The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 18. Remnants of the Past
In a span of mere seconds, countless images flashed through Muno’s mind.
“Now, let’s have some fun with our little experiment, shall we? Kekeke.”
A man entering with saws and hammers, nails in hand, alongside some mysterious crimson reagent.
“How are you still holding on!? Why won’t you break!? Damn you!! Do you know what you’ve put me through…….”
Thud, thud-thud.
Endless cycles of violence and cruelty masquerading as experimentation.
That room had always been drenched in blood.
His blood.
“You dare attempt to escape!? With nothing but some parlor trick of metal manipulation!?”
The man from that nightmare—the one who had spearheaded the violence, who had inflicted those cruel experiments upon him—that lackey haunted him still.
The old man before him now looked far more aged, yet there was no doubt: it was the same person.
His name was not Amerus. It was something else entirely.
“Amerus!”
Crackle.
Boom!
With Muno’s furious cry, a black chain erupted from his right hand wreathed in blazing fire, lashing out like lightning toward the man’s head.
“What—!?”
The moment Amerus—no, Toinek’s—eyes widened in shock.
A flicker of reason returned to Muno’s mind as he met that gaze.
‘I can’t kill him now.’
There was too much he needed to know.
At that thought, the power drained slightly from the extending chain.
That gave the man just enough time to reflexively raise his staff and summon a transparent barrier.
Crash!
“Ugh, wh—!? You dare—!?”
Amerus instinctively stumbled backward, barking out words to mask his shock.
Crack.
But when he saw the barrier being absorbed into the chain with a sound like tearing cloth, he let out a gasp and moved his staff again.
Thud.
Fzzzzt.
As his staff struck the floor, black thorn-like aura surged upward, filling the room and bearing down on Muno in a crushing wave.
And yet.
“Futile.”
Crackle-crackle.
At the moment Muno’s lips curved into a killing smile, chains erupted from his other hand and both ankles, lashing toward the black thorn-aura with devastating force.
Crunch-crunch-crunch.
True to his confidence, the chains shattered and absorbed the black thorns in an instant.
Crunch-crunch-crunch.
Boom-boom-boom.
Only the thorns beyond the chains’ reach tore through the hapless door and spilled out into the corridor.
“H-how is this—!?”
At the sight of Amerus’s expression of horror, Muno lunged forward.
“……Impossible!”
Thud.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom.
Again his staff struck the floor, and a Wave of Flames surged forth, engulfing everything and crashing down upon Muno.
Kabooom!
The wave of fire burst through the walls in an instant and poured beyond the building’s exterior.
And yet.
“Hmph!”
Whoosh.
Muno burst through the inferno wrapped in black chains, not a single burn mark marring his entire body.
His black eyes alone burned and blazed as fiercely as the flames themselves.
Amerus, now in full panic, struck the floor with his staff once more and let out a shriek.
“Not a chance!!”
Thud.
Flash.
Kabooom!
Lightning erupted from the staff in an instant, engulfing Muno’s body entirely and casting pale yellow light beyond the collapsed wall.
A deafening roar of thunder.
Yet as expected.
Muno tore through the lightning and appeared directly before him.
Crackling electricity.
Though he hadn’t completely ignored the bolt—electricity sparking between his raised hair and teeth as his face twisted in a grimace.
“For real……!”
The killing intent blooming across his face, teeth bared white, was enough to sicken Amerus.
“……welcome back!”
The chains clinked sharply.
In the same instant the iron restraints sealed his body, Muno’s fist came crashing across Amerus’s face.
A sickening crunch.
“Ugh!”
His head snapped back.
Bone and cartilage cracked.
“Gaaahhh!”
The chains snapped taut just as his half-crushed body was about to fly backward, yanking him right back to Muno’s face.
“Now, there’s so much I want to ask you, Amerus.”
— Kill him! Kill him!
The Demon Devourer’s murderous urges screamed through his skull again, and with them came the sudden resurrection of a distant, buried trauma.
Muno forced those twin currents down as he spoke, his voice thick with a chilling, compressed killing intent.
“How are you even alive? I heard you all died back then.”
“How……how did you…….”
Amerus’s eyes still hadn’t found their focus, pupils trembling as if he couldn’t grasp reality.
Muno found the sight revolting and slammed the chained man’s body against the floor.
Bang!
“Hack!?”
Again and again.
Crash.
“Guh!?”
Over and over.
