The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 206

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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 206
【Main Quest: Kill Baluduk Rahbez!】
└You have obtained information that Baluduk Rahbez, a Forerunner of Darkness, is located in the Hamilton Mine.
└Proceed to the mine, eliminate Baluduk Rahbez, and put an end to this long and bitter enmity.
【Conditions】
└Eliminate Baluduk Rahbez
【Rewards】
└Acquire Skill ‘Sorcery Research’
└Acquire Item ‘Hood of Darkness’
Another quest to eliminate a Forerunner had surfaced.
‘Is the Heavenly Demon War drawing near? Why am I getting another merciless kill quest?’
Until now, whenever I encountered a Forerunner, no immediate kill quest would appear, so I had let several of them slip away.
But now, as if those times never existed, a straightforward kill quest had materialized, leaving me somewhat bewildered.
‘Well, he was someone I needed to kill anyway. This works out.’
I had been planning to head to the Hamilton Mine regardless.
“Then I’ll be going.”
After bidding farewell once more to my enslaved dragons, I cast a spell.
“Teleport.”
My form vanished in a flash of light.

* * *
The Hamilton Mine had long been a target the Forerunners kept their eyes on.
Within it lay vast quantities of Arcnium, a special mineral that absorbed magical power.
‘The information is certain. It came from none other than Lord Seire himself.’
His words carried no doubt, given his expertise in locating minerals.
However, I had not personally verified it.
The subordinate I had ordered to confirm returned as a corpse.
‘If only Azrahil had done his job properly, I wouldn’t be suffering like this….’
Of course, he must have encountered the Successor of God during the mission and failed, but regardless, wasn’t confirming the mineral’s presence Azrahil’s responsibility?
It was never meant to be a task for someone of my rank, second only to the highest.
‘And I couldn’t even secure the mine. Tsk.’
The original plan was for the Agos Territory to defeat the Hamilton Territory in territorial warfare and seize ownership of the mine.
Then leisurely extract Arcnium from it—but that operation had failed long ago due to Zeke McLafflin’s interference.
As a secondary plan, I had attempted to target House Deporte, which protected the Lord of Hamilton, but that too had been ruined by Zeke McLafflin’s involvement.
‘Azrahil’s death probably occurred then. The Azrahil who appeared afterward must have been the Successor of God in disguise.’
When I heard that Azrahil had betrayed us, I felt somewhat puzzled, but now the mystery was solved.
‘To freely transform one’s appearance and move about…. I’ve been completely played by the Successor of God from the start.’
But regret was useless now—the milk was already spilled.
To salvage anything at all, I had no choice but to act personally.
After all, only three Forerunners remained, didn’t they?
“By the way, where is Arcnium?”
I had timed my arrival at the Mine to coincide with when the workers finished their shift, yet despite searching with eyes wide open, I couldn’t spot a single ore resembling Arcnium.
“Why can’t I find it anywhere?”
“Because I took it.”
At the voice echoing from the darkness, Baluduk was startled out of his wits.
My heart nearly leaped from my chest.
The fact that I hadn’t sensed any presence at all made it all the worse.
“W-who are you?”
I shouted toward the source of the voice, and a shadow materialized before me.
The shadow’s owner was none other than Zeke McLafflin.
“Fancy meeting you again? Good to see you.”
“Y-you’re the Successor of God….”
“That look in your eyes—as if asking how I knew to come here?”
Zeke smiled and added a touch of deception to his words.
“Clifford spilled everything.”
“What?”
“While begging for his life, crawling and pleading desperately, he revealed that you were here.”
Baluduk’s eyes betrayed disbelief.
Clifford—that epitome of indifference—had crawled and begged?
That man, called the Iron Man for his utter lack of emotion?
Though some exaggeration had been added, the fact that he had pleaded for his life was not far from the truth.
“W-what became of Clifford?”
“What became of him? He went to meet the other Forerunners.”
That was a euphemism for death.
“And now you should go meet them too?”
It meant my turn was coming soon.
‘S-so this is the end….’
I had always known such a day would come, yet I never imagined I would meet my end in a place like this.
‘If only I had accepted the Magi and pursued my magical research freely….’
The reason I had been trying to use magic without cost all this time was not something else.
It was to continue my beloved magical research for as long as possible.
But that too ends today.
‘What meaning does magical research hold when life itself is ending….’
Awakening to the futility of existence, I closed my eyes and waited for death.
‘….’
Yet my opponent made no move.
Slitting my eyes open slightly, I saw Zeke stroking his chin in contemplation.
“Hmm, it seems wasteful to kill you like this. After all, even enmity is a form of connection.”
After much deliberation, Zeke made a proposal.
“Fine. I’m feeling generous. I’ll let you live.”
“Is that… really true?”
“In exchange, tell me where you’ve hidden the gravity field. Then I’ll let you live.”
Baluduk possessed a gravity field that Decarabia had created for him.
Only he knew its location.
“W-what do you need the gravity field for…?”
“You won’t tell me? Then you’ll have to die.”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”
Realizing he had no choice in the matter, Baluduk decided not to question his reasons further.
Instead, he explained a different problem.
“The gravity field is hidden in a location that can’t be described in words. There’s no way I can tell you.”
“Then teleport there. I’ll follow you.”
‘Follow me? Can he read the traces of teleportation?’
It didn’t seem possible, but strangely, this was better.
He was being given the chance to use teleportation.
‘If he can’t follow me, couldn’t I escape?’
Perhaps I might survive after all.
Such hope ignited a flame in Baluduk’s chest.
“Understood. I’ll move first.”
Baluduk quickly set the coordinates and cast the spell, afraid Zeke McLafflin might change his mind.
At that moment.
“If you teleport to the wrong place, you die.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Zeke McLafflin’s warning reached him, and soon Baluduk’s body vanished.
Along with a brilliant flash of light.

