A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 283 : Primordial Demon (1)

"…You’ve arrived."

When he reached the designated location, Leonardo Louis Button greeted U-jin in a dry voice.

In contrast to his flat, emotionless tone, the place where he received U-jin was already packed with people.

Seeing that only one seat remained empty, it seemed U-jin was the last to arrive among those summoned.

"I apologize for the late notice."

"……."

"The matter was so urgent that I took the liberty of requesting your presence. I felt it was only right for Seo U-jin to be here as well."

Perhaps sensing the look in U-jin’s eyes, Leonardo Louis Button clarified once more that it was a matter of timing before guiding U-jin to his seat.

The place U-jin had arrived at, following the message delivered through Eliya, was none other than the Exorcist base.

Thud—

As he sat down and scanned the faces of those present, he saw several familiar ones.

"Yo."

"It seems there isn't a single place you miss out on."

"When you get old, you naturally want to stick your nose into everything."

"…Is that allowed?"

"Mind your own business. Whether I do it or not is up to me."

Among them was Ludwig Allegro, who shrugged and acted friendly, along with the high priests who made up the core strength of the Order.

He even spotted the faces of Cardinals who headed the central institutions of the Order.

Judging by the fact that they had brought their unique cardinal staves, clearly displaying their identities, this appeared to be an official proceeding.

The fact that each person present was a figure of significant weight proved the gravity of the situation at hand.

It was a gathering of the Order’s highest-ranking core officials, to the point where it was almost surprising that U-jin had been invited at all.

As soon as U-jin took his seat, Leonardo Louis Button began speaking without delay.

"We don't have much time, so let's begin immediately."

"……."

"There has been an invasion by the Demon King's Army, starting from the Akin Kingdom in the southern part of the Order Territory."

Louis’s opening statement was shocking, but surprisingly, the reaction of the audience was not explosive.

—Ahem.

—…….

They merely adjusted their posture and deepened the furrows in their brows, immersing themselves in the gravity of the situation.

The reason was simple.

Like U-jin, everyone in this room had already been informed of the core topic—the 'Southern Invasion'—via the Order’s hotline.

The important part came after this.

"We are still determining the exact size of the forces, but we estimate it to be at least two corps-level."

"……!"

Two corps.

—Hmm.

—Two, you say….

Was this revenge for the Northern Subjugation War?

Or was it a battle the Demon King's Army had planned regardless of the Northern Subjugation?

One thing was certain: the number of troops could never be considered small.

Though they were called 'corps,' two corps were equivalent to twice the size of the Northern Subjugation Army that the Order had formed by gathering all its remaining strength.

Of course, in the case of the Northern Subjugation Army, the presence of Hero-class powers made them more potent than a standard corps on other Anti-Demon Fronts, so a direct comparison was difficult. Nevertheless, it was a fact that a Demon King's Army of that scale had invaded the alliance of the Order.

A Demon King's Army of that size forming and invading the south was certainly unusual and a major crisis.

However.

That alone did not explain the current situation.

In the case of the Northern Subjugation War, there were difficulties because the invading forces had to be pulled separately while still maintaining the existing Anti-Demon Fronts, but this situation was different.

A Southern Anti-Demon Front already existed, and there were already two corps-level forces stationed there to protect it.

Aside from the several divisions organized under them, there were also separate brigades handling various special duties.

Excluding the East, where the Murim Empire stood firm, the South was the place where the Order alliance’s military strength was best established.

Even if the Western Front, where the Demon King's Castle was located, saw frequent shifts in the front line due to its symbolic nature, the South had maintained its current front for a long time without being pushed back or pushing forward.

That meant the corps-level forces currently on the Southern Anti-Demon Front were all in good condition.

If the purpose of calling these people was simply to announce that 'two corps of the Demon King's Army have invaded the South' and ask for reinforcements, there was no need to bring them here in person.

They could have simply fulfilled their roles from their respective positions.

Furthermore, the terrifying thing about the Demon King's Army was never their performance in all-out warfare, including sieges.

As seen in their fortification strategy, their primary tactic was to form bases, hold their ground, and deploy Demonic Species into the interior of the Order to eat away at it from within.

Because that was the main strategy adopted by the Demon King's Army, the Order had gone so far as to create a dedicated organization called the 'Exorcists' to deal with the Demonic Species.

Similarly, the reason the Northern Subjugation War was possible was that the Order held the advantage in all-out wars, subjugation battles, and offensive holy wars from the very beginning.

