The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR) Vol 1 Chapter 174

(TL: Mini disclaimer before we jump into it, the author never actually stated what gender Norn was and they weren't very consistent with the pronouns used, switching constantly between male and female. I simply stuck to female pronouns in order to help the flow because Norn was originally three girls. So keep this in mind in case we learn that Norn was actually genderless or male in the future.)

The first thing that Verdandy… No, the first thing that the Demigod, who had become a singular entity called Norn, saw when she opened her eyes was a fist.

Paak!

Norn didn't understand what happened.

She only felt the pain after flying dozens of meters away and colliding heavily with the ground.

“Ah.”

And when Norn uttered her first sound, Anastasia, who had hit her, had closed in on her once again.

Anastasia clenched her fist.

Anastasia's fist was as small as one would expect from a girl her age, but the power contained within it was beyond comprehension.

Papapa!

Anastasia's successive attacks sounded like claps of thunder. The ground was upturned as if it was continuously hit by cannonballs rather than blows from hands and feet.

Norn's body was like a small sailboat being swept around in a storm.

It was only as she was about to receive the 26th blow that she came to her senses.

Hwik.

She dodged.

Seeing this, Anastasia clicked her tongue. She felt that her fun from the surprise attack had come to an end.

She looked at Norn who stood in the distance with a blank expression on her face.

At first glance, she looked like a total mess, but that wasn't actually the case.

Anastasia's attacks didn't seem to have much of an effect on Norn.

The martial art technique she used was the Warrior King's Fist, and her skill level wasn't low. Moreover, her power output of 1 million ME was more than enough to make up for any clumsiness in her actions.

What was unusual was the Demigod's abilities.

“She preferred close combat before merging.”

Anastasia tilted her head as she heard Frey's voice.

“Before merging?”

“She was originally split into three.”

“…huh. This is the first time I've heard of a Demigod being able to do that.”

“It's true.”

Elliah, who was also a Demigod, had said it was something that had never happened before.

Frey looked at Norn, who was still standing there blankly, and said.

“Those punches just now weren't your full strength, were they?”

“Right, but I need time to use something stronger. And that doesn't mean the power of my attacks would double.”

Anastasia shrugged.

“That means I'll have to build it up. It's not my style, but I guess I'll take on Kasajin's role.”

“No. Get the thought of replacing Kasajin out of your head. Lucid is the one you should imitate now.”

She shouldn't use Kasajin's style just because she used the Warrior King's Fist.

That man's violent fighting style was built almost entirely on one's instincts, and it was not something that was easily imitated. Even if it might be possible to do it when fighting two against one, in a one-on-one situation, such a thing was impossible.

But Lucid was different.

He remained level-headed regardless of the situation.

As long as he had Indra's lightning and the power of Absolute, they had enough firepower. All they needed was defense and pressure.

Anastasia began laughing.

“Haha! How interesting. Using Lucid's style together with Kasajin's martial arts.”

“Don't complain for just two people. I have to take on the role of the Great Sage and Black Witch as well.”

“Kuku. That shouldn't be a problem for the Great Mage.”

Frey and Anastasia met each other's gaze.

“It's been 4,000 years since we fought together. What's the plan?”

“Don't overdo it. Go into battle with the thought that if you die, the formation will collapse.”

Anastasia snorted.

“You don't need to scare me. Even if one of us dies, it's not the end. Things are not as bad as they were back then.”

“No. It's the same as back then.”

She was silent this time.

Right.

If one of them collapsed, it would mean total annihilation.

She gave a bright smile.

“I'll keep it in mind… Then, let's do it.”

Taht.

Following the sound of her feet tapping against the ground, Anastasia quickly closed the distance between herself and Norn.

She stretched out her fist.

It was quick and merciless.

This time, it was a single blow, not a series. In fact, both the strength and concentration placed in this blow were completely different from the previous ones.

It had the power to instantly shatter even the well trained, muscular body of a Magic Warrior.

Norn simply avoided this fist.

“…”

Anastasia's eyes changed.

She was certain that Norn couldn't see her. Her eyes didn't even twitch.

This meant that she didn't rely on sight.

This was certainly strange, but after all, she was a Demigod. If one was to point out the strange parts, there would be no end to it.

'But still.'

She felt uneasy.

Anastasia inwardly swallowed.

It was not the combat Golem Anastasia but the Great Sage Schweiser who was currently feeling a sense of crisis.

'Something is different.'

Shek.

She launched three more attacks.

Every time she attacked, the unease grew stronger. It didn't make sense. She couldn't land a single hit.

To put it bluntly, she didn't come close to touching her even once.

In the meantime, the thing that was bothering her was the fact that Norn's eyes were still blankly staring into space.

Pak.

Suddenly, she was caught by her collar.

Anastasia couldn't help but freeze for a moment in shock.

'What was that move just now?'

Norn didn't seem to care about Anastasia's struggles and instead created a spear in her other hand.

Crackle!

Norn quickly stepped back.

A flash of lightning then appeared between the two of them.

Frey narrowed his eyes as he looked at Norn, who appeared in the distance.

'She avoided my lightning?'

The bolt of lightning from Frey's hand moved at a speed that was much faster than the speed of sound. (TL: I noticed it before, but the author might have some wrong ideas about the speed of light and sound…)

And he realised that it was almost impossible to avoid, even with the Demigods' monstrous reflexes.

