The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 23

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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 23
Theo’s suspicion began the moment he arrived at the Dead End Corridor following the maidservant.
“Hey. Why did you come this way? This place is far from the Main Mansion.”
“I am aware.”
In that instant, he sensed something wrong in the maidservant’s suddenly composed voice.
Luna examined the maidservant’s face more carefully.
“Who are you? I’ve never seen your face before.”
“I heard you dismiss the servants, yet you seem to remember faces?”
Magical energy suddenly erupted from the maidservant’s body as she let out a soft chuckle.
Theo gasped in panic, about to cry out.
“Open your mouth and you die.”
“Hk—”
As the magical energy dispersed, five shadows revealed themselves.
Theo and Luna inhaled sharply in shock.
Though the invisibility they had dispelled showed them dressed as servants, no one would have mistaken them for such.
After all, servants who wielded magic simply did not exist.
“Captain. You’ve arrived?”
“These are the ones?”
“Yes, sir.”
Galph smiled wickedly after confirming Theo and Luna’s faces.
“Dispose of them.”
“Understood.”
“Wait, just a moment—!”
Theo tried to shout, but it was already too late.
Lightning flickered in the maidservant’s grasp.
That was when it happened.
“Stop.”
At the sudden command, the maidservant hastily canceled her spell and turned toward Galph.
His gaze was fixed on the corridor behind him.
“Sister Luna? Young Master Theo?”
“Z-Zeke!”
Everyone’s eyes widened at the appearance of this unexpected figure.
A witness had arrived.
And ironically, that witness was the assassins’ next target.
“Fortune smiles upon us. The target walks right into our hands.”
Galph’s lips curled upward with satisfaction.
How could he not be pleased when he could complete the task all at once?
Meanwhile, Theo and Luna’s expressions remained grim.
Had the arrival been someone of Gerard’s caliber, they might have welcomed it—but it was Zeke, the weakest among them.
A puppy wandering into a den of tigers.
The situation remained unchanged.
They simply viewed it as one more companion joining their ranks.
Yet surprisingly, the assassins had no intention of killing Zeke.
“You know he’s not to be killed, right?”
“Understood.”
“Take care of it.”
At the leader’s command, the maidservant summoned magical power into her palm.
“Paralyse.”
The paralysis spell struck Zeke’s body directly.
Galph was about to avert his gaze as if there was nothing more to see, but he couldn’t.
The boatman who should have been stiff and rigid across his entire body was standing there casually cleaning his ear.
‘…What just happened?’
Though he didn’t show it, Galph was deeply bewildered.
He’d clearly seen the paralysis spell strike him—how was he moving as if nothing had occurred?
His subordinates shared the sentiment, their eyes widening in shock.
Meanwhile, Zeke was checking a message.
[The cast spell ‘Paralyse’ has been absorbed.]
[Skill proficiency has increased by 30.]
[Proficiency remaining until 6-Star achievement: 6,750/10,000]
[Magic ‘Paralyse’ has been stored in the dimensional rift.]
[Stored magic: 1/6]
[You can release the magic within the time limit.]
[Time remaining: 00:09:59]
‘Keeping the skill active at all times was the right call.’
Satisfied as I was, I didn’t smile.
Without the magic absorption skill, I would have been the one affected.
‘The fact they used Paralyse instead of killing me outright suggests kidnapping is the intent?’
It was likely an instruction from their employer.
“Who sent you?”
“…”
“The Tower Master?”
In that moment, I didn’t miss it.
The twitch of the assassins’ eyebrows.
“That’s it. Your employer is the Tower Master, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Did the Tower Master order this? To kidnap me?”
The assassins maintained their silence to the end.
“Don’t feel like talking? That’s fine. I’ll just capture you and ask questions later.”
“What are you all doing? Subdue the target—”
‘Release.’
Magic that Zeke had stored within his grasp discharged outward.
The target was unmistakable.
Thump—
“Captain!”
The man who had been called captain all this while collapsed like a mannequin.
His entire body rigid and frozen.
“How… how is this possible?”
“He surely has no Circle… the boatman shouldn’t have one…”
The assassins panicked as the boatman—someone who had never even studied magic—wielded it before them.
But that shock was fleeting.
As if remembering their orders, they all began drawing upon their mana.
Some extended their hands toward Theo and Luna.
