The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 179

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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 179
In the Underground Passage leading to the Prison.
Thud, thud—
Multiple footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Gerard McLafflin, Dalpred Bigsland, Jose, Zeke McLafflin, and Degreid Alfonso himself.
All of them had come to interrogate the assassins.
“Are these the ones?”
“Yes, sir.”
The Prison Warden pointed toward a massive iron cage.
Six assassins were confined within, each wearing restraint cuffs on their wrists.
Clang, clang!
Degreid Alfonso suddenly struck the iron bars with rough, aggressive force.
“You damned bastards! How dare you attack our family!”
He shouted with uncharacteristic excitement, but it was nothing more than an act.
“I understand your anger, Duke Alfonso, but please restrain yourself. Let us interrogate them methodically.”
“Cursed wretches!”
At Gerard McLafflin’s restraint, Degreid Alfonso turned away, suppressing his fury.
It was all theater.
Zeke McLafflin could only watch the display with bewilderment.
‘Duke Alfonso. I will expose your true face to the world.’
Zeke had no intention of letting this pass.
He would reveal his naked truth before everyone.
That was precisely why I had come here.
‘The others may not know, but Biaco, their leader, certainly does. That Degreid Alfonso is their employer.’
Having met the employer directly, they both knew each other’s identities.
This was why Degreid Alfonso was inwardly anxious.
-Biaco must not be allowed to speak. Never…!
His inner thoughts were fraught with tension, but outwardly he behaved differently.
“We should interrogate these wretches at once!”
“I concur. We have our own questions as well. However, before we proceed, I have something to ask. Prison Warden.”
At Gerard McLafflin’s call, the Prison Warden approached.
“Yes, sir.”
“I heard you lost a prisoner who was being held here.”
“Ah… you mean that female prisoner, sir?”
“Indeed. She was a prisoner we brought in, and I would like to hear the details of how she escaped.”
“I… I sincerely apologize. During the assassins’ attack, we had to prioritize our own safety…”
“You mean to say there was no one guarding the Prison during the attack?”
“We believed there would be no problem since she was locked away. We never imagined she would escape. I deeply apologize…”
The Prison Warden readily admitted his fault.
Whether the assassination unit had attacked or not, the fact remained that he had neglected his duty to watch the prisoner.
“I’m not here to assign blame. I simply need to understand the situation clearly.”
Gerard said this while gesturing toward the iron bars.
“Open the door.”
The Guard nodded and unlocked the cell door.
Click!
The first interrogation subject was an assassin whose name remained unknown.
“Sit down, you worthless bastard.”
When Gerard pointed to the prepared chair, the assassin smirked and obediently sat.
Gerard fixed the assassin with a menacing stare.
“Whose orders were you following?”
“Whose? Our captain’s orders, obviously.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m asking about your employer. Who hired you to attack the family?”
“How would I know? Ha.”
The assassin’s scorn showed no trace of fear.
His confident demeanor suggested he’d answer anything thrown at him.
But Gerard wasn’t the type to be easily manipulated either.
Thunk!
He drove a prepared dagger through the assassin’s hand.
“Ugh!”
“Talk. Otherwise, I’ll inflict far worse pain.”
“I-I already told you, you madman.”
“Why did you attack the family?”
“Why? We were paid, and we acted accordingly. That’s all.”
“Who was your target?”
“Everyone in the Alfonso Family. Ugh…”
Though the assassin answered readily enough, every response contained nothing of substance.
Realizing this approach wouldn’t work, Gerard shifted his line of questioning.
“Who among you met with the employer? Your leader?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Did your captain participate in the attack?”
“No. He wasn’t important enough for this job.”
‘That’s a lie.’
Zeke clicked his tongue.
The man was locked in the same cell yet pretended ignorance.
He was protecting his leader.
Zeke knew the truth through his mind-reading skill, but Gerard remained unaware.
“What about Lillis Lin? Where did you take her?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“The female prisoner who was held here. Wasn’t she the purpose of your attack?”
