The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 303

The blonde man suddenly appeared.

‘If you’re looking for the nine-tailed fox, she’s here.’

As he moved his right hand, Miho suddenly appeared.

She was fast asleep in his arms.

‘Where did she…’

Just a moment ago, there was nothing there. She just popped out of nowhere.

How did he do that?

‘The nine-tailed fox is a hindrance to the trial, so I’ll keep her for a while.’

At that moment, Miho disappeared again.

It was a sight that made me doubt my eyes.

But I wasn’t particularly flustered.

‘So, you’re the one who manipulated my senses and showed me the illusion of falling.’

‘Hmm. Something like that.’

There was no reason to be flustered.

I had been seeing the illusion of falling for seven hours.

Miho disappearing and reappearing was nothing compared to that.

‘Then, are you the examiner for this trial?’

‘That’s right.’

If a mage who used such abilities was an enemy, I would have been flustered.

But this man is an ally.

Like Elena and Aslan, he’s an examiner that Master prepared separately.

Since this man’s purpose isn’t to harm me, there’s no reason to be flustered.

‘I’m Tei Rovain. I’m the supervisor ordered by your lord to protect Danteroah.’

As expected, he was one of Master’s retainers.

‘My ability is still a secret. Try to guess it.’

‘Is guessing your ability also part of the trial?’

‘Not really. Just think of it as a bonus game. You can guess it or not, it’s just a service game. If you succeed in guessing, I’ll give you a gift. It’s a bonus game, but there’s no motivation without a reward, right? Oh, of course, there’s no penalty if you don’t guess, so relax.’

‘It’s a proposal that doesn’t harm me at all. Okay.’

A special magic that completely deceived my senses and even restricted my mana manipulation.

I was already bothered by it, so this is good.

‘I will definitely uncover the secret of your magic before this trial ends.’

‘Okay. I’ll be looking forward to it.’

The man replied with a blank expression that didn’t show any anticipation.

Maybe he’s not really anticipating anything.

I guess he’s just someone with extremely little facial expression.

The fact that he’s been maintaining a blank expression since earlier is proof of that.

‘I don’t know if you’ll have the time to think about my magic… but that’s your problem.’

The man’s lips curled up very slightly.

It was a movement that was barely noticeable, but since he was someone with such a blank expression, even that small change was noticeable.

‘Then, good luck.’

A strangely unsettling expression and meaningful words.

With those words, Tei slowly began to disappear.

‘Oh, right. The content of the trial is a secret. Originally, this part of the trial was for you to figure out on your own. Well, you’ll find out what to do soon enough, but rules are rules.’

Tei’s body slowly disappeared, starting from his legs.

It was as if someone was erasing Tei’s body with an eraser.

‘Oh, and one more thing. Don’t use Pactio [a magical contract]. It’s a very special magic even among mythical magic. Using it in this place will cause problems in many ways.’

‘I understand.’

This man probably intended to reveal himself after the second trial was over.

The proof is in the words, ‘Originally, this part of the trial was for you to figure out on your own.’

‘Originally, he intended for me to overcome this part on my own, and then reveal himself in the next trial. But because I suddenly tried to use Pactio, he had no choice but to reveal himself in a hurry.’

That’s probably the situation.

Then, a question arises here.

‘I’m asking just in case, but is it also forbidden to use other mythical magic?’

I wondered if Pactio was the only one that would cause problems.

‘No. Other mythical magic is fine. Just be careful with Pactio.’

‘So, only Pactio is not allowed.’

It’s not that all mythical magic is forbidden, only Pactio.

This is a hint.

A top-tier hint that can reveal Tei Rovain’s magic.

‘Unlike other mythical magic, a magic that acts on the special properties of Pactio, causing some kind of problem.’

That is, there’s a high probability that the man’s magic and Pactio are structured in a way that causes a repulsive reaction upon contact.

‘A magic that has a repulsive property against Pactio and can freely manipulate the senses of the target.’

The outline is somewhat clear.

Now, I just need to fill in the details.

‘I don’t know how much of the trial is left, but there’s no way I won’t get some new information during the process…’

It’s possible.

If I get just two or three more hints while going through the trial, I can confirm Tei’s magic.

‘I think I know what you’re thinking…’

Tei, with only his head remaining, looked at me and said something meaningful.

‘It probably won’t be that easy.’

Kugugugung-!

At the same time, the surroundings began to shake violently.

‘That vibration I felt earlier.’

This is the vibration I felt when I fell from the rose garden to this place.

‘I told you. You wouldn’t have time to think in the first place.’

In sync with the vibration, Tei’s face disappeared in the order of eyes, nose, and mouth.

‘Please don’t die.’

With those words, Tei’s body completely vanished.

Kugung!

The vibration also stopped.

And immediately after that.

Shhhhhhh-!

A sound of something gushing out was heard.

A sound like water gushing out simultaneously from dozens of water fountains.

Then, a sound like water flowing down from a lake was heard.

‘…A god’s smell?’

A faint smell of a god.

It was subtly different, but it was a smell I had smelled somewhere before.

‘Could this be…’

It didn’t take long for me to realize what this smell was.

‘Stomach acid!’

Swaaaaaaa-!

At that moment, yellow liquid began to flow down from the distance.

A subtly yellowish liquid with a god’s smell, due to its acidity.

It’s definitely stomach acid.

