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

“There’s a place I need to stop by.”

“A place you need to stop by?”

Ignoring Sama Ryeong’s question, Lukas turned around.

Jacob, who was just as confused, asked.

“Where are you going?”

Lukas walked away without answering, and after exchanging glances for a moment, Jacob and Pale followed.

Glaring at their backs, Cheon Jong-woo said.

“Is it alright to just let them leave like that?”

“…it normally wouldn’t be.”

Sama Ryeong sighed and added.

“However, it’s currently an emergency.”

That meant that they should place more importance on understanding the current situation than restraining their actions.

“One of them appears to be from Magic Planet, but the other two are unknown. Who the hell are they?”

Jo Sang-ak spoke in a low voice.

Although his sword technique was lacking when compared to the other members of the Seven Flowers, Jo Sang-ak’s strength came in his ability to stay clear-headed, and his analytical power.

“…”

Sama Ryeong hesitated to answer. She could tell them now that she had been half threatened into leading them here, but…

“They won’t harm us.”

Probably.

This time, she was able to swallow the end of her sentence properly.

In any case, there was no need for her to make her Martial Brothers anxious for now.

As if to clear the air, Man Seol-gun spoke in a cool voice.

“Their intentions are unknown, but we can at least tell where they’re going.”

Although there were flames roaring chaotically in every direction, they were able to roughly guess the surrounding location by using the main mountain as a point of reference.

Jo Sang-ak answered with a nod.

“The prison.”

* * *

[They’re following us annoyingly.]

[Why don’t we just kill them?]

[The girl is a bit on the skinny side so she wouldn’t be too tasty, but the man would be quite the delicacy.]

Among the whispers in his head, some voices were particularly loud. Of course, that was just how he felt, it wasn’t actually the case. The whispers in his ears or head were all at the same volume.

Nevertheless, the reason why those voices were particularly clear was simple. It was because they represented desires that were similar to Lukas’.

The existence of the two people following him was quite annoying. Lukas just wanted to kill them for that reason.

Pale cheerfully hummed as she followed him. It was quite out of place in the burning forest with charred earth and blanketed by thick smoke, but it also felt natural. It had been like that before as well.

When they had been walking among the mountains of corpses at the dump site. For some reason… Pale felt indescribably beautiful.

“I checked uncle’s condition.”

For a moment, he didn’t realise.

It was said in such a low voice that he almost mistook it for one of the voices ringing in his head instead of Pale. But he realised it wasn’t. Unlike those voices, which were filled with negative emotions, Pale’s voice was moist.

“Checked?”

“You haven’t eaten anything since you met me, have you? And yet, you don’t show any signs of disappearing at all.”

“…”

It was then that Jacob looked at Lukas with a puzzled expression.

Lukas’ gaze turned to Pale.

Right. Eating was no longer a necessary function for Lukas. A void existed in most places in this world. And because of that, his power could be replenished at any time.

“That’s right, you don’t feel hungry anymore, do you? I envy you.”

Lukas stopped walking. At the same time, a dangerous smile spread across Pale’s face.

“I’m always hungry. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I’m dominated by hunger.”

She pulled something from her pocket. It was a dead rat. No, it couldn’t be a corpse. If it was, it would have disappeared already. Animals that weren’t yet dead couldn’t be called food. Naturally, they couldn’t be processed yet since they were still alive.

Pale put the furry mouse into her mouth and bit down.

Crunch.

Blood dripped down her chin. It was a voracious meal. Jacob took a few steps away from her with a strained expression.

Pale… seemed like she was holding something back.

“Even if I eat… even if I eat, I don’t feel full. It’s like there’s a hole in my stomach. A huge, deep hole that sucks in everything it touches. I feel like I’m going to be sucked into that hole someday. So I’m always anxious.”

It’s dangerous.

Lukas’ instincts warned him. He didn’t know why, but Pale didn’t seem normal at that moment.