“I know nothing about that.”
“Stop playing dumb!”
“This man is completely insane.”
He even chuckled mockingly.
The assassin remained perfectly composed despite the blade embedded in his hand.
That composure earned him Gerard’s wrath.
Crack!
“Aaahhh!”
As I twisted the blade, the sound of bones dislocating echoed through the chamber.
“Speak! Or I’ll sever your hand!”
“Hehehehe, go ahead and cut it off. I’d be grateful—it’d free me from these restraints. Hehe.”
“….”
He was laughing despite the excruciating pain.
A madman, truly.
No wonder he’d made a profession of killing people.
Realizing this truth too late, Gerard abandoned the interrogation.
Even he could see there was no point in continuing.
“Tch, he has no intention of talking. What do we do now?”
“Father. Let me try.”
Zeke stepped forward, unable to watch any longer.
Gerard nodded, then turned to look at Degreid Alfonso.
Degreid was displeased, but he couldn’t refuse.
“Young Prince Zeke, give it a try.”
“Yes. Thank you for the opportunity.”
“We’re in a position where we need to borrow even a child’s hands.”
The Duke’s backhanded insult rolled off me easily.
I already knew who would be exposed soon enough.
As I stepped forward, the assassin with bloodied hands let out a contemptuous sneer.
“Hmph, you think a brat like you can make me talk… Gack!”
I thrust my blade into the assassin’s chest without a word.
As I withdrew the feather sword that had been lodged there, the assassin slumped from his chair.
The eyes of those watching widened in shock.
“W-what are you doing?! Killing the assassin when we needed information from him!!!”
Degreid cried out in alarm, but Gerard stepped in.
“Let’s trust him and see. He clearly has a plan.”
“….”
Degreid remained silent with a displeased expression, though inwardly he was pleased.
After all, he would benefit most from the assassin’s death.
“You. Come here.”
I had another assassin sit in the chair.
An ordinary assassin—not Biaco.
“Tell me. Who ordered this?”
“I, I don’t… cough!”
The feather blade pierced the assassin’s chest once more.
There was no mercy.
“Next. You, come here.”
At Zeke’s call, another assassin was dragged forward by the Prison Warden.
His eyes were now filled with a fear that hadn’t been there before.
“You saw what just happened, didn’t you? If you can’t give me the answer I want, you die. Tell me everything you know.”
“I, I don’t, don’t know… gack!”
That made three assassins dead.
Everyone watching was shocked by the merciless killing.
But they knew that unless he was this extreme, they wouldn’t open their mouths, so they could only watch Zeke’s actions in silence.
Zeke continued to call out the next assassin and extract information.
He asked only a single question each time.
“Who is your leader?”
“….”
Thud!
If they hesitated even slightly or tried to evade the question, he immediately pierced their heart and killed them.
When four comrades had died this way, the fifth assassin felt extreme terror and screamed before even sitting down in the chair.
“That, that person is the commander! The leader of the Blood Raven Assassination Unit, Biaco!”
“Do you want to die, Raki! Shut that mouth of yours!”
The two remaining assassins shouted at each other.
Regardless, Zeke had no intention of letting anyone live.
“Thanks for the information, Raki.”
“Thank you, cough!”
When Zeke stabbed his chest—the one he thought would be spared—Raki collapsed to the floor with an expression of disbelief.
Now only the leader, Biaco, remained.
“Biaco, was it? Sit over here?”
Zeke pointed at the blood-soaked chair with his feather blade.
Biaco swallowed hard and sat down in the chair.
If he didn’t sit, it seemed like he’d be killed regardless of any information.
“Tell me. Who hired you to attack the Duke’s Mansion?”
Biaco hesitated for a moment, then his gaze shifted.
“Over there.”
His gaze pointed to none other than Degreid Alfonso.
“That man is the employer who ordered the attack on the Duke’s Mansion.”
“…!!!”
“What?”
Gerard, Dalpred, Jose, and everyone else in the room were shocked.
