A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 287 : Primordial Demon (5)

Bwaaaaa—

The resonant blast of horn trumpets echoed one after another, and the heavy tension of war hung over the vast plains.

At the head of each brigade, flags symbolizing the Guardian Cross Order were tied to the tips of spears.

The flapping of those flags was the only sound that could be heard across the battlefield.

The sight of three legion-scale anti-demon divisions, clad in white, looked as though they could repel anything. However, instead of boiling morale, an unsettling silence occupied the field.

“Morale is… worse than I expected.”

“…I agree.”

Just as Leonardo Louis Button said, the morale of the Church Allied Forces forming the entire battlefield was not particularly high.

The core issue wasn't the phrase "not particularly high."

It was the qualifier "than I expected" attached to it.

The momentum from the "victory in the Northern Subjugation War" had not yet faded.

Timing-wise, it was still fresh.

While there had been plenty of skirmishes over the Anti-Demon Front, it had been so long that no one could remember the last time a full-scale war of this magnitude—one where entire legions looked toward mutual destruction—had taken place.

As such, the significance of the current situation was supposed to be even greater.

Furthermore, the victory in the Northern Subjugation War had been a dynamic operation, so magnificent that even the term "great victory" felt insufficient.

The public sentiment had turned sour due to the "execution of the Saintess," and the Order had pushed through with the Northern Subjugation War regardless.

Sure enough, the mutant Black Blood Disease had struck the Subjugation Force, and the shroud of the Black Sea had descended for the first time in a hundred years.

They had overcome that to reach the "fortified" Orc Mountains.

And finally, victory was achieved through the heroics of many.

Because the process had been so difficult, the Order had rejoiced in the victory with all its heart.

It didn't just end with the Northern Subjugation Force feeling pride; the "Northern Subjugation War" had exerted such a powerful influence that it allowed the Church Allied Forces to unite once more.

So, naturally, at this point, there should have been a stronger confidence that the allies would prevail.

A groundless confidence that tugged at the heart, even if it wasn't logical—the thought that "If we won even that difficult Northern Subjugation War, why couldn't we stop a southern invasion?"

Yet, despite that, the atmosphere on the battlefield was suppressed.

Accompanied by an inexplicable sense of unease.

Frowning at this ironic scene, Ludwig Allegro muttered, “Ugh… Did some blabbermouths go and spout nonsense again?”

“……”

“If that’s the case, things are going to get messy.”

Naturally, the appearance of the Primordial Demon had not yet been announced to the soldiers.

In any case, anyone would recognize it as a Primordial Demon the moment they laid eyes on it, and since ordinary soldiers wouldn't be of any help in subjugating it, telling them in advance would only increase their agitation.

Only the top-tier officials who had gathered at the Exorcist's base were aware that the Primordial Demon had reappeared.

That was precisely what Ludwig was referring to.

He suspected that the current atmosphere was caused by one of them leaking information to the soldiers that a Primordial Demon would appear on this battlefield.

However, Louis immediately shook his head at Ludwig Allegro’s remark.

“Fortunately, I don’t think that’s it, Ludwig.”

The reason was simple.

“If that were the case, the atmosphere wouldn't be like this.”

“……”

“Something would have happened long ago. I haven't received any reports regarding such a matter yet.”

The resurrection of a Primordial Demon was a shocking event that had caused even the veterans at the Exorcist’s base—who had seen it all—to groan and fail to hide their fear.

Just as Ludwig Allegro said, if the appearance of the Primordial Demon had been made known to them, it wouldn't have ended with just an unsettling silence.

If it were a normal reaction, they would have likely fled already, unable to even form a battle line.

“…Dammit.”

“……”

“Then why are they like this? I don’t get it.”

He muttered as if he didn't like it, but that didn't mean he would find the answer.

Morale was, by nature, something that couldn't be controlled at will.

As the saying goes, one can know the depth of ten fathoms of water but not the heart of a single man; no one can truly look into another's mind.

A person's heart is bound to be influenced by all sorts of external factors, and it is even determined by the intersection of the experiences existing within themselves.

No matter how outstanding a commander is, they cannot dictate the morale of their soldiers at will.

That was why morale was considered so important in war.

“…I’m not entirely sure either.”

“……”

“But I suspect they might be feeling it unconsciously. Given the nature of the situation.”

Louis was talking about human intuition.

An intuition formed through a comprehensive review of data accumulated in the unconscious throughout one's life, going beyond the reasoning process reachable through mere thought.

He was saying that their subconscious had sensed the existence of the hidden Primordial Demon and had planted anxiety among them.

