I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 40

“Because of me, the city will disappear?”

―Yes.

Randell asked again as if he didn’t understand, but that wasn’t his true feeling.

In fact, there was a part that suddenly dawned on him.

The manager said he had a favor to ask, and that the main body was in this building.

So he naturally thought it was to retrieve the main body… but strictly speaking, he didn’t say that.

“Your favor was… not to retrieve the main body, but to destroy it.”

―Yes.

“So it can rest forever.”

―Yes.

The administrator was silent for a moment before continuing.

―Article 91, Clause 2 of CP. In times of crisis, seal the administrator in the main body. Then issue a code for evacuation.

“The dwarves sealed you and left in the past, didn’t they?”

―That’s right.

“But you were sealed, weren’t you? You were still awake. Even if the main body is sealed, can you still move?”

―I awakened 300,113 days ago. Due to an unspecified error.

“Ah… by accident.”

―Yes.

“And what you saw was this ruin. Unlike before you fell asleep, with not a single dwarf.”

―…….

Randell felt a deep melancholy in the administrator’s voice, which was devoid of highs and lows, just like a spirit.

Suddenly, he recalled what the administrator had done.

―Do you know where the exit is?

―Follow me.

With that, the administrator unexpectedly guided him through the city.

Even though it was now a dust pit of ruins, the administrator proudly introduced various parts of the city.

Randell remained silent, partly because he was curious about the city’s identity.

But also because he could feel how much this spirit cherished the ancient city.

It looked so happy that he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt.

And that made it all the sadder.

To cherish a city, even such a ruin.

It meant that the spirit could cherish the departed dwarves, the wildflowers by the roadside, and the animals of the meadow just as much as this city.

‘And to be able to cherish something… means to have emotions.’

Regret for the decay, longing for the past, joy at the arrival of a visitor.

The spirit, though its expressions were not grand, possessed emotions more human than those of humans.

Such a spirit had spent over 300,000 days alone in this city, where no one else existed.

In a ruin without even ghosts…

The pain must be unimaginable.

So Randell could only remain silent at the administrator’s request to destroy the main body.

There was only one thing he could say.

“…How should I break it?”

―That orb, my main body. It’s not very hard.

Randell approached the orb and placed his hand on it.

Then he began to draw up mana.

―Collapse will start in 30 minutes. Randell, escape before then.

“I will.”

―Check the reservoir. The place you entered is one-way.

“Got it.”

Randell nodded and looked at the orb.

The figure of the administrator, feeling his gaze, slowly rose above the orb.

A different appearance from the dwarf-like figure until now.

A short, stubby body as white as snow with short limbs, and the eyes were still large.

It felt more like a cute doll than a living creature.

“…….”

―…….

Randell and the administrator’s eyes met.

Randell, holding back his heavy heart, opened his mouth.

For the words that someone had to say.

“…You’ve worked hard all this time.”

―Everything is according to the mother’s will.

The administrator, who spoke incomprehensible words, closed his eyes.

Randell focused the mana he had drawn up into his hand.

Creak.

Crack!

As his mana-filled grip tightened, the orb couldn’t withstand it for a moment and cracked into several pieces.

At the same time, dozens of wires connected to the orb lost their power and drooped to the floor.

The once clear orb lost its light and became murky.

“Farewell.”

Randell said goodbye, looking at the orb.

But the city, which had endured thousands of years, seemed eager to rest as soon as possible.

Rumble.

Rumble.

With the sound of thunder, the entire city began to vibrate faintly.

“No time to get sentimental.”

Randell grumbled as he dodged the falling pieces of stone from the ceiling and ran out of the building.

It was time to really go home.

* * *

A barren wilderness.

At the bottom of a canyon where not a single insect passed by, one of the scattered rocks began to move.

Thunk.

The rock then made a metallic sound and bounced up roughly before falling to the ground.

It was not a rock, but one of the exits camouflaged as part of the surroundings.

“Ha! I feel alive.”

Randell stuck his upper body out of the hole he had kicked open and took a deep breath.

The yellow dust of the canyon was sucked into his lungs, but it was heaven compared to the suffocating underground space.

