The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 29

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

The Natural Enemy of Mages Has Been Reincarnated – Episode 29
Before capturing Gregor Fontaine.
After hearing the operation from Gerard McLafflin, Dalpred Bigsland couldn’t help but feel inwardly impressed.
‘Attack the Magic Tower with the Royal Guard to make him anxious, and at that timing, use Peter to lure him into a teleport to the Califa Mountain Range… Heh, the more I think about it, the better the plan becomes.’
It was impressive how he’d made Gregor Fontaine psychologically unstable, leaving Peter as his only refuge, but above all, the choice of location—the Califa Mountain Range—was brilliant.
By recommending a place that mages avoided, he’d provided justification for going there.
‘And to think this entire operation was conceived by Gerard McLafflin’s youngest son….’
Dalpred Bigsland regarded Zeke McLafflin with the penetrating gaze of one who had mastered the passage of years.
For a fifteen-year-old to devise such a meticulous plan in a single moment was difficult to believe.
‘Indeed, like master, like son? His intellect is truly exceptional from birth.’
The one regrettable thing was that he lacked innate talent.
As someone who had been involved in talent assessments since infancy, I knew this with certainty.
‘Zeke would be more suited to become the next family head than Peter, who has allied with Gregor Fontaine… What a pity, what a shame.’
According to the family’s customs, where succession was determined solely by the number of Circles, Zeke McLafflin would never become the family head.
Unfortunately.
Then Gerard McLafflin approached his side.
“Master. Are you prepared? Peter is about to contact the Tower Master.”
“I am. All we need do is bind him with the restraint collar the moment that bastard Gregor Fontaine teleports, correct?”
“Yes. However, it could be dangerous, so I will apply the restraint collar myself. Please support us from behind in case of emergency.”
“Understood.”
As I picked up my staff and finished preparing, Gerard McLafflin turned his gaze toward Peter.
“Begin.”
“Yes….”
“Don’t be nervous. Just deceive the Tower Master the way you’ve deceived me all this time, yes? Wearing masks is something you do better than anyone.”
“….”
Peter didn’t answer, only lowering his head.
He lacked the courage to meet his father’s gaze, now that the truth of his relationship with the Tower Master had been revealed.
“Contact him right now. Tell him the Royal Guard is pounding on the Magic Tower.”
“Ah, understood.”
As Peter drew Gregor Fontaine in through the communication channel, Gerard McLafflin gripped the restraint collar tightly.
‘Gregor Fontaine will have no choice but to fall for it. The plan is that meticulous.’
Soon the communication ended, and Peter turned back to Gerard McLafflin.
“I-it’s done. He said he’s coming now.”
“You stand there and draw his attention with conversation. Since there could be danger, Zeke, you stay further back.”
Zeke McLafflin nodded and withdrew to a safe distance.
Only Peter, Gerard McLafflin, and Dalpred Bigsland waited at the designated coordinates.
‘Indeed. Will he come to the coordinates I specified?’
If he altered the coordinates even slightly, it would become difficult to respond.
Binding him with the restraint collar to immediately prevent him from using magic was the most effective approach for now.
‘If necessary, I can step in myself.’
Zeke observed the situation quietly.
Less than a minute passed before magical energy surged through the air.
Gregor Fontaine appeared at the coordinates Peter had provided.
“Tower Master! Here!”
“Peter. You’ve grown so gaunt since we last met….”
Click—!
While Peter drew attention, Gerard McLafflin succeeded in fastening the restraint cuffs.
“Finally caught you. Gregor, you bastard.”
Gregor could only stare in shock at Gerard McLafflin’s malicious grin.
He had never anticipated a trap.
Gregor Fontaine’s venomous gaze fixed on Peter McLafflin.
“Peter, you traitor! You betrayed me!”
Watching Peter avert his eyes confirmed it beyond doubt.
He had fallen into a trap.
‘This is absurd. I actually trusted that fool… Wait. That bastard is bound by a mana oath, isn’t he?’
Though the trap was infuriating, Gregor’s complete lack of suspicion had good reason.
The oath was designed so that the Circle would collapse the moment Peter betrayed him.
‘Then why does he look perfectly fine?’
