The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)
chapter-577

Season 2 Chapter 577

Translator: Alpha0210

Assuming that taking off the mask would only bring bad outcomes might not be entirely accurate.

Firstly, it could help avoid the immediate crisis and even gain the favor of some of the Twelve Void Lords, like Yang In-hyun or Sedi Trowman.

However, Residue refused. It wasn’t just a short-term issue.

A time would come when the mask would have to be removed, but he judged that now was not the time.

“…….”

“…….”

However, Residue’s refusal had a chilling effect on the atmosphere around him. Though it was a predicted outcome, he had no intention of retracting his decision and chose to silently observe the situation for now.

“What is your reason?”

Yang In-hyun asked.

It was hard to tell what he was really thinking, but at least his expression and tone were calm.

“It’s because I would prefer if you thought of me as a ‘Beginning Wizard’ in this meeting.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The question came around again, but it wasn’t Residue who answered.

“─The face behind the mask is one that most of us Void Lords are familiar with.”

The owner of the ringing voice was the Executor.

“So that’s what you mean.”

She had eyes as clear as ice, which seemed more fitting for the nickname ‘judge’ rather than ‘executor’.

“If the mask is removed and the bare face revealed, most of the Void Lords’ attitudes would change. Because you don’t want such a change, you won’t take off the mask at least until this meeting ends……”

Most of the Void Lords understood the deeper meaning in Residue’s words from her first statement, but she deliberately added to it and then paused.

Then she nodded slightly on her own and calmly spoke.

“The last part might be an over-assumption. Anyway, these are the reasons presumed why the current Beginning Wizard doesn’t want to remove the mask. What do you think?”

─Half of it was correct.

Firstly, Residue didn’t know how well Lukas’s face was known among the Void Lords. Moreover, he wasn’t sure how the real Lukas would have acted if he had been in this place.

Therefore, he simply nodded in agreement with the Executor’s words.

The Executor lowered her gaze with a nonchalant face as if responding.

Her demeanor indicated that she had said all she intended to. …She is a woman whose thoughts were hard to read.

Residue spoke again.

“The Exile’s opinion is also valid. I might indeed be hiding myself and deceiving you all through this mask.”

Though that was actually the case, Residue continued without a change in tone because his purpose was righteous.

“How about this? I’ve heard that the Beginning Wizard is the strongest among the Twelve Void Lords. If so, he should be able to achieve an overwhelming victory against one or two Void Lords.”

“…….”

“…….”

The atmosphere froze even more compared to before. Even the Executor, who had lowered her gaze, frowned and turned her gaze back.

“If two is too few, then up to three is fine. While an overwhelming victory might be difficult, ultimately, what you seek is proof, isn’t it?”

“Ob-obvious thinking……”

The one who countered Residue’s words was an unexpected figure.

With a greatly subdued voice and a pale complexion,

The proxy of the Golden Eye, [Optic Nerve].

“The wise Golden Eye believes that the new Beginning Wizard is making such unreasonable moves because he cannot prove himself. The more absurd the proposal, the less likely the Void Lords will accept it.”

Golden light leaked from Optic Nerve’s eye covered by an eye patch.

“As everyone knows, the situation is urgent. There’s no Void Lord who would want to waste their strength in such a situation. Moreover, he deliberately suggested a one-against-many fight, knowing well that the Void Lords wouldn’t easily cooperate in this situation….”

Residue wiped the smile off his face under the mask.

Thus, one more clear enemy was added besides the Exile. Well, it wasn’t surprising since the relationship with Golden Eye was already noted as not good on the documents.

However, fortunately, really fortunately, this meeting wasn’t only filled with Residue’s enemies.

“That’s conjecture.”

It was a voice as gloomy as a sky full of dark clouds.

“The Beginning Wizard has no way to prove himself, and time is short. So, he’s trying to assert his authority in the simplest and quickest way possible.”

When the Death Worm intervened, some of the Void Lords couldn’t hide their surprise. They hadn’t expected him to support the Beginning Wizard.

“Is subduing one Void Lord perfectly enough to prove the authority of the coordinator? Can such a performance be genuinely acknowledged? You should know. What kind of existence that person becomes when the condition of ‘one-on-one’ is met.”

Yang In-hyun stepped forward to speak in this rare situation.

“It’s a rare sight indeed. To see you taking the side of the Beginning Wizard.”

“…….”

“You saw, didn’t you? The face inside the mask.”

