The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 152

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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 152
“What’s happening?”
Inside the carriage sat an old man with white hair.
Archbishop Raber.
The second most renowned authority in the Holy Empire, after the Pope himself.
He regarded Zeke with weary eyes.
His composure—far calmer than expected—was somehow unsettling.
‘He must be accustomed to situations like this.’
Zeke’s assessment proved accurate.
“Is this a monster attack?”
The Archbishop treated it as merely another routine assault.
“If it were merely monsters, we wouldn’t be making such a fuss.”
“Then what is it?”
“The 12 Pioneers have attacked.”
“The 12 Pioneers?”
“This is not the time for questions. You must disembark immediately.”
Regardless of the Archbishop’s shock, I seized his arm and pulled him along without hesitation.
There was no other reason.
Protection of the Earth.
I needed to activate that skill—the one that blocked any single attack once.
‘The effect only works when standing on solid ground.’
The moment the Archbishop touched the earth, I immediately cast the skill.
As a translucent barrier enveloped him, the Archbishop’s expression shifted.
“What did you do to me?”
“I’ve cast a protective barrier that blocks any single attack. With this, you should be reasonably safe.”
“Any attack?”
He stared at me with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
A boy of barely seventeen—identifiable as Escort Guard by his uniform—yet claiming to cast a barrier that blocks any attack?
-Absurd. At best, he looks like a 6th Circle mage. There’s no way he could block a 9th Circle mage’s assault.
But Raber didn’t know.
That this boy was reading his every thought.
‘He doesn’t trust me, but it doesn’t matter. As long as I complete the Quest, that’s all that counts.’
Such was my thinking, yet the reality proved far more complicated.
Protecting someone required their cooperation—a fundamental truth.
“Where is Kalos, the Escort Guard Captain? Take me to him.”
“There’s no time for that now.”
“Then I won’t move a single step from this spot.”
For a moment, I couldn’t fathom his stubbornness, but reading his thoughts clarified matters somewhat.
-This boy is unreliable. It would be safer with Captain Kalos.
Distrust born from perceiving me as an inexperienced youth.
There were no members of the Escort Guard as young as Zeke, so it was perhaps an inevitable decision.
But to refuse to move even in such an urgent situation?
With no time to persuade him, Zeke spoke hastily.
“Your Grace, at least move away from the magic carriage. This place is dangerous.”
“The magic carriage has the highest-grade protective barrier capable of withstanding even 7th Circle mana. I don’t know how strong the barrier you’ve cast is, but compared to the magic carriage….”
That was when it happened.
Crash!
In an instant, flames that came flying completely obliterated the magic carriage beside them.
The Archbishop stared at the burning wreckage with a dazed expression.
“What did you just say?”
“Ah, let’s go quickly.”
Raber, realizing the gravity of the situation, quickened his pace first.

