Regressor of the Fallen Family Novel - Chapter 122 (New)

Chapter 122

“Fortunately, it appears that Duke Yordan is no longer in a position to harass us.”

“He wouldn’t have the mental capacity for it. Not with the high-ranking forces clashing in earnest now.”

Logan let out a mocking snort in response to his father’s observation.

In truth, if the man had even a shred of opportunity, he would have sent wave after wave of killers.

Three months had passed since the night of the ambush.

Six months had slipped by since the outbreak of the civil war.

The battle lines, once stretching across the entire length of the kingdom from north to south, had slowly compressed toward the heart of the nation.

And.

“Indeed. They are being driven back, so they lack the surplus energy to focus on us.”

It was now obvious to any observer that the Second Prince’s faction was losing ground.

Following a crushing defeat in a pivotal engagement, the Second Prince’s loyalists were retreating steadily along the central front. They had only managed to check their withdrawal at the Waltermime territory to the west and the Twin Castles bordering the King’s Direct Dominion.

Only when the conflict hammered at their very gates did they display any frantic defiance, though they had already surrendered one of the Twin Castle’s defensive outposts.

“They would likely enjoy grinding our entire clan into dust—Prince Romein and Duke Yordan alike.”

MacLaine, having captured Bifrost Castle and asserting dominance over the five surrounding fortifications, held a precarious but powerful position. No matter how skilled his troops were, with their supply routes severed, it was as if his coffers had run dry.

Under these conditions, sustaining the might of Bifrost meant the weight of the war effort fell entirely on the other members of the Second Prince’s alliance.

‘It was inevitable that the Second Prince’s side would crumble faster; they were already marked for ruin.’

This was the natural progression of things, precisely as Logan had calculated.

The anxiety that the tide might turn too rapidly before his kin were ready had proven to be nothing but baseless worry.

Recently, the commanders of both sides had paused to catch their breath, and the members of the MacLaine family were feeling more inspired than ever due to the confrontation three months prior.

And as a result…

“It feels strange for a warrior to admit, but this civil war has ultimately allowed our house to grow significantly more powerful.”

Just as his father noted, the family’s military strength had truly surged.

By recruiting knights from collapsed minor houses, their numbers had surpassed the 170 they possessed before the Siege of Tomodo Castle.

The crossbow cavalry, which once numbered 700, had more than doubled to 1,500 when including the squire trainees.

The count of professional infantry continued to climb, now exceeding 3,500.

Naturally, there were variances in their level of expertise and discipline, but in terms of sheer scale, they had clearly outstripped the MacLaine of the past.

Furthermore, across ten strategic locations—specifically, eight castles and two fortified towns—nearly 10,000 volunteers had formed local defense units. They underwent regular drills, and their ranks were still expanding.

‘We might not be prepared for a full-scale invasion yet, but this is more than sufficient for a solid defense.’

What’s more.

Whooosh.

A subtle manipulation of Force gathered at his fingertips, forming a small, sharp edge.

Forceblade. That capability, representing the peak of martial achievement, signified more than just a blade made of energy.

It moved beyond merely enhancing steel or physical power with Force; now, the Force itself manifested physical properties.

The energy had become both a weapon and a shield.

Logan had now reached full proficiency at this tier of mastery.

“Ha. It seems your skills have surpassed my own.”

“I haven’t reached that point yet.”

Logan replied with a sheepish grin to his father’s modest praise.

While he was well-acquainted with the technical requirements, he was still far from truly comprehending the Fourth Form of the Divine Sword Technique, Flame Slash (Violent Flame Slash).

‘But with this level of progress…’

Every planned preparation was moving forward much faster than anticipated.

The urge to actually thank Duke Yordan for sending those assassins was almost comical.

“So, it is time to put things to the test. It would be ideal if that specific project moved a bit quicker.”

“Eh? What do you intend to use? Don’t tell me you’re considering…?”

Padric’s expression went stiff, his smile vanishing.

Rather than providing a direct answer, Logan turned his gaze toward the northeastern horizon.

“We need to bring this civil war to a close.”

“…End what?”

“The conflict.”

“Son, I admire your passion, but even so, when compared to the combined might of the kingdom, our family’s strength is…”

Despite the urgency in his father’s voice, Logan’s smirk remained. Soon enough, the long-awaited update arrived, signaling that the pause was over.

“They finished it?!”

“Woah, it’s not finished, master, just a prototype has been produced. It’s not right to rush me like this. It is …”

“Where is it? In the tower of magic?!”

Bang.

“What a terrible habit…”

Sigh.

