The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 85
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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 85
At some point.
Arno had been caught in a feeling as if he were floating through a dream.
‘This place…’
A warm and cozy sensation enveloped his entire body.
A corridor filled with bright, cheerful lighting.
Before his eyes stood his father, Steren, smiling brightly at Arno.
It wasn’t the usual stern face of the family head, but an infinitely loving and warm smile.
“I’m proud of you, Arno.”
Around them were gathered the family’s elders and branch mages.
Everyone was praising Arno in unison.
“As expected of Lord Arno! You’re overwhelming even among the heirs of the Five Renowned Mage Families!”
The sight of himself ascending to the position of Benheim’s family head with everyone’s recognition.
It was sweet and brilliant. It was the future Arno had longed for his entire life.
A perfect reality that would surely come, or rather, seemed to have already been reached.
If this were a dream, it was so blissful he would never want to wake up.
‘Ha, haha.’
Arno laughed amidst the incomparable happiness.
It was the moment he felt his own laughter sounded strangely deep.
Swoosh.
Suddenly, a peer with ash-gray hair appeared, cutting through the crowd.
It was Reagan.
“…”
And as soon as Reagan appeared, everyone’s attitude changed completely.
The branch mages and elders all turned their backs on Arno without exception.
That wasn’t all. Even his father Steren passed by Arno and approached Reagan. He placed his hand on Reagan’s shoulder and proclaimed loudly.
“From this moment on, Reagan von Benheim. You shall be the new family head who will brighten our Benheim’s future.”
Everyone cheered afterward.
Their voices were much louder and more excited than when they had praised Arno just moments before.
‘Father…?’
Arno’s heart sank with a thud.
Why would he seat a son-in-law whose origins weren’t even clear as the family head?
When he, the rightful heir, was standing right there with his eyes wide open.
Arno cautiously approached Steren. However, his father looked back at Arno with a coldly contemptuous expression.
“Father… I am…”
“Shut up.”
“…Excuse me?”
“How shameful that such a thing carries my blood. It would have been better if you had never been born.”
The elders and branch family members all glared at Arno as if he were a bug.
Even his younger sister Renia, who had been hiding behind Reagan, poked her head out and gave Arno a cold sneer.
“…”
The sweet dream had instantly transformed into a terrible nightmare.
Arno’s legs gave out and he collapsed with a thud. He looked up at Reagan, who was gazing down at him expressionlessly.
‘It’s all that bastard’s fault.’
Arno was startled by his own thoughts.
‘Why am I angry at Reagan?’
Isn’t it myself who is lacking?
Arno thought his own excuses were too petty, but…
‘No, Reagan is the one who’s wrong after all.’
That’s right.
Reagan is the bad one.
That lowborn who crawled into Benheim, took the position as his sister’s partner, and constantly blocked his path at every turn – it’s all that bastard’s fault.
If that’s the case, then Arno needs to punish him.
He must protect the position of family head.
“Die, just die! You ruined everything!”
Arno unleashed his rune magic at full power to attack Reagan.
Massive flames, ice, and physical force poured toward Reagan.
However, Reagan dodged the magic like a little mouse, weaving this way and that. Arno kept backing away while continuously firing magic, but Reagan received Arno’s magic with nothing but a single leather glove on his hand, using neither magic nor sword.
‘Wyvern leather gloves…’
The weapon Reagan had received from Valen, which boasted absolute protection against magic below the 5th tier.
Even Valen’s favor was something Arno had never received.
“Aaaaah! Why only you! Only you…!”
He poured out magic in fury.
However, Reagan scattered Arno’s magic with just a single punch.
Having approached to close range like that, Reagan struck Arno’s face without hesitation.
—Thwack.
My vision flipped upside down.
It hurts.
‘Why… does it hurt?’
Isn’t this a dream?
If it hurts, then it’s not a dream?
Thwack!
Arno, who was hit again, rolled across the floor.
He felt a warm sensation flowing down his philtrum.
A metallic taste of iron lingered on his lips.
Tasting blood, Arno’s mind cleared up slightly.
‘Come to think of it… something like this happened before…’
In his hazy consciousness, Arno traced through his memories.
A memory of a moonlit night, fighting with bare fists in the Garden.
Who did he fight with?
It was…
‘That bastard…’
Reagan, swinging his fists expressionlessly before his eyes.
Right. It was a bet over the head of house position. Back then, he was also thoroughly beaten by him.
And… what did Reagan say to me when I fell…?
– Rather than someone who sits down after being broken once, the one who gets back up even while rolling in the dirt is the one who survives in the end.
“Ah…”
Arno let out a small sigh.
Only then did all his memories become clear.
He had definitely gotten separated in the fog while participating in the festival. And while running away from the laughter…
‘After that… I have no memory.’
Not completely absent.
His memories were just fragmented, making rational thought impossible.
That means…
‘…I was caught in an illusion.’
Having finished that thought, Arno tried to open his mouth.
He wanted to tell Reagan that he was fine, that he had awakened from the illusion.
“You weren’t even invited! Don’t try to ruin my Garden!”
