The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 155

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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 155
Zeke wasn’t the only one startled by the word “fiancée.”
Archbishop Raber and Mary unconsciously dropped their jaws, while Peter in particular wore an expression of someone unable to recover from shock.
‘I need to manage my expression, Peter.’
I silently chided him and tried to signal with my eyes, but Peter was too overwhelmed to notice.
―Wait, he introduced me as a brother, but Zeke as a fiancée…?
Reading his thoughts, he seemed quite disappointed.
‘Well, Peter has been fond of the Saint.’
When I casually shifted my gaze, I inadvertently locked eyes with Prisciel Christenson.
Her subtle smile was more than enough to shake the heart of any adolescent male.
‘But I’m not an adolescent—I’m a robust 28-year-old adult.’
I wasn’t naive enough to fall for such temptation.
‘Wait, am I 28 or 45…?’
As I pondered this, an unexpected message suddenly appeared.
[Patricia’s Circle 2/9]
[You gain 5,000 proficiency in 6th-tier skills as a reward.]
[Proficiency remaining until 8-star achievement: 18,843/100,000]
The reward for the sub-quest to raise Patricia’s Circle had arrived.
‘She’s already achieved the 2nd Circle?’
Less than two weeks had passed since parting with Patricia, yet she’d already formed her second mana ring.
I was inwardly astonished at her monstrous growth rate.
“Hmm, you may enter.”
The official’s suspicious gaze vanished.
“May the eternal flame of Mados shine upon you, brothers.”
“May the eternal darkness of Mados embrace you as well.”
After exchanging these ritualistic blessings, Prisciel Christenson led the way.
Her family(?) safely melted into the crowd and exhaled in relief.
“That was close. I wore shabby clothes on purpose, yet they still grew suspicious…”
“I didn’t expect them to be so thorough either.”
“Still, we managed to overcome the crisis thanks to Prisciel’s quick thinking.”
At Archbishop Raber’s words, Prisciel Christenson laughed lightly.
Zeke posed a question to her.
“What should we do now?”
“We observe. We need to see what the followers do next.”
We’d succeeded in hiding as followers, but we still didn’t know what they were plotting.
For Zeke’s group, there was nothing to do but wait.
As we waited, the crowd continued to swell.
Their numbers had already reached around a hundred.
‘Quite a gathering.’
All of them were followers who revered Mados, the god of darkness and destruction.
From the Holy Empire’s perspective, they were an evil congregation that worshipped heresy.
‘Is this alright?’
When I glanced to the side, Raber and Prisciel’s expressions had hardened into rigid masks.
They seemed unaware that so many people were stirring in the Adjacent Kingdom next to the Holy Empire.
“Now, everyone’s attention!”
At that moment, someone climbed onto the platform while clapping their hands.
Judging by the ceremonial robes they wore, they appeared to be the organizer who had opened this gathering.
“Thank you all for gathering here on this late night. I am Achillos, a missionary of the Mados Religion and the organizer of this gathering.”
As he introduced himself and greeted us, applause erupted from the surroundings.
Since we couldn’t remain silent alone, we clapped along.
“Haha, such fervent cheers—thank you. Before we begin, allow me to explain the simple order of today’s gathering. First, we will have a time to recite the Six Commandments of our Mados Religion, followed by a time of prayer to the great Mados. Then we will proceed with a sermon, confessions from the faithful, and a baptism ceremony in that order…”
The order of proceedings was like any ordinary religious service.
There was nothing particularly unusual, but there was one thing worth paying attention to.
‘Regardless of anything else, I need to verify what this final baptism ceremony actually is.’
If they were administering forbidden drugs, this would be the likely moment.
My companions listened intently to Achillos’s words as if they had become believers themselves.
“Now then, let us all recite together the Six Commandments of the Mados Religion. First: Darkness is the infinite power that embraces us.”
“Darkness is the infinite power that embraces us.”
“Second: Destruction is the beginning of new creation.”
“Destruction is the beginning of new creation.”
“Third: We are beings born from darkness, and…”
The people began to recite the Six Commandments in unison, their hearts and minds aligned.
Though I went through the motions, I merely mimicked the lip movements like a lip-sync performance.
‘I don’t want to speak such doctrine aloud and invite misfortune upon myself.’
Glancing to the side, my companions were also merely moving their lips silently.
It seemed we all shared the same sentiment—we didn’t want to be absorbed into this cult.
“Let us pray together, brothers and sisters.”
After that came a time of prayer, followed by a sermon as tedious as a principal’s address at a school assembly.
“Who is our greatest enemy? Whom does the great Mados despise most? Elos, the god of light and restoration! Those bastards from the Holy Empire who believe in that worthless god! We must cut off their heads and hang them in the Plaza! That is what we do for Mados…”
Seeing the missionary openly spewing curses, I turned to the side with unease.
As expected, the two prominent figures who served the god Elos were biting their lips and suffering in silence.
‘You must endure this. Archbishop, Holy Maiden. At least until the baptism ceremony.’
If they were to administer drugs, the baptism ceremony was the most likely moment.
To catch them in the act, I had to let any insult pass through one ear and out the other.
Fortunately, the two of them took no particular action until Achillos’s curse-laden sermon came to an end.
‘They endured well. Now these bastards will reveal their true colors.’
Just as I predicted, when the confessions ended and the baptism ceremony began.
“Everyone. Finally, I will bestow upon all of you gathered here today the grace of Mados.”
Two people who appeared to be believers brought forward a massive barrel.
Thud!
The weight of it was considerable, and the sound as I set it down was heavy and dull.
When I opened the lid, the barrel was filled with an unidentifiable liquid.
