The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)
chapter-414

Translator: Seven

Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei

The smell of blood was terrible.

The smell was so terrible that it was hard to believe it came from a body that had been turned to blood. Of course, Diablo didn’t have a sense of smell, but he had the ability to collect information about his surroundings in other ways.

For a while, Diablo stared nervously at the blood before he became dumbfounded by his actions.

Did he think he would be able to come back to life after becoming like that? Seriously?

Even if this world went beyond common sense and perception, there was no way a being could still be living after its entire body had become blood. Revival wasn’t even worth mentioning.

‘He’s dead.’

Lukas’ biological activity had completely ceased.

This man, who Diablo had been confronting only a moment before, had come nothing but a pool of blood.

[…what did you do?]

Diablo looked at the Corpse Ghost and asked, but instead of answering, the Corpse Ghost spoke to Pale.

“I just killed the man you brought, are you okay with that?”

“…ah, well.”

Pale had an indecipherable smile on her face.

“More than that, how about we continue where we left off?”

“…”

For a moment, Pale’s attitude made the Corpse Ghost uncomfortable, but he decided not to point it out.

“We were just talking about the Great Game. It seems that Diablo knows more than I do. It’s something even I don’t know a lot about.”

With a gesture of his chin, the skeletons standing behind him creaked and began to clean up the blood that had once been Lukas.

Diablo looked at this scene for a moment, but when he realised that the eyes of the other two sitting at the table were focused on him, he opened his mouth.

[It’s not just speculation about the game. In fact, in the World of Void already…]

Diablo suddenly stopped talking.

“What is it?”

[…how?]

Diablo didn’t have eyes.

Therefore, it was difficult to accurately discern where he was looking or what he was focused on.

Luckily, however, the scenery in the room was extremely limited.

He wouldn’t have been so surprised while looking at the Corpse Ghost or Pale. There was no chance of it being the skeletons wiping up the blood, and apart from that, there was only a table and chairs, which also wouldn’t have been enough to shock Diablo.

—The screen.

That left the screen showing the test site that the Corpse Ghost had prepared, which was constantly transmitting images.

Diablo had been surprised while looking at it.

Seeing this, the Corpse Ghost also turned his head to look,

—And saw something that shouldn’t have been there.

* * *

The appearance of the battle couldn’t be called tense. Nevertheless, there hadn’t been any fatal casualties yet. This wasn’t simply because there were four combatants on one side and one on the other.

Daihad suppressed the Black Knight’s movements as much as he could from a distance and sometimes even kept him in check.

In all honesty, it wasn’t an amazing role. It was the role with the least risk, nevertheless, he couldn’t play any role other than this. To put it bluntly, Daihad was the most useless among the four.

He used all of his concentration in the battle, but on the other hand, his thoughts were different.

‘The Black Knight isn’t trying his hardest.

This was the only reason there were no casualties despite this monster’s seemingly unending strength.

Daihad looked at Sama Ryeong.

Haspin and Jacob’s assistance were a major help, but the biggest reason they were able to maintain the front line was because of Sama Ryeong’s presence.

Daihad realised that she was a genius with tremendous talent.

‘She’s growing even while they exchange swords.’

That growth was at an enormous rate.

She probably was even aware of it herself. In reality, the perception of time that Daihad and she had were probably now completely different.

‘It’s long.’

It certainly was.

Every time she locked swords with the Black Knight, Sama Ryeong felt terrible as if countless years of oppression were repeating over and over again.

Clang!

Blood flowed from her mouth and nose.

‘It’s heavy.’

Once again, she blocked the incoming attack. She no longer had the strength to counterattack, so she just accepted it.

Her entire body was in pain. Nevertheless, she didn’t even have the time to cry out. The mental pressure she was currently experiencing was much greater than the physical pain.

Sama Ryeong looked at the Black Knight’s helmet and the aura swirling around it.

‘…he’s terrifying.’

She gently acknowledged this fact, but she could do nothing more than avert her gaze. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to predict the Black Knight’s next move.

She couldn’t help but think that wouldn’t be so bad either.

This was a hellish fight. The mental pain she was feeling was equivalent to what she’d felt coming down to the end of her stay at the dump site, and the physical pain was dozens of times more. Sama Ryeong’s mind was already in tatters like a bloody rag.

At some point,

Sama Ryeong had begun to feel both the fear and sweet temptation of death from the Black Knight’s sword. This was another absurd contradiction.

She just had to push her neck to the edge of the blade and that would be it. Perhaps she’d die without any pain.

