The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 322

I had a dream.

A year ago.

A dream from when I was still called a defective.

The panorama of my dark days, filled with all sorts of criticism and indifference, flashed by like a slideshow.

‘Am I seeing a dying person’s memories?’

A dying person’s memories.

Am I looking back on my life for the last time before I die?

Does that mean I’m dying right now?

No, why do I even think I’m dying in the first place?

I don’t know.

I can’t remember well.

My mind is so hazy that I can’t think straight.

‘No. You’re not dying.’

Then.

A man’s voice came from behind the ever-changing scenery.

It wasn’t familiar, but it was a voice I had heard somewhere.

I slowly turned my head.

‘You are…’

‘Hello.’

The moment I confirmed the man’s face, my eyes widened.

‘Tey Rovaine…’

‘I didn’t expect to see you again so soon. It’s a pleasant miscalculation. I’m genuinely happy to see you again.’

Tey Rovaine.

The supervisor who gave me the Book of Dante Roa, and a mage who uses an unidentified barrier magic.

He was looking at me with the same expressionless face as before.

‘But a reunion is a reunion. What should I say about this? Like the successor of the Lord, you have the same constitution of causing problems.’

He seems to be joking, but his expression doesn’t change, so it doesn’t sound like a joke.

He’s still a mysterious person.

No, more than that.

‘How are you here?’

Didn’t he disappear?

I thought he had just disappeared because he wasn’t in the Book of Dante Roa.

‘How am I here?’

Tey answered nonchalantly, as if asking something obvious.

‘You’re asking something strange. Is it strange that I’m in my world?’

…My world?

Here?

‘Anyone can see that this is my dream.’

‘Yes. It’s your dream. And at the same time, it’s my world.’

My dream is his world?

‘I don’t understand what you mean.’

‘Hmm. Was it difficult? So…’

Tey raised his hand as it was.

At that moment, the scenery that had been flowing like a panorama stopped.

It was as if the dream had stopped at Tey’s gesture.

‘Controlling dreams is my magic.’

No, in fact, this dream itself had stopped at Tey’s gesture.

‘With this magic, I have materialized your dream.’

Ah. I see what he means.

‘So, this dream is my dream, but…’

‘Yes. At the same time, it’s a world I created.’

Tey moved his hand again.

The world spins again quickly.

My past flows like a movie on fast forward.

‘It must have been hard.’

‘Is that all you have to say after watching someone else’s past at your own will?’

‘Was I too insincere? Should I change my words a little? It must have been very hard.’

The same insincere encouragement as before was repeated.

Perhaps because of his unique emotionless expression, it sounds like he’s being sarcastic.

Of course, it’s probably just my imagination.

‘I’ve always been curious. How could an 18-year-old be so mentally perfect?’

Tey’s lips curled up very slightly.

I don’t know for sure, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

‘But after seeing this, I think I understand. If you have such a past… if you’ve overcome such a past, it’s understandable.’

The past flowed quickly.

After all the desperate dark times had passed, the story of the day I acquired the Book of Idred, when the first semester of the second year began, started.

The miraculous story of the day that changed my life was vividly realized as a dream.

‘You said you control dreams?’

‘Yes.’

I asked casually, looking at the scene.

‘Then, was the space you used to test me before also a space made of dreams?’

‘That’s right. It was a dream. You used Factio [a magic that manipulates reality], so it didn’t function properly and was completely destroyed.’

Controlling my senses at will, keeping me falling infinitely, and creating a monster that could withstand Ignis [a powerful fire magic].

If it’s all a dream, it makes sense.

‘Then, why did you disappear after giving me the Book of Dante Roa?’

‘Hmm. I didn’t exactly disappear on purpose. There was just a bit of an accident.’

‘An accident?’

‘Yes. An accident.’

‘What kind of accident?’

Tey scratched his cheek as if he was a little embarrassed.

‘I became a little curious about your past. I touched your mind, and I was blocked by your mental barrier, so I was stuck in a situation where I couldn’t do anything.’

‘…What?’

I was stunned for a moment.

What happened when he tried to interfere with my mind?

‘So, you’re saying you tried to peek into my past and got trapped in my mind?’

‘Yes. To be exact, I should say I was trapped in your dream.’

‘…Does that make sense? A mage who controls dreams gets trapped in someone else’s dream.’

‘It’s usually impossible, but… you’re a true successor of the Bitenner style, right? Like the Lord, your mental barrier is almost invincible. It’s possible.’

‘That’s true, but…’

My brain is completely immune to external interference.

And dreams are a concept closely related to the brain.

Considering the nature of my brain, it’s not impossible that Tey Rovaine was trapped in my dream.

‘It’s really fortunate that your mental barrier weakened. Otherwise, I would have been trapped in your dream forever.’

Tey sighed in relief with an expressionless face.

I wonder if he’s really relieved since he has no expression.

‘But. If you knew about my master and my constitution, shouldn’t you have expected that you wouldn’t be able to interfere with my dream?’

‘I didn’t think it would be as strong as the Lord’s.’

‘Did you do such a dangerous thing without any certainty?’

‘…I was just too curious about your past.’

Tey closed his mouth.

It was a reaction that meant he had nothing to say.

‘Unlike his first impression, he’s quite reckless.’

With this kind of personality, I feel like he would have clashed with Aslan often.

No, maybe with Mimir too.

I think he might have fought with Elena a bit too.

…No. Did he even have any vassals who got along with him?

A my-pace, expressionless, and reckless person.

Well. It’s a personality that’s hard to endure unless you’re a very good-natured person.

‘Anyway, well, I got out safely, right? Then that’s all that matters.’

Tey changed the subject.

