The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 49

49

“Me…?”

In the end, I couldn’t help but mutter dumbly to myself like an idiot.

Is this even possible?

Lynn never had any descendants, right? Or is this what a doppelganger is? But it’s not just similar; how can it be exactly the same?

“You know, I really hate fighting strong enemies. It’s no fun. It’s just tiring.”

“…?”

“The most fun is crushing guys weaker than me.”

Was it my downfall that I was lost in confusion, my breathing becoming rapid?

Into the chill born from confusion, a sharp sound pierced through: *crack*, a joint breaking.

Libeni had twisted the little finger of his left hand in a bizarre direction. Instantly, Rain’s body switched to battle mode, focusing mana.

‘Flesh sacrifice…!’

Black magic is characterized by amplifying its power several times by offering the pain of the flesh as a sacrifice to the abyss. In simple terms, it draws out the power of abilities through self-harm.

A creepy, negative energy rapidly gathered in his grasp.

Reading the runes with Bell Siderius came first, perfectly deflecting it, then opening the Simyeong [a magical eye that allows the user to analyze and predict magic]… at that moment, Libeni gave an ominous smile.

“It’s easiest to kill show-off wizards like you this way.”

And the direction Libeni stretched out his hand… The hair on my head stood on end with a chill.

Not me.

It was Hirpien and his party, who were retreating from the battlefield. Simultaneously, the Yin energy concentrated in his hand surged towards its target in the form of a giant snake, crackling with black currents.

‘Damn it…’

I had forgotten how vile black mages could be.

In that instant, the eyes beyond the eyelids flashed crimson, and the light that interpreted providence as mathematics completely dyed the Simyeong.

┏ 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 ┓

ㆍ The magic circle of the formula is three pentagons.

ㆍ The rune symbols used are a combination of incantation-type Altigma and forbidden-type Orbios, ratio 3:7.

ㆍ Size 521 Axel, range 337 Gimite.

┗ 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 ┛

Its power is that strong?

How can I block that…? In a moment that felt like eternity, countless thoughts crossed my mind like arguing points.

The most certain way would be to erase it with Bell Querious [a powerful spell that can erase anything], but that would risk the brain being consumed by dark poison.

‘But the magic powerful enough to block that starts from 4-star magic…’

No matter how fast I cast from now, it will be about 2-3 seconds too slow. I’d rather open the Simyeong now and kill this guy for sure.

– This is an investment in connections.

That voice pierced deep into my mind, tearing through my thoughts. And another familiar voice too.

– Lynn, helping someone is never a one-way street.

The death star, scattering silver-white light in my eyes, was reorganized into the Seven Stars. Ripples formed in the realm of providence.

– Someday.

Bell Querious, the irrational power that severs the arrangement of providence itself that constitutes this world—matter, phenomena, and abilities—making it meaningless, interferes with the world line.

– The day will come when you get back what Lynn gave you.

The ultimate power distorted the shape of the poison. As if being sucked into an invisible dimension, the poison seemed to be pulled in all directions, then scattered into countless particles in the next moment.

“Ugh, ugh… !”

I had no memory. How could I reverse-calculate and verify that without being consumed by the abyss?

When I came to my senses, blood was flowing from my eyes, and the lump of breath hanging under my chin burst out violently.

“My spell… huh?”

Libeni, who was staring in bewilderment at the bizarre phenomenon she had never seen before, didn’t miss the gap and kicked off the ground, narrowing the distance.

Rain deflected the fireball he initially launched with black magic, hastily raised his staff, cut it in half with a scythe, and then stretched out the blade, deeply sweeping from his side to his collarbone.

“See, you show gaps like this trying to protect someone. How easy is it?”

Rain sprayed blood and fell far away.

A coldness that could only be described as pain spread throughout his body from the cut, suffocating him.

I need to breathe, I need to breathe… In the intense pain as if countless insects were wriggling through his blood vessels and trachea, his vision turned blue.

‘I’ve been hit by dark poison…’

It was a familiar sense of death.

Thoughts couldn’t form into thoughts, and even the simple act of trying to get up was clumsy and slow, as if in a dream.

Libeni sat by Rain’s head and grinned, as if she loved the sight of Rain writhing in pain.

“How does it feel? How does it feel to die in 5 minutes? Is it thrilling? Is it frustrating? How does it feel to have everything you’ve worked so hard for completely collapse in a few minutes?”

