I Regressed to My Ruined Family Chapter 259

＃When I returned, my family was ruined (260)

Maren Forest.

The shadow that arrived there examined the traces. Although we were informed of the details of the fire through reports, there is also information that can only be obtained by seeing it with our own eyes. The shadow that was scouring the Maren Forest was quite shocked.

The reason was simple.

‘… These are traces of battle. Those are also traces of people with great power.’

The shadow’s sharp pupils did not miss even the slightest trace. Clearly, two types of fire had collided. Just by looking at the traces, you could guess how hot the fire must have been.

‘No matter how small it is, beings higher than the transcendental would have collided with it.’

One person was able to guess.

There is a very famous transcendental person in Ardan. However, it was difficult to guess the other one.

‘Who will be the new transcendental person who controls fire?’

Judging by the way they clashed with each other, it doesn’t seem like he belongs to Ardan. The traces clearly answered. This was no ordinary friendly sparring.

The one who had more exposure to death than other rulers was Shadow. It wasn’t that difficult to read the murderous intent in the messy traces.

‘Did you risk your life?’

However, there were too many strange things to make such a guarantee. There were two main traces. A flame that appears to have a single sword mark and will.

In particular, the traces of flame were very unique. It seemed like it wasn’t just an attack made of elements.

‘…an entity with physical power divided into hundreds of branches.’

What is this? The thin scope was reminiscent of a whip. A scene played in Shadow’s mind.

A whip that opens its mouth like a snake’s mouth. Immediately following, an onslaught of fiery whips split into hundreds of branches like a hydra.

“…That’s strange.”

When I first saw the flame.

The shadow predicted one of two opponents for the duke.

Wizard or elementalist.

A being that uses fire as its main attribute. However, confusion began to arise as traces of a whip in the flames were found.

He knew almost all information about the transcendental beings that existed in the world.

However, even those shadows had never heard of a wizard or spiritist who used a whip as their main weapon.

‘Is this a new transcendent?’

Just as we have not yet been able to find out detailed information about Duke Ethan, a new transcendental person who was recently born.

Transcendants who use whips were also likely to be emerging transcendents. So, there probably isn’t a single person you can guess.

‘Besides… this isn’t the only strange thing.’

The traces, divided like whips, clearly contained a deep murderous intent. It is an attack struck without hesitation in order to kill the enemy. The shadow was certain. On the other hand, what about the sword marks that are believed to belong to the duke?

‘…I don’t think there is any intention to kill.’

Do you throw a soft attack at an opponent who is trying to kill you, as if trying to subdue them?

This means that there is a good reason not to kill the other person.

‘Maybe he’s an acquaintance of the duke.’

What remained in the sword marks were not traces of intense murderous intent, but traces of delicately controlling the force as if trying to subdue the opponent. The shadow that was following the sword marks throughout the forest stopped at one place. The sight of the trees in the forest disappearing without even a trace remaining. Shadow widened his eyes at the sight. This was because the swordsmanship had reached such a high level that even he could not fully understand it.

‘What the…!’

The sword attack spread like an explosion. Compared to the remaining sword marks, the destructive power that could be considered the aftermath appeared to be extremely limited. As if something had broken through a solid wall and its power was halved.

If the power had not been attenuated, the trace would not have ended with at most hundreds of trees evaporating. This high-level sword strike could have made the entire forest disappear.

‘What on earth did I hit…’

Does this mean that more than half of the power of a sword strike like this was lost? Moreover, the sword strike was not concentrated on one point, but was spread out over a wide area.

If he had fought a normal human, there would be no way the sword marks would have spread this far. Think about it. Could it be that a person who would leave a sword mark like this would not be able to control his swordsmanship? As he was a transcendental person, he would have perfect control over every single muscle, and of course he would have chosen the most powerful offensive method.

What if the Duke had a fight with a human transcendent?

‘The offensive must have been concentrated within a narrow range.’

Against a small opponent, it was much easier and more efficient to focus the attack within a narrow range rather than using wide-area attacks. There is no way a sword expert would not know this simple principle. Nevertheless, the attack was released as if spraying water.

As if I was surrounded by something.

‘Are you perhaps trapped in a specific space?’

If so, I could understand this attack method. If the intention was to completely destroy a certain area of space, it would not be strange to leave traces like this.

‘It’s a space worthy of imprisoning a transcendental person.’

Is it an area? Looking at the remaining sword marks, the level of the duke was not low at all. It was definitely not at a level that could be ignored just because it was a human transcendent.

‘He wasn’t just a low-ranking transcendent.’

The time when he was officially known to have reached the state of transcendence was when the Continental Swordsmanship Competition was held.

Even assuming that he had entered the state of transcendence a little faster than that, it was undeniable that the growth rate was frightening.

‘It’s difficult to be an opponent who can confine such an operation to his territory.’

