How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 223

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (223)

I said that as I opened my eyes.

At the same time, his mana flowed along my cheek to the back of my neck.

Kwaang—

A wind of different texture swept across my face.

The scenery had changed. I was on top of an unfamiliar clock tower I’d never seen before, and below me spread the view of a strange city that was neither Berlin nor Munich.

Even after layering spatial magic, he must have been anxious and warped me somewhere so my friends couldn’t find me.

Long platinum hair brushed against my cheek due to the fierce wind. The moment I realized the other person’s gaze was quite below mine, I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Ah, this bastard.’

The person before me was a Demon Woman, and the most harmoniously beautiful Human I’d ever seen. Her appearance, which seemed to embody all the beauty standards of this era, was so perfect I almost mistook her for a Wittelsbach Human.

Regardless of my heart starting to beat rapidly from the drug’s effects, this was honestly a transparent move.

Coming to meet me, he appeared not in his true form but using transformation magic again?

‘His transformation abilities are considerable.’

Not because of her appearance, but because Wittelsbach Humans don’t exist in this era.

I’ll analyze this later.

Right now, I mustn’t laugh. I want to laugh, but I shouldn’t.

The core of this plan is my disillusionment and exhaustion.

In this situation, ‘I’ should be someone who wants to escape this inexplicable torment even a second sooner, and would rather face the Stalker and negotiate with him to end the situation.

‘Why must I go this far?’

Because the Antagonist has risk-averse and opportunistic tendencies.

If the Antagonist realizes this is all my plan, he’ll immediately flee and torment me from afar. Therefore, to buy time to subdue the Antagonist, it’s important to give him the sense that he’s still ‘winning.’

I took a deep breath and organized my thoughts. The muscles in my face and shoulders slowly stiffened.

I’m not looking at a little rat caught in my trap right now, but a tired person who wants to negotiate with him to end this ordeal.

After repeating this resolve twice, my expression seemed to change accordingly.

Or perhaps I looked like the drug was taking effect. I could already hear my own heartbeat in my ears.

“Hahaha…”

Ecstasy began to show on the other person’s face. Like someone who had achieved their desired goal, his breathing quickened and his voice began to tremble.

“I never thought we’d meet like this.”

“…”

Of course you didn’t.

You haven’t even carefully laid out your plan yet, you’ve just fallen for my strategy. Feel free to think you’ve won.

The Human before me rolled his eyes all over my face without blinking once. A thin voice could be heard through the wind.

“So this day has come.”

I stared blankly at his face. At least I tried to unfocus my gaze.

Unlike his pale hands, his flushed cheeks stood out. Softly curled platinum hair flew over my hand that was wrapped in his. Within eyelashes of the same color, eyes that shone like a summer sea rippled with heat.

The neat and clear features that no one could help but admire held an atmosphere that their original owner had clearly never worn often.

‘…Of course, since it’s not his real body.’

I briefly opened his status window, then looked back into his eyes.

Similar to Abraham, I felt something unfathomable in his eyes. But unlike him, from this person I felt the opposite shock—if Abraham had reached here from nothingness, this person seemed to have crawled up from an abyss. The sense of crisis stimulated reason blinded by love.

“…You look good up close. This is the first time I’m actually touching you. Better than I imagined…”

Knowing he was completely insane, I wasn’t particularly provoked by his nonsensical words. Instead of getting angry, I checked the scenery spread out behind him.

Judging from the Grand Hotel terrorist incident, this person must be from Pleroma.

True to Pleroma, he was skilled in spatial magic. Everything spread out far behind him was separated by new spatial magic. The city was very quiet, proving that only the two of us remained in this location.

I felt my heart beating faster as I slowly looked into those blue eyes.

“I came to negotiate.”

“You must have the same feelings as me now.”

Like a madman, he ignored my words and only said what he wanted to say.

“I said I came to negotiate. I did as you replied. If you keep within bounds, I’ll continue to do as you wish from now on, so let’s stop this now.”

“Stop?”

He muttered like someone who had heard incomprehensible words and smiled.

Even though he must have fallen in love after drinking the drug, it would be hard to understand why I’m trying to cut things off so cleanly. Right now I have several things I need to know from him, so I can’t act like I’m deeply in love.

First, does mental manipulation magic work on him?

Second, how much does he know about me?

If mental manipulation magic works on him…

‘There’s no need to drag this out further.’

I can just deal with the Antagonist right away.

I grabbed his hand that was still on my cheek and spoke rapidly like a machine gun.

—Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. Enter through the Narrow Entrance!

Kwaang—!

As I cast two spells in succession, I released the binding magic that had tied his hand to mine and rolled back. Blue light burst from the Antagonist’s hand.

If I had been even a second late, my face would have exploded and I’d be dead, but with my current skills—not last year’s but this year’s—I wasn’t particularly confident I’d die.

More than that…

‘Hmm, this is… troublesome.’

I muttered curses internally and drew my wand.

I had already confirmed this during the Grand Hotel incident, but since the enemy is thorough, it’s not very welcome from my perspective.

He neither fell asleep nor was brainwashed.

The fact that mental manipulation magic didn’t work on him—this clarified the answers to the two questions I was thinking about earlier.

His use of the ‘Mueller’ surname to provoke me wasn’t coincidence but because he knows I’m Nicolaus Ernst, and therefore he also knows I can use divine power.

The Antagonist had used artifacts to strengthen his mental power in preparation for being captured by me.

There are several problems that follow from this, but the biggest problem is that the Antagonist knows my identity…

Fortunately, he can’t reveal my identity to all of Pleroma.

‘Because he has to capture me first.’

If he reveals that I’m Nicolaus, it would be like telling each Pleroma Diocese where the prey is located.

So this Stalker is probably desperately hoping that other Pleroma Diocese don’t learn my identity.

Bang, kwagwang— bang—!

I drew my wand and deflected the Vitriol coming at me. Another Vitriol writhed in a form similar to Leo’s vines, aiming for my ankle. I rolled and stomped on that Vitriol to burst it, then cast a guidance spell.

—But the Lord knows all the ways I go!

Kwaang—! Kuung—

Along with the sound of breaking bricks, I heard the Antagonist land elsewhere with a surprised laugh.

The air turned black and I couldn’t see properly ahead. Even from his special abilities, I expected he wouldn’t be ordinary, but he’s indeed not someone in a normal position. At this level, he’s skilled enough to rival Ainsiedel.

‘I should approach this more lightly.’

Why?

Because I’m planning to openly lose.

I continued using purification magic to secure my vision while continuing the calculations I was doing earlier.

‘Now… this makes both the Antagonist’s limits and my limits clear.’

The Antagonist can’t use Nicolaus’s identity to attack me, and he has the clear limitation of unilaterally wanting something from me.

On the other hand, I can’t deploy my abilities and strategies because the Antagonist knows my identity and has made full preparations.

Mental manipulation magic doesn’t work on the Antagonist, and his skills are comparable to Ainsiedel’s, putting me at a complete disadvantage—what should I do now?

What if I call my friends?

Since I’ve already told my friends about my plan, it would take some time, but they could find my location.

‘The problem is that would bring us back to square one.’

Given his tendency to avoid any risk, if I call my friends here, the Antagonist will flee from me. Just like he’s been avoiding me like a little rat until now.

I felt the flow of wind and gripped my staff with both hands, swinging it in the direction the wind was coming from.

—The Lord is the rock where I always flee and hide.

Kwadeuk— kung!

The barrier created by the spell I whispered at a volume only I could hear blocked two attacks of different qualities. Both attacks came from the left. But instead of the wind hitting the barrier, it scattered to the left side. What does this mean?

‘Right side.’

The Antagonist is currently using guidance magic from the right to deliberately confuse the direction.

Kwaang—!

When I charged forward with force in my legs, surprised wide blue eyes appeared right in front of me. The moment I swung my wand, transformed into a sword, toward the Antagonist’s neck, the air in front of me turned black and the person disappeared.

He had truly vanished. I couldn’t feel any trace of breathing or air currents from where I stood.

Kwaang— Crash—!

When I changed my sword back to a staff and raised it to the sky, he broke through the dome-shaped barrier I had set up from above and came down.

‘Hmm.’

Right. Close combat with that guy is difficult. Especially in a situation where you can’t see even an inch ahead.

I already knew this from the wet glove incident.

Of course, now that I’m responding simply with 70% output, if he’s coming at me this complexly, it’s a good situation for pretending to do my best.

Flames erupted from my staff with an explosive sound.

Whoosh—!

—The Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of devouring fire…

I swung my staff in a circle. The flames wrapping around it illuminated the darkness.

—All the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night!

With a roar, the floor began to burn red. The magical power that stretched fiercely down from the rooftop covered the city. As I let my magical power flow, the city turned red.

Someone’s muttering was heard from the sky.

“As expected.”

