The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years Book 2: Chapter 538

Book 2: Chapter 538

Lukas has two fundamental doubts about the existence known as the Void King.

The most fundamental question is, what exactly is the Void King? And there are countless derivative questions.

What role does a king in the Void World have? Why did the Four Knights swear loyalty to him? What does the palace in the middle of the desert signify? If I were to become the Void King, what responsibilities would I need to shoulder afterward?

…As of now, Lukas had grasped none of these.

And secondly.

At the current moment, is the position of the Void King truly vacant?

Ssshhh-

The light faded. The ripples gradually ceased.

And suddenly the water's surface began to darken ominously.

“……!”

It was a phenomenon he had never experienced before, and Lukas almost instinctively retracted his hand.

[Stop.]

Had Residue not intervened, he probably would have. The spreading darkness eventually engulfed even the palm of Lukas’s hand.

Ominous.

It was not a deep spring, merely dipping his palm slightly, and now he could not see his hand. While most living beings have an instinctual fear of darkness, Lukas could control even his own instincts. If this was merely darkness, there was little reason to feel uncomfortable.

“…What in the world.”

He realized belatedly.

It wasn’t that the spring had been darkened or contaminated in reality.

The darkness before him was merely a scene viewed through the ‘Spring of Wisdom'. Naturally, there would be as much difference as between a tiger and a paper tiger compared to actually witnessing it. Indeed, he couldn’t fully feel the oppressive aura of the Red Knight or the avatar of the Sun G.o.d through it.

But this darkness… was different. Even filtered through, it was enough to make one’s body tremble.

His mind began to cloud.

Fearful, terrifying, his body shuddered.

─I want to run away.

Gritting his teeth,

Lukas clenched his jaw.

He must not.

He must not be devoured by this darkness.

He strained his eyes as wide as possible, pulling up his concentration to its utmost.

‘Is this all there is to the darkness?’

Was the ident.i.ty of the Void King truly such an opaque, ominous darkness, and was this the scene the Spring of Wisdom wanted to show me?

‘It can’t be just this……!’

His breath became ragged. Now he even felt severe headaches. Blood vessels burst in Lukas’s eyes, and blood ran from his nose.

In that state, he forcibly maintained consciousness.

In his blurry vision, he desperately searched for clues.

And then Lukas found it.

Within the pitch-black darkness, there was a faintly luminescent something.

“……!”

The moment he captured it in his field of vision, something intense that was incomparable to when he saw the darkness rummaged through his mind. It was a type of shock that Lucas had never experienced before.

“Ugh……”

His consciousness quickly faded.

His mind creaked to the point of collapse, and for the first time since coming to the Void world, he felt his mind and body weaken the most. It was not a phenomenon that would occur simply by witnessing it.

Fighting off the overwhelming pain, Lucas put strength into his eyes for the last time.

And just before losing consciousness, he was able to see it.

It was,

An extremely expressionless─

* * *

“…….”

It had been a really long time since he opened his eyes to the s.h.i.+ning sunlight.

Because he had lived too long in a world where the sun did not exist, with a body that did not need sleep, for far too long.

“…Did I faint?”

His voice croaked out.

He thought he wouldn’t lose consciousness unless it was a dire situation.

…Just like that time with Pale, perhaps my mental strength has weakened, or maybe the events I’ve experienced are proof of their extraordinary nature.

Lukas sighed.

Still, having slept soundly, his mind felt somewhat refreshed, making him seriously consider whether fainting forcefully sometimes might not be such a bad idea.

“How long was I unconscious?”

The answer came swiftly.

[About a day.]

“…I was unconscious for quite some time. It must have been quite the shock.”

Lukas rose from his place.

And from a distance, he looked at the spring water with a complex gaze. In that moment, ‘darkness' and ‘a white face' flashed through his mind, causing his hands and feet to tremble.

“Ha.”

A scoff burst out.

I still haven’t overcome it?

[…I can't believe it.]

Residue quietly spoke.

[Even I felt fear.]

He had just realized that Residue's voice was also faintly trembling.

“…That darkness. It was probably tens of times diluted compared to the ‘real’ thing.”

[Probably. After all, it was indirectly observed through the Spring of Wisdom.]

“Yet still, both my mind and body are terrified. If I were to actually witness that darkness… I might truly go mad.”

Among all things, Lukas Trowman is undoubtedly most confident in his mental strength. The firmness of his spirit, honed through numerous trials and hards.h.i.+ps, could confidently be ranked among the top ten in all worlds.

Such mental strength, to be devoured away in an instant and enough to cause fainting.

[Was that darkness itself the Void King?]

“No. That seemed more like just emitted energy, and the man I saw at the end seems to be the Void King.”

[The man you saw at the end?]

“The being I saw just before I lost consciousness. A middle-aged man with a white face……”

[What are you babbling about?]

Residue asked with a voice full of disbelief.

“You're the one who's…”

Lukas’s voice also cut off abruptly.

He asked, just in case.

“Did you… not see it?”

[…So you saw something.]

Residue felt a strong sense of incongruity and lowered his tone.

[You said you saw a ‘white face’? Exactly when did you see it? I only witnessed darkness throughout.]

“Could it be that you fainted before me?”

[On the contrary. I was conscious even after you fainted. Right after you lost consciousness, my senses were blocked though.]

Only then did Lukas’s expression harden.

“That means…….”

[Yes. I shared the same view as you until just before you fainted, but I did not see the ‘white face’ you mentioned.]

A chill ran down his spine.

Residue and he shared all senses. They were so deeply a.s.similated that they could distinctly feel each other's emotions.

However, Residue did not see the man that Lukas saw.