Smash.
“Uhhhhh…….”
Cough.
When it was done, Amerus’s lips frothed with blood—but his eyes had finally locked into focus.
“Now. Feeling like you want to talk?”
“You……how……how are you…….”
But the answer didn’t satisfy him.
Bang!
“I ask the questions.”
“Uhhh……cough.”
Slammed against the floor again, spitting blood, Amerus’s terror-stricken face filled his vision completely.
The very sight the abused child Muno had once yearned for in his forgotten memories.
And yet.
“How the hell are you still alive? Weren’t you all finished? Completely?”
“……Heheheh.”line>
But the answer he craved never came.

“Answer me!”
Crash!
“……Cough.”
Hack.
He struck the floor again with the chains, their thunder echoing through the space, but resignation had settled over Amerus’s features.
And then.
“Muno!”
“Lord Muno!”
His companions burst through the shattered wall.
‘Damn.’
The moment Muno’s gaze turned toward them.
“Heh……heheheh.”
The resignation deepening on Amerus’s face gave way to violent trembling.
And with it, a surge of magic aura.
“All of you, die……!”
Amerus’s body, eyes rolled back as he spat out those chilling words, swelled to grotesque proportions.
Crack-crack-crack.
– Kill!
Screech-screech-screech.
At the Demon Devourer’s cry echoing through Muno’s mind, iron chains moved of their own accord, constricting the creature’s body.
Hisssss.
As the surging magic power was absorbed into the chains, Amerus’s swollen form began to deflate back to normal.
A cold smile curled at Muno’s lips, while despair crept back across the face of the mage, whose mouth had twisted in a bitter laugh.
“How… how is this…?”
“That again? Hmph. Let’s see how long you can keep your mouth shut this time.”
Crack.
He tightened his grip on the chains, intending this time to compress the creature’s body entirely.
Then his father’s voice cut through.
“Muno, what in the gods’ names is happening!?”
At the same moment, the stares of Gremen and Karina bore down on him.
Had it been only his father, he might have ignored it, but there was no way to disregard the scrutiny of those two.
“…As you can see, I’ve captured the mage.”
“Yes, I can see that much. Now set him down.”
“Father?”
“That’s enough, Muno.”
Only then did Muno see his own reflection in his father’s eyes.
Hair standing on end, killing intent radiating from every inch of his frame, muscles swollen as though about to burst.
The changes were the result of absorbing magic and drawing in magic power—the overflow of vitality—but what others made of it was painfully obvious.
And with the iron chains binding the mage visible on his limbs, the sight was nothing short of alarming.
Yet he had no desire to release Amerus.
“Father. This one—he’s one of the survivors from that day, ten years ago.”
“What!?”
“Brother. Surely you don’t mean…”
“What is the meaning of this, young master Muno? What’s with this appearance?”
Gremen and Karina’s reactions grew visibly intense.
“I understand. I’ll handle it. So hand him over.”
His father approached with the composure of someone who’d never been startled at all, gripping Muno’s arm.
“You’re far too worked up right now. This won’t do. You mustn’t be swept away by the artifact’s power. Get hold of yourself!”
An artifact?
What nonsense—
‘Ah…’
Muno realized his father was crafting an excuse to explain his appearance, and he allowed his agitation to subside slightly.
And yet.
Ugh.
As his father’s grip on his forearm tightened with excessive force, black veins became visible beneath his skin.
Cold clarity washed over him like a bucket of ice water.
‘Damn…’
The changes wrought by absorbing magic power were more conspicuous than he’d realized.
Almost without thinking, he found himself gauging the reactions of Gremen and Karina, and seeing the doubt flickering in their eyes, his grip on the chains weakened of its own accord.
But then—
“Kh… n-nobody’s… stopping me…”
“??”
In the moment his strength had faltered, black light began spreading across Amerus’s face.
The trails of blood spilling from the corners of the creature’s mouth had already turned dark.
“Poison!?”
“Damn it all—”
Muno frantically loosened the chains, but Amerus, who collapsed to the ground, was already breathing his last.
“It’s… too late. Hah…”
Cough.
Black blood pooled and spread.
“We need to save him! Father! Get a priest—wait, there’s no one like that here, is there? Damn it, this cursed rural village!”
Muno burst out in a fury he didn’t know he possessed.
Yet the dying Amerus merely smiled faintly.
“Mon… monster. Eating magic…”
This is…!
