The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 366

The dragon soared towards the surface.

I glanced at the hole in the ground where the dragon had burst through, then approached Marco, who was quietly backing away.

‘I won’t let you escape.’

Without the dragon’s protection, Marco was just an ordinary 6th-circle mage [a mage of a high but not the highest rank].

There was no way for Marco to resist me now.

I grabbed Marco from behind and bound him with magic.

‘Let go, let go! You damn bastard! Do you know who I am…!’

‘Who are you? Just a talentless, pathetic, third-rate 6th-circle mage.’

‘…What?’

Marco was momentarily stunned.

He probably didn’t understand my words right away.

‘You… bastard….’

Then, as if he understood my words, he gritted his teeth with a flushed face.

‘Do you dislike that expression? Then, should I call you a typical moron who mistakes his subordinates’ achievements for his own and thinks he’s great?’

Marco’s gaze was filled with murderous intent.

‘You son of a bitch… I’ll kill you… No matter what it takes, I will definitely kill you!’

A chilling declaration of murder.

It was supposed to be a scary expression and words, but when Marco said it, it was more ridiculous than scary.

‘Yes. I’ll be waiting. Try to kill me whenever you get the chance.’

‘I will tear you to shreds…!’

As if his patience had completely run out, Marco shouted loudly.

‘Long sentences are not welcome. I don’t have that much time to spare.’

I cut off Marco’s words and headed towards the surface through the hole the dragon had made.

‘Ugh!’

Marco groaned in a flustered voice.

I ascended at top speed, without any protection for Marco.

He must have been forced to keep his mouth shut due to the immense air resistance.

‘I’m sorry I’m late.’

Near the gaping hole in the ground, my companions, including my father, were waiting.

I approached the three of them and threw Marco onto the ground as if discarding him.

‘Cough!’

Perhaps I threw him too hard, Marco let out a groan of pain.

It sounded like a bone might have broken.

Well, as long as he’s alive, it’s fine.

‘I’ll leave him to you. Please bind him well so he doesn’t die.’

Without turning my gaze to my companions, I looked up at the sky.

The dragon was hovering in the sky.

My gaze was fixed only on the dragon.

‘Do you not need support?’

Soon-chan.

No, this tone is Aslan-nim [a respectful title], who is occupying Soon-chan’s body.

‘Judging from the situation, it seems that the dragon has already broken free from his control. Without a shield, it will be difficult for you alone.’

As Aslan-nim said, the dragon had broken free from Marco’s control and was now free.

The strategy of using Marco to restrain the dragon’s actions was no longer viable.

I was now in a position where I had to face the dragon one-on-one.

And I couldn’t win against the dragon one-on-one.

‘It’s okay.’

However, that was the story from before.

I could easily win against the current Red Dragon even in a one-on-one fight.

‘The match is already decided.’

With those words, I slowly flew up into the sky.

The dragon, circling in the sky, stopped in mid-air as if facing me.

‘You didn’t run away because you already know what your future holds?’

With bloodied wings, it struggled to hover in place, glaring at me.

‘Or were you waiting because you had something to say to me?’

The Red Dragon’s eyes were shining clearly with its own will.

It was a world of difference from the vacant eyes of a puppet from before.

The Red Dragon in front of me now was aware that it was itself.

‘That is so.’

At that moment, a voice was heard directly in my head.

Telepathy.

It must be magic used by that dragon.

‘Mysterious mortal. I have something to ask you.’

Mysterious mortal.

It was a truly mysterious title.

Mortal meant a person who would surely die, that is, a human with a lifespan.

What did mysterious mean?

‘The root of your magic is similar to our magic system. Like breathing, no calculation is needed. The power to naturally handle mana and magic. The power of the mind.’

The basics of the Vaitern system were transmitted from the dragon’s mouth to my brain.

Even the name was the same.

I thought there were many similarities with the dragons’ magic. It seems that the Vaitern system was indeed created from the dragons’ magic.

‘Are you curious about how I learned this magic?’

I took the initiative.

Judging from the flow of the conversation, that’s probably what he was curious about.

