The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years

Calling it an ’escape’ rather than ’running away’ was Residue’s last shred of dignity. In reality, there was little difference in meaning, but isn’t that how words work - seemingly similar yet subtly different?

’Escape’ sounds slightly better than ’running away’. At least it implies a bit of initiative. …Damn it. Residue became depressed, sensing that his thoughts and emotions had become almost like those of a mortal.

In the past, he had witnessed countless beings who were once absolute entities fall to the level of mortals. Every time, he had laughed at them. It was hard not to burst into laughter when watching those fools deny reality, unable to accept it.

Residue knew this.

When the place where you stand changes, the scenery changes as well.

Even Residue, who was once a Ruler, had changed significantly now.

He thought he had recognized and accepted this fact.

But it was a bit different.

While he had recognized and accepted it, he hadn’t become aware of all the changes.

That’s why, from time to time, when he confirmed a newly changed side of himself like this, Residue became depressed.

‘Am I drifting further away from perfection?’

Or was he being degraded?

He wanted to shout that it wasn’t true.

He wanted to shout to his ’past self’ that a Ruler was never actually a perfect being.

But was there any basis for that claim?

Wasn’t it just a desperate cry to deny the current situation…? The world called that kind of thing ‘an excuse’.

Residue couldn’t tell if the path he was currently walking on was the correct one. Such wandering caused him to lose consistency in his actions, and as a result, it became difficult even for him to predict his next move.

─Participating in the Twelve Void Lords’ meeting as the Beginning Wizard.

That was the plan up to that point, and everything that happened afterward was beyond Residue’s expectations.

The Void Lords plotting a conspiracy,

The appearance of the Half King,

Destruction’s attack,

The subsequent imprisonment and the emergence of the knights.

Indeed. Each incident, even viewed individually, was significant enough not to be easily ignored. Perhaps it was only natural to feel confused.

But.

‘Should I, of all beings, be surprised or flustered just because something happened that I didn’t predict?’

Should he harbor fear over such things?

No.

At least, in the past, it wasn’t like that.

Back then, Residue had enjoyed unforeseen situations.

The mere fact that he was having such thoughts now meant that Residue had already changed.

─The point was simple.

Until now, Residue had only found his newly changed self disgraceful.

***

Deciding to escape was easy, but figuring out which route to take was tricky.

The only apparent exit from this underground place was the spot where Pale had entered, but that place had already turned into a battlefield where the three knights were fighting, neither side giving an inch. Unless he had a few hundred spare lives, it was a completely hopeless deathtrap. Ｒ𝒶𐌽Ꝋ𝐛Е𝘚

So Residue looked at the man beside him who seemed to have ’a few hundred spare lives’.

“But Death Worm, how did you know I was here and come to find me?”

“When I came in contact with you, I remembered your scent. You smelled like the old bookshelf.”

“…….”

That was information he really didn’t want to know.

“Because I remembered that, I was able to follow you.”

“How did you get in?”

“I compressed ‘myself’ into a small worm and rode the river. Then I crawled up the cliff.”

“Hm? River?”

“Down below.”

Death Worm pointed below the cliff. A place so dark nothing could be seen.

“There’s a river flowing down there?”

“Yes.”

Concentrating his hearing as Death Worm spoke with certainty, indeed, he could faintly hear the sound of flowing water.

“Where does that river flow?”

“I don’t know. The geography of this world is constantly changing right now. The current may have formed entirely differently from when I rode it.”

“…….”

He had a point.

The Great Fusion was still in progress. It would take quite some time before everything settled.

‘Although I don’t know where the current will lead…’

Anywhere would surely be safer than here. For now, distancing himself from Pale was the urgent priority.

However… that would only buy him time in the end.

Even if he managed to get past this moment, what about next time? That crazy woman would undoubtedly stop at nothing to pursue Lukas to the ends of hell. She had more than enough obsession and persistence to do so.

…Pale appeared to be completely engrossed in the battle, but that was wrong. Surely, part of her consciousness was still focused in this direction.

If Residue willingly jumped into the river, she might grow suspicious.

Of course, there was a way to deal with that.

“Death Worm.”

“What is it?”

“Would you push me—”

It was at that moment.

Thud…

A heavy vibration was felt.

Residue stopped speaking.

It sounded like the footsteps of a giant, echoing from a great distance.

Thud…

Thud… thud…

The intervals between the vibrations were growing shorter.

Everyone in the vicinity stopped simultaneously.

Not just Residue and Death Worm, but even the three knights who had been fighting to kill each other.

They all raised their heads in unison, looking up at the cave ceiling. The source of the vibrations was beyond that ceiling.

“…This is…”

Residue’s expression stiffened.

He knew the presence he was sensing right now.

Not just knowing it—he was intimately familiar with it.

But why… at this point in time…?

Thud… thud… thud…!

As the sound grew louder, the calm on Residue’s face disappeared.

”Hey. How much reserve ’Worm’ do you have?”

“If you’re asking about how many lives I’ve got, I’d say a few thousand.”

“Then spread them out above us as a membrane right now.”

“Hm?”

“Hurry. We don’t have time.”

Death Worm hesitated for a moment, but sensing the urgency in Residue’s voice, he nodded.

The worms, which had emerged from the back of his neck, spread upwards toward the ceiling.

Almost at the same time,

Crack!

