The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years

Book 2: Chapter 373

The Great Reynols Forest, the home of the elves, was a forbidden land for all other races.

From time to time, slave hunters, Martial Artists, or Wizards looking for a place to train would come, but even they didn’t dare to venture too far into the forest. At most, they would sneak around the outskirts before leaving soon afterward.

Because they knew if they entered without permission, they would die.

The most sacred place in the Great Forest, ‘Lilund’, the High Elf village built among the roots of Hruhiral.

In the heart of this place, where even Elves could not enter without permission, stood two people who were clearly not elves.

One of them was a girl with silver hair, and the other was a tall woman with purple hair.

An elf woman with snow white hair laid on the ground in front of them as if she was dead.

“This is Lucid’s work.”

It was Anastasia who opened her mouth first.

She clicked her tongue as she looked at sword scars on Snow’s body.

“The death energy has seeped deep into her body. She was attacked by a sword covered in death energy. It’s not just the wounds, there is also a curse that prevents her body from healing naturally and instead is causing it to slowly rot.”

“There is no problem getting rid of that much. The problem is afterward.”

Anastasia had said that it wasn’t difficult to save Snow.

Peran, and her bodyguards, the Swordnaz, would be jumping for joy with just that much, but Iris thought that it was not enough.

“The clean up is going smoothly, but what about the after effects?”

“…”

“After the treatment is over, will Snow be able to use a sword without any issues?”

Anastasia did not answer for a while.

She’d been focusing on the medicinal aspect like crushing herbs, grinding gems, and adding various additives.

“Lucid’s sword practically melted all of the nerves that were directly connected to her right arm.”

“…”

“If they were just severed, or the damage was minimal, then we could put it back together, but this situation is a bit complicated.

“Can’t you recreate them?”

“It’s not impossible, but it would take too long.”

“How long?”

“About 5 years.”

“…”

Iris fell silent.

Although it was clear that she wouldn’t be able to help in the fight against Diablo right away, she thought that they might only need to wait for a month. It was possible that the fighting would begin even before that.

“It would be possible for her to hold a sword. But her thumb, index, and ring fingers won’t work well. If she were to wield a sword in her right hand, she would only be able to hold it with two fingers, but if it’s like that…”

“She won’t be able to use her true power.”

No matter how good of a Swordsman she was, it would be impossible. It was not something that could be overcome with mental strength or willpower.

It was physically impossible.

Snow de Predickwood had survived, but her power had fallen to less than half.

…Of course, the fact that she had survived at all was a miracle in itself. However, they had wanted her to take the role of Lucid’s opponent.

Could that be possible when she wouldn’t be able to even hold her sword properly?

“…”

Silence descended once again.

Only the soft clatter as Anastasia continued to process the materials rang out softly.

Finally, it was Anastasia that broke the silence.

“Remember that man?”

“That man?”

“The 9-star Wizard. I think you said his name was Lukas Trowman.”

“…why are you mentioning that person?”

“Do you know him?”

The question made Iris speechless for a moment, but she responded without thinking.

“No.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But why are you mentioning him all of a sudden?”

“…when I suggested we chase after Diablo, I was a bit agitated.”

It wasn’t a ‘bit’.

At that time, Anastasia had completely lost her composure. She knew that too as she was a bit red in the face as she said those words.

“At that time, when I snapped at him, the expression on his face was…”

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

After a while, she muttered in a slightly embarrassed manner.

“It was a bit… memorable.”

For some reason, she was unable to erase that man’s face from her mind.

His sad, bitter expression.

For some reason, the moment she’d seen that face, she’d felt guilty for running her mouth without thinking.

“My memories weren’t duplicated perfectly, so I can’t be sure. That’s why I was wondering if you knew him from before.”

“What do you mean by ‘before’? 4,000 years ago?”

Iris’ voice wavered a little. But Anastasia didn’t notice her discomfort and instead spoke with a bitter smile.

“Am I talking nonsense? Just forget it.”

“…”

But Iris couldn’t say anything, nor could she forget it.

…Because her heart felt heavy. It felt like something was stuck in her throat.

She’d noticed this strange feeling for a while now. When exactly did it start? She couldn’t exactly remember.

However, one thing was clear, that strange frustration had grown even more after meeting that man.

It made her feel annoyed, angry, and even affectionate…

“…Anastasia.”

“Yeah?”

“I think that man-”

Suddenly.

Rumble…!

“…!”

A sudden tremor shook them without warning. Their entire bodies shook so much that it was even hard to remain seated.

Anastasia stopped mixing the medicine and shot to her feet.

“An earthquake? No, is someone attacking?”

Although it was unlikely, common sense dictated that the only enemy it could possibly be was Diablo. He would not hesitate to spread his evil hands into even a sacred place like this.

“It’s not.”

But Iris’ expression hardened.

As she had inherited some of Lord’s power, she had a vague idea of what the phenomenon was.

“It’s not an earthquake. Space itself is shaking.”

“What?”

“The space is screaming! Almost like-”

Like it would collapse at any moment.

Iris swallowed those last words. She needed to figure out the source of this tremor.

She clenched her teeth.

“Please take care of Snow, Anastasia.”

“Huh? Wa-, wait! Where are you-”

Ignoring Anastasia’s cry, Iris leaped through space.

