The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary - 65 - Then Came a Dream.

Despite the raging storm that had descended upon us, I refused to give the boys the option to run.

It might seem like a merciless decision to some, but for tragedies like this… it was necessary.

If they truly wished to live the life of adventurers, they had to learn that nature’s cruelty was only a fraction of what awaited them in the world beyond. Harsh as this storm was, it was nothing compared to the battles, betrayals, and horrors that lay ahead.

After leaving Evelyn safely behind in the village, I wasted no time and made my way back to camp. By the time I arrived, the snow had already swallowed the place in nearly two feet of white. Most of the boys had retreated to their tents, huddled together, desperately trying to keep warm. Only Mario stood outside, seemingly unbothered by the cold. His snow-rot constitution made him resistant to frostbite and chill, and the icy winds barely fazed him.

As I approached, Mario caught sight of me through the blinding snow. I landed hard, the impact crunching through the frozen ground.

“C-Captain… is that you?” he called, squinting through the flurries that lashed against our faces.

“It’s me,” I replied, brushing the snow from my shoulders. “What happened while I was away?”

“It’s not good, Captain,” he said grimly. “The boys are barely keeping warm. We couldn’t gather extra firewood—the wind’s too strong. If we’d tried, some of us wouldn’t have made it back.”

I nodded slowly. “I suppose you’re right. At this rate, it won’t be long before the snow buries us completely. We need to move.”

“B-but where?!” Mario’s voice was edged with desperation.

“The only real option is to relocate to a cave,” I said firmly. “Stone walls are sturdier than canvas, and they’ll shield us from the worst of the storm. We wait it out there. Call everyone—we start packing immediately.”

The order snapped them into motion. In minutes, the boys were tearing down what they could and shoving necessities into packs. I told them to leave behind anything nonessential. Time was against us, and the more they carried, the slower they’d move.

“Only take what’s necessary,” I commanded. “We’ll come back for the rest once the storm settles.”

With that, we set off.

I took the lead, pushing forward into the teeth of the storm. The cave I had in mind wasn’t special for its contents—if anything, it was far from welcoming—but its location made it perfect for the next trial I had planned for them this last few days.

The wind howled like a living thing, clawing at us as we trudged forward. Still, my mind kept drifting back to the conversation I’d had earlier with those two… and to her.

Velorria.

If she truly was coming for me… what would I do?

“Captain? Is something wrong?” Astin’s voice cut through my thoughts from just behind me.

“N-no,” I said quickly. “Let’s keep moving. We’re almost there.” I forced Velorria from my mind—for now. There were more immediate problems to deal with.

We pressed on, and soon came across a grim sight: a small herd of deer lying to the side of the path, their bodies stiff and rimed with frost. They were still breathing—faint clouds of steam puffed from their nostrils—but it wouldn’t last.

“They won’t survive this,” I said flatly. “Let’s move. We can’t help them now.”

The snow deepened, and not far ahead, another shape emerged through the haze—something massive.

“Wait… is that a colossus?” Mario asked, his eyes wide.

The creature’s enormous frame lay broken in the snow, skewered through the chest by an ice pillar as thick as a tree trunk. Its size alone would have made it a nightmare to face… yet here it was, felled in a single blow.

“That… that’s the same kind of monster that attacked us during the scouting mission,” Mario murmured.

From the look of it, there was no question—the spear was the work of the Glacial Dragon.

“Where did this ice pillar come from?” someone asked.

“Come on. We’re almost there,” I said curtly, ignoring the question.

At last, we reached the cave. I set my gear down at the entrance and drew my father’s sword, the steel gleaming faintly in the storm’s pale light.

“Wait here,” I told them. “I’ll kill the bastard inside.”

True to my word, I entered the cave. A few minutes later, I emerged dragging the corpse of a massive two-headed ogre, its dead weight leaving a deep groove in the snow.

With a heave, I tossed the carcass aside. “Inside,” I ordered the boys. “It’s not exactly a cozy inn, but it’ll do.”

The moment they stepped in, a foul, choking stench rolled out to greet them.

“Ughhh! This smell—it’s rancid!” Astin gagged, covering his nose.

