The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 169

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Natural Enemy of Mages Has Been Reincarnated – Episode 169
Crunch—!
True to his epithet as an ice addict, Ethan Arctos was consuming the very ice he had conjured.
Shhhhh—
Crunch!
“Ahh, now that’s the taste I crave.”
Lost in the cycle of creation and consumption, intoxicated by the refreshing chill, he suddenly stiffened.
A message had arrived through the Luminous Portalsphere from Stella, the woman to whom he had sworn to dedicate his life.
Snap!
He immediately shattered the ice he had created and crossed his legs into a meditative posture.
Upon entering the virtual space, the radiant form of Stella, the First Forerunner, greeted him.
“Ah…”
[Ethan. I have a task for you.]
Ethan, who had been gazing at the First Forerunner in a daze, snapped to attention.
“Command me with anything! I would even carry out an order to slay Baluduk!”
[I would never issue such a command.]
“Is that so?”
Ethan smacked his lips with obvious disappointment.
“Then what task shall I undertake?”
[The McLafflin Family has departed with Lillis. I need you to eliminate them.]
“The McLafflin Family… you mean the family of the divine descendant?”
[Yes. According to reports, the divine descendant himself has not been sighted, suggesting he has temporarily absented himself. If you wish for vengeance, now is your opportunity.]
“Understood. A task of that caliber is child’s play.”

* * *
Clank! Clank!
“Damn it! If I could just break this one thing, I could escape somehow….”
Lillis Lin, once the Forerunner of Lightning, was desperate.
If she could only sever the shackles binding her wrists, escape would be simple.
But for an ordinary person to break iron restraints through sheer force was impossible.
And Lillis was currently in a state no different from a powerless civilian—unable to cast magic.
“Sigh… So there’s really only that one way?”
Not that she had no options at all.
She could cut off her hands.
If she severed both wrists, she could escape the shackles’ influence.
Though such an act would require absolute resolve.
‘But I don’t see any tool sharp enough to do it….’
Looking around the interior of the Magic Carriage, there wasn’t a single sharp object to be found.
And if she smashed her wrists against the wall to break them, the noise would alert those outside.
‘No matter how I think about it, there’s no solution.’
Though she didn’t know where she was being taken, Lillis desperately wanted to escape.
How could she possibly feel good about being dragged along like a prisoner?
True, she was riding in a luxurious Magic Carriage and traveling comfortably, but regardless, wasn’t she still being taken against her will?
‘At this rate, I can only wait. Until the Forerunners come to rescue me.’
The number of Forerunners was already so few.
Stella would never abandon her like this.
Perhaps even now, at this very moment, her guardian Kardeipor was working to save her.
Though Lillis had no way of knowing that attempt had already failed.
‘If they’re coming to rescue me, hurry! Or is it because of the divine descendant that they can’t save me?’
As she recalled her encounter with him, her body trembled involuntarily.
The price for targeting Zeke’s family had been devastating.
She’d been beaten until nearly dead, her limbs shattered.
Though she’d received treatment, the areas where he’d struck still ached.
Her broken teeth had grown back, and her limbs that had hung limp after being snapped were now whole again, but her spirit remained fractured.
The psychological trauma from him had seared itself into her bones like a permanent scar.
‘I never want to be entangled with that monster again.’
Before they departed, she’d confirmed through the Magic Carriage’s window that Zeke was saying farewell to his family, so she already knew he wasn’t in the procession.
‘So now is my chance to escape. Right now, when the divine descendant isn’t here!’
But the Forerunners might not know this fact.
Perhaps they were too frightened to come rescue her because of it….
‘This is my opportunity. Someone, anyone, please hurry…!’
Did Lillis’s desperate wish reach the Forerunners?
Suddenly, the Magic Carriage came to an abrupt halt.
“Stop! Who goes there? Why are you blocking the road? Identify yourselves!”
The escort’s cry filtered faintly from outside the Magic Carriage, and Lillis pressed her face urgently against the window.
What she saw confirmed everything.
“Wow, he’s here! It’s Ethan!”
Ethan Arctos.
A 9-circle mage specializing in frost magic, ranked 5th among the Forerunners.
Though he was an impudent youth who constantly clashed with Baluduk without rhyme or reason, in this moment he seemed utterly dependable.
‘He came to save me, you bastard! That’s so cool, so damn cool!’
I had to admit his abilities were formidable.