When Norn avoided the lightning so easily, an unpleasant premonition flashed in Frey's mind. From what he could see, the difference in physical ability between Norn and Anastasia was not large.

However, Anastasia was not doing well despite being so close to her.

He was at a distance, so he was able to see what was going on more clearly. Norn moved as though she knew exactly where Anastasia's fists would go.

'Is it a prediction ability?'

He couldn't be sure.

Frey decided to confirm whether his thoughts were correct.

“Hyper Bolt.”

He used the 6 star spell that was a strengthened and reinforced version of an Energy Bolt. It might have been insufficient to deal with a Demigod, but it wasn't a spell that was intended to kill Norn in the first place.

Dozens of Hyper Bolts shot towards Norn at the same time.

What he needed to do now was pay attention to what happened next.

Ching.

Norn shattered the first Hyper Bolt with the tip of her spear.

Anastasia was inwardly shocked.

While it was certainly just a 6 star spell, these Hyperbolts were still cast by Frey, the 9 star Great Mage.

Yet Norn had broken this spell as if it was just a snowball flying towards her.

But that was just the beginning of Norn's performance.

Papapat.

Norn's movements began accelerating.

Frey's expression hardened.

It wasn't an illusion. Her movements were definitely getting faster.

She neither used any technique nor concealed her power before.

The situation was much worse than that.

'She's adapting.'

Perhaps Verdandy's consciousness was slowly accepting the newly formed body of 'Norn'.

That wasn't good.

At first, she stood still and blocked all the Hyper Bolts that he sent to her, but now, she was moving a little.

Her pace was also becoming faster and faster, and before he knew it, she disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, Norn blocked all the Hyper Bolts and greatly shortened the distance between them.

“Kuk!”

Anastasia was forced to step up once again and engage in close combat with Norn.

Frey stayed back and kept his eyes on Norn's movements.

'It's not prediction.'

In order to predict your opponents' movements, it was necessary to keep your eyes on them. Their overall gestures, hand movements, and the movements of their muscles were all important factors.

However, in order to understand the true meaning behind your opponents' actions, it was necessary to pay attention to their faces, especially their eyes.

The more skilled the martial artist was, the more they would be able to see from their enemies eyes and the better they would be able to distinguish between true and false movement.

This was a rule that not even Riki, a being who stood at the peak of Demigods, could escape.

But Norn was different.

She continued to stare at nothing, yet she was able to predict her opponent's movements even better than Riki.

Dozens of Hyper Bolts, each with their own attack patterns, were unable to even touch her.

'It's not prediction.'

Frey had this thought once again.

But he wasn't sure exactly what ability she had.

He had to find out more.

Woowoong-

Frey took out the Great Sage's Staff.

Since she could even avoid Indra's lightning, then even if he used the Absolute Line, it would be hard for him to hit her.

So first, he needed to figure out just how large the range of her defense was.

The Great Sage's Staff.

It was a magic tool that made his spells more powerful, but it could not affect the power of Absolute. That was why Frey didn't use the staff during his fight with Milled.

“Step back a little.”

There was no need to shout. With Anastasia's hearing, she could easily hear this murmur.

When she heard Frey's order, she nodded and moved away from Norn.

“Hells Rain.”

With just this soft whisper, an 8 star spell was cast.

Kugugu-

Blood red clouds formed in the sky. From these clouds, red droplets that were highly acidic and incredibly toxic would begin to fall.

It wasn't a spell that could kill Demigods outright, but it also wasn't something that they could just ignore.

He'd deliberately chosen such a large-scale spell that was difficult to avoid.

'How will she deal with this?'

Frey paid attention to Norn's movements.

Just before the rain reached the ground, Norn bent her knees slightly.

Taht.

Then her body bounced up like a spring.

Frey's expression became one of shock. It wasn't just him either as Anastasia made a similar expression.

Paht!

Divine power burst out from Norn's spear. This divine power then crashed into the blood red clouds.

Fwoosh!

Her divine power completely shredded the red clouds to pieces.

These were artificial clouds that had been created with mana. But now, they had been destroyed before the liquid in them could even be released.

Frey was several times more shocked than when she had blocked his Hyper Bolts.

'How?'

Norn had just perfectly destroyed his Hell's Rain. Ripping the clouds apart before the blood red rain was even allowed to fall.

It was the only way to block Hell's Rain in advance.

This wasn't something that could be learned just from having experience fighting Wizards. Moreover, neither Urd, Skuld, nor Verdandy had shown any familiarity to magic the day before during their fight with Frey.

Nevertheless, Norn had just moved without hesitation as though she already knew the weakness of Hell's Rain.

“…!”

Frey was suddenly struck by a thought.

No way, was Norn's power…

…

She could see.

Information about the past, present, and future constantly flowed in her head.

At first, this information was mixed up, so she didn't know how to handle it, but she was gradually getting used to it.

She could see what movements her opponent would take. And in the future, she would become stronger and stronger.

If she could control this power perfectly, it was possible that she would be on par with Agni.

'Ahh.'

But Norn still shed tears.

The feeling completely could not cover the feeling of losing her family. What was more, she was afraid of the loneliness that she would feel in the future.

Her eyes turned to the grey-haired Wizard.

This was the only person in the world on whom she could vent her negative emotions.

'Frey Blake.'

She would never forgive him.

Chapter end