However, what came out of his mouth was completely different from Arno’s will.
The intonation and tone weren’t his usual self. It was an unfamiliar man’s voice.
Chills ran down his spine.
‘Right now my body… has had its control stolen by someone else.’
Arno understood the whole situation perfectly.
Someone else was using his body as if it were their own. Mocking the past, trying to break his will.
A terrible sense of disgust swept through his entire body.
He couldn’t just be controlled by that detestable bastard.
He put strength into his whole body trying to escape somehow, but it wouldn’t move according to his will.
‘Damn it…’
He had boldly followed along saying he would gain practical experience.
But what was this?
Forget gaining experience, he was just dragging others down.
He felt infinitely pathetic.
He wanted to despair like this. He wanted to give up everything and close his eyes.
– The one who gets back up even while rolling in the dirt is the one who survives in the end.
‘No…’
Arno soon denied his weak heart.
He couldn’t just sit there looking at that guy’s back again.
As Reagan said, persistence is important in all things.
The reason he couldn’t shake off the mental interference now was because his level was low.
Then…
‘I just need to break it with my own power.’
Arno no longer looked at his body moving on its own or at Reagan.
Instead, he deeply contemplated his own inner self.
Arno’s consciousness was soon glaring at a wall standing tall before his eyes.
That detestable 5th Rank Barrier.
If it were the Arno of the past, he would have been intimidated and given up before this massive wall.
Because he lacked talent, because he had less luck than others.
Excuses were always overflowing.
Before his father’s stern gaze, before his genius younger sister. And before Reagan, a monster beyond specifications, he always made excuses and ran away.
The reason the fake glory he saw in the fantasy was so sweet was ultimately because of that.
But achievements gained without effort are merely illusions.
‘…I can’t keep whining forever.’
That wall wasn’t built by someone else. It was a product of compromise that Arno himself had made.
Renia had already crossed that wall long ago. Then as her older brother, he shouldn’t remain standing here.
Crash!
Arno scraped together the remaining mana from the very depths of his soul and hurled himself against the barrier.
A crushing pressure that felt like every blood vessel in his body would burst came rushing in. Excruciating pain as if his mana circuits were burning tore through his consciousness.
However, Arno did not stop. He couldn’t just sit there pathetically collapsed. He got up from the dirt floor and continued throwing his body forward.
How much time had passed like this?
Crack.
The barrier crumbled.
At some point, Arno’s field of vision had expanded.
‘…Right.’
Arno let out a quiet laugh.
‘I’m a genius too, aren’t I.’
A little late, but steadily.
Arnaud von Benheim had climbed the hilltop.
* * *
Thud.
Suddenly, Arno’s body collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
Immediately after, Arno, who had been sprawled out, opened his eyes wide.
“Ugh…”
Arno, who groaned softly, looked at me. In those eyes, the previous madness was nowhere to be found, and his usual sharpness had returned.
The threads of mental interference magic that had bound Arno’s body like a marionette had also been severed and scattered at some point.
“Hooh…”
I hadn’t broken the brainwashing for him.
Arno had shaken it off with his own strength.
Moreover, the density of mana circulating around Arno’s entire body had become much thicker and smoother.
“…Well, this is a passing grade.”
Who would have thought he’d break through the 5th Rank Barrier while under brainwashing.
As expected, like sister, like brother.
I approached the fallen Arno and asked.
“Are you coming to your senses, little brother?”
Arno rubbed his cheek as if his face, swollen from being beaten, was stinging, then looked up at me and grimaced.
“I told you not to call me by that title.”
“Right. Congratulations on reaching the 5th rank. Little brother.”
“…Shut up.”
Arno let out a deep sigh and muttered quietly.
“From now on, I’ll climb faster than you.”
“Sure, sure. I hope you do.”
I extended my hand to Arno.
However, instead of taking the helping hand, he tried to get up with his own strength.
“Ugh.”
But his legs seemed to have given out, and Arno ended up falling on his rear again.
“It’s because you were freed from the brainwashing. It’ll be hard to move for a while.”
“…Shut up. I’m fine…”
“Or it could be because you got beaten up by me.”
When I said this teasingly, Arno let out a deep sigh.
Eventually, he grabbed my hand and barely managed to stand up. However, he couldn’t walk more than a few steps before collapsing again.
‘At this rate, he’d just be dead weight if I took him along.’
Having made my decision, I helped Arno stand up again.
Then I brushed off the dust and soot from his shoulders and said.
“Arno. I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? You’re asking me for a favor?”
“That’s right. It’s about your sister.”
“…Renia?”
I nodded and pointed toward the greenhouse.
“Renia is in the greenhouse beyond there. She’s been poisoned.”
“Poisoned!?”
Arno’s expression turned grim.
“Don’t worry. I managed to handle the situation somehow. But the poison is probably spreading through her body, so you need to go help Renia.”
While nodding, Arno looked at my face and asked cautiously.
“…Then what about you… what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean? I told you earlier.”
I drew Barisada.
“I have to go cut down the mastermind behind all this.”
* * *
After entrusting Renia to Arno, I crossed the sky bridge and headed toward the center of the Spiral Tower.
