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

[This ability still seems to work.]

[It’s a really strange phenomenon, right?]

“…”

The voices hadn’t disappeared.

This confirmed that the things Lukas had gained through his predation didn’t simply accumulate in his body.

They had a direct influence on his mind, or perhaps something even more than that.

‘…it’s like.’

Like a curse that couldn’t be removed. That was the extent the voices were following Lukas to. In a sticky, persistent manner.

That fact made him so uncomfortable he wanted to vomit. But even if Lukas had the means to get rid of them, he wouldn’t. He had to accept this situation and persevere.

“Are you feeling alright?”

He heard a bright voice.

He turned to look at the young woman with blue hair and blue eyes. She had a thin face, shabby clothes, and a skinny body that seemed unable to even lift a sword, but Lukas now knew her true identity.

The Blue Knight of Famine.

One of the Void King’s most loyal subjects.

A mysterious monster capable of winning an overwhelming victory against the Lightning God, a Ruler who had appeared in this world.

That was the true face of this skinny woman in front of him.

He understood everything.

Yang In-hyun, one of the Twelve Void Lords. The reason why that man was wary of her from the start. The reason why he had been so respectful of her. And the reason why the Corpse Ghost had treated her so carefully.

…But there were still some things that he couldn’t figure out though.

Why was Pale beside him at this point?

Was it a coincidence? No, her origins were too unusual for it to be so simple.

“…”

When Lukas took too long to answer, Pale narrowed her eyes slightly. It was then that he recalled what ‘Pale’ had told him just before he’d died.

-If you meet ‘me’ again, you better hide your current condition. Because, to be honest, the current you looks really appetising. That ‘me’ might not be able to hold back since I wouldn’t know the circumstances. (TL: Author really likes reminding us of the prev chapter)

…When you meet ‘me’ again.

How did she know that? Had Pale realised Lukas’ situation? Did she know that he was going to regress?

-I was curious. And I was really looking forward to it. What kind of being would the deceiver use his last few dregs for? And those expectations were met.

Pale had also mentioned God.

In other words, this meant that she also knew about the circumstances that led Lukas to come to the World of Void, something that even he himself didn’t know.

She might have learned about his regression ability after, but it was highly likely that she knew that fact from the beginning.

…In conclusion.

This woman had already been waiting here for Lukas with some goal in mind.

‘Hide my current condition.’

He recalled those words again.

Since she didn’t understand the circumstances yet, this Pale might not be able to hold herself back. Lukas didn’t fully understand the meaning of those words.

But he remembered how horrified he was when he’d seen the glimmer in Pale’s eyes before.

-The Pale in front of me now is by no means my ally.

That thought suddenly became a conviction that firmly stuck itself into his mind.

So Lukas decided to hide his true self. Or at least that would have been the case if it hadn’t been for ‘Pale’s’ advice.

‘…simply hiding it might not be enough.’

Pale was already suspicious of Lukas. It could be his different attitude, the faint presence of leaking void, or other factors. There were too many reasons that could be guessed, but suddenly hiding the presence of his power would definitely raise suspicion. He couldn’t do that.

…He had to recall. The physical condition he’d been in when he first came to this world. He needed to imitate that time. He couldn’t be impatient. But he also couldn’t be too slow.

It was by no means an easy task.

For Lukas, that had been over 4,000 years ago, and he was already using most of his mental strength to calm the voices ringing in his head.

Nevertheless, it was possible.

[Relax the power a bit more.]

[Not really empty. You’re just pretending to look the part.]

[Pay attention to your breathing, gaze, and pulse. Her eyes are dozens of times sharper than yours.]

Ironically, the ‘Lukases’ helped. (TL: All together team!)

He could understand the reason.

They were all afraid of Pale. She was so strong that they couldn’t comprehend it.

“…”

Pale silently looked at Lukas. Her face was expressionless and her head was slightly tilted to the side. That was all, but he felt immense pressure as if someone was holding his heart. But this pressure wasn’t being intentionally released by Pale.

If he had to say, he felt this way because he knew her true self.

…He needed to say something.