It wasn't an absurd theory.

Even U-jin's ability to fight at an instinctive level was based on the vast amount of unconscious data he had accumulated.

Perhaps it was the behavior of their superiors or the strange atmosphere.

If not that, then perhaps fragments of information perceived through sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch were informing them of the Primordial Demon's presence and ringing alarm bells in their heads.

‘…….’

Well, it wasn't that important.

Whether they knew it or not.

It was something they had to face eventually, even if they delayed it now.

…U-jin’s mention of "total war" was based on exactly that context.

“A total war?”

“Yes.”

“I think that requires some explanation.”

If U-jin’s prediction was correct, the reason the Primordial Demon's appearance had been moved up was, without a doubt, the "victory in the Northern Subjugation War."

Having experienced various things after his regression, he felt that the "butterfly effect" didn't happen as easily as one might think.

How should he put it?

Since it was U-jin's first time regressing, he couldn't explain it clearly or logically, but when comparing the memories of the first life with the second…

Contrary to his pre-regression fears, things moved within a large framework without much change, except for the things U-jin directly intervened in.

Of course, it could be because U-jin had acted cautiously, but that alone didn't explain everything.

Even while trying to be careful, there were many things U-jin had no choice but to intervene in.

Nevertheless, the second life followed a similar flow to the first.

Could it be explained as a kind of "inertia"?

As if there were a law that dictated that things that are meant to happen will happen somehow, the second life that U-jin had touched was forming a shape similar to the first.

And the one time U-jin had broken that similar shape and forcefully twisted the situation was the "Northern Subjugation War."

As if reacting to that, the variable that immediately popped out was the advancement of the Primordial Demon's appearance, including the "southern invasion."

So, from U-jin's perspective, it was natural to link the victory in the Northern Subjugation War to the southern invasion.

And thinking that way, a certain hypothesis suddenly came to mind.

‘…What if the point when the Primordial Demon appeared in the first life wasn't the point when the seal was naturally released?’

In other words.

If the release of the Primordial Demon's seal was possible through external intervention, the current change could be explained to some extent.

If the Demon King's Army had released the seal on the Primordial Demon in his previous life, and they held the release of the seal as their final card in this second life as well…

Then the defeat in the Northern Subjugation War could have been a sufficient reason to use that card.

In the first life, the trap of the Northern Subjugation War had worked well enough to deal a heavy blow to the Church Alliance, but in the second life, the Demon King's Army had instead lost the northern fortified front they had worked so hard on, suffering a massive blow.

And if that hypothesis were true…

“The Primordial Demon called ‘Leviathan’ probably won't be the end of it.”

“What on earth does that mean?”

“I don’t know the exact mechanism, but if this is a spite-driven rush from the Demon King's Army after their defeat in the North, and if the release of the Primordial Demon's seal is somehow related to them, there's no reason for them to leave a gap in between.”

The appearance of the Primordial Demons was likely to happen "simultaneously" rather than sequentially starting from the one with the weakest seal.

In other words, if the Demon King's Army had decided to go all out anyway, they had no reason to hold back their final bastions.

“…Well, we’ll have to see to be sure, but that’s what I think. It’s not like making half-hearted preparations will stop them anyway.”

“……”

“In that case, wouldn't it be better to gather all our strength and settle this once and for all?”

And U-jin’s opinion sounded quite "reasonable."

For a moment, everyone present fell silent, and some of them even nodded as if they almost agreed with that opinion.

…However, there was one blind spot in U-jin’s "total war proposal."

“If we do that, problems could arise if we can't deal with the Primordial Demon quickly.”

The point was that "large numbers" themselves might actually add difficulty to dealing with a Primordial Demon.

That was also a valid point.

The energy source of a Primordial Demon was the "fear" on the battlefield.

If the Order gathered all its soldiers for a total war, it was certain that more soldiers would be terrified upon seeing the Primordial Demon.

That in itself was something that could escalate the danger.

However, it wasn't as if U-jin hadn't thought of that.

…It was only natural.

U-jin was the one who had put in more thought and effort than anyone else for this very moment.

He had run toward this moment with an intensity that defied comparison.

There was no way U-jin would have failed to consider such a point at the very end, the grand finale.

“…I have a separate countermeasure in mind for that part.”

In the end, U-jin’s "plan" succeeded in persuading those present.

Ultimately, under the official command of Leonardo Louis Button, who had been entrusted with full authority to deal with the Primordial Demon, a total war was established to face the Magical Beast army and the Primordial Demon invading from the south.

“…They’re coming.”

Beyond the horizon, something massive was wriggling.