When she reappeared, it was at the top of the World Tree.

There, she was able to see across the entire area with a glance.

“…”

However, as she looked around, her eyes gradually widened with shock.

This…

“…impo…ssible.”

Her stuttering voice was filled with disbelief.

These vibrations had no ‘source’.

Instead, all the space in her sight was shaking.

To be precise, the entire world was shaking.

* * *

It was the most beautiful thing Diablo had ever seen.

A cracked space that creaked incessantly.

A space that was filled with countless universes, large and small.

The entire thing fell apart.

Space itself collapsed.

The natives of those universes struggled to accept that fact. But there was no way for them to prevent their impending doom.

If an island you were on sank, you could escape to a continent.

If the continent sank, you could escape to the vast sky.

And even if the planet reached the end of its lifespan, it was possible to find another planet.

In fact, many of the civilisations that existed in the cracks had already developed interplanetary travel.

However, if the entire universe was collapsing, if all the matter and particles that formed the universe were shattering one after the other.

There was no way to escape it.

[Ahh…]

Diablo let out a soft sound that even he himself was not sure was fear or awe.

[What… the hell… is this…]

“The timeline of the Three Thousand Worlds is being unified.”

“As a result, the lower level universes are collapsing.”

[What does that mean…?]

“When this ends, the number of universes in the Three Thousand Worlds will be reduced to less than half.” (TL: What is half of infinity?)

[What the hell are you talking about?]

It was a statement that surpassed Diablo’s degree of understanding.

The number of universes in the Three Thousand Worlds would be halved?

Did that mean that half of the countless universes would disappear together with God?

‘The hell…’

How many lives would be lost because of this ‘vibration’?

That thought gave him goosebumps. Diablo’s gaze shook.

“In this way, your dream has come true.”

In an unfeeling voice, the White Knight continued.

“The universes that survive will become faintly connected to each other. The restrictions will disappear, and all living beings will have the potential. If you are qualified, you will be able to realise the existence of other universes and make contact with them.”

[In that way… Hu, huhuhu.]

Diablo let out a laugh.

It was only then that he realised what he’d done.

Of course, his influence on the death of God and the destruction of the universes was minimal.

However, Diablo had still helped. By his own will no less…!

[Kuhahaha…!]

It was a simple pleasure.

A pleasure that he had never experienced since obtaining his skeletal body.

The results were simply and abundantly clear.

In the end, Diablo had contributed to the destruction of countless universes in a single day. Even the beings who ruled above the Absolutes could not boast such an achievement.

He also could have prevented this tragedy. Even if he only had meagre strength, there was still a possibility.

But he had chosen to turn a blind eye.

And this fact pleased Diablo even more.

[Will the surviving universes also go through such a process? White Knight of Conquest?]

“Someday.”

[I see. So it is an inevitable end.]

The Red Knight spoke.

“This place is now connected to all of the universes. And all of the items that were lost in the Apocalypse should have appeared here as well.

[What does that mean?]

“That means that several entrances have been opened.”

Diablo burst out laughing once again.

[The inhabitants of the universes who cannot accept their end will come to this place. Even the Absolutes. I don’t know what kind of place this will become.]

A war of an unimaginable scale.

[Then the battle that will be fought here is the real ‘Great Game’?]

“Universes that have reached the end of their lifespans, universes that have stopped developing, and universes that have not proven their potential will be forgotten.”

“No one but us would remember them.”

“So this is not a game.”

“It is a fight to not be forgotten.”

[…and you will be the judges.]

It was at this moment that something flashed before Diablo’s eyes.

Thud…

There was a heavy sound, and he realised that the throne was moving away from him. No, it wasn’t the throne that was moving. It was Diablo that was leaving. As if time was being reversed, he was being sent back through the space that he had travelled before. All against his will.

After a while, Diablo found himself standing in the desert once again.

The castle was no longer visible.

Did it move to another space? He wasn’t sure.

[Kukuku…]

With a chuckle, Diablo turned around without hesitation.

Just as Lucid, who was standing blankly beside him, was about to do the same, he stopped.

[…]

With his legs rooted to the ground, he turned his head to look at the sand dunes in the distance that rose up like small mountains.

Diablo turned to look at him.

[What is it?]

[…]

[Is someone there?]

After a moment, Lucid turned his eyes away and began walking forward.

Diablo glanced at the dunes again, but he couldn’t feel any presences. So he also turned his eyes away and followed Lucid.

Soon after, when they were already out of sight, two figures emerged from behind one of the dunes.

“His senses are still as sharp as ever.”

“Who is that man?”

“Lucid.”

“…so that guy is the Sword King.”

The man, Kasajin, continued.

“Why wasn’t it Iris? I wanted to show you what kind of woman she was.”

“Shut up. Before I smash your fragile bones.”

“Kukuku.”

Kasajin chuckled.

“You don’t understand what’s going on. But there is no need to think too deeply about it. Didn’t you already experience the qualifiers?”

“…”

“…it will get much louder in the future. So follow me well. You’ll be done for if you get lost here, Sedi Glaston.”

After saying that, Kasajin turned around and left first.

The girl with pitch black hair followed him while muttering.

“…it’s Trowman.”

(TL: Sedi is back too. I wonder how Peran would react to Lukas’ ‘daughter’.)