The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 172

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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 172
Seirei had returned to the Demon Realm in a foul mood.
It was because of Amducias’s attitude, as though everything in the world was beneath his concern.
[A descendant of the divine? Hmm. An intriguing human, certainly, but what does it have to do with me?]
[How does it have nothing to do with you? Aren’t you the guardian of Lilith Lin? The descendant of the divine is holding Lilith Lin captive—that’s as good as a direct challenge to you, Lord Amducias!]
[Is that how it works? Even if it were, I care not what becomes of Lilith.]
With those words, Amducias plucked at his harp.
Diriririing—♬
[I’m in the mood to play now, so off with you, Seirei.]
[….]
My attempt to seek aid from Amducias, Lilith’s guardian, had been utterly futile.
‘That music-obsessed fool. How can he be so indifferent to matters of the outside world?’
Watching the unicorn pluck at his harp with eyes closed, I turned my back and left.
He was my superior by three ranks in the hierarchy, yet he was utterly pathetic.
‘I sought his aid in striking down the descendant of the divine. What am I to do now?’
Shameful as it was, I had reported my defeat to Demon King Beelzebub.
There had been orders to report anything concerning the descendant of the divine.
And I had harbored a secret hope.
The hope that I might receive the Demon King’s support.
But nothing of the sort came to pass.
―I will not involve myself in such trivial matters. Handle it yourself with your own strength.
‘Of course it’s my responsibility to handle it. But isn’t this an enemy I cannot overcome alone?’
As I recalled my conversation with the Demon King, I sank into contemplation.
I had boldly declared that I would bring the entire Demon Legion to exact my revenge, but such a thing was impossible.
Opening a dimensional Gate to the Human Realm required enormous energy and would incur massive losses.
‘I cannot open a dimensional Gate merely for a single human. I must preserve our strength for the Heavenly Demon War.’
Then how was I to execute the descendant of the divine without mobilizing my subordinates?
As my thoughts grew darker.
[What are you doing here, Seirei?]
Decarabia, ranked sixty-ninth among the high-ranking demons, appeared before me.
[Ah, Lord Decarabia. It is nothing of consequence.]
[Nothing, you say? I’ve heard the tale from my Demon King. You were defeated by the descendant of the divine, were you?]
[…It is a matter of shame.]
[Not at all, not at all. If you’re facing one who severs both magical power and demonic energy, such an outcome is understandable.]
Decarabia was an eccentric.
A demon whose true nature was utterly inscrutable.
That was my assessment, and so I harbored no particular expectations of him.
Yet unexpected words emerged from his mouth.
[Shall I exact your revenge for you?]
[Pardon?]
[“Descendants of gods, after all. Aren’t they nothing but a headache? Shall I dispose of them for you?” he said.]
[“If you would do that for me, I would be most grateful!”]
Seire’s face brightened at the welcome words.
At the same time, curiosity stirred within me.
Decarabia, who had no connection to any of this, was offering his help.
[“I am truly grateful for the offer, but I wonder… why would you help me?”]
[“I’m bored, that’s why.”]
[“Pardon?”]
Decarabia added with a smirk.
[“I’ve been wanting to visit the Human Realm again after so long.”]

