I Refused To Be Reincarnated
Chapter 540: Rose’s Awakening

Chapter 540: Rose’s Awakening

As Adam grappled with his new reality and the girl’s reappearance, the magic world’s foundation trembled under the eye’s mana.

"The offer doesn’t stand anymore. The cleaver’s owner left this world, and his desertion doomed you all."

The eye’s voice thundered as colossal fingers dug through the splintered sky. A hand bigger than a kingdom descended under Julius’ horrified eyes.

Its arm, a scaled copper pillar, pierced the western sea several millions of kilometers away. Yet, no matter where they stood, everyone could only gawk at it.

"A dragon..."

Alice’s face collapsed, and her shoulders shuddered as she identified the creature’s species in horror.

"Impossible! We only have records of their existence. No one ever saw one!"

Mathias clasped his head, shaking it in disbelief as the trio watched the hand emerge from the sea. Between its fingers, they saw an old city encased in a mana barrier and the legendary kraken wrapping its colossal tentacles around it.

Then, the dragon’s voice rumbled again.

"According to the treaty, I’ll recover Kumari Kandam and the world core fragment we lent you fifteen thousand years ago. Welcome to the real magic world: The Realm of the Four Monarchs."

As its arm left through the sky, taking away the most significant item they ever had, the magus’ laughter reverberated through the Franca empire.

"Did you think I’ll be content with a fragment? No!" It swiped its hand before it, misty mana engulfing the catacombs he stood in. "I understood everything was fake fifteen years ago when I failed to find the entire core. But today, I’m finally free! Dragons, hydras, or phoenixes, I fear no one! I will become a supreme sorcerer and retrieve what’s mine!"

With her declaration, ghosts from the past rose from the earth’s depth to stand by it, a dozen first, then a hundred, then a thousand, then ten thousand and finally, a hundred thousand.

They stood motionless behind the magus, their eager or crooked figures exuding enough power to destroy the world in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, Elisabeth entered the place, her white dress fluttering as she walked to stand by him.

"Everything went according to plan. The summoned linked to Prometheus created enough chaos to free us."

The magus’ voice continued as the veil of energy ever covering its features dissipated.

"And that Luna never suspected that her fake prophecy resonated with me and allowed me to deduce much more than what I could."

Elisabeth continued as if their thoughts and voices were synchronised, as if they were the same entity.

"And today, the world will remember why Rose is at its center, why that name lasted despite the passing millennia."

The magus’s lips curled into a smirk, its ghostly blue eyes sparkling fires of ambition as she gripped Elisabeth’s shoulders and her face reflected in her pupils.

If Adam were here, he would have trembled in horror at the spectacle and understood why his instinct roared for him to distance himself from Elisabeth, and why the magus appeared the moment Prometheus and Luna tried to meet her because... they had the same features!

The ghosts standing behind trembled as the horrors Rose had committed throughout the past ten thousand years resurfaced in their memories. The worst part? She had planned her revival seven thousand years ago through Selene’s studies, and no one could do anything to stop her.

More than that, they had all interacted with Elisabeth throughout the millennia. Yet, strangely, no matter where anyone searched, no records of her birth could be found, or rather, she had always been around, directing the Academy of Light Magic under different names. But in truth? She had always been the magus’ body, busy managing her dominion and perfecting her light and divination affinities.

And today, the body and the soul would merge to make Rose rise from the dead after ten thousand years. And once again, she would wage war against the entire world using the fallen magi and archmages from the past to quench her insatiable ambition.

"Hahaha! I’m back!"

In the center of the spectral army, an old ghost shuddered. Not because Rose’s soul melded into her body, her braided hair loosening and fluttering madly, or because a ten-thousand-year-old enchanted armor and white cape replaced her elegant dress. It wasn’t because of the swirling pillar of mana erupting or the intense pressure her body released either.

No... His eyes locked on the horizon, and his fists tightened as he found no trace of his successor.

"I hope you’re alive."

The soft mutter escaping his lips caught another old ghost’s attention, causing it to snicker before their eyes landed on Julius, who scanned his ravaged surroundings in a relentless search.

The young man cupped his hands over his mouth, despair filling his voice as he screamed.

"Where are you, brother? Join us fast before that dragon does something again!"

Yet, only the howling wind and the rumbling ground answered him, accentuating his fears for his brother’s safety.

"We don’t have time to look for him, Julius! He’s strong and will manage." Mathias gripped his shoulders, the metallic cold of his gauntlets cooling him down a little. "You spoke about an allied archmage. We’ll need her protection. Quick! Guide us to her."

Julius reluctantly gazed back, biting his lips at his dependable brother’s absence.

Mathias had a point. He knew it and didn’t want to leave him and Alice to search. But could he leave without Adam just because he could or couldn’t handle the situation? What if the three archmages caught him? What if their devastating spells had hit him?

"No! I’m grateful for Lin Yao’s help, but I won’t leave my brother behind!"

He flung Mathias’ hands away and crouched, ready to lunge.

RUMBLE

However, a wild tremor forced him to his knees as the ground expanded. No... Everything seemed to grow bigger in his eyes... even himself.

His heartbeats almost shattered his eardrums as he felt his body change. From a hundred and eighty-five centimeters, he kept growing and growing to reach a dozen meters, then a hundred.

The wind whistled in his ears during the process as if someone had seized the world and pulled it up at incredible speeds.

Since everything grew with him, he first thought that the bizarre occurrence wouldn’t have any impact. Yet, when he raised his head to gaze at the sky, he noticed the dragon’s eye grow smaller with each second crawling by. On the contrary, the crack in the sky grew bigger and soon, they passed through it.

He closed his eyes, terror gripping his heart for a few seconds before he reopened them and saw another sky.

Two bright suns blinded him as he narrowed his eyes and witnessed the definition of power and horror... because a several-kilometre-long copper dragon flapped its powerful wings above him.

The noise of splashing water reverberated next and the sea rose as the world he had grown up in returned to its original place as a province of The Realm of the Four Monarchs after fifteen thousand years of absence.

A realm filled with dangerous beasts and where archmages numbered in the millions. A realm where magi were servants, not rulers. Finally, a realm divided between four tier-nine legendary existences.

"H-How can we survive here?"