The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years-Chapter Season 2 604

Translator: Alpha0210

He had witnessed many sights that were deemed disgraceful.

However, never once had he felt any deep emotion while observing them from beginning to end. It was partly because Residue possessed an unshakable mental fortitude, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Most of those events had nothing to do with him.

For Residue,

There was no family, no friends, and no lover.

Perhaps there was no real difference between ruling over everything and merely watching from afar.

Puhwaak!

A tentacle-like thing made of mud lunged at Residue.

He stood there blankly, unable to think of blocking or dodging. A wall rising from the ground blocked the attack.

“Do you intend to die here?”

Frey spoke in a cold voice.

Residue lowered his head and muttered weakly, sounding fragile even to himself.

“…No. That child is not my death.”

“Then fight. If you lend us your strength, finishing this won’t be impossible.”

“Why me, of all people? Is there no one else you can ask for help?”

The moment he uttered those words, Residue regretted them. Those were the words of someone trying to evade responsibility.

Frey stared at him piercingly for a moment but did not criticize him for it. Instead, he simply said,

“You saw the ones who came with me. But more than anyone from PeaceFinder Armlet, you are the strongest. Their power is still in its growth phase.”

“……”

Residue looked at Luca once again.

The figure of the girl was no longer there.

Her melting body had swollen nearly tenfold, lashing out with countless tentacles while occasionally letting out beast-like howls.

…He didn’t want to be involved.

He hadn’t foreseen this ending, but even so, he didn’t want to be involved. Not just with Luca, but with anyone.

But fate wouldn’t allow that, because to live was to be entangled with others. No one could live in complete isolation.

Residue

"...Let me ask one last thing."

“Go ahead.”

“Does that thing still have consciousness?”

“……”

At those words, Frey hesitated for a brief moment.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

The attacks grew fiercer. Cracks formed in the wall Frey had created, and it began to crumble.

Dragging out time would be of no advantage. That thing still couldn’t fully control its own power. If they were to end it, now was the time.

With that judgment, Frey nodded.

“Yes.”

Residue regretted asking the question. And he accepted the reality that there was little he could do now.

Patzzt. A web-like current of electricity enveloped his entire body.

***

This was Residue's first time directly fighting Destruction. The thought of it now seemed utterly ridiculous.

According to Frey, the first wave of Destruction was nearly over. Among the five great waves, the first was reaching its conclusion, and yet, up until now, Residue had done practically nothing.

If things had gone as they should have, Residue should have been the most formidable barrier standing against Destruction. Lukas would have expected that as well.

Wasn’t it laughable?

Kwaaang!

This Destruction had no definite shape.

It could shift freely between liquid and solid, and the reverse was just as true. It even seemed capable of adjusting its volume and mass at will.

The most troublesome part, however, was its method of attack.

It was impossible to believe that all these attacks stemmed from a single entity.

If forty tentacles shot toward Residue, only ten would maintain their tentacle form to the end.

Another ten would transform into weapons.

Ten more would morph into beastly jaws.

And the last ten would become pure elements.

Each attack moved with the precision of a seasoned master wielding their weapon, all converging upon Residue.

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“……”

Residue analyzed all forty attacks in a fleeting moment and categorized them in his own way.

The first tentacle, the second tentacle, a spear, a crescent blade, a tiger’s maw, flames, lava.

The fifth tentacle, the seventh tentacle, a sword, a saber, a dragon’s maw, water, ice.

The eighth tentacle, the tenth tentacle, an axe, a flail, a bear’s maw, lightning.

At first glance, it seemed as though each attack was independent, but that was not the case. Residue classified the forty attacks into seven distinct forms and responded with seven counterattacks of his own.

The abilities he unleashed simultaneously were advantageous in terms of compatibility against the attacks Luca had launched.

Kwaaang!

That didn’t mean there was no aftermath.

The barely-standing ceiling collapsed, causing rain-mixed shards of glass to rain down.

Residue then turned his attention to Frey. His approach was much more aggressive than Residue’s, rather than merely blocking Luca's attacks, he was constantly closing the distance.

Naturally, Luca’s focus and aggression intensified toward Frey as a result.

“[Step back.]”

Papapang!

The moment Frey murmured in a low voice, Luca’s tentacles, which had been rushing in from all directions, exploded like gunpowder.

Was this the end?

Having closed the gap in that instant, Frey thrust his hand into Luca’s slimy body without hesitation.

Residue felt a sense of déjà vu.

That man’s fighting style was astonishingly similar to Lukas’. No, it wasn’t just similar, when he fought, it was as if Lukas himself had come back to life.

Crunch, crk, crk...

Frey's hand moved violently inside the body. He was likely attacking directly, as though igniting a fire within the flesh.

A horrifying scream rang out.

Bubbles of heat formed and burst from the muddy flesh. Their frequency increased rapidly, growing more erratic until,

Residue sensed danger.

"Get away-"

Before he could finish speaking, a massive explosion erupted.

Frey's body was hurled backward, but Residue could no longer afford to look at him.

The muddy mass that exploded had been torn into thousands of fragments.

Those fragments clung to the floor, the walls, and the shattered ceiling, wriggling as they slowly grew, until they reached the size of a human.

[Kkeoooooh-]

A sorrowful wail escaped.

Luca had split into thousands, scattering in all directions.

“It’s the final struggle.”

Frey’s voice reached him. His forehead was cracked and bleeding slightly, but he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries.

“…Final struggle? Already?”

