The Return Of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 79

The audience, which had been buzzing with excitement and exhilaration, fell silent in an instant.

“What is this…”

Ordinary classical music.

An ordinary piano.

An ordinary performance.

Everyone was mesmerized by the amateur performance, which lacked any technique or flair.

“Spring…”

Vivaldi.

The spring movement from The Four Seasons.

True to its name, the melody flowing from the piano brought spring to the arena.

The earth pulsed,

The sky was blue,

The air was warm.

The season of life’s inception.

The unique warmth and coziness of spring filled the arena.

“…”

A simple performance with no hint of magical splendor.

It wouldn’t be strange if someone shouted, ‘Do you think I came here to listen to your clumsy piano playing!’, but not a single audience member voiced any complaints.

Far from complaining, everyone was melting away in ecstasy.

“Music using mana…”

This was the same for industry insiders. They were all caressing their goosebump-covered arms with blissful expressions.

The only difference was that they were beyond bliss and admiration; they were in shock.

“How on earth did he fuse sound with mana?”

“Is this the Blue Magic Tower’s new technology?”

An impossible technique.

It was already astonishing that he was playing music using mana, but everyone was speechless at the unbelievable feat of captivating people’s hearts with that performance.

How such a skill was possible was beyond imagination.

“That’s insane.”

The insiders soon gave up trying to understand.

The ecstasy from Shin Ha-yul’s piano playing overwhelmed their curiosity about this phenomenon.

‘Let’s just enjoy this performance for now.’ That thought settled in their minds.

Just as everyone was captivated by Shin Ha-yul’s performance, with blank expressions on their faces.

A change occurred.

“Whoa!”

Shin Ha-yul began to rise up with the piano.

He used earth-attribute magic to make the ground rise.

A pillar of earth soaring upwards.

The performance quickly reached its climax.

The audience’s hearts beat even faster.

Exhilaration and anticipation were directly fueling the fire in their hearts.

‘What is he trying to do?’

That thought filled the minds of most of the audience.

As if responding to the audience’s expectations, Shin Ha-yul moved his mana.

That was the beginning.

“Waaaaaah!!”

Mana extended in sync with the spring movement.

Among them, the mana that flowed along the rising pillar of earth caused a change.

“Spring, it’s really spring!”

“Flowers are blooming!”

Flowers and trees began to bloom from the pillar of earth.

Of course, it wasn’t the birth of real life.

It was just a sculpture using earth.

“…That’s incredible.”

But whether it was real or fake didn’t matter to the audience. What mattered was that the magic Shin Ha-yul was displaying was so beautiful and cozy.

The melody filled the arena.

In sync with the warm music, the entire arena was filled with earth flowers and trees.

And at that moment.

The melody changed.

“…Summer?”

Vivaldi.

The summer movement from The Four Seasons.

Spring gives birth to life.

Summer nurtures that life.

True to the name of summer, life began to stir.

The trees that filled the sky swayed wildly as if they were immersed in joy.

It was as if the trees and flowers were dancing.

Flicker, flicker!

Flames flickered in between.

Very small flames.

Tiny flames, smaller than torches, filled the sky.

Spring gives birth to life with the earth.

Summer stirs life with fire.

The two attributes played with Shin Ha-yul’s piano sound.

Chirp, chirp!

The clear sound heard in the morning.

The beautiful chirping of birds, which shouldn’t have been heard, echoed in the audience’s ears like a hallucination.

“…Birds made of flames?”

The hundreds of flames, which were just tiny flames, took the shape of birds.

Some were rubbing their beaks together, some were soaring through the sky, and some were flapping their wings.

The scene was so natural that the chirping sounds, which shouldn’t have been heard, were ringing in the audience’s ears like a hallucination.

“…Haha.”

At that sight, wizards involuntarily burst into laughter.

“That’s an absurd magic…”

Is that really the magic of an unsuitable person? It was unbelievable.

Whether they were surprised or not, the summer movement quickly headed towards its climax.

The melody became more and more intense.

The magic was in turmoil.

Everyone was so engrossed in the harmonious scene that they were just blinking.

Once again, the music changed.

“Autumn! It’s autumn this time!”

Vivaldi.

The autumn movement from The Four Seasons.

The season when the stirring life gradually tires.

As if proving the hardships that life had gone through, the wind blew.

A wind of mana, containing ‘green’, swirled so that everyone could see it.

It met with the harmony of the earth and created falling flowers and leaves.

Scattering petals and leaves.

In between, the fire birds rode the wind and played.

The autumn melody was completely fused with the three attributes.

Now, the audience seemed to have forgotten even how to think.

Just so that they could capture this scenery in their minds, even a little.

So that they could engrave this melody in their hearts.

So that they could continue to feel this lingering feeling.

