The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 453

The Rebirth of a Mythical Archmage-454

Six days had passed since the Black Magic King deployed his barrier.

‘Six days… Has the battle really been going on for six whole days?’

Shin Inhyuk, who had been waiting outside the barrier, chuckled in disbelief as he stared at it.

How much stamina would one need to fight non-stop for six days?

‘What’s even more shocking is that it doesn’t seem like it’ll end in six days,’

The Blue Magic Tower Master shook his head, also chuckling in disbelief, just like Shin Inhyuk.

‘…I didn’t want to jinx it, so I didn’t say anything, but is there any point in us preparing out here?’

Charles, the squad leader, who was sitting on the opposite chair with his legs crossed, casually spoke up.

‘If Madam wins, she wins, and if she loses, we lose.’

These three had witnessed firsthand the immense power that Veil Stole was unleashing within the headquarters.

No matter how much they combined their strength, it would be impossible to defeat him.

The defeat of the Saint side meant their defeat as well.

All this preparation was pointless.

‘I know that much.’

‘You know?’

‘Yeah, I know. How could I not? I saw Veil Stole’s power with my own eyes.’

Shin Inhyuk and Kim Kangin were well aware that all their preparations were futile.

They were preparing despite knowing it was all in vain.

‘If you know it’s all useless, why are you doing this?’

Shin Inhyuk smirked and looked at Charles.

‘If the world were to end tomorrow, would you give up on living today?’

‘That’s…’

‘That’s it.’

Shin Inhyuk turned his gaze back to the barrier in front of him.

‘Even if we know the world will end tomorrow, even if these preparations are completely useless, we have no choice but to do this.’

It was a form of self-consolation.

They felt like they would go crazy if they didn’t at least prepare something.

‘…I see. That’s what it was.’

Charles closed his eyes and leaned back on the chair, arching his back like a bow.

He stared at the tent ceiling in that position and clicked his tongue.

‘With the situation like this, where the hell is Shin Hayul and what is he doing?’

He couldn’t help but feel resentful towards Shin Hayul.

Six days had already passed.

Madam had been holding out for six whole days.

Yet, Shin Hayul was nowhere to be found.

‘Hayul must be doing something important in his own way.’

‘…Important or not, if they break through now, everything’s over. He should come out, whether he’s ready or not.’

Charles sighed, looking frustrated.

‘Even if he did, the result wouldn’t change. The opponent is Veil Stole. He’s not someone you can defeat with half-baked preparations.’

Even if Shin Hayul stopped what he was doing and came out now, the result would still be defeat.

They couldn’t face Veil Stole with inadequate preparations.

‘Being fully prepared is good, but what’s the point if the world ends before you finish preparing? It’s better to be a little less prepared and at least put up a last struggle.’

‘If the preparations are too lacking, even a last struggle will be impossible.’

Charles and Shin Inhyuk glared at each other, each sticking to their own argument.

‘Okay, okay. Both of you, calm down.’

Kim Kangin, who had been quietly observing the situation, stepped in to mediate.

‘Both of your opinions are correct. There’s no reason to fight.’

The two turned their attention to Kim Kangin.

Kim Kangin smiled lightly, accepting their gazes.

‘The current situation is like a balance game.’

If they over-prepared and the situation outside ended, everything would be over.

Conversely, if they were too ill-prepared and lost to Veil, everything would also be over.

To win, they had to strike a good balance between the two.

‘Hayul will finish his calculations and appear at the exact right moment. So, let’s wait.’

Just as Kim Kangin finished mediating between the two,

Kugugugugu-!

Suddenly, the barrier began to shake violently.

The three of them burst out of the tent at the same time.

They looked up at the barrier, their guards raised to the maximum.

‘…The barrier is being destroyed.’

Charles said in a stiff voice.

‘We lost.’

Shin Inhyuk’s voice trembled.

Charles’s eyes shot up.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

Charles glared at Shin Inhyuk with sharp eyes and retorted.

‘Lost what! The fight hasn’t even started yet! Are you already giving up and talking nonsense! Nonsense! Get a grip!’

To conclude that they had already lost.

Was he even a man?

‘I didn’t mean we lost.’

Shin Inhyuk completely ignored Charles’s glare and only looked at the barrier.

‘I meant that Sophia and the others have lost.’

The barrier was collapsing miserably.

For the past six days, there had been no signs of destruction.

Yet, it had suddenly started to break down like this.

What did this mean?

‘And it’s not just a loss…’

The answer was simple.

‘It’s a crushing defeat.’

The caster who had deployed the barrier was instantly killed.

That was why the barrier was collapsing so miserably.

Pajik, pajijik!

As if cracks were slowly forming on the stained glass that filled the cathedral.

Cracks began to appear in the barrier.

An unknown energy flowed out through the cracks.

‘…!’

At the same time as sensing that energy, the three’s expressions and bodies stiffened.

They had only sensed a small amount of energy flowing out through the cracks.

Yet, their bodies wouldn’t move.

A feeling as if they had encountered an unknown monster that humans couldn’t handle.

Realizing that they were nothing more than prey for that monster, they felt like they had given up on everything.

Those were their reactions.

Pajik, pajik, jjaenggeurang-!!

At that moment, the barrier shattered completely.

* * *

An unknown energy slowly flowed out through the destroyed barrier.

‘You’re being a nuisance until the very end.’

A voice was heard faster than the energy flowing out.

It was a familiar man’s voice.

‘Six Paths of Hell. It was quite a troublesome magic. If it had been a little more complete, it might have lasted three more days.’

It was Veil Stole.

Jjaenggeurang!!