‘No. That is not it.’

It wasn’t.

‘It is surprising that a mortal has acquired our magic system, but it is not a mysterious thing. What I am curious about is not how you learned our magic system.’

A bright light flowed from the dragon’s unique, vertically split eyes.

‘What I am curious about is the heterogeneous power that makes up a part of the magic system you are using.’

…Heterogeneous power?

‘Clearly, the structure of your magic is similar to ours. 85% is our magic.’

The dragon’s voice paused for a moment.

The movement of its wings also slowed down a bit.

It seemed to have reached its limit.

‘However, 15% is a completely different power. An unknown power different from ours. Never seen in gods or demons. Mysterious, yet…’

The dragon’s eyes, which had been shining with a different color, gradually began to darken.

Blink. Blink.

It blinked as if it were about to fall asleep.

‘…Unsettling power.’

Unsettling.

The Red Dragon’s anxiety, implied in those words, was directly transmitted to my brain.

‘…I see.’

The Red Dragon closed its eyes and muttered to itself as if it had understood something.

‘That expression. It seems you don’t know the details either.’

It seemed to have deduced my answer from my expression.

‘Then, the magic you wield is not magic you created.’

I didn’t answer.

I wasn’t sure if it was right to answer truthfully here, so I just remained silent.

‘I see.’

But silence seemed to be a sufficient answer for the Red Dragon.

‘Then, is that unsettling power the sin committed by the creator of that magic?’

‘…Sin?’

Sin.

Another ominous keyword popped out.

‘What do you mean by sin?’

No matter what, I couldn’t ignore that keyword.

I asked for a detailed explanation of the meaning of sin.

‘Sin is…’

At that moment, the Red Dragon’s body began to crumble.

Like a drought-stricken land.

Its body began to crack and collapse.

‘It’s time. Unfortunately, it seems there won’t be time to explain it.’

Beyond the rapidly collapsing red scales, blue scales could be seen.

Completely different from the Red Dragon’s splendid and noble scales.

Dark and shabby scales.

It was probably Drake’s scales.

‘Mysterious mortal.’

The Red Dragon’s body, turning into dust and scattering.

The Red Dragon, whose body had instantly disappeared by half, called out to me.

‘I will give you a warning and a request.’

Emotions like curiosity and anxiety had completely disappeared, and its eyes were serious.

‘The ones who put my soul into this inferior species’ body have the souls of nearly dozens of my brethren besides me.’

My eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

‘So please be careful. It won’t be like this time next time.’

Like this time.

It must be referring to how I used Marco to pressure the Red Dragon.

Even though it had lost its will, it seemed to remember the process of the battle.

‘And I ask you a favor.’

The Red Dragon, whose face was now only half left.

It stared intently at me with its one remaining intact eye.

‘Please send my brethren safely to the side of mana.’

At that moment, the Red Dragon’s body shone.

No, it was not the body, but the soul that shone.

‘This is… an advance payment.’

Last flash of life.

The Red Dragon’s soul blazed brightly for the last time, filled with unspoken wishes and desires.

‘Given your nature, you won’t be able to refuse if you receive an advance payment.’

Without stopping there, the light shone even brighter.

As if this was truly the end.

The Red Dragon’s soul shone brilliantly with the color of benevolence and sacrifice.

And the next moment.

‘What do you mean by advance payment…’

Flash-!

The light was concentrated at one point.

‘Ugh!’

It began to flow into my body.

‘I ask you. Mysterious mortal.’

A tremendous pain struck my body.

‘Successor!’

With Mimir’s urgent voice as the last thing I heard, my consciousness was cut off.

* * *

Shin In-hyuk caught Shin Ha-yul’s body, which had begun to free-fall after losing consciousness.

After that, he quickly returned to where they were and laid Shin Ha-yul down, checking his condition.

‘Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with his body.’

Adela let out a sigh of relief. He had suddenly lost consciousness and fallen, so she was worried that he had suffered a serious injury.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Shin Ha-yul’s body was perfectly fine.