If we assume this, we might actually have to deny the previous hypothesis. Didn’t you think so until a little while ago? The duke’s opponent will be a little-known emerging powerhouse. That was the assumption because he was not a person caught in his information network.

‘…If you’re such an emerging transcendental person, you can’t confine the duke within his territory.’

In other words, the transcendental people who appeared recently were no different from newbies. In order to confine the opponent within a territory, one had to belong to at least a similar realm.

It is impossible for a lower transcendent to confine a higher transcendent within its own domain.

It felt like the more I followed the trace, the more complicated the accident became.

‘…I need to organize my thoughts.’

And only with very certain things.

first. The duke and the unknown transcendent faced each other in Maren Forest.

second. The duke did not have murderous intent, but on the contrary, the other party had murderous intent.

third. The Duke’s level is not just that of a low-level transcendent. Even at the minimum, it is above mid-level. Maybe he is a high-level transcendent.

…fourth. The opponent is strong enough to confine a transcendental person with such skills within their territory.

Fifth. Even you don’t know the other person’s identity. There is a high possibility that he is someone who has hidden the state of transcendence until now. If there’s one thing I found out, it’s that he uses a whip as his main weapon.

“…Even if I organize it, it’s still complicated.”

When the first two traces were discovered, the first person the shadow came to mind was Ysera. According to the report, it was said that he was a spiritist who was following Ethan around. He is also a talented person who achieved superhuman status at a very young age. If so, there was a possibility that she too had reached the level of transcendence.

What if a conflict arose between Ysera and Ethan?

If so, it also explains that the duke’s sword strike did not contain murderous intent. Since they are acquaintances, it would be difficult to kill them.

Well, we still don’t know why the spiritist tried to kill the duke.

I thought so, but the more I researched, the more I began to believe that Ysera was not a party to this battle. Let’s just say that she has reached the state of transcendence.

‘Even so.’

He could never be stronger than the Duke. As for the spirits he was dealing with, they were only the highest level spirits, and crucially, he was a human who had taken the duke as his teacher only half a year ago. That means there was an overwhelming difference in skill from the beginning.

Although there is a saying that he was a good man, the duke was not just that kind of person. He is praised as the most talented knight throughout the Western Continent. The gap gets wider as you get further away, but it will never narrow. At least it would be impossible to confine it to an area.

The shadow who gathered his family members together spoke.

“Gather rumors about the duchy. Any information is good, but it would be better if it was about Duke Ethan. However, for his sake, entering the inner castle is not permitted.”

The level of the duke was much higher than expected. If you were a member of his family other than yourself, you might be caught by his attention.

I planned to take charge of investigating him entirely. In this way, one by one, the descendants began to spread throughout the duchy.

* * *

About three days have passed since the investigation began. Because the power of hibernation was used to the limit, no one noticed the ruler who had infiltrated the inner city. Even Ethan, known as the duchy’s highest leader, was like that. He seemed not to feel any gaze at all and was living his life as usual. He didn’t look particularly different from other transcendents. Simple meditation. Training and practice. From supporting the knights to consolidating internal affairs.

There hasn’t been anything too suspicious so far. It would be a little different if the subordinates asked for meaningful information, but…

As the investigation continued, I saw one of the subordinates rushing towards me.

“What’s going on?”

“…I rushed over because it was something I felt I needed to see.”

A family member taking a deep breath. There was a document in his hand. The face of the shadow holding the document began to change moment by moment.

The person who sent the document was the head of the investigation team, one of his immediate subordinates. A fellow countryman who is one step ahead of you when it comes to gathering information. The possibility of this being wrong was very low.

…It is said that Heidern’s high-ranking officials have distributed a large amount of mana stones. After investigation, it appears that the royal family is also involved in this.

The reason was that there was a rumor that the eldest daughter of the Turian Marquis was related to the Fire Spirit Lord…

The amount of mana stones released from each high-ranking family was enormous at a glance. Even the royal family was involved. The destination for the logistics was the Duke of Ardan.

The shadow’s face stiffened after seeing the phrase.

The reason why spiritists collect mana stones in large quantities. Most likely, it is to make a contract with a high-ranking spirit. Ysera has already made a contract with the highest level spirit. If it was a normal spirit contract, there would be no reason to collect so many mana stones at the kingdom level.

‘Are you saying that Ysera got tangled up with the spirit lord?’

The shadow recalled the traces it had seen a few days ago. Spirit Lord. If it were the entity that I had only heard about through word of mouth, it would not have been difficult to trap the duke within its territory.

If something went wrong during the contract process and a conflict arose with the duke during that process, it fits perfectly with the details of the investigation, starting from the traces.

‘…and I must kill him now.’

The shadow’s pupils turned red. I didn’t make that judgment simply because I was a descendant of Ardan.

A habit of hating the dragon race.

Power that is building up so quickly. If that’s not enough, what if you get the help of a contractor who can handle the spirit lord?

Duke of Ethan.

The interest rate was excessively risky.