But as she was about to succumb to the temptation, another question popped into her mind.

If she died there, who would be responsible for all the ‘Sama Ryeongs’?

‘Do I want to be like the trash lying in the dump site?’

Crunch.

She clenched her teeth. There was a sharp pain from her molars, but she paid it no mind.

Such an ending was unacceptable.

Boom!

Sama Ryeong took a big step forward.

The ground cracked, and stone fragments were sent flying. The Black Knight’s sword paused for a moment. Sama Ryeong had been gradually retreating this entire time. Although weak, this was the first time she’d moved forward.

Jacob and Haspin, who had been waiting for an opening, looked towards each other at the same time.

They realised that Sama Ryeong was trying to turn the mood around.

At that moment, her eyes were bloodshot. In reality, this was caused by the ruptured and bleeding blood vessels, but her face was so covered in blood that she looked like a ghost who had climbed out of the Pit.

The Black Knight released his intangible spirit ki. This was the price for letting down their guard.

The blood vessels in her body screamed and begged for death.

But she ignored them.

Sama Ryeong would not regret this choice.

‘There is no point in wasting more time.’

In the fight just now, Sama Ryeong had been constantly pushing herself past her limits. And she’d commended herself for it.

But not anymore. She knew that she would only be able to receive the Black Knight’s sword at most one or two more times.

The death of Sama Ryeong would mean the collapse of the front line and the eventual death of all the test participants.

‘In every fight, there are times when you have to go all in.’

Sama Ryeong decided that now was that time.

[…]

Perhaps it was because he’d felt her desperate spirit.

The Black Knight paused for a moment before changing his stance.

Gugug.

At the same time, his sword began to vibrate and a strange sound seemed to resonate from it. It was an unpleasant sound as if someone was grinding their teeth in anticipation.

Fwoosh!

Black energy covered the Black Knight’s entire body.

Then it began to gather on his sword.

‘This fucker…’

He intended to face the attack filled with all of Sama Ryeong’s might with his own extreme attack.

She couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Surprisingly, this monster was fair.

Although the energy around his sword was dark and insidious, his attitude was excellent.

She could feel uprightness and integrity similar to that of the Masters of the Righteous Faction.

Whoosh-

A weak air current swirled around Sama Ryeong. Those who looked from a distance would be able to see plum blossoms fluttering around her body.

The characteristics of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique wasn’t simply its adaptability.

Mirage Sword(幻劍), Quick Sword(速劍), Chaos Sword(亂劍), Rapid Sword(快劍).

Among them, there was a sword that Sama Ryeong pursued.

–You have a talent for the Killing sword(殺劍).

“…”

Yang In-hyun’s voice sounded in her head.

That was probably the first lesson he’d given her.

Sama Ryeong had denied it at that time, but after spending some time in the dump site, she had no choice but to admit it. Yang In-hyun’s eyes were at a height that she couldn’t even look up to, and his advice was true.

‘I’ll admit to being taught by you.’

At that moment, her gaze was filled with killing energy.

‘…however, that will be your last lesson to me.’

Thinking of the man who wasn’t there painted her heart with killing intent. Then, her entire body erupted with killing energy. The fluttering plum blossoms disappeared like flames.

Piht.

Sama Ryeong’s figure disappeared.

The Black Knight was surprised. The movement speed Sama Ryeong was currently displaying was three times more than her fastest speed so far.

It seemed that she’d decided to sacrifice her bones and muscles.

‘Good.’

He felt like his still heart had begun to beat once again.

‘I’ll accept it, from the front.’

The Black Knight, Lucid, smiled beneath his visor.

-But he was unable to wield his sword properly.

Suddenly, he felt something pulling on him from behind.

[…!]

No one was actually touching him. There was no way he wouldn’t have noticed someone getting so close. Reeling slightly, Lucid looked up at that sky.

There, he saw Jacob giving him a bright, bloody smile.

Paak!

Then, he felt intense pain in his wrist. This attack was a close contact hit, but because his body was thrown off balance, he was unable to respond.

Haspin.

The Devil, who hadn’t participated in the battle yet, had approached at surprising speed and kicked Lucid’s wrist with his hoof. As proof of how strong the impact was, Lucid had no choice but to let go of his beloved Deukid for a moment.

“In truth, I’d also like a one on one.”

Then he heard Sama Ryeong’s voice.

“But you’re really strong, so it should be fine for me to get some help, right?”

From the moment she’d encountered this monster, Sama Ryeong had thought.

If she could get in one shot, where would she attack this monster?

