How to Raise Your Regressor

⟦⟦Fair enough, ⟧⟧ he couldn't help but chuckle. ⟦⟦Anyway, see ya later. Your children are causing a ruckus outside. Haven't you taught them any manners?⟧⟧

[We've been… out of touch for some time,] Samur replied.

A normal person probably wouldn't notice. Hell, even Samur himself didn't notice. However, there was a very, very slight tinge of sadness in his tone.

⟦⟦Right, right. Anyway, see ya.⟧⟧

[I hope you don't.]

⟦⟦Don't worry, I'll just watch you secretly. Until next time,⟧⟧ with that, he disconnected from his communication channel with the Origin.

"And… check," the man across him moved his final piece.

"Hey, come on," he groaned as he saw the red flashing 8th dimensional chess board. "I had my hands full with something else. That's cheating."

"That's what you get for playing two games at once," the second man chuckled.

"Hah, if only you knew what I had gotten myself into," the first man, Mr. X aka the wanker who had been plaguing Samur's thoughts, exhaled heavily.

"And I wouldn't know unless you tell me," the first man said as he started rearranging the chess board.

"I will, I will, don't worry. Just wait for the right time."

"Wait for that right time?" The man scoffed. "You think everyone is free like you?"

"Obviously," Mr. X replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Right," the man rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you up for another round?"

"I am, but not right now. I have some guests to entertain."

"By guests, do you mean the duo causing ruckus outside?" The man asked.

"Yup," he nodded.

"Are they the guys who you manipulated into coming here?"

"Perhaps."

"And are they the guys who you are trying to use for your amusement?"

"Who knows?"

"Look, we both know that is probably not going to end well. You'll fuck up in one way or the other, so whatever happens, don't kill them, okay?" The man sighed.

"Hey, what do you take me for?" Mr. X frowned. "They are the kids of my friend. Of course, I am not going to kill them over minor failures."

"You made a typo there."

"We're having a physical conversation though?"

"You just called the target of your perverse hobby a 'friend'."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"Fuck off."

The moment he said that, Mr. X moved. To be more precise, he disappeared from his original position and appeared in another one.

In other words, he travelled through space without even exerting any conscious effort. It was as if space itself moved according to his wishes and teleported him here.

"!!"

"!!"

And that was something the duo before him instantly realised.

"Well, well, look who do we have here," the man looked at the man and woman in front of him. "If it isn't the Ancient Gods. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"…So you know about us," the woman of that duo scoffed. "Then I assume you know why we are here."

As she said that, the man beside her put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Ooh, feisty. I like that. Anyway, I might have an idea about why you are here, but it's possible that we are not on the same page. So, please enlighten me, why are the Ancient Gods… arresting me?"

"Suspect 59154816, we are here to arrest you for violating Rule 76, Category 4. You manipulated reality and erased a mortal's existence even though you were not granted the authority to do so."

"Ah, that one. I see, I see," the man nodded. "By the way, why are you not using my name?"

"Every suspect is given a serial number and is identified as such."

"So you're basically reducing my entire existence to a number?"

"It's better than erasing your existence," the man scoffed. "Just like what you did to that mortal."

"And I brought her back as well," Mr. X protested. "That was a harmless little prank. Don't you have any sense of humour?"

"Our sense of humour is not twisted enough to enjoy the agony of others, and it never will be."

"You have no idea how much you're missing out on, then. Ever heard of schadenfreude?"

"We do, but we frankly don't care," the woman declared. "You're free to enjoy any sick hobby you have; we have given everyone that freedom. But you should have kept your hands away from Reality."

"Huh, you must be fun at parties."

"Very."

"No wonder your father didn't like you two very much," Mr. X muttered under his breath.

"…What?" Their eyes widened to their very extreme.

"Ah, oh, er, nothing," he nervously smiled. "That was just a commonplace dad joke. I assume you've heard of them, right?"

"…" The woman glanced at her companion.

"…" The man nodded.

With the speed of light (literally), the man attacked Mr. X.

