The Returner Chapter 176

"Chief Wizard! Sir!"

"M-mm?"

"Something has happened and your presence is required!"

One of the greatest, most respected Wizard currently alive in Berafe, Anain Deperon, could only tilt his head at this call. His apprentice dared to intrude upon his laboratory when he was occupied with his research.

Entering the lab of a Wizard without permission, who was doing his research, was one of the worst offences anyone could commit. Not only that, the apprentice actually intruded into his own teacher and the top Wizard, Anain Deperon's lab!

"Didn't I tell you not to enter when I'm performing research?!" (Anain Deperon)

"B-but, sir! It's a big problem!"

"What kind of a big problem is it?" (Anain Deperon)

"A G-Gate has appeared, sir!"

Anain Deperon's expression stiffened slightly.

"Is it an enemy? Where is it opening up?" (Anain Deperon)

"I don't think it's an enemy, sir."

"What? If so, what's the big problem, then? Stop cutting your words short to frustrate me and be out with it, will you!" (Anain Deperon)

The apprentice took several large gulpings of air and began speaking in a dignified manner.

"A dimension! It's a dimensional Gate, sir!"

"What was that?!" (Anain Deperon)

Anain Deperon's white beard violently trembled.

A dimensional Gate? Why was such a thing appearing here, of all places? Was this an invasion of another dimension?

If such a thing was possible, then Berafe was as good as finished.

If it was an existence capable of opening a Gate large enough to let a huge army through from another dimension, then that guy would have been the greatest Wizard of them all, that was why.

Not having enough time to compose his thoughts, Anain Deperon hurriedly followed after his apprentice's guidance and activated ‘Teleport'.

"Mm??"

Anain Deperon discovered the small Gate floating in the air and tilted his head. For sure, that thing was a dimensional Gate. Indeed, it was one, but….

But, that thing was a bit ‘lacking' to kick up such a mighty fuss over it.

The most noticeable thing about it was its size. It was so small that whatever came out from it couldn't possibly be that powerful.

Seeing a Gate so small that a person might barely squeeze through, Anain Deperon broke out in a loud guffaw.

"You fool!" (Anain Deperon)

Anain Deperon's hapless apprentice, Lopes, flinched greatly and lowered his head.

"You should have developed your eyes enough by now. Yet, you got scared by a Gate that small and ended up making a busy person waste his precious time! Do you not remember that your teacher has a mountain of research still to complete??" (Anain Deperon)

"Even though it's small, it's a dimensional Gate, so I was only…." (Lopes)

"You're supposed to calculate the amount of Mana used to create a Gate. Look at that one. Whoever crosses over, he won't be of any threat." (Anain Deperon)

"Oh….."

Hearing the words, ‘amount of Mana used', Lopes could only nod his head. He did panic when the dimensional Gate suddenly opened up, and ended up raising a big fuss, but if he thought about it some more, there was certainly a limit on what or who could cross over using such a Gate.

"I'm really sorry, teacher." (Lopes)

"Tsk. You're my apprentice, yet you forget about things like this… Who else did you call beside me?" (Anain Deperon)

"I thought it was an emergency so I summoned the Royal Magic Squadron, as well. Let me cancel that right now." (Lopes)

"Don't." (Anain Deperon)

"….Teacher?" (Lopes)

"Something is crossing over anyway. Let those guys deal with it." (Anain Deperon)

"Oh, I see. I shall." (Lopes)

Anain Deperon turned around to leave in a bit of a huff, but then, the Gate began vibrating all of a sudden.

"Groan….."

Anain Deperon looked at the vibrating Gate and spat out a sigh.

If he hadn't seen it, fine. But having seen the dang thing getting ready to open up with his own two eyes, he couldn't leave now as that was a conduct unfitting for a government official like him who made a living from people's taxes.

"And I don't have time to waste like this, too!" (Anain Deperon)

The moment a Wizard stopped researching something, that's when he would start stagnating. Everyone else was surging forward with an unstoppable momentum, but him being stuck unmoving? That was the same thing as going backwards.

Anain Deperon felt enraged towards his fool of an apprentice who managed to rob him of his precious time, while slowly lifting up the staff he held in his hands.

