Chapter 206 : Regression (1)
The Aspect of Benevolence.
It was unlike the Aspect of War or the Aspect of Madness.
Where the Aspect of Madness created the undead, and the Aspect of War forced control over its targets, the Aspect of Benevolence was something else entirely.
Its power was deceptively simple.
Brainwashing. The manipulation of emotion.
Those who faced this Aspect found their minds contaminated without even realizing it, twisted to the will of the Duke of Benevolence. Their emotions were consumed, their memories rewritten, their senses thrown into chaos.
And thus, they were completely and utterly brainwashed.
That Louis Berg had regained his senses was nothing short of a miracle.
Ordinarily, his memories would have been warped, and he would have slaughtered all his comrades.
Hmm… does it matter?
Rohan, the Baron of War, thought, his eyes shifting.
In his estimation, Louis Berg was a threat, but a predictable one. A man easily manipulated.
He was blinded by something as trivial as revenge, consumed by a rage that a true commander should have long since discarded. He possessed emotions that should have been purged, and he wore them far too openly.
The only reason he’d snapped out of it was likely the divine power emanating from his Stigmata.
He had the unusual distinction of having killed most of the Twelve Nobles, but that was an exception. An anomaly.
And if one simply accounted for that anomaly, he wasn’t even worth fighting.
The proof was right before him.
“…What is this?”
Look at him, so flustered by a mere change in his Mindscape.
Well, for an ordinary human, that was a natural reaction.
“A pity. Your Mindscape has changed. It seems your human thoughts have been altered.”
“…”
“Ah, now that I think about it, if your Mindscape has changed, should I call you a Demonkin now?” Rohan asked with a grin, a deliberate attempt to provoke him.
A faint crack echoed as Louis Berg clenched his fist.
But he wasn’t as foolish as Rohan had thought. He managed to steady his breathing, albeit with great effort.
“…I’m sorry,” Louis Berg muttered under his breath.
At the same time.
<Mindscape - Golgotha of Thorns>
He manifested his Mindscape.
A garden of fury bloomed into existence. Red petals fluttered through the air, and ash became demonic energy, empowering the Demonkin around them.
He was a perfect Demonkin now. The demonic energy radiating from him was potent enough to rival any of the Twelve Nobles.
“Pfft!”
A laugh burst from Rohan’s lips. The man once called the Saint now looked like a perfect demon.
Louis Berg, the Duke of Corruption.
Didn’t a name like that suit him best?
With this much demonic energy, he’s more than qualified for a dukedom.
Rohan’s lips curled into a smirk as he savored the scent of demonic energy in the air.
In that moment.
“…..I am human, not Demonkin,” Louis whispered.
He began to tear his own Mindscape apart.
* * *
A Mindscape is one’s life.
It is the ‘path one has walked’ and the ‘journey one will walk.’
A Mindscape is woven from these two threads.
So, what happens if it changes?
The answer is simple.
The future changes.
The direction of one’s path forward is altered. Memories of the past are manipulated. One becomes an entirely different being.
I could not live such a life.
No, it would be more accurate to say I could not tolerate it.
And so.
I began to tear my Mindscape apart with my own hands.
To tear it was to discard the map to my future. It meant I would have to navigate a vast, empty sea without a compass, and that my future strength would be halved.
Moreover, once a Mindscape was torn, it could never be created again.
Life is lived but once.
It is forged from a single, precious existence.
For that reason, no Grand Master in history had ever torn their own Mindscape. Even those whose Mindscapes were torn by others lived the rest of their days as madmen.
In that sense, I was already mad enough.
Look.
Wasn’t that demon of war staring at me with eyes wide in horror?
“You… Are you insane?!”
“…Insane? I suppose you could see it that way,” I answered, gasping for breath.
I could feel the Grand Duke and my master watching me from afar, their consciousnesses barely holding on. They looked as if they were screaming.
I was sorry, but this was the only way I had left.
…If I stay like this, my future as a Demonkin will be sealed.
The Aspect of Benevolence.
It was a truly terrifying power, inducing rage to ultimately trigger demonization. I finally understood how its wielder had earned the rank of Duke.
However, just as the Baron of War had failed to predict, I was, unfortunately, a madman.
Blinded by vengeance, I had used everyone in my plans. I had even put the one I loved in danger.
So how could I hesitate to wager my own body and future?
“It was never mine to begin with.”
