The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 172

If one were to list out all the fundamental differences between divine mana and ordinary mana, they would talk for an eternity. Including their nature, origin, and training methods, there were too many.

And among them all, Jane thought the biggest difference was compatibility.

For example, with fire mana, those without affinity for it couldn't produce it by themselves. Yet that didn’t mean they couldn't use it. As long as they received an external supply from either equipment, consumables, or other heroes, they could control it to some extent using their existing skills.

Clang!

And that was where the difference lay. Even if someone who hadn’t awakened divine mana received it externally, they couldn’t control or maintain it.

The reason explained by the Pope of the Pilgrimage Church, Pilgrim Karl Andersen, went like this: “Although these two types of mana may look similar at first glance, their origins are different. That is why those of us blessed with divine mana must devote ourselves to humanity.”

The two types of mana were different in their origin. Jane had learned and experienced that, so she never questioned it. That was why she couldn’t believe the latest treatment method that Se-Hoon proposed was possible when she heard about it.

“...”

Smack!

She stared blankly at Se-Hoon, who was enveloped in divine mana and was engaging in an intense battle with the patient.

“Good!”

The golden spear in Se-Hoon's hand, created with divine mana, was bent flexibly and shot forward fiercely. Its shape and strength, as well as its instant transformations, were all freely manipulated.

Jane struggled to believe that the seemingly flawless Divine Magic weapon projection—something rare even within the Church—was real.

How on earth...

She was awed by Se-Hoon’s proficiency after just a few demonstrations and simple instructions. It truly seemed to be the result of relentless practice.

“Huff...!”

Quickly adjusting his stance, Karl thrust his wooden spear, aligning it with the irregular trajectory of the spear.

Clang!

The thrice-curved blade was perfectly parried, and Karl, riding the momentum, launched a counterattack. He swiftly closed the distance and thrust his spear toward Se-Hoon’s throat.

Despite his handicap of not using mana, Karl’s sharp attack forced Se-Hoon to swing his spear quickly to parry.

Clang!

Unfortunately, no matter how many openings in Se-Hoon’s defense Karl could use his spear to penetrate, an old body without any aid from mana couldn’t keep up. And since Se-Hoon had been buffed by Jane, he could easily block the attack.

Clang!

However, Karl was waiting for that.

Here it comes...!

He promptly twisted his body to unleash his secret move.

Screech-

With a twist of his left foot, he added more rotational force to his arms, driving it up through his body. Twisted to its limit, Karl pushed all the rotational force into the wooden sword and struck Se-Hoon’s spear.

Boom!

The golden spear shattered into pieces from the impact, and Karl rushed in through the gap. With all his might, he then thrust his wooden spear at the scoundrel, who had relentlessly beaten him under the guise of treatment.

Clack!

But at that moment, Se-Hoon swung two daggers and twisted the spear's trajectory. Caught off guard by the daggers created from the shattered golden fragments, Karl paused, and Se-Hoon took the chance to swing at his throat.

“...!”

Feeling the threat to his life, Karl reflexively gathered his mana and fiercely swung his spear at Se-Hoon, sending it piercing through Se-Hoon’s chest at an incomparable speed.

Crash!!

Realizing what he had done, Karl’s eyes widened.

“Damn it...!”

His gathering of mana during the treatment procedure was one problem, but more importantly, he had gone full force against the opponent. He hurriedly checked the spear tip to see if Se-Hoon was injured.

Woong-

Luckily, the wooden spear was broken and blocked by a golden shield.

“Phew... it seems like my life's been saved by you, Archbishop.”

Anticipating the attack, Jane had used her Divine Magic and projected a shield that cleanly blocked it.

“Since you’ve summoned your mana, the treatment is now over. How do you feel?”

“Ah, um...”

At Se-Hoon’s words, Karl checked his body. Not only was he full of vigor, but his previously off-centered balance had centered somewhat. The most astonishing thing, however, was the significantly reduced discomfort from the spinal prosthesis attached to his back.

“It feels like my body has been completely overhauled.... How is this possible?”

“Oh, it’s nothing special. I just used divine mana to accelerate the natural healing in your body.”

“Natural healing?”

Puzzled by the unexpected answer, Karl looked at Se-Hoon who proceeded to explain.

“Since healing with just Divine Magic is inefficient due to our lack of understanding of your bodies, especially in delicate areas like the spine, we enable your bodies to handle it on their own.”

