[75] Return of the Archmage (2)
Canis brought me a light green robe. It was right in front of Arin, but Arcane changed clothes without hesitation.
Arcane, who moved while stepping on the table, was able to catch her breath only after sitting on the chair.
“Huh, it looks like I’m going to live a little longer.”
“Are you okay, Master?”
Kanis asked anxiously. The pale skin and contrasting dark circles made it known that he was a dark wizard without revealing it.
‘It’s a nice eye. That’s why I made him a disciple.’
On the other hand, Arcane did not like Arin very much. It is clear that he had a talent, seeing that he had black hair and dark eyes, but he had a weak mind and poor judgment.
There was no malice on his pretty face, and his big eyes showed emotion.
From the moment he saw the old man’s naked body, Arcane clicked his tongue at the sight of her trembling eyes.
‘Tsk tsk, how do you use something like that? It seems useless.’
If it hadn’t been for Canis’ best friend, he wouldn’t have brought such a weak girl.
It was that day 7 years ago.
Unable to move even with life support, he squeezed his last stamina into the capital Baska.
As befits the largest city in the Tormia Kingdom, the streets were rich and splendid. However, on the other side of the light, the miserable lives of those who were abandoned in the city continued.
Ghetto Radum.
As befits a highly polarized capital city, the residents of Radum were living a much more miserable life than the beggars in other cities.
The only way to get food in a place where people don’t even come is to rummage through garbage cans. Even then, the competition was fierce, and it was common to commit murder to eat fish bones.
Arcane found Canis and Arin there.
In Radum, where everyday life is war, the way Kanis, who is only ten years old, survived with Arin was to be cruel.
Kanis’s eyes were burning with hostility towards the world.
Arcane liked that look. Then, he brought the two to the dungeon and taught them dark magic.
‘My eyes weren’t wrong. That must be a thing.’
Arcane refused Canis’ support and stood up. It was a day to escape from the dreaded aging, so I didn’t want to show a weak side today.
“Keep an eye on the greatness of dark magic.”
Arcane held the black crystal and closed his eyes. His hands trembled from lack of strength, but his face was filled with excitement that he could not hide.
“Big!”
As he cheered up, the crystal became soft and wrapped around Arcane like a stream of water. Then, like a dark cloud, it scattered and covered the whole body.
“Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Arcane let out a monstrous scream. It was to absorb the power accumulated over 40 years at once, so if it was an ordinary person, he would have already lost his mind.
The concept of dark magic is absorption and assimilation.
Arcane regained his former power by assimilating the dark power absorbed into the crystal into his own darkness.
“Oohhh!”
The shadow cast under Arcane’s feet blazed like flames, then separated from the main body and scattered like fragments.
how much time has passed
Canis and Arin slowly opened their closed eyes. In Arcane’s appearance, I couldn’t find the slightest sign of decrepitude until now.
It wasn’t that he looked younger or that his waist was straightened. However, her complexion was flushed and her eyes were full of vitality.
Sensing an unapproachable aura from her master who had regained her health, Canis trembled with emotion.
‘Is this the true face of Master? I’ve heard rumors, but it’s really amazing.’
Arcane smiled as if satisfied. It was as strong as it was before being defeated by Alpheas.
“let’s go. From today, the history of Arcane will be rewritten.”
Arcane, who had been waiting for this day for 40 years, left the dungeon without even having time to feel the afterglow of the rushing power.
* * *
Arcane arrived at Baska’s western prison ‘Inferno’. As it is a place where serious criminals between Class D and Class B are imprisoned, it boasted iron-clad security.
“stop! Who are you! This is a controlled access area!”
The guards did not respond carelessly even to the elderly and children approaching. First of all, he drew his weapon and shouted as if on alert.
“Reveal your identity! If you do not comply, I will arrest you!”
“The blue kids…”
A shadow grew from Arcane’s feet and merged with the shadows of the guards. Unaware of what had happened, the guards rolled their eyes and their eyelids trembled. Then he fell to his knees and fell to the floor.
“Hey, it’s not even a snack. Canis, open the door.”
Canis took a keychain from the guard’s waist and opened the front door of Inferno. He was a teacher who could crumple an iron gate if he wanted to, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of making things bigger.
However, Canis’ expectations were immediately missed. From the moment he broke through the main gate, Arcane began to reveal his true colors.
“It’s an intruder! attack! Killing is permitted!”
“Contact the castle and ask for support! A wizard!”
The guards came rushing in with weapons. But to the Dark Wizard, numbers didn’t matter. Arcane’s shadow extended like tentacles and merged with the soldiers’ shadows.
“Ouch! What’s this?”
“I can’t move!”
The guards couldn’t move their bodies. Then, when Arcane waved his hand, he turned to his comrades and began stabbing the spear against their will.
“Aww! it’s crazy? It’s dangerous!”
“I don’t know either! It’s not me!”
Arin’s face turned pale. Born with eyes completely different from those of others, she accepted the fears of the guards without filtering them.
“You never said Master Canis would come to a place like this.”
Canis wondered as well. However, his trust in Arcane did not waver in the slightest.
