The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 194

“……Wow, so does that mean the time of the items inside is frozen?”

“Yes. If you keep them inside, they maintain the same form and condition as when they were first placed, no matter how many days pass.”

“That’s completely broken [overpowered].”

After dealing with the Thunder Bird.

We were heading to Mount Baekdu by land.

From here, the weather changes very frequently, and monsters also appear often, so it’s safer to go by land.

The Thunder Bird’s demise also widened the activity radius of flying monsters.

In many ways, traveling by land is more advantageous.

Well, from here on, we’re also out of the detection range of the radar installed near Pyongyang.

“Where did you get that artifact?”

“This? It’s an ancient relic that was kept in my family’s vault.”

I answered, highlighting ‘Aeth,’ which I was still wearing.

“An ancient relic? The kind I know that’s just flashy on the outside but useless?”

“Yes.”

“……You can use that? No, you know how to use it?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I found a method of use in an old book I obtained by chance.”

From the moment I talked about subspace magic, there was no reason to hide any information.

I shared the core information, so there’s no reason to hide any additional information.

It’s okay to reveal most of the information about Aeth.

Of course, I’m hiding information related to the Vaitern method as much as possible.

That’s core information beyond subspace magic.

“So, an ancient relic was actually an artifact with immense power……”

Charles clicked his tongue and marveled.

He examined my robe, admiring its appearance,

and was amazed once more that it was made of a single piece of mana fiber.

It was just a series of exclamations.

Kieeeeeeeek-!

At that moment, three monsters rushed toward us.

“It’s noisy. I’m concentrating right now.”

I only frowned, but the monsters were flattened.

I didn’t even turn my gaze.

It meant that there was no need to even look at those kinds of monsters.

“Can I touch it?”

His eyes were blazing.

If he could burn things with his gaze alone, my robe would have turned to ashes long ago.

“Yes. It’s fine.”

“Thanks.”

Charles slowly brought his hand to my robe.

A delicate touch, as if caressing a jewel that doesn’t exist anywhere in this world. Charles’s tension and trembling were transmitted to my body through the robe.

“Wow. It’s amazing.”

He slightly lifted the inside of the robe to check, and examined the magic formulas engraved on the inside and outside.

And then, he marveled again.

It seemed that an exclamation naturally came out at the sight of the perfect magic circles that didn’t seem to have been engraved by a human.

“Thank you. You’ve had a good look.”

Charles’s robe exploration lasted a total of 15 minutes.

“Did you see anything?”

“No. Not at all.”

Charles shrugged and turned his head.

“I know that this robe is something that far surpasses my perception. I don’t know how those engravings were made. I don’t know the composition or origin of those engravings either.”

It seems he concluded that there was no point in observing any further.

“Anyway, I had a good look. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. If there’s anything that bothers you, please tell me anytime.”

“Okay, got it.”

Charles smiled brightly and made an OK sign with his index finger and thumb.

Kieeeeeeeek!

“Ah, tsk. Again?”

At that moment, monsters attacked again.

Charles swung his right hand in the air as if he was extremely annoyed.

The monsters that were rushing in instantly turned into minced meat and scattered in the air.

“Why are there so many guys who don’t know their place?”

He instantly slaughtered the monsters flying in from other directions, and clicked his tongue with an expression of extreme annoyance.

“Usually, with this level of mana release, they’d be scared and wouldn’t come. Do the monsters from Mount Baekdu not have fear? No, it wasn’t like this when I came last time.”

He was extremely annoyed by the continuous monster attacks.

“Should I increase the amount of mana released? Ah, if I increase it further here, it will affect my condition. Tsk……”

Monsters have the characteristic of gauging each other’s strength through the amount of mana they possess.

As such, if you constantly emit mana, you can filter out some of the weaker monsters.

But that’s not working now. Even though an 8th circle mage is openly emitting mana to drive away the monsters, the monster attacks are not stopping.

‘……Is there some kind of anomaly occurring in Mount Baekdu?’

Suddenly, the Baekryeong Island incident came to mind.

A series of abnormal situations that were not logically understandable.

That eventually led to the core explosion incident.

That means, perhaps these monster attacks are also a prelude to some big event.

During the Baekryeong Island incident, I thought too lightly and a big problem occurred, so I should be more careful in assessing the situation now.

‘The reason why the small fry are fearlessly rushing in despite Captain Charles’s mana release……’

Could it be that the power balance of Baekdu itself has been disrupted by the demise of the Thunder Bird?

No, the surrounding atmosphere is too calm for that.

If a major upheaval in the ecosystem had occurred, phenomena such as other Rank-Out Disaster Species [monsters that are beyond the standard ranking system] running wild or S-class or higher monsters rampaging should have been detected.

The fact that there are none means that there hasn’t been such a major change.

‘Then why……’

I opened my Divine Eye and looked around.

Maybe I could see something with the Divine Eye.

‘There’s nothing strange.’

However, even with the Divine Eye, I couldn’t find anything strange.

There was nothing strange at all.

‘What could it be……’

As I was narrowing my eyes like that.

Grrrrr……

The growl of a monster was heard.

A faint voice, as if it were dying.

“What? Is it alive? Tsk. Did I handle it too carelessly……”

It was the sound of a monster growling, barely clinging to life, as if it had been grazed by Charles’s magic.

“As a final mercy, I’ll send you off comfortably without more pain.”

A monster on the verge of death.

Charles moved his mana to drive the final nail into that monster.

‘……That is?’

At that moment.

A strange energy was detected from the monster.