“Who are you?”

He’d probably said something similar the first time they’d met.

Pale’s expression changed. She was smiling again as she spoke.

“Pale.”

“…”

This reaction… was different from the first time. Lukas now remembered that it was Pale who had asked him his identity.

Something from the past had already changed. That wasn’t good. Once again, his tension rose.

It was hard to not show it.

“I didn’t ask for your name.”

-I didn’t ask for your name!

The moment he said those words, Lukas felt like his and the past Pale’s lines had been reversed.

Ignoring that, Pale opened her mouth.

“I’ll tell you what, uncle. By chance…”

At that moment, she was about to say something.

Lukas had been giving her most of his attention, but not all of it.

Suddenly, a shadow stretched across the ground as if something had appeared in the sky.

It was here. The crocodile monster that he was now seeing for the third time.

Lukas instinctively stretched out his hand to the monster but stopped, cringing.

At this moment in the past, Lukas had used magic. He could still do it. It wouldn’t be that difficult. He could use the power of void like magicology. Even if he couldn’t do magic, it was at least possible for him to imitate it.

…But he couldn’t do it.

The wide mouth reached right in front of him. Of course, this much wouldn’t be enough to really kill Lukas, but it wouldn’t be a good thing for him to go into its stomach either. He didn’t want to show Pale that he could revive himself after death or that he could heal his wounds.

Just as he clenched his teeth and decided to use void while hiding it as much as possible.

Paak!

The monster’s giant body seemed to quiver for a moment before being sent flying with its mouth still wide open.

It was Pale. She had kicked the monster in the side. The force behind the kick was so powerful that it was hard to believe it came from such a small body. The monster’s body even shattered in the air, sending bits of flesh flying in every direction. Nevertheless, Pale’s cold eyes hadn’t looked at it once.

“What are you doing?”

Upon hearing this voice, Lukas knew he was at the crossroads of choice once again.

How should he respond?

It was a combination of worries and answers.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I didn’t notice that monster’s existence.”

“Ahahaha.”

She burst into laughter. It was a clear laugh that he’d heard many times before, but this time was different.

“Do I look stupid to you?”

Although she said those words with a smile, he felt his heart flutter. It wasn’t because he felt particularly agitated. It was more due to the presence of the ‘other Lukases’. They were all making a fuss like civilians in the face of a disaster.

[Answer better! You fool!]

[Are you trying to make her mad?!]

[You don’t understand… how terrifying Famine… the being known as the Blue Knight is…]

“…”

Lukas paid the most attention to the last voice.

It was a faint voice.

But it felt like that Lukas knew more about Pale than the others.

‘I haven’t absorbed all the Lukas’ yet.’

It wasn’t just their strength, presence, ego, and void that hadn’t fully melted yet. He had only absorbed a small portion of their memories.

‘Then does that mean you know? What kind of being the Blue Knight, Pale, is?’

Just as Lukas was trying to ask the ‘terrified Lukas’ for more details.

“You knew.”

Pale’s voice interrupted.

“You noticed it. But you hesitated.”

She chuckled. Her expression was different from before, at the very least, it was a cynical attitude that shouldn’t have appeared at this time. It seemed that Pale already had no intention of hiding her vigilance.

She’d read him too quickly.

He didn’t expect to completely deceive her, but her senses were sharper than he thought.

“What were you hesitating about? How to kill it?”

That wasn’t wrong.

“I wasn’t sure if my attack would work. It’s natural to hesitate. After all, I’ve never seen a monster like that before.”

“…”

“…what the hell are you? How did you blow that monster up in one go?”

“I already told you who I am.”

It seemed she’d stopped asking questions for now.

Pale smiled faintly.

“I’m Pale.”

* * *

In the desert landscape, the feeling of loneliness was greater than the silence. It was like being alone in a frozen world. The most fundamental reason for this was the lack of any natural phenomena. There was no wind or changes in temperature.

The only thing that changed was the sky that sometimes changed its colour. So Lukas raised his head as he was lost in thought. There was no particular reason for this.

It was similar to looking at the changing scenery from the window of a carriage while thinking about something.

