Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

There was a reason why I was going to such lengths to help Brynhild grow stronger. For the future development of the story, the Hero’s awakening was essential.

It wasn’t just for my convenience, but also to face the black substance that could be defeated by Holy Sword, which the Demon King herself had proclaimed to be similar to his own weapon.

The Demon King was no longer the enemy. Now that Elysier had been revealed to be a reincarnator, suffering through endless cycles of regression like the other two, the real enemy couldn’t be the Demon King.

‘The others, however, need to die.’

For example, the legion commanders under her or the humans cooperating with them.

“Huh… huh… huh…”

Just like that fat high-ranking priest, who was trailing far behind us. In just ten minutes, he looked and sounded like he had been walking non-stop for twelve hours.

“Any monsters?”

“Not yet. Let’s keep going.”

Brynhild signaled with a hand as she pulled the Holy Sword out of a monster’s head.

We were inside a newly appeared dungeon of the type that spewed out monsters. ‘Coincidentally,’ we had come to buy desserts, and when the Hero offered to help, the Viscount, who was the lord of this territory, readily accepted.

Common sense would dictate that they should contact the Imperial Palace and ask for support rather than rely on Academy students, but Brynhild was the Holy Sword-chosen Hero.

I was the person she strongly recommended, saying I might be stronger than her, and thanks to that, we were treated as core members of the team without any interference.

The fat priest had come along for similar reasons. It was hard to refuse the Hero’s request to have a skilled priest accompany them, especially when dealing with a dungeon that spewed out an extreme number of monsters.

The fact that the Pope himself had bestowed the blessing of the stars also played a significant role. It would be a contradiction for the Starlight Sect to not help a star-blessed Hero.

‘I didn’t expect it to go this smoothly.’

If that guy had refused to come up with all sorts of excuses and holed up in the temple, it would have been difficult for us to force him out.

He must have been so reluctant to come that he even suggested giving them high-grade potions or sending a bunch of nuns and priests instead, right in front of us. If he had stayed in the temple, he would never have come out.

‘How do these guys even use divine power? They don’t seem to have any faith at all.’

The goddess seemed indifferent to the human world. Anyway, they were scumbags with no redeeming qualities.

“Wait, just a moment…! Let’s take a break…”

As expected, the high-ranking priest, whose breathing had been getting heavier, finally collapsed on the ground. I figured he had reached his limit by now.

“It’s only been ten minutes, and you’re already tired? And why are you tired when we did all the fighting, and you didn’t do anything?”

“Isn’t your pace too fast…!”

“Haven’t you ever thought that you’re just too slow?”

Brynhild also seemed to share my sentiments as she sighed heavily and stopped walking.

“All right. Let’s take a short break.”

“Kuuuuh…”

The priest made an odd sound and completely collapsed, and the nuns on either side of him busily gave him water or wiped his sweat with their sleeves. I took the opportunity to whisper:

“Keep an eye on that guy. I’ll go ahead and check for traps. That pig looks like he can’t even dodge a rolling boulder from a hundred meters away.”

Brynhild slightly smiled and nodded at my joke. I walked far enough so that our voices couldn’t be heard, cast a soundproof spell, and took out the necklace.

“Is everything going according to plan?”

As soon as I put on the necklace, Elysier’s voice came through, as if she had been waiting. I had been waiting for that guy to tire out so I could use this.

If I had come alone with Brynhild or with a more energetic priest, I wouldn’t have been able to do this so freely.

“What about you, Elysier?”

“I have also finished my preparations. Should I release the monsters right before we destroy the dungeon core, as planned?”

“Yes. You don’t have to time it precisely; release them after the core is somewhat destroyed.”

Of course, this dungeon was created by Elysier and me. It was to provide Brynhild, who had barely had any real combat experience against demons so far, with some practical experience, as well as to execute our plan.

Since I had taken away all the previous combat opportunities, I had to give her some experience somehow.

‘And also to get rid of that fat priest along the way.’

He was a piece of trash in the original story, who did despicable things and was eventually killed by the Hero, so I had no guilt about doing the same.

Including the nuns and priests who had done similar things under him.

“However… I still don’t think this is the right thing to do.”

Through the necklace, Elysier’s worried voice rang out. I could imagine her expression just from her tone. I spoke in as gentle a tone as I could.

“You agreed last time.”

“I only agreed because you pushed so strongly. I still don’t understand, and I truly don’t want to hurt you. If you want, I’ll even kneel and beg, so please, can’t we think of another plan?”

“What other plan? Do you have a good idea?”

“……No, I don’t. But if you just give it a little more thought, I’m sure…”

“It’s not too late to try another plan after we do this the original way.”

Elysier still had some reluctance in her voice as she said, “That’s true, but…”

“It’s fine, Elysier. As long as I don’t die, it’s okay. Later, I can just use healing magic, right?”

“It’s the fact that you’re getting hurt in the first place that I don’t like! Why do you keep trying to hurt yourself! Didn’t you do the same thing last time!”

