The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 107

107

Darkness. An indescribably vast darkness exploded, dyeing even Rain’s consciousness and vision pitch black.

Even from afar, the reverberations of the explosion could be seen, a towering afterimage like a mountain.

A vortex of poison from the black magic swirled, causing the lush forests in the area to wither hideously.

“……?!”

Perhaps, in that instant, Rain could have adjusted the trajectory to prevent the damage from reaching them (though he couldn’t erase it due to his lack of mana)…….

But he deliberately didn’t. There was no need.

For some reason, the force and coordinates of the explosion weren’t directed toward them.

“What the hell are you…….”

Instead, in the aftermath of the poison, Valencidi’s left arm, barely visible, was gone. Rain was dumbfounded as blood poured from the severed area, soaking the ground.

Did he lose control of his mana?

No, not the great Valencidi?

In the chaos where his heart pounded like crazy, Valencidi pointed to the far side of the forest with his remaining right arm.

“Go. If you run that way, you can escape this carnage. The Special Task Force will be coming from that direction, so you can get help.”

“……?!”

“I lost this left arm in a match against you. And that’s how I lost you. My teacher won’t doubt it with this much.”

In that moment, something came over Rain, a realization that shouldn’t be expressed or felt. That something he had felt little by little during the festival…….

And another realization came.

That the attack Valencidi launched at the Papal Palace before was grand but lacked any real threat.

‘That bastard, is he trying to save me?’

To avoid suspicion, he deliberately used his maximum power magic and blew off his own left arm.

But why?

Why go this far?

Perhaps sensing the suspicion in Rain’s eyes, Valencidi, who had stopped the bleeding from his left arm with healing magic, said something difficult to understand.

“Looking at you is like looking in a mirror.”

“A mirror? What bullshit are you talking about!”

“Right now, all our actions are similar yet different, it seems like we can’t understand each other no matter what we do, but the action of turning our backs is the same…….”

But someday, someday when we meet again, we will be looking at the same place.

That’s what he believes.

Even though our origins, personalities, pasts, and presents are all different… we hold the same beliefs and walk toward the same future.

“I threw away this left arm for that day. That’s all… Now go. Before it’s too late.”

Valencidi’s figure, smiling bitterly as he turned his back, disappeared into the thick fog of poison in an instant, without any chance to grab him.

Don’t be ridiculous.

Don’t be ridiculous, you bastard.

What the hell is going on… such confusion swirled in his mind, but his legs were running north urgently.

‘First, I have to get Kasena to a safe place… There’s a Mad Dragon there anyway. I’ll fight after I recover my mana.’

Kasena, poisoned by the poison, was unconscious and breathing roughly. She needed to be properly treated away from the influence of the abyss.

How dare you show me kindness?

After solving the Kasena and mana problems, I’ll go straight back and cut off his breath for sure, without any warmth…….

That’s what he decided, but he knew better than anyone that he wouldn’t be able to do that when they met again.

– Thank you, Rain Ludwig.

He desperately moved his feet through the fog of the abyss. The soil corroded in an instant, causing his ankles to keep sinking, and he almost fell several times.

Even though he ran and ran, he only felt like he was floundering in a swamp. His whole body was sticky with sweat from the humid gale brought by the monsoon front.

It was clearly daytime, but the world was darker than a new moon due to the dark clouds that swallowed the sky and the fog of the abyss.

The sound of mana colliding was heard. Behind him, screams echoed endlessly from the city.

And finally, drip, drip, drip… a damp, fishy smell began to mix in the air, covering the sky with black stains.

The monsoon, which had instantly turned into thick raindrops, quickly took away the body temperature of Rain.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me…….’

He spread a barrier of wind in a semicircle to block the rain, but he couldn’t stop the ground from turning into mud, so his running speed gradually slowed down.

‘That black magician bastard, he’s really making me laugh…….’

One knee buckled on the mud, but he quickly regained his posture and started running.

He was annoyed by the rain that soaked his face, stung his eyes, and flowed down like tears.

– But I believe. Someday, someday when we meet again, we will be looking at the same place.

What’s with you, committing such a massacre?

Is he really suffering from some kind of mental illness?

It’s a supreme fact that there are no normal people among black magicians.

‘What the hell, what the hell is he…….’

The screams echoing in his ears were completely cut off by the sound of the pouring rain. That was the last normal explanation he could make.

