The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 111

I was momentarily speechless at the completely unexpected words.

“Are you that surprised? Is it that shocking that I know about the Divine Eye?”

Sophia-nim covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

A confident laugh.

I could tell from that laugh.

Sophia-nim was already certain. There was no point in trying to change the subject here.

That’s what it was.

“…How did you know?”

Not only the Bytenner style, but there are no documents about the Divine Eye either.

In fact, I only learned about the Divine Eye after meeting Elena-nim.

It’s such unknown information. How on earth does Sophia-nim know about the Divine Eye?

“After being a mage for about 130 years, you tend to know most things.”

Sophia-nim gave a rather playful smile.

“Not only the Divine Eye, but I also know that you are Ray Bell Bytenner. That you have inherited the legacy of the great mythical archmage.”

“……”

I was speechless again.

Not just the Divine Eye, but even the Bytenner style. How does she know all of this?

“Are you curious? How I came to know your secrets?”

“Yes. I am curious.”

My clear answer seemed to please her, and she smiled again.

“I learned about the Divine Eye 50 years ago. Or rather, I should say 52 years ago.”

52 years ago…

“Isn’t that exactly when Sophia-nim acquired the Jewel Eyes?”

52 years ago was when Sophia Anecheffri obtained the Jewel Eyes.

Two years later, it was gradually revealed that the Jewel Eyes could read magic formulas, and lawsuits were filed over the ownership of arcane magic.

“Yes. That’s right. You know it well?”

“It’s written in the history books.”

Sophia Anecheffri is a living legend.

As such, the incident of her acquiring the Jewel Eyes, which is one of her major achievements, is recorded in detail in history books.

“Oh my. Is even that written down? How embarrassing.”

Sophia-nim gave a wry smile with slightly flushed cheeks, as if she was genuinely embarrassed.

But that was only for a moment.

Sophia-nim’s expression returned to its original solemn yet benevolent one.

“Anyway, I obtained the Jewel Eyes from some ruins 52 years ago.”

Sophia-nim’s eyes shone like jewels again. Much more radiant than before.

“And along with the Jewel Eyes, I also obtained a book.”

“A book?”

“Yes. A book left by the person who created the Jewel Eyes.”

Sophia-nim took out a book from her bag.

It was a book that looked incredibly old at first glance.

“I spent all my time interpreting this book to fully understand and master the power of the Jewel Eyes. And after about two years of effort, I succeeded in interpreting and analyzing all the sentences.”

Sophia-nim opened the book and flipped to the last section.

“The last page of the book had these words written on it.”

『The Jewel Eyes are merely a degraded copy created by observing the Divine Eye of the first emperor of the great empire and the first archmage.』

Sophia-nim closed the book again.

“I was really surprised at the time. To call such amazing eyes a degraded copy. If these eyes are a degraded copy, how amazing is the Divine Eye? That thought naturally came to mind.”

It was a perfectly natural train of thought.

“So, I decided to investigate.”

Sophia-nim took out other books this time. They were much older than the previous book.

“Fortunately, it was clear who I had to investigate. There was only one person who could be referred to as the first emperor and the first archmage.”

“…Ray Bell Bytenner.”

“Yes.”

In this world, the only one who can be called the first archmage is Ray Bell Bytenner.

“So, I started investigating Ray Bell Bytenner after that. And not long after, I obtained a book.”

Sophia-nim took out a blue hardcover book that was the only one in perfect condition among the pile of old books.

“A history book recording the history of the Bytenner Empire.”

For a moment, I thought it was another book left by my master because it was a blue hardcover, but it didn’t seem to be.

The writing system was the same as the mythical era, but the handwriting was completely different from my master’s.

There was no way my master would have written in such neat handwriting.

“Through this book, I learned about the first magic system that Ray Bell Bytenner used.”

“……”

“The root and origin of ancient magic. The beginning of all magic. Magic that only Ray Bell Bytenner could use. The Bytenner style.”

Sophia-nim took her eyes off the book and looked straight into my eyes again.

