The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 21

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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 21
‘That bastard Zeke. So he has a ruthless side beneath that facade, does he?’
The one muttering and cursing Zeke was none other than Peter McLafflin.
How could he harbor no resentment when he’d been forced into a covenant through threats?
‘I have to swear loyalty to Zeke instead of the Tower Master. Ha, this is absurd!’
Being manipulated by the youngest was infuriating, yet there was nothing I could do about it.
To preserve my Circle, I could never betray Zeke.
‘Since it’s come to this, I’ll survive by any means necessary. I absolutely won’t become a cripple like Alex.’
My master had simply changed from the Tower Master to Zeke.
As long as I obeyed Zeke’s words, my Circle would never crumble.
In a way, it was simple.
‘I’ll live defiantly and become the family head. When that day comes, Zeke, you won’t be able to disrespect me like you do now.’
Right now he was forcing a contract and throwing his weight around, but wouldn’t he have to treat me differently then?
Even with the covenant binding me.
‘At least we might develop into a symbiotic relationship.’
I didn’t like being in a position where I could never betray Zeke for the rest of my life, but since the covenant was made, there was no helping it.
I’d just have to forget the past.
With such thoughts, Peter was walking through the Training Ground when he suddenly turned his gaze.
A single figure caught his eye.
‘Zeke? What’s he doing over there?’
In the Training Ground, Zeke was selecting a wooden sword for practice.
‘Raker’s group, Luna, and even Theo Baldor, her fiancé, are here too.’
Following Zeke, Theo was also selecting a wooden sword.
It seemed the two were about to spar.
‘Ha, a wooden sword match in a magical family. How ridiculous.’
A wry smile escaped me, but realistically, this was the only way to test their strength.
Unlike Theo, Zeke had no Circle.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t use magic, though.
‘Theo doesn’t know. That Zeke can use magic.’
Not only could he use it, but he could even block others from using magic.
No one but I, who had experienced it firsthand, would know that.
‘But does Zeke have some skill with the sword as well?’
Peter tilted his head curiously, watching the two spar from a distance.
Secretly hoping with all his heart that one of them would win.

* * *
‘Will he be alright? I’ve never seen the young master wield a wooden sword before.’
Raker couldn’t help but feel anxious about this sudden match.
Unlike what had been mentioned, he’d never once witnessed Zeke wielding a wooden sword.
It was the kind of thing that would make anyone laugh.
‘But why would he deliberately step forward for a duel…?’
Raker didn’t know what Prince Theo was thinking, but to his eyes, Zeke had deliberately provoked him.
‘If he induced this duel, it must mean he’s confident enough, right?’
So while Raker watched their match in silence, he couldn’t deny his unease.
The difference in weight class was obvious at a glance.
‘There’s more than a head’s difference in height… Will he really be alright?’
Even if both were beginners with no expertise in swordplay, this was a clash between a twenty-year-old and a fifteen-year-old.
There had to be a fundamental difference in raw strength.
Moreover, Prince Theo’s frame was unusually large for a mage.
‘No matter how much training the young master Zeke has done, it’ll be difficult to defeat Prince Theo.’
One didn’t need to compare long and short to know the answer.
It was clear at a glance who held the advantage.
‘I should watch the situation and intervene midway if needed. An irritated Prince Theo won’t hold back.’
With the resolve to help Zeke if necessary, Raker watched the two with worried eyes.

