The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 208

After that, I returned straight to the dorm.

‘……Helios’s Heavenly Demon affected Umbra’s shadow?’

Sitting on the bed, I pondered, caressing the USB that Shadow had given me.

‘How?’

I couldn’t answer Shadow’s question.

It was only natural.

It was the first time I’d heard that Helios’s Heavenly Demon had affected Umbra’s shadow.

How could I answer something I didn’t know?

I repeatedly stroked the surface of the USB with my index finger and thumb, lost in thought.

‘If I were to guess the timing when Helios’s Heavenly Demon could have affected Shadow’s Umbra’s shadow, it would most likely be when Shadow used the Amplification Shadow to absorb Umbra’s shadow.’

Other than that time, there wasn’t really any situation where Helios’s Heavenly Demon could have affected Umbra’s shadow.

According to Shadow, he artificially created burns on his body using the remnants left by Helios’s Heavenly Demon afterward, so it might have been affected then, but.

I didn’t think that mere remnants would have had any effect on Umbra’s shadow.

It was probably affected during the initial absorption.

‘Then, is it related to the fact that the Amplification Shadow didn’t completely swallow Helios’s Heavenly Demon?’

Right after the Amplification Shadow swallowed Helios’s Heavenly Demon.

Shadow muttered with a serious expression that it was out of control.

He even added that it felt like it was about to go berserk.

That’s why I shouted to shoot Helios’s Heavenly Demon in the direction of the parade.

I thought that was the best place to release the berserk Helios’s Heavenly Demon.

The result doesn’t need to be mentioned.

My prediction was correct, and I succeeded in dealing with the parade safely.

Furthermore, the information manipulation was also a complete success. The operation was a complete success.

‘So, I had been erasing it from my mind…’

There’s no need to review a perfectly successful operation.

That’s why I had completely erased the Baekdu Mountain incident from my mind.

If Shadow hadn’t said that he had regained his senses, I probably would never have thought about it again.

‘……Is it related to the fact that Helios’s Heavenly Demon was strengthened beyond imagination?’

If I had to pick one thing that was most questionable at the time, it would be that the power and output of Helios’s Heavenly Demon were so strong that they far exceeded my expectations.

At the time, I simply thought, ‘The Amplification Shadow is amazing.’

But when I think about it again with questions in mind, there are one or two strange things.

‘If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that Helios’s Heavenly Demon, which should have had a power of about 6.5 to 7 circles at most, has a power that surpasses 8-circle magic.’

It was powerful enough to put even Commander Charles in danger, so it was definitely a power that surpassed 8 circles.

The output was also enough to cover the entire area, so it can be said that the minimum was 8 circles.

‘No matter how excellent the amplification power of the Amplification Shadow is, is it possible to strengthen magic to that extent?’

In my opinion, even the legendary cheat magic ‘Resonance’ only transcends 1 circle.

Even now, at 6 circles, the overall amount of mana and processing power have increased, so I only get about a 0.5 circle increase in power and output.

In that situation, the Amplification Shadow shows an amplification rate that exceeds about two circles?

The more I thought about it, the stranger it was.

‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

Even though there were a lot of things that were giving me a headache, starting with the Ring of Awakening.

To think I took something so strange for granted.

I need to reflect on that.

‘Then, what is the reason for the abnormally high amplification?’

There’s probably an answer here.

I was lost in thought for a long time.

‘Helios’s Heavenly Demon. Incantation magic is a lower system created by taking a part of mythic magic.’

After quite a long time passed.

I finally succeeded in forming a hypothesis.

‘And Umbra’s shadow is a legacy of myth that serves as a medium for mythic magic.’

Both are derived from mythic magic.

‘Since they started from the same thing, it’s not strange that Helios’s Heavenly Demon absorbed a part of Umbra’s shadow.’

The Helios’s Heavenly Demon absorbed by the Amplification Shadow absorbed Umbra’s shadow in that state.

‘Then that explains the powerful force. And it explains why Shadow felt pain.’

The Heavenly Demon that absorbed Umbra’s shadow became stronger.

And Shadow, who lost a part of Umbra’s shadow, regained two of his five senses thanks to the weakened Umbra’s shadow.

Could it be something like this?

‘This is the only explanation.’