Lukas was thinking about what had happened on Flower Mountain.

About the sudden appearance of the Lightning God. Who used Lee Jong-hak as his medium.

Why had the Lightning God possessed Lee Jong-hak’s body? When Lukas had last seen him, there hadn’t been any connection between them.

…The preliminaries.

When Lee Jong-hak had died on that field, even Arid, who was tremendously talented, hadn’t been able to find his soul.

So if there was a gap where the Lightning God could have interfered, it would have been at that time.

But there was still something that he was unable to understand, and that was the reason why Lee Jong-hak had been able to enter the World of Void. He felt like he couldn’t think of an answer for this even after thinking deeply about it.

Even at this moment, the body of Lee Jong-hak, which was imprisoned in Flower Mountain’s prison, probably contained a projection of the Lightning God.

‘I need to leave him alone.’

Lukas made that judgement.

The Lightning God had fought a battle where neither side won or lost with Yang In-hyun. If he had left him alone, he would have eventually bled out and died. The reason he was able to regain his strength was because of Lukas’ intervention. Because he’d healed the body of Lee Jong-hak, he also allowed the Lightning God to be revived.

If he left him alone, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Even though it meant Lee Jong-hak would die, that didn’t matter to Lukas.

Lukas erased the very thought of him. The same was true for the other characters from Earth in his mind. He also decided to forget about the black haired girl who burst into tears while looking at him.

‘Lee Jong-hak is one of the preparations that the Lightning God sent to the World of Void.’

It was highly likely that it was in preparation for the full fledged Great Game that would freeze the World of Void.

Aside from the question about why a war to determine a Ruler would be held in this world if one thought about it in a certain way, it roughly made sense.

“…”

It was complicated.

It was a very complicated causal relationship, and Lukas felt like he was standing at the very centre.

For now, he would place a hold on going to Flower Mountain. For now, Lukas was unsure of his ability to defeat Yang In-hyun, and he also could not overlook the uncertainty that was the Lightning God.

That meant that he needed to aim for another of the Twelve Void Lords, but the only one Lukas had met was the Corpse Ghost at the dump site.

‘I could change my goal to the Corpse Ghost.’

Lukas shook his head. He wasn’t sure about that either.

He had no choice but to admit it. His current self was weaker than the Twelve Void Lords.

More, he needed to melt more.

The countless corpses that he’d eaten in the dump site. He needed to melt more possibilities…

‘-will that really work?’

Although he wasn’t one of the Twelve Void Lords, the Lightning God’s thunder gave Lukas a huge shock.

Was it really possible for him to break that power that surrounded his body like armour with void? Was it really a challenge that he could overcome simply by honing his power a bit more and increasing its practical ability?

“…”

Suddenly, he thought of a man who had died on his behalf.

Jacob.

Why had that arrogant man chosen to die in his place? Lukas knew he didn’t deserve that kind of treatment.

He had even thought about killing Jacob, and he had shown signs of actually doing it.

‘Can this condition really be cured?’

If this symptom of madness could be cured, he didn’t know what the consequences would be. As mentioned earlier, perhaps he might become weaker.

‘…however, even so…’

Magic Planet.

A place where Wizards and Truth Seekers gathered.

The Lord of that place was one of the Twelve Void Lords, the Beginning Wizard.

-Do you believe that you are the Wizard who has reached the highest point? Do you think there is no one with greater understanding of the truth than you?

He now knew.

-No. Not at all. The words ‘frog in a well’ might not be fully accurate, but you are still not good enough to call yourself the Lord of that field. If you hadn’t come to this world, you wouldn’t have even known about that delusion.

The Wizard that Yang In-hyun was talking about.

-Even after I said so much, you still couldn’t figure it out… It’s a Wizard. A Wizard who is far stronger than you.

That being was the Beginning Wizard.

“…”

He felt like it would be fine to believe Jacob’s words at least once. Perhaps it was a simple whim. Or perhaps he felt like he could trust him since he’d saved his life.

But more than that.

Lukas personally felt like he needed to go to Magic Planet.