The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 431

It wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Since Mora was slumbering within the Black Star, I had considered the possibility that the labyrinth might have absorbed some of Mora’s characteristics.

However.

‘I never imagined it would be able to rewind time to this extent…’

I hadn’t imagined it would be this powerful.

To absorb a characteristic as extraordinary as time reversal and imbue it into a monster.

‘Has Mora’s seal been broken?’

If Mora were still sealed within the seal orbit, this wouldn’t be possible.

Judging by the extent to which the characteristic has been absorbed, it’s highly likely that Mora’s seal has been broken.

‘If that’s the case…’

It means I could potentially acquire Mora on my own.

With the seal orbit broken, there’s no need for all four of us to gather.

‘Or perhaps that mass of flesh is absorbing Mora’s relic.’

Given how it’s wielding Mora’s power to a considerable degree, there’s a good chance it’s absorbing Mora’s main body.

If we defeat that monster, we might be able to obtain Mora.

…But.

‘The problem is defeating it.’

Even using Dissolutio [a powerful magic spell] didn’t kill it.

In other words, with my current power, I can’t inflict damage on it that can overcome time reversal.

‘Then the remaining option is…’

If there’s no way to overcome the restorative power of time reversal, then the only option is to neutralize time reversal itself.

‘But how do I neutralize it?’

But there’s a problem with that too.

It’s easy to say, ‘Just neutralize time reversal.’

But how do you stop an ability as extraordinary as time reversal?

I don’t have any ideas at the moment.

I have no clue how to stop such an absurd power.

“Mimir, do you think you can stop its time reversal?”

Perhaps Mimir might have come up with a solution.

“…I haven’t thought of a way yet.”

Yet.

That meant that if given more time or information, a solution might arise. That’s what he meant.

“What’s lacking?”

“Information. Time. And test values. I need data to compare with the initial data I’ve obtained.”

Just seeing it once isn’t enough.

We need to draw out its time reversal a bit more and observe it.

That’s what he meant.

“So…”

Then what I need to do is pretty much decided.

“You’re saying that I just need to keep smashing its body until you gather all the information?”

Mimir nodded.

“Yeah… That’s a simple yet difficult method.”

With Ignis [another powerful magic spell] not working, the only way I can damage it is with Dissolutio.

To destroy that mass of flesh, I have to use ‘Dissolutio’.

In other words, as Mimir said, to keep destroying it, I have no choice but to use ‘Dissolutio’ repeatedly.

Dissolutio, the wild horse that is undoubtedly the most unstable.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but please. This is the only way.”

Mimir looked at me with an apologetic expression.

He was sorry for not coming up with a better solution.

Mimir’s eyes were saying that.

“Just try to hold on.”

Squelch, squelch!

Then, the mass of flesh, which had been quiet for a while, began to spew out monsters again.

It had been in a defensive stance, but since we weren’t showing any action, it switched back to an offensive one.

“Why the long face?”

I made eye contact with Mimir, gave a small smile, and then turned my head towards the mass of flesh.

“Cheer up. Just coming up with a method here is amazing.”

I couldn’t think of any method at all.

Whether it’s a reckless method or not, just coming up with a method is amazing.

It’s a situation where he can be proud of himself.

“And well, when you think about it, it’s not that reckless of a request.”

From the flesh that fell off the mass of flesh, dozens, hundreds of monsters were born.

There seem to be at least two to three times more than before.

“…Why?”

Why isn’t it a reckless request? Mimir asked.

“If you were telling me to use Dissolutio more than five or six times repeatedly, then it would be a reckless request, but…”

I extended my right hand towards the approaching new monsters.

“There’s no way you won’t get a result by then.”

Dissolutio settled in my hand.

“About three times? I think a result will come out within that. How is that a reckless request?”

Mimir controlled the mana that was trying to escape my hand and focused it back into my hand.

“That’s an overestimation, no matter how you look at it.”

Mimir smiled wryly and placed his hand over mine.

“Three times is difficult…”

With our hands overlapping, he smiled faintly.