Then, the barrier was completely destroyed.

The black glass window completely disappeared, revealing the inside.

‘You can be proud.’

Veil Stole was looking down at a man.

‘You held me captive for six days. Something even the idiots of the divine realm couldn’t do, you accomplished as a mere human.’

The man was all black.

He had pale skin, as if he was dying, and his head was bowed.

‘That man is…’

Charles immediately recognized who the man was.

That face, those clothes. There was no way he wouldn’t know.

‘The Black Magic King?’

Was it possible that the Black Magic King had regained his original body?

Or had he changed his appearance with magic?

He didn’t know for sure, but it seemed certain that it was the Black Magic King himself.

‘One last time. I’ll make you an offer again. Cain Beneche. Become my apostle.’

Veil extended his hand to the Black Magic King.

‘You are not someone who should die in this place.’

The emotion of ‘greed’ flickered in the eyes of the End God.

He wanted to obtain this man.

He wanted to make this man his own.

The End God’s eyes were saying that.

‘…How many times do I have to say it?’

The Black Magic King replied in a dying voice.

It sounded as if his mouth was full of blood, with a bubbling sound.

‘I will not become your apostle.’

The Black Magic King laughed mockingly, as usual.

With a dying expression.

With eyes that had lost their focus, as if his sight had disappeared a long time ago.

He gathered all the fragments of malice that made him the Black Magic King.

And gave his last sneer.

‘I will die freely and obtain true freedom in the next life.’

The soul reincarnates.

Death doesn’t necessarily mean the end of this world.

‘This time for sure. As myself.’

Therefore, there was no fear of death.

Because he knew he would be reborn again.

Because he knew he would still be himself.

Death could not be a fear for the Black Magic King.

Death was only salvation and hope for him.

‘That’s a vain hope.’

The End God looked at the Black Magic King with a pitiful expression.

‘This world ends today. Your soul cannot reincarnate. Your life ends here today.’

With his last hope.

He extended his hand to the Black Magic King again.

‘So, become my apostle. If you don’t want to be under someone, I’m willing to grant you the authority to not listen to my orders.’

This was the maximum consideration that the End God could show.

It was an indication of how highly the End God valued the man called the Black Magic King.

‘That’s a bit tempting.’

The Black Magic King laughed in a dying voice.

‘But I refuse.’

His voice was barely audible.

The flame of his life was completely fading.

‘It would be better to get even half-baked freedom than to die.’

The Black Magic King laughed.

As if he was very happy.

‘The premise itself is wrong from the start.’

He squeezed out his last bit of strength, opened his mouth with a smile.

Forcibly moving his unmoving heart.

Forcibly operating his stiffened mouth.

He moved all the remaining mana to his vocal cords and spoke.

‘I will not die.’

Beyond the Black Magic King’s vision, which had turned completely black due to the loss of sight.

A faint light began to appear.

‘This world will not die either.’

A light that shone more brilliantly than anyone else was approaching this place.

‘…You’re finally here.’

The remaining corrupted mana around him was being purified.

Even the mana remaining in his body was being purified all at once.

The reason why he could see a light that shouldn’t be visible must be because of that.

The corrupted mana was sublimating into light, and he felt that light and thought, ‘I saw it.’

‘It’s my victory.’

Feeling the light growing larger and larger.

The Black Magic King called out to the End God for the last time.

‘And End God, it’s your defeat.’

The Black Magic King thought for the last time.

Ah. I want to live a little longer.

I want to live a little longer and see the spectacle that will unfold with these eyes.

‘It would definitely be…’

Fun.

The magic that Shin Hayul would unleash would be a great learning experience just by watching it.

It’s a shame. It’s truly a shame.

The Black Magic King smiled faintly.

He smiled and thought about the things that would happen in the future.

And.

‘…Foolish one.’

He fell asleep just like that.

He fell into an eternal sleep.

‘Truly foolish. Foolish.’

The End God frowned as he looked at the Black Magic King.

‘But, I will forgive you.’

The End God reached out his hand to the Black Magic King’s body.

‘You are destined to become my apostle.’

He would retrieve the Black Magic King’s soul and recreate it in the world he would create again.

From the beginning, the Black Magic King’s will didn’t matter.

The End God was an omnipotent god.

Reviving someone, killing someone, it was all up to him.

Forcing someone to become his apostle was nothing to him.

Asking the Black Magic King for his will was nothing more than consideration for the Black Magic King.

‘Sleep for now.’

Just as the End God was about to collect the Black Magic King’s soul.

Kwaaaaaang-!

Suddenly, lightning struck from the sky.

Seogeok-!

A blade-like lightning bolt struck down and blew off the End God’s right hand.

The End God frowned and raised his head, glaring at the place where the lightning had struck.

‘That guy is…’

A man was floating there.

He was looking down at the End God with an expression of extreme anger.

‘Is that the remaining half of the God of Humanity?’

The End God narrowed his eyes and shouted.

It was then.

Kwagwang! Kurururu….

The thunderclouds began to roar.

‘The primordial red gives birth to the world.’

A voice was heard through the roaring thunderclouds.

‘And conceives the beast of the sky.’

Mana was imbued in the voice.

‘That is, the birth of a new ‘color’.’

Chanting.

Shin Hayul’s words began to manifest a myth.

‘The fleeting brilliance that roams the sky.’

Myth magic.

There were two myths about Ignis.

One was the myth of the primordial ‘red’ that would burn the world to ashes.

And the other was the myth about the second primordial color created by the red.

‘The primordial yellow.’

The sky roared once more.

‘Strike down.’

And.

‘Ignis.’

A rain of lightning began to pour down.