The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)
chapter-343

Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei

Peran headed into the depths of the cave.

There, he found five people, who should have remained on bed rest, exercising in their own ways.

The Swordnaz.

“How are you all feeling?”

“…Ah. Magic Commander.”

Eric and the other Swordnaz quickly stopped what they were doing and tried to politely bow to him, but Peran shook his head.

“Don’t push yourselves too hard.”

“No. We’re fine.”

After speaking in a firm tone, Eric bowed politely.

He wasn’t just pretending, it seemed he had recovered quite well already.

“It seems your condition has improved by a lot.”

“Yes, sir. The others have no major problems either. While we haven’t returned to our peak states, we are still capable of fighting.”

The Wizard, Yuriah, in particular, was having some trouble because of her slow mana recovery speed, but the others were almost fully recovered already. In particular, Hoffman, who was regarded as the toughest among the Swordnaz, was already training with his sword.

“I see. Still, it would be best if you didn’t overdo it. You won’t be able to help if you make your injuries worse.”

“Yes, sir. Ah, Magic Commander.”

Eric hurriedly stopped Peran, who was about to turn away.

“What is it?”

“…it’s been five days since we lost contact with Lady Snow. No. We were unconscious for a day, so it’s been six days.”

He started talking with a cautious tone.

“That’s why I…”

Perhaps because he didn’t think it sounded right, Eric seemed hesitant to voice his thoughts.

Realising what he wanted to say, Peran asked first.

“Are you worried about Lady Snow?”

Eric’s body trembled slightly. He muttered to himself with an indescribable expression on his face before letting out a sigh.

“Yes. The Swordnaz have failed. At times like this, we should trust her even more.”

“That’s not true. Lady Snow understands the Swordnaz’s loyalty better than anyone else. I’m sure she would be happy to know you’re worried.”

“…really?”

“You should know what her temper is like. She would never summon her followers to a place of death if she had a choice. If possible, she would rather handle everything on her own.

“That… Yes. You’re right.”

Peran smiled gently.

“The fact that she called you to this place means that she trusts and relies on you. You should be proud of that fact.”

He knew just how prideful Snow was. She was the type who would not ask for any help in most cases.

And yet Snow had looked for them first in this situation. Peran was right. This was something they could be proud of.

“Plus, our leader is the strongest being on the continent.”

Peran had a faint smile on his lips.

“At the very least, I can’t imagine her losing to anyone.”

* * *

“What do you plan to do now?”

Torkunta’s question woke Lukas from his thoughts.

This was truly not the time to be too concerned about the mysterious woman. Her identity wasn’t something he could confirm just by thinking about it.

Instead, he would have to deal with one thing at a time, starting with the situation before him.

“First things first, we need to find Snow.”

“Do you mean the elf woman who wields a sword? Then you’d better hurry.”

“Do you know something?”

“It was Diablo that lured Nix to this forest. As far as I can tell, the Elder Lich intended to make use of her hatred.”

“…Diablo.”

Lukas couldn’t help but feel strange as he thought about Diablo.

To be honest, he still found it hard to accept that Diablo the Demon Lord was causing chaos all across the continent.

Because the Diablo in Lukas’ memory was a comrade who helped them tremendously in the fight against their common enemy, the Demigods. They weren’t close enough to call him a colleague, but it could still be said that they had a cooperative relationship.

“…wait. So does that mean that Diablo is in this forest now?”

“Well, I can’t say for sure. But I’m pretty sure that’s the case.”

“…”

Currently, Snow was touching the very peak that one could reach as a mortal. No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t believe Diablo would be able to defeat her.

…But he couldn’t jump to conclusions just yet.

Lukas didn’t know a lot about Diablo, but he did know that he had a very thorough personality.

He would never do something like this unless he was absolutely sure of his victory.

“Right. As you said, we need to hurry.”

“Well, I wish you luck. I’ll go now.”

When he heard this, Lukas looked at Torkunta and asked.

“You’re leaving? Where will you go?”

“I’m just going to look around. Or I’ll head back to my territory in the Ispania Mountains.

“Can’t you help us now?”

“Hmph. I know you’re desperate for help, but there is no way you don’t understand the current situation. Sooner or later, Nix will regain consciousness. Are you sure she won’t be hostile towards you when that happens? The risk would be too high to take the gamble.”

“…”

“Besides, what were they called again, the Swordnaz? How are you going to explain my presence to those guys that Nix kneaded like dough?”

Torkunta’s words were very on point.

Even if Peran might accept it, the Swordnaz would definitely not be convinced about Nix’s change of attitude. Even if he were to take the time to perfectly explain everything to them, he didn’t believe that they would readily accept it.

“You don’t have to bring them with you.”

With a soft tone, Peran appeared.

Lukas glanced at him for a moment before turning to look at Torkunta.

“Does Peran know about your situation?”

“In a way. We talked for a bit while you were unconscious.”

Lukas didn’t believe that Torkunta would talk a lot about his situation. At best, he probably said enough so that Peran had a slight understanding.

Of course, the intelligent Peran should have been able to grasp a few more details from the explanation.

“What we need right now is to increase the strength of our group. We don’t know what kind of undead are lurking in the cave, so even one extra person would be a lot of help.”

“So… you’re asking me for help despite the fact that I just tried to kill you?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmph.”

Torkunta snorted, but Peran continued without hesitation.

“The Swordnaz are currently waiting in this cave. They don’t know about your presence yet. So if the three of us were to go to the cave before them, we wouldn’t cross paths.”

“You want the three of us to go alone?”

“Right. Of course, we would just take a look first, try to get a grasp on the situation, and if we think we can break through on our own, we can just go directly into the cave. How about that?”

This was probably the plan that Peran thought up while Lukas was unconscious.

It wasn’t a bad idea.

In fact, it might be the best course of action for them in the current situation.

Lukas nodded in approval while Torkunta didn’t answer, but his expression showed that he agreed with the suggestion.

“Fine. Then let’s set off right away.”