“We need to see it four times.”

Dissolutio left my grasp and began to race.

With the determination to destroy everything.

It charged forward like an enraged wild horse, with the momentum to crush everything that stood in its way.

“Four times…”

We looked at Dissolutio and recited the final activation words.

“Dissolutio.”

“Dissolutio.”

My words and Mimir’s overlapped.

Kuuuuuung-!

Dissolutio accelerated.

And.

Kwaaaaaang-!

“So, now there are three left?”

A hole was punched straight through the mass of flesh’s body.

At the same time, ‘time reversal’ activated.

A strange light flickered in Mimir’s eyes as he looked at the mass of flesh.

* * *

About 10 minutes had passed since then.

In that time, I had used Dissolutio a total of five times, successfully smashing the monster’s body four more times.

“…Hoo.”

I’m incredibly exhausted.

Including Ignis, I’ve used mythical magic a total of six times.

It would be strange if I weren’t exhausted.

‘…My head is fuzzy.’

Early signs of mental exhaustion are sending signals from all over my body.

It’s telling me to really rest now.

If I push myself again, I might just pass out.

My brain is warning me.

‘If I push myself, I could use it one more time, but…’

Two times is impossible.

There’s only one bullet left.

Squelch, squelch.

The mass of flesh squelching and rewinding time.

I glanced at it once, then slowly turned my gaze to Mimir.

‘This time…’

Has a result come out?

With that expectation, I stared at Mimir.

I wanted to ask what happened, but I didn’t voice the question.

The person who is most anxious in this situation is none other than Mimir.

I don’t want to put any more pressure on him.

There’s nothing that will change by pushing him here.

All I can do now is trust Mimir and wait until the end.

“…I’m sorry. I said I’d finish it in four times…”

Mimir opened his mouth with an apologetic expression.

His expression was as if he had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

Something didn’t go well.

It was an expression and words that were enough to make anyone think that.

‘Then one more time…’

I need to prepare the sixth Dissolutio immediately.

I immediately turned my gaze back and extended my right hand towards the mass of flesh.

And I began preparing for what would be the last Dissolutio.

However.

“I’m really sorry. For making you use it five times.”

Mimir stopped me.

“The analysis is complete. I’ve found a way to break it.”

“…What?”

My strength instantly drained away.

A result had come out.

“I thought…”

He was making such a serious face, I thought he hadn’t found a solution yet.

“If it’s resolved, make a happy face. I was mistaken.”

“How can I when the successor is having such a hard time… And I couldn’t keep my promise either…”

Mimir hung his head low.

He looked very dejected.

He was as down as he could possibly be.

Looking at that, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Even though he had clearly accomplished something amazing, the way he was self-deprecating was so like Mimir.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“So. How do I break it?”

The mass of flesh is currently in a defensive stance.

Could it be that its vigilance has reached its peak due to the continuous destruction?

Or is it recovering its strength?

I don’t know the exact reason, but it doesn’t seem to have any intention of switching to an offensive stance for a while.

Now is the perfect time to do something.

“We’re going to use Finis.”

“…Finis?”

“Yeah.”

Mimir turned his gaze towards my left forearm.

He was looking at the bracelet I was wearing on my arm.

“What are you going to do with Finis?”

“I’m going to use the power of Mora that makes up part of Finis to interfere with time reversal.”

“…Is that possible?”

I thought that since he had found a solution, he would have found a way to nullify time reversal or something.

But he found a way to interfere with time reversal itself?

“It’s possible. Finis showed us how it extracts and uses Mora’s power separately, right? I grasped the basic structure of Mora to some extent back then.”

“If you know the basic structure, you can modify it… Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

The power of Mora that Finis had extracted and condensed separately.

By adding the data obtained from observing that power to the data obtained from the monster using time reversal, he had created a means to interfere with time reversal.

That’s what he meant.

“…Okay. Then what do I need to do?”

Mimir pointed to the relic of Finis.

“It’s simple. Use Finis.”

