The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 306

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-307

Fourteen days had passed since Levi’s death.

“Shin Hayul. That slippery bastard…”

For a full two weeks, Hermes had been unable to pinpoint Shin Hayul’s location.

“Where the hell is he hiding?”

Immediately after being entrusted with Shin Hayul’s disposal by the Black Magic King, Hermes began his search.

Starting with the airports in Korea, he had taken over the security systems of all sorts of key locations and searched for Shin Hayul, but Shin Hayul was nowhere to be seen.

Despite scouring the entire country with almost all his power, he couldn’t find a single trace of Shin Hayul.

‘He must be somewhere in Korea.’

He definitely didn’t use the airport.

Preventing Shin Hayul from escaping to another country using the airport was a priority, so airport surveillance had always been at its highest level.

It was impossible to board a plane secretly while bypassing that surveillance.

No matter what manipulation he used, no matter what magic he cast.

It was impossible to use the airport while avoiding Hermes, who was already lying in wait.

It was a given, considering he could even see through Levi’s Metamorphosis [a magical transformation].

‘Then, is he hiding somewhere within the Magic God’s Family?’

If he was hiding somewhere, it was impossible for him to leave no trace at all.

Unless it was a very large land, how well could he hide in a small land like the Korean Peninsula?

Evading Hermes’ eyes, which could access CCTV, police networks, and even other countries’ satellites, for 14 days?

Frankly, it was impossible.

Therefore, Shin Hayul was not hiding somewhere.

‘Shin Hayul is hiding inside the Magic God’s Family mansion.’

The only place where Hermes had failed to search.

A place that had changed all its security systems to pure magic systems, unrelated to the network, as if wary of Hermes.

The Magic God’s Family mansion.

There was a high probability that Shin Hayul was hiding there.

‘Then, what should I do…’

Through the investigation over the past 14 days, he had gained the conviction that Shin Hayul was hiding in the mansion.

Then what’s next?

‘There’s no need to think about it.’

Kill Shin Hayul along with the Magic God’s Family.

‘Mobilize the Black Magic Tower’s forces to eliminate Shin Hayul along with the Magic God’s Family.’

That was the only option.

‘Then, how should I eliminate the Magic God’s Family…’

Though reluctant, was there no choice but to request support?

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

An important meeting was being held at the Magic God’s Family.

“As expected, overseas surveillance has weakened a lot.”

Charles said with a serious expression.

“I think now is the right time. We don’t know when Hermes might restore surveillance to its original state. If we’re going to move, now is the time.”

The Blue Magic Tower Lord nodded at Charles’ words.

“I agree. Judging by the fact that he’s even hacking and moving military drones, it’s clear that Hermes is focusing almost all his attention on Korea. If we miss this timing, we’ll regret it.”

The spy sweep operation.

Now was the time to carry out that operation.

“Actually, I received a call from Sophia 30 minutes ago.”

Shin Inhyuk, who had been sitting at the head of the table, maintaining a serious demeanor, opened his mouth for the first time.

“She said that the spy sweep operation will be carried out at 3 AM Korean time today.”

“Ah, what? It’s already been discussed that far?”

Charles made an awkward expression, then glared at Shin Inhyuk with a face full of anger.

‘If you had told me in advance, we wouldn’t have to waste our breath, save time, and it would have been good for everyone. You bastard.’

That was the look in his eyes.

“3 AM today… that’s 12 hours from now. It’s quite sudden.”

The Blue Magic Tower Lord’s expression was still serious.

It was natural to become serious, as they were about to carry out a major operation to simultaneously identify and eliminate a total of 192 spies who had taken root in various companies around the world.

“No, rather, that’s why it’s the right time.”

The Blue Magic Tower Lord rose from his seat with a grim expression.

“Then, I’ll go first.”

Looking at the Blue Magic Tower Lord, Shin Inhyuk slightly frowned.

“Just in case, I’ll say it again, the operation is in 12 hours. So…”

“I know. Do you think I’d forget something I heard 30 seconds ago?”

The Blue Magic Tower Lord smiled faintly.

It was a fake smile, like a mask to hide his anger, completely different from his usual refreshing smile.

“Dealing with Chu Kangbin is in 12 hours. I have no intention of moving before that.”

Chu Kangbin.

A promising talent who had succeeded in joining the Blue Magic Tower 8 years ago.

Now, a traitor who had completely defected to the Black Magic Tower.

He wanted to punish that bastard right now, but emotions were emotions, and the operation was the operation.

He had no intention of moving before the start of the operation.

“Then, where are you going?”

“I was thinking of having one last meal at a good restaurant.”

“…With that Chu Kangbin guy?”

“Yes.”

Kim Kangin’s lips twisted into an even more bizarre shape.

“Even if he’s a traitor, he was once family. I was thinking of treating him to one last meal. Yes. At a very good restaurant.”

Charles’s arm tingled as he stared straight at that smile.

‘Wow, damn…’

He had never seen such a bizarre and terrifying smile in his life.

Charles’s trembling eyes were saying that.

“Then, I’ll really go now. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“See you tomorrow, Commander Charles.”

“…Huh? Oh. Y-yeah.”

Charles waved his hand awkwardly like a broken machine.

Kim Kangin bowed his head slightly and left the room.

Thus, only Charles and Shin Inhyuk remained in the room.

“…Was he always such a scary guy?”

“He’s always been merciless to traitors. His cruelty when dealing with traitors was beyond imagination.”

“…To the point of being called cruel?”

From his image to his atmosphere.

Everything felt so kind.

What on earth had he done to earn Shin Inhyuk’s evaluation of being cruel?

“Are you curious?”