* * *
A man rose into the sky, engulfed in flames.
He wasn’t on fire.
Whoosh!
Using mana, he had become the flames themselves.
The ability of Pyreo, the Forerunner of Flames.
“There he is.”
As he extended his hand, the flames shot toward a single point.
The target was the magic carriage the Archbishop was riding in.
It was the highest-performance magic carriage capable of blocking 7th Circle mana.
Crash!
Before Pyreo, a 9th Circle Forerunner, it was nothing but kindling.
“Nice. I got him… damn it. When did he escape?”
Pyreo’s brow furrowed in an instant.
He had spotted the Archbishop at a point not far from the magic carriage.
And right beside the Archbishop was—
‘There he is. The Sword Mage, Zeke.’
A boy bearing a striking resemblance to Zeke McLafflin was hurrying away.
He was escaping with the Archbishop.
‘I can’t let them go like this!’
Just as Pyreo raised his hand to conjure another fireball—
Splash!
A column of water erupted from the river, flying directly toward him.
“Tch!”
He hastily cancelled his incantation and dodged.
It was a close call—his flames nearly went out.
When he looked toward where his target had been, they had vanished.
“Damn it! I let them slip away!”
Pyreo scowled down at Ilena.
It was Ilena’s duty to prevent others from interfering.
But she too seemed to be struggling with the situation.
She was blocking repeated attacks from a single mage.
Now that I looked closer, it wasn’t the mage who had attacked me.
‘What the hell? There are two 9th Circle mages?’
In that moment of confusion, someone shouted.
“It’s the Incarnation of Indomitability!”
Pyreo’s fame was such that few in the vicinity of Braham Kingdom didn’t know his name.
“Everyone use water attribute magic!”
Every mage unleashed torrents of water toward Pyreo.
But.
Whoooosh!
Like intercepting a ball, Ilena, the Forerunner of Water, redirected the streams of water concentrated on Pyreo.
“I’ll return the favor.”
The water streams flew toward all members of the Escort Guard.
But Ilena’s expression darkened immediately.
A wide-scale protective barrier had easily blocked the water streams.
“Hey! Pyreo! Come down here!”
At Ilena’s frustrated cry, Pyreo descended from the sky.
“What is it?”
“What is it? You see that and still ask?”
Ilena pointed at the barrier that repeatedly blocked the attacks.
“My 9th Circle power can’t break through that barrier. So what Circle is the opponent?”
“They must be 9th Circle like us.”
“How is this possible? There was no mention of two 9th Circle mages in the Escort Guard.”
“Why are you asking me? I’m just as bewildered.”
“Never mind that. The target?”
“I lost them. I could find them if I pursue immediately, but…”
“Those two 9th Circle mages are in the way, aren’t they?”
Pyreo nodded, and Ilena let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll buy us some time.”
“Can you manage?”
“It’ll be rough, but what choice do we have?”
With those words, Ilena stepped forward, and Pyreo took to the sky again, trailing sparks of flame.
It was to pursue the target.
“Carse! Block that burning bastard from escaping. I’ll handle the woman.”
“Yes, Carbollearos.”
The Blue Dragon Carse spread both arms wide.
Two pillars of water erupted from the river, targeting Pyreo.
“Take this!”
Pyreo nimbly dodged the ferocious columns of water bearing down on him.
Or so I thought.
Not until the water pillars suddenly spread like a net and engulfed Pyreo.
Sploooosh!
“Ugh.”
Pyreo’s flames, drenched by the deluge, visibly diminished.
His movements slowed to a crawl, like a wet fly struggling in the current.
Pyreo cast a desperate glance toward Ilena, silently pleading for aid.
Boom boom boom!
“Argh.”
Ilena was equally overwhelmed, bombarded by Carbollearos’s relentless magical barrage.
The other mages weren’t idle either.
“Attack!”
“Hyaaah!”
Small fry or not, sixty aura users and twenty mages attacking in coordinated waves was devastating.
Even the 12 Pioneers couldn’t withstand such an onslaught.
Especially not when two 9th Circle mages were marking them one-on-one.
“Pyreo! This won’t work—we need to retreat!”
“Damn it… I suppose we have no choice.”
Pyreo and Ilena regrouped and began chanting their spell.
Their teleportation out of the battlefield was instantaneous.

