The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 78

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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 78
[Randomly duplicating 7 spells from ‘Azrahil Johnston’.]
[Acquired 7th Circle spell ‘Teleport’!]
[Acquired 8th Circle spell ‘Illusory Veil’!]
[Acquired 9th Circle spell ‘Pain Maximization’!]
[Acquired 9th Circle spell ‘Mental Collapse’!]
[Acquired 9th Circle spell ‘Hallucination Injection’!]
[Acquired 9th Circle spell ‘Hallucination Design’!]
[Acquired 9th Circle spell ‘Phase Shift’!]
Zeke’s eyes widened as he watched the messages scroll past.
‘Oh! Except for one or two, they’re all 9th Circle spells!’
Though it claimed to be random, I had learned from experience that the results aligned with the median value.
But for most of them to be 9th Circle spells…
It seemed the opponent’s realm far transcended the 9th Circle.
‘What, should I estimate him at around 12th Circle? When I absorbed Nox’s spells before, my spell absorption proficiency increased by 120 each time. Same when I got sniped by that spell called Soul Burst.’
In any case, there was no denying that the 12 Pioneers were beings who transcended the 9th Circle.
‘I’d love to examine each of these spells from such a remarkable being one by one, but…’
I didn’t have the time for that now.
[Time remaining until Disguise Skill deactivates: 1 minute 31 seconds]
The cooldown timer occupying one corner of my vision made me anxious.
Perhaps sensing my urgency, the wagon appeared shortly after.
“All the goods are loaded onto the wagon. Complete the delivery within a week and handle the follow-up management. I’ll hear a report on the results at the meeting in a month. Understood?”
“Yes! Understood, sir.”
Azrahil, who had issued the command, turned his body.
In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished.
He hadn’t used invisibility—he had teleported.
‘What? He really just left?’
I couldn’t sense Azrahil’s presence anywhere.
To be honest, I was flustered.
He had disappeared at such speed that I didn’t even have time to react.
‘Is this a silent incantation? Damn it. To let him slip away so easily. Should I have used mana absorption to restrain him?’
No matter how much of a 12 Pioneer he was, if I had absorbed his mana, he wouldn’t have been able to use teleport.
Of course, that would have exposed my disguise.
‘No quest to capture Azrahil has appeared. The system must have judged it too early to drop the disguise.’
It seemed the priority was to help with the goods delivery and uncover Azrahil’s schemes.
That was something I agreed with as well.
I might be able to learn about the plans or clues of the other Forerunners.
‘Fine. I’ll let Azrahil go for now and first try this delivery thing with that guy.’
Chad, who was looking at me with displeasure, entered my field of vision.
“Nathan! What are you doing? Get the wagon moving! We’re running out of time!”
“Ah! My apologies. Would it be alright if I relieved myself for a moment…?”
“Tch! Hurry up and get back!”
“Y-yes, thank you!”
Using the excuse of nature’s call, I managed to separate myself from the group for a brief moment.
Shortly after, my disheveled form reverted to my true appearance.
The duration of my disguise had expired.
‘The camouflage has worn off, but I can simply reactivate it. The cooldown has reset as well.’
I activated my transformation skill once more, disguising myself as Nathan again.
The excuse about needing to relieve myself was precisely to avoid anyone witnessing this change.
“I’m back!”
“Get on quickly! We’re falling behind!”
“Yes!”
Chad watched my hurried ascent onto the coachman’s seat with an expression of clear dissatisfaction.