“It seems its combat abilities are not particularly impressive. Or perhaps-”

Frey, deep in thought, glanced at Residue before shaking his head.

"...Those beings' combat power isn't negligible. But there must be one core entity. And I can pinpoint its location."

“How?”

Frey flexed and uncurled his hand, which was covered in slime.

“I left a mark inside when I made contact.”

“So you knew how to deal with it from the start.”

“Yes. Now, all that’s left is to track it down and finish this.”

“……”

Residue remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“So my role is to clean up the remaining clones?”

“I could tell you the core entity’s location and switch roles with you if you prefer…”

Frey’s clear gaze met his.

“…But I don’t think that’s what you want.”

Residue was unable to respond.

Before he could, Frey had already left, as if he knew there was no time to waste, or perhaps as if he already knew what Residue's answer would be.

Watching his figure fade into the distance irritated him, but the deeper sense of self-reproach kept him silent.

Then, Residue turned to face the countless writhing masses around him.

Scattered fragments of the girl he had shared idle conversation with just hours ago.

“……”

The most painful cleanup had begun.

***

This was cleanup. No, it was extermination.

Destruction likely never had a will to begin with.

The Luca that Residue remembered was nothing more than a small anomaly born from the collision between Destruction and a young girl.

So perhaps, though it was late, Residue was only now doing what had to be done.

-Among all forms of Destruction, only the first and the last can possess self-awareness.

Shut up.

Residue erased the unnecessary information he had heard from Frey from his mind.

Crunch. And then, he erased the monsters before him as well.

As he killed them, creatures that were no longer Luca, creatures he could no longer see as anything but monsters, his heart was dying along with them.

“…That’s why I told you.”

Over and over again, I warned you.

To stay away, to not come any closer. To not get involved with me.

And yet, are you going to say this was my fault?

Are you going to blame me for not pushing you away more forcefully?

Fine. I know the truth.

If I truly hadn’t wanted to be involved, I should have just left that small, filthy room.

I should have shouted at you, used force if necessary, to shut your mouth.

But I didn’t.

Residue hadn’t.

So this was his sin to bear.

[Kkeoooh-]

The monster’s screams overlapped with Luca’s voice.

At that moment, the rain carried warmth. -No, it wasn’t rain.

It was weeping in place of a child who could no longer cry.

…No.

Even that was just an excuse.

Residue despised himself for trying to find another reason for his sorrow.

“What was your wish?”

He asked the final remaining lump of mud.

It looked exactly like the monsters from his nightmares, humanoid in shape, yet not human, the very beings that clawed at his mental scars.

A grotesque, unsettling coincidence.

[Kke, uh, uh…]

The lump of mud could only let out broken, stuttering sounds.

It looked as if it were reaching out.

“……”

Residue took the filthy hand and let it extend toward his neck.

But the mud had no strength.

Its body soon began to collapse, as if dissolving in the downpour.

And finally, the last remnant of Luca disappeared.

Sssshhh-

The rain left no trace of Luca behind.

It poured down as if it intended to wash away the entire world, carrying the mud with it.

Thud.

Residue sank to his knees, unable to remain standing.

“…You.”

With a cracked voice, he addressed the man who had completed his task and returned.

"What kind of being are you? What did you receive from Lukas?"

“……”

After a brief silence, Frey answered.

“The Master assessed this world’s overall level and realized that, when the inevitable Destruction arrived, the chances of stopping it were close to zero. So he needed something, a guide that was as close to the correct answer as possible to combat Destruction.”

He gestured toward himself.

“That is me. I came to this world for that purpose, carrying my own will. And I have been passing down his teachings to those connected to the Master, those with the potential to grow, those who weren’t in the records but were strong enough to fight Destruction.”

So this man… was another countermeasure left behind by Lukas.

Realizing that, Residue impulsively spoke.

“What about me?”

He asked.

“Did he leave me with nothing?”

But the moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

So what if you hear it?

What are you planning to do with that information?

Look at yourself right now.

No matter what he might have left behind, do you really think it would mean anything to the person you are now?

And yet… despite that, Residue's gaze remained fixed on Frey’s lips.

Conflicting emotions coexisted within him.

Even just a single word.

Just one word, if Lukas had left anything for him, even if it wasn’t encouragement.

Even if it was harsh criticism, a reprimand, an outburst mixed with disappointment and anger.

If he could just hear Lukas’ message,

Maybe… just maybe, this miserable state he was in would change.

Maybe it would shake him out of his resignation.

"There is nothing."

That fragile hope was shattered in an instant.

"I have nothing to say to you."

“……”

Without sparing a single glance at the frozen Residue, Frey lifted his gaze back to the sky.

“The first Destruction has not been completely eradicated. Since it has been concluded, it will no longer multiply or expand, but we must remain vigilant against Hide in the coming second and third Destruction.”

Frey added that the truly dangerous entities would not reveal themselves until the decisive moment.

Then, he continued,

“In two days, we will eliminate the ‘core entity’ we captured. By then, the rain should have stopped. After that…”

His murmuring voice grew distant.

At some point, his words became little more than a monologue, and before Residue realized it, Frey’s presence had completely faded away.

Residue remained slumped between the ruins of the broken buildings.

The cold rain chilled his body.

He didn’t want to think anymore.

"It doesn't stop easily?"

But there were always those who approached him in times like this.

The bothersome sensation of the rain against his skin suddenly disappeared.

Someone was shielding him from it.

Residue slowly turned around.

And there, drenched but holding an umbrella, stood a woman.

"...Will you follow me?"

Iris PeaceFinder asked.