The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 161

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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 161
‘That… that person!?’
A face both Gerard and Dalpred remembered.
‘Esca Robins?’
He was certainly called by that name.
They knew him well—he had attacked the Royal Palace and escaped.
Especially Dalpred, who had faced him directly, could never forget that visage.
‘To encounter a wanted criminal who attacked the King in a place like this!’
There had been no way to find him after he killed Rita the Wind God and broke out of prison, yet here they met.
The urge to capture him immediately and bring him to the Royal Palace was overwhelming.
But something about the situation felt wrong.
‘Why… are they hostile toward each other?’
Esca Robins had just interfered with the Forerunner of Lightning.
Because of this, the Forerunner was glaring at him with murderous intent.
As Dalpred’s eyes flickered between them, he quickly grasped the reason.
‘Now that I think about it, Esca Robins killed Rita the Wind God. Is that why they’re at odds?’
His assumption was accurate.
“Ha, what a fortunate day. To encounter a traitor in a place like this.”
“Wouldn’t you say the opposite? You’ll have to face me from now on.”
“A mere subordinate dares to match yourself against me, Rank 4? Someone like you can be killed without even using my staff.”
“By all means, try.”
As Esca spoke, he glanced briefly toward Gerard.
‘Is that person the master’s father?’
In fact, contrary to what Gerard and Dalpred believed, Esca had never met them before.
The one who had infiltrated the kingdom alongside Rita the Wind God back then was Zeke McLafflin, disguised as Esca.
‘The master told me that the family might harbor resentment toward me because of what happened then. Looking at their eyes, it’s certainly true.’
Esca had come to this place under orders from his master, Zeke McLafflin.
He was to protect them in case the Forerunners threatened his family.
The reason he could appear at such perfect timing despite Lillis Lin’s lightning-swift assault was because of this.
‘If I hadn’t intervened at the right moment, something truly catastrophic might have happened.’
Though he couldn’t prevent the death of the guards, now no one else would die.
The master’s orders were absolute.
With himself, a 9th Circle mage, standing guard!
Though the family head’s permission would need to be obtained first.
“A temporary alliance. Is that acceptable?”
At Esca’s words, Gerard turned to look at Dalpred instead of answering.
“What do you think, Master?”
“…What choice do we have? For now, we have no choice but to accept the hand of a wanted criminal.”
It was reluctant, but unavoidable.
Dalpred alone could not handle such an opponent.
“Ha, you’re coming at me like this?”
The moment the situation shifted to a two-on-one, Lillis Lin’s brow furrowed.
An 8th Circle mage joining in wouldn’t change much, but a 9th Circle was a different story entirely.
Yet Lillis Lin’s lips curled upward with confidence.
“Regardless, you’re still nothing but small fry.”
In an instant, vast mana surged forth from Lillis Lin’s body.
Dalpred Bigsland and Esca Robins, who had been on guard, chanted their prepared spells.
“Absolute Barrier!”
“Soul Burst!”
Since they were wordless incantations, the activation was instantaneous.
Their opponent was equally swift.
“Die.”
Crackling electricity tore through the air!
The lightning bolt aimed at the McLafflin Family members was blocked by the Absolute Barrier.
Simultaneously, Esca Robins’s Soul Burst surged toward Lillis Lin.
Their coordinated assault—offense and defense perfectly divided—unfolded as if rehearsed.
“Impressive. But.”
Lillis Lin was no ordinary mage.
She transformed her body into lightning itself, evading the attack while launching a counteroffensive.
Crackling electricity exploded through the space!
“Ugh!”
Esca Robins’s shield spell barely withstood Lillis Lin’s body check, delivered with the force of a lightning strike.
‘So the 4th-ranked mage earned that position through genuine power, not mere reputation?’
Feeling the shield’s durability nearly shatter, Esca Robins deployed Dispel.
Lillis Lin’s mana, poised for a barrage of attacks, scattered in an instant.
‘This bastard—’
Though the spell was canceled, it mattered little to Lillis Lin.
She could simply cast it again.
But Esca Robins seized the opportunity to create distance between them.
A sneer crossed Lillis Lin’s lips as she watched.
“Insolent fool.”
Lillis Lin gave chase immediately, though it wasn’t truly a retreat.
Esca Robins had widened the gap to keep the master’s family from harm.
In that moment, Dalpred Bigsland, reading the situation, chanted an offensive spell.
Lillis Lin had already closed the distance to Esca Robins’s side.
“You think you can shake me off?”
“Shake off? Who?”
At those words, Lillis Lin’s expression hardened.
A chilling presence emanated from behind her.
She spun around just as Dalpred Bigsland’s flame magic came hurtling toward her.
It was Hellfire, said to resemble the flames of the inferno itself.
Fuwoooosh!
Lillis Lin exhaled sharply as she dodged by the narrowest of margins.
‘I almost burned to ash. I owe Esca Robins my gratitude for the warning….’
Gratitude toward Esca Robins for the timely alert bloomed in her chest, but only for a moment.
Flash!
A brilliant light erupted from the tip of Esca Robins’s staff, seizing the opening she had created.
