The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years

Book 2: Chapter 347

“…Oh my God.”

“I can’t believe it…”

Upon seeing Snow’s appearance, the Swordnaz despaired as though the sky was falling onto their heads.

Sera, who seemed unable to speak, could only clench her fists tightly with tears in her eyes.

The others’ reactions weren’t much different.

It was only Eric who was able to stay relatively calm.

“Magic Commander, will Lady Snow be okay?”

Nevertheless, he was unable to completely suppress the shiver in his voice.

“She’s currently in a false death state, but fortunately, her life isn’t in immediate danger.”

Peran answered in a voice completely different from when he himself had discovered Snow.

Relief swept across the faces of the Swordnaz’s faces like a wave.

Just this interaction was enough to show that Peran, while not as trusted as Snow, was still relied on quite a bit.

“I intend to go on a journey to heal Lady Snow.”

“Will she be able to wake up again?”

“She will.”

Peran’s voice was quiet, but it was filled with unshakeable resolve.

With a grave expression on his face, Eric slowly opened his mouth.

“Then we…”

“No.”

But Peran, who knew what he was about to say, gently dissuaded the Swordnaz.

“I have something even more important for you to do.”

“By something more important…”

“You need to help Lady Snow. Be the shield that protects her while she is in this vulnerable state.”

“…all five of us?”

His face was asking if not even one of them could go along with him.

The important thing to remember was that the five of them were a unit. So it would be counterproductive to take only one of them.

“The Swordnaz can only reveal their true value when all five members are present. That is something Lady Snow used to say all the time. Was that a mistake?”

“…that’s… not it…”

As he spoke, Eric tried his best to hide his sorrow.

However, his expression of anger and frustration still seeped through.

“Eric, you need to take Lady Snow to ‘Lilund’. We need Lady Snow to be near the World Tree, Hruhiral, to stabilise her condition. This is something only you can do.”

The cold air around Snow’s body didn’t fade even after they left the cool cavern. In fact, it would probably be fine even if she were placed in a hot environment.

Her Iceheart wasn’t so weak that it could be shaken by the heat of the sun or a bonfire.

However, they were worried that the death energy in her body would begin to spread over time.

Hruhiral’s sacred power also contained the element of purification. So if the death energy truly was to begin acting up, the World Tree would be able to suppress it a bit.

“No one should be allowed to know how critical her current condition is. Even if it’s other elves. I believe you don’t need me to explain why. Can you promise me that you will carry out this task?”

“I promise, Magic Commander.”

Eric gave a stiff nod.

In other words, he would need to deceive his people, but now was not the time to be worried about that.

At least from Eric’s perspective, Snow’s life was much more important than the fundamental integrity and innocence that he had as an elf.

“Please hurry… And Yuriah.”

“Yes.”

“I would like to talk to you for a second.”

“…”

Yuriah nodded without changing her expression.

Peran gestured with his head slightly, and the other Swordnaz got up from their seats.

After a while, only Peran, Lukas, and Yuriah remained in the cave.

“You have to be careful.”

“Huh?”

“…keep this in mind. From now on, it’s possible that any Wizard could be an enemy.”

Yuriah’s expressionlessness gave way to a look of confusion. She didn’t understand what Peran was saying.

He knew this.

But he didn’t have much time to explain.

“Before coming to the Amalgam Forest, I visited my home in Kausymphony. You know of my father, Shepard Jun, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard of his reputation. He’s a Great Wizard who represents the empire, and a high ranking executive in the Circle.”

“…”

Peran smiled faintly.

“He’s good at pretending… I suppose I should still call him father.”

At those words, Lukas, who had been leaning against the wall of the cave the entire time, lifted his head.

“What do you mean by that?”

“My father tried to kill me.”

“Huh…?”

It wasn’t just Yuriah that was shocked. Even Lukas had an expression of disbelief on his face.

“He has already sold his soul to Diablo. To see the end of magicology, he would not hesitate to commit any crime… My father, Shepard Jun, has already been corrupted.”

“But… why so suddenly…?”

Shepard Jun.

Yuriah had never met him personally, but she knew that he was a very straightforward person. This was because Peran often told her about him and because Yuriah had done a lot of research on the high ranking Wizards on the continent.

Shepard Jun was a man that she assumed would break long before he would bend.

“He was a 7-star Wizard. You are also at the same level, so you should understand, right? Just how high the wall in front of you is.”

…Of course, she knew.

In fact, she felt like even if she spent her entire life, she wouldn’t be able to obtain any clues about the next level.

This kind of vague fear and self doubt put a lot of pressure on the shoulders of this young Wizard, who was considered a genius.

“Diablo promised them enlightenment. He proclaimed himself to be a teacher… It goes without saying how tempting that would be for an Archmage who thinks they cannot progress any further on their own.” (TL: I’ve always wondered why the author uses both Great Wizard(대마법사) and Archmage(아크메이지) to refer to Wizards above 7-stars. To this day, I’m unsure.)

“My loyalty to Lady Snow is much greater than my pursuit of magicology.”

Yuriah’s voice was firm.

“I know that. But it is not good to be overconfident… because even Cairo Wilsemann, the right hand of the Grand Master, Ivan, who has already reached 9 stars, has already joined Diablo’s side.”

“…!”

Both Yuriah and Lukas revealed shocked expressions at those words.

“Did you say Cairo Wilsemann…? That…”

“This information is concrete. After all, I was directly attacked by him. Maybe if it weren’t for the fact that they were trying to capture me instead of killing me, I would not have been able to make it to the forest.”

“…”

“Was Cairo working with Diablo from the start? Or did he only recently decide to betray the Circle? I don’t know.”

Both of them used to be a part of the organisation called Paragon. In other words, they were former colleagues. The possibility that Cairo had been deceiving them from the start could not be ignored.

“…listen carefully, Yuriah. Diablo has been saving up so much power that we couldn’t even begin to imagine. He crouched down and hid his claws for a long time, so he must still have a lot of hidden cards. And the fact that he is revealing it now means that he is confident in his victory regardless of what we do to try and stop it.”

“…”

“This is not all. It’s highly likely that this is only the beginning.”

That was the fact that worried Peran the most.

…10 years. The peace they obtained by overthrowing the Demigods had only lasted a short time.

Sooner rather than later, another storm would sweep across the entire continent.

“Whenever we meet again, treat me with suspicion, and I will do the same.”

“…”

Yuriah licked her lips over and over as if she had something to say, but she couldn’t say anything in the end.

She simply clenched her fists.

And nodded.