The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 334

A sudden forest unfolded.

Plants were growing like crazy, centered around Adela.

And Stella, cutting down those plants, was looking at me.

I was momentarily stunned by the appearance of the completely unexpected forest magic.

“Successor. Get a grip. This isn’t the time to be spacing out.”

Mimir advised me to come to my senses.

A serious expression and tone.

Her voice was so serious that my tension instantly skyrocketed.

“That girl. She’s completely out of control. We need to calm her down.”

Adela’s mana was unusual.

Unlike Adela, who usually handles magic more gently than anyone else, the mana contained in the wood-attribute magic that Adela was currently unleashing was quite rough.

She was also frowning amidst the trees and flowers that filled the surroundings.

As Mimir said, it seemed clear that her magic was going out of control.

‘Let’s calm her down first. We can figure out the situation after that.’

Stella was also in a dangerous situation.

Dealing with this situation was the priority.

I immediately took action.

“Should I help?”

Mimir asked if she should support me.

“No. It’s okay.”

I answered while rotating the Infinity Circle [a core part of his magic system] in my body at maximum speed.

“It’s not like I need to use divine magic or high-powered magic. I can handle this alone.”

A strange light flashed in Mimir’s eyes.

“Ah, right. You said you were a 7-circle master.”

An intrigued expression.

She seemed to have noticed what I was about to do.

“Okay. Then I’ll watch.”

Mimir stepped back.

As if to not interfere with my mana manipulation at all.

She completely disappeared from my sight.

“I’m excited.”

Mimir’s voice was full of anticipation.

At that moment, the circles within me began to rotate in two directions.

One clockwise.

The other counterclockwise.

“What would a perfect neutral be like?”

Heaven’s Will and Reverse Will were rotating in perfect symmetry.

‘Perfect Neutral.’

And the impossible balance of two opposing concepts began to bring change to the world.

Heaven’s Will makes the flow of time flow normally.

Reverse Will makes the flow of time flow in reverse.

The collision of these two concepts can momentarily stop the world’s time.

“…Wow.”

In a world where everything had stopped.

In the quiet world that had inevitably coiled up.

Only Mimir’s exclamation filled the world.

“This is a perfect neutral…”

In this world, Mimir is the person who knows the most about the Vaitern system [a specific magic system] after my master.

Of course, she would have known about the perfect neutral.

“How is this even possible? Everything, including time, stops, and only the caster can move in that world.”

But knowing and seeing are different things.

There is a world of difference between knowing something conceptually and experiencing it firsthand.

Mimir’s surprise was natural.

“No, more than that, why didn’t Father use such amazing magic?”

Mimir muttered as if she was genuinely puzzled.

I could tell from her muttering.

Mimir didn’t know much about the peculiarities of the perfect neutral.

It seemed that the special nature or exceptions of the perfect neutral were not written in any literature.

“It’s simple.”

I answered Mimir’s question as I slowly walked through the stopped time.

“The perfect neutral wouldn’t work on Veil Stole. That’s why he didn’t use it.”

“It wouldn’t work? Why?”

“Why it doesn’t work. I don’t know that well either.”

I don’t know the theory of the perfect neutral exactly either.

My experience and number of attempts are still overwhelmingly insufficient to grasp everything.

“How can you be sure it won’t work if you don’t know the reason?”

“It didn’t work on the Black Magic King either.”

“Ah.”

Two and a half years ago.

In the final battle, I had clumsily displayed a perfect neutral against the Black Magic King.

Unlike now, the output was very low, but the stability was as outstanding as it is now.

In the perfect neutral, whose structure itself was perfect, the Black Magic King was moving freely.

He seemed to have some restrictions on his body, but he could clearly move at his own will.

And this means.

“The fact that the Black Magic King could move means that Veil Stole, who exists above him, is also likely to be able to move?”

“That’s right.”

This is what it means.

“The perfect neutral has the characteristic of stopping even the caster’s mana. So, there’s no point in using it against Veil Stole, who moves freely inside.”

“I guess so.”

Mimir nodded as if she understood.

“If that’s the hypothesis, then it makes sense why Father didn’t use the perfect neutral… Yeah. It seems right.”

The perfect neutral is not an invincible magic.

It is an ordinary magic with clear flaws, weaknesses, and countermeasures.

‘No. Is it a bit much to call it ‘ordinary’ even if I try?’

I stood in front of Adela with such a silly thought.

I slowly raised my hand and placed it on Adela’s forehead.

‘Well, I meant it was ordinary in a conceptual sense, not in terms of performance.’

And immediately, I began preparing to calm Adela’s mana.

Of course, it doesn’t make much sense to do this preparation since I can’t move mana in here either…

‘Perfect Neutral.’

‘Release.’

That’s a problem that can be solved by just making this world disappear.

The balance between Heaven’s Will and Reverse Will was broken, and the world regained its original laws.

“… !”

As if to prove that time was moving again, Adela’s surprised expression and rabbit-like widened eyes filled my retina.

I smiled faintly at Adela.

Then, I used the magic I had prepared in advance.

“Just close your eyes for a bit.”

Mana flowed through my palm and into Adela’s forehead.

Adela was instantly submerged in my mana.

Her eyes slowly closed.

Adela lost consciousness.

At the same time Adela fainted, the trees and flowers began to wither rapidly.

Breaking through the withering vines, Adela’s body began to fall.

I caught Adela’s body and held her in my arms.

“It’s over.”

Amidst the green that was disappearing in an instant.

I looked at Stella, who was standing blankly in the distance.

Stella was staring at me with a look as if she had seen a ghost.

“As expected…”

That gaze soon turned into a burning gaze of desire.

Not surprise, but understanding.

With an expression that clearly said, ‘That’s how it is,’ she smiled intriguingly.