In other words, from the Order's perspective, an offensive from the Demon King's Army should actually be welcomed.

It was no different from the Demon King's Army jumping into the Order’s home ground.

Because of this, everyone instinctively felt it.

There had to be another reason why they were bothered to be summoned in person for something that could have ended with a request for aid.

That what Leonardo Louis Button had said was by no means the whole story.

"Get to the point. We're all busy people, so don't drag it out."

Perhaps because of that, Ludwig Allegro interrupted Louis and urged him to the conclusion.

The rest of the people seemed to share his sentiment, nodding in agreement.

A brief silence followed, and then a low murmur escaped Leonardo Louis Button's lips.

"…The existence of a Primordial Demon, 'Leviathan,' has been confirmed."

"……!"

And that revelation was more than enough to leave the audience in a state of horror.

* * *

Leviathan.

The name itself meant nothing to most of those sitting in the audience.

Understandably so, as it was a 'proper noun' referring to a specific entity.

It was only natural; rather, those who recognized it would have been the strange ones.

However, the common noun attached in front of it was the problem.

Primordial Demon.

There was no one who did not understand that term.

A flicker of terror instantly crossed everyone's eyes. In extreme cases, some were unable to control their trembling, their pupils shaking like aspen leaves.

One such person was a commander of an Anti-Demon Front who had thousands of troops under his command.

Even for him, it was a word that inspired dread.

The term 'Primordial Demon.'

Louis quietly began to add an explanation.

"…As those gathered here are aware, the duty of the Exorcists is to deal with the Demonic Species that invade the territory of the Order alliance."

No one was ignorant of that.

Exorcists and Inquisitors.

They were not merely emerging institutions of this era, but special units traditionally dedicated to Demonic Species since ancient times, before the Order had even fully established itself. And the specialists among them were the Inquisitors.

As Leonardo Louis Button was the most admired among all existing high priests, there was no one in the Order who did not know the position of 'Inquisitor.'

Moreover, the people in this room were not just anyone.

They were all individuals of high standing within the Order; there was no way they wouldn't know.

Despite this, the reason Leonardo Louis Button bothered to say those words was that there was a part of that 'common knowledge' that needed to be corrected.

"…However, in truth, that is not the primary duty of the Exorcists."

The surroundings instantly became noisy.

—…What did you say? If it’s not the primary duty of the Exorcists….

—What on earth does that mean, Sir Button?

—The explanation is a bit….

Shocked questions erupted from all sides, unable to contain the impact of his words.

However, among them, there were clearly those who frowned further and glanced at the others.

Those who gave off the air of 'already knowing.'

Most notably.

"…This is a mess."

"……."

"It’s really gone as far as it can go."

Ludwig Allegro was one of them.

Muttering curses under his breath, he twisted his face in displeasure.

And U-jin, too.

He knew very well what Leonardo Louis Button was talking about.

'…Damn.'

…He just hadn't realized that the time to reveal that story would come so soon.

"The primary duty assigned to the Exorcists is not handling Demonic Species, but maintaining and managing the seals of the ancient Primordial Demons that were sealed by the Messiah in the primordial age."

"……!"

"Of course, as the organization grew in scale in the modern era, we took on the task of dealing with Demonic Species, but that is strictly a secondary duty."

Naturally, not every member of the Exorcists knew this fact.

Among the members of the Exorcists, only a few veteran members who operated out of the headquarters and held Louis’s trust were tasked with the duty of maintaining and managing the seals of the Primordial Demons, beyond just dealing with Demonic Species.

"The reason we emphasized the hunting of Demonic Species to the public was to suppress the fear of the Primordial Demons."

"……."

"If we were to stir up fear by publicly announcing that we are preparing for the resurrection of Primordial Demons, it would only have an adverse effect on preventing their return."

Primordial Demons feed on fear and grow.

This wasn't an abstract concept; fear was the actual physical drive and energy source that allowed them to move.

That was exactly what Louis was saying.

He pointed out that if fear was stimulated and the energy of terror became rampant across the continent, it would instead hasten the unsealing of the Primordial Demons and further strengthen their power.

—…….

The audience was left speechless by the succession of shocking news.

A heavy silence fell.

But Leonardo Louis Button did not bother to wait for them.

If he had enough leisure to provide everyone with time to understand, he wouldn't have summoned them here in the first place.

And so, Louis pulled something from his robe.