I came to that conclusion for now.

* * *

After that, I sent all the classified documents contained in the USB to Commander Charles.

And then I headed straight to Mimir’s study.

And I explained to Mimir the questionable things I heard from Shadow today and the hypothesis I had organized accordingly.

“Helios’s Heavenly Demon absorbed Umbra’s shadow. There hasn’t been any case like that discovered yet… but it’s not impossible.”

Mimir, having heard everything, stroked his chin with an intrigued expression.

“Just as all magic started from the Vaitern system, all mythical mediums ultimately started from one source. Since they have the same root, it’s not that strange that they accidentally influenced each other’s power or absorbed each other. In fact, there are myths about gods stealing and plundering each other’s power.”

Mimir’s expression changed to that of a scholar.

It was like the eyes of a researcher who was thrilled by an unexpected discovery.

Anyway, it was a very vivid expression.

“Of course, even if they have the same root, it doesn’t make sense that powers that have changed to have different trajectories would interact like that. There must have been some kind of relationship between ‘Ignis’ [Fire magic] and ‘Umbra’ [Shadow magic].”

Mimir excitedly began to write down various things in his notebook.

“This is a great discovery. We might be able to find a connection between mythic magic that even Ray didn’t discover.”

That sentence, ‘that even Ray didn’t discover,’ had a huge impact.

“If we can figure out this law, we might be able to not only forge Umbra’s shadow with mythic magic, but also fuse it with Ignis, and perhaps even achieve the first fusion of mythic magic.”

Mimir’s excitement reached its peak. His face was flushed, and the corners of his mouth were raised as if they would tear.

Even his two eyes were shining with joy.

I could even see a hint of madness.

Is this something to be so happy about?

“This means there’s one more homework assignment to solve until the end. I’m going to be very busy.”

Mimir licked his lips and rechecked the details he had written in his notebook.

“Anyway, it’s not a bad thing, right?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing bad about it. That Shadow guy said he lost his sense of touch and sight again, right? That means that the absorption of Umbra’s shadow was only momentary. And since he said there are no aftereffects, it means there’s no harm.”

Mimir’s tone was higher than usual, and his speaking speed was about 1.1 times faster than usual.

How excited is he?

“Anyway, I’ll do some more research on this separately. The Successor should forget about it for now. It’s not important for the Successor right now.”

“I know. I’m going to focus on weaving the Ring of Awakening.”

The questions surrounding Umbra’s shadow were roughly resolved.

Anything more detailed than that is not an area for me to delve into.

I just need to leave it to Mimir.

‘Well, since he said it’s a good thing, I’ll just wait.’

Whether it’s being able to forge Umbra’s shadow with mythic magic.

Or being able to fuse mythic magic, it’s all beneficial to me.

I just need to focus on raising my level to the maximum so that I can use those magics safely someday.

“If this is the case, the time when we can remove Umbra’s shadow from that Shadow guy seems to be getting considerably faster?”

Mimir said with a smirk.

“How much faster?”

“We’ve confirmed that there’s some kind of relationship between Ignis and Umbra. So, the output needed to remove it will be greatly reduced…”

Mimir paused, organizing his thoughts.

“Assuming we weaken the power a bit by borrowing Miho’s power… and assuming we use Resonance, we might be able to remove it even at the 6-circle level.”

“…6 circles?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Before, he said that we would need at least 7 circles to completely remove Umbra’s shadow.

But now he says it might be possible even at 6 circles.

“Then does that mean we can speed up the transaction a bit more?”

The reason why I made the offer to Shadow half-heartedly and temporarily put it on hold was not just because of trust issues.

The real problem wasn’t trust, but the fact that there was no way to remove Umbra’s shadow.

As I just said, they said that we would need at least 7 circles to remove it safely, so how could I rush the transaction?

That’s why I intentionally chose to delay the transaction by tying it to the name of trust.

But if it becomes possible to remove the shadow from 6 circles, there’s no need to delay the transaction.

It would be better to finalize the transaction as soon as possible, recover Umbra’s shadow, and recover the information from the Black Magic Tower.

“No. It’s still too early to act. It’s not certain yet.”

“I know that too. But it means there’s a possibility, right?”

“Yeah. There’s a good chance.”

“Do you think it’s about a 50/50 chance?”

