The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 427

I never imagined such a monster could be born within the labyrinth.

I really didn’t.

“This is going to put too much pressure on Stella.”

Among our current members, Stella is the only one who can stand against that new type of monster.

“It’s okay. This much isn’t a big deal for me.”

Stella said with an excited expression. She seemed to have regained some confidence.

It seems her self-esteem has risen from the fact that she’s the only one we can rely on right now.

“Don’t act tough.”

I lightly tapped Stella’s forehead.

“I know better than you how much the Spirit Sword consumes.”

I’m the one who has seen the Spirit Sword up close more than anyone else, and I’ve even analyzed it myself, so I know better than Stella.

“You probably don’t have even ten uses left, do you?”

If my guess is correct, Stella has less than 10 swings left with the Spirit Sword.

“……It’s not less than 10.”

Stella’s expression turned gloomy again.

“If it’s a monster of the level that just appeared… I can handle about 13… no, 14 of them.”

14 times.

It seems the consumption isn’t as high as I expected.

‘Or is Stella’s Spirit Sword less consuming than Sein’s?’

Unlike Sein, Stella’s Spirit Sword is a control-focused sword.

It might consume less.

“14… That means the moment 15 appear, we’ll have a problem.”

Adela sank into thought with a serious expression.

She must be thinking about how to overcome this situation.

“Um…”

Soonchan raised his hand.

“Shouldn’t we just rest until Stella’s power recovers…?”

“We could rest.”

That was the right thing to say.

The problem right now is Stella’s consumption.

If Stella recovers her strength, the problem will disappear.

“If we could rest.”

At that moment, Stella’s aura turned sharp again.

She quickly grabbed her sword and swung it lightly.

Swish-!

Along with the sound of something being cut, there was a sound of something slimy falling to the ground.

It was the third new type of monster to appear.

“These guys are surprisingly kind. They’re showing up on their own, so I don’t even need to explain.”

“…Yeah. Resting isn’t really resting, is it?”

The new monsters are appearing by breaking through space.

Given their ability to break through space, sitting still and resting is meaningless.

Whether we move or not, they’ll attack us as they please.

“For these monsters, staying still might be more dangerous.”

Mimir frowned, looking at the remains of the monster.

“Considering their ability to move through space, there’s a high chance that more monsters will gather.”

If the monsters become convinced that we’re not moving, all the monsters in this area might swarm towards us.

Mimir was saying that.

“Actually, after the first monster appeared, the second and third appeared at shorter intervals. I don’t think we should wait here.”

“…Okay.”

If Mimir says so definitively, then that’s the right answer.

“Then let’s move for now. We can think while we go.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Adela and Stella replied respectively.

“Stella, I’m sorry, but please handle the monsters for a while.”

We need to come up with a solution while Stella holds them off.

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Stella smiled brightly and moved in front of me.

“So, you used the Spirit Sword just now, so you have 13 left, right?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay.”

13 times.

I don’t know how often they’ll appear, but we should have enough time to calmly organize our thoughts.

“Then, please take care of it.”

“Yes.”

Stella’s aura shone sharply.

No matter where the monsters appear, she wouldn’t miss them.

I could see that kind of determination in her aura.

‘…A monster that eats magic. How should we deal with that?’

I followed behind Stella, lost in thought.

* * *

About 20 minutes passed after that.

In that time, we couldn’t find any countermeasures.

Every time we came up with an idea, we told Stella to try it, but none of them worked against the monsters.

I never thought they would be such impossible monsters.

I didn’t expect all our methods to be nullified.

It was a big miscalculation.

‘This is dangerous.’

At this rate, everything will end when Stella is exhausted.

Thinking that, as the atmosphere became more serious.

Swish-!

Stella used her 14th Spirit Sword to cut down a monster.

With this, Stella’s stamina was depleted.

We lost all means of defense.

“……”

“……”

A serious atmosphere descended.

Everyone seemed to be thinking about what to do next, frowning deeply and looking down, lost in thought.

‘A solution. I have to come up with a solution somehow…’

I was the same.

As the leader of this party, I have a responsibility to overcome this situation.

I have to find a way somehow.

I was desperately racking my brain, seized by that compulsion.

“Um…”

It was then.

Stella quietly raised her hand.

“Um, the atmosphere was so tense… I couldn’t easily bring it up… but I think I should say it now.”

She continued, fidgeting her fingers with a timid gesture and an insecure expression.

“Um, I still have a lot left.”

“…A lot left? What do you mean?”

Is she trying to say that we still have a long way to go to our destination?

“My stamina.”

“…Huh?”

I quickly scanned Stella’s entire body.

She was definitely far from being exhausted, from head to toe.

“I think I can probably use it 40 more times…”

“…40?”

The number of times she could use the Spirit Sword, which was only 14, suddenly increased to 40.

“Why?”

How could that be possible?

“Um… the monsters didn’t appear that frequently, right? So, I rested a bit…”

“You recovered in that time?”

Mimir asked with trembling eyes.

“Yes.”

“…That’s impossible.”

Mimir looked at Stella as if she were a monster.