* * *
The Lich Dragon Conference Hall was ablaze with heated debate.
“What about sniping him from a distance?”
“That won’t work. Seire and I prepared sniper positions from over a kilometer away, but he detected it beforehand and came straight for us.”
“He detected it from that distance?”
“Is the range of mana detection techniques really that vast?”
“Then sniping would be pointless.”
“How are we supposed to capture someone who absorbs all mana and magical energy?”
“Let us think more carefully. The Descendant of God must surely have a weakness.”
Today’s agenda was how to capture the Descendant of God.
The assessment was that failure to capture him could jeopardize the preparations for the Heavenly Demon War.
Regardless, Zeke McLafflin, the person in question, was lost in thought while cloaked in invisibility.
‘The Third-Ranked Forerunner, Clifford Stewart. The Forerunner known as Iron Man, master of telekinetic magic.’
He was called Iron Man for a different reason entirely.
His expressionless face, devoid of any emotion, resembled a machine rather than a human being.
But what was more shocking than that information…
‘…was the fact that he wasn’t human at all. He was a Lich Dragon.’
I had believed all the Forerunners were composed of humans, so this was a fresh shock.
Of course, not as much as when I met that woman.
‘The other Forerunners don’t know. They don’t know Clifford is a Lich Dragon.’
Clifford had thoroughly concealed his true identity.
A Lich Dragon masquerading as human, mingling among the Forerunners?
I was curious about his reasons, but I could soon discern them by reading his thoughts.
‘The Lich Dragons planted Clifford among the Forerunners to monitor them.’
The Demon Faction realized they needed subordinates in the Human Realm to prepare for the Heavenly Demon War.
So they created the Lich Dragons.
They promised eternal life to dragons facing death, resurrecting them as Liches.
‘But the Lich Dragons never truly assimilated into human culture. They failed to understand human sensibilities.’
A being that lived for millennia could never truly mimic humans who lived barely a century.
That was why they had recruited the strongest beings among humans, and those became the 12 Pioneers.
‘But I couldn’t trust the Forerunners completely. Even as subordinates, humans are still humans.’
To monitor such humans, it was necessary to deploy spies, and the dragon selected for this role was none other than Clifford Stewart.
He was the Lich Dragon who understood human culture the best.
‘Clifford Stewart’s true name is Karkleanous. A seven-thousand-year-old Silver Dragon serving as a spy to monitor the Forerunners. He’s familiar with human culture from frequently indulging in human pleasures in the past. This much information should be sufficient, shouldn’t it?’
The deeper I delved into his true thoughts, the more new information I could extract.
Information about the empire where he had lived as well.
‘Three thousand years ago, he served as a guardian knight of the Akidelphia Empire. So that’s why he was so skilled with a sword?’
I’d heard there was a Demon Swordmaster among the Forerunners, and it seemed this was the one they meant.
‘But if it’s the Akidelphia Empire… isn’t that the empire Carbollearos founded?’
My eyes widened.
Could there be a connection to Carbollearos?
With that thought, I tried to read deeper into his true feelings, but there was no more valuable information to extract.
I couldn’t read thoughts from beyond the unconscious mind.
Meanwhile, a method to capture the Descendant of God was gradually taking shape.
“What about overwhelming them with numbers?”
“Right. No matter how much a Descendant of God they are, they can’t face all of us.”
“The ability to block mana must have some kind of personnel limitation, mustn’t it?”
“That makes sense. Such a dangerous ability would surely have its limits.”
“Then it’s decided. We’ll all attack the Descendant of God together and eliminate them.”
“But do we really need all of us to attack?”
“Right. We’re already busy gathering human slaves anyway.”
At these complaints, Carvilrud, the moderator, shook his head.
“That won’t do. As the saying goes, even a tiger gives its all when catching a rabbit. It’s better to be certain, so we can’t afford to leave anyone out.”
“Hmm, it stings our pride, but there’s no helping it.”
Thus, the Lich Dragons decided to gang up on the Descendant of God.
“Then let us move on to the next agenda. Does everyone have their copy of the Grimoire of Demon Resurrection?”
“Of course.”
“I have mine.”
“For confirmation purposes, those who have it, please raise your hands.”
The Lich Dragons raised their hands one by one.
Only five hands went up.
One was missing.
“There should be six copies, shouldn’t there?”
“Who didn’t raise their hand?”
The attention of the Lich Dragons looking around focused on one person.
“Carrocksina. You had the copy, didn’t you?”
“Ah… y-yes, I do.”
Carbollearos hastily raised his hand, concealing his confusion.
The moderator nodded at last.
“All six have been confirmed. Please keep them safe. If the Heavenly Demon War begins before we’re fully prepared, we’ll need to summon Beelzebub using the Demon Revival Grimoire. Though I imagine he’ll find it tiresome.”
“Tiresome or not, losing the Heavenly Demon War would be far worse, so he’ll answer the summons.”
“Still, we cannot afford to displease him, so we must reserve that as a last resort.”
“A wise decision.”
As the dragons murmured among themselves, Carvilrud surveyed those holding copies of the grimoire and posed a question.
“Are you maintaining the magical energy in the revival grimoires regularly?”
“Of course. We replenish the magical energy by using humans as sacrifices.”
“Even you, Carrocksina?”
Carbollearos, who had been named, widened his eyes in surprise before responding tactfully.
“Naturally.”
“Is it difficult to procure humans?”
“Humans are everywhere around us. What’s the problem?”
“Excellent. I hope all of you will continue offering humans as sacrifices to the revival grimoires as you have been. We must maintain the magical energy in the grimoires regularly so they’re ready when needed.”
“Understood.”
“We shall do so.”
The Lich Dragons answered with smiles, but Zeke could not join in their laughter.
They spoke so casually about sacrificing humans.
‘Damn lizard bastards—they’re feeding human souls to copies of the Demon Revival Grimoire to replenish magical energy?’
Fury burned within him, but not so intensely that it clouded his judgment.
His Equanimity skill, which maintained emotional stability, made that possible.
‘How much longer do I have to just watch? I want to flip this whole table right now, but the Quest remains silent. Does it want more information?’
He thought he’d gathered considerable intelligence, but apparently it wasn’t enough.
Zeke remained still, observing the situation carefully.
“Karkleanous. Or should I call you Clifford?”
“Call me whatever you find comfortable, Carvilrud.”
“Very well, Clifford. How is the work of monitoring the Forerunners progressing?”
“There are no difficulties.”
“Good. What is the current status of the Forerunners? Are they preparing for the Heavenly Demon War as planned?”
“Yes. However, progress continues to fall behind. Their plans keep getting disrupted.”
“Tell me the details.”
Clifford reported to the Lich Dragons on everything that had transpired over the past year.
The failure to plunder Decan’s Treasure Vault.
The halt in hallucinogen distribution due to Azrahil’s death.
The resulting delay in recruiting new followers for the Mados Religion.
The failure to secure Arcnium from Hamilton Mine.
The inability to locate Elsorium or breach the Spirit Realm.
Esca’s betrayal, he who had been creating the gravity field to threaten the angels.
The loss of the gravity field itself.
The failed assassination of Archbishop Raber.
The resulting collapse of the operation to incite conflict between the Elos Church and the Mados Religion.
The 12 Pioneers had dwindled to merely four, and the list of their failures went on and on.
As I enumerated the Forerunners’ successive blunders, the expressions of the Lich Dragons grew increasingly grim.
“Humans truly cannot manage a single thing properly.”
“They are beneath even ants.”
“They are inferior even to the slave dragons I command.”
“I went to the trouble of backing them up and creating the 12 Pioneers, yet they bungle their tasks so miserably?”
“It was a mistake to entrust them with any responsibility at all.”
Though the Forerunners were being reviled, Clifford Stewart’s expression remained unmoved.
Strictly speaking, he stood with the Lich Dragons, not with humanity.
What became of the Forerunners was no concern of his.
It was then that Carvilrud spoke.
“This will not do. We must take decisive action.”

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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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