The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 113
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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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The Natural Enemy of Mages Has Been Reincarnated – Episode 113
The light of life faded from his eyes.
In his final moment, Todd Ward must have felt gratitude toward me.
After all, I had severed the chains of his suffering.
But I had no intention of letting him go like this.
“Imr Imnaij Diénai Isisir (Awaken, my servant).”
Zakar Patrick’s incantation to resurrect the dead awakened the corpse.
Normally, he should have risen, but with his limbs severed, Todd Ward could only blink his eyes.
He made a sound.
“Guahhh—”
A noise devoid of intelligence, like that of a mindless zombie.
‘I tested it just in case, but he became an ordinary undead.’
I had cast the incantation with the hope that he might possess intelligence like Maligore or Zakar Patrick, but the results were disappointing.
‘Though not entirely without gain. I had already duplicated his magic before killing him, and I extracted an enormous amount of information.’
In short, there was nothing left to squeeze from Todd Ward.
Thunk!
I drove my aura blade through his heart once more.
“Guahhh—”
Feeling the effect of soul severance, Todd Ward let out a cry of agony.
Thus he met his second death.
‘But can I really use this incantation so freely?’
I had heard that demonic incantations draw upon the Circle’s essence and life force as their source.
Yet I felt no sensation of my life force draining away.
‘In fact, I feel nothing at all. It’s just like using a skill or spell.’
And I couldn’t even definitively call it an incantation, since it was classified as a 9th Circle spell when I acquired it.
Judging there would be no issues, I changed into Todd Ward’s clothes.
And transformed my appearance as well.
Squelch, squelch—
The boy’s face disappeared, replaced by the face of some middle-aged man.
As if waiting for me to perfectly disguise myself as Todd Ward, a Quest notification appeared.
[Extracting necessary information – Complete!]
[Eliminating Todd Ward and disguising yourself – Complete!]
[Sudden Quest cleared!]
[Reward: Random Stats increased by 1,000.]
[Reward: 5th Circle Skill Proficiency increased by 50,000.]
[Proficiency remaining until 9-Star Achievement: 60,010/300,000]
‘Okay. Rewards confirmed.’
Smiling, I immediately used Teleport while wearing Todd Ward’s form.
There was no time to hesitate.
[Please select a destination for teleportation.]
【Registered Coordinates】
1. E210,349,291,02
…
…
231. W37s2.389.94.1
Thanks to the reverse-tracking skill that automatically registered any location I’d visited before, countless coordinates had been stored in my memory.
‘There it is.’
As I visualized the location in my mind, I could pinpoint the coordinates of the Cave I’d just visited.
‘Selecting 231.’
Moments later, a brilliant light engulfed me and the scenery shifted.
It was that same dimly lit Cave where the children had been imprisoned.
“Mister! P-please give us some food.”
“Let us out, please save us!”
“Waa, waaah!”
The situation was unchanged from what I’d witnessed before.
The children, seeing me in Todd Ward’s form, desperately thrust their hands through the iron bars, pleading for rescue.
“Everyone step back from the bars. Now!”
As I barked the command in Todd Ward’s voice, the frightened children retreated a few steps.
Without hesitation.
Shing, shing, shing—
I conjured an aura blade.
The children were startled and fearful, yet.
Clang! Crash!
As I shattered and tore away the iron bars entirely, they wore bewildered expressions.
“Come out. I’m freeing you.”
“R-really?”
I ignored the question and continued slicing through the remaining bars.
Clang! Crash!
Clang! Crash!
After severing roughly ten iron cages, approximately one hundred children were liberated.
They hadn’t believed I would actually free them, so they remained motionless.
“What are you doing? Planning to live here forever?”
Taking my words as permission, the children scrambled out from behind the bars without hesitation.
Since the gate had been completely torn away, their escape was instantaneous.
Meanwhile, I strode forward and cradled a crying infant in my arms.
‘They’ve even abducted a child barely a month old.’
What kind of ritual would require sacrificing even a child’s life?
Regardless, it was certain that Baluduk and the Forerunners would never condone such atrocities.