But the most shocked was Degreid himself, the one being accused.
“That’s, that’s absolute nonsense!”
“It’s not, Duke Alfonso. Didn’t you hire us to slaughter every member of your family? Oh, and you specifically gave us a list with Gerard McLafflin’s name at the top—orders to kill him without fail.”
“A false accusation! What madman orders the destruction of his own house? This is slander!”
“Drop the pathetic theatrics. You’re making me sick.”
Biaco spoke those words with a look of resignation etched across his face.
Once you’ve exposed your employer to an assassination unit, there is no future for you.
With all the unit members already dead in this place, there was no way out.
“I’ve said all there is to say. Now kill me.”
“Why not tell us more? Were there any other demands from Duke Alfonso?”
“Ah, now that you mention it—he ordered us not to touch the prisoner locked in the Underground Dungeon.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s everything. For the details, you’ll have to ask the man himself.”
Biaco spoke those final words and waited for death.
“Thank you. I’ll make sure you die without suffering.”
Zeke McLafflin severed Biaco’s neck without hesitation.
Thud.
All the informants were dead, but one person remained.
“Duke Alfonso? Perhaps you could explain what’s happening here?”
A sinister smile played across Zeke McLafflin’s lips.

* * *
Degreid Alfonso found himself utterly bewildered by the situation.
‘That damned assassin bastard just revealed the employer’s name?’
Before dying, Biaco had muddied the waters and left him to face the consequences.
Now I had no idea what to do.
‘No, I can’t show panic. If I do, I’ll be suspected.’
There was still a chance.
There was no evidence anywhere.
If I brazened it out with absolute denial, this crisis would pass without a trace.
With that conviction, Degreid put on his usual poker face.
“Ridiculous! You’re saying I ordered the destruction of my own family? What kind of insane employer would do such a thing?”
“Then why did the assassination unit’s leader name you specifically?”
“How should I know? Perhaps he wanted to sow confusion in the information before he died!”
Was his obvious panic what made them suspicious?
Gerard McLafflin, who had been silent until now, spoke with guarded eyes.
“Duke Alfonso. Men speak the truth before death. There’s no reason to lie when you’re about to depart this world.”
“You don’t believe my words?”
“Duke, stop this. Tell us the truth. Did you really hire the assassination unit?”
“You’ve lost your mind, Gerard! Taking the word of some petty assassin and suspecting me of being the culprit!”
Degreid’s furious display looked like the absolute truth to anyone watching.
The rebuttal of the misunderstood man also seemed justified.
Thus, Gerard could no longer pressure him or back him into a corner.
The evidence was nothing but circumstantial, and he knew all too well that if he continued playing dumb like this, he would be the one at a disadvantage.
‘Hmm. Have I misjudged this man?’
It made no sense from a rational standpoint that someone would strike at his own family, so Gerard was forced to extinguish the seeds of suspicion.
But Zeke, knowing full well it was an act, had no intention of letting this slide.
“Degreid Alfonso.”
As Zeke stepped forward, Degreid Alfonso flinched in alarm.
Just moments ago, he had coldly slaughtered the assassins.
There was no choice but to be startled and afraid.
Yet Degreid Alfonso did not know.
What true terror truly was.
“Dragon Fear.”
The incantation Zeke muttered under his breath was directed unmistakably at Degreid Alfonso.
He had narrowed the scope of the fear before invoking it.
Because of this, no one noticed that a dragon tongue had been activated.
“Ah… ah….”
The Degreid Alfonso trembled in terror, but those watching merely thought he feared Zeke’s violence.
They had no idea that Dragon Fear was in effect.
“Tell me the truth, won’t you? You saw what happened to those assassins just now, didn’t you?”
“Zeke, that’s coercion——.”
It was just as Gerard tried to stop him.
“Ah, yes! I’ll tell you the truth! It was me! I, I hired those assassins!”
The effect of Dragon Fear was undeniable.
Degreid Alfonso, drenched in terror, began spilling his secrets without resistance.

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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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