The cave ceiling completely collapsed.

Through the falling rocks and dust, the cause of the vibrations revealed itself.

Countless thorns, both large and small.

‘─The Black Horned Demon God!’

The moment Residue’s eyes widened, recalling the creature’s name,

The pitch-black thorns rained down like a torrential storm.

***

A long time ago,

During the very early days of the history of the Three Thousand Worlds,

In a certain universe, there existed a certain primitive race.

Though they were still in the developmental stage, they had established a civilization, possessed high intelligence, and, most importantly, they were strong.

They were a powerful warrior race, so strong that even on planets as massive as entire small universes, they ranked among the top three in terms of strength.

In terms of potential alone, they were comparable to the absolute races that roamed the universe as their own dominion, like the ‘Perfect Ones’, or the ‘Giant Spirit Clan’, natural absolutes born from planets as their matrix.

Moreover, they were rough, fierce, and loved to fight. Of course, what they loved even more than that was victory. They traveled across their vast planet as individuals, searching for an opponent worthy of clashing with their strength for their entire lives.

Achieving that goal was almost impossible.

Each individual’s strength was far greater than that of most entire species.

Hundreds of years passed, and they came to reign as the rulers of the planet. And the moment there was no longer anyone left to fight, their desire for battle naturally turned toward each other.

The planet rapidly descended into death.

Though it wasn’t a war, the clashes between individuals were so intense that the environment changed moment by moment.

Perhaps someone realized that if this continued, their species would face complete annihilation.

When their population dropped to less than half, a mutation was born.

This mutant, who possessed the race’s inherent strength but was smarter than any of them and thoroughly calculative, soon rose to prominence as a great warrior, earning the reverence of all the other species.

The great warrior forcibly ended the conflicts, and soon after, became known as the Great Chief.

For the first time, winds of peace blew across the planet.

And about a year later, the Great Chief was found dead, pierced by thorns.

The primitive race murmured in shock.

The death of the Great Chief was not even a shocking event to them. Even the strongest warrior could die at any time—that was the life they knew.

What mattered was the expression.

The Great Chief had died with a look that their race had never made before.

It was a look they had seen countless times when they massacred and subjugated other races.

The face of those who pathetically begged for their lives, knelt in submission, and, if asked, would even be willing to lick their feet—the face of a defeated being.

─The Great Warrior had died with a face full of fear and cowardice.

’Who threw these thorns?’

Half in excitement, they began their search.

The battle instincts that the Great Chief had suppressed were now revived.

There was no fear or dread.

To those who had been yearning for a new battle, the appearance of the being that killed the Great Chief was like rain after a drought.

─I will kill the owner of this thorn!

─No, it will be me!

─Where are you? Where are you hiding?

They couldn’t have gone far.

The warriors searched every corner for the thorn’s owner, and the next day, all of them were found dead.

Like the Great Chief, they were impaled by thorns, their faces twisted in fear.

After this happened more than ten times, even the survivors began to wear the same expression as the dead.

Those who remained finally learned fear.

Though their legs kept moving, their goal had changed. No longer were they looking for the owner of the thorn. All of them chose to run away instead.

But they couldn’t escape.

The entire tribe was impaled by thorns and died.

Soon, every living thing on the planet met the same fate, and eventually, even the planet itself became a lifeless, thorn-pierced star.

Even if they had realized the truth, nothing would have changed. From the beginning, they had misunderstood.

They weren’t supposed to search for the ‘owner of the thorn’.

The culprit was ’the thorns themselves’.

[…….]

The moment the thorns had completely dyed the planet in their color, they awakened a clear sense of self for the first time.

Simultaneously, it realized what kind of being it was.

It was the birth of the Ruler, the Black Horned Demon God.

***

Plop… plop…. Small rocks fell to the ground.

The rain of thorns, which had poured down like a storm, finally stopped.

Residue first checked his own body. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt. It was thanks to the barrier of worms that Death Worm had created.

What about Death Worm, though?

“Hey, are you alright?”

“I’ve died three thousand and seven times.”

“What?”

“I’ve died three thousand and seven times.”

“…….”

…Does that mean he’s okay?

Residue decided to interpret it that way for now.

He surveyed his surroundings.

The flames had subsided, thanks to the rain of thorns and rocks from the sky, but the entire area had turned into an even more chaotic wasteland.

The gaping hole in the cave ceiling was so dark, it felt as if one were looking not up, but down into an abyss, where nothing could be seen.

Residue first took his eyes away from there and focused on the knights.

The 4 Knights are beings who harbor instinctive hostility toward Rulers... This means it wouldn’t be strange if they took any impulsive actions from now on.

‘But the Red Knight has already cooperated with the Sun God before.’

The Black Knight, Lucid, hadn’t been a knight for long.

Perhaps that was why they merely stood there, staring up at the hole, showing no sign of being overwhelmed by hostility.

That left Pale.

The odd thing was, she too was standing still, not making any moves.

…No, she was different from the other knights.

Clank—

Pale removed her helmet once again.

Then, looking up at the ceiling, she shouted.

”Ahaha. You’re late!”

“…….”

At that moment, someone appeared through the hole in the ceiling.

A girl with jet-black hair and a long, flowing dress.

Her crimson eyes gleamed even more vividly in the dark cave.

…Sedi Trowman?

No,

’Is it the Black Horned Demon God?’