It was a simple assumption without any inference. The Death Worm remained silent with an unchanged expression. That assumption was also only half correct. The Death Worm hadn’t seen the face inside the mask.

The atmosphere heated up when voices were exchanged, and cooled down when they weren’t.

The Executor thought the overall situation was unfolding interestingly.

Yang In-hyun, who had previously had a not-so-bad relationship with the Beginning Wizard, was now hostile, while the Death Worm, who had had an extremely bad relationship, was now defending him.

As just mentioned, if the reason for the Death Worm’s change in attitude was that he saw the face inside the mask, then why had Yang In-hyun’s attitude changed?

‘─Exile.’

She recalled the Void Lord who had visited him a few days ago.

It was an open secret among them that the Exile, who preferred to act alone, had visited the Void Lords’ lords before the meeting and made some proposals.

What on earth is he thinking?

As thoughts deepened among them, a sharp voice interjected.

“What’s so important about that damn mask that you’re making such a fuss?”

Sedi, with her chin resting on her hand, sent a bored look.

“Is the position of the Beginning Wizard something that can only be proven by brute force?”

“Is there another way to prove it? 0th Demon.”

“…You guys, do you know how childish it is to keep calling each other by aliases?”

Sedi retorted with an annoyed voice, lifting her chin as she spoke.

“Can’t we just see how he leads this meeting? If he can manage ten crazy bastards like you, wouldn’t that naturally prove his qualification? Am I wrong?”

Sedi’s exclusion of herself from the count of ‘crazy bastards’ was typical of her. Residue almost burst into laughter at the moment.

Although her words were a bit rough, what she said was what Residue had always wanted to say. However, he had remained silent so far because the meaning would be diminished if he said it himself.

Sedi, who had scoffed, changed her expression and glanced over. Her eyes, which had been sharp, momentarily flickered with a complicated look.

Seeing that, he understood.

For now, she intended to hold off on forming an opinion and observe Residue further. Sedi was standing on a borderline where she could not be called either an enemy or an ally.

Thus, her recent statement was not so much about helping as it was about preventing the situation from being one-sided. If the circumstances were reversed, she might have instead taken a jab at Residue.

“I agree with the 0th Demon’s opinion.”

“The same here.”

The Death Worm and the Executor spoke in turn.

Out of the eleven, two—no, including Sedi, three were on his side.

It wasn’t even close to a majority, nor half, but it should be considered that three of the remaining nine were proxies.

Residue looked directly at the Exile, merely asking with his gaze.

What will you do?

[…….]

The Exile didn’t respond, but his attitude was an answer in itself.

“─Alright. Now the atmosphere is finally set to proceed with the meeting.”

Even saying this one sentence was not easy.

The Twelve Void Lords were clearly more troublesome than Residue had anticipated. To think that the fate of the entire universe rested on such individuals was truly lamentable.

…But compared to the Four Knights or the Rulers whom he would eventually meet, their attitudes still seemed rather cute by comparison.

If there was only one aspect in which the Void Lords were more difficult than them.

it would be the presence or absence of cooperation.

This wasn’t a sudden thought.

Residue looked around at the Void Lords and quietly affirmed his hypothesis.

─There were already several factions formed among the Twelve Void Lords.

*

Residue knew well about the habits of the strong.

Of course, the standard he defined for the strong was quite high.

Even an absolute being of the universe, capable of erasing billions of lives and hundreds of planets alone, wouldn’t qualify as strong by Residue’s standards.

So, what about the Twelve Void Lords?

Naturally, they were strong. Even if he applied the perspective from his days as the Ruler, that conclusion would remain unshaken.

And there was one common trait among the strong as acknowledged by Residue.

─They do not compromise. They never break the strict rules they have set for themselves.

There were many ways to describe it, but Lukas called it this.

Conviction.

‘One can bow their head temporarily.’

To achieve a greater purpose, the so-called great cause, one might choose to yield temporarily.

But cooperation? Under what circumstances does cooperation come about in the first place?

With an opponent of similar strength, or at least a situation where both sides cannot avoid mutual risk in a fight.

To put it clearly, an enemy.

Isn’t it contradictory? That one can only establish true cooperation with an opponent who poses a threat to oneself.

─But that is the logic.

For instance, no one calls the cooperation between termites and the Ruler a cooperation. When one side’s power is overwhelmingly superior, it becomes submission no matter how it’s dressed up.

So, when beings of similar strength have different opinions and cannot avoid conflict, do they find a compromise? Or can they form a temporary alliance in the form of cooperation to achieve their goals?

