The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 201

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-202

At the center of nearly a hundred monsters.

Charles chuckled leisurely, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Is this all there is? Nothing special.”

“Hmph. Trying to act all relaxed.”

Parade scoffed at Charles.

That wasn’t genuine composure; he was just pretending to be relaxed.

“You’re the one who’s nothing special, aren’t you? All bark and no bite. Guess a dog is just a dog, huh?”

Parade sneered.

Even though the battle had been going on for a full five minutes, Charles hadn’t launched a proper counterattack yet.

It was only natural that he would be mocked.

“Well, haven’t you considered that I might be conserving my strength for the right moment?”

“That’s a novel piece of nonsense. The right moment? What’s the right moment?”

Parade’s eyes gleamed.

At the same time, Velvet Tiger and Bucephalus charged at Charles simultaneously.

Velvet Tiger rushed in, jaws wide open, trying to swallow Charles whole.

And Bucephalus lifted its front paw, ready to stomp down.

“What’s the right moment, you ask?”

Charles raised one hand up and the other to the right.

KWA-AA-AA-ANG!

An intangible barrier spread out from his palms. A barrier using telekinesis perfectly blocked the two monsters’ attacks.

“It’s when our little guy finishes off that shady shadow and comes back.”

“…Ha.”

Parade snorted.

“I admit that guy is surprisingly capable. But do you really think Shadow would fall so easily?”

According to Shadow, Shin Hayul was indeed strong.

But no matter how strong Shin Hayul was, Shadow wasn’t someone who would go down so easily.

“Don’t hold onto false hope. Just die, you mutt….”

Parade stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening.

“This is….”

“You feel it, huh?”

Charles’s smile deepened.

He couldn’t help but laugh at the energy he felt from Shin Hayul in the distance.

‘His mana is extraordinary.’

Parade’s pupils trembled. The mana emanating from the direction where Shadow and Shin Hayul had gone was unusual.

“I didn’t want to say this, but he’s above me.”

“…What?”

Looking at Parade, Charles deliberately twisted his lips.

“Shin Hayul is above me.”

“That guy… is stronger than you?”

It wasn’t a lie.

Charles was Shin Hayul’s escort.

Positionally, Shin Hayul was indeed above him.

Sophia had said so too.

‘I didn’t lie. I didn’t lie.’

Of course, he had said it in a way that could be misunderstood, but he hadn’t lied.

“Don’t lie. How can an 18-year-old kid….”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s not 18.”

This also wasn’t a lie.

In fact, Charles had repeatedly considered that Shin Hayul might not actually be 18.

“……”

Parade’s expression trembled wildly at Charles’s sincere look.

His mind was filled with all sorts of doubts.

Shin Hayul’s existence felt like some kind of enormous monster.

‘Just what is that guy?’

And then.

KWAAAAAA-AAAAAA-ANG!

A deafening explosion rang out.

‘The direction where Shadow and that guy went!’

A roar that came from the place where Shadow and Shin Hayul were presumed to be fighting.

At the same time, flames soared high into the sky.

‘That’s….’

It wasn’t ordinary fire.

The flames were forming a special shape.

‘A horse…?’

Flames in the shape of a horse.

Since it was running in the sky, should it be called a celestial steed?

It stood tall in the sky, looking this way, pawing at the ground with its front hooves.

As if it were about to gallop there right now.

It snorted fiercely, exuding an aura that it would burn you to ashes right away.

‘Dangerous!’

Just by looking at its form, he could tell.

That magic was dangerous.

He didn’t know what it was, but he had to avoid it. Parade was certain and shouted.

“Elysium Turtle! Protect me!”

Elysium Turtle reacted to Parade’s strong will.

All instincts gone, turned into a puppet that only followed Parade’s orders, Elysium Turtle moved between Parade and the fiery celestial steed.

And then, it put its head inside its shell, entering defense mode.

‘No matter how great the magic is, it can’t pierce Elysium Turtle’s shell.’

