LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 671
“Ugh! This brat!”
Zico raised both hands high. Well, he was also a 4th Circle Black Mage.
If it were another territory, he would surely qualify as an exclusive mage. He had no intention of just sitting here and taking it.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a blast of black energy shot from Zico’s hands, striking Ghislaine’s face. The black energy flared up, spreading wildly around.
People gasped at the sight.
“The mage is in trouble!”
“Help him!”
“Surround the area!”
People shouted in chaos. The three companions rushed in, drawing their swords.
“Hah! You cocky little punk! How’s it tasting? A mage trying to brawl like this?”
Zico laughed boisterously, thinking Ghislaine had suffered a fatal wound.
But suddenly, his body wouldn’t move. The opponent’s grip was still tightly holding his neck.
As the black smoke dissipated, Ghislaine’s face reappeared—unscathed.
Zico’s eyes widened in disbelief at the unexpected turn of events.
“H-how?”
To take a direct hit from magic and still be fine! He’d never heard of such a sturdy mage!
With a deadpan expression, Ghislaine raised his fist.
“Because of you, I’ve become a criminal in history.”
“Wha—?”
Zico clearly didn’t understand what that meant. How could he throw around words like “history” so grandly?
Regardless of Zico’s confusion, Ghislaine brought his fist crashing down on his face.
Bang!
“Gah!”
In an instant, Zico’s face was smashed in. Thankfully, Ghislaine had moderated his strength, so he didn’t die immediately.
After one punch, Ghislaine’s rage didn’t subside. He continued to strike Zico, just enough to keep him alive.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Gah! Cough! Wait a minute!”
As a chimera, Zico didn’t feel pain like a normal person. Being a living creature, he had sensations and nerves.
Only parts that were augmented or sustained by magic tended not to feel pain.
But getting hit by Ghislaine’s magically-imbued fists was extremely painful for Zico.
Thud! Thud! Bang!
“Ugh!”
People who had been rushing over suddenly stopped. It was too shocking to see Ghislaine effortlessly pounding Zico.
It was quite a refreshing scene.
“D-do mages fight with their fists now?”
“He definitely conjured fireballs just a moment ago…”
“Looks like he’s a mage who can fight too.”
While Ghislaine had gained the ability to use magic, he still felt more comfortable fighting with his body. Plus, it was more reliable.
Magic was merely a means to diversify fighting methods and enhance convenience.
Having turned Zico’s face into a rag, Ghislaine finally paused his assault.
“Now, shall we have a little chat?”
“Ugh… uh…”
“What’s the reason behind all this?”
“Pfft… kill me…”
“You’ve got some spirit for a mage.”
Regular mages were usually weak to pain. They’d spill everything with just a little beating.
But Zico was a black mage. Knowing he was going to die, he tried to hold on to the bitter end.
He knew that was the best way to infuriate his opponent.
Yet Ghislaine had dealt with such stubborn types many times before.
“Alright, let’s get a bit more serious.”
As Ghislaine reached out, a knight’s sword at a nearby waist got sucked into his hand.
Crack!
In an instant, the sword shattered, sending sharp fragments flying.
Ghislaine was quite experienced in torture. He had often used such methods when interrogating the Duke’s subordinates in his past life.
After returning to this life, he had also briefly employed such techniques against those who tried to kill Elena.
“I like to consider this an art form.”
With rapid, lightning-like movements, Ghislaine sent shards from the sword fragment into various parts of Zico’s body.
“Gaaah!”
Zico screamed.
Though he was a chimera who could withstand considerable tortures, he felt an overwhelming wave of pain throughout his body.
It seemed those shards had found their way into areas packed with nerves.
“Ugh, wait a sec…”
The agonizing pain almost made Zico lose his sanity.
Mages typically had weak mental fortitude. Especially black mages, who took pleasure in others’ suffering, were even weaker.
Zico had merely acted bravely because he was a chimera.
As Ghislaine looked down on the trembling Zico, he smiled.
“This is enough, but since we’ve started, let’s try something else.”
Ghislaine’s hands moved quickly again. The shards dug even deeper, inflicting more pain to Zico.
Graaah!
Zico shook and screamed. It felt like his mind was collapsing under the torment.
In that moment, Ghislaine grabbed Zico’s shattered jaw and stared into his eyes.
“Look into my eyes.”
Shing—!
Suddenly, Ghislaine’s pupils glowed a deep purple. Seeing that light, Zico’s eyes began to turn the same color.
Soon, Zico’s expression became blank. It seemed he had forgotten the pain.
Ghislaine whispered softly,
“We’re very close friends, right? No secrets between us, correct?”
“Th-that’s right… best buddies…”
Surprisingly, Zico fell victim to mind control. Ghislaine had strikingly taken advantage of Zico’s mental breakdown from the pain.
This made it much easier to cast spells for mind control. Though Ghislaine couldn’t maintain it for long, it was enough to gather a few truths.
“Buddy, why are you here?”
“On the master’s orders… to take over this territory…”
“To take over the territory? How were you planning to do that?”
A black mage wasn’t even a noble. There was no justification for claiming a territory.
No matter how chaotic the times were, if it got out that a black mage dared to take ownership of a territory, nearby territories and the kingdom wouldn’t sit idly by.
But the black mage had his own plans.
“If this extermination fails… the master will disguise as a mage… infiltrate… and gradually dominate the lord’s mind…”
“What about the already infamous extermination?”
“I’ll disguise as the master and make it look like the master eliminated me… That way, I can slowly build trust with the lord…”
Zico was spilling their plans without hesitation.
To Ghislaine, it sounded like a good plan. If successful, they could buy the lord’s trust and gradually take over the territory.
“What’s the goal? Did you want to become a lord, despite being a black mage?”
