My exclusive equipment, [The Great Commander’s Flag], has the following stats:
[The Great Commander’s Flag (EX)]
— Category: Flag (Auxiliary Equipment)
— Durability: 10/10
— Provides the following buffs to all troops under the wielder’s command:
] Strength+10, Agility+10, Intelligence+10, Stamina+10, Magic Power+10
] Physical Resistance 10%, Magic Resistance 10% increase
] Physical Penetration 10%, Magic Penetration 10% increase
] All types of Elemental Resistance 10% increase
] Morale does not fall below ‘normal’
The performance is intuitive and morale-boosting.
It’s not just for a party or hero characters, but it pours such buffs on all troops under my command.
As the commanded troops increase towards the latter part of the game, the value of this flag’s effect becomes even more significant. It is truly an equipment made for commander classes.
However, the true performance of this flag lies in its exclusive equipment function.
— Exclusive effect for the character ‘Ash’:
] Enhancement of Passive Skill, Skill 1, and Skill 2
] Ultimate skill [Imperial Edict] evolves into [The Foremost Flag]
It enhances all Passive Skill, Skill 1, and Skill 2, and at the same time evolves the ultimate skill.
Among them, the crowning feature, the new ultimate skill, [The Foremost Flag].
Basically, it retains all functions of the previous [Imperial Edict]. It can summon a fortress, declare a siege, and remove limits on the number of summons.
And the additional feature that comes with it is… this.
“All who once bore this flag— gather here!”
I knelt on one knee, pushing the flag into the ground, and with my shout,
Flash-!
A burst of light exploded from the flag.
The black thorny branches that were pouring towards me from all sides, trying to ignore such light and continue their assault, were
Clang!
Cut off by the swords that appeared from the light,
Crack!
Blocked by the shields,
Whooosh…!
Burnt to ashes by the magic that gushed out.
Various weapons that emerged from the light protected me, breaking off hundreds, thousands of thorny branches rushing towards me.
“What…?!”
Fernandez let out a baffled groan.
It was a reasonable reaction. He must have been certain of his victory just moments ago. But now, it was nullified by my trump card.
Woosh…!
As the light emanating from the flag faded,
Click! Click! Click!
Suddenly, around me were hundreds of figures made of swirling, ashen shadows.
Rising slowly from my knees, I stood up among those who had formed a protective circle around me.
“This is… surely not…”
Fernandez uttered in disbelief.
“Are they all… ‘you’?”
I smiled silently in response.
Yes.
Each one of these was a remnant of ‘me’.
Shadows of past cycles that had passed through the ‘save slot’ known as ‘me’.
***
Initially, I could choose any profession.
As a wildcard character, I could develop myself in any direction I wished.
Among those numerous possibilities, I chose to be a commander and reached this point.
…But, I always wondered.
What if I had chosen a different profession?
What if I had become a knight of the tank class as originally planned?
What if I had become a mage, following my magical aptitude?
Assassins, archers, priests, fighters…
Those countless, untraveled paths.
What would I look like now if I had walked a different path?
The conclusions of those numerous possibilities have now been summoned beside me.
Ash with a dagger, Ash with a spear, Ash with a magic gun, Ash with a staff…
Ashes clad in various armors, cloaked in capes, and holding flags aloft.
All of them are losers who reached the end of their worlds and ultimately failed.
“It’s not just you who left records, brother.”
Ash, too, had left his long journey and countless footsteps on this flag.
All of these are the remnants of my strategies, the embers left by the flame called ‘me’, and the lingering shadows cast by my existence.
“How is this possible…?”
Fernandez gritted his teeth.
“Is this the doing of Prophet Aider?!”
“I don’t know. Why care about the principle.”
I don’t know the principle.
Whether it’s some kind of miracle possible only because of Ash’s original power as a regressor, one who handles time, or if it’s possible because of some trick played together by the past Ash and Aider, as Fernandez said.
‘What does it matter.’
I don’t know the reason.
Was it an arrangement left by Ash for his other self, overlaid with someone else’s memories?
To prove worthiness and complete this flag, to borrow experiences of past selves?
‘It’s not my business to know.’
Now is the final cycle.
Reasons or principles don’t matter. It’s only important to use it effectively.
‘I’m a regressor after all, I should have some perks.’
Otherwise, what’s the point of being a regressor if all you get is lost memories and a shattered soul?
— Hang in there, me.
Suddenly, I remembered the last words of the letter from my past self.
A smile flickered across my lips involuntarily.
Receiving support from my disconnected past self, and continuing the record-
The last me takes another step forward.
“Thank you, me.”
After muttering softly to my past Ash, I thrust the flag forward.
“Now then… I’ve gathered my full strength.”
In sync with my movement, hundreds of my remnants raised their weapons all at once.
“Shall we start round 2, brother?”
Crackle and crunch!
Instead of responding, Fernandez fired hundreds of thorny branches like cannonballs.
As the branches poured down like a rainstorm, I yelled.
“Charge-!”
In response to my command, my remnants charged forward in perfect unison.
(TL Note: Wouldn’t be a Korean Regression Novel without some kind of Necromancer skill, now would it?)
***
Ash… I basically have inferior stats.
