The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 174

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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 174
【Main Quest: Slayer to Some, Savior to Others】
└The Lich Dragons are coercing the enslaved dragons.
└Eliminate all Lich Dragons and liberate the enslaved dragons.
【Conditions】
└Lich Dragons Defeated 0/53
└Enslaved Dragons Liberated 0/20
【Rewards】
└Stat ‘Draconic Power’ Acquired
└?? ‘??? ??’ Acquired
The Main Quest had appeared mere seconds ago.
Which meant I hadn’t wasted any time accepting it and moving into action.
There was no reason not to accept it, after all.
‘Finally, a quest telling me to raise hell.’
A quest had appeared demanding I kill every last one of them without mercy.
Simultaneously, I was to rescue the enslaved dragons as well.
It was the quest I’d been hoping for, but something in the reward text caught my eye.
‘The reward is Draconic Power?’
A reward whose exact nature remained unclear.
But what was even more peculiar was the question mark below it.
‘They’ve hidden the reward behind a question mark? Why?’
This was a first for me, so I felt a moment of hesitation.
Though it took only seconds before I accepted anyway.
‘Regardless, there’s no reason not to do it. I’ve been sick of watching that spectacle anyway.’
No matter that their true forms were dragons—watching them beat enslaved beings wearing human shapes was unbearable.
That was why I revealed myself boldly before them.
When a human suddenly materialized in the empty air, they were thoroughly startled.
“What!?”
“What, what is this? A human?”
“Where did he come from?”
“No, more importantly, why is there a human here…!”
The eyes of the Lich Dragons that had been fixed on Carbollearos now turned toward me.
All of them widening their eyes as if on cue.
But the most shocked among them was none other than Kardeipor.
“You, you are…!”
The nightmare from that day came flooding back.
“Do you know this human, Kardeipor?”
“Who is he that you’re so startled?”
Kardeipor’s breathing grew ragged as he spoke in a trembling voice.
“That one. That one is… a descendant of the divine.”
“A descendant of the divine?”
“That human?”
The Lich Dragons’ eyes widened in shock before breaking into derisive snickers.
“We were looking for him anyway, and he just walks right into our hands.”
“The fool marched straight into the Dragon Lair of his own accord.”
“Khehehe, indeed.”
“However he got here, it’s convenient. We can simply kill him where he stands.”
While the dragons exuded confidence, Kardeipor’s expression remained uneasy.
‘Why… why did he reveal himself? If he’d stayed invisible, we never would have noticed him.’
Something felt wrong.
The timing of his appearance, right when the slaves were being beaten.
And that demon’s confident smile.
‘Could it be… that he’s confident he can face all of us?’
There was no other reason for him to reveal himself so brazenly.
He had confidence.
Confidence to face every Lich Dragon in this chamber.
‘No, no—this isn’t the time to be complacent. Before he seals off our magic, I need to strike first…!’
Kardeipor, who had experienced the divine descendant’s cruelty firsthand, felt the weight of danger.
But he alone sensed it; the other dragons remained at ease.
At least until Zeke began absorbing their mana and magical essence.
“Huh…?”
Carvilrud, the moderator, was the first to notice something amiss.
“This is strange. He really can seal off magical essence.”
“What? Seal it?”
“Wait, is he serious? I can’t gather any magical essence.”
“Mana too. It’s being pulled away somewhere.”
Chaos erupted throughout the arena.
One by one, the dragons’ faces twisted in alarm.
This was their first time experiencing the severance of mana and magical essence.
But there was another dragon who was shocked for different reasons.
Carbollearos was that dragon.
“Z-Zeke.”
He called out the name in a low voice, his eyes conveying a question.
A look asking if it was really okay to reveal himself so openly.
Of course it was.
He’d received a Quest to slaughter them all.
But since Zeke couldn’t say that outright, I offered another reason instead.
“I couldn’t just stand by and watch your kin suffer like that.”
