The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 102 – Lord
Translator: Seven
Editors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko
The Circle members, including Sheryl, continued following the Sword Demigod.
They almost lost track of them a few times, but somehow, they were able to catch up.
Though catch up might not have been completely accurate.
To be precise, they’d only managed to catch up because they had stopped on a mountain near Lufei and didn’t move from there.
Still, they didn’t dare get too close even though they had stopped on a mountain.
Because there was still a chance that it was a trap to catch them.
Due to this, they camped out a distance away from the mountain and monitored it from afar.
The pursuers were deeply puzzled by their subsequent actions.
For some reason, they were attacking camps located on the mountain.
“What are they doing?”
“I think this is one of their old outposts.”
Only Jerome Berner’s expression was strange.
“This place… is where they conduct the slave trade.”
He knew the affairs of the country better than the others because he himself was a citizen of Luanoble.
Although there were no bodies left in the places destroyed by the Demigod, they were able to ascertain what was being done in those places because of the cages and other tools.
He also knew that the country had been going down a very unsightly path recently.
However, the exact location of this place had never been revealed.
‘I would never have thought that they were doing this right next to Lufei.’
Jerome’s face was stained with shame.
Fortunately, his companions didn’t have the time to care about the corruption in the Luanoble Kingdom.
This was because the Demigod’s actions were too strange.
‘What the hell are they planning?’
And just as they were getting a headache trying to figure out what was happening.
“That… how…”
Shepard’s jaw dropped.
The same thing happened to the others.
The sky, which had been normal just a moment ago, was now split open.
This sight made it hard for even Shepard, who was a 7 star Wizard, to maintain his composure.
Sheryl was the only one who managed to keep her cool.
She simply bit her lip with her sharp fangs, showing that the experience that came with age wasn’t for naught.
“We’re in trouble.”
“Why do you say that, Rounder Sheryl?”
“Being able to see this phenomenon means that we are already within the boundaries of that Demigod’s domain.”
“…that means…”
“Right.”
Sheryl’s expression was severe.
“We cannot leave until the Demigods’ meeting is over.”
* * *
Frey suddenly felt a wave of heat.
But it was strange because it didn’t actually make him feel hot.
The heat came from the sky.
A huge being completely made of fire in the shape of a man appeared among the clouds.
His figure was burning fiercely as though he would burn the whole world.
“I told you about him before, didn’t I? He is one of the beings you call Apocalypse.”
“…”
“From now on, be careful with your words and actions. In fact, it would be better if you didn’t say anything at all.”
Frey nodded.
As Riki said, it was better to keep his mouth shut than speak and reveal a clue.
Riki shot him a glance before looking toward the sky.
Agni, who was even larger than the mountain, slowly began shrinking until he was the size of a normal human.
If he was like a transcendent being made of fire before, now, he was like a normal human man with flaming red hair.
Frey had subjugated and exterminated many Demigods in his time, but it was the first time he’d seen such a sight.
‘He can change his size this much?’
He thought about it for a moment but soon realised that it wasn’t that strange.
Because Dragons also had the ability to change their shape and size.
‘Maybe Riki can as well?’
Was Riki the same?
Frey was curious, but he couldn’t ask in this situation.
This was because Agni had already approached them.
To his right was a figure wearing a robe and mask just like Frey.
“It seems you were the first this time.”
“Right.”
“Hmm… but it’s a bit unexpected. I wouldn’t have expected you to already clean this place up.”
Cleaning.
It seemed that he was talking about Dalaman and his men who had been staying on the mountain.
Riki answered bluntly.
“I did it because I was already nearby.”
“I see. Anyway, good job.”
Then Agni turned his eyes to Frey.
“Is this your Apostle?”
“Right.”
“Hmm. Indeed.”
Agni nodded before walking to the side.
“He should be able to withstand seeing Lord face to face. You got a pretty good one.”
“I see you finally made an Apostle.”
“Right. I struggled a bit to get this one.”
At that moment, the figure who was standing behind Agni turned to glance at Frey.
The moment their eyes met in the air.
“…!”
“…!”
They both felt the other person’s shock.
They then looked away at the same time and pretended to be calm.
‘Why are they here…?’
He couldn’t even begin to imagine the reason.
But he was certain that he knew the person behind that mask.
Frey hurriedly fixed his expression.
Fortunately, Agni didn’t seem to notice Frey’s shock.
He just walked past him and into the castle.
Frey wanted to tell Riki about it, but now wasn’t the time.
Suddenly, a huge gale blew, and Frey’s expression stiffened.
He felt three overwhelming presences at the same time, and at that moment, he found it hard to even breathe.
The space seemed to twist, and before long, three figures stepped out.
A young woman with blonde hair, a Skeleton and a wrinkled old man with a hunched back.
Leyrin, Nozdog and Ananta.
Frey realised that he had some history with all three of them.