“But that was all I found out. No matter how much more I investigated, nothing else came up, and as time passed, my interest gradually faded. After learning about the Divine Eye and the Bytenner style, quite a long time passed…”

Sophia-nim’s smile grew deeper.

“I heard that a young mage possessed a magic eye called the Divine Eye.”

“……”

“An eye that, like my Jewel Eyes, can read magic formulas, see mana, and even change magic formulas. When I heard that, I had a hunch.”

She looked as happy as could be.

“That’s the eye. The superior version of the Jewel Eyes. The magic eye that Ray Bell Bytenner possessed. The Divine Eye.”

“……”

“So, when I looked into it a little more, wouldn’t you know it? He’s an unsuitable person who can’t handle artificial intelligence?”

A user of ancient magic, who uses magic better than anyone else, and possesses the Divine Eye.

“…So, that’s how you deduced that I inherited the Bytenner style.”

“Yes. As someone who has experienced the transition between ancient and modern magic, I know how inferior ancient magic is. A mage who uses such a magic system, yet uses magic that is faster, more accurate, and superior to modern magic. If such a mage is not the one who inherited the Bytenner style, then who is?”

It was a very reasonable deduction.

If I were in Sophia-nim’s position, I would have come to the same conclusion.

“What do you think? Is my guess correct?”

I looked at Sophia-nim, who was smiling brightly, and let out a small sigh.

“Yes. You’re right. As you expected, I am the successor of the Bytenner style.”

Well, it doesn’t seem like there’s any point in denying it.

“I knew it.”

From the start, there was nothing to be gained by denying it here.

She already had a conviction in her heart.

“I’m so happy.”

“Happy?”

“I’m so happy that someone like you has appeared at this time. At this timing.”

My head tilted slightly.

What does she mean?

“I mean, I’m happy that a mage who can stop the Black Magic King has appeared in time to replace me.”

“Replace Sophia-nim?”

Sophia-nim smiled bitterly and was silent for a moment.

“My lifespan is not long.”

“What?”

My already complicated mind became even more complicated.

Her lifespan is not long?

“Three years at the shortest. Five years at the longest, perhaps.”

Sophia-nim took off the white glove she was wearing and rolled up her sleeve.

“Is that a curse…?”

Sophia-nim’s left arm was completely black.

“Yes. It’s a curse I got 11 years ago when I fought the Black Magic King during the Atlantic Wormhole incident.”

Sophia-nim put her glove back on and lowered her sleeve.

“This curse is slowly eating away at my body. It’s only on my left side now, but within five years, it will completely consume my heart. Then I will die.”

Sophia-nim gave a bitter smile.

“And if I die, there will be no one to stop the Black Magic King. Then everything will be over.”

If Sophia-nim dies, a world ruled by the Black Magic King will unfold.

Then the world is over.

It will become a dystopia ruled by evil.

“And then you appeared. A successor who has inherited the legacy of the great mythical archmage.”

A beacon of hope flickered in Sophia-nim’s eyes, which had been momentarily filled with despair.

“How can I not be happy?”

* * *

That night.

I explained to Mimir what had happened today.

“So, what did she say?”

After all the explanations were over, Mimir, who had been quietly listening, asked casually.

“What, is she going to help you grow or something? Until you’re strong enough to fight the Black Magic King?”

“Yeah. She said she would help with whatever she could.”

“Oh. That’s good. The help of the strongest person in the current era.”

Mimir stroked his chin with a ‘not bad’ expression.

“But she said there wasn’t much she could help with.”

“…Why?”

“Because of the Black Magic King.”

“What does he have to do with help?”

“She said that if Sophia-nim shows too much interest in me, there’s a high chance that the Black Magic King will take notice of me.”

“Ah.”

The Black Magic King is said to be focusing all his attention on Sophia-nim.

That’s why he hasn’t properly appeared in public since 11 years ago, she said.

As such, if she shows favoritism towards me now, there is a high chance that something will happen to me.

