The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 59

I opened my eyes again at dawn, just as the sun was beginning to rise.

“Ugh…”

My head was throbbing.

The aftereffects of circulating mana for about nine hours had left my head feeling like it was about to split open.

Perhaps it was because my body temperature had risen due to the intense friction of mana within me.

It felt like all the moisture in my body had evaporated. My lips were parched.

“Water…”

Even my voice was terribly hoarse.

I moved my hand towards my side bag to get some water, but…

I couldn’t open the bag.

‘I don’t have the strength…’

I didn’t have the grip strength to hold the zipper.

My hands were completely devoid of strength. My body was in that bad of a state.

“Ugh…”

My mana wasn’t moving either.

The circle had completely solidified.

It must be an aftereffect of absorbing more mana than necessary.

‘It’s a miracle that it ended with just this.’

It was a miracle that I ended up half-dead. I could have become a real corpse, not just half-dead.

‘If I hadn’t prepared in advance, I would have really died.’

The main thing was the image training I did to control the mana surge in order to weave the expansion ring.

If I hadn’t devoured all sorts of books as Mimir had advised, I would have been wandering in the afterlife with a mana runaway.

‘No, more than that, why did the mana surge even happen?’

I could at least understand if it was a normal mana surge.

What happened yesterday was a mana surge beyond common sense.

Why did such an absurd thing happen?

‘The surge is one thing, but it’s also strange that the ley line lost its power.’

A ley line is a vein of the earth that continuously emits mana.

It’s not structured to release everything at once and then disappear, like what happened yesterday.

Nevertheless, the ley line is currently completely powerless.

‘…Why?’

Could it be something like a last flash of glory?

Do ley lines have a lifespan, and do they release everything and disappear like this when they reach the end of their lives?

‘No, I’ve never heard of such a thing.’

I thoroughly researched ley lines in preparation for this trip to Baengnyeong Island.

Ley lines are semi-permanent structures.

They are not structured to disappear with a mana surge.

‘What is it, then?’

My head was a mess.

My already throbbing head started to hurt even more.

‘I think I’d feel better if I could just drink some water…’

I wanted to drink water, but I couldn’t because my body wouldn’t move.

I couldn’t even open the side bag containing the water, let alone drink it.

Right now, I didn’t have the grip strength to hold a zipper.

Whoosh-!

At that moment.

The Infinity Circle emitted a clear resonance.

“Huh…?”

Along with the resonance, mana began to move.

‘What, has the circle already recovered?’

The recovery was faster than I expected. I thought it would take at least an hour.

To recover in less than ten minutes.

‘Whatever, it’s a good thing.’

If the circle has recovered, there’s no need to use my hands.

I infused my will into the mana.

The mana moved like my hand and clung to the zipper of the side bag.

Ziiip-!

It opened the zipper and reached into the bag, pulling out the water bottle.

I opened the lid, brought it to my mouth, and tilted it at the right angle.

Glug, glug.

Like rain falling on parched land.

The water moistened my dry mouth and passed through.

“Phew.”

It was a taste of heaven.

My mind cleared up instantly.

I feel alive now.

‘But why did the circle recover so quickly?’

The circle is a very sensitive organ, so it usually doesn’t recover this quickly.

That should be the same even for the Infinity Circle. What could it be?

With my mind a little clearer, I checked my condition.

“…Huh?”

And I was taken aback.

Something that hadn’t been there yesterday had appeared in my body.

‘A huge ring that wraps around the three rings. This is…’

A huge circle that greatly encompassed my body.

A giant circle that even wrapped around the three Infinity Circles.

The fourth ring that hadn’t existed until yesterday.

“…The expansion ring?”

Inside my body, the fourth Infinity Circle, the expansion ring, was emitting a clear light and rotating.

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

‘…It turned out like this?’

It seems that the mana surge last night filled all the mana that was lacking to weave the expansion ring.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

Top floor of a hotel near Seoul.

Shin Ji-han was on a call with someone.

—You’re asking me to take care of Shin Ha-yul? At this timing?

A cadre of the Black Magic Tower, who was in charge of cleaning up after the mission failure and the elimination of Leng Smith during the Leng Smith and Baek Sa-hyuk incident in the past.

It was the voice of an unidentified man who was covering his entire body with a robe.

“Yes. Is it possible?”

—Taking care of it is always possible. Unless the condition is to avoid the eyes of Kim Seok-hyun and the Shadow.

“Of course, it’s to avoid their eyes.”

—Then it’s difficult.

The eyes of the Shadow, led by Kim Seok-hyun, are that sharp and fierce.

Moreover, Shin Ha-yul is currently under the intensive protection of the Shadow.

It is impossible to deceive the eyes of the Shadow in the current situation.

—As I mentioned before, moving now is a bad idea. Our Black Magic Tower does not want our VVIP customer to disappear.

The cadre of the Black Magic Tower gave a cold warning.

—I think it’s best to lie low for now and move after the Shadow has moved away from the target.