“What do you think? Let’s go.”
Arcane slowly broke through the battlefield and headed for the building. When the shadows connected to the guards were suddenly cut off, those who were brawling collapsed with bubbles.
It was mind control, a characteristic of dark magic.
Darkness unites with other darkness. It is to use such characteristics to infiltrate the shadows of others and control their bodies and thoughts.
Looking at the advantages, the nature of dark magic itself was overpowered.
Nevertheless, the reason why it is considered non-mainstream is that one disadvantage covers all the advantages.
It was just that it was weak against light.
When the sun is up, darkness can only exist as a span of shadow. In addition, the stronger the light, the more mental power must be consumed to cast dark magic.
Of course, at night, the dark mage’s capabilities are maximized, but even that was on the verge of losing its light as the photonization theory developed by a genius named Kergos became popular.
There were almost no students majoring in dark magic even in the continent’s magic schools, so it was possible to know how neglected dark magic was in the wizarding society.
However, Canis knew that Arcane had perfectly overcome the disadvantages of dark magic. And the strongest essence he realized was passed on to himself.
‘Yes, you must trust Master. The one who gave me everything.’
After breaking down the entrance and entering the prison, Arcane took care of additional guards in the hallway. Then, they opened the iron door of building A-3, where the prisoners were imprisoned, and entered. Sensing that the incident had already occurred, the prisoners pounded the bars with rice bowls.
“hey! I don’t know who it is, but take it out!”
“hey! Open this damn iron door! Cases are not enough! Or I could kill someone else instead!”
Arcane slowly held out both hands. The grim surroundings of the prison were the perfect place for Arcanes to show off their talents.
“The Power of Darkness.”
The shadows cast in the hallway changed into the shape of a hand and then came out three-dimensionally. Hundreds of hands gripped the barbed wire and yanked it, and the twisting sound of the iron could be heard. The moment the frightened prisoners retreated to the wall, the bars were ripped out in order along the corridor.
bang! bang! bang! bang! bang!
The Power of Darkness was a magic that used the shadows that absorbed the surrounding energy like limbs. A single shadow could only lift a single pebble, but with hundreds of pairs of hands moving in an engineered way, they could easily pull out even an iron bar.
The iron gate opened and after a while, the prisoners showed up. A heavy iron ball was attached to his ankle.
“What are you, wizard? It’s so crazy.”
“Anyway, thank you. Let’s say Tongseong. I am Crown, the night cat. On this floor, if you hear your name, they will recognize you.”
Arcane felt the pathetic energy of the prisoners and put on a displeased expression. Even 40 years ago, Inferno was not like this. How did a place that was full of all kinds of heinous criminals end up like this?
‘Time is so free. Does that mean that my life has improved?’
According to Arcane’s theory, the quality of criminals decreases as civilization develops. This is because there are more scammers who know how to roll their hair, and real bad guys infiltrate society.
“Poor things. Does the criminal introduce himself? Do you think you can get out of here just because the bars are gone?”
“What is this old man senile? I tried to let it go as well as possible, but do you know who I am?”
The prisoners stretched out, trusting their superiority in numbers. There is no guarantee that they are on the same side just because they went to prison together.
“Listen up you fools. If you don’t have the confidence to defeat me, just stay in prison. If you disobey my order, you will suffer the pain of breaking your bones.”
The prisoners burst into laughter.
“Puhahaha! What is this old man talking about? We’ve come this far, do you think we’ll go back smoothly?”
“Let’s step on it! I need to get out of this damn prison!”
In the excitement of regaining freedom, the prisoners rushed at them without hesitation. But they soon realized that their ankles were still shackled.
Was it paralyzed for a while? Maybe I wasn’t aware of it because I had been wearing it for years.
“uh? uh? Holy shit!”
The prisoners then began to panic. Arcane watched their chatter and snorted.
If you chose evil from ancient times, you must have skills, and if you do not have skills, you must have good brains. However, they were just parasites who ate food in prison.
“The Power of Darkness.”
“Aww! what’s this!”
The hands that had tore off the bars this time wrapped around the prisoners and dragged them into the darkness. Their eyes, noses, and mouths disappeared into a black veil as if they were buried in a giant gel.
After a while, the sound of bones breaking was heard.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“Turn it off!”
The silenced prisoners could not even scream.
Arin, who heard the eerie sound, spoke to Canis with a shudder.
“Does it really have to be like this to avenge Canis?”
“To deny Master Arin is to deny us.”
“No matter what…”
“Have you forgotten what happened in Radum? There have been many worse things than this. Besides, the prisoners here are the same ones that plagued us in Radum.”
“But you promised. To forget everything that happened in Radum. I will be happy from now on.”
“Nothing is over yet. If Master’s grudge is not resolved, happiness will not come to us either.”
As the darkness that filled the corridors disappeared, prisoners with broken bones were lying on their backs in grotesque positions.
Arcane, who looked down at them with arrogant eyes, murmured.
“Frail things. Was it an unnecessary step? Or would you feel better if you go to another room?”
The number of criminals imprisoned in Inferno was 320. Perhaps only low-level guys were gathered here.
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