Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

“Setting up a base here? Just to attack the academy?”

“Yeah, and it’s not just for the academy, they barely got away with it. They built it as big as they could without catching the Chairman’s attention. If they could have built it bigger, they would have attacked the palace, not just the academy.”

“It would be quite a feat just to get from here to the academy. Anyway, these beings seem to defy common sense.”

“Don’t speak without thinking. If they had been closer, the Chairman would have caught them.”

“Are you just saying this now?! How can’t you say anything?!”

Rosalia and Priscilla continued to bicker as they walked.

Perhaps because they shared the fact of being transmigrated within the same reincarnation, they seemed to clash yet strangely understood each other well. Their exchange was like this, and that was probably why.

“I mean, are you prepared already when there’s still a month left until the midterm? Why?”

“When I fought the Succubus Queen, she told me. Breaking into the place guarded by the ancient dragon Meligor isn’t going to be easy. She said it’s better to be thorough in preparation.”

“Ugh, your readiness for demon topics is impeccable. Could that statement itself be a bluff?”

“It’s not.”

“…Really? Based on what?”

“Experience. I’ve experienced it over a hundred times already.”

“….”

Although there was no proper evidence, Rosalia couldn’t refute the statement. If she hadn’t met me, she would have been in the same position as Priscilla.

If she didn’t meet me right away, she’d be in the same position as Priscilla, who experienced the situation a hundred times over in her own regressions.

“Actually, there’s one more thing: the succubus just needs to prepare a little, and the possessed humans do the rest. Once they’re in place, the humans bring in the sacrifices and build up their strength, so they can prepare for a long time without having to worry about the magic leaking out.”

“Well, so what…….”

With that much assurance, it was as if there were no more doubts. Rosalia slowly slowed her pace. Priscilla’s pace slowed as well when she realised that her target had shifted to me.

“In fact, there’s something else. Mira, I’m curious about something. What happened to Sword Saint? She came to the academy only a few days ago and suddenly went back to the palace. Do you know anything?”

“Oh, that?”

Since there was nothing to hide from the two present, I explained everything that had happened last night.

Just as Priscilla had said, Sword Saint, who had come as a special instructor only a few days ago, abruptly declared that she couldn’t continue in that role for the time being due to urgent matters and returned to the palace.

Of course, the reason was Karna. After seven years, Sword Saint’s first disciple had returned from being a fiend to being human.

‘But it’s still fortunate.’

Karna had just returned to her senses, and despite her confusion, she had guessed the situation perfectly from my expression and her own situation.

I provided Karna with the means to escape her position as a fiend, something she had never expected, and the potential consequences if I were discovered by others. So, in gratitude, Karna improvised and protected me on the spot.

She lied, claiming that she had overcome the fiend’s influence and regained her senses. Despite her timid nature, she did remarkably well once the acting began. It seemed that her desire to repay me outweighed her embarrassment.

‘Although Sword Saint seemed somewhat doubtful…’

Sword Saint was cautious, perhaps because she knew better than anyone that her disciple’s temperament wasn’t that strong.

If she had completely believed Karna’s words, she wouldn’t have offered to reward me separately, even if she thought my presence might have helped in some way when he woke up.

“Ah, so the Royal Guards took over?”

“It’s actually better for the kids learning to use swords. Sword Saint kept saying she’d teach anyone, but her lesson are high level for a beginner, whereas the Royal Guards have set aside separate teaching time in the evenings.”

Of course, Sword Saint didn’t leave empty-handed. She brought back five Royal Guards as special instructors, all of whom were stronger than academy students but not as strong as Sword Saint herself.

Furthermore, after her return, she announced that she would teach anyone who wanted to learn. So, there was hardly any complaint about her leaving abruptly.

“It’s thanks to that that I could only bring Priscilla with me. When Sword Saint went back to the palace, she took Brynhild and Aria with her.”

She planned to be honest with them about why she acted the way she did when we first met. It seemed like an attempt to make amends for her reckless behaviour.

“No wonder. The four of you were sticking around all the time, but today it was just the two of you.”

“Then, are you okay being out here? What about the nuns?”

“I created a clone that looks like me using holy power. No, not even a clone… just something with a similar holy power to me? I left it in bed, locked the door, and left, so it should be fine for a while. They don’t have any means of tracking me anyway.”

“Is that possible?”

“It used to be impossible, of course. But at some point, it became possible.”

Seeing her exhibit such abilities, despite being trapped inside Rosalia’s body for so long before meeting me, it was clear that she was exceptionally talented. No wonder she’s called a candidate for sainthood.

