Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan

Chapter 353

Splurch—.

Boom!

The massive palm of the colossal war machine split open with a sickening tear, spilling flesh and ichor.

And that wasn’t all.

The bisected torsos of the severed war machines collapsed toward the ground, crashing down with tremendous force. The sight was grotesque, almost repulsive—but paradoxically, there was an undeniable beauty in the devastation.

‘...’

Theo’s grip on Caliburn still tingled with the aftermath of the unleashed power. His gaze was fixed on the faint glow radiating from the tip of his blade, resembling the embers of a dying fire. Yet, nothing he had witnessed before compared to the brilliance of this light.

Entranced, Theo surveyed his surroundings.

The war machines that had once loomed before and behind him now lay scattered across the ground like discarded debris. Entire cliffsides had been obliterated, and the oncoming tidal wave had vanished, revealing the distant horizon.

‘Did I... do this?’

Theo was overwhelmed by the realization of his own power. The sheer force he had unleashed was beyond his comprehension, and even he found himself awestruck.

A surge of confidence coursed through him—confidence that he could cut down anything in his path.

But it wasn’t just that.

‘This feeling...’

There was something flowing within him, something beyond mana. A force that defied words, transcending human comprehension.

‘Divinity...’

The reverence he had felt upon first stepping onto this battlefield—that same sense of awe now resided in his blade.

This was no ordinary growth. It was a crucible, the repeated tempering of death itself. After countless reforgings, divinity had finally taken form and enveloped Theo in its gentle embrace.

Feeling the weight of this divine aura, Theo was certain.

‘Now it’s time to end this war.’

Theo turned his gaze toward the center of the battlefield, where the two supreme beings fixed their sights on him.

[Finally.]

The voice was not heard with his ears but resounded clearly within his mind.

It was a deep, resonant voice—eerie and spine-chilling, as though it were clawing at his very soul.

Theo instinctively shifted into a combat stance at the sound.

[Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!]

[Unauthorized entity detected within the quest parameters.]

[Entity has been classified as a virus.]

[Initiating antivirus protocol...]

[Antivirus protocol failed.]

The sky was suddenly painted with crimson as countless warnings materialized in mid-air.

[Ha, hahahaha!]

The grating voice erupted into wild laughter, like the screech of metal being torn apart.

Theo recognized this all too well.

It wasn’t the first time an external force had interfered.

Just like when Ashin had first intruded on a quest, the same pattern was unfolding here.

Narrowing his eyes, Theo gripped Caliburn tightly. At that moment—

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The walls of messages that had filled the sky shattered into countless pieces, raining down in shards. Simultaneously, the world began to darken, turning pitch black.

The sacred power that had once filled the air vanished without a trace. The plants and flowers touched by the encroaching darkness withered almost instantly, turning to ash and scattering in the wind.

In their place, only the blackness remained.

Even the colossal war machines began to crumble upon contact with the dark miasma, their massive forms disintegrating without even a chance to cry out.

It was death incarnate.

Theo, too, felt an instinctive dread. The thought of confronting this darkness did not come easily.

The only glimmer of hope lay in the two beings still standing against the encroaching blackness. Yet, as Theo watched them, his heart sank at the sight before him.

‘Even they... are falling?’

At the mention of “finish,” Theo felt a sharp pain in his head.

He tried to recall what had happened in the mysterious realm.

‘Something’s strange about my memory.’

He could clearly remember how he fought and obtained his newfound power.

It almost felt like a sweet dream, but the conclusion of his time in the realm remained obscured.

A nagging unease lingered in his chest.

“What happened in there?” Lodbrok’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she pressed for answers.

Theo knew Lodbrok must have already examined his body. If anything abnormal had been present, she would have noticed.

Closing his eyes briefly, Theo assessed his condition again.

‘There’s nothing wrong... or rather, everything feels unusual.’

The sheer amount of power now coiled within his body was overwhelming.

Additionally, he could sense a faint divinity firmly rooted within him.

‘I’ve truly gained divinity.’

A faint smile graced Theo’s lips.

While he couldn’t yet wield this power to its fullest extent, he knew it was only a matter of time. Mastering it was just another step in his training.

‘With this much power within me, fainting makes sense.’

The confidence that he could replicate the natural disasters caused by those two beings with his own hands surged through him.

Even so, a sense of unease remained in the corner of his mind.

‘Did Loddy not notice it?’

Lodbrok seemed to understand the magnitude of the power within him.

As a being sensitive to impure forces, she would have detected anything amiss.

Even so, Theo couldn’t shake the lingering doubts, though he eventually pushed them aside.

After all, he could find no trace of anything sinister.

“You’ll be surprised by what I tell you,” Theo said, turning to Lodbrok.

She had never seen a war machine before, after all.

“War machines? You actually saw them?”

For the first time in a while, Lodbrok’s eyes sparkled with curiosity at the mention of the unknown.

Theo recounted everything he had experienced in vivid detail.

From the towering forms of the war machines to their immense power, he described the awe-inspiring battles and how he had fought against them.

“So you died and resurrected countless times amidst that war, gaining such power?”

“Fortunately, yes.”

“Fortune? No, partner, it’s your determination that made it possible. Any ordinary person would have lost their mind. You’ve achieved a feat worthy of history. Be proud.”

At Lodbrok’s words of encouragement, Theo smiled faintly. She returned the gesture, her expression warm yet pensive.

‘It’s as if you were born to stop the Nameless Sovereign.’

Her thoughts lingered on the countless battles against that entity. No decisive blow had ever been dealt, even during Sigurd’s time.

Perhaps Theo Ragnar was the one destined to end this long-standing enmity.

“We’re almost there.”

Theo stood up and offered Lodbrok his hand.

She took it, rising gracefully as she cast him a questioning glance.

“The Ragnar forces. They’re nearing the capital.”

If their march had been as relentless as planned, they were likely waiting for his signal—or perhaps the Black Snow and Black Dragon had already infiltrated the capital.

If anyone could accomplish such a feat, it would undoubtedly be Black Dragon.

“Let’s find out.”

As they prepared to proceed, a servant approached from the far end of the corridor, holding an envelope.

‘How efficient. Black Dragon wastes no time.’

Grinning wryly at Black Dragon’s uncanny timing, Theo couldn’t help but smile.