The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)

Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei

There were times when Absolutes collided, but it wasn’t a common occurrence.

In the first place, usually, only one Absolute would be assigned to a world, so there were rarely any chances for them to meet each other.

And even if multiple Absolutes were assigned to the same world, their top priority was usually to carry out their mission— to return balance to that universe.

They saw confrontations with each other as a waste of both time and mental strength. Therefore, even if there were cases where they might have differing opinions or modus operandi, they would usually try to solve those differences through conversation.

Nevertheless, considering the prideful and stubborn natures of Absolutes, confrontations were inevitable. And when they did happen, Absolutes chose to settle them in the simplest way possible.

Fighting.

The victory or defeat of Absolutes wasn’t determined by their years of life. Instead, there were other factors that had to be considered.

First was their grade.

Absolutes were divided into four grades, and the difference between each grade was quite pronounced. Lords, who were second only to Rulers, were generally stronger than Assistants who ranked at the bottom.

—Generally.

In other words, there were times when that wasn’t necessarily the case.

Lukas was one of those special cases. He had defeated a Lord when he was just an Assistant.

The second factor was whether one side had a more advantageous position in the matchup.

Attribute compatibility was also a thing among Absolutes. In fact, it could be said that it influenced them more than other beings.

Naturally, all Absolutes had their own pasts and histories. Some of them were terrifying beings who had been born Transcendent or Semi-Transcendent.

And the rest were like Lukas. Beings who had been born from a mediocre race, but after a long and difficult journey, were able to become Absolutes.

The lives they lived before becoming Absolutes allowed them to create their own attributes. In other words, everything they’d accumulated up to that point became the foundation that made them an Absolute.

For example, let’s say there was an Absolute who had killed millions of insects in their life, and an Absolute who had the appearance and abilities of an insect since birth.

In that case, even if the former was a few ranks lower than the latter, it was still possible for them to have an advantage in an actual fight.

This power was called their Root Power.

For example, Lukas was born a mortal. Nevertheless, he constantly fought against beings that were almost on the same level as Absolutes. He never gave up.

Even when he was defeated time and time again, he still got back to his feet. And eventually, he was able to defeat all of the beings known as Demigods, who were Semi-Transcendent from birth.

He won the battle for the fate of his race.

And this life gave attributes to Lukas’ magic.

Lukas’ spells would become stronger whenever the following conditions were met.

Whenever he encountered beings stronger than himself.

Or whenever he encountered beings with the attributes of Absolute, Transcendent, or Immortal.

Conversely, his power would be slightly limited when facing Absolutes with mortal origins. (TL: Great Mage became pokemon)

Some might say that the existence of attribute compatibility between beings who belong to different universes was contradictory. However, there is a place in the multiverse where everything that happens in every universe is stored, including the lives of Absolutes.

It was called the Akashic Records, the largest library in existence.

A place that most Absolutes referred to as ‘The Diary of God’. The amount of information stored in that library was so vast that God was the only being capable of digesting and understanding all of it.

It was this fact that highlighted the majesty of God, the creator of the multiverse.

Even if his power was weaker than that of the Rulers, it could be said that the results of a confrontation between Absolutes were determined by his whims.

Of course, God never recorded false facts in the Akashic Records.

Lukas recalled the origin of one of his powers, divine power.

In the past, the Demigods fought a war of fate against the Dragon Race.

It was a desperate war between two races that were equivalent to Absolutes, and naturally, it would have been recorded in The Diary of God in bold letters.

The Demigods won in the end, an event that had a great influence on the concept of divine power.

As a result, the effects of divine power became much stronger when used against members of the Dragon Race.

* * *

‘This can’t be…’

Kaz narrowed his eyes.

That bolt of lightning, an artificially created technique and something that he should have been all but invincible against, had managed to easily pierce through Kaz’s defenses.

This was the case for the magic that Lukas had used before. Kaz had never experienced that power before, but he had still managed to block it easily.

Boom!

The lightning struck once again.

Kaz hesitated. What if that time was just a coincidence? Should he take the risk and let it hit him again?

‘My scales haven’t gotten weaker.’

Despite his thoughts, Kaz’s body moved almost on its own. For the first time in thousands of years, he dodged an attack.

Boom!

The ground where the lightning bolt hit immediately became black.

Kaz looked at the ground in confusion. Since it had the power to pierce through his scales, he wouldn’t be surprised if it were to crack the ground open, but it stopped after barely making a small crater.

Nevertheless, he didn’t have the time to contemplate this phenomenon. Before he was given the chance, another attack came from Lukas.

Attack?

When he saw what it was, Kaz was speechless for a moment. That guy had gotten a boulder from somewhere and thrown it at him.

—Nevertheless, Kaz evaded this attack as well.

A boulder of that size wouldn’t hurt him even if it were to fall from the sky and land directly at his head.

He was certain that…

‘Lightning.’

When this thought appeared in his head, he remembered the pain of the lightning bolt piercing through his body, and his body reacted before he could even think about it. He felt that he couldn’t ignore even something that seemed to be just a minor attack from Lukas.

If this was all a trick, then Kaz had already been tightly wrapped up in its web.

“You don’t have a lot of experience dodging. You’re full of openings.”

Following this whisper, he felt a powerful shock from the back of his head.

Crack!

[Kuaak!]

Once again, he let out a scream. Kaz hurriedly swung his arm behind him.

It was an impulsive action, neither offensive nor defensive.

In all honesty, it was an immature action. No matter how fast or powerful the movement might be, if there was no clear goal while doing it, it was nothing more than a flounder.

Lukas tilted his head to the side to avoid Kaz’s ‘attack’.Then, he grabbed the outstretched arm and hit it with his fist.

Crack!

His scales broke. Not only that but even the bones in his wrist were broken.

This time, Kaz didn’t scream, not because he was suppressing the pain, but because he was so shocked he couldn’t even make a sound.

Lukas wanted to continue his attack, but he suddenly stopped.

Gulp.

Dark blood flowed up his esophagus. His body was telling him to expel it. He wanted to vomit it out, but instead, he forced himself to swallow it back down. He couldn’t let Kaz know about his physical condition.

Lukas looked calm at that moment, but if anyone were to look at him carefully, they would find that his entire body was covered in cold sweat. If anyone else were to feel the pain he was currently experiencing, instead of crying out, they might just faint directly. Just wiggling a finger made him feel like his entire body was being torn to pieces.

This result was natural.

After all, he had forcefully absorbed demonic energy in order to convert it to divine power, and now, he was forcing himself to use this power of the Demigods.

There was only one way to describe such an act when he had only reached 8 stars. Suicide.

To make matters worse, his already damaged clothes had been completely destroyed by the previous Dragon Breath.

This meant that Lukas was now being directly exposed to the demonic energy on Death Island. This was proven by the fact that his skin was slowly becoming discoloured.

He had to end this fight as quickly as possible.

‘A decisive blow.’

He needed a decisive blow in order to kill Kaz.

Lukas recalled all of the Demigod’s powers.

Death, wind, fire.

In his current state, there was only one power he could use from the group who had once been called ‘Apocalypses’.

‘Cut.’

The power to cut through anything in the world.

Since he didn’t have a sword, he held onto the smashed remains of his staff with both hands.

Then he took a stance.

Kaz felt a strange omen. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew he was in danger. So the first thing he had to do was widen the distance.

[…!]

But he was too slow.