“Z-Zeke…”
“Don’t worry, Carbollearos. I’ve gathered the information I needed. So you don’t have to pretend to be Carrocksina anymore.”
“What?”
The shock erupted from beside me.
Kardeipor’s eyes widened as he stared at Carbollearos.
“What did you just say? Pretending to be Carrocksina? What in the world does that even mean….”
“Sigh… You really went all out, Zeke.”
“What kind of conversation are you having with a descendant of the gods….”
“Shut your mouth. You’re as repulsive as a Lich Dragon.”
At Carbollearos’s icy tone, Kardeipor’s face showed considerable shock.
“Damn it. Do you know how hard it was pretending to be your lover? Sigh.”
“That, what do you mean….”
“You’re hopeless. Still haven’t grasped the situation?”
It was inevitable.
If your lover suddenly acted like a different person, you’d think they’d lost their mind—not that another soul had taken over their body.
Zeke pulled Carbollearos back, worried the prey might slip away.
“Carbollearos. I know you’re angry, but stay put. I’m just as furious as you are.”
With that, I naturally cast the Protection of the Earth skill.
Seeing the barrier envelop my own body, Carbollearos’s eyes grew slightly moved.
“Zeke. I never knew you cared so much about us dragons….”
“Save the sentimental remarks for after this is over.”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
I drew the Feather Blade from the subspace.
A weapon was necessary for the soul-severing effect.
I hadn’t bothered creating an Aura Blade since it wasted too much aura.
‘Those who can’t use mana and magic are now nothing but ordinary humans. Simply wrapping a light aura around the Feather Blade is more than enough.’
As I wrapped the aura around the blade, the cutting power became sharp enough to slice through dragon scales effortlessly.
Though there was no need to cut scales since they were all polymorphed into human form.
‘Well then, shall we begin?’
Zeke approached the nearest dragon, sword in hand.
The Lich Dragon’s gaze met mine, and instead of fear, it let out a scoff.
“A pathetic human wretch lower than vermin, not knowing your place. You think you can face all of us with just one peculiar ability? Ha! It’s so absurd I can only laugh! How could you possibly…with your meager blade against our immortal bodies….”
“Your tongue is too long. Is that a lizard thing?”
“What?”
Zeke swung the sword, cutting off the words.
Blood sprayed as the dragon’s throat split open.
There was no time to respond, but no need to either.
A mere blade held no terror for an immortal being like the Lich Dragon.
As proof, the Lich Dragon with the split throat still wore a sneer.
Eyes that mocked me to kill it if I could.
But that confidence was short-lived.
As the severed neck refused to reattach, panic flickered across its face.
Blood seeped from beneath his neck in thick, pulsing gushes.
Thud.
The Lich Dragon crumpled lifelessly, and with that, it perished.
Zeke McLafflin’s lips curled into a smile.
The slaughter had begun.

* * *
Lich Dragons are immortal beings who know not death.
Having undergone undeath themselves, they maintain their forms through demonic essence—mana corruption.
Even with a blade piercing the chest, skin charred by flame, eyes gouged out, limbs severed.
They can restore themselves at any moment through the power of demonic essence.
Such was the nature of their existence.
Such was what it meant to be a Lich.
Yet an unbelievable sight unfolded before Carvilrud’s eyes.
‘Am I dreaming…?’
When both mana and demonic essence had been severed, I’d rationalized it somehow.
I was already well-versed in information about the Descendants of Gods.
‘But I never heard they could kill Liches…?’
Death.
It was an unfamiliar word to the Lich Dragons.
Having sold their souls and borrowed demonic power to survive for millennia, they could not comprehend it otherwise.
Carvilrud was no exception.
Which was precisely why the situation before me seemed impossible to believe.
That Dragon with its severed neck was undoubtedly dead.
‘Not a trace of demonic essence, not even a whisper of life force—it’s certainly dead.’
Normally, the soul infested with demonic corruption would automatically restore the body, yet there was no response whatsoever.
