The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 69

Not long after taking our defensive stance, the silence of the forest was broken as black-clad figures began to emerge one by one.

Their faces were hidden behind masks, making identification impossible, but each wielded cold weapons.

“…Be careful. These are professionally trained assassins.”

Sheril lowered her stance as she spoke.

True to her words, the black-clad figures’ breathing was steady, and their weapon stances showed no openings.

Even the snow they stood on bore no footprints.

“It seems so. They appear well-prepared to face mages too.”

My eyes clearly saw the flow of mana coursing through their leather armor.

‘Anti-magic armor. They put some thought into this.’

Equipment specifically designed for anti-mage combat.

Those equipped with such gear couldn’t possibly be ordinary armed bandits. They must be hunting dogs who came fully prepared to kill mages from the start.

Cutting the train tracks was probably their doing as well.

“Who’s behind you people?”

The black-clad figures gave no response to my question.

Instead, they only tightened their grips on their weapons and closed their encirclement.

‘I didn’t expect much, but they won’t even let me hear their voices.’

Definitely skilled work.

They were on a different level from the rabble who attacked Renia two years ago.

However.

“This works out even better.”

Compared to then, I too had achieved remarkable growth.

I stepped forward with a full smile on my face.

It was also a good opportunity to test the new toy I’d acquired in Arcamen.

“Lord Reagan, please, stay behind for now…”

“It’s fine, Sheril.”

“Yes, yes. Of course you would…”

Sheril sighed deeply enough to make the ground cave in.

But what could be done.

I didn’t feel like I would lose at all.

—Thud.

Using a tree as a foothold, I leaped toward the assassin in the lead.

The black-clad figure’s reaction was swift.

Swish! He swung his curved blade diagonally, aiming for my neck.

Clang!

However, Benheim’s treasured sword in my right hand had already blocked his sword path.

“…!”

The black eyes behind the mask shook greatly.

“What, first time seeing a mage use a sword?”

It was still too early to be surprised.

My left hand drew another sword.

A chilling sensation reached my grip.

It was Barisada, the magic sword forged from the Ether River.

—Whoosh.

With a sound of cutting air, Barisada swept across the black-clad figure’s chest.

No blood spurted.

Barisada couldn’t cut people after all.

However, Barisada cuts magic instead of flesh. The protective spells carved into the anti-magic armor the assassin wore were helplessly severed before Barisada’s ether blade.

The armor, stripped of its magical protection, was nothing more than a tough piece of leather.

Thunk!

Benheim’s treasured sword pierced through the now-defenseless chest.

“Gahk!”

Even the most taciturn assassin couldn’t suppress his death rattle.

“The blade cuts well.”

I grinned and readjusted my grip on Barisada.

“…”

The atmosphere changed in an instant.

One person had died in just a single exchange. And it was an assassin wearing expensive magic armor at that.

Apparently flustered by this, the black-clad figures’ formation wavered.

I had no intention of missing this opening. I plunged into the heart of enemy lines with different swords in each hand.

* * *

Gail, the leader of the underworld guild ‘Claw’ hired by Giles, was one of the Empire’s top assassins.

“So you’re certain it’s one 4th Circle and two 5th Circle?”

“Yes. I’m certain. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes.”

The commission fee for this job was a whopping 6 million livres.

Since they had to target a member of the great magic family Benheim, it included hazard pay accordingly.

Thus, to pay the fee, Giles had to pour out almost all the money he had embezzled while serving as chief researcher at the Ochre Tower.

However, Giles didn’t regret it at all. Burning with hatred for the mage named Reagan who had caused his downfall, such money was no problem at all if it meant revenge.

“Make sure to kill him. Don’t leave a body either.”

“Of course. You know well that from the moment we assassinate a Benheim bloodline member, we can’t leave any traces.”

Well, from Gail’s perspective, he didn’t care about the client’s circumstances.

He just needed to fulfill his assigned duty and collect the money.

The fact that he was assassinating a daughter of a great magic family was somewhat concerning, but if he erased the traces thoroughly, there would be no worry of being tracked.

‘First, I’ll tie down the two 5th Circle mages, then it’ll be easy to subdue the 4th Circle one.’

That’s what Gail thought as he approached the operation.

However, problems arose from the very beginning.

‘Didn’t he say it was one 4th Circle and two 5th Circle?’

The mages actually at the campsite were three 5th Circle.

Moreover, one of them was a covert mage, notoriously difficult to deal with.

‘Giles, that damn bastard. The information was wrong. If there was a covert mage, he should have mentioned it beforehand.’

Gail swallowed his curses internally.

However, it was still within the expected range.