“Wait a minute!”

I immediately stopped Charles.

“Huh? Why?”

“……Just a moment. Please wait a moment. There’s something I need to check. I’ll explain it after that.”

A strange energy, or rather.

A disturbing energy that shouldn’t be felt here.

The sticky mana that I had felt just two days ago.

“As expected. A black mage’s mana……”

“What?”

From deep within this monster’s body, the dirty energy unique to corrupted mana was flowing out.

* * *

“Hmm. It’s ambiguous.”

Not far from where Shin Hayul and Charles were moving, Parade was licking his lips.

“The number is two. One doesn’t even show any signs of using magic, so it’s impossible to grasp their level. The other one, just by looking, is at least a 7th circle [a high level of magic].”

It was Parade who sent the monsters to Shin Hayul and Charles.

By using sensory sharing on the B to D-class small fry monsters and sending them to the two, he was collecting information about them.

But the information gathering isn’t going very well.

He roughly confirmed the level of one, but the level of the other is a mystery.

Only one is responding to the monster attacks.

Despite the continuous attacks, the other mage shows no sign of using magic.

Since they are not using magic, it’s impossible to guess their level.

“Ah. Annoying. If this is the case, even though it’s annoying, should I send A-class or higher monsters with working eyesight to directly confirm the targets?”

Monsters usually only identify targets through mana.

Their eyesight is usually degenerated.

Therefore, even if you use sensory sharing, it’s impossible to confirm the target through sight.

If you find and tame a monster with eyesight, you can directly confirm the target’s appearance through sensory sharing.

And once the target’s appearance is confirmed, it’s possible to grasp their level to some extent.

“Ah, are there any monsters in Mount Baekdu with fully functioning eyesight? I don’t think there are.”

But the problem is that monsters with working eyesight are rare.

There are some monsters with working eyesight among the A-class or higher monsters, but even those are rare.

“It’s too risky to just rush in.”

The pet he was aiming for.

Parade’s current goal is to avenge the two who killed the Thunder Bird.

But the opponents are strong enough to have defeated that Thunder Bird without much difficulty.

If he rushes in recklessly, there’s a high chance he’ll face a backlash.

Moreover, Parade has lost all his forces in the previous battle at the 3rd Magic Stone Warehouse.

He doesn’t have many monsters currently.

If the opponents are two 8th circle mages, Parade cannot win with his current power.

‘The key is the level of the guy who’s been standing idly by with his hands behind his back……’

The level of the other one is at least 7th circle. No, probably 8th circle.

And the other one is unknown.

‘If I think about it calmly, it’s right to assume that the remaining one is also at least a 7th circle level.’

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, if one is a great mage, the other is likely to be a great mage as well.

‘But then again, he’s too calm. Like someone being escorted.’

Even if someone doesn’t like to step forward, they should show some reaction to continuous attacks, shouldn’t they?

The fact that he’s staying so still could mean that the remaining one isn’t a mage above the 7th circle, but a simple escort target with no power.

‘No. It could be a superior-subordinate relationship, not an escort target.’

The one who isn’t showing any action right now is the 8th circle, and.

The one who is constantly responding right now is likely the 7th circle.

That’s why one person is doing all the responding.

‘It’s a headache.’

Parade’s worries deepened.

‘Should I go closer and check directly?’

No, that’s too dangerous.

His stealth ability is terrible.

If he gets even a little closer, he’ll be 100% exposed.

“Then what should I do?”

Parade was once again lost in thought.

It’s a blow to his pride to just back down now.

And it’s too risky to just launch an attack.

No matter what choice he makes, it won’t sit well with him.

‘Ah, there’s this method.’

While he was agonizing over it for a long time.

A good idea came to mind.

‘I’ll tame the remaining Rank-Out Disaster Species nearby and then attack.’

Once he tames the remaining Rank-Out Disaster Species, Parade will have a total of three Rank-Out Disaster Species.

With that much power, he can sufficiently deal with even two 8th circle mages.

‘Fortunately, those two don’t seem to be aiming for the other Rank-Out Disaster Species.’

The direction the two are currently heading is exactly towards Mount Baekdu.

It’s quite far from the habitat of the remaining two Rank-Out Disaster Species.

As the distance is far, there’s almost no chance of being disturbed.

‘Let’s go with this method.’

After taming the remaining Rank-Out Disaster Species, he’ll deal with those two.

Parade made up his mind.

* * *

After that, I told Charles about the corrupted mana I had detected from the monster.

“So, the monster that attacked us was a monster tamed by a black mage?”

“Yes. That’s why they weren’t intimidated by Captain Charles’s aura.”

“……They prioritized orders over instinct?”

Charles’s expression turned grim.

“That means, they’re a monster tamer of considerable skill?”

“Yes.”

Handling monsters is difficult.

No matter how skilled a tamer is, they can’t suppress the instincts of monsters.

But the monsters that attacked us all prioritized orders over instinct.

They completely forgot their fear of Charles and charged recklessly.

That means, the black mage who handles the monsters is a considerable expert.

“If it’s a monster tamer belonging to the Black Magic Tower with this level of skill……”

“Yes. It’s likely to be Parade, the executive of the Black Magic Tower who appeared in the United States before.”

“I see…… So that’s how it is.”

Charles’s eyes became even sharper.

“A big shot has popped out in an unexpected place.”

Hate for the Black Magic Tower and the thrill of being able to deal with an executive of the Black Magic Tower with his own hands.

It was a sharp gaze that harmonized two conflicting emotions well.