The man's sword slashed towards his throat, ready to end MR. X's life.

Now, the Zeroth Breaker, the sword he wielded, wasn't just a simple weapon.

It was forged from the heart of Nefasul, the First Star of this Universe, while the Laws of this Universe were the hammer that shaped it.

In fact, Samur, or the Origin to be more precise, had created this weapon by his own hands. He forged the Zeroth Breaker for a single purpose; to kill.

And boy oh boy, did this sword kill.

As it was a sword made with Laws as its basis, once it locked on to a target there was no way for him to survive. Space, time, reality and energy would cooperate with the sword and immediately go into lockdown.

Fate itself would move and guide the sword to the neck of its target, using its full might to ensure that the probability of this sword taking the life of its target would remain 100% no matter what.

And the moment The Zeroth Breaker would touch its target, it would ignore all defences and straight away and simultaneously attack the physical body, the soul, and the ethereal body, while also deleting its target's data from the Information Dimension.

Long story short, the Ancient God of Death had chosen Mr. X as his target, so the latter would not survive no matter what.

However.

"Whew, careful with that thing there," Mr. X's voice came from behind them.

However, the unthinkable happened.

Something which was impossible in literally every fucking way had just happened.

And it had happened within a blink of an eye, without creating a sound or even a disturbance.

Mr. X had just… disappeared and appeared behind them. Just like that.

They didn't detect any ripple in space, time, the fabric of reality, the wave function of energy or the data in the Information Dimension.

He was just behind them, as if he had always been there.

However, it wasn't the Ancient God of Death's first rodeo; he immediately regained his composure.

The gears of his mind turned faster than the speed of light as he arrived at possible solutions of the problem in front of him.

To reaffirm his suspicions, he turned around and swung his sword once again.

"I told you to be careful, didn't I?" Once again, Mr. X's voice came from behind them i.e., from Mr. X's original position.

"Hah," the God of Death scoffed as he sheathed his sword once again. "You are a slippery man."

The woman, the Ancient God of Reality, who had been simply watching this exchange take place, arrived at the only possible conclusion; they were currently in a Grade 0 Domain.

That's why their 'normal' attacks weren't working on the being in front of them.

Well, it wasn't like that they had no way of killing him; they were the Ancient Gods, the pioneers of civilisation as well as the rulers of this Universe. They had a way of killing everyone.

It was just that she was slightly intrigued by this man.

"I shall take that as a compliment," Mr. X smiled. "Now, why don't we put our weapons aside and discuss things like the civilised men we are?"

"…"  The man furrowed his brows.

"Come now," the next moment, they were sitting on sofas in what appeared to be a room.

They felt nary a fluctuation in space or time, nor did they feel the slightest of movements of any sort of energy.

Sure enough, they were in a Domain.

Mr. X was currently facing away from them. He was preparing tea for his guests, after all.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," he hit his forehead with his palm. "Is tea fine with you?" He turned around and asked.

"It'll do," the woman replied.

"Nice," Mr. X smiled and went back to brewing his tea. "You know, though this meeting is different from what I expected, it's an honour to be finally be able to meet you."

Mr. X's tone suggested that he knew them on a more personal level.

"How do you know us?" The man asked.

"Well, it's only natural to know about the children of a friend, no?" He chuckled lightly.

"!!"

"…"

As the Ancient Gods had thought, they had indeed heard about their father from this man's mouth.

However, this time they decided to hold back in order to learn more. Once they squeezed out every bit of information they could from him, they would attack with their full force and kill him.

The man came back with a tray with three teacups on it, set it on the table before them and then took a seat across them.

"Only the finest for you. Please, try it."

As the woman picked the teacup up, a sweet aroma tickled her nose, "Mm."

As Mr. X had said, this tea seemed to be one of the finest.

"Anyway," the man just glanced at the steam coming out of his cup and started (he didn't like hot things), "how do you know our father?"

It was time for them to know what the Fallen Origin and the Betrayer was to up to nowadays.