After Rosalia took the lead in the conversation for a while longer, we suddenly arrived at what seemed like a sheer cliff. Priscilla pointed to the front wall.

“Here. This is where they gather humans for demons summoning and terrorism.”

“But there’s nothing here?”

It was truly just a wall, with no openings or caves. Rosalia tilted her head in confusion.

“It’s magically concealed.”

Priscilla tapped her staff and began chanting.

“Shatter into pieces, chains. Break the bonds and cast away falsehoods, return to your original form.”

The highest-tier spell of dispel magic flowed from her lips, and mana gathered like dust at the tip of her staff. The magic circle that had covered the entire cliff was revealed. The magic circle touched by the dust melted like cotton candy. Soon, a large cave entrance appeared where Priscilla had pointed.

“What? It’s that easy to undo?”

“That wasn’t easy to break. It just looks that way because I used a top-tier dispelling spell. In this timeline, that spell hasn’t even been created yet.”

“…Why is it that everything you do is some top-tier spell, and everything you use hasn’t even been made yet?”

“It’s because I’ve used all these spells before. If you live through over a hundred regressions like I have, you’ll be able to do the same.”

“….”

Faced with Priscilla’s all-purpose shield of experience, Rosaria was once again at a loss for words. Although she had spent over 20 years in total in her own regressions, the comparison was simply on a different level.

“Alright, then let’s head inside—”

“Hold on. Just in case, let’s use an invisibility spell as well.”

With a snap of my fingers, a spell enveloped the three of us. Our bodies became semi-transparent and took on a misty form. Rosaria looked at her arm in wonder, then, as if remembering something, asked a question.

“Don’t you have to chant spells?”

“In the other world, I didn’t need to say them out loud. I just had to think them. It was tough at first because I had to think in the language of that world, but I got used to it.”

“The language of that world?”

Seeing her interest, I explained a few basic spells, which quickly turned her curiosity into disgust.

“Ugh, what is that insane language?”

“Reading and magic were the ‘noble’ prerogatives of the aristocrats there. To ensure that any information that might leak out wouldn’t be understood by ‘inferior’ commoners, they kept adding more and more modifiers to the language. That’s how it turned out like this.”

Even a basic fire spell that creates a small flame at the fingertip has more modifiers than the actual name. If basic spells were like this, there was no need to even mention top-tier spells. When I told Rosaria the name of the soul purification spell I used on Karna, she looked like she’d heard something horrific.

“Wow, that world was crazy too, huh? How did you even live there?”

“I struggled desperately to stay alive. Enough with the chit-chat. Let’s go in before we get caught.”

After casting a final soundproofing spell, we entered the cave. Priscilla, who had come here countless times in previous loops, led us with smooth, practiced steps. Numerous traps disintegrated into mere puffs of mana, and we navigated through forked paths with ease. After walking for some time, Priscilla stopped in front of a dead end.

“This is it. The breeding ground is behind here. Hold on. I’ll dispel the magic circle.”

Priscilla raised her staff, about to cast another dispelling spell.

‘….!’

Sensing a killing intent from inside, I used magic to pull Priscilla back. Her body flew backwards just as a giant axe swung through the space where her head had been.

I drew my sword, Eternity, and prepared for battle. Priscilla still seemed unaware of what had just happened, and Rosalia looked utterly bewildered.

“Draw your weapons. We have an enemy.”

As I warned them, the seemingly solid wall wavered slightly. Someone was walking out from within.

“As expected, the Great Demon King’s words were never wrong! To predict even this!”

The lower half of the figure was a large brown horse, while the upper half was the muscular torso of a giant man. His biceps were thicker than my torso. In his right hand, he held a massive double-edged axe.

‘…The Sixth Legion Commander?’

A centaur wielding a double-edged axe could only be the Sixth Legion Commander. But how was he here? I glanced at Priscilla. She seemed extremely flustered, not having anticipated this. This meant that something had changed, and it was not in our favor.

“What did the Demon King do?”

I stepped forward. The centaur, with his axe resting on his shoulder, boasted loudly.

“He predicted that humans would come here, you little runt!”

“…And why tell us that?”

Could this guy be like the Maker, prone to unnecessary chatter? Priscilla had mentioned he was just a muscle-brained fighter. The centaur, with an extremely ugly grin, snorted.

“The Demon King ordered that if any human came here, I should tell them! I am merely following the Great Demon King’s command!”