The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 262

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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 262
He quickly pressed his body against the magic tool that released the mana restraints, which had fallen from the Knight who collapsed nearby.
“I have to stop him! I’m going to complete the dark magic summoning circle!”
I hurried to move my mana.
The Mage King must have also remembered his forgotten past through the power of the Dragon God.
And from that past, he….
Forcibly stole the formula of the dark magic summoning circle from me.
“Thank you, my ‘Seventh’.”
“Damn it!”
Father reacted faster than my mana and hurled his sword, but the Mage King blocked it using the surrounding Knight as a shield.
Rumble, crash!
The sky shrieked again as if in fury, and a blood-stained magic circle emerged on the earth.
“Hahahaha! You can never defeat me, Leviathan!”
Behind the Mage King, laughing like a madman, a pitch-black void materialized.
The empty space tore open wide, and dark creatures began pouring out from the fissure.
“Stop them!”
From above my head, behind the Castle Walls, from the thickets, from beneath the earth.
The flying dark creatures flew endlessly toward the Continent.
“I shall become the ruler of this world.”
The Mage King spoke with eyes stained black.
“Take Rubian and flee at once!”
Father and Kalid fought at the front against the dark creatures surging like waves. Dozens of high-tier monsters fell with each sword strike, but there were far too many.
Hazel and Mother, who had been guarding the perimeter, joined the battle. Knights rushed over from afar.
At this rate, not just this place but the entire Continent would become a battlefield.
“Hahahaha! I shall display my majesty upon this land once more!”
‘Hm….’
This was strange.
Clearly this was a crisis situation, and the surroundings were descending into chaos, yet why did my heart feel so calm?
‘And I’m curious why the final moments of villains always involve maniacal laughter….’
Even his dialogue was tacky.
I fidgeted with my wrist while thinking.
“Ah, so he’s just pretending to be strong.”
Then in an instant, I drew a teleportation magic circle and approached right before the Mage King’s nose.
“Rubian!”
Kalid and my family rushed forward while confronting the surging monsters.
But at that moment, the Mage King swept his hand, creating a transparent barrier that separated the outside space from where I stood.
“You’ve come, my ‘Seventh’.”
He welcomed me with both arms spread wide.
‘That’s right…. Now that I think about it, revenge is a solo affair.’
This was not something to entrust to anyone else.
“Father… wait, no.”
A title I had been conditioned to use since early childhood.
But I now understood perfectly well that my father was simply the Empire’s hero—incredibly powerful and devastatingly handsome from the very beginning.
I smiled faintly.
“Long time no see, you worthless garbage. Since oxygen is too precious to waste, could you hold your breath for just three hours?”
The Mage King, beginning to be consumed by dark magic, sneered at me.
‘I need to close that door before he becomes completely uncontrollable.’
I stared at the pitch-black portal, thinking.
“How arrogant. Do you really think you can stand against me alone?”
“No, three hundred years.”
You know, I think I’ve misunderstood the genre again.
“This isn’t a reincarnation story or a regression story…”
I muttered indifferently and tore off the watch on my wrist that I had been fiddling with. The watch I had imbued with magical power to stop the mark’s progression.
“What…?”
“It seems it was a revenge story.”
The moment the Mage King reached toward me, wind swept past with a whoosh.
And with it, the mark expanded.
“Ugh.”
My legs buckled under the sudden, overwhelming pain of the mark’s growth.
I watched the Mage King’s bewildered expression while gasping, clutching my abdomen.
“What… are you… doing?”
Knowledge is not singular.
When one learns a piece of knowledge, it naturally intertwines with other knowledge and branches out, connecting to yet more knowledge.
Like a tree with countless interconnected branches.
I had learned the method to break down marks, and through this, I naturally gained mastery over mark magic in its entirety.
And how to reverse its application as well.
“It’s applicable…”
Lying face-down on the ground, I moved my own mark myself.
A blue magical wind rose, causing my clothes and hair to flutter wildly.
“You should regret ever marking me.”
The Mage King’s eyes widened enormously.
“The Mage King controls mages by transferring his own power into their marks.”
In other words, if I wasn’t being controlled, those marks became a means to steal his power.
“Such a foolish act…!”
“I will… become a master of marks…”
“Grrrrgh. No…!”
“…!”
The direction of power reversed.
An incredibly violent and filthy force was sucked into my body.
As the magical power maintaining the spell circle transferred to me, the cracks hovering in the air gradually began to shrink.
‘Until it closes completely…!’
“Cough!”
Of course, the Mage King’s mana was tainted, so there were limits to how much my body could absorb.
Still, I did not stop, draining his power.
Through the brand he had carved into me.
Every ounce of the strength he had taken such pride in.
“No, Rubian!”
From afar, I heard Father’s voice, consumed by madness as he toppled dark creatures and tore through barriers, rushing toward me.
