The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years

Season 2 Chapter 578

Season 2 Chapter 578

Translator: Alpha0210

Can the strong be manufactured?

Undoubtedly, no one has pondered this question longer and deeper than Residue.

Although he lived a life unrelated to the word ‘effort’, there was one exception.

He spared no effort in experiencing failure.

Even if he eventually succeeded, he wanted to feel a sliver of fear before attempting anything. He wanted to understand the fear of those standing at the edge of a cliff. He wanted to feel what anxiety was, even just once.

Those who made him feel even a fraction of such emotions.

There were a few beings, perhaps the only ones who could make Residue experience failure, who were on the same level as him, but he could never regard them as enemies.

The same was true for them.

Now, he understood why.

They were fundamentally the same and essentially identical. The Rulers were all weapons of God.

The term ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ was insufficient; they were originally one entity. Naturally, no sense of competition could arise.

…A long time had passed since the Rulers came into existence, and they each filled their boredom in different ways.

The Sun God fought against his inner self,

The Demon God obsessed over ruling more perfectly,

The Dragon delved deeply into the unknown mysteries of the universe that had yet to be uncovered,

And the Lightning God still sought someone to fight.

Eventually, he came to a conclusion.

If there are no beings to fight,

Why not create them with my own hands?

*

[What exactly are you trying to say?]

It was a voice he had never heard before.

The being known by the somewhat abstruse title ‘The Sinking One.’

He didn’t attend in person, only sending an ethereal presence similar to his own thoughts.

The sound he made was more of a resonance than a voice, and it wasn’t a pleasant kind.

[When you say a tripartite battle, it means three forces are fighting each other. I wonder if it’s a suitable expression for the current situation.]

The Sinking One’s tone was unexpectedly light and frivolous.

Residue looked at his vague face and chuckled.

“It’s quite suitable. Aren’t two forces already at war?”

Sedi interjected again, her voice sounding cold.

“It doesn’t seem like you have any intention of stopping the war. …No.”

Her blood-red eyes narrowed.

“It feels like you’re inciting it.”

A faint suspicion mixed in her voice.

The act of abetting war, something Lukas would never do.

It was an expected reaction, and an accurate judgment.

Certainly, Lukas would not have ignored such a tragedy.

But what does that matter?

People change. And change doesn’t always happen in a positive direction.

In his home universe, in the Three Thousand Worlds, in the Void World—

The changes Lukas experienced throughout his life were numerous, to the extent that even Residue couldn’t know them all.

So Sedi, too, would not know. She couldn’t even imagine the series of events he went through after parting ways in the Great Field. The changes in his values due to those events, and what ultimately remained unchanged.

Lukas changed. Thus, Residue didn’t need to act in every single word and action.

There was only one thing that must be preserved.

Broken, shattered, fallen, despairing.

Yet unchanged, the most crucial core element that constituted Lucas’ being.

“It’s not enough.”

“What?”

“The Four Knights, the Twelve Void Lords, the Rulers, the Absolutes…….”

“…….”

“Even considering all the others, whom I haven’t even identified, it’s still far from enough.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“There are not enough strong ones.”

This wasn’t just a statement to Sedi.

Residue, looking at the eleven lords in the Void World, continued speaking calmly.

“The impending destructions. I measure the minimum condition for strength to face them by the standard of Void Lords. One need to be at least that strong to even withstand them.”

The Void Lords each had different reactions to the arrogant words.

Residue paused slightly before continuing. He wanted to observe the attitudes of those who showed any unique reactions to his statement.

It was a futile expectation. The Void Lords only changed their expressions, with none of them hastily opening their mouths.

Cowards. No, perhaps they were just excessively cautious? He couldn’t tell the difference.

Feeling a peculiar sense of incongruity, Residue continued without showing it.

“To be clear, in the upcoming battle, beings weaker than the Void Lords, regardless if they are in the tens of thousands or billions, are utterly useless.”

“…….”

“…….”

Residue didn’t voice his conclusion, but everyone present must have understood. The reason for condoning or letting the war proceed.

Even tracing back through the history of the universe, the most dreadful and large-scale war. In other words─ an unprecedented trial.

In the blaze of this war, beings comparable to the Void Lords would be born successively.

However.

“Many lives will be lost.”

Sedi muttered quietly.

Of course, she wasn’t the type to hold sentimental feelings for the indiscriminate death of lives. She felt formal regret, but that was all. The extinction of hundreds of thousands, millions of lives didn’t stir her much.

But… it was strange for Lukas to reach a similar conclusion. That wasn’t like Lukas.

‘That’s the face of someone thinking that.’

Just as Residue intended.

Feeling that level of discomfort was the best outcome.

“But if we continue as we are, everything will end anyway.”

“…….”

“I told you, didn’t I? This is a desperate struggle on a cosmic scale. It can’t be stopped, and it shouldn’t be.”

“But…….”

“You are also from the Three Thousand Worlds too.”

Sedi flinched at Residue’s words and closed her mouth.

“Then tell me a concrete plan. How will you stop it?”

“…….”

“The reason for the war is simple. The hatred the residents of the Three Thousand Worlds and the Void World have for each other is the cause. It’s far more fundamental than some instinct imprinted in their genes. I can’t think of a way to suppress or control it. So I’ll ask you. Is there a way to quell that hatred?”

No answer came back.

Residue, feeling no disappointment, continued speaking.

“If we try to forcibly stop it, we’ll have to be prepared to take damage on our side too. That would be the worst possible development I can imagine.”

In the process, if some of the Twelve Void Lords got hurt or died, the situation would become worse than the worst. Ironically, the twelve lords who rule this dumpsite are the core of the defense against destruction.

Residue quietly stared at Sedi. Not to pressure or observe her.

