The hours flew by quickly. The moon slowly fell below the horizon, giving an opportunity for the golden sun to emerge.

It immediately illuminated the snowy-white forest, welcoming a new day for this world.

It could have been like any normal for Omar and the others, doing their job by trading goods or traveling with their mercenaries. Sadly, this day was different.

"AHHH!"

"What is happening?!"

"MOM! MOM!"

The people screamed, the mercenaries panicked, and the kids cried. Every second, one of them would disappear layer by layer. It was a horrifying sight, especially if you were close to the one disappearing.

Watching a friend, a companion, or a part of your family screaming before turning into a skeleton wasn't pleasant.

Omar couldn't help but stare in despair at the dark veil covering Silverwood Town, remembering Dante's last warning.

'I regret it.'

Dante was right, he truly regressed and tried to warn them. But Omar didn't listen and brought himself here.

Even though some of his mercenaries left him, including Daniel and Emeralda, he had thought that he'd be safe without them.

But he was wrong.

Even if everyone had stayed, they wouldn't have made a difference.

Omar sighed in helplessness as he watched another one disappearing, he was Omar's slave.

'Why is this happening…?'

He couldn't know how to react to this. Everything he worked hard for was disappearing. And he had no doubt that he'd follow them soon.

"Hmm… interesting."

All of a sudden, Omar heard a dark, chilly voice behind him. He wanted to turn around, but he stayed frozen in his place. He couldn't "see" himself moving at any moment.

"I wouldn't have allowed anyone to regress in my presence. If he did, then it was likely with my consent."

Just then, Omar felt the sharpest, most intense pain he had ever felt. His skin was peeled in a moment, and he couldn't even scream in his agony.

"You should have listened to him, blame yourself for this."

Omar's agony didn't continue for so long, because the next second, his vision turned into darkness. His skeleton fell to the ground and disappeared without a sound.

The dark entity stood there for a moment, wondering why he had let someone regress. After all, everyone hated regressors, and he wasn't excluded.

'Maybe someone interfered and gave that boy an opportunity to use his regression method. I'll have to search for that brat and "see" his memories later.'

The next moment, he appeared right at the town's manor. It was a big manor surrounded by shining silver trees.

The dark entity vanished again and appeared under the manor. There was a hidden room with a silver entrance leading under the ground.

'Hehe, the owner of this place did a good job in hiding it.'

The silver entrance was blocking his senses despite how powerful he was. Achieving such a feat was remarkable, and it was likely made to trick even the royal family of this kingdom.

The only reason the dark entity knew about it was a small doubt. He doubted that the silver trees weren't natural, and some investigation was enough to show him everything.

After all, he was the master of the darkness and the unseen. Finding hidden treasures was a part of his profession.

He wanted to meet the person who made this place and praise them for fun, but unfortunately, whoever did that was now dead or imprisoned, so searching for them would have to wait for some time.

Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to kill an entire town. It wasn't hard to enslave the people with useful abilities.

The dark entity simply glanced at the entrance, then the gate blocking it disappeared.

Finally, his senses noticed the silver Ether aura leaking from under the ground. He could 'see' it. It was a small, silver flower hidden from the outer world.

The flower suddenly vanished before appearing in the entity's hand. Channeling his ether, the dark entity cast a simple spell.

'Appraisal.'

[Grade: 5]

[Type: Silver Ether Herb]

[Name: Ether Blessing Flower]

[Source Domain: None]

[Effects: Silver Ether Pool Expanding, Ether Veins Awakening, …...]

[Potency: Perfect]

[Freshness: 100%]

Seeing the effect, the dark entity felt immense happiness.

"Hehehe, it's real!"

BOOM!

All of a sudden, something landed on the veil covering the town. It caused a huge explosion and killed several monsters.

"Oh, did someone sense it already? Interesting."

Because he removed the gate that was suppressing the Ether flower's aura, it was instantly noticed by those with sharp senses.

The flower disappeared as the dark entity teleported to the top of the manor, staring at the person beyond the dark veil with a chilling smile.