* * *
‘This insignificant brat. I’ll teach him a lesson this time.’
Theo ground his teeth as he faced his opponent.
They’d be brothers-in-law once he married Luna, but he had no intention of going easy on him.
From the start, Luna had hoped he’d crush the boy.
Wasn’t she sending her enthusiastic support through her eyes right now?
-Theo. Absolutely destroy that damned brat for me.
-Don’t worry. I’ll use this opportunity to teach him respect for his betters.
Theo answered with his eyes and gazed at his opponent.
The opponent was shorter than him and had a lean frame.
He claimed to have trained in swordplay, but there was nothing to fear.
After all, he was just a fifteen-year-old brat.
Moreover, he had neither an aura nor a Circle—a worthless nobody.
‘Whatever training he’s done probably amounts to nothing but flailing in empty air.’
His own situation wasn’t much different, but still, he was better off.
He’d already undergone his coming-of-age ceremony at eighteen, and his physique was robust and imposing for a mage.
Had he not been born into a magical family, he might have become an aura user.
‘You dare mock someone like me? You’ve picked the wrong day.’
With the intention of beating him senseless under the guise of a duel, he picked up the wooden training sword.
Even if it was for training, it was still a hard wooden stick.
If it connected, I’d be covered in bruises and my bones would ache.
‘I’ve cast Strength magic to amplify my physical power, so I’ll never lose in raw force.’
On top of that, I’ve secretly layered Haste magic to sharpen my movements.
Though he claims to be a complete novice who’s never even held a sword, his movements will be anything but amateurish.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes. Please begin first. I’ll yield the opening move to you.”
Snap—
Something connected to my forehead severed with a distinct sensation.
‘This bastard, the moment I let my guard down!’
Theo Baldor suppressed his roiling emotions and twisted his lips into a grimace as he advanced.
“Then, I won’t hold back.”
I cautiously closed the distance, then launched a sudden charge, bringing the wooden sword down at his head.
My target: his skull.
‘It’s over!’
Even as the wooden sword approached his head, he showed no sign of dodging—the match was already decided.
Soon he’d cry out and collapse, weeping like a child.
But that expectation evaporated like snow the moment the wooden sword cut through empty air.
‘What?!’
Zeke McLafflin’s head vanished like a phantom.
A movement as if he’d seen a ghost.
Theo Baldor’s eyes widened in that instant.
Crack—!
“Ugh!”
Sharp pain erupted from my side.
“Damn it!”
My suppressed nature burst forth with a curse as I slashed at his waist.
But this too missed.
When my attack failed, what came in return was a stinging blow from my opponent.
Crack—!
“Ugh!”
Searing pain shot through my shoulder.
Crack—!
My forearm throbbed as if it would shatter.
Crack—!
This time my pelvis took the hit.
My furrowed brow, unable to crease any further, spoke volumes of the agony I endured.
“Argh!”
I unleashed a roar of fury and swung the wooden sword wildly in all directions.
It was crude, unrefined movement, but surely it would land at least once.
Yet.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Somehow, I couldn’t even graze the fabric of his clothing.
At this point, Theo Baldor’s face shifted from pain to bewilderment.
‘What… what is this? Why won’t it connect?’
The opponent stood right before me.
Within arm’s reach if I simply extended my limbs.
Yet the wooden sword carved through nothing but empty air.
He predicted the weapon’s trajectory like a ghost and evaded with supernatural ease.
All while grinning with infuriating composure, as if toying with me.
Tap! Tap!
“Ugh!”
He dodged everything with leisure and struck back effortlessly.
These were not the movements of a novice.
Tap, tap, tap, rat-a-tat-tat!
“Damn it, damn it all!”
Unable to contain his rage at being beaten like a dog, Theo Baldor finally had no choice but to chant a spell.
‘Mana Skin!’
A second-circle spell that reinforced the skin to shield against external impact.
With this, at least I could reduce the pain from the wooden sword.
‘That’s it. Now if I endure while taking hits…’
But Theo Baldor didn’t know.
Crack!
“Gasp!”
That magic meant nothing against this opponent.

