The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 99

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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 99

The innermost depths of the Shadow Tower.

The Tower Lord’s chamber.

Arania Morian Shaydi sat before her vanity, quietly gazing at the face in the mirror.

Beautiful features. A face so young and vibrant that it was impossible to believe she had long passed the age of seventy.

It was only natural.

This wasn’t Arania’s own body, but flesh stolen from another.

However….

“As expected, this body won’t last much longer.”

Signs of vitality fading could be seen in various spots on the skin reflected in the mirror. Looking closely, there were even areas where the flesh was cracking.

Though cleverly hidden with makeup, the forbidden art of body theft didn’t guarantee eternal immortality.

“…A year at most, I suppose.”

Ultimately, to reduce side effects, she had to take a body whose soul wavelength matched best. Usually, blood-related children were used as mediums, but Arania had lived her entire life unmarried, making that impossible.

That was why Arania had adopted so many girls over the years.

By gathering them indiscriminately, there was bound to be a gem among the stones, and she had been repeating this body-switching process for decades now.

And finally.

“…I’ve reclaimed the gem among gems.”

Arania wore a satisfied smile as she thought of Lashelle Shady, who had returned to the Shadow Tower of her own accord.

A genius who reached the 5th Circle at the mere age of eighteen.

Compared to ordinary magic, dark magic had a complex structure that made advancing in mastery difficult.

In that sense, Lashelle’s talent far exceeded Arania’s expectations. Even her soul wavelength was more perfect than any child she had ever seen.

The most perfect vessel of all.

‘Well… originally, I should have switched to this body ten years ago….’

Letting her wander for ten years was a painful mistake. Who would have thought she’d crawl into the shadow of that Benheim.

Well, she had ultimately fallen into her grasp, so it didn’t matter.

With Lashelle, even a twenty-eight-year-old body was more than satisfactory from Arania’s perspective.

‘The ritual is already at hand.’

The ritual would take place tomorrow at dawn on the day of the lunar eclipse.

In other words, it would all be over in half a day from now.

It was somewhat puzzling that Jeonon Sierik, who had gone to obtain the ritual catalyst, hadn’t returned even after a full day. Well, she wasn’t concerned. Leading his aged body to the distant black market and back could naturally cause some delay.

What was more crucial was….

‘…the case where that girl sees Elisia and rebels.’

That didn’t matter either. Lashelle’s personal will or emotions would have no effect on the ritual whatsoever. She could just knock her unconscious and proceed.

She was only worried about scratching the body while suppressing any resistance.

Arania wore a satisfied smile as she applied more makeup to her cracked skin.

That was when it happened.

Clatter!

The door opened, and Vera, daughter of the shadows, burst in frantically.

“…Vera, if you’re going to enter this mother’s room… shouldn’t you knock first.”

When Arania glared sharply and asked coldly, Vera’s face turned pale as she hurriedly dropped to one knee.

“I’m, I’m sorry! But… there’s something urgent I need to report….”

“What. Did Lashelle escape or something?”

“…N-no. That’s not it.”

For Arania right now, the only urgent matter was the succession ritual.

When she gestured with obvious displeasure, Vera carefully opened her mouth.

“It’s… guests have come to the Shadow Tower.”

“Guests?”

Visitors to the Shadow Tower were uncommon.

Commissions were also typically received through guild branches spread like cells throughout various regions, so cases of people coming directly to the tower’s headquarters were almost nonexistent.

Which meant….

‘Demian?’

No. Demian was a thoroughly meticulous person.

In a situation where there was already concern about being traced due to the Trion incident, he wouldn’t openly visit the Shadow Tower that had just been promoted to one of the Seven Great Towers.

Then who on earth had visited?

“Tsk. If they’re approaching the barrier, identify them first and ask about their business. If it’s something trivial, turn them away.”

“…Th-that’s not it, Mother.”

Vera shook her head with a troubled expression. Then she hesitantly continued.

“The… guests have broken through the barrier… and entered the inner corridors.”

“…What?”

Arania frowned.

The Shadow Tower’s barrier boasted the continent’s highest level of concealment and solidity.

Even if a decent Archmage came, they would need to struggle for at least an hour to break through the barrier….

“Who exactly broke through the barrier to visit?”

