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

A few days passed.

In that time, Lukas’ life could only be described as monotonous. All he had to do was occasionally give Min Ha-rin books about Magical Science.

He didn’t talk to her. To be precise, he deliberately avoided her.

He felt that it was necessary to create an environment allowing her to train on her own for a week.

That was why he spent most of his time alone in his room.

One day, Lukas was meditating in his room when he heard a voice.

[…he’s here.]

It was a weak, terrified voice. It sounded like it would disappear at any moment.

Lukas opened his eyes.

In front of him was the mysterious man in black, who was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

[I won’t get involved anymore. I’m sorry…]

The man’s voice grew faint after saying those words, and he soon disappeared like a puff of smoke.

Lukas got up from his seat.

Then he headed to the elevator.

“We received a thunderstorm warning…”

The security guard at the elevator warned him with an embarrassed expression, but he didn’t try to stop him, and Lukas was able to use it.

Rumble-

The elevator shook violently.

Fortunately, it still seemed to work properly, but as the ground drew closer, the sound of heavy rain, which seemed to be pounding the ground, could be heard.

Boom!

Then there was the sound of thunder. The elevator’s lights blinked dangerously, but Lukas didn’t even flinch. He was simply lost in thought while listening to the pounding rain.

The humans called Demons a disaster, and they weren’t wrong. But he didn’t think they could’ve even imagined just what a true disaster was.

It was the extinction of the planet, not the species.

Furthermore, the entire universe could be returned to a state of nothingness.

Lukas saved only those who had the potential to save the world. He hoped that they could create the winds of change. This was because he hoped the humans would overcome their trials on their own.

By the time he’d come to this world, the human population had already been halved, but he didn’t make a move until that number fell far below half.

He didn’t do anything to the Demons.

If Lukas were to use his power wantonly, then they would have a reason to intervene.

He’d saved many worlds.

To be precise, he’d saved many worlds’ ‘humans’.

It was an act that had become the reason for Lukas’ existence. He wandered through countless universes performing the role he set for himself.

He heard cries of gratitude, received intense faith and belief, and earned a lot of trust and affection from the humans he saved.

And.

He received hatred, resentment, and fear from many more races.

‘It was as I expected.’

From a cosmic perspective, favouring one species was not the right thing to do.

There were many beings who were born ugly. These beings were designed to torment and make others feel despair.

They weren’t good beings, but Lukas sympathised with them. They were poor creatures who were born evil from the start.

Unlike humans, they didn’t get the chance to choose whether they wanted to be good or evil.

Nevertheless, there might have been another way. It might have been possible for him to lead them on the right path.

It might have been possible to make them good.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Lukas exterminated every enemy of the humans.

At some point, the other Absolutes began calling Lukas [Madman] or [Human] and criticised him heavily. But the fact was that they weren’t wrong. He didn’t even think about denying it.

However, he didn’t stop his actions.

He silently carried on with his work.

Time passed. A really long time.

The winds of time couldn’t touch him because he had already transcended time.

Karma gradually accumulated, and his level increased.

Ironically, the more the races who persecuted humans hated Lukas, the stronger he became.

For an Absolute, reverence was the most efficient form of energy. And the more negative and ugly the emotion was, the thicker the concentration.

Lukas became stronger at an unusual rate. This caused him to stand out amongst the Absolutes, and before long, they became interested in him.

But that interest soon became displeasure and then hostility.

Lukas was an unforeseen obstacle.

Despite their warnings, he didn’t hesitate to pick worlds that could have been regarded as their territory. Then, he ruined many small and large plans of their design. Even going so far as to destroy them completely.

Ding-

He walked out of the elevator.

It seemed that the clothing store was closed because the lights were off and the owner wasn’t behind the counter. It was probably due to the heavy rain and the thunderstorm.

Fortunately, the back door was open, so he could still leave the building.

Shaaa-

None of the stores in the city were open. This was because the rains were too severe. While walking through the street, only the sound of the rain could be heard.

Lukas walked up to a bench and sat on it without paying any attention to the raindrops pounding against his skin.

Boom!

Suddenly, an enormous bolt of lightning tore through the sky.

And the world froze.

The raindrops froze in the air, and the lightning bolt remained in the sky as though it had been painted.

Lukas had only experienced this phenomenon once before. This had happened in the past when he had finally defeated his greatest enemy and accomplished his goal before becoming an Absolute.

However, it wasn’t God who appeared this time.

He saw the shadow of an enormous being behind the dark clouds in the sky.

This was the existence whom God had mentioned that day.

A being who had been born as a cosmic entity.

A being who stood at the pinnacle of countless Absolutes.

Perhaps the most dangerous being in the entire multiverse.

[Nice to meet you, Madman.]

Lukas was looking at a Ruler.

* * *

His voice sounded like a clap of thunder.

Lukas knew.

It would be impossible for anyone who wasn’t at least a transcendent being to even understand that sound. The moment a normal person heard that voice, their body would collapse and their soul would die.

