The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

Chapter 177

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Diver IX

“Wait.”

I hesitated.

A strange realization. No, it was more like the precursor to a realization—something like static electricity lightly rubbed against the folds of my brain.

“From Leviathan’s perspective... isn’t Yohwa just a bug or a mosquito that got into its eye?”

Eye. Bug. Mosquito.

These keywords felt oddly familiar. I was on the verge of a great idea, just on the brink of grasping it.

If only I could sit calmly in a café with an Americano in hand, I might be able to catch hold of this idea right away!

Unfortunately, the current situation didn’t afford me the luxury of finding a café with a nice view.

“Ack, all my fingers have turned into bugs... Teacher. I think I’m going to get sucked into its eye. See you in the next life.”

“No, Yohwa!”

Thud! I ran through the air and grabbed Cheon Yohwa’s hand. She clung to my hand as if she had been waiting for this.

Then she pulled, but it felt like her body was stuck between walls, not budging an inch.

“Ahhh! Teacher, my arm! My arm’s coming off!”

“What on earth is holding you? What’s in there?”

“Bugs! The bugs in this eyeball are no joke! Hundreds of thousands of water bugs are clinging to my calves and thighs, dragging me down!”

It was true.

Squirm, squirm, squirm—

Transparent bugs the size of a person’s arm swarmed over Cheon Yohwa, pulling her down, deeper and deeper.

Indeed, not just Leviathan’s body, but even its eyes were composed entirely of water-shaped bugs.

Inside its eye, a pit of bugs gaped wide open, determined not to let go of Cheon Yohwa, who had dared to trespass without permission.

I shouted urgently, “Just unleash the Seal of the Endless Hell!”

“I’m trying to make a deal, but Endless Hell wants me to give up 6 hours a day in exchange for its power!”

“No way! Last time, 6 hours became 12 hours, and 12 hours turned into 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds!”

“Right... Ah, I’m really getting sucked in. My aura is being consumed too. Maybe it’s better to just drag you in with me and end this together...”

“Hey, are you Endless Hell?”

“Not yet, okay?”

Boom!

I stomped hard on the ground.

I released an aura that turned Leviathan’s eye into an actual hole.

-Roooaaaarrr!

Leviathan thrashed in pain.

But the original goal of rescuing Cheon Yohwa failed. As soon as the water bugs evaporated in the aura, other bugs immediately replaced them.

The number of water bugs forming the massive body of the draconic creature was overwhelmingly large. It was practically like the sea itself.

“Damn.”

I drew my cane-sword, Doha, and sliced Leviathan’s neck in two.

Sssshhh!

The neck was severed, but bugs immediately swarmed the cut surface, reattaching the body and neck.

There seemed to be no end to it.

To rescue Cheon Yohwa, I might have to burn Leviathan entirely to the ground.

“Teacher, maybe we should just give Endless Hell the 6 hours—”

Instead of answering, I gripped Cheon Yohwa’s hand tightly. The intense pressure made her stop speaking.

I couldn’t allow that.

If Endless Hell took over Cheon Yohwa’s body, it would nonchalantly pretend to be her, slowly winning over her friends, comrades, and subordinates.

Cheon Yohwa would be forced to watch, trapped in the depths of her consciousness, as Endless Hell gradually replaced her.

This had happened in another timeline.

‘Think.’

I continued burning the seemingly endless swarm of water bugs with my aura, trying to delay Cheon Yohwa’s fall into the abyss within the eye for just a moment longer.

A desperate struggle with no end in sight.

As time slowed down, I desperately tried to devise a strategy.

‘Think. Why is Leviathan so desperate to protect its eye?’

‘Did it sense the Endless Hell slumbering inside Cheon Yohwa? Is it trying to absorb it into its body?’

‘Could Leviathan have the ability to devour even a god-tier anomaly? No, that can’t be. If that were the case, Endless Hell wouldn’t be bargaining so leisurely...’

Then.

Step.

