When I was thinking that Primo would be blaming me, Brother Mountain patted him on the shoulder and smiled wryly. As he did, Primo heaved a deep sigh and pinched his nose bridge.
“Sorry, it’s not like we blame you or something. I’m just sad since this is the final regression that we can do, and someone suddenly hijacked our body.”
“Hey, that’s not a nice thing to say. [Will] himself called upon this soul and merged it with his own. I don’t know why he did that, but rather than blaming him, we should apologize for involving this guy in our matters instead.”
Brother Mountain quickly reprimanded Primo, who was speaking emotionally.
“Wait, so I’m not reincarnated but summoned as a soul?”
I honestly thought I was a reincarnated individual in this world, given how my and Cloud’s memories were completely mixed. Who would’ve thought I was actually summoned? And the summoner, Cloud himself, sacrificed his own soul and body to bind me here?
“Bast*rd, how dumb are you to not even notice that? Are you brain dead or something?”
A sharp comment came from the side—from the fourth regressor, Death. I turned sharply to him and glared.
“I’m smart enough to have a respectable vocabulary at least, not like some random street brat picking fights from all around.”
“Is that how you speak to someone who saved your skin before? What an ungrateful brat!”
Death snorted as he showed a cheeky smile.
“Saved me? When?”
“You don’t recall it? Then you must be really dumb after all. Case closed.”
“…”
Although I wanted to rebut again, he did have a solid point. I just kept my mouth shut and waited for Primo to continue.
The two, Primo and Brother Mountain, who were nearby, were glaring at Death, who butted in from behind them. I guess, even if they’re the same person, it’s not like they’re of one mind. Death ignored the two but still kept his mouth shut, just like me.
Primo sighed after seeing that we had already cooled off.
“Well, he did save you from the Duke of Insatiable Hunger. But rather than voluntarily, *#%$ made him go.”
“Huh? What? Who?” ｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏ𝚖
“*#%$? Ah, right, you aren’t allowed to hear her name yet. Forget it.”
Primo casually waved it off, but I was curious. What’s with that name? Although I could hear him say it and even see his lips move and pronounce it, I got nothing but garbled words.
“Anyway, back to the main topic. We called you here to help you against Noir. Otherwise, our last loop would end prematurely and all our efforts would end up wasted after all.”
“…!”
Right, Noir! I was fighting with him a few minutes earlier! Ember and Igni are in danger!
“How long has passed?! I need to return!”
I jumped to my feet and was about to run away, but a large hand grabbed the top of my head and lifted me off the ground.
“Woah, woah, calm down, Will. This room we’re in is the same as the Life and Death Simulation Space. No matter how long we stay here, only an instant would pass back in the real world.”
Brother Mountain said as he waved me around like a little piece of cloth. I felt like my head would split, but weirdly, there was no pain. I guess he was holding back, using just the right amount of force to not make me feel any discomfort.
After seeing that I was calm again, he set me back down on my chair, letting go. I took a deep breath, cleared my mind, and focused on listening to what they were saying.
“So, how are you going to help me?”
I’m about to die in the real world. Even if I forced myself to return right this instant, I’d simply die without the chance to do anything else.
To answer my question, Primo placed his hands on his chin and began pondering.
“Good question. First, how about listening to my story?”
Primo snapped his fingers. As he did, the black scenery blurred for a moment before returning to how it was before. Now, however, he and Brother Mountain were seated at the large round table, with me included, adding to their group as the sixth seat.
“Alright. Listen up, since I won’t repeat telling you about my story again.”
With that as a preface, he assumed a serious expression as his eyes turned hazy, recalling his memories of the past.
—
The first regressor, the Flame of Evolution, started as a pretty serious young boy in a remote town. There, despite being alone for as long as he could remember, he didn’t allow anyone to trample him under their feet.
After reaching eighteen and gaining his taming system, he immediately went outside and snagged a wolf, despite all the dangers it presented, successfully contracting his first tamed beast.
He spent a few weeks training and participated in the Newbie Tamer’s Tournament, which he won. After that, with the boost in funding, he further trained his tamed beasts, increasing their numbers one at a time.
Before he even noticed, he was already at the top of the world, looking down on everyone else as the most powerful God Tamer, even surpassing God Zeshion. However, what he had left after reaching that point was emptiness. He was alone all throughout the path he took, with nothing but his beasts and monsters as companions.
He spent hundreds of years perfecting his tamed monsters until he reached the absolute top. All of his tamed monsters reached God-Level, making his taming journey seemingly come to an end.
“At that moment, it occurred.”
Primo’s eyes flickered with a mix of fear and resignation.
“I don’t know what it was at that time, even now, so we just call it the Singularity.”
This singularity caused everything in the world to die out. Even those at the god level like them weren’t exempted from it.
“In just a few days, the population of the entire world dwindled until I alone was left. We couldn’t even fight against whatever it was back then.”
Primo, after reaching this point, stared at me and muttered in a grave tone.
“I didn’t give up, of course. Using the secret technique of the Seimei, I sent my soul to the past. I was hoping I could use my knowledge to help the other me prevent the disaster.”
He sighed, shook his head, and smiled wryly.