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

A small white table floated in a completely black space.

Except for this small table, the only thing that could be seen in this space were the two beings who sat at it, facing each other.

Sedi had her chin in her hands and looked bored.

Then the blue haired man who sat in front of her opened his mouth.

“You don’t look so good.”

“…”

“Is something wrong?”

“Shut up.”

Sedi responded in an annoyed voice, her bright red eyes standing out in the darkness.

“By the way…”

“…by the way?”

The bored expression disappeared from Sedi’s face. That alone caused the atmosphere to become cold.

“I dislike your arrogant attitude. Do you want me to kill you before I kill Lukas?”

“I don’t mind.”

It was a strangely confident response.

Sedi was surprised for a moment before she glared at Nodiesop with narrowed eyes.

“You don’t-”

Just as she was about to say something, the space fluttered briefly before a new being emerged.

It was a pale, blonde-haired man.

This man expressionlessly looked around the table.

Then he made eye contact with Sedi.

“…”

The two’s eyes passed each other naturally, as if they were just observing a stranger.

Lukas then looked at Nodiesop.

He must have sensed his gaze, but there was no change to his expression, and he didn’t look over.

“Is this everyone? There should be one more.”

There were four Absolutes in this world at the moment.

There were three people at the table. One was still missing.

[Ah. Letip refused. But considering that guy’s personality, it’s not strange.]

God, who was also sitting at the table, suddenly spoke.

The three Absolutes were startled at the same time. They hadn’t realised that God was sitting there until he spoke.

He chuckled.

[Won’t you have a seat?]

“…”

Lukas sat at the table while thinking.

Letip.

That should have been the name of the other Absolute who entered.

He’d never heard the name before, but it would be foolish to conclude that he was weak because of that. Because no one dared to count the number of Absolutes in existence.

Lukas decided to remember the name Letip.

‘This space.’

This was not the universe in which they had been originally. He could tell that much.

However, it couldn’t be viewed as a completely new universe altogether.

This was probably a Personal Space.

It was a small universe that only special beings among the Absolutes could possess. It wasn’t something that could be determined by power or position.

Among the Absolutes, only those who had a special aptitude for creation, or who were given such rights by God, were allowed to own a Personal Space.

Of course, every Ruler had the power of creation.

‘The flow of time… is the same.’

He had to check the flow of time because he was no longer in the same universe. If the flow of time was different, then decades might have passed by the time he returned. Personal Spaces were no exception to this rule.

Of course, God wouldn’t make such a mistake.

“Then tell me about the advantage.”

When Lukas raised his head and said this, Sedi looked at him like he was crazy.

She couldn’t believe that he’d talk to God like that.

Naturally, this wasn’t to say that no Absolute did, but this was her first time seeing it.

Could he really talk to God like that when he wasn’t even a Ruler?

But what amazed her even more was God’s attitude.

[Aren’t you guys frustrated?]

He didn’t seem to care about Lukas’ attitude.

“What do you mean?”

It was Nodiesop who asked back in a calm voice.

[Exactly that. You must be anxious to fight each other, but all you can do is stare.]

“Ah. Then I’m not frustrated.”

He spoke in a relaxed manner.

“It’s a good thing to progress my plan slowly. Plus, my first move seems to have worked quite well.”

After saying that, he turned to look at Lukas.

It was a blatant provocation. Something that was unexpected. After all, he didn’t seem the type for such halfhearted tactics.

Lukas remained silent. There was no reason to respond.

[Nevertheless, you should still pay attention. A lot of things will change after this discussion.]

“….because of the advantage that you mentioned earlier?”

[Including that. Hmm. I’ll only explain it once, so listen carefully.]

God nodded.

[As you know, the allowance of the universe you were staying in is extremely low. Now that so many Absolutes have entered and ki has disappeared, it is in an even worse situation. It’s saturated.]

They knew.

It was like being locked in a room with thin glass walls. These walls would shatter instantly with only the slightest use of force.

Knowing that, the Absolutes had to pay attention to not make any large movements or, in other words, use their power.

What would happen if they broke the glass by mistake?

Then, all the life inside would disappear without knowing how they died.

Every being in the world except the Absolutes would disappear.

“What are you trying to say?”

[What if there was a way to exercise your power without worrying about the universe’s capacity?]

“Huh?”

“What did you say?”

Their voices overlapped. That was how surprised they were.