* * *
‘What… what in the world is this?’
Raker, who had been watching the sparring match, couldn’t close his gaping mouth.
His prediction that Theo would have the advantage had been completely shattered.
Zeke McLafflin was assaulting him one-sidedly.
‘How is this possible? I heard he hadn’t learned Aura yet…’
With exceptional dynamic vision, he not only discerned his opponent’s sword trajectory but evaded it with ease.
It was a movement no ordinary person could replicate.
‘It’s as if he’s using Aura, isn’t it?’
Predicting and dodging at such close range was impossible.
It required explosive power and reflexes to pull off.
At his age, only Aura could make it possible.
‘Yet I sense no Aura being used at all…’
What if he wasn’t using Aura?
Raker swallowed hard.
If that were the case, it meant he possessed the talent to become an Aura Master rather than a mage.
‘I won’t even need to step in.’
Zeke McLafflin didn’t take a single hit out of dozens of attacks.
Meanwhile, he was landing dozens of attacks on his opponent.
In short, he evaded every attack while landing every attack.
The match was already decided.
Couldn’t one tell by looking at Theo, whose entire body was turning black and blue?
It was almost pitiful to watch.
‘It’s over. There’s no need for me to——’
That was when it happened.
Whoosh—
Theo disgracefully hurled his wooden sword.
Zeke McLafflin dodged it with ease, but that wasn’t the end of it.
Buzz—
Theo’s hands shimmered with magical power.
As if the sparring match no longer mattered, he was preparing magic.
A 4-Circle spell at his maximum capacity, no less.
“Young Master Zeke!”
“Damn it, die!”
The moment he summoned blazing flames, Raker stepped in and kicked Theo’s abdomen.
“Ugh!”
Infused with Aura, the attack sent Theo flying dozens of meters before he crashed into the stone wall of the Training Ground.
“Kyaaah! What are you doing?!”
“That’s what I’d like to ask!”
As Raker glared back at her, Luna regarded him with a venomous gaze.
Then, worried about his fiancée, he rushed toward the collapsed stone wall.
“Are you alright, young master?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, thank you for stepping in. If it weren’t for you, Raker, I would have been helpless against that magic.”
‘That didn’t look like it at all.’
The words rose to Raker’s throat, but he swallowed them in the end and turned to look at Theo.
Right now, Theo’s condition concerned him far more.
If he suffered even the slightest injury, his career would be finished here.
“Don’t worry. What you’re thinking won’t happen.”
“Pardon?”
“After all, it was he who tried to use magic first while ignoring the rules, wasn’t it?”
Watching Zeke reassure him as if reading his very thoughts, Raker couldn’t help but be amazed once more.
‘Truly, young master is peculiar in every way. Which is precisely why he troubles me so.’
I’ve lost count of how many times young master Zeke has surprised me.
“Ugh, you….”
Meanwhile, Theo rose from the rubble and glared at Zeke.
Seeing that he bore few wounds, it appeared he had protected himself with magic in that split second.
“How dare you… toy with me?”
“Me?”
“You didn’t hide your strength to humiliate me!”
“What does that matter?”
“What…?”
“It was young master Theo who underestimated me and accepted the duel, and it was young master Theo who promised not to use magic. Regardless of the outcome, wasn’t it a fair match? Isn’t that so, Raker?”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct.”
“Grrrrgh…!”
Even with Raker, who was essentially the duel’s witness, confirming this, Theo couldn’t bring himself to smooth out his furrowed brow.
It seemed his frustration wouldn’t ease despite his defeat.
“I swear I shall repay this humiliation! Let’s go!”
“Just you wait, Zeke!”
Watching the two of them flee despite their bluster, Zeke couldn’t help but smirk inwardly.
‘So much pride for what they are. And this is the second son of the Baldor Family.’
Theo’s retreating figure, supported by Luna, looked somehow pitiful.

* * *
While Zeke McLafflin was sparring with Theo Baldor, Gerard McLafflin was meeting with Dalfred.
Gerard McLafflin was meeting with Dalfred.
“Master, congratulations on reaching the 9th Circle.”
“Heh heh, I appreciate the kind words, even if they’re mere pleasantries.”
“Mere pleasantries? I speak from the heart.”
“How can it be sincere when you’ve brought nothing with you?”
Dalfred opened his palm playfully as he spoke.
“If you truly wished to congratulate me, shouldn’t you have brought a gift?”
“Ah… I apologize. I came in such haste that I didn’t have time to prepare a gift.”
“Heh heh! You rascal, taking me seriously! It was a joke, a joke! After decades as my disciple, you still can’t tell the difference? Heh heh!”
Normally, Gerard McLafflin would have scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, but his eyes remained grave throughout.
As if he had no room for levity.
Dalfred, belatedly recognizing this, adopted a more serious expression.
“Then speak your true purpose. What matter brings you to seek out this old man?”
“I have something to discuss with you. First, please accept this.”
Gerard McLafflin produced something other than a gift.
It was a butterfly-shaped brooch.

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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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