‘But that won’t work.’
As Zeke absorbed their mana, horror flooded the assassins’ eyes.
“M-magic won’t activate?”
“What… what’s happening?”
Zeke laughed at their predictable reaction.
They must feel as though the limbs they’d relied upon their entire lives had vanished in an instant.
[Assassin Subdued 1/6]
‘One down.’
Zeke glanced at the message appearing at the edge of his vision, then studied the assassins before him.
‘Six rings on their chests. Six Sixth Circle mages.’
Judging by their attire, they’d infiltrated disguised as servants.
They’d clearly exploited the Duke’s Mansion’s abundance of attendants to breach the defenses.
‘The knights guarding the entrance must already be dead.’
They likely lured them out while posing as servants, then disposed of them in secret.
Otherwise, it made no sense that no servants or knights remained in the vicinity.
‘If I subdue them all here, I can clear the Quest in one go.’
Zeke gestured toward the bewildered assassins.
“What are you doing? Your captain’s in this state and you’re just standing there? If you’re going to attack, do it now.”
“…”
I tried a light provocation, but these trained assassins weren’t biting.
Watching them exchange glances before settling on an alternative plan.
“Scatter! All of you!”
The assassins, sensing the situation had turned unfavorable, threw themselves in all directions.
Survival apparently mattered more than mission success.
“N-no, they’re escaping!”
Theo cried out, but Zeke remained composed.
How far could they possibly run without magic?
‘Unless they’ve trained in aura like I have.’
Concentrating my strength into my lower body, I launched forward like an arrow.
Whoosh!
“Gasp!”
Caught in an instant, the assassin instinctively reached for magic in panic.
But that was impossible.
I was absorbing all the mana within a 60-meter radius.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
The assassin took a strike to the philtrum and collapsed unconscious on the spot.
‘No need to paralyze them with magic after all.’
I smirked and rushed toward my next target.
Crack!
I slammed the back of the assassin’s head, driving their skull into the ground.
For a moment, I worried they might actually be dead.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter much. There are plenty of mouths here to interrogate.’
I had no intention of killing these people.
To find out exactly who had sent them, it was better to simply subdue them.
Thud! Crack!
After subduing four of them in quick succession, I spotted a maidservant fleeing in the distance.
The distance had widened somewhat, but it posed no real problem for me.
It was a distance I could close in a single second.
Whoosh!
“Eek!”
The maidservant was startled, clearly not expecting to be caught so quickly.
Regardless, I grabbed her by the hair and hurled her to the ground.
Crash!
“I don’t go easy on women.”
Something cracked—perhaps I’d lost control of my strength—but I paid it no mind.
‘I always thought there’d come a time when I’d need to use real force. I just didn’t expect it to be today.’
As I looked down at the unconscious assassins, the awaited message appeared.
[Subdued 6/6 Assassins!]
[Sudden Quest Cleared!]
[You have gained 300 random stat points as a reward.]
[Strength increased by 56 permanently.]
[Intelligence increased by 48 permanently.]
[Agility increased by 55 permanently.]
[Stamina increased by 45 permanently.]
[Recovery increased by 44 permanently.]
[Resistance increased by 52 permanently.]
‘A month’s worth of stats in one go—nice!’
Satisfied with himself, I dragged the unconscious assassins across the floor.
“Future brother-in-law.”
“Hm?”
“Are you just going to stand there? Help me out, would you?”
“Ah, right.”
Theo readily assisted me in gathering the assassins together.
All six that I’d encountered initially had been subdued cleanly.
I was brushing the dust from my hands and contemplating what to do with them when—
“Young master! Young master!”
The sound of my name being called was followed by the thundering footsteps of dozens of people.
When I turned, I saw Raker, the captain of the guard, rushing toward me alongside the other knights, his face flushed with exertion.
“Young master! Are you alright—”
Raker’s eyes widened in shock as he drew near.
His expression froze as he stared at the assassins gathered in a heap.
“What in the world is going on here—”
“Assassins infiltrated the mansion.”
My answer failed to resolve his confusion.
He understood that assassins had invaded, but why were they all gathered in one place, unconscious?
‘Who? How?’
Raker looked up at me with dawning suspicion in his eyes.
Faced with my own bewildered expression, Raker’s confusion only deepened.

* * *
Raker was not alone in his confusion.