They focused all their eyes and ears while wishing for that.

And finally.

As if announcing the end of this performance.

Winter arrived.

Vivaldi.

The winter movement from The Four Seasons.

The season when life rests.

“Snow…?”

As if proving the pure white silence, snow fell.

Snow that just fell gently.

Freezing magic unfolded using water-attribute mana.

It filled all directions.

The white color covered the harmony of the earth.

The fire birds disappeared in the cold.

Soon, only the trees dressed in pure white remained in the world.

It was literally winter.

Snow fell on the center of the stage.

Snow fell on Shin Ha-yul’s fingers and the piano keys.

A serene landscape where the splendor of summer and autumn had disappeared.

It was even more beautiful because there was nothing.

Everyone’s gaze was solely focused on Shin Ha-yul.

Perhaps sensing the audience’s gaze, Shin Ha-yul smiled.

He seemed exhausted from playing the piano and controlling the magic.

Even though his whole body was soaked in sweat, he looked very happy.

‘Finale.’

And the final performance began.

A movement different from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

A melody that contained all four seasons.

Along with that sound, Shin Ha-yul’s right eye shone.

The Four Realms.

A 1.3cm diameter contact lens containing four worlds, not four seasons.

It shone beautifully, holding Shin Ha-yul’s mana.

The melody became more and more intense.

The music was racing towards the end.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Look at the sky!”

As if blessing the end, four lights flickered in the sky.

An aurora created by four elements.

A full parade of enchanting lights.

Receiving the blessing of that light, Shin Ha-yul tapped the piano keys following the will of mana.

‘Feel the heart and will of mana.’

The link of intention.

‘Empathize with it.’

The link of resonance.

‘Spread it to the world.’

The link of interference.

‘Gather it into one.’

The link of expansion.

The four links that Bytener boasted of became one and fused.

A symphony created by Shin Ha-yul and mana.

The piano performance, which contained the mystery of fusion, raced towards the final chapter.

And when all of that was over.

“Waaaaaaaaah!!”

Only cheers remained in the world.

* * *

“…”

The VVIP seats.

The three tower heads were all in shock.

The short performance that had unfolded for about 10 minutes just now was enough to shock them.

“Not only did he put mana into sound, but he also appealed directly to emotions…”

“And that magic control… Is that really magic used without the backup of artificial intelligence?”

Min Ga-yeon and James spoke in turn. They were dumbfounded even after thinking about it again.

“Moreover, four such large-scale magics at the same time…”

“Even if it’s a show-off magic that excludes power, it’s still absurd.”

It had surpassed the realm of the 5th Circle [a level of magical proficiency].

The two tower heads thought so at the same time.

“Kang-in. What the hell is he?”

“You said he was amazing, but you didn’t say he was this amazing.”

Min Ga-yeon and James looked at Kim Kang-in with blank eyes.

They had expressions that said, ‘Say something about this situation.’

“…I didn’t know it would be this much either.”

However, Kim Kang-in was also in shock.

“I knew that his control was good and his magic output was high…”

While conducting the unique mana test and imprinting, he had learned that Shin Ha-yul’s mana was amazing.

But he didn’t know it would be this much.

“Is that perhaps the effect of the Magic Eye?”

Among the Magic Eyes, there are some that directly manipulate mana in that way. Perhaps Shin Ha-yul’s Magic Eye was of that type.

“No. Ha-yul’s Magic Eye is definitely detection-type.”

“That’s not it.”

Kim Kang-in and James shook their heads at the same time.

It was certain that Shin Ha-yul’s Magic Eye was detection-type. These two had seen the evidence.

“Then, what about that, the modification magic? Is it the effect of that secret magic?”

Shin Ha-yul’s secret magic that could freely modify magic formulas.

Could it be that he did something with that magic?

“I don’t think that’s a problem that can be solved by modifying magic formulas…”

In the first place, Shin Ha-yul’s modification magic was a fake.

He didn’t use modification magic.

“…That’s right.”

Min Ga-yeon’s eyes sharpened.

“Then he has another secret magic besides that… Is that it?”

“Yes. That must be it. I don’t know what it is though.”

The world is vast, and there are many secret magics whose identities are unknown.

If the divine power that Shin Ha-yul showed was due to a special secret magic, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

“Ah. This is making my blood boil after a long time.”

Min Ga-yeon smiled like a beast.

It was an expression that showed a thirst for knowledge close to competitiveness.

“I shouldn’t miss a single Korean match in this Olympiad.”

Min Ga-yeon thought about how to adjust her schedule while thinking about her future schedule.

“By the way…”

James turned his gaze to Kim Kang-in with a sullen expression.

“For now, the first match is won by the Blue Magic Tower Head. You won.”

