The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 258

After the flames completely incinerated whatever they were burning and then extinguished themselves, the lab was left without a trace of fire.

Along with the flames, the Möbius pattern that had been glowing above Shin Hayul’s head also vanished. The use of magic had ceased entirely.

“You’re a talented child,” Ray Bell Bytenner said, his voice cutting through the silence that had fallen over the lab. He addressed Adela directly. “Come here.”

Normally, Adela would have been wary of such a suspicious person and ignored his words. But this time, something felt different. She felt compelled to obey him.

Adela slowly approached the man.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Adela. Adela Steart,” she replied.

“Adela is your given name, and Steart is your family name?” he clarified.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“Steart… Do you know anything about a family called ‘Sol Lunari’?” he inquired.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Adela admitted.

“I see,” the man said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “Has 18,000 years erased even the name of Sol Lunari?”

“……?” Adela tilted her head, puzzled. What was Sol Lunari that made him react so strongly?

“Sol Lunari is the family name of your distant ancestors,” he explained.

“The old name of my family?” she asked, surprised. It was a name completely unfamiliar to her.

“Later, when this child wakes up, tell them that your family’s old name was Sol Lunari. It will surely be a great help to both you and this child,” the man said with a faint smile.

Watching the man, Miho let out a soft, mournful cry. Her eyes were filled with tears, an expression of sadness at the imminent farewell.

“We will meet again before long. So don’t be so sad,” the man said gently, stroking Miho’s head. Miho rubbed her face against his hand and cried mournfully again.

“Until we meet again, I entrust this child to you,” he said.

Miho nodded slightly, her expression childlike as she fought back her tears.

“If there’s one thing I regret, it’s not being able to see Mimir… my daughter,” he murmured.

How was Mimir living? Was she resenting him for putting himself inside Mimir’s book? Was she getting along well with the successor? She was a stubborn child, so there might be frequent clashes of opinion with the successor.

Mee-

At that moment, Miho cried softly again, a smile that reassured Ray.

“Yes. It seems she’s doing well,” Ray said, a look of genuine relief on his face. It was a smile as calm as a lake reflecting the moon.

Miho conveyed her intentions again with her eyes.

“Oh. You’re the best of friends, you say,” he translated, understanding her gaze. She was directly conveying information about Mimir and Shin Hayul through her eyes.

“Then you’ll soon be resented,” the man said, his smile turning bitter.

“Mimir’s book will soon come to an end…” he added.

Miho tilted her head, as if to ask, what does that mean?

“Yes. I haven’t told you yet, have I? How very Mimir-like,” Ray said, his lips twisting even more. “If that’s her choice… I should respect it.”

Ray made a firm gesture, indicating he couldn’t say any more than that. “Hear this story directly from Mimir,” he said, stroking Miho. “And… if possible, please be kind to her. It’s my last request.”

Miho looked into Ray’s eyes for a long time, and then, as if she couldn’t help it, she nodded.

“Yes. You’re a good girl,” he said.

And once again, silence descended upon the lab.

“…You’re a talented child,” Ray said, calling out to Adela, who was standing blankly beside him, while still stroking Miho.

“Y-yes?” Adela answered, flustered, as she was still trying to process the words that had just come out of the man’s mouth.

“In one minute, I will disappear,” Ray stated.

Miho’s expression turned gloomy.

“As soon as I disappear, this child’s body will be a mess,” he added.

“A mess… you say?” Adela asked, concerned.

“Yes. The mana inside his body, which has exceeded its limit, will lose its control device, which is me, and run wild,” he explained.

Adela’s expression became serious. Among mana runaway phenomena, an internal runaway caused by excessive mana was the worst kind.

“…What should I do?” she asked.

Earlier, he had said, ‘I entrust this child to you.’ At the time, she hadn’t understood what he meant, but now she realized those words meant, ‘After I disappear, please save Shin Hayul, who will be dying from mana runaway.’ In other words, there was a way to stop Shin Hayul’s mana runaway.

“You’re a bright child. You don’t resemble Jeil in that aspect,” Ray said, looking at Adela with a satisfied smile.

“You don’t need anything special. Just hold this child’s hand,” he instructed.

“…Yes?” Adela asked, confused.

“Keep holding his hand until this child wakes up,” he clarified.

“Is that all it takes?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes. That’s enough,” Ray said, looking at Adela with a warm expression, as if he were looking at a friend’s daughter. “You are a descendant of the Sol Lunari family and a chosen one of God’s grace. That’s enough. Considering this child’s constitution and talent, that alone is enough.”

“I see…” Adela nodded, her expression still somewhat puzzled, as if she was thinking, ‘Is that really all it takes?’

Looking at Adela, Ray slowly reached out his hand and gently stroked her hair. “Looking at you like this, you really look just like Jeil,” he said.

“…Jeil?” Adela asked. There it was again, the word Jeil. Was it a name?

“My vassal and friend. And the name of your ancestor,” Ray explained. “Jeil. Jeil Sol Lunari.”

“Yes. He was quite a passionate friend…” he said, happily explaining about his vassal when it happened. Ray’s body, or rather, Shin Hayul’s body, staggered.

“It’s time,” Ray said, his voice wavering. “Then… I entrust… the rest…”

Ray’s words were cut short. Before he could finish, the ‘soul binding’ ended. Ray’s soul completely disappeared from Shin Hayul’s body.

‘Mana Overflow!’

Mana began to overflow from within Shin Hayul’s body. At this rate, he would surely become a Pain [a being corrupted by uncontrolled mana]. Adela immediately laid Shin Hayul’s body down and clasped his hand. She didn’t know if this would really be enough, but it was the word of ‘Ray Bell Bytenner,’ no less. It will be fine. No, it has to be fine.