At that moment, Lukas felt as though God’s eyes were on him.

[You should know. A way to the laws of the universe or the world.]

No. He was definitely talking to him.

Lukas muttered softly.

“…illuminium.”

[Hmm. It was a long time ago, but I guess you still remember.]

A special metal that the Demigods had used in the past to bypass the restrictions of the laws of the world.

By consuming it, the Demigods were able to temporarily avoid the restrictions for their indiscriminate slaughter.

“Illuminium?”

“Trick the laws…?”

Sedi and Nodiesop seemed to have never heard of such a material.

They must have traveled through countless universes, so why did they not know about it?

[Your home universe was unique. Maybe that’s why you became a singularity. Even when you were just a mortal, you encountered situations that most Absolutes could never imagine.]

God answered Lukas’ thoughts.

And now that he thought about it, he had never encountered any material that had similar properties in his time as an Absolute.

“Are you saying that something like that exists in this world?”

[It’s a bit different from illuminium. It’s not tricking the laws of the world; it’s simply transferring the burden for using your power to a world that was already destroyed.]

“…a world that was already destroyed?”

[Right.]

God nodded.

[I’m talking about a false world.]

False world.

Or a world that was worse than trash.

That was how the vast majority of Absolutes viewed such worlds.

They were empty worlds that had nothing on them. The existence of such a space was a contradiction in itself, but it was true that false worlds existed.

It was said that even the Rulers did not understand the existence of these worlds and that only God knew the truth about them.

Of course, that wasn’t very important at that moment.

‘Using our power wouldn’t affect the universe.’

This would mean that he could not only use his external force as an absolute but also his own power, Endtongue.

If that was the case…

‘I could kill Nodiesop.’

“…”

Nodiesop’s expression hardened.

Even if they used their powers to the fullest, the universe wouldn’t collapse and the damage would instead be sent to a false world. Frankly speaking, that wasn’t an attractive proposition for Nodiesop.

He was also an Absolute, so naturally, he disliked the thought of causing a universe to collapse. But he would still be able to bear it reluctantly.

Especially if he could get rid of the madman in the process.

But Lukas would never make such a choice.

His purpose was to save the humans. He wouldn’t do anything that broke his belief.

Lukas wouldn’t abandon the humans.

No, he couldn’t abandon them.

‘The madman is in a dangerous situation.’

He grew stronger at an unusually fast pace, but this caused his foundations to be unstable in many ways. Because he gained power too quickly, he didn’t have the time to properly digest it and make it his own.

A tower which was built in a hurry was prone to collapse. And that was exactly what Lukas was like.

He only had to break his center.

In Lukas’ case, his belief was protecting humans, and if he caused that belief to crack, he would self-destruct, which was exactly what Nodiesop wanted.

But if he was able to use his full strength, things would be different.

‘I don’t think I’d lose a head-to-head battle.’

If he fought, he would win.

Every Absolute thought like that. Power and rank were only secondary.

If they weren’t so confident in themselves, they would never have become Absolutes in the first place.

That’s why the Rulers were so amazing. They were able to cause these noble Absolutes to feel reverence and desire towards them.

‘Things would get annoying if Lukas could use his power without restriction.’

This wouldn’t affect his victory, but he didn’t want to take any risks.

In other words, Nodiesop was desperate to find the ‘thing’ God was talking about.

It was fine. This advantage would change nothing.

If it didn’t go as planned, he didn’t mind flipping the table.

Nodiesop’s eyes shined darkly.

[…]

Nodiesop didn’t notice that God was looking at him.

God smiled cheekily before saying.

[Now, then. I’ll give you a hint about ‘it’.]

Suddenly, a word appeared in Lukas’ mind.

‘Hybrid.’

“…”

Is that the hint?

Lukas pondered upon the meaning behind this word as God continued.

[Each of you received a different hint. It could mean the thing directly, refer to it indirectly, or be a related clue. I hope you will rack your brains hard to figure it out.]

“Is that the only hint?”

Lukas couldn’t help but ask back in a strange voice,

Hybrid.

That alone was too little to be a clue.

[Right.]

“It’s not enough.”

[Haha. You have the biggest advantage here, Lukas.]

“What?”

God smiled and turned his head. It was clear that he didn’t intend to tell him any more.

Lukas also couldn’t afford to reveal his advantage, whatever it might have been. He decided to think about God’s words later.

[That’s the end of our discussion. You may leave.]