The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 64

Not long after, everyone gathered. I gave everyone a brief explanation of the current situation.

“Everyone understands the situation, right?”

“……”

“……”

Faced with the fluctuating ley core, the seniors were speechless.

They had expressions that said they couldn’t understand what I was saying.

No, it would be more accurate to say they understood, but their minds couldn’t accept it.

“So, that’s a ley core… and it’s going to explode in 40 minutes?”

Adela was the first to come to her senses.

“Yeah.”

“And there’s no way to escape.”

“None.”

“So, to survive, we have no choice but to stop the ley core from going berserk.”

“That’s right.”

“……”

Adela lost her words again.

She was organizing her thoughts.

“…Shit.”

Jin Hee-yoon, who had been listening quietly, muttered a curse.

A dark cloud of despair hung heavily on her face.

“In short, we’re all going to die together in 40 minutes.”

“……”

“……”

The air grew heavier.

Everyone looked down with dark faces, as if in despair.

The instructors were the same.

“A ley core going berserk…”

“…It’s the end.”

Knowing more about ley cores, the instructors’ despair was incomparably deeper than the students’.

Everyone was in despair except for two people.

“…Is there a way?”

One of the two who hadn’t despaired.

Soon-chan asked with a stiff face.

“Ha-yul, you wouldn’t have called us here without any plan. You have a way, right?”

Even in this desperate situation, he was still sending me infinite trust. That trust made me a little happy.

“Yeah, I do.”

“What is that method?”

The other of the two who hadn’t despaired. Adela asked, her eyes shining.

Like Soon-chan, her eyes showed that she completely trusted me.

Clap-!

I clapped loudly to focus everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, please focus.”

The seniors and instructors who had been looking down raised their heads again and focused their attention on me.

“As you just heard, there is a way. It’s a somewhat dangerous method, but if successful, it can definitely calm the ley core’s rampage.”

“There’s a way…”

“Yes, there is.”

I made eye contact with the seniors and instructors in turn.

It was to show them my sincere will.

“Please believe me. Have I ever talked nonsense before?”

“……”

“……”

What did they see in my eyes? The light slowly began to return to everyone’s eyes.

“Yeah… Thinking about it, you wouldn’t have called us here for no reason, given your personality.”

As quickly as she despaired, she recovered just as quickly.

Jin Hee-yoon was the first to regain her will.

The others also regained their will one by one.

They had all regained hope at my words that there was a way.

The dark atmosphere disappeared in an instant.

“Okay, explain it. What is that method?”

Everyone looked at me with intense gazes.

“Since there’s no time, I’ll explain it briefly.”

I took out the ‘Mana’s Blessing’ from my side bag and showed it to everyone.

“This is an elixir that greatly increases the mana absorption of the person who consumes it.”

“…An elixir?”

They all had puzzled expressions, wondering why I was suddenly taking out an elixir here.

“So what?”

“Using this, it’s possible to release the ley core’s mana to the outside through the ley lines.”

“…What?”

The hint was on the first night of the Baekryeong Island training camp.

The day I almost died from a sudden mana surge after sitting on a ley line and consuming Mana’s Blessing.

That incident was the key to solving this crisis.

“How does that work?”

“Currently, the ley core’s mana is very unstable. Naturally, the ley lines that release the ley core’s mana to the outside have also become unstable.”

“And?”

“What would happen if we directly absorbed mana while consuming this elixir on such unstable ley lines?”

“…I don’t know?”

Everyone tilted their heads as if they didn’t know.

The instructors were the same.

Everyone had expressions that said they didn’t know.

“The ley core’s mana, which is in a berserk state, is affected by the elixir and moves in large quantities to the unstable ley lines… Then the already unstable ley lines become more overheated and unstable… And then…”

Only Adela didn’t stop thinking.

“Could it be that the ley lines also go berserk?”

“That’s right.”

She even got the right answer.

“As Adela said, the ley lines will also go berserk. And the ley lines will cause a mana surge.”

The mana surge that occurred on the first day of the training camp was not a coincidence.

It was an inevitability that occurred when the ley core’s rampage and Mana’s Blessing met.

