The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 307

Meanwhile, at that time.

Hermes was working hard to direct the field operations from the situation room.

—This is Destroyer. Currently crushing Shin Inhyuk with great enthusiasm. Over.

—Rapid. Monitoring. All clear. Over.

—Distortion. Idly waiting. I wish I could just keep waiting like this. Haaah.

“……Confirmed.”

Despite the constant good reports coming in from the other executives in charge of the current attack, Hermes looked very displeased.

‘If I had known the Abyssal Sea was going to go berserk, I wouldn’t have bothered asking the other executives for help.’

The fact that the attack was successful is something to be happy about.

But the timing isn’t great.

No. The timing is actually very good, but it feels like I’ve lost out on something.

‘This just means I’m pointlessly sharing the credit with the other executives.’

If the Abyssal Sea had gone berserk just a little earlier, there would have been no need to ask for help from the three executives.

If the main forces were dispatched to the Abyssal Sea, the security in Seoul would naturally weaken.

Then, even without the help of other executives, they could have occupied the Magic God Family.

‘Or it could have gone berserk just two hours earlier.’

It was 13 hours ago that he contacted the other executives.

It would have been best if the Abyssal Sea had gone berserk before that.

But honestly, wishing for that is too greedy.

I just wish it had gone berserk just two hours, no, even one hour earlier.

‘Then I could have moved after all the forces in Seoul had left, and achieved my goal more easily.’

Since the attack started before the forces in Seoul had even left for the South Sea, the security in Seoul is naturally the same as usual.

Instead of using the Abyssal Sea as a diversion, it seems like Seoul has become the diversion.

If the Abyssal Sea had gone berserk just one hour earlier, he could have gained a lot.

Why did it have to go berserk at the same time?

Thanks to that, it feels like he’s lost out big time.

‘Ugh, annoying.’

Of course, even though the security in Seoul remains the same, the fact that there’s a problem in Busan means that the probability of support coming from other areas has disappeared, so it’s still a gain.

It’s definitely a gain in terms of timing, but the thought that he could have gained even more doesn’t sit well with him.

—This is Rapid. Shin Hayul still hasn’t been found.

And above all, the biggest problem is that Shin Hayul, who is the core of this operation, hasn’t been found yet.

There’s no way he can feel good about this.

‘What’s the point of the attack going well? The important Shin Hayul isn’t even here.’

Whether Destroyer succeeds in killing Shin Inhyuk or not.

Whether the Magic God Family is annihilated or not.

Unless he deals with Shin Hayul, it’s all meaningless.

‘It’s also bothering me that the Blue Magic Tower Lord hasn’t shown himself yet.’

He even prepared an opponent for the Blue Magic Tower Lord.

But there’s no news of the Blue Magic Tower Lord.

Thanks to that, his unease is doubled.

And that’s not all.

‘Not only the Blue Magic Tower, but the other magic towers are also ignoring Korea’s request for support…….’

For the sake of argument, he can understand why the Blue Magic Tower Lord hasn’t shown himself.

He might have suffered a major injury due to some incident.

Or he might have had a problem with his mana circle [a mage’s core of power] due to a backlash while researching something.

But he can’t understand why the other magic towers are also silent.

‘It’s not just the magic towers. More than half of the world-renowned archmages aren’t answering their calls.’

Including the prestigious families from all over the world, guilds, companies, alliances, associations, and so on.

All sorts of archmages who have ties with Korea are not answering their calls.

If it were another country, it would be understandable, but for so many archmages to remain silent to Korea’s request for support?

It’s impossible.

‘There are too many things that are bothering me.’

From start to finish, there are too many things that are bothering him.

That’s why Hermes is making such a complex and subtle expression right now.

Even though the attack is going well, nothing feels clear.

‘At this rate, I’ll disappoint the Black Magic King again.’

The Black Magic King has already given Hermes a pass twice.

There probably won’t be a third time.

If he fails this time, he will surely be disposed of.