“Got it, caught…!”
Esca Robins’s rising smile faded just as quickly.
His attack, which he had deemed perfectly timed, had narrowly grazed past without connecting.
“That was close, Esca Robins. You almost had me there.”
“You dodged that….”
The Forerunner of Lightning moved with speed as swift as a lightning flash.
‘This isn’t over yet.’
The combined assault of Dalpred Bigsland and Esca Robins unfolded in succession.
Brilliant displays of mana flickered everywhere, a dazzling spectacle.
Three Ninth Circle mages exchanged fierce offense and defense.
To any observer, it would appear almost like a performance.
Yet in truth, it was filled with destructive magic designed to annihilate the opponent.
Each strike—a potent Ninth Circle spell.
But that was only if they landed.
‘There’s no way to catch her.’
Even with two Ninth Circle mages unleashing their magic, Lillis Lin transformed into lightning and evaded effortlessly.
Her speed was considerable, and the master’s family had nearly been caught in danger more than once, but….
‘Fortunately, Dalpred Bigsland is protecting them well.’
Still, the situation was far from favorable.
A precarious balancing act, teetering on the edge.
Esca Robins’s expression reflected this grim reality.
‘Since mana is finite, this exchange of blows cannot continue indefinitely.’
Soon the scales would tip.
In Lillis Lin’s favor.
‘This is dangerous.’
Dalpred Bigsland, recognizing this truth, turned to Gerard McLafflin.
“Has the lightning barrier still not been breached?”
“I’m working on it… but it’s not easy.”
Gerard McLafflin had been attempting to dismantle the barrier during the exchanges of offense and defense, but progress was minimal.
It spoke to how densely woven Lillis Lin’s electrical barrier was, like a spider’s web.
They needed to escape with the family, yet there seemed to be no way out.
‘At this rate, we’ll all perish without question.’
No, to be precise, not all of them would die.
It seemed they planned to kidnap the family and use them as leverage for coercion.
‘Though they wouldn’t need many hostages, so they’d kill some of them. And I’d be the first to die.’
Though I was managing to hold them off, I lacked confidence.
I realized that as time passed, the situation grew more disadvantageous.
The gap between us was widening.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
“Ugh!”
The barrier struck by the lightning bolt wavered.
Unlike before, the barrier I had erected had weakened considerably.
The scales were beginning to tip.
“Already shaking? How long have we been fighting?”
Lillis Lin, sneering, unleashed a concentrated barrage toward the family to end this quickly.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
“Ungh!”
I tried to thicken the barrier’s walls to block it, but my mana reserves were insufficient.
At this rate, it would collapse within ten seconds.
But Esca Robins was not one to sit idle.
Flash!
He unleashed another Soul Burst, but Lillis Lin, having already anticipated it, dodged with ease.
The attack halted her assault, but only for a moment.
‘Damn it. If I could land just one hit, I could kill her!’
Soul Burst was a mage’s counter-spell that incinerated the mana within one’s body.
It was a spell that had killed Nox Venomayer in a single strike, but it proved useless against Lillis Lin.
It only proved how swift she was, like a flying squirrel.
Realizing this approach wouldn’t work, Esca Robins steeled his resolve.
‘Even if it costs me my life, I will carry out my master’s command.’
I drew up my mana to protect my body with a shield, then inscribed a new formula within it.
So that Soul Burst would activate the moment Lillis Lin’s mana made contact.
This way, I could conceal my intent and lower her guard.
‘The problem is how to restrain her…’
How could I possibly restrain an opponent who even dodged magic and execute a self-destruct strategy?
‘I need someone to draw her attention.’
But such an ally was critically absent in this situation.
Dalpred Bigsland was too busy defending against Lillis Lin’s assault.
It was then.
“Behold! A gathering of wicked malice dwells there!”
A hand of salvation descended at precisely that moment.
Even Lillis Lin, who had been unleashing concentrated fire on Dalpred Bigsland, flinched and halted her attack.
“…What in the world is that?”
Where she turned her gaze, dozens of knights stood arrayed.
They were an army clad in resplendent armor, each piece gleaming with divine radiance.
‘That emblem… the Holy Knights?’
Lillis Lin’s eyes widened as she recognized the insignia emblazoned across their chests.
Why would the Holy Empire’s Holy Knights—who should be stationed in the Northern Region—appear here of all places?
And with what appeared to be over fifty soldiers in tow.
‘I heard from Baluduk that he’d already shackled the Holy Knights’ movements…’
By binding their hands, the Archbishop couldn’t hire them as bodyguards, which was precisely why the assassination attempt had succeeded.
Yet here they were, materializing before her eyes.
Naturally, the Holy Empire was the strongest force on Pangea.
Among them, the Holy Knights who served the Elos God were nothing short of the mightiest military force imaginable.
Limited to exactly one hundred members, every single one was an Aura Master—an elite composition without equal.
‘Half of them… fifty of the Holy Knights… here at the McLafflin Family Estate?’
Lillis was not alone in her shock.
Dalpred Bigsland, Esca Robins, and everyone else stood frozen, their mouths agape.
