Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint
Chapter 311: We Are All Our Own Hostages


What should be considered when picking a hostage?

The importance of the individual to the opposing party? Their symbolic value? Or the mere fact that they were taken hostage by none other than the allied party??

Perhaps it was all of that…

However, the most important quality of them all would be, “A hostage should be weak”.

A hostage that can’t be used when necessary is like money that can’t be withdrawn when needed—awkward and unreliable.

In that sense, Historia was a wholly unsuitable hostage.

If the “Daughter of the Military State” were to be captured, the morale of the Military State would surely hit rock bottom, but she was too strong to keep captive.

On the other hand, with half of the Six Star Generals already absent, killing her would have a tremendous effect on the State.

So logically, it would make sense to kill Historia rather than keep her hostage.

Historia, the one being pointed at, sat quietly in deep thought.

The Regressor voiced her confusion.

“…You want to take the Gunmaster as a hostage? Is that even possible? Why?”

“It’s different. Historia isn’t the hostage herself.”

Hilde’s smile faded as she gracefully leaped from my lap onto the round table, pressing the Bio-receptor on her wrist.

Her oversized clothes shrank to fit her petite frame in an instant.

“The hostage is actually the Military State. This fragile country on the brink of collapse needs Historia, one of the last pillars holding the country together. With Warforger Maximilien, Camarilla Zigrund, and Envoy Eimeder either missing or dead, if Gunmaster Historia falls, the entire country could crumble at any moment.”

Strangely enough, the Military State possessed the qualities of a hostage.

If it collapsed, the world would be thrown into chaos. If left intact, it could become a powerful ally.

Depending on how things were handled, it could either break apart or flourish.

A whole nation as a hostage—it was hard to grasp its scale, but when you considered the internal situation, it made sense.

“Of course, Historia’s presence alone won’t guarantee the Military State’s wellbeing, but without a key figure like her, Chief Command would lose influence and even your Signaller would quickly reach her limit. What do you think, Father? Will you accept it?”

Not really knowing what to think, I shrugged my shoulders.

“There’s no point in asking me. You should ask her. Ria, are you willing to be a hostage?”

“…”

“She needs time to think. Understandable.”

I relayed the silence of Historia.

Hilde pressed on.

“Even if the Military State collapses?”

“Do you know what I’ve wished for the most while living in the Military State? ‘I wish this damn country would just fall apart already.’ Looks like I might finally get to see that wish come true.”

“Incredible! The rise and fall of nations don’t faze you at all. That’s Father for you!”

Hilde clapped gleefully, while Tyr, witnessing this odd spectacle, seemed to deepen her misunderstanding.

**「From the natural way she calls him “Father” to how well they get along… they even look somewhat alike… Could it be? Could she really be his child? But then, how old was he when he got married…?」**

No, Tyr, that’s impossible.

Hilde’s even older than me!

I would’ve had to travel back in time to have a child before I was born!

But this misunderstanding was amusing, so I decided to let it play out.

After all, Tyr was the one misunderstanding, and Hilde would be the one caught in the confusion, so I could just sit back and enjoy the show.

“Well, we can continue this conversation after a break. That’s all for now.”

At my declaration, Tyr cautiously approached Hilde and, with one hand lifting her skirt, offered a graceful bow.

“Greetings, child. I am Tyrkanzyaka. Though I am called the Progenitor of Vampires, I owe much to Hu, so do not fear. I swear upon my blood that I shall not covet yours.”

**「Huh? Why is she suddenly doing this?」**

Hilde blinked in surprise, clearly caught off guard.

Even someone like her could be startled, it seemed.

But being the master of disguise and acting, Hilde smoothly responded.

“Nice to meet you, Tyrkanzyaka. I heard Father owes you a great deal.”

“It may not be much compared to what he has given me, but we have leaned on each other. You may rely on me as well.”

“Wow! That’s reassuring! I really like you!”

…I trust you’ll handle this well, Hilde.

Just don’t accidentally call her ‘Mother,’ or we’ll be in even deeper trouble.

Leaving the two in their growing misunderstanding, I turned to the Regressor.

“Well, leaving that aside for now… Mr. Shei, you see now, don’t you? Just how hard I’ve been working, yet you never seem to appreciate it.”

The Regressor shot me a disapproving glare before turning her head away and muttering.

“…Fine! Thanks! I’m really glad you’re here!”

“Wow, that took a lot of effort. Could you please offer your thanks before I have to ask next time?”

“Even when I say thanks, you won’t stop complaining! You could’ve told me earlier and I wouldn’t have to worry!”

The nerve of her, getting angry when I was the one who deserved thanks.

Not to mention, she’s kept things from me, too.

“Mr. Shei, when Ria and I faced Maximilien, I tried stalling by talking to him.”

“Oh right, you mentioned you fought that guy.”

