The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR) Vol 1 Chapter 233

Nozdog was speechless.

He was one of the Demigods who fell to the Continent the earliest. This meant that the time he'd spent with Lord was naturally longer than most other Demigods.

They'd known each other for almost an eternity, and he had trusted and followed Lord from the start. Nothing had ever been able to change his mind.

This wasn't because Nozdog's loyalty was impressive. Instead, it was because Lord had always been an amazing leader.

It was possible that all of the Demigods thought the same.

Even if Lord gave up on dominating the continent and instead decided to live in seclusion, their loyalty was enough that they'd follow him without hesitation,

Yet it was the very same Lord who'd just told him. To shut up and become his food.

This was only something that one would say to prey, not to one's own kind.

Only Nozdog knew the emotions that filled him at that moment.

Just as Lord was prepared to consume him again.

Crack!

Lord's waist bent at a right angle, and he was unable to offset the force, causing him to fly backwards and into a wall.

Ivan shook his clenched fist.

'I hit him?'

He didn't attack in a lackluster manner. But it couldn't be said that he'd put his all into that punch.

Nevertheless, he had felt it.

That punch had connected.

While it was clear that his attack hadn't reached Lord's core, it still counted.

Dro's words weren't wrong. The current Lord was in a weakened state. Someone had dealt great damage to him.

When he thought about this, his excited heart stilled.

'Is Frey really dead?'

Lord stood to his feet again while casually brushing pieces of stone off of his body.

[…how foolish.]

Anger was evident in his voice.

Anastasia, who was observing the situation, wasn't used to this.

'Did Lord ever display his emotions like this?'

The answer was no. The only time Lord expressed his emotions was when his people suffered great harm.

But he was different now. Lord's emotions felt primitive.

Like a childish and low-level annoyance that had been caused by a bug bite.

'He's a mess.'

He felt nothing like the flawless Lord who couldn't be reached no matter how much they stretched their hands.

Anastasia saw a chance.

If they took advantage of this, they might be able to reverse the situation.

But that didn't mean that Lord's power had disappeared.

Crack!

“Kuk!”

Jekid's arm was crushed in an instant. If he had reacted any slower, it wouldn't have been his arm; it would have been his head.

'His attacks are hard to detect.'

No. He should have been glad that he was even alive at that moment.

If Lord hadn't been distracted, such a sure-kill attack would have appeared without warning.

Shuk.

Jekid swung his sword and cut off his squashed arm without hesitation.

Ivan, who saw this, couldn't help but murmur with a blank expression.

“Did you really need to cut it off?”

“I'd rather not keep anything that could distract me. Didn't you know? The more immovable your mindset is, the sharper your attacks.”

“That's true, but… it's tough.”

Jekid swung his sword a few times with his left arm,

“It's not a problem since I trained myself to use my sword with my left hand as well.”

“That's not the problem… Well… As long as you don't mind.”

Ivan shrugged before pointing towards Lord.

“I don't know why, but he's weak right now. So we just have to push him somehow.”

“…push him somehow. Is that a plan?”

“What plan? We have never worked together, so we shouldn't overdo it. It would be best if we didn't get in each other's way.”

He wasn't wrong, so Jekid nodded before turning to Lord.

“You have to be careful. His defenses are definitely weak, but his offense is still extremely powerful. Grey was protecting his entire body with mana, yet he still died before being able to do anything. My arm was also crushed like a dried fish.”

“So all we have to do is hit him without getting hit by him.”

It was easy to say.

Ivan grumbled.

It was at that moment when the Great Medium, who had been watching the situation, finished her chant.

“Seven Flower Binding Technique.” (TL: nana ka sokubaku no jutsu *flips through hand signs*)

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, seven kinds of flowers appeared around Lord before blooming at the same time.

These flowers didn't just bloom. Their roots stretched out like vines and wrapped around Lord's body tightly.

It took Lord a moment to realise that these weren't illusions but rather sorcery that altered the substance of reality.

Nevertheless, it was only a human technique. Such a crude power would not be able to restrain him completely.

But Lord found that he was unable to break these vines, that he couldn't move. His entire body was frozen as though he'd been paralysed.

Lord's fierce gaze turned to the man who was calmly watching the situation from the corner.

'Dragon Lord.'

His Dragontongue prevented him from moving his body.

It was stronger than the Dragontongue Lucifer had used. This meant that in his current condition, he would not be able to break out of it easily.

'This is our chance.'

They'd never worked together before, but it was clear to everyone that Lord's movements had been restricted.

Jekid, Anastasia, and Ivan rushed to Lord at the same time. They stood in different directions and bombarded Lord's body with their attacks. Each one being strong enough to destroy a castle.

Such powerful attacks hit Lord dozens of times in an instant.

Pa pa pa pa!

Lord's body shook violently. Their attacks were violent, but they weren't enough to reach his core.

Nevertheless, Lord was unable to easily escape their barrage.

'How is this happening?'

He had consumed dozens of Demigods.

How could he be struggling against only a few humans and half of the Dragon Lord after all he'd done?

Considering the power he'd consumed during the fight with Lukas, this shouldn't have been happening.

This question soon caused him to be filled with irritation and rage.

Lord's face distorted in an ugly manner.

[Don't touch me-!]

Boom!

A huge explosion of energy burst out from Lord's body.

The three, who were close to him, were unable to react in time and were sent flying simultaneously. They were all prepared for a sudden attack like this, but it didn't help.

