The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years Book 2: Chapter 374

Book 2: Chapter 374

Being 8 stars was not enough.
This was something Peran had realised in the previous battle.
He needed to be strong.
Much stronger than he was now.
9 stars.
To play his part in the fight against Diablo, he would need to make that distant state his own.
So Peran went to visit Lukas.
Although he wasn’t sure how it happened, last time, he had appeared as ‘Frey Blake’ and completely overpowered Diablo with nothing but his magical skills.
That scene had been embedded into the deepest part of Peran’s mind.
“Do you know how to reach 9 stars?”
“I do.”
He couldn’t help but freeze slightly when he heard the prompt response.
Lukas, on the other hand, had a calm expression.
…It was a strange feeling. Not so long ago, Lukas seemed a lot more complex. It felt like he had troubles that he didn’t know how to deal with and that he couldn’t share with him.
But now, he felt carefree.
It seemed that he’d come to a conclusion. That was a good thing, and it was something he should be happy about.
But, for some reason, Peran felt conflicted instead.
‘I’m being too sensitive.’
Peran shook his head.
“Can you teach me?”
“There is no need to rush. You’re moving quickly enough. It’s almost impossible to reach your level at your age.”
“…I know that.”
Others might mistake it as arrogance, but Peran nodded as if it was natural.
At the very least, he didn’t need to act humble in front of Lukas.
“However, in the current situation, I will just be dead weight in future battles.”
“There is no other Wizard in our camp other than you. Besides, you were able to use spells even while enduring Diablo’s pressure, which caused even him to feel threatened by you.”
“There’s you.”
Lukas smiled at those words.
“I can’t now.”
Peran felt his heart sink.
It felt like the strange feeling he’d been having for a while was finally being materialised.
“Did something happen?”
“Why?”
“…you just feel… a bit strange.”
He couldn’t say more than that because it was nothing more than a feeling.
Lukas looked at Peran with a mysterious glint in his eyes, but he simply nodded.
“Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
“But…”
Just as Peran was about to say more, the door opened with a click and the Great Medium walked in.
“Am I interrupting?”
“No. It’s fine.”
Lukas answered first before asking.
“What is it?”
“Iris and Anastasia have returned.”
“They came back so quickly?”
“They came without even going for the Grand Master, Ivan. It seems they want to talk about the tremors that happened not so long ago.”
Looking at the Great Medium’s expression, it was clear that it was a serious situation.
Peran got up first and started walking out of the room. Lukas didn’t move.
“Lukas?”
“You go and come back.”
“What about you?”
“There’s something I have to do.”
“But this is important…”
“Peran.”
It was the Great Medium, not Lukas, that interrupted him in a soft tone.
She shook her head gently at him.
“Leave him be for now.”
“…”
A lot of words were stuck in his throat, but none of them came out of his mouth. Instead, after hesitating for a moment, Peran nodded.
“Understood. I’ll be right back.”
“Right.”
Peran left the room and Lukas’ gaze met the Great Medium’s.
“Do you intend to entrust everything to him?”
As expected, she was quick to notice.
Since there was no point in hiding it, Lukas nodded.
“…I know about Peran’s talent. But he is too young.”
“That’s why I’m looking forward to it even more. Aren’t you curious about where Peran could reach in 10 years?”
“…”
The Great Medium didn’t know what to say.
For the first time, she felt greatly conflicted.
She wondered if it was really a good idea. To remain silent after witnessing all of those tragedies.
“…if it’s Peran, he might be able to replace me.”
In the end, the Great Medium had no choice but to leave the room without responding to those words.
Click.
The door was closed and Lukas was once again left alone in the room.
Now then. What should he do?
Should he write a note for the future? A note that would give Peran hope if he lost his way or became frustrated.
No. When Diablo died, everything he wrote would disappear with him.
It would certainly be different from a normal death.
It would probably be so lonely, to die without leaving any trace of his existence.
It was at that moment.
[When I first saw you.]
A voice sounded without warning.
Who was it? Lukas looked around but he couldn’t see or feel the presence of another person.
Nevertheless, the voice felt like a whisper in his ears.
After a while, Lukas was finally able to identify the source of the voice.
—The Box.
The faint voice had come from the black box.
Of course, it no longer had the shape of a box. Instead, it looked like the abandoned shell of an insect. The smooth lustre had become dry and the straight sides had become wrinkled.
[I saw a possibility.]
“…”
Lukas knew who this voice belonged to.
[You have lost everything. Lukas Trowman.]
God’s voice was weak and light as if it would fade away at any moment.
Lukas looked around.
In the past, whenever God appeared, he would completely freeze time and space. It was a power that only he had, something that Absolutes were not capable of. (TL: Didn’t the Lightning God do it too?)
But that wasn’t the case now.
He could still feel the flow of air. He could still hear the sound of footsteps outside the door. And he could still see dust particles floating in the moonlight.
Time wasn’t frozen.
“Not everything. But it’s accurate to say most things.”
[Kuku.]
It was a pleasant laugh.
Lukas couldn’t help but ask.
“What’s your condition now?”
[…]
“I heard it from the Great Medium. She said your presence was faint. And just a moment ago, a spatial tremor strong enough to shake the entire world occurred.”
[Indeed, Lukas Trowman, your senses, and eyes have not deteriorated in the slightest.]
“Don’t dodge my question, give me a straight answer. What the hell happened to you? What is happening in the multiverse?”
God didn’t answer and there was silence for a long time.
The room was quiet.
Just when Lukas was beginning to wonder if the connection had been broken.
[Do you not resent me?]
God asked a question out of nowhere.