“If a mana surge occurs in the ley lines, the unstable mana that is currently filling the ley core will naturally surge into the atmosphere through the ley lines. Then, of course…”

“…The ley core will stabilize?”

“Yes. As Jin Hee-yoon said, it will stabilize.”

“But, will the ley core calm down just by making one ley line go berserk?”

Adela asked another sharp question.

I took out the remaining three bottles of Mana’s Blessing from my side bag.

“There are a total of four elixirs. In other words, if we succeed in making four ley lines go berserk, the ley core will definitely stabilize.”

“Ah. So there were four bottles.”

Adela nodded as if she understood.

“Does everyone understand?”

Everyone was silent. And here, silence meant agreement.

“Then what do you mean by dangerous?”

Adela asked again.

This was also a good question.

“As I said, to make the ley lines go berserk, someone has to consume this and sit on it to circulate mana. Naturally, an amount of mana that is incomparable to anything we’ve experienced so far will rush into the body.”

“…You mean there’s a risk that the mana of the four people who consume the elixir will go berserk.”

“That’s right. If you make a mistake, you’ll lose not only your life as a mage, but also your life.”

What needs to go berserk is the ley line, not the person.

If the person who consumed this elixir loses consciousness and falls into a mana berserk state before the berserk occurs in the ley line, that’s the end.

The ley line will not overheat any further and will not go berserk.

“…In other words, the mana circulation control ability of the four people who consume it is the key to this operation.”

“Yes, that’s right. If even one of the four fails to control it, the operation will fail.”

We need to choose four people who have enough control to maintain mana circulation until a mana surge occurs in the ley line.

“First of all, one of them will be you, Ha-yul, right?”

“No. I can’t leave here.”

“…Why?”

“Making the ley lines go berserk isn’t the end. I have to stabilize the ley core in the end. And I’m the only one here who can stabilize the ley core.”

“…Ah.”

Everyone seemed to understand.

“So, we need to choose four people.”

“First, the three of us instructors will take three of them.”

The instructors, who had been quietly watching the situation, stepped forward.

The people with the highest level and the most outstanding mana control ability among them are the instructors.

In terms of mana control alone, it’s better for the instructors to step forward.

“No. That won’t work.”

That would be the case if the instructors could drink this elixir.

“This elixir only works for mages below the 4th Circle. The instructors cannot consume it.”

“That can’t be…”

The instructors bit their lips as if they were frustrated.

“Then the remaining ones are…”

Everyone’s gaze turned to four people.

Adela, Kang Shin-woo, Ma Jin-seok, and Jin Hee-yoon. The four 4th Circle users.

“May I ask for your help?”

I made eye contact with each of the four and asked.

“…Well, what else can we do? We have to do it.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Yes.”

Ma Jin-seok, Kang Shin-woo, and Adela answered in turn.

Now, only Jin Hee-yoon was left.

“……”

The person who should have answered my question faster than anyone else was not answering until the end.

I wondered if she was scared, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

I couldn’t see any fear in Jin Hee-yoon’s eyes.

“…The important thing is not the achievement of the circle, but the mana circulation control ability, right?”

What I saw was not fear, but resentment from a cold self-observation.

“Yes.”

Jin Hee-yoon bit her lip slightly and took a deep breath.

“Then it would be better to leave it to Soon-chan than to me.”

“…Huh?”

Soon-chan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why are you surprised? Your mana control ability is better than mine.”

“That’s…”

Soon-chan didn’t deny it.

Soon-chan also knew that his control ability was better than Jin Hee-yoon’s.

“Shin Leader, do you think so too?”

“…Yes.”

It wasn’t a big difference, but Soon-chan was a little better.

“Since this is an emergency, I think it’s right for someone who is even a little better to do it. What do you think, Soon-chan?”

“……”

Soon-chan hesitated for a moment.

“Yes. I think that’s right too.”

His hesitation was short. Soon-chan nodded with determined eyes.

“I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Is that okay?”

Soon-chan looked at Jin Hee-yoon and me in turn and said.

Jin Hee-yoon and I nodded at the same time.

“Then, I’m asking for your help. I’m counting on you.”

The four people who had been given a major mission nodded at the same time.