* * *
Clop, clop, clop.
The cargo-laden carriage departed.
It was the carriage carrying Chad and me.
Of course, it was I—the lowly subordinate—who drove the carriage.
‘If Peter saw this, he’d laugh at me. The young master of the Duke Family, pulling a carriage.’
I had never driven a carriage before in my life.
I’d only ever ridden in them, and I had no idea how to handle horses.
‘Most mages can’t ride horses anyway. They teleport everywhere in an instant.’
Even when they did ride, most preferred the more comfortable magical carriages.
After all, no one enjoyed the jarring, cushionless ride of an ordinary carriage that bounced like a bus.
Yet I managed to handle the horses quite well.
Once I grasped the technique, it wasn’t particularly difficult.
The price, however, was enduring Chad’s suspicion.
“Why does your horsemanship seem so clumsy? Like someone doing it for the first time?”
“My apologies, senior.”
“Senior…?”
Had I misspoken?
Chad’s suspicion deepened further.
“Never mind. Turn toward that direction. You’re pathetic—you don’t even know where Daikin Village is.”
“….”
Though I received his rebuke in silence, I simply continued driving the horses.
For now, completing the delivery mission was the priority.
‘It seems Daikin Village is the settlement he’s responsible for.’
I had no idea where the village was located.
I hadn’t even verified what the cargo contained.
I was simply driving the carriage as instructed.
But then.
“Stop here.”
Chad suddenly brought the carriage to a halt.
We were on a sparsely traveled forest path.
“Is this Daikin Village?”
“Daikin Village, my ass.”
Chad’s hand gripped a staff, his smile turning sinister.
He drew upon his mana and pointed the staff directly at me.
“You bastard. Get down.”
“What? Why are you—”
“Cut the bullshit act and get down, you spy.”
At the word “spy,” my eyes turned glacial.
‘So it’s coming to this after all?’
I had already known Chad suspected me.
I just hadn’t known when he would reveal his true intentions.
‘He was timing it carefully. I suppose even I wouldn’t work alongside someone I suspected of being a spy.’
It would have been better if he’d revealed himself after we reached the village, but Chad clearly had no intention of guiding a suspected spy all the way there.
Judging by the fact that he’d led me down the wrong path.
“Get down already, you bastard.”
So I had no choice but to play dumb.
“Why are you doing this, senior?”
“You like that ‘senior’ thing, don’t you? When we’re alone, Nathan never called me that. He called me brother.”
“…”
“Aren’t you getting down?”
I silently descended from the carriage.
His eyes and tone were those of someone certain I was a spy.
‘Weak excuses won’t work here.’
Still, I thought I should try, so I muttered.
“Chad, I didn’t want to say this, but you’re really lacking in perception. Don’t you understand why I kept calling you senior?”
“I don’t?”
“I was doing it on purpose to keep my distance from you.”
“Why? Do you have some grievance with me?”
“Do I really need to spell it out? Honestly…”
I crossed my arms and grumbled as if offended.
The plausible excuse that I’d used the stiff honorific to maintain distance all this time.
An ordinary person might have accepted it, but Chad showed no sign of being fooled.
“Don’t bullshit me. You were calling me brother just recently, and now you suddenly want distance? Does that make sense? And what’s this? You got a girlfriend? Did you forget when you came to me for relationship advice about liking a man?”
‘What…? Liking a man?’
My eyebrows twitched.
I can confirm it’s not a lie through the system.
‘So Nathan was gay? Could this bastard be…?’
I’d been curious about why he’d doubted me all this time, and now I think I finally understand.
“I can tell just from your tone and demeanor. You’re definitely not the real Nathan.”
“….”
“Drop the act. You’re a spy sent by the Lord of Hamilton, aren’t you?”
“Caught.”
Zeke readily revealed his true colors.
Not just his personality, but his appearance as well.
Squelch—
“!!!”
The moment he reverted to the form of a sixteen-year-old boy, Chad’s eyes widened like lanterns.
“Damn it, so it was a disguise after all. My eyes don’t lie! But I never expected such a young brat.”
“Getting beaten by a kid and still spouting that nonsense?”
“A mere boy with no sense of his place!”
In an instant, Chad’s mana surged violently.
“Flame Blast!”
The flames conjured with the incantation struck Zeke directly.
Whoooosh!
It wouldn’t have been strange if he’d melted away entirely, leaving only bones.
But the situation didn’t unfold as Chad had anticipated.
“What…?”
The opponent stood perfectly unscathed, not a single hair singed.
“How… how are you still alive…?”
“Seriously, that’s too much. I was watching to see what you’d do, and you just casually unleash a sixth-circle spell like that. Were you planning to kill me without even interrogating me first?”
“You bastard!”
Irritated by the mockery, he gathered mana in his staff once more.
“Lightning Spear!”
Lightning flashed brilliantly as it struck Zeke’s body again.
“This… what is this….”
The result was the same.
Chad could only stare at the unscathed Zeke with eyes wide in shock.
“How… how did you do that?”
“How, you ask?”
Zeke swept Chad’s legs out from under him in one fluid motion, sending him crashing to the ground.
He twisted the arm holding the staff and pressed down on his neck.
“Gaaahhh!”
“So, why don’t you tell me? What are you all scheming? What exactly are you doing in this village?”
‘Damn it! What… what kind of strength is this….’
Completely subdued, Chad was astounded once more by a power that seemed impossible for a mage to possess.
‘An Aura Master? Wait, could it be…!’
A sudden memory flashed through my mind—the tale of a mercenary who had led Hamilton Territory to victory.
“It’s you.”
“What?”
“That mercenary.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and answer my question. What exactly is that thing?”
“Do I look like I’d tell you!”
Though my magic was sealed and my body restrained, Chad refused to yield.
“Hmm, so you won’t talk?”
“I’d sooner die!”
“Is that so? Then go ahead and die.”
Zeke McLafflin spoke without emotion as he withdrew a feather blade from the subspace.
“What….”
Chad’s eyes, which had widened in shock at the subspace ability, grew impossibly wider as he stared down at his own legs.
The legs that should have been attached to his body had been severed cleanly, as if it were all a lie.

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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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