In other words, I lack talent. It’s a limitation by birth, something not even a regressor can overcome.
Lark, a genius as a knight. Fernandez, a genius as a mage.
Compared to my two brothers, Ash is just an average or even slow learner. Not a particularly strong character compared to other heroes.
Even though I’ve accumulated numerous experiences and reached the end of the world, my limitations are clear.
…But.
Even if each individual is weak, they are all ‘me’.
Meaning— I can control each and every one of them down to the tips of their fingers and toes, exactly as I wish.
‘An army of shadows moving as the commander’s will?’
This is what you call a cheat!
Bang! Boom!
My shield-bearing self takes the brunt of the thorny assault.
Click! Clack!
My sword and spear-bearing selves cut through the branches, advancing.
Flash! Flash-!
My staff-wielding self casts magic, while my bow and magic gun-wielding selves snipe continuously.
No need for verbal commands. No need to point directions or explain intentions.
As soon as I think, my army made of me moves exactly as I think, advancing with transcendent efficiency.
This is my very own One Man Army.
My legion of selves, displaying transcendent breakthrough power, charged right up to Fernandez.
“Ugh…?!”
Fernandez groaned in frustration as his defense was swiftly breached.
Swoosh! Swish!
Even amidst this, attempting a counterattack, Fernandez moved the thorny branches hidden in the ceiling to ambush me from behind.
But I just crossed my arms and watched.
‘There are several more ‘me’s who chose the commander tree here!’
Thwack!
As another me planted the flagstaff into the ground, grey walls emerged from that spot.
Like the blooming process recorded by a high-speed camera, layers of walls sprouted instantly, blocking the thorny branches pouring towards me.
As his last strategy was thwarted, Fernandez laughed helplessly.
“This doesn’t make sense, little brother. To hide such power… it wasn’t in the records…”
I smiled back at him.
“That’s why I told you not to rely too much on the strategy guide.”
Memorizing lineage only to be stumped by questions outside the scope of the test?
Piercing through the last line of thorny branch resistance.
My remnants reached Fernandez without hesitation and swung their weapons.
Thud! Thud!
My shadows formed into swords and spears, piercing Fernandez’s wrists, feet, thighs, and forearms.
“Gurgh!”
Fernandez gritted his teeth and suppressed a groan.
I slowly approached my brother. My remnants parted like a wave, clearing a path toward the throne.
“Ha-ha… really, you’ve always been an inscrutable guy.”
Despite being pierced by my weapons and pinned to the throne, Fernandez continued to smile softly.
“Too clever at times, and suddenly acting like a thug. Obedient, yet suddenly wreaking havoc.”
“…”
“Always hiding your true intentions from me. Peculiarly perceptive…”
I clicked my tongue.
“Is that the me you experienced, or the me in the records?”
“Either way, you’ve always been like that.”
Bleeding, Fernandez’s face turned pale. He trembled his pale lips while still trying to smile.
“And… in either case, we’ve always been brothers.”
“Why so sentimental now? You’re not trying to gain sympathy at this stage, are you?”
“Ha-ha, just like you said. What’s the point of begging for my life now?”
Fernandez leaned back into the throne’s backrest, murmuring with a more relaxed face.
“We’re off to a world where we no longer need life.”
“…What?”
“It’s too late, Ash.”
Rumble!
Before Fernandez could finish speaking, the entire audience chamber began to vibrate.
Confused, I looked around. What’s happening?!
“But the shutdown protocol hasn’t been activated yet…?!”
Boom!
With a violent shake, I felt my body lift off the ground.
Startled, I looked outside and then I saw it.
A giant thorny tree.
Wrapping around the entire palace, lifting it slowly into the air like a clenched fist.
The giant hand made of thorny branches looked like a huge ship.
The Final Ark.
This was the ‘Final Ark’ that Fernandez had been talking about.
“Is this your doing, brother?”
I murmured in disbelief.
Could it be, Fernandez… even while fighting me, was manipulating Everblack to do this?
Was this his plan all along…?
“The shutdown protocol is just a bonus.”
Fernandez’s voice became increasingly faint.
“A courtesy to take on additional passengers for this journey to the Spirit Realm.”
“What?”
“Even if the shutdown protocol doesn’t activate and we can’t take the citizens… this Ark will depart for the Spirit Realm.”
Fernandez’s blood-red eyes looked firmly at me.
“Carrying those who must be saved.”
“…You can’t be serious.”
“I told you, Ash.”
Fernandez laughed hollowly.
“I’m going to save you.”
“…”
“Even if the world perishes and my plan fails to save my citizens… I will save you, at least. Because you deserve it.”
“…”
“You… in the new world, in the Spirit Realm… should live on as the king…”
Stunned, my mouth fell open.
Then, I honestly blurted out.
“When Dad called me a madman earlier, honestly, I felt a bit proud, you know? Sort of like, I had this pride in being the greatest madman among madmen?”
“…?”
“But I guess I have to concede the top spot to you.”
I acknowledged it with astonishment.
“You’re the craziest of them all, Fernandez. You unique lunatic.”
Rumble!
Now the Ark was completely rising into the sky.
–TL Notes–
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