That’s what Sophia-nim said.

“For the same reason, she said she can’t take the lead in matters related to the Black Magic Tower either.”

“…Because if that woman, Sophia, moves, the Black Magic King will move too?”

“Yeah.”

It’s not good to provoke the Black Magic King unnecessarily.

She has a curse, and unless the Black Magic King moves first, it’s a bad idea for us to move first.

“Geez. What’s the point then? It’s just that the successor’s information has been leaked.”

She can’t help often, and she can’t help at all with matters related to the Black Magic Tower.

You might think that only my information has been leaked for nothing.

But that’s not true.

“No. It’s not meaningless.”

She can’t help often, but she can get help sometimes.

The help of Sophia-nim, the world’s best archmage.

“The Pinnacle Shard… She decided to take out the Grace of God in advance.”

“She decided to take it out in advance? How? Isn’t it an MVP reward?”

“Since I’m going to get the MVP anyway, she decided to secretly take it out and then give me a replica at the awards ceremony later.”

“To go so far as to secretly take out the Pinnacle Shard…”

Mimir’s eyes narrowed.

“Successor. You told that woman what kind of power the Grace of God has, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I told her.”

I told Sophia-nim that the real purpose of the Black Magic Tower was the Pinnacle Shard and what kind of power the Pinnacle Shard had.

“Then you’re going to feed the Grace of God to Sophia Anecheffri. That old lady?”

“Well. That’s what I was going to do…”

The reason I revealed the Grace of God was because I thought it would be good if Sophia-nim ate it.

I thought that if Sophia-nim consumed the Grace of God and broke the wall of the circle [referring to the limit of magical power], she might be able to solve the curse.

“She refused?”

“Yeah. She refused, saying it wouldn’t make sense for her to eat it.”

Sophia-nim said.

Even if she broke the wall of the 10th circle, reaching the 10th circle is not something that can be done in 3 to 5 years.

Moreover, it is meaningless for her to break the wall now when she cannot even train properly due to the curse.

Therefore, it is meaningless for her to eat the Grace of God.

That’s what she said.

“She told me to eat it if there was such a good elixir. That’s the best thing to do.”

“Hmm. Is that so? She does seem like a good person in terms of character. To concede even after hearing that.”

Mimir narrowed his eyes and glared at me.

“But Successor. I’m just saying this in case, but you know that if you eat it, you’ll only get side effects, right?”

“I’m not going to eat it. Am I stupid?”

Who would be stupid enough to consume it knowing that it would cause side effects?

“Well, I didn’t want to tell her about my constitution. So, I just said I would take it.”

“…How are you going to handle it?”

“Well, I think I’ll have to think about it after I receive it. I’m uneasy about keeping it in my possession, so I think I’ll have to figure out how to deal with it…”

It’s a problem. It’s a problem.

“Well, that’s something I can worry about after the Pinnacle Shard is in my hands…”

I was in the middle of saying that.

Woo-oong-!

The entire library shook.

Not the library, but Mimir’s bookshelf shook.

“Successor. It seems someone has come to the room. Go check it out.”

I had set it up so that Mimir’s bookshelf would shake in response to the visitor’s doorbell using alarm magic.

Fortunately, it seems to be working properly.

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

I quickly took off my master’s robe and stepped out of Mimir’s bookshelf.

And quickly opened the door.

“Hello?”

A woman was standing in front of the door.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her.

It was the first time I’d met her in person, but I’d seen her in pictures before.

“Charl…”

The head of the Black Magic Tower’s dedicated task force.

The leader of the group called the Hounds.

“You know who I am? Nice to meet you.”

She smiled and handed me a small box.

“Here. It’s the item I was asked to deliver. Take it.”

An item I was asked to deliver…

Could it be.

I quickly took the box and opened it.

“…The Pinnacle Shard.”

A magic stone emitting an elegant black light.

The Pinnacle Shard, no.

It was the Grace of God.

“Did the delivery go well?”

Charl smiled meaningfully.