The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 98

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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 98
“Didn’t I just say so? It was a biological necessity. I simply didn’t mention it out of embarrassment. Even I have my pride, you know.”
It was a flimsy excuse, but not entirely implausible.
Because of that, Crious had no legitimate grounds to detain Maligore.
He merely raised a finger, pointing toward the gate.
“Out! Once your business is done, leave at once!”
“I was already planning to go.”
As Maligore turned to leave, he cast a fleeting glance toward Zeke.
‘Fortune favors you this time, Sword Mage. I’ll postpone our reckoning.’
Sssssss—
Watching Maligore dissolve seamlessly into the darkness and vanish, Crious clicked his tongue.
“That insolent wretch! Infiltrating my family estate and wreaking havoc as he pleases!”
Particularly, this technique of vanishing into darkness was something Crious had never witnessed before.
In other words, Maligore had been carefully concealing it as his own secret art all this time.
‘A technique that assassins would covet.’
It was entirely possible he had executed countless assassinations using this very ability.
The thought sent shivers down Crious’s spine.
The mere fact that he had infiltrated the estate was already unsettling enough.
‘Looking for a restroom? Not even a stray dog would believe such nonsense.’
What exactly had he been planning to accomplish with such a covert intrusion?
Could he still be lurking somewhere, merely pretending to leave?
Crious furrowed his brow and expanded his aura perception.
He searched thoroughly throughout the area, but fortunately, he could not sense the distinctive aura signature that Maligore possessed.
‘Has he truly departed?’
After confirming his absence multiple times, Crious felt reassured and turned his attention back to Zeke.
“Zeke. From now on, you are my disciple, so speak freely.”
“Very well. By the way, the Lord of Darkness—”
“He’s gone.”
“Is that so?”
“To be honest, without you, I would never have detected Maligore’s intrusion.”
“Haha, that’s not true.”
“How did you sense him? I couldn’t even properly detect his presence.”
“I suppose you could call it intuition… I simply had a bad feeling about it.”
In truth, I had felt no such thing.
I had been completely unaware of Maligore’s intrusion, just as Crious was.
‘I only knew because of the Quest.’
A few moments ago.
An emergency Quest had appeared before me.
【Emergency Quest: Evade Danger】
└Maligore Desbon, the Lord of Darkness, has infiltrated the Reinhardt Duchy to assassinate you!
└Seek out Crioss Reinhardt immediately and ask for his aid.
【Condition】
└Request assistance from the Iron-Blooded Lord
【Reward】
└5th-tier Skill Proficiency +10,000
When this Quest first appeared, I couldn’t help but be taken aback.
‘The Lord of Darkness is trying to assassinate me? Why?’
I had no idea what I’d done wrong to warrant death, but there was no time to dwell on it.
I couldn’t ignore the system’s urgent warning to escape immediately.
After that, I hurried to find the room where Crioss was staying.
Crioss was startled by my sudden intrusion, but I had to reveal something far more alarming to him.
To survive Maligore’s assassination attempt.
Crioss was just recalling that moment now.
“When you burst into my room saying something felt ominous, I thought you were just being ridiculous. And when you mentioned that shadows of darkness seemed to be targeting you, I honestly thought you’d lost your mind.”
“….”
“But now I see your instincts were right. Judging by how Maligore infiltrated while concealing his presence.”
“Was he really just coming back to use the restroom?”
Crioss let out a scoff.
“Nonsense. From his reaction, it’s clear he came to kill you.”
“What?”
This time I feigned surprise.
Crioss smiled at my reaction, but then his expression grew serious as he realized the gravity of the situation.
“If not for that exceptional sense of yours, you’d have died without anyone knowing.”
“But why would he want to kill me….”
“Rather than let someone else claim the trophy of a Demon Swordmaster, he’d rather destroy it entirely. That’s the kind of petty mind he has.”
“Ah…!”
Only then did I truly understand.
How fortunate it was that I hadn’t become the Lord of Darkness’s disciple.
He was someone I should never associate with—a worthless wretch.
‘So Omang Sung turned out to be quite petty after all.’
Now I realized how incredibly fortunate it was to have become the Iron-Blooded Lord’s disciple instead.
“Thank you for protecting me.”
“Why make a fuss over this? You’re my proper disciple now. No one in this world can lay a hand on my disciples. So don’t worry. I’ll prepare thoroughly to ensure Maligore cannot infiltrate again.”
Having Omang Sung as an ally was incredibly reassuring.
“What will you do about the Lord of Darkness now?”
“What will I do? War begins now.”
“War?”
“First, I’ll expose his actions to the world. Then I’ll see how he responds.”
“Is that wise?”
“Wise indeed. Our relationship was never good to begin with. We were merely rivals. I was already displeased with him, so this works out perfectly. No need for formal duels anymore.”
To Zeke McLafflin, Crious Reinhardt seemed like a man of decisive action—someone who knew precisely when to commit and when to withdraw.
The title of Iron-Blooded Lord had not been bestowed upon him without reason.
‘A war with the Lord of Darkness, then….’
The rift between two lords had widened because of him.
Zeke McLafflin had never anticipated matters would escalate to such a scale.