「The Warforger loves to boast. Yeah, he’d let his guard down for sure.****」

“Yes. I brought up the King of Sin, but he said there was no such thing. He asked if I wasn’t just confusing it with the Human King.”

Carefully, I led the conversation, but the Regressor quickly shook her head.

“No. The King of Sin is the King of Sin.”

“But sin isn’t something beasts possess, is it? The only creatures capable of sin are humans. So, doesn’t that make the King of Sin the same as the Human King?”

“No. The King of Sin is not the Human King. They’re different beings… they have to be.”

Interesting.

The Regressor, who was normally bad at lying, declared this without batting an eye.

The King of Sin had to be different from the Human King.

She wasn’t merely stating a fact—she was clinging to this belief.

In other words, she knew the truth but refused to believe it.

The Regressor knew a lot about the Kings of Beasts and the secrets of the world, but she deliberately turned a blind eye to the inevitable conclusion that the King of Sin was the King of Humans.

She kept telling herself otherwise—so much so that she’d convinced herself.

She refused to accept reality.

**「The idea that I have to face the one who represents all humans… that the King of Sin is the Human King… No. That would mean… humanity abandoned itself, including me…」**

If she didn’t believe that, her resolve might crumble.

It was all about maintaining her motivation.

Understandable. Motivation is everything in survival.

“Hmm, alright. If you say so…”

“You believe me?”

“Believe you? It’s not like I have much choice. You said that the world is going to end. It’s hard to believe, but… you certainly know a lot, probably more than most of the Saintesses. Not that you explain things well.”

“Oh, well, that’s…”

“Also, sticking with you is very profitable for me. I’ve managed to talk my way into a good relationship with the Military State’s Chief Command, something that would’ve been impossible if I had stuck to the back alleys. A crisis is an opportunity, after all.”

“That’s what’s important to you?!”

“Maybe you’re just a bad con artist, but who cares? Even if you’re a world-class con artist, I’ll just make sure to profit from it. The bigger the scam, the more scraps I’ll pick up along the way. The trick to scams is not exposing them, but benefiting from them.”

“…I’m starting to wonder if I should be the one worrying about trusting you.”

The Regressor shook her head, looking more and more perplexed.

Then, suddenly, she looked at me with a thoughtful expression.

**「Come to think of it, Maximilien asked if Hughes was the Human King. That was just because Azzy was nearby, but… could it be…?」**

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for.

The chance to test my theory.

I had long suspected the Regressor’s ignorance of my true identity.

Despite my many hints, she had never once considered the possibility that I could be the Human King.

It was puzzling at first, but eventually, I developed a theory.

And now, I had a chance to test it.

**「No way. I saw the King of Sin with my own eyes. Hughes can’t be the Human King. There’s no resemblance at all.」**

And the Regressor’s recollection continued.

***

When the King of Sin appeared, an entire nation fell in less than a single day.

The Sanctum was the first to recognize this and spread the news to the world.

The humans, worn out by the endless wars, put aside their conflicts and united to defeat the King of Sin.

Perhaps they had been waiting for an excuse to stop fighting.

Any longer and their countries would have collapsed before humanity itself perished.

The King of Sin was an overwhelmingly powerful force.

And those tainted by sin, even knowing they were marching to their deaths, offered themselves willingly to the King of Sin.

The King personally executed them, chewing on their hearts as she walked.

The name “King of Sin” was apt, for no other being could embody such evil so perfectly.

Humans were outraged by the atrocities the King committed. They blamed not only the King for these horrors but also the tragedies and conflicts they had inflicted upon each other.

Every sin of humanity was placed squarely on the King’s shoulders, and they marched toward her to hold her accountable.

However, the sins they had ignored for so long… had grown far too immense.

“You wished for eternal souls, for judgment after death based on good or evil, but that, too, is the most terrible lie.”

Why do monsters exist? And why do they harm humans?

Simple, because humans can’t accept that humans would beat their own children, steal, and kill each other.

In other words, humans can’t accept humans that sin.

She was no longer human.

She was the manifestation of sin, a walking disaster.

The embodiment of death itself.

The King of SIn.

“There is no heaven nor hell. The god you cry out to does not exist.”

Lightning rained down from the sky.

The earth refused to support the humans any longer.

Even those who had never stumbled before found themselves tripping on flat ground.

Some swung their swords at illusions, striking down their own comrades.

Beasts, born from fruit, surged like waves.

The weapons humans had developed to kill those beasts twisted in unintended ways.

Blood and fire erupted. Screams and thunder echoed.

The charred remains of bodies rose in clouds of black smoke.

Death came in every form—electrocution, burning, blood loss, falling, crushing, and explosions.

The battlefield became a gallery of corpses.

Amidst this carnage, the King of Sin walked on with death at her trail.

“There is no hall of honor for those who die honorably in battle. No paradise awaits those who suffer. No sanctuary in the clouds. After death, there is nothing.”

