The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 462

The war, which felt both short and long, had finally come to an end.

The result was our victory.

The world had succeeded in completely driving out the great evil known as the End God.

[Honoring the heroes who made today’s world possible.]

[Gratitude to the 36 heroes who survived.]

[And respect to the 72 heroes who left our side.]

The sacrifices were not small.

Out of the 108 elites gathered to confront the End God, a staggering 72 had died.

Among them were 21 8th-circle mages and 29 ‘Ki’-level swordsmen [Ki refers to a life force or energy used in martial arts].

Due to their deaths, the overall power of the world had weakened by about 70%.

This enormous loss of power threw the world into chaos.

[Monsters are frequently escaping from monster areas in various countries.]

[Experts say, ‘The feared aftereffects of the power loss have begun to hit.’]

With the power to suppress them gone, the monsters began to rampage even more fiercely.

[Crime rate up 107% compared to last year.]

[Is it due to the loss of suppression? Or because the economy is collapsing, making it harder for people to make a living?]

With the power to deal with criminals diminished, they too began to run rampant.

To make matters worse, the economic problems following the war disrupted lives, causing a massive increase in citizens turning to crime, and the crime rate more than doubled compared to the previous year.

[12 countries that did not participate in the final battle, commonly known as Ragnarok, declare war on the United States.]

In addition, problems arose in the political landscape of each country.

The power of the 80 or so countries, including the United States, that had risked everything to fight the End God was greatly reduced by this battle.

On the other hand, the power of the 15 countries that did not send support for their own benefit remained intact.

This caused a major shift in the power balance of each country.

The United States, which had unrivaled military power before the war, was no longer unrivaled.

The current power of the United States and its allies is less than that of the 12 countries that did not participate in the war.

If a war were to break out, the United States would suffer great damage.

[The 12 countries that declared war on the United States, commonly known as the ‘Twelve Nations,’ are met with global backlash.]

But fortunately, that did not happen.

The whole world rose up against the atrocities of the Twelve Nations.

[Italy. In this dangerous time for the world, we cannot stand by and watch the atrocities of the Twelve Nations, who declared war for their own gain.]

[Germany. Declares that it will mobilize all its forces to help the United States if war breaks out.]

They couldn’t tolerate the Twelve Nations declaring war when they should be focusing on stopping monsters and criminals.

Above all, they couldn’t stand to see those who had been quiet during the final battle with the End God suddenly running wild as soon as the End God disappeared.

[The Twelve Nations. Despite declarations of support for the United States from various countries, they state they will not withdraw their declaration of war.]

However, despite the declarations of support for the United States from various countries, the Twelve Nations did not back down.

They must have thought that they had a chance of winning even if they fought against all of them, now that the major powers, including the United States, had exhausted most of their strength.

[According to experts, the Twelve Nations currently hold the advantage.]

[It’s hard to admit, but the major powers, including the United States, have suffered too great a loss.]

[At this rate, defeat is certain.]

In fact, the United States was in a dire situation.

The losses suffered in the final battle were enormous.

[Before the aftereffects of the final battle have even been dealt with, will a new world war break out?]

Just as a new war was about to begin.

A force that had been silent all along began to move.

[The Mado Family. We cannot tolerate any more of these atrocities.]

The family led by the hero who played the biggest role in the final battle. The Mado Family.

After the final battle, the Mado Family, which had been silent until now, made its first public move.

[The Mado Family demands that all countries that have declared war withdraw their statements.]

[If this demand is refused, they will not hesitate to use force.]

It was an extremely arrogant demand.

It wasn’t a demand from a country, but a mere family making such a threatening demand to each country.

Normally, everyone would have dismissed it as nonsense.

But.

[Germany withdraws its statement.]

Surprisingly, they began to accept that arrogant and absurd demand.

[Starting with Italy, Brazil, and Switzerland, countries that had declared they would participate in the war are withdrawing their statements one after another.]

Everyone began to back down as if they had never been in a tense atmosphere.

[United States. We never intended to go to war in the first place.]

[The United States will always focus solely on its own defense.]

In the end, even the United States backed down. Despite being provoked first and being angrier than anyone else, they officially declared that they would not go to war.

[The United States highly values the achievements of the Mado Family and the hero Shin Ha-yul.]

[In this dangerous time for the world, we want to avoid doing anything that would further confuse the world.]

Everyone had backed down at the warning of a mere family.

This incident threw the world into chaos.

