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

The three fighters didn’t even need to look at each other as they rushed towards their target, Nodiesop.

Swoosh!

As they grew closer, an explosion of water erupted from Nodiesop’s body. But they didn’t panic or flinch. They couldn’t help but feel that this response was similar to before.

It was possible that this was Nodiesop’s last line of defense.

-Scarlet Killament.

The sword had been with her for several years already.

Participating in the Championship had allowed her to develop a new technique to use with this sword.

“Enchant.”

Fwoosh!

Flames soared to life in an instant. At the same time, more than half of her remaining mana evaporated.

“Dragon’s Roar.”

Roar!

Scarlet Killament creaked, and the faint cries of a dragon could be heard from inside it. At that moment, her sword contained the greatest offensive power she could currently muster.

After taking a deep breath, she swung her sword towards the waves that were rushing towards her.

Tsssss-!

The rushing waves were easily evaporated by the attack, creating a huge cloud of steam. The steam was hot… no, it was more than just hot, it felt like the steam had been released directly from a steam engine.

Her face and eyes felt like they were burning. Nevertheless, Min Ha-rin refused to close her eyes. Even if she became blind, she could not miss this opportunity.

Eventually, most of the waves evaporated away, revealing the figure of Nodiesop, who still had yet to move. Instead, he was staring at Min Ha-rin with an unreadable expression on his face.

“It’s amazing that you managed to come this far.”

“I don’t need your compliments, just die.”

“It wasn’t a compliment. It’s a mixture of surprise and amazement… and discomfort. You’d feel the same too if a bug you slapped away with your palm was still moving around.”

“…”

He really treated mortals like insects or perhaps even less than that.

How could they be so different even though they were both Absolutes?

Min Ha-rin couldn’t contain the hatred and disgust she felt for Nodiesop at that moment.

Crack!

Suddenly, Nodiesop’s knee bent at a strange angle with a loud sound, causing him to lose his balance. Leo who had approached silently from the back had attacked without him realising it. Sedi’s attack naturally followed. She clasped her two small hands together and swung them like a hammer towards the back of Nodiesop’s head.

The force of the attack was considerable, and it caused Nodiesop to stumble. (TL: With a broken knee?)

Was this actually working? Or was he just pretending? She wasn’t sure. But the one thing she knew was that Nodiesop’s body was filled with openings at that moment.

Regardless of if it was a trap or not, she couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

‘Hold on.’

Ignoring her screaming joints, Min Ha-rin put all of her strength into the hand holding her sword. Even more of her mana disappeared. It was so much so that she was certain she would be unable to move afterward.

She put all of her power into the tip of her sword before stabbing forward.

Puk!

Her attack landed. She clearly felt the ‘feedback’ as her sword pierced through Nodiesop’s ribcage and entered his heart.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a red explosion erupted from Nodiesop’s body. It was blood. This explosion was much larger and stronger than the explosion of water. On the other hand, Min Ha-rin had already long exceeded her limits, so she didn’t even get a chance to block it.

Her body, which was in the very center of the explosion, was sent flying into the air.

The surface of the water, which had been frozen solid before, was completely destroyed, becoming several large chunks of ice that floated in the water. The scene was similar to what one would expect to see at the arctic ocean.

Min Ha-rin bounced on the water a few times, fortunate enough to not land on any chunks of ice before her body was barely able to stop. Well, to be precise, she hadn’t stopped on her own, someone had caught her.

“Are you okay, senior sister?”

It was Leo.

After taking a few moments to catch her breath, Min Ha-rin nodded.

“Good job!”

Sedi, who also came to join them, gave Min Ha-rin a rare word of praise.

“I saw you destroy his heart. I’m not sure what will happen to his existence, but his body definitely should have died in that atta-”

Sedi didn’t finish her sentence. Min Ha-rin and Leo also had expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

Their gazes were locked onto the same location.

“…ha.”

There stood Nodiesop. There was a hole in his chest from which blood poured, but after a while, it stopped. And after swiping his finger over his chest, the blood flowed back into his body.

It was as if time was being reversed.

“Indeed…”

They never expected to hear the voice of someone whose heart had been destroyed. But he continued to speak in a calm tone.

“Even though I’m tied to this body, it’s not to the extent that I will die if the heart is destroyed. Well, in the first place oxygen is a type of energy that I need. Nevertheless, I was able to learn some interesting information. Perhaps the only true vital point would be the brain, which is directly connected to my consciousness.” (TL: Give your enemies more information why dontcha.)

Min Ha-rin bit her lip, and her vision went dark for a moment. It was difficult for her to even stand on her own two feet. The side effects of Arid’s power boost were beginning to take their toll on her body. Leo was the same.

Sedi on the other hand was fine, but it was clear that she was also quite tired.

“By the way, do you remember the jets of water I made erupt not so long ago?”

“…why are you mentioning that now?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t notice anything strange. I thought it was obvious that such a clumsy attack would never work against you.”

The entire group had puzzled expressions on their faces. Anything strange? They had only been focusing on avoiding them at all costs.

“Haha. I suppose your vision was narrowed because you were so focused on me…. Look up at the sky, Sedi Glaston.”

“…”

“From the start, those jets of water were never aimed at you.”

Sedi slowly looked up at the sky, then her expression became stiff.

The Barrier.

The streams of water were violently crashing against the barrier that covered the entirety of Dragon God Island.

“My goal was to break that barrier. It’s like a castle wall. Although it appears fairly sturdy from the outside, it’s surprisingly easy to break through from the inside.”

Crack!

Following those words, spider web cracks began to spread across the surface of the barrier.

The Priestess’ expression also became frighteningly stiff at that moment. On the other hand, Nodiesop’s smile just became wider and brighter.

Crash!

Then, with a sound similar to dozens of windows shattering at the same time, the barrier broke.

The following events could be imagined.

In the first place, Dragon God Island had been in the center of an enormous vortex of water that was only being held at bay by the barrier. In fact, the current of the vortex was so strong that the small islands surrounding Dragon God Island that weren’t protected by the barrier had all been swallowed.

It was like a plastic bottle blocking a small drainage hole. Although it couldn’t stop the water from flowing completely, it still hampered its flow by a large extent.

But if that plastic bottle was removed, the water would rush into the hole with ferocious momentum.

In this case, the barrier was the bottle. As soon as it shattered, the waves greedily crashed towards the island, like a hungry beast lunging at its prey.

“Ah.”

Leo couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation.

For the first time since the fight began, he lost the will to fight. A huge wave of water was rushing towards them from the sky, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

On the other hand, Nodiesop’s gaze remained on the group.

He wondered just how a person who was forced to slowly watch their inevitable end would feel.

He let out a laugh.

“Now then, how will you all respond this time?”

(TL: I’ve never understood the ‘villain’ philosophy/cliche of explaining their plan to their enemies. Maybe because I like the villain route more than the hero route, it always annoys me when I see them monologuing or bragging, like just kill them already. You can brag to their corpses.

Also… how did the Priestess not notice the barrier? She wasn’t doing anything else.)