The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 242

The eleventh mythical magic.

Nubes.

A mythical magic that inherits the myth of an assassin who is said to have killed the supreme god. [This refers to a powerful, legendary figure in their mythology.]

It is a magic specialized in concealing something.

By using this magic, one can completely erase their presence, as well as completely erase the shape of any object they desire.

According to myth, it was impossible for any god to find Nubes, who had completely concealed their appearance, so there’s no need to explain how powerful the concealment is.

‘If the unknown shielding ability here is borrowing the power of Nubes, it makes sense.’

My and Miho’s sensing abilities are excellent, but not enough to penetrate Nubes.

It’s not for nothing that Nubes is a mythical magic.

Of course, if Miho had her original power, she might have been able to sense it somehow.

However, as she currently only has six tails, sensing it is nearly impossible.

‘Same goes for me.’

I once again placed my hand on the black stone.

As expected, I feel nothing.

Even after trying every method, it’s useless.

To me, this black stone is just a useless black stone.

It was a truly admirable concealment ability.

‘Nubes, huh…’

Perhaps this isn’t the ‘real’ medium of Nubes.

If it were real, Miho wouldn’t have failed to notice anything strange.

Perhaps this black stone is a degraded copy made using the power of Nubes.

Or a replica.

In fact, the medium of Nubes I saw in the literature wasn’t in the form of a stone.

‘This is a headache.’

If this black stone is a degraded copy made using the power of Nubes, it’s a rather troublesome situation.

‘The fact that all three secret passages have this black stone installed means that mass production of this black stone is possible…’

If the Black Magic Tower starts committing crimes using this stone, there will be no way to stop them.

Even if me and Miho can’t detect it, how could other people sense it?

‘With this power, infiltration as well as assassination becomes easy.’

No matter where in the world, no matter how well protected, no one can be safe.

As long as the Black Magic Tower wields the power of Nubes, no place in the world is a safe zone.

The great mages of the world will die without being able to use any of their power.

And so, the scales will slowly tilt towards the Black Magic Tower.

The world will soon fall into the hands of the Black Magic Tower.

‘This isn’t just an emergency situation.’

The mass production of degraded copies of Nubes.

This is not a situation that can be described with the light term of an emergency.

We must come up with a way to respond somehow.

If we can’t find a way, then everything might be over.

‘I need to consult with Mimir and figure out a way.’

Since it’s a degraded copy, there must be a way out somehow.

Mimir will surely find a way.

‘It would be more certain if I could take this black stone with me.’

Unfortunately, that’s impossible.

Taking this black stone from here now would be the same as telling them that someone has infiltrated this passage.

That should never be done.

There’s no reason to give them information about an intruder like me.

Right now, the priority is to hide my presence as much as possible and observe their movements.

‘First, I need to check what’s at the end of this path.’

What on earth are they doing in here that they’re hiding the passage so thoroughly?

That’s what I need to find out first.

‘Actually, I can roughly guess what they’re doing without having to check…’

There are more than enough hints.

There’s only one thing they could be doing here.

‘Mass production of Ignis.’

That’s the only thing they could be doing.

* * *

A special research institute built underground in Paris, France.

The man in charge of this research institute, ‘Doctor,’ was repeating experiments today with a smile full of madness.

“What’s the status of sample number 4?”

“It’s dead. The experiment failed.”

One of the researchers, who appeared to be an assistant, answered Doctor’s question.

Then, he displayed the camera footage of the room with sample number 4 on the main screen.

A charred human corpse filled the screen.

“Completely turned to ashes. So it’s fire after all. It’s so tricky to handle. What’s the status of the other samples?”

“They’re all similar.”

The researcher manipulated the panel and displayed the footage of all samples from 1 to 8.

All of them were burned to ashes.

Most of the corpses were lying twisted, as if they had writhed in pain while being burned alive.

“Hmm. The fact that all the samples burned to death in the same way means that the premise of the experiment itself is wrong…”

“Yes. It seems we need to lower the firepower even more.”

“Firepower. Lowering the firepower. There’s no way to lower the firepower any further… I can’t think of a way right now.”

Doctor stroked his chin and pondered.

How can he suppress it any further?

This was already a considerable suppression of firepower.

“Well, let’s use the remaining samples, just in case we get a different result.”

“All the remaining samples?”

“Yes. How many are left?”

“There are 31 samples, and we’ve used 8, so there are 23 left.”

“Good. That’s enough. Deploy them all.”

“…Are you sure you shouldn’t reconsider?”

The researcher’s expression darkened.

Perhaps he had a shred of conscience as a human being, using humans as test subjects.

