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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 193: Clown
The faster I accelerated, the greater the pressure exerted on my body.
6th Circle Magic, Spatial Acceleration.
One of the primary movement spells for high-ranking mages, allowing them to traverse space as if folding it, utilizing six circles.
To an onlooker, it would appear as if I vanished and reappeared intermittently while running.
Excluding 7th Circle or higher Blink magic, its instantaneous speed surpassed even the footwork of any Divine Clan-level knights.
The only drawback was the explosive sound that erupted every time I touched the ground, as if tearing through the air.
However, combined with the Crazy Mage footwork, which left no trace even on snow, it became a flawless movement spell.
Swoosh—
The night remained dark.
As soon as I left the vibrant Keplan, all that remained was a pitch-black landscape devoid of light.
There were no properly maintained roads, and no signs of human presence whatsoever.
Even the moonlight was obscured by clouds, making it difficult to discern my surroundings.
I continued to accelerate, scattering flames widely in front of me.
About an hour passed.
'Hmm.'
I paused and scattered a fireball widely into the air.
A mountain ridge emerged in front of me.
It was an area completely unfamiliar to me.
After running for a few more minutes and reaching the ridge, I looked up.
"Is this it?"
Sheer cliffs in the form of rock walls came into view.
It was a rocky mountain.
I spent another few dozen minutes circling the flatland surrounding the mountain, scanning the area.
Then, I stopped at one spot.
"This is the place."
The entrance to a narrow path leading inwards.
A signpost stood tilted at a 45-degree angle.
[Lile, Do Not Enter.]
The sign was inscribed with red letters. It felt eerie, forbidding entry like that.
Naturally, I passed the narrow path and headed towards the inner part of the rocky mountain.
Fichte had definitely mentioned it.
He had discovered traces of Parin in a place called 'Black Mountain.'
'This is where Parin met the Clown.'
The region called Lile.
The rocky mountain known as 'Black Mountain.'
This was the only place it could be.
The deeper I ventured, the more eerie the atmosphere became.
A dark, rocky mountain with no light penetrating it.
Sheer cliffs enclosed both sides of the narrow path.
However, surprisingly, as soon as I passed through the narrow passage, a vast, circular basin appeared, as flat as a plain.
Wooden houses suitable for human habitation were scattered throughout the basin.
'He said there were locals here.'
But something was strange.
None of the houses had lights on.
It didn't seem like it was simply because it was late at night.
Places inhabited by people usually had a distinct atmosphere.
There were footprints all over the basin, but no matter how much I looked around, there were no shoes.
No breathing could be heard, even when I extended my mana throughout the entire basin.
Slowly, I made my way towards one of the houses.
Even as I stood before the doorframe and extended my mana, I still couldn't sense anything.
Slide—
I checked inside, but there was no one there.
The bedding was disheveled, and there was firewood outside the house.
It was clear that people had actually been living here until recently. As I turned my gaze to the right, I noticed a rack for storing various weapons.
"Mercenaries?"
Was this a mercenary group's hideout?
Fwoosh—
Suddenly, I heard footsteps and quickly crouched down.
"Commander!"
"Ah."
It seemed like these guys had improved their skills quite a bit.
They had followed me faster than I expected.
As I stepped out of the house, the gathered members looked at me.
Every one of them had a determined expression.
No one asked what was going on. They were just waiting for me to speak first.
As I scanned the entire basin, I noticed another path leading deeper into the mountain on one side.
"Wait here."
"What about you, Commander?"
"I only have one mask. Stay hidden here. People associated with the Ten Thousand Demon Society might appear. If a suspicious person suddenly shows up..."
"Take them down?"
"Exactly."
While the fools hid among the houses, I entered the narrow path on the opposite side.
As soon as I stepped inside, sheer cliffs enclosed me on both sides.
The terrain resembled a canyon.
Every time a fork in the road appeared, I chose a path without hesitation.
'Black Mountain.'
Whenever there was a fork, one direction was distinctly darker than the others. I deliberately chose that direction.
I purposely didn't use levitation magic.
If the 〈Clown〉 was truly here, using levitation magic could arouse suspicion.
Suddenly, the crystal ball hanging in front of me caught my eye.
Saaaa—
It was still emitting a red light.
I hoped my worries were unfounded, but my bad feeling rarely proved wrong.
Fwoosh—!
Something suddenly sprang up from the ground like an explosion.
'A demonic soul human?'
Left, right, front. Three of them.
As I reversed the rotation of the circles in my heart to unleash Dark Lightning, I realized something was strange.
'No hostility?'
The three demonic soul humans, who had been observing me as if searching for something, suddenly froze in place like scarecrows.
There was no sign of them attempting to self-destruct or attack.
Even when I approached and touched them, the demonic soul humans remained motionless.
Whiiiing—!
Even until the moment I eradicated the three with Dark Lightning, the demonic soul humans offered no resistance.
It was certainly strange.
But I didn't have time to dwell on the demonic soul humans right now.
Without delay, I continued ascending the rocky mountain.
As I gradually approached the summit of the cliff area, the sections where the entire rock face was dyed black increased.
I couldn't shake off a sense of déjà vu.
Such a black hue was definitely not a natural phenomenon.
Finally, I reached the summit of the rocky mountain.
"You came?"
At the edge of a precarious cliff, where the strong wind threatened to blow me off at any moment, sat a man wearing a familiar mask.
I knew the moment I saw him.
