness disappeared.

...

[Host death confirmed.]

[One extra life has been consumed.]

[Extra lives remaining: 2.]

[Regression to the start of the day will now begin.]