It wasn’t enough to ruin the job.

Hadn’t he come prepared more than enough to face mages, anticipating such situations?

‘Anti-magic armor and even mana disruption bombs.’

With such equipment, even if there were three 5th Circle mages with one being a covert mage, he should be able to subdue them.

Gail was confident of this.

That is, until the gray-haired man, Reagan von Benheim, drew his sword.

“Aaaahhh!”

Less than a few dozen seconds after the attack began, two of his subordinates were down.

Only then did Gail realize he had made a misjudgment.

Reagan, Benheim’s son-in-law, was not a mage.

The blue light emanating from his sword was unmistakably aura.

The exclusive domain of swordsmen.

‘How is this…!’

He was definitely a mage. They had confirmed he was 5th Circle with detection equipment.

But how could a mage use aura?

Even more terrifying was the translucent sword he held in his left hand.

Every time that sword grazed their bodies, the anti-magic armor was cut in half like slicing tofu. From the moment they lost their advantage of magic resistance, the battle situation was completely reversed.

The covert mage’s spells poured from all directions, and aura-clad sword strikes mercilessly tore apart his subordinates’ limbs.

“Grraaah!”

Another one died with his heart pierced through.

Only two subordinates remained.

‘At this rate, we’ll be completely wiped out.’

Gail gritted his teeth. Fighting that monster-like bastard was impossible. Then he had no choice but to change his target.

‘I’ll take the woman hostage.’

The young lady of Benheim watching the situation from behind, Lyrnia von Benheim.

If he could take her hostage, there might be a chance of victory.

No, that was the only way.

Swoosh!

Having made his decision, Gail threw a mana disruption bomb and rushed toward Renia.

However, instead of panicking at Gail’s approach, Renia raised both hands as if she had been waiting for this.

Flash!

Runic characters bloomed from her fingertips.

Gail hastily twisted his body, but as if she had anticipated even that, the ground caved in.

“Gah!”

Trees sprouted up to block his rear, sealing off his escape route.

Then sharp earth spears shot up, trying to pierce through Gail’s thigh. He barely managed to dodge, but what appeared before his eyes was the clear runic character Uruz (ᚢ).

With the manifestation of physical force, Gail was sent flying and rolled across the ground.

“…This is.”

Gail realized Renia’s strategy.

Since he was wearing anti-magic armor, he wouldn’t take damage from most spells. So she had used the surrounding terrain to bind his movements.

Renia Benheim was unnaturally calm for her age.

No, more than calm…

‘She’s experienced…!’

Gail despaired.

Not a single piece of information had been correct.

How was this supposed to be a hunt?

No, it was a hunt.

But the prey in this situation was none other than Gail himself.

“Surrender! I surrender!”

Finally, Gail dropped his weapon and fell to his knees.

Quick situational judgment was also a necessary virtue for survival.

Just then, Reagan had finished beheading the last subordinate.

“Just spare my life! I’ll give you the advance payment I received for the commission! It’s a whole 3 million livres! How about it! Doesn’t that sound tempting!”

‘Claw’ forbade opening one’s mouth during operations, no matter how urgent the situation.

However, Gail wasn’t loyal enough to follow the guild’s rules even in a situation like this.

“Hmm. Just the advance payment is 3 million? You spent quite a bit of money.”

To Gail who was begging for his life, Reagan approached while wiping the blood off his sword.

Then he raised his foot and pressed it firmly against Gail’s chest.

Just as his breath was about to be cut off, Reagan spoke.

“I’m not interested in money. Tell me about your affiliation and who’s behind this assassination.”

“…”

“If you don’t talk, I’ll start cutting off your fingers one by one.”

Gail quickly racked his brain.

Judging by the ruthlessness that man called Reagan had shown so far, those words were definitely serious. If he didn’t speak up, horrific torture would surely follow.

More importantly, there was a 5th-tier covert mage beside Reagan. In this empire, no profession was more specialized in interrogation than covert mages.

So there was no avoiding a dog’s death by showing pride here.

Having finished his calculations, Gail opened his mouth.

“We are… members of ‘Claw’.”

“Claw, huh. You spent quite a bit of money. Who’s behind this?”

“The client is… Giles. Former chief researcher of the Ochre Tower.”

“Ah, that bastard?”

Reagan nodded as if he had expected as much.

“Where is that Giles fellow?”

“He was with us until recently. So he would have been watching the situation from nearby.”

“He’s probably run away by now, then.”

Tsk.

Reagan clicked his tongue.

“Should we pursue him? He couldn’t have gone far.”

“No, forget it, Sheril. Catching one person in the middle of the night is also work. And these guys might have a separate main force.”

