The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 129

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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 129
‘Meeting Baluduk is good. But….’
Zeke found himself seized by doubt.
‘Why did he accept Esca? The mission failed, after all.’
The assassination of the King had undoubtedly ended in failure.
Rita Rose was dead, and Esca had done nothing but offer excuses like a defeated soldier.
‘Yet he accepted him as a formal Forerunner? When suspicion would be more than justified?’
Of course, it was possible that Baluduk was only now preparing to accept Esca, who had helped him in various ways.
But the timing felt faster than expected.
The circumstances weren’t favorable either.
―Why do you say nothing, Master? Aren’t you pleased to meet Baluduk?
“I’d be pleased. If Baluduk actually shows up.”
―What do you mean? He said himself that he would come directly… Surely you don’t think it’s a trap?
“It’s a possibility worth considering.”
Either way, caution never hurt.
So I decided to postpone celebrating prematurely.
“I’ll know the details once we meet. Where is this place supposed to be?”
―It’s a forest in the Gordium Plain, located west of the Decan Kingdom. Do you know where that is?
“The Gordium Plain?”
My question wasn’t born of ignorance.
My eyes widened for one reason alone.
‘Isn’t that the exact same place where the Lich Dragon is supposed to be?’
It coincided with my current destination.

* * *
“Master!”
“Ah, there you are.”
I met Esca at the midpoint between us.
The reason for our meeting was simple.
To meet Baluduk.
‘This is a rare opportunity to meet the second-ranked member. I couldn’t possibly send Esca alone.’
At first, I’d even considered disguising myself as Esca and going for the transplant myself.
But the thought of a trap wouldn’t leave my mind.
That’s why I was traveling with Esca.
‘If things go south, I can use him as a shield.’
Cold-blooded, but in a way, rational judgment.
I harbored no sentiment toward Esca, who had once tried to kill me.
“Let’s depart, Master! I’ll lead the way.”
“Ah, very well.”
The Gordium Plain, our destination, was an uncharted land with no recorded teleport coordinates.
‘They say everyone who went in to record the coordinates vanished without a trace, so no records remain.’
Thus, the Gordium Plain was known by another name.
The demon’s cursed land—a place one must never set foot in.
Perhaps due to such ominous rumors, adventurers had long since ceased venturing there.
Being unexplored, it was sparsely populated.
That’s why I was walking through it like this.
“It would’ve been convenient to have a magical carriage.”
“Shall I arrange one right now?”
“Never mind. There’s no benefit in drawing unnecessary attention, and there’s no real rush anyway.”
This wasn’t a time-limited Quest, so there was no need to hurry.
‘I’ll take my time. I can gather natural energy along the way.’
Since I’d walked only through the Forest, my natural energy was accumulating steadily.
My pace was leisurely, yet my stats were climbing rapidly.
After savoring nature like this for about half a day, I drew near to my destination.
“Is this it?”
“Yes. From here onward is the Gordium Plain. The meeting point with Baluduk is deeper inside.”
“Then we should conceal ourselves from here.”
I retrieved the Shadow’s Hood from my subspace.
The sun had long since set, making it perfect to wear now.
Whoosh—
As I donned the hood, my form vanished.
“Let’s go. I’ll follow behind.”
“Understood.”
Leaving my voice echoing in empty air, Esca stepped forward and led the way.
I crossed the desolate plain devoid of any human presence and ventured into an eerie forest.
The environment seemed primed for something to leap out at any moment, yet my hunter’s senses detected nothing amiss.
However.
‘Hmm?’
I sensed something incongruous emanating from the cave before me.
“…That’s the place.”
Esca Robins murmured softly, as if for my ears alone.
The location he indicated coincided precisely with the cave I had been observing.
‘So this is where I was supposed to meet Baluduk?’
The cave exuded a suspicious aura, yet having come this far, retreat was no longer an option.
To catch a tiger, one must enter the tiger’s lair, after all.
“Then I shall enter.”
Esca Robins, muttering to himself, proceeded directly into the cave.
I followed in his wake, maintaining my invisibility as though I were both present and absent.
The cave was frigid and shrouded in darkness, making it difficult to discern what lay ahead.
Esca Robins’ pace naturally slowed, his eyes tense as he searched for Baluduk.
“Baluduk! I’ve arrived! It’s Esca Robins!”
The cave reverberated with echoes, yet no response came.
Only an eerie silence deepened the unsettling atmosphere.
Following Esca Robins, I heightened my hunter’s senses to their maximum capacity.
At a range extended to 450 meters, something registered on my awareness.
‘Someone is here.’
The distance between us gradually narrowed.
401 meters….
352 meters….
342 meters….
But before we could draw any closer.
Esca Robins, who had been advancing steadily, suddenly halted.
“Baluduk?”
Before him stood a strange figure clad in a black hood.
“So you’ve finally arrived?”
Though his face remained obscured, his voice conveyed three pieces of information.
First, that he was male.
Second, that he was elderly.
And finally.
Thump—
That he was indeed the Baluduk I had been seeking.
Esca Robins’ act of kneeling confirmed it beyond doubt.
“Esca Robins. I am honored to meet you, Baluduk!”
“Enough. Rise. Tell me, was the journey here arduous?”
When did Baluduk ever worry about anything?
Esca Robins answered without hesitation.
“I’m fine!”
“Good to hear. You’ll need sufficient stamina to undergo the Luminous Portalsphere implantation.”
“Ah… Is that so?”
“Come further inside. The procedure chamber is prepared in the back.”
Baluduk guided Esca Robins deeper into the space as he spoke.
Esca Robins, who had been following without suspicion, suddenly froze in alarm.
Zeke McLafflin had placed a hand on his shoulder.
Esca Robins turned toward empty air and whispered.
“…Why are you doing this?”
“Don’t follow him. That’s a fake.”
“What?”
“An illusion.”
Esca Robins wore an expression of disbelief, but Zeke McLafflin could see the truth.
[The Sage’s Eye pierces through phenomena and reveals their nature.]
The Baluduk walking alone was nothing but a fabricated illusion.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you following?”
The Baluduk leading the way stopped and turned around.
The form was far too vivid to be mere illusion.
Esca Robins, unconvinced, strode toward Baluduk.
And he reached out to touch his body.
The moment he did.
Whoosh—
Baluduk’s form vanished like a mirage.
“It really was an illusion?”
“Told you so.”
“H-how did he create such an illusion? To deceive even my eyes as a 9th Circle mage…”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not an illusion. It’s closer to a thought-form.”
“A thought-form?”
Zeke McLafflin had known from the first moment that Baluduk wasn’t real.
The Sage’s Eye had made that possible.
He could even discern the principle behind how it was created.
“He detached his own thoughts and materialized them. He stationed it here in advance, anticipating your arrival.”
“Is that even possible? More importantly, didn’t he converse with me?”
“He connected his thoughts remotely through a technique. The thought-form was likely transmitting everything it saw back to him in real-time. It’s like a communication device of sorts.”
“Then… he heard everything we discussed?”
“Not necessarily. Since it vanished the moment you touched it, the range was shallow—it probably couldn’t pick up quiet voices. And it maintained invisibility, so he wouldn’t have seen my form.”
The Baluduk he had believed to be real was nothing more than a thought-form.
Esca Robins opened his mouth, but there was something even more puzzling on his mind.
“How did you know that, Master?”
“I just do. Don’t ask for details.”
“Why did Baluduk send a thought-form instead of coming to greet us himself?”
“It’s proof he suspects us. More precisely, you.”
“So if your prediction is correct, then….”
“Yes. This is a trap.”
There was no immediate threat yet, but the mere fact that he’d sent a thought-form was telling enough.
Baluduk hadn’t summoned Esca Robins to implant the Luminous Portalsphere.
He’d simply planned to ensnare him in this trap and torment him through other means.
“We need to leave immediately. Now that I know this is a trap, we can’t stay here any longer….”
“No.”
Zeke McLafflin cut off Esca Robins’ words and focused his senses.
At 318 meters away, someone was present.
Not just one person—two.
“After coming all this way, shouldn’t I meet the real thing?”
A thin, bloodstained smile spread across Zeke McLafflin’s lips.