He was in the sky. Surprisingly, he was falling, but already seemed accustomed to such falls. I swung my staff wide to change the direction of the wind. The opponent, caught up in my wind and losing direction, laughed in surprise and created a small barrier in midair.

He would use that to gain momentum and change his falling direction. This was a method I had often used in sparring with Leo.

Crash—!

Fragments of the barrier broken by his shoes flew toward me.

Clang—!

My staff had now transformed into a white blade.

Just before his sword struck my neck, my sword blocked it. I glanced at my opponent’s blade, less than 5cm from my eyes, and maintained my strength. He also maintained that state like me and smiled slightly.

“You’re not first place for nothing… right?”

“…”

Surprising to receive such praise even when I approached with the intention of losing. If this looked like I was doing my best, I’ll take it positively.

When I looked at him expressionlessly, he smiled and asked.

“You even took medicine and attacked me…? No, you stopped attacking. Right? For my sake?”

“…”

“But… how will you handle this?”

He withdrew his sword from me, stepped back, and snapped his fingers. Befitting a space created by Pleroma, the air began to restrict magical power. I felt pain in my core.

I was about to smile seeing him move as I wished, but then acted out an expression appropriate for the situation.

‘How can I confirm the information hidden in this game, buy time to execute my strategy, and lower his guard.’

I could flee if I wanted to flee, and since I had told my friends my plan in advance, I could call them if I wanted to do that too, but…

How could I meet him and now waste this opportunity.

Creating a position of disadvantage both physically and emotionally, this is my answer.

Thud— Thump—!

I collapsed due to Vitriol, and my vision tilted sideways. I felt the black Vitriol that struck my head flow down to my torso and wrap around my hands as I thought.

‘In short, I need to stall until time is secured to execute my plan.’

After thinking that far, I held back a bitter laugh.

A situation where I have to think such thoughts? Reality hits hard.

Anyway…

His behavioral pattern when everything he wants isn’t fully satisfied.

I plan to learn about the information he reveals in that process. What artifacts he’s using where to block my divine power, who behind the scenes knows I’m Nicolaus, and how they found out.

Also, if Grand Hotel’s target is indeed the Korean Empire, how did he find out the relationship between me and the Korean Empire?

‘I need to find that out and turn back time.’

Surely the method he’ll use to achieve his goal won’t be one I can walk out of on my own two feet.

The black Vitriol began choking my neck, just as it had with Strauchi and Ainsiedel.

He smiled, grabbed his skirt hem, and knelt on one knee.

Then he recited a short incantation.

―Blessed are those who hope to find comfort in the sea of temptation.

Along with the increasingly insufficient air, magical power completely trapped my mind.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, surprisingly, I was on my bed. It seemed he had used space magic to separate the room.

I slowly raised my arm. There were no traces of blood being drawn, no magical restraints. The artifact in my ear was also intact.

In short, nothing had changed.

I felt questions rising and turned my head.

The Leo Ancestor-like Person had trespassed into Leo Family’s House and was quietly looking down at me.

After a suffocating staring contest for a while, I focused on his appearance.

‘Where the hell did this bastard come from.’

Even if it wasn’t the main body, I couldn’t help being curious about his origins.

‘Is he really a Human ancestor of Wittelsbach.’

No, that can’t be it.

Wittelsbach’s Human ancestors have dark-colored hair.

When you fit people to beauty standards, they inevitably become similar, so maybe he’s just a complete stranger who resembles them. Though that raises the question of why all the new humans look different if you think about it that way.

He smiled with his eyes and said.

“Do you like this appearance?”

“…”

“No one dislikes this appearance. But it’s surprising that a new human would prefer Humans.”

It’s not like I particularly prefer Humans more.

Instead of answering, I just stared at him.

“You seem to have many questions about me? Surely you didn’t come to meet me so boldly, even taking such medicine, trusting in that divine power.”

He sat next to me.

I glared at him with contemptuous eyes.

Since he had ultimately acted according to my will so far, I wasn’t particularly angry and actually found it amusing, but if I didn’t want to give him everything he wanted, I had to show sufficient dislike.

“Why are you looking at me with those eyes?”

He tilted his head slightly with eyes that seemed completely puzzled. His long hair touched me. He pressed my carotid artery with his finger and stayed still for a long time.

Setting aside that it was completely socially maladjusted behavior, he was now…

He raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘see?’ and smiled.

“…What you want is to find a way to drive me away from your side. How much you must hate me to meet me after even taking a love potion. Am I right?”

