Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan - Chapter 44

For the first spell, Theo chose «Thunder Call», the spell that had obliterated the sandworm in one attack.

A lightning bolt, descending without warning, was virtually impossible to anticipate, let alone defend against.

‘Hit them hard and fast. Shock and awe. Then, box them in…’

He already planned out his spell sequence.

Clutching the artifact in his left hand, Theo closed his eyes.

As Hatchling Synchro connected him with the artifact, a flurry of residual thoughts flooded his mind.

“Lightning is powerful… A powerful strike… descending from the heavens…” The image of an old man, likely the artifact’s creator, materialized.

Theo watched him meticulously etch magic circles onto the artifact’s surface.

Having used «Thunder Call» once already, he could now, albeit vaguely, grasp the image within the circle.

‘If I inspect it a bit more, I might even be able to wield magic for real,’ Theo thought to himself.

A flicker of surprise at this unexpected revelation crossed his face as Theo opened his eyes.

Simultaneously, he aimed his other hand, fingers making the shape of a pistol, at Axion and his group.

“Pour down. Bang.”

He mimicked pulling a trigger.

KRAKOOM!

Lightning ripped through the sky.

***

The strike was instantaneous.

KABOOM!

“AAAGH!”

“What in the…?!”

“It’s an ambush!”

A crater scarred the earth, spewing a cloud of dust.

The examinees screamed, some scrambling for a defense, but—

KRAKOOM—

BOOM!

There was nothing they could do in response to the relentless barrage of lightning.

Terror gripped the examinees as they scattered.

Morgan and Felix scrambled to their feet, faces ashen.

The air was filled with the stench of scorched ash, sparks igniting the camp into a sea of fire.

“What’s going on…?!”

“…Theo, or maybe Remington, must have realized we were scheming.”

“We need to get out of here and launch a counterattack—!”

Their frantic planning was abruptly cut short as a lightning bolt descended directly above them.

“Gah!”

KABOOM!

Morgan, attempting to block the lightning with his magic power-infused sword, took a direct hit and was flung backward.

“You morons! Drop your swords! Now!” Felix shouted the order.

He narrowly avoided the same fate by having drawn his sword a fraction of a second later. He deduced that metal on your person was the biggest imminent threat.

Frantically, the examinees shed their weapons and even their armor. The Plum Blossom trainees, the Council faction, and even the Scaled Dragon Society—all discarded their steel.

“You fools…! Now isn’t the time to give up your weapons!” Axion desperately attempted to restore order.

However, it was a futile attempt. He was drowned out by the terrified cries of the examinees.

Lightning bolts, ice arrows, and fireballs continued to rain down.

Axion realized the tactic of the attackers was to disarm his group, but the realization had come too late.

Fwoosh!

As if on cue, a wall of fire erupted, encircling the area and sealing off any escape.

“N-no!”

“The path’s blocked!”

“Damn it, how do we get out of here…?!”

The inferno was too intense to breach.

“What do we do…!”

The examinees froze in fear, not knowing what to do.

Rumble…!

Suddenly, the ground trembled beneath their feet.

“What’s happening?”

Felix and the examinees instinctively looked down.

A blast of scorching air surged upwards from the ground.

And then, it exploded.

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

Boom— Boom— Ka-Boom!

Pillars of fire shot skyward, mimicking a volcanic eruption, followed by a devastating wave of explosive spells.

«Heat Cascade», «Chain Explosion», «Sea of Fire», «Flame Lightning», «Fire Devil», etc.

They were artifacts Theo had been holding in reserve. Now, they were all detonated in unison—all amplified by Hatchling Synchro!

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Screams and cries of agony echoed, but the deafening explosions drowned them out.

Trapped, the damage was catastrophic.

Lightning from above, fire from below. The perpetually snow-covered Winter Mountains were transformed into a blazing hellscape.

Pandemonium. The word perfectly captured the scene.

And then—

Tmp!

Theo landed silently amidst the wreckage.

Before him, bloodied and battered, stood Axion.

Axion had managed to escape the bombardment, but his arm and leg were now twisted at unnatural angles.

Tremble, tremble—

“Y-you…!!” Axion’s fists shook with rage, his face half-burned and grotesque.

“If you were going to come after me, you should have realized that you could be targeted in return,” Theo calmly responded to Axion’s fury.

“You think… you can get away with this…?”

“Why don’t you take a good look at yourself before you ask that?”

“……!”

‘How dare the Imbecile of the Rose Palace mock me?’ thought Axion.

He was about to open his mouth to shout, but—

Shink!

Before he could even say a word, the Drake Blade swung at his throat.

Splatter—

A geyser of blood sprayed into the air.

“As expected of one of the 4 Hounds. You’re even skilled at dodging,” Theo sneered.

Axion looked as if he was going to face the attack head-on, only to dodge at the last moment. He must have instinctively known he was outmatched by Theo’s blade.

The result was a shallow wound on his shoulder.

Even so, Axion’s face flushed with humiliation at having ‘dodged’ an attack from the Rose Palace’s imbecile.

‘It’s over,’ thought Theo.

Theo knew Axion was no longer a match for him. In which case, he thought it’d be best to eliminate him quickly.

Having come to a decision, he took a step forward, but—

Whoosh!

The dust cloud surrounding Theo and Axion dissipated as six examinees popped out.

“Theo Ragnaaarrr!”

“How dare you do this to us?!”

“Dieeee!”

“I’ll kill youuu!”