Hermes bit his nails with an anxious expression.

‘……No matter what, I have to deal with Shin Hayul.’

Even to repay the Black Magic King’s trust.

Even to achieve his dream of creating his own country in the distant future.

He has to eliminate Shin Hayul no matter what.

Hermes placed both hands on the keyboard with a sharp expression.

‘I don’t know where he’s hiding, but in this chaotic situation, he’ll have no choice but to show himself.’

He doesn’t know where or how he’s hiding, but with both Seoul and Busan in danger, Shin Hayul will have no choice but to move.

Hermes squeezed out his mana to the limit and poured it into the computer.

‘Show yourself. Shin Hayul.’

All of Hermes’s senses were focused on the computer, connecting to the entire Korean peninsula’s radio wave network.

For the next hour or so.

Until Hermes’s mental strength is completely exhausted, no communication or video can escape Hermes’s eyes and ears.

* * *

“This confirms it. There will be no support from Seoul. No, they can’t send any.”

About 20 minutes had passed since the Abyssal Sea began to go berserk.

They had a grasp of the situation to some extent.

“Judging by the fact that we still can’t contact my father, the situation in Seoul seems to be quite serious. They won’t have the capacity to send support here.”

“There are three 8-circle mages in Seoul. If they can’t stop it, then what’s the scale of the attack?”

“At least three executives. The number of regular members is likely well over a hundred.”

In the worst case, all the existing executives might have been dispatched.

‘According to Shadow’s report, there are seven executives left, including Hermes. If all seven of them were dispatched…….’

Three 8-circle mages are nowhere near enough.

“Then does that mean we have to wait for support from other countries?”

“It would be good if support came from other countries, but…… I don’t think it will.”

“Why?”

Perhaps, it’s hard to expect support from other countries.

“Well. First of all, the targets that can be contacted with this communication device are not only my father and Commander Charles.”

I showed Terun the communication device and continued.

“This is designed to directly connect with the Blue Magic Tower Lord, the Green and Red Magic Tower Lords, and Sophia Anetschepri.”

“……So, Sophia Anetschepri? A communication device that can directly connect with her? How do you have something like that?”

“I’ll explain the details later. Anyway, the important thing is that I can contact Sophia with this communication device and…….”

I stared intently at the communication device and smiled bitterly.

“Sophia is silent.”

“……Why is that?”

“There’s only one reason why Sophia wouldn’t answer my call at this timing. She’s in the middle of an operation and doesn’t have time to answer.”

“Mission? What kind of mission would make Sophia move herself?”

“It’s a large-scale mission to eliminate all the Black Magic Tower spies who are hiding in each country, each company, and each prestigious family.”

“Black Magic Tower spies? What’s that about…….”

“I’ll explain this in detail later as well. There are too many things intertwined, so there’s not enough time to explain it now.”

Terun is already on the same boat as me anyway. Since we’re sharing the top-secret information of the Mimir Thesis [a powerful magical research paper], this level of secret is nothing.

“Anyway, Sophia is currently highly likely to be carrying out a large-scale, top-secret mission on a global scale. And with all sorts of archmages from each country.”

“That means…….”

“Yes. It’s a situation where support can’t come. The people who would send support are currently carrying out a top-secret mission, so they can’t be contacted.”

Since they are carrying out a top-secret mission to secretly eliminate the Black Magic Tower spies hiding in each country, they have no choice but to cut off contact with the outside world.

Especially with Hermes as a suppressor, they would be focusing on the mission while excluding communication.

It’s highly likely that Sophia doesn’t even know about the situation in Korea right now.

“No, but not all mages are deployed in the operation, right? So, shouldn’t some support be able to come?”

“60%.”

“What is?”

“The percentage of 7-circle or higher archmages that I know of who are participating in this spy elimination operation.”

“6, 60%? If that many mages are out of contact at the same time…….”

“Yes. In that situation, there’s no way other countries would send support.”

More than 60% of the existing major forces are out of contact.