“Hmm. I think it’s a little higher than 50%. Whatever the case, it’s certain that Ignis can affect Umbra. Even if it’s impossible to remove it at 6 circles, we might be able to remove it when we reach the 6-circle master level. If not, there’s also the option of finding Ignis somehow. If we borrow Miho’s power, it should be possible.”

Finding Ignis as quickly as possible. That would also be a good method.

“Whatever the case, it means the transaction will definitely be faster than before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I see…”

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Why are you in such a hurry? There’s no need to remove it so quickly.”

“That was the case until last week. But now things are a bit different.”

“Why?”

“Shadow said he wouldn’t accept any compensation for helping out at Baekdu Mountain this time.”

After Shadow first asked me about Umbra’s shadow.

When I said I couldn’t answer, he replied like this.

‘If you don’t know, there’s nothing I can do.’

‘I don’t want anything else. I won’t accept any reward.’

‘I would appreciate it if you would accept this as simply me showing you trust.’

And finally, as he was leaving, he said this.

‘I hope our transaction will be finalized as soon as possible.’

In other words, Shadow was asking for the transaction to be expedited as a reward for this incident.

He showed this much trust, so you should show your own trust.

He was saying that he wanted the transaction to be expedited with that trust.

“Hmm. If he showed that much trust, it would be difficult to keep delaying the transaction.”

Mimir nodded, as if he had grasped the whole situation from my words just now.

“Right. If we delay it forcefully, the other party will distrust us. And then they might think about betraying us. That would be a loss in many ways.”

“I understand the situation roughly. Then, I’ll make finding a way to remove Umbra’s shadow the top priority and investigate it as quickly as possible.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Mimir smiled brightly, as if to say, ‘Just leave it to me.’

It was a very reliable smile.

* * *

That dawn.

I was sitting alone in a corner of Mimir’s study, practicing inner contemplation.

No, it would be more accurate to call it mana contemplation rather than inner contemplation.

‘I was so happy today!’

‘Me too! Everyone was happy, so I was happy too!’

Mana whispered in my ear.

It was as if Mimir’s joy today had spread to the mana.

They were all happy.

“I’m happy too.”

I answered sincerely, feeling the mana.

‘Yeah! I can feel it!’

‘If you’re happy, we’re happy too!’

‘It’s exciting!’

The surrounding mana became even more active.

Mana is like a chameleon, its nature changes depending on the mood or nature of the people nearby.

Just like Mimir earlier, and like me now.

Since we are genuinely happy, the surrounding mana are all fluctuating with joy.

‘Why are you happy?’

‘We’re just happy.’

‘What’s the reason for being happy?’

The voice of mana became clearer and clearer.

Before, it just sounded like a child’s whimpering.

But now, it sounds like a perfect sentence.

It’s as if the mana has grown and can now have a conversation with me.

“I’m happy because of you too. Thanks to you all being so happy, I’ve gained an enlightenment.”

And a very big enlightenment at that.

‘What’s enlightenment?’

‘We don’t know difficult words!’

Mana giggled.

“Hmm. To explain it simply. I’ve gotten to know you better.”

‘About us?’

‘Really? I’m happy!’

Mana changes depending on the surrounding environment.

And the structure of the changed mana also changes.

Mana that is happy and mana that is sad have completely different structures.

I just realized that.

It was an enlightenment I gained because the surrounding mana were all dyed with joy, and I succeeded in understanding the structure itself 100%.

‘To think it would turn out like this.’

It’s all thanks to Mimir.

Thanks to Mimir’s genuine smile after hearing about Umbra’s shadow, a significant change occurred in the mana around Mimir’s study.

And thanks to that dramatic change, I was able to realize the secret of the structure of mana.

‘Giggle!’

‘I want to know more about you too.’

‘Let’s play!’

Numerous mana, like fairies, floated around my ears.

I listened to the voices of the mana and examined the structure of the mana that was immersed in joy.

‘Structural changes according to the nature of mana. I need to organize this law.’

Today, I took another step closer to the Ring of Awakening.

‘It seems like the day I take the elixir isn’t too far away.’

The elixir, Tears of Heaven, is currently sleeping in Aes.

The day I take that elixir and weave the Ring of Awakening is not too far away.