Leyrin was the puppeteer who was pulling the strings of the Blake Family from behind the curtains. She was the reason ‘Frey’ could use both divine power and mana in the same body.
Nozdog tried to bait the traitor by using Oydin, and he appeared as an illusion in front of Frey before Oydin died.
He had felt the pressure of his aura at the time, but it was nothing compared to meeting him in person.
And Ananta was one of the Demigods he’d fought against when he was Lukas.
At that time, Lukas, Schweiser, Iris, Kasajin and Lucid could not defeat this ‘monstrous old man.’
On the contrary, Kasajin had been inflicted with his poison and was bedridden for a month in a near-death state.
Of course, they had succeeded in doing some damage to Ananta, but defeat was defeat.
It was even more shocking since at that time, Lukas and his party had only just started building up their confidence to fight the Demigods.
Compared to back then, Ananta didn’t look much different except for the fact that his clothes were different.
“I don’t think we’re too late.”
“Kukuku. I can’t believe Agni beat us. How surprising.”
Ananta smiled and spoke in his phlegmatic voice as he looked at the castle.
He could feel Agni’s power within it.
Riki looked at them with folded arms.
“The three of you came together?”
“Yeah.”
“What for?”
“I heard some interesting information from Lord, so I came to see if it was true.”
“…interesting information?”
“I’ll tell you when the meeting starts. I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Leyrin smiled as she said this, but Riki couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Nozdog, who hadn’t said a word since they arrived, looked down from the mountain as he said.
[There are intruders.]
“What?”
[Just that. There are intruders trying to enter the barrier. No. They’re already in… that’s strange.]
Nozdog’s blazing eyes turned to Riki.
[I don’t believe that you, who are the most sensitive among us, did not sense them. What’s going on, Riki?”
“…there have been a lot of things I’ve had to worry about, so my senses have been dulled lately.”
[…]
After a moment of silence, Nozdog nodded.
[If it’s coming from you, then it must be true.]
“…”
[Then I shall go take care of the rats.]
“Will you be okay? Won’t you get penalised?”
[Leyrin said it, didn’t she? We heard something really interesting from Lord.]
At that moment, Frey couldn’t help but feel that the skinless skeleton in front of him was smiling.
[Everything has been confirmed. It will be very fun and exciting.]
Then Nozdog disappeared.
Frey followed his presence. Fortunately, he was able to clearly see outside of the castle.
And he immediately became confused.
Because there were hundreds of Knights in black armor standing in a clearing.
Riki muttered.
“…they came here with Warp.”
He said it as though he was explaining to Frey.
“I didn’t think they’d send the Black Dragon Knights. It seems they valued the Marquis’ business more than I expected.”
“Riki. Luanoble is your territory. How could they set up here without your knowledge?”
It was Leyrin who answered Ananta’s words.
“This territory. It’s been hundreds of years since he left. The path this country took is quite the spectacle. Did you know, Riki? The reason Lord wanted to meet in Luanoble.”
“No.”
“He thought it needed cleaning.”
Leyrin pointed toward the Black Dragon Knights.
“This is the beginning.”
Nozdog was standing in the sky, looking down at them.
The Black Dragon Knights noticed his presence, and they began to busily prepare, but nothing could save them anymore.
They couldn’t damage Nozdog, who was in the air, with their swordsmanship.
Nozdog, with a relaxed motion, stretched out a finger, and a clump of black energy began gathering at the tip.
Shuk.
The black energy then separated to form hundreds of small black spikes.
Frey realised the number of spikes matched the number of Black Dragon Knights exactly.
The spikes then accurately pierced through their helmets like paper.
Then the Knights, who stood there for a few moments after their deaths, collapsed in unison.
That was it.
In an instant, all of the Black Dragon Knights had been annihilated.
[This is death.]
After muttering contentedly, Nozdog’s body flashed and reappeared beside Riki.
Riki had an incomprehensible expression on his face.
“Even if you could withstand the penalty… isn’t it too much to kill hundreds of people?”
[Huhu. We won’t have to worry about that anymore.]
“What?”
[Rejoice, Riki. We have finally found the possibility of evading god’s punishment.]
“…!!”
Frey’s expression twisted behind his mask.
Riki’s surprise was no less than his.
It was then.
[Come inside.]
Frey’s entire body froze.
It was a voice he would never be able to forget.
It was a voice that sounded as sacred as hearing God’s call in a cathedral, but the owner of this voice was anything but sacred.
Frey turned to look inside the smashed wall of the castle.
Beside Agni, a being was silently revealing its presence.
The reason it was called a ‘being’ was because there was no other way to express it.
Only
It had the overall shape of a man. However, its head was as smooth as an egg because it lacked any features at all.
It didn’t even have hair.
There was not a stitch of clothing on its body, revealing its strong masculine figure, and above all, white light was constantly being emitted from its body.
It looked exactly as it had 4,000 years ago.
[Come inside, my dear family.]
Lord beckoned gently.
(TL: This is the end of book 4)
