The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 377

Stella cried herself to sleep.

Sein sat by the bed, stroking Stella’s hair as she slept.

He gently wiped away the dried tear tracks with his hand, a bitter smile on his face.

“I made you wait.”

His gaze still fixed on Stella, he spoke to me.

“You were watching too, so there’s no need for any further discussion. Veil Stole. That man is completely mistaken, thinking I’m a successor of the Veitern style.”

Sein’s gaze slowly turned to me.

“According to the Black Magic King, it seems that the Black Magic King’s soul, Sophia’s soul, and my soul were mixed up, causing such a misunderstanding.”

It’s similar, but slightly different.

The biggest reason Veil Stole mistook him for the Black Magic King this time was because the Black Magic King had dabbled in mythical magic.

The mixing of souls is the next reason.

“Personally, I can’t believe that Veil Stole, a figure who is the origin of black magic, would make such a mistake just because of a soul mix-up. I think there must be another reason.”

Sein took his hand off Stella and turned his body completely towards me.

“Hayul, you should be able to figure out the reason why Veil Stole is mistaken. You should be able to see through the truth.”

He chuckled, looking directly into my eyes.

“…No. You might have already figured it out.”

That’s correct.

I accurately grasped the structure and flow of Veil Stole’s misunderstanding.

“If you have reached that truth, or if you reach it in the future, don’t bother telling me the truth.”

Sein placed his hand on his chest.

He must be thinking of the Black Magic King inside his body.

“If you tell me the truth, not only Sophia and I, but also the Black Magic King will know the truth. That’s not something that should happen.”

We’ve managed to join hands now, but the Black Magic King is still an enemy.

It’s not right to give the enemy more information than necessary.

Especially since the information we’ve obtained this time is the core of the core.

It’s a secret among secrets, involving Veil Stole, black magic, and the Veitern style.

I can’t pass such important information to the Black Magic King.

“Yes, I understand.”

I’m sorry to Sein, but even if he hadn’t said that, I was planning to keep the information I obtained this time a secret.

The loss of information to the Black Magic King is greater than the benefit of telling Sein and Sophia the truth.

“I will focus all my efforts on fulfilling my role as bait.”

Sein and Sophia are firmly imprinted in Veil Stole’s eyes.

Veil Stole will only be wary of Sein and will focus all his efforts on preparing to face him.

Therefore, bait.

Sein is the best bait to lure Veil Stole.

“In the meantime, you prepare to face Veil Stole. Surpass Veil Stole’s growth rate. Become strong enough to overwhelm Veil Stole.”

While Veil Stole is distracted, I just need to build my strength.

I will build my strength faster than Veil Stole regains his, and then defeat Veil Stole.

This is the only way to deal with this situation.

“If you can’t defeat him, no one can stop Veil Stole.”

Currently, Sein and Sophia, the only people who can stand against Veil Stole, are unable to do so because of the Black Magic King’s soul.

The only one in this world who has a chance of winning against Veil Stole right now is me.

“In the meantime, leave the dragon’s disposal to me. I will also try my best to prevent Veil Stole from consuming the dragon’s soul.”

According to the original plan, I should have been focusing solely on training.

But the situation was so serious that I couldn’t leave the field.

I couldn’t just leave a dangerous object with the power of a nuclear bomb unattended once its mana was charged.

So, I had no choice but to give up on training to some extent.

At least until I completed the map that could pinpoint the dragon’s location, I couldn’t leave the field.

“I will stop the dragon even if it appears in its complete form.”

But now that Sein is able to be on the front lines, there’s no need for me to be there.

I don’t even need a map of the dragon’s location anymore.

Sein, freed from the shackles of the Black Magic King, is literally the strongest in the world.

Even a dragon can’t do anything to Sein.

“Yes, I will leave the dragon entirely to you, Sein.”

Furthermore, Sein can even jump through space using spatial cuts [a technique that allows instantaneous travel through space].

It’s as if the entire world is within Sein’s reach.

From the moment Sein joined us, the threat of the dragon has disappeared.

“While Sein and Sophia buy me time, I will focus solely on building my strength.”

“Yes. That’s the right thing to do.”

Sein turned his gaze away from me again and looked at Stella.

“Then, go do what you need to do.”

It was a subtle way of telling me to leave.

“Sein is…”

“I plan to stay here for a while.”

He looked at the sleeping Stella with a peaceful expression, a motherly smile on his face.

“If I’m not here when this child wakes up, she’ll think it’s a dream again. I plan to stay here until she opens her eyes.”

“…I see.”

I slowly got up from my seat.

“I understand. Then, I’ll tell the maid to make sure no one enters this room.”

“Please do.”

I bowed slightly to Sein and left the annex.

* * *

After that, I returned to my room and immediately headed to the Dante Roa library.

Mee-!

Miho greeted me as I entered the Dante Roa library.

She jumped into my arms and rubbed her face against my chest, acting cute.