“We’ve lost our transporter. If we use all the samples now, we won’t have any samples to use tomorrow.”

That can’t be.

In the first place, if he were a person with such a conscience, he wouldn’t be doing this kind of experiment.

The researcher is worried about the interruption of the experiment. Only that he won’t be able to do more experiments due to a lack of samples.

“That’s true. Then, just in case, leave 8 samples.”

“Yes. I will do that.”

The researcher manipulated the panel and contacted the other researchers.

From now on, the researchers who received the call will move to each room and inject the samples with the substance.

Then the second experiment will begin.

“I hope there will be a sample that survives this time.”

“I hope so.”

Doctor replied indifferently with an expression that showed he had no expectations at all.

It was an expression that showed he didn’t think any of the other samples would survive.

Or rather, it was an expression that showed he didn’t care whether they survived or not.

“Ah, save sample number 21. Even if a new transporter comes, it’s hard to get a young sample. We should use it more usefully.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Doctor sat back in his chair and crossed his legs.

Then he fell into thought again.

“How can I perfectly control this powerful fire energy?”

Right in front of where he was sitting.

Beyond the glass case, which was protected by strict security.

He stared sharply at a special jewel that looked like a heart.

“A way to lower the firepower…”

The medium of Ignis. [Ignis is a powerful fire-based magical energy source.]

Doctor and the researchers also know the name Ignis, but they simply call the jewel the A2 special medium.

He pondered over and over again while looking at it.

“Difficult. It’s difficult.”

Doctor’s eyes gleamed slightly.

“Should we try using those with strong fire resistance as test subjects?”

“That might be one way. Mages or knights… Wouldn’t we get a different result then?”

“Hmm.”

Doctor grinned as if it were a pretty good approach.

“Good. Then let’s try using one of the guards as a sample.”

“…One of the guards? Are you sure about that?”

“It doesn’t matter. We can always find new guards.”

A crimson light flowed from Doctor’s eyes. It was a twisted light, tainted with madness.

“Satisfying my curiosity is more important than that.”

“Ah… !”

The researcher looked impressed.

“Not clinging to petty sentiments and prioritizing experiments… Doctor is indeed an example for all researchers.”

He was deeply moved.

He vowed that he would do the same when he had his own research institute in the future.

“However, we must be careful not to get caught, as the other guards may object. Right, let’s send all but one of them out.”

“Yes. I will execute it immediately.”

Doctor nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Oh, by the way, did you find out why the second secret passage was opened during the day?”

“Yes.”

The researcher pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“It was opened by the young lady of the Vinochuga family.”

“Any traces of her entering?”

“No. She just opened it and then closed it right away. I think she heard about the secret passage from Saint Vinochuga and opened it out of curiosity to see if it was real.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

“I see.”

Doctor threw away the document with an expression that he had lost interest.

“You don’t have to worry too much. Even if she comes inside, she has to open another secret passage in the bunker to get here. There’s no chance this place will be exposed…”

“Worry? There’s no way.”

Doctor clicked his tongue and smacked his lips.

“The young lady of the Vinochuga family wields a cold energy sword, right? And usually, such beings have a strong resistance to fire.”

Worry? He doesn’t worry about such things at all. Doctor is just disappointed.

“It’s a shame. If she had come through the passage, we would have had a good sample.”

He was disappointed that he didn’t get a great research subject named Stella Vinochuga.

* * *

It’s been an hour and 40 minutes since I started moving through the passage.

‘How long is this passage?’

No matter how much I walk, I can’t see the end.

It’s partly because I’m walking much slower than usual to prepare for any possible situation, but even considering that, the passage is too long.

‘……Should I speed up a little more?’

So far, I haven’t found a single guard or CCTV.

The fact that there’s nothing like this means that there’s really no defense at all.

If so, shouldn’t I put aside some safety and increase the speed of exploration?

‘No. Just because there are no guards on the outskirts doesn’t mean there are no guards in the center.’

Increasing the speed of exploration now is a bad idea.

Right now, I need to proceed with the exploration slowly, step by step.

And if I’ve walked for an hour and 40 minutes, it should be showing up soon.

There’s no need to be impatient at all.

I just need to continue the exploration calmly and collectedly as I have been doing.

‘Hoo.’

The slightly disturbed mind regained its peace.

And so, I began to move forward slowly, just like before.

Another 30 minutes passed.

Finally, there was a change in the passage.

‘It’s been cleaned.’

The floor and walls of the passage are neatly arranged.

Someone has cleaned it.

This means that I’m getting closer to my destination.

I slowly moved my feet into the tidy passage.

One step, two steps.

