Gozine

A sword that had absorbed dark mana to its limit.
The famed sword Stormbringer mercilessly slaughtered dozens, no, hundreds of low-ranking demons standing at the forefront. Nox indifferently wielded his techniques, effortlessly cutting down his enemies with the initial stage three basic forms, followed by the middle stage’s first form, Black Blade Fire Mirror.
Now these techniques had become perfectly attuned to his hands.
Of course, that was only natural.
In the first place, he had recalled the 27 life memories, dredging up countless opportunities and vast knowledge. Among them were a lot of swordsmanship and various forms of magic.

‘The same goes for the Black Sword. I’ve already mastered even the final stage’s three forms. Though I don’t know how long this body will last… In the worst-case scenario, I must not hesitate.’

Nox steeled his resolve once more.
Right before his eyes stood one of the great pillars of evil. Grand duke Amdusias.
A demon who had torn his companions apart time and again, slaughtered them, and toyed with their remains.
While it was true that Baal was the first demon and the Goddess Arden’s betrayer, the one who had meticulously orchestrated this entire ordeal was none other than Amdusias himself.
Because of that, Nox had died at his hands even more times than he had at Baal’s.

Thus, Nox’s simmering rage sharpened his focus to its absolute limit. And this ability of his was clearly caught even by Amdusias’s eyes.

No matter how he thinks about it, is this power a fifteen-year-old boy possesses? Impossible.
Even if it were due to innate spiritual energy, there should be a limit. This destructive force could only be described as something beyond the norm.

Amdusias drew his sword, a vile grin twisting his lips.
His inverted evil eyes (yogan) goat-like pupils, symbols shared by Baal and all other demons.
His twin horns and pallid purple skin were the same.
Amdusias stared at Nox. Nox did the same.
The demon, who had been smirking, spoke in a whisper-like tone.

“I had heard you killed several Grand Dukes, so I assumed you were exceptional even among the Eldain. But this is impressive.”

“I don’t need recognition from a demon.”

Nox replied flatly, and Amdusias chuckled as if he had expected nothing less.

“But it seems there’s still much you don’t know. Fundamentally, we are the same. Do you know…the beginning of the Reinhaver family?”

Nox’s brow furrowed. Just as he was about to retort in confusion at the enemy’s words.
Amdusias cut him off again.

“You’re wielding the sword of the first family head.”

“You know this sword?”

“Of course. Jin von Reinhaver. His Sword. A brilliant knight… and the worst calamity to ever exist.”

“…Calamity?”

What the hell was he talking about?
Even across countless regressions, this was a story Nox had never once heard.

‘Is it because this is the first time I’ve obtained this sword during a regression?’

Nox kept thinking.

‘The one at the beginning of the Reinhaver family. The first head, Jin von Reinhaver. There’s no doubt that he must know something about him. Otherwise, this reaction makes no sense.’

“Explain. What do you know, and how much?”

Nox’s voice dropped low.

Surprisingly, Amdusias nodded as if amused and said.

“Well, why not? It’s not so bad to explain the truth of that sword before you die. But…”

There are too many spectators here.

The moment Amdusias spoke, a storm of dark mana began to gather behind him, swallowing Nox whole. Something was clearly off, but Nox didn’t resist.
No matter what happened, the gap in their strength couldn’t be bridged. The first reason was Nox’s unshakable confidence that he could defeat Amdusias.
And the second reason was.

‘The beginning of my family. There must be a connection between Jin von Reinhaver and the curse. I need to find out. No matter what.’

Uncover the secret as quickly as possible and kill Amdusias.
That was Nox’s plan, and it would proceed exactly as this ruffian regressor intended.

**********

Luna.
Her real name is Luna von Arkheim.
The daughter of a concubine, cast aside after suffering the greatest losses in the empire’s rise and fall, had yet to grasp the truth she was meant to face.
Because her mind was entirely preoccupied with something else.

Nox von Reinhaver.

She had spent a long time thinking about the boy who had chosen to sacrifice himself, but no viable plan to save him came to mind. He had regressed time and again, failing repeatedly yet always rising back up, but whether that’s a curse or power, Luna had no such thing.

Because of that, she had to make every decision definitive in this single lifetime.
Luna wondered.

Was this a blessing, or a curse?

A difficult decision, but one she had to make.

“…I think everyone already knows the answer I’ll give.”

Before her stood Izel, Cregoil, Marin, Cain, and countless elite troops behind them.
Each one was a top-tier member of Lunatic. If they fought to their fullest, they could easily become a major force in this war. These were members Luna had meticulously nurtured, one by one.

Yet even these battle-hardened veterans couldn’t help but tense at Luna’s current decision.
Because lives were at stake.

“We Lunatic… don’t abandon our members. Even if someone dies, even if it’s me.”

Luna declared it like that.
Marin showed a moved expression, and Izel and the other squad leaders wore faces that said “Of course, that’s how it is”. Some shouted that in a situation where demons might manifest on the continent anyway, a life that cannot be wagered is meaningless
This was Lunatic.

A criminal organization.
They had destroyed noble families that amassed both wealth and sin, expanded their own influence, saved talented orphans and skilled individuals, and reached this point. Of course, this wasn’t justice.

