REAPER SCANS
The Reincarnated Martial God Brings Down the Heavens
[Translator – San]
[Proofreader – Abstract]
Chapter 166 - Drunkard (3)
What if Zion truly was the mastermind behind the incident at the Poison Palace?
I hoped there was a reason behind his actions.
‘Zion had always been a calculative man.’
He might seem easy going at first glance, but deep down, he’s extremely cautious.
“I have a question.”
At that moment, Count Kaiman stepped forward.
“Sir Zion, it’s been a while.”
Zion’s Adam’s apple, which had briefly stopped moving, bobbed once more.
“Hic...”
A drunken hiccup followed as an addition.
“I think you’ve had enough to drink.”
Count Kaiman swiftly snatched the bottle from Zion’s hands.
“I’ve been quiet because of all the watchful eyes, but… you’re not this silent usually, are you?”
“...”
“I recall us drinking together once, talking about various things all night long.”
My eyebrows twitched slightly.
At last, the true nature of their relationship, which had been a speculation until now, was about to be revealed.
And my hunch was right.
Shiing!
Count Kaiman drew his sword with a flourish. He pointed its cold, gleaming blade at Zion’s throat.
“Today, it’s time to fulfill that promise.”
“...”
“You said so yourself, didn’t you? If I turned a blind eye to the Poison Palace’s embezzlement, you would fight me as soon as your body recovered.”
“...”
“However, even after waiting for years, you still don’t seem to care about your body. I suppose I’ll just have to fight you as you are.”
Count Kaiman twisted his lips into a mocking smirk.
“No. It’s ridiculous to call this a fight, especially against a drunkard. You simply used me. Let’s call it what it is—holding you accountable for your sins.”
A faint yet deadly glint flickered in Count Kaiman’s eyes.
At that very moment—
Hummm!
“...!”
Count Kaiman and I were both caught off guard.
The surroundings suddenly lit up.
“A… magic circle?”
And before we knew it, a hexagram magic circle had appeared on the ground.
Count Kaiman tried to grip his sword tighter instinctively, but in the blink of an eye, Zion had already vanished.
‘Was it a trap?’
I had wondered why the observers weren’t intervening, but it turned out that Zion had deliberately used himself as bait.
“I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes…”
For the first time, I heard Zion’s voice. His form was nowhere to be seen, yet I heard his voice clearly.
“…I have no choice but to believe it now.”
“What?”
“We’ll meet again, my lord’s only young successor.”
“...!”
My eyes widened in shock.
Zion.
He already knew about me.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – San]
[Proofreader – Abstract]
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* * *
Fwoooosh!
In an instant, the brilliant light that had flared so intensely settled into silence.
“…I suspected as much. There was no real bloodlust—it was a teleportation magic circle.”
Emerging from the dissipating glow, Count Kaiman glanced around before letting out a wry chuckle.
Indeed, we had reappeared at a cliffside.
“It seems Sir Zion was wealthier than he appeared.”
“...”
“As you know, Your Highness, unlike stationary warp gates, installing a teleportation circle is extraordinarily expensive. Even if it covers a short distance and is single-use, the cost is equivalent to buying an entire rural estate.”
He was right.
These magic circles were primarily installed by royalty or high-ranking nobles as emergency escape mechanisms when their enemies breached the stronghold.
“There’s no point in going back, is there?”
“He’s long gone. And more importantly…”
I trailed off.
That wasn’t the only problem.
Rustle!
Suddenly, multiple presences emerged around us. Judging by the intensity of their auras, they weren’t here as allies.
“…Looking at it closely, there’s another magic circle here.”
Count Kaiman scraped the ground with the sole of his foot.
Although it didn’t emit the same bright light, a magic circle was undoubtedly inscribed beneath us.
Unlike the white glow from the previous circle, however, this one exuded an eerie, dark hue.
“…This is ominous.”
Count Kaiman muttered grimly.
There are many types of magic circles.
Teleportation circles that transport people, summoning circles that bring forth monsters or demons, and illusion circles that deceive the senses and create hallucinations.
Just as there are countless spells, there are many magic circles, each with unique effects.
“The most dangerous foes are the ones whose nature is unknown.”
With that, Count Kaiman immediately stepped in front of me.
“This doesn’t seem like an ordinary magic circle. Stay behind me.”
“Oh, you’re going to protect me?”
“I’d rather not regret anything later. I can’t afford to lose you here, Your Highness.”
Clank!
At that moment, the figures lurking around us finally revealed themselves.
“Death Knights?”
Count Kaiman exclaimed in shock. They were knights clad in dark full plate armor.
As Count Kaiman had noted, they were not human.
Death Knight.
A high-level Expert knight trades their soul for an immortal body, transforming into such a creature.
What made them terrifying was their ability to retain their martial prowess, knowledge, and endless stamina from their former lives.
The legendary Death Knight King, in particular, was said to grow stronger over time, just like a living warrior.
Seeing these Death Knights confirmed the nature of the magic circle.
“It’s an illusion magic circle.”
Even after all these years, the odds of four Death Knights appearing simultaneously were slim.
In other words, they were all illusions.
Considering the sheer realism of their presence, this was clearly a high-tier magic circle.
“Interesting.”
With a sharp grin, Count Kaiman stepped forward.
“You can’t handle them alone.”
That’s right.
We couldn’t let our guard down just because they were illusions.
More so, since these illusions were crafted by Zion.
“Let’s fight together.”
As I spoke, I moved to stand beside him.
“Your Highness, I don’t think you fully understood what I meant…”
“You’re in more danger than I am.”
“...”
