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

Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei

How many undead had she killed in this forest? The number should have surpassed 100 a long time ago.

‘They didn’t appear here naturally.’

It would take hundreds of years for such a number to occur naturally. Even on a battlefield where tens of thousands lost their lives, it would take at least ten years for undead to appear.

Naturally, for a peaceful place like the Amalgam Forest, there was no way to foster the negative emotions necessary for that.

In addition, as the Elf Queen, Snow was able to grasp the condition of any forest from the moment she set foot in it.

When she arrived with Lukas, there were no signs of undead in this forest.

In other words, someone had very recently released a large number of undead in this forest.

What was their goal?

“Hmph.”

A sneer spread across Snow’s lips.

They had to be.

Diablo’s minions.

Her eyes turned towards the depths of the forest.

She could sense thick death energy there.

Even up to the day before, he had been carefully hiding his presence, but now he was blatantly beckoning her over.

Although the fact that it was a trap was as clear as day.

“Interesting.”

Snow still smiled.

One trait of the strong was to boldly respond to such provocations.

Taking a deep breath, she kicked off from the ground.

Boom!

The ground shook heavily and was overturned. This was an act that the nature loving Queen would normally avoid doing, but the land in this area had already died.

Moreover, Snow wasn’t there as the Elf Queen, but as a Swordsman.

Of course, that didn’t mean it didn’t enrage her to see the forest in this state.

…She saw it.

An army of undead.

With many individuals who were even stronger than the Death Knights she’d seen before.

Nevertheless, this didn’t make much of a difference for Snow.

She swung Deukid.

Boom!

Dozens of undead were utterly destroyed by a single swipe that carried no technique.

Snow brutally destroyed all of the undead troops that she encountered, but that didn’t slow her advance in the slightest.

She was like a flash of white.

And in the places that she passed through, there was nothing but scraps of flesh and bone fragments, the only proof that the undead had once been there.

This didn’t mean that they were weak. Every undead that Snow crushed like weeds was strong enough to slaughter well trained soldiers.

However, Snow’s power was so overwhelming that she made them look like low ranking undead.

‘There is no end.’

Snow clicked her tongue.

She had been fighting against undead for almost three days straight without pause.

Fighting against undead always took the form of a protracted war.

This was because she could not let even a single undead escape. This was something that had to be done even if there were no cities or villages nearby.

The power and infectivity of a single high ranking undead were enough to turn an entire village into a den for undead in the blink of an eye.

Snow absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen.

That was why she thoroughly destroyed every undead she encountered without missing even a single one.

As a result, the fatigue that began to accumulate in her body steadily built up before making itself known.

What was worse was her concentration.

A person’s concentration was not infinite. It wore out as you used it, and naturally, the longer you used it, the faster it wore out.

Sleep was the best way to clear her exhaustion, but she hadn’t slept for three days and three nights.

‘It would have been better if the Swordnaz and Peran were here…’

She couldn’t afford to sit around and wait for them.

At that moment, Snow remembered Lukas, who she had left alone for a while, but she soon shook her head. Although she was sorry, she didn’t have the time to care about him right now.

Fortunately, he was far from the source of the undead, so he shouldn’t be in any danger.

‘…the source.’

She needed to find the source of the undead as soon as possible.

She would probably get there if she continued to head towards the death energy they had blatantly been releasing a while ago.

Taht!

Snow, who had been slaughtering undead as she travelled, eventually came to a stop.

She found it.

In front of her was a large cave.

The death energy that she could feel seeping from the mouth of the cave was indescribable.

Nevertheless, Snow walked directly into it. She didn’t have the time for hesitation.

The cave was deep.

Even though she was moving at a speed that caused her surroundings to change rapidly, she could not see the end.

‘It continues downwards.’

It seemed that this cave stretched tens of metres underground, or maybe even more.

…After a while, the entrance of the cave was no longer visible. (PR: I thought she was moving rapidly–)

Splash-

“…”

Snow finally stopped walking and looked around carefully.

She was in a limestone cave.

The ceiling was covered in sharp stalactites, and the ground was covered in a pool of water high enough to cover her ankles.

Flesh and bone fragments floated in the water.

“…indeed.”

This was where they created the undead.

Splash-

She walked around. The dense death energy had already polluted the water in this place so much that it would be impossible to purify.

Those with low resistance would melt simply by stepping into this water, but it was no problem for Snow.

After wandering around for a while, Snow found something huge in the centre of the cave.

“This is not something I thought I’d see again.”

A soft chuckle escaped her lips.

It was at least tens of metres long.

A giant Dragon made entirely of bones without the slightest hint of flesh.

This Bone Dragon was a type of undead that could only be created by those who’d reached the absolute peak of necromancy.

In the past, it was this very monster that had attacked the elves’ capital city.

At that time, she had been helped by Ivan.

Just as Snow was bitterly recalling the past.

[So you’ve seen a Bone Dragon before.]

A deep, eerie voice sounded in her ears. It was like the roars of the devil, who had been trapped in hell.

If it was someone without much mental strength, they would have gone mad just hearing it, but Snow only made a slightly surprised expression as she opened her mouth.

“I never would have expected this. I didn’t think you would dare to show up in person… Should I shout ‘bingo’ in this situation?”

[…kuku.]

A figure slowly rose up from the water that covered the floor.

The first thing that appeared was the pale white skull. Nextwere the sinister eye sockets that contained flames which glowed the colour of rotten blood, and the skeletal body wrapped in black robes.

