The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 184

Knock knock—

Another knock sounded.

When there was no response, they knocked again.

‘Is anyone in there?’

A voice was heard.

A voice I was hearing for the first time.

It was a somewhat businesslike and dry voice.

‘This is the International Tamer Association. Shin Hayul, are you inside?’

I had indeed been informed in advance that the Tamer Association would be visiting for an inspection soon.

Judging by the circumstances, it was likely a real auditor from the Tamer Association.

‘Shin Hayul?’

But no.

This man was not an auditor from the Tamer Association.

Miho’s sharp gaze, her aura, was proving the man’s true identity.

‘…Shadow.’

The man knocking on the door was Shadow, a high-ranking member of the Black Magic Tower.

‘Hmm.’

The man made a troubled humming sound at the continued lack of response.

His demeanor clearly conveyed that he didn’t know what to do.

‘…This is troublesome.’

Even in his mutterings, his troubled state was evident.

Even though I knew it was an act, I couldn’t find a single suspicious point. Shadow’s acting was that perfect.

‘…First, I need to contact Commander Charles and my father.’

Fortunately, Shadow didn’t seem to be planning any forceful actions.

While remaining wary of Shadow outside the door, I operated my phone with one hand.

[Shadow surprise attack. Need help.]

I typed a brief message as quickly as possible, conveying only the necessary information.

‘If my father flies here directly, he can arrive within 3 minutes. Commander Charles should be nearby, so he can arrive within 1 minute. If I can just hold out until then…’

With that thought, I entered my father’s and Commander Charles’s numbers and pressed send.

However.

‘…What?’

[Unable to send message.]

My message didn’t reach my father or Commander Charles.

‘Out of range?’

Just in case, I tried the walkie-talkie I had, but it was the same.

It only made static noises, and I couldn’t reach anyone.

The radio waves were completely blocked.

‘You’re quick to notice.’

A jolt of electricity ran down my spine.

I broke out in a cold sweat with a chill.

‘As expected, my eyes weren’t wrong.’

The voice I had heard in the deepest part of Hwaelian before.

A modulated voice, neither male nor female, echoed coldly.

‘I’ve finally found you.’

A voice filled with elation.

At that moment, my room began to be dyed black.

Like black ink spreading instantly on white paper, my room was quickly consumed by shadows.

‘I told you we’d see each other again soon, didn’t I?’

The front door, consumed by shadows, swelled up like a bubble gum.

And from within, a man covered in shadows, Shadow, revealed himself.

‘It’s good to see you again, Shin Hayul.’

The man smiled.

His entire face was covered in shadows, so I couldn’t see his expression, but I could tell.

The man was smiling as brightly as possible.

As if responding to the man’s emotions, the surrounding shadows were trembling with joy.

‘Hmm. You don’t want to answer, huh? That’s disappointing. I was so eager to see you that I even left my post to come here.’

Beyond the modulated voice, his elation was clearly conveyed.

This man was currently in a state of extreme excitement.

‘…What are you planning?’

I placed Miho in front of me and set my mana so that I could engage in battle at any moment.

A perfect battle stance.

If he showed even the slightest suspicious movement, I would move immediately, pushing my tension to the limit.

‘Using such large-scale magic in the middle of Korea. Are you a suicide enthusiast?’

‘Hmph. It’s impossible to detect my magic. The fact that no one is coming to help you is proof of that.’

This man, Shadow’s magic, was specialized in concealing things.

That’s why, even though he used such large-scale magic in Obelisk Academy, there was no response. Because no one noticed Shadow’s magic.

‘That may be true right now. But it won’t be long. No matter how excellent your shadow magic is, this is Korea. And this is the Obelisk Academy dormitory, which boasts the highest level of security. It will be exposed within 3 minutes.’

‘You have quite a bit of faith in this dormitory’s barrier.’

‘Because it’s trustworthy.’

No matter how excellent Shadow’s magic is at concealing, it’s still magic.

