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

Lukas seemed to be walking aimlessly, but that wasn’t really the case. He had a clear destination, he was just trying his best to hide that.

For the current Lukas, he needed to pretend like he was confused by this area that he was supposed to be in for the first time. Of course, there was no need to overtly show his confusion, but he still had to show signs of it.

That’s why, even though he was already aware of his destination, he trudged along with uncertain steps even though he could clearly see what direction he was going in this desert with complicated coordinates.

Tap tap.

He could hear footsteps not far behind. Pale never overtook Lukas, and instead chose to follow him from a certain distance. Most of Lukas’ attention was focused on her.

He suddenly had a thought.

What was Pale’s destination? By his side? If so, then was Pale’s goal simply to accompany him?

“…”

“…”

They didn’t talk to each other. This was also different from the past. Lukas had been quiet even then, but there was no silence because Pale talked nonstop. As mentioned before, she basically had a very talkative personality. But she wasn’t like that now. He was now certain that this fact made him feel strange.

He shook his head inwardly. He also chose to ignore the gaze digging into his back.

—As they crossed over several dunes, the colour of the sky continued to change. Lukas made sure to keep a very careful count.

It had been four times.

…Five times.

If he didn’t eat before the sky changed colour one more time, his body would begin to disappear from the tips of his toes. That was one of the laws of this world. Of course, the current Lukas was a being who bypassed that law. This was because he already understood the laws of disappearance and regression, and had learned to control void, which enforced these laws.

Lukas no longer needed to devour anything.

But there was a problem, the presence of Pale.

‘…what should I do?’

The current Lukas should not be aware of the fact that ‘your body would disappear if you don’t eat’. This was because there was basically no hunger in this place, so it would be strange if he were to look for something to eat.

Would he have to let his body disappear first?

Then, when she saw this scene, Pale would offer him a rat from her pocket like last time?

Well. He didn’t think she would. It was an uncertain gamble. If it didn’t go according to his plan… Lukas would have no choice but to use the power of void to prevent the disappearance, which meant completely revealing his identity to Pale.

He couldn’t let that happen.

In the end, Lukas could only increase his pace. He needed to reach the destination faster. Before the colour of the sky changed again.

From his experience, it took approximately three hours for the sky to change colours, so that was his time limit.

Lukas needed to arrive at his destination within three hours.

* * *

The sand dunes still continued to appear irregularly. The same was true for the surrounding landscape. Not to mention a few hours, the scene they saw wouldn’t change even if they were to walk for 10 days or 100 days. Perhaps it wouldn’t change unless they entered a completely different region.

Nevertheless, Lukas realised that the place he was standing now was his destination.

‘I came a bit early.’

He might have to wait for a little while now.

Lukas flopped down onto the ground. He could see Pale looking at him with a strange expression.

“What are you doing?”

It had been a while since he’d heard her voice.

“Taking a break.”

“You don’t look tired.”

She was so unnecessarily sharp.

But it wasn’t a statement she could make with full confidence.

“I feel a bit dizzy, and…”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

When he intentionally dropped the end of his sentence, Pale pressed him.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. The more I walk, the more time passes… the more I feel like I’m losing something.”

“…”

When he spoke as if he was trying to catch a cloud, Pale fell silent again. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before opening her mouth as if she was about to say something.

He knew exactly what she was going to say.

“Mm?”

Lukas deliberately widened his eyes and got up from his seat. This caused Pale to close her half opened lips.

“What is that?”

“…ah.”

He pretended to be surprised, but he knew exactly what was approaching them. After all, the reason he’d come to this place in the first place was to meet them.

Dwarves were approaching them in a line like a train.

The Miglings.

* * *

The miglings’ response was the same as before. They still weren’t wary of Lukas, and in a way, their affinity for him seemed even deeper than before. In any case, it wasn’t a few miglings that were jumping around at their first meeting.

Then with big smiles, they grabbed him by the sleeves and led him along.

Under their guidance, Lukas headed towards the Underground City.

“What an interesting situation.”

“What do you mean?”

Lukas asked this but Pale didn’t answer.

Her reaction was a bit different from before. It seemed like she’d found something to think about deeply instead of studying or being wary of him.

When they entered the Underground City, being tossed around almost felt like a ritual to him now.

“To the Lord.”

“Guide.”

“Trowman.”

“Follow.”

Lukas, who still couldn’t get used to their strange way of speaking, nodded to the migling. He moved together with them to the centre of the Underground City. And as expected, Pale was prevented from following him into the cathedral.

Until now, every time this had happened, she would make an exaggerated expression, but this time, she simply nodded with a blank face.

After losing Pale for the first time, Lukas let out a sigh of relief. This was because just being near her made him feel an immense amount of pressure.

Of course, there were some downsides. Without Pale around, the voices in his head began to misbehave once again. His headache was still terrible, so that didn’t get better with or without Pale.

‘Nevertheless, I’d prefer to act separately as much as possible…’

Even in his past lives, Pale didn’t easily separate from Lukas.

Since he didn’t know the reason, he had no choice but to judge carefully.

Naturally, it was impossible for him to separate by force. Nevertheless, it was still risky for him to try to run away or suggest that they go their separate ways. In fact, there was a high chance that would have adverse results. As far as he could tell, Pale was not a rational person. This meant that it wouldn’t be strange for her to act in a manner that went against common sense from time to time. (TL: Why are you running uncle?)