If I complete the magic circle of Juyeoso Gyedae Ban now, even now it’s not too late… Will I have enough mana? Can I calculate the mathematical formula?

As I desperately racked my brain, I suddenly felt disgusted. What’s the point of being resurrected again, what’s the point of being reborn as someone else in another future?

There’s nothing there. I’ll be alone again with nothing. Just as I was about to let go of everything, a memory flashed before my eyes.

– Lynn wait, Friede said. Pipi waited.

In an instant, I violently vomited blood, put the last bit of strength left in my fist, and struggled to raise my upper body.

If I give up here now, Pipi will be alone… That idiot who didn’t give up on me and kept waiting for me…

Libeni, who was looking down at Rain desperately resisting death, narrowed her eyes as if she felt bad.

‘It’s fun to watch strong guys beg for their lives as they die.’

This guy is really boring. I should just kill him right away. Yeah, that will feel better… It was then that she raised her scythe.

*Wheeeeeek*───!

A light that cut through the space with a sharp tearing sound instantly changed its trajectory to one place.

If Libeni hadn’t jumped away, the five fire arrows now stuck in the ground would have pierced her entire body.

“Hmm, the magic of fire…?”

To be able to load this much mana, no, mana with attributes, into an arrow is proof of a first-class archer.

The moment she was wary of the direction the arrow came from, *Kwaaaang*, the rear outer wall shattered, and rubble scattered wildly in all directions.

Then, from within the dust of the collapse, a bizarre figure in black iron suddenly burst out, thumping.

“What?!

As Libeni raised her scythe, expressing her annoyance, a barrage of fire arrows poured down once again.

This rate of fire and this level of accuracy… There was no doubt, it was a master archer.

In that gap, the bizarre figure slung Rain, who had fallen to the ground, over his shoulder and began to run away, breaking through the opposite wall.

“Those guys… Millek, what are you doing!”

Then, the darkness cast over the outer wall seemed to bubble and boil, and a man wearing a dark blue robe walked out.

He was holding a head with blood dripping from his left hand, and he shook it as proof before Libeni could express her annoyance.

“I was dealing with the Obungyeong (Five Shadow Punks) as you ordered. I killed two. The one I just killed was this woman.”

Despite being an incredibly strong person, Libeni didn’t like fighting other strong people. Her pleasure was in slaughtering the weak.

Therefore, while Libeni was on a killing spree against the weak, Millek was always in charge of dealing with the strong.

“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up! It’s because Millek doesn’t do his job properly that those Obungyeong or rat bastards are interfering with my hunt!”

As Libeni pounded Millek’s chest with her fist, whining, Millek sighed and shook his head.

“Rat bastards?”

At that moment, a shadow swirled like a storm above the southwest roof, and soon formed a single shape.

And another one, and another one again.

All were masters with not even a single sound in their movements, and they were carrying countless daggers all over their bodies. They were the Obungyeong of the Thieves’ Guild.

“What, these small fries.”

“‘Jil’ and ‘Rung’ were defeated by these guys?”

Then, the girlish appearance that Millek had seen suddenly disappeared, and Libeni, looking up at them with cold eyes, raised her eyebrows.

“There are three of them. Did Millek really kill two of them?”

“Why would I lie about something like this?”

“That’s strange. Then what were those guys from earlier?”

* * *

‘The world, the world is shaking… What is it…’

In the shaking that felt like my head was about to shatter, Rain barely managed to lift his eyelids.

The eye level was quite high.

The sensation of the material touching the wound on his back was cold iron. It was black iron that absorbed all light eerily.

Someone else was being carried on the opposite side of the black iron, and when Rain’s gaze reached him, he waved his hand happily.

“It’s me, Brother Rain!”

A plump face with a kind smile… The moment I heard that voice, why, my eyes suddenly became hot.

“If you ask why I’m being carried like this, it’s because I run very slowly, ahem. As you can see, I waddle because of my belly fat.”

Then, the archer who had been skillfully running across the roof landed next to the bizarre figure with an elegant gesture, and made a fuss when he saw Rain.

“No way, who is this?! I felt sorry for a dying idiot and saved him, but isn’t this the crazy kid who pursues natural encounters in the labyrinth?!