The moment I took exactly three steps.

Whoosh-!

A powerful remnant of fire swept through my entire body.

“… !”

A sensation as if my body had been burned and annihilated.

My limbs turned to ashes and scattered.

Of course, my limbs weren’t really burned.

It was all an illusion.

The powerful fire mana showed me an illusion.

‘This is the power of Ignis…’

Needless to say, the powerful fire mana was the mana emitted by Ignis.

Just the mana it emits is enough to show this kind of illusion.

How powerful is it?

Twitch!

While I was thinking that and spacing out.

Miho twitched her ears.

She stared intently ahead, on guard.

It was a signal that someone was coming from the front.

I quickly lowered my posture and stuck to the wall.

Then, I used Resonance to further enhance my concealment. [Resonance is a technique used to amplify the user’s ability to hide.]

I erased my presence with all my might.

Tap, tap.

Thud, thud.

Soon, two sets of footsteps were heard.

One was the sound of high heels, and the other was the sound of flat shoes.

Judging by the heavy sound of the flat shoes, it seems like the person is a bit heavy.

Perhaps it’s one woman and one man.

“In the end, today’s experiment was a complete failure.”

“But it was more stable than half a year ago.”

The woman spoke first, followed by the man.

As expected, it was a pair of men and women.

“But still. They all died today.”

The woman said, sounding somewhat annoyed.

“They should have tried to hold on a little longer. They all lost their minds and burned to death in less than a minute. Don’t they all have too little attachment to life?”

“If it could be done with willpower, someone would have survived. It’s not the test subjects’ fault.”

Burned to death.

Test subjects.

These were keywords that roughly indicated the situation.

‘These bastards… they’re doing human experiments.’

No attachment to life.

The only beings that can be said to have that are humans.

My brow furrowed.

“I know. I was just saying it because I was frustrated. I’m not an amateur. Would I blame the lab rats?”

Lab rats.

My expression darkened even more at that word.

A cold, honed anger sharpened my eyes.

“If you know, then that’s enough.”

The man replied expressionlessly.

“Seriously… I can’t even complain to you, senior.”

“Instead of complaining, focus more on your research. We’re only one step away now.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

The woman answered casually in a tone that sounded like she was completely fed up.

“Sigh. When will new test subjects come in again? There’s a limit to just doing image training.”

“…That bad habit of organizing your thoughts while dissecting people. Haven’t you fixed it yet?”

“Hey. Bad habit? It’s a good habit. People say that when you focus your gaze on something, your cognitive abilities increase, right? What I’m doing is the same as that.”

“I can’t understand it.”

“You’ll understand if you try it, senior? When you stare intently at someone else’s brain… it’s like my brain gets stimulated more, you know?”

Just listening to it makes me angry. What do those bastards think people are?

If possible, I wanted to incinerate those trash right now.

‘……Hoo. Let’s calm down.’

But now is not the time.

There’s nothing that will change even if I kill those two now.

Right now, I need to suppress my anger and only think about infiltrating the interior.

‘After that, I’ll gather information and eliminate these trash.’

That’s the best course of action.

I thought that and suppressed my anger.

“Oh, by the way, one of the guards was used as an experimental material today, right?”

…They used a guard as an experimental material? A colleague?

“…That matter is confidential.”

“Hey. It’s just the two of us here.”

The woman waved her hand casually and joked.

“Anyway, I thought about it after seeing that. Surely, we won’t be used as test subjects if we become necessary, right?”

“Well. It’s possible if it becomes necessary.”

The man replied expressionlessly.

“Considering Doctor’s personality, it’s definitely possible.”

“…That’s scary.”

“If you’re scared, then work harder. If you keep proving your competence to Doctor, that won’t happen.”

“I guess. Just looking at you, senior, you’ve been assisting Doctor for 12 years…”

The woman smiled.

“Well, there’s no point in worrying about that already. I should just think about doing a good job.”

With those words.

The two of them walked in the direction I had come from, maintaining silence.

They’re probably going on patrol.

After the two men and women completely disappeared from my sight.

I stood there blankly for about 5 minutes.

It’s not that I was wary of the two returning.

I was just surprised.

I was just stunned because an unexpected noun popped out.

‘……Doctor?’

I had heard about the person called ‘Doctor’ from those two, from Shadow before.

‘Doctor. One of the three non-combat executives of the Black Magic Tower, along with Hermes.’

Code name Doctor.

Shadow said.

‘I won’t say much. If you meet this guy, run away no matter what. He’s the most dangerous of the executives.’

He’s the most dangerous guy in the Black Magic Tower.

‘That Doctor is the head here…?’