The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 378

That evening.

My father, who had been at the Blue House, and the Blue Magic Tower Master, returned.

And Commander Charles, Soonchan, and Adela, who had been in Japan, returned almost simultaneously.

I gathered all five of them and shared information about the current situation.

That Veil Stole had been partially resurrected.

That the dragon’s role was to supply energy, not to terrorize.

And that Sophia and Sein, along with the Black Magic King, had made a truce and could now fully assist us.

Lastly, I told them everything, including that Veil Stole was mistaking Sein for a Bytenar successor [a person who inherits the power of Bytenar, a powerful entity or lineage].

I shared all the information except for the story intertwined between the Bytenar way and black magic.

“…….”

“…….”

After all the talking was done.

Silence fell in the room.

Everyone must be busy organizing their thoughts after hearing so much at once.

“One. May I ask a question?”

Adela broke the silence and opened her mouth.

Her eyes were full of conviction, with no trace of doubt.

She must have already finished organizing her thoughts.

“Is it impossible to defeat Veil Stole right now?”

She had grasped the entire situation and even reached the core of the matter.

She was always good at understanding, but not to this extent.

It feels like her brain’s processing speed has accelerated since Elena joined her.

“To put it simply, it’s impossible. With our current power, we can’t defeat Veil Stole.”

“Even in his incomplete state?”

“Even in his incomplete state, he’s at the level of a 9-circle master [a mage of the highest rank]. We have no way to counter him right now.”

“A 9-circle master… More powerful than Sophia was two and a half years ago, but less than the Black Magic King. Is that about right?”

“You can think of it that way.”

The only one who can defeat Veil Stole right now is Sein Vinoche.

He is the unparalleled genius swordsman who has overcome his limits and reached the peak all on his own.

“If Sein didn’t have any restrictions, it would be checkmate from this moment on. But since Sein can’t oppose Veil Stole right now, we have no means to defeat him.”

“…I see.”

Adela smiled bitterly.

It was a smile that seemed to blame herself for her lack of power.

“Then what are you planning to do?”

My father, who had been quietly listening to me, spoke for the first time.

“There’s no way to defeat Veil Stole right now. But we can’t take time to prepare to defeat him either. Time is not on our side, but on Veil Stole’s, that monster’s side.”

Veil Stole is currently recovering his power.

The more time we give him, the stronger he will become exponentially.

If we just leave him alone, Veil Stole’s power will grow beyond our reach.

“It’s okay. Sophia and Sein will suppress Veil Stole’s growth.”

However, if we don’t leave him alone, things will be a bit different.

Sein and Sophia will slow down Veil Stole’s growth enough.

“How are they going to suppress him?”

“It’s simple.”

“…They’ll prevent Veil Stole from absorbing the dragon as much as possible. Is that it?”

At that moment, Adela interrupted me.

“Is that right?”

“That’s correct.”

She must have read my next words from the information given so far and my word ‘suppress’.

‘Her situation assessment speed is fast too.’

It seems that her brain’s processing speed is indeed getting faster, and it’s not just my imagination.

“Wasn’t Sein Vinoche unable to fight Veil Stole? How is he going to interfere?”

“That’s…”

“Sein Vinoche isn’t unable to fight Veil Stole, but he’s in a state where he can’t directly harm Veil Stole.”

Adela interrupted me again.

“In other words, he just needs to accurately destroy the dragon’s spirit without harming Veil Stole. With Sein’s current power, that should be possible. Right?”

“…That’s correct.”

I was robbed of my words again.

It’s a bit awkward.

“On the other hand, we can build our strength without any interference.”

Adela’s eyes sparkled.

“Then, at some point, we’ll surpass Veil Stole’s power.”

Veil Stole’s power is on a gradual upward curve due to the restrictions, while our power will be on a steep upward curve without any restrictions.

According to these curves, there will definitely come a moment when our power surpasses Veil Stole’s.