Count Kaiman fell silent, his expression one of disbelief. Ignoring him, I scanned the surroundings with tense eyes.
Four of them had appeared.
“...Do you distrust me that much? I can handle four on my own.”
“No, you can’t.”
I stated it definitively.
I could gauge their skills from the weapons they wielded, their stances, and the aura they exuded.
One of them carried a massive greatsword arrogantly slung over his shoulder, another held a sword in each hand and the third one gripped a long sword, standing in a textbook-perfect stance.
The last one—
“They say words have power. I suppose this is good for you.”
“…Excuse me?”
Count Kaiman turned to me, looking puzzled.
“Look closely at that monster wielding a sword in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other. Doesn’t he seem familiar?”
“…!”
Count Kaiman’s eyes widened.
“Could it be… Sir Zion?”
He finally realized.
Yes.
The monsters surrounding us were all illusions of my own people.
Swoosh!
At that moment, the Death Knight in Zion’s form lunged first.
Clang!
“…Kuh!”
Count Kaiman grit his teeth.
Just as their swords clashed—
“Be careful!”
“They’re stronger than I expected, but still manageable…”
“I warned you—that thing moves!”
As I spoke—
Schhhk!
During the instant their swords were locked, Zion’s blade suddenly extended.
His weapon was an irregular sword—the type of weapon he normally used.
Its interior was made of a special rubber-like material that allowed it to stretch like a whip.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew wildly.
That was the terrifying part of his weapon. Once caught, it coiled around its target like a snake, refusing to let go.
“Damn it!”
Count Kaiman cursed.
Before he could react, a massive greatsword came crashing down from the left with enough force to cleave him in two.
From the right, a wave of sword energy surged toward him.
Crash! Boom!
He barely dodged the greatsword, but blocking the endless waves of sword energy was proving difficult.
“I would appreciate your help, Your Highness!”
Count Kaiman shouted.
“Weren’t you the one who told me to stay back?”
“Ack! If I fall, you won’t survive either, Your Highness… Kuh!”
He was desperate.
For someone who usually loved battling, it was rare to see him swallow his pride and ask for help.
‘The key here is that all of this is an illusion.’
I ignored the fight and turned my gaze forward.
Seeing that I was alone, the one dual wielding swords locked eyes with me and exuded an intense aura.
‘How nostalgic.’
It was an illusion of Trevor, which meant this was a monster mimicking him at his peak.
It would be much stronger than the real one I had faced before.
Woosh.
“…!”
Suddenly, the creature vanished like a ghost.
‘Dark Mirage.’
A technique that refracted light to conceal oneself.
Clang!
I swung my sword without looking.
Sparks flared beside me.
Clang! Claang! Claaang!
Once, five times, twenty times.
I couldn’t see it, but attacks rained down like a storm.
‘I need to find its real form.’
I didn’t try to follow its movements with my eyes.
I had to sense it.
At the same time, I expanded the range of my perception.
‘There must be a core maintaining these illusions.’
A magic formation couldn’t sustain itself without a medium. It needed a constant supply of mana.
Swish!
My eyes snapped open. Trevor’s Death Knight was striking down at my head.
However, I wasn’t looking at him.
‘There!’
An empty sky.
Amid the vast expanse, a tiny red dot hovered like a speck.
‘...No wonder it was hard to find.’
Who would try to look for something floating in the sky?
Claaang!
I parried the descending sword.
Of course, the monster immediately followed up with a sweeping attack aimed at my waist.
Swish!
I rolled to evade.
Then, staying low—
Whoosh!
I leapt high into the air and thrust my sword at the red dot.
Crack!
Something shattered.
Whooosh!
Like paint melting, the Death Knights dissolved into nothing.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
Count Kaiman collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.
“How… Did you find that?”
“Well, I should be able to do this much to be worthy of your interest, don’t I?
As he caught his breath, Count Kaiman let out a small chuckle.
“Indeed… Hah, that’s true. That’s exactly what I love about you, Your Highness.”
“I’d appreciate it if you dropped the ‘love’ part.”
Of course, he ignored me completely.
“Those illusions… They were the four heroes who stood by the Great Hero, weren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“They were strong. Without a doubt…”
His voice trailed off, and then his entire body trembled.
“As expected, it was fun. Everything related to the Great Hero excites me beyond measure.”
His breath quickened again. This crazy bastard was at it again.
“Huh?”
Right on cue, a familiar voice rang in my ears. I turned to see Leo standing there.
“Why are the two of you here?”
I frowned.
“That’s what I was going to ask you.”
“Sorry?”
“Before that… Where are we?”
Leo tilted his head, then answered obediently.
“We’re near the outskirts of the city. On a cliff beyond the northern gate, to be precise.”
That meant the cliff we were standing on wasn’t an illusion.
“The elevation here allows us to see people’s movements clearly. That’s why we secured this spot first.”
“Wait. ‘We?’”
As soon as I asked—
“T-Trouble!”
A man dressed as an herb gatherer came running. He probably wasn’t a real herb gatherer. It was most likely a disguise.
“There’s intel that a man resembling a red wolf has appeared in Barhal!”
“…!”
Leo’s expression twisted.
I frowned as well.
The instant I heard ‘red wolf’, one person came to mind.
“Theorg, The Knight of Blazes.”
“…!”
Yes.
It was him.
Even Count Kaiman, who was usually relaxed, had a grim expression.
“...Your Highness, you’ll need to hurry if you plan to cross the border. Barhal isn’t far from here. Considering his speed…”
Count Kaiman trailed off before muttering.
“…Three hours.”
That was all the time I had remaining.
* * *
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