The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 172

We immediately formed a protective circle around the Red Magic Tower Master.

‘Is the Red Magic Tower Master a fake?’

No. That couldn’t be.

The mana and aura of the Red Magic Tower Master, as seen through my Divine Eyes, were definitely not fake.

The nature of the mana I was seeing was indeed his own. There wasn’t a single point of suspicion.

“Everyone, calm down. I don’t know what that Gumiho [a nine-tailed fox spirit] sensed in me, but I’m innocent.”

The Red Magic Tower Master, James Pillar, raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

“You two might not know, but Kang-in, you know. There’s no way I’m a fake.”

“Stop, James. Just stop. Don’t come any closer.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master stopped the Red Magic Tower Master with a fierce glare.

“…Are you suspecting me? Just because of a single monster’s gaze?”

The Red Magic Tower Master let out a hollow laugh.

He looked as if he couldn’t be more wronged.

“It’s not just any monster. According to Hayul, it boasts a detection ability that surpasses even Hayul’s ‘Divine Eyes’ in certain situations.”

“Certain situations or whatever… Ha, really.”

The Red Magic Tower Master scoffed. He looked genuinely dumbfounded.

“If you’re so suspicious, test me. Yes. You can ask me something only you and I know, Kang-in.”

“No. We can’t just follow the suggestions of a suspected individual.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master and my father spoke coldly in turn.

“He might have already absorbed and stolen all of the Red Magic Tower Master’s memories.”

“Absorb all of someone’s memories? What kind of ridiculous magic is that?”

“We can’t say it doesn’t exist. Just look at the magic used by that executive, Tkish. It’s a magic that transcends understanding.”

In terms of ridiculous magic, there’s no magic that surpasses Tkish’s resurrection magic.

If such magic exists, it wouldn’t be strange for magic that absorbs all of a target’s memories to exist as well.

“…Tch. That’s true, I guess.”

The Red Magic Tower Master seemed to have no rebuttal.

“Then what do you want to do? Just stay like this?”

He clicked his tongue, his face contorted with frustration.

“It’s simple. We’ll go back and confine you separately. Then we can come back.”

“…Agh.”

The Red Magic Tower Master scratched the back of his head.

He looked as if he was saying, ‘This is the most absurd thing ever.’

“Fine. Then let’s do that.”

The Red Magic Tower Master, who had answered with a hollow laugh, suddenly glared at me and the Gumiho in my arms.

“That Gumiho. I don’t know what it saw in me, but if it’s mistaken or if it’s nothing…”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

But I knew exactly what he was trying to say.

‘You’ll pay the price for daring to insult me, the Red Magic Tower Master.’

That was what his eyes were saying.

“Since it’s come to this, it’s better to be sure. Kang-in. Bind me.”

The Red Magic Tower Master brought his hands together in front of him, gesturing to be tied up.

“I don’t think there’s a need to go that far.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master was even more taken aback by his confident demeanor.

“No. If we’re going to do it, we should do it properly. I don’t think so, but there’s a chance I’m being manipulated by their tricks without my knowledge.”

The Red Magic Tower Master tapped his head.

It was a gesture indicating that he might be under mind control magic.

“…Okay.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master stepped forward three paces and cast a spell on the Red Magic Tower Master.

He used water-attribute mana to bind his limbs and then cast a water prison on top of that.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched the Red Magic Tower Master being restrained.

Then, I looked at Miho in my arms again.

The Gumiho was still looking at the Red Magic Tower Master with a suspicious expression.

‘What did she see in the Red Magic Tower Master?’

I used everything I could to observe the Red Magic Tower Master, but I couldn’t find any suspicious points.

‘Is he really under mind control magic?’

The remnants of mind control magic can’t be detected unless you get close and check.

If the Red Magic Tower Master was under mind control magic and the Gumiho sensed its effects, it wouldn’t be impossible.

‘It’s common knowledge that mind control magic doesn’t work on Archmages of the 7th or 8th circle. But seeing Tkish’s magic, it wouldn’t be strange if there was mind control magic that could affect even 8th circle mages.’

When dealing with the Black Magic Tower, common sense is useless. We have to discard common sense and consider all possibilities.

‘First, once the Blue Magic Tower Master finishes the binding, I’ll check for any remnants of mind control magic.’

Once I’ve confirmed that, I can eliminate other possibilities one by one and figure something out.

“Binding complete.”

“…You’ve bound me very tightly.”

Just in time, the Blue Magic Tower Master finished the binding.

Not only was his body restrained, but his mana movement was also restricted. It was perfect.

The Red Magic Tower Master in that state was no threat at all.

I slowly approached the Red Magic Tower Master.

“I’ll just check something for a moment.”

“…Hah. Fine. Go ahead and do whatever you want.”

The Red Magic Tower Master nodded, looking as if he was saying, ‘Oh, what a life I have.’

With permission granted, there was no need to hesitate.

I immediately examined the Red Magic Tower Master’s body.

I placed my hand on his chest and looked for traces of mana.

Then, I placed my hand on his head and looked for traces of suggestion.

‘…There’s nothing wrong?’

I thought something would come up.

But there was nothing wrong with the Red Magic Tower Master’s body.

It was pure white, not even a hint of gray.

It was pure white without a single blemish.

“Did you find anything?”

The Blue Magic Tower Master asked cautiously.

“…No. I couldn’t find anything. There’s nothing strange at all.”

“See? I told you. What kind of nonsense is this just because that damn fox is glaring at me?”