Warriors of legend, heroes who had turned the tides of impossible battles, hermits who had hidden away from the chaos—all those who had armed themselves with relics, strengthened by blessings of wisdom, charged toward the King of Sin.

And they all perished.

None could even come close.

The King of Sin laughed at the masterpieces humanity had created, shattering them one by one.

With each swing of her scythe, another head fell to the ground.

Shei was no exception.

Her sword, Jizan, was broken. Her other blade, Chun-aeng, shattered.

Her legs were crushed, and her body was riddled with wounds, blood pouring from every gash.

Unlike the others, Shei was still alive.

But only ‘for now.’

“What remains is nothing more than a forgotten columbarium.”

The King of Sin drew her scythe and a limb flew.

Blood gushed from the corpse she had just mutilated.

Step by step, the reaper’s footsteps echoed as she approached Shei.

She gripped the broken handle of Jizan, struggling to look up at the enemy.

In front of her stood the catastrophe that humanity had brought upon itself: the King of Sin.

“I am the smallest columbarium in the world. A library that commemorates the forgotten. An undertaker who collects due promises as funeral offerings.”

Her hair was wild, a mess of tangles.

Her eyes were like the void, staring into the abyss of human nature.

Blood smeared her face like war paint, and a skull, likely human, rested on her head like a twisted crown.

She exuded the savagery of a beast’s offspring.

And yet, despite her gruesome appearance, there was a disturbing beauty in her.

Shei’s head threatened to drop again.

Was it exhaustion?

No, it was the weight of her majesty, commanding her very instincts to kneel before her, to beg for mercy in the face of inevitable defeat.

Even now, her body screamed for surrender, but Shei clenched her jaw and resisted the command.

Ever the rebel, she defied her instincts and stared down the King of Sin.

Her life would not end here.

She had to see more.

She had to remember everything, for the next cycle.

But then—

“Even if there is a next time for you, I shall return.”

It was as if the King of Sin had foreseen her return.

Shei’s composure cracked, a groan slipping from her lips.

“…Ah, ugh….”

“Go, and tell them. Their righteousness has gone nill, and I shall come to collect my due. The future and destiny they relied upon have shown their empty promises.”

Not even death could offer an escape.

The world beyond offered no safety.

It was only then that Shei truly understood her fate.

Her regression would continue until the King of Sin was defeated.

Fear washed over her.

Death wasn’t the worst of it.

The challenge ahead was an insurmountable wall.

The path she had chosen, the endless loops of her life, led to a goal that seemed impossibly distant—so far away she doubted she could ever reach it, not in this life or any that followed.

And yet.

Even so.

Shei did not cry or give in.

Instead, she glared at the King of Sin.

“Hah… just a bunch of nonsense….”

Because she was too foolish to comprehend the inevitable result.

Because her understanding of their disparity was too shallow.

Because she was too stubborn to realize how hard the wall was until she smashed her head against it.

She gripped the broken remains of Chun-aeng in her bare hand.

“One day, I’ll make sure you shut up… Just you wait…”

The King of Sin was silent for a moment.

Was she mocking her foolishness?

Or perhaps it was a brief moment of respect for her defiance.

At the end of the silence, the King of Sin smiled faintly.

“I shall wait. For as long as you wish.”

Her scythe moved.

And that was the last thing Shei saw in that cycle.

***

Right. So… as I suspected, that’s definitely the Human King.

She was stronger than I expected, but there was clearly something else going on.

Regardless, that’s the Human King.

But no matter how you see it, that’s not me.

The face, the build, the gender—everything’s different.

Hmm.

**「No, no. He’s not the Human King. It can’t be. There’s no resemblance at all.」**

When a Beast King dies, another will inevitably be born somewhere in the world.

This new King is a separate entity, bearing no memories, appearance, or personality of the previous King, save for the duty it inherits.

In other words…

I had perished in that cycle.

When? Where? How?

I have no idea.

But considering the kinds of things the Human Regime and the Sanctum get up to, it wouldn’t be surprising if I die in any number of ways.

I’m going to die in a year. The world will end in 10 years. My life has been spoiled.

Of course, the part about me dying in a year hasn’t been confirmed yet.

But I’m sure of it.

After all, if the world ends in ten years because of the King of Sin, I have to die before that happens.

Thanks to the Regressor, I escaped from the Abyss… but now, I’m tangled in forces far larger than me.

There’s no way to return to a normal life now.

Damn it. I was supposed to live quietly, but now surviving means I can’t be ordinary.

Still, I don’t want the world to end. I don’t want humanity to face extinction.

Whatever the Human King did to bring about that apocalyptic course, I’m not ready to follow in her footsteps.

Nevida, the Sanctum, and others might see things differently, but those are their problems, not mine.

Like the Regressor, I’ll do whatever it takes to survive.

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