The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 169

For a moment, I was stunned.

The probability of me winning against the Gumiho right now is 0%.

It’s not just approaching 0%.

It’s a perfect 0%.

Whether the world turns upside down, or a second Big Bang occurs in the universe, the result of my defeat will not change.

The difference in power between me and the Gumiho is that significant.

“Are you kidding me?”

No matter what, he wouldn’t seriously tell me to beat the Gumiho, would he?

I was secretly convinced of that.

“No. I’m serious.”

But what was this?

Aslan’s expression and tone were as serious as could be.

A serious face and cold eyes that showed no hint of a joke.

A sharp aura that made the other person tense just by looking at it was emanating from him.

I could tell from that.

Aslan’s words were no joke.

‘……He’s serious?’

Aslan was seriously asking me to fight and win against the Gumiho.

I quickly shifted my thinking.

I thought about what methods I could use to put up a fight against the Gumiho in my current state.

“Is this a penalty match where the Gumiho is given some kind of penalty?”

If the Gumiho wasn’t going all out, I might have a chance of winning.

I don’t know what kind of restrictions there would be, but they would be quite significant.

‘At least, they’d have to restrict 80% of its current power for me to have a chance of winning…’

No, that’s not right.

Even with an 80% restriction, it would be difficult.

It’s a being that possesses power that overwhelms even Horus and Darkness.

Honestly, I don’t know if I could win even with a 90% restriction…

‘Then, let’s assume it has a 90% restriction…’

Maybe I’d have about a 30% chance of winning.

No, it feels like it would be even lower than that.

I was thinking about my chances of winning based on the Gumiho’s restrictions when it happened.

“No. The Gumiho is not given any penalties.”

Aslan’s words snapped me out of my thoughts.

“…What did you say?”

“I said the Gumiho isn’t given any penalties. There’s no reason to, and no way to do so.”

Aslan crossed his arms and raised the corner of his mouth.

“You must fight the Gumiho with its full power and achieve victory.”

“……”

It was so absurd that I couldn’t even let out a hollow laugh.

Achieve victory against the Gumiho in its perfect state without any restrictions?

Is that even a reasonable thing to say?

It’s absolutely impossible.

It’s not that I’m scared, or that I’m giving up before even trying.

This is truly physically impossible.

It’s like an ordinary person trying to stop a 10-ton truck traveling at 200 km/h.

As a mere 5th Circle Master, I cannot defeat the Gumiho.

I’d be lucky to last 10 seconds.

Most likely, I’d be defeated in the first exchange, and if I’m unlucky, I’d die instantly.

…Of course, since it’s a test, I wouldn’t actually die.

“Be careful. The Gumiho will also be careful, but since it has such great power, you could lose your life if you’re careless.”

Aslan grinned.

It was a smile that made people uneasy.

“……”

I turned my gaze away from Aslan and looked at the Gumiho.

The Gumiho, which had been a small fox, was now a fully grown being the size of a large truck.

The amount of mana emanating from it had also increased as its body grew.

Just standing there and looking at me made cold sweat run down my back.

Even though it didn’t harbor any dark emotions like murderous intent, my legs were trembling.

The Gumiho’s aura was that immense.

‘How am I supposed to win against that…?’

Since it’s a test, there must be a way to pass it.

But I couldn’t think of any way.

I couldn’t see any way to achieve victory against the Gumiho.

“Heh heh.”

As I was frowning, I suddenly heard Aslan’s laughter.

He was laughing as if he found this situation very amusing.

But that was only for a moment.

As if sensing my gaze, he immediately returned to a blank expression.

The playful atmosphere vanished in an instant, and the serious atmosphere returned.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is that some kind of silent pressure to start the test quickly?”

Something felt off.

That laugh from just now, and something feels strange.

I stared intently at Aslan, lost in thought.

‘A battle with no chance of winning.’

‘A laugh that seemed amused.’

‘Awkward words that seemed to hide something.’

I combined all the information I had gained this time with the information I had gained before, and the information I had gained through training, and organized my thoughts.

‘What? Was that it?’

The conclusion came quickly.

I let out a small, hollow laugh and turned my gaze towards the Gumiho.

Then, I slowly walked towards the Gumiho.

“Your courage is commendable. To approach the Gumiho first in its current state.”

Ignoring Aslan’s chilling warning, I continued to approach the Gumiho.

“You can stop acting now.”

After getting close enough to touch it, I reached out my hand to the Gumiho’s nose.

“I’ve already figured it out.”

At that moment, the Gumiho brought its cheek to my hand.

It purred and rubbed against my hand like a cat rubbing its face against its owner’s hand.

It didn’t seem to have any intention of fighting at all.

“You said you were serious, but it was a joke, wasn’t it?”

Aslan’s claim that fighting and winning against the Gumiho was the condition to pass the fifth test page was a lie.

“……Hmm.”

Aslan let out a nasal sound as if he was disappointed.

“Was it a mistake that I couldn’t hold back my laughter? I made a mistake.”

He stroked his chin and sighed in disappointment.

He looked like a boy who was disappointed that his carefully planned prank had been exposed so quickly.

“Okay. It’s a lie. Fighting and winning against the Gumiho is not the real condition to pass the test.”

Aslan unfolded his arms and approached me.

“The real condition to pass the fifth test page is to gain the Gumiho’s recognition.”

Aslan stood right in front of me and scanned my body from head to toe.

“To put it more simply, it’s to raise the synchronization rate between your mana core and the Infinity Circle to nearly 100%.”

Aslan said.

The reason why the Gumiho was following me was because I reminded it of his master.

