The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 219 – Decisive Battle (1)
Translator: Seven
Editors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko
Frey returned to the castle, knowing that there would be someone there.
Lilith was the Ruler left to guard the castle. The others were out looking for Beelzebub.
“Why are you back so soon?”
“Lord is gone.”
“What?”
Frey walked past her. There was no time for him to explain the situation.
He walked to the balcony of the castle, which overlooked the vast Bloody Hell. Then he used Clairvoyance.
He saw all of the Rulers looking for Beelzebub nearby. But in the next instant, Frey’s expression crumpled.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The other Rulers are under attack. They’re taking care of them one by one before we can join forces.”
“Is it Lord Lucifer’s doing?”
“Right.”
Frey grit his teeth before adding.
“Lord is there too.”
* * *
“Gurk!”
Barbatos coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Looking at the being in front of him, he couldn’t help but mutter.
“H-, how are you guys so…”
He was unable to finish his sentence and ended up dying with his eyes wide open.
“It’s a waste of thousands of years of life. No demon would expect a Ruler of Hell to die in such a way.”
[…]
Lord turned to look at Lucifer who was standing beside him. He was holding a bloody head in his hands.
It was Zefar’s head.
Noticing Lord’s gaze, Lucifer shrugged.
“It doesn’t really make sense. I’ve personally taken care of two of them.”
Lucifer threw Zefar’s head onto the ground and stepped on it.
Paak.
Zefar’s head exploded.
Then, Lucifer rubbed the sticky flesh and blood on the ground with his foot as he said.
“Don’t you think this game was easier than you expected?”
[…]
“Rulers of Hell or whatever… You might think they are nothing when compared to beings like us. However, it’s not that they’re weak. We are simply too strong. Nevertheless, if these guys really did decide to work together, they might have given us a bit of trouble.”
Originally, he didn’t have any intention of doing something like this.
Lucifer knew better than anyone just how proud and arrogant the Rulers were. But something that was able to bring them together had appeared.
Frey Blake.
He wasn’t even a demon, but he had the charisma and power to subdue the Rulers.
If these Rulers were to truly join forces under his command, it was possible for him to threaten Lord and Lucifer.
That was why they joined forces.
Of course, it was all a part of Lucifer’s plan.
‘Everything changed greatly after you came to hell.’
Lucifer couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.
His whole plan had gone awry.
At first, he intended to use the Rulers of Hell to pressure Lord, but he failed because Beelzebub managed to notice the incongruity.
Then he tried to draw Frey over to his side, but he was rejected.
And finally, he’d joined forces with Lord, who he considered to be his final enemy.
Anyone else would have been unable to keep up or might even get confused by this ever-changing situation, but Lucifer quite enjoyed these interesting developments.
“But that Frey is a real bastard too. You and I both offered him an alliance, but he still chose a third path. Even an idiot could tell that it’s a thorny path.”
Lucifer grinned.
“Don’t you agree with the proverb that says you have to go through hardships to achieve your goals?”
[It would be wiser to deal with Asura first.]
Lord finally opened his mouth.
Of course, he didn’t intend to respond to Lucifer’s nonsense.
[It is said that he is the strongest of the Rulers after you.]
“Maybe if he was in his peak condition. But he was greatly weakened by his battle with Frey. Now, he’s even weaker than Barbatos or Zefar, who we just killed.”
As for the remaining one, Lilith of the Black Dream Hell, she was not even worth mentioning. It was a well known fact in the Demon World that Lilith’s powers could not even begin to compare to the other Rulers’.
Lucifer then burst into laughter as he looked up at the sky.
“It seems our last guests of the day are about to arrive.”
Taht.
The first to arrive was Asura. He looked down at Barbatos’ body with a stiff expression on his face.
“…did you do this?”
[Not both. Just one. This Demon. I was…]
“Barbatos!”
Asura said his name roughly.
On the other hand, Lord nodded lazily and corrected himself.
[Right. Barbatos. I killed him.]
“And Beelzebub…?”
“I got rid of him.”
Lucifer answered happily. Then he pointed towards the puddle of blood that had been created when Zefar’s head exploded.
“I killed this guy too.”
“Zefar…”
A fierce aura erupted from Asura’s body. He glared at Lucifer with bloodshot eyes.
“Haha. Are you angry at the death of your fellow Rulers? I never expected you to be so loyal.”
“It was a fight, and they died because they were weak. That’s all. What I’m angry about is your disgusting behaviour, Lucifer. Even the slight bit of respect I had for you has been uprooted.”
“I never really cared about that.”
“Right. Frey was right.”
“-should I thank you for acknowledging my words so late?”
Frey appeared beside Asura while responding to his words. He then looked at Lord and Lucifer, who were standing side by side, and sneered.
“Right. I didn’t believe it at first, and it’s nothing new, but it still feels really dirty to get hit in the back of the head not even a day after we talked.”
Did this mean that everything was a part of this guy’s plan from the start?
Frey recalled Lord’s words. He told him that it looked like he had things to do so he could leave first.
But it seemed he expected Frey to rally the remaining Rulers under his banner.
‘Then he kidnapped Beelzebub and waited for the other Rulers to search for him.’
Considering the personalities of the Rulers, there was no way they would have stuck together while searching for Beelzebub. It was almost certain they would have separated and acted individually.