“I-I don’t know… I just do what the master tells me…”
“Do you have any guesses?”
“None… after all… mages are fickle beings…”
“Think. Even a tiny clue will do.”
Zico fell silent for a moment. Then he slowly began to speak again.
“A year ago… someone visited the master… After that… some time passed… and this operation began… But I can’t be sure if it’s related…”
“Who? What did they talk about?”
“I don’t know… they spoke confidentially and disappeared… I just thought… they were discussing magic…”
“Any distinguishing features?”
“They were completely cloaked… Couldn’t tell a thing… But they looked strong… Even the master couldn’t act rashly…”
“What circle is your master in?”
“6th Circle…”
At that, Andrew and the others gasped. A 6th Circle Mage could potentially be the head of a Mage Tower.
Attempting to capture him with the military strength of a small barony could lead to massive casualties.
Some mercenaries exchanged glances, seemingly wishing to terminate their contracts.
They had thought of the black mage as just a 5th Circle level.
Sure, they could deal some damage in a direct confrontation, but a solitary black mage wouldn’t fight that way.
“That guy never shows himself openly, right? He just shot spells from hiding last time…”
“If he was bold enough to fight directly, they would’ve succeeded in the extermination ages ago.”
“He’s rather sneaky for a black mage. That’s why they’ve kept failing the extermination.”
He was hiding deep in the mountains. Yet even at 5th Circle, they thought they could rush in and handle it.
But if the opponent was a 6th Circle, that changed everything. Ultimately, they’d be picked off one by one.
As the crowd began to murmur in fear, Ghislaine didn’t mind. He only continued to fire questions.
“A 6th Circle, huh? Really?”
“Yeah…”
“Does your master happen to have a lot of magic books?”
“Quite a few… but you can only see them with the master’s permission…”
“Only black magic?”
“No… there are a few other types as well…”
Mages typically have specific types of magic they specialize in based on their school. However, they generally learn all the common spells for versatility.
Vanessa, who came from the Tower of the Bloody Flame, was the same. Her focus was certainly fire magic, but she also picked up well-known spells across the board.
So it wasn’t strange for a black mage to have various magic books.
“Do you have any with you right now?”
“I have one… hidden under my bed in my quarters…”
“Good. Where’s your master hiding? Is there anyone else in their faction? Any traps?”
Ghislaine nodded with satisfaction as he continued his rapid-fire questioning.
Zico answered blankly, following Ghislaine’s lead. He revealed the master’s location, trap details, and that there were no other allies.
After gathering all the useful information, Ghislaine asked one last curious question.
“How old are you really?”
“Thirty-four…”
“…How did you manage to pull off being a kid?”
“I just… look young, I guess?”
“….”
He was under mind control. Zico was saying this wholeheartedly.
“Didn’t anyone suspect you?”
“They did, but… I used a little magic to dull their awareness… And only worked in the dump and septic tank… Didn’t really meet anyone…”
“…Got it.”
Upon hearing more details, it seemed he had come in months ago, posing as an orphan to do menial work.
Though he didn’t act quite like a kid, he spoke and worked well, but he still insisted he was young, so that probably slipped through the cracks.
With the territory in turmoil, it wasn’t easy to find workers, and being the dirty chores guy made them overlook him.
As the conversation was winding down, the purple light in Zico’s eyes faded, and his focus returned.
With Ghislaine lacking enough magic power, it became hard to maintain the spell any longer.
“Ugh! Kill me!”
Zico was feeling pain again, without realizing he had fallen under mind control.
It probably felt like just a brief moment for him.
Zico screamed desperately,
“I’m a black mage who feeds on the people’s fear! Do you really think I could live in humiliation like this? I can’t say a thing! Just kill me already!”
Ultimately, the fate of a black mage is the same wherever they go. Being tortured and then dying was a foregone conclusion.
He was already experiencing torture, wasn’t he? So for Zico, it made more sense to die now than to face even more pain.
Ghislaine pulled back his fist.
“Got it. You can die now.”
“Huh? Wait a sec! Didn’t you want to ask me something? What about negotiating? I can help you take down my master! I’d definitely be useful!”
True to form, Zico had no scrap of loyalty among the priests.
Having begged for death all along, when it actually seemed like he might die, instinctively, he wanted to live. That’s just human nature.
But Ghislaine was firm.
“Not needed.”
Bam!
With that, Zico’s head was smashed by Ghislaine’s punch, killing him. No matter how much of a chimera he was, he couldn’t live without a head.
“Tch, things got all tangled up…”
Ghislaine clicked his tongue as he stood up. If he had just scanned through the crowd from the start, he could’ve found him quickly.
Instead, he ended up being the one spreading bizarre superstitions around.
Unaware of Ghislaine’s troubled thoughts, everyone else cheered loudly for his performance.
“Woohoo!”
“The mage caught the black mage’s disciple!”
“Truly the mage!”
Though they didn’t understand why a mage was fighting with fists, at least he showed off some magic. That dazzling display left everyone deeply impressed.
Even if he had caught a villain hiding in the territory, it was natural for everyone to be delighted.
Especially the lord, Andrew.
“Really, really amazing! To have caught him so quickly! Using a duck to find him, I never would’ve imagined! Truly, the wisdom of a mage is beyond that of ordinary folks!”
“…I suppose.”
“What a relief! It seems the goddess has sent us help to save our territory!”
“…Not quite that level.”
While Andrew kept babbling praises enthusiastically, his expression soon darkened.
“But… I didn’t expect the black mage to be a 6th Circle. We might need to restructure our plans.”
Everyone knew that a 5th Circle Mage could not defeat a 6th Circle Mage. That was common sense.
At Andrew’s words, the elation on everyone’s faces quickly shifted to concern.
Only Ghislaine continued to grin, thinking about the new magic books he could acquire.