And as magic, it can’t avoid the magic detection formulas of Obelisk Academy.

The barrier installed here at Obelisk Academy is that powerful.

‘Alright. I admit it. The formulas installed in this dormitory are quite something. It’s impossible for me to ignore them forever.’

Shadow chuckled.

His delight was conveyed without filter.

‘But what does that matter? 3 minutes is more than enough time to kill you.’

‘…Well, do you think I can’t last 3 minutes?’

If I were alone, I wouldn’t have lasted 3 minutes, not even 30 seconds.

I couldn’t even properly respond to Shadow’s magic when he was in a near-death state before.

‘But I have Miho.’

A divine beast that controls souls and devours the corrupted, a nine-tailed fox.

With her here, lasting 3 minutes wasn’t entirely impossible.

‘Come on. Just like before, I’ll completely erase your magic.’

My words and expression feigned composure, but cold sweat was pouring down my back like rain.

‘Completely erase it… huh. Heh heh.’

The atmosphere was heavy.

I was so tense that one second felt like a minute.

‘If I keep playing around like this, something really bad might happen.’

Then, suddenly, Shadow said something out of the blue.

‘Just kidding.’

He raised both hands, making a gesture of surrender.

‘I didn’t come here to kill you.’

‘…’

My eyes became even sharper.

I had no intention of letting my guard down at such nonsense.

Far from letting my guard down, my senses became even sharper.

‘Think about it calmly. If I was planning to kill you, would I have blatantly invaded Obelisk Academy like this? There are many better opportunities, right?’

‘…’

I had actually been thinking it was strange.

Why target me at this timing?

He could have targeted me when I was outside, or during training, but why target me when I was in Obelisk Academy, where security was the tightest?

It was an illogical choice.

‘The reason I came now is to gain your trust. By targeting you when you’re in the safest place, I’m aiming for a time when you might actually listen to me.’

‘…Are you saying you want to talk to me?’

‘Yes.’

The darkness that had been covering Shadow’s face slowly began to recede.

Not just the shadows covering his face. The shadows covering his body as a whole began to disappear.

‘I’ve come to propose a deal to you.’

He disarmed himself and revealed his true form.

Was this also a sign of trust?

‘I will hand over all the information I have about the Black Magic Tower.’

My eyes widened in shock.

Hand over all the information about the Black Magic Tower?

Even the information known by a high-ranking member?

‘In exchange for that information, what I desire is…’

Shadow lowered his gaze and looked at the nine-tailed fox in front of me.

‘My power. The annihilation of the shadows.’

‘The… annihilation of the shadows?’

My mind became complicated in an instant.

* * *

‘Three days should be enough time to think.’

‘I’ll contact you again in three days.’

‘Then, see you later, Shin Hayul.’

‘…Think carefully. It won’t be a disadvantage for you.’

Shadow left those words and vanished in an instant.

Like darkness disappearing as the sun rises, the shadows that had consumed my room vanished in an instant.

‘That shadow sorcerer made such a proposal?’

‘Yeah. What do you think his purpose is?’

After Shadow disappeared, I immediately returned to Mimir’s room.

And I told Mimir what had just happened and asked for his opinion.

‘He asked you to annihilate the shadows…’

Mimir’s expression was quite serious.

He seemed to be deep in thought, resting his chin on his hand as he pondered.

‘It’s not a trap… is it?’

I had already considered the possibility of a trap first.

I wondered if he was plotting something to completely trap me.

But soon, I realized that the possibility of it being a trap wasn’t very high.

‘It’s not impossible, but it’s probably not. If he was going to set a trap, there was no need to approach like that.’

If he was going to set a trap in the first place, there was no reason to approach so foolishly.

To infiltrate Obelisk Academy directly and deliberately make me wary like that?

What kind of idiot would set a trap like that?

The possibility of it being a trap wasn’t very high.

‘That’s true…’

Mimir also seemed to have reached the same conclusion as me, and he dismissed the idea of it being a trap.