“What? Assassins infiltrated the mansion? How is such a thing even possible!?”
At Gerard’s thunderous outburst, Dalant, the escort mage, hung his head in shame.
“My sincerest apologies.”
“Apologies mean nothing! How did this happen? The security should have been sufficient!”
“Further investigation is needed, but it appears they exploited a gap in surveillance during the night hours.”
“They infiltrated despite the detection magic at the entrance?”
“They did not employ invisibility spells. Instead, they disguised themselves as servants and entered openly. It seems they exploited the fact that servants are not subjected to thorough inspection.”
“Hmph!”
Gerard exhaled sharply, his piercing gaze fixed upon Dalant.
“What is the extent of the damage?”
“As far as we can confirm, six guard knights and ten servants have been killed. And….”
“And?”
When Dalant hesitated uncharacteristically, Gerard urged him to continue with a look.
“Miss Luna and Prince Theo of the Baldor Family—her fiancé—nearly fell victim to the assassins.”
“….”
Gerard fell silent.
Nearly fell victim to assassins? What did that mean?
It meant they nearly died, did it not?
“I am deeply sorry. We should have detected and responded to this much earlier… I am truly sorry.”
“The children—they were not harmed?”
“Fortunately, thanks to Young Master Zeke’s intervention, we were able to prevent a greater tragedy.”
“Zeke?”
The name that suddenly emerged only deepened Gerard’s bewilderment.
“How did Zeke become involved in this?”
“According to Prince Theo’s account, Zeke defeated the assassins and saved both him and Miss Luna.”
“What?”
Dalant was not a man to jest in such circumstances.
Neither was Luna’s fiancé.
Knowing this, Gerard’s confusion only deepened.
“That is hard to believe. He single-handedly defeated six Sixth Circle assassins?”
“I too found it difficult to believe at first… but he clearly stated it as such.”
“Where are the assassins now?”
“We have placed them in the Torture Chamber.”
“Have they spoken?”
“They all remain silent as though bound by oath, but it is only a matter of time. They are fitted with restraints that prevent spellcasting, and we have applied healing magic to prevent them from taking their own lives.”
It was meant to suggest patience, but Gerard, consumed by rage, had no such inclination.
“I must see them myself. Take me there.”
“Very well.”
Gerard moved with the sharp, predatory gaze of a wild beast.

* * *
Galph was a trained hunting dog.
A contract killer who would do anything the Tower Master commanded—a specialist in what one might call cleanup work.
That was Galph and his subordinates.
Naturally, they had undergone training to withstand torture as well.
But now, every one of them harbored the same thought.
Such training proved utterly useless.
“Speak. Who sent you?”
“Gaaahhh.”
The assassins, feeling the torrential eighth-circle mana coursing through their bodies, struggled desperately not to yield.
Yet life was precious to everyone.
Shing—
When a comrade beside them was beheaded by an ice blade, they could only tremble in terror.
“If you do not speak, death awaits. Tell me. Who gave the order?”
“….”
“No answer, then.”
Shing!
Two more fell in swift succession.
Gerard suspended an ice blade in the air, his gaze fixed upon the remaining assassins.
“Four remain. Who will answer?”
“W-wait, you know we cannot speak, don’t you? We’ve already sworn a mana covenant with our contractor….”
“I am aware. Yet a covenant does not prevent you from stating that one exists. Choose. Will you die as you are? Or live on as a cripple?”
Gerard’s warning proved effective.
The leader, Galph, cast aside all dignity and cried out.
“The Tower Master… Gregor Fontaine ordered it!”
“C-captain?”
“I see.”
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Gerard slaughtered all the assassins save Galph.
Though Galph had saved his own life through betrayal, a terrible agony now awaited him.
“Gaaahhhhh, horrrrrrgh!”
His circle was collapsing as the price for breaking the mana covenant.
“It seems you spoke no falsehood. The covenant is clearly taking effect.”
“Ggghhhhh….”
“I kept my promise, but that does not mean I shall let you live. A wretch like you doesn’t deserve even the air you breathe.”
With those words, Gerard took Galph’s life.
Though the assassins had all perished, one thing had been gained.
I had discovered who orchestrated the attack.
‘Gregor, this wretched bastard has finally crossed the line.’
Fury blazed in Gerard’s eyes like an inferno.
The war had already begun.

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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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