* * *
“Huff, huff. How much farther must we go?”
“That should be enough. They’ve fled.”
I released the Archbishop’s hand as we came to a halt.
My hunter’s instinct confirmed that the Forerunners had vanished.
The Archbishop bent down, gasping for breath.
“Phew, what on earth… why would the Forerunners target me…?”
“It was Pyreo, the Forerunner of Flame, and Ilena, the Forerunner of Water. Do you have any idea why they were after you?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea. Truly… I’ve never wronged anyone.”
[The target you are observing is speaking the ‘truth’.]
The Archbishop was not lying.
Yet something remained unclear, so I pressed further.
“From your reaction earlier, it seemed you were anticipating an attack?”
“I did anticipate it. Traveling these roads, one encounters attacks from monsters and bandits more often than not. Occasionally, assassins have targeted me upon hearing of my title as Archbishop.”
“Who would target you?”
“Nobles who envy my standing, opposition factions who deem my actions unjust, or perhaps the vile machinations of the Mados Religion…”
“You seem to have quite a number of enemies.”
“Isn’t danger proportional to one’s station? But that even the continental elite—the Forerunners themselves—would target me… I never imagined it.”
The Archbishop sighed, clearly bewildered.
And rightfully so, for the Forerunners are great beings who have mastered their respective magics and shaped the world itself.
They hardly fit the image of assassins.
‘He’s not lying.’
Even probing his inner thoughts yielded no useful information.
Well, for me, completing the Quest was all that mattered.
[Protecting the Archbishop without Awakening Skills—Complete!]
[Sudden Quest cleared!]
[Random Stats increased by 2,000 as reward.]
[6th Circle Skill Proficiency increased by 10,000 as reward.]
“Shall we head back now?”
“Ah, very well.”
The Archbishop retraced the path we had come.
As we walked, a single thought circled in my mind.
‘Just who is this boy?’
That question was answered only when we met Kalos, the captain of the Escort Guard.
“That boy is a Spellblade?”
“Yes. He’s Zeke, a mercenary famous in mercenary circles. Hiring him appears to have been the right decision, given how he protected you.”
“Indeed. But a Spellblade… isn’t that a legendary existence one only reads about in books?”
“Yet it has been proven fact rather than legend. His swordsmanship and magic are both exceptional. And… I haven’t mentioned this to the other members…”
Kalos glanced around cautiously before gesturing toward Carbollearos and Carse.
“Those two mages we hired alongside Zeke turned out to be 9th Circle.”
“What? The 9th Circle?”
“One of them is a Drakonid.”
“A Drakonid…?”
“They’re all companions of Zeke’s.”
The Archbishop, unable to hide his continuous astonishment, turned his gaze toward Zeke.
Seeing him converse with mages of the 9th Circle, it seemed his claims were no fabrication.
‘Then that protective barrier—the one that supposedly blocks any attack once—wasn’t a lie either?’
A party containing a legendary Spellblade, a Drakonid, and 9th Circle mages.
Such overwhelming power was far too excessive for merely serving as an Escort Guard.
‘I should approach him before we part ways, using gratitude as a pretext. Though I’m uncertain if he’ll grant my request…’
With that thought, the Archbishop gazed endlessly at Zeke’s figure.

* * *
Within the virtual space of the Luminous Portalsphere.
Three Forerunners faced one another.
Two of them hung their heads with guilty expressions.
“You’re telling me it failed?”
“I-I’m terribly sorry, Baluduk…”
“I’m sick of hearing such apologies!”
Last time and this time, the plans had both failed.
Repeatedly obstructed.
A sense that nothing was progressing.
Baluduk couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was deliberately interfering with him.
In all his decades, he’d never experienced plans going awry so consistently.
“Pyreo, Ilena!”
“Yes, Baluduk.”
“I’m giving you three days. Kill the Archbishop within that time. And ascertain the abilities of that wretch Zeke. Determine whether he is a Divine Descendant or not.”
“But there’s a 9th Circle mage beside them…”
“Is assassinating a mere 9th Circle mage in secret truly so difficult?”
“…”
“It’s the same mission as before. However.”
The consequences of failure were different this time.
“If you fail again, you will die by my hand. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
“We will succeed at any cost.”
“That’s what I want to hear.”
Perhaps because their lives hung in the balance?
Pyreo and Ilena’s expressions grew infinitely grave.

* * *
“You’re certain they used teleportation here?”
“I’m telling you, yes?”
Zeke moved toward the location Carbollearos indicated.
The residual mana was unmistakable in this place.
[Analyzing the mana pattern.]
[Backtracking the mana flow of the pattern’s user.]
[Backtracking complete.]
[Acquiring the reverse-traced teleportation coordinates.]
Zeke smiled faintly as he examined the newly acquired coordinates.
‘Now I have Pyreo and Ilena’s location pinpointed.’
I could discover where they teleported by moving to these coordinates.
But I didn’t act on it immediately.
No quest related to them had appeared, and there was no urgency.
‘Since I’ve seen their faces, I can easily determine their exact location using the [Earth Tracking] ability.’
The teleportation coordinates were merely insurance, kept just in case.
‘I should finish the escort quest quickly and go see their faces.’
As I boarded the magical carriage the Archbishop had brought as a backup, the Escort Guard resumed their movement toward their destination.

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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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