And in the distance, my brothers and Grandfather had already arrived….
I split my blood-stained lips into a wide grin.
The Mage King attempted to flee through teleportation magic, but I crawled forward and seized his ankle firmly.
“I won’t let go.”
The Mage King thrashed, trying to trample my back.
But my mana moved faster.
I….
Had actually intended to yield vengeance to Mother and Father. If their resentment could be resolved that way, that would have been enough.
But I too harbored no small grudge against him. I had occasionally imagined how I would take revenge on the Mage King.
The conclusion was, well.
Quite elegant.
“…!”
An unfamiliar magic circle blazed across the Mage King’s face. It was likely possible because I had drained most of his mana.
And on his forehead.
“…Stop. Stop—! Aaaaagh—!”
Sizzle, sizzle—
Something began to be carved rapidly.
“Blood demands blood….”
A brand for a brand.
“Let go! Let go—!”
“…Wow, long live our family motto.”
Sssssizzle—
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
I wiped my lips and staggered to my feet.
Then, gazing at the brand carved upon his forehead, I commanded.
“Mage King.”
“…!”
“In the most agonizing and cruel manner you can conceive….”
His eyes widened enormously.
“Die.”
The brand flared brilliantly. His brand blazed with light.
No matter how I tried, I could not fathom the Mage King’s malice, and that was a realm even my vivid imagination could not penetrate.
So then.
‘Walk into the hell you chose for yourself.’
“Aaaahhh-!”
It was a method that left not even a corpse behind.
The transparent barrier that had enveloped us vanished.
The Mage King threw himself onto Father’s blade of his own accord, piercing his own body, then was devoured down to the very last cell and shred of soul by the dark creatures I had summoned.
One dark creature swallowed the one that had consumed him, and another dark creature swallowed that one in turn….
In the end, Kalid cut down even that final dark creature without hesitation, so perhaps he was the one who truly dealt the final blow.
I etched that final moment clearly into my eyes.
And now, what remained was….
“Cough—”
“Rubian!”
I writhed in agony, my heart being torn to shreds.
Father rushed over and hastily pulled me into his embrace.
“Rubian, Rubian!”
I had never seen Father in such a panic. His dark brows were crumpled in disarray, and his large hands endlessly caressed my blood-stained cheek.
“Rubian, my daughter…. Please. No.”
My family, their faces drained of all color, came rushing over together.
‘I want to tell them not to worry, that I’m fine….’
But only black blood poured from my lips, and no words would come.
‘Like this…. I’ll have to exist as a lump again for a while.’
There’s no helping it.
What dwelled in my core was the Mage King’s corrupted mana.
I cannot live while carrying this.
‘I have to destroy my core.’
If my core disappears, I may no longer be able to live as a mage.
But was the word “mage” truly the only thing that defined me?
Now I have a name, a family, a home to return to, friends, a teacher, and even someone I care for.
‘Besides, even without a core, I won’t lose my life….’
And while uncertain, it’s not as though there’s no path forward at all.
‘But….’
One thing was certain.
I had to bid farewell to my power now.
‘I’m sorry, Wizeria.’
I closed my eyes.
‘I can no longer be with you. From this moment on, I’m going to shatter my mana core.’
It’s fine. Wasn’t this what I was always planning to do anyway?
‘That’s right. That’s why I studied magic circles so diligently….’
Now I would once again be left waiting indefinitely…. Ah.
At that moment, Wizeria let out an exclamation, as if she had discovered something. A small, tiny fragment of black power that seemed to be nothing but a trace now.
…As I suspected, there’s still a bit of it lingering nearby. I can’t help it. I’ll have to bring that power to Wistal.
‘That’s just…. It means it will disappear forever along with the Dragon God’s power.’
That was what Wistal desired as well.
‘Dying together?’
Existing together eternally.
An incredibly brilliant light flashed across the sky.
The moment I shattered the core with a sharp crack.
The dark mana scattered in an instant, and from my body poured forth a light that was infinitely warm and gentle—radiant as the sun itself.
That luminescence slowly expanded, transforming into the shape of a tree with beautiful branches and golden leaves.
The remaining Dragon God’s power approached as if it had been waiting, enveloping it in protection.
The World Tree.
A dragon ascending to the heavens while cradling it.
The celestial seal inscribed in the sky bore exactly that image.
It’s been fun, Rubian.
My sea of wisdom bid me farewell.
‘Yeah. Thanks for everything, Wizeria.’
The power of Wizeria, who sent me to the modern era and protected me, who guided me so I wouldn’t lose my way even after returning here—her wisdom, or in other words….
The Goddess’s blessing.
I’m not sure how it came to dwell within me.
In this brief time, I hope it was joyful.
Goodbye.
I embraced her tightly in my heart, then sent a parting kiss brimming with tenderness.
Goodbye.
Farewell.

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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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