It was the first time there had been a discrepancy in the information they should have equally received.

“…What exactly is the Void King? Was what I saw his past, present, or future?”

[It’s impossible to tell which time period it was from. No clues could be obtained from the background that showed the Void King.]

Surrounded by darkness, that must be natural.

[But this spring, ‘The Beginning Wizard’ must have dealt with it countless times.]

Residue seemed to think for a moment, then muttered again.

[He would know. He could also explain it. What exactly was the scene you saw.]

Lukas nodded.

In an instant, he felt an urgent need to meet with The Beginning Wizard again, enough to forget about the spring itself.

* * *

Not that he had truly forgotten about the existence of the spring.

Lukas immediately recalled the next scene.

The ‘Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d's actions in the Void World.

When the surface rippled, Lukas tensed up, reminded once again of the darkness he had seen the day before. Fortunately, the spring did not darken as it had before; instead, it reflected a familiar landscape.

The first place Lukas had seen,

The background was once again a snowy field.

However, instead of the Red Knight or the Sun G.o.d, completely different beings were standing tall.

One side featured a dragon in a blurry form.

The phrase ‘blurry form' might seem a bit awkward, but Lukas could find no better description. True to the description, the dragon's form was crackling as if covered in static noise. It also resembled mist that was about to disappear.

The scales over its entire body were peeled or cracked, and transparent blood was leaking out. Overall, it was in a battered state.

…This was the first time he was taking it all in with his own eyes.

This being is precisely the last Ruler, ‘The Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d'.

The ent.i.ty facing the dragon was indescribable in a single word.

It resembled a gigantic monster, seemingly quadrupedal at first glance.

Each of its legs was as thick as an elephant's, and its torso was covered with layers of red scales. Its back was topped with something resembling a turtle sh.e.l.l, and it had three tails. At the end of each tail, there was something like a snake's head.

The face was somewhat similar to a lion's, with no fewer than ten horns. At a glance, it might even look like it was wearing a crown.

Transparent liquid dripped from the monster’s mouth.

It was not saliva, but the dragon’s blood.

“…'The 4th Beast'.”

One of the Twelve Void Lords, known for having killed the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d.

In fact, ‘The 4th Beast' suited it less than ‘The 66th Monster'.

─Being who has lost reason… Is there really no way to suppress your instinct? Do you not understand the meaning of binding me here?

The remarkably clear voice belonged to the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d.

It was tinged with a terrible harshness, but just hearing it seemed to purify the heart with its refres.h.i.+ng clarity.

However, the ‘Beast' responded with only a vacant gaze.

─…I see. There is no other way. It can't be helped.

The dragon opened its maw wide.

Lukas narrowed his eyes.

Although it was called the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d, there were only three teeth present.

Flash-

Light emitted from inside the mouth dispersed in three directions.

After the light settled, the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d stood still like a statue and gradually crumbled from the head down.

And the vision ended.

“……”

Lukas remained quietly silent.

According to Residue,

He said that observing the actions of the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d might provide some crucial clues. But even after watching the entire scenes shown by the spring, he wasn't quite convinced.

The only useful information seemed to be that the Beast did not kill or defeat the dragon through conventional combat.

[Indeed. So that’s what happened.]

“Did you learn something?”

[Yes. The scene was quite meaningful. At that point, the dragon had weakened ‘enough to be visible.']

“Weakened enough to be visible?”

[The Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d possesses a strong gravitational pull. When in peak condition, its scales even absorb light. Therefore, under normal circ.u.mstances, it cannot even be perceived.]

Lukas took over from Residue’s explanation.

“…So the dragon was already injured before fighting the Beast?”

[Do you remember the prelude to the Great Game?]

“Somewhat.”

[There, you all competed to find ‘the most special statue'. There were four statues in that world, each hiding one of the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d's teeth, including a ‘Priestess' with consciousness.]

…4.

Several thoughts clicked in his mind.

“The light that scattered in the sky earlier was in three parts.”

Lukas came up with a hypothesis and frowned.

“Don’t tell me the dragon had voluntarily extracted its teeth before going to the Void World? And then gave them to you rulers?”

[You catch on fast.]

“But… it seemed like the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d was hostile towards you.”

[The dragon's teeth don't simply contain power or authority. There will also be some gaps in its memory. If you haphazardly fit something into an empty gap, it’s understandable that it would lead to distrust in the rulers.]

“…Then why didn’t you return the teeth to the dragon? It could have cleared up the misunderstanding.”

[Ha. Such misunderstandings aren’t worth resolving. Once something falls into my hands, it belongs to me. How I use it is up to me. After all, the Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d would have antic.i.p.ated as much.]

Before knowing Residue, one might wonder what kind of guy he was, but now, his principles of action were somewhat predictable.

Returning all the teeth would still total only four, far from enough to fully restore the Ruler's former glory.

He must have thought that it wouldn’t be of any help anyway. He was sure that it was better to keep the ‘teeth' in his own possession.

“With just three teeth, you can't guarantee victory even against one of the Twelve Void Lords.”

[That's right. But what's important here is that the dragon's original purpose was merely reconnaissance. It voluntarily stepped into that world to find clues to overcome the Apocalypse… It was fully aware of the risks and had even secured a means to extract itself if necessary.]

“However, for some reason, the dragon didn’t extract itself. Instead, it committed the bizarre act of scattering its remaining teeth all over the Void World.”

[Yes. …Looks like there’s one more thing to do, Lukas.]

Lukas nodded.

Teeth scattered somewhere in the Void World,

If he could get his hands on them, he might be able to glimpse the memories of the ‘Seven Fanged Dragon G.o.d.'

*****