The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years-Chapter Season 2 658

Translator: Alpha0210

But more serious than anything was the possibility that everything he had just said was a lie.

It had been a long time since Residue had met a man so difficult to read, and he couldn’t quite grasp how much to believe or not to believe.

In the meantime, the expression that had appeared on the White Knight's face naturally disappeared.

“…Do you understand? I am inherently fond of crafting such despicable schemes. Do you think I would go out and work to stop Destruction? That, because there's a common enemy, we might be able to unite our strength? You're wrong. I know myself best. I'm the kind of being who cannot do that. If I encounter a being stronger than me Outside, I would analyze, regardless of my will, how to bring them down. I’d imagine step by step how to utterly destroy, violate, and trample them, and how to steal all their power. And it won’t be long before that actually happens.”

“So that’s why you’re holed up alone in a place with nothing. Like an old man with not much time left to live.”

“…This is a space the Exile specially prepared. It's structured to soothe the mind and body, so compared to other places, the risk of rampaging is extremely low.”

“Doesn’t really seem that way to me.”

Residue said this as he recalled the smile the White Knight had just shown, but instead of answering that, he got a different response.

“That’s all for my story. Now, as per our deal, shut that mouth of yours.”

He needed time to organize his thoughts anyway, so Residue sat down on the spot with a thud.

‘First of all…….’

Residue decided not to consider whether what the White Knight had just said was true. There was no way to verify it anyway.

What mattered was, true or not, the reason for bringing up his past.

‘Was it because the existence of this body was bothersome to him?’

That wasn’t exactly wrong, but it didn’t seem like the right answer either.

One by one, he began to review what had just happened.

…The two Knights had left, and the White Knight had suggested Residue rest for a while. Then Residue revealed that he had been a Ruler.

And the White Knight had charged with his sword drawn. In the conversation that followed, it was revealed that this was merely an act, he was pretending to be angry in order to uncover Residue’s identity.

No, wait a second.

‘This guy must also have hatred toward the Rulers.’

Yet, even after Residue’s identity was revealed, he suggested a truce and is actually following through with it.

So this… is contradictory.

Because it means he can fully control his hatred toward the Rulers. That means he has enough self-discipline to manage himself. And yet, he says he doesn’t go Outside because he can’t control his nature.

Is the instinct of a Perfect One stronger than that of the Four Knights?

Or maybe this guy has something special that makes him completely indifferent toward the Rulers…….

‘Hmm.’

Who would’ve thought there’d be someone more insidious than the Demon God.

Is this what people mean when they say the world is wide? Residue shook his head.

…Back to the point.

Then why did the White Knight stop trying to subdue or kill Residue and instead make a proposal? It’s not like Residue was in full condition. If they had fought to the end, the White Knight would’ve won in some form.

Why.

Why did he reject the Blue Knight’s proposal, but make a counter-proposal to Residue?

His head spun. It even felt like steam was rising from it. Without realizing it, his mouth had dropped open.

This kind of mental gymnastics was not to his taste.

Was it the fault of the body? Residue found himself quite interested in this line of reasoning.

‘Telling me to shut up was also a proposal, after all.’

…The usual reason for rejecting a proposal is that there’s no merit to it.

In other words, the Blue Knight’s proposal had no appeal to the White Knight.

Then why did he make a proposal to Residue? Because there was merit in doing so.

What merit? Silencing Residue.

Then what’s the reason? Was it just because he was noisy?

Is the man in front of him really that petty? So sensitive to simple noise pollution that he’d reveal his past in exchange for shutting someone up?

No. That’s not it.

“……!”

Residue sprang to his feet.

It felt like a bolt of lightning had pierced through his head.

“Haha. Hahahaha…….”

As clarity surged through his mind, an uncontrollable laugh burst out.

Residue turned his head with joy to look at the White Knight’s face. In the meantime, the man had sat down on the floor in a stable posture, and as he saw Residue laughing like a madman, he quietly opened his eyes.

Residue willingly walked up to him and gave a sly grin.