And after going down the stairs a bit, I was finally able to reach the Mana Vein.
“…Huh.”
When I first heard about the mana vein from Sheril, I had imagined a solemn underground cave where mana swirled.
However, Trion’s mana vein completely defied my expectations.
Despite being deep underground, a garden blooming with vibrant flowers spread out before me.
“…You’ve come, uninvited guest.”
And in the middle of the flower bed, there was one man sitting at a small table, sipping tea.
He was a purple-haired young man dressed neatly like a noble’s heir.
“Malik, Eleison.”
He was the new representative of the Spiral Tower, and the very person with whom I’d had a persistent bitter relationship since my previous life.
“Having tea time? What a refined hobby you have.”
Malik smiled wickedly as he lifted his teacup.
“…Would you care for a cup?”
“I’ll pass. I don’t make it a habit to consume food offered by enemies.”
“How unfortunate.”
Malik turned his chair to face me directly.
“So, what do you think?”
“About what.”
Malik spread his arms wide and grinned.
“The beautiful world I’ve created, where everyone can smile.”
“Beautiful world my ass.”
At my words, Malik’s expression turned menacing.
I raised the Barisada I held in my hand.
“I have no intention of playing along with your childish games. So…”
I swung Barisada toward Malik.
More precisely, not toward the illusion of Malik enjoying tea time, but toward the real Malik who was reaching out from behind me.
—Slash!
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Malik’s piercing scream echoed through the flower garden.
Having been cut by Barisada just as he was attempting mental interference, the mana would have backflowed and torn through his body mercilessly.
Malik, whose scheme had failed, spat blood and shouted.
“How, how! How did you notice!”
“How could I not? I’ve been fooled by it countless times.”
The memories of my previous life were vivid. Because of this bastard’s cunning illusion magic, the Resistance Army had to lose sleep every night.
However, from my perspective of being able to see mana cores with the naked eye, Malik’s crude illusions held no more value than a child’s prank.
Moreover, the current Malik was still only 6th Rank. Even the 7th Rank Malik from my previous life had pathetic power in his true form, so how much more pitiful would he be now?
“Your little game ends here.”
“Don’t come any closer!”
Malik screamed and backed away.
At the same time, his figure became blurry, and dozens of human shadows appeared from all around the flower garden, surrounding me.
They were all illusions bearing Malik’s appearance.
“I told you it’s useless.”
I drew Ecla with my left hand.
Dozens of yellow light beams shot out from the Prism.
Flash!
In an instant, all the illusions disappeared.
What remained was only one Malik, sitting collapsed in a corner of the flower garden, panting.
Malik hastily tried to deploy illusion magic, but my Barisada was faster.
“Guhk!”
Blood spurted from Malik’s mouth. I stepped on his chest and pressed down.
“This is the end.”
It was just as I was drawing Benheim’s treasured sword for the final blow.
“Heh.”
Malik, pinned under my foot, was wearing a smile that seemed ready to tear.
“Too late!”
“What?”
“Do you even know where you’re standing right now!”
Malik shouted with his bloodied mouth.
And the next moment—.
———.
An enormous amount of mana filled the garden, enough to make me think the world had turned upside down.
“Time’s up! It’s my victory!”
Malik laughed maniacally.
I too realized it intuitively.
“…This is.”
A rampage of the mana vein.
And the mana vein was under Malik’s control.
“I’ll make good use of you as a chess piece!”
Malik’s fingertips pointed toward me. The enormous amount of mana filling the garden all moved according to Malik’s will.
Flash—.
Without even a chance to resist, my vision went black.
And when I opened my eyes again, I was standing in the middle of a completely white room.
“…I’ve been had.”
I let out a deep sigh.
In the end, I had fallen into the worst possible situation.
This white room was my own mental world.
In the end, I had completely fallen victim to Malik’s mind manipulation magic.
“Still… it’s okay.”
Malik said he would use me as a chess piece. There was no reason not to use such a body as a puppet, so my body was likely still intact.
In the meantime, I had to somehow find a way to break this brainwashing.
Fortunately, I had experience from my past life of shaking off Malik’s brainwashing.
‘Usually… hallucinations would show phantoms of the people I missed most, inciting despair.’
Just as Arno had expressed his inferiority complex toward me as anger, Malik’s magic dug into others’ deficiencies and regrets.
In the past, in my case, comrades I had lost meaninglessly on the battlefield appeared to resent and blame me.
So who would it be this time?
—Click-clack, click-clack.
The sound of footsteps broke the silence and echoed in my ears.
When I slowly turned my head, at the edge of my vision stood a woman wearing anachronistic witch attire.
“…Indeed.”
Malik’s phantoms projected the person one missed most.
The person I missed most in this life was naturally…
“It’s been a while, Reagan.”
“Renia.”
Lyrnia Erahan von Benheim.
However, the figure before my eyes now was not the young Renia who had been by my side until recently.
“Indeed it has.”
The twenty-six-year-old Renia who had shared her final moments with me.
She was looking at me and smiling.
“Really… it’s been so long.”
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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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