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nThe Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 83 – Hruhiral (6)

nTranslator: Seven

nEditors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko

n“Are you certain that Iris joined hands with the Demigods?”

nThat’s how it appeared to me. There was one time that Iris summoned me, but when I finally arrived, I was met with quite the surprise. The Lord of the Demigods was standing right beside her.

n“…”

nHe’d seen her standing with none other than Lord.

nFrey had no choice but to accept the truth.

nIt wasn’t just me either. Barbaros and Zefar were there too. Kuku! It was certainly rare for three Archdukes to gather in one place. Only Iris, who had a once in a thousand year talent, could do it…but.

n“She never summoned you to fight.”

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nRight. Because our power is very limited on the continent. I don’t know what exactly happened after the war, but I think Iris made some kind of deal with Lord.

n“A deal? What deal?”

nI’m not sure. But it seemed she didn’t want to fight a losing battle against Lord, so she wanted to negotiate more favorable conditions.

n“When did that happen?”

nIt wasn’t long after you disappeared. So about 4,000 years ago.

n“…”

nIris, no.

nSchweiser and his other friends seemed to have guessed that Lord was the reason behind his disappearance.

nLord did not leave any trace of his actions, but in truth, the fact that there were no traces was the best piece of evidence.

nWhat Asura was talking about happened right after Frey had been trapped in the Abyss.

nSchweiser thought that Iris had gone into hiding at that time because she could not handle Lukas’ death.

nBut that wasn’t the case.

nIt seemed Iris was moving alone to achieve some sort of goal.

nIris changed a lot since you disappeared. It used to be hard to guess what she was thinking, but it became impossible. However, she didn’t go crazy. That’s for sure. I’ve seen enough crazy humans to tell the difference.

n“…”

nAnyway, after her deal with Lord, she began working with the Demigods.

n“Is it possible that they controlled her mind? Or threatened her?”

nI don’t know about threats, but it wasn’t mind control. I’m not sure if there’s anything that could subdue her mind in the first place.

nFrey agreed.

nNo matter how powerful the Demigods were, Iris’ spiritual power was not something to be trifled with.

nAll five heroes, including Frey, were masters of their respective fields, which meant that their mental states were far beyond the capacity of normal humans.

nIn particular, Iris was a witch who specialised in Demon contracts, so her resistance to mental attacks was much stronger than the others.

nOver time, the frequency with which she summoned me began to lessen, and then she suddenly ended the contract a few hundred years ago. Without even the slightest explanation. I heard the same thing happened to Barbatos and Zefar.

nAsura’s lips curled upward.

nZefar was extremely offended by that, and he hasn’t signed any contracts with mortals since then. He’s quite narrow-minded.

n“…is that all you know?”

nThat’s right. No…wait.

nAsura seemed to think about something for a moment before opening his mouth.

nIris…seemed to be searching for something.

n“Looking for something? Like what?”

nThat human. The one with white hair and golden eyes. His name was…

n“Schweiser Strow.”

nAsura nodded as Frey supplied him with the name.

nRight. That was the name. The one who was called the Great Sage. Iris seemed to be looking for his inheritance.

n“Schweiser’s inheritance?”

nRight. I heard her muttering about finding a ‘core’ or something.

n“…!”

nCore.

nThe only thing that Frey could think about at that moment was Anastasia, Schweiser’s magnum opus.

nA Golem core that stored a whopping 1 million ME.

n‘Iris knows about Anastasia?’

nHe didn’t know why Iris was looking for a core. However, if he was able to complete Anastasia, he felt like he’d be able to understand why.

nAnastasia would have the answers to most of his questions.

n‘I’m running out of time.’

nFrey realised once again that he did not have the time to relax and enjoy a slow pace.

nIs that all you wanted to know?

n“Yes.”

nGood. You still have two more requests. Tell me what you want.

nFrey pondered for a moment before asking.

n“Can you kill Oydin?”

nImpossible.

nAsura shook his heads.

nI’d never do something demeaning. I’m not bragging or anything, but I’ve never harmed my contractors. No matter how many favors I owe you, it’s not something I will do.

nIt was a pity, but he knew he was asking for too much.