Shin Inhyuk asked with an expression that seemed to warn, ‘You’ll regret it if you hear it.’

“…No. I don’t want to hear it.”

Charles quickly shook his head.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t curious.

But for the sake of his mental health, it was better not to hear it.

No, he was going to give a traitor a last feast.

Just thinking about that made his skin crawl.

To do something more than that.

It was clear that hearing it would be detrimental to his mental health.

“You still have good instincts.”

Shin Inhyuk clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed.

He thought he could give him a pretty big trauma.

It was a shame.

He should have just told him without asking.

“So, what do we have to do?”

Charles turned his attention away from Kim Kangin and asked again about the spy sweep operation.

“You don’t have to do anything.”

“Really? Just standby, as expected. I was just wondering.”

Korea was not included in this spy sweep operation.

Since all of Hermes’ eyes were focused on Korea, doing something in Korea was not a good choice.

Korea was excluded from this operation.

Well, the previous Shinbiwi [a special task force] had also succeeded in eliminating some spies through the incident.

There was no need to do anything extra.

“Tsk. Standby isn’t my thing.”

Charles stretched out his arms and yawned.

It was a stretch that seemed to claim, ‘I’m very stiff right now.’

“Still, well, an operation is an operation, so there’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to wait for the report to come in tomorrow morning.”

This operation required quick processing.

Therefore, the operation time was within 3 hours.

Since the operation would start at 3 AM Korean time, the results would come out around 6 AM.

‘Well, it’s obvious that good news will come.’

Since it was an operation planned and carried out directly by Sophia Anetscheff, there was almost no chance of failure.

He was sure that good news would come when he opened his eyes tomorrow morning.

Charles was so sure of it.

* * *

However.

Charles’s conviction was shattered in an unexpected way.

“…What?”

The next day at dawn.

“The Abyssal Sea… suddenly started to go berserk?”

“Yes.”

Before news of the spy sweep operation could be heard, bad news was delivered.

“A report came in that the monsters located in the Abyssal Sea are slowly moving towards Jeju Island.”

“How many are moving?”

“…All of them.”

“What?”

Shin Inhyuk’s expression sank as seriously as it could.

“The estimated number is 70,000. If we include the monsters that cannot be detected in the deep sea, it’s up to 100,000.”

“100,000…! ?”

Charles’s eyes widened.

“Yes.”

Shin Inhyuk frowned.

“Hayul is in danger.”

Shin Hayul was currently in Jeju Island.

“T-then, we need to send support to Jeju Island quickly, what are you doing just standing there…”

Just as Charles was about to shout urgently.

“Shin Inhyuk. This…”

“I know.”

Suddenly, the surrounding sounds disappeared.

Mana [magical energy] was violently fluctuating.

Feeling that energy, Charles and Shin Inhyuk rose from their seats with serious expressions.

“L-Lord!”

Bang!

At that moment, someone burst into the study, throwing the door open, and shouted with an urgent expression.

“B-Black mages! Black mages have attacked!”

Who said it?

Misfortunes never come singly.

“You must evacuate immediately…!”

Kuuuuuung-!

At that moment, someone broke through the ceiling of the study and appeared.

“We haven’t even properly greeted each other yet, it would be a shame if you ran away.”

A giant who looked to be at least 2 meters tall.

His bulging muscles were prominent, befitting his large frame.

“Nice to meet you. Lord of the Magic God’s Family.”

The man took a stance.

The unique atmosphere of a skilled martial artist pressed down on Shin Inhyuk’s entire body.

“Then, goodbye.”

And the next moment.

Huuuuuuuuuung-!

The man’s fist, filled with immense mana, was swung.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

The shock, close to a storm, created by the man’s fist, turned half of the mansion into a wasteland.

* * *

The Abyssal Sea had gone berserk.

‘I was half-expecting it. It really went berserk.’

Immediately after hearing the news.

I immediately called my father.

There was a possibility that Hermes could be eavesdropping, so I had been refraining from contacting him as much as possible, but now was not the time to worry about that.

To somehow deal with the disaster of the Abyssal Sea going berserk, I needed my father’s help.

“I can’t reach him.”

However, I couldn’t reach my father.

Not just my father.

I couldn’t reach Commander Charles or the other Magic Tower Lords either.

I had tried to contact everyone I could connect with using the emergency contact device I had, but no one responded.

It wasn’t that there was a problem with the communication network.

Looking at the tourists in Jeju Island who were currently unable to do anything calling their families in Seoul, the communication network was definitely alive.

‘Then, did something happen in Seoul?’

If there wasn’t a problem with the communication network, then the problem was on their side.

That meant something had happened to my father and Commander Charles.

‘What happened?’

My head became complicated in an instant.

‘It’s about time for the spy sweep operation to be carried out. But that wouldn’t be a reason for them not to be able to receive calls…’

Korea was excluded from this spy sweep operation.

Even if the others were unable to receive calls because they were carrying out the spy sweep operation, my father should have received the call.

Since Korea was excluded from the operation, my father’s only job was to standby.

‘Did something happen to my father’s body? If an assassin sent by the Black Magic Tower targeted my father…’

No, if something that big had happened, I should have been contacted. That’s not it.

‘Then what is it…?’

Just as I was about to frown and get lost in thought.

“Hey, hey!”

Terun grabbed my sleeve and pulled it hard. An urgent voice, an urgent expression, and urgent gestures.

“Look, look at this. Here!”

He handed me his phone, showing me the news that had just been posted.

[Adding insult to injury, following the Abyssal Sea’s rampage…]

A headline that looked ominous at first glance.

“Black mages’ attack on Seoul…?”

The article was reporting the Black Magic Tower’s attack on Seoul.

‘At this timing…?’