It was no easy task to heal something as delicate as a slight misalignment, especially for high-level heroes. So, Se-Hoon handed it off to the patient’s own body cells, who knew their body best, to handle it.

“By sparring with me, your mind naturally recalled your movements before the injury. The divine mana that I injected into your body throughout the spar then manifests as Divine Magic, healing your body to match those sensations.”

Instead of just healing the wound, his treatment method restored the body to its prime state. Overall, it resulted in a much better condition than simple healing with Divine Magic.

“Of course, this isn’t a cure-all. The patient must clearly remember their past state and have the minimum requirement to handle the manifested divine magic.”

“By requirement... do you mean the prosthesis?”

“Exactly. Since your spine was already damaged, your body will heal itself based on the prosthesis.”

“...Impressive.”

It not only healed the body but also reduced the prosthesis’ chronic discomfort. It was so effective that Karl rejoiced at the treatment's results, which caught him up on months of rehabilitation in one session.

“Then can I receive this treatment regula—”

“Ah, sorry, the Church prohibits regular treatments. Repeated treatment might interfere with the patient’s mana control.”

“Hmm... I see.”

“Yep. We’ll contact you if the issues are resolved.”

Disappointedly accepting it, Karl nodded.

“Alright. Don’t forget to contact me if they’re resolved. I’ll pay any amount to receive the treatment.”

“Don’t worry. Also, since your body has changed drastically in such a short time, please rest for a few days.”

“Got it. And... hmm...”

Glancing at Jane and Luize behind Se-Hoon, Karl hesitated for a moment before sheepishly apologizing, “I’m sorry about earlier. Thanks for all your hard work with the treatment.”

With that, Karl gathered the pieces of the broken wooden spear, retrieved his crutch, and quickly exited the hall. Watching his retreating figure, Se-Hoon smiled slightly.

So he knows how to apologize, albeit only when he's feeling better.

Maybe during his active days, despite his bad language, his character wasn’t so bad.

Alessia approached the three of them.

“Thank you all for your hard work.”

“It’s nothing. Was he the last one?”

“Yes. That concludes today’s treatment session, so you guys can go back and rest. You’ve all done a great job.”

When a few more things were wrapped up, Alessia and the nurses saw the three of them off.

Sitting in their car that was heading to the nearby accommodations they booked, Jane commented, “You can speak freely here; the driver’s seat is partitioned off.”

“Haa...”

Luize let out a sigh, finally letting her carefully maintained expression crumble.

“Ugh, my head... why does handling divine mana hurt so much?”

For the treatment, Luize's role was to use her Incantation Magic to assimilate the divine mana in the magic array with Se-Hoon and the patient. Normally, those who hadn't awakened their divine mana shouldn’t be able to maintain it within their bodies, but it was possible thanks to Luize's Incantation Magic.

“Well, you’re trying to force something you don’t fully understand to work. It'll continue to be like that until you properly awaken divine mana.”

“Then I guess I should avoid using it if possible...”

Luckily, the treatment only required her to cast the Incantation Magic once. If she had to refresh its effect continuously, her head might have exploded.

Smiling at Luize, who was pressing her forehead and groaning, Jane, sitting opposite, moved her gaze to Se-Hoon.

“Lee Se-Hoon. May I ask you something?”

“Oh, yes. Go ahead.”

“How did you come up with this... treatment method?”

Having seen for herself how the treatment suppressed the patient’s own mana and forcibly assimilated divine mana within their body to maximize natural healing, the entire procedure did indeed seem possible, but it was a completely unthinkable method.

How is his understanding of divine mana so unusually high?

Even if he was able to contain divine mana within his body, how could he use it so naturally? With such talent, Jane even wondered if he had already awakened divine mana.

Seeing her suspicious gaze, Se-Hoon nonchalantly answered, “I just thought it would work.”

“You just thought...?”

“Yes. To explain a bit more, I simply combined the body's natural restorative power with Luize's incantation magic and the characteristics of divine mana. It really wasn’t that difficult.”

That was true; such an outcome was easily possible because he fully understood the three forces.

For some reason, Jane found herself believing him even though it still seemed unbelievable on paper.

So this is what it feels like when you see someone who’s born fundamentally different, Pope.

Understanding, ideation, and execution—everything about Se-Hoon was fundamentally different from others. It was as if he was born to bring something new to the world.