There were several places in the body that could be considered vital points, but most of them were covered in thick black armour. Of course, while there was no Self Defence Rigid Ki around his body now, the durability of his armour itself couldn’t be ignored.

Nevertheless, the area where the armour provided less protection was without a doubt the joints.

So Sama Ryeong aimed for Lucid’s neck.

Clang!

Her wrists tingled heavily. As expected, the defence of his armour was also significant. However, it was not as much as when he was covered in black energy.

As proof of this, the black armour that protected his neck cracked.

Crunch.

She unleashed all the power in her body.

After pouring everything out, she wouldn’t even have the strength to blink.

That was why…

‘Please blow this motherfucker’s head off.’

For the first time, Sama Ryeong earnestly wished for something.

Shuk-

Her earnestness was fulfilled.

Lucid’s head was cut off. His head flew high up into the air with his helmet still attached before quickly falling to the ground. After a while, it clattered to the ground with a dry sound.

Plop.

Sama Ryeong collapsed on the spot. Then, with her face pressed to the ground, she panted like she was out of breath. Her entire body was covered with sweat and blood.

“…amazing.”

Haspin muttered while looking at Sama Ryeong. His voice was filled with genuine admiration.

This woman’s potential was frightening. The growth she’d already shown was terrifying, but she would probably only grow her real wings after leaving the dump site.

She would continue to become strong as she fought against the strong.

“We did it.”

Daihad collapsed to the ground with a tired smile. (TL: Red flags, red flags everywhere.)

But Jacob remained in the sky and looked down without descending.

Just as Haspin began to wonder about his attitude.

[How admirable.]

A voice that should not have been heard rang out once again.

“…!”

Sama Ryeong’s eyes went wide and black smoke rose up from Lucid’s neck at almost the same time. The smoke wriggled as if it were alive and floated towards a certain direction with an ominous movement reminiscent of a snake.

It was going towards the severed head.

“It’s going to reconnect! We can’t let them touch!”

Daihad’s judgement in this situation was the fastest.

With a scream, he brought his hands together and released a barrage of bullets made of condensed energy without mercy.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

This was probably Daihad’s last resort. Nevertheless, there were two reasons why he had not used it before.

The first was that Lucid and Sama Ryeong had been engaged in an ultra close ranged fight and they both would have been implicated.

And the second…

Crack!

…He didn’t think it would be able to do much damage to Lucid.

Daihad’s prediction was correct. The energy bombardment he unleashed did nothing to stop Lucid’s movements. He easily reconnected his head and neck, and calmly fixed it back into place with a twist.

[Hmm.]

Then he looked around.

He could feel a sense of despair that couldn’t be hidden. Especially so since he was convinced of his victory.

This situation had almost reached its end. He no longer felt any of his previous sympathy for them. At the very least, there still seemed to be some fire in the eyes of Jacob, who was in the sky, but that was fairly weak as it went.

…It wasn’t enough.

They were afraid, but it wasn’t enough.

Lucid, the Black Knight, did not want to spread just this much fear.

He clapped his empty hands.

First things first, he had to collect his beloved, Deukid, which had been sent flying by Haspin’s impressive blow.

“…”

“…”

Sama Ryeong looked at him with a stunned expression. She’d already poured out all of her strength. She didn’t even have the strength to blink, let alone lift a finger. Naturally, it was also impossible for her to stop Lucid from retrieving his sword.

‘Am I going to die here?’

Despair, which she thought she’d pushed away, swept over her body.

Her body gradually began to feel cold from her fingertips. Her eyes were still filled with killing intent, together with resentment and fear.

Deukid was stuck in the ground not far away.

Ten steps at most.

But among those who’d fought Lucid, there was none who could stop him from taking it.

—Among those who’d fought Lucid that was.

Lucid’s steps abruptly came to a stop.

“…”

Sama Ryeong felt like she was seeing killing intent from the Black Knight, who had been emotionless till now, for the first time.

Struggling to catch a glimpse with her blurred vision, she looked in the direction that Lucid was staring. Someone was standing there.

“…”

Haspin narrowed his eyes, Daihad was surprised, and the expression on Jacob, who was still in the sky, became twisted.

It was a man who hadn’t shown himself at all since the beginning of the test.

Sama Ryeong recalled his name.

‘…Lukas?’

Lukas pulled the sword that was stuck in the ground in front of him.

“The blade is still undamaged. It seems you took good care of it. Huh? Lucid?”

[…]

Lucid’s aura flashed strangely.

(TL: I’d like to appeal for Mantis. He didn’t get a chance to be afraid.)