I heard footsteps.

Step.

It was strange.

The thrashing of Leviathan had created a tsunami that crashed all around. The sound of waves and the storm drowned out all other noise.

Cheon Yohwa and I could barely communicate even with our voices amplified by aura.

Yet in this chaos, the footsteps distinctly touched my eardrums.

Step, step, step—

The strangeness wasn’t just in the sound.

The scenery around me suddenly came to a halt.

Cheon Yohwa, who was holding my hand, the Baekhwa High School Guild members launching a live bombardment to rescue their leader, and even the spray from the waves sent soaring by Leviathan’s back—

Everything had frozen.

“―――.”

I was no exception.

I stopped, eyes wide open. My consciousness and thoughts continued without issue, but even blinking was impossible.

No matter how much time seemed to slow when I focused, this was beyond abnormal.

Step, step, step—

Only the sound of footsteps approaching from behind me continued to resonate clearly.

Unable to turn my head toward the sound, I could only listen intently.

Step.

The footsteps stopped right beside my head.

A small shadow cast itself over me.

『Guildmaster.』

A scent, sweet to the point of rot, like an apple steeped in sugar, wafted over.

Koyori’s scent.

『Didn’t I tell you?』

Arms reached out from behind and cupped my face. The fingers wove together, casting a web over my face.

Through the web of fingers, I caught a glimpse of Leviathan’s eye in the distance.

Then, the scent grew closer, right up to my ear, and whispered.

『That is a dragon, you know?』

—And with that whisper.

At the same time as the whisper, as if it were a lie, the world began to move again.

Cheon Yohwa struggled, and the members of Baekhwa Girls\' High School Guild were engaged in battle. The tidal wave that had surged into the sky repeatedly crashed down, pounding the deck of the ark.

Splash!

I, too, was drenched by the wave. I turned around after the icy seawater splashed across my face and fell away.

Koyori was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe she was never there to begin with.

"......"

I dumbly parted my lips.

Realization seeped through the gap.

"...Eyes."

"Excuse me? Teacher?"

"That\'s right. Eyes!"

I shouted.

"Leviathan, this monstrous sea dragon, being a dragon, it has no choice but to protect its eyes!"

Drawing the Eyes of the Dragon.

It is said that long ago, a legendary painter painted four pure white dragons in a temple.

The paintings were so magnificent that everyone who saw them couldn’t help but lavish praise, but strangely, the painter left the dragons\' eyes unfinished.

When asked why he did not add the finishing touch, the painter replied:

-If I draw the eyes, the dragons will fly away into the sky.

Since no one believed him, the painter added eyes to two of the dragons.

And then, sure enough, the two white dragons wriggled out of the temple walls and flew up into the sky.

From a modern perspective, this could be interpreted as ‘the seal that had trapped the anomaly was broken.’

‘A blind white dragon can no longer ascend!’

The eyes signify perception. A blind creature, unable to recognize where it is or what it is, could never break free from the shackles of the earth and soar into the vast sky.

And if this legend also applies to the dragon before me...

The dragon that loses the ‘eye of the storm’ would no longer be a divine creature, but merely a painting on a wall.

"Saintess!"

[Yes?]

"Are you in the library in Yongsandong right now? You have Kafka\'s The Metamorphosis, right?"

[Yes? Oh, I do have it...]

"Please don\'t ask why! Quickly bring Kafka\'s The Metamorphosis and read it to Yowha! Don\'t skip a single word!"

[I\'ve brought it.]

Not even a second passed before the Saintess replied. She must have frozen time for a moment to act.

But my orders weren\'t finished yet. I looked down at Cheon Yohwa.

"Yowha! The Saintess is going to read you a passage now. You must recite it exactly as you hear it, from start to finish."

Despite the incredibly perilous situation, where we could both be drawn into Leviathan\'s eyes, and her previous mention of some suicide pact, Cheon Yohwa remained unflustered. Instead, her expression and voice became immediately calm.

