The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 89

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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 89. Aftermath of the Chainman
“Damn it!”
Using his disgust as fuel, Munno charged toward the Southern Gate Guard once more.
And from that point on, there were no more assassin attacks.
Had they realized their strikes wouldn’t work on him?
Or perhaps.
‘They’ve run through all their available forces.’
Munno had handed over the assassins’ corpses to the Steel Knights who’d arrived at the scene belatedly.
Watching their expressions warp in real time as they surveyed the ruined buildings, he’d felt so ashamed that he’d needed to slip away quickly.
In the midst of it all.
‘My body’s trembling. Damn.’
Clang-clang-clang.
This method of movement consumed so much energy that even the Metal Chains he was extending had begun to tremble slightly.
‘I need to catch a Mage soon…….’
Meanwhile, it was clear that the time he’d wasted dealing with the assassins had given his competitor a chance to pull ahead.
Crash-crack.
As he leaped high into the air, leaving another unmistakable gash in a chimney below him.
From what appeared to be the training grounds of the Southern Gate Guard, that Holy Knight—the one called something like “Silver” something—was already exchanging greetings with what appeared to be the guard captain.
“When did they…….”
Had that Holy Knight come directly from the Guild Office, or had he passed through the Western Gate Guard first?
Either way, with his strength fading steadily, he had no time to quibble over the order.
His entire body was now drenched in cold sweat.
‘I’ll just have to cut in line.’
Clang-clang-clang.
Watching the guard captain’s and Holy Knight’s attention snap toward him in the air.
Munno simply pulled out his Metal Chains and extended them toward the soldiers standing in formation who were giving off Demonic Energy.
“What are you—!”
The guard captain’s eyes narrowed as he moved urgently to respond.
But the Holy Knight’s expression brightened with curious interest instead.
And then.
Clang.
‘Tsk.’
The moment the guard captain’s heavy Mace struck the two strands of Metal Chains extending from Munno’s hands.
Two strands of chain shot out from his feet in succession, wrapping directly around their original targets.
Thud.
The instant Munno landed on the ground.
Crack-crash.
“Aaaaah!”
“Such insolence……! Gasp!?”
Pfffsssss.
The corpses of the cult members, their Demonic Energy drained in an instant, began rotting away on the spot.
The guard captain, who had been glaring at him, twisted his face like someone witnessing an atrocity as he stared at the decomposing bodies.
“Jimi! Geron! Damn it all!”
Watching him, Munno calmly regulated his ragged breathing as the energy flowed into his body.
“Haaah…….”
Though it was merely the Origin Mana of the cultists—not something he could use as a growth catalyst—it felt like sweet nectar at this moment.
The sensation of recovering some of the energy he’d expended as he’d continuously used techniques and rushed here in succession.
‘Maybe it’s because it’s Origin Mana, but it’s definitely much more efficient for stamina recovery compared to ordinary Mana.’
An armor that was like part of his body, Metal Chains, and the ability to recover stamina by consuming creatures imbued with Demonic Energy.
‘I’ve already become far removed from humanity, it seems…….’
But this was the power he possessed, and if it was strength for striking down his enemies, he welcomed it.
However, even that thought didn’t linger long.
“Truly, truly—among my men, Evil Seeds…….”
The guard captain’s shout—whether born of sorrow or rage—echoed across the training grounds.
The Holy Knight, who had drawn closer in the meantime, suddenly posed a question.
“Indeed, just as Mayer said. Can you really tell just by looking?”
The lean, middle-aged Holy Knight’s eyes were filled more with curiosity than competitive spirit.
To the point that Munno felt ashamed of his own reckless ambition and cutting in.
“……For now, yes. The Dual-Layered Barrier, I couldn’t properly verify……. Huh?”
Even as he answered with some courtesy, an odd sensation took hold of him.
The troops reacted belatedly to his movements and the captain’s.
Among the soldiers gathered around the rotting corpses, there was one who gave off a distinctly different feeling from the cultists he’d just killed.