“Now then, everyone please line up and prepare to receive grace. I shall conduct the baptism.”
The people quickly formed a line in front of the barrel.
Achillos picked up a prepared cup and smiled.
“Brother, you are the first to receive baptism. Welcome. May the darkness of Mados be with you.”
With those words, he dipped the cup into the barrel and filled it completely with the mysterious liquid.
Now I could see the liquid had a crimson hue, like blood.
It resembled wine.
“Drink.”
The first believer quickly emptied the cup into his mouth.
The taste seemed acceptable—he didn’t even frown.
“Good. Next.”
Achillos distributed the wine-like beverage to the believers in this manner.
What was peculiar was that he confirmed with his own eyes that each believer drank it.
“Ah, brother. The next person is waiting, is he not? Please drink quickly.”
“Ah, yes…”
Anyone who hesitated even briefly was immediately pointed out and urged to drink.
“Next, the eighty-first brother.”
The counting itself seemed to demonstrate his determination not to miss a single person.
“Archbishop Raber. Something seems suspicious. I suspect that beverage may be laced with some kind of drug.”
“I suspect the same.”
The Archbishop agreed with Zeke’s assessment, though he felt tension creeping in on the other hand.
Our turn would come soon enough.
“The ninety-third brother? Is there no one to receive the ninety-third baptism?”
At those words, all eyes turned toward us.
The only ones who hadn’t drunk were our seven family members.
“What are you doing? Come over here and receive your baptism.”
No one moved at his urging.
Did they expect us to drink without knowing what it was?
What if it contained some strange drug or poison?
‘Perhaps it doesn’t contain anything after all?’
It was reasonable to think so, given that everyone who had drunk before stood there looking perfectly fine.
Not a single abnormal reaction had appeared.
‘But the absence of a reaction doesn’t guarantee the absence of poison.’
Zeke, who had thwarted the King’s assassination attempt two years ago, knew this well.
The poison created by Nox Venomayer was colorless and odorless, with effects appearing only after twelve hours.
The absence of a reaction meant one could not let their guard down.
But seemingly unaware of such facts, the saint stepped forward.
The Archbishop blocked her with a startled expression.
“Prisciel. What are you doing?”
“I’ll taste it first.”
“You’re going to drink it without knowing what it is?”
“I don’t know. But if we stay like this, our identity will be exposed. And we can only find out what it is by drinking it, right?”
“Absolutely not.”
“But someone has to drink it. Otherwise, the evidence….”
“Then I’ll drink it.”
“What?”
Raber Archbishop pushed the saint behind him and stepped forward.
“If proof is needed, this old man should be the one to drink it.”
“No, please. Let me instead….”
“Stay back. You’ll give us away.”
Though he spoke in whispers that shouldn’t have been heard, all eyes were fixed upon us.
Any further delay would only invite suspicion.
Just as the Archbishop, his resolve hardened, began to move forward.
A tap.
“Step back, Your Grace. I’ll drink it first.”
I pushed the Archbishop behind me.
“93rd Brother, I’m here.”
“Brother. Why are you so late? Come, take the cup.”
Achillos, who had dipped it deep into the barrel and filled it to the brim, offered me the cup.
‘Surely I won’t die from drinking this.’
Because I wore the Extreme Toxin Vest, I would be immune to any poison.
Trusting only in that, I downed the entire cup in one gulp.
Gulp.
‘It really tastes like wine?’
The sharp scent of alcohol was unmistakable—it was definitely alcohol.
And definitely poison.
[A small amount of harmful toxic substance has entered your body.]
[You have become immune to the toxic substance due to the Extreme Toxin Vest effect.]
I couldn’t determine what kind of poison it was.
But one thing was certain—something that shouldn’t be consumed was in there.
That was enough.
“Now, the 94th Brother in the back. Come forward for your baptism….”
“Don’t drink this. It’s poisoned.”
My statement shocked the Archbishop and the others.
The missionary in front was the most shocked.
“What are you doing right now? Poison? What do you mean….”
“You wouldn’t know, but I can tell.”
I said that and threw the cup away.
Crack!
The evangelist’s rage ignited at the sight of the shattered chalice.
“What are you doing?! Breaking a sacred vessel!”
“I just saved your life. Do you understand?”
By reading his true thoughts, I could discern the truth.
The evangelist was not the one who poisoned the cup.
‘Someone among us poisoned it beforehand.’
As I surveyed my surroundings, an anomalous presence registered in my perception.
I sensed magical power emanating from among the commoners.
“Hey, you. Come here.”
At my indication, the hooded man flinched.
“You poisoned the drink here, didn’t you?”
“Huh, I didn’t expect to be caught this quickly.”
The one who removed his hood was none other than Pyreo, the Forerunner of Flame.
“So you’ve come to assassinate again.”
“Of course.”
“Your partner came with you, naturally?”
“No need for further words.”
The voice came from behind.
Ilena, who had approached unnoticed, now aimed her staff at Archbishop Raber from behind.
A sinister smile played across her lips.
“Die.”
“No, wait!”
Prisciel cried out at the sight, and the Archbishop’s eyes squeezed shut.
As if sensing death itself.
But.
“…Huh? What?”
Ilena’s expression turned vacant as she felt the gathered magical power dissipate.
For a moment, she even wondered if her staff had malfunctioned.
‘Could it be?’
She turned her head, mindful of my abilities.
As expected.
Grin.
I withdrew the feather sword from subspace, smiling as if to confirm her suspicion.
“It’s not me who dies—it’s you.”
My gaze fixed on one direction.
‘Because a Quest just appeared.’

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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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