At that moment, the tumor of the abyss, which had formed in the sky in a creepy shape, burst, and a dimension tore open, and a thick, dark blue vomit-like substance poured out.

Straight towards him, straight.

And, the countless eyeballs that the ‘something’ that vomited that vomit stared wide-eyed from beyond that crack met his gaze.

「Fou────」

「───nd」

「You────」

A voice echoing directly in his mind, an agony as if his whole body was being torn to pieces, his brain, his brain was shaking…….

Ah…….

His strength…….

The strength of his whole body slipped away, and the moment his knees buckled, he closed and opened his eyes, and that moment he was rolling on the ground with Kasena.

“Rain, Rain, Rain!”

Against the vomit that filled his vision, Pipi desperately and helplessly spread flames wide, at that very moment.

──────Click.

The sound of a finger snapping was the last thing he heard, and then it stopped… the time of the world.

Not any metaphorical expression, not any literary expression, but as if the story inside stops when you close a book.

To explain it roughly, the unidentified substance pouring straight down, or Pipi deploying flames, or that action, seemed to be fixed in a stopped state.

‘This is… how…….’

Of course, Rain couldn’t move either. It could be said to be the ultimate magic.

But…….

There was someone walking around in such a world as if it were natural.

「I’m afraid I’ll have to leave this land for a while.」

It was a truly unique outfit. It was all just a simple white robe that no race anywhere on the continent would wear.

But why does the glasses he wears on his face give the feeling of being more advanced than any civilization he has ever seen?

He couldn’t see his features because they flickered dimly like light or darkness, but he could tell at once that he was a being of a different level.

「If you think about it a little, you’ll know that these guys’ master is looking for you right now. He’s still a quick-witted guy.」

Who are you……?

Who the hell are you……?

As if to answer that question, as he approached, the Black Lamb hanging around his neck emitted a dazzling black light and resonated in the stopped world.

「Sometimes you call me the void, and sometimes you call me the truth? Strictly speaking, both are wrong.」

The truth, perhaps…… Before that conclusion of thought could be reached, the man snapped his fingers, and suddenly the whole world became small under his feet.

And the sight of the whole world visible at a glance, like a globe, was amazing. That’s what it should have been, but… this was a little different.

All the land he could see was covered in the abyss and melting miserably, and all the suns and moons were falling, turning into a world without a single ray of light.

「The encroachment of the abyss has begun. From now on, it will slowly eat away at the world and eventually become like that. Unfortunately, you can’t stop it.」

Without being able to say anything, he suddenly tapped Rain’s forehead with his index finger.

「The reason I brought you to this era in the first place wasn’t to stop that destruction. It’s to record and convey it, the light of the last era.」

The moment he thought a ripple had occurred from his fingertips, his vision went dark in an instant, and his consciousness plummeted to the bottom of endless darkness.

「You’re going to go to a rough land, but if you don’t give up until the end, you’ll be able to come back.」

Uh, ah……?

Darkness, into that deep darkness, as his consciousness was dragged away without any resistance, a meaningful voice rippled quietly in his ear.

「Now, it has begun… your life’s centennial journey.」

* * *

Only after the horse, which had been rushing urgently since dawn, collapsed foaming, did Keibon Ludwig and Brim Ludwig blankly pull on the reins.

“What the hell is this…….”

Haraldoniki was originally a beautiful city that embraced the sea to the east, surrounded by mountains to the west, coexisted with forests to the north, and had the Mad Dragon Road stretching out coolly to the south. It was a hall of art and religion.

But this appearance…….

Like rotten teeth, all the structures were melting and decaying, and the city was not only eerie but also hideous.

“Your Excellency, Madam!”

The family’s guardian knight, Swan, hurriedly led the cavalry, but the Ludwig couple did not wait for them and spurred their horses down the hill.

That can’t be.

That can’t be.

The letter that Madelia Page had urgently sent by Griffin a month ago contained unbelievable content.

“Stop!”

The soldiers of the Dunos Kingdom, who were controlling access at the city’s north gate, tried to block the road by crossing their spears, but someone waved their hand from inside.

“Let them in. He is Count Ludwig of the Holy Human Empire.”

The one who explained that to the soldiers was Doran Slade, the head of the Magic Enforcement Special Task Force.

His credibility was certain in any country, and when the gatekeeper nodded, the soldiers immediately withdrew their spears and grabbed the reins.

