The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)

When the steel door opened with a hiss, Drisa couldn’t help but murmur to the other hunters.

“That’s it? There wasn’t any iris or fingerprint recognition?”

“You watched too many movies.”

Although Allida said these words sarcastically, there were actually many hideouts that employed such systems.

“This place wasn’t important enough to invest so much money in. Can’t you tell from the fact that it was actually captured?”

“That’s true, but… it was still too weak.”

The door opened, revealing the interior of the hideout.

It was in a much better condition than they expected. It seemed that Rutan’s words that no one had bothered to occupy the hideout were true.

Allida sighed in relief.

“Fortunately, the power still seems to be working, but… I’m not sure whether the Warp Portal will work or not. I’ll have to take a look around first. Those who were injured need first aid. There should be first-aid kits in the lobby.”

As she said this, Allida headed to the hideout’s system management office.

After she left, silence befell the lobby.

The hunters naturally turned their eyes to look at Lukas. Then Lukas turned to look at the entrance before getting up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

Drisa only received a short answer to his question.

“To greet the uninvited guests.”

“What?”

“It would be better if none of you came outside.”

Then he left the hideout without waiting for a response.

* * *

Lukas walked out of the hideout.

It seemed that quite a long time had passed as the sky was lit by the final glow of twilight. By the time this dim light finally disappeared, the humans would have finished their daily tasks and they would wake up.

Demons.

Shuk-

His body floated up, and he shot up above the clouds in an instant. He reached a place where the air was incredibly thin, but the lack of oxygen didn’t matter to him.

He looked down at the ground. From his vantage point, he could see everything happening in the nearby surroundings.

The severely-polluted earth, which had long died, a river, which was as black as ash, and the Demons, who had forcefully occupied a human city.

Were they looking for Duke Sandro?

He saw a group of Demons moving hurriedly around the city.

That city.

There had to have been thousands of Demons there.

[They are like a disease for this planet.]

Before he realised it, a mysterious, black-robed being had appeared behind Lukas. It was the same who’d shown up right after he killed Duke Sandro.

Lukas kept his head lowered as if he didn’t care about this black-robed being. (TL: For now I’ll refer to this being as man… to make it easier…)

Then he responded.

“Humans are the same.”

[…]

What was it?

The mysterious man couldn’t help but feel that Lukas’ voice was slightly cold as he said those words.

But he soon shook his head. This was an Absolute who loved humans. The tip of his blade would never be directed at them.

[However, humans still have a slight sense of self-control.]

“I’m sure you didn’t come here to tell me that.”

[…there is something I’d like to ask you, Sir Absolute.]

“Speak.”

[Have you already made your judgement?]

When Lukas remained silent, the mysterious man continued, unperturbed.

[Over the past few decades that you’ve been in this world, you’ve only saved a handful of humans. At first, I didn’t understand what you were doing, but now, I do. You were testing the humans in this universe.]

“…”

[Did you hear me? You wandered around this world to see if the humans in this universe deserved to be saved, didn’t you?… And now, I think you’ve reached a decision. Because you even went as far as to kill a Demon Duke.]

The mysterious man’s voice was filled with confidence, but Lukas slowly shook his head.

“I’m not so arrogant.”

[Then…]

“You don’t know anything. I have already lost my authority and fallen.”

[…what?]

The mysterious man couldn’t help but ask with a perplexed voice.

This was natural.

After all, he thought that the reason Lukas wandered around this world for decades was because he wanted to determine whether the humans in this universe were a good race.

After all, considering Lukas’ track record, such a thing was obvious.

But now, Lukas himself was denying it.

He said that it wasn’t his goal.

[Then what is your real goal?]

The mysterious man’s voice sharpened.

[You have heard these humans’ screams. You saw the outstretched hands of those begging for help. Don’t you know just how many humans you could save as long as you were willing to do it?]

“In the beginning, I did want to save the humans. If only I could.”

[If only you could? Who would dare to defy your will? The Demon King isn’t even a problem. He certainly has power that surpasses mortals, but he’s nothing more than the king of a small world.]

When Lukas didn’t answer, the mysterious man became even more agitated.

His voice grew louder.

[You are a Lord! The second highest rank among Absolutes! Even if you were pressured by the other Lords—]

“They are not the ones I’m worried about.”

It wasn’t them?

That was strange.

Who else could Lukas, who seemed to disregard the other Lords, be worried about?

[…!!]

Then the mysterious man had a sudden thought.

…There was.

There were only four beings in the multiverse who were stronger than Lukas.

[R-, Rulers…!!]

He didn’t hear any denial.

This made the mysterious man even more terrified. He barely managed to speak with a trembling voice.

[O-, oh, my god! Y-, you earned the ire of a Ruler…!]

When Lukas nodded at those words, the mysterious man stumbled as he was unable to contain his shock.

Just mentioning them seemed to shake his very existence.

How many hundreds of years had it been since he’d last received such a great shock?

He knew.

Just how strange Lukas Trowman was among the absolutes.

In fact, a majority of the Absolutes found him displeasing and regarded his deeds as disrespectful.

Because of him, many of them felt like it was impossible to save humans. Because Lukas was a rare, biased Absolute who wielded his power not to carry out God’s task but to complete his own personal objective, it gave the other Absolutes a chance to intervene.

But it wasn’t them whom Lukas was worried about.

‘What the hell did he do?’

The Rulers rarely displayed interest in matters that weren’t of utmost importance to the entire multiverse. Because they didn’t care about the smaller things.

Naturally, this also meant that they didn’t care about what the Absolutes, other than their companions, did.

He had angered such a Ruler?

The mysterious man couldn’t help but ask in a trembling voice.

[Wh-, who was it?]

“…”

[Which Ruler did you anger? The Thunderous Lightning God? The Black Horned Demon King? The Sun Giant? Or…]

“All four.”

This time, the mysterious man’s face became pale.

[I… I beg your pardon?]

Lukas looked at the setting sun and spoke with a calm voice.

“All of the Rulers have become my enemies.”