As Rain stared blankly, the archer Rem raised a victory V with his right hand.

“Rem, Sammy…?”

“Yeah, you recognize me, I’ll let it slide. It’s the world-renowned archer Rem.”

“You, you guys, why are you…?”

Finally, the bizarre figure carrying Rain, the black iron Bart, opened his mouth.

“I promised you back then. I said that I would definitely help you when you needed it, even if I didn’t know when it would be.”

“…!”

“I thought this was the moment. I hope it wasn’t unnecessary meddling?”

When I heard those warm words, why, a tear welled up and trembled.

It wasn’t because of the relief of escaping the threshold of death. It must have been because of the similar memories of the hero party days that overlapped dizzily in my mind for a moment.

Rain turned his head away from Rem to hide his tears and muttered.

“It was unnecessary meddling… I was just about to finish it off.”

“Hey hey, where are you trying to sell snake oil [a fraudulent product]? Heaven knows, earth knows, and James from the neighborhood next door knows that you were standing at the gate of the afterlife, you punk!”

“…I was pretending to be dead?”

It’s embarrassing for the kid… As Rem chuckled slyly, Sammy chimed in.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed at all, Brother! You’re just receiving a natural act of kindness. Actually, we followed you from the Adventurer’s Guild, just in case.”

“Hey, why are you saying that!”

That’s right. The guild receptionist told the three of them that Rain had received the black market request…

Because there were dangerous rumors circulating about this black market.

Rain felt speechless for a moment. So these guys, they followed me all the way here because they thought something might happen to me…?”

“Bart, that way would be better.”

Bart put Rain down in a place that Rem deemed safe. Sammy immediately examined Rain’s wound.

“A terrible stench, this is the dark poison I’ve only heard about…”

As Sammy pinched his nose and frowned, Rem asked while keeping watch.

“Sammy Sammy, can you do it?”

“I’ve naturally learned the healing method. I have to try.”

Sammy rolled up his sleeves, opened the Bible, and began to recite the story of Tersia.

Dark poison, which not only erodes the flesh but also the soul, can only be healed by a priest. Strictly speaking, it should be called atonement rather than healing.

Dark poison is not completely purified in an instant. Priests transferred the dark poison to their own bodies and gradually neutralized it.

It was a fragment of the miracle that Tersia, the goddess who atoned for all the abysses that had consumed the world in your body and opened the age of light, left on this earth.

The only miracle that mankind can use is Tersia’s gift of atonement.

“Oh mother of radiance, with the light of mercy that you bestowed upon us before creation, soothe this pain.”

The warmth of light flowed from the Bible and began to supply warmth to Rain’s body, which was cooling down in the dark poison’s encroachment.

– The day will come when you get back what Lynn gave you.

Friede had healed dark poison before, and Rista and Kies had stayed by my side… The day has come when I feel this warmth again.

“Whew, they’re already chasing us. What kind of monsters are they?”

“We’ll buy as much time as possible.”

“I’ll hurry too.”

As Rem and Bart seriously gripped their weapons, a muffled voice, suppressing emotions, leaked from Rain, who had his head bowed and hid his expression.

“Bart, Rem, Sammy…”

“?”

“Just… thank you.”

It was the sincerity that the boy barely squeezed out, the voice from the depths that the archmage, who had not been honest with himself or others, had barely pulled out.

Bart and his party were not fools enough to not recognize such sincerity from the boy.

Bart exchanged a smile with Rem, then approached, clanking his armor, and placed his hand on Rain’s head.

“There’s no need to say that. We’re comrades. Comrades are supposed to help each other.”

“Yeah, you punk. Stop doing things that don’t suit you. Act like the arrogant brat you are and complain about why we’re so late.”

Rain wiped away the tears that had welled up and nodded his head vigorously. And he forced a smile.

“Why are you so late… you slowpokes.”

Rem and Bart chuckled, and a smile spread across Sammy’s lips, who had turned pale in the communication with heaven.

The joy of reunion was only temporary. As Rem and Bart were about to leave to face the approaching murderous intent, Rain raised his index finger.

“10 minutes, just hold on for 10 minutes…”

“10 minutes?”

“Then I’ll go and finish it for sure. Just 10 minutes…”

Then Rem snorted.

“I can hold on for an hour. Don’t bluff and get better quickly. Before you pursue natural encounters in the afterlife.”