The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 145

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-146

The Olympics Open Raid Arena, at the very back, was the Last Boss Room.

Shin Ha-yul and the ten other players were locked in a fierce battle with the Tricolor Tiger that had emerged from the security wall.

“As expected, these guys aren’t fully recovered yet!” Ji Soon-chan shouted, blocking the Red Tiger’s attacks.

The power contained in the Red Tiger’s forepaw, transmitted through the barrier, was definitely not that of a Tier 1 A-rank monster. Thinking back to the fight against the Devil Ape, this level of power was nothing.

“At this rate…”

“Ji Soon-chan, you moron! Don’t let your guard down!” Jin Hee-yoon yelled at Ji Soon-chan.

At that moment, the Red Tiger’s presence vanished. The heavy sensation that had been pressing down on Ji Soon-chan’s barrier disappeared instantly.

And at the same time, a wind blew. A fierce storm rushed towards Ji Soon-chan’s flank.

It was a gust of wind caused by the Red Tiger’s forepaw being swung.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

A gray magic bullet materialized in its path and immediately exploded. It was Adela’s Moonbeam.

The explosion sent Ji Soon-chan and the Red Tiger flying in opposite directions.

Ji Soon-chan rolled on the floor a couple of times, then did a breakfall and got back on his feet.

“Ouch. That hurt.” He rubbed his side, which had been grazed by Adela’s Moonbeam, and complained of pain.

“Did you forget that the Red Tiger’s weapon is speed? You’ll be a goner if you’re not careful!”

“I’m sorry!” Ji Soon-chan readily apologized at Jin Hee-yoon’s nagging. It was clearly his mistake. Even though he knew that the Red Tiger’s characteristic was its fast speed, he had let his guard down after blocking one attack. ‘What a moron,’ Ji Soon-chan berated himself.

“Adela! Thanks!” Ji Soon-chan immediately thanked Adela, who was assigned to back up three teams at once from afar. If it hadn’t been for Adela’s backup, he would have been dead just now.

“……” Adela nodded in response.

Immediately after, Adela used magic again.

‘The Blue Tiger is moving.’ This time, it was towards Kyle and Kang Shin-woo, who were facing the Blue Tiger.

Whoooooooosh-!

A swing with tremendous destructive power. As expected of the Blue Tiger, whose characteristic was power, its attack power was immense. If you were even grazed by that forepaw, you would die on the spot.

But.

“Wow. I honestly thought martial artists were nothing special, but you’re pretty good?”

“It’s fortunate that you realize it now.”

No matter how strong the power, it was meaningless if it couldn’t hit. The Blue Tiger couldn’t keep up with Kyle and Kang Shin-woo’s movements. It couldn’t keep up with Kyle Ventia’s speed, nor could it discern Kang Shin-woo’s unique, mysterious movements of a martial artist.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

As a result, the Blue Tiger was just repeatedly slamming into the walls or the floor.

“Hey, where are you going…!” At that moment, the Blue Tiger turned its body away from Kyle and Kang Shin-woo and leaped in the opposite direction. It had leaped to target Ji Soon-chan, Jin Hee-yoon, and Ma Jin-seok, who were facing the Red Tiger.

“Adela Steart!”

However.

‘Moon attribute 5th circle magic.’

‘Lake Moon.’

The Blue Tiger’s attempt ended as just an attempt. Adela, who knew that the Blue Tiger was constantly looking for an opportunity, activated the magic she had prepared in advance at the same time as the Blue Tiger acted.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

The 5th circle moon attribute magic, Lake Moon, hit the Blue Tiger’s body accurately. The Blue Tiger was slammed into the wall.

“Now’s the time!” On top of that, Kyle’s wind attribute magic and Ma Jin-seok’s earth attribute magic, and Adela’s moon attribute magic were added.

Wham! Thud!

Grrrrr…….

The Blue Tiger’s body was instantly torn to shreds.

“Dahlia!! Block the Green Tiger!” At that moment, Kyle shouted.

“I was already watching it!” At the same time, the Green Tiger, which Dahlia, Sarah, and Maia were in charge of, began to move. It began to throw its body towards the wounded, groaning Blue Tiger.

“Sarah! Maia! Now’s the time!” Dahlia, who had been using Hellfire to bind the Green Tiger’s feet, shouted.

At that moment, Maia and Sarah activated the wind attribute magic they had prepared in advance. The magic flew accurately to the middle position between the Green Tiger and the Blue Tiger.

Whoosh!

Combined with the blue flames that Dahlia had released, it created a huge wall of fire.

However, the Green Tiger didn’t even care about the wall of blue flames. As if being burned by fire was nothing, it dived straight into the fire wall.

Whoosh!

The Green Tiger’s entire body began to burn instantly. Its skin melted, and the bones inside were visible. But that was only for a moment. After about a second, the Green Tiger’s wounds began to heal rapidly.

