The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 430

The Rebirth of a Mythical Archmage-431

I rejoined Stella, and immediately we opened the newly appeared door and continued on our way.

“I’m so relieved. I was really worried about what I would do alone.”

Stella sighed, genuinely sounding relieved.

“I really don’t know anything about labyrinths or dungeons…”

She gave a wry smile, looking apologetic.

“I think you would have done well on your own.”

“No. I can’t do anything by myself.”

Stella lowered her head and smiled wistfully.

I thought she had regained some confidence while we were progressing, but it seems she’s only regained ‘some’ of it.

It seems like it will still take a while for her to return to her original, dignified self.

“It’s a relief in many ways. She was the most worrying of the three,” Mimir chimed in from behind.

Stella’s expression didn’t change.

She still had her head down, wearing a bitter smile.

“Whatever. It’s a relief that we’ve joined up like this.”

The fact that the two of us have joined up means that they’ve likely joined up with Soonchan and Adela as well.

It’s much more stable to be split into groups of two rather than one each.

The difficulty of the dungeon itself might have increased as the space merged from four to two, but even considering that, joining up is much more beneficial.

The labyrinth only doubled in difficulty with the mana doubling, but we’ll be able to create synergy greater than three people now that we’re together.

“Did anything strange happen on your way here?”

“No, nothing did.”

“…Really? That’s unexpected. There was nothing on my side either, I thought there would be something on your side.”

If that’s the case, why did they bother splitting us into four at the beginning?

If they were just going to have us walk down empty corridors and join up with our teammates, why bother?

‘Was the goal just to randomly split us into pairs?’

That could be it.

If they were lucky enough to separate the front line and back line, it would be difficult in many ways.

…Of course, our party is all front line and back line, so it doesn’t matter.

“Um… won’t something come out if we just keep going?”

“Something will come out eventually.”

They won’t just let us walk without anything happening.

Monsters or traps will appear from time to time.

They said there were over 100 traps installed in the Black Star, so there’s no way there won’t be any traps.

“Let’s be careful from here on out. I’ll take the lead.”

“Yes.”

“If a new type of monster appears, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes. Leave them to me.”

Stella tapped the sword in its scabbard with her palm, wearing a confident smile.

“I’ll try to be as careful as possible too.”

Mimir stuck close behind me, eyes wide open, scanning our surroundings.

With my senses, Mimir’s analytical skills, and Stella’s speed, we should be able to break through easily.

Bring on any trap.

I walked forward with that confidence.

However.

‘Why is there nothing?’

There was no sign of traps or monsters.

We’ve been walking for a full 20 minutes, and nothing has appeared.

It’s unsettling how nothing is happening.

“…Why is it so quiet?” Stella asked coldly, frowning, as if the silence itself was making her uneasy.

“I don’t know. Usually, labyrinths and dungeons have monsters and traps prepared in proportion to the amount of mana they possess…”

There’s no sign of any monsters or anything.

What is going on?

“In that case… there might be a considerably strong monster waiting at the deepest part?”

There are no monsters or traps that match the amount of mana.

This means that there is a high possibility that a monster is monopolizing this vast amount of mana.

“Considering the amount of mana… it would be a tough opponent even if the two of us joined forces.”

“…Can a monster really be that strong?”

“It’s possible. Monsters can become anything if they have enough mana. We’ve actually seen monsters that completely nullify my magic, right?”

If such absurd monsters exist, there’s no reason why a monster with a different level of strength can’t exist.

“Personally, I hope it doesn’t have magic nullification.”

If it doesn’t have magic nullification, we can handle it somehow.

“Even if it has magic nullification, it’s not a big problem. Considering the value of that trait, its physical abilities will be greatly reduced as a trade-off. Stella Vinoche alone can handle that.”

“…That’s true.”

Now that I think about it, that’s right.

Considering the broken nature of the trait, the amount of mana required to possess it must be considerable.

As long as I’m with Stella, it’s not a trait I need to worry about too much.

I think I was too afraid of magic nullification.

“Stella, if a magic nullifying entity appears, please take care of it.”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

Stella, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it at my words.

“If an entity with physical attack nullification appears, leave it to me.”

“Yes. I’ll count on you then.”

Stella smiled brightly.

That’s when it happened.

Kugugugugung-!

The entire corridor suddenly began to shake.

It wasn’t an earthquake.

The vibration was too weak for an earthquake.

‘It’s like… the structure of the dungeon itself is changing…’

It felt like a vibration caused by the structure changing.

“Hayul!”

At that moment, Stella pushed me away.

And in that instant.

Shweeeeeeeek-!

Something whizzed past between us.

‘A spear?’

No. It wasn’t a spear.

A pillar. A pillar made of the same ore as the walls of this corridor whizzed past between us.

“Successor! Come again!”

Then, a second and third pillar flew in.

‘The target is…’

These pillars weren’t flying towards us.

‘Is this a trap to split us up?’

The pillars were flying exactly between me and Stella.

Four, five.

An uncountable number of pillars flew in.

“Hayul!”

Stella’s eyes could be seen through the gaps between the densely flying pillars.

Her eyes looked panicked, yet also determined.

“Be caref…!”

Stella’s words were cut short.

The pillars that followed completely blocked the gaps.

Judging by the fact that the sound was completely cut off mid-sentence, it seems to be a sturdy outer wall that can even block the movement of sound.