Hamar let out a long, weary breath as he stared at the door that had slammed shut.

“Who am I even talking to at this point…”

---

“Uh, uh…”

“Where does it hurt? Quit your bellyaching.”

“Do they think they’ll get away with this injustice? It’s a hard life for a defenseless dwarf. Tch…”

“Why did you drag me here, forge master? Eh?”

“Quiet! I’m not going down alone. You had a hand in building that contraption, too!”

“You didn’t even explain what it was, you just made me build it! And now you’ve hauled me to a place like this…”

“Both of you, be silent!”

“Oops!”

“Ye, yes sir…. oops!”

He had retrieved a dwarf who was a mirror image of himself; Ah, I must have purchased his services.

Logan gave a soft sigh as he watched Hamar and the one-armed dwarf, who acted like identical twins in their behavior, shifting his eyes between the two.

However, now was not the moment for a lecture, so he settled for projecting a chilling intent to keep the two dwarves quiet.

Perched high in the trees, the group went perfectly still at his command.

Way down below, in the direction Clayton had indicated, a pack of six goblins was trekking toward their spot.

Dispatching such a lowly group of monsters would be child’s play for Logan or Clayton, who could end them with a simple flick of the wrist, but the real concern was their current location.

“Master, is it truly necessary to conduct the trial here? If we slay them and the sound carries, goblins will start flooding out of…”

Hamar was visibly shaking, which was understandable given the surroundings.

“That’s exactly it! Why did we have to venture into the Southern Mountain Ranges!”

Tamer’s voice was hushed but thick with dread.

Currently, all the woodlands beneath the mountain had been stripped away to build MacLaine Town.

They had crossed into the foothills famously known as a magical wasteland—the Southern Mountain Ranges.

“They say the monsters here are a full rank higher than normal…”

“Why this place of all places…”

“Do you want to be the one to do it?”

“…”

The dwarves immediately fell silent.

Logan had brought them along so they could see the deficiencies of the ‘prototype’ for themselves, believing a creator should witness their work’s impact. But their presence was becoming a nuisance.

“If you make another sound, I will give you the opportunity to feel the full effects of the device and critique its flaws from the front row—where you’ll be within arm’s reach of a monster’s jaws.”

Once he saw the dwarves turn pale with fear, Logan signaled to Clayton with a nod.

In response to his cue, Whooosh.

Clayton’s mana began to churn, and suddenly, a humanoid golem roughly the size of a man took shape a short distance from where they were hiding.

It was a small, fragile construct relative to Clayton’s true power, meaning its eventual destruction wouldn’t cause much of a backlash. It was powered by only the bare minimum of mana and held several blue stones in its hands as it stood ready.

“Kyarat!”

“Kyarakarak!”

The goblins spotted the golem and charged at it without hesitation.

As the monsters closed in, the golem’s hand tightened around the blue stones. One stone began to glow with a fierce red heat before being hurled with ease at the sprinting goblins.

Logan and the others watched with held breath, as quiet as the grave.

The moments as the red stone sailed through the air toward the goblins felt like an eternity.

Then.

Click!

“Kak! Kyarak?”

One goblin managed to sidestep the red stone and began to point and mock the golem—as everyone in the trees sighed in disappointment and frustration.

But then.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, a five-meter radius around the red stone erupted into a violent inferno.

“Kyoooak!”

Five goblins were vaporized instantly by the explosion. Another, standing just outside the immediate blast zone, survived the initial hit only to scream in agony as the fire consumed it.

“Kya… r.”

It managed a few unsteady steps before collapsing, clawing uselessly at the air before finally going still.

Watching even a monster struggle so desperately for life stirred a strange sense of pity in those watching.

But the man behind the plan pumped his fist in triumph.

“Perfect!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“What? Why that look?”

Logan scowled as the rest of the group stared at him with furrowed brows.

As a battle-hardened mercenary from his previous life, he felt no empathy for beasts.

Instead, he was thrilled by the destructive capability of the explosive, Liberatio, which had obliterated even the monsters’ fierce survival instincts.

“No, of course not.”

“We just need to trim the detonation delay. Perhaps by half a second?”

“…I will make a note of it.”

“The noise will draw more goblins soon. We have plenty of materials, right?”

“…Yes.”

Logan, noticing their slow reaction, sighed and fixed the group with a stern look.

“The world is better off without monsters. Don’t waste your thoughts on them. That applies to you as well, Mr. Clayton.”

“…Of course, Lord Logan.”

Cough.

As Clayton coughed to mask his hesitation, the familiar screeches of monsters began to echo closer from the depths of the forest.

