The Crazy Mage Reincarnated into a Fallen Family

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 194: I Am Now

The Clown's original voice, now that his mask was off, was a complete 180 from before.

His low, baritone voice was gone, replaced by a shrill, high-pitched tone.

"...Gasp, gasp."

The Clown was panting as if hyperventilating.

I was just as confused about the situation, but it was clear that I had the upper hand.

As I pondered how to deal with him, I suddenly glanced at the empty space to my left.

For a fleeting moment, my vision blurred like a heat haze.

5th Circle, Reverse Incantation.

Dark Heavenly Thunder.

Yin-dimensional mana concentrated in the area, and a bolt of black lightning struck down from the sky.

Crackle, Boom—!

"Ugh!"

A short groan mixed with the explosive sound of air tearing apart.

The masked figure, who had appeared from thin air, was split vertically from the top of his head, his body collapsing and scattering to the sides.

The corpse vanished into the darkness.

"...Wh-What?"

The Clown's eyes widened in indescribable horror as he witnessed the scene.

I slowly approached the Clown, who was frozen stiff.

A face I had never seen before.

A pale, terrified expression.

The fangs subtly revealed at the corners of his mouth suggested that the 〈Clown〉 was also a demonized human.

The magic he used resembled Dark Lightning at first glance, but it was completely different.

Where did he learn this magic?

"Oh, last summons! Great King! H-How did you manifest... Could it be that you have completed the revelation?"

"...!"

I stopped in my tracks involuntarily.

I couldn't just ignore the words he was spouting. Great King?

"Ooooooh! My King!"

With a thud, the Clown fell to his knees, his forehead touching the ground, his palms facing upwards in utter reverence.

A sudden thought struck me. I lowered my voice as much as possible and said,

"You dare commit blasphemy."

"...Gulp!"

The Clown's face turned pale as if he had received a death sentence, his body trembling.

What did this guy mistake me for?

Seeing the Clown bowing his head before me, I suddenly thought of Parin, Urgon, and all the hardships I had endured, and an indescribable anger surged within me.

"Offer your left cheek, you son of a bitch."

The Clown closed his eyes, trembling as he offered his left cheek.

Slap—!

"Offer your right cheek."

Slap—!

"Offer your forehead too."

"..."

"Haa—"

With a thwack—! sound, the Clown rolled on the ground and prostrated himself again.

After slapping him three times, my anger subsided somewhat, and I suddenly came to my senses.

Did I go too far?

Well, it can't be helped if he noticed.

"Oh, my King!"

Hmm?

The situation actually started to take a turn for the better.

The Clown's voice, filled with extreme fear, echoed as he cried out with his head bowed to the ground.

"Oooooh, our King. I apologize, my King! The King who bestows revelations. The one who, after 300 years, personally fulfills the final revelation!"

"..."

"My King. Please bestow your great blessing upon your servant!"

A shockwave hit my mind.

At that moment, I understood why this guy manifested magic similar to Dark Lightning and why he mistook me for the King.

"Listen carefully. There is a traitor."

"...!"

The Clown shuddered in extreme fear, banging his head on the ground again.

"You mean someone dared to betray the Myriad Demon Assembly? Is that why you have manifested yourself?"

"That is correct."

"Please give me your orders. I will take responsibility and punish them."

"Indeed, you are trustworthy."

"My King! Bestow your blessings upon me! Grant me the blessing to lead the Seven Demons! Whoever the traitor is, I will punish them!"

Wow...

This guy had completely lost it. He wasn't finding anything strange about what I was saying.

"Tell me where everyone is and what they're doing."

"..."

The Clown hesitated for a moment.

As he tried to raise his head, I immediately reversed the rotation of the circles in my heart.

"...My King. Are you suspecting me? I haven't broken any taboos."

"Silence!"

"Have mercy! My King. All I know is about the Thousand-Faced Fox. It has become the Vice Clan Head of the Southern Jungle's Vassal Clan and is preparing for the Demon Worship."

I couldn't give him time to think.

I asked without delay,

"What is the summons?"

"Are you referring to the White Heron's summons?"

"Where is it?"

"What do you mean..."

The Clown shuddered again.

"Answer me."

"..."

He seemed to be trembling with fear, but that wasn't the case at all.

This guy... he noticed.

A strange sensation subtly stimulated my mind along with the fluctuating mana waves.

It felt like bugs were crawling in my brain.

Mental Interference magic.

The Clown, he was the one who cast it.

I immediately condensed Dark Lightning in my right hand and unleashed it on his waist.

"Kyaaaaaack!"

"Answer me, you son of a bitch. Do I look like a joke to you?"

"...Kyaaaaa! Who is it? H-How!"

I didn't know how this guy could use Mental Interference magic, which belonged to the unique mind domain, but I wasn't going to fall for it.

His crude skills were nowhere near Pelleer's level.

I pressed down firmly on the back of the Clown's neck with my left hand.

"Kyaaaaaaaa."

"Who's the top dog? Tell me that first."

"Let go! Do you think you can get away with this? If you make an enemy of the Myriad Demo... Kyaaaaaaaa!"

He might have stood a chance if we had fought one-on-one from the start.

But subduing a Clown who was already lying flat on the ground like a dog was a piece of cake.

I continued to apply pressure, as if to break his neck, until the glint in his eyes, desperately searching for an escape, faded away.

"S-Save me. Let's talk. I'll tell you anything. Just tell me what you want. No, please tell me!"

"Who's the top dog?"

"The top dog is..."

Fabat—!

Suddenly, I released the Clown's neck and activated Spatial Acceleration, leaping into the air.

The ground where the Clown was lying caved in, and the recoil propelled him upwards after me.

A tremendous roar followed.

Kaaaaaaa—!

'This guy?'

He had activated magic towards the ground from his prone position, prepared to die.

The Clown, who had shifted his position in mid-air, had a large hole in his chest from the impact of his own magic.

As a dark blackness engulfed the Clown's remaining hand,

5th Circle, Reverse Incantation.

Dark Hand.

I straightened one hand like a sword and shot down towards the Clown.

The moment darkness clashed with darkness, passing through each other,

"Ugh."

A final scream escaped his lips, and disbelief filled the Clown's eyes.

Even as his body crashed to the ground with a thud, the Clown couldn't comprehend what had happened.

"H-How... H-How..."

As his breathing grew ragged and his voice weakened, fear filled the Clown's eyes, and his life slowly faded away.

Darkness surged from the hole in his heart, cleanly pierced by the Dark Hand.

Like smoke, it slowly consumed the Clown's body, leading him to complete annihilation.

"..."

I looked down at the Clown's vanishing body for a moment.

This guy was definitely cunning by nature.

He was like that when he cowered before the 〈Carpenter〉 and the 〈Wolf〉 at the Round Table, and he was like that here with me.

The cunning type who would do anything to avoid danger, waiting for an opportunity to rise to prominence.

He was definitely that kind of guy.

But the action the Clown took in the end...

It contradicted the personality I had grasped.

He was willing to die, aiming for mutual