“Where do we go?”

Ma Jin-seok asked.

“The detailed locations are here, these people will guide you.”

“These people?”

At that moment, four shadows flickered around them.

It was the effect of the stealth magic that only members of the Shadow Unit of the Magic God Group could use.

“We will guide you.”

“Please follow us.”

The shadows approached the people they were assigned to and spoke.

“Instructors, please follow them as well. If it seems like mana is about to go berserk, please cover them.”

“Okay. We will.”

“Leave it to us.”

The three instructors each attached themselves to one person.

“Please, Min Jang-hyun, cover Soon-chan. Is that possible?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Min Jang-hyun attached himself to the remaining Soon-chan. Thus, four groups of three were formed.

I handed each group a bottle of Mana’s Blessing.

“Take one bottle each, and I’m counting on you.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

And so, all 12 people left.

Only six people remained at the ley core, including me and Jin Hee-yoon.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?”

Jin Hee-yoon asked with a determined face.

“Of course, there is. Please come this way. Near the ley core…”

There were things that needed to be prepared before the four groups arrived at the ley lines.

* * *

Incheon Port area hotel.

The top-floor suite with an outdoor swimming pool.

Trkisch was looking outside and talking on the phone with Shin Ji-han.

-Ha-yul noticed the ley core’s rampage. What are you going to do now?

Shin Ji-han asked in a very annoyed voice.

“I’m not going to do anything.”

-What?

Swoosh-!

The rain that started on Baekryeong Island reached Incheon.

The rain was getting heavier.

“No, I misspoke. There’s no need to do anything.”

-……What do you mean?

“Currently, Baekryeong Island is completely isolated. Even if Shin In-hyuk steps in, rescue is impossible. Shin Ha-yul will die even if we don’t do anything. You know that, right?”

There was no need to do anything now. Within an hour, Shin Ha-yul would be annihilated along with Baekryeong Island. That was fate.

“Don’t try to file a claim to reduce the commission fee. Your intentions are too obvious, and frankly, it’s a little unpleasant.”

Trkisch scoffed.

He was treating me like a pushover because I was being nice to him. He didn’t even know who the pushover was.

-……You’re being so confident, even though you just got lucky with the storm.

The rain was pouring down.

Rain was pouring down fiercely as if there was a hole in the sky.

The dark clouds that started on Baekryeong Island.

Shin Ji-han seemed to think that this storm was a coincidence.

“Ha.”

Trkisch laughed as if it was ridiculous.

“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that a storm is raging at this timing?”

-What?

“A storm hits right before the ley core explodes. The mana lines break down. The mechanic goes missing. And even that storm absorbs the ley core’s mana. All of this is a coincidence… I’m asking if you really think so.”

I could hear Shin Ji-han inhaling sharply over the phone.

-……Are you saying that all of that was prepared in advance?

“I’d like to ask the opposite. Why would you think that I wouldn’t have prepared that much?”

Trkisch’s smile deepened.

-…….

Shin Ji-han was silent.

He was chilled by Trkisch’s meticulousness.

“I’ll say it again. Shin Ha-yul will definitely die within an hour. I made it that way.”

A different light flowed from Trkisch’s eyes.

“So, don’t make any unnecessary claims and prepare the commission fee properly. Do you understand?”

There was no chance of calming the ley core’s rampage. There was no way to escape from Baekryeong Island.

Therefore, the possibility of Shin Ha-yul’s survival was 0%.

Swoosh-!

The raindrops were getting thicker.

Trkisch looked up at the sky, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the swimming pool.

The sky was filled with dark clouds.

He liked it.

The black that filled the sky seemed to be blessing the Black Magic Tower.

“Then, if you have nothing more to say, I’ll hang up…”

That was when Trkisch was about to hang up the phone.

“Hmm…?”

-What’s wrong?

Suddenly, he noticed the sky far away, beyond the West Sea.

There was a very small hole in the sky filled with dark clouds.

It was like a white dot on a black canvas.

What was that? Trkisch focused mana in his eyes and checked the dot.

‘Light?’

A ray of light was shining through the dark clouds that filled the sky of Baekryeong Island.