“Please…” she whispered.

Just as she was tightly holding Shin Hayul’s hand, “…Ugh!” Mana began to flow from Shin Hayul’s body into Adela’s body, like a flood of water rushing in with the opening of a dam. It began to flow madly towards Adela’s body. It was a vast amount of mana that could turn Shin Hayul’s body into a Pain. If things went wrong, Adela could also become a Pain.

But, ‘Still, it’s more bearable than I thought,’ Adela thought. She didn’t seem to be struggling much. It was certainly a vast amount of mana, but it wasn’t to the point where she couldn’t handle it. At this rate, she could absorb as much as she needed. If another mage were to see this scene, they would be shocked to the point of fainting. What Adela was doing now was like an ordinary human chugging 100 liters of water in one go. She should have exploded a long time ago, but she was drinking water without any problems. It was logically impossible.

……

.

.

Watching Adela from the side, Miho recalled the old days. Jeil Sol Lunari. A man who boasted a vast amount of mana, to the point where he was called a mana tank. Like father, like son, that aspect is exactly like that man. Of course, the only thing that is like that hateful man is that vast amount of mana. She was so glad that she didn’t resemble that man.

Miho looked up at Adela with loving eyes. Perhaps it was because she was continuously absorbing an impossible level of mana. She was currently growing in real time. Mana, body, soul. They were growing exponentially. Perhaps because of that, Adela, who already looked lovely, looked even more lovely. If she was this lovely now, how lovely would she be later? Miho was imagining such things as she continued to watch Shin Hayul and Adela.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Adela, who was lying face down asleep next to the bed I was lying on.

‘……What is this?’ I couldn’t grasp the situation. Why am I lying in bed?

“You’re awake,” Shadow said, his voice cutting through my confusion.

“What is it? That blank expression?” Shadow’s voice was full of anger. “You’re not thinking of claiming you’ve lost your memory, are you? If you’re going to spout such nonsense and ruin my deal with you…”

“I will keep my promise. If you wish, I can remove your shadow right now,” I said.

“Right now?” Shadow asked, surprised.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“…Is your body okay?” he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

“Yes. I’m fine,” I replied. I lifted my upper body and got out of bed. Considering the strain I had put on myself, my body felt very refreshed. No, it was beyond refreshed; my condition was at its peak.

“That’s unexpected. I thought your condition would be bad since you’ve been sleeping for two days,” Shadow said.

“Two days? I’ve been sleeping for two days?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Shadow replied, glancing at Adela, who was sleeping soundly next to me. “Be grateful to that woman. If it weren’t for her, you would have died from mana runaway.”

“……?” I had no idea what he was talking about. Adela saved me? And mana runaway? What was he talking about?

“Adela saved me? Are you saying Adela broke through the underground flames and entered the lab?” I asked, confused.

“You really don’t remember?” Shadow asked.

“Yes. I don’t remember that part at all…” I admitted.

“Hmm. Is it some kind of partial amnesia?” Shadow stroked his chin as if he was in trouble. “I heard you pushed yourself quite hard. It’s possible that you temporarily don’t remember,” he said, nodding as if it was a plausible explanation. “To put it simply, you pushed yourself to the limit and completely removed the Doctor’s mana. And Adela Steart saved you after you collapsed from exhaustion.”

“I stopped it? No, more than that, did Adela really come through those flames?” I asked, still trying to process the information.

“Yes,” Shadow confirmed, clicking his tongue with an expression of disbelief. “I don’t know why, but your flames didn’t harm Adela Steart. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“……” At that time, I had raised the output more than necessary, so it was impossible to distinguish between friend and foe. At that time, Ignis [the name of the flame magic] was a flame of destruction that burned everything. That Ignis was harmless to Adela. How could that be?

“I don’t know the details either. That’s all I’ve heard,” Shadow said.

“How did you get out of there?” I asked.

“…You really don’t remember anything?” Shadow let out a hollow laugh. “Before long, all the flames in the passage disappeared.”

“The flames disappeared?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes. They vanished in an instant. According to that woman, you absorbed all the flames again,” Shadow explained.

“Absorbed…” I muttered. I didn’t remember any of that.

“Taking advantage of that, I secretly took you and that woman out. And with the help of the hunting dog, I secured a hideout and concealed your existence here,” Shadow said.

“…I see,” I replied. If the flames disappeared, there would be nothing to hinder Shadow’s actions. He took advantage of that and evacuated me and Adela outside. That’s what he was saying.

“But why is Adela here? According to what I’ve heard, Adela shouldn’t be here, right?” I asked.

“…She insisted that she couldn’t let go of your hand until you woke up,” Shadow said.

“Insisted? Adela?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Shadow confirmed. “She said it was to completely resolve your mana runaway… I’ve never heard of mana runaway being calmed down just by holding hands. Where did she hear such a thing, and from whom…? Tsk,” Shadow looked down at Adela with a dissatisfied expression.

“Who did she hear it from…?” I muttered. It was a phrase that seemed to bring something to mind. ‘What was it?’ I felt like I had heard something before I lost my memory. My memory is hazy.

“And also, your pet is sleeping next to you,” Shadow added.

“Miho…” I said, looking at her. Miho was curled up and asleep next to the bed.

“That one must have pushed herself quite hard too, she’s been sleeping for two days straight,” Shadow said.

“Miho pushed herself… Ah!” I exclaimed. It came to mind. Yes! ‘Soul Binding!’ Before losing consciousness, Miho had asked for my consent to use soul binding. And someone’s soul was summoned and possessed my body. In my fading consciousness, a clear voice was heard. I remembered it clearly. ‘Master! That’s right. It’s Master!’ My master’s soul had resided in my body.