If the situation turns out to be extremely coincidental, that might happen.

However, ultimately, the diverging convictions will always clash violently, causing catastrophic outcomes.

That is why─ conflict exists.

The act of breaking the opponent’s rules, the only way to deny their long-standing convictions most definitively. Compared to that, how repulsive, hypocritical, and unsightly is a conversation?

Residue doesn’t know much about the Twelve Void Lords.

However, he knew that they lived unique lives that never overlapped with anyone else’s.

This has shaped their values…

‘Two, no. Maybe even three could be possible.’

He was talking about cooperation.

When strong individuals of this caliber cooperate, up to three value systems might temporarily coexist. It might even be more effective than with just two.

The number three is like that by nature. Like three branches that can only stand by leaning on each other, they serve as each other’s restraints, maintaining a precarious existence.

But from four onwards, that’s impossible.

From then on, chaos accelerates in earnest, and no matter how excellent a coordinator there is, the collapse will definitely begin from within.

‘Two to three, which means there can be a maximum of six factions here.’

And those who do not hide their cooperation.

Yang In-hyun, Exile, and Golden Eye.

The ones showing clear hostility are God’s Envoy.

The Executor claims neutrality, and Sedi’s position is similar.

The one whose intentions are the hardest to guess is the Tamer?

‘No.’

…There’s something being overlooked.

The observers who seldom speak up.

For instance, what intention does a Void Lord like Futurix have? Are they merely maintaining neutrality and sparing their words because they hope that this side will acknowledge it?

“…….”

To know for sure, he must dig deeper.

As roughly as possible.

“─The Three Thousand Worlds and the Void World have merged.”

The moment Residue waved his hand, a faint light projected from the floor, displaying a single image.

It wasn’t anything extraordinary.

There were demigods who could see the past, present, and future. Borrowing the power of them, he projected the image using clairvoyance.

The scene that unfolded as a result,

War.

The Void Lords displayed a range of reactions. Among them, the ones who appeared uncomfortable were Sedi, Yang In-hyun, the Executor, and Diablo.

The commonality among them, excluding the Executor, was that they were from the Three Thousand Worlds.

…Could it be that the Executor was too?

“Does anyone have a clear understanding of why the fusion occurred?”

Setting aside his suspicion, he asked, but no one stepped forward.

It was unclear whether they genuinely didn’t know or if they just wanted to observe more of his behavior. Not needing an immediate answer, he continued speaking.

“It’s a struggle.”

“A struggle?”

“It’s like the final act of defiance that appears just before death. That’s what’s happening on a universal scale now.”

“…Is that a metaphor?”

“Maybe.”

Residue chuckled lowly and got to the point.

“I’ll be clear. Within a minimum of a few dozen days to a maximum of a few hundred days, everything that exists will be destroyed and disappear.”

When he said this, more than half did not react with surprise or confusion. They didn’t dismiss Residue’s words as fiction either.

—Those who weren’t surprised were already aware of the impending destruction.

[─Annihilation.]

Diablo’s ears twitched. He had shown the most intense reaction since the meeting began.

An interesting fellow, no doubt.

Though he was attending the meeting as a representative, this mortal was among those who grasped the essence of the situation most accurately.

However.

“It’s slightly different, representative of the Corpse Ghost. Destruction will not occur suddenly and without warning as you expect.”

[…Do you know about me?]

It was a question that didn’t require an answer.

“The destruction will reveal itself in a distinct form.”

At the mention of a distinct form, several Void Lords visibly reacted.

Residue chuckled as he spoke.

“I’ve mentioned it before, Exile. Destruction takes five forms.”

Residue nonchalantly cast the bait. The Exile, with his grotesque appearance, reacted slightly to these words.

He must be recalling his conversation with Lukas.

“No, you know nothing.”

[Are you saying… what I saw… was wrong…?]

“I didn’t say that. It’s not that you saw it wrong, but the situation has changed.”

[…….]

“There’s no end if we start talking about uncertainties. Let’s focus on what’s certain. We are running out of time, the enemies will soon be upon us. And I assure you that my proposal will be the most effective means to counter them.”

Sedi’s eyes flickered.

The tone that left no room for considering the possibility of being wrong… it was familiar.

“What is it? This means you speak of.”

“…….”

He paused before responding.

The conclusion he was about to speak of was not solely derived from Residue’s own self.

It was a conclusion formed from the collective knowledge of Lukas and the Beginning Wizard. Encased in many layers, had led to one conclusion.

“─A tripartite battle.”