Reagan scanned the forest once, then readjusted his grip on his sword.

“Besides, if it’s just commissioned by some mage kicked out of a tower, it doesn’t seem like it would be very dangerous. If we tell the head of the family later, it’ll be a problem that gets resolved on its own.”

“I agree with that assessment as well.”

The covert mage, Sheril, nodded.

“Well then, that’s decided.”

The conversation was over.

Reagan’s gaze fixed on Gail again.

From those indifferent eyes, Gail intuited his fate.

“W-wait! I told you everything! It was just work after all! It was because of work!”

Gail desperately looked at Renia Benheim beside him. It was a shallow calculation that perhaps the daughter of a prestigious family might show mercy.

“Reagan, why is that person looking at me?”

“He probably thinks you’ll spare him.”

“…Really? Then he guessed wrong.”

Renia frowned and placed both hands on her waist.

“Don’t be mistaken. I’m also a mage.”

“…Ha, haha.”

Gail laughed helplessly.

Thunk.

A sword was driven into his chest.

* * *

“Damn it!”

Giles cursed as he ran frantically through the forest.

When he had hired the assassin guild ‘Claw’, the word failure hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“They acted so arrogant but turned out to be a ragtag bunch!”

But when the operation actually began, the confident assassins were cut down in an instant.

The leader even spilled information freely before a blade even touched his neck.

Giles tore at his hair as he ran through the forest path.

“I spent expensive money to hire them…!”

He had emptied all his money.

And this was the result.

He had achieved nothing.

Rather, the situation had turned for the worst.

“Ha, hah, huk.”

Giles ran and fled through the forest until his breath reached his chin.

Despair began to raise its head in a corner of his heart.

What was the point of running away? Reagan had already figured out that he was behind the assassination.

If Benheim learned of this fact, Giles, who had lost even his backing of the Ochre Tower, wouldn’t be able to set foot anywhere in the empire.

“…Ah! I don’t know! I’ll just run away for now!”

If he lived quietly in hiding for the rest of his life with his remaining money, couldn’t he somehow survive?

With such hopeful assumptions in mind, Giles quickened his pace, and before long, he was able to reach the edge of the forest.

Having put this much distance between them, there was no worry of being pursued.

Just as he sat down to catch his breath, he saw someone walking toward him from the path ahead.

“Who goes there!”

The complete opposite direction.

It wouldn’t be a pursuer.

However, someone walking the forest path in the dead of night wearing a robe couldn’t be an ordinary person.

Giles raised his guard and drew up his mana, preparing to cast earth magic.

“…Hmm.”

Soon, the robed man approached and stood before Giles.

Golden hair visible between the folds of his robe.

And violet eyes that gleamed ominously.

“…Benheim.”

Giles hesitated.

That appearance was definitely Benheim bloodline.

His legs seemed to lose their strength.

“Sharp eye. However… you’re mistaken. I’m Benheim blood, but I don’t belong to Benheim.”

The man shrugged his shoulders.

“Coincidentally, I’m someone who was cast out from Benheim.”

“…What?”

“That’s right. Just like you.”

“Just like… me?”

The man grinned wickedly.

“Giles. Cast out from the Ochre Tower, I hear. Are you so bitter about it that you planned revenge against Reagan Benheim?”

The man approached right up to Giles’s face and twisted his lips as if pitying him.

‘How does he… know my identity?’

Alarm bells rang in Giles’s head.

Wariness filled him completely.

Perhaps sensing that mood, the man smiled brightly and bent down.

Crack!

Blood spurted from Giles’s chest.

Something had pierced through his heart.

It didn’t take long to realize that something was a spear made of blood.

“Guh, urgh… this is…”

Even a rotten fish has some fight left.

Giles was a 6th-circle mage.

He naturally knew about black magic that used blood as a medium.

“Bl-blood… magic…”

“Thank you for recognizing it.”

The man grinned wickedly as he thrust his hand into the hole in Giles’s chest and stirred it around. Fresh blood flowed down.

“You’re lucky. A 6th-circle mage’s blood is special. It’ll definitely make good material.”

The black mage, Markel von Benheim, let out a small sigh as he looked at Giles, who had become a cold corpse.

“On the other hand, you’re quite unlucky. To catch my eye of all people.”

Before long, a massive shadow approached from behind Markel.

It had a human form, but was a grotesquely twisted mass of flesh.

“Let’s go, Calus. It’s feeding time.”

It was Calus, modified through black magic.

“We need to get revenge on that bastard. Don’t we?”

[Grulk.]

Markel stepped away, leaving Giles’s corpse behind.

His violet eyes flashed toward the direction Giles had fled from.

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