* * *
The environment had transformed.
From the suffocating darkness of the cavern to the desolate expanse of the Desolate Wasteland.
Here, where nothing obscured the horizon, the moon and stars shone with unusual brilliance.
It would unfold here.
The Heavenly Demon War.
Having successfully completed the teleportation, Baluduk first surveyed his surroundings.
Zeke McLafflin was nowhere to be seen.
‘As expected, he couldn’t follow me. Heh.’
A brief twitch played at the corner of my lips.
“Man, this backdrop is killer.”
A voice that made Baluduk’s expression turn serious cut through the air.
It was Zeke McLafflin.
Baluduk’s face fell instantly.
“Oh, you made it….”
“What, you thought I couldn’t follow? Or were you hoping I wouldn’t?”
“….”
I was startled that he could see right through my intentions, but an even more shocking statement pierced my ears.
“So we’re holding the Heavenly Demon War in a place like this? At least we’re fighting in a wide-open area—at least we won’t damage any settlements.”
“Ah, you knew about this place?”
“Well, yeah. So where is it? The gravity field?”
At those words, Baluduk’s gaze shifted to one side.
Following his line of sight, a massive ring-shaped device came into view.
It resembled the device Esca had shown me before.
“There it is.”
Zeke McLafflin approached the device with evident interest.
He turned away as if I didn’t even warrant his attention.
Watching him, a single thought crystallized in Baluduk’s mind.
‘Now. This is my chance to escape while he’s distracted!’
Believing this was the optimal moment, I attempted to cast teleportation.
But Zeke McLafflin was not distracted at all.
‘He’s… blocked my mana?’
Unlike when I had cast teleportation moments ago, my mana was now sealed.
His intention to prevent my escape was painfully obvious.
In that instant, a desperate thought seized Baluduk.
‘Perhaps this place will become my grave….’
Regardless, Zeke McLafflin continued examining the gravity field, assessing its condition.
“Hmm, it’s in good shape. No broken parts anywhere. Decarabia built this really well.”
While the details differed, the fundamental structure and mechanism were identical.
This much I could discern because of the [Artisan’s Dexterity] skill that allowed me to craft and repair any object.
Just by touching it casually, I could grasp its principles.
“So this is where the Arcnium goes in. Looks like I’ll need quite a substantial amount, doesn’t it?”
Baluduk approached as if he’d heard Zeke’s murmuring and spoke carefully.
“If you need Arcnium, I’ll bring it. I can head to the Hamilton Mine right now if you release the mana barrier….”
“That’s not necessary. Didn’t I tell you at the beginning? I have everything I need.”
Zeke opened a subspace to prove his words.
Within the vast and deep subspace, Arcnium filled every corner.
‘Insane. He can fit all of that? Just how expansive is his subspace?’
The subspace Baluduk could open was barely large enough to hold a single staff.
That’s why he’d planned to transport the Arcnium bit by bit whenever he discovered it, but this was incomparable.
‘And how did he even know this place was where the Heavenly Demon War would be held? I never said a word about it.’
Could Clifford have revealed it?
Baluduk, never imagining that his thoughts were being read, swallowed hard and asked Zeke.
At this point, he had to be direct.
“Is, is it done now? Since I showed you where the gravity field is, you’ll keep your promise and spare me, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll spare you. A promise is a promise, after all.”
At those words, relief bloomed across Baluduk’s face.
But Zeke’s words weren’t finished yet.
“Killing you and then bringing you back still counts as sparing you, doesn’t it?”
“What? Cough—hack!”
A feather sword, produced from nowhere, pierced Baluduk’s heart with perfect precision.
Thud—
His limp body created a pool of blood, but in the next instant—
“Imr Imnaij Diénai Isisir.”
Baluduk gained new life as an undead.
“I greet you, Master.”
“Ah, so you’ve become a sentient undead as well, judging by your speech?”
“Yes, Master. I retain my memories from life. In fact, there’s something I’m curious about.”
The newly resurrected undead Baluduk suddenly posed a question?
Zeke, intrigued, readily granted permission.
“Go ahead. What is it?”
“I’m curious about how to use sorcery without a price.”
“A method?”
“Yes. My memories from life are telling me this was a question I desperately wanted to ask you.”
It seemed that something he’d yearned and wondered about his entire life had left an indelible mark on his memory, even after becoming undead.
Of course, Zeke already knew what to say.
“A method? There’s no such thing. You just do it.”
“Is that so?”
Though the answer was somewhat anticlimactic, the undead Baluduk remained composed.
His expression showed no lingering attachment whatsoever.
“I understand. My curiosity has been satisfied.”
“Ah, is that so?”
A message materialized before Zeke McLafflin’s eyes as he scratched his cheek.
[Baluduk Rahbez Eliminated!]
[Main Quest Cleared!]
[As your first reward, you have acquired a new basic skill.]
[As your second reward, an item has been granted. You can check the item in your subspace inventory.]
Now it was time to confirm the rewards.

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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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