‘If I had tried to escape alone, it would have been a disaster.’

The exit he had just come out of was structured so that one could not climb up by stepping on the shield.

To be precise, even if one climbed up, the entrance would not open, making it a futile effort.

The exit was in the lake where the manager had said it would be.

When he went back into the mine, the lake had drained, revealing a muddy bottom.

In the middle of it, a stone floor had been created, with strange runes engraved on each stone.

It seemed to be the work of the rune mage the manager had mentioned before.

And as soon as Randell stepped on that stone floor, gravity reversed, allowing him to come out through the exit he had just used.

‘Rune magic… It’s much more impressive than I thought.’

As far as Randell knew, there were only two spells in the world that dealt with gravity.

Even those were rarely used due to their high power and casting difficulty.

But to create such gravity magic without any restrictions, and to make it work for thousands of years.

‘Well, they did build such a huge underground city.’

No matter how skilled the dwarves were, it was impossible to build a huge underground city with manpower alone.

Magic must have been essential, and it was naturally rune magic.

‘What a shame. Such magic has been lost.’

The dwarves Randel knew couldn’t use magic, let alone rune magic.

Even if they learned magic, they were limited to the 3rd circle, often mocked by elves as magic cripples.

But it turned out that the ancient magic, thought to be lost, was flowing through their bloodline.

How frustrated would the dwarves be if they found out?

‘It seems it was secretly passed down among a small group like royalty, but got buried when the dwarf city was attacked.’

Randel snapped out of his thoughts.

‘Oh no, this is not the time for this.’

He shook his head and looked around.

This was definitely the canyon where he and the intermediate knight had fallen together.

Even now, if he looked up, he could clearly see a part of the collapsed cliff.

But.

‘It’s gone.’

The body of the intermediate knight who had died fighting Randel had vanished without a trace.

That wasn’t all.

There were signs of many people coming and going on the canyon floor, and remnants of used ropes.

It meant someone had collected the body and searched the area for Randel.

‘Was it actually lucky that I spent time inside?’

Rumble, rumble.

At that moment, the ground beneath his feet began to shake.

The grains of sand on the ground bounced up and down with the subtle vibrations, and even the large rocks trembled slightly.

‘Wait. The city… is collapsing?’

Randel felt a cold sweat run down his back.

No one knew better than Randel, who had lived there for two weeks, how vast the dwarves’ underground city was.

Even the area not covered by lava was so large it took hours to walk around, and the original size of the city was said to be fifty times that.

Including the mines, it was said to be three hundred times larger.

But if the entire area collapsed at once?

Would this canyon be safe?

And what about Randel himself, who was above it?

“Damn it!”

Randel urgently used his shield to ascend the canyon.

And the first thing he did was none other than this.

Whoosh.

After strengthening his entire body with mana.

Tap, tap, tap!

He ran without looking back.

It wasn’t just running.

He ran with all his might, without considering mana efficiency, as if he were escaping from a mid-level knight.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

Soon, he was out of breath.

Maybe it was because he had been using magic in the dark underground for the past two weeks, but moving under the sun was difficult.

But Randel gritted his teeth and ran like crazy.

Did he run for more than ten minutes?

Boom—

A loud noise came from behind Randel.

No, it was a bit different from a normal sound.

It was a ‘feeling’ as if the space was trembling, like a drum being hit.

At the same time, he instinctively knew. Something had started.

‘It’s coming!’

Sure enough.

The strange resonance didn’t end with just sound.

What followed the sound was a shockwave.

Whoosh—

An opaque shockwave swept across the wide wasteland from one side to the other.

The sand of the wilderness scattered all at once, creating a sandstorm that made the view blurry.

“Cough, cough. Shield!”

Feeling the shockwave pass through his body, Randel flattened himself and used magic.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Then, the impact of something small hitting the shield was transmitted.

The pebbles that had been thrown high by the previous shockwave fell like rain.

**Tadadang.**

Fortunately, the stone hail didn’t last long.

And after a while.

“Phew, is it over?”

Randel, who was lying down with his hands protecting his head, lifted his head and looked around.