The Mado Family and Shin Ha-yul.

I know they achieved great things, but for powerful nations to back down so easily.

How strong is the Mado Family that they are reacting like this?

All communities were ablaze with talk about the Mado Family.

[The Twelve Nations. We have no intention of accepting such an absurd proposal.]

At that time, the Twelve Nations officially stated their position.

It was a natural refusal.

They had even declared war directly on the United States, so there was no way they would yield to the threats of a mere family.

Each community was once again set ablaze.

All the powerful nations, including the United States, had backed down at once.

The Twelve Nations scoffed and refused as if it were nonsense.

What could be the reason for such a dramatic difference between the two forces?

Why is the United States so docile, and why are the Twelve Nations so confident?

What does the Mado Family have?

All sorts of speculations were rampant.

[Ah. Could it be this?]

Then, a post like this was uploaded in one community.

[The reason why the United States and other countries backed down from the Mado Family isn’t because they were caught with a weakness, but because they are just scared of Shin Ha-yul of the Mado Family.]

[They must have seen Shin Ha-yul fighting in Ragnarok with their own eyes. They saw it and concluded that they couldn’t beat him.]

[But the Twelve Nations didn’t participate in Ragnarok, right? They don’t know how strong Shin Ha-yul is, so they can be so confident.]

[Could this be it?]

In the community, this post was dismissed as nonsense.

No matter how strong an individual’s power is, how strong could it be?

Is it possible that all the powerful nations, including the United States, would back down just because one person, Shin Ha-yul, is strong?

Such comments were posted one after another.

“…This makes sense, though.”

Looking at the post and the comments, the Chief of Staff of the President of the United States chuckled.

In fact, this was the reason why each country, including the United States, immediately backed down.

“You want us to fight those guys?”

The Chief of Staff shook his head.

During the battle, this man had seen with his own eyes through the combat drones how monstrous the power of Shin Ha-yul and his companions was.

He would rather not fight such monsters.

“Ugh.”

The Chief of Staff shuddered.

Just imagining it gave him chills.

“I suddenly feel sorry for them.”

The Chief of Staff stared blankly at the official statement of the Twelve Nations.

Selfish bastards who don’t care about the safety of the world and only think about their own gain. The Twelve Nations.

Until just now, he wanted to tear them apart.

But now, they look a bit pathetic.

“They should have participated in Ragnarok.”

If they had participated in Ragnarok, they wouldn’t have had to face a full-scale war with the Mado Family.

“Farewell.”

The Chief of Staff offered a small prayer.

He offered his sincere condolences to the Twelve Nations, who would have to face Shin Ha-yul directly.

Beep beep beep-!

At that moment, the phone in the Chief of Staff’s office rang.

The Chief of Staff quickly answered the phone.

“I’m on the phone.”

—I have something urgent to report.

It was the voice of the Chief of Staff’s direct subordinate, an employee in charge of on-site work.

“What is it?”

—Just now, the Twelve Nations have declared their surrender.

“…What?”

The Chief of Staff’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“They suddenly declared their surrender? Why…?”

—I don’t know the reason either. About 10 minutes ago, the Mado Family seemed to be making some kind of move…

“…10 minutes ago?”

—Yes. 10 minutes ago, we confirmed that the young masters of the Shinbiwi Family and the Stella Family entered the Mado Family. After that, all sorts of big shots, including the Blue Magic Tower Lord, also entered the Mado Family.

“The heroes of Ragnarok are gathering at the Mado Family…”

It was definitely an unusual move.

“But. If they gathered 10 minutes ago, there wouldn’t have been time to do anything.”

—Yes. That’s why I didn’t report it right away.

He judged that it was not enough just to know that they had gathered.

He was planning to report it when something became more clear.

“They gathered and 10 minutes later the Twelve Nations declared their surrender… It seems like there’s some connection…”

I don’t know what happened.

I can’t even imagine.

“Is there anything else to report?”

—No. That’s all for the report. I’ll contact you if I find out more and something becomes clear…

That’s when the man was about to finish his report.

—…What? What about the capital?

The man muttered in a shocked voice.

He seemed to be talking to someone.

“What’s wrong?”

—…I just got new information.

The man said in a trembling voice.

—The presidential residences located in the capitals of the countries belonging to the Twelve Nations…

The man swallowed hard.

—They have all disappeared at once.

“…Dis, disappeared?”