‘Baluduk. I will find your location without fail.’
Now that I was disguised as Todd Ward and had obtained a communication channel with Baluduk, meeting him was merely a matter of time.
While I examined the infant, the children scattered throughout the cave.
Some grabbed snacks that had been stored in the cave and devoured them ravenously, while others ventured outside to survey their surroundings.
But finding the path home through the dense forest was no simple task.
As a result, most of the children stood outside the cave entrance with bewildered expressions, unable to muster the courage to take a single step forward.
Unable to bear the sight any longer, I took action.
“Hey! All of you.”
The children flinched at my sharp command.
Fear flickered across their faces.
Regardless, I pressed forward, leading the way.
The infant cradled in my arms.
“Follow me! If you don’t, you’ll die!”
Did they recall the image of me slaughtering the village inhabitants at the mention of death?
The children followed me with terrified eyes.
Though it sounded like a threat, it wasn’t entirely false.
Left to their own devices, they would starve to death.
* * *
Raon Village was a pastoral and peaceful settlement.
That is, until an 8th Circle Archmage suddenly appeared and massacred its inhabitants.
Well, to be precise, it wasn’t a complete massacre.
A surprisingly large number of people had witnessed the slaughter and managed to escape.
“The, the Village Chief… has passed away.”
“What do we do now?”
“We must find that mage and kill him!”
“How?! Didn’t you see? Even when the strong men rushed at him, they couldn’t land a single blow.”
“That’s right. That person is a monster, a true monster!”
“Where did such a monster even come from…”
About twenty people, with nowhere to turn, had fallen into despair.
They were the survivors of Raon Village who had escaped Todd Ward’s assault.
All they could do at this moment was…
“Mom, I’m scared…”
“D-don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
All they could manage was to console the children with well-intentioned lies they themselves didn’t believe.
“Where do we go? We can’t even return to the village now.”
“What else can we do? We need to get as far from the village as possible and find a place to settle.”
“That’s not easy. Even the nearest city from here would take a full week to reach.”
“Exactly. We can’t have the children sleep rough for a week. We don’t even have minimal food supplies.”
“If only we’d thought to bring food with us…”
“How could anyone think straight in that situation? We were too busy running for our lives.”
Among the twenty villagers were several children.
Camping with children without any provisions was far from easy in reality.
As the discussion deepened, one person stepped forward with a grim expression and made a proposal.
“Someone needs to return to the village.”
“What? The village?”
“We need to bring back at least minimal provisions from the village. Otherwise, we won’t survive.”
“But… if that murderer is still lurking there…”
“Hmm…”
The dilemma deepened, but time was running out.
“Understood. I’ll go.”
“If Roc is going, I’ll follow as well.”
“Me too.”
“Three people won’t be enough hands, will it? I’m coming too.”
Several able-bodied men volunteered, raising their hands.
It was a perilous mission that could very well be a one-way trip to death, but thinking of their families and the village residents, they couldn’t remain idle.
“Let’s go.”
Five men moved toward the village with tense eyes.
It was frustrating to abandon their home because of a single mage, but they had no choice.
For ordinary people like them, standing against a mage was impossible.
When a natural disaster strikes, the wise course is to flee, isn’t it?
“We’ve arrived.”
“Do you see the mage? Is he there?”
Peering over the hilltop, they surveyed the village below, but no suspicious figures were visible.
“It looks like there’s no one here?”
“It seems the mage has left.”
“This is our chance. Let’s hurry and gather what we need.”
The men descended the hill and quickly entered the village.
They rummaged through their homes for food, clothing, and valuables, then agreed to meet in the village center afterward.
However.
That promise was on the verge of being broken the moment they entered the village.
“Gasp!”
“…”
Standing brazenly in the center was the murderer who had slaughtered the village residents—and he had been there all along.
“Y-you are…”
“Hey, you lot. You’re villagers from here, aren’t you?”
The face and voice of the one addressing them were identical to the man who had attacked the village.
It was undoubtedly that murderer.
“Ugh… w-what do we do?”
“Running away… won’t be possible, will it?”