‘This is insane!’

I immediately used magic to jump into the air.

The stomach acid instantly covered the place where I was standing.

The piles of roses that seemed to have fallen with me were completely covered in stomach acid.

‘What kind of acidity is this…’

The roses disappeared the moment they touched the stomach acid.

It was an unbelievable rate of melting.

I swallowed hard as I watched the scene.

‘How much acidity does it have to have to melt objects at that speed?’

Cold sweat ran down my back.

If I had been even a little late, my whole body would have melted away in the stomach acid.

Just as I was feeling relieved.

Suddenly, I felt a hot sensation above my head.

An alarm went off in my head.

Dangerous! Evade!

My instincts whispered that.

I immediately moved my body to the side.

At that moment, thick stomach acid began to pour down like a waterfall from the ceiling.

A rain of stomach acid pouring down centered on the place where I had just been.

‘I almost died.’

If I had been even a little late, I would have gone to the afterlife.

‘So, the air isn’t safe either?’

I suppressed my startled heart and looked up.

The ceiling that had just spewed out the stomach acid.

When I looked closely using my divine eyes, I could see small holes that had been drilled.

‘…They’re closing?’

As if they had finished their role by spewing out the stomach acid.

The countless holes slowly began to close.

After three seconds, all the holes completely closed and disappeared without a trace.

All that remained was a smooth brown wall.

At that moment, a hot sensation emanated from the ceiling above my head again.

Numerous holes appeared on the brown wall that had been completely normal until just now.

I moved my position again to avoid the falling stomach acid.

A rain of stomach acid pouring down from the countless holes.

‘So, it can spew out stomach acid anywhere in this area?’

Judging by the way the wall changes freely, it’s probably safe to assume that this entire space is a stomach acid outlet.

This kind of stomach acid ejection will continue in the future.

‘It’s even targeting my location specifically.’

Judging by the fact that it has been targeting my location specifically and pouring down, it was clear that the monster spewing this stomach acid was definitely sensing me.

‘…This is dangerous.’

Being directly hit by the stomach acid itself isn’t that dangerous.

There’s a warning, and if I’m not careless, I can avoid it all.

‘The stomach acid pooled on the floor doesn’t seem to be disappearing.’

But that’s all.

I can only avoid the falling stomach acid.

I can’t do anything about the rising water level as the pouring stomach acid accumulates.

‘Stomach acid is also continuously being spewed out from the floor… At this rate, this entire space will be covered in stomach acid within 20 minutes.’

Considering the height of this space and the rapidly rising water level, it’s really 20 minutes at most.

After that time, I will be submerged in a sea of stomach acid.

‘I have to come up with a plan before that.’

I understand very well why Tei said I wouldn’t have time to think about anything else.

It’s definitely not the time to think about anything else right now.

Right now, I have to focus all my efforts on escaping from here.

‘The most straightforward method is to break through one of the walls and escape…’

That brown wall.

Judging by the fact that it’s spewing out stomach acid, it’s probably a stomach wall.

Breaking through that stomach wall and getting out is the most straightforward method.

‘I don’t know if it will work…’

The stomach acid is poured out specifically at the prey in the stomach.

The rose garden as bait.

Since the monster’s identity is to capture prey and melt it down, the stomach wall must be very tough.

It probably won’t even get a scratch with most attacks.

In fact, you can tell just by looking at how it’s withstanding stomach acid with that level of acidity without any problems.

This stomach wall is not something that can be broken through with ordinary methods.

If my guess is correct, there’s almost no chance of breaking through it.

‘But it won’t hurt to try.’

I took out Aeth and put it on, then took out ‘Kaelum’ from inside.

Forming the Mobius pattern around Kaelum.

I rotated all the infinity circles at maximum speed.

‘Ignis at maximum output.’

I activate Ignis, the most powerful and high-level magic I possess, at maximum output.

‘The color red is a gift from God, born only for me—’

With the incantation, crimson mana began to gather in Kaelum.

My voice, mana, and flames become one.

Forming a huge flame.

‘—Ignis.’

The Ignis, which was completed after about a minute of incantation, was almost perfect.

Was it because I had achieved some progress while solving the infinite fall earlier?

Or was it because the mana was abundant since it was inside the monster’s stomach?

The completed Ignis was showing a much more powerful force than any Ignis I had used before.

‘With Ignis…’

No matter how great the monster is, or how tough the stomach wall is, it will be hard to withstand it.

I focused Ignis on one point and fired it.

The Ignis, compressed thinly like a needle, collided directly with the stomach wall.

Whirr, whirrrrrrrrr!

The Ignis blazed, and the stomach wall pulsed.

‘There’s a reaction.’

But.

‘…Is that all?’

That was the end of it.

The stomach wall only pulsed.

There was no sign of flesh burning or being burned.

The stomach wall was fine.

‘To think that even Ignis can’t even make a scratch…’

I was speechless for a moment.

I had expected that I might not be able to break through it, but I didn’t expect that I wouldn’t be able to inflict any damage at all.

After all, it’s Ignis.

Even though my achievement is insufficient and I can only exert about 1/4 of its power, the characteristic of the primordial flame, ‘burns everything,’ hasn’t gone anywhere.

To think that Ignis can’t inflict any damage on the stomach wall…

‘What the hell is this monster?’

My pupils trembled slightly in bewilderment.