Finally, a sickle shaped staff formed in his hand.

He looked more like a Death God who guided people to hell than a Wizard.

Diablo.

Snow turned to look at the being who currently terrified the entire continent.

When it came to black magic, necromancy, and even magicology, Snow could not think of a Wizard better than him.

For that reason, she couldn’t help but consider a possibility.

The fact that the Diablo before her might not be the real one, but instead a double, or puppet.

But

“You’re the real Diablo.”

If nothing else, the suffocating death energy exuding from him was enough to convince her that he was the real deal.

[That is correct.]

“I don’t understand. Why would you reveal yourself to me when you could have escaped? Do you want to die now after living for about 1000 years?”

[You can’t speak to me about death, young elf.]

“Young elf… It’s been a long time since I heard something like that. I’ll have to thank you for calling me pretty, bones.”

Diablo let out a quiet laugh.

[Snow de Predickwood, Queen of the Elves and Master of the Sword, Revered White Supreme.]

“Hmmm.”

An arrogant smile stretched across Snow’s lips as she put her hand on her waist.

“This Queen likes being praised by others, but… being praised by a rotten corpse makes me feel uncomfortable instead.”

[…we do not have to be enemies.]

“That was true. Until you murdered hundreds of thousands of people.]

[Do you consider me a murderer?]

Snow frowned when she heard this.

“Cut the crap, Elder Lich. That is what you are. You destroyed two countries, seven cities, and twenty two villages just to satisfy your own disgusting self interests. There is only one way for you to atone for those crimes. By dying.”

[I have no intention of denying that. But what if there was a reason for my murder?]

“…”

[Regardless of the reason, there is no justification for murder… There are countless hypocrites who make that boring claim. I’m sure you are not like that. To be honest, it isn’t really murder if there was a reason. From my perspective, I only sacrificed a few humans.]

Snow silently looked at him with an absurd expression before opening her mouth and speaking in a harsh tone.

“…even this Queen feels like her patience will shatter after listening to your bullshit. So? What is it that you’re trying to say?”

The faint humour in Diablo’s voice disappeared.

[…a glimpse into the truth of the universe.]

“What?”

[You, me, and even the beings called Demigods, you do not realise just how weak we truly are. Kukuku, I shudder at the feeling. The words ‘Transcendent’ and ‘Absolute’. They were not things we could understand…]

…Although Diablo’s voice was calm, the insanity contained within it was dizzying.

Rumble. Even the water on the ground began to quiver in tune with his emotions.

Snow slowly drew Deukid from its sheath.

“What a load of bullshit. Are you trying to say that you learned the truth about the universe a long time ago?”

[It’s different.]

“What?”

[The universe you know, and the universe I know are fundamentally different.]

“…I can’t listen to any more of your nonsense.”

Snow let out a sigh.

“I didn’t come here to talk to you, Diablo. There are a lot of things I need to deal with besides you. This Queen is the type of person who cuts down the things that displeases her, and that’s exactly what you are. So this Queen will kill you here today.”

[So that is your answer… In that case, I sincerely apologize.]

The vibrations in the water became stronger, causing droplets of water to occasionally splatter across the clearing.

Krrr-

The Bone Dragon began rising to its feet.

That wasn’t all.

Snow could also see hundreds of undead approaching her.

[I hereby declare. You will die here today.]

Snow looked around.

“Those undead…”

[These are my strongest armies that I’ve been secretly nurturing over the past few decades. Rejoice, for I am using a force strong enough to destroy a nation just to slay you.]

He wasn’t lying.

The auras of the undead in these armies were all stronger and more vile than any of the undead in the forest above.

Each army was at least a few hundred strong, perhaps even more than that.

“…haha.”

But at that moment, a roar of laughter filled the cave, carrying on for a while before it eventually stopped.

After taking some time to catch her breath, Snow then spoke with a frighteningly cold expression.

“How unbelievably foolish. I can’t believe you’d treat this Queen as just one nation.”

[…]

“How dare you talk to me like that with just these couple of undead? Since when did my title as White Supreme become so shallow?… You… are spitting on this Queen’s pride. I’ve never been so insulted and disgraced before. Therefore.”

Taht.

The stagnant water scattered in every direction.

“I will definitely execute you here.”

Snow leaped forward.

Her figure, which seemed to have disappeared for a moment, reappeared dozens of meters in the air.

Her cold gaze was locked onto the head of the Bone Dragon which was right below her feet.

[Roar!]

The Bone Dragon finally sensed Snow’s presence and raised its head with a loud roar.

Green fog writhed in the darkness of its throat, seeming as though it would rush out at any moment. Just from looking at it, one could tell that everything that touched this acidic breath would melt.

Crack!

But it was too late.

Before it even had a chance to spit it out, its neck was cut. No, it was smashed.

The neck bones of Bone Dragon, which supported its massive head and were several times stronger than steel, shattered like glass.

Splash…

The bone fragments fell like rain.

Among them, Snow landed silently on the ground before slowly approaching Diablo.

“You brought your strongest armies? That was the wrong move, Diablo. Just the strongest is not enough. You ought to have brought every undead army you control. If that had happened…”

Boom!

The Bone Dragon’s giant body collapsed, causing a wave to roll across the surface of the water.

[…]

When she saw the violent glint in Diablo’s eyes, Snow sneered.

“Maybe your chances of winning would have increased by 1 percent.”