After everything, Jane now had a better understanding of what kind of person Se-Hoon was and what she had to do in the future.

“Could you explain the treatment method in detail later? I would like the Church to research it properly.”

“Of course. I’ll organize it as best as I can.”

“Thank you. And... what about the results?”

Se-Hoon thought about it for a moment.

“I have confirmed everything necessary. Putting the three suspicious people and the two others together made it clear for comparison.”

Jane's expression grew tense. The fact that Se-Hoon had found clear differences meant that the involvement of the Pleasure District was confirmed.

“What was different about them?”

“Um...”

Organizing the information, Se-Hoon eventually said, “The performance of their implanted prosthetics was much better.”

“Can you explain in a bit more detail?”

“They seemed to have fewer side effects, and the body’s adaptation to them is far superior. It seemed as though there were additional parts inside the prosthetics that reduced the foreign sensation and enhanced their deteriorated abilities.”

“So... does that mean there are going to be hidden side effects?”

Hearing Jane’s nervousness, Se-Hoon shook his head calmly.

“No, there shouldn’t be any. To put it more simply, it felt like their prosthetics were a generation... no, two generations ahead in technology.”

“...”

Jane furrowed her brow at Se-Hoon’s explanation. She had assumed that the Pleasure District's involvement meant the prosthetics were corrupted with demonic aura and would turn people into fiends or corrupt their minds. Yet the only difference was superior performance?

Similar to Jane, Luize, who had been listening, also furrowed her brow.

“So, what’s the problem? There’s nothing bad about their prosthetics being superior.”

“If you look at it that way, yes. The problem is what they plan to do with those people after healing them.”

At first, Se-Hoon thought they would just be sacrificed as materials for the Pleasure District’s expansion. However, after examining the prosthetics during the treatment, he realized his initial assumption was wrong.

They’re going to be used entirely differently.

Unlike the ones he previously detained with the Special Operations Division, who actually seemed like they were going to be used as materials for the Expansion by corrupting them into demons, these three seemed to be being rehabilitated to be reborn as heroes for a different purpose.

Now, figuring out that purpose would determine the response and the strategy they needed to use against the Pleasure District.

“I need to check the additional part placed inside their prosthetics to really see what they’re up to. So, tonight, we’ll infiltrate their wards as planned.”

“Um... can we even sneak up on them? We just made them stronger, so isn’t it going to be more difficult now?”

Even if they were exhausted and asleep, it was uncertain if they could sneak into their rooms, let alone now that they were full of vigor.

But Se-Hoon was absolutely confident.

“Don’t worry,” he responded to Luize’s concerned worry.

He glanced at the rehabilitation hospital through the window and smiled.

“Everything on that side has been taken care of.”

***

At 1:00 am, long past lights-out time, the hospital was quiet; there was no one awake except for the desk lamp and the night-duty staff. The large, empty interior and the CCTV also showed nothing unusual. It was serene.

With nothing occurring, the security staff yawned leisurely in the guardroom.

Rustle-

Unbeknownst to security, part of the hospital’s scenery subtly rippled, moving down the corridor and ascending the stairs.

Woong-

The corridor the ripple entered was filled with invisible magic lasers—a state-of-the-art security system that would trigger an alarm if anyone without a pass tried to pass through.

Rustle-

However, despite the ripple moving forward, the lasers just wavered and passed through without triggering. That continued up to the third floor, where the patient rooms were located.

Still undetected, the ripple moved past the nurses on duty at the third-floor desk and entered one of the patient rooms.

“We should be good now.”

“Phew...”

Relaxing a bit, Luize, who had been sticking close to Se-Hoon, exhaled the breath she had been holding behind her mask.

“Ugh... I feel sick...”

The bizarre sensation of her entire body blending into the surroundings made her shudder upon recalling the feeling of her body unraveling thread by thread.

“Where did you even learn this?”

They used dream mana to enter the boundary of dreams and then assimilated with the surroundings using Incantation Magic. The method was highly effective, as they just experienced, but incredibly risky, since even a slight mistake could result in being absorbed by the scenery. If Se-Hoon hadn’t assured her of its safety, she wouldn’t have dared to try it.

“Well... I just thought it might work.”

In truth, he was mimicking the technique the Blast Dog once used, but he couldn’t explain that, so he made up a plausible excuse.

“Oh, you just thought it might work...”