Everything I had was a power gained through regression.
The rank of Grand Master.
The respect of others.
The Stigmata.
The Halo.
All of it was the result of one simple fact: I had turned back time.
So why should I struggle to protect any of it?
A bitter smile touched my lips.
I shook my head, resolute.
The Halo began to shatter.
The Stigmata faded, healing over as if they had never been.
The very foundations of my Mindscape vanished, one by one.
All that remained was a single bow and a quiver of arrows.
But that was enough.
I raised my bow.
My Aura cultivation technique wasn’t working properly. Aura refused to gather, and the power was a pale shadow of what it had been with the Halo.
Even so, I drew the bowstring, aiming at the Baron of War.
To avoid becoming one of the Demonkin and killing my own people.
To defend the future as a human being.
I would gladly raise my bow.
Will this kill me?
I was using this technique with a body already torn to shreds. To unleash a Grand Master-level strike when my Aura cultivation was failing…
I would surely die.
But there was no fear in my actions.
To save Lea.
To save my comrades.
To save the other knights.
That was more than enough.
I lifted my trembling arm and spoke.
“Hah… I haven’t used a bow much lately, but believe it or not, I am an archer.”
“…You madman.”
The Baron of War let out a hollow laugh, as if watching a desperate, final struggle.
“…Heh.”
With a self-deprecating smile, I released the bowstring.
<Full Bloom>
The technique I had learned from my master shot toward the Baron of War.
And in that instant…
That is the answer.
A voice echoed in my mind again, filled with pride. A voice of pure benevolence.
The Baron of War’s eyes shot wide open, as if he had seen something impossible.
A moment later, I realized what he had seen.
“…What is this?”
My body began to change.
My dying form returned to its original state, and the Mindscape, once defined by agony, began to mend itself.
It felt as if time itself was reversing.
Clang!
I heard the sound of a chain shattering.
“…What is happening?”
The world began to change.
The bodies of those I had slain reformed. The knights I had driven to the brink of death were restored. Lancelot’s body returned to normal. The exhaustion vanished from my master and the Grand Duke.
Shhhhhh…
The shattered village reassembled itself.
My torn Mindscape began to weave itself back together, the demonic energy that had stained it now replaced by a surge of divinity.
Everything returned to how it was.
My child, that is your true Mindscape.
As the world spun backward around me, I asked the voice a question.
“My true Mindscape?”
Yes. As you know, you have two lives, do you not?
Somehow, I felt the voice was smiling.
And at the same time, it felt as if it were weeping.
“Ah.”
Only then did I understand.
The Mindscape, which everyone else possessed only one of, I had two.
The potential I had left behind in my original life… the Mindscape I would have obtained upon becoming a Grand Master… was this.
Fwoooosh!
The world snapped back into place.
I looked down at the man pinned beneath me.
The Demonkin with the sinister smile. Judging by the red gem in his hand, he must have been using the Aspect of Benevolence from the very beginning.
“…So that’s how it was.”
I stared down at him, my eyes calm and clear.
Time resumed its flow.
He looked up at me and shouted.
“Puhahahaha! You’re really worked up, aren’t you? How can something like this be a commander?”
Words meant to provoke me.
I had been agitated then, but not now.
If I lost my temper now, the people behind me would be in danger.
Revenge was my greatest driving force.
But it was also my greatest weakness.
A small, cold smile touched my lips as I looked down at him.
The man who had been beating me just moments ago now stared up at me, his expression frozen.
“…Huh?”
His voice was laced with confusion, as if things were not going his way.
I looked down at the Demonkin and spoke.
“What’s wrong? Not going according to plan? It seems your little gem isn’t working either.”
He stared at me, his eyes screaming, How did you know?
For the first time, panic flickered in his gaze.
“Don’t look so surprised,” I muttered, my voice dripping with scorn.
Then, I slammed an arrow down on the gem in his hand.
CRACK!
“No!” he roared in horror.
But it was too late.
The gem shattered, its function utterly lost as fragments scattered into the air.
“Gack, ghk!”
I tightened my grip on his throat and spoke.
“Is that all you have? Is there nothing else besides provoking me and using the Aspect of Benevolence?”
“H-how did you…!” he choked out, his voice a gasp of disbelief.
I shot the Demonkin a mocking smile.
“Who knows? Perhaps my mind is just superior to yours.”
Shame flooded his face.
Regression.
That was my second Mindscape.