He didn't know who would dare to cross over to Berafe like this, but he planned to show off how incredible his magical prowess was to this intruder.

Wuuuoonng-!!

The vibrating Gate finally opened up in full, and….

"….A human??" (Anain Deperon)

Anain Deperon's brows shot up.

The dimensional Gate opened up, yet a being with a human's appearance popped out from there. Which was odd. From what he knew, monsters and demonic creatures would normally jump out of dimensional Gates.

But then again, this woman possessed a pair of eyes that glowed so brilliantly in a distinct golden hue. A woman with an all-conquering beauty capable of enslaving any who looked at her was slowly walking out of the Gate.

‘A human? No, it can't be….'

There was no way that was a human.

That was a dimensional Gate, of all things. That was one of the highest form of magic out there. Even someone like Anain Deperon wouldn't even dare to cast it without making an extensive prior preparations.

Of course, you could open a dimensional Gate without resorting to magic, but regardless of which method you choose, the fact of needing to spend an incredible amount of labour and resources still didn't change.

And that why that young-looking female walking out of such a Gate couldn't have been no ordinary human being.

"Who are you?" (Anain Deperon)

Anain Deperon's voice, amplified greatly by sound amplification magic, reverberated throughout the land.

At the same time, the woman's eyes landed on Anain Deperon.

"….Heok?!"

Seeing those eyes that pierced deep into his soul, Anain Deperon immediately realised that this woman wasn't an existence he could possibly resist against.

Of course, the name of this woman was Affeldrichae. She was called the Lord even among the ranks of great race of Dragons.

"H-mm…."

Affeldrichae sucked in a lungful of Berafe's air. She always felt frustrated from the feeling of missing something in Yi Ji-Hyuk's home world with no Mana in it. But, now that she breathed in Berafe's air, she felt like life was pouring back into her.

"I should revert back to my original form, yes?" (Affeldrichae)

An unbelievable amount of Mana was flooding into her all of a sudden. She recalled her real body, the one she had to leave behind when crossing over to Earth.

RUMBLE-!!!

"Ah, ah, ahahah…."

Anain Deperon was overcome with a profound sense of elation and at the same time, unbridled fear from the massive shock waves of Mana spreading out in the skies above his head.

‘C-could she be….??' (Anain Deperon)

Rumble!!

There weren't that many creatures capable of wielding this much Mana. Especially if it was this enormous amount of naturally-occurring Mana, then the answer became even more obvious.

The perfect lifeform, born from the Mana itself.

A Dragon!

Before long, her true shape was revealed to the world.

From the twelve distinct horns adorning her large head…

….To four giant bat-like wings and a tail that seemed to stretch on forever.

A gloriously eye-catching torso seemingly made out of pure molten gold ready to flip the world upside down. A massive being over 30 metres long was now flying in the air.

Anain Deperon plopped down on his butt after witnessing this spectacle.

"The L-L-Lord?!" (Anain Deperon)

He only knew of one giant Dragon with a golden colour scheme living in Berafe. And that would be the Lord of Dragons, Affeldrichae. The de facto ruler of this continent, and an agent of goddess Latrel.

And this mighty being had finally revealed itself back in Berafe. The Dragon Lord that hadn't been seen for quite some time had appeared once more.

Anain Deperon feared that her re-emergence would bring out a new wave of instability in Berafe.

Anain Deperon fell to his knees as the voice speaking in the language of the Dragons called out to him.

To a regular person, a Dragon was an existence to be feared. But, for a Wizard like him, a Dragon was a divine existence that they would never dare to carelessly offend.

As a human walking on the road of magic, he knew very well that a Dragon was an incredible Wizard that needed to be held in reverie.

Countless Wizards came and went throughout the history of Berafe Some among them were called Great Sages, and some were even revered as Arch Wizards. But none of them managed to reach the same level as that of the Dragons.

Not even a human who had achieved the status of legendary master in a single field was qualified to discuss magic with a Dragon.

In Berafe's extensive history, there had ever been only one wielder of magic who managed to exceed the level of Dragons.

Indeed, there had only been one.