They couldn’t afford to lose the best sucker in Korea, who would bring them astronomical amounts of money and information in the future.

“No. It’ll be too late if we move later. We have to move right now.”

—Hmm. Is there a reason why you have to move right now?

According to what Shin Ji-han had heard, the Shadow’s protection would end within a month.

They just had to wait until then, so why was he being so impatient?

“The leader of the Shadow, Kim Seok-hyun, is showing signs of supporting Shin Ha-yul.”

—That Kim Seok-hyun, you mean?

The cadre’s voice trembled, as if genuinely surprised. For that Kim Seok-hyun to be thinking of supporting someone. He was genuinely surprised.

“Yes. It’s just showing signs of that intention, but as long as there’s even a small chance that Kim Seok-hyun will side with Ha-yul, it’s a bad idea to delay. We have to move right now.”

—It would be troublesome in many ways if Kim Seok-hyun sided with Shin Ha-yul. Kim Seok-hyun could lead others to join Shin Ha-yul’s forces in earnest.

“You know it well.”

The current situation is not good.

The perception of Shin Ha-yul within the family is rapidly improving.

If Shin Ha-yul were to win a gold medal at the Olympiad in this situation, the tables could really turn.

Of course, the probability of winning a gold medal is close to 0%, but it’s best to eliminate any 불안 요소 [unstable elements] in advance.

“You wouldn’t want Ha-yul to become the next head of the Mado Shin family either.”

—Of course not. We sincerely hope that our customer, Shin Ji-han, will become the new head of the Mado Shin family.

There’s nothing better than a sucker sitting in a high position.

From the Black Magic Tower’s point of view, it’s better for Shin Ji-han to succeed the Mado Shin family.

“Then…”

—But as I said, it’s almost impossible to take care of Shin Ha-yul while avoiding Shin In-hyuk and Kim Seok-hyun’s eyes.

The situation is the situation.

And it’s difficult.

“I know it’s difficult.”

Shin Ji-han knew better than anyone that it was difficult to quietly take care of Shin Ha-yul, who was being protected by the Shadow and Shin In-hyuk, in Korea.

If it were easy, Shin Ji-han would have taken care of it a long time ago.

“But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean there’s no way at all.”

—Why do you think so?

Shin Ji-han scoffed.

“If there really was no way, you wouldn’t have used the ambiguous expression ‘close to’ impossible. Am I wrong?”

—Hmm.

The cadre smiled meaningfully.

—As expected of our VVIP customer, you know me well.

A different light flashed in Shin Ji-han’s eyes.

Indeed. There is a way.

—Yes. There is a way. And the target happens to be on Baengnyeong Island, not Seoul…

“What’s the way?”

The cadre smiled meaningfully.

—The way is to cause a mana disaster on Baengnyeong Island and disguise Shin Ha-yul’s death as an accident.

“An accident? No, more than that, you’re saying you can artificially cause a mana disaster? Is that even possible?”

Mana disasters are a type of natural disaster.

Just as humans cannot control disasters, humans cannot control mana disasters. This is common sense.

—Yes. It’s possible. Especially with the current state of Baengnyeong Island.

“The state of Baengnyeong Island… Are you talking about the increased mana concentration these days? Just because the mana concentration has increased a bit, you can’t cause a mana disaster. How are you going to artificially cause a mana disaster?”

—Hmm. It’s information that I have a duty to keep secret, but very well. Since you are a VVIP customer, I will tell you specially.

The cadre recalled the current situation on Baengnyeong Island and smiled deeply.

—Do you know what’s in the basement of the Central Research Institute on Baengnyeong Island?

* * *

Two days had passed since I wove the expansion ring.

Day 3 of the Baengnyeong Island training camp.

The first training of the day was a relay 1:1 duel. It was a training where we would endlessly repeat 1:1 duels, constantly changing opponents.

“Ah. My head is already hurting.”

And my first opponent was Soon-chan.

“It’s our first battle since you wove the new ring. Please take care of me.”

“Please, go easy on me.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“…This bastard. He has no intention of going easy on me at all.”

I watched Soon-chan, who was taking a stance with a sullen expression, and rotated the Infinity Circle.

The expansion ring.

A huge ring that covered all three previous rings.

It trembled softly while embracing the other rings.

‘As expected, having the expansion ring makes a difference in stability.’

The expansion ring is a kind of masterpiece that stabilizes the power of other rings and increases their efficiency at the same time.

After weaving the expansion ring, all of my magic evolved to the next level.

“I’m going.”

“…Can’t you just not come?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll really go easy on you… at first.”

“What the hell, you bastard? What did you say at the end… Keuk!”

With my light magic, a monotonous exchange unfolded.

A series of light jabs without any straight punches.

A boring war of attrition unfolded.

‘My mental state is much more stable.’

The ring of the mind.

By being enveloped by the expansion ring and becoming a more stable form, the overall output of magic increased.