Moreover, Elysium Turtle had near-absolute resistance to fire attributes.

Fire attribute magic could never break through Elysium Turtle’s defense.

Parade quickly moved close behind Elysium Turtle and lowered his center of gravity.

The next moment.

HIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The fiery celestial steed roared.

Clop, clop!

The sound of its front hooves roughly scraping the ground a couple of times followed.

And the next moment.

WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The celestial steed dashed forward.

With the will to burn everything in the world.

Its intense firepower seemed to have the sun behind it.

Nothing remained in the place where the celestial steed had passed.

All that was left were ashes scattering in the sky.

The celestial steed instantly arrived at the place where Parade and Charles were.

And.

WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Hell unfolded.

The fiery celestial steed had turned everything to ashes just by passing by.

That thing was standing still.

Standing still and glaring around.

It was only natural that the area turned into hell.

“Kuh!”

The heat was so intense that even Parade’s skin, protected by Elysium Turtle, was burning.

‘Shin Hayul! There was no mention of you using magic like this!’

Charles was also within the range of the magic.

He was better off than Parade, but Charles wasn’t in perfect condition either.

The heat was so powerful that his sweat evaporated as soon as it flowed, leaving only traces of salt pressed onto his skin.

He was somehow blocking the damage with telekinesis, but he wouldn’t be able to hold out for long like this.

HIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The bigger problem was that this wasn’t the end.

The fiery celestial steed roared again.

As if the previous attack was just a prelude, it powerfully tapped its hooves, circling the area.

A higher level of hell unfolded on the ground where the celestial steed had passed.

KUEEEEEEK!

KIEEEEEK!

The screams of the monsters echoed like a round.

They were all burning, crushed, and melting.

Monsters below A-rank were burned down regardless of their characteristics.

‘Even the Scorching Hell isn’t this bad…!’

Charles gritted his teeth.

This was the first time in his life he had encountered such powerful fire magic.

No, if it was just about power or output, the Scorching Hell would be superior.

This magic had no single point that was superior to the Scorching Hell.

‘But… why is it so powerful!’

He couldn’t understand.

Even though all the stats were lower than the Scorching Hell, it was showing greater power than the Scorching Hell.

‘What is this structure?’

Above all, he couldn’t understand the structure of this magic.

Charles was the one who had the power to even guide electricity.

How easy would it be to guide flames?

Charles could completely nullify ordinary flames, as well as the Scorching Hell.

But not Shin Hayul’s magic.

‘Just what kind of magic did he use that I can’t guide it with telekinesis!’

Shin Hayul’s fire magic couldn’t be guided.

He had no idea what form the magic was activated in, and telekinesis didn’t even think about working.

‘At this rate, I might really turn into ashes!’

It was impossible to endure within this magic like this.

He had to get out somehow.

‘Fortunately, this magic is centered around Parade. The moment the celestial steed is furthest from me, if I aim for the timing when its power is weakest, I can escape.’

Charles’s eyes flashed.

He observed the celestial steed, which was still rampaging around, and gauged the timing to escape.

‘Just a little more… just a little more….’

About 10 seconds passed like that.

When the celestial steed was getting closer to the timing when it was furthest from Charles.

“I’m sorry.”

“……!”

A voice was heard right next to his ear.

“You, you…!”

Shin Hayul’s voice.

Charles shouted urgently and turned around.

But before that, Shin Hayul moved first.

He quickly placed his hand on Charles’s head.

“The heat….”

At that moment, all the heat disappeared.

No, it wasn’t that the heat had disappeared.

The heat that was being transmitted to Charles was completely blocked.

“Unexpectedly, a magic much stronger than I had anticipated was created… I wasn’t considerate of you, Commander Charles. I’m really sorry.”

Shin Hayul bowed his head again.

“……”

Charles had no reaction.

It wasn’t that he was speechless with anger at the fact that he had almost died from Shin Hayul’s magic.

He was just speechless because it was so absurd.