* * *
“Master! That man ahead—!”
“I see him.”
At Gerard’s cry, Dalpred Bigsland regarded the man blocking their path with grave eyes.
‘This is no ordinary fellow. I sense tremendous magical power.’
Though he appeared young, he was clearly a master on par with Lilith Lin, whom they were currently escorting.
“Likely one of the 12 Pioneers.”
“Are those people just a gathering of monsters? How does someone so young possess such power…?”
“That’s rich coming from a man with a Draconian for a son.”
Gerard’s expression turned momentarily sheepish.
Finding his reaction amusing, Dalpred smiled.
But to Ethan’s eyes, that smile was infuriating.
“Ha, look at these bastards. Smirking at me like I’m nothing. Don’t you understand the situation you’re in?”
How dare they smile so leisurely upon seeing a Forerunner?
Of course, Dalpred understood this too.
Normally, this situation should be fraught with tension.
But their composure wasn’t baseless.
They had reliable reinforcements behind them.
“The Duke of Bigsland. Who is this man?”
“He appeared out of nowhere and blocks our path. He appears to be a Forerunner.”
Carse, the blue dragon, regarded the opponent with curious eyes.
He seemed quite young for a human, yet an extraordinary aura emanated from him.
Then Esca beside her recognized him.
“That’s Ethan Arctos, ranked 5th. He’s an ice fanatic who specializes in frost magic.”
“I got promoted to 4th, you traitor bastard. Get your facts straight.”
Ethan snapped back sharply while conjuring an ice rod in his palm.
Crack!
Ethan, who had been grinding his teeth so hard it seemed dangerous, smirked.
“So that old man Dalpred was smiling because there are two 9-circle mages?”
“Make that three, idiot.”
Carse taunted, but Ethan merely chuckled in response.
He showed no sign of being intimidated whatsoever.
“Two or three. It doesn’t matter how many X-class mages show up—they’re all the same to me.”
“Do you truly believe you can stand against three Ninth Circle mages?”
“Three? Even if five came, I’d crush them all.”
“Your confidence pierces the heavens, young man. However….”
Dalpred Bigsland slowly drew mana up through the tip of his staff.
“Don’t underestimate me just because I’m old.”
“Is that paltry amount of mana all you can muster as a threat?”
Mana suddenly erupted from Ethan’s body in a violent explosion.
Kuuuuuuuu—
“Wha…!”
“No, that can’t be…?”
“….”
The overwhelming surge of mana made the three mages’ flesh tremble with shock.
“Now this is the kind of power I’d call a genuine threat, wouldn’t you say?”
He had every right to mock them.
Ethan was undoubtedly a formidable practitioner with the skill to back his words.
They now understood with absolute clarity that his claim of handling five Ninth Circle mages was no empty boast.
They also realized they stood no chance against him alone.
‘We barely managed to capture Lilith Lin, and now this monster appears from nowhere….’
Dalpred, tense with apprehension, glanced at Esca beside him.
Even he, stronger than Dalpred and once a Forerunner, could not hide his astonishment.
Yet the woman called Carse alone bore curious eyes rather than shock for some reason.
‘Could she actually be confident?’
He knew from Zeke that Carse was a Ninth Circle mage and a Draconian, but he had never witnessed her power firsthand.
‘The fact that she isn’t tense suggests she’s a mage whose power surpasses even Esca’s. There might be a chance after all.’
Whether there was a chance or not, retreat was not an option against this enemy.
He could never leave with only Lilith Lin.
‘He probably came to kill us all.’
Negotiation would not work.
One could tell that simply from the opponent’s demeanor.
“Shall we test ourselves against each other?”
Crack!
The moment Ethan finished dealing with the ice shards, he opened his palm wide.
Whoooosh!
A cutting wind spiraled from his hand, generating countless ice crystals that swirled in a violent tempest.
“Here it comes!”
Dalpred immediately erected a barrier to protect his allies.
Simultaneously, Esca launched a Soul Burst in counterattack.
Without a word, they divided their roles—one defending, one attacking.
Just as I had when facing Lillis Lin.
The difference between then and now was that one additional 9th Circle mage had been added to the mix.
More precisely, a Blue Dragon.
‘Since I was instructed to hide that I’m a dragon, I should refrain from using dragon language as much as possible.’
To be frank, Carse found her opponent Ethan rather laughable.
