The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)
chapter-346

Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei

Lukas looked down.

It seemed Peran still couldn’t accept reality.

This showed how much Snow meant to Peran. Since even the spirit of an 8-star Wizard could be shaken in such a way.

“Peran, I’m sorry, but she-”

“No. She’s really alive.”

At those words, Lukas turned to look at him.

This was because the tremor in Peran’s voice disappeared. On the contrary, his voice seemed to contain a different emotion.

It seemed that he was truly convinced about Snow’s survival.

Lukas looked at Snow’s body again.

“…”

But he still couldn’t sense any signs of life.

If that was the case, then…

‘Her wounds.’

His attention turned to the large hole in Snow’s abdomen.

The bloodstains around them… were few.

It wasn’t that they weren’t there, just that there wasn’t much there.

Usually, for a hole of that large, not to mention blood, it wouldn’t be strange if her intestines were to fall out.

“…this is…”

Upon closer inspection, he realised that there was a faint white mist escaping from her wounds.

“Iceheart.”

Peran’s voice shook slightly as he spoke.

“What’s that?”

“It’s one of Lady Snow’s skills. It seems that she put herself in a false death state just before she died.”

“…”

“As expected, I knew she wouldn’t have died in vain like this.”

Peran seemed pleased, but Lukas’ thoughts were different.

The enemy was Diablo, a 9 star Warlock.

When it came to thoroughness, he would be second to none.

Did he really not realise that Snow had survived? Even if he hadn’t, there was no reason for him to leave her body here.

So there had to be a reason.

Why he left Snow alive…

‘Did he intend to turn her into a puppet?’

No. That couldn’t be it.

He should have known Snow’s noble spirit. Even if she became an undead, there was a high chance that she wouldn’t obey Diablo.

The success rate of the mind control varied dramatically depending on the personality, character, and willpower of the dead. As far as Lukas could tell, Snow was more likely to try and stab Diablo even if he were to bring her back to life.

‘There’s no way Diablo didn’t know that.’

The more noble a person was, the more preparations the Necromancer needed to make to corrupt them.

They would have to inject a huge amount of death energy into the body for an incredibly long time before they had a chance of succeeding.

“…”

Lukas put his hand on Snow’s body and frowned.

“…it’s as you said. She’s still alive.”

“Didn’t I already tell you that?”

Peran answered Lukas with a bright smile on his face, but Lukas’ expression still didn’t improve.

“However, her situation is not good. There is a large amount of death energy laying dormant in her body.”

“I know that too. However, when Lady Snow regains consciousness, she will be able to force it out on her own…”

“That’s not possible. She must have realised how bad her condition was since she put herself in a false death state.”

That was the conclusion Lukas reached.

Peran seemed to want to refute that statement without even thinking about it.

Blind faith.

To receive such blind faith from others. While it was a great accomplishment, it was also a great responsibility.

For the first time, Lukas felt sympathy for Snow. There had probably been some weakness from having to shoulder such heavy responsibilities, but she hid it behind her arrogant and broad-minded facade.

“Then what do you think will happen if she were to regain consciousness like this?”

“Her consciousness would start to corrode because of the death energy, and her soul would die. And without her soul, her body would also lose its life.”

“…what? That means…”

“Right.”

Lukas’ voice was firm as he spoke.

“Snow’s body would transform into a low ranking undead, like a ghoul or a skeleton.”

“…th-, that…”

Peran clenched his fist as his shoulders began to shake. His eyes became slightly red because of his anger.

…Reviving a Sword Master like Snow as a low ranking undead?

That was an insult, an insult to her very existence.

“How… dare he…”

“…”

It wasn’t difficult to awaken her from her false death state. All they needed to do was warm up her cold body.

However, if they did that, the frozen death energy would also begin to move. The weakened Snow would be unable to remove the death energy and would slowly become an undead.

Her hair would fall out, her flesh would melt, her intestines would spill out, and her heartstopping appearance would become so hideous that there would be no traces of her former beauty.

‘So that is his goal.’

Diablo had probably noticed Snow’s false death state.

And yet, he still left without finishing her off.

If he were to kill Snow here, the Anti Circle Alliance would stop at nothing to ensure that he was dead.

There was nothing more annoying than an entire organisation blinded by rage. This was something that Diablo knew too.

But if Snow was still alive, then they would not give up on her.

It was easy to tell how powerful Snow’s influence in the organisation was by the actions of Peran and the Swordnaz.

It was none other than Snow’s overwhelming charisma that brought them together.

The Alliance was also different from the Circle in the fact that they weren’t separated into different factions within their organisation.

The Anti Circle Alliance was centred around Snow, and from now on, they would do everything in their power to revive her.

This meant that they would stop focusing on other things like keeping the Circle in check or dealing with Diablo’s armies.

Even if they were to make the determination that Snow was unable to be saved, they would not stop trying despite knowing that their struggles would be in vain.

“…shit.”

Peran must have come to a similar conclusion. Sometimes, it was possible for one to regret their own intelligence.

Spitting out a swear that was very unlike him, Peran punched the ground, causing the water on the ground and even the very walls of the cave to shake.

Lukas looked at him for a moment before muttering.

“There’s a way to save her.”

“What?”

“Snow can be saved.”

“…”

Peran remained silent for a while before finally speaking in a low tone.

“…I trust you. However, I hope you’re not trying to give me some kind of false consolation right now. Say it clearly. Do you really know of a way to save Lady Snow?”

“I do.”

Lukas’ voice was firm.

“However, it will not be easy to get their help.”

In order to remove the death energy that was laying dormant in Snow’s body, they would need an authority in black magic.

Someone whose skill and knowledge in black magic was comparable to Diablo’s, or perhap even more than his.

‘Iris.’

It wouldn’t be easy to convince her.

But she wasn’t the only person they’d need.

After expelling the death energy, Snow’s polluted body would still need to be purified to ensure that all of the aftereffects were completely removed.

In other words, it would require an intellectual with knowledge in the fields of basic medicine, anatomy, immunology, and pharmacology. If they were also skilled in purification then it would be even better.

It wouldn’t be good to gather experts from each field because it wasn’t something that could be done separately.

It had to be one person.

One person had to have all of that knowledge.

And Lukas knew one such person.

Unlike Iris, he didn’t know anything about her whereabouts, but…

He turned to Peran and asked.

“Do you know of a golem called Anastasia?”