Mimir’s expression became even more complicated.

‘In the first place, what does it mean to annihilate the shadows? Why would he ask to erase a perfectly good ability…? No matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand.’

The shadows were a unique black magic possessed only by Shadow.

From its effects to its power, it was an all-around cheat magic.

Why would he ask to annihilate such magic?

I couldn’t understand it at all.

‘…I don’t know either.’

Mimir slowly shook his head.

He looked frustrated too.

‘There’s something you don’t know, Mimir?’

‘…Am I supposed to know everything?’

‘Well, yeah…’

It was quite surprising that there was something Mimir didn’t know.

‘So, about the shadow sorcerer, there’s nothing that’s been revealed in the past?’

Mimir, who knew everything about the spirit master, Tkisch, from head to toe, didn’t know anything about Shadow.

Was the shadow sorcerer that rare of an existence?

‘It’s not just that shadow sorcerers were rare in the past, or that nothing was revealed. There’s really no information at all.’

‘No information at all?’

‘Yeah.’

Mimir looked at me with sharp eyes.

‘I’ve never even heard of a black magician who manipulates shadows…’

Mimir had never heard of it.

That meant.

‘Among the black magicians who belonged to the Veil Kingdom in the past, there was no one who manipulated shadows?’

‘Yeah. Not only in the Veil Kingdom, but also in the Vaitener Empire, there were no magicians who manipulated shadows.’

‘…’

My eyes narrowed.

A special black magician who didn’t exist even during the golden age of black magicians.

‘No, in the first place, that Shadow guy. Is he even a black magician?’

‘Yeah. I definitely saw that he had corrupted mana in his body.’

Shadow was definitely a black magician.

That was certain.

‘No. I’m not asking about what was detected in Shadow’s body. I’m asking if you detected corrupted mana in the shadows that Shadow manipulated.’

‘…In the shadows?’

‘Yeah. Magic based on black magic usually has corrupted mana detected in the magic itself. Think back to when we fought the higher spirit master [Tkisch].’

When we fought Tkisch….

‘Certainly… the spirit he manipulated felt like a crystallization of corrupted mana.’

‘Yeah. That. Did you get that feeling from Shadow’s shadows?’

‘From Shadow’s shadows…’

I recalled the time I fought Shadow before.

The huge maw of the shadow beast that flew towards me.

What did I see in that hideous maw?

Was that maw a crystallization of corrupted mana?

The answer came quickly.

‘…No. Shadow’s magic, the shadows, didn’t feel like something born from corrupted mana.’

Shadow’s shadows were not something born from corrupted mana.

‘Then it’s magic?’

‘Magic… no. It didn’t feel like that either.’

My expression became more and more serious.

‘I didn’t feel any magic from Shadow’s shadows.’

‘Does that mean there was no mana-like action?’

‘No. There was mana-like action, but… well… how should I put this…’

I paused for a moment to think.

‘There was mana-like action, but it felt like it wasn’t magic that I knew… Ah! Yes.’

That’s how I should put it.

‘Would you understand if I said it felt like it wasn’t magic that originated from the Vaitener style?’

‘A feeling that it wasn’t magic that originated from the Vaitener style…?’

Mimir’s eyes widened more and more.

‘Something that didn’t originate from black magic, nor from the Vaitener style…’

As if he had realized something, Mimir’s pupils dilated.

‘Successor. One last question. The mana that was felt in the shadows that Shadow used… was it mana that felt like the power of nature itself was alive and moving?’

‘Ah, yes, nature! That’s exactly how it felt. I think that’s the kind of mana a normal shadow would have if it had a will.’

‘…Okay. That’s what it is.’

Mimir closed his mouth.

As if he had finished organizing his thoughts, his face became clear.

‘Successor. Listen carefully. The shadows he possesses…’

Mimir looked me straight in the eye and said,

‘It’s highly likely to be the origin of mythical magic. A relic from the mythical era.’