Karios wasn't the 〈Clown〉.
Karios was already dead.
***
Right nearby, a man lay collapsed with a large hole in his chest.
Even in death, his eyelids remained open, revealing not his usual cold pupils, but an expression of disbelief and shock.
It was a familiar look.
Karios was dead.
"You're late."
The 〈Clown〉, who had risen from the edge of the cliff, slowly approached and nudged the fallen Karios with his foot.
"It's quite strange. Black Mountain has been compromised twice now. It's especially surprising that this guy noticed."
The 〈Clown〉 continued to kick the fallen Karios casually before turning his gaze back to me.
"Are you surprised I called you here?"
His voice was low.
It was clearly altered. I could tell for sure now that I was closer.
Perhaps the mask itself had a voice modulation function.
I immediately looked at the 〈Clown〉.
The only one wearing a full-face mask.
His eyes were visible through the long, slanted slits of the mask.
It was a gaze I had never seen before.
He wasn't someone I knew.
"Why don't you answer? Is it because I'm not the Phantom Thief you serve?"
"..."
"No. 18. If you've become the Servant, shouldn't you serve the Seven Demons equally?"
I nodded slowly while thinking to myself.
I couldn't understand why this guy felt so insignificant to me.
Karios had died without any signs of resistance.
Even if the Clown had attacked by surprise, to kill a 7-star mage instantly meant his strength was likely beyond my expectations.
Yet, my body wasn't tense at all. Was it possible that this guy here, like the 〈Phantom Thief〉, wasn't the real body either?
"Servant?"
The 〈Clown〉 revealed his reason for summoning me here.
"Prepare a place for me in the Magic Tower. I need to enter it myself."
I pretended to contemplate for a moment, lowering my head and glancing around with only my eyes.
At some point, a masked figure I had never seen before appeared behind the 〈Clown〉.
And on either side of him, demonic soul humans spread out widely.
"..."
Even though quite some time had passed, the Clown didn't ask me any more questions.
As I looked up again, I noticed that the corners of the Clown's mouth seemed to be stretched even wider than before.
"What are you? You're not the Servant, are you?"
"Bingo."
"Where's No. 18?"
"I killed him."
"What?"
"I said I killed him, No. 18."
Suddenly, the Clown burst into a strange laugh, his mouth stretched wide in amusement.
"Phantom Thief, that idiot. He acted all high and mighty. Who the hell are you?"
"Let's ask one question at a time. I'll answer first."
At that moment, I took off my mask.
Of course, it was a calculated move.
As the Clown's eyes widened in surprise, I immediately spoke.
"I am the Crazy Mage Commander of Samael."
"What?"
Sensing the Clown's mana, I realized that this guy here wasn't an illusion.
He was real.
"Now it's my turn to ask. Was No. 18 originally the Phantom Thief's pawn?"
"..."
The moment the Clown snapped his fingers, the demonic soul humans stationed behind him charged towards me all at once... and then abruptly stopped.
Wondering what kind of trick this was, I looked at the Clown, but he was just as surprised.
"What?"
The Clown looked left and right, shaking his head in confusion as he stared at the demonic soul humans.
I looked around and said,
"Are the demonic soul humans malfunctioning?"
"...No. 9!"
At that moment, the masked figure who had been standing behind the Clown with his hands clasped behind his back, suddenly rushed towards me, drawing a dagger from his waist.
I leaped back and immediately drew the Red Dagger.
"Fire Sword."
Flames surged from the tip of the dagger.
I bided my time, assessing the masked figure's mana.
6-star Mana Core.
He wasn't affiliated with any Vassal Clan or Divine Clan.
A professionally trained assassin.
He aimed solely for vital points, seemingly not afraid of mutual destruction.
As I maintained a purely defensive stance, the masked figure suddenly crouched down where he stood.
Saaaa—!
The masked figure's form vanished.
He disappeared in an instant, as if blending with his surroundings.
'Verhain Camouflage.'
A technique of a highly trained assassin.
One. Two. Three.
I counted to three in my head, and a deadly killing intent surged from beneath my feet.
However, I kept my gaze fixed on the Clown, who was watching from the side.
"Keugh!"
With a Fwaang—! sound, the masked figure, propelled by the reactive force of the 'Reflection Shield' I had preemptively cast, was flung back to the edge of the cliff.
The Clown chuckled and said,
"You asked about my identity earlier, right?"
A familiar magic manifested from the Clown's fingertips.
"I am the Black Magic Tower Head."
"...Dark Lightning?"
I couldn't believe my eyes.
A black sphere emerged in the Clown's hand as he lunged towards me.
The mana contained within was undeniably familiar.
As my heart began to involuntarily reverse its rotation, the Clown thrust his fist, concentrated with the black sphere, towards my heart.
"Black Darkness Sphere."
No.
Looking closer, it wasn't Dark Lightning.
It resembled Dark Lightning, but the Yin-dimensional mana it contained was far too weak.
I finally understood how Karios had died in such a manner.
Whiiiing—!
I opened four of my heart's circles and enveloped my right hand with Dark Explosion.
Simultaneously, I met the Clown's thrusting fist with my right hand.
Fwaaaaaang—!
The Clown's left hand vanished in an instant.
Swept away by the Dark Explosion and pushed to the edge of the cliff, the Clown's mask fell off.
"...H-How..."
A face I had never seen before.
The Clown stared at me in disbelief.
"How... How can you use Black Magic?"
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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