That man didn't stop after reaching the realm of Dragons. No, he continued to climb until he reached the realm that not even Dragons could dare to approach.

So many legends of the past, now all coming across as tall tales. If it weren't for all those clear-as-day remnants of destruction still visible in this era, then no one would've believed in those stories.

The shivering Anain Deperon hurriedly planted his head on the ground as the massive voice reverberated within his head.

"O-oh, great and noble existence…." (Anain Deperon)

Affeldrichae quietly stared down at Anain Deperon on the ground. In the past, she might have ripped this poor little Wizard to shreds simply because he failed to answer her right away. However, she didn't do that.

She had acknowledged that even these weak beings had their purposes and was worth something in this world. The life she lived alongside Yi Ji-Hyuk certainly managed to shake up her identity as a Dragon.

"W-which temple do you seek, oh great one?" (Anain Deperon)

"Ah!!"

Anain Deperon pressed his head even deeper into the ground and shouted out.

"I shall guide you there, oh great one!"

Terra Latrel.

It was once called the holy land of Latrel, but it lost all its might in one fateful day.

That man.

Back then, when that man named Bringer of Apocalypse nearly drove Berafe to the brink of extinction - the holy castle of Latrel that stood tall on calm, peaceful Terra Latrel was destroyed, and the land surrounding it was completely levelled flat.

The holy castle crafted from the combined strength of humans and the blessings from the goddess Latrel herself disappeared without a trace. Countless men and women of clergy also lost their lives, too. The temple of Latrel, never once relinquishing the title of number one religion in Berafe until then, was driven to the brink of eradication that day.

With much time having passed now, the temple of Latrel had finally recovered somewhat from that devastating loss. Their number one priority had been the restoration of Terra Latrel, and they poured all their effort in reconstructing the glorious castle back to how it was.

And finally, today was the day!

All those involved began shedding tears of joy as they gazed at the beautiful castle, fully restored to how it was in the past.

"Finally!"

The current pope of the temple of Latrel didn't even try to hold his tears back.

If someone saw him like this, they would berate him, a pope, for shedding tears for something this minor.

But that was only because they didn't know anything!

The restoration of Terra Latrel had a far, far deeper significance then simply building new structures and carving out the land. Indeed, it signified that they had finally broken free from the long and unforgiving age of darkness.

Just how much pain and hardship did the temple of Latrel had to go through ever since that day of destruction?

‘From henceforth, there shall never be another day where this place falls again. I swear it in her holy name!'

The moment the pope resolved himself!

Wuuoonng-!!

Suddenly, pure white rays of light gathered in the sky. And then, massive creature materialised there - a creature capable of rendering all who looked at it in an utter daze.

"…………."

In less than three seconds, the pope reversed out of his previous resolution.

"Well, if it's destroyed, we can just rebuild it again."

"Pardon me, your worship?"

"….It's nothing."

Well, there were certainly several irresistible forces in this world, true. Such as, a colony so painstakingly built by ants being destroyed in seconds under the trampling feet of a naughty kid, for instance.

If it was destroyed, just rebuild it again. No problem.

Seriously now, could ants even mount a resistance against the human to protect their colony?

"Yup, my successor will surely take care of it now."

"Excuse me?"

The reactions trying to butt in from the side were getting on his nerves somewhat, but the pope simply chose to keep his mouth shut and slowly formed the seal of prayer with his hands.

It was impossible to deal with a Dragon that big. Humans and their abilities had clear limitations, you see!

Well, maybe if they had made some preparations, they might be able to put up some resistance. But that notion was simply impossible with the forces currently residing in Terra Latrel right now.

Fighting a regular Dragon was already tough, but to fight against one large enough to cast a shadow covering the entirety of the Latrel castle?

The pope could only wryly chuckle to himself.

The remaining issue was to figure out why a Dragon showed up here….

It was then, his head reverberated with a powerful voice that seemed to directly enter his mind.

Who was it looking for, again??

The pope stared at the Dragon with dazed eyes.

….I think that Dragon's gone mad.

This could be a big problem.

< 176. If it's a Dark Wizard, then eradication is in order! -1 > Fin.

Chapter end