– Kirarak! Kirarak!

Having verified the power of a single explosion, they now needed to observe the chain reaction when several bombs were deployed across a broad area at once.

The outcome was more than satisfactory.

Boom! Bang!

“Kyarak!”

The hundreds of goblins that had gathered to investigate the “tribute” for their fallen kin were all annihilated by a mere hundred explosives.

Among the dead was a hobgoblin, a creature usually classified as a low-level threat, which proved no match for the overlapping blasts.

The goblin nest was wiped out in roughly an hour, with the majority of that time spent simply waiting for them to congregate.

There were, however, a few complications during the process.

“Your Highness. The woods are catching fire.”

“Fine. Let the monsters burn… wait, they’ll move, won’t they?”

“Those who lose their dens will likely descend the mountain.”

“Extinguish the fire! Immediately!”

The sudden firefighting task was only a minor hurdle.

[Kyaaaaaaaaaa!]

A terrifying roar thundered from deep within the peaks. It didn’t come from their immediate vicinity; it seemed the commotion at the base had stirred a true predator.

The sound was enough to make Logan, a high-tier Force master, and Clayton, an equivalent mage, turn white as sheets, sending a chill down the spines of the two dwarves.

“Retreat!”

But the terrified dwarves were frozen in place, their faces devoid of color.

“Confound it all!”

A simple roar from the distance was enough to shake even a veteran warrior and a first-rate sorcerer.

Unwilling to stick around and see what kind of nightmare they had disturbed, Logan grabbed the dwarves and bolted. Clayton followed suit, utilizing his most powerful movement spell, Land Slide, to keep pace.

It was only after they had cleared the Southern Mountain Ranges that the roaring faded, allowing the group to finally breathe.

“Phew. My thanks for your hard work, Mr. Clayton. And you did well, Hamar.”

Logan’s praise was sincere.

A bomb developed with nothing more than raw materials and stories as a guide seemed even more potent than the ones Logan had encountered in his past.

‘It feels at least 30% more powerful.’

A new definitive weapon, capable of standing against the threats of the empire, had been realized.

“It amazes me every time I consider it—the sheer efficiency of this device is… it’s unnatural.”

Despite being the creator, Clayton couldn’t help but marvel at its lethality, his face a mask of awe.

The power of a Liberatio bomb was roughly equal to a 2nd Class spell, yet it cost only about 50 gold—roughly 1/20th the price of a 1st Class scroll.

The massive expense of scrolls was the primary reason most kingdoms couldn’t rely on them during wartime.

This groundbreaking invention had effectively solved that core problem.

“But why do you look so troubled?”

“Just… vanity, I suppose. I wonder what could have been achieved if this was born solely from my own genius? Haha, just the rambling of an old man.”

Knowing that the foundation of the work came from another’s data prevented Clayton from feeling entirely jubilant.

“Haha. To be honest, I had high expectations from the start, but this result is beyond anything I imagined. It’s superior to anything I’ve handled. You’ve created a masterpiece. Take pride in it, Mr. Clayton.”

“Master, I also helped…”

“Ignore him. I gained so much from that data. What I have built is only a small portion of that knowledge. If I can truly master it all, I will be able to produce countless magical tools at a mere fraction of the usual cost.”

A spark of hope ignited in Logan’s eyes at Clayton’s admission.

Though he hadn’t said it aloud, this was exactly what Logan had been dreaming of.

While Liberatio was an incredible combat asset, it was merely one branch of a much larger tree.

“You can achieve it. This single device will change the nature of warfare forever.”

“Thank you for the kind words.”

“Master. My craftsmanship as well…”

“So, how long will it take to begin mass production once the flaws are corrected?”

“…Hey!”

“Simply adjusting the ratio of materials should do it; it won’t take more than a week.”

“Then please put in an extra push for just a while longer.”

“Hey! You people! What about me?! Do you have any idea how much I’ve endured…”

“Hamar, you did a fine job as well.”

“Well done, Mr. Hamar. You’ve worked incredibly hard.”

“Huh… huh…”

Overcome with emotion, he was practically vibrating with gratitude.

‘I need to change things. Does it look like the wizard did everything? The pride of the artisan is at stake…’

Hamar’s face turned a flustered shade of red, but then—

“If we reach the production goal, I will grant you a full month of vacation.”

“…I shall strive to complete the task with the utmost speed, my lord.”

The change in attitude was instantaneous.

Watching the whole exchange, Temar let out a snort of derision at Hamar’s behavior, but Hamar ignored him entirely, grinning like a fool…