By now, Peter should have been screaming in agony, yet his expression remained eerily composed.
‘Damn it. At this point, I have no choice but to deal with Gerard McLafflin somehow….’
Then an unwelcome face appeared beside Gerard McLafflin.
“You came, my student?”
“You were here too…?”
Not only Gerard McLafflin, but Dalpred Bigsland, a 9-Circle mage, had been waiting as well.
In this situation, escape was the only option.
A direct confrontation was beyond his firepower.
“Don’t bother with futile resistance. The restraint cuffs are already in place, so you couldn’t even if you wanted to.”
Gregor Fontaine stared down at the cuffs encircling both wrists, his lips pressing into a thin line.
There was no better tool for subduing a mage.
The moment he released any magical energy, the cuffs would absorb it like a sponge.
Gregor Fontaine was well aware of this fact.
But they did not know.
That restraint cuffs like these could never bind him.
‘I have no choice. I’ll have to use the method Baluduk taught me.’
Dark magical energy roiled from Gregor Fontaine’s smiling hands.
“Leperseid schnab sitotni nightier.”
The moment everyone reacted in shock to the demonic incantation that suddenly rang out.
Gregor Fontaine’s body scattered like smoke and vanished.
Thud!
The restraint cuffs fell, but no one had time to look at them.
Gerard’s eyes widened as he scanned the surroundings frantically.
“Master! There!”
Gregor Fontaine was sprinting in the direction the finger pointed.
A distance of roughly sixty meters separated them.
I immediately cast a Blink spell to pursue, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap.
More troubling still was where he was headed.
“M-Master.”
“I know.”
Distress flickered across the faces of the two pursuing figures.
Gregor Fontaine was running straight toward the Dragon Ruins.
The closer one approached, the more the ruins’ mana destabilized the Circle.
Neither Gerard nor Dalpred Bigsland, a 9th Circle mage, were exceptions.
That left both of them with no choice but to regard Gregor Fontaine as a madman.
After all, he was suffering the same agony.
“Nnnngh—aaaahhhhh!”
The sight of Gregor Fontaine enduring the pain like a stubborn beast and charging toward the heart of the ruins was truly admirable.
He was willing to sacrifice the destruction of his Circle just to survive.
Was I spurred on by that resolve?
I tried to press forward, unwilling to let him escape, but—
Tug!
A hand from behind seized me, preventing any further movement.
“Master?”
“This is as far as we go. Any closer and your Circle will collapse. Mine as well.”
“But we can’t just stand here and watch him escape!”
“We must. We have no choice. Otherwise, the Circle you’ve spent a lifetime cultivating will shatter.”
For a mage, the Circle is both a lifetime’s accumulated wealth and the thread of life itself.
To lose in an instant the essence of mana painstakingly accumulated in one’s heart over decades?
Such loss would be beyond all words to describe.
Not only would magic become impossible, but one would be reduced to a cripple.
This was why mages feared the Dragon Ruins.
It was a reality that could befall Gerard if he advanced even slightly further.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Unable to take another step, I cried out in frustration.
The reality of losing him right before my eyes filled me with rage and resentment.
‘Must I truly let him slip away like this….’
For one who had devoted a lifetime to magic, the Circle was as vital as life itself.
Though the King’s command was absolute, I lacked the courage to sacrifice my Circle to capture him.
‘Damn it. How could he wield magic unbound by the Restriction Seal?’
All mages were rendered helpless by a single Restriction Seal.
I had assumed Gregor Fontaine would be no different, but I never imagined he would employ ancient magic using the Demonic Tongue.
That was the fatal flaw of this operation.
“Damn it!”
The curse escaped his lips, tinged with frustration.
Gerard’s eyes suddenly widened in shock.
He had spotted a figure sprinting toward Gregor Fontaine.
“Z-Zeke!”
“Zeke?”
Dalpred Bigsland also stared in astonishment at the figure blurring past like the wind.
Zeke McLafflin was charging into the heart of the Dragon Ruins in pursuit of Gregor Fontaine.
And his movements were perfectly fluid and unimpeded.
In that instant, both Gerard and Dalpred Bigsland recalled a fact they had forgotten.