Kugung-!

The space vibrated once more as we were completely split in two.

The vibration was much weaker than before.

I slowly turned around and looked behind me.

“The wall… is opening?”

The wall was opening.

It moved smoothly as if it were a sliding door, creating a new path beyond the wall.

“…Successor. Here…”

Beyond the wall was an open space.

No, it wasn’t an open space, it was more like a large cavern.

It was too large to simply call it an open space.

“…It looks like a boss zone.”

Mimir pointed to a disgusting mass of flesh crouching in the distance.

“…It does look like it.”

A monster with a familiar appearance.

I’ve seen dozens of them on the way here, so there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize its appearance.

The only difference from those is its size.

“What’s so big?”

However, the difference in size was too great.

If the monsters we encountered at the beginning were the size of a large dog, the monster in front of us now was the size of a small villa.

“Could it be…”

Mimir swallowed hard and said.

“The monsters that attacked us at the beginning… were they part of that thing, or something?”

Mimir’s hypothesis soon became reality.

“…I think you’re right?”

Something dripped down like gum from the monster’s sticky flesh, and soon transformed into a monster.

As Mimir said, the monsters we encountered at the beginning seemed to be part of that thing.

Kigik, kigigigigik, kigik!

Thus, dozens of monsters were born from its skin.

They all turned their heads towards me at once.

And then, with a disgusting cry befitting their appearance, they began to rush towards me.

“…Successor!”

At Mimir’s command, I kicked off the ground.

And immediately prepared magic.

I fired it at them.

Paang!

But my magic couldn’t penetrate their skin.

It was a magic attack with all my power, but it didn’t leave a single scratch on their skin.

“Magic nullification…”

It seems that all of these guys have magic nullification.

There’s no chance of winning like this.

“Mimir!”

Mimir looked at me and nodded.

It was a signal that she was ready.

I also nodded slightly, signaling that I would start.

‘I couldn’t use it at the beginning because the mana was unstable, but here…!’

I can use it in this space.

“Ignis!”

“Ignis!”

I reached out my hand and recited the magic incantation.

My voice and Mimir’s voice echoed as one.

Whirr, whirrrrr!

The primordial flames that instantly filled the surroundings.

The flames of the mythical era that burn everything in the world.

It flew towards the monsters.

‘No matter how much magic nullification they have, they won’t be able to stop Ignis.’

There must be a limit to nullifying magic.

Ignis can break through.

I was sure of it.

Whirrrrr!

Kieeeeeeeek!

As I expected, Ignis succeeded in burning the monsters.

The dozens of monsters that were approaching me were engulfed in flames, screaming in pain as they rolled on the ground.

“…They still have their forms?”

It was a shocking sight.

To think that they could maintain their forms even after being hit directly by Ignis.

How powerful is magic nullification to be able to do that?

‘I can’t damage the main body like this.’

The magic resistance is too high.

With Ignis, I can’t break through these guys and damage that huge main body.

“Successor! Come again!”

Mimir shouted again.

The monsters that had just been born were crawling towards me.

‘Then this time…’

If Ignis doesn’t work, I just need to use a more powerful magic than Ignis.

A wild horse that can never be used when there are allies or in a confined space.

I’ll unleash it.

“Dissolutio!”

“Dissolutio!”

This time as well, my voice and Mimir’s voice echoed as one.

The Dissolutio that was activated at the same time.

The source of destruction coiled.

“Mimir! I’m telling you in advance, don’t even think about controlling it!”

“I know! You said to just unleash it!”

It’s impossible to control that raw energy 100%.

It’s the correct way to use Dissolutio to just let it loose.

Shweeeeeeeek-!

The gray energy rushed out wildly like a wild horse.

As if it would destroy everything in the space I designated.

It roared wildly and rampaged.

Kieeeeeeeek!

An overwhelming force.

The monsters that touched Dissolutio turned to dust and scattered into the air.

‘I can break through.’

Dissolutio continued to advance as if it had forgotten how to stop.

Trampling everything that came its way, it continued to move forward.

And.

‘It reached it.’

Dissolutio soon reached its target.

The huge mass of flesh.

Kwaaaaaak!

It pierced straight through the center of the disgusting boss monster that was endlessly birthing monsters.

“It’s done! We succeeded!”

Mimir cheered.

I also cheered inwardly, just like Mimir.

We succeeded in dealing with the main body.

The situation is over now.

Both Mimir and I thought so.

However.

Twitch.

Our expectations were soon shattered.

Twitch, twitch!

The flesh with a gaping hole in the center twitched and moved.

And then, a magic circle appeared above it.

A magic circle of a form I had never seen before.

A magic circle filled with all sorts of runes I had never seen before, from one to ten, enveloped the mass of flesh.

“Is it regenerating?”

Mimir’s eyes widened.

The mass of flesh began to regenerate.

No, the magic circle was restoring the mass of flesh.

“No, that’s not regeneration.”

Regeneration means accelerating cell division to forcibly heal wounds.

To see it return to its original state without cell division or anything like that, you can’t call it regeneration.

“If it’s not regeneration, then what is it?”

“That is…”

I focused my mana even more into my eyes and observed the state of the mass of flesh.

The fragments of flesh that had fallen off were defying gravity and returning to their original places.

It was like rewinding a video.

“Time reversal.”

The mass of flesh was going back in time.

“It’s reversing time.”

Using Mora’s power.