The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 170

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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 170
‘Am I… am I dreaming right now?’
Ethan pinched his cheek to test the theory.
‘It hurts like hell, so it’s not a dream.’
Then those figures lined up before him were truly the Forerunners?
‘Could it be… they didn’t die?’
Ethan’s face brightened instantly.
If those who had fallen were alive and returned, there could be no other explanation.
“You bastards. Where the hell have you been all this time? If you didn’t die, you should’ve at least sent word…”
Ethan moved forward with joy, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The look in their eyes wasn’t friendly.
“Have these fools lost their minds? Not even greeting me, and glaring at your superior?”
“Ethan Arctos. By our master’s command, we will now stop you.”
“What? That’s not even a funny joke…”
Though he said it wasn’t funny, the corners of Ethan’s mouth were already curling upward.
Whatever they were doing, at least the joke was refreshing.
But when he saw the five Forerunners immediately drawing upon their mana, his expression hardened.
He realized this was no joke.
‘Surely… they wouldn’t actually attack me…”
Ethan couldn’t continue that thought.
Whoooosh!
Crash!
A torrent of magic spells rained down upon him.
“Damn it! I thought it was a joke, but these bastards have all gone insane?”
As he dodged the attacks, Ethan’s fury ignited.
The spells targeting him were unmistakably ninth-circle lethal magic.
Even as a joke, this crossed the line.
Had he not moved, his limbs would have been torn to shreds.
“You’re finished, you idiots. Siding with that bastard like fools?”
Ethan, a sneer playing at his lips, opened his palm.
Countless shards of ice materialized around his hand.
“Take this…”
Before he could finish, Ethan slid away once more.
A colossal giant of wind, conjured by Rita the Wind God, was bringing down a massive fist.
Boom!
He nearly became pulp, but it was fine.
He could keep attacking.
“You bastards, you’re all dead…”
Whoooosh!
Pyreo the Fire Incarnate’s flames forced Ethan to dodge yet again.
“You dare speak?!”
I had no time for words.
The moment I dodged the flames, a column of water came hurtling toward me.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
I used Blink to teleport ten meters away in an instant.
If that had connected, the water pressure would have ruptured every organ in my body.
‘Did these bastards take some kind of drug? They’re actually trying to kill me?’
I’d held onto the faint hope this might be an act, but that illusion shattered completely.
‘Traitors. This is getting annoying, really.’
Rita the Wind God.
Zakar the Immortal.
Terion the Earth.
Pyreo the Fire Incarnate.
Ilena of Water, and others.
Water, fire, wind, earth, immortality—mages with every conceivable attribute were targeting my neck.
For whatever reason, this had become extraordinarily troublesome.
I was already struggling just to evade their attacks.
‘But I think there was one more person…?’
As I slid across the ice I’d created, I recalled the moment I’d first encountered them.
There had definitely been six.
‘Now there are only five?’
One unfamiliar face had been among them.
A figure clad in armor like a knight—but I couldn’t see where he’d gone.
‘Surely not…’
A chill ran down my spine as I noticed a shadow forming beneath my feet.
I looked up to see a massive man suspended directly above me.
Poised to drive his sword downward.
‘Damn! I can’t dodge this.’
I conjured an ice wall above my head.
Hastily made, but still solid enough to withstand any aura user’s attack.
Or so I thought.
Crack—!
The ice wall split apart as if it were tofu being sliced.
The brief moment I’d bought was just enough to slip my body aside.
Boom—!
The failed ambusher gnashed his teeth and immediately sprang forward again.
‘What… what the hell is that guy?!’
The insane elasticity and reaction speed—nothing like an ordinary aura user—left me stunned.
Crash! Crash! Bang—!
No matter how many ice walls I erected to block his advance, he plowed through them all like a battering ram.
Even as Ethan Arctos laid down sheets of ice to impede his pursuer, the figure’s velocity remained undiminished.
‘At this rate, I’ll be caught.’
As though attempting to compensate for that earlier failure.
As if trying to make up for the failure from just moments ago.
‘At that level of power… they’d have to be at least an Aura Master. Could they be a Grand Aura Master?’
The continent was said to possess five Grand Aura Masters, and one of them had vanished without trace.
Maligore Desbon, the Dark Lord, wasn’t it?
‘Surely it couldn’t be him?’
It was indeed him, but I had no luxury for contemplation.
My pursuers were not merely the aura user—the Five Forerunners themselves had marked me.
‘This won’t work. There’s no opening. I’m abandoning the rescue of Lillis Lin.’
I was not the altruistic sort who would stake my life to save a comrade.
Shouldn’t I at least preserve my own neck?
“Damn traitorous bastards. Have some of this.”
Before departing, I scattered shards of ice to obscure their vision, then swiftly withdrew from the area.
Only after my form vanished did Maligore Desbon and the Five Forerunners finally cease their pursuit.

* * *
There were those who watched my departure in stunned silence.
Dalpred Bigsland and Gerard McLafflin.
‘What… what in the world…?’
The same Ethan Arctos who had dominated the Forerunner of Glaciation and three 9-Circle mages was now fleeing with his tail between his legs.
A sight that defied belief even as the eyes beheld it.
Yet more astonishing still was the group of six that had driven me back.
“Master, what exactly is happening?”
“Don’t ask. I’m beginning to suspect I’m seeing illusions myself.”
Among those who had repelled me were faces I recognized.
“Isn’t that Rita the Wind God, who attacked the Royal Palace alongside Esca? Why is she here?”
“Beats me.”
“Why did she help us?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea.”
“And the armored figure—isn’t that Maligore Desbon, the Dark Lord, one of the Five Lords? Why is he here as well?”
“I said I don’t know, didn’t I?”
Even Dalpred Bigsland found the situation utterly bewildering.
Nothing made sense.
Lilith Lin, observing from the window, shared the same sentiment.
‘Those… why would they betray…?’
Setting aside that those I’d thought dead had suddenly appeared, why were they fighting on the side of the McLafflin Family?
What connection could they possibly have with the McLafflin Family?
‘Could it be… a rebellion? Are they fighting among themselves for the Forerunner positions?’
They ranked from sixth to eleventh in the hierarchy—mostly mid to lower tier.
If they had been hiding by feigning death all this time and now united to commit treason, the current situation made sense.
‘Then… the reason they appeared here… is to kill me?’
At the thought that her turn had come, Lillis Lin’s eyes flooded with terror.
But the feared outcome never materialized.
The Forerunners didn’t assault the Magic Carriage—they simply vanished like wind.