I stroked Miho’s head and asked.

“Where are Mimir and Tei?”

Miho took her face off my chest and looked in one direction.

“There they are. Thank you.”

Miho buried her face in my chest again.

I hugged Miho and headed towards the bookshelf that Miho had pointed to.

“Your Highness, this information seems like it could be helpful.”

“What is it? Let me see.”

And as soon as I found Mimir and Tei, I was shocked.

“This seems somewhat related. Record that section separately.”

“Okay.”

Mimir and Tei.

The two, who were like cats and dogs, were sitting face to face, working together.

It was quite a shocking sight.

‘Tei is one thing, but for Mimir to even think about collaborating with Tei…’

Mimir, who was pathologically opposed to Tei interfering, claiming that managing the library was solely her role, was collaborating with Tei.

Knowing how much Mimir usually hated Tei, it was a sight that was enough to make me fall over in surprise.

“Mimir. Tei. What are you doing?”

They were so focused that they didn’t even notice my presence.

Both of them turned their gaze towards me with surprised expressions.

“You startled me… Successor. Make some noise when you come in. You scared me.”

Mimir had a clearly surprised expression.

“How long have you been watching?”

And Tei, who was trying to maintain a blank expression, seemed to be in shock.

“I came in making noise. Miho noticed right away and greeted me. Oh, and I just arrived.”

I answered, looking at Mimir and Tei in turn.

“Really? Were we too focused?”

Mimir just seemed to accept it.

“…”

On the other hand, Tei still had a shocked expression.

Even though they were focused, the fact that they completely missed my presence must have been quite a shock.

“What were you so focused on?”

In the past two and a half years.

Tei has never missed my presence even once.

For Tei to be so focused that he completely missed my presence, what could it be?

“Analyzing the structure of the Veitern style.”

“…The structure of the Veitern style?”

“Yeah.”

Earlier, right after returning to Korea using Umbra [a technique for teleportation], Mimir had returned to the Dante Roa library, saying that she wanted to investigate something separately.

That thing she wanted to investigate was the structure of the Veitern style.

“According to Veil Stole, the Veitern style is somewhat related to black magic, right?”

Veil Stole had said that the Veitern style had evolved by using black magic as nourishment.

That means that the Veitern style can absorb black magic. And if it can absorb it, it means that the two magics are somewhat related.

If they were completely different, absorption wouldn’t be possible.

“But. I heard from Father that the Veitern style and black magic are completely different, magics that originated from different roots.”

Mimir frowned, looking puzzled.

“There’s no way Father wouldn’t know what Veil Stole knows. So, that means Father lied. I’m wondering what the reason could be.”

Given my teacher’s personality, he wouldn’t have lied to glorify his achievements or to make the Veitern style seem like a unique magic.

There must be another reason.

“I thought that if I analyzed the structure of the Veitern style one by one, I might be able to find out the reason.”

By analyzing the structure of the Veitern style and the structure of black magic, she’s trying to find common ground.

That’s probably what she’s doing.

“And also to find out what the ‘sin’ that came out of the mouths of the Red Dragon and Veil Stole is.”

The 15% sin contained in the Veitern style.

There’s a high probability that we can find out about that sin by analyzing the structure of the Veitern style.

“But is it even possible to analyze the structure of the Veitern style?”

It wouldn’t be that difficult to grasp the external structure itself.

But what Mimir is trying to do now is not an analysis of the external structure, but the internal structure located deeper within.

The foundation of the Veitern style.

It’s not something you can find just because you want to.

“Honestly, it seems difficult… but it’s worth trying.”

A different light shone in Mimir’s eyes. The expression of a researcher who has found an interesting research topic.

Tei next to her was the same. A very interested look.

The only difference is that Mimir has a pure question as a researcher.

Tei, on the other hand, has the expression of a child who has found a toy that he can play with for a long time.

It was a truly fitting expression and reaction for the two of them.

“So, I’m sorry to say this, but I think I’ll have to stay here for a while.”

Mimir bowed her head slightly, looking apologetic.

“Oh, of course, if I’m needed in a real battle, I’ll go support you right away, so don’t worry about that.”

“I can train on my own, so don’t worry.”

Training is only meaningful if I do it on my own.

Mimir’s advice might be helpful, but there won’t be that many situations like that.

Considering efficiency, it’s right for me to train alone and for Mimir to do research here.

“Besides, there’s almost nothing you can do in this training anyway.”

“…Are you saying my support is useless?”

Mimir glared at me.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean that, literally, you can’t be of much help this time.”

I waved my hand and quickly continued.

“This training is only meaningful if I do it on my own.”

“Ah.”

Mimir’s eyes lit up as if she understood what I meant.

“That’s right. I’m thinking of starting the work of creating the eighth ring soon.”

I’ve digested more than 70% of the dragon’s mana.

It’s time to move on to the next stage.