The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 30

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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 30. Ambush
“Surely you’re not joking about something like that? I can’t sense anything at all…….”
His voice was low and dismissive, his expression fixed in a smile as though he were throwing ventriloquism.
“I’m quite sensitive to Demonic Aura. You must have heard.”
The moment Muno answered immediately, Klam nodded a beat too late, his expression shifting to understanding.
The power of demons that throws the world’s balance into disarray—those who carried Demonic Aura invariably inspired alienation, revulsion, or fear even in ordinary people.
For Body Cultivators who had broken through their limits and evolved, such a sensation became all the more vivid—yet when the sorcerer had infiltrated Drassen, the knights of the estate had strangely detected no such aura whatsoever.
‘Only I could sense it.’
— Revealing all your characteristics would be dangerous, but you should disclose your sensitivity to Demonic Aura. They’re using methods to conceal it, so you need to make clear that you can see through such deception. That will give your words credibility.
His father had said as much, and Muno had agreed.
Yet the Earl seemed merely to be taking that information as reference.
— Sensitivity to Demonic Aura? That’s an unusual Tertiary Characteristic. Hmm. Could you perhaps have aptitude for a Spiritist or Priest? Hah.
— Well, in any case, after that incident the priests of the estate and our Spiritist in Konnel, Lasmia, have conducted a thorough inspection of Trian’s interior.
— Sorcery is mere magic, after all, and there’s no escaping the eyes of a Spiritist or Priest. You needn’t scrutinize further. There’s also the matter of Trian’s reputation…….
Though he had never actually met a Spiritist or Priest, he had heard countless stories about them, so Muno had no choice but to defer to the Earl’s reasoning.
Yet now, doubt crept in.
‘Since I dealt with that 4-Circle bastard, I can sense Demonic Aura so much better. Do Spiritists and Priests judge sorcerers by this same sense?’
At this moment, his perception had completely pinpointed the presence of sorcerers deep within the forest to the right of Gwan-do.
More precisely, his Demon Consumption had.
— Grrrrr.
‘Wait just a moment. We’ll be catching them soon anyway.’
He quieted the other self within him and cast his gaze aside, but what met his eyes was only forest and trees.
He felt no trace of other animals, yet the presence of these unpleasant things bearing Demonic Aura was unmistakably distinct.
“Twenty to thirty meters inside the forest, three sorcerers estimated to be 3-Circle, spaced at roughly equal intervals. In a triangular formation……. They’re holding position with their Demonic Aura concentrated in the center.”
“You can discern it in such detail?”
Merely by watching Klam’s reaction—he who had naturally been placing an arm around Muno’s shoulder—one could tell.
That his ability was nowhere near merely sensitive.
“Certain.”
“Huh……. We scattered our movements across three routes, so how could you already…….”
From a distance, it looked as though they were discussing something pleasant.
But the content of their low-voiced, furtive exchange was entirely at odds with their expressions and gestures.
That they had revealed their movements across three routes meant three people were suspected of involvement with the Demon Cult.
If the Earl’s intention had hit precisely, then the cult members would have laid similar forces along other paths as well.
Just as Klam had said.
‘How could they already……?’
It was only half a day since he had departed Trian.
The decision to head to the Konnel estate with Klam had been made only yesterday, so compared to the usual pace of noble affairs, it was madness incarnate—execution at this speed.
Yet the enemy had already completed all their preparations in that time.
Relayed the information, assembled the forces, and dispatched them.
Which meant they possessed enough power to send three 3-Circle sorcerers to each of three locations immediately—nine in total.
The conviction settled once more: these were no mere remnants.
‘At minimum, they’re on the level of the Earl of Trian’s household…….’
Perhaps he should be grateful, at least, that there was no 4-Circle sorcerer like the one from before.
Yet this was formidable power nonetheless.
“Three sorcerers maintaining distance while concentrating their Demonic Aura in the center……. That’s a Magic Circle. If I hadn’t known, they’d have caught me for certain. Damn it.”
Three 3-Star Knights gathering together remained merely three 3-Star Knights.
But three 3-Circle sorcerers coming together could, depending on circumstances, wield power equal to a 4-Circle sorcerer or beyond.
“As promised, I’ll serve as the bait.”
“……Are you truly certain about this.”
“The attackers I’ve met thus far have tried to capture me…….”
As he said this, something caught slightly in his throat.
That 4-Circle bastard, at least—by the end he had truly tried to kill him.
Though it probably made sense to see it as a momentary loss of control born of desperation.
……Probably.
“It should be more than possible. And even if it isn’t, you won’t leave me to die, will you?”
“Ha. My word, you’ve got nerves.”
Rather than answer the compliment, Muno looked down at the ground and frowned slightly.
“We should move. Their Demonic Aura is already beginning to spread subtly across this clearing.”
Upon the well-maintained clearing of Gwan-do that opened into the surrounding forest, a sickening aura that only his senses could read was settling over everything.
“I still can’t sense anything. Hmm, but I’ll trust you…….”
Klam’s eyebrows twitched quietly, but he soon forced brightness into his voice and spoke louder.
“The lord can prepare the tent. I’ll go fetch firewood from over there.”
Klam moved leisurely toward the forest on the left side of Gwan-do—not the right side where Muno had said the mages were—his gait unhurried and deliberate.
The Demonic Aura that had been spreading across the ground suddenly wavered, then began to fade.
‘Right. That would be troublesome for them…….’
Klam was a 4-Star Knight, after all.