“The Spirit Sword consumes not only the user’s stamina but also their mental strength… In terms of energy consumption, it’s a technique comparable to mythical magic. There’s no way it can recover that easily…”

The number of times the Spirit Sword can be used is practically fixed.

The consumption of mental strength is greater than the consumption of stamina, so it cannot be recovered without sufficient rest.

But…

“…Is that so?”

Stella replied with an expression as if she had never heard of it before.

Mimir asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“When you were training with Sein Vinosh, how long did it take you to recover after you were exhausted?”

“Um…”

Stella trailed off, looking troubled.

She had an expression as if she didn’t know how to answer.

Was it because she didn’t remember well?

“I don’t know.”

As expected. It seems she doesn’t remember.

“…Because I’ve never been exhausted.”

“…What?”

Not only me and Mimir, but even Elena and Aslan, who were listening to the conversation nearby, all lost their words at the same time.

“You’ve never been exhausted…?”

“Yes.”

“…How many hours have you trained?”

“Well, 10… no. At most, I think it was about 11 hours.”

“And yet… you’ve never experienced exhaustion?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Not only Mimir, but everyone else was looking at Stella as if she were a monster.

‘What is she?’ That’s what everyone’s eyes were saying.

‘Is the Spirit Sword’s recovery ability also exceptional?’

Should I think that it’s a different kind of sword from Sein’s, even though it’s called the Spirit Sword?

If I think of it as something completely different from Sein’s Spirit Sword, it’s not impossible to understand.

“Why, why are you all looking at me like that?”

As everyone’s gaze continued to focus on her, she shrank back as if she had become anxious.

“…Why are you so lacking in confidence?”

Adela asked as if she genuinely couldn’t understand.

“With that level of skill…”

I don’t understand why she acts so insecure in everything she does.

That’s what Adela’s eyes were saying.

“That’s…”

Stella lowered her head.

She had an expression as if she had nothing to say, even if she had ten mouths.

This self-esteem has nothing to do with her skills.

Stella’s expression and gestures were saying that.

“Someone who is clearly a tiger… why are they acting like a rodent…”

“Okay, okay. That’s enough.”

I blocked Adela’s path and stopped her from speaking.

“Let’s talk about that later. When you two are alone. That’s not important right now.”

This isn’t something to talk about here.

“Anyway. Stella. If the monsters appear at the same frequency as now, you can handle them as much as you want, right?”

“Yes? Yes. It’s okay even if it gets a little shorter.”

“…Okay. That’s a real stroke of luck.”

We had absolutely no way to deal with them.

I was genuinely relieved.

“Then let’s proceed for now.”

“Are we not changing our route or anything?”

Adela asked.

“No. I’m going to keep going as is. Judging by the mana reaction I’m feeling, it seems like we’re getting closer.”

The mana is getting denser and the paths are getting more complicated.

It’s clear that we’re heading towards the center.

There’s no need to change our route here.

“Let’s keep going as we are.”

We followed the predetermined route.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the Black Castle.

Two men and women appeared at the place where Shin Hayul and his party had been just a moment ago.

“Is this it? The damn labyrinth where the thing that Veil-nim mentioned is sleeping.”

“That’s right.”

The woman answered the man’s question indifferently.

“Okay. So, we have to go inside this…”

The man clicked his tongue as if he was annoyed.

“Is it even possible? It looks like it’s on a crazy level.”

“…Be quiet. I’m calculating right now.”

The woman frowned, keeping her gaze fixed on the Black Castle.

It’s already chaotic enough, and he keeps talking, making it even more chaotic.

She’s starting to get annoyed.

“Whoa. Scary.”

The man pretended to be scared with an exaggerated expression, then shut his mouth.

The woman was radiating an aura that said she would kill him if he said anything more, so he couldn’t say anything else.

“…Haa.”

Silence fell.

The woman began to focus on reading the mana with a calm expression.

She read, read, and read again, then analyzed the mana.

The woman repeated this action endlessly.

About 10 minutes passed.

“…It’s done.”

The woman came to a conclusion.

“It’s a very complex mana, but… it’s not something I can’t break through.”

She concluded that she could break through this much.

“Wow, you’re going to break through that? Why, before we came, you said you didn’t think you could?”

“I didn’t think I could…”

The woman looked at the Black Castle with a suspicious expression.

“Somehow, it’s weaker than I expected.”

“…Weaker? That thing?”

“Yeah. It’s weak.”

It’s much weaker than she had heard.

“It’s like someone has already processed the mana once…”

She had expected a jungle that humans hadn’t set foot in for hundreds of years.

But when she actually came, it was a jungle that had been somewhat tamed.

“Someone processed it once?”

The man’s expression turned cold.

“Does that mean there are other guys inside there besides us right now?”

“…I don’t know. Maybe they just processed the mana and retreated… or maybe I’m mistaken.”

She won’t know until she goes inside.

“So.”

The woman stood up from her spot and turned to face the man.

“It’s possible to enter… but what do you want to do? Are you going in?”

The man grinned.

“What a silly question.”

It was a question that didn’t need an answer.

“Let’s go. For Veil-nim.”

Corrupted mana poured out of the man’s body.

As if a flood had broken out.

As if it wouldn’t lose to the sea that was filling the surroundings.

The mana continued to expand its power.