The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 426

Stella’s unexpected performance helped us overcome the first hurdle.

I brought Stella along as a backup, thinking she’d be a safety net for party balance and unforeseen situations, but who knew she’d pull off something this big right from the start?

I guess this is what they mean by a pleasant surprise.

“How did you cut it?”

Using the gap Stella created, we entered the Black Castle.

We’re slowly walking through a passage of unknown origin.

Mimir, sticking close to Stella, asked.

“Normally, it should have regenerated the moment it was cut. How?”

Mimir’s eyes were full of curiosity.

She seemed to be bursting with interest after seeing Stella’s skill.

“…Just because.”

Where did the confident look she had right after cutting the mana go?

Stella, who had become timid again, answered in a small voice.

“I… I cut all the linked mana clusters, one by one.”

“…What?”

She’s saying something unbelievable with the most timid expression and voice.

“You cut them all?”

“Yes.”

“If my guess is correct, there should have been at least a few hundred clusters. You cut them all one by one?”

“Yes.”

“All at the same time?”

“Y-yes.”

“……”

Mimir was completely dumbfounded.

What kind of monster is this?

Mimir’s eyes were saying just that.

“You… what are you?”

Mimir looked at Stella with an expression as if she was looking at a research subject.

What is she really?

That was the look and the gaze she was giving.

“That’s… Even Sein Vinoche can’t do that.”

“My mother…!”

Stella shouted with a momentarily flustered expression.

She seemed momentarily upset by the words that seemed to disregard Sein.

“…What I can do, my mother can do too.”

Her fluster was brief.

Stella quickly regained her composure and calmly denied Mimir’s words.

Her voice still had a hint of heat, as if she was still upset.

“No. She can’t.”

Mimir denied it once again.

Stella’s brow furrowed.

Her eyes, glaring at Mimir, were sharp.

“Sein Vinoche’s sword is better known to me and her successor than you. The swordsmanship you just showed is a skill that even Sein can’t do.”

“……”

Stella, still maintaining a sharp expression, turned her gaze to me.

She was asking me about the truth of that opinion.

“It’s true.”

I slowly nodded my head.

“Cutting hundreds of mana clusters at the same time is impossible, even for Sein.”

Sein would have been able to cut hundreds of ordinary objects at the same time.

But what Stella cut this time was not an ordinary object, but mana.

Moreover, it was a mana cluster located in a place where all sorts of mana were mixed together.

Cutting hundreds of those at the same time is impossible, even for Sein.

“That’s….”

“Sein’s sword is a power sword, if you had to pick one. Such delicate control is impossible.”

“……”

Stella, who was about to argue, closed her mouth again.

Stella herself would know best that Sein’s sword is a power sword.

She wouldn’t be able to think of a rebuttal.

“She might have been able to cut the entire space in one blow, though.”

Sein Vinoche’s sword could cut a tree in half, but it couldn’t cut out only the rotten parts of the tree.

That’s the nature of the sword.

“Anyway, you’re the only one who can show the skill of removing hundreds of mana clusters at the same time.”

Stella’s sword is a finesse sword.

It’s a sword that’s more adept at control than power.

That’s why she was able to show such a skill.

‘Even so, to be able to use the Heart Sword [a secret sword technique] so delicately…’

What on earth happened in the past few weeks?

What kind of lessons did Sein give, and how did she do it, to grow this much?

“…So, you weren’t just saying empty words.”

“Empty words?”

“Ah.”

It seems like my thoughts came out of my mouth without me realizing it.

“No. It’s just. I was reminded of something Sein said.”

“What did my mother… say?”

“That my daughter’s talent is at a level that surpasses me.”

She said that since this is her lowest point, it would be good to buy her out.

She said something like that.

“My mother did?”

“Yeah.”

“…Really?”

“Of course, it’s true.”

Why would I lie about something like this?

“I… I only got scolded throughout the training?”

“You got scolded?”

“Yes. She kept saying, ‘Is this all you can do…?’”

“……”

So, ‘this is all you can do’ is cutting hundreds of mana at the same time with the Heart Sword.

I see.

‘Hmm…’

Isn’t the wall of ‘this is all you can do’ too high?

“Maybe, she just meant it as a way to tell you to work harder?”

“Do you… think so?”

“That’s probably it.”

Given Sein’s personality, she wouldn’t be one to give praise often.

She probably just intended to raise her with a whip.

“I see. My mother…”

Stella’s lips twitched.

An expression that she couldn’t contain her joy. Is she that happy to be recognized by Sein?

‘…No, that’s not it.’

When I think about it, it’s natural to be happy. Being recognized by Sein as a swordsman is like the highest praise.

It’s only natural to be happy when you’re recognized.

“Whatever it is, I feel a bit relieved.”

Mimir clasped her hands behind her neck and lay back.

It was as if she was lying on an invisible sofa.

“Now that I think about it, I was secretly worried that you might hold us back.”

“…I, I’m sorry.”

Stella slightly lowered her head with a sorry expression.

“There you go again. That’s the problem. You know that?”

Mimir moved her body and brought her face right in front of Stella’s face.

“Have some confidence. I was worried about you holding us back until just now, but I don’t think that at all now.”

“…Yes.”

She’s nodding her head with an expression that shows no confidence at all.

It was an expression that was hard to believe.

“……”

Mimir looked at Stella with a strange expression.

Should I trust her, or not?

That was the expression she seemed to be making.

“Ah.”

At that moment, Stella exclaimed with a surprised expression.