The Green Tiger’s characteristic was ‘regeneration.’ Its overwhelming regeneration was among the top of A-rank monsters. It couldn’t be killed unless its neck was completely severed. And that regeneration also affected the other Red and Blue Tigers. If the Green Tiger approached the Blue Tiger, the Blue Tiger’s wounds would be completely healed at that moment.

Grrrrrr!

The Green Tiger broke through the fire wall, and all of its wounds were healed. The senses that had been lost as its burned eyes and nose recovered quickly.

“Welcome.” Beyond the recovered vision, instead of the Blue Tiger, a blonde man was visible.

“Welcome! I’ve been waiting for you.” Kyle Ventia, who had been waiting in front of the fire wall for the Green Tiger, lowered his sword and smiled with a great gust of wind.

‘Wind God Strike, 4th Form.’

‘Breeze.’

And the next moment, the Green Tiger’s head was flying in the sky. It was perfect timing. As if the goal was to create this situation, Kyle perfectly ended the Green Tiger’s life.

“Dahlia!” At the timing when the Green Tiger’s neck was spinning in the sky, Kyle called out to Dahlia again.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

A bird of flame flew through the air.

‘The Reincarnating Bird’s Rondo.’ The most powerful magic that Dahlia could use. It flew towards the Blue Tiger.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

It hit directly. The Blue Tiger began to burn and disappear instantly. The Blue Tiger’s body began to squish like slime. It wasn’t that its entire body had melted like a liquid due to burns. The fact that it had turned into a slime-like state was not only for the Blue Tiger, but also for the Green Tiger.

The Tricolor Tiger, which was one and all, and all and one, would turn into a slime-like state when one individual died and be absorbed into the body of the remaining one. And after being absorbed like that, it would return to its original, healthy body within 10 seconds. That was the special ability that only the Tricolor Tiger possessed. For reference, it was impossible to prevent that slime-like thing from being absorbed into the remaining individual. The reason was unknown, but it was not a physical entity, but a spiritual one. There was no known magic that could block a soul.

The spiritual bodies of the Blue Tiger and the Green Tiger were quickly absorbed into the Red Tiger.

In 10 seconds, the Blue Tiger and the Green Tiger, having completed all their repairs, would return to their original, healthy forms.

Grrrrrrrrr……! The Red Tiger, having absorbed the spiritual bodies of two, swung its forepaw at Ji Soon-chan. An attack with the same speed as before. An attack that was only fast, but had no substance. It was an attack that he could now block somewhat easily, having blocked it dozens of times, but Ji Soon-chan didn’t seem to want to use a barrier.

“Ugh!” Instead of blocking, he desperately rolled his body, avoiding the Red Tiger’s attack. With that evasion, combined with Jin Hee-yoon and Ma Jin-seok’s backup, and Adela’s support, Ji Soon-chan’s body flew backward at an incredible speed.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

The Red Tiger’s attack struck the spot where Ji Soon-chan had been standing. The ground shattered and scattered like flower petals. A tremendous power reminiscent of the Blue Tiger from a moment ago.

“This crazy monster! Where did such a cheat monster come from!” The Blue Tiger’s power was actually correct. The individual that absorbed the spiritual bodies also absorbed the characteristics of that individual. In other words, the current Red Tiger was a complete form that combined the Red Tiger’s own speed, the Blue Tiger’s power, and the Green Tiger’s regeneration.

Moreover, as the powers of the three individuals combined, their characteristics were further enhanced. The current Red Tiger was faster than before, stronger than the Blue Tiger, and boasted a better regeneration than the Green Tiger. The biggest problem was the regeneration part. The current Red Tiger had an incredible recovery power that could regenerate even if its neck was cut off. How could they defeat such a guy in 10 seconds? It was virtually impossible.

That was why the method of subjugating the Tricolor Tiger had been set in stone since ancient times: to deal with all three individuals simultaneously. However, this method of subjugation was only applicable to mages below the 6th circle who could not use high-powered magic.

“Ha-yul!”

“Shin Ha-yul!” If they had a mage capable of using magic that surpassed even the enhanced regeneration, they didn’t have to follow that method.

Saaaaaa…….

The air froze. Shin Ha-yul, who had left everything to the nine others and was alone in the back, preparing magic and waiting for an opportunity, completed the final incantation from his mouth.

“—Permafrost.”

Crack-crack-crack-!

A frigid cold descended upon the arena. And after a while, the Tricolor Tiger was frozen solid, turned into an ice statue.

* * *

The Tricolor Tiger, frozen and completely stopped in its biological activity. We gathered in front of the huge ice statue.

“……I’m going to die. I’m going to die.” Soon-chan collapsed onto the floor. Even though he had the full backup and support of Jin Hee-yoon and Adela, it seemed that blocking the Red Tiger alone was too much. He was just panting, his face looking like he was about to faint at any moment.

“Hey, just lie down.” Jin Hee-yoon laid Soon-chan on her lap.

“……Thank you.” Soon-chan thanked her, his face pale.

