The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 291

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-292

A sudden letter from Shadow arrived.

It contained shocking news that Executive Levi would arrive at Gimpo Airport in three days.

“This letter holds more meaning than what’s written on the surface.”

My father frowned, looking serious after hearing the letter’s contents and the situation.

“Yes, that’s why I have a headache too.”

A normal person might think it’s just an executive coming to Korea.

But it’s not.

This letter has quite a significant hidden meaning.

“First, Hayul, it’s best if you stay hidden for a while. It seems their target is you.”

“Yes, I think that would be best for now.”

That’s because Executive Levi’s target is me.

It’s not written in the letter, but it’s certain.

If my safety wasn’t at risk, Shadow wouldn’t have sent such a letter.

One might think he sent it because he had some leeway, but looking at the urgent content of this letter, that’s not the case.

It’s certain.

Levi’s target is me.

“But it’s strange. There’s no reason for an executive like Levi to target you.”

“Yes, I’m wondering about that too.”

Considering the current situation of the Black Magic Tower, there’s no reason to target me.

Even though I’m on their elimination list, with the loss of numerous executives including Doctor, it’s unlikely they’d move an executive just to eliminate me.

There must be another reason.

“Reason. A reason…”

My father frowned, lost in thought.

He was thinking about the current situation and why Levi would target me.

My expression probably wasn’t much different from his.

‘A reason for Levi to target me…’

In this internally chaotic situation, why would they send an executive to Korea, where security is tight due to Anti-Magia [a fictional organization that opposes magic users]?

If I were an executive of the Black Magic Tower.

When would I move an executive?

The answer came immediately when I thought that way.

“Could it be a purge of traitors?”

No matter how short they are on manpower, no matter how chaotic the internal situation is, they must purge traitors.

They must catch the traitors who betrayed them and tarnished the name of the Black Magic Tower.

That’s the best way to resolve the internal chaos.

“What’s the connection between purging traitors and targeting you?”

“Hermes suspected there was some kind of relationship between Shadow and me. I managed to get by at the time, but…”

“With no other hints, they decided to investigate you, grasping at straws. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

My father’s eyes lit up, looking like he thought it made sense.

“But there’s still not enough evidence. There’s no reason to send an executive just to investigate you. Hermes is in the Black Magic Tower.”

“…That’s true.”

As my father said, it’s not enough of a reason to send an executive.

“From the start, while you were in France, we constantly sent information that you were here, even manipulating videos. Since Shadow’s betrayal happened in France, suspicion about you would have almost ended.”

“Even if they suspect me, it’s not enough to send an executive. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

Unless it’s been revealed that I’m Luan Palatia.

There’s no reason for the Black Magic Tower to send an executive to me.

“If they knew I was Luan Palatia, they wouldn’t send just one executive.”

“Right. I would have sent at least three.”

In many ways, it doesn’t make sense.

“Certainly… it doesn’t seem like they’re sending an executive because they suspect my relationship with Shadow.”

My father nodded silently.

“Then why on earth…”

I looked at the letter Shadow sent again.

[Levi. 23rd, 4:14 AM. Gimpo.]

Even looking at it again, it’s clear that it was written urgently.

What meaning did Shadow put into this letter when he sent it to me?

‘There’s definitely something.’

There’s definitely something.

No matter how urgent it was, there’s no way Shadow would have sent this letter without thinking.

Since he took a considerable risk by sending a letter while infiltrating, there must be something.

‘Let’s think about it again from the beginning.’

I recalled the situation when this letter arrived from Shadow.

First, the method of sending it, hiding the letter in the shadow of a crow, shows attention to security.

Making it so that only someone who can use shadow magic can confirm it, it’s a very Shadow-like way of handling things…

‘…Wait a minute.’

At that moment, something flashed in my mind.

‘He sent a letter that only someone who can use shadow magic can confirm?’

The momentary flash soon turned into a definite suspicion.

‘Right. That’s right. Why didn’t I notice this?’

I understand.

What the meaning of this letter is.

I clearly understood what Shadow was trying to convey to me.

“It seems like you’ve realized something.”

As if he read the look of joy on my face.

My father asked me.

“Yes.”

I nodded with a confident look.

“I know what Levi’s purpose is, and what Shadow is trying to convey. I know for sure.”

* * *

Three days passed.

4:14 AM on the 23rd.

Executive Levi arrived at Gimpo Airport at the scheduled time.

Since Levi is currently using a Japanese identity, there were no significant departure procedures.

He just went through the automated departure screening machine and it was over.

To anyone watching, it might seem like the security system is too lax, but that’s absolutely not the case.

Korea’s security system is one of the best in the world.

It’s not that the security system is lax, but that the Black Magic Tower’s infiltration methods are excellent.