“…The Lord of the Thorn Tower and the Lord of the Amber Tower. And… Benheim’s son-in-law.”

“….”

Arania’s eyes widened greatly.

* * *

The inner corridors of the Shadow Tower.

The covert mages turned pale as if they had encountered ghosts, their gazes stolen by us who had boldly walked in through the main entrance.

“…Doesn’t this tower welcome guests when they arrive?”

Unable to bear it any longer, I casually threw out a comment, and one of the covert mages who appeared to be an elder cautiously approached and asked.

“…H-how exactly did the three of you enter?”

“Well, we walked in.”

“Th-that’s not what I meant….”

The covert mage frowned and pointed toward the entrance we had come through. Before he could continue, I spoke first.

“The barrier? We just broke through it.”

“…Pardon?”

Well, it was understandable to be surprised.

Though it wasn’t quite at the level of the Mist Valley barrier that had used barrier stones, the Shadow Tower’s defensive barrier was no ordinary level either.

However, they had the wrong opponent.

To my eyes, having seen Arcamen’s ‘Mechanism,’ it merely looked like tangled thread.

“Well, you probably put some effort into making that barrier, but from now on, you should remove aggressive protective measures like automatic defense barriers. Now that you’ve become one of the Seven Great Towers, isn’t it time to drop the territorial behavior?”

“…Hmm.”

When I spoke mockingly, the covert mages’ expressions turned sour.

However, none dared to argue back with me.

It might be partly due to my status as Benheim’s son-in-law, but the bigger reason was the figures standing firmly on either side of me.

Amber Tower Lord Melchior Bazet.

Thorn Tower Lord Rosaline Blair.

Both were masters of the Seven Great Towers and pillars of the continent’s magical world. Would mere covert mage underlings dare to exchange words with them?

The covert mages seemed to know this fact as they whispered among themselves for a while, then after hearing whispers from an elder who came up from the lower floor, they bowed their heads deeply to us.

“We’ll escort you to the audience chamber. The Tower Lord is waiting.”

“You should have done that from the start.”

Thus, we were guided by the covert mages to the audience chamber.

In the center of the dark and modest audience chamber sat an old woman with a wrinkled face on the throne.

The Shadow Tower Lord, Arania Morian Shaydi.

“…Hmm.”

Rosaline let out a groan as soon as she confirmed Arania’s aged and shabby face.

For someone who had used the forbidden art of body theft that she had only heard about in rumors, her appearance looked far too old and pitiful.

“You’ve worked hard coming such a long way. The Lord of the Thorn Tower, the Lord of the Amber Tower, and even Benheim’s son-in-law.”

Arania offered a welcoming greeting in the characteristically hoarse voice of an elderly person. Her dim eyes swept over the two tower lords.

“You appeared so suddenly, breaking through the barrier, that I thought it was an enemy attack. However, I never expected fellow comrades from the Great Mage Alliance to visit so roughly.”

“I apologize for the discourtesy of arriving without prior notice.”

Melchior nodded his head as he replied.

“However, the situation was so urgent that it couldn’t be helped. Since Benheim urgently requested assistance, this old man also hurriedly followed along.”

“Yes. I’m in the same situation, Lady Arania. Since the head of Benheim personally asked for help, I couldn’t pretend not to know.”

Rosalind also shrugged her shoulders as she chimed in.

Then Arania’s gaze turned back to me.

“So, what business brings Benheim’s son-in-law to seek out this shadowy place?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

I got straight to the point.

“Hmm… A person. By any chance, are you referring to our tower’s Young Tower Lord, Lashelle Shady?”

“No. I came here to find Sheril, Benheim’s exclusive maid.”

“…”

Arania’s brow furrowed.

“There shouldn’t be any such child here.”

“No. There is. It’s a girl who shared meals at Benheim until just a few days ago.”

“…Whatever that child’s former name was, my daughter’s name is Lashelle.”

“No. It’s Sheril.”

At my firm answer, Arania let out a chuckling laugh.

“Benheim’s son-in-law is… truly audacious.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. However, the Shadow Tower Lord herself is quite stubborn too. Perhaps it’s because of your age.”

At my words, Arania’s expression hardened.

“…Lord Reagan, perhaps it would be better to stop here. Lady Arania… please withdraw your anger as well.”

