The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 243

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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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Chapter 243
Ch. 25
Arcadia Royal Palace.
“So that’s what it was.”
The Mage King cried out, intoxicated with exhilaration.
“That’s it!”
Inside a darkened laboratory.
He embraced the dead mages without hesitation, blood pouring from his lips.
“Prepare the test subjects. I must conduct one final verification!”
The experiment of injecting blood extracted from dark creatures into mages—a task once performed by First, now continued by the Mage King himself. He revised the magical formations with frenzied intensity.
Just a little more.
It seemed as though just a little more would suffice.
“I regret to inform you, but there are no living subjects remaining.”
“Tsk! Then simply bring some from outside the castle.”
“…Understood.”
The Mage King read the magical formations carved into the wall with an excited expression. He then extracted blood samples from the dead mages and placed them into small glass vials.
Though only partial, observable changes in properties were detected in human blood mixed with creature blood—the aura of dark magic that seemed to writhe and await its leap.
The Mage King smiled, revealing his teeth.
Human blood and creature blood possessed natures too different to mingle. It was nearly a matter of human magic being unable to withstand it.
But what if…
‘If the blood were stronger than that of a creature.’
In other words, what if it were his own blood—he who possessed the most formidable magical power among all mages.
“In the end… this stage was prepared for me.”
All of this, that is.
His eyes, gleaming with madness, flashed with intensity.
“If I myself become dark magic itself without summoning a Dark Mage, then it all ends.”
He was seized by fierce conviction. The summit was near.
“Any contact from First?”
“Not yet.”
Tsk, he clicked his tongue in displeasure.
Seventh had not revealed herself at the Northern Coast.
‘But I am certain she is somewhere in this Arcadia.’
When I concentrated, I could sense the faint mark of Seventh. Yet strangely, her location could not be pinpointed.
“Benjamin surely cast a nullification spell… Why is this.”
The Mage King transferred his magic to Benjamin’s mark and glimpsed his memories.
Benjamin had approached Seventh in secret, cast a nullification spell upon her, and also handed her an automatic navigation magical artifact with northern coordinates marked upon it.
The mark had grown, and the face of Seventh—fearful, saying she would “return”—was vivid in his mind.
‘As expected, problems arise when one recycles garbage that should have been discarded long ago.’
At that moment, First returned and approached swiftly.
As if he had heard the Mage King’s muttering in that brief interval, he spoke rapidly.
“It’s possible that illusion magic has been cast on Benjamin’s memories themselves.”
“Illusion magic?”
“There’s also the possibility of memory manipulation.”
“That would mean….”
“I apologize for speaking so bluntly, Father.”
First asked decisively.
“Could there be a problem with the mark?”
What?
“The marks on the mages in the village near Southern Temple. Can you feel them?”
The Mage King’s brow furrowed. He swiftly channeled his mana.
There was nothing.
Remarkably, he felt absolutely nothing.
“My…. My mages….”
First clenched his fists upon reading the King’s expression.
“I suspected as much…. So Benjamin did have the southern coordinates after all.”
“Send people to the south at once!”
“Of course, Father. It would be best if you completed the dark magic immediately.”
The Mage King’s expression transformed terrifyingly. His corrupted mana swirled violently, extending outward like thorns.
First opened a chest placed in one corner of the laboratory and gathered several demon stones.
“I shall take the senior mages of Ostavia and search the south thoroughly.”
The Mage King, grinding his teeth, thought calmly.
‘Could it be that he’s discovered a way to break the mark?’
No, that couldn’t be.
How could Seventh, who had been in Babylon all this time, obtain information about the mark hidden in the deepest reaches of the Arcadia Royal Palace?
Moreover.
‘If by any chance he truly completed the breaking formation, Seventh would naturally have erased his own mark first.’
Seventh’s traces remained. Therefore, he couldn’t have solved the mark problem.
He observed First, who was visibly anxious, and thought.
‘It seems he’s trying to deceive me by pretending to have removed the mark, causing me to lose my composure.’
Perhaps he had somehow extracted the southern coordinates from Benjamin, manipulated his memories to make him file a false report, and then killed him to prevent the mark from being traced.
‘How foolish.’
The Mage King’s eyes gleamed menacingly as he hastily devised his next strategy.