‘Surely not…….’
A sensation that only registered once he’d closed to within ten meters of the target.
As though concealed behind a genuinely thick curtain, a faint yet repulsive—almost appetizing—aura finally made itself known.
‘Demonic Energy!’
In the instant he reflexively extended the Metal Chains.
“Would you also be willing to see the method developed by the Divine Temple, General Munno? When it comes to dealing with Evil Seeds, there’s no such thing as too many options.”
“Ah……. Yes.”
He couldn’t ignore a Holy Knight speaking with such gleaming eyes.
At this distance, the creature wouldn’t escape his grasp anyway.
And it was also a chance to verify whether the Divine Temple’s technique could pierce through the Dual-Layered Barrier.
“To the Seven Gods dwelling in the heavens…….”
Flash.
The moment the silver-armored knight began his prayer.
That Holy Power—brilliantly luminous as its namesake—took solid form and rippled outward in all directions like waves.
“Hmm…….”
Munno squinted reflexively against the sudden glare.
‘Six wings. Three pairs of wings…….’
He was startled once to learn that there existed a Holy Knight commanding 6-Wing Holy Art.
Then startled again as that faint wave of Holy Power extended outward for some five hundred meters in all directions, yet inflicted not the slightest hindrance upon the creature bearing the Dual-Layered Barrier.
“……How unfortunate. It seems there are no Evil Seeds here besides those General Munno has captured.”
“I’m afraid that’s not quite right.”
“Pardon?”
Whirrrrp.
In that instant, Munno’s Metal Chains—extended with perfect composure—ensnared the mage calmly masquerading behind the Dual-Layered Barrier.
“Aaargh!”
Still only 2-Circle at best.
Among vermin, admittedly a somewhat larger specimen.
The Origin Mana he was draining converted into remarkably pure Magical Power, filling the void in his reserves and substantially easing his body’s fatigue.
Then, at that moment.
“Don’t kill him!!”
“What?”
“We need to keep him alive to interrogate him! Jerik, how dare you sell your soul to a demon!?”
Bang!
The Southern Gate Guard captain, his face twisted in fury, tore away the Metal Chains that ensnared the mage.
But it mattered little.
“Urrrrgh. Y-you, how, how did you……!”
With his Circle already shattered and Origin Mana already drained, the mage could only glare at his killer and exhale his final breath.
Thud.
Hisssssss.
“Damn it! Damn it all!”
The Southern Gate Guard captain roared, watching yet another corpse rot away.
Much like Tureen, the captain of the Eastern Gate Guard, this Southern Gate captain too carried considerable pride in his men and his organization.
But Munno could neither fully understand his grief nor offer him any true comfort.
He could only.
“How is this possible……. You can also remove the second barrier like that blood-user can?”
Find small solace, much like the Holy Knight before him, in the simple fact that he had eliminated an enemy.
“……It appears I still require the target to come very close for it to work. Unfortunately.”
It was likely due to the amplified senses that came as his Spirit Arts grew stronger.
‘The sensation of perceiving Demonic Energy grows keener too? Well, naturally it would.’
With a mixture of confusion and joy, he relayed this fact with some measured embellishment.
“Any method to exterminate Evil Seeds is welcome. Ha ha ha! Thank goodness, thank goodness indeed!”
The Holy Knight, as though entirely uninterested in competition, simply patted Munno’s shoulders with delight.
But unlike him.
“Well……. Then, regarding the Southern Gate Guard captain…….”
“You mean General Alphonso? What of him?”
“……Could I obtain a list of those who are currently on duty after their shifts were suddenly rearranged?”
Munno was keenly hungry for recognition—more precisely, for the reward the king would grant.
And that day.
Munno had compiled a record of ferreting out and executing forty-nine mages, including twelve from the Southern Gate Guard’s ranks.
That included one 2-Circle mage who possessed a Dual-Layered Barrier.
* * *
“You’ve taken three more than the Holy Knight. But in reality, you’ll receive an even higher evaluation.”