He knew it was a topic that was disadvantageous to him, so he was trying to change the subject.

‘It’s another blessing in disguise. Thanks to my actions at that time, I can talk to you like this now, right?’

‘What do you mean by now…? Ah.’

At that moment, I suddenly remembered the current situation that had been hazy.

‘I remember.’

I used a coercive method of making Ignis go berserk to deal with the Black Magic King.

And as a result, the mana inside me began to go berserk, and I lost consciousness.

‘Do you know? You. You almost died if it wasn’t for me.’

Tey glared at me with sharp eyes.

‘If I hadn’t covered your mental barrier for a moment, your mind would have collapsed.’

‘…Was it that dangerous?’

‘Yeah. It wouldn’t have been strange if you had become brain dead.’

I lost consciousness without being able to calm the rampage, so I wondered how I was still alive.

Tey had protected me.

One question was solved.

‘Be grateful to me in the past. It’s all because I got trapped in your dream that this happened.’

‘Isn’t that just a result?’

‘Whether it’s a result or not. It’s true that you survived thanks to me.’

‘That’s… true.’

That’s right.

Whether it’s a result or not, Tey Rovaine saved my life.

‘Thank you. I survived thanks to you.’

No matter how many times I thank him, it’s not enough.

‘You don’t have to say that to me. If you’re going to thank someone, thank the mage who calmed your mana rampage outside. If it wasn’t for that mage, you would have died from your body collapsing, whether I protected your mind or not.’

‘Ah.’

The mage must be referring to Sophia.

Sophia calmed my mana rampage.

‘Yes. I will do that.’

When I get out of this world and regain my senses.

I will thank Sophia first.

I made that resolution.

‘Well, if you keep going like this, you’ll probably die before you can even thank them.’

‘…What?’

‘The mage and the swordsman fighting outside. They’re definitely going to die if this keeps up.’

‘…Wasn’t the situation over?’

The Black Magic King was burned to death by the rampaging Ignis, so wasn’t the situation over?

‘No. The situation is not over yet. The battle is still going on.’

‘Even after taking the flames of the rampaging Ignis directly with his body… he’s still alive?’

‘Yes. The black magic user you were fighting is still alive.’

‘That can’t be…’

I naturally thought the situation was over.

It’s almost impossible to suppress my rampage while the Black Magic King is alive.

I naturally thought the battle was over.

‘He’s still alive?’

How is that possible?

How can he survive after being hit directly by the flames of the rampaging Ignis?

If the Black Magic King was alive, how did they calm my rampage?

What’s the situation outside right now?

My head was filled with all sorts of questions.

‘I don’t know the exact situation either. Your hearing is completely messed up. There’s no way I can hear what you can’t hear. All I know is that the situation is not over yet, and…’

Tey Rovaine’s expression became serious.

‘We’re slowly being pushed back.’

‘…I knew we were being pushed back.’

It was a predetermined disadvantage.

No matter how strong Sein and Sophia are, it’s impossible to defeat a monster that can’t be killed even by the rampaging Ignis.

‘Your life is in danger if this continues.’

‘No. My life is not in danger. The Black Magic King can’t kill me.’

How did he heal me while the Black Magic King was alive?

If you think about it, it was simple.

The Black Magic King ordered Sophia to save me.

The Black Magic King needs me to achieve his goal.

He was waiting quietly until Sophia healed me.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean my safety is guaranteed.’

It’s true that the Black Magic King can’t kill me.

But that only means he can’t take my ‘life’.

He can do something to me.

‘Like he did to Sophia, he could put some kind of curse on my body.’

My master couldn’t overcome the curse of Veil Stole and passed away.

In other words, even the great Bitenner style can’t undo all black magic curses.

If the Black Magic King puts a curse on my body, everything will be over at that moment.

I won’t be able to defeat the Black Magic King at that point.

‘Is there a way? A way to defeat the Black Magic King right now.’

Even if I can’t defeat him, it’s fine.

Is there at least a way to overcome this situation?

‘Even if he’s the Black Magic King, he can’t be unscathed after being hit directly by the rampaging Ignis. He must have suffered considerable damage. Just escaping from here would be a big gain.’

A way to overcome this situation.

A way to escape.

What could it be?

‘No. Even if I come up with a plan, it’s meaningless. It’s meaningless unless I wake up.’

No matter what plan I come up with here, it’s meaningless.

As long as my body is asleep, there’s nothing I can do.

‘Is there nothing I can do right now?’

I was biting my lip like that.

‘You don’t have to worry about waking up. I can forcibly awaken your mind.’

Hopeful news came from Tey Rovaine’s mouth.

‘Is that possible?’

‘Of course. It’s possible.’

The dying flame of hope was rekindled.

‘Then the key is what to do after I wake up. There’s no way I can be a proper force in my current state. If I use the fact that he can’t kill me to create an opening…’

I was planning a countermeasure again.

‘You can probably win?’

I was awakened from my thoughts by Tey Rovaine’s sudden words.

‘Win? What do you mean by win?’

‘You can fight and win against the Black Magic King in your current state.’

‘…Me, now?’

‘Yes.’

Tey came closer to me and placed his hand on my chest.

‘Thanks to your reckless actions, all the other Infinity Circles have caused a drop in output. Currently, the only thing working properly in your body is the Neutral Ring.’

The Infinity Circles in a state of reduced output and the Neutral Ring alone in perfect condition.

That means.

‘Thanks to that, or should I say by chance, Heaven’s Will and Reverse Heaven’s Will are balanced. Your body is now in a perfect neutral state.’

‘That means…’

‘You might be able to win now.’

The Neutral Ring has awakened.

That’s what he meant.