The moment Muno anticipated what words might spill out, chains responding to his will lashed out brutally at the dying man.
Hack—
Thud.
Crash.
The group watched Amerus crumple against the far wall, their faces draining of color in an instant.
“Didn’t you say you’d spare him just a moment ago…?”
“I… that is… he was about to cast magic again….”
At Gremen’s pointed observation, Muno flushed guiltily and fumbled through a transparent excuse.
Cough. Cough.
“You… you’ll never… stop the organization’s rec….”
“Shut it!”
Bang!
The moment the man showed signs of speaking further, the chains crushed his skull without hesitation.
Not avenging himself properly against this ancient nemesis felt hollow, but silencing the man before he could babble information was far more pressing.
The group, invited as witnesses to a mage hunt, had instead become obstacles to vengeance.
But there was no helping it.
‘This dying bastard talks too much. Damn….’
As Muno turned around, steadying his rattled nerves, he felt the entire group staring at him with vacant eyes.
“Boy, isn’t your son being a little too brutal…?”
“Father…?”
Ahem.
“I’ve heard that if a mage is resolved to die and ingests poison, there’s no point capturing them—they might deliberately speak nonsense to muddy the information anyway. So, ha, haha.”
Cold sweat trickled down Muno’s spine as he rattled off his hasty excuse.
He was stringing together words that might not even be true.
“……That does make sense.”
Fortunately, his father nodded in agreement.
Though Gremen and Karina still regarded him with expressions of disbelief.
As the eldest son of this Estate and the one who had subdued the mage, his word would carry enough weight that they couldn’t object.
Thinking this, Muno subtly shifted the subject.
“Ah, Knight Karina. You’ve restrained those knights properly, haven’t you?”
“Ah….”
The two knights who had been guarding this room.
They hadn’t witnessed Muno devouring magic, but they certainly seemed to know Amerus—or rather, Toyine’s—true intentions.
‘We have enough witnesses.’
He asked with a smile, but—
“They’re alive, though….”
“Pardon?”
Alive, though…?
Muno found himself dumbly echoing the question, watching Karina avert her eyes instead of meeting his gaze.
“Well, that is… they kept spouting disrespectful remarks without regard for a knight’s honor, so as a disciplinary measure….”
“You killed them…?”
“No, they’re alive! They’re… alive….”
Those words sounded far more sinister than if she’d simply said she’d killed them.
‘What in the world did you do?!’
He wanted to press further, but Karina’s reddened face shot him a look that screamed ‘Don’t ask if you know what’s good for you!’—so he could only laugh awkwardly and turn away.
“Father, then….”
“Leave questioning the surviving knights to me.”
“You’ll do it yourself?”
“Hardly. That sort of work doesn’t suit me at all. Just hand it off to Gunter.”
“Sir?”
It was a perplexing answer.
Knight Gunter was effectively the commander of Dracen’s knights and had reached the rank of 3-star, but apart from his skill, he was always a cheerful, good-natured man who went around chuckling.
So Muno could only puzzle through the meaning himself.
“…Ah. Does Knight Gunter know how to treat people who are… broken?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sir?”
Father and son stared blankly at each other for a moment.
Then Lyan let out a chuckle, as if something had clicked.
“Gunter can extract memories from their infancy—as long as there’s breath in them.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s the finest interrogator I know.”
……An interrogator? What did that mean?
‘Is that man really such a good person?’
The image of Gunter in my mind collided with my father’s words, leaving me dazed once more.
“Sir, does Gunter still interrogate people himself these days? While smiling?”
“Not anymore. There’s no need for it. But…….”
As I listened to my father and Gremen speak in hushed tones, my imagination ran away with me.
That mustachioed gentleman wandering about with his cheerful laugh—performing interrogations with that very same expression on his face…….
‘Ugh…….’
Feeling goosebumps rise along my forearms, I found myself reconsidering once again that you truly cannot judge people by their appearance.
Then my father spoke to me again.
“And son.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry our estate is so rural. I promise you—I will expand these lands by any means necessary, and I will see a temple established here.”
Wait…….
“Please, don’t apologize.”
“No, no. A rural estate without a temple or priests—that’s what failed, not you. Your point was entirely valid, so what can I do…….”
……He was pouting.
Genuinely pouting.
Cleaning up my father’s mood seemed far more urgent to me than tidying up the ransacked guest quarters for Muno.

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