Unable to watch any longer, Melchior cleared his throat and cautiously intervened. Then Arania leaned back against her throne without hiding her displeasure and let out a sigh.

“Lashelle, no. Sheril, as you call her… is currently busy preparing for a ceremony. It’s not a situation where you can meet her just because you want to.”

“What exactly is this ceremony?”

“It’s a sacred rite of passage that has been passed down through generations in the Shadow Tower. A noble ceremony where one faces the abyss of shadows to be reborn as the next Tower Lord.”

“Ha.”

I snorted derisively.

“Stop lying already.”

“…Hmm. What are you trying to say?”

“I heard everything from Xenon Sierik.”

“…”

“The forbidden art of body theft. The Shadow Tower’s succession ceremony is ultimately a forbidden magical ritual for you, old and decrepit, to transfer into a young body, isn’t it?”

In an instant, the air in the audience chamber froze.

Arania stared at me intently. I didn’t avoid her gaze and met her eyes directly. After a moment, Arania slowly opened her mouth.

“Jeonon… said such nonsense?”

“Yes. Well, he spilled everything quite smoothly.”

“Where is he now?”

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is the true nature of the succession ceremony. If it becomes known that a Tower Lord of the Seven Great Towers has been committing forbidden acts for decades…”

I smirked and shrugged my shoulders.

“My, my… the Empire would be in an uproar. What do you think?”

“Do you have evidence?”

“Evidence?”

“Yes. If you slander the Seven Great Towers based on mere ramblings of an elder, the backlash will be entirely Benheim’s to bear.”

Instead of answering, I raised my finger and pointed at Arania’s face.

More precisely, toward the real face hidden behind that mask.

“Your hideous true face would be the evidence.”

“…What did you say?”

“When meeting someone, isn’t it proper etiquette to show your real face first?”

At my words, even Melchior and Rosalind standing on either side of me frowned. They looked like they had no idea what I was talking about.

And rightfully so, since from any angle, the Arania before us appeared to be an old woman.

However.

“Ahahahahaha!”

As soon as Arania heard my words, she suddenly burst into loud laughter.

Gone was the aged and murky voice from moments before, and what filled the audience chamber was the clear, bright laughter of a young woman.

Rosalind flinched at the sudden temperature change, and then Arania tilted her head. She then smiled a chilling smile.

“I never thought I’d be seen through. And by a mere youngster whose head isn’t even dry yet, not by the other two Tower Lords.”

When Arania spoke again, her voice had completely become that of a young woman.

“How did you know, little one?”

“How this, how that – I suffered trying to pretend not to see what was plainly visible.”

The mask Arania wore was ultimately a product of magic.

As such, I could see right through to what was inside with my naked eyes.

“Above all, it’s not like you people using face-changing magic is a recent thing. Ah, the covert mages call it reverse transformation, don’t they?”

I stood up from my seat and shot back like stabbing with a dagger.

“If you were so desperate to live young that you exploited children young enough to be your granddaughters and stole their shells, at least show yourself proudly. Seeing you hide it, I guess you do know it’s shameful behavior.”

“…”

“Looking at you, it seems the stolen body is slowly reaching its end and rotting away. Seeing how you urgently brought Sheril to change bodies. That’s… more like a parasite’s ecology than a human’s, isn’t it?”

At my provocative words, Arania’s face began to crumble.

No, it was physically falling apart.

Slowly.

The wrinkled old woman’s skin disappeared as if flowing away, revealing the pure and beautiful face of a woman that had been hidden inside.

Her bent back straightened, and her dry, faded white hair returned to lustrous black locks.

“Honestly… I’m surprised. That keen eye of yours isn’t bad. No, it’s excellent.”

Finally revealing her true form, Arania rose from her throne, and as Melchior and Rosalind drew out their mana, Arania exhaled softly and glared at me.

An overwhelming killing intent worthy of a 7th Rank Archmage pressed down on the entire audience chamber. Arania brushed her pale lips with her thumb and spoke to me.

“…You, haven’t you heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat?”

“That’s unfortunate. I’m more of a tiger than a cat.”

“Your mouth is the only thing alive about you.”

Swoosh.

Dark shadows spread out like waves from beneath the throne.

Rumble rumble rumble.

Immediately after, everything around began to shake.

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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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