Her voice rose, indicating her frustration. By ‘last time,’ she was referring to when I bit my finger to lure Alexander into a trap.

I had told her about it to convince her that it was a piece of cake since I had done it before, but mentioning that it was the second time seemed to have backfired.

“……It seems I have to be the one to give in, after all.”

After expressing her pent-up emotions for a while, Elysier sighed deeply and reluctantly said, “All right. I’ll give in this time. But you should also know something. I want you to remember, no matter what, that I was very sad because of your plan.”

“All right.”

“……I’ll cut the connection now. Please, don’t get hurt.”

The communication ended, and I put the necklace back into my coat pocket.

It was understandable that she would react that way. She had to attack me with her own hands, and not just a slight injury, but a severe one that would tear my body apart. Of course, she wouldn’t be happy about it.

‘If anyone gets hurt, it should be me.’

I would rather be hurt than see the people around me, the faces I know, get injured. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I had that weapon, and with healing magic, there was hardly any risk of death.

I put the necklace away neatly and returned to where Brynhild was, still glaring at the other three, who were panting. The number of monster corpses scattered around had increased by about six.

“There aren’t any other traps. Let’s get moving.”

“Already?”

“We’ve rested enough, what more do you want? Do you want to set up a home here?”

The priest, cursing me in his mind, got up with the help of a nun. Seeing this, Brynhild shook her head.

With our overwhelming skills, we continued to slaughter the monsters as we made our way to the dungeon core. Even an ogre, a relatively strong monster, appeared like a common mob and was effortlessly defeated.

“Haha! You two are truly remarkable! Can I leave now? With your skills, it seems you don’t need me, and even a mediocre priest would be enough… Hiiik?!”

I pointed eternity in front of the priest, who was still trying to find an opportunity to escape, and poked the tip of the blade against his neck. He jumped at the sudden action.

“Are you crazy?! What are you doing all of a sudden?!”

“I was wondering if you were a pig or a dog, so I poked you to find out. But the fat on your neck is so thick that the blade won’t even go in. So, you must be a pig.”

“……”

Next to me, Brynhild was doing her best to hold back her laughter. Her expression contrasted with the priest’s flushed face.

If I had been with Aria, the reaction would have been different. Rosalia and Priscilla had both agreed that she was annoyingly patient, so she would have tried to endure even in this situation.

But I’m not that type of person. Maybe in the past, but not now, after realizing that enduring for over a decade brought nothing in return.

“Can you handle the aftermath?”

Brynhild asked in a low voice as she came closer.

“I don’t do things I can’t handle. Unless it’s someone else who comes barging in.”

“That’s good.”

Brynhild smiled brightly, clearly pleased.

After some time, we finally reached the dungeon core at the very bottom. It was a real core, with magic energy condensed, not the imitation we had seen at the Academy.

“What’s this? Why is there nothing here?”

“It’s probably discharging and recharging. Good timing, let’s finish this quickly and get out.”

Of course, I had designed it that way, but I pretended otherwise. Brynhild nodded and was about to swing the Holy Sword when…

-Kuooh!

An ominous roar began to shake the dungeon. Brynhild’s face stiffened as she destroyed the core and stuck close to me.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah. Sounds like there’s a tough one.”

The high-ranking priest, visibly scared, trembled with the nuns, but perhaps because of what we had shown them so far, he didn’t try to run away. He believed that being next to us was the safest place.

-Kuooh!!!!!!

Another roar shook the entire dungeon, and an enormous silhouette appeared in the distance. The orange light drew closer, revealing a Flame Bear. Its body was covered in orange fur, and the intense heat radiating from its skin caused mirages to form.

Wherever the bear stepped, orange flames marked its path.

“……Flame Bear? It’s going to be tough to fight while protecting this.”

Brynhild muttered from beside me.

Flame Bear. It was a monster introduced in the theory lecture, and due to the saying that bears tear people apart, it was as strong as, if not stronger than, an ogre.

“Back, back there! Behind us!”

“……Behind?”

Brynhild let out a small laugh at the priest’s warning, which sounded like a panic attack. An Ice Bear, a subspecies of the Flame Bear, was approaching from the passage we had come through.

The Ice Bear’s fur was sky blue, and white mist rose from its skin and nearby floor. Even its breath, visible between its jaws, was white.

Like the Flame Bear, the Ice Bear was incredibly powerful, and in this situation, where they were working together, they were even more formidable.

“What do we do, Mira?”

“What do you mean, what do we do? We each take one and kill them. We have a priest here, too, don’t we?”

“……Sometimes I think you’re not human but a golem, Mira. How can you not be surprised at all?”

Brynhild muttered quietly. I just laughed to myself.

If she had asked if there was anything surprising, I would have had to answer that I had experienced this countless times before. Everything was going according to my plan, so of course, there was nothing surprising.

-!!!!!!

The Flame Bear, true to its name, roared and charged at us, spewing flames from its mouth.