The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

Bran moved the instant he finished speaking, while Ravian was still momentarily stunned by what he had just witnessed.

He did not charge forward recklessly. Instead, he hurled the axe in his left hand directly toward the hall’s main entrance, cutting off the shortest escape route available to Ravian.

The black axe spun through the air at terrifying speed.

Ravian snapped out of his shock the instant he saw it flying toward him and tilted his head aside. The blade passed within a hair’s breadth of his face before striking one of the doorposts behind him.

Boom!

The axe tore into the thick wood and buried half its head in the doorpost.

By the time it struck, Bran had already closed the distance, gripping the other axe with both hands.

The blade descended toward Ravian’s neck.

Ravian ducked beneath it at the last possible moment and felt its edge sweep over the strands of his white hair. He rolled to the side and, while still moving, reached toward the key ring lying near Mirai’s severed arm.

His fingers closed around the ring.

Then he rose and ran.

The keys had not been part of his original escape plan, but the moment they fell into his hands, they transformed his slim chance of survival into something he could actually use.

"Run!" Bran shouted after him with a booming laugh. "This is much better!"

He leaped over Mirai’s body without sparing her a glance and tore the axe from the doorpost as he passed.

Ravian rushed through the hall’s side door.

The screech of steel scraping across the floor followed him, accompanied by Bran’s rapidly accelerating footsteps.

Bran was faster than him.

Ravian did not need to look back to realize that. The sound of Bran’s feet drew closer with every passing second, while his axes struck the walls and furniture whenever he attempted to cut off Ravian’s path.

But Ravian was not trying to win a race.

He was trying to lead Bran along the route he had chosen, delaying him long enough to execute the contingency plan he had devised in case their original plan failed.

’Four steps until the turn.’

’Three.’

’Two.’

’Now.’

Ravian veered right a moment before reaching the intersection, and one of the axes embedded itself in the wall where his head would have passed had he been half a second slower.

Fragments of stone sprayed over his shoulder, several of them digging into his flesh and sending blood spraying into the air.

’Fuck!’

Ravian gritted his teeth and pressed down hard on the wound, pinning his clothes tightly against it to prevent blood from dripping from his shoulder and leaving a trail Bran could follow.

Still running, Ravian searched through the key ring with one hand. He did not know the purpose of every key, but his memory had preserved their positions from watching Mirai use them during their earlier search.

He selected a long brass key and used it to open a heavy door at the end of the corridor.

Ravian crossed to the other side, closed the door behind him, and turned the key in the lock.

Bran struck the door less than a second later.

Boom!

The wood shuddered within its frame.

Ravian did not pause for even a moment.

"A door won’t protect you from me, Rayan!" Bran’s voice came from the other side.

Ravian glanced over his shoulder despite the door separating them.

"I didn’t put it there to protect me," he answered loudly enough for Bran to hear. "I put it there to delay you. Have you forgotten? Time is on my side here!"

For a moment, silence came from the other side.

Then Bran laughed.

"So you’ve gotten what you wanted, Killer. You’ve communicated with me, and now you intend to run?" Bran said as he began hacking through the door with his axes.

Ravian moved away from the door with a smile.

"And you’re still following me. It seems you’re far more cooperative than I expected."

Both axes descended upon the door.

The wood shattered behind Ravian as he disappeared around the next corner.

The chase continued through the palace’s eastern wing.

Yet something strange began happening whenever Bran came close to catching him.

The first time, Bran clearly saw Ravian’s white-haired figure emerge from one of the guest rooms and run into the room opposite it.

He charged after him without hesitation.

Bran kicked open the door and entered with both axes raised.

The room was empty.

There was nowhere Ravian could have hidden. No one lay beneath the bed, stood behind the curtains, or concealed themselves inside the open wardrobe.

However, a small wooden door used by the palace servants to enter without disturbing the guests was slowly swinging shut in the rear wall.

Bran reached it and pulled it open, only to find a narrow service corridor branching in two directions.

"Son of a bitch..." he muttered.

The second time, he glimpsed the edge of Ravian’s black coat disappearing into another room.

Bran rushed after him and found the door still swinging.

He entered.

And once again... there was no one inside.

He opened the service door concealed behind one of the paintings, but the corridor beyond it was empty as well.

From somewhere farther away, the sound of another door closing echoed through the palace.

Bran ran toward it, slashing his axes at every place where he suspected Ravian might be hiding.

Ravian’s figure appeared at the end of a parallel corridor for a single moment before entering a third room.

Yet when Bran reached it, he found nothing but a closed window, motionless curtains, and a room that appeared not to have been entered since the beginning of the game.

Bran struck the wall with one of his axes in fury.

The sound of stone shattering spread throughout the palace.

Ravian was not disappearing, nor was he using any supernatural ability.

During his earlier duties, the time he had spent studying the palace, and his search with Mirai that morning, he had observed the doors she opened, the keys she used, and the small passages connecting the guest rooms to the service corridors behind them.

Every time Bran saw him enter a room, Ravian passed through its service door and emerged into a parallel corridor before Bran arrived.

He did not need to be faster.

He merely needed to know where his pursuer would go before the man went there.

The mind was the true master of this place, and Ravian was the master of minds here as well...

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