“Pardon?”
“The Divine Temple and the Royal methods require setting a target and conducting an ‘inspection’—so by comparison, they look inferior to your ability.”
“However, my ability has the disadvantage that it cannot be shared with others.”
“In any case, His Majesty spoke of a competition among three, so a suitable compensation will come soon enough.”
“……Thank you. But why are you delivering this message to me directly, Commander?”
At Munno’s cautious question, the corners of Paren Glut’s mouth twitched upward in amusement.
“You must already have some idea why.”
“Well……? This should be our first meeting, shouldn’t it? Ha, ha ha.”
Though his expression belied it, Munno found those blue eyes of his to be uncomfortably sharp, and he wanted nothing more than to look away.
But Paren allowed him no such opening.
“A certain person smashed an enormous quantity of the capital’s fixtures and fittings, then saddled our Knight Order with the repair bill. I say—without. Exaggeration.”
Gulp.
The scar that ran from his right eyebrow to his upper left lip would have made his angular face look forbidding enough on its own.
Yet the pressure emanating from Paren stemmed from far more than mere appearance.
‘A 6-Rank Knight.’
This middle-aged man with the fearsome visage, deliberately releasing his aura as a 6-Rank Knight, was making cold sweat stream down Munno’s spine.
Consequently, the confidence that had soared skyward along with his advancement in Spirit Arts was crumbling in real time.
“That is……to deal with those minions, it was unavoidable…….”
“I just received that invoice, and it turns out two months’ worth of our Knight Order’s budget is about to vanish.”
“H-how much is that?”
“Oh, roughly 10,000 gold?”
“What!?”
“Equivalent to the annual salaries of fifty Steel Knights.”
Gulp.
Fifty of the royal court’s finest knight corps—where even ordinary soldiers were 3-Rank.
……Had I really destroyed that much?
“That seems excessive.”
“Not at all. Not in the least. Do you know how expensive property is in Ironheart? Just the houses you completely demolished—four of them. And the ones where you only destroyed the roof and chimney—seventeen. And that’s just…….”
“Stop!”
“Hmm?”
“……What do you want? I don’t have money like that even if I ate nothing until I died. Let’s negotiate.”
Honestly, it didn’t seem like he’d destroyed any houses badly enough to call it “total demolition.”
He felt a sharp pang of injustice, but seeing Paren’s ominous grin continuing all this while, it seemed there was another motive at play.
Which was why he’d thrown out those words.
“Ah. I have one perfect negotiation proposal.”
“Yes?”
“You join our Knight Order. Then I’ll call it even. We’ll treat you at the level of a Senior Knight too. How about it?”
“…….”
This old bastard…….
Munno simply stared at him with an expression of disbelief, and Paren’s fierce face soon wore an awkward expression.
“I see it doesn’t work. Well, it was a joke. Half of one, anyway.”
“So……that’s still half a joke?”
“When His Majesty summons you, mention this matter about the costs to him. Then it’ll be resolved. Otherwise…….”
“Otherwise……?”
“I’ll have to bill someone. Probably Drasen, yes?”
……Drasen’s annual budget didn’t amount to 5,000 gold.
In other words, the moment that invoice arrived, bankruptcy.
“Or you join the Steel Knight Order.”
Damn it, why had I done that?
He felt like slapping his past self, the one who’d been merrily flying between buildings.
“I will……absolutely tell him. I must.”
If the king didn’t happen to foot the bill, he’d have to sell whatever reward he received just to raise the money.
‘The Chainman technique is forbidden from now on. Damn it!’
He felt tears of blood welling up, but Paren’s words were far from finished.
“Hmm. Yes, that’s how it should be. But truth be told, I’m really just here to see your face. Anthony rarely takes a personal hand in operations where things go badly, but this incident is one of the few times he has.”
“Uh…….”
“And since the atmosphere has grown rather unsettling, we’re working on smoothing things over—and as it happens, we’re in the process of making you into a hero.”
“……What?”
A hero…… being made?
Why?

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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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