The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 115: Night’s Over

Ignotus walked through the moonlit courtyard of the second manor like he owned the place, which obviously wasn’t true, but he figured if he killed everyone inside, it would eventually become true... at least momentarily.

Or perhaps not everyone, only the guards. He was sure that if he killed the siblings, he’d get into more trouble than it was worth... the guards would have to be enough to sate his thirst.

Behind him, Felix was practically vibrating with anxiety, trying to drag him back.

"Young Lord, please!"

He was the only one who didn’t listen, and that was only natural, considering this whole thing seemed to begin on his behalf. Which seemed to make him feel partially responsible in the unlikely case anything went wrong.

"We should go back!"

"No."

That was all he got for his begging.

"B-But Lord Rollo is dangerous! He’s a noble of House Wolf! If you do this—"

"You know, Felix..."

Ignotus interrupted as he stopped walking and looked up at the moon.

"In the past, I’ve gotten slapped. I’ve been cursed at. I’ve been laughed at by people who weren’t fit to polish my boots. But whenever something like that happened... I was actually thankful for one thing."

Felix blinked. Though he no longer cared to understand how this ’past’ of Ignotus came into existence, he grew confused by his Lord’s sudden shift and return to calm.

"Thankful, Lord?"

"Yeah. Thankful that my people didn’t know about it. That I’d just go on living as if nothing happened. It’s easier that way."

Ignotus turned his head slightly.

"You should take this as a lesson and never act that way to someone in front of their family. Because if you do... then it wouldn’t be surprising if you get killed ten times over, and it most often will be done by someone other than the one you humiliated."

He started walking again, his boots crunching on the gravel.

"You know... growing up with a brother... you usually get into fights. Sometimes your fights involve your abilities and weapons. It’s almost natural law, like gravity, or the fact that you’re a dumb, lustful, and weak coward."

Felix dumbly stared at Ignotus’s back, and no, it wasn’t for the insults he’d received, but for the fact that he was no longer able to ignore what he had just inwardly stated to have accepted:

’That never happened! You were the only one in that house who didn’t fight back, no matter what! You just took it from your bastard brother every time he was in a bad mood!’

Though his thoughts were fierce, his lips stayed sealed. He could see the silhouette of the man Ignotus had become, and it looked so very far from someone who ’just took it’ anymore.

"But you see..."

Ignotus continued, stepping onto the stone porch of the manor’s side entrance.

"At one point, you just stop fighting. Because then... well, you’ve become strong. If you keep fighting, you’d just end up killing each other; no amount of holding back can change that."

He didn’t wait for a response and went ahead, leaving Felix behind.

"Though it’s too late for you... you can still try to reach such a point." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Ignotus, after a minute or so of searching, found himself at the pits, about to kick off his plan.

As one might expect of a House named Wolf, they kept a pack of captive, half-starved wolves in their own manor, all trained to kill on command and kept in a state of constant, murderous hunger.

The area was a mess. Damp, smelling of rot, and filled with things that wanted to eat him.

He stared through the iron bars at the mountain-bred killing machines moving within, strong wolves, uncomfortably so.

A few of them working together could probably kill him. And if they ganged up correctly, they’d definitely make quick work of guards who were at his class or higher...

’...or I could do this myself.’

While the siblings waited for permission to strike, he could go through the manor in silence, taking out the guards one by one.

But, even if he liked such a scenario, that was direct involvement. Such a thing was messy.

If he did it, it was a murder; if the wolves did it, it was an accident.

Much like Rollo’s mother, Ignotus preferred accidents.

’Eris... do you have anything in that Divine toolkit of yours? I want these dogs to have a very specific appetite.’

’I could use my Calamity...’

Her voice hummed in his mind, sounding far too excited.

’Wouldn’t that be against Divine Law?’

Ignotus knew the rules, this realm’s Dogma, or at least some of them. Gods weren’t supposed to go around sniping mortals or messing with their Souls without a very, very good, once-in-an-epoch reason.

’Only if I attack their Souls directly.’

