The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 173

Flames whooshed!

Blue flames erupted again from where the Shadow had been standing.

The flames were more powerful than before, a high-intensity blaze that was definitely not weaker.

The flames soon formed the shape of a lotus, blooming its petals.

‘The Waltz of the Burning Lotus.’

Among the various forms of magic from the Scorching Hell [a powerful fire magic school], it was known as the most powerful.

A focused incineration magic that was the signature of the Red Magic Tower Master.

It completely swallowed the Shadow.

“Useless.”

But that was only for a moment.

The lotus of flames that had engulfed the Shadow soon lost all its power and vanished.

A shadow that had suddenly appeared had swallowed the flames whole.

“I think I said this before. Didn’t you hear? All magic loses its meaning in front of my shadow.”

A scene as if a monster made of shadows had swallowed the flames whole.

The shadow that had swallowed all the flames gathered back to the Shadow.

The area became silent in an instant.

The Red Magic Tower Master, with a wary look, positioned himself between the Shadow and Shin Ha-yul.

“Kid. Step back a little more. It’s dangerous.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Among the six people in this place, Shin Ha-yul was undoubtedly the weakest.

The Shadow must know that as well. To break through this situation, there was a high possibility that he would try to take Shin Ha-yul hostage.

“Kang-in. I’ll leave that kid to you.”

The most certain and safest way to deal with the Shadow in this situation was to have someone protect Shin Ha-yul, and the three of them would fight the Shadow.

“Okay. Leave this to me.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master’s ‘Water Flow’ was a secret magic more specialized in defense than offense.

If someone had to protect Shin Ha-yul, there was no one better than the Blue Magic Tower Master.

He also hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries, so it was burdensome to put him on the front lines.

“…Please take care of Ha-yul.”

Shin In-hyuk slowly moved, positioning himself to the left rear of the Shadow.

“I’m pretty used to your crappy shadow magic. I won’t fall for it twice.”

Charles also moved to the right rear of the Shadow, matching Shin In-hyuk’s movements.

Thus, the Red Magic Tower Master, Shin In-hyuk, and Charles formed a formation to surround the Shadow.

“You. When did you hide in my shadow?”

The Red Magic Tower Master’s divine sense [a heightened sense of perception] distorted. The surrounding temperature rose rapidly, causing a visual distortion.

“Answer me. How did you hide in my shadow… without making a single sound?”

From the time he captured Triksh until today, the Red Magic Tower Master had not left the Red Magic Tower.

How could he have hidden in the Red Magic Tower Master’s shadow?

“Can you escape from your shadow?”

The Shadow answered nonchalantly.

At that, the brows of the four people, including the Red Magic Tower Master, furrowed.

“That means… it sounds like you can go anywhere you want, as long as there’s a shadow.”

“You heard correctly. That’s what I meant.”

The Shadow crossed his arms.

A mass of shadows in the shape of a human crossing its arms was quite bizarre.

“Nonsense.”

The Red Magic Tower Master scoffed.

If that were true, then no secret would be a secret in front of the Black Magic Tower.

In other words, it meant that the Black Magic Tower should know all the information in the world.

But what about now?

The Black Magic Tower was far from knowing all the secrets of the world; they couldn’t even prevent Triksh from being captured in advance.

The current situation itself was proof that refuted the Shadow’s claim.

“I told the truth. Believing it is your freedom.”

The Shadow seemed very relaxed.

Even though he was surrounded by four of the strongest forces, he didn’t seem to feel any sense of crisis. He was very calm.

“…Tch. We just wasted time with useless questions. It was a mistake to think that I could get anything out of you bugs through conversation.”

The Red Magic Tower Master’s gaze shone sharply like a blade.

Peaceful conversation was over.

All that remained was a forceful conversation of power.

Mana surged around them.

The mana of the three archmages pulsed with strong will.

“Why? Aren’t you coming?”

But that was all.

