The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 72

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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 72

“Lotus.”

A combination magic of red, blue, and white.

It was the spectral magic used by Kail, Airidd’s military commander.

I already knew its defensive power well from experiencing it firsthand.

A lotus-colored barrier unfolded.

My spectral magic, enhanced by Eclat, was fully capable of deflecting Markel’s secret technique.

Not stopping there, I pushed my body into Markel’s exposed upper torso.

“…Ugh.”

For a moment, dizziness struck me.

My consciousness was gradually returning to its original speed.

Was it because I had reached the 6th Rank?

Or was it simply because Chronos’s effects were wearing off?

‘When my consciousness fully returns to normal speed, the backlash will come too.’

Then I had to finish this somehow before that happened.

I raised my head and met Markel’s gaze. He was looking at me with a face full of shock.

“…Earlier, you were running wild as you pleased.”

Because the drug’s effects were wearing off, I could even speak haltingly.

“How about now?”

I grinned wickedly. Markel’s face turned deathly pale.

Even now that I had reached the 6th Rank, the difference in our ranks still remained, but having gotten this close, I had a slight advantage.

I was both a mage and a swordsman, and once a swordsman got close, there weren’t many options a mage could take.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Markel tried to roll his blood into a barrier form to push me away.

However, Barisada was a sword that scattered all magical concentrations. When I brought the sword forward, Markel’s blood magic crumbled helplessly.

Markel’s defenseless body was right before my eyes. But Barisada couldn’t cut people. Benheim’s treasured sword had long since fallen to the ground.

Of course, that didn’t mean I couldn’t use a sword.

———Whoosh.

I discarded Barisada and concentrated mana in my right hand.

I shaped it into a long, extended thread form and filled the blade with my mana.

Rucen’s blade formation magic.

Having reached the 6th Rank, that concentration had become even more solid.

“…Ru, Rucen!?”

Markel’s eyes widened in shock.

It was a natural reaction. The fact that I could use blade formation magic would be unknown to anyone outside the family’s inner circle.

So it was perfect for catching him off guard. I slashed Markel with the mana sword I had created.

It was shallow. In that split second, he had clumped blood together to block it.

But that was fine. While Markel was desperately defending, I was quite free. Though my body was heavy from accumulated wounds, with rune magic currently assisting my movements, that wasn’t much of a problem either.

“Grrr!”

Fear flashed across Markel’s face.

The natural enemy of mages.

The reaction mages typically showed when they heard my epithet.

“Are you finally coming to your senses?”

Memories from my previous life surfaced, and a naturally vicious smile formed.

Slash!

The next moment, I severed Markel’s left arm. Before he could even feel the pain, he stretched out his right hand to unleash blood magic, but…

——Clang.

There was no need to use Barisada; blade formation magic was sufficient to deflect it.

‘As expected, it’s a half-baked realm.’

I couldn’t tell when I was at the 5th Rank, but now that I had reached the 6th Rank, my perspective had completely changed.

That’s why I could tell.

Markel’s magic lacked the massive mountain-like stability that Steren or Kaiden had shown.

An unstable sandcastle that seemed ready to collapse at any moment, its bulk increased only by forcibly gathering others’ blood. With my current eyes, I could clearly see the sloppy gaps in Markel’s magic.

I readjusted my grip on the sword and was about to deliver the finishing blow when—

“Damn it! Calus! Help me now!”

Thud— Thud—.

At Markel’s cry, the corpse golem began charging toward us.

But I didn’t stop.

I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to plunge my sword into Markel’s body, and moreover…

Crash!

The corpse golem’s feet were bound.

A composite technique of Hagalaz (ᚺ), Uruz (ᚢ), and Isa (ᛁ).

Before I knew it, Renia had grabbed the corpse golem’s ankle with blazing eyes.

[Grrrrr!]

“Absolutely not! You can’t go!”

Renia was currently at the 5th Rank. She could use sentences linking three rune characters.

The corpse golem couldn’t dare shake off Renia’s magic.

“…Ah.”

Despair flashed across Markel’s face.

With this, there were no more obstacles.

I deeply thrust the blue-green sword into Markel’s abdomen and twisted it.

“Guhk—.”

“Why don’t you try using blood magic with your own blood? Are you scared of that too?”

I pulled the twisted hilt vertically upward. Markel’s upper body began to split apart gradually. His eyes, which had been filled with despair, became colored with pain, and further with the fear of death.

I intended to completely bisect him like this.

But faster than that, Markel’s body turned into mist.

“Tch.”

Blood Mist Transformation.

It was the very same magic Markel had used to escape from Steren two years ago.

An incredibly troublesome magic.

Even in my previous life, I had lost countless blood mages right before my eyes because of this magic.

But I had no intention of letting him escape this time either.

I quickly released the mana sword and created a new sword.

“Spear throw.”

Blade formation magic was a type of shaping magic. It didn’t necessarily have to take the form of a sword. So I created the form of a long spear.

I inscribed Kenaz (ᚲ), Tiwaz (ᛏ), and Uruz (ᚢ) on it. Finally, I added spectral magic. A three-color combination of red, yellow, and black—amber.

Since this was the finishing blow anyway, I poured all my remaining mana into it.

“…This is going to hurt a bit.”

The problem was where his main body was located.

But I could see mana cores with the naked eye.

The core of the blood mist. That was exactly where Markel’s main body was located.

“…Found you.”

Among the blood mist, I could see a grayish core moving.

As I had told Renia in my previous life, I had no talent for spear throwing.

But I absolutely had to hit the target.

I stretched my right arm, tattered to the point where bone was visible, far back and threw it toward the core.

The next moment, my vision flipped.

“—Ugh.”

