The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)
chapter-503

[The vast sky has an end, and the deep ground has a bottom. If there is a beginning, there is an end, perhaps because everyone knows this truth, they failed to realise. Or they avoided it. The fact that the universe has a lifespan… that complete extinction would soon come.]

“Is this universe disappearing?”

[Do you still not understand?]

Diablo’s voice was filled with the heat of the fires of retribution.

[It’s not just one or two universes that would be ruined at most. The things within your cognitive range, and the things outside of it…! They could disappear in an instant, and you wouldn’t even realise! Can you imagine that?]

Diablo clenched his pale fingers.

[There is no being that can foresee the signs of destruction. I mean there isn’t much time left. Even as we talk like this, suddenly, ‘everything could end’. We wouldn’t even realise our deaths. In an instant, a real instant, all of the traces left by beings across an immeasurable number of things could disappear…]

Diablo’s body was shaking.

[I’m… I’m afraid of that.]

“…”

Lukas could sense the extreme fear coming from the undead, who had an expressionless body of bones.

[It’s not everything that will disappear.]

Suddenly, the Lightning God murmured.

It was still a serious voice unlike usual, but…

[I will ‘remain’ as I am. My sole defiance is to succeed…]

Nevertheless, there was a hint of madness in his voice.

Lukas paid as much attention to the Lightning God as he did Diablo, but he couldn’t talk to him right away.

“Then what is the point of the death you spread?”

Unbeknownst to him, Lukas’ voice calmed down.

“As you said, killing someone doesn’t count as ‘removing’ them. The same is true for killing an Absolute. Since the creation of the world, there has never been a being that truly ‘ceased to exist’…Then, won’t you not be able to buy time no matter who or how many times you kill?”

[I’m not killing to buy time. What I’m doing is advance preparation.]

“Advance preparation.”

[…there is only one being who can ‘definitely’ withstand the force of the coming destruction.]

Diablo murmured.

[The Lord of a place known as the post extinction world, the one who observes all of the possibilities being abandoned, the brother of God whom everyone considers to be unique, or his other side.]

“…surely.”

Lukas recalled the old castle that stood all by itself in the desolate desert.

[After the destruction sweeps everything away, only the Void King will remain.]

“…!”

[And in the world with nothing, I shall revive all those I killed. That is why I must become the Void King. That is why I once again stretched my hand out towards the necromantic techniques I had abandoned in the past.]

“…even if you revive them, it wouldn’t be a resurrection in the full sense, right? Wouldn’t they be completely different beings, constructed simply from your memory?”

[What is wrong with that? My mission is different from the heroic determination to save everyone. I just… just want the things we left behind. I can’t accept that everything we’ve built would just disappear without a trace.]

“…”

[That is why I don’t forget those I’ve killed. I remember everything. I always use more than 90% of my concentration just for that.]

“…what, wait a minute.”

For a moment, Lukas was unable to hide his surprise.

How many beings had Diablo killed so far? He wasn’t sure. However, it must be an astronomical number.

“You remember all of them?”

[Not just their name and appearance. Their personalities, and even their trivial habits. What I remember is their ego and soul. I can’t memorise it half-heartedly. Because even the disappearance of a minute characteristic would make them a completely different being. Of course, as you said, every single cell cannot be the same.]

He wasn’t talking nonsense. Diablo’s voice was more serious than ever before.

That’s why Lukas couldn’t help but wonder even more.

He’d realised while eating many ‘Lukases’ in the Dump Site. That the capacity of a human was by no means small. The determination to put them all in his head… was not something that could be taken lightly.

Of course, the possibility of the being ‘Lukas Trowman’ was so enormous that it was impossible to compare it with ordinary people, but the number of people Diablo killed was large enough to overshadow that difference.

‘…90% of his concentration.’

If that was true then it meant that the power Diablo could normally use in battle was only a tenth of his full power.

Until now, while regressing repeatedly, he had driven Diablo to the brink of death several times. And even then, Diablo had not revealed his true power.

In other words, this meant that he’d always put his mission before his life.

…It was only then that he understood what Iris said. And why the people he knew could sympathise with Diablo.

However…

“Can you guarantee that they can be revived?”

