Season 1 Chapter 199: Hitume Ikar (3)

The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 199 – Hitume Ikar (3)

Translator: Seven

Editors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko

While Ivan was suffering from a headache because of his endless pondering, Anastasia looked around with an expression of interest.

“Hmmm.”

Hitume Ikar was definitely a country with unique characteristics.

Ivan only paid attention to their warriors, but Anastasia looked at the country from a much broader perspective.

‘They created a completely independent culture in 4,000 years.’

She was curious.

She wanted to spend a month just exploring the island and properly studying their culture. She was also interested in sorcery.

However, Anastasia put aside her selfish desires.

Meanwhile, their surroundings became quieter and quieter as they headed deeper into a forest.

It was a dark and ominous forest. In fact, it was as dark as if it was night, even though the sun was still high in the sky when they entered the forest.

Vajra, who was walking at the front, said.

“This is the ‘Dark Forest’. As outsiders, if you were to get lost here, you would never be able to escape, so don’t stray too far from me.”

This was said in a serious tone, and the group nodded.

‘I’m bored to death.’

Ivan shook his head after having this thought.

It hadn’t been long since they entered this forest, so he shouldn’t have had such thoughts already. But this forest was truly unpleasant.

The darkness in the forest seemed to strangely cling to the skin. And for some strange reason, he felt tired.

He had slept enough before they arrived, so he wondered why he was feeling this way now.

“Stop.”

It was Anastasia. The voice was clearly that of a young girl, but it carried a fierce hostility that couldn’t be hidden.

Vajra stopped moving and looked back.

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you say we’d arrive at the palace before sunset?”

“Of course. We’re almost there. Just follow us a bit longer. I think we’ll arrive sooner than I expected. The sun is still high.”

Anastasia laughed at those words.

“You think we’re fools? The sun has already set. Did you think we wouldn’t realise that?”

Ivan’s expression changed, but Vajra remained calm and said.

“It’s not unreasonable to have this thought. Because this forest does not allow sunlight to…”

“Hmph.”

Anastasia snorted.

She felt that there was no need to listen to his nonsense any longer.

Bang!

The ground shook as Anastasia’s small body shot towards Vajra like a cannonball. Her fist then struck forwards, hitting him.

Crack!

“…”

Anastasia frowned.

She didn’t feel the sensation of hitting a person, and instead, a piece of wood broke under her fist.

Vajra had already moved.

What she’d stuck was an old grey tree. Vajra was already far away. (TL: substitution jutsu?!)

Ssss.

The darkness from the forest wrapped around his body as if it was alive.

Vajra’s expression was cold.

It seemed the expressions he’d displayed so far were all fake.

“You’re quite quick, girl. The sorcery in this place is not something that strangers could easily notice. How did you know?”

“You might be able to trick my senses, but my body clock is always accurate.”

Anastasia snorted again. There was no reason to reveal that she was a Golem.

“…hmm. Is that why you have such a strange presence?”

Ssss.

As he muttered those words, Vajra faded into the darkness.

‘We couldn’t lead them to the center of the forest, but it doesn’t matter. They can’t get out of here easily anyway. The only thing left is to slowly wear them down.’

A mysterious smile stretched across his lips. The time for a thrilling hunt had come.

<Stop.>

Shortly after this voice sounded, the darkness that was spreading around Vajra’s body stopped. His expression also became one of shock.

Taking advantage of this, Ivan and Anastasia quickly narrowed the distance and took Vajra down. They had the ability to kill him right away, but they didn’t.

Capturing him was a much better option.

‘What happened…?’

His body still couldn’t move. Vajra could only move his eyes. He didn’t realise that he’d been bound by the power of Dragons, Dragontongue.

“That was amazing. Are you sure you’re not a real Dragon?”

Anastasia tapped Dro’s shoulder as she asked this.

Dro looked into the dark forest and said.

“The others ran away. I can track them for now, but… I feel something unsettling.”

“Their original intent was to bring us into this forest. They have already achieved that. But it might be dangerous to go deeper.”

Anastasia’s gaze turned to Vajra.

“There’s no need to rush. We captured the guy who knows the most. All we have to do is extract the information from him.”

“You’re going to torture him?”

“That’s too inefficient. I’m going to take control of his mind. Even if it’ll take longer, it’s the most effective…”

It was at that moment that something suddenly shot out from the dark forest.

Ivan and Anastasia evaded at the same time.

Puk.

This thing then stabbed into Vajra.

“What was that?”

“It was… a needle.”

Ivan looked at the nape of Vajra’s neck and clicked his tongue.

The needle was so thin that he had to look closely just to see its outline.

“Amazing. He died instantly. They managed to strike his vital spot perfectly.”

“Tch. I regret not bringing a weapon.”

If he had a blade, he would have struck the needle down. However, it was suicidal to block a hidden weapon without knowing what it was.

‘Couldn’t I have sacrificed an arm to stop it?’

Anastasia had regrets, but it was unavoidable. Her way of thinking was not yet that of a battle Golem; it was that of the Great Sage.

“Pull out the needle.”

“…why me?”

“Then should I do it?”

Ivan nodded at Anastasia’s words.

“Both of us are barehanded, so it doesn’t matter which one pulls it out.”

“You have the Tiger King’s Gloves.”

“…right.”

Ivan’s face twitched as he nodded.

Then, after putting on the Tiger King’s Gloves, he pulled the needle out of Vajra’s neck.

Jurk.

Blood condensed at the back of Vajra’s neck