—Yes. There were no casualties. Only the buildings disappeared…

“What kind of bizarre…”

The Chief of Staff’s eyes trembled like aspen leaves.

Could it be…

“Could it be that Shin Ha-yul did it…?”

—Yes.

The man replied in a still trembling voice.

—Shin Ha-yul alone. He erased the presidential residences of the 12 countries one by one.

“…Heh, heh heh…”

A hollow laugh escaped from the Chief of Staff’s mouth.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

* * *

In the grand conference hall inside the Mado Family’s mansion, all sorts of big shots had gathered.

“…Is he going to make us wait here while he doesn’t even show his face?”

A woman who was once the leader of the Hunting Dogs and is now the vice-leader of the Savior organization. Sharle.

“Well, I’m sure he’s busy.”

Kim Kang-in, the head of the Blue Magic Tower.

“I heard from Terun that he hasn’t been sleeping lately and has been working on research all day.”

Adela, the young master of the Shinbiwi Family and the de facto head of the family.

“If I had known this was going to happen, I would have changed my clothes.”

The Stella Family, who had naturalized in Korea and succeeded in establishing a new family in Korea.

And the young master of the Stella Family.

Stella Vinosh.

“Come to think of it, you’re in your training clothes. Did you come during training?”

Ji Soon-chan, who recently became the official successor to the Blue Magic Tower Lord.

These five people were sitting around the conference hall.

“…Yes.”

Stella looked at her clothes and made a sad face.

“I thought it was urgent, so I came right away…”

She raised her arm and smelled it.

A faint smell of sweat could be felt.

She should have taken a shower.

“Don’t worry about it. Ha-yul isn’t the type to give you a hard time just because you smell a little sweaty. He’d be happy that you’re working hard.”

“…That’s not the problem.”

Stella sighed deeply.

Being praised for working hard and being recognized as a woman are as different as heaven and earth.

Right now, being recognized as a woman is more important than being praised.

‘This won’t do. I have to somehow surpass Mimir…’

Stella clenched her fist tightly.

At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to beat Mimir, who she spends 24 hours a day with.

If she didn’t do something, she would naturally lose.

“…Um. I’ll just go quickly and take a shower.”

Just as Stella was about to get up from her seat.

“I’m sorry. I’m a little late.”

The conference room door opened and Shin Ha-yul appeared.

Stella was startled and trembled slightly before quickly sitting back down.

‘Hing…’

If only he had come a little later.

She felt resentful towards Shin Ha-yul for no reason.

“…”

Adela looked at Stella and tilted her head.

She had become quite close to her lately, and she thought she knew what kind of person she was.

It seemed like she was mistaken.

‘…Why is she like this?’

She had no idea what she was thinking.

“The reason I gathered you all here today is…”

Shin Ha-yul said as he immediately moved to the conference hall platform.

“I know. It’s because of the Twelve Nations, right?”

Sharle interrupted Shin Ha-yul.

There was no other reason to summon everyone at this time.

“…? No. That matter has already been resolved.”

“…Huh?”

Sharle frowned as if to say, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’

“I just did a little show of force. They all say they’ll surrender.”

“…A show of force? How?”

Shin Ha-yul smiled slightly.

“I just, slightly. Erased the presidential residences all at once.”

“…The presidential residences? All 12 of them?”

“Yes. I used Ignis to burn down only the buildings all at once.”

“…When?”

“Just now.”

Sharle chuckled.

It was absurd.

“You’re talking about such a big thing as if you just went to the bathroom.”

“Well. It wasn’t really a big deal?”

“…Ah, is that so? That wasn’t a big deal. Something that almost caused World War III isn’t a big deal. Of course.”

Sharle laughed.

“Well, I didn’t think it would happen.”

Shin Ha-yul smiled.

“Okay. Anyway, it’s a relief that it’s resolved.”

Sharle laughed with an absurd expression.

“I also thought you called us because of the Twelve Nations, but it’s resolved.”

Kim Kang-in said with a surprised expression.

“If it’s not that, what is it?”

What could be the reason to gather everyone like this, other than the Twelve Nations?

“There’s something I want to tell you.”

Shin Ha-yul opened a PPT and displayed the data on the screen.

“I don’t know if this is good luck or bad luck…”

The data contained the following sentence.

[Analysis of the End God’s divine power and the calculation of his estimated resurrection date.]

Pointing to the data, Shin Ha-yul said.

“The End God will be resurrected again within 100 years.”

He said that the war was not completely over yet.