The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 302

Something’s off.

‘…How long am I going to keep falling?’

What’s strange is the time I’ve been falling.

‘It feels like it’s been at least an hour since I started falling.’

An hour.

This is an absurd amount of time to be falling, logically speaking.

‘Logically, there’s no way a monster could be this big.’

I can’t say for sure since I haven’t fully grasped the situation yet, but.

I’m guessing I was probably eaten by a monster.

Lured in by the beauty of the rose garden, I was swallowed whole by a Venus flytrap-like monster.

Then, I should have fallen into the monster’s stomach, digestive pouch, or somewhere.

But what’s my current state?

I’m still falling, and quite enthusiastically at that.

For a whole hour.

Does this make any sense?

I’m in freefall, unable to resist, and I’ve been falling for an hour.

This is impossible unless the monster is the size of a planet.

‘It also doesn’t make sense that my falling speed isn’t increasing.’

Normally, when a person or object falls, the speed should increase the longer they fall.

But my falling speed has been completely fixed at a certain point.

This is physically impossible.

No matter how I look at it, there’s a secret to this fall.

‘Is solving this incomprehensible phenomenon the first trial?’

A sudden fall, just as sudden as the trial that started.

If this isn’t a trial, then what is?

‘Then that means there’s a solution…’

I let my body float and sank into thought.

Since I know I’m not actually falling, there’s no need to worry about the fall.

‘This situation, where I feel like I’m in zero gravity, is actually good.’

It feels like I’m lying on a cloud.

With no need to focus on my body, all my senses are focused on my brain.

It’s the perfect environment to organize my thoughts.

‘An infinite fall that seems like an infinite loop. Mana that doesn’t listen to me. Magic that shows no sign of activating.’

Adding the information that this situation was created to test me, I come to a conclusion.

‘This situation is likely to test my crisis response and basic abilities.’

Then the answer is clear.

The key to overcoming this situation is my basic abilities.

Among them, the ring of awakening I learned most recently is very likely to be the key.

I focused all my attention on rotating the Infinity Circle [a magical construct].

Since mana wasn’t listening to me, the Infinity Circle didn’t rotate properly either.

But I managed to rotate it somehow using the mana remaining in my body.

It was like a rusty gear being forced to turn, but.

The important thing was that it was turning.

‘The clear condition is probably to successfully create the awakening sigil [a magical symbol] even in these adverse conditions.’

Creak, creak.

I forced the Infinity Circle, which had no intention of moving as I wanted, to move and materialized the Möbius sigil [a symbol of infinity].

Of course, it didn’t succeed in one go.

‘It’s much harder than I thought.’

What would happen if a programmer who used a state-of-the-art computer was asked to work on an old computer on the verge of breaking down?

Would they be able to complete the work without any problems?

Of course not. They wouldn’t be able to achieve even 10% of their usual efficiency.

Breaking away from a familiar work process and adapting to an old one is more difficult than one can imagine.

That’s my current situation.

I can’t adapt to dealing with the creaking, malfunctioning Infinity Circle.

If I fix one thing, another problem arises.

If I fix another, yet another problem arises.

Nothing is going right.

Isn’t this what they call a total mess?

‘Is this reverse adaptation?’

Someone said this back in the academy days.

When switching from a lower-performing AI to a higher-performing AI, you don’t feel much of a difference.

But if you switch from a higher-performing AI to a lower-performing AI, you might go crazy from frustration.

They said the reverse adaptation is intense.

I couldn’t understand what they meant back then.

But experiencing it myself, I understand it clearly.

Reverse adaptation.

It’s more terrible than I thought.

‘But… I’m getting used to it little by little.’

A master craftsman doesn’t blame their tools.

As I repeat the process, I’m somehow getting the hang of it and getting used to it.

I’ve figured out how to handle this piece of junk on the verge of breaking down to make it work properly.

‘Let’s give up what we need to give up. Let’s just focus on getting the ring of awakening to work properly.’

Output, power, processing efficiency.

None of that matters.

My current Infinity Circle is incapable of performing those functions.

I give up on everything and just focus on forming the shape.

‘I’ll keep the other rings moving as little as possible. I’ll focus all my mana on the ring of awakening.’

Since each ring is organically connected, it’s impossible to completely exclude the other rings.

Therefore, I need to figure out how to distribute the minimum amount of mana needed for the ring of awakening to work to the other rings.

‘If I increase the output of the ring of judgment a little more and lower the ring of expansion a little, I can maintain the balance…’

After dozens of trials and errors.

Beyond the 132nd trial and error.

133rd trial.

‘Bingo!’

I finally succeeded in creating a structure that concentrates all the output on the ring of awakening.

‘Now, I’ll form the Möbius sigil with the minimum size possible.’

The mana that had been slowly crawling out began to emerge.

The mana, smaller than a fingernail, pulsed and began to take shape.

Normally, I would have completed the Möbius sigil as easily as breathing.

But now, it doesn’t move as I want it to.

‘…Right. This is another ordeal.’

Since the external mana is completely cut off, the mana that has flowed out doesn’t intend to listen to me.

If I let my guard down even a little now, I’ll lose control in an instant.

That can’t happen.

If I lose even the mana I’ve released to the outside, I won’t have a single drop of mana left.

Then everything will really be over.

‘Focus. Focus.’