A sharp expression in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, she had the cold expression of a swordsman, with no trace of timidity.

Swish-!

In that state, she drew her sword.

Following the subtleties of the quick draw, she quickly drew her sword and swung it.

Then, she sheathed it again.

The process took less than 0.5 seconds.

“…What was that?”

Mimir asked, implying what she had done.

Stella took her hand off her sword and pointed behind Mimir.

Mimir slowly turned her body and looked at where Stella was pointing.

“…Eek!”

Mimir shrieked with a pale face.

A terrified expression. A defensive action that showed clear aversion.

“What is that disgusting thing!”

Where Stella pointed, there was a monster.

A bug-like monster, cut in half, as if by Stella’s sword.

“It’s creepy…”

No, it would be more accurate to say it was a monster in the form of a bug.

It just looked like a bug, but it wasn’t really like a bug.

“Ugh.”

Mimir looked at the corpse for a while, then turned her head away, unable to watch any longer, and gagged.

It was an understandable reaction.

Even I’m having a hard time looking at it right now, it’s a monster with a disgusting appearance.

It’s understandable.

“…What is this monster?”

Only Stella among us had a calm expression.

Does she not feel any emotion even after seeing that disgusting appearance?

To not feel any aversion even after seeing a monster that looks like all the filth and grime in the world combined into the form of a maggot.

If so, she can be said to have a great stomach.

“Hayul?”

“…Ah.”

I came to my senses at Stella’s call. The appearance was so disgusting that my thoughts had momentarily stopped.

“I don’t know. It’s a monster I’ve never seen before.”

I looked at the monster’s appearance again, scrutinizing it.

I still don’t know.

It’s a monster that’s not in my memory.

“What about you, Mimir?”

“…I don’t know! I don’t have any memory of a monster like that!”

Mimir answered, turning her head away as if she didn’t want to see it.

“…Hmm. If both of you don’t know, it means there’s a high possibility that it’s a new type of monster. Does that mean it’s an unknown monster born from this mana gap?”

“That’s highly likely.”

Monsters are unknown life forms born from mana.

This is a place where it wouldn’t be strange for a monster to be born.

“Anyway, a new type of monster…”

I examined the monster once more and then got up from my spot.

“Adela. Soonchan. Over here. Come this way.”

Adela and Soonchan, who had been leading the way and focusing on guarding the surroundings, approached us.

“Why? Are we already switching…”

Soonchan was saying something, but suddenly covered his mouth with his hand.

He must have been disgusted by the sight of the monster’s corpse.

“Ugh. What is that thing? Where did it come from?”

It seems he barely managed to suppress the stomach acid that was about to come up.

Soonchan opened his mouth again.

“So, you didn’t notice it either.”

I took my eyes off Soonchan and turned my gaze to Adela, who was standing blankly next to him.

“Adela, what about you?”

“…I didn’t know. There was an attack from behind.”

Adela was the same as Soonchan. Neither of them had sensed the appearance of this monster at all.

“…So, both of you didn’t know at all. This is a big problem.”

This is the problem.

The monster’s appearance is something we can get used to, but the fact that it can’t be sensed is the problem.

“This monster. It seems to be designed so that mages can’t sense it.”

“…Mages can’t sense it? How is that even possible?”

“According to the Black Magic King, there were dozens of anti-magic traps and magic circles installed inside. If it’s a monster born from those magic circles, wouldn’t that be possible?”

Usually, monsters have characteristics and appearances that match the mana at the time of their birth.

That new monster must have also been influenced by the various mana properties that exist within this place, and its characteristics were determined.

It wouldn’t be strange if it gained a trait that ignores the senses of mages from a magic circle that nullifies mages.

“A monster that mages can’t sense…”

Soonchan frowned with a troubled expression.

“Wait a minute. Mages means…”

Soonchan shouted with an expression as if he had realized something.

“Then, does that mean you can’t sense it either, Hayul?”

“…Yeah. I’m the same as you guys.”

It wasn’t just Adela or Soonchan who didn’t sense the monster’s attack.

I’m the same.

If Stella hadn’t moved, I would have been seriously injured.

“…Then what? The only person who can sense this monster right now is…”

Everyone’s gaze focused on Stella.

“That’s right. It’s only Stella.”

A knight, not a mage.

Stella is the only one who can respond to this monster’s attack.

“Uh… that…”

Stella stuttered, seemingly flustered by the sudden attention.

She must be feeling burdened by the attention.

“That…”

Just as Stella was about to say something.

Stella’s expression changed again.

Just like before, she had the cold expression of a swordsman.

I could tell just from that expression.

An attack.

That monster from before must have reappeared.

‘This is perfect.’

I shouted at Stella.

“Stop!”

Stella, who had been holding her sword, flinched and stopped.

“There’s something I want to test. I’ll do it.”

I looked at where Stella was looking.

I couldn’t see anything, and I couldn’t feel anything.

But Stella is looking at this place.

That means there’s a monster here.

I raised my hand and shot a fireball with all my power.

Whoosh!

A fireball with the power of an 8th circle [a high-level magic spell].

It collided with the invisible monster.

And.

Kikikikikik!

The fireball disappeared with a creepy laugh.

It disappeared completely without a trace.

“Magic… nullification…”

Adela was shocked.

“…I was half-expecting it. It’s real.”

A new type of monster with the characteristic of not being sensed by mages.

A special monster born and evolved by the Black Castle.

“This monster. It even has the ability to swallow magic.”

This monster is the natural enemy of mages.