If he couldn’t finish them off with magic first, those mages would be the ones dying.
But Muno had no intention of simply waiting while Klam circled through the forest to strike the enemies from behind.
“I’ll gather firewood from this side! We’ll be faster if we go together!”
Klam, who had been heading toward the opposite forest, faltered for a moment, then resumed his steps and melted into the woods like the fading sunset light.
‘Good.’
If it were purely a matter of safety, Muno should have waited until Klam had struck at the mages’ rear before moving.
But.
‘They’re my prey. I’ll consume them myself if I can.’
Even without the voice of the Demon Consumption roaring in his mind, he intended to deal with them directly.
It wasn’t simply revenge.
He had a desire.
‘I want to live like a human being.’
Fortunately, he’d grown up in far better circumstances than in his past life, but that alone didn’t satisfy such a simple wish.
To live like a human being didn’t mean merely existing as one; it meant something far deeper.
‘I’ll live my life by my own will. Never swayed by others.’
That was what Muno understood as a human life.
But in this harsh, brutal world, achieving such a thing required strength.
Because strength was the highest value in this world.
Though it was a hierarchical society, it was one where ability—especially martial prowess—could elevate a commoner to nobility or even kingship.
That required unceasing effort, but he had confidence in that too.
He carried within him the lifetime of Han Mun-ho’s diligent labor and the lifetime of Muno Dlasen’s struggle.
And beyond that, he now possessed a shortcut.
The talent that even his father and the Earl had marveled at.
The talent he’d gained from consuming the demon his enemies had planted in the forest.
As Muno walked toward the forest, he recalled words the Earl had spoken just before they departed.
– I won’t ask precisely what your characteristic is, but the more non-intuitive and complex it becomes, the harder it will be to achieve the next stage of evolution.
– That is the greatest disadvantage of multiple characteristics, or special characteristics.
– You think it’s nothing? To my knowledge, in the past hundred years, not a single person who reached the Seven Star realm possessed a Tertiary Characteristic.
‘I will be different, Grandfather.’
He’d already consumed Aemers and hunted monsters, raising his physical abilities by more than fifty percent.
‘The more I consume those with Demonic Aura—especially mages—the stronger I become.’
It wasn’t without reason that he regretted not having consumed that 4-Circle mage.
Though his strength hadn’t sufficed at the time, and he’d arguably survived only with Carina’s aid, so perhaps he had no right to regret it.
“……This time has to be different.”
And it would be.
It had to be.
‘This might be the easiest opportunity.’
Aemers had been publicly credited to his father’s hand, and the 4-Circle mage was recorded as having been caught by Carina and the other knights.
But if this attack also ended in failure, the Cult might now begin to notice him as a threat rather than a mere bystander.
‘No, they will absolutely pay attention. So before that…….’
Without realizing it, Muno’s lips curved into a bleak smile, and he licked his lips as he strode swiftly into the forest.
Bzzzzzzing.
He forced himself to calm the Black Protection Bands on his limbs, which had begun to vibrate.
* * *
[Where’s the 4-Star Knight?]
[Outside our sensing range.]
[The target is approaching.]
[We need to deal with the 4-Star Knight first. If the Magic Circle destabilizes, we could be the ones caught in our own trap.]
[But are we just going to let the approaching one come?]
Message magic connecting the three mages crackled noisily across their ears in rapid succession.
[……We’ll catch whoever arrives first.]
[But!]
[Convert the magic—set up a Barrier in the area and suppress the target first. We’ll face the 4-Star Knight inside the Barrier.]
[Someone’s still going to shed blood, though.]
[Orders take priority.]
[Understood.]
[Damn it. I concede.]
The moment Alten Lun, a Fourth Circle mage and one of the organization’s finest, fell dead, the northern division of the Demon Cult slipped into emergency alert.
Never mind the lowly Third Circle mage Aemers—a high-ranking mage who’d brought even a Demonic Aura user into play couldn’t simply vanish from some backwater estate. There was no way to hide it.
They’d been hunting the enigma: the experimental subject who’d survived sacrificial rites ten years ago, and in doing so had exposed a tail of the organization that had been lying dormant all this while.
Yet the organization chose to pursue the subject’s recovery and sever the tail that had been dangling over Trian.
Which meant: the subject’s recapture remained the paramount objective.
Even if it meant cutting every thread the organization had sewn across the Iron Kingdom’s north.
‘I can’t fathom why they’d go to such lengths.’
Rohan, the leader among the three mages, found himself plagued by doubt.
An External Deity. A supreme being that the ignorant masses disparaged as a demon.
Sacrifices offered to such entities sometimes survived intact.
Though if the offering proved too inferior and earned the External Deity’s disdain, the sacrifice would be disposed of.
Occasionally, a higher-ranking External Deity simply refused the offering altogether.
‘Or could it be… that headquarters is certain the External Deity already accepted this subject? But why?’
He turned it over in his mind, but no answer emerged.
So, for now, follow orders.
[The moment the target closes within five paces, deploy the Barrier. Attribute: ice. Entrap it.]
[Ready.]
[Awaiting command.]
‘First we freeze him solid. Then when the Four Star knight inevitably charges at the Barrier, we take him down. The organization will count this as a success even if you two perish.’
Rohan swallowed that unspoken thought—one he could never voice aloud—and watched the approaching subject from within his concealment spell.
And just before the final step he’d anticipated.
[Activate…!]
The subject suddenly let out a sharp laugh and bolted toward them like lightning.

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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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