‘I have no choice but to accompany her for the time being.’

Nevertheless, now that he was in the Underground City, he no longer had to pretend that he was ignorant about the world in front of Pale.

If she were to ask how he knew, he could just say that the Lord of the Underground City told him. That would be a lie, of course, but Pale wouldn’t know the truth.

“Here.”

“Go in.”

“Only Trowman.”

The miglings waited outside as Lukas walked towards the cathedral and opened the doors.

“…”

At the end of the chapel stood Michael.

[Lord!]

[It’s Lord!]

He was caught by surprise.

[Bastard! Kill that bastard!]

[What are you waiting for? Chop that guy’s head off right now!]

Some of the ‘Lukases’ began to shout erratically. It was those who had especially bad relationships with Lord in their lives.

‘That’s not Lord, you fools.’

It might have been meaningless, but Lukas still snapped back at them coldly as he looked at Michael. It was different from before. He wasn’t reading a book. Instead, he was down on one knee with his right hand across his chest and his head lowered.

It was a strange posture, but Lukas was able to quickly realise that he was praying.

Lukas had arrived at the Underground City much earlier this time in order to avoid Pale’s suspicion. That was the reason why he was witnessing this sight.

Michael’s posture was very different from what was usually associated with prayer, but there was no specific posture for prayer. In fact, the form that it took didn’t matter at all, what mattered was the action of communicating with God in the mind.

But it wasn’t his posture that Lukas was curious about.

A cathedral was a building that was built for the purpose of religious events and ceremonies. The significance of this cathedral could be seen in the fact that Michael, the Lord of this city, chose to stay here. It felt like Michael, or perhaps all the beings in this city, believed in God.

It was the same even now.

But this brought the question of who Michael was trying to communicate with through prayer.

Lukas suspected that it might be the God of the Three Thousand Worlds that he knew.

[You are a patient guest.]

Michael’s voice woke him from his thoughts. Perhaps it was Michael’s habit of saying ‘guest’ the first time he spoke.

Slowly, he got to his feet before turning to face Lukas. Of course, their gazes couldn’t meet because his face didn’t have features.

However, Lukas was able to recognise the slight dip of his head which was similar to a bow.

[Thank you for respecting my personal time. Tangled, distorted being.]

“…”

He knew that Michael’s insight was amazing. This could be seen from the fact that every time he repeated this first encounter, Michael would say something that pierced Lukas’ very essence to an extent.

And the words that had just come out of his mouth.

Tangle, distorted being.

That was probably the most accurate description of Lukas’ current condition.

“I have a few questions for you.”

He decided to bring up the main point from the start. Lukas didn’t come to the Underground City simply to provide a safety net that would allow him to act natural in front of Pale.

Michael nodded his head without much surprise.

[I am the same. So how about this? I…]

As usual, Michael mentioned the question and answer exchange and Lukas agreed. He’d thought that he already knew what questions he would ask, and in what order, but his predictions were proven wrong in the next moment.

[Are you from Magic Planet?]

“…”

Magic Planet.

That name came up once again.

Lukas paused for a moment before shaking his head.

“No.”

[I see. Hmm.]

When he saw this, Lukas had no choice but to ask a question he hadn’t even thought of before.

“Why did you ask that?”

[There isn’t any deep meaning. It’s simply because the moment I saw you, I was reminded of the Truth Seekers from Magic Planet that I’d met in the past.]

“…”

He thought about Jacob’s face once again.

[Of course, you also feel different from them. You feel a bit familiar.]

Perhaps he realised that he and Lukas shared a fundamental universe. In fact, Lukas hoped he did to an extent. After all, only then would Michael become interested in him and continue the question and answer exchange.

Michael nodded slightly before speaking again.

[What is your relationship with the woman outside?]

This was another unexpected development.

Of course, Michael had asked him about his relationship with Pale before, but it was usually his last question.

This time was different. Michael had asked Lukas about Pale before his own identity or origin. What was the reason for this? Had he been alerted because Pale was in a more dangerous state than last time, like a ticking time bomb?

Perhaps Michael had vaguely guessed Pale’s identity.

He knew now. The reason Michael was so wary of Pale, and the intention behind this question. After all, if a person who was suspected to be the Blue Knight of Famine was seen with an unknown person, it was natural to try and guess their relationship first.

“She…”

Has no relationship with him, or she was following him of her own accord.

He thought about saying something like that, but stopped. He couldn’t try to solve it in the same way. Lukas had already failed twice in the Underground City.

Although this question and answer exchange might appear trivial, fate often changed because of the most trivial things.

And what Lukas needed now was such a change.

Looking at Michael, he said.

“She is testing me.”

[…testing?]

Michael’s voice seemed to tremble slightly.

Lukas wasn’t exactly making anything up. He’d thought about why Pale didn’t leave his side.

And the words that he was letting out of his mouth now was the most plausible possibility he had thought of.

“To determine if I am worthy of becoming King.”

[…!]

This time, the reaction was more noticeable. A hazy fog of holy energy began to surround Michael’s body.

[That means…]

“Right.”

Lukas nodded.

“I am a Void King Candidate.”