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

7-star Wizards rarely used 7-star spells.

This may sound strange, but it was the truth.

Magic was harsh. Those without talent for it weren’t even allowed to enter its doors.

In truth, anyone could be called a talent just for being able to faintly sense mana.

However, as the levels increased, the talent requirements also became greater.

In this way, only the most outstanding talents were able to enter the higher levels, like jade being separated after being mixed together with ordinary stones.

The world called these talents geniuses.

Nevertheless, there existed a place.

A place where even these geniuses, who pressed forward without pause while enjoying the admiration, envy, and praise of others, all came to a stop.

A place where they seemed to face an unclimbable wall and finally felt despair for the first time.

This ‘place’ was the bottleneck that one would encounter when trying to break through to 7-stars.

Countless geniuses were left frustrated by this wall. Some of them were even unable to overcome the sense of shame they felt for their paused progress and went crazy or lost their minds.

In other words, Archmages, people who managed to cross this seemingly uncrossable wall, were geniuses among geniuses.

It was only after Yuriah reached 7-stars that she finally ‘understood’ just how much power, range, and aftermath each 7-star spell had.

And that was exactly the reason why she rarely used it. The sharper a blade was, the more careful one had to be when determining whether to draw it or not.

In fact, she’d already thought of using a 7-star spell three times before.

Of course, this time was an exception. Because she didn’t really have a choice.

“…”

Yuriah knew what kind of spell Blizzard was.

It was a fierce snowstorm that even froze the air in the area it covered.

An extreme range spell.

That’s what most 7-star spells were like. In some cases, the traces left behind by these spells would last for several years before fading away. This meant that they could completely destroy the environment and ecosystem of an entire area after being used.

According to Yuriah’s expectations, the Blizzard that she could cast would have a range that was at least large enough to cover the entire forest in her sight.

But it wasn’t.

Once again, Yuriah’s spell had been changed.

‘Impossible…’

Yuriah looked down at the ice crystals that were coalescing on her palm. The mere sight of it seemed to fill her with ecstasy. It filled her heart with excitement as though she was looking at an artistic masterpiece. The catharsis she felt at that moment was something she’d never experienced before in her entire life.

This wasn’t magic.

This was art. She wholeheartedly believed this.

She felt like if she were to relax her mind for even a moment, she would fall into a daze. To borrow Hoffman’s words, she would become a ‘fool’.

Blizzard? No. It couldn’t be called that anymore.

To call this a Blizzard was the same as calling an unprocessed tree a chair.

…Processed.

Right. Lukas was processing Yuriah’s spell. She couldn’t think of a better expression than that.

The principle in itself wasn’t very difficult.

It was just maximising the power of a wide range spell by compressing it. However, what about the calculations that were required to do such a thing? Was it really possible to calculate a formula so large that just thinking about it would make her brain hurt in such a short time? Did he really create a brand new formula that was different from the normal Blizzard? And did he really just calculate this complicated equation that he’d created on the spot?

All of it just seemed impossible.

“All you have to do is calculate the course of the spell. You can do that, right?”

Lukas’ voice woke her up from her thoughts.

Right. Of course, she could do that.

“Get ready.”

This wasn’t the time for complicated thoughts.

Nevertheless, there was something that Yuriah had to say.

“…I really want to know who you are.”

She took a deep breath before continuing.

“When this is all over, can you teach me how to do that?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Lukas simply nodded his head slightly.

* * *

[Get out of the way.]

As soon as they heard Yuriah’s voice through telepathy, Hoffman and Raven immediately retreated as they had previously agreed.

They quickly retreated behind Sera, the woman with the shield.

“…you… dare!”

Of course, Nix wouldn’t let that happen.

With her wings spread, she stared at them with hate-filled eyes.

Whooosh!

But at that moment, a white storm erupted.

It scratched grooves into the ground, smashed trees, and even froze the very air as it barrelled towards Nix.

“…!”

The cold wind caused her wings to shrink back for a moment.

This was a natural reaction for a Phoenix, who was a being of fire, but in this situation, it became a decisive mistake.

Crackle!

Her toes began to freeze.

Nix tried to flap her wings again, but frost had already begun to spread on their tips. She couldn’t move them as she pleased.

“Screech!”

Her fingertips were cold.

“I hate…!”

…She hated the cold.

This wasn’t just because she was a Phoenix.

The cold reminded her of when she was alone. The loneliness, which seemed to have been engraved on her very soul like a curse, always forced her to reflect on her fate.

That was why Nix hated the cold.

“Haah…!”

She spat out fire.

She needed to warm up. Twisting her body desperately, she tried to escape the encroaching cold.

But the more she struggled, the more the frost spread. It was as though she was in a swamp, the more she struggled, the deeper she sank.

Seeing this scene, Eric couldn’t help but mutter blankly.

“…Yuriah’s magic… was it always this powerful?”

It wasn’t strange for him to have doubts.

After all, it had been more than 5 years since he and Yuriah had become teammates. So he had a good idea of what level she’d reached. Raven and Sera were equally surprised.

One person, Hoffman, muttered without much surprise.

“It was that man.”

“That man?”

When Raven tilted his head slightly, Hoffman responded.

“I’m talking about Lukas. Yuriah, I guess he helped you again?”

Yuriah nodded quietly.

Eric, who began looking around after hearing that, spoke up.

“By the way, where is he?”

“Huh?”

“Lukas. He’s not here.”

At this, Hoffman’s expression stiffened and he also began looking around.

But Lukas was nowhere in sight.

“…!”

Suddenly.

Sera let out a quiet exclamation and pointed towards Nix.

Lukas was there.

“What the hell?!”

“Cr-, crazy!”

It wasn’t strange for them to let out shocked cries.

This was because Lukas was currently walking towards Nix in a defenceless manner.

* * *

Tap, tap-

As he walked across the frozen ground, Lukas’ mind wandered.

There were several reasons why he advised Yuriah to use Blizzard, but there was one crucial reason.

It restrained Nix’s movements, and the icy atmosphere created by Blizzard lowered the temperature around her body.

Nevertheless, she would still be conscious. Even if it was faint, it would be enough for them to talk.

The thing Lukas wanted was to talk to Nix.

“…”

So he only stopped walking a few steps away from her.

“…kt.”

She was glaring at him.

Indescribable rage overflowed from her burning gaze, and she didn’t even try to conceal the hatred she felt for him.

She’d never looked at him like that before.

“Nix.”

He called her name.

This caused a slight change in Nix’s expression.

“You… Who are you?”

“…”

“How do you know my name?”

At least it was a start.

Or at least that was how it seemed from Lukas perspective.

“That’s because… I named you myself.”

“…what?”

This was different from Iris and Ivan.

Although they had forgotten Lukas’ existence, they could not be considered obvious enemies.

Nix, on the other hand, had tried to kill Lukas, twice. Even now, her attitude hadn’t changed.

If it wasn’t for the fact that she was currently frozen by Blizzard, Lukas fragile body would have already been burned to ashes.

…But he couldn’t make use of that spell anymore. This was because Yuriah’s mana room was now empty.

So this was his first and only chance.

That was why Lukas wished with his entire heart.

He knew that it might be in vain, and he knew what kind of response he’d probably receive, but he couldn’t help but hope for a miracle.

He hoped that Nix would remember him even a little bit.

“It’s me… Lukas.”

Otherwise.

“…it’s a bit late… but I’m back.”

He would have no choice but to kill her.

(TL: I kind of want her to not remember him. To see if Lukas could really go through with it.)