"Should I read it loudly?"

"That\'s not particularly important. But it\'s crucial that you keep reading without stopping."

"I understand, Teacher."

While the Saintess and Cheon Yohwa were communicating in their own way, I stretched out my left hand towards the sky.

And then I unfolded my dark aura.

It wasn\'t an attack meant to gouge out Leviathan\'s eyes, as before.

In fact, it was the opposite.

I spread the aura to create a ‘shield’ that covered the entire surface of the dragon’s eyes.

Like an eyelid.

-……!

My aura, rippling in dark hues, swiftly enveloped Leviathan\'s eyes.

Not just one eye, but I extended the aura to cover the other eye as well. Like a blindfold, the aura wrapped around Leviathan\'s eyes.

It was completely cut off from the outside world.

Cheon Yohwa and I were also engulfed in darkness.

-ROOOAAAARRR!

Leviathan howled in agony.

This was no mere cry of frustration from having its vision blocked; it was a profound, heart-wrenching wail.

More importantly...

[……!]

[The enemy\'s movements have slowed!]

The frenzied thrashing of the anomaly, which had been rampaging like a wild stallion, rapidly weakened.

Buzzing, buzzing, buzzing-.

The insects clinging to Cheon Yohwa\'s legs suddenly shot up.

They hurled themselves against the \'eyelid\' I had created, trying to tear it apart with all their might.

But it was futile. Just as it was difficult for me to burn Leviathan\'s entire body, it was impossible for Leviathan to devour my aura in one go.

"Ugh."

The insects that were gnawing at the eyelid also attacked me.

They crawled into my eyes, my mouth, between my fingers—any crevice they could find, they swarmed into, gnawing at me.

I channeled my energy, driving away the unpleasant crawling of the insects with a burst of force. These insects, desperate to keep their \'eyes\' open, were fighting for their lives.

[One morning, upon awakening from troubled dreams.]

"One morning, upon awakening from troubled dreams."

And then.

[Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.]

"Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin."

The chorus of the Saintess\'s emotionless voice and Cheon Yohwa\'s clear, resonant voice intertwined, echoing in the hellish pit of insects.

Grrr!

The insects that had been biting me all turned their heads towards Cheon Yohwa. In an enormous swarm, they rushed towards her.

But I couldn\'t let them get to her.

I instantly pushed my aura to dangerous levels and burned the insects away, trying to keep the anomaly from getting anywhere near Cheon Yohwa.

Grrr! Grrrr!

Yet, despite my efforts, the countless insects, like a tide, kept charging at Cheon Yohwa without rest.

In the middle of the dark void, where the sunlight had been blocked by the eyelid, my dark aura flared up in faint shades, endlessly, relentlessly fending off the suicidal assault of the insect horde.

‘If this giant anomaly is somehow connected to these insects.’

My aura was depleting rapidly.

‘Then what happened to the Saintess must also happen to this anomaly.’

The Saintess had merely been walking down the street when a ‘bug got into her eye,’ and she turned into a potato.

I still didn’t know the full nature of these insect-related anomalies.

But one thing was clear.

‘An anomaly can never deny its own essence.’

For an anomaly, the concept of "double standards" is impossible.

If an anomaly\'s power is to transform humans, the anomaly must face the same fate when placed in the same situation.

A great calamity, Leviathan, Jörmungandr.

This merciless white dragon treated the humans within its body as nothing more than parasites.

So, what would happen when those \'parasites\' entered its \'eyes\'?

‘Leviathan, just like the Saintess, will also be forced to transform into something, if not a potato, then something equally akin to a vermin!’

The insects were doing everything they could to silence Cheon Yohwa, while I used all my strength to protect her from them.

As the unstoppable spear and the unbreakable shield clashed,

The spell was finally cast.

[He found himself transformed into a monstrous vermin.]

"He found himself transformed into a monstrous vermin."

At that moment.

"He found himself transformed into a monstrous vermin."

Heaven and earth shook.