How to Raise Your Regressor

Stars once again spilled across the night sky like diamonds on a black carpet. Shining the brightest among them, the 327 moons overlooked the worlds beneath it.

In an isolated facility in one such world, two men were walking up a flight of stairs.

"Next up is the altar," the man walking in front said to the one following him.

"Wait, is it THAT altar?" The second man asked excitedly.

"Yes, it's THAT altar," the man in front smiled.

"B-but I thought low level employees weren't allowed there…"

"They aren't, but I think everyone should see it at least once. Just to give new recruits like you a tangible goal to work towards, you see."

"I see, Vice Altar Director," the new recruit nodded in understanding and admiration.

After a while, they reached the end of the stairs. In front of them was a set of huge double doors.

The Vice Director flashed an access card in front of the terminal.

The geometric patterns on the door glowed in red before the doors parted with a mechanical voice saying, "Welcome back, Vice Altar Director."

"Whoaaa…" The recruit's jaw dropped in admiration.

"Don't be surprised yet," the Vice Director chuckled as he stepped in.

"R-right," the recruit closed his mouth abashedly and quickly followed behind.

The circular hall they stepped in was relatively simple. In the centre was a large altar standing atop a raised platform. Floating above the altar was a black stick.

Surrounding this altar were 10 knights standing at the edge of this hall.

"So cool…" The recruit looked around with sparkling eyes.

"Right?"

"C-Can I touch that?" The recruit looked mesmerizingly at the altar.

"The knights will kill you the moment you do."

"Oh…" The recruit stepped back.

"This is the altar that receives direct orders from the Council Head and Supreme Commanders in Chief, so no one is allowed to touch it without permission, you see."

"I-I understand," the recruit nodded vigorously.

"I'm sure you've heard this a lot of times, but let me reiterate just in case; do not act without authorisation, ever, no matter how small or insignificant that action is. Neither can you share anything you see, hear or do in here with anyone on the outside. If you do any of the two, you won't even get the chance to regret it. I'll personally make sure of that."

The recruit gulped as cold sweat formed on his brow, "I-I will keep that in mind, sir."

"Good," the Vice Director nodded. "Now, do you have any questions?"

"Er… um, no, no," he shook his head. "I do not have any questions."

"Are you sure?" The Vice Director tilted his head. "Who knows when you will get this chance again. So, ask away. I promise I will at least give you the chance to regret it," he chuckled.

"…"

"Ahem! Sorry, that was a bad joke. Anyway, feel free to ask any questions that you might have. I'll answer them if I can, and I simply won't if I cannot."

"Hmm," the recruit fidgeted a bit. "I have heard that the Supreme Commanders and the Council Head always send three orders. Why is that?"

"Well, that is a good question," the Vice Director smiled with a nod. "You are right. We always receive a set of three orders, and completing any one of them renders the others void. I believe it is to… give us a choice."

"A choice?" The recruit tilted his head.

"Yes. The Council Head and the Supreme Commanders give us the orders, but it is ultimately us, the army, which carries them out. So they're giving us the choice to fulfil the order which suits us the best."

"Woah, that is so deep…"

"Isn't it?" The Vice Director smiled at the recruit's enthusiasm.

"I want to see orders being given too!" He exclaimed. "Though I've heard it's been centuries since they sent orders…"

"Haha. No news is good news, in my opinion. Everyone likes peace. If we were to get an order that disrupts that peace, then-"

However, before the Vice Director could finish, lightning crackled around the stick floating above the altar.

A red glowing line appeared in the middle of it. The next moment, the stick split into two and a holographic screen appeared between the two ends.

"A-an order?!" The Vice Director shrieked.

"Is that an order from the Supreme Commanders?! Wow!"

"It's… it's a war!" the Vice Director trembled as he looked at the 2nd order.

❄️❄️❄️

BY THE ORDER OF THE SUPREME COMMANDERS IN CHIEF, DESTROY OR KILL THE FOLLOWING GROUPS OR PEOPLE

1.    ALL LIVING SPECIES OF PLANET 749, CODENAMED OSUD

2.    THE GODS OF PLANET 235, EARTH AND PLANET 749, OSUD, AND THEIR SUMMONING SYSTEM

3.    SAMUR ECKART

❄️❄️❄️

Around 10 minutes after the orders were received, in the Altar Director's office.

"What should we do, sir?" The Vice Director asked. "There could be major trouble if anyone found out about the contents of the orders from the Supreme Commanders."

"Yes, there could be a war," the director nodded solemnly. "The first order basically means that they want us to speed up the process of taking over Osud. The problem with that is depending on the sanctions THEY will put on us for violating the rules, Osud might become a net loss for us."

"The second option is the true nightmare, however," the Director continued, "for it will lead to total chaos and war in our world. The Gods are not a force that can be messed with lightly."

"But what they really want is to destroy the summoning system, right?"

"Yes, but that's the same as provoking the Gods," he sighed. "Of course, our duty is to deliver the orders, not interpret them. But even delivering the second order could lead to a total outbreak of war."

"As expected, the third option is our only choice."

"Yes," the director nodded. "Samur Eckart seems to be one of the humans on Osud, and they want us to eliminate him."

"It should be easy then."

"I wouldn't be so sure," the director shook his head. "The Supreme Commanders put his death on the same level as the destruction of Osud and the Gods. Who knows what monster he really is?"

"But he's still just a human. At the very least, it would be easier than all the living beings of Osud combined or the Gods."

"…" The director sighed, closed his eyes and rested his cheek on his hand.

For some moments, he tapped his fingers on the armrest, while the Vice Director waited with bated breath.

"Summon the Azagul," he finally opened his eyes and declared.

"T-the Azagul!?" The Vice Director almost screamed.

"Yes," the Director smiled slightly for he understood his subordinate's confusion. "No need to involve the army for this one; we'll handle it ourselves."

"But what about the generals?"

"I'll take care of any backlash. It's our only choice if we want to stop a war."

"…As you will, altar director," the Vice Director bowed and left to summon the Azagul.