He had lost tens of his pets by this attack, and he was a bit angry now.

A fight was about to start.

The dark entity, the attacker, and very soon, the rulers and guardians of Ashton Kingdom.

The result was uncertain, but the destruction of this town was inevitable.

¢¢¢

"Ms. Amanda!"

As I looked at the open door, my eyes sparkled as I saw Ms. Amanda, one of my teachers, smiling at me.

She was one of the few people I actually loved, one of the very few people who didn't avoid me.

"I came for the private lesson we discussed earlier." She said to my uncle, who smirked at her.

'Private lesson?'

'Is this because I slept in her classes? Did she worry about my grades and decided to teach me at home?'

Thinking of that, I had no choice but to look at her in gratitude. Because of my uncle, I was forced to start working at such a young age to pay for myself.

A tuk tuk driver. One of the jobs that doesn't care about anything so long as you'll return the tuk tuk without a scratch and pay.

Ms. Amanda casually entered the house, closed the door, and took off her shoes before reaching for her bag. Surprisingly, she brought some money out of it and gave it to my uncle.

'Huh? Why is she the one paying?'

I strained my mind to think of a logical explanation. After a moment, my jaw fell in realization as the anger filled me.

'Did that bastard take advantage of her kindness? Bastard!'

Of course, my uncle wouldn't waste an opportunity to take money from someone who truly cared about me. He knew that she was willing to do anything for me and took advantage of that!

"Dante, go to your room, you and your teacher will have a long night. I truly envy you." My uncle laughed while counting the money, his expression as disgusting as always.

I ignored him and quickly took a table and two chairs from the living room. My room was empty without furniture, I couldn't just let Ms. Amanda sit on the ground after everything she did for me.

Once I prepared the chairs, the books, and the table, I heard my room's door closing softly.

I was immediately hit by a sweet, intense perfume. It was something unusual for Ms. Amanda, who had rarely used perfumes. She also wasn't wearing her coat, probably left it outside.

She was now in a house, not in school. It was only natural that she'd prefer to wear more comfortable clothes.

"T-thank you for coming to give me a lesson. Sorry for sleeping in your classes." I said shyly, ashamed of the fact that she had to pay with her hard-earned money because of me.

"...!"

All of a sudden, Ms. Amanda pulled me into a soft, warm, tight hug, one arm wrapping around me and the other stroking my hair.

"I know he isn't treating you well, so let me take care of you for this night and the nights afterward. Trust me, we'll have so much fun together you'll forget about your uncle."

"I trust you!" I wrapped my arm around her waist happily, suppressing the urge to cry in her embrace. Her words were like music to my ears, sweet and filling me with hope.

Ms. Amanda was the most beautiful, the kindest, the smartest, and the most trusted person I knew.

With her, I would ignore my uncle and study hard. I would do my best so she could be proud. She was like a real mother to me.

In the future, a scholarship wouldn't be a far dream, because these private lessons would be my first step toward success. Everything was possible with her help.

…Or so I'd thought.

Because it took only one month to change everything I knew about her.

Instead of attending my exams to show my knowledge, I was at the police station, covered in blood from head to toe, holding a glass shard firmly and unwilling to let them take it from my grip.

My mouth was bleeding, and the hand that held the glass was in worse condition. But my mind didn't even register the pain, overwhelmed by the horrifying act I had just committed.

I killed Ms. Amanda.

¢¢¢

"..."

Deep inside the cave, Dante woke up with wide, teary eyes, his teeth shaking violently and his breath heavy. But after a few moments, calmness returned to his face.

'Oh… a nightmare.'

How long had it been since his last nightmare?

'It must be because of Greed, he reminded me of that bitch!'

She was the first person he had killed. The beautiful teacher who broke his trust and paid the price.

Obviously, killing her led to a lot of problems in his life.

'But I don't regret it.' Dante gritted his teeth.

'If I someday regress to the past and meet her again, I'll kill her for the second time!'

'One, two, or even ten kills are not and will never be enough for that kind of person.'

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