Or rather, it should be said that the ability of the executive ‘Levi’ is fraudulent.

‘As expected, Korea is the most comfortable. The departure screening is fast too.’

Levi’s ability is Metamorphosis.

The ability to freely change one’s body.

With this ability, Levi can freely change his face, body shape, gender, iris, and even fingerprints and the nature of mana.

Therefore, it’s impossible for him to get caught by Korea’s security system, which uses machines for all kinds of checks, including fingerprints.

Moreover, he doesn’t forge identities, but rather eliminates real people and takes their identities, making it even less likely for him to get caught.

In fact, Levi’s identity has never been exposed in 17 years.

“I’m trying to buy a bus ticket to Gangnam, where should I go?”

Levi went to the counter and asked in broken Korean.

Normally, he would have had his subordinates do trivial things like finding directions, but unfortunately, Levi is alone in Korea.

He has to handle everything by himself.

“Ah, if that’s the case, go straight over there…”

The guide smiled and told him where to go.

“Uh… I’m sorry. Could you please speak in Japanese?”

“Ah, you’re from Japan. I’m sorry.”

The guide started giving directions in Japanese again.

After all the explanations were finished.

“Oh. I see. Thank you.”

Levi gave his thanks with a refreshing smile.

“You’re welcome. I hope you have a good trip.”

Broken Korean and fluent Japanese.

He looked like an ordinary tourist to anyone.

‘That’s why Korean is so good. It’s easy to pretend to be clumsy because the pronunciation has to be accurate.’

Of course, it’s all an act.

Levi can speak 12 languages perfectly, including Korean.

The reason he spoke broken Korean was because the Japanese person he’s currently impersonating has no connection to Korea.

He doesn’t think anyone will suspect him, but there’s always a chance.

It’s best to eliminate any seeds of suspicion beforehand.

‘Then next…’

Levi took out his phone from his pocket and made a call.

It wasn’t a call to Sato or any other Black Magic Tower affiliates.

“Hello. Yes, Mother. It’s me.”

The person on the phone was the mother of the person he was currently disguised as.

Similarly, to eliminate any seeds of suspicion from the start, he called his mother to report his arrival.

“Yes. I just arrived. Yes. I’ll buy you a gift when I go back.”

Levi’s acting was perfect.

Levi had observed the target for the past three days, and even his mother wouldn’t be able to see through his acting, as he had grasped every single habit.

“Then I’ll contact you again.”

After Levi finished the call.

He headed towards the bus terminal as if nothing had happened.

Right now, Levi was the perfect tourist.

‘Then next is his girlfriend. It seemed like they were a bit distant, so I should wait a bit before calling…’

Levi picked up his phone again, looking like he didn’t want to call.

But he still had to call.

That inner thought was clearly visible on his face.

And he called his girlfriend.

“…It’s me. I’ve arrived.”

A voice that was cold yet warm. A voice and expression that perfectly revealed a relationship in a cold war.

‘Perfect.’

It was a display of Executive Levi’s perfectionist tendencies.

It was a pathological behavior that made one wonder if he really had to go this far, but it was because he was so thorough that he had never been caught until now.

“Okay. I’ll call you again.”

After the call ended.

He also bought a bus ticket to Gangnam.

Now, all that was left was to leisurely take the bus to the hotel.

‘This Asakura guy is an indoor type. Once I get to the hotel, I can pretend to be holed up in the hotel and move separately without any problems.’

Levi waited for the bus and started organizing the things he had to do again.

First, he had to infiltrate the Magic God’s family, so he would have to eliminate someone among the members and disguise himself as that person.

To do that, he had to gather information first.

If he asked Hermes, he would probably find a suitable candidate.

‘After that, I’ll go into the Magic God’s family and look for traces of Shadow.’

He could think about the rest later. The course of action would change depending on the results of the investigation anyway.

There was no need to decide anything in advance and stiffen his thinking.

‘Perfect.’

Levi cheered inwardly.

It couldn’t be more perfect than this.

It was when he was patting himself on the back.

“… !”

Suddenly, the side profile of a familiar figure caught Levi’s eye.

A small physique like a child.

A weighty gaze that was comparable to it.

An atmosphere that seemed to suit the color ‘black’ more than anyone else in this world.

‘Shadow…?’

Shadow.

It was Shadow’s true appearance, which only a few executives knew.

* * *

Near the bus terminal.

I was moving to the central lobby, disguised as Shadow using a mix of illusion magic and face-changing magic.

“I found him.”

I manipulated the earplug I was wearing while disguised and reported to Commander Charles, who was watching the situation from the control room.

-You found him? Who is it?

“Flight KA-1111. Passenger Asakura Ren in seat 37A. This guy is Levi.”

-Are you sure?

“Yes. Among the passengers on flight KA-1111, only that guy reacted to my current appearance.”