Her tone was practically wagging a finger.

’But these wolves are tamed. There are strings—Soul-strings—connecting the beasts to their tamers. I won’t touch the Souls; I’ll just Corrupt the strings.’

Ignotus snickered.

’I like loopholes. How long?’

’Instantly... or so I would like to say, but it’s delicate. I need direct contact, and I need a few seconds with each. I have to be careful here so that the ’others’ don’t notice. You’ll have to pin them for me.’

Ignotus sighed, rolling up his sleeves.

’Fine. I guess I’m wrestling today.’

He opened the first cage that was luckily without a lock, no doubt thanks to his Rune, allowing only one out before quickly closing it back up.

The wolf didn’t wait, lunging at him just as it was out, a massive blur of fur and teeth.

Ignotus moved faster, stepping into the beast’s space and slamming it into the stone floor.

He pinned its throat with one hand and its chest with his knee, feeling the raw power of the creature vibrating against him.

"Do it."

His eyes could see a faint glow of dark red travel through his body, reaching its Soul.

After a few seconds of rough thrashing, the wolf’s eyes glazed over, and the connection to its master was turned chaotic, turning it into a wild, hungry killer again.

’I... I won’t be able to speak for a dozen hours after this.’

Eris’s voice sounded faint.

’It takes a lot to stay faint. Good luck, my little Calamity.’

’Hm, rest up when you need to.’

Ignotus moved through the rest of the pack with efficiency. Tackle, pin, snap, move on. It was a workout he hadn’t planned for, but by the time he opened the last gate, the pits were silent.

Thankfully, the commotion wasn’t too loud, with the wolves being not much louder than usual, and no one interrupted his little roughplay. Or perhaps it was just due to his luck once more; either way, he was done preparing.

Now, the wolves just watched him, their eyes collectively glowing a tint of red, as if awaiting his command to let loose.

"Go on..."

One that Ignotus was all too happy to give.

"The buffet is over there."

The massacre was loud and fast.

As intended, the wolves didn’t run for the forest but ran for the stairs, the barracks, the scent of the men who had spent years poking them with spears and starving them for "discipline," even though they were already tamed.

Ignotus walked back out to the courtyard, his hands behind his back as the first scream tore through the manor’s silence.

It was followed by the sound of heavy bodies hitting wooden floors and the unmistakable crunch of bone... a most beautiful sound.

Once back in his room, through the windows, he saw the silhouettes of the wolves tearing through gray uniforms and armor alike. They turned the manor into a wreck, with red smears marking the white stone of the corridors.

It was both smart and poetic.

The very beasts the House used to show its power were now the ones thrashing it.

No doubt the siblings were close to crying, trying and failing to restore order after having been woken up by chaos, not at all expecting a move to be made so quickly and ruthlessly.

After a while and the slow arrival of the sun, the noise stopped, with most of the wolves ending up dead or trapped, while many of the guards were found to be killed.

The manor was a ruin of bloodied silence.

Though they only took a few hours to quell the chaos, the battle lasted for longer as the guards drew it out. They, though technically much stronger than Ignotus as a collective, were mostly Tamers, leaving them quite weak against their own abilities.

Following Ignotus’s instructions, his people never left their rooms, so even as the chaos reigned, they didn’t do a thing and watched the show unfold before their trembling eyes.

All of them knew Ignotus made the wolves attack their own, but they didn’t know how.

The siblings were dying to confront and kill whoever did it, but as they didn’t have any evidence and were too busy with the aftermath, they didn’t do anything too drastic.

Meanwhile, as the sun began to rise, near the gate, a pile of debris and death shifted.

A single guard crawled out, his armor shredded, his face a mask of pure terror.

He was gasping for air, looking around in a panic, feeling like he was suddenly dropped into the deepest layer of Hell.

Crunch...

The sound of a boot on gravel made the guard freeze.

Ignotus stepped out of the shadows, looking as if he’d just woken from a nap.

"Hm..."

He looked down at the trembling man.

"Your night’s over."