* * *
‘Damn. The connection’s been severed.’
Baluduk’s eyes opened as the sudden disconnection interrupted his shared vision through the thought-form.
Esca Robins had entered the cave as expected, but his reckless act of touching the thought-form had caused it to dissipate.
‘What a shame. For now, I should report….’
He closed his eyes again and accessed the Luminous Portalsphere.
His form materialized in the virtual space.
Soon, the First Forerunner’s gentle voice resonated in his mind.
[How did it go, Baluduk? Has Esca Robins entered the Illusion Cave?]
“Yes. He entered without issue. However… my thought-form was touched, so I couldn’t ascertain the exact situation.”
[It doesn’t matter. Once he’s inside the cave, Esca Robins won’t find a way out. Besides, ‘that one’ is there, isn’t he?]
There was only one existence the First Forerunner referred to as ‘that one.’
Baluduk’s lips curled into a smirk.
“Indeed. Walking into that one’s den of his own volition—he won’t survive easily.”
[All the temptations set up in the Illusion Cave will extract every piece of information from Esca Robins. And eventually he’ll be discarded, but there’s no helping it. We’ll simply have to create a new technician based on the information we extract.]
“Leave finding a technician to me. I’ll locate a suitable replacement within a short time.”
[Good. I’m counting on you, Baluduk.]
“By the way, does that one also know of Esca Robins’ existence?”
[Of course. I’ve told him that prey named Esca Robins will be entering, and asked him to report once the information is extracted. So there’s nothing to worry about. No need to waste time with torture either.]
Once inside the Illusion Cave, he would spill everything of his own accord.
It had been designed that way, and even the master of the Illusion Cave himself would assist.
‘Unfortunate, Esca Robins. Such a skilled technician, yet I must let him go like this.’
His mind expressed sympathy, but a smile lingered at the corners of Baluduk’s mouth.
A Hunting Dog that has outlived its usefulness deserves to be buried quietly, regardless of pity—it is the proper way.
And if that Hunting Dog is suspected of betraying its master, it must be eliminated without mercy.
After extracting every last scrap of information, of course.
“Then, once the matter is concluded, I shall report back to you.”
[I’ll be waiting.]
With those words, Baluduk’s form dissolved into shadow and vanished.

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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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