-He reacted? I didn’t see it?

“It was just for a moment, so it would have been hard to see through the camera. In the first place, I was only able to confirm it thanks to my Divine Eye.”

It was a momentary tremor, but I definitely saw it. Asakura Ren’s pupils were definitely shaking when he found me.

-Did you check his mana?

“I checked, but I couldn’t find anything unusual about his mana itself. As expected, it seems that Metamorphosis’s mana transformation can deceive even my Divine Eye.”

-…That’s a really crazy ability. If that guy decides to hide, it means we can’t find him.

“Yes, that’s right.”

The power to freely change not only his body but also his mana.

Metamorphosis.

It was impossible for even my Divine Eye to find Levi, who had completely finished his disguise.

That’s why I came up with the plan to disguise myself as Shadow.

Since Levi’s target is Shadow, I thought he would most likely react if he found Shadow in an unexpected place.

-What is that guy doing now?

“He doesn’t seem to be following me. It seems like he thinks it’s a trap.”

-No pursuit. Then we can proceed with Plan B.

“Yes. I think that would be best.”

Asakura Ren.

Levi doesn’t seem to be trying to follow me.

He’s just waiting for the bus with a tourist-like expression, as if nothing had happened.

-By the way, he’s not following you? He’s a really thorough guy.

“Yes. His facial expressions were almost unchanged. If it weren’t for this gap, there wouldn’t have been any change in his expression.”

This is the result of targeting the moment when he was most unguarded.

If he had been tense, there wouldn’t have been even a hint of a change in his expression.

-Anyway, it’s a relief that we found him. We’ve overcome one hurdle with this.

“Yes.”

If we hadn’t succeeded in identifying Levi here.

It would have been a bit of a hassle.

It’s a relief that we succeeded.

-But. Can I ask you one thing?

“What is it?”

I answered casually, moving along the predetermined escape route.

-How did you know that Levi’s target was Shadow?

“Didn’t I tell you?”

-No. I just heard that Levi was coming to Korea to investigate you to find Shadow.

That’s right.

Come to think of it, I didn’t go into detail.

-I thought it was all written in the letter Shadow sent. But I heard that there was no mention of that. How did you know?

“Hmm. To put it simply, there was a hint in the way Shadow sent the letter.”

-The way he sent the letter?

“Yes.”

Moving along the escape route, I slowly released the magic on my body.

And I used shadow magic to teleport a short distance.

With this, I completely escaped Hermes’s eyes.

Now Hermes will conclude that I am the real Shadow.

There’s no way to avoid Hermes’s eyes other than Shadow’s shadow movement.

That’s what he’ll think for sure.

“Shadow used shadow magic to enclose the letter in a shadow. He crafted it so that only someone who could use the same shadow magic could open it.”

-So?

“Isn’t it strange?”

-Huh? What’s strange?

“How did Shadow know that I could use shadow magic and send the letter in that way?”

-…Huh?

Shadow shouldn’t know that I can use shadow magic.

Shadow disappeared long before I started using shadow magic.

-That’s right? You learned shadow magic right before the incident. How did he know and send you such a letter…? During the Anti-Magia incident, the system at the scene was completely destroyed, so there’s no way the fact that you could use shadow magic could have leaked out.

I paused for a moment and answered.

“The answer is that information related to the incident was leaked to the Black Magic Tower.”

-To the Black Magic Tower?

“Yes. Information that traces of shadow magic were used during the terror attack was transmitted to the Black Magic Tower through some route. It was delivered to Shadow, who is infiltrating the Black Magic Tower. And finally, it was delivered to me in the form of that letter.”

-I see… Then everything makes sense. The way Shadow sent the letter. And why Levi came to Korea.

“Yes. Levi came to Korea chasing after shadow magic. To purge the traitor.”

Since shadow magic was used at the scene of the Anti-Magia terror incident, Shadow is likely to be near me.

Levi judged that and came to Korea.

-…Amazing, really. Shadow, who sent the letter with such meaning, and you, who understood it so clearly.

“There’s still one more thing left.”

-What?

“The hidden meaning in Shadow’s letter.”

-What else is left?

“Yes. This is probably the most important information.”

The whole story of the Anti-Magia incident was transmitted to the Black Magic Tower.

That means.

“There’s a high probability that Anti-Magia and the Black Magic Tower have joined hands.”

-…What?

The Black Magic Tower and Anti-Magia have joined hands.

Or.

“In the worst case, there’s a possibility that the entire Anti-Magia terrorist group has fallen into the hands of the Black Magic Tower.”

It was this kind of talk.

-That means…

“Yes. There’s something we don’t know.”

Something is going wrong.

“It seems we need to re-examine the Black Magic Tower’s extermination operation itself.”