The explosion that erupted from Lord's body wasn't just a 'strong impact'. An unknown force seemed to push their bodies roughly as well.

“Kuk.”

Ivan was only able to stop himself after rolling several times across the ground.

He wiped the blood that was flowing from his forehead before saying.

“What did he just do?”

“He condensed the space around him before causing it to burst. It is a repulsive power that is in a higher dimension than a physical force… using higher density space, he created empty space.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“…in simpler terms, the different spaces pushed each other away. It wouldn't have helped even if you held on to something. As long as it's an object, it will be pushed away.”

Ivan shook his head at Anastasia's explanation.

“I still have no idea what you're talking about.”

“…you don't need to understand. I don't think it is something he can use often. You just need to be careful.”

Then she continued in a solemn voice.

“I'm sure that Lord is very weak right now. If it's now… we have a chance to defeat Lord.”

Anastasia avoided commenting on why Lord was so injured. Because she didn't want to believe Lord's words.

Lord, on the other hand, grit his teeth.

Anastasia's murmur was quiet, but he could still hear it perfectly.

'Was she talking about the battle with Lukas? Was she saying that the damage he inflicted had weakened him so much?'

No. It wasn't because of that.

It was true that the battle with Lukas had a tremendous impact on his condition, but the reason why he was in this situation was different.

Lord felt a foreign power bubbling inside his body.

This energy was the reason.

The divine power he'd stolen from Lukas.

'This… is not divine power.'

To be precise, it was a mixture of divine power and mana.

While absorbing it, Lord knew that Frey's divine power was mixed with impurities. Nevertheless, he hadn't cared.

Because in the end, the ratio was 9:1. Naturally, his divine power was the 9.

Therefore, he thought that he would easily be able to filter out the mana, which was nothing more than scraps in comparison.

It was the perfect mistake.

This man was extremely persistent and toxic, causing Lord's body to rot just with its presence.

Due to this, Lord's body was currently unstable. To make matters worse, even the divine power that he had yet to digest showed signs of running rampant.

All of this chaos inside of him could have been easily quelled if he were in his peak condition, but Lord had spent a lot of energy in his battle against Lukas.

'Even so…'

It was extremely humiliating for him to be pushed to this extent by this insect-like group of mortals that Lukas Trowman wasn't even part of.

“Warrior King's Fist. Blade Fist.”

Jijik!

A sword-like gust of wind shot out from Ivan's fist and violently scratched Lord's body.

Jekid and Anastasia also began using their long range attacks.

The wounds on Lord's body increased.

'If this continues…'

He would actually be defeated by these pieces of trash.

Suddenly, an idea appeared in Lord's mind. He turned his eyes to Nozdog, who was standing far away before calling out desperately.

[Nozdog, help me.]

[…Lord.]

[I'm sorry about earlier. But can't you understand? My mind is really unstable right now. I still haven't completely controlled the others who became one with me. If this continues… I will definitely forget my essence and become a monster. That means every Demigod in me will also have a terrible ending!]

Nozdog flinched at those words.

Then Dro shouted in a rare, harsh tone.

“Nozdog! Don't be fooled! He's just saying nonsense to make you go to him! Did you already forget how he just treated you?”

[That wasn't me. Nozdog, please believe me… Right. You asked me to convince you, didn't you? I will explain it to you now. Come here and help me stop their attacks for a while…]

The flames burning in Nozdog's eyes shook unstably. Then he lifted a bone finger.

Crack!

Suddenly, layers of bones rose up from the ground, blocking the attacks headed towards Lord.

Ivan clicked his tongue when he felt the hardness of the bones.

“They're much harder than steel!”

“What is he trying to do?”

Meanwhile, Nozdog began walking towards Lord.

[…Lord, the things you said aren't easy to understand. However, I know you-]

Nozdog didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.

This was because Lord rushed towards him like a wild beast. His arms and legs wrapped around Nozdog's body like rope while his face, which had become featureless again, was once again covered by an enormous mouth.

Crunch…

The feast had begun.

Lord chewed on Nozdog's skull, neck, ribs, spine, hip, thighs, knees, and shins… before finally putting his toes in his mouth and chewing them as well. (TL:…what a sentence)

Nozdog.

It took only three seconds for this skeleton-shaped Demigod to disappear from the world.

In other words, by the time Ivan smashed through the bone barrier.

Lord had already finished his meal.

Dro looked at him with contempt.

“Do you know what you've done? With your own hands, you killed all the people who trusted you till the very end. You took advantage of Nozdog's loyalty and betrayed him!”

[That might be the case. But their wills will not disappear. Right, in human terms, I have inherited their will. What's the difference between you and me?]

“Disgusting. So you're crazy to the point of asking such a question. Don't talk about concepts you don't understand.”

It was Anastasia who responded in a disdainful voice.

Then Lord shook his head.

[Hmm. I naturally don't need your understanding.]

There was once again a sense of stability in Lord's voice.

This was thanks to the divine power he'd absorbed from Nozdog. His divine power was helping get rid of the bits of mana that were corrupting his body.

After all, Nozdog was powerful enough to be called an Apocalypse.

[Right. I understand now. So I was Michael. Ku-, Kuhuhu. How interesting. I was the balance of the Celestial World…]

Paht!

White wings tore out of Lord's back. He looked back at these wings before muttering.

[I don't think I can lose anymore… So first, let's take care of the bugs.]

Chapter end