The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 460

Outside the barrier.

As the End God’s mana and divine power mixed, they took the form of monsters.

Two women appeared, tearing through the air.

‘Hmm. It’s still awkward. It feels like my senses are slightly off,’ said Sein Vinoche.

‘Is that so? I don’t feel anything wrong,’ replied Sophia Anetscheff.

The two had appeared on the battlefield.

‘It seems your senses are quite dull,’ Sein remarked.

‘……It’s not that my senses are dull, but that yours are too sharp,’ Sophia countered.

‘Hmm. I suppose you could think of it that way.’

The two bickered as they surveyed their surroundings.

‘So, you’re saying you need time to adjust to this body?’ Sophia asked, glancing at Sein’s form.

It looked exactly the same as it had three years ago. No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem artificial.

‘No. I don’t need time to adjust,’ Sein replied.

Sein slowly drew her sword. The sharp sound of metal scraping echoed clearly.

‘There are some awkward parts, but it’s nothing compared to when I was using your body. I’ll naturally get used to it while fighting.’

Sophia stared at Sein with a slightly dazed expression.

‘……Was there something wrong with my senses when you were using my body?’

‘There was.’

‘Then why didn’t you say anything?’

‘Because it wasn’t something that could be solved by talking about it.’

Sein slowly took a stance.

‘And I didn’t want to give the Black Wizard King any information that could be used as a weakness.’

‘……Ah.’

Both of them understood the reason. In a situation where there was no solution, openly stating that there was a problem with their condition would only lower morale.

It would only inform the Black Wizard King that Sein Vinoche was not in perfect condition. It would have been of no benefit.

‘Both the Black Wizard King and you. You both quickly noticed that there was something wrong with my condition.’

They didn’t seem to know why her condition was off, but whatever the reason, they both noticed that there was something wrong with Sein’s condition.

‘Yes. Well… it’s obvious.’

It was impossible not to notice when looking at Sein’s sword. Sein’s sword was much weaker than it had been three years ago.

‘I just thought it was because my body’s specs were lower. So it was a problem with my senses.’

‘To be honest, it was both.’

Sein smiled wryly. Recalling the time when she was using Sophia’s body, she couldn’t help but smile wryly.

‘You fought so well despite having problems with your body and senses,’ Sophia said, impressed.

To think that she had been fighting with shackles on both hands and feet. It was shocking, to say the least.

‘It’s me, after all. I should be able to do that much,’ Sein replied with a playful smile.

‘Indeed. That’s just how Sein Vinoche is, doing things like that so casually,’ Sophia said, smiling faintly as she looked at Sein.

Sein made eye contact with Sophia one last time, chuckled, and then turned her gaze back to the monsters.

‘By the way, I don’t know what’s going on with the situation,’ Sein said.

Sein Vinoche and Sophia Anetscheff had only been awake for less than five minutes. Five minutes ago, they had suddenly opened their eyes in Terun’s laboratory. They had only heard that it was a dangerous situation before being immediately transported here.

‘You still have a good sense of things. Shouldn’t you also develop the ability to read such a grand situation?’ Sophia asked playfully.

‘That’s a weakness I deliberately left. If I didn’t have a weakness like this, I don’t think I’d be treated as human.’

‘You’re really good with words. You just don’t want to study, that’s all.’

‘That’s wrong. It’s true that I don’t want to study, but I don’t want to complicate things unnecessarily.’

‘That’s the same thing,’ Sophia said, shaking her head.

‘Anyway, Sophia, have you figured out what’s going on?’

‘Yes.’

Sophia looked around again. Combining the information she could gather here with the information she had previously obtained, and the small pieces of information she had heard from Terun, a single answer naturally emerged.

‘If I’m right, Ha-yul and the End God are fighting inside that barrier.’

‘That’s likely.’

It was an incredible barrier. Even if Sein Vinoche swung her sword with all her might, she wondered if she could even make a scratch on it. The person who created that barrier was most likely either Shin Ha-yul or the End God.

And currently, neither Shin Ha-yul nor the End God were visible. In other words, Shin Ha-yul and the End God were fighting 1:1 inside that barrier.

‘And those monsters were created by the End God. He must have scattered the monsters outside to make Ha-yul impatient.’

The monsters each possessed an amount of mana that transcended common sense. The current forces outside could not stop them. The End God was aiming for that. Knowing Shin Ha-yul’s personality, he knew that she would be concerned about the situation outside.

‘And one more thing. It seems that those monsters were created using the divine power of the End God.’

Sophia stared intently at the surrounding monsters again. An alien energy was detected between the mana. It was very similar to the energy that Veil Stole had wielded with a triumphant expression when he was one with Sein Vinoche and the Black Wizard King. The unknown energy residing in their bodies was most likely divine power.

‘Hmm. To go out of his way to scatter monsters outside during a 1:1 battle, how petty,’ Sein said, her eyes flashing.

She had realized what Sophia was trying to say.

‘Then that means the current war situation is unfavorable for the End God.’

‘Yes. He wouldn’t waste his divine power like this if he were in a favorable situation.’

The current fight between the End God and Shin Ha-yul was being dominated by Shin Ha-yul. No, she didn’t know if it was domination, but it was clear that she had the upper hand.

‘Then what we need to do is pretty much decided.’