‘Of course. Zeke has no Circle, so the ruins’ influence doesn’t affect him.’
It seemed Gregor Fontaine had forgotten this truth as well.
The shock on his face as he watched Zeke McLafflin approach, completely unaffected by the mana’s influence, said it all.
‘What… what is this? Who is this guy?’
Gregor Fontaine was well aware that Zeke McLafflin, unable to sense mana, had never formed a Circle.
That’s why he could pursue him with such a composed expression.
‘But that speed is no joke. It’s as if he’s wielding an aura.’
The Dragon Ruins were a place that even aura users avoided.
Yet Zeke McLafflin closed the distance in seconds at a speed that no ordinary person should possess.
The gap of dozens of meters had shrunk to nothing in mere moments.
Gregor Fontaine’s shock was entirely justified.
He had no idea how an ordinary criminal could possess such explosive speed, but this was no time to gape like a fool.
He desperately consumed his Circle’s essence and life force to unleash a demonic incantation.
“Lett aitsch tizuo cesi!”
Dozens of black blades erupted from the void, descending upon Zeke McLafflin.
“Zeke!”
Gerard moved to rush forward in alarm, but Dalpred Bigsland grabbed him and held him back.
“Let go, Master!”
“Wait. Calm yourself and watch!”
Gerard couldn’t tear his eyes away from Zeke McLafflin, struck speechless.
He had expected a gruesome outcome, but the reality was the opposite.
Zeke McLafflin subdued Gregor Fontaine without a single scratch on his body.
“Ugh!”
Gregor Fontaine stumbled awkwardly, his feet tangled, and Zeke McLafflin mounted him.
Now Gregor Fontaine was pinned like an insect beneath a stone.
‘This… this can’t be right. Is this really the weight of a fifteen-year-old?’
A force that defied belief for someone merely fifteen years old pressed down upon him.
Though shocked, Gregor Fontaine was struck even more by something else.
The opponent he had expected to be shredded by the black blades was not only unscathed but smiling as he pinned him down.
“Where do you think you’re running to?”
“H-how did you do that? How did you break through my magic…?”
“Enough questions. Time to sleep.”
I drove my fist straight into Gregor Fontaine’s face, knocking him unconscious.

* * *
After capturing Gregor Fontaine, the McLafflin Family underwent tremendous changes.
We received accolades from countless commoners and nobles alike, and earned the King’s trust.
The family’s prestige, which had plummeted due to Alex, rose once more—a cause for celebration for anyone bearing the McLafflin name.
But what brought even greater joy was the reward bestowed by the King.
“Gerard McLafflin has made an immense contribution to the capture of Gregor Fontaine, a traitor who conspired with enemy mages. Therefore, I hereby grant him territory and appoint him as Grand Duke.”
“I am eternally grateful for your benevolence, Your Majesty.”
Grand Duke was the highest rank among dukes, a position second only to the King in power.
It was a clear sign that the King held Gerard’s accomplishments in the highest regard.
In some kingdoms, a Grand Duke wielded influence nearly equal to the King’s, so the magnitude of this honor need not be elaborated upon.
‘He promised a fitting reward for bringing in Gregor, and he certainly delivered something extraordinary.’
Though my father’s elevation in status brought no direct benefits to myself, I was satisfied.
By contributing to the resolution of this incident, I had caught the King’s eye, and I had apprehended the mastermind behind the family’s downfall.
Moreover, had not the honor of the father I respected above all others been restored?
‘That’s all that matters. The family has prospered, our honor has been reclaimed, my revenge is complete. I’ve achieved everything I wanted—what more could I possibly ask for?’
Someone might praise my lack of greed, but the truth was I needed no further reward.
I had already received what I sought.
【Main Quest: Subdue the Magic Tower Master of Decan】
└The King of Decan has secretly requested this of Gerard McLafflin.
└Subdue Gregor Fontaine, the Magic Tower Master who conspired with enemy nations and committed treason.
└Even providing assistance in his subjugation counts as quest completion.
【Conditions】
└Subdue Gregor Fontaine
【Reward】
└Acquire Skill ‘Subspace’
[Gregor Fontaine Subdued!]
[Main Quest Cleared!]

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————