“At that time, we’ll defeat Veil Stole. That must be Hayul’s plan.”

Adela looked at me, asking with her eyes, ‘Right?’

“Everything you said is correct.”

Everything she said was correct.

She said exactly what I wanted to say.

“Except for one thing.”

However, there is one thing missing.

“…Is there something wrong?”

“It’s not wrong. There’s just a slight deficiency.”

Adela looked at me with a questioning expression.

“The statement that we can surpass Veil Stole someday if we build our strength as it is. There’s a slight flaw in that statement.”

“What…?”

“As you said, Veil Stole’s growth curve will be gradual for a while. Because Sein will suppress Veil Stole for sure.”

For now, things will proceed as Adela said.

“But. Sein’s interference can’t last forever.”

However, this situation will not last long.

“Even if Sein does his best, he can’t completely block 100% of Veil Stole’s growth. Veil Stole will grow little by little. And…”

That moment will come.

“There will come a moment when Sein can’t interfere with Veil Stole.”

The moment when Sein’s power will no longer be able to interfere with Veil Stole.

“If you’re talking about the time when Veil Stole will recover enough to surpass Sein’s power…”

“He doesn’t necessarily need to recover enough to surpass Sein’s power.”

“…Ah!”

Adela’s eyes widened with a look of realization.

“That’s right. Currently, Sein is burdened with the restriction that he can’t harm Veil Stole.”

“Right. Veil Stole doesn’t need to become strong enough to defeat Sein. He just needs to become strong enough to use his body as a shield to protect the dragon.”

The reason we can suppress Veil Stole’s growth is because Sein’s power is currently ‘overwhelmingly’ stronger than Veil Stole’s.

Because it’s overwhelming, he can interfere with Veil Stole even with the restriction that he can’t harm him.

But this overwhelming power difference is not eternal.

The power difference will continue to exist to some extent, but the word ‘overwhelming’ will disappear soon.

When that happens, it will become increasingly difficult for Sein to stop Veil Stole.

Then, Veil Stole’s growth curve will gradually become steeper.

At some point, it will surpass our growth curve and regain its full power.

“Sein said that the time he can perfectly suppress Veil Stole is about one month.”

That point is one month.

From one month after that point, his growth will start to accelerate.

“And he said that after two months, it will be close to impossible to stop him.”

And from two months after that point, it will start to gain momentum at a speed that surpasses our growth rate.

“In effect, the grace period is two months.”

“That’s right.”

In short, we only have two months of grace period left.

“We have to become stronger than Veil Stole within two months.”

I said, looking at Soonchan and Adela in turn.

Among the people in this room, the only ones with the potential to grow enough to surpass Veil Stole are me, Soonchan, and Adela.

Only we, who are receiving the full support of Elena, Aslan, and Mimir, can stand against Veil Stole.

“Right now, Elena and Aslan are planning in the Danteora’s Book [a magical book or space] to prepare for that.”

“Ah…”

“So that’s why they’ve been quiet since earlier.”

Elena, Aslan.

And Mimir and Tay.

The four of them are currently putting their heads together in the Danteora’s Book to plan the schedule ahead.

They will finish all the planning by tonight at the latest and deliver the plan to us.

“Maybe a little… no, a very dangerous training will continue for two months.”

Now is not the time to be picky about the means.

We have no choice but to take some risks.

“If things go wrong, your lifespan as a mage could be cut short. In the worst case, you could lose your life.”

The path we are about to take is a hellish one where even our lives cannot be guaranteed.

“Normally, I would ask if you would be willing to take the risk and train, but I’m sorry. This time, I’m going to ignore your opinions. If even one of you two is missing, this plan can’t be established.”

It’s almost impossible to become strong enough to fight Veil Stole 1:1 in two months.

But it’s a bit different if it’s 3:1.

If Adela and Soonchan cooperate, we have a good chance of winning even if our power is a little lacking.

“So…”

“That’s enough.”