‘Oh ho.’ Hee-yoon seems to have feelings for Soon-chan too? That’s unexpected. Maybe we’ll hear good news soon? While I was thinking that, Kyle approached.

“You did a great job, my friend.” Kyle held out his fist to me. I lightly tapped my fist against his.

“Did I do anything? I just used magic at the end. You and Shin-woo did the hardest work.” Honestly, the most dangerous were Shin-woo and Kyle, who were binding the Blue Tiger’s feet by themselves. Since it was the one with the most powerful destructive power, a single mistake could lead to death. Adela was backing them up, but even that was prioritized for the Red Tiger.

“Haha. What hard work? It was nothing. As you said, it seems like they haven’t fully recovered yet, they didn’t have the dignity of an A-rank.”

“Hmm. I agree. It was as slow as a B-rank monster.” Shin-woo nodded as if agreeing with Kyle’s opinion.

“Hey…… why don’t you say we did a good job?” Dahlia, who was panting behind us, glared at me, looking somewhat upset.

“The Green Tiger…… that zombie-like… guy. Blocking it was really… hard……” It seemed like even talking was difficult. Difficulty breathing. It was a chronic disease of mages who handled fire attribute magic. Because fire magic affected the oxygen around them, they would experience difficulty breathing if they fought for a long time. Especially for Dahlia, who always had super high-temperature flames like Hellfire around her body, this penalty would be even worse. Of course, they had taken measures for oxygen, but this time, the battle had continued three times, so they must have used up all the extra oxygen.

“I know. You did a great job. You really worked hard.”

“……It’s enough if you know, if you know……” Dahlia breathed roughly and leaned her head on Sarah, who was sitting next to her.

“Sarah. I’ll rest like this for a moment……”

“Don’t fall asleep. You need to treat your wounds.”

“Ugh. I don’t want to. It’s annoying and stin… ouch, it stings!”

“Bear with it.” Sarah took out ointment from her pocket and applied it to various parts of Dahlia’s body.

“Okay, everyone else, let’s treat our wounds first. Especially you, Kyle. It looks like you broke a rib. Fix that first.”

“Oh. You noticed.” Kyle smiled wryly.

“Kyle! You should have said something if you were hurt!” Maia approached Kyle and scolded him. Then, they started treating each other while bickering.

On the other side, the seniors were also using the ointment and bandages they received from Sarah to apply to their wounds. I looked at everyone once, then turned my gaze to the Tricolor Tiger, which had become an ice statue.

‘……It’s a good thing we dealt with them before they finished recovering.’ The Tricolor Tiger. A top-tier monster classified as A-rank 1. If these guys had regained all of their original power, we would never have been able to win with this team. Soon-chan wouldn’t have been able to block the Red Tiger’s attacks. Kyle and Shin-woo wouldn’t have been able to perfectly block the Blue Tiger’s attacks. And Dahlia wouldn’t have been able to hold onto the Green Tiger.

“Whew.” I let out a sigh of relief again. With this, all the dangerous elements were removed. Now, all that was left was to escape this arena.

‘But, why did this happen?’ As all the situations came to an end, the questions that I had been constantly asking myself began to fill my head again. Why did this situation happen? Why were the monsters’ restraints and control formulas all released, and why wasn’t the management side taking any action? ‘What the hell is going on…….’ As I was organizing my thoughts while setting up all sorts of hypotheses, it was then.

Thump.

A heartbeat was heard. The pulsation of a heart, heard from a direction it shouldn’t be heard from.

‘Wait a minute. Why is that sound……?’ My spine tingled at the sound. I felt chills and cold sweat.

Thump, thump, thump.

The Tricolor Tiger, which had been hit directly by Permafrost and turned into an ice statue. The sound was coming from its center.

“……Everyone, get out of here.” I said, stepping back.

“What?”

“Get out of here?” Everyone asked blankly.

“No matter the reason! Get out of here right now……!” And at that moment.

Clang!

Along with the sound of ice shattering into pieces.

Kwoooooooooooooooo-!

The Tricolor Tiger’s roar filled the entire arena.

“W-was it alive……?” Someone muttered in a trembling voice.

“……” The Tricolor Tiger stared directly at my eyes. As if recognizing that I was the most dangerous being among them, it was staring intently only at me.

‘……No way.’ I was shocked as I made eye contact with that gaze. It wasn’t that I was surprised by the fact that the Tricolor Tiger was alive. I was surprised by that fact, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand. The reason I was shocked was separate.

‘Corrupted mana.’ Corrupted mana, unique to the Black Mana Tower, was flowing from the Tricolor Tiger’s body. And it was a sticky, ferocious black that couldn’t be compared to the corrupted mana I had seen before.

‘This density, mass, momentum…… could it be…….’ Mana that seemed to possess power that easily surpassed the executives I had seen before by several levels.

‘The Black Magic King’s…… mana?’ Presumably, it was mana that was presumed to be from the Black Magic King.