Scaled Dragon Society examinees, battered and bruised, had rallied to Axion’s defense.

[‘Skill: Hatchling Synchro’ activated.]

Theo unleashed his «Psychokinesis», targeting the loose stones and debris at his feet.

The sharp fragments swirled around him before launching outwards like projectiles.

“Kgh…!”

“Gah!”

Ting! Tang!

Not expecting rocks to suddenly come flying at them, the examinees fell without being able to respond.

Even those who managed to block were swiftly dispatched by Theo’s blade.

Slash!

On top of that, Ray had finally joined the fray.

With that, the alliance of the Scaled Dragon Society, the Council, and the Plum Blossom Palace were quickly rendered out of combat.

‘Did he run away in that short moment?’ Theo noted the empty space where Axion had been standing and chuckled.

He had sacrificed his subordinates and fled. That was why the Scaled Dragon Society was doomed from the beginning.

Crackle—

Theo performed the «Flapping of the Skylark» and pursued Axion.

With his severe injuries, Axion couldn’t have gone far.

* * *

Reaper Scans

[Translator – Mr.Ghost]

[Proofreader – Harley]

Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics

* * *

‘Theo Ragnar! I swear on my life, I will have your head!’ Axion gnashed his teeth as he fled.

How had it all gone so wrong? His plan had been flawless.

However, once the first thread unraveled, the entire tapestry came undone.

“Felix and Morgan…! Yes, it’s all because of those idiots. If they had just done their jobs properly…!”

No, it wasn’t just them.

Every single moron in the Scaled Dragon Society, like Orien, had held him back. Because everyone other than him was an incompetent fool, it had led to disaster.

‘Just wait until I escape the exam area. I’ll rebuild the Scaled Dragons from scratch. As for Theo Ragnar… I’ll kill him, even if I have to hire an assassin.’

Ed’s instructions? The unretrieved Relic of the Primordial Dragon? None of it mattered anymore.

His pride demanded vengeance.

Then, Axion looked up. He spotted a low ridge in the distance. It was the boundary line that marked the end of the exam area.

It was also the location of the proctors affiliated with the Central Intelligence Bureau, where he was given messages from Ed.

Once he crossed the ridge, there would be no more danger.

‘I’m almost there…!’

But his hope was soon shattered.

“So this is where you ran?” a calm voice spoke, one that chilled Axion to the bone.

He asked as he spun around, “…How did you?”

A figure stood silhouetted against the mountain wind, long hair whipping around him.

It was Theo.

“There aren’t many places you can go. You’re like a baby kangaroo that can’t leave its mother’s pouch,” Theo taunted.

Axion’s face twisted grotesquely.

Grit!

“Let’s see how much longer you can mock me.”

Axion pulled out the totems he had stashed in his inner pocket and crushed them all.

Rumble—

The ground quaked, and a menagerie of demonic beasts and fiends materialized around Theo and Axion.

“I was saving these to trap you… but I suppose it makes no difference now.”

Roar—

Among the fiends was even a Class-5 fiend with a violet demon bell—a three-meter tall bull-headed monstrosity. A minotaur.

“I have people nearby who will save me, but what about you? Rose Palace imbecile, curse the mother who birthed you.”

The totems he grabbed before leaving as a last resort had proven invaluable.

Axion was certain of Theo’s death. Meanwhile, he wasn’t too concerned about his own safety since the proctors nearby would rescue him once the chaos erupted.

But contrary to his expectations…

“Getting cornered really made you lose your ability to think, didn’t it, Axion?”

Theo seemed unfazed by the surrounding fiends. He stabbed his Drake Blade into the ground and reached for the White Moonlight Blade at his hip.

“What?”

“Did it not occur to you how I managed to collect all those single-use artifacts without using them?”

“……!”

In a flash, the worst possible scenario dawned on Axion. But it was too late.

Click—

With the sound of White Moonlight Blade being drawn from its scabbard…

Flash!

From lower right to upper left, the White Moonlight Blade carved a diagonal slash.

Theo used Hatchling Synchro to awaken the psyche within White Moonlight Blade.

The griffin’s primal instincts, dormant within, surged forth. Hunger. Thirst. Gluttony. Savagery.

The insatiable beast roared, and the White Moonlight Blade vibrated more than ever.

This was how Theo had avoided using the single-use artifacts and hunted so many summoned fiends.

Any fiend, no matter how powerful, was merely prey before the griffin.

The griffin, which had once instilled terror in Theo alongside the Black Dragon, was now his obedient weapon.

But that wasn’t all.

«Thunderlight Breathing».

Having collected five passages so far, Theo could now imbue his blade with a faint bit of lightning.

Lightning, powerful, swift, and brutal. A perfect complement to the griffin’s savagery.

And then, «Triple Dragon’s Claw».

Lady Plum Blossom’s «Full Bloom of the Plum Blossoms» and Ray’s «White Glacial Arsenal». The two opposing traits blended together as Theo unleashed a powerful beam of light.

Slash—

The first claw, a diagonal slash, decimated a swathe of fiends.

The second claw, a vertical strike, targeted the minotaur’s head.

Groooar!

The minotaur managed to deflect the beam with its club but lost an arm in the process.

As for the third and final claw, a horizontal sweep, not only decapitated the minotaur but continued on towards Axion, who stood behind it, frozen in disbelief.

“Y-you already awakened the relic…?”

‘Something not even my uncle could obtain?’

But Axion’s thoughts were cut short.

A wave of light filled his vision and terror seized him as his pupils turned white.