The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years

Book 2: Chapter 332

Peran’s figure shot into the sky. Nix, who was staring at him like she wanted to kill him, immediately chased after him.

Changing the battle location.

From Peran’s perspective, his highest priority goal had already been completed.

‘She was curiously easy to provoke.’

This didn’t mean that he thought she was an easy enemy.

In fact, she was probably the most formidable enemy he’d ever faced.

“Hoo…”

He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

Peran realised that his emotions were in a slightly unstable state.

The first thing he needed to do was forget everything.

The conversation between Lukas and Nix.

The first clue that he’d found in ten years.

And everything about Frey Blake.

This opponent was not one he could face while his mind was in turmoil.

It was even possible that he would have to risk his life in this fight.

Fwoosh!

Immediately afterward, he felt immense heat coming from behind him. When he glanced back, the first thing he saw was a wave of flames that completely covered his entire field of view.

Trying to block those flames was no different from suicide.

Should he use Blink? Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that the range of this attack was small enough for him to escape it using short distance teleportation.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Peran observed Nix over the flames.

Her eyes were shaky, her breathing was erratic, and her face was flushed.

…It was clear that this person had lost half of their reason and had become mentally unstable. This was probably the reason why her attacks were so one dimensional. In the first place, fire was an element that was easy to understand and simple to use.

‘I won’t be intimidated.’

He just had to do what he always did.

There was no need for him to be frightened by her overwhelming firepower.

Of course, this didn’t mean that this would be an easy fight for Peran at all. If he were to touch even a small spark of those flames, the tide of the battle would turn in an instant. Or perhaps it would immediately end. It was entirely possible that Peran would suffer from the tragic end of having his body turn into ashes without being able to resist.

The overwhelming pressure from his enemy and the overwhelming pressure from this life and death battle overlapped, creating a heavy weight on his shoulders.

This pressure was so immense that even high level Wizards would find it hard to concentrate enough to cast spells.

‘Right. It’s too heavy.’

But if he couldn’t overcome adversity like this one, then he couldn’t really call himself an Archmage.

Whoosh!

A windstorm began to form above Peran’s hand.

Just because his opponent was a Phoenix didn’t mean he needed to use water attributed magic.

Of course, it was impossible to put out such a huge flame with wind magic. Even a naturally formed hurricane would not be able to do so.

However, it was possible to change the path of the flames.

Whoosh!

The raging storm temporarily stalled the flames before forcibly changing their direction. The flames, which were rushing towards the forest with fierce momentum, rolled over and went back in the direction they came from.

In other words, they rushed towards Nix.

“…”

Nix didn’t try to avoid them.

In fact, she didn’t even blink as the flames she shot out engulfed her entire body. Those flames were hot enough that even polished steel would have melted in an instant, but Nix looked like she was just feeling a warm breeze instead. (TL:…no duh…)

‘I didn’t expect that.’

He didn’t expect it to have any effect at all.

As he looked at her unmoving expression, Peran couldn’t help but feel a bit of fear rising within him.

For instance, if this had been a battle between Wizards and those flames were a spell, it would have been a completely different story.

Just because the caster was the one who created the spell didn’t mean that they wouldn’t take damage from it.

Peran couldn’t help but recall the fact that his opponent was a divine beast and a Phoenix at that.

For a being that had been born from flames, the flames she made were as threatening as her own fingernails.

Crack!

Whoosh!

Immediately after carefully analysing the situation, Peran cast Earth Fragment and Frost Scream simultaneously.

In terms of pure skill, the Monster Queen surpassed him by an almost insurmountable margin. Peran’s only advantage in this fight was the fact that he was much calmer than Nix was.

Usually, in battle, if your opponent was to lose their cool first, it would be possible to win even if there was a large gap between you.

But Peran quickly realised that irregardless of how many spells he shot out one after the other, he still failed to pierce the shell of flames that covered Nix.

The reason for this was simple.

Nix was several times stronger than Peran.

Moreover, her flames were gradually becoming stronger as more time passed.

Despite this, there were two reasons why Peran had yet to receive any injuries.

The first, as mentioned earlier, was that Nix’s attacks were too one dimensional. The other was that Nix had become too used to one sided slaughtering.

Wiping entire regions with a vast range of flame attacks.

That was the main fighting style of Nix, the Monster Queen.

However, Peran was able to respond to the flame attacks she used to an extent.

Even though he was only desperately defending, it couldn’t be denied that Peran was doing an exceptional job at staying alive.

‘In other words, the Monster Queen has never fought an enemy as strong as I am.’

It was thanks to that that he hadn’t stopped breathing yet, but he wasn’t optimistic that would remain the case for long.

The Monster Queen’s combat senses were extraordinary. Even now, she constantly analysed Peran’s numerous spells as if she could see right through them, and was able to distinguish his real attacks from his feints. Since she was effectively half-mad at the moment, this meant that she was relying almost solely on her instincts.

This fact covered his back in cold sweat.

That was why he couldn’t let his guard down for even an instant.

‘I can’t afford to waste any more time.’

His analysis was complete.

Peran’s judgement was simple.

He needed to act as soon as possible.

“In the beginning, there was only a handful of wind.”

While holding Nix back, he began to chant a spell.

Although this counted as a form of double casting, the perfection of the spell he was using to hold Nix back didn’t falter at all.

“This wind became a breeze for the good and a typhoon for the corrupt. Behold. Even if a formidable foe blocks my path, how can I feel fear when I have the fangs of wind that scratch the earth on my side?”

Howl-

His mana, which was slowly rising up from his body, began to shake violently.

It was a strange omen.

It was Lukas, who was still collapsed on the ground, that noticed it before anyone else. He stared blankly at Peran for a moment before his eyes quickly widened.

He realised what spell Peran was trying to cast.

“I declare here and now. That the fangs of wind have come to rest on me, and I will not show mercy to my enemies.”

Bang!

The harbinger of the spell appeared.

Following the loud sound, an enormous shockwave spread in every direction.

The clouds in the sky immediately scattered and disappeared.

Rumble…

Then came the vibrations.

Even Nix, who had lost basically half of her reason, could tell that these unusual vibrations were not a good sign.

“…”

While she didn’t know what it was, she could tell that it was dangerous.

This man was up to something.

Fwoosh!

Nix let out a breath of flames, and the space that had just been occupied by the clouds, were now filled by a sea of flames.

But Lukas could tell that Nix’s response was already a step too late.

His eyes were glued to Peran as he saw him mutter the name of the spell he was about to invoke.

“…Beginning Wind.” (TL: Wind of the Beginning might have sounded cooler.)

Roar!

—In an instant, the scarlet flames were torn apart by a sudden gust of wind. It was as if the sunset sky was falling.

Those who witnessed a battle between high level Wizards might mistakenly think that they had somehow fallen into a chapter of mythology. If anyone were to see this scene, they would not think it was strange, instead, they would feel like it was normal. They would believe that they were witnessing a battle of the gods.

“Kyaak!”

Nix’s scream ripped across the sky.

The Beginning Wind tore her flames, which covered the sky, to shreds before continuing to scratch deep grooves in her body.

The feeling of the blades of wind cutting into her flesh was so intense that Nix couldn’t help but scream, but her eyes became overflowing with murderous intent.

“You… dare…!”

Flames erupted from her back.