“…Just using Finis is enough?”

“Yeah. I’ll be the one interfering with time reversal. The successor just needs to focus on using Finis.”

Mimir turned his gaze from my bracelet and glared at the mass of flesh.

I also focused my gaze on the mass of flesh.

“So, you’re saying that I just need to somehow inflict damage on it using Finis?”

“Yeah.”

To make the mass of flesh use ‘time reversal’ with Finis.

That’s the core and everything of this operation.

“It’s a relief that it’s not summoning monsters.”

Perhaps it’s because the monsters it spewed out only died without playing any role.

Or perhaps there’s another reason.

The monster hasn’t spewed out any monsters yet.

“Yeah. If there were as many obstacles as before, it would have been difficult.”

If the monster had spewed out monsters, it would have been difficult to inflict damage on its body with Finis.

It was truly a stroke of luck.

“Then…”

I extended my left hand as it was.

The relic of Finis, which absorbed my mana and emitted light.

Mimir’s left hand was placed over my left hand.

“Let’s finish this quickly before it summons monsters.”

“Yeah.”

The magic was quickly taking shape.

Even though it was the first time using this magic, there weren’t any elements that would be a problem.

‘Is it because of Dissolutio?’

Is it a relative comfort that comes from the experience of using Dissolutio repeatedly?

Or is it because Finis itself is a very docile power?

I don’t know for sure, but it was very comfortable.

“Hoo.”

I took a deep breath for the last time.

That was the signal.

The signal that all preparations were complete.

“Finis.”

“Finis.”

Once again, my words and Mimir’s overlapped.

The completed Finis flew like a gentle breeze.

Crunch!

It bit straight into the mass of flesh.

Finis, the mythical magic of boundaries and gaps.

True to its name, it created boundaries and gaps in the monster’s body and began to cut it in half.

‘Even looking at it again, its magic resistance is insane.’

Normally, it should have been split in half a long time ago and rolling on the floor separately.

But that mass of flesh’s magic resistance is strong enough to withstand Ignis.

No matter how powerful Finis is, it’s impossible to split the monster’s body in two.

All Finis can do is slightly twist and open the monster’s skin.

That’s all.

‘That’s all, but…’

That’s enough.

Squelch, squelch!

The mass of flesh, as if it couldn’t leave even the smallest wound alone, began to recover the wound using time reversal.

“Mimir!”

I looked at it and called out Mimir’s name.

“I’ve already finished it!”

And right then.

Swoosh…

The squelching of the mass of flesh stopped.

As if someone had pressed the pause button while rewinding a video.

All actions stopped.

“Reversing the time reversal to make it a normal flow…”

Mimir closed his eyes and focused on controlling Finis’s magic formula.

“Accelerate it…!”

The slight wound on the mass of flesh’s skin began to widen.

The phenomenon of the wound occurring was accelerated, creating an even larger wound.

The speed at which the wound widened was so fast that the wound, which was only about a hand span at first, had grown large enough to encircle the entire body of the monster after 10 seconds.

“Just get eaten by time and die…”

Mimir frowned as if he didn’t want to see it.

And immediately after that.

Squelch… squelch…

The monster’s body began to collapse.

A squelching that was different from the lively squelching from before.

The cells died, and the flesh began to fall off.

That was the end of it.

The mass of flesh shrank rapidly, as if the air was being let out of a balloon.

After a total of 20 seconds, the monster’s body had completely decomposed.

All that remained were the pieces of flesh that proved it had been alive.

“Whew…”

It seems like it’s resolved.

Just as I was letting out a sigh of relief.

“…Successor! Look over there!”

Mimir suddenly shouted with a surprised expression.

He was staring wide-eyed at the place where the mass of flesh had been just a moment ago.

“Over there… between the pieces of flesh!”

I quickly turned my gaze and looked in the direction Mimir was pointing.

‘A white jewel that resembles a clock…’

A jewel with a unique appearance caught my eye.

“…Mora?”

A jewel that appeared to be Mora’s relic.