The mana of the three was exuding a force that seemed like it would rush towards the Shadow at any moment, but it didn’t actually rush.

They were just ready to move at any time.

“Hmm. You’re calm. Well, I guess it’s natural for an 8th circle mage.”

It was a very natural choice.

The shadow magic of the Black Magic Tower executive, Shadow, that the three were currently facing, seemed to be a magic specialized in defense and escape.

In dealing with such magic, it was a bad move for them to take the offensive first.

‘This is the deepest part of the Hwaelian Prison. Time is on our side.’

In addition, the longer they dragged it out, the more advantageous it would be.

There was no reason to force an offensive.

‘By now, the prison should be sealed, and reinforcements should be coming. Even he won’t be able to do anything then.’

The Red Magic Tower Master smiled inwardly.

From the moment this situation was created, victory was as good as decided.

He was convinced of victory while thinking that.

“Let me tell you in advance, reinforcements won’t come.”

The Shadow’s voice deepened.

Although it was distorted, the mockery in his voice was conveyed without filtering.

“Of course, the prison won’t be sealed either.”

At that moment, the lights suddenly flickered.

Flicker. Flicker. Flicker.

The lights of the Hwaelian Prison, which was designed so that the power would never go out even in a power outage, were turning off and on randomly.

“This is…”

Everyone’s tension grew even more at the incomprehensible situation.

Zzzzt-!

In the meantime, noise echoed.

A nasty noise like a broken radio crackling.

-…sion …comp…

In between, voices began to mix in slightly.

-Mission complete.

A low-pitched voice unique to men.

A dry voice, as emotionless as the Shadow, recited ‘Mission complete.’

Clank!

At the same time, all the lights on the lowest floor went out.

The area darkened in an instant.

“Perfect. Hermes.”

In the center of a world without a single point of light, the Shadow clapped.

Flames whooshed!

At that moment, blue flames erupted again. Blue flames burning brightly as if to burn away the darkness.

Was it intentional to increase the light source to overcome the darkness?

It was brighter than the usual blue flames.

“Hound! Shin In-hyuk!”

“I know!”

“…”

The Shadow reappeared.

The three began to act simultaneously.

Squeeeeze-!

First, Charles used his specialty, telekinesis, to bind the Shadow’s body.

On top of that, the Red Magic Tower Master’s Scorching Hell fell.

“Do you not have the ability to learn?”

The blue flames were swallowed by the shadow that came out of the Shadow’s body and disappeared.

So far, it was the same as before.

But that was the only thing that was the same.

“Usually, it’s impossible to use that much power in succession.”

Following the Red Magic Tower Master, Shin In-hyuk moved immediately.

An attack that aimed for the gap where the shadow was concentrating on the Shadow after extinguishing the blue flames.

‘Big Bang!’

All Elemental [a type of magic].

Shin In-hyuk’s 8th circle magic covered the Shadow.

Kwaaaaaaang-!

An explosion befitting the name Big Bang.

A huge crater was created around the place where the Shadow was standing.

As if the universe was expanding infinitely, the explosion did not stop.

More than 10 explosions per second occurred in succession, creating an even more powerful explosion.

Bang! Kwang! Kwaaang!

After a total of 20 large and small explosions occurred.

The shadow expanded again.

The shadow that had swallowed all the mana in an instant gathered back to the Shadow.

“…Indeed.”

The area became silent again.

Drip, drip.

The sound of something dripping was particularly loud.

From the silhouette made of shadows, streaks of blood dripped down.

He had been injured by Shin In-hyuk’s magic just now.

“That’s right. There’s no way you could use that kind of magic in succession without delay.”

The Red Magic Tower Master scoffed.

There were many great magics in this world.

But there was no perfect magic.

No matter how great the power of magic was, there was always a weakness.

“I gave you too much information at the third magic stone warehouse last time.”

Charles, who was still maintaining his telekinesis, raised one corner of his mouth.

“That’s your downfall.”