As soon as they did, the Ludwig couple immediately jumped out of their saddles and rushed to Doran.

“Doran, what the hell is going on…….”

“Let’s go inside first, as others need to pass through as well.”

Doran always had a smiling face, but now his complexion was full of fatigue and his eyes were sunken. There was no smile on his face either.

The situation inside the city was even more dire.

The buildings that were still intact were all converted into temporary hospitals, and all the beds were full of those who had not regained consciousness.

“They are all those who became the dead [people corrupted by the abyss] and then made a comeback. If the Mad Dragon had not filled the gap in the dimension, we would have had to kill them as they were.”

The dead are those who have been submerged in the abyss and can never return to their original state. They must be killed… even if they were family or friends until just now.

“Doran, I wish you would tell me what happened.”

“Someone built a large-scale magic circle centered on the Papal Palace. It’s a magic circle that shakes the seal of the world axis, and to put it simply, it seems like they were trying to summon one of the Forgotten Kings [powerful entities from the Abyss].”

“How is that possible? This is Haraldoniki……?”

A large-scale magic circle is only large in size, but the construction principle is the same as a general magic circle.

To complete it, meticulous work must be done not only on the subsidiary members but also on the central circle, and this is the headquarters of the Mad Dragon Corps.

How could such a thing be possible? Unless the corps collectively became blind and mute.

“Cardinal Yoshhar said that it seems like they used people as the central circle.”

“People?”

“I once obtained Tu Reina’s research book. Of course, it was a forbidden book, but it was about engraving magic on people’s bodies to construct the central circle or subsidiary members of a large-scale magic circle.”

Keibon, who had a thorough magical understanding, could only gasp.

He’s a disciple of the great magician and the great shaman, and his ability to come up with ideas far surpasses ordinary people… and even the ability to put that idea into practice.

Brim, who had been restless and listening to the story, interrupted with a hasty and sharp voice, unlike her usual self.

“That, that’s all good, so…! So where’s Rain? Where is Rain? Tell me where that child is, Doran, please.”

“And there were three suspects who were able to enter the Papal Palace without much suspicion on the day of the incident, and are now missing.”

“Doran!”

“Chief student Valencidi, and Rain Ludwig and Kasena Page, who came for the ceremonial event.”

The moment Doran silently listed those names, a shock that turned his mind blank passed through Brim’s heart.

“Valencidi is the prime suspect. It is presumed that he ran away with the main forces, but the other two have no evidence to prove their relationship with Tu Reina…….”

The moment Doran avoided his gaze as if he had no face to show, Brim, who understood everything her junior was about to say, lost her knees and knelt down powerlessly.

“We are currently releasing our subordinates to try to collect even the remains… I said the same thing to Madelia, Your Excellency. I’m really sorry, senior.”

The shock of the unexpected result was so strong that tears did not even come out at first.

No, she knew. She knew, but she had been desperately denying it.

Brim, staring blankly at the ground like a soulless person, finally covered her face with both hands and began to sob.

“No, that can’t be, that can’t be…….”

Keibon, who did not want to accept this situation until that moment, shook his head repeatedly.

“He can’t be dead. That child was a better magician than many adults… That’s right, Mad Dragon is well! If we ask His Holiness where those children are now, it will be fine, right?”

It is known that the divine power of Mad Dragon Haraderiman reaches all parts of the world. It would be no problem to confirm the life or death of that child.

“It’s impossible.”

He grabbed the last, really last, ray of hope and shouted so frantically, but Doran just shook his head weakly.

“This is top secret, but it is said that the Mad Dragon suffered a fatal wound when filling the gap in the abyss. In fact, it’s a miracle that he’s still alive.”

Doran, watching Keibon blink his eyes blankly and then helplessly drop his face, which was painfully distorted, drew a line on the impossible hope.

“I’m really sorry.”

That way, the Ludwig family will quickly give up and start training the next successor…….

The emotion Doran felt as he grabbed both of their shoulders once and then stepped aside was not sadness but an unfamiliar fear.

After confusing the Feyqueria [a race of magical beings] and dragging them to other lands, they attacked the Papal Palace, put the Mad Dragon, who had united and led humanity in the name of religion for a thousand years, in critical condition, and the body of the great magician is missing…….

‘The abyss is really awakening…….’

The age of dragons, that is, the golden age, was coming to an end, and a summer that had never been experienced before was coming.