If that wasn’t death, then what was it?
The other Dragons, sharing Carvilrud’s thoughts, stood frozen, staring blankly at the corpse.
The death of one’s own kind was that shocking.
“Since this is only the beginning, don’t stand there gawking.”
Zeke McLafflin wore a sinister smile as he swung his arm toward the next target.
Slash.
“Gack!”
Another Lich Dragon’s neck was severed, and it crashed face-first to the ground.
Trembling as it created a pool of blood, it soon became a rigid corpse.
That was the beginning.
Slash! Slash!
“Ahhh!”
“Screeeee!”
The slaughter accelerated.
Strictly speaking, they weren’t human—they were dragons. Yet their outward appearance differed little from the humans they so despised.
Their terror-stricken flight was equally indistinguishable.
“R-run!”
“S-save me… Gack!”
“Damn… Cough!”
Within seconds, ten corpses lay scattered across the ground.
Zeke McLafflin slaughtered the dragons like a deranged butcher.
Squelch!
“Gahhhhh!”
As the Lich Dragon’s chest was pierced through, it collapsed with a strangled gasp.
The enslaved dragon pinned beside it stared at Zeke McLafflin with eyes drowning in terror.
But.
Zeke McLafflin turned away without sparing the enslaved dragon a glance, fixing his gaze on another.
His blade was aimed solely at the Lich Dragons.
‘This… this is not the time for this.’
Carvilrud, who had been watching the massacre in a daze, turned to flee like the others.
Under normal circumstances, he would have teleported away, but with his mana sealed, he had no choice but to run on foot like a common beast.
Yet his face bore an expression of helplessness.
The dragons had crowded so densely that the cavern’s only exit was blocked by the throng.
“Move! Get out of the way!”
“Stop pushing, damn it!”
“Everyone out, you bastards!”
The dignified speech of the Lich Dragons had vanished without a trace.
Before the terror of death they’d never experienced, propriety meant nothing.
Only the primal instinct to survive dominated their minds.
But Zeke McLafflin had no intention of letting them escape.
Boom!
“Wh-what?”
“The entrance… is blocked?”
A translucent barrier barred the end of the Corridor.
Zeke McLafflin had anticipated this, sealing the escape route with magic beforehand.
“There’s nowhere to run anyway. So die quietly.”
After pronouncing the death sentence, Zeke McLafflin’s blade moved once more.
The slaughter continued, and corpses accumulated.
Simultaneously, messages flashed rapidly across Zeke McLafflin’s vision.
[Lich Dragon Eliminated 23/53]
[Lich Dragon Eliminated 24/53]
[Lich Dragon Eliminated 25/53]
…
…
[Enslaved Dragon Liberation 10/20]
[Enslaved Dragon Liberation 11/20]
[Enslaved Dragon Liberation 12/20]
Each time I killed the master Lich Dragon, the number of liberated enslaved dragons increased.
‘That’s not all. My draconic power is rising too.’
[Draconic Power +1]
[Draconic Power +1]
[Draconic Power +1]
…
…
…
It seemed that liberating dragons increased my draconic power stat.
‘Ah… So that’s why I first received the draconic power stat when I saved Carse?’
The first enslaved dragon Zeke McLafflin had ever saved was Carseapinus.
Though she had now become his slave through the Ancient Contract, he had gained the draconic power stat after rescuing her.
‘Could it be that my draconic power stat increases whenever I liberate dragons?’
If the hypothesis was correct, then for Zeke McLafflin, saving not just the enslaved dragons here but other dragons as well would be beneficial.
That is, if I wanted to continue raising my draconic power stat going forward.
‘The problem is, I don’t know exactly what this effect does.’
Was there any need to raise a stat whose effect remained unknown?
It was while I was entertaining such thoughts that I liberated the nineteenth enslaved dragon.
[Your Draconic Power stat has reached 20.]
[The new skill ‘Draconic Utterance’ has been unlocked.]

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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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