The only slight problem was that his mana was somewhat unstable.

But this wasn’t that serious either.

It was also after a fierce battle, so it was within the normal range.

‘…He seems fine.’

Shin In-hyuk also let out a sigh of relief belatedly.

Shin In-hyuk didn’t have a magic eye, so it was impossible to accurately grasp Shin Ha-yul’s physical condition, but Shin In-hyuk had experience that Adela didn’t have.

He was capable enough to assess the condition of an injured person.

‘This side is fine too. He just fell asleep due to the choker overload.’

Adela, who had finished checking Shin Ha-yul’s condition one step ahead, checked the condition of Ji Soon-chan, who was lying on the opposite side.

Unlike Shin Ha-yul, who was frowning, Ji Soon-chan was sleeping soundly with a comfortable expression.

This side was just tired and fell asleep due to the synchronization with Aslan, nothing more and nothing less.

There seemed to be no need to worry about this side at all.

‘Mimir. What happened?’

Elena, who had been using synchronization to support Adela, released the synchronization and looked at Mimir.

‘Mimir?’

Mimir didn’t answer.

She was lost in her own world with a serious expression.

‘Mimir.’

The third call.

‘…Huh? Me? Did you call me?’

Only then did Mimir come to her senses.

‘Yes. I called you three times.’

‘Why?’

‘I asked what happened.’

‘Ah…’

Mimir trailed off for a moment.

Come to think of it, the people here didn’t know the details of the situation.

She muttered very quietly and was lost in thought for a moment.

‘…Where should I start?’

In fact, Mimir didn’t know the details of Shin Ha-yul’s condition either.

All she knew was that the Red Dragon had done something and left something with Shin Ha-yul.

That was the end of it.

It wasn’t a situation that was difficult to explain.

‘Should I say this?’

But the problem wasn’t whether it was easy or difficult to explain.

The key was whether it was okay to explain everything truthfully.

‘The sin of the Vaitern system. And the possibility of the resurrection of dozens of dragons… Can I say this based on my own judgment without the successor’s consent?’

Because the information was information, it was quite burdensome to handle things based on her own judgment.

Mimir, who pathologically hated causing trouble for Shin Ha-yul, had no choice but to worry more.

‘…Did he absorb the dragon’s mana?’

At that moment, words that pierced the root of the situation popped out of Adela’s mouth.

Mimir stared at Adela with a startled expression.

‘I see, that’s what it is.’

A reaction that seemed to be affirming it.

Adela nodded as if she understood.

‘…How did you know?’

Mimir asked in a low voice.

‘Recently, while training together, I’ve become the most knowledgeable about Ha-yul’s mana after Ha-yul himself. So…’

‘The heterogeneous mana that has permeated the successor’s mana… You were able to notice the dragon’s mana?’

‘Yes.’

‘…’

Mimir swallowed her surprise.

‘…She’s becoming a monster too.’

She was able to capture such a faint mana that even she, who was synchronizing with Shin Ha-yul’s mana, had difficulty feeling it.

It was a monstrous sense, literally.

‘He absorbed the dragon’s mana?’

Shin In-hyuk’s expression was distorted. The fact that he had absorbed the mana of that ferocious dragon didn’t sound good at all.

‘Isn’t that dangerous?’

‘You don’t have to worry about that.’

Mimir asserted.

‘It would be different if the mana had flowed in by chance. But the dragon willingly gave his mana to the successor.’

‘…The dragon willingly?’

‘Yeah.’

Since the story about the dragon’s mana had already come out of Adela’s mouth.

There was no need to hold back.

Mimir told the truth about what had just happened.

‘Um. So, to explain in order…’

Of course, all the talk about the Vaitern system was excluded.

This was something that should not be said to anyone.

‘Well, that’s roughly how it happened.’

About two minutes of explanation followed.

And then came the inevitable silence.

‘In other words…’

Breaking the silence, Shin In-hyuk spoke slowly.

‘We might have to face dozens more of those monstrous dragons. Is that what you’re saying?’

‘That’s right.’

The threat of the dragons was not over yet.