“You were shaken by this body's proposal.”

“……”

“That’s why you made me shut up. You were afraid that if you kept listening, you might actually be tempted. That you might end up nodding your head involuntarily… Hahaha. Even I didn’t expect it. That someone would be swayed by such a ridiculous, forceful proposal.”

The White Knight said nothing, but Residue kept rambling.

“That’s right. If you had any content in that skull of yours, you wouldn’t be rotting away in a place like this. Outside is in the midst of a festival right now. Hey. White Knight.”

Residue took a deep breath before continuing.

“Do you hate yourself for being ruled by desire? Why do you try to suppress it instead of using it? Do you regret killing all your kin that much? Were you born an Absolute and yet hold such boring ethics because of a sickly past?”

“……”

“You are a walking contradiction. Who planted that in you? Did you witness someone’s sacrifice? Were you taught by someone? Do you think I’ll be able to suppress it if I take you Outside…? Maybe my previous master could’ve done that.”

Not me.

Residue muttered in a low voice.

“Submit to me. Then I’ll teach you. How to release desire the right way.”

At that, the White Knight let out a sigh.

“Why do you need me?”

“There’s a lot to be done.”

He responded without hesitation, then after a brief pause, continued.

“…Far too much. So much that I can’t even begin to count, and just thinking about it makes me sigh. No matter how capable I am, there’s a limit to what I can do alone, and there’s no one useful around.”

“Destruction hasn’t fully arrived yet. There must be many talented people Outside.”

“There are individual differences in what one ‘can do’. I am extraordinarily superior, so naturally, the size of my tasks is just as immense. The ones Outside are mostly useless.”

“Useless… If that were all, it might still be manageable.”

The White Knight continued.

“There are bound to be those who exploit this situation. Chaos and anxiety make desire more transparent. Destruction, which will surely come, is no different from a terminal illness, and do you know how people respond when diagnosed with such a disease?”

“Not interested.”

“They can’t accept it. They violently deny it at first. But reality doesn’t change, so from then on, they must fight fear every moment. That dark, heavy energy builds up in their chest moment by moment.”

I said I’m not interested.

It seemed this bastard didn’t even listen to others. Residue liked that.

“The current situation is no different from all living beings being diagnosed with a terminal illness. It’s just that the foolish ones haven’t realized it yet, but as time passes and the presence of Destruction becomes more distinct, chaos will grow.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Let’s cut the numbers down a bit. Destruction’s offensive is still in its early stages. There’s still some leeway, so let’s preemptively kill those who might get in the way.”

Residue spoke with a displeased expression.

“This body has tried to avoid killing as much as possible since the Great Fusion.”

“Why? You don’t seem like someone who avoids killing.”

“You saw correctly.”

He nodded and continued.

“With the Great Fusion came a massive disaster across all the Worlds. No one escaped its sweep, and those with relatively bad luck died in droves. Every single one alive now is someone who survived that disaster. It made me think that maybe there’s a reason they were spared… Well, it’s a perspective I’ve only come to hold recently.”

“Is that one of the influences from your body’s master?”

“That’s right.”

The White Knight gave a bitter smile.

“…Your proposal is very tempting. The proper way to express desire… If it’s you, a former Ruler, you must indeed know that well. That might be helpful to me.”

“And?”

“Even so, it’s hard to take that final step.”

The White Knight’s gaze was directed toward his own toes.

“One part of me had longed for a moment like this, but now that it’s right in front of me, my body freezes. The situation is so clear, yet I can’t make a decision... I must be a fool.”

Is this an act too? Who knows.

But whether it’s an act or not, what does it matter?

Residue, finding even thinking bothersome, spoke.

“Someone like you isn’t called a fool. You’re just a coward.”

The White Knight blinked rapidly. His face asked for an explanation.

It was annoying, but if he wanted to persuade him, he had to explain.

“You’ve got a fairly clear grasp of how strong you are. You know what you can do and what you can’t. And yet you hesitate and don’t move forward. That means, contrary to appearances, your confidence is low. In other words, you’re a coward.”