“Can you imagine what that feels like?”

Pale continued to rummage around in her pockets and pulled out more rats. Hah, hah. She began to breathe heavily as she ate.

Lukas’ expression suddenly hardened. Even though the number of rats she’d chewed and swallowed had exceeded ten by now, she didn’t show any signs of feeling full.

Instead, she appeared even thinner than before. It wasn’t just a feeling, that was really the case. Pale’s cheeks became sunken and her wrists became so thin that they appeared to just be skin and bones.

‘I can’t sense it.’

Even with the power of the void, he was unable to peek into Pale’s body.

…The rats Pale swallowed. Where did those rats’ ‘void’ disappear? Was there really a hole in her stomach that devoured everything?

Ttuk.

Pale’s hand movements stopped. At the same time, her smile disappeared.

“…huh.”

Her expression changed drastically.

“Was that the last one? No. Then…”

Seeing Pale mutter to herself, Jacob couldn’t help but mumble.

“She doesn’t look sane at all. What the hell is this woman?”

Of course, Lukas didn’t know either.

And Pale’s murmurs were gradually becoming more unstable.

“No, no, no. I’m still hungry. I need something to eat, somewhere…”

Her bloodshot eyes turned to Lukas.

Kuwaaa.

A stifling pressure seemed to envelop the entire area. Even Lukas cringed for a moment.

“Huk…”

In Jacob’s case, it was much worse. His legs shook heavily and cold sweat poured from his face as if rain was falling.

Crunch.

Lukas clenched his fists… Hunger. This woman, she was looking at him as food.

“Not this one… he’s a candidate… but… I’m so hungry.”

Suddenly.

Pale’s gaze turned in another direction.

“Ahah.”

Just as a wide smile spread across her lips, Pale’s figure disappeared.

At the same, the pressure that had been suppressing the two men disappeared.

“Kuk…”

Jacob stumbled slightly. Lukas reflexively caught him by the shoulder.

“Ah… th-, thank you.”

He spoke in an appreciative voice.

Lukas didn’t respond and instead looked at the place where Pale had been looking before she disappeared. It was the sky. Now that he thought about it, Pale had also looked up at the sky when they were in the desert.

The sky was covered in fog. Was there something there? As far as Lukas could see, there was nothing there.

…What the hell had she seen?

[She’s dangerous.]

[There’s nothing you can’t eat, but it might be a bit troublesome…]

[It’s not worth it. Let’s give up on her.]

Shut up.

Lukas warned the voices.

Now that he thought about it, his symptoms seemed to be similar to those necromancers who were inflicted with madness. The necromancers with small soul containers constantly heard the voices of the masses of resentment that clung to their minds and bodies. The necromancers whose minds were constantly gnawed on by the whispers of the evil spirits usually had two endings. Insanity or death.

“Are you okay?”

Jacob asked in a worried voice.

Lukas responded with a slight shake of his head. He didn’t want to say more than was really necessary.

This was because most of his attention was needed to suppress the madness.

But when he heard Jacob’s next words, Lukas had no choice but to open his mouth.

“You won’t last long.”

“What?”

Lukas turned his head quickly.

Jacob looked at him with nervous eyes but determined eyes.

“You must have devoured many corpses in the dump site. Isn’t your current condition one where you constantly hear your voice?”

“…”

“I know. Because I have also experienced similar symptoms.”

That wasn’t a lie.

Jacob had accurately described his symptoms without any prompting. And he didn’t have the ability to see his condition. So it seemed he had guessed his symptoms based on his prior knowledge.

“You have to go to Magic Castle. The Honoured Father will take care of it for you.”

“The Honoured Father? Is that the Beginning Wizard, one of the Twelve Void Lords?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“Please trust me. It is not an ordeal that is impossible to overcome. There is a clear cure for it, like a disease…”

“Kukuku…”

A smirk crept across Lukas’ lips.