And the biggest reason why I reminded it of his master was none other than the connection between my mana core and the Infinity Circle.

“…In other words, I had already passed the fifth test page when I completed my mana core.”

“That’s right.”

Aslan turned his head and looked at the Gumiho.

“It should have been much harder, but maybe because you didn’t have a mana core at all, or maybe because your senses were exceptional, the synchronization between the Infinity Circle and the mana core was completed too easily.”

Then, he turned his gaze back to me and grinned.

“I was annoyed, so I tried to play a prank. I didn’t know it would be exposed so easily.”

Aslan clicked his tongue again with a disappointed expression.

“It’s a shame. I thought it was a good idea to tell you to fight using the moment when the Gumiho returned to its adult form.”

…Using the moment when the Gumiho returned to its adult form?

“Wasn’t it because you asked the Gumiho to become an adult?”

“Hmph. As if. Do you think that proud divine beast would listen to my request?”

“Hmm…”

Come to think of it, that’s true.

From the time the Gumiho started sticking to me until now.

The Gumiho had completely ignored Aslan’s words.

No, it treated him as if he didn’t exist.

There’s no way that Gumiho would have listened to Aslan’s request.

Especially not a request to pretend to fight me.

“Then why…?”

Why did the Gumiho suddenly return to its adult form?

“It wanted to say its last goodbye in its original form. That’s all.”

“…Ah.”

A last goodbye…

I see.

According to Aslan, I had already passed the fifth test page.

And once I passed the fifth test page, the fifth test page would disappear.

I would never see Aslan again, nor would I see the Gumiho again.

In other words, today was our last meeting.

“It’s a shame. I wanted to see Mimir one more time.”

“……”

Those words gave me a glimpse into why Aslan had lied to me about fighting and winning against the Gumiho.

It seemed he was trying to buy time to go see Mimir one more time by delaying my passing a little longer.

‘So that’s what it was.’

I had been wondering why Aslan had bothered to tell such a lie.

My question was answered.

“…There’s still time. Would you like to go see Mimir?”

“No. It’s okay.”

Aslan shook his head slightly.

“I’ve already said my last goodbye. There’s no need to go.”

Aslan stared into the distance with a faraway look.

“Going to see her again here… is just my greed.”

His expression was very complex.

A complex expression that seemed to show dozens of emotions overlapping.

What was he thinking?

So many different emotions were being felt simultaneously that it was impossible to guess.

“Then, let’s end it here.”

Aslan turned his gaze back to me.

His eyes were still showing his complex feelings, though they were better than before.

“Congratulations, Successor. You have successfully passed the fifth test page.”

“Thank you.”

“You can be proud. You have been recognized by me, Aslan Polohamruin.”

“…You’re actually praising me for once.”

Aslan chuckled.

“It’s the last time, so I tried to give you some forced praise.”

I smiled slightly too.

“Then, continue to improve yourself. That’s all.”

“……”

He didn’t get emotional because it was the last time.

He didn’t add any flowery words.

He just said what he had to say in a clean manner.

It was a truly Aslan-like farewell.

“Then, now…”

Aslan gestured to the Gumiho.

Then, the Gumiho slowly walked out and raised its head.

Something that was shining red was visible on the Gumiho’s pure white neck.

“A necklace?”

It was a necklace with a red jewel on it.

“Hold that necklace in your hand.”

“…Yes.”

I held the red jewel in my hand as I was told.

At that moment, a red light emanated from the necklace.

A light that felt like mana, yet strangely not like mana.

A light that was strangely warm, like the sun, illuminated my entire body.

‘Did I move?’

And the next moment.

The red jewel was around my neck, not the Gumiho’s.

“The name of that jewel is the Stone of Covenant. It’s the medium for the second Mythic Magic, ‘Factio’.”

“Factio…”

I stared blankly at the red jewel around my neck.

So this is the medium for using Mythic Magic.

“It won’t be easy to handle. Try to handle it well on your own.”

“Yes.”

Aslan stepped back.

“And…”

At that moment, the entire Labyrinth of Desire trembled.

“…Hmm. It seems like we don’t have time to talk anymore, unfortunately.”

The world was slowly turning white, as if the color was fading from paper.

It was the same scene as when the third test page disappeared in the past.

“Listen to Mimir for the details. Haha. She’ll be angry that I passed the explanation on to her again.”

Aslan laughed as if he missed her.

“It’s a shame that I can’t see that.”

Aslan’s body also slowly began to disappear.

The Gumiho was the same.

It was slowly turning white, as if the color was fading.

In the disappearing world, the Gumiho glared at Aslan with a resentful look.

“Don’t look at me with such resentful eyes. You’re not done yet anyway, are you?”

At Aslan’s words, the Gumiho turned its head away.

It was as if it was saying, ‘That’s that, and this is this.’

As if the Gumiho was cute, Aslan brought his left arm, which hadn’t disappeared yet, to the Gumiho’s head.

Thwack!

But the Gumiho swatted Aslan’s hand away as if it was impossible.

“I thought you’d allow me to do it at least for the last time. You’re always the same.”

Soon, even his left hand disappeared.

Aslan, with only his upper body and head remaining, turned his gaze back to me.

“Please take care of Mimir.”

“Yes.”

“…It was quite fun.”

With those words, Aslan completely disappeared.

And not long after that, the fifth test page also completely disappeared.

Before I knew it, I was back in my hotel room.

“…Stone of Covenant. Factio.”

Around my neck, the Stone of Covenant, the medium for Mythic Magic and proof of passing the fifth test page, was emitting a clear red light.