[…]

“How do you know what the world will look like after the destruction? What if all the laws we know disappeared? What if it is impossible to save everyone, and even if it is possible, what if they become a completely different being? What if the only thing alive and well in the world is your ‘consciousness’, and your thoughts are the only freedom that can be guaranteed?”

Unable to do anything,

In a space where there is nothing,

Where all you can do is think on your own.

Just like…

[You mean like when you were trapped in the Abyss…]

“…”

Diablo chuckled.

[I might regret my choice when that time comes. However, that is not something to worry about now. More than anything, the possibility wouldn’t disappear just from being able to continue to ‘think’.]

“…”

[Now. I have revealed everything about my clumsy goal. So I would like to hear your opinion.]

“…my opinion?”

[When you regained the consciousness of a human, I was genuinely delighted. Since I’d be able to hear the opinion of the ‘human Lukas’ rather than of an ‘Absolute.’]

Diablo’s voice glimmered with anticipation.

[I myself know that the plan I came up with is a bit far-fetched. That’s why I want to know even more. What the thoughts of the Great Mage who saved our universe in the past are.]

“…”

[If you have a better way, you can just kill me. I will gladly accept. I’ll say it again, ‘You are worthy of being my death’.]

Lukas almost sweated under the weight of those words.

[I know how many humans you’ve saved. I know that you have overcome countless trials that were deemed impossible and that your indomitable will is stronger than anyone else. If anyone other than you tried to kill me, I would struggle to the best of my ability. Because I understand the gravity of my role. However, you are the exception. To kill me is to declare that you will take on the burdens I carry. It would free me from the responsibility weighing on my soul. -How could I not be happy? How could I not laugh?]

“…”

Lukas Trowman,

Had carried many expectations in his life.

However, he had never felt burdened by them. He never felt that he couldn’t hold on.

But now, the expectations placed upon him by a single undead were too heavy.

They were so heavy that they made him want to bend his knees just from listening to them.

…The responsibility weighing on my soul. Diablo’s words were embedded in his mind.

[Now. Lukas Trowman…!]

Diablo spread his arms.

He showed no intention of attacking.

It was a similar act to sticking your neck out to your opponent’s blade.

As if pushed, Lukas stretched his hand out. And aimed at Diablo’s neck once again.

…When they first met.

Lukas had been willing to kill Diablo. The reason he hadn’t killed him was because his calm attitude worried him.

Now he understood why.

He understood what it meant to kill him here.

“…”

His outstretched fingers,

Fell powerlessly.

[…I see.]

Diablo let out a cold voice.

[Right. That’s right.]

“…”

[I’m not disappointed. I thought about this more deeply than anyone else, and I sought advice from transcendent figures, but they also couldn’t give me a clear answer. That’s why I’m not disappointed. However… right.]

After searching for the word for a while, Diablo nodded faintly.

[It’s a bit, of a shame.]

“…I.”

[You don’t have to force yourself to say it. It’s not a matter of refusing to give up.]

“…”

[I will go to the ‘Blue Knight’ on this road. Because it is necessary to become the Void King. If I, the Black Knight, and those who sympathise with me join forces, it will be possible to subdue her.]

“…you intend to subdue her to gain her loyalty.”

[It would be more certain to obtain it voluntarily, but the beings known as the Four Knights are quite picky. It is fundamentally impossible for all four of them to be loyal to the same being. Lucid is the only knight who will agree with me in the truest sense. So I have no choice but to make the rest submit to me.”

“…”

[I’d like you to help me. Then, I would be able to subdue the Blue Knight more easily.]

Turning around, Diablo murmured.

[I will wait.]

* * *

There is nothing more horrendous than terrible hunger. Pale was convinced of this fact based on experience.

She swung a slash at the sky.

It was a simple swing without any technique, but the slash from the pale blade pierced the barrier system that was a condensation of the Great Galactic Alliance’s scientific power and shattered the surface of the artificial island that was made out of a superalloy.

“…for pain.”

Pale’s lips suddenly moved.

“There are things that can be tolerated and things that can’t. Hunger is obviously the latter, a terrible thing you can never get used to over time.”

A gauntlet covered hand groped her stomach.

“…’can it be more painful than this?’, ‘isn’t this the end of the pain?’, small expectations, and the slightest bit of hope like that always disappears the next moment.”

Pale grinned.

“I. Have never described the pain I suffered in detail. Because I’m not confident that I could make anyone understand even a little through imperfect means like words or language.”

