The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR) Vol 2 Chapter 270

He could no longer hear the 'voice'.

This was natural. After all, the voice would only reveal its presence when his inner conflict escalated.

Now that he'd received the 'answer' after his long contemplation, there was no reason for him to hear the voice again.

Nevertheless, the doubts in Lukas' heart didn't disappear completely.

'Wasn't I making the wrong choice?'

This was a thought that an Absolute was never supposed to have.

Regardless of whether they had walked the correct path or not, denying or doubting the things they had done was no different from crushing the beliefs that made them Absolutes with their own hands.

'…weak thoughts.'

The reason he felt that was simple… They were predictable.

After they entered the Great World, he was given a human body.

Eating, sleeping, resting, and bleeding when he was injured. A true, human body.

After being bound by this body, he felt as if his lost emotions had been revived once again. He felt his mind swirl, like catching a whiff of a nostalgic perfume after having lost his sense of smell for a long time.

Not that long ago, he'd thought he didn't like it, but that wasn't true.

The body and mind were closely related.

It was for that reason that the transcendent body, which was the union of the two, was considered a product of perfection and a symbol of Absolutes.

'…was this an arrangement of the Rulers?'

To make Lukas reminisce about his days as a human, fill him with doubt and make him weak.

No. It was impossible.

While it was true that the Rulers were paying attention to Lukas, that was all. After all, they never considered Lukas to be a threat. The number of Absolutes at the 'Lord' level like Lukas was uncountable. There was no reason for the Rulers to go out of their way to keep one of them in check.

'But one thing is certain.'

From now on, Lukas would make different choices from before.

Wiggle.

He tried to move his 'finger'. The heart in his chest had already stopped beating. In a sense, his body was already dead.

But that didn't matter.

He would be able to continue moving his body unless his brain was destroyed or his entire body was torn apart. He probably wouldn't die even if most of his internal organs were destroyed.

He tried to get up, but couldn't. Half of his body was frozen in ice. The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was being swept away by the water, and it seemed that he had still been partially submerged when the priestess froze the water's surface.

If he tried to forcefully extract himself, he would tear his skin apart.

Fwoosh-

A weak flame rose up from Lukas' body. Although it was faint, the fire quickly melted the ice that encased Lukas and even evaporated the water in his clothes.

Then, he finally got to his feet.

His body wasn't moving as well as he expected. To be precise, instead of moving his body, it felt more like his was manipulating a puppet.

This sensation, where his mind seemed to transcend his body, was quite familiar.(1)

Lukas turned his gaze to look across the ice cap.

There, he saw Nodiesop.

He slowly raised his finger.

Crackle.

Dark red light blossomed at the tip of his finger as Absolute Power swelled within him. He felt his transcendent body, not his physical body, creak slightly.

Ignoring the creaking, Lukas fired the shot.

And the Absolute Beam pierced Nodiesop's neck.

Although it was faint, she felt like she'd heard Lukas' voice.

Throb-

“Kuh…”

Her head ached. It felt like someone was constantly hammering inside her skull. Her body cried out for rest. It was begging her to rest just a while longer.

Ignoring the cries, she forcibly opened her eyes.

A familiar face appeared in her blurry vision.

The face of someone who shouldn't be there.

“…Master.”

Why, why was he here?

“Kakakak.”

Then she heard a sound similar to someone coughing up mouthfuls of water.

“Kakakakak.”

It was Nodiesop's laughter. He'd burst into laughter despite the gaping hole in his neck.

“I didn't expect to hear bullshit like that. Interesting.”

After speaking in a broken voice, he rubbed his throat slightly.

The wound couldn't be healed, but he could at least stop the bleeding. He also absorbed some of the blood back into his throat. Aside from the pain, it was difficult to speak because his vocal cords had been badly damaged.

“I don't know how you managed to use that technique just now, but that isn't something you can do often in your current state.”

“You're like a half corpse now. I thought it might be a trap since you dare to appear before me in such a state, but that doesn't seem to be the case. How absurd. It would have been much better for you if you didn't show yourself now, so why did you make such a foolish decision?”

If Lukas had attacked while remaining hidden, Nodiesop wouldn't have been able to do as he pleased since he would have to constantly be vigilant. For Nodiesop, such a situation would be countless times more difficult. A threat could only approach him if he wasn't aware of the danger.

But Lukas didn't do that. Instead, he attacked openly. Was it to protect those he'd brought into this world?

Or.

“Were you planning on showing off in front of me?”

“You've been talking a lot today, Nodiesop. Did something good happen?”

“Kakak… That's right. I can finally kill you, who have been a thorn in my eyes for a long time.”

“That's enough of your excitement.”

Lukas shook his head slowly. Deep fatigue was clear on his extremely pale face.

“More importantly, it seems you didn't take my warning to heart.”

“Warning?”

Nodiesop's expression darkened.

Surely… he couldn't be talking about when he told him to leave the Heavenly realm, could he? Then he'd spare his life?

“Ha. I don't even know how to respond to that bullshit.”

Lukas simply looked at him without saying anything. And Nodiesop couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Just what exactly was this guy thinking?

'Why did he decide to appear in front of me now?'

Desperation?

That wasn't it.0

His face was pale, and his movements had no strength behind them. However, his eyes had remained cool and calm from the beginning.

He seemed relaxed. There were no signs of worry at all. He knew that Absolutes were skilled at hiding their inner thoughts, but it was a completely different story when they were no signs at all.

In other words, this meant that Lukas still had something to rely on.

'Interesting.'

(Note:

1.I believe it is a similar situation to the body he has on Earth. When he used the Ghost spell, he returned to his 'true' form, which I guess we can now call his 'transcendent body', during the trip to Africa with Johanna.)

Chapter end