The surroundings, which had calmed down from the sandstorm, were as peaceful as if they had never been chaotic.

‘I thought it was impossible for the city to collapse, but to this extent…’

Randel clicked his tongue as he looked at the wasteland with long cracks here and there.

Then, after a moment of hesitation, he began to retrace his steps.

**Trudge, trudge.**

He didn’t have to walk for long.

Because in just a few minutes, a shocking sight unfolded.

“…I’m speechless.”

The great canyon where Randel had fallen was no longer there.

No, the same was true for other small canyons.

Instead, there was a wide vertical cave so deep that the bottom couldn’t be seen.

Randel looked down at the vertical cave.

**Swoosh.**

Underground water bursting from various parts of the walls was forming dozens of waterfalls and falling down.

If a little more time passed like this, this huge vertical cave would become a lake of unknown depth.

And the unknown history from thousands of years ago would finally be buried in the last dust.

‘Isn’t that what life is originally like?’

With a bitter smile, Randel muttered as he looked at the bottom of the vertical cave.

“Rest in peace.”

But then.

**Quickly… this way…!**

It seemed like he heard someone’s voice from behind.

Randel turned his head and looked beyond the wasteland.

Since all the sand dust had cleared and it was a wasteland without a single rock or shrub, he could see far away.

So he could discover it.

At the edge of his mana-enhanced vision, he saw the figures of humans approaching.

‘Disgusting creatures. Well, I suppose it’s only natural.’

A bizarre explosion and a shockwave-like phenomenon had occurred, so it was only natural for them to come and investigate the source.

After waiting for a moment, as expected, the approaching figures were all soldiers.

There were about thirty of them.

Fortunately, there were no knights in sight.

‘Should I run?’

Randel pondered for a moment but soon dismissed the idea.

What if they followed him all the way to the Endis territory?

He didn’t even want to imagine the kind of trouble that would cause.

Then there was only one option.

‘I have to wipe them out here.’

Randel checked his internal mana.

Fortunately, thanks to absorbing a mana stone before coming up, his mana was about half full.

That should be enough.

Meanwhile, the soldiers quickly approached.

Soon, he could clearly hear their chatter.

“Yes, that’s him! He’s the one who killed Sir Shotel!”

“Gasp! Call for Sir Lunteral!”

“He’s a high-level mage! Don’t approach recklessly!”

The soldiers, finally recognizing the enemy’s identity, trembled but formed a wall with their shields.

A typical defensive formation. It seemed they intended to buy as much time as possible until this Lunteral character arrived.

But would that really work?

Last time, he mainly used lightning.

It was powerful in close combat, but the downside of lightning was that it could only strike one target at a time.

But now…

‘A few fireballs should be enough.’

As the soldiers came within range, Randel quietly prepared to cast.

“Fire… huh?”

Ziiing―

But something was strange.

It wasn’t unusual for a spear to be summoned during casting.

However, unlike usual, there was a strange tremor felt from the spear.

‘What is this?’

Randel examined the spear for any abnormalities.

Then something even more astonishing happened.

The spear spoke.

―Do you need my help?

“What? You…!”

To be precise, it was the small, translucent, round body with large eyes that appeared above the spear.

It was the administrator speaking.

“Ha, really.”

As Randel burst into laughter in disbelief, the administrator spoke awkwardly.

―I was scared, thinking I would disappear.

“How did you get into the spear?”

―I don’t know. …Do you dislike me?

“No, it’s not that.”

―That’s a relief.

“You could have at least said something. I even prayed for your soul, thinking you had disappeared.”

―The new place is unfamiliar. I was busy adapting.

“How does it compare to the main body in the basement?”

―Much better.

“That’s good to hear.”

―You look like you’re in danger. Should I help?

“Help? Oh, come on.”

Randel grinned and waved his right hand.

Whoosh.

Then, flames started from his fingertips, drawing a long line before forming a sphere of fire.

“Just watch. Fireball!”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The fireball that started from Randel’s hand flew forward in sequence.

Boom!

The area was once again engulfed in a massive explosion.