* * *
[Tracked Kardeipor and obtained information—Complete!]
[Main Quest cleared!]
[You have acquired a new basic skill as a reward.]
‘Excellent.’
Zeke’s face brightened at the awaited message.
‘So I get rewarded once I obtain the information.’
Though truthfully, I was still gathering information even now.
I’d kept my Mind Reading skill active the entire time.
‘It’s convenient that I can read indefinitely since mental power isn’t the limiting factor.’
From when I demanded Carrocksina’s performance from Carbollearos until now, heading toward the Lich Dragon Council’s meeting place.
I had stayed close beside Carbollearos and Kardeipor, wearing the shadow hood.
I needed to extract information from that Black Lich Dragon.
‘Fortunately, there’s information worth extracting.’
Not just a little—actually quite a substantial amount.
Information about Carrocksina, my former lover; information about the Demon Resurrection Grimoire copies; information about the Lich Dragon Council meeting.
Among these, the content regarding the grimoire was particularly fascinating.
‘Each Lich Dragon received a copy of the Demon Resurrection Grimoire. Apparently, gathering all six copies allows them to summon the Demon King into the Human Realm.’
The Lich Dragons intended to use these copies in the Heavenly Demon War.
If the Demon King descended, victory against the Celestial Realm would be child’s play.
‘They’re carefully preserving the six divided copies and plan to use them as a final trump card when the time comes. But since I have one, summoning him will be impossible.’
Among the Lich Dragons I’d soon meet, some likely possessed copies.
‘I’m already looking forward to how many Lich Dragons I’ll encounter.’
Zeke grinned beneath the hood and checked the Main Quest reward.
[Basic Skill: Growth Accelerant]
-Effect: Every 3 hours, all stats permanently increase by 1.
-Special Property: Activates automatically at all times.
Zeke’s smile deepened.
‘All stats increase? Haha, so that’s 8 stat points per day?’
With stats rising every 3 hours, 8 was correct.
‘Adding the daily stat limit of 10 from mana absorption to this…’
I could raise my stats by 18 per day.
Nearly double the previous pace.
‘Literally a growth accelerant.’
The welcome messages didn’t end there.
[McLafflin Family Escort Complete!]
[Sudden Quest Cleared!]
[Reward: Random Stats increased by 3,000.]
[Reward: 6th Circle Skill Proficiency increased by 15,000.]
[Proficiency Remaining Until 8-Star Achievement: 98,827/100,000]
‘They’ve arrived safely at the Alfonso Family Estate, it seems.’
The completion of the McLafflin Family escort quest confirmed it.
Relief washed over Zeke’s expression.
‘My summons did their job well.’
Ever since I saw the note that summons could be used for quests, I’d been planning to deploy all of mine for this escort mission.
Esca and Carse were protecting the family, but that alone might not be enough if a dangerous situation arose.
‘If even a Forerunner appeared, it would be perilous.’
But if I sent all my summons, there would be nothing to worry about.
One Grand Aura Master with five 9-Circle Forerunners attached?
Even if Baluduk or Stella stepped in personally, they couldn’t stop them, could they?
‘Speaking of which, my Mana Absorption skill will reach 8-Star soon.’
Just as I was thinking it was unfortunate that I was slightly short on mana.
[Patricia’s Circle: 3/9]
A message appeared that Patricia’s Circle had risen to 3-Circle.
[Reward: 6th Circle Skill Proficiency increased by 5,000.]
[Skill ‘Mana Absorption’ has reached 8-Star Achievement.]
[Mana Detection and Absorption Range increased from 45m ▶ 50m.]
[Daily Stat Increase from Mana Absorption upgraded from 7 ▶ 8.]
[Proficiency Remaining Until 9-Star Achievement: 3,827/300,000]
‘Perfect timing.’
While satisfied with the fortuitous timing, I was also amazed.
‘She’s already created three mana circles?’
According to what I read in books, it takes three years to achieve up to 3-Circle.
Of course, that was only for ordinary mages, and depending on talent, it could be shortened to one year or even a few months.
‘Three circles in just a few months? That’s monstrous talent.’
I was glad I’d helped Patricia create her circles.
Though it was more the system’s discernment than my own.
‘But I trusted that discernment, so isn’t this my achievement too?’
Zeke, internally taking credit while claiming his share, soon hardened his expression and gazed forward.
Beyond that lay the border of the Albitz Kingdom.
“Carrocksina. You’ve worked hard. We’re almost at our destination.”
“Almost there?”
“Yes. The Albitz Kingdom is where the meeting will take place.”
Kardeipor’s words prompted Carbollearos to ask for clarification.
“So you’re saying there are Lich Dragons inside that place?”
“That’s right. The Lich Dragons have infiltrated in human form.”
“How many of them?”
Kardeipor paused briefly, counting the numbers in his mind.
“Exactly fifty-three, including myself.”
Half of the estimated hundred Lich Dragons—I would soon encounter them all.

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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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