At that moment, Soonchan interrupted me.

“This is too much of a disregard for us. Don’t you think so, Adela?”

“…”

Adela nodded slightly.

“We’re already running through hell in real-time. What’s another hell?”

Soonchan chuckled.

“This time, we have friends to walk with. What’s there to worry about? We just go.”

His mouth is smiling playfully, but his eyes are serious.

“I’ll try my best to keep pace with you, so don’t worry, friend.”

“…”

Adela stared at Soonchan with a blank expression.

“…”

I also stared intently at Soonchan.

Soonchan rubbed the bottom of his nose and smiled.

“You’re touched, aren’t you?”

A warm smile.

It was an expression that seemed to say that he was cool even though he was the one who said it.

“You don’t have to be so touched. It’s natural as a friend…”

“…Ugh.”

At that moment, Commander Charles pretended to vomit.

“…Stop. Stop it. It’s too cringey to watch.”

With an expression as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, he turned his head and shook it.

“Haha. Is that so? I thought it was nice. It’s like the prime of youth.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master smiled with his usual relaxed smile.

“I’ll try my best to keep pace with you. Friend. Wow. Isn’t it cool?”

“…”

At that moment, Soonchan’s ears turned red. He seemed to realize what he had said.

“…”

My father turned his head slightly.

He had a lot to say, but he wouldn’t say it.

It was a reaction and expression that conveyed that intention.

“No, that’s… what I mean is…”

Soonchan stammered with a flushed face.

“Adela. You know how I feel, right?”

He was flustered and suddenly seemed to remember something. He reached out to Adela for help.

I wonder if he thinks Adela will understand his feelings.

“…That’s, um…”

There’s no way.

There’s no way Adela could sympathize with that.

Even if she has become able to feel other people’s emotions to some extent, Adela is still Adela.

There’s no way she could sympathize with such embarrassing words.

“…I thought you were saying something a little embarrassing.”

“…”

What Adela offered was not a helping hand, but a final blow.

Soonchan’s face turned as red as it could possibly get, and he hung his head.

“Ughhhhh.”

He sat down on the spot and writhed in shame.

It was an expression that conveyed all the regrets and remorse in the world.

“Hehehe.”

Looking at Soonchan, Commander Charles laughed as if he was having the time of his life.

Is it because he was able to reunite with Sophia?

It’s the brightest expression I’ve seen on Commander Charles’ face in the past year.

“Well, let’s leave that embarrassing quote-maker as he is…”

“Quote-maker is a bit…”

Soonchan muttered in a small voice.

“If you don’t like quote-maker, should I call you the protagonist of a youth drama?”

“…Ughhhhh.”

Soonchan buried his face in the ground. He even covered his ears as if he didn’t want to hear anymore.

Looking at Soonchan, Commander Charles laughed out loud.

He looked very cheerful.

“Hehe. Let’s leave that embarrassing guy aside… I understand what you want to say, Hayul.”

He looked me straight in the eye with that expression.

“While you three focus on growth, we three old guys will focus on supporting Sein Vinoche and Madam. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

My father, Kim Kangin, and Commander Charles.

The three of them don’t have very high growth potential.

Even if they focus on training for two months, it will be difficult to achieve significant changes.

The only thing the three of them can do is to focus on supporting us so that we can focus 100% on our training.

“It’s a humble role. It doesn’t suit my personality in many ways.”

Commander Charles put his hands behind his head, leaned back on the sofa, and crossed his legs.

“But if we buy time, we can win, right?”

“Yes.”

I stared intently into Commander Charles’ eyes.

“Two months. Please buy us just two months.”

And I spoke with confidence and sincerity.

“Within two months, I will definitely become strong enough to overwhelm Veil Stole.”

The 8th circle is already within sight. And the 9th circle is not that far away either.

I don’t know why I feel this way.

I just feel it myself.

‘9th circle.’

The distant peak that felt so far away now somehow didn’t feel so far away.