It was a gaze of admiration that made the receiver feel a great burden.

* * *

After that.

Adela was asleep for about an hour.

It was a very quick awakening considering her mana had been completely shut down.

If she were an ordinary mage, she would have been asleep for at least 10 hours.

Even in such minor recovery abilities, Adela was surpassing the category of an ordinary mage.

“…I’m sorry.”

Adela, who had grasped the situation as soon as she woke up, immediately apologized.

She was sitting on her knees on the bed, her head bowed with a helpless expression.

“I’m sure I told you. Never use it when I’m not around.”

For reference, the person Adela is apologizing to is not me.

Of course, the person she is kneeling and facing is also not me.

“Wood-attribute magic is dangerous magic. I told you so many times to forget about it until I wake up again.”

Elena Ro Greenwood.

Adela was currently being thoroughly scolded by Elena.

“Your intuition told you so? Do you think it makes sense for a mage to act on a hunch? That’s a very great intuition. Telling you to use magic that you haven’t even properly used before.”

“…”

Adela’s face was pale.

She was completely overwhelmed by Elena.

“…Ugh. Just watching it brings back trauma.”

Mimir, who was hiding behind me, muttered softly in a voice only I could hear.

She shuddered with a colorful expression.

“Have you been scolded too?”

“Of course. There’s no one in the Empire who hasn’t been scolded by Elena.”

“Even Master?”

“Of course. Father was probably scolded the most.”

“…Wow.”

A vassal scolding a king.

It’s hard to imagine.

But, since it’s Elena, it’s also understandable.

“Do you understand? Mages must always be calm. In any crisis situation, you must maintain calmness and composure. That is the most important condition for a mage.”

“…Yes.”

Elena’s nagging poured out like a storm.

She was speaking calmly with a smile.

It was as if a tiger was growling, even though she was speaking calmly.

They say the scariest people are the ones who beat you with a smile.

It was even scarier because she was scolding with a smile like that.

‘I must never do anything to get scolded.’

It was such a terrifying force that I unconsciously made that resolution.

“…”

Adela’s pupils were shaking wildly.

Under her bowed head, she was glancing at me from time to time.

It was an emergency rescue signal, begging me to save her.

‘She’s been scolded enough.’

20 minutes since she woke up.

If she’s been scolded that much, Adela must have reflected enough.

It was time to lower the lifeline of salvation.

“Do you know? If Hayul hadn’t been there, you would have…”

“Th, Elena.”

At my call, Elena turned her head sharply.

“What is it?”

A sharp gaze.

Wow. It’s much more terrifying when you make direct eye contact.

It’s no wonder Adela was so flustered.

I almost took a step back without realizing it.

I suppressed the fear that was slowly rising and spoke the words I was about to say.

“How about we stop there? I think Adela is reflecting enough.”

“…”

Elena glared at me and Adela alternately with narrowed eyes.

Maybe it’s because her eyes are narrowed, but it’s scarier for no reason.

“The swordsman Adela was facing was a swordsman who had one foot… no, about a toe in the realm of the Mind Sword [a very advanced swordsmanship technique]. She must have felt that the opponent was about to use the Mind Sword and thought that was the only way at that moment.”

“…Huh?”

Elena’s eyes widened at my words.

“Did you just say Mind Sword?”

“Yes. Mind Sword.”

“You’re saying that he reached the level of being able to wield the Mind Sword at such a young age?”

“He’s not at the level of being able to wield it. As I said, he only slightly stepped on the tip of his foot. He only just got his toenail in.”

“It’s amazing even if it was just a hair’s breadth.”

The anger in Elena’s expression slowly began to subside.

“To be aiming for the Mind Sword at such a young age… That’s amazing. There wasn’t a swordsman like that in the Empire.”

Elena is the type who feels great reward in teaching someone.

Seeing talented children grow is a greater joy for her than anything else.

For Elena, the rapid progress of a genius like Stella would be an indescribable joy.

“Mind Sword. Mind Sword, huh. I see. Then that means your intuition wasn’t entirely wrong.”

Elena stared straight at Adela.

“There aren’t many magics that can counter the Mind Sword. If you felt the Mind Sword and used my magic to react to it… then that’s a perfectly reasonable judgment.”

The reason Elena was angry was because she thought Adela had not made a rational judgment in battle.

But what was the reality?

“Of course, even so, you still need to reflect on using magic that you haven’t even properly trained yet…”

Adela’s intuition was not wrong.

The only way to overcome that situation was Elena’s wood-attribute magic.

“Why didn’t you say so? If you had said that the opponent was trying to use the Mind Sword, I wouldn’t have been so angry.”

Reacting to the opponent’s Mind Sword and finding a countermeasure was something to be praised, not scolded.

Elena looked at Adela with a slightly apologetic expression.

“…Because I wasn’t sure.”

Adela answered slowly.

“Not sure?”

What didn’t she know?

“I wasn’t sure if the sword Stella was trying to use was the Mind Sword.”

Adela bowed her head with a shamefaced expression.

“I’m not very interested in swords… I only knew that there was something called the Mind Sword. So…”

“You only knew that the Mind Sword existed?”

Elena’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“But how did you react? No, before that, how did you discern a realm that you only knew the name of?”

Even though she didn’t know much about the Mind Sword, she felt the danger of the Mind Sword and reacted.

How was that possible?

“I just…”

Adela slowly opened her mouth with an expression that she didn’t know either.

“I just. I just thought of the Mind Sword, and I had the conviction that this was the only way to block that attack…”

Elena let out a small chuckle.

“…Goodness.”

Then she smiled and looked at me.

“So that’s why you entrusted this child to me.”

Her blood as a teacher was boiling.

“She’s more interesting than I thought.”

She was making such an expression.