With Shin Ha-yul having the upper hand, there was no need to go help her.

‘Yes. So that Ha-yul can focus on the battle with the End God, we need to clean up the outside neatly. That’s our role.’

To tidy up the surroundings so that Shin Ha-yul could focus on the battle. That was what the two of them had to do now.

‘It’s going to be a boring, simple task,’ Sein said, gently gripping her sword. Then, she slowly raised it, taking a classic downward slash stance.

Seeing that, Sophia smiled wryly.

‘You’re the only one who can call the task of dealing with those monsters a simple task.’

Sophia immediately began preparing her magic. She prepared magic focused on support rather than offensive magic.

At that moment, the black blobs that had been wriggling like slime all transformed into the shapes of monsters. Some took the form of dragons, some took the form of angels, and some took the form of demons.

‘Ho. Angels and demons. And dragons. They’re all symbols of the mythical era,’ Sein observed.

‘That must be the most powerful life forms that the End God thinks of,’ Sophia replied.

‘The most powerful life forms?’ Sein laughed as if it were ridiculous. ‘If those are the strongest beings of the mythical era, then the mythical era wasn’t that great.’

She laughed and swung her sword down. At that moment, space twisted. Starting from the place where Sein’s sword was swung, everything was twisting as if the world was twisting, all the way to the place where the monsters were.

And.

Swoosh-!

One of the monsters that had transformed into an angel was split in half, starting from the top of its head. The angel-type monster, which hadn’t even fully spread its wings, died and fell into the sea.

Aaaaaaaah-!

As if enraged by the death of their comrade, the other angel-type monsters roared. As if dolphins were communicating through ultrasound, the angels’ cries began to howl.

‘Their durability is good. I was planning to cut down three at the same time,’ Sein said, her eyes flashing. She had thought it would be a boring, simple task, but it seemed more interesting than she had thought. That was the clear expression on her face.

‘Not bad. They’re the perfect sandbags to regain my senses,’ Sein said, taking a stance again. She lowered her stance and extended her sword to the right. This time, she was going to slash them horizontally.

‘Sophia Anetscheff, I’ll handle the main force alone.’

Sophia looked at Sein as she prepared her magic.

‘I’ll say this in advance, but I refuse to be refused. In this situation, it’s better for me to handle the main force alone…’ Sein began.

‘I’m not refusing,’ Sophia interrupted.

‘From the beginning, I was planning to leave the main force to you.’

Sein Vinoche’s combat power was unmatched. For the current Sein, support was meaningless.

‘You can run wild freely. I’ll join up with Adela and handle the individuals who are trying to break away from the main force and act independently.’

With this much difference in combat power, cooperation was meaningless. It was better to divide the battle. Sein Vinoche would run wild alone, and Sophia Anetscheff would join up with others to deal with the individuals that Sein missed. This was the best formation.

‘So it wasn’t for nothing that we lived together for several months. You know me very well,’ Sein said, smiling. She looked very pleased.

‘Of course. I know you well,’ Sophia replied, also smiling.

‘Then I’ll join up with them and wait nearby. Good luck.’

‘Okay. I’ll leave it to you.’

With that smile, Sophia disappeared. She had gone to help Adela and Charles, who were fighting on the other side.

‘Then shall we begin?’

As soon as she confirmed that Sophia had disappeared, Sein swung her sword.

Whoooosh-!

A sound like an airplane passing by echoed from the sword. It was a rough-feeling sword, completely different from the nimble feeling from before.

‘Angels and demons. And dragons.’

A sword meant to strike a ‘surface’ rather than a ‘line’. A dull sword aura, as if it had been spread out like a blunt weapon rather than a sword, flew towards the monsters.

Kwaaaaaang-!

As the sword aura collided, the monsters began to collapse all at once, like bowling pins being knocked away in all directions by a bowling ball. More than a dozen monsters collapsed.

‘It’s as if I’ve become a person from the mythical era. It’s not a bad feeling.’

Of course, they weren’t dead. Since it was a strike rather than a cut, the attack power itself was bound to be somewhat lower. The impact was so great that their bodies were temporarily unable to move. All the monsters that had been struck were still alive, and as long as they were alive, they would recover soon. Considering the monsters’ regenerative power, the previous attack by ‘surface’ was nothing more than a pointless act.

‘Sorry, but you’ll have to be my test subjects.’

But this pointless act itself was not without meaning. The current Sein Vinoche was in the process of regaining her condition. Whether it was a strike by surface, a focus by point, or a cut by line, she had to try everything. She had to try everything to quickly recover her condition.

‘To make sure I seize any opportunity that might come my way.’

Sein’s eyes blazed.

‘You’ll have to be my warm-up opponents in preparation for when I fight the End God.’

Sein Vinoche’s goal was not just those monsters. Sein Vinoche’s real goal was the End God. She had to prepare to fight the End God in case something happened to Shin Ha-yul.

‘Of course, it would be best if I didn’t get that opportunity…’ There was always a chance. There was no harm in preparing in advance.

‘I hope you can hold out until my body is fully warmed up.’

Sein kicked off the air and jumped into the midst of the monsters.

And.

Swoosh, swish, swish-!

From the place where Sein had landed, three monsters were cut down at once.

‘The feel isn’t bad.’

Sein Vinoche’s massacre had begun.