Naturally, they had killed people.

Their achievements were matched only by the number of lives they had taken, and in the process, those without exceptional talent had been left behind. Betrayers were ruthlessly purged.

While repeating such a process, Luna and her master had reached the current scenery.
Hundreds of elite knights now looked to her, ready to aim their blades at the enemy, or even take their own lives at her command, unshaken even by the darkness beyond the windows.

This was the greatest potential of the group known as Lunatic.

After finishing her preparations, Luna took the lead.

That brazen newcomer. She had no intention of letting Nox von Reinhaver die like this.

Either way, she was someone who should have died long ago in that water prison. The same went for the others.
Marin and the rest would have died just as meaninglessly.

Like a cruel joke, even as their companions fell, they survived.
And for Luna, whose goal was to reach the end once more.

Of course, she remained unaware that the reason she had to endure this cursed life lay ahead of her.

Just as Luna and other members were about to move.
Someone who should never have come here arrived at Lunatic’s secret base.

A woman in robes and a knight accompanying her lowered their hoods.

There was a surprising face there.

“…Emperor Penelope?”

The Empire’s Sun. Emperor Penelope.

**********

Penelope von Arkheim.
The one who had ascended to the throne at the age of fifteen after her coronation.

Some might say her life was wretched and horrific.
But that was only half-true.

Though Penelope had survived hundreds of assassination attempts and endured countless attacks, and though her competence as an emperor was still questioned, calling her life wretched was far from accurate.

Because there was someone called Luna who shared the same father.
A girl who had rolled through the gutters, starving on the streets, hiding from lecherous gazes in alleyways. A girl who had deliberately smeared mud on her golden hair to tarnish her own beauty. Because she was there, Penelope’s struggles paled in comparison.

It couldn’t be helped.

Though both had faced threats to their survival, their circumstances were different.
Luna had been abandoned.
It was precisely because her father had utterly discarded her that she had survived, but had her mother’s status not been so lowly, her life would have been entirely different.
Even if Penelope had faced the threat of death, the fear felt while holding a warm bowl of soup and wearing luxury ornaments commoners could never afford was not the same as the sheer desperation on the street.

Therefore, when Luna heard the story of the princess before her, she did not believe it at first.

“Yes. I am Penelope von Arkheim. Emperor of the Empire, and one of the many daughters of Esteban von Arkheim.”

“…As far as I know, the former emperor only had two children. What business does Her Majesty have coming all the way here?”

Of course, Luna had planned to intervene in the war. Saving Nox would require it.
But not this. Lunatic did not exist to side with the emperor and happily acknowledge their privilege and power. Lunatic was something more…

Luna’s thoughts grew tangled. This had all happened in an instant.
No one had noticed her arrival. It couldn’t be helped. If she had used the imperial family’s stealth artifact, failure would have been nearly impossible.

No matter how large Lunatic was for a criminal organization, comparing it to the imperial family was laughable. Even if their power had waned, they were still the nation that had once illuminated the world under the Sun King.

But the words of the current emperor, Penelope, only deepened Luna’s confusion.

“My father did not love my mother. Luna. Leader of the criminal organization Lunatic, the most feared figure by the Continent’s people. But if you have another name, are you prepared to accept it?”

Her brow furrowed.

Could it be?
It’s not, right?

Luna felt as if time had stopped, flowing unbearably slow.
A single strand of hair fell at that very moment. The radiant golden hair that tumbled before her was the same color as the girl in front of her.
Penelope continued.

“You are one of the two daughters of Esteban von Arkheim, the former emperor and our father. Though cast out of the imperial family due to being the daughter of a concubine, caught in some scheme… It’s certain. This hair, and even the power to manipulate moonlight, no, light itself. It’s certain.”

“…I was the emperor’s daughter?”

“Yes. And…”

The next words from the emperor were something Luna had never once considered, and something that would shock everyone present.

“Perhaps, it was you who would have taken my place. The Emperor’s throne.”

Chaeng!

Sparks flew up.
The tip of Luna’s sword wavered unusually, and before her was Cain, barely blocking her strike toward the Emperor with his dagger. Cain’s body trembled. It was clear she had genuinely tried to kill her.

‘I don’t know how this is unfolding, but…!

“Captain Luna, you must calm down. No matter what, she is the current emperor of the Arkheim Empire….”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that killing her would mean their deaths before they could even save that damned brat. Because the next words instantly captured all their ears.

“If you want it, I’ll give it to you. Emperor? I never wanted it in the first place.”

The force behind Luna’s blade intensified.

“You’re joking. So you’re saying the reason I had to crawl through the gutters, hide from filthy gazes, and suffer because of this damned golden hair, all of that was because I wanted it?”

“That’s why I’ll give it to you. If you want, you can even kill me.”

Her brow twitched.
What the hell was she saying?

If the empire was hopeless, asking for help would have been the logical move.
Yet Emperor Penelope was telling her to go ahead and kill her.
And amid this, she calmly added.

“But there’s a condition.”

Penelope took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply before speaking.

“In exchange, please deploy Lunatic’s entire army to save Nox von Reinhaver.”