[Some time has passed since your return. You must have felt bitter this entire time. All of your achievements, all of your experiences, everything you’ve built, all of them disappeared.]
“I did feel it.”
[Despair?]
“Yes. Enough that I felt like I was drowning.”
And he’d struggled with pain and sorrow.
An unprecedented pain that he had never felt in his entire life had gnawed at his entire body.
“I resented you. I hated you and cursed you.”
Ironically, there was no sign of resentment in Lukas’ voice.
“But the Great Medium explained it to me. You weren’t being malicious, it was just a law you had created.”
[So you accepted it?]
“I complied. Because I no longer have the ability to change anything.”
God chuckled.
[I don’t feel any agitation in your voice. Whatever it is you experienced, you have once again overcome it and found your answer.]
“…”
[I don’t have any feeling of guilt. However, when I look at you… Right. I feel a bit sad.]
“You shouldn’t be sympathetic. It’s worse than your sarcasm.”
[This isn’t sympathy. It’s atonement.]
At that moment, Lukas felt an eerie sensation like his entire body was sinking. Like he was sinking in the sea with a heavyweight attached to his body, and he didn’t have the strength to swim up. He couldn’t even make a sound.
God’s voice sounded in his ears once again.
[As I expected, you need to disappear completely, Lukas Trowman.]
Immediately after those words, Lukas vision flipped.
* * *
“Spatial vibration.”
The moment everyone entered the room, Iris opened her mouth.
“It’s my first time hearing about that.”
“That’s right. It’s a term I just made up.”
Iris spoke in her characteristic, calm voice.
“I just received reports from my subordinates scattered across the continent. Approximately 2 hours ago, they all felt an earthquake that lasted for 5 minutes.”
“That is a geological impossibility.”
Anastasia spoke up.
“If an earthquake were to occur on a continental scale, the effects would be catastrophic. The ground would split open and the ocean would overflow…”
“…are you saying compared to the magnitude of the earthquake, the damage is too small?”
“It wasn’t small, it was nonexistent.”
When they heard Iris’ words, everyone’s expressions became serious.
“That’s why I called it a ‘space vibration’.”
“That makes it sound like it wasn’t the ground, but space itself that was shaking. But clearly… Lady Iris is an expert in this field so I won’t question it more.”
Peran meekly nodded at her opinion.
“The spatial vibration might have something to do with Diablo.”
“On what basis?”
“There is none. To put it simply, I’m assuming because of the timing and my gut feeling.”
He wasn’t sure about the feeling part, but Peran could agree with the timing.
The earthquake had occurred about a day after Diablo had disappeared. No, the space vibration.
It was too coincidental to dismiss as pure coincidence.
“Ah. There is another thing. Immediately after the spatial vibration occurred, I could sense Diablo’s presence once again. I’m certain that he wasn’t in our world before the spatial vibration ended.”
Of course, they weren’t entirely sure where Diablo had been hiding.
The most likely option was the Demon World, but… they couldn’t be entirely sure about that either. In truth, there had been several cases where Diablo’s presence had disappeared from the continent. Iris had gone to the Demon World during one of those incidents, but she couldn’t find him there either.
In other words, it was possible that Diablo knew about a world that Iris didn’t, and he also had the means to enter it.
“Something is obviously going on. I think that things will only get worse for us as time goes on, so I intend to fight him as soon as Snow wakes up.”
“When do you think Lady Snow will wake up?”
“I can’t be sure, but it would at least take a week. Perhaps even two or three weeks.”
“I see. How is her condition?”
“…”
Iris and Anastasia fell silent at the same time.
“Lady Anastasia?”
“There will be some aftereffects.”
“By aftereffects…”
“She won’t be able to hold a sword properly.”
Peran shuddered.
“That… is rehabilitation… impossible?”
“It is possible, but it will take a long time. However, you should know better than anyone else. What Snow will be like when she wakes up.”
“…”
She would probably grab a sword regardless of her physical condition.
Peran had a complicated expression.
He had the desire to stop her, but would Snow listen to him? And what if he did manage to stop her?
If they fought Diablo without Snow, their chances of winning were less than half. Even if she was weakened, she was still the greatest Swordsman on the continent.
“Firstly, we’ll need to convince Ivan. And Jekid, even though he’s retired. If we can get his cooperation, we wouldn’t have to overwork Snow.”
“…I… see.”
Peran nodded his head reluctantly. He understood. Of course, he still wasn’t alright with Snow joining them, but he understood.
It was then.
The Great Medium, who had been silent this entire time, finally opened her mouth.
“I have something to tell you.”
There was a hint of determination in her voice.
“Is it about Diablo?”
“No.”
“If it’s not important, we can put it off till later. For now, we are too pressed for time to discuss the future.”
“It is important.”
…She didn’t know if it was right to talk about it here. Or what the consequences of doing that would be.
She also didn’t know if it would help Lukas or not. After all, he seemed to have already accepted his fate.
So this might just be for her own self satisfaction.
‘Even so…’
Even if it was just an act of self satisfaction, she felt that it would be wrong to keep her mouth shut when she knew everything.
It was like telling Lukas about his own disappearance upon Diablo’s death.
Peran, Nix, Anastasia, and Iris.
Those who were here deserved to know.
At least by knowing the truth, they would be able to make their own decisions.
“…to believe or not is up to you. But I would like to tell you about that man named Lukas Trowman.”
Iris and Anastasia made puzzled expressions at that moment.
This was an expected response. After all, those two had completely forgotten everything.
On the other hand, Peran and Nix’s expressions became strange.
Looking at all of them, the Great Medium thought.
“From now on, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Perhaps this was also her role.