The Red Magic Tower Master exploded at my answer. The anger he had been suppressing until now finally erupted.

‘There’s no way there’s nothing wrong.’

I looked at Miho in my arms again.

Miho was still glaring at the Red Magic Tower Master.

Her clear red eyes were filled with undisguised hostility and murderous intent.

“If your suspicion is gone, release me. If you’re still suspicious, go back and come down again.”

“…What should we do?”

“Hmm.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master and my father narrowed their eyes and fell into thought.

“…Wait a minute.”

Then, Sharle, as if noticing something, opened her eyes wide and spoke.

Everyone’s attention focused on Sharle.

“That little fox. It doesn’t seem to be looking at the Red Tower Master… ?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

I quickly checked Miho in my arms.

“It looks like she’s clearly looking at the Red Magic Tower Master, though?”

But unlike Sharle’s words, Miho was clearly looking at the Red Magic Tower Master.

“That’s how it looks now.”

Sharle approached me.

“Just now, when you lowered your head to look at that little fox, you slightly raised your arm, right?”

“Yes? Yes.”

To see where Miho’s gaze was going, I needed to lower my gaze and slightly lift Miho up.

As Sharle said, I did raise my arm. Just a little bit.

“The trajectory of her gaze changed due to that slight difference in height.”

Sharle grabbed my arm and lowered it.

The altitude of Miho slowly decreased.

And at that moment when it dropped below a certain point.

“… !”

“…Indeed.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, including mine.

“That little fox wasn’t looking at the Red Tower Master.”

The gaze of Miho, whose altitude had been lowered, was not directed at the Red Magic Tower Master.

What Miho was looking at was below him.

“What the little fox was looking at was behind the Red Tower Master. The Red Tower Master’s shadow.”

It was the black shadow that followed the Red Magic Tower Master.

I moved behind the Red Magic Tower Master with Miho in my arms.

I moved to an angle where the Red Magic Tower Master was not between his shadow and Miho.

Sharle took a position in front of me and Miho and moved her mana.

“…It’s definitely it.”

Miho was definitely looking at the shadow.

“And this is ironic, but the executive we fought inside the Third Magic Stone Warehouse controlled shadows, right?”

She stood in a position as if protecting me and entered a full battle stance.

“His code name was Shadow, wasn’t it?”

My father also immediately took a battle stance.

“Considering his actions, position, and abilities at the time, his main role was likely stealth. He’s the perfect choice to sneak in here.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master also immediately entered a battle stance.

The water droplets that filled the surroundings became even denser.

“…Kang-in. Release the binding.”

The restraints that were binding the Red Magic Tower Master were released in an instant.

“I’ll leave the defense to you. I’m going to go full power.”

And the next moment.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The world was set ablaze.

The blue flames, the identity of the Red Magic Tower, filled the surroundings.

It was a scene as if hell had manifested.

“Alright. Leave it to me.”

Fluffy, fluffy.

Those hellish flames were enveloped by hundreds of millions, trillions of water droplets.

They filled the surroundings in a form that seemed to contain the hellfire.

Soon, the flames and water droplets formed a double-layered dome.

“Come out. You damn bastard.”

In the center of the colosseum of fire and water, the Red Magic Tower Master gritted his teeth.

The blood cross on his forehead clearly showed his anger.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The blue flames concentrated in one place, forming the shape of a bird.

‘The Reincarnating Bird’s Rondo,’ which Dahlia used as her ultimate move.

“I won’t say it twice.”

It filled the dome.

The fire birds that were created were a total of 12. Each one contained power that overwhelmed the power of Dahlia’s ‘Reincarnating Bird’s Rondo’.

Even a graze from that magic would turn me to ashes.

‘This is the power of a Magic Tower Master who stands at the pinnacle of mages…’

I got goosebumps without realizing it.

This was a great mage who stood at the pinnacle of fire. A sense of awe naturally arose.

“Alright. So you’re not coming out even now.”

The flames expanded.

A tense situation.

In a chilling atmosphere reminiscent of the moment before a flame meets oil.

“Then just die. You son of a bitch.”

The twelve birds began their assault.

The target was the Red Magic Tower Master’s shadow. The twelve fire birds fell with the momentum to devour everything in the world without question.

KWA-AAAAAANG-!

The inside of the colosseum of fire and water was filled with explosions.

The power was so strong that the dome made of water was distorted.

It looked as if rubber was stretching in all directions.

“Whew. That’s hot.”

Sharle chuckled as she watched the scene.

She looked very pleased with the refreshing sight.

“I can’t see because of the smoke. Blue Tower Master, please calm down the explosion inside with moisture…”

Sharle was about to ask Kim Kang-in to clear the smoke to check the situation inside when it happened.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh-!

Suddenly, darkness expanded.

As if trying to swallow everything in the world. It swallowed not only the explosion, but also the remnants of the blue flames and the overflowing mana.

The darkness even swallowed the water colosseum that Kim Kang-in had created.

“…The plan has gone awry.”

A voice was heard from within.

A voice that seemed to be distorted.

To put it simply, it was a voice as if the darkness itself was speaking.

“I was a little careless at the moment of the security breach, but I didn’t expect you to sense my presence.”

The expanding darkness concentrated again at one point.

Then, the concentrated darkness became a mass of shadows taking on a human form.

“Not bad.”

The shadow flickered.

As if it was happy that its identity had been exposed.

As if it was enjoying this situation too much.

The shadow was trembling with joy.