“…”

Based on the note contents so far, he’s not someone who would honestly state facts like this.

From my heartbeat, he would have known that the medicine was affecting me.

Since the foundation was laid, he probably concluded that with just a little coaxing, I’d change as he wanted, so my current state didn’t matter at all.

At that moment, I heard something absurd from his mouth.

“I followed you around to help you, but it hurts that you disliked it.”

“Help?”

I forgot I needed to act and almost let out a bitter laugh.

What is this bastard saying now? Is he now justifying stalking with that characteristic mental gymnastics?

“Yes. Can’t you tell just from this situation? Why would I be in this manor with you, not knowing when I might be attacked and the space magic broken?”

That is indeed surprising.

When did he flee to some unknown city, and now he’s back in Berlin?

“I don’t know what misunderstanding you have about me, but I was just trying to help you survive. Same goes for now.”

“Help me from whom? I’d live much more prosperously if there were no criminals monitoring my every move.”

“In time, you’ll understand why I said this…”

He pondered for a long time about how to explain, then just ended with two sentences.

“It’s unfortunate. You won’t understand whatever I say now.”

“…”

I stared at him intently and furrowed my brow.

It’s nonsense. It sounds like nonsense, but…

‘I should remember this.’

I thought about it and asked about the suspicious part.

“Why would such a person steal my belongings?”

“…Haha~”

The Antagonist just laughed and changed the subject.

“Ah, could it be that you don’t trust my protection because I look like a Human? There’s no need for that. When I return to my original form, I’ll be bigger than you, you know?”

“….”

I couldn’t understand what that had to do with protection abilities for a mage, and I didn’t want to think about this bastard wandering around in New Humanity form, so this time a contemptuous expression naturally formed on my face. He didn’t seem particularly bothered though, reaching out to touch my face.

“Shall I hear what you’re trying to negotiate?”

He muttered while touching my eyelids like a social misfit.

I swatted his hand away and said.

“You got what you wanted now. I did as you replied, following those song lyrics, so stop being a nuisance. I’ll meet you when you want.”

“….”

He blinked his large eyes and said.

“It’s not enough….”

“What isn’t?”

At my question, a sly smile formed on his face.

He probably didn’t feel the level of affection he wanted from my words about ‘meeting when he wants.’ He wouldn’t have known that even a level 10 potion would be incomplete.

He grinned and said.

“Want to go see an opera?”

* * *

“….”

I was watching the splendid stage, then looked at the seat next to me.

The Stalker, whose name I still didn’t know, was completely absorbed in the performance. Unlike before, he had his hair up in a bun and wore a purple velvet hat decorated with flowers.

The Antagonist didn’t agree to negotiate.

It was fine that he didn’t agree. Why?

Because I just needed to buy time anyway. The reason I attempted negotiation was originally to buy time.

‘I need to buy time to extract information and backstab him.’

Honestly, just like Abraham had his subordinates do to me, even though I couldn’t understand the reason, I was expecting to get beaten to death. I also thought that with his madness, he’d immediately draw my blood and force all sorts of crazy experiments.

I didn’t tell my friends this far, but I was even considering truly insane possibilities….

‘What is this?’

Is this all?

Is this really all he wanted to do after meeting me?

Feeling absurd, I just emptied my brain and looked at the stage when a velvet glove touched my elbow. Wearing a fancy mask that covered his eyes like he’d come to a masquerade ball, he smiled at me.

I pulled my arm away and just walked outside first.

In the theater that was clearly full of Pleroma, there were Pleroma wearing masks like us, paired up and walking around together.

The Stalker, who had followed me out at some point, looked at a poster on the wall and said.

“What should we watch next? Salome? Elektra? I saw Fidelio recently so I don’t want to see it again….”

“….”

“How about Elektra? It’s the day after tomorrow at this time, so it’s the closest.”

Instead of answering, I just looked down at him.

He looked back and forth between the poster and me, gesturing with his eyes as if telling me to decide quickly.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Wasn’t it fun?”

“Let’s finish this quickly and go.”

If it were the same situation as with Abraham, it would be good for extracting information efficiently. Though not good for my mental health.

But if it continues like this, there’s a high chance I’ll just waste time. What kind of information could I possibly get from these activities?

‘Should I properly pick another fight?’

As I was looking at my watch and having crazy thoughts, I heard something that seemed crazy in another way.

“It’s because it’s Monday now, right? Don’t worry. I’ll take you back to the manor before 5 AM.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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