‘If Seventh, who hasn’t been affected by the nullification magic, is here.’
He surely wouldn’t be alone. There was a high possibility that Leviathan, who had escaped the cave, was here with him as well.
“Yes…. In that case, I should eliminate all these thorns right here.”
This was the land of mages.
He was the one who had invaded my home without permission. Wasn’t it true that siege warfare was always the most troublesome and complicated form of battle?
The Mage King lifted his head.
“Go at once. Seventh can live with a missing limb or two. Kill everyone else.”
The moment First vanished from sight, the Mage King immediately headed toward the very top of the research tower.
He held the blood sample of the dark creature and without hesitation drove the needle into his own forearm. This would be the last time.
‘That child’s wisdom from Wizeria is not something I can afford to lose.’
But if I cannot possess it, then complete annihilation is the only path forward.
Nothing must stand as an obstacle in the new world I am about to unfold.
I could not fathom why a child bearing such power had been born to a Duke and his wife who were not even mages.
“Come to me, my child.”
Black blood flowed swiftly through his veins.
“I will steal even your soul once more.”
At that very moment, a mage approached First, who was rapidly drawing a teleportation circle, and asked a question.
“What shall we do about the plan to invade Babylon?”
First paused in thought before responding.
“Send the portion of troops we designated as planned, and have them assess the situation.”
I recalled the staggering number of mages that had accumulated over these past eight years and the artificial warriors they had created with their immense magical power.
We had sufficient forces for battle.
Moreover, if Leviathan truly was here, there could be no better opportunity to conquer the Empire.
“However… since we cannot know when we might need to commit our full strength to this place, send the combat mages with caution. Have them focus solely on connecting portals across the entire Continent.”
“Understood.”
“Well, the Emperor of Babylon has no idea he’ll be ambushed like this, so even a small force should prove devastating.”
The Mage King would ultimately complete the dark magic.
So the mages we had infiltrated throughout the Continent need only create as many fractures as possible and hold their ground.
There was no turning back now. I would kill every last intruder, and I would plant the banner of the Mage Kingdom upon that vaunted Continent.
“Then first…”
I should go capture that damned youngest one.
First’s teleportation circle flashed brilliantly.
* * *
“Ah…”
The Emperor stood gazing toward the distant horizon. In autumn, it transformed into waves of gold—the plains near the Capital that he loved so dearly.
“Emperor, when will you stop?”
“It seems you would stop sooner if you ceased that question.”
“I’m exhausted. Another war? I must hand the throne to my successor quickly. There’s no other way.”
The Attendant then coughed loudly.
“You who once devoted yourself solely to protecting the throne—why do you speak thus now?”
“I wonder. As I observe it all, I grow more aware with each passing year that it amounts to little.”
“Your Majesty…”
“I suppose I’m growing old. I wish to abandon it all and travel leisurely without care.”
“How carefree your words are!”
He had spoken to the Attendant, but the response came from an entirely different direction.
“Ballock? When on earth did you…”
“Quickly, move at once! Do you know how many of our young ones are in that land?”
The Emperor nearly asked whether Ballock’s ‘young ones’ included Leviathan, but he refrained.
Regardless, why was someone supposedly in the Southern Region here of all places?
The Emperor scratched his brow with an “ah.”
“In all of Babylon’s history, the Gate Portal has never been activated to this degree. I merely turned a blind eye to one adorable little mage, yet somehow it’s come to this…”
“If you do not hurry within three seconds, I will sling you over my shoulder and carry you myself. The mages reported that suspicious magical energy is approaching the Babylon Southwest Waters!”
“Did you visually confirm the boat?”
“No!”
Ballock shouted with confidence.
“Hmm. Then you’re telling me they’ve dragged some sort of war chariot through the seabed…”
At the Emperor’s murmur, Ballock shot him a piercing glare. The Emperor chuckled softly.
“Compose yourself, Duke.”
“Based on what the young mages hiding in the Southern Region have reported, the Mage King intends to send combat mages to attack Babylon. He’ll believe he can seize dark magic soon, so he’s planning to lay waste to the Continent first.”
Rubian’s earnest voice echoed in my mind.
In other words, Babylon was now facing the threat of a surprise attack.
Of course, since we’d already prepared countermeasures in advance, whether it could truly be called a surprise was questionable.

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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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