“A solution? A disease? That guy you call Honoured Father? Haha, ahahaha!”

Lukas burst out into a hearty laugh after a very long time. On the other hand, Jacob’s expression became as hard as a rock. While it sounded like a pleasant laugh, in reality, it was sticky and seemed to contain indescribable madness.

“Very good. You really gave me a good laugh. It was a silly joke, but it was really funny.”

“It wasn’t a jo…”

“Be quiet.”

Ugh.

The moment Lukas lifted his finger to his lips, Jacob closed his mouth without finishing his sentence.

He slowly approached him, his black eyes peering over Jacob’s entire body.

“Look, Wizard. Do you think you understood everything about me after making a rough guess about my situation? Does my situation seem so light to you?”

“I never…”

“No, that’s what you did. But you don’t understand my situation at all. Because you wouldn’t have said something like that if you understood. Look at me. Look me in the eyes.”

Jacob’s body trembled.

“Do I look sane to you right now? Do you think I’m fine because I can have conversations? If even a tiny fragment of what I’m suppressing comes out, and if you were to experience that fragment, you wouldn’t even dare stand.”

“Ah, uh, uhh…”

“Don’t appear in my sight for a while.”

Jacob collapsed.

Ignoring him, Lukas turned away. The voices in his head were becoming noisy again. They were mainly complaining about the fact that he didn’t just eat him right away. He could feel their irritation and dissatisfaction. It made him feel like destroying everything in his sight. And at the end, he would smash this head. Just that thought was refreshing.

‘…the next time I see him, I’ll eat him.’

Lukas decided what he’d do to Jacob. He could give him some clues about the Beginning Wizard and the Magic Planet. Of course, it was an attractive idea, but he didn’t need to get too hung up on it. That guy’s presence had really been starting to bother him.

If he ignored his warning and followed him, he would tear his body apart. Blood would splatter.

Although it wouldn’t be enough to put out the flames raging around him, it would be enough to satisfy Lukas’ thirst.

Right. It wouldn’t be a meal, it would just be blood splashing into his mouth like rain. The blood of a living being… how sweet it must be.

As he thought this, he felt like it might not be such a bad thing for Jacob, whose very existence annoyed him, to appear again.

* * *

The entrance of the prison wasn’t badly damaged. Of course, that didn’t mean this place had been saved from the touch of the ‘enemy’.

There were clear traces of battle around the entrance of the prison.

The inside of the prison, that was to say the underground cave, didn’t seem to have collapsed. But no signs of activity could be felt within it.

Perhaps… the man Lukas was looking for was already dead.

[Then we can eat him.]

[As long as the corpse is still there.]

The dark desire made him salivate. Lukas suppressed it for a moment and entered the prison. The formation which had once surrounded the prison no longer seemed to be functioning properly. This meant that the runes that had been supporting it had probably been smashed.

The underground stairs were clean, and there were no bloodstains. Nevertheless, Lukas could see signs of the corpses that had been scattered there.

He walked among them. It seemed that he could not only feel the bodies that had disappeared but also smell the scent of blood. Although the bodies had disappeared, the void that had existed in them seemed to remain like particles.

These particles showed what had happened there as if they were replaying the scenes of the past.

The guardians of the prison.

Those powerful masters had died without even having a chance to react. There was a high possibility that they hadn’t even realised they’d died.

That was all he could tell.

He didn’t know how they died nor how many enemies there were.

Before long, Lukas reached the deepest part of the underground prison. This place had a much more devastating appearance. The bars that stretched along both sides were all shattered. It was as if a small typhoon had swept everything away.

But Lukas was able to find one survivor in this messy place.

The man he had been looking for.

The reason why he’d come to this prison before meeting Yang In-hyun.

Lee Jong-hak lay face first in a pool of blood.

(TL: Lukas: He’s strong, I can use him

Lukas literally one chapter later: He’s annoying, I should eat him)