The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 94

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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 94
“Father!”
“My son.”
A man with an imposing physique walked toward Jack with a smile.
His expression was benevolent, yet his gaze burned with unmistakable intensity.
‘So this is him. The Grand Aura Master—one of only five on the entire Pangaea Continent.’
The Five Lords, the five supreme rulers, the Iron-Blooded Lord.
A figure known by countless titles stood directly before me.
I personally believed he surpassed even the 12 Pioneers in sheer charisma.
‘This is… genuinely nerve-wracking.’
There was no way around the tension.
My opponent was the pinnacle of Aura users, not a mage.
As someone whose power manifested only against mages, I was inevitably at the bottom of the food chain.
[Meeting the Iron-Blooded Lord Complete!]
[Main Quest Cleared!]
[Reward: Obtained a new basic skill.]
The quest completion confirmed that my opponent was indeed one of the Five Lords.
I wanted to check the reward, but there was no opportunity.
The Iron-Blooded Lord’s gaze had been fixed on me from the very beginning.
“I’ve heard the tales. You’re the Sword Mage who defeated my son?”
“I am Zeke McLafflin of the Decan Kingdom…”
“Yes, yes. Introductions are unnecessary. That’s not what I wish to know.”
“Then…?”
“I want to gauge your abilities. So, what do you say—”
The Iron-Blooded Lord’s lips curled into a grin.
“Would you care to spar with me?”
It was a smile like that of a child.
It was First Son McLafflin, Jack, who silently exulted at the word “spar.”
‘Exactly! I knew Father would say that!’
The desire to cross blades with the strong was an instinct shared by all who walked the path of the sword.
His father was no exception to this.
He had anticipated that once he brought the Sword Mage to the McLafflin Family, his father would inevitably request a match out of curiosity.
He had predicted it, and it had come to pass exactly as foreseen.
‘What comes next is as obvious as fire.’
Zeke’s defeat.
No matter how skilled, there was no way he could overcome his father, a Grand Aura Master, in a spar.
‘Heh heh, Zeke McLafflin. You’re finished now.’
This was the true reason Jack had invited Zeke to the McLafflin Family.
To humble the Sword Mage who had defeated him.
‘You may have gloated over defeating me, but that ends now. Let him experience firsthand that there are walls in this world that cannot be overcome.’
Of course, if Zeke refused the duel, it would all be for nothing—but Jack knew better.
He understood just how relentless his father was when it came to the blade.
‘Even if he refuses, there’s no escaping it. Father never lets go of an opponent once he’s taken an interest. Heh heh.’
Unlike Jack, who was suppressing his laughter, Zeke found himself genuinely flustered.
‘A Grand Aura Master… is asking me for a duel?’
He’d only accepted the invitation to meet the Five Lords and gain skills, yet here was an unexpected duel request.
‘Is he serious?’
Though it bordered on rudeness, the Reinhardt patriarch seemed indifferent to such formalities as he waited for an answer.
‘Should I accept this or decline?’
A duel with nothing to gain.
Naturally, refusing would be the right choice, but the system must have had a reason for arranging this meeting with the Five Lords.
So I decided to wait and see what the system would say.
‘If no Quest appears, I’ll decline.’
As I waited for the system’s response with that thought, the Iron-Blooded Lord’s eyes seemed to interpret my hesitation as deliberation.
Unable to contain himself, he spoke up.
“Seems my sudden proposal has you in thought. My apologies—I haven’t even introduced myself and here I am requesting a duel right away. Ahem.”
The Iron-Blooded Lord cleared his throat and suddenly extended his hand.
“I’m Crioss Reinhardt of the Baiso Kingdom. Better known as one of the Five Lords, the Five Sovereigns, or the Iron-Blooded Lord.”
Crioss continued speaking to Zeke, who had clasped his hand in turn.
“I know it must be startling for someone known as a Grand Aura Master to suddenly request a duel, but I’d still like to see it—the swordsmanship of one who defeated my son in a single strike. And your skill as a Sword Mage as well.”
“….”
“Of course, I’m aware this duel would be extremely disadvantageous for you. So I must impose a condition.”
“A condition, you say…?”
“If your blade so much as touches a single hair on my body, I’ll count it as your victory in the duel. What do you think? Isn’t that fair enough?”
‘If I touch even a hair, that’s my victory?’
Hearing those words, Zeke felt his pride sting a little.
Just as the 12 Pioneers were objects of admiration among mages, the Grand Aura Master was known as the strongest among Aura users.
But still—a single hair?
‘Does he think I can’t even manage that? Or is the gap between a Grand Aura Master and an intermediate Aura Master truly that vast?’
Either way, it was a proposal that couldn’t help but wound Zeke’s pride.
The system seemed to feel the same way.
Judging by how quickly it responded.
【Main Quest: Achieve Victory Against the Iron-Blooded Lord in Duel】
└The Iron-Blooded Lord, Crioss Reinhardt, has set a condition: if you touch even a single hair, you will be granted victory.
└Accept the condition and achieve victory in the duel.
【Conditions】
└Achieve victory against the Iron-Blooded Lord in duel
【Rewards】
└Acquire Skill: ‘Future Foresight’
‘The system wants me to accept this duel.’
At first, it seemed like a duel I was destined to lose, but the Iron-Blooded Lord had proposed it himself.
He said that if I even grazed a single hair on his body, he would count it as my victory.
That’s when the system sent me a Quest, as if it had been waiting for this very moment.
To accept the duel.
‘Did the system wait for this just like I did? For one of the Five Lords to propose first?’
Given the circumstances, I couldn’t refuse.
Above all, the reward caught my attention.
‘Future Foresight? I absolutely must obtain this.’
Just as I accepted the Quest and was about to respond to the duel challenge—
“….”
Watching the Iron-Blooded Lord wait for my answer, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
If he wanted this so badly, perhaps I should set my own condition as well.
“I also have a condition.”
“A condition? Hahahaha!”
Crioss burst into laughter at my unexpected words.
“That’s right! Since I set a condition, you should too. Go ahead and tell me. What’s your condition?”
“If I win the duel, please grant me one wish.”
“A wish?”
At those words, Jack, who had been watching, stared at me as if I were insane.
Crioss himself, however, looked intrigued.
“That does sound interesting. If you beat me, I’ll grant your wish.”
“Very well. Then I accept the duel.”
“Haha! Well thought out. You’ve got more competitive spirit than you let on. Shall we head to the Training Ground?”
Crioss turned and I followed in his wake.
Jack watched my departure with an expression of utter bewilderment.
He hadn’t expected me to not only accept the duel but to set conditions as well.
“Listen here, First Son McLafflin.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“You didn’t set that condition because you actually see a possibility of winning, did you?”
“Wouldn’t touching even a single hair be difficult enough?”
At that, Jack laughed outright in mockery.
“First Son McLafflin, you don’t understand. Touching a single hair of a Grand Aura Master? Do you really think it’s that easy?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Sigh, well, you’ll understand once you experience it firsthand. Good luck out there.”
Leaving his snickering behind, I followed the Iron-Blooded Lord toward the Training Ground.
After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