* * *
Sizzzzle—
“Aaaahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!”
Smoke billowed upward as flesh charred and burned.
When the screaming man lost consciousness, the hooded figure resumed the torture.
Sizzle—
“Guh, gaaahhhhh!”
The screams continued, until at last even groans ceased to escape.
“Dead, then.”
The hooded figure gestured toward the corpse, now drenched in blood.
And then, miraculously—
“Guuuhhhhh….”
The man rose again.
No—the corpse had risen.
Yet the hooded figure seemed dissatisfied with the undead’s state, and snapped a finger.
“Guuh? Guuuh—!”
The corpse’s body swelled grotesquely before detonating.
Splorch—!
Fragments of flesh scattered and fell behind the hooded figure.
“Pathetic. Not a single useful specimen among them.”
The hooded figure’s gaze turned toward one direction.
The mountain of blood and corpses that had once been a village was utterly grotesque.
The cheerful atmosphere of the village in life was now unimaginable.
“Slaughtering all these vermin, yet not a single undead awakens to sentience.”
Of course, undead possessed no consciousness—or so most believed. Yet the figure was convinced otherwise.
That undead could indeed possess intelligence.
After all, I am the proof of it.
“Tsk. I’ll have to search for another village.”
Just as the figure began to move—
The communication device flared with light.
And so did the figure’s eyes.
“Baluduk, sir?”
-It has been long, Zakar Patrick. Have your experiments borne fruit?
“There has been no progress whatsoever, sir.”
-Don’t be so impatient. Creating intelligent undead soldiers isn’t an impossible task.
“Thank you for your words.”
-Anyway, I have a task for you.
“A task, you say…?”
-It’s not particularly difficult.
Baluduk’s voice carried a hint of amusement through the communication stone.
-I’m entrusting you with an assassination.
Zakar Patrick’s pupils dilated.
“An assassination…you mean it?”
Though I’d received numerous assignments from Baluduk over the years, this was my first task to kill someone.
-Indeed. A sixteen-year-old boy named Zeke McLafflin. You can get the details from Esca.
“McLafflin? Isn’t that from the Decan Kingdom? If it’s Decan, wouldn’t it be easier to entrust it to Esca? Why me…?”
-Esca is occupied with other matters. Since you’re in a neighboring kingdom anyway, I thought you’d be perfect for the job. And for someone like you who seeks corpses, he might just be excellent material.
“Excellent material….”
Within the hood, my eyes gleamed once.
“Understood. I’ll speak with Esca.”
As the light from the communication stone faded, I immediately reached for another one.
‘Esca’s communication stone should be… here it is.’
I waited, tapping three times.
But there was no answer.
Since time was something I had in abundance, I reached out again with patience.
After several attempts, the communication stone’s light finally activated.
-Zakar! I’m so terribly sorry!
“Why didn’t you answer? Did you shove it into some corner?”
-No, of course not! I was focused on research and wasn’t paying attention to anything else….
“Spare me the excuses. Get to the point. Give me the target’s information.”
-Ah! You’ve contacted Baluduk, haven’t you? Are you taking on the assassination?”
“Yes.”
-Understood. I’ll provide you with all the information I’ve gathered on Zeke McLafflin without omitting anything.
Esca proceeded to rattle off detailed information about Zeke for some time.
As I listened, I extracted only the essential points.
‘At sixteen years old, already at the sixth circle… his talent as a mage is quite high. He even played a role in capturing Gregor Fontaine, and he managed to detect and prevent an assassination attempt on the King.’
He had interfered with the Forerunners’ plans in quite varied ways.
No wonder he’d fallen out of Baluduk’s favor.
‘A corpse with high talent. It’s been a while since I’ve felt such anticipation.’
Perhaps the research results I’d spent a lifetime pursuing might finally be solved through Zeke.
Even as I listened to the information, I silently vowed to succeed in this assassination mission.
-…That’s all the information I have.
“For over a month of work, you’ve gathered quite a lot of information. Well done.”
-Thank you!
“So in the end, you don’t know his final whereabouts.”
-Yes, sir. Since he left Hamilton Territory, we believe he’s likely with the Mercenary Company.
“Understood. Leave the rest to me.”
-Yes, sir! Thank you for your time!
After ending the communication, Zakar Patrick crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.
He was devising a plan—how to locate and assassinate this man named Zeke.
‘Traveling all the way to Decan to find him carries too many risks. It would be far better to draw him here instead. Since we’ve come this far, I might as well secure corpses as well.’
I would hire the Golden Eagle Mercenary Corps under the pretense of a territorial war.
This would naturally draw the target here, and through the territorial conflict, I could secure a substantial number of corpses.
A plan to catch two rabbits with one stone.
‘I should contact him and have him oversee the territorial war.’
A smile bloomed across the lips of Zakar Patrick, the Immortal Forerunner and tenth-ranked member.

* * *
‘Damn it. Crioss Reinhardt saw through everything. How troublesome.’
Maligore Desbon, expelled from the Reinhardt Family Estate, couldn’t muster the courage to infiltrate again.
It was obvious that Crioss Reinhardt, with his expanded perception, would be vigilant.
‘I won’t be able to spar anymore.’
Maligore had learned much by crossing blades with the Iron-Blooded Lord.
But now Crioss Reinhardt would no longer accept him.
‘I have no choice but to accelerate the plan. I must tell him the truth about everything….’
The plan had unraveled, and he might be angry, but there was nothing to be done.
All I could do was acknowledge my mistake and beg for forgiveness.
Returning to his quarters, Maligore retrieved a communication device from his secret safe.
After taking a deep breath, just as he was about to make contact.
‘Hmm?’
The communication device began flickering on its own.

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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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