“Yeah,” I said, sheathing my sword. “Monsters aren’t exactly known for their hygiene.”

The stench was unbearable, but the boys had no choice. The cave was warm enough to keep them alive. And for tonight… that was all that mattered.

Using the tools we brought with us, the boys started making a fire, and soon they started to warm themselves around it. While I on the other hand remained by the entrance of the cave. Watching as the snow falls from the sky.

In that moment, they relaxed themselves inside the cave, only bothered by the smell that was around.

“Ugh…this place its smells worst than a pigsty. Ten times worst.” said one of the boys.

“I wonder why captain chose this place? I’m pretty sure there are other caves around here that are less worse than this. I saw it in his map once.” said Astin.

“Whatever it is, he must have his reasons for staying here.” said Mario.

As the boys were talking around the bonfire, Thill was left to his thoughts.

‘Haa…at the rate of this storm, it’ll last for two days…I’m sure of it. And the boys…they’ve only spent two days here in the forest. We still have five more days to go until the final week ends, and tomorrow, I would have made them do another test, but the storm looks rough. I guess at this rate I can change the order of the test then…better yet, we can do this here…and now.’

Having turned around, he saw that the boys were clearly chattering with one another. And using this chance, he gave his next order.

“Listen up, by tomorrow we’ll do a special exercise. I won’t say what it is now, but I want all of you to be ready once I give you your task. So for now, just rest and try to survive the night. Those who aren’t feeling feel, raise your hands.”

To his question, no one raised their hands. And from the looks of it, they seemed determined to survive this storm on their own capabilities.

“Hmm, if that’s the case…everyone, get to sleep and rest. Tomorrow will be a rough day for all of you.”

With that, he left the entrance of the cave and made his way to the side of his bed. Once he closed his eyes, he quickly fell asleep.

***

“…”

The world around me burned.

I stood before a house engulfed in fire, the roof caving in with a groan like some dying beast. The heat licked at my skin, choking the air with the stench of charred wood and flesh.

Through the rolling smoke, something moved—dragging itself toward me.

A soldier.

Half of him was… gone. The other half was a grotesque patchwork of melted flesh and blackened bone, the fire still eating away at him as if the flames refused to let him go.

“Khhhaaaa!!! HEEEELPPP MEE!!!!”

The scream pierced me like a blade—raw, desperate, animal.

I didn’t move.

Not because I couldn’t… but because I wouldn’t.

Bandits, monsters… yes, they deserved no mercy. But this man… he wasn’t either. He was just a soldier following the orders of his king.

A king not of this land. A trespasser. An enemy who had stepped beyond the borders of our kingdom.

The soldier’s screams began to dissolve into hoarse gasps. His eyes—wide, pleading—looked straight at me, and still, I stood there.

Then—

“Were there any survivors?”

The voice was calm, almost serene.

I turned to see her—Velorria.

Her expression carried a quiet shine, as if she stood untouched by the chaos around us. Amethyst hair flowed like threads of starlight, and her one visible eye glimmered with a beauty that seemed unnatural… dangerous.

Her other eye lay hidden beneath an elegant eyepatch—crafted like a rare purple rose. Velory. I knew that name. A flower whose poison killed without pain, used only in the most delicate of assassinations.

“No,” I heard myself answer. “Not a single one.”

The words tasted like ash.

This home had sheltered soldiers who had survived their defeat in the war—men ordered to be slaughtered by our king. Not just killed. Brutally. And I… I obeyed.

Huh… this feels… wrong. It feels like I’ve been here before…

A shiver cut through me.

I knew this fire. I knew these screams.

The memory was on the tip of my tongue—ready to spill—but then…

Through the flames, I saw her.

A girl. No older than a child.

Her small arms clutched something limp.

A head.

Her mother’s head.

She looked at me. Silent.

And what did I do?

Nothing.

The world around me began to twist, as though reality itself was writhing in pain.

The fire roared louder, its crackling turning into a guttural snarl. The soldier’s scream warped, stretching into something inhuman—an agonized sound that scraped against my ears. Velorria’s one bright, beautiful eye split into a gaping, bleeding wound, and the child’s face beside her melted away like wax under a cruel flame… until nothing remained but hollow, empty sockets staring straight into me.