“If it’s come to this… let’s fight.”
The men whispered among themselves and reached an agreement.
Whether I died one way or another, I might as well charge at that bastard and go down fighting.
But I had no intention of harming the villagers.
“Take this instead.”
Clink—
The object I casually tossed was a pouch I’d retrieved from Todd Ward’s cabin.
The villagers who watched the pouch fall at their feet regarded it with suspicion, their eyes demanding an explanation.
I answered their unspoken question with an indifferent gaze.
“There are three thousand Gold inside.”
“…!!!”
“Take it.”
Three thousand Gold was enough to spend lavishly for decades without running short.
A man nearby picked up the pouch to verify the claim.
“Gasp! It’s… it’s real!”
The villagers, unable to hide their astonishment at the glittering coins, regarded me with bewildered eyes.
Eyes that asked: why are you giving us this?
“It’s not free. Use it to look after those children over there.”
I pointed to one side with my staff.
The villagers turned their gaze and belatedly noticed the children huddled together near the Village Chief’s house.
“Those children are…?”
“Children with nowhere to go.”
They were kidnapped children, but I saw no need to elaborate.
For now, intimidation seemed more effective than explanations.
“That money will be more than enough to feed the children. And you’ll have no shortage in your own lives either.”
“….”
“….”
The murderer who’d slaughtered the villagers demanding they hand over children had suddenly returned with nearly a hundred children in tow, offering them a fortune to care for them?
It was utterly incomprehensible to the villagers.
Regardless, I prepared to use a skill, as if my business here was concluded.
“There’s even a newborn in there who’s only a month old, so raise them well. Don’t worry about me visiting the village again. If you’re truly uneasy, relocate elsewhere. But if…”
A flash of killing intent flickered across my eyes.
“If you neglect the children or use the money I’ve given you for personal gain, I might just come looking for you.”
“….”
“So conduct yourselves wisely.”
With those words, I vanished via teleportation.
* * *
Light flashed from the cabin.
“Phew. That should do it.”
Zeke McLafflin, who had recently visited the village Todd Ward had attacked and entrusted the children to the villagers’ care, leaned back in his chair for a moment.
At the same time, he deactivated his skill and returned to his true form.
‘Playing the villain isn’t easy.’
I had spoken forcefully, sensing they wouldn’t listen to gentler words.
With the money I’d given them, there should be no problem in caring for the children.
Seeing how they’d rushed at me despite knowing they would die suggested they weren’t entirely bad people.
‘I was uneasy about the children, but now I can put that worry to rest.’
Though I had disguised myself as Todd Ward, I had never intended to commit such madness as slaughtering the village and kidnapping the children.
What mattered to me was discovering Baluduk’s location while maintaining my disguise.
I could simply ignore whatever orders Baluduk gave me.
‘A vague false report shouldn’t cause any problems.’
Zeke McLafflin chuckled softly and retrieved a communication device from his pocket.
It was a communication device connected to Esca.
‘By now, he should have become a Forerunner.’
I tapped it a few times and waited. The connection came through.
-Master?
“Esca. How did it go? Did you become a Forerunner?”
-Yes! I received confirmation from Baluduk that he would promote me to the position of Forerunner.
“Did you hear it directly from him?”
-No. I heard it through the communication device.
“So there was no mention of attending a meeting?”
-There was no such mention.
So Baluduk had merely notified him of his promotion through communication and left it at that.
I had planned to trace his location upon contact with Baluduk, but it seemed he was quite cautious.
“How does it feel to be a Forerunner? Are you pleased?”
-I am! Though… what meaning does the position of Forerunner have when you’re going to destroy it anyway…
“It has meaning. You’ll become a Forerunner and continue serving as my informant just as you do now. So gain their trust and bring me useful intelligence as a spy.”
-Of course, Master. That is my role, after all.
The man who had been my enemy until recently now showed loyalty toward me.
Marveling anew at the power of the golden pen, I gave Esca his next instruction.
“The next time you contact Baluduk, ask him this for me.”
-What would that be, Master?
“When Rita the Wind God will arrive in the Decan Kingdom.”
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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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