n“Then what about returning to the Demon World without listening to Oydin’s orders?”

nThat’s easy enough.

nDoing that alone was quite easy.

nAlthough his current strength in the outside world wasn’t complete because of the faulty summoning, he was still not something that Frey and Ivan were capable of handling on their own.

nThen there’s one more.

n“…could you sign a contract with me?”

n“With you?”

nAsura spoke in a surprised voice.

nDidn’t you say before that you weren’t interested in signing contracts with Demons?

n“I’m no longer in a position where I can pick and choose as I like. I have to use every option available.”

nIt was clear to him that a contract with Asura would be of great help to him. Although his powers were restricted on the continent, the power of an Archduke was not something that could be ignored.

nAsura looked at him with a slightly weird expression.

nDo you still intend to kill all the Demigods on the continent?

n“That is my only purpose in life.”

nKukuku!

nIt was a clear voice filled with determination, and Asura could not help the laughter that escaped his lips.

nDemigods.

nThey were transcendent beings who were practically the rulers of Middle Earth.

nIf a Demigod appeared in the Demon World, Asura would not be afraid of them.

nEach of the six Archdukes, who each ruled over a hell, was no less powerful than the Demigods.

nIn fact, it was safe to say that they were stronger than the Demigods, excluding Lord and the Apocalypses.

nThat’s why Frey’s existence was so interesting.

nCompared to Demigods, humans were insignificant beings.

nYet one of these insignificant creatures had declared that they would annihilate the Demigods.

nAnd it wasn’t the case where this man was ignorant of the Demigods’ power. Instead, he was probably someone who had more knowledge about the Demigods’ strength than anyone else in the world.

nNevertheless, he didn’t hesitate to fight back. Even when he was afraid, he struggled to overcome it.

nAsura realised exactly what Frey was.

nYou are a true warrior.

n“I’m a Wizard.”

nI mean your fighting spirit, you fool.

n“…”

nIt had been a long time since he’d been called a fool.

nAsura let out a hearty laugh.

nFine. I’ll sign a contract with you. You don’t have much talent, but I will do it because of our agreement. Kuku. You will be my most interesting contractor since Iris.

nWoowoong.

nBlood-colored patterns began forming in front of Asura, and when Frey took a closer look, he realised it was the summoning circle used to summon him.

nThis is my summoning circle. Make sure you memorise it well so you can summon me when you get the time. We will form the contract then.

n“Got it.”

nAsura’s figure slowly began to blur.

nFrey wasn’t surprised at all. After all, this was a phenomenon that he had already witnessed once that day.

nHis soul began leaving Asura’s Soul space.

nAnd just before he left completely, Frey heard Asura mutter under his breath.

nWhat an interesting human…

n* * *

nFrey blinked.

nHe had returned to reality.

nThey had spoken for a long time in the Soul Space, but only a few seconds had passed in reality. (TL:…so why did he spend half a day with Hruhiral then?…)(YH: author won’t reveal naughty things)

nAsura looked at Oydin and said.

nI’m heading back.

n“Wh-, what did you say? What are you talking about?! I summoned yo…”

nSo noisy.

nAsura swung his arm. The sword in his hand twisted and barely missed Oydin.

nCrack! Crack!

nCrash!

n“…urk!”

nHundreds of trees behind Oydin were swept away in an instant.

nWith only the wind pressure released from his lazily swung blade, even the heavy forest trees that were deeply rooted in the ground were sent flying.

nYou should be more concerned about whether you’ll survive tonight, puppet.

n“…?”

nPuppet?

nGurgle…

nWhile Frey was trying to decipher the meaning behind those words, Asura’s body transformed into blood and fell to the ground, soaking it once more.

nIvan, who was unsure of what was going on, could only ask with a confused expression on his face.

n“What the hell? Why did he just leave? Frey, what did you do?”

nAll he knew was that Frey spoke to Asura.

nHe was asking because this guy looked innocent, but he knew that Frey had something to do with what happened.

n“Well. It’s a good thing for us in any case.”

n“That… but something doesn’t feel right.”

n“Let’s focus on Oydin first. Just because Asura is gone doesn’t mean we can defeat him.”