Even I couldn’t overcome the backlash and was pushed far backward.

Because of that, I didn’t even have the luxury to confirm whether my spear had hit Markel.

I rolled on the ground and lay sprawled on my back. The night sky was visible.

“Reagan…!”

Renia came running frantically. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

“What about the corpse golem…?”

“Sheril is dealing with it. And how is that important right now! Look at the state you’re in!”

Renia shouted angrily. Her voice was trembling desperately.

“What do I do, Reagan… The bleeding won’t stop! What do I do, please snap out of it!”

I could understand Renia’s reaction.

Right now, I was completely battered.

There was a huge hole in the top of my foot, and flesh was hanging raggedly from my arm. Though I had avoided vital spots, I had taken bloody wounds all over my body, and most importantly, the backlash from Chronos was about to hit me soon.

“Ptui.”

When I spat something from my throat, it was a black clot of blood.

“Heh.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I might really die.”

“You won’t die! And don’t laugh! This isn’t something to laugh about!”

Renia was actually shedding tears as she kept stroking my blood-covered cheek.

“Renia, don’t worry. I know too. I won’t die. I’ve had worse injuries than this…”

Hmm.

…Have I ever had worse injuries?

I wasn’t sure.

My mind was too hazy to have the luxury of searching my memories.

“That aside… Renia, I have one favor to ask.”

“Uh, uhuh? What favor? It’s not your last words, is it? If you say it’s your last words, I’ll really kill you and die with you!”

“Just… please don’t touch me. It hurts more when you keep shaking me.”

“Ah.”

Renia hurriedly removed her hands from my body.

She wasn’t wrong – it really hurt enough to kill me.

Since my consciousness was accelerated, I was feeling even the pain completely, making the sensation of my insides burning even more vivid. Most of all, the cold chill of the north was seeping into my wounds that had lost their fighting spirit, making drowsiness pour over me.

“Sorry, just let me… close my eyes for a bit.”

“Reagan! You can’t close your eyes now! Please! Please keep them open!”

I couldn’t help it.

I had really reached my limit.

Just before closing my eyes, I saw the multicolored aurora hanging in the night sky.

‘Indeed.’

I thought that Renia’s description of it as an angel’s curtain was quite fitting.

* * *

“Grrrgh.”

Markel let out a pained groan.

Blood mages originally couldn’t use magic with their own blood. However, blood mist transformation was the only exception they kept as a last resort.

Blood mist transformation was magic that risked the collapse of one’s physical body in the worst case.

“Hah, haah…”

That was exactly Markel’s current state.

The phrase “on the verge of death” fit him perfectly.

If that bastard Reagan’s tricolored spear thrown at the last moment hadn’t missed his core by the slightest margin, Markel would have turned to ash on the spot.

But even now, being alive wasn’t really living. His mana core had been pierced through. Moreover, due to forcibly using blood mist transformation, the energy of black magic was flowing backward throughout his body.

Furthermore, since Markel was a 7th Rank blood mage who had built up his power by scraping together others’ blood, the pain of the backflow from his core’s collapse was beyond imagination.

“Damn it, damn it…”

Markel cursed as he increased his speed as much as possible.

He couldn’t die like this.

There were plenty of ways to survive.

‘If I use black magic…’

Right.

If he learned more black magic, he could somehow prolong his life.

Dragging his completely dying body, Markel headed south, continuously south.

After traveling like that for about half a day.

Markel, who had become a mist of blood, found himself at someone’s feet.

When he raised his head, a man in white uniform was looking down at Markel.

“…Hmm.”

Black hair, red eyes.

There was no way Markel could fail to recognize that face.

“Demian… Lord Carius…”

Markel exhaled a breath mixed with blood as he grabbed Demian’s trouser leg.

“De, Demian sir… please save… me…”

Even in his terrible pain, Markel felt relieved.

He had met Demian, who was at the pinnacle among black mages. He was confident that he could somehow save his life now.

“Oh my, so you were defeated despite all the support we provided?”

“…It wasn’t defeat… it was just…”

“No. I saw everything. Since I personally modified Calus, I could easily share his vision. It was truly an interesting battle.”

Demian placed his hand on his chin and showed an amused smile.

“Well now. Even I am quite surprised this time. To reach 6th Rank in the middle of battle. Moreover, did he master blade magic in addition to spectral magic? Indeed, there were rumors during the last council that a mage from Rucen was wandering the alleys…”

“…Excuse me, Lord Demian?”

“Truly, Benheim’s son-in-law is a talent that far exceeds my expectations.”

Only then did Markel realize that the conversation was going nowhere.

Demian didn’t care about Markel at all.

“De, Lord Demian…?”

“Ah, were you still alive? Yes. Do you have anything more to say?”

“I… can still do it.”

“No. It’s fine. Markel Sirid von Benheim. I have no more expectations for you.”

“…”

Despair flashed in Markel’s eyes.

Then he realized that Demian had called his name for the first time.

“Wh, why…”

“Well, the reason I employed you was to use you as a spy within Benheim. From the moment your identity was exposed, you lost your value to me, Markel. Rather, you should be grateful that I shared my precious secret arts with trash like you until now.”

“…Ah.”

“Is that all you have to say at the end? I don’t want to have my tail stepped on either.”

“No, don’t…”

That was the end of Markel’s memory.

It was because Demian crushed his head with his heel.

When blood splattered on his trouser leg, he just frowned once in disgust and turned away.

“…Reagan, von Benheim…”

Demian sighed softly and looked at the sky.

The night sky with aurora came into view.

Then he took out a small hand mirror from his pocket. The eyes reflected in the mirror were curved in crescents.

“…Indeed, could he be a companion walking the same path?”

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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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