I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

With the world rushing towards its end, six figures floated in the air. Surrounded by the trails of destruction– and a Descent of doom.

The Homeric Academy for Gifted Children had died. Here, and now, its existence was being whipped clean from a hybrid of chaos.

The Mana Vortex.

A portal of pure mana clash.

Its existence was one even more far-fetched than the Mana Reflux.

An offspring of Transcendence and something more. Much deeper…stronger…an occurrence possible through the onslaught of powerful attacks stacked upon each other.

And the final blow? The Uncanny World.

Kira had bent her plans. Forged a way in which everyone could live.

A goal, naturally impossible, but made a reality thanks to the strength of the Jun household.

The Household she despised.

Their attacks barreled together…strength that Michaelo Jun, their father, had not crossed at their age…was what caused the whole world to tear space to produce a Vortex.

Of course, many more instances were put to play, and that included the Academy.

A Territorial Space was a hidden world strung between reality and something opposite to it. Yet, far too tangible to be considered unrealistic.

Psychic magic was the anchor. Connecting the lines and producing a Space where humans can live and thrive. Breathe, and eat, without the apparent weight of its disparity from the natural orders of the living world restricting it.

In other words, the Territorial Spaces were made as copies.

But these copies differed from something which Earth had, and that was Space and the Heavenly Bodies.

Instead, what surrounded the Territorial Space, if torn away from its anchor, would be…nothing.

A vast expanse, yet to be explored, but confirmed to be far more dangerous than any Level or Tier on earth.

It was this nothingness that triggered the formation of a Vortex.

A blackhole, serving as a portal which leads to the abyss.

'...or what we assumed to be the abyss.'

Kira thought to herself as she watched the four figures hover towards her.

They had taken a moment to process her instructions, but now that they did, they moved instantly.

Albeit, warily.

Though at this point, wariness was unnecessary.

Kira saw through this, and a faint smile formed on her face.

"Be at ease, Juns." She said, catching them off guard as their focus was drawn from the Portal.

They stared at her. Phestus, included.

His Mana had been returned as well, but he had not fought the Crimson Lord.

Though, he was well aware more than anyone why he chose to.

"For now, I proclaim a truce…"

Kira's words sent a jolt down their bodies as their eyes bulged open.

Immediately, Raph frowned.

"What?" He asked, harshly.

Though she had saved their lives, he could not deny that, but this was…this was not Kira Merlin.

"What's in it for you?"

Kira frowned, but resisted the urge to shut him down right there.

"You saved my life."

She said simply.

Raph's gaze flickered for a moment, and so did his sisters.

Their surprise was evident at her response, and perhaps even more so by the expression she made while she said it.

But that expression– the subtle vulnerability of a sad smile was completely absorbed by the sharpness that was the Witch of the West.

"Don't get me wrong. This truce is temporary. Once we leave this place, we owe each other nothing."

Rebecca's lips curled upwards slightly as she shook her head.

"We would like it no other way."

The Juns and the Merlin Matriarch had fought, yes, but that clash between them wasn't going anywhere.

Still, a fracture of that heavy, cemented wall sealed between the two had cracked.

Just a fraction that was easily missed…and immediately ignored.

At that point, Phestus cleared his throat, grabbing their attention.

They turned to him slowly as the young boy pointed behind them.

"That man, I'm sure that vortex won't hold him. Let us leave."

He muttered, and the others slowly shifted their gaze to the Crimson Lord.

Farther away, and within the sticky claws of the Vortex, the Crimson Lord hovered.

Still as a statue, but with an expression as fluid as liquid.

His rage was evident.

His fury was dreary.

And his blood boiled.

But he was stuck, nonetheless.

Unable to move forward or backwards, but simply stood while he resisted the full suction of the Vortex.

He simply clenched his teeth and watched.

Kira moved first.

She shifted her gaze away.

"Alright, enough. Let us be on our way."

With that, she signalled to the portal.

They all stared at each other, one last time.

Then in silence, they had begun to approach it, but at that second, something bizarre occurred.

A resistance that shook them to their bones as their heightened senses screamed at them.

Instantly, they turned to the source.

The Crimson Lord glared.

His dishevelled hair was pulled tautly by the vortex behind him.

His sheer will anchored him in place.

Kira frowned, deeply.

"He's still moving."

Noticing his finger twitching, her instincts screamed.

'Shit.'

Without a second thought, she turned to the others and grabbed them, shoving them into the Portal in a single motion.

"MOVE!"

Beyond all reason, Kira had pushed them, and without needing a reason, the young people complied.

Thalia phased through the portal immediately, followed by Rebecca and Phestus who slowly followed.

They all saw the subtle shift in the man's finger and they all knew what that implied.

He was fighting back.

And not just fighting back, he was using a skill.

The skill itself or its purpose, she didn't know, but one thing was clear– it would be troublesome.

Behind them, as if sensing their haste, the Crimson Lord boomed into a hearty laugh.

A terrible crack in the poise he had maintained all true.

"You beings of lesser purpose think you can escape me?!"

The void hummed.

The Vortex quaked, and suddenly… its pull doubled.

Kira's body shivered with goosebumps.

And she abandoned all reason.

Before, three had escaped– Thalia, Rebecca and Phestus, all absorbed by the safety of the Portal, and now…two lingered.