In this situation, would each country quickly send support?

No way.

They would most likely postpone their answer.

I would too.

“But still, to some extent…….”

“Support will come, but…….”

Of course, not all countries will remain silent.

There will definitely be countries that will offer support.

But.

“Even if support comes, it will go to Seoul first. Between Seoul and Jeju Island, it’s obvious that Seoul should be prioritized.”

The capital of the country, a city where 13 million people live.

Seoul.

The government will definitely prioritize Seoul over Jeju Island.

The number of lives at stake is different.

“……Frankly speaking, even if support comes, there’s no guarantee that they can stop over 100,000 monsters.”

In the first place, Seoul and Jeju Island.

The difficulty of solving the incidents that occurred on both sides is too stark.

There’s a possibility that they can somehow stop the attack in Seoul.

But not Jeju Island.

The mass migration of over 100,000 sea monsters is not something that can be stopped with ordinary support.

“The more I hear, the more hopeless it sounds…….”

“Yes. We’re just too unlucky. Three incidents overlapping at the same time.”

The spy elimination operation.

The Black Magic Tower’s attack on Seoul.

The Abyssal Sea going berserk.

How can these three incidents overlap at the same time?

It’s too coincidental.

“Then what do we do? Should we run?”

“Logically speaking, that’s the most rational choice. It’s true that planes can’t take off due to the unstable mana coming from the Abyssal Sea…….”

Currently, the atmosphere around Jeju Island is a mess due to the Abyssal Sea going berserk. Planes can’t take off.

“Fortunately, we have Behemoth.”

But whether planes can take off or not is not our problem.

We just need to run away on Behemoth.

“I, I’m sorry, but that seems difficult.”

Terun lowered his head with a serious expression.

“I just connected with Behemoth and checked, and it’s impossible to break through the Abyssal Sea right now.”

“What’s the reason?”

“They’ve all lost their minds due to the berserk state, and they’ll attack indiscriminately, regardless of who they are……. Even if it’s himself, it’s impossible to break through that many monsters.”

“The intimidation of Behemoth doesn’t work on the current monsters. Is that what you’re saying?”

Thinking about it, it was obvious.

The berserk monsters wouldn’t back down because of Behemoth’s intimidation.

“Then that means the sea route is blocked for now.”

“That’s right.”

Terun’s expression darkened even more.

“It seems that escape is…….”

“Yes. It seems difficult.”

Planes won’t work.

Behemoth won’t work either.

Escape is impossible.

“Ah, wait a minute. Let me check one more thing.”

At that moment, one method came to mind.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see.”

I used ‘Pactio’ [a magical contract] using the ‘Stone of Covenant’.

In response to my call, Miho, who was resting in Dante’s Book, appeared.

“That’s…….”

“A nine-tailed fox. Her name is Miho. She’s my family.”

“A nine-tailed fox……?”

Terun muttered ‘nine-tailed fox, nine-tailed fox’ and fell into thought.

He had an expression as if he was thinking, ‘It’s the first time I’ve heard that name?’

“Miho, can you check if we can get out of this island?”

Perhaps, with Miho’s ‘Path of Souls’ [a magical ability to travel through souls], we might be able to do something.

At my question, Miho immediately looked around.

She must be checking the Path of Souls.

I waited patiently until Miho gave an answer.

About a minute passed.

Shaking her head.

Miho shook her head.

‘The Path of Souls doesn’t work either.’

I was hoping, but it seems that even the Path of Souls can’t break through.

Just like at Mount Baekdu before.

The Path of Souls seems to be greatly affected by the surrounding mana’s rampage.

“Miho says it’s not possible either. It seems that escape is impossible after all.”

Since Miho doesn’t have an answer either, there are no other options left.

Escape is impossible.

“Then the only option left is…….”

“Yes.”

Therefore, there is only one option left.

“We have to stop them.”

We have to deal with the monsters swarming from the Abyssal Sea.

“Somehow, with our current forces.”