“Then, you really… used that magic?”

“Well, it’s true that I used the magic, but it’s ambiguous. Should I say it’s a joint magic that Shadow and I used together?”

“Joint magic…?”

Shin Hayul turned his gaze away from the astonished Charles and looked at the fiery celestial steed rampaging in the distance.

“The name of the magic is Helios’s Celestial Steed. It’s a magic that’s on par with the Permafrost I used before.”

The remnants of the fire myth magic.

The second incantation magic he obtained while getting Miho.

Helios’s Celestial Steed.

It was burning the surroundings as if it were the sun, with no sign of going out.

* * *

At the location where Helios’s Celestial Steed was created.

In the middle of the devastated forest, Shadow was chuckling to himself.

“Helios’s Celestial Steed, huh….”

It was good that he had planned to absorb, amplify, and release Shin Hayul’s magic to manipulate the traces of the battle.

By doing so, he could also manipulate Shin Hayul’s skills.

He could also create a justification for Shadow’s escape.

He thought it was a near-perfect plan, as he had never separately informed the Black Magic Tower that Shadow’s shadow could amplify magic.

‘I never thought something like this would happen.’

But the plan that he thought was perfect began to falter with unexpected variables.

“A level of magic that even my shadow can’t control….”

The Helios’s Celestial Steed that Shin Hayul used. That magic was strange.

No, it was a bizarre magic that couldn’t be expressed with the cliché word ‘strange.’

‘Clearly, the power and output were at a level that my shadow could fully absorb.’

But when he tried to absorb it, he couldn’t.

He couldn’t even figure out the reason.

It just didn’t absorb properly, and he couldn’t control it.

‘Thanks to that, the plan completely went awry.’

Because it was impossible to control, it was impossible to leave the appropriate battle traces around.

The plan had completely gone wrong.

‘Of course, it did converge to a better result.’

The Helios’s Celestial Steed was still burning the surroundings without losing its power.

He was so glad that he hadn’t unleashed that terrifying thing near here.

‘I should thank Shin Hayul for instantly grasping my situation at that timing and shouting to shoot it in Parade’s direction.’

If it hadn’t been for Shin Hayul’s advice, the whole plan would have really gone wrong.

‘If I had unleashed that thing near here….’

Parade, having seen Shin Hayul’s absurd magic, would have fled.

If that had happened, Shin Hayul’s goal would have ended with only half of it achieved.

Shadow would have also been in a difficult situation in many ways.

Thinking about it again, it was a relief.

‘Then, shall I start moving too?’

Shadow’s shadow began to flicker.

And he grabbed a lump of the remnants left by the celestial steed, the flames.

CHIIIIIIIIK!

In that state, he brought the flames to his body, creating burns.

Horrific burns, to the point where third-degree burns were light, filled Shadow’s entire body.

He had to report that he had fought with Shin Hayul and escaped because he couldn’t win, so he was creating the traces.

“Shin Hayul.”

There was no pain.

There was pain that was indirectly transmitted through the shadow, but it wasn’t a significant pain.

Shadow smiled brightly as if he didn’t care about his skin that was burning and melting.

“I have shown you the greatest trust I can show. Now it’s your turn.”

After filling his entire body with burns and removing the flames again.

Shadow wrapped himself in shadow.

From now on, Shadow would return to headquarters, falsely report the details of the battle that had just occurred, and manipulate it.

If that happened, all the plans would be successfully completed.

Everything would go as Shin Hayul wished.

Then it would be Shadow’s turn to receive the reward.

‘Then, what kind of request should I make as a reward?’

Shadow smiled as he disappeared into the shadow.

‘Well then, farewell, Parade.’

As Shadow was gradually being eaten away by the shadow, Parade’s figure came into view through the shadow.

‘From beginning to end, there wasn’t anything I particularly liked.’

He said goodbye in his mind, watching Parade’s flustered appearance.

And with that, Shadow completely disappeared from Mount Baekdu.