I focused all my attention on the fingernail-sized mana.

1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour.

The more I focused, the more time I spent.

The mana gradually changed into the shape I wanted.

‘A little more, just a little more…’

And about 3 hours later.

When my whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

Peeeeng-!

The mana transformed into a complete Möbius sigil.

‘I… did it!’

I succeeded in creating a complete Möbius sigil even in these adverse conditions.

A strange sense of accomplishment washed over my entire body.

It was exhilarating.

It felt like I had solved an unsolved mystery that could never be solved.

‘I can use the skills I’ve learned now even when I get out of here.’

And more than anything, I was happy that I felt like I had grown even more.

The coordination method between each ring that I used now will be helpful when I need to choose and focus later.

My control has also increased considerably.

I couldn’t be more satisfied.

It was then, as I was wearing a bright smile.

Peeeeng-!

The fingernail-sized Möbius sigil created on my palm emitted light with a huge mana resonance.

As the light slowly spread, power began to return to my body.

‘My mana is returning to normal.’

To be precise, the empty mana was rapidly being absorbed, and my body was regaining its original condition.

The mana, influenced by the light emitted by the Möbius sigil, moved according to my will.

As if it had never ignored me, it returned to its normal state.

At the same time, the falling speed of my body began to decrease rapidly.

The feeling of floating disappeared in an instant, as if I had never been falling.

After about 3 seconds.

The feeling of floating in my body completely disappeared.

The infinite loop fall was completely over.

‘As expected. The ring of awakening was the key.’

My guess was correct.

This situation was a trial designed to test my crisis response and basic abilities.

With this, the first trial is over.

I had successfully passed the first trial.

The already large sense of satisfaction grew even larger.

‘By the way…’

I pushed off the ground with one foot.

A distinct squishy sensation.

‘When did I reach the bottom?’

Immediately after the fall stopped.

At the same time as the feeling of floating in my body completely disappeared, I realized that I was standing on the ground.

It was a ghostly thing.

Clearly, just 0.1 seconds ago, I was floating in the air.

I didn’t even feel the sensation of falling to the ground, but when I noticed, I had reached the ground in an instant.

It’s a very strange feeling.

‘Was the fall an illusion?’

It took me a total of 7 hours and 23 minutes to organize my thoughts and reach a conclusion.

It’s physically impossible to fall for that amount of time.

Therefore, the thought that I was falling was my delusion.

I suspect that they used some special method to deceive my senses.

‘Then it makes sense that I couldn’t control mana.’

Being able to freely control my five senses is the same as being able to control the sensation of controlling mana to some extent.

They probably used that power to control me so that I couldn’t move mana.

They manipulated my senses to make me feel like mana wasn’t listening to me.

‘It’s much harder to manipulate the sensation of the mana circuit than to manipulate the physical five senses. So the sensation of mana manipulation was somewhat alive.’

With that somewhat alive sensation of mana manipulation, I barely managed to create the Möbius sigil.

With the completed Möbius sigil, all kinds of mana concentrated and absorbed, and mana flooded into my body at once.

Because of the vast amount of mana, I couldn’t control my mana circuit, and the control was released.

Subsequently, the control of my body’s senses was also released.

That’s roughly how it seems.

‘Then that means I was under an illusion from the time I was in the rose garden…’

I couldn’t use mana before I fell here.

In other words, I was under an illusion even before I was eaten by this monster.

‘Is it an illusion magic using the scent of roses?’

Since it’s a monster disguised as a rose garden, it seems likely that it used the scent of roses to cast an illusion.

Otherwise, there would be no need to prepare a rose garden at the entrance.

‘…Wait a minute.’

At that moment, I was suddenly seized by a strange sense of unease. The cozy feeling I had felt until just before the fall had disappeared.

‘Miho… is gone?’

Could it be that the feeling of holding Miho was also fake?

‘Then where is the real Miho?’

There’s nothing around.

Even after activating my divine eyes, I couldn’t find Miho or any signs of life.

‘Was she fake from the beginning?’

Before falling here.

Was Miho, who was with me in the rose garden, also fake?

Did Miho fail to enter the Dante Roa’s book with me?

‘No, that’s not it. The illusion I was under started at the point when I couldn’t use magic, a few seconds before the fall. There’s no way Miho, who was with me before that, was an illusion.’

I definitely came here with Miho.

The Miho who was with me was not fake.

Miho definitely fell into this place with me.

‘Miho!’

I called out to Miho loudly.

Maybe I just didn’t notice. Maybe Miho is lying unconscious nearby.

If she hears my voice, maybe she’ll wake up.

That’s what I thought, so I tried calling out once.

Of course, Miho’s cry didn’t come back.

‘Ah, right. I can use Pactio [a magical contract].’

I was so flustered that I forgot.

No matter where Miho is now, Miho and I are connected by Pactio.

I just need to summon her using Pactio.

I grabbed the covenant stone hanging around my neck and used Pactio.

‘Pac…’

But at that very moment.

‘Stop.’

A hand that appeared out of nowhere grabbed my hand, preventing Pactio from activating.

‘If you use that magic now, this thing will explode. Unless you’re hoping to commit suicide, stop right there.’

A mysterious man began to slowly reveal himself.

A blonde man who looked more like a nobleman than anyone else was staring intently at me.