“Is it okay to say that I won? I heard that the UK and the US were also quite amazing.”

Kim Kang-in smiled leisurely.

“Quite amazing? Our performance is nothing compared to Shin Ha-yul’s performance just now.”

“Same here. This time, it’s our defeat no matter who sees it.”

Min Ga-yeon nodded a couple of times with an expression that she would admit what she had to admit.

“Then it’s 1:0:0.”

Kim Kang-in smiled brightly.

“I should start thinking about what to ask for from now on. Haha.”

“…Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. The Olympiad has just begun.”

“The bet has just begun. Our Dahlia is a practical type.”

Min Ga-yeon and James glared at Kim Kang-in with expressions burning with fighting spirit.

“Well, I don’t think there’s anyone who can beat Ha-yul in a real fight…”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Let’s see if you can say that after fighting Dahlia.”

Electricity sparked between the eyes of the three tower heads.

* * *

“I’m here.”

As I entered the waiting room, everyone’s gaze focused on me.

Everyone had expressions as if they had seen a ghost. They were completely out of it?

“You crazy bastard!”

Among them, Soon-chan was the first to come to his senses and rushed towards me.

He immediately put me in a headlock, rubbed my head wildly, and uttered a series of words that were a mix of admiration and curses.

“You’re a real madman! A madman! Hahaha!”

He seemed to be in a very good mood.

“As expected of Shin Leader. I believed in you!”

“Hee-yoon, what you said earlier seems different… Ugh!”

“Jin-seok, let’s just shut up for now.”

“That was excellent.”

Jin Hee-yoon, Ma Jin-seok, and Kang Shin-woo followed and approached me.

“That was really cool.”

“What, you can play the piano too?”

“Wow, you were really sexy.”

After that, the other seniors also came and said a word to me.

I smiled and thanked them individually.

While I was doing that, someone tugged at my sleeve. It was Adela.

“…Please tell me how you did it later.”

Her eyes were shining with a flushed expression. She was completely captivated by my performance just now.

“Okay.”

That was so like Adela.

“Ah, and I’m sorry for being late.”

“Ah, yeah. What the hell were you doing that made you late?”

Senior Jin Hee-yoon gritted his teeth with a fierce expression. Seeing him clenching his fist, it was clear that if the reason wasn’t important, he would give me a death punch along with a barrage of curses.

That was his attitude.

“Well, I secretly slipped out and was circulating mana, and then time…”

Actually, I didn’t secretly slip out, but went into Idred’s Book [a magical artifact or space], but I couldn’t say that, so I just said that I secretly slipped out.

“Mana circulation? More than that, why did you secretly slip out?”

“Well, with the family side… The Shadow. You know? I was talking to them…”

“Ah.”

The seniors knew that I had a shadow attached to me because of the Baekryeongdo incident [a past event].

Therefore, there was no problem even if I said this.

“So that’s why you secretly slipped out. That’s okay. Then what about the mana circulation?”

“I had some achievements.”

“…Achievements? You got stronger there?”

Everyone’s eyes, including Jin Hee-yoon’s, widened.

“Yes.”

“How long has it been since you became a 5th Circle… Are you a crazy bastard for real?”

Jin Hee-yoon chuckled and muttered.

“Wow, then what? Are you saying that Ha-yul became a 6th Circle?”

Soon-chan interjected.

“No. It’s not 6th Circle. It’s just that my circle has become a little more solid?”

As I became a 4th Circle master, Idred’s Book was updated, but.

I haven’t yet woven the fifth link.

“Ah. Thankfully, it’s not 6th Circle.”

Soon-chan sighed as if he was genuinely relieved.

“Why is that a relief?”

“If you had woven another 6th Circle in less than fifteen days, that would just make you an alien. I’m glad my friend isn’t an alien.”

Soon-chan smiled playfully and put his arm around my shoulder.

“Well, just the fact that you had another achievement in fifteen days is enough to make you an alien. Hehe.”

I chuckled.

Jin Hee-yoon also smiled brightly.

“Okay. If that’s the reason, then it can’t be helped. I’ll let you off the death punch this time. Don’t do that next time. I thought my heart was going to drop.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, seniors. I’ll be careful.”

I didn’t expect it to take this long either.

I didn’t know I would use 11 hours out of the 12-hour time limit.

Whew. It was close even thinking about it again.

“Then let’s put that matter aside. What are you going to do about the first match? Are you going to go with the original plan?”

“No. I’m thinking of changing the plan a little.”

The first match of the 107th Olympiad was a 5:5 siege battle.

The original plan was to use me as bait and have the other four act as a separate unit, but in this situation, that was just a backup plan.

There was a better plan.

“I’ll attack alone. The other four of you, please wait.”

Operation One-Man Show.

“I’m going to raise my value as bait a little more.”