Only those at the rank of Absolute would be able to understand the language in his voice and converse with him.

The freezing of time and space was for that purpose.

Even though he had only sent a thought projection to this place, if he hadn’t frozen time and space, the entire planet would have probably collapsed.

This was Lukas’ first time seeing a Ruler in person. But even though it was just a thought projection, facing it was still a considerable burden for him.

His entire body shook as though an electric current was running through him.

Nevertheless, his voice was unexpectedly calm.

“I wanted to meet you, too.”

[Do you know who I am?]

He spoke in a somewhat cheerful voice, and Lukas responded while looking up at the lightning which lit up the night sky.

“Lightning God.” (TL: I changed his name to ‘Thunderous Lightning God’ which is a bit closer to what I’m assuming the author meant… Author is using a strange blend of Korean-Chinese that is besting me.)

[Uhaha!]

The Thunderous Lightning God burst into laughter.

His laugh sounded more powerful than the thunderstorm that had just been battering the city.

Lukas recalled the Demigod from the past who had the power of lightning.

Indra.

His lightning, which Lukas had felt countless times in his mental world, had been so powerful that it was able to completely burn Lukas’ body despite the fact that he was already much stronger than any mortal at the time.

But in the end, he won.

And with Riki’s help, he managed to make Indra give in, allowing Lukas to make his power his own.

The Lightning God’s power was the same as Indra’s.

‘The same?’

Could this be called the same?

Lukas denied it.

The Lightning God was stronger than millions of Indra’s combined. His tremendous power could be felt even with just his thought projection.

Just like a drop of water and an ocean were the same, they had the same essence.

But everything else was different. No. Even the word ‘different’ wasn’t enough.

Lukas thought for a moment before he could think of a suitable word.

They were on different ‘levels’.

[You’ve been running around the multiverse as you please. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that almost everyone hates you. I’ve lived for a very long time, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone as crazy as you.]

“There were some. Who were the same as me.”

[Put your expectation aside. You’ll never be able to meet them. They are all dead.]

The Lightning God continued to talk in a cheerful manner.

Lukas wasn’t surprised because he had expected something similar. However, he was surprised that this Ruler was such a chatterbox. Just like God.

He couldn’t help but wonder if all the beings above the Absolutes were like this.

Hiding his thoughts about the Lightning God, Lukas asked.

“So are you going to kill me too?”

[If it was the Demon King, he probably would’ve done just that. He’s the most angry of us. If you meet him, your soul will disappear without even a speck of dust remaining.]

“…”

[But I’m different. I can tell after seeing you in person. Your head is more twisted than I thought. But that’s precisely why I like you.]

“…what are you trying to say?”

[Serve me, Madman.]

Lukas’ expression became strange. He didn’t answer immediately, but he didn’t panic.

He just looked at the giant being beyond the clouds as though he was urging him to explain.

[You must know that every Lord follows a Ruler.]

“Right.”

[Do you know why?]

“To shift responsibility.”

[Hoh…]

The Lightning God looked down at him with interest.

[That’s an interesting way to put it. You’re not wrong. No matter how much they grow, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of Absolutes will encounter the same problem. To put it simply, they become distracted.]

There wasn’t a need to explain whether this was a dangerous phenomenon or not. The most important thing for Absolutes was a healthy and focused mind.

You could call it willpower.

Believing in themselves and not doubting themselves was the foundation of Absolutes, and it was the source of their power.

[You can still hold on. But that’s because you are rather young when compared to most Lords. However, it won’t be long before your beliefs begin to crack. Then, every moment will feel like a waking hell. And then you’ll do what everyone else does.]

The Lightning God chuckled.

[In other words, you will look for God. Isn’t it funny? Beings who are like gods in the eyes of mortals end up seeking out God.]

“I won’t do that.”

[That might be the case now. But the point is that we are beings who have transcended the concept of time. And we have eternal, interminable work. No matter how you look at it, if you do the same thing for hundreds of millions of years, your beliefs are bound to change. Just like water droplets that have fallen for hundreds of years can pierce through rocks.]

“…”

[But we all know what God is like. I can’t speak for those who have completely lost their minds, but at least, I wouldn’t want to rely on our neglectful creator.]

God was surprisingly unpopular among the Absolutes.

Lukas knew that too.

“So you mean I should rely on you?”

[I will carry your karma for you. I will let you continue saving humans in my territory. I don’t care about conflicts with the other Rulers. Instead, I’ll stop them from pressuring you.]

Lukas suddenly let out a laugh.

[Why are you laughing?]

“What are you hiding?”

Lukas’ voice sounded.

“You’re not just helping me out of pity. As you said, I’ve only been a Lord for a short amount of time, but I know well what you Rulers are like. You guys don’t pay attention to anything unless it affects the multiverse as a whole or unless someone touches your territory. And amongst the Rulers, you are the one with the least attachment to your territory.]

[Kuku…]

The Lightning God chuckled.