And the consumption of mental power decreased.

“This monster… Did your mental power evolve after becoming a 5-circle mage? Did you use an infinite mental power cheat code!?”

“Yeah. He looks very relaxed.”

The output increased, and the consumption decreased. This naturally led to an increase in the number of times I could use magic.

The number of times I could use magic increased so much that it was incomparable to before I wove the 4th circle.

Thanks to that, I was able to perform this kind of war of attrition without any problems, which I couldn’t do before.

I’m very satisfied.

“Okay, let’s stop with the jabs and get serious now.”

I’ve tested the mind enough. It’s time to move on to the next.

“…Hey, teacher? You’re not going to use 5-circle magic, are you?”

The next power to test.

The ring of resonance.

“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt if you get hit lightly.”

I used the ring of resonance to strengthen my magic.

The strengthened magic flew towards Soon-chan.

“Hey! You crazy bastard! I’ll die even if I just get grazed by that!”

Soon-chan screamed and dodged.

I threw it at an angle where he could dodge it, so he wasn’t hit.

‘As expected, resonance is much easier to use now.’

The disadvantages of the ring of resonance were also mitigated, and the number of times I could use ‘resonance’ increased.

As efficiency increased, the power of resonance also increased by about half a circle.

‘I haven’t used ‘co-vibration’ yet, so I can’t say for sure, but the duration will have increased, and the power will have increased.’

‘When I return to Seoul, I should try using co-vibration once.’

I need to check the duration and penalty of co-vibration.

‘Then, should I try using the ring of interference next?’

I pressured Soon-chan by using all of my magic except for ‘nullification’ and ‘co-vibration’.

“Go easy on me! You satan!”

“I am going easy on you.”

I was holding back, and Soon-chan’s magic was specialized in defense, so he managed to hold out quite well.

“Stop! I lost! I said I lost!”

Eventually, he reached his limit.

After about two minutes of fighting, Soon-chan declared his surrender.

“Good job. You held out well.”

The duel was over.

“…Is that what you call holding out? You were holding back. Aish. I’m so frustrated I could die.”

Soon-chan scratched the back of his neck and approached me.

His face was flushed with anger.

I had been teasing him by using interference to make it seem like he was about to get hit, so he seemed to be in a bad mood.

“You. More than anything, what’s with that interference? How did it become even more sneaky?”

“Did it become easier to use as my circle rose? It’s working really well.”

The ring of interference had also become quite stable. The overall penalty decreased, and the efficiency increased.

Naturally, the burden of ‘interfering’ with the opponent’s magic decreased.

And the range of interference also increased.

“Aish. You scammer.”

“Why are you complaining? I didn’t even use nullification.”

Soon-chan scoffed.

“Hey. Do you want to use nullification while fighting me?”

“Yeah. I want to?”

“…Ugh. You’re annoying.”

That’s also the case with nullification.

I didn’t use it in this duel, but I could use it much more stably and smoothly.

If the previous nullification was a double-edged sword with a high risk, now it felt like a proper finishing move.

“Hoo. It’s annoying, but on the other hand, I’m also relieved.”

“What are you relieved about?”

“I’m relieved that you’re on our team. If you were an enemy… Ugh. That’s terrifying.”

In this way, my magic had evolved as a whole.

In addition to being able to use 4-circle magic from the beginning, my increase in power was beyond words.

“Ah, and your eyes have gotten better, haven’t they? Your movements were unusual.”

“Oh. You noticed that?”

“I can tell just by looking.”

Lastly, along with the growth of the circle, my divine eyes also grew.

As if they were divine eyes that evolved along with the circle.

The overall output of the divine eyes also increased, like the expansion ring.

The color of mana, the magic formulas, and even the essence of magic were much clearer and more distinct.

In addition, the short duration, which was a chronic problem of the divine eyes, was also somewhat resolved.

‘The expansion ring is really the best.’

The achievement of the 4th circle was sweet.

It was too sweet.

Just thinking about the expansion ring made me smile.

“Ugh. By the way, the mana concentration has gotten thicker again today. It’s like the concentration changes every day, so it’s not easy to adapt.”

Soon-chan grumbled.

Just when he was about to get used to it, the mana concentration would change. And just when he was about to get used to it again, the concentration would change again, so he was starting to get annoyed.

“It’ll probably change again tomorrow, right?”

“…Probably.”

My joy was short-lived.

Thinking about the strange phenomenon that had settled on Baengnyeong Island, the mana concentration that was getting thicker every moment, my head became complicated again.

‘No matter how I think about it, the mana concentration is increasing too fast.’

I still hadn’t figured out the cause of the ley line’s disappearance and the mana surge that occurred when I wove the expansion ring the day before yesterday.

And I had a bad feeling.

It felt like something big was going to happen.

I was feeling uneasy for no reason.

‘I should give up some training and investigate in detail.’

There was definitely a central research institute on Baengnyeong Island.

I should go there tomorrow and get some detailed information.