Initially about to accept his answer, Luize suddenly widened her eyes in realization.

“Wait, didn’t you tell me to just trust you because it was a proven method???”

“Shh. If you talk too much, we’ll get caught.”

“What, you son of a—”

Snap!

With a light snap of his fingers, Se-Hoon triggered an X-patterned mask to silence her. It was the mute function he had secretly added when he first made her choker.

Unable to speak, Luize glared at him menacingly.

“Let’s discuss this later. For now, let’s proceed.”

Pushing the glaring Luize gently forward, Se-Hoon entered the room.

Woong-

Since they were still under the cover of dream mana, they easily bypassed the simple alarm systems inside the room.

Wasting no time, Se-Hoon approached the bed, where an elderly man, Karl, was lying on his side, sleeping soundly. His slow, deep breaths indicated a deep sleep, which Luize found fascinating.

He really stimulated their nervous system and knocked them out...

To others, Karl appeared to be sleeping naturally, but in reality, it was a deep, almost drug-induced sleep.

Luize tapped her mask, and seeing that she had calmed down, Se-Hoon snapped his fingers again.

Snap!

“...Bastard.”

“You’re the one who got excited in a place like this.”

“Fine. What’s the plan now?”

“First, we need to disassemble it.”

“We’re really going to... disassemble their prosthetics?”

“Of course. It’s not that difficult, so help me out a bit.”

Starting, Se-Hoon briskly pulled back the blanket and lifted Karl's shirt, revealing the spinal prosthesis embedded along the spine. A faint stream of mana could be seen circulating through it, making it appear as if it were a natural part of his body.

“Let’s see...”

Taking out the Ethereal Monocle from his void pocket, Se-Hoon placed it over his left eye and carefully examined the prosthesis. Focusing on a specific spot near the shoulder blades, he took out a surgical scalpel he had prepared in advance.

“Help me enchant this.”

“Got it.”

Luize, gathering her mana, chanted an incantation that turned the small blade black and made it faintly glow. Checking the enchantment, Se-Hoon carefully moved the scalpel to the pre-decided part of the prosthesis and started cutting.

Slice-

The prosthesis split open smoothly, feeling like he was cutting through flesh. In reality, it would have been difficult to cut through without a highly sharp blade, but the enchantment had tricked the components into parting easily.

Okay, right here...

Bringing his right hand to the incision, Se-Hoon connected it with Shadow Thread to another part of the prosthesis to ensure that the flow of mana remained uninterrupted to prevent Karl from waking up. He then started meticulously cutting and connecting various parts of the prosthesis until he finally exposed its inner section.

Woong-

Inside, he found a hidden component: a peculiar green gemstone. Its familiar shape made Se-Hoon narrow his eyes.

“Hey... could this be...?”

Watching from the side, Luize also frowned at the sight of it.

Se-Hoon nodded. “Yeah, it’s the device made by Dawn.”

Dawn’s mana corrosion device was a device that altered the structure of the target’s mana circuits by corroding them. And the gemstone was one of the key components used in that device.

“...So those bastards are hiding here too.”

Luize’s eyes glinted coldly, while Se-Hoon just quietly observed the green gemstone.

But it’s too calm if it’s corroding his mana circuit.

There were no signs of rejection from the mana circuits, and the spinal prosthesis itself was naturally assimilating into Karl’s body rather than corroding it.

Wondering how it was being used, Se-Hoon activated the Ethereal Monocle again when a thought struck him.

Dream Projection

A thread of mana extended from the monocle and touched the gemstone, gradually reflecting a scene in the lens.

The scene revealed Karl wielding a long spear, moving with incredible speed and strength compared to now. Unlike the corrupted heroes’ synesthetic mindscapes he had seen before, this one was pristine. It made Se-Hoon’s breath catch in his throat.

This...

Se-Hoon had used the Dream Projection not on the sleeping Karl but on the gemstone embedded in the spinal prosthesis. The fact that he could see a clear image of Karl’s synesthetic mindscape indicated something significant.

The replication of synesthetic mindscapes.

High-ranking heroes—those with the potential to become S-ranks—were being healed to surpass their limits, and their perfected synesthetic mindscapes were being copied.

Recalling an entity that had perfected its form by using such a method before the regression, Se-Hoon was unable to stop the murmur from escaping his mouth.

“The Harbinger of Oblivion...”