And still… I couldn’t move.

My breath caught. My body refused to obey.

“!!?”

Then, I woke—though not from the nightmare. No… I had only fallen into another one.

I stood at the very peak of a mountain.

The air here was thin, the clouds brushing against my fingertips. The wind was sharp and biting, whispering in voices I could almost understand.

And when I looked down… I saw them.

“….”

A sea of faces—dozens, hundreds—staring blankly upward.

“…My sins… so many lives…”

“Don’t be ashamed, Thill. I’m in the same place as you.”

The voice came from my left. Slowly, I turned my head.

She was there.

“…Velorria…”

Beneath her feet, as far as I could see, lay a mound of rotting bodies, their limbs tangled, their skin sagging in decay. The stench was unbearable, yet she stood upon them as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Oh, Thill… I missed you,” she said softly, her tone almost tender.

“Velorria… those bodies… you’re standing on those bodies…”

“It’s fine,” she whispered, her lips curling into something that was not quite a smile. “Through all the sacrifices I made, I did it all… for you.”

Her expression twisted—still a smile, but a horrid one.

“!!”

The ground beneath us trembled. Slowly, the two mountains of corpses—hers and mine—began to shift. Flesh squelched, bones cracked, and the piles merged, drawn together by some unseen force. The fusion was slow but relentless, and with every inch gained, we rose higher into the sky.

And without taking a single step, Velorria’s arms reached for me. She wrapped me in her embrace, her grip tightening, her terrible smile never fading.

The mountain of the dead kept climbing—higher and higher—past the clouds, past the reach of the sun’s warmth, until all light and life seemed to fall away. The air grew thin, the cold unbearable, and above it all stretched an endless void. It felt as though I had been swallowed whole by a place where time had long since died.

“…Velorria…” The name escaped me in a tremble, the only anchor I could cling to in that hollow darkness. My voice felt small, as though even sound feared this place.

“Oh, Thill…” Her tone was soft, almost mournful, yet it carried a strange certainty. “Don’t be afraid. In the end, we will be reunited… once again.”

“No… let me go.” My words were weak, half-choked, but I still tried to push her away. My hands pressed against her, yet it was as if I was pushing against stone—unmoving, unyielding.

“I won’t… I will never let go. Never again.”

“NO! Please!” My voice cracked, desperation clawing at my throat. I strained, every muscle in my body screaming to break free, but it was as if my limbs had been stolen from me. My body ignored my will, and I was left helpless, locked in her embrace.

“I’ve waited so long, Thill… so long…” Her voice wavered now, breaking into a quiet ache. “So many lives… so many… but in the end, I finally have you.”

Her one uncovered eye met mine.

In its star-filled depths, I saw no malice—only a raw, unshakable longing. An ache so deep it seemed carved into her very soul.

“…Vel… I—”

But my words were stolen when she raised a pale finger to my lips. The touch was feather-light, yet it silenced me more effectively than any chain. Slowly, she leaned forward.

And in the still, breathless void of space, her lips found mine.

My heart jolted.

“!?”

Before I could even process what was happening, the void shattered.

I gasped and my eyes flew open—only to find myself back in the waking world. The harsh chill was gone, replaced by the familiar weight of the real world pressing in on me.

“…” My breath came ragged. Sweat clung to my skin, cold against the feverish heat rising in my head. My hands trembled as I raised them to my face. My lips… they still felt faintly warm.

When I glanced to the side, I realized I wasn’t alone. Several of the boys were watching me, their eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and concern.

“C-Captain?” one of them asked tentatively.

“W-what?” My voice was hoarse, my throat dry.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” he said carefully, “but… it looked like you were having a nightmare.”

“Did I… say anything?” I asked.

The boy—Mario—hesitated, glancing at the others as if hoping one of them would answer for him. Astin met his gaze, but he too seemed reluctant to speak.

“Did I talk in my sleep?” I pressed.

Finally, Mario scratched the back of his neck and spoke. “Y-you… kept calling for a girl… Velorria?”

I froze.

The sound of her name in the waking world sent a faint chill down my spine. My lips parted, but no words came.

“…”