[…]

“We all are born with flaws. And we all look for something that can fill that flaw. Some sought ‘to have no ambition’, and some sought ‘to live in peace forever’.”

She turned around.

Looking at the being in front of her, the smile on Pale’s face widened.

“Isn’t it funny? Those who were more crazy about conquest and war than anyone else in the past are now looking for a king with an ideology that is completely different from theirs at that time, which would be absurd to say when they were alive.”

[…]

“How about you? Did you look for a king who can defy death?”

Lucid didn’t answer.

It was not just because his reason for going there was not to have a conversation. He didn’t know what to say in return.

Pale’s slender body staggered slightly. Accordingly, the blue sword danced like an afterimage.

“Desire for domination, desire for battle, desire for survival. Hahaha. Don’t make me laugh.”

The low pitched voice encroached gloomily on the surroundings.

“It was always me that was the coldest, with the most difficulty, in the most pain. Don’t act like we’re the same. You bastards don’t even know what it means to starve.”

[…what is it that you desire?]

Lucid asked.

And Pale laughed again.

“Hunger. It always has been. Nevertheless, I never wanted this hunger to go away. If you jump into a lake because you want to go to the moon, it won’t change anything. It is more efficient to not do meaningless things.”

[…I understand now.]

Lucid murmured.

“What?”

[Why you, who became a Knight before me, know nothing. Your existence is too dangerous.]

Srng

After he finished speaking, Lucid drew his sword.

[You need to be subdued as soon as possible.]

“Subdue? Me? Hahaha.”

Pale swung her sword.

Lucid responded by swinging his sword head on. Clang! The first attack was parried. However, Pale’s attack wasn’t over.

The attacks came one after the other. Accordingly, Lucid’s swings became increasingly more urgent.

“Do you think you’re on the same level with me just because you became the Black Knight? You probably don’t know-”

Chrng.

[-how stupid that is.]

The tone of speech changed. It would have been a good thing if that was all.

Lucid paid more attention to the fact that the power of the slashes had become ten times stronger. When he hit the next blow, he realised that his body had been pushed backward, and that his wrist had completely shattered.

[…hmmm.]

For the first time, he was grateful for the fact that his body wasn’t made of flesh. Lucid’s wrist regenerated faster than it was broken.

Of course, none of that impressed Pale.

She continued to swing her sword at the same speed.

[You are really stable. But you have no peace of mind. All I can feel are your emotions being extremely restrained. In the end, even moving must be a mission. You will never be able to close the gap with me with such boring emotions.]

Pale muttered.

[Do you not know that?]

[I know.]

Lucid muttered in a tired voice.

[That’s why I didn’t intend to fight alone in the first place.]

Kiiing!

The sky above the two split and a group of people appeared.

Lucid looked at the woman standing in front of them.

“They say that people change when they die.”

Iris Peacefinder smiled.

“You have become a chatterbox, Lucid.”

[…]

Pale’s gaze sank.

Although she was a woman she’d only seen once, she had left an impression she couldn’t easily forget.

The most annoying person she’d ever met.

“Yo, Lucid, your skin has gotten more crumbly since the last time I saw you.”

A beautiful woman with silver hair and turquoise eyes appeared.

Pale could feel that the girl who spoke like a man was actually a puppet with an extremely accurate body.

[Schweiser.]

“It’s Anastasia now.”

[…hmm. Should I congratulate you on discovering a new hobby?]

“Ah, man. Don’t do that.”

Anastasia snapped in a slightly annoyed voice before saying.

“This is an unexpected reunion. That guy Kasajin…”

“He’s nearby. Although I’m not sure if you can call ‘that thing’ Kasajin.”

“You should get over the change of appearance. Look at me and Lucid.”

[I haven’t changed that much.]

Lowering her sword, Pale watched on.

She stared blankly.

The Black Knight of Death.

One of the Four Knights like her, surrounded by countless people.

[…kiki.]

A laugh leaked out.

Right. That was the case.

She didn’t understand the whole situation, but she could tell one thing.

Lucid had dozens on his side.

While she was standing alone.

Even if they were both Knights, they were different.

That’s why Pale raised her sword and smiled brightly.

[Ahh. As expected-]

—This really was a fucked up world. (TL: x100000)

(TL: My pc broke…)

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