One is already phasing through the Portal.

The other, once behind, now tugging at the young boy as the thing she feared the most occurred.

The tendrils of the Vortex expanded, and its strength increased.

And the gaping hole in the sky clung onto their skins.

For a moment, the world came to a pause as their movements occurred at a snail's pace.

What happened next would be forever swallowed by the bottomless pit of the Vortex.

Raph, who had once been enveloped by the pull of the Portal, was now violently ripped away from it as someone else took his place.

Kira Merlin.

Their eyes met.

One filled with nothing more than pure logic and despair. Clawing her way out of the dire result.

The other…was calm, yet piercing.

His eyes burned into Kira's as their roles swapped, and time resumed.

Immediately, Raph was grabbed tight like a rat in a mousetrap by the malevolent arms of the Gaping Black Hole.

And Kira, with her gaze still locked on Raph's was completely swallowed by the Portal.

***

Silence.

That was the only thing that followed as Raph stared at the Portal that began to shrink.

His gaze locked onto the scene that replayed again and again in his head.

His heart, which should have sunk, never did, and was instead frozen in place.

'Hah…'

He thought to himself.

Bewilderment was far from the emotion that took root, now.

Nothing but a simple truth laid out for him as his body was pulled by the Vortex.

'That was foolish.'

Ever since Kira had mentioned they fought together, and abruptly granted them the ring he wore, he had suspected the worst.

But he had let his guard down.

'What a foolish thing to do indeed.'

Now, he simply stood in place.

Watching as everything unfolded as if it were.

His body hangs loosely in the air. Suspended not by his will, but the absolute nature of the spiral blackhole.

'I trusted her.'

The thought snapped his skull like a bomb.

His frown deepened as he was brought closer to the vortex, and closer still to the Crimson Lord.

The red-haired demon laughed.

"Raffaelo Jun, abandoned by the woman who claimed truce."

He laughed once again.

"What beauty." He proclaimed as his gaze never left the floating boy. "The true nature of humans…selfish and corrupt."

He chuckled, his eerie mood lifted like it were a curtain.

Now, his head turned to his side, and landed on the white haired boy who remained silent.

The red-haired stared at him for a moment. Then the energy that flourished within him, and in the snap of a moment, grabbed his arm.

Raph froze.

His body was suspended by a firm grip as their eyes locked.

Silence followed, cut through by the howling of the Vortex as it tore through everything and swallowed the world around them.

It was an eerie sight.

Two humans. One with deep red hair, and crimson eyes whose depths knew no bounds.

A malevolent hue, a cacophony of it, hidden within those blood-stained gaze.

The other weaker, smaller, yet just as prominent.

White hairs and obsidian, white eyes.

Devoid of black, and any form of impurity, yet what it saw and what it held was anything but pure.

Their stare was prolonged for a second.

Then the Crimson Lord smirked, and a blood-soaked portal boomed to life below him.

Raph glanced at it, and then at the man.

"Come with me."

The words rang in his ears, a proclamation. A chance to save not just himself, but to seek vengeance on the woman who threw his life like it mattered less than anything else in the world.

But, to Raph, it sounded like nothing more than gibberish.

The young boy held his gaze, then stared at the arm.

"Let go."

Go with the Head of the Red Peacemakers? And do what…make myself their pawn?

'Don't make me laugh.'

The Crimson Lord frowned.

He glanced at the growing Vortex behind, then Raph.

Its effects held little weight to him, but to Raph, it would swallow him whole.

"If you don't come, then you will die in that void."

Raph held his gaze still. His frown slowly curled into a frown as his sword manifested into his arm.

He grabbed it and aimed for the man's arm.

But the latter let go in an instant.

Immediately, the blade tore through nothing but air, and he was once again pulled into the Blackhole.

The Crimson Lord watched in silence.

It was an attack that would have zero effect on him, yet he let him go.

'Fool…let him see for himself that he desperately needs my help.'

Nothing was better than a prideful child swallowed by their own fears.

Consumed by their own ego.

So, he waited…and waited, but the boy, their gaze still locked, neared the Blackhole still.

Quiet as ever, until he wasn't.

"Crimson Lord….The Seventh Seat, Envy, Visktar Zeheer."

The man's eyes bulged open in shock, and his body froze in place.

But Raph wasn't done.

"You must be desperate to find favour with the Ten Commanders of the Devil King…the one you Greater Sun's serve so much…"

Behind, the Vortex grew large.

The Crimson Lord– Visktar shock stretched long.

Yet, he wasn't done.

"What foolish antics…in the end, you will die."

With his last statement, the sole son of the Jun Household was swallowed whole by the collapsing molecules and dying stars.

The Man remained still for a long time, until he descended down the portal.

'Perhaps, it is best he died.'

And so, the curtain closed as the last ember of the Academy withered under the dissolving nebula.

***

Back in the real world, on the streets of the Kingdom of Lubrica.

Students, many in numbers arose as their gazes faced the sky.

The once heavy darkness that stood in the skies with a suffocating rain was soon pierced by the Crimson sparks of the morning sun.

Their expressions lightened.

Eyes widening, tears streaming, cries echoing as they watched Morning come.

Finally, the Sun rose.

[END OF VOLUME 3- FESTIVAL OF FUN AND GORE]