He had a hope that she might come up with a plan he hadn’t thought of.

However, her closed lips remained shut for a long time.

Just as Residue was about to look away from her.

“…Your voice sounds familiar.”

It must be a mistake.

Residue was wearing the old man’s mask. The voice he used was far from Lukas’s.

“But your words aren’t familiar at all. If you were the person I know, you would be more…”

“…….”

She couldn’t finish her sentence. Her shoulders trembled slightly. Though her eyes were hidden by her jet-black hair, her tightly closed lips were clearly visible.

“Why…….”

A voice tinged with metallic tones flowed out briefly before cutting off.

Turning his head away, Residue continued.

“What we need to focus on is simple. In the midst of the worst trial in history, how many exceptional talents will emerge. There’s no need to negotiate with them. When destruction appears, they’ll have no choice but to join hands with us anyway.”

Even two blood-soaked wolves fighting against each other have no choice but to cooperate in the sudden presence of a lion.

This time, it would be the same.

[Interesting interpretation… But Beginning Wizard of this era… the premise itself is… wrong…]

The Exile intervened at that moment.

“Premise?”

[From the start… there is no such thing… as a will in the universe… You are placing… too much significance… on what is happening now… It is merely a phenomenon…]

“…….”

[And… how many territories… do you think exist in this Void World…? Where do you think… this world stretches from… and to where…]

Who would know?

Even the documents prepared by the Beginning Wizard didn’t include such details.

[No one… knows…]

“…….”

[No one could know… No matter how profound one’s knowledge… No matter how bold one’s drive… Even if one conducted thorough investigations based on those… in this world, always, and without exception─]

The Exile paused.

Then took a deep breath.

A very deep and long breath.

“─There existed unknown parts.”

For the first time, his voice became clear.

“The unknown is the foundation of the Void World. And now, a war has erupted against the backdrop of these territories.”

“The war with the Three Thousand Worlds.”

Residue accepted the Exile’s words, recalling the Seven Fanged Dragon God.

The unknown.

She often spoke similarly.

“The premise is fundamentally wrong. Why do you define destruction as an enemy? There is no way to counter it. There is no countermeasure. Since all you can do is pray, people call it a catastrophe. So, what about destruction?”

The Exile’s voice began to heat up.

“Why do you think I called it not a catastrophe but destruction?”

The Exile recalled.

The sense of liberation felt when going ‘outside’, the feeling of deviation, the freedom felt when completely free from the material world───

──Which it had vastly transcended.

Fear.

“We can only be destroyed. The moment we face it, we have no choice but to disappear.”

His heated voice now rippled with madness.

“A tripartite war? A battle, a war? Hah, hahahaha… Beginning Wizard, you truly know nothing. …One thing is certain. You have not seen it yourself. That’s why you can say such things.”

Those words were true. In the end, Residue had not witnessed the destruction with his own eyes.

Everything was only conveyed by Lukas.

But.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? It’s not that what you saw was wrong. It’s that things have changed since then. Destruction comes thoroughly divided. It shrinks enough for us to deal with it.”

[On what basis do you say that?]

The voice mixed with mechanical sounds was evidently heard for the first time since the meeting began.

Futurix.

A being borrowing a mechanical body, who had remained silent until now, spoke.

[Even when the Exile witnessed it, destruction clearly had five forms. Why would they suddenly split and come at us in a manner we can handle?]

“Because there is someone who made it so.”

[Who is that?]

He couldn’t tell them the straightforward truth.

But if he made it up entirely, it would arouse suspicion or be exposed eventually.

So Residue uttered a prepared lie.

“The previous Beginning Wizard.”

To be more precise, it was a lie mixed with truth.

“…I see.”

The Exile muttered in a low voice.

“That’s enough. This has been a time of pointless debate.”

It was at this moment that Residue distinctly sensed a peculiar sense of incongruity.

Several of the Twelve Void Lords suddenly stood up. It was a highly unexpected action.

Their gazes were directed behind Residue, towards the door he had entered from.

“What we need right now is not a mediator, Lukas Trowman. That position must feel burdensome to you. Rest assured. We will relieve you of that duty.”

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

“He has arrived.”

Arrived?

Who could it be?

Aren’t all the Twelve Void Lords already gathered here?

Thump-

At that moment, Residue heard the sound of footsteps.

Though the sound came from beyond the door, it reached his ears distinctly and precisely.

The atmosphere in the room changed.

Even the Void Lords who hadn’t stood up were now looking towards the door. Residue was no exception.

‘This presence is…….’

It was a presence that lightly surpassed that of the Twelve Void Lords.

Something that could not and should not be ignored─

Creak-

The door opened.

With a clank and a dry metallic sound, the figures that appeared were, indeed, as Residue had expected.

─The Four Knights of the King’s Castle.

What was unexpected was the fact that there were two, not one.

The presence of the Black Knight of Death here wasn’t surprising. Everyone knew he would be here, after all. Wasn’t Diablo, who resurrected him and claimed to be his master, present at this very gathering?

But the other knight was unexpected.

‘The Red Knight.’

According to Residue’s knowledge, she was supposed to be fighting alongside the Sun God in the snowy plains. She had not left that place for a very long time.

Why is she here?

…But perhaps that wasn’t the most noteworthy thing.

‘There’s one more.’

There was a third presence felt outside. This was the reason for Residue’s stiffened expression.

Because,

The presence of this third individual was so immense that it made the two knights in front seem insignificant by comparison.

There were still two more knights.

The White Knight and the Blue Knight.

But the power they possessed was on par with the other knights. They could never exude an aura capable of overwhelming the other two knights.

Even if their power was being restrained, that fact wouldn’t change.

Thump-

The sound of footsteps, which had briefly halted, resumed.

From within that sound, the figure that appeared─