So they aimed exactly for that moment and killed Zefar and Barbatos. It was highly likely that the missing Beelzebub was already dead.
In the end, all he was left with were Asura and Lilith. But Asura was exhausted and was unable to fight, and he couldn’t expect much from Lilith in combat.
The opponents were beings who had taken the first step into the realm of Absolute. Beings to whom even he had a high chance of losing if he were to fight them one-on-one.
Then Lord stretched out his hand.
Paht.
Frey pushed Asura and Lilith away at the same time.
Jijik!
Then he witnessed an unbelievable sight even though he was seeing it with his own eyes.
When Lord drew his finger across, the surrounding space trembled before shattering like a pane of glass.
Crack!
It was as though space itself had been cracked. And the crack was steadily approaching Frey.
Frey protected his body with divine magic power.
Thud!
A heavy shock hit him. If he relaxed for even a moment, his entire body would have been torn apart in an instant.
He grit his teeth.
‘The power to control space. If attacked directly, even a transcendent being wouldn’t be able to survive.’
How was he to reverse this situation where he was already being touched directly by this power?
The strength of his body and durability of his armor already had no meaning in front of Lord. After all, he had the power to tear space apart.
In front of such an ability, even the toughest of metals would become like wet paper.
There were only two ways.
To avoid it. And…
Boom!
[…!]
Frey’s divine magic power collided with Lord’s power, causing him to pause for a moment.
He hadn’t expected that he would compete with his power head-on.
This wasn’t a reckless action either.
In fact, his power, which had been steadily tearing the space apart, staggered slightly as though a boxer had been struck in the chin.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Lord felt intense heat on his back. When he turned around, he saw a ball of flames speeding towards him.
It was like a sun that was twice the size of Beelzebub’s castle.
Boom!
This sun, which was hotter than lava, engulfed Lord’s body, the explosive firepower burning everything around him.
However, this was only the beginning of Frey’s offensive.
Crackle!
Lightning surged along the scorched ground to find Lord. If it was able to reach him, it would be able to temporarily paralyze him.
It was followed by a beam of light from Frey’s finger.
Pit, pit, pit!
Dozens of the beams of light that he’d used to slay Norn were fired in an instant. This was an attack that was much more focused than the fireball explosion and the lightning.
No matter how powerful Lord was, he would not be able to escape unscathed if he were to be hit by these beams.
But Frey’s expression wasn’t good.
‘I don’t feel like any attack hit him since Another Sun.’
This meant that his attacks had hit nothing but the air.
Frey looked to the side, intending to see how Asura and Lilith were doing.
Shuk.
“Kuk!”
Lord took advantage of that opening. Without any warnings, a blade of wind from behind Frey cut off his left arm.
Frey wasn’t certain, but he believed that this was the power of Leyrin, one of the Apocalypses.
Holding his severed arm, he retreated.
Blood didn’t flow from the wound. After all, Frey’s body was already a soul body.
Specks of light were the only things that flowed from the cross section of his severed arm.
At the same time, the flames on the ground disappeared. No, to be precise, it appeared as though they were sucked away.
It was quite an unbelievable sight. As though an invisible monster had devoured the flames.
Lord, who had reappeared, did not have any burns. He simply looked at Frey and said.
[You are mistaken.]
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Lord didn’t answer. Then Lucifer returned.
“You’ve been fighting for too long, Lord.”
[Are you finished?]
“No. Lilith’s abilities are too annoying. It’s a power that’s really suited to running away. So it will take a little time.”
[I see.]
Frey watched their conversation as he pressed his left arm back to the stump. Light blossomed from the cut, and his arm was healed in an instant.
Lucifer seemed amazed by the sight.
“You’re really good at using your willpower. We definitely have to kill you. Otherwise, we’ll end up with three Absolute beings.”
[Right. There’s no need for three.]
As he nodded, Lord stretched out his hand.
Puk.
“…”
“…”
And the thing he did next made the other two speechless.
“…huh?”
After a brief silence, it was Lucifer who finally opened his mouth. He was looking down at his body with a blank expression on his face.
There was something protruding from his chest.
It was Lord’s right hand.
“Gurk!”
Lucifer coughed up blood as he stared at Lord in disbelief.
“What the hell… is this…”
[Don’t be surprised, Lucifer. You should have expected this.]
“…”
Lord was right.
He hadn’t let his guard down. No. He might have let it down a little. Still, he had maintained an appropriate level of vigilance.
He knew that he would fight Lord, but he hadn’t thought that it would be now. No matter how much he wanted to defeat Lord, he knew that neither side could guarantee one’s victory.
Even if he was to be betrayed, he thought it would only be after they reduced the obstacles.
“…do you intend… to deal with those guys alone?”
[I’m sorry, Fallen Angel, but this was my plan from the beginning.]
“Crazy… bastard…! You are more arrogant than me…!”
[It’s not arrogance. It’s a firm belief. From the beginning, I never had any intention of working with someone other than my own kind.]
Lord chuckled before turning to Frey.
[I hope this has cleared your misunderstanding, Frey Blake. I did not break my promise.]
“…”
[Now, let’s join forces and kill Lucifer.]
(TL: I know this is the final book of the first season and things would start wrapping up soon, but I never expected it to just explode like this. What a bombshell of a chapter.)