nFrey’s expression was a bit strange.

nHe looked at Oydin while pondering the words Asura had said while leaving.

nOydin trembled.

n“I, I don’t believe this! Bull**! H-, he…clearly said that I could use Asura to avert any crisis!”

n“…”

nNow that he thought about it, there was something he couldn’t understand.

nWho taught Oydin how to summon Asura?

n‘It could be Iris.’

nHe couldn’t let a clue about her slip away.

nOydin looked exhausted, but he didn’t let his guard down. Because he still had his divine power.

n“Uahhh!”

nCrack.

nThe ground split apart, and undead began appearing once again.

nThis time, there were many more of them, but there were four Death Knights at the front who stood apart from the group.

nThey all wore blood red armor.

n“Ivan, watch out for those guys with red armor at the front.”

n“What are they?”

n“Bloody Knights.”

n“Huh?”

n“…in short, they are a higher ranking undead than Death Knights. They have a more developed combat ability compared to Death Knights.”

n“Uh…so they’re basically just sturdier punching bags?”

nFrey opened his mouth before closing it again.

nIvan shouldn’t die at his level.

nThen he turned back to Oydin.

nHe was flying in the sky on the back of a Bone Drake he’d summoned.

nDid he intend to run away?

nBut he was acting strangely.

n“Ivan, can I ask you a favor?”

n“Go ahead.”

nAfter seeing Ivan snort, Frey covered him in some strengthening spells. They wouldn’t help him much, but it was better than nothing.

nIvan smiled as he saw his faintly glowing body.

n“This is nice.”

n“Be careful. They aren’t easy to handle.”

n“Got it.”

nFrey flew up with a flight spell and shot after Oydin.

nThe Drake was flapping furiously as it headed towards its destination without looking back.

nIt didn’t take long for Frey to realise where Oydin was headed.

nThe top of Hruhiral.

nOydin landed there before turning around to glare at Frey.

nAnger and hatred were clear in his eyes.

n“Who the hell are you? And what trick did you use against Asura?”

n“It’s pointless to tell you since you will die here.”

n“You can try…!”

nOydin shook his hand.

nThe Bone Drake shot forward with a loud roar.

nThud!

nThen the body of the Drake that was rushing towards Frey froze in a block of ice and fell to the ground.

n“Eeeek…!”

nOydin shook his hand again, and purple energy began to flow from it.

nUndead began to rise from the branches of the World Tree, and upon seeing this, Frey couldn’t help but say.

n“I also have a question.”

n“Shut up!” (TL: how rude)

nThe undead began rushing toward him.

nHowever, Frey quickly understood that Oydin was no threat to him.

nWas it because Oydin had been weakened?

nIf so, then why was he so weak? Was it because he expended a lot of energy to summon Asura? Or was it because of the Bone Drake and Bloody Knights he just summoned?

nIt was possible since summoning Asura consumed a large amount of energy.

nAfter all, summoning an Archduke was no easy task.

nIf another Archduke other than Asura had been summoned, then everyone in the village including Frey and Ivan would have had to risk their lives to force it back.

nThere was only one thing that Frey was curious about.

nWhy was Oydin investing so much energy into tricks like summoning Demons despite being an Apostle?

nCrack! Crack!

nAll the undead became frozen and shattered.

nOydin’s gestures became more frantic. However, in contrast to Oydin, Frey’s facial expression became.

nA haze of icy air seemed to come from his body.

n“Nozdog has control over the power of death. Yet you seem to only have the ability to summon undead.”

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n“This is the power of death…! I, I control death…!”

n“This is just necromancy. I don’t understand. Are you really Oydin?”

n“What…what are you talking about?”

n“…”

nCrack.

nThe sound of Frey stepping on a piece of ice was particularly loud.

nOydin, who received his sharp gaze, shivered subconsciously.

n“You, are you even an Apostle?”

n(TL: Yes, I know ‘Bloody Knights’ sounds strange, but that’s the romanization. And we don’t actually know if they are Death Knights with bloody armor or if they are actually connected to blood, so I don’t want to call them ‘Blood Knights’)

nFor any errors and issues contact me through discord:- https:

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/discord.gg

/Q3dStgu

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