“……”

“Now, a fool refers to an idiot who can’t even do basic calculations… Should I tell you about the biggest fool I know?”

Residue suddenly burst into laughter and continued, giggling.

“Listen. That guy was very weak and pitiful in the beginning. He was nowhere near the level of the Four Knights or the Rulers, let alone the Perfect Ones, those Absolutes… Among mortals, he was relatively strong, maybe, but that’s about it. From our perspective, he was just a slightly powerful lizard at best……”

“……”

“That fool’s life was filled with hardships, to a baffling degree. And it was all his own doing. Even though a proper path was available, he always chose the cliffside. Just because he heard screams coming from there.” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Residue held up his fingers.

“Once, I could understand. Twice, maybe. But once you fall off a cliff and tumble down, your perspective changes. When every bone in your body breaks and your muscles and organs tear apart… But a fool is still a fool. Even after that, he always, always ran toward the cliffside. He wasn’t even blind, yet he did it every time.”

At some point, the White Knight had stopped speaking, simply gazing blankly at Residue. There seemed to be a swirl of complex emotions in his eyes, but truthfully, Residue didn’t care in the slightest how the man looked at him.

Residue spoke with a rhythm, almost as if half-reciting a chant.

“So one time, I asked that fool directly. Do you think you’re strong? Without even thinking, he answered. No. I asked again. Then why do you keep heading toward cliffs? Do you want to punish yourself? Do you have some kind of twisted sexual desire? And then, the fool answered without even thinking for long……”

At that point, Residue couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

He laughed thunderously, so loud that tears sprang to his eyes.

“Because he couldn’t ignore it once he knew.”

“……”

“That idiot felt responsible just because he had ‘come to know’. For heaven’s sake, what kind of fool does that? Who would dedicate their life for such a petty reason? If he had just turned his gaze a little, comfortable peace awaited him.”

The laughter gradually faded.

“He was truly consistent. Even when he went Outside and witnessed Destruction with his own eyes, his choice remained the same. The gap between Destruction and himself? He didn’t even bother to calculate that. He was better at calculating than anyone, but in moments like that, he always made the dumbest decisions.”

Residue blinked a few times. For some reason, he felt like his body was overheating.

He exhaled a hot breath, then finally looked directly at the White Knight’s face.

“…This body won’t be like that. I won’t fight that foolishly, that idiotically, …that uprightly. I’ll use everything I can. If only those who ‘come to know’ have to take responsibility, then I’ll spread the truth to the entire world.”

Only then did the White Knight speak.

“That is who you are.”

Just then, a cool breeze blew through, properly cooling his oddly heated face.

“……”

The moment his head cooled slightly, Residue felt a sudden urge to take back everything he had just said.

It was an oddly displeasing feeling.

“…Once we leave this place, stay by my side for a while and observe me. And if there’s something you don’t like, do whatever you want. Whether it’s returning to this place, stabbing me with a sword, or killing everyone around to hasten Destruction.”

“……”

“You use me, and I use you. Let’s start from there.”

He quoted freely from ‘The Terminal Villain Is the Holy Knight Commander’s Secret Friend’ as he spoke.

To be honest, Residue still wasn’t sure what choice the White Knight would make. As he’d said multiple times, the guy was impossible to read.

Even so, he wasn’t particularly tense.

He’d said everything he could, and if things still didn’t work out after all this, then there was nothing more to be done. They’d just have to go their separate ways.

“……”

At that moment, for the first time, the White Knight smiled faintly.

But the smile vanished in the blink of an eye, and his eyes, gleaming as brightly as the armor he wore, fixed themselves on Residue.

“I will do that.”

“…Hm?”

Then he knelt on one knee and took the stance of a knight swearing an oath.

“I shall follow you. From this moment on, I swear to serve the king, become the king’s sword, and pierce through all enemies who stand in the king’s way.”

“……”

As Residue looked at that face with a displeased expression,

Agolet, with a face that was half-smile, half-not, added,

“For the time being.”

*****

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