* * *
Across the Pangaea Continent existed five Grand Aura Masters known as the Five Lords.
Two of them resided in the Baiso Kingdom—one was Crioss Reinhardt, called the Iron-Blooded Lord, and the other was….
Footsteps echoed across the ground.
Maligore Desbon, the Iron-Blooded Lord’s rival and bearer of the title Lord of Darkness.
“A guest arrives, yet no one comes to greet me? Rival or not, is this how one treats a visitor?”
Maligore descended from his magical carriage and walked to the gates of the Reinhardt mansion, only to be met by a single guard.
“You there. Summon Reinhardt at once. Tell him that when a guest arrives, he should come running immediately.”
“Ah… Duke Desbon. The Lord of the house is currently occupied and cannot come at the moment.”
“What?”
Maligore’s eyes darkened with an abyss-like shadow.
Though his naturally grim appearance combined with his aura’s presence created an illusion, the guard standing before him could not help but feel terror.
“What pressing matter keeps him from receiving his invited guest?”
“W-well, he is currently sparring with another guest at the Training Ground….”
“Sparring?”
Maligore was a swordsman who became obsessed at the mention of sparring.
Naturally, he could not help but become curious about his opponent.
“An opponent worthy of the Iron-Blooded Lord’s attention? I cannot miss such a spectacle.”
Maligore muttered to himself and strode purposefully forward.
He needed no escort from the guard.
He had visited before and knew the location of the Training Ground well enough.

* * *
“You’ll use a real blade. I’ll make do with this.”
Crioss Reinhardt selected one of the wooden swords arranged in the Training Ground.
Though called a wooden sword, it was an absurdly massive greatsword in both length and width.
“It’s a wooden sword specially crafted after my primary weapon—a greatsword.”
“That’s not a wooden sword, that’s a wooden pillar, isn’t it? If it connects, I won’t even have bones left to collect.”
“Haha, I won’t deny it. But surely we can’t use a real blade, can we?”
“…I appreciate your consideration.”
Zeke McLafflin nodded in acknowledgment.
That crude wooden sword alone radiated such overwhelming pressure—what if he wielded a real blade?
‘I might be split in two in a single blow.’
The mere thought sent shivers down my spine.
“What will you use? A real blade, or an Aura Blade?”
“I’ll use an Aura Blade.”
‘So he intends to settle this from the start with his most confident technique? I suppose that’s his only option.’
That’s what Crioss Reinhardt thought, but he was mistaken.
Zeke McLafflin had chosen the Aura Blade simply to avoid showing off Uriel’s feather sword and having it coveted.
‘I need to stay sharp. This opponent is no pushover.’
Standing opposite Crioss Reinhardt in the Training Ground, Zeke McLafflin felt tension for the first time in a while.
Even when facing mages, I hadn’t trembled like this.
And for good reason—my opponent stood at the pinnacle among Aura users.
A far different sparring partner than Jack Reinhardt, who was merely a low-tier Aura Master.
‘I only need to touch a single hair to complete the Quest. Just one hair.’
Zeke McLafflin thought that much wouldn’t be difficult.
Not with the [Resilience] skill and [Berserk] he’d recently learned.
‘Let’s give it a try.’
Just as Zeke McLafflin steeled his resolve.
Shink—
Crioss Reinhardt leveled his greatsword and gestured slightly.
“I’ll concede the first move.”

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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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