If they hadn’t obtained the information that the Shadow’s magic had never been activated in succession during the battle at the third magic stone warehouse, they would never have been able to come to a conclusion so easily.

“Give up. Then I’ll spare your life.”

Charles extended his right hand forward and clenched the air tightly.

Squeeeeze-!

The force binding the Shadow’s body became even stronger.

“Blame your bad luck for being discovered here.”

Crack!

A sound of something breaking was heard.

A sound like bones being crushed.

It was the sound of the Shadow’s bones breaking.

‘No. Rather than him being unlucky, isn’t Shin Ha-yul lucky?’

Charles chuckled as he looked at Shin Ha-yul, who was making a serious face in the distance.

It was probably Shin Ha-yul’s great luck to have tamed the Gumiho [a mythical nine-tailed fox] and brought it along at this timing.

“Decide quickly. I’ll give you 5 seconds. If you don’t answer within that time, I’ll compress you to the size of a baseball.”

Charles raised both hands.

Then, he applied force as if compressing something invisible in the air.

Kkkkkkkk!

“Cough!”

Even more intense pressure.

Blood gushed from the Shadow’s mouth.

Ssssh…

At the same time, about 1/5 of the shadow covering the Shadow’s face was released.

The Shadow’s right eye was revealed.

“What? It’s a kid?”

As Charles said, the Shadow’s eyes were very young.

“Is it a girl? Or a boy?”

A strangely androgynous eye.

It was a strangely sparkling eye that reminded one of a child.

“…Kuh.”

Perhaps because he had been hit, the distortion seemed to be half-released. His voice also changed.

From the previous heavy male voice, it became a child-like androgynous voice.

“3 seconds left.”

Under the increasingly intense pressure.

The sound of the Shadow clenching his teeth was heard.

“Don’t get cocky…”

“You can still say that in that state?”

Charles made a ‘hmph’ sound and applied a little more force.

“Okay. Well, then just die. Anyway, I can get the information by interrogating Triksh.”

“Kkkkkkk!”

The Shadow forcibly suppressed a scream.

“There are two things you’re misunderstanding. Let me correct them…”

Then he said with a small smile.

“One. There is no weakness in my magic that has a long activation delay.”

“Still talking that nonsense…”

The Red Magic Tower Master growled.

“Two.”

Ignoring the Red Magic Tower Master’s words, the Shadow continued.

“The reason I was damaged by your magic was because I sent half of my shadow elsewhere.”

“…”

The Shadow’s smile deepened.

Clank!

At that moment, a sound was heard from behind.

It was the sound of a door opening.

“No way…”

The Blue Magic Tower Master’s eyes widened.

“You should have considered the possibility of this happening from the moment the security here was released.”

Screeeech-!

The door, which should have been under strict security, slowly opened.

“Your failure to think that far is your downfall.”

Step, step.

Footsteps were heard from beyond the half-opened door.

“…I will definitely repay this favor. Shadow.”

Triksh appeared from within.

Like Asura Baekjak [a character], half of his body was covered in shadows.

‘His shadow magic absorbs magic. Did he absorb Shin Ha-yul’s Permafrost with that?’

The Red Magic Tower Master’s expression became even more serious.

Step, step.

Triksh, who had fully revealed himself, appeared.

“First, as a service, I’ll take the lives of those bastards who injured you.”

The half-exposed face, hidden by the shadows, was distorted with anger.

“Now, I don’t care about sacrifices or losses.”

Something was rippling around Triksh. Something different from mana.

A chill as if a ghost had brushed past his body.

Everyone’s spines tingled.

“I will only think about and act on devouring you directly.”

Triksh’s hands clapped together, making a loud ‘clap’ sound.

A world that was slowly changing.

“Suffer eternally in a world where souls argue. You bugs.”

In a world that was changing semi-transparently, as if only souls were being separated.

Sparkle!

The Gumiho’s eyes were shining a clear red.

As if he had come to an amusement park.

Or as if he had returned home.

Such eyes.