‘Why would the Holy Knights come here…?’
It made no sense—the McLafflin Family had no connection whatsoever to the Holy Empire.
They were distant geographically, and had never done anything to provoke imperial displeasure.
The Decan Kingdom was the weakest of the Five Great Kingdoms, after all.
They should be grateful merely for receiving the empire’s attention.
‘Could they be here on business with the Royal Court Mage Order?’
That thought flickered across Dalpred and Gerard McLafflin’s minds as they watched, but the Holy Knights’ gaze was fixed with laser precision on a single person.
“Forerunner of Lightning, Lillis Lin. You are under arrest for violating imperial law!”
“What? I violated the law?”
“Don’t play innocent! We’ve received reports that you’re in league with the vile Mados Religion. Surrender yourself immediately! If you resist, we shall—”
Whooooom!
The knights manifested Aura Blades in unison, their weapons blazing to life.
“Execute judgment through death.”
“Ha! This is absurd. You know exactly who I am, yet you draw your blades anyway? Don’t you value your lives?”
Despite facing fifty Aura Masters, Lillis showed not a trace of intimidation.
If anything, her lips curled into a contemptuous smirk.
“Pathetic Aura users. Did you really think any number of Aura Masters could stand against me?”
“A spawn of the wicked Mados Religion dares insult the faithful of Elos! We shall carry out immediate execution!”
“Let there be light in Elos!”
Before the words even finished, the Holy Knights surged forward in a thunderous charge.
Though their momentum was fearsome, Lillis merely scoffed.
Rushing a 9-Circle mage like this was no different than a moth hurling itself into flame.
“I’ll roast every last one of you.”
Crackle! Crackle!
Mana erupted outward from Lillis in a devastating wave.
Its target: the fifty Holy Knights charging toward her.
“The light of the Elos Church can go to the dogs.”
With those words, lightning descended.
Crack! Boom-boom-boom-crash!
“Gahhhhh!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The charging knights collapsed in convulsions.
Crash! Bang-bang-bang-bang!
Crack!
Despite the relentless barrage of lightning strikes, none of them died.
They had Arcnium armor to thank for that—forged from the ore that resists magical power.
“Ugh, everyone—get up and kill that woman!”
The knights, protected by their auras, managed to stagger to their feet.
But to Lillis Lin, they were nothing more than annoying cockroaches.
“Fine. If you wish to die so badly, then once more….”
Suddenly, Lillis Lin’s mouth went silent.
It was the sensation in her arms.
Someone had embraced her from behind.
“Heh heh, got you.”
“What—when?”
At the sound of Esca Robins’s voice from behind, Lillis Lin’s pupils dilated.
She hadn’t sensed his approach because no mana emanated from him.
“You’re finished.”
With those words, Esca Robins’s body blazed with brilliant light.
Shock flooded Lillis Lin’s face.
It was unexpected.
That Esca Robins had seized her.
That he had resolved to self-destruct.
‘Damn those Holy Knights!’
Their presence had divided her attention, allowing Esca Robins to close in.
Flash—!
Light erupted.
The radiance bursting from Esca Robins’s body completely engulfed Lillis Lin.
“Gahhhhhhh! Gahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A harrowing scream tore from her throat.
This was her first time experiencing this.
The agony of her entire body’s mana burning away.
Thud!
Lillis Lin collapsed, her eyes rolling back.
At first glance, she appeared dead, but her body twitched.
She was still alive.
Meanwhile, Esca Robins remained utterly motionless.
Having turned his own body into the detonator for the explosion, there was no way he could have survived.
Dalpred Bigsland, who had witnessed every moment of it, blinked in astonishment.
‘He… he sacrificed his own life to protect us…’
To be honest, it was shocking.
I never expected him to go to such desperate lengths to stop Lillis Lin.
I didn’t know the details, but weren’t they supposed to be on opposite sides?
They had even come to assassinate the King alongside Rita the Wind God.
That’s why I couldn’t fully trust them.
We were allies in name only—in truth, I had been wary of Esca Robins as well.
‘But was he genuinely helping us all along…?’
If things went south with Lillis Lin, he could have simply fled on his own.
Yet he didn’t run. Instead, he devoted himself even unto death. There could only be two reasons for that.
Either he harbored a deep, burning hatred for Lillis Lin, or he desperately wanted to protect Zeke McLafflin’s family.
Either way, the situation wasn’t unfavorable for me.
The enemy still lived, but she was on the brink of death.
“Tch… you damned bastard…”
Lillis Lin rose from the ground, still clinging to a thread of strength.
Her mana reserves were far too vast for the Soul Burst to have consumed her entirely.
“I’ll kill you all. Every last one of you…”
With the faint mana that remained, she possessed more than enough power to slaughter everyone here.
She had both the strength and the skill to do it.
But.
“…?”
Lillis Lin felt a strange confusion as she sensed her mana gathering in barely a trickle.
‘The mana should still be there…’
The mystery was soon answered.
Footsteps echoed across the ground.
A man who bore a striking resemblance to her intended target was walking toward her.
“Divine descendant… Zeke McLafflin.”

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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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