Previously, I had been bound by Carrocksina’s seal and unable to use my draconic power, but that was no longer the case.
‘If I use my dragon force, I could easily defeat someone like that.’
If I were to release my Polymorph and return to my true draconic form, unleashing the full essence of a dragon without restraint, even the 5th-ranked Forerunner would be unable to withstand it.
But it was frustrating that I couldn’t do so right now.
My master Zeke McLafflin had instructed me to conceal my draconic power as much as possible.
‘He said it would be troublesome in many ways if my dragon nature were exposed.’
Therefore, I had to face this opponent while hiding my strength as much as I could.
Even so, there was no way they could handle a 9th Circle dragon like myself.
“Icicle Shower.”
Given the Blue Dragon’s affinity for water attributes, ice magic was my specialty.
I confidently unleashed hundreds of sharp ice crystals, but—
Clang, clang, clang!
Ethan knocked them away with identical ice crystals.
“What? You’re also a specialist in this element?”
Ethan grinned as if delighted, then suddenly glided across the ground.
A sheet of ice had formed beneath him, and my Soul Burst struck the spot where he had been just moments before.
Flash!
“Tsk, tsk. You think you can hit me with such a slow attack?”
Ethan, who had been sneering at Esca, pointed his finger upward.
Countless ice spears suddenly erupted from the ground like thorns.
It would have been natural to be skewered, but only if there had been no protective barrier.
Clang, clang, clang!
“Ugh!”
“Ho. So the old man set up a barrier even on the ground? He’s really determined to defend, isn’t he? Well then, let’s see how long he can hold out.”
Ethan’s lips curled upward as he relentlessly hurled ice crystals.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Under the relentless barrage of ice bombardment, beads of sweat formed on Dalpred Bigsland’s forehead.
He couldn’t even hear Ethan’s cackling laughter anymore.
His mana reserves were already stretched thin protecting so many people.
“Heh.”
Even so, Ethan glided across the ice sheet, evading Esca’s attacks.
Soul Burst was a dangerous spell—if it connected even once, mana would backlash.
Blocking it with a barrier was useless; dodging was the best strategy.
From Esca’s perspective, the attack was slow, so evasion was far easier.
“You almost got me there, traitor. I’ll give you credit for that. Try harder. Though it looks like the old man’s barrier will break soon anyway.”
Just as he said, Dalpred’s protective barrier was hanging by a thread.
Like a lamp flickering in the wind, it would vanish any moment.
That’s why Esca unleashed magic in rapid succession, desperate and relentless.
The Tavern Owner had commanded him to protect the McLafflin Family members at all costs.
I poured every ounce of my strength into it, unwilling to disappoint the master who trusted and entrusted me.
Carse, another slave, found herself in the same predicament.
“I’m here too, human!”
Carse unleashed her confident ice-binding magic to block Ethan.
But as if mocking her, Ethan conjured the identical ice-binding spell and countered it directly—every spell she cast became nullified the moment it formed.
‘Tsk, what kind of human is this? He doesn’t yield even to dragon-level mana….’
Even three 9-Circle mages working together couldn’t defeat a single Forerunner.
A Forerunner who maintained a protective barrier while dodging attacks and mounting counteroffensives all by himself.
Carse, genuinely flustered, couldn’t help but consider her options seriously.
‘Should I just transform into my true form and use dragon speech?’
If I employed dragon-exclusive techniques, no matter how strong he was, he’d have no choice but to fall.
It would guarantee victory.
But doing so would violate Zeke’s command to keep my identity hidden.
‘In this situation, I have no choice. It’s better than letting the McLafflin Family members suffer!’
Soon Dalpred’s barrier would shatter, and countless people would be harmed.
The master would surely understand if I acted to prevent such disaster.
Just as Carse was about to release her power—
Boom-crack-crash!
A barrage of mana from nowhere suddenly restricted Ethan’s movements.
“Damn it, that was close. Who the hell is this? Another 9-Circle mage….”
In that instant, Ethan’s eyes widened with shock.
“W-what?”
Even his words stammered—he was clearly flustered.
The situation warranted such a reaction.
Thud, thud, thud.
The six figures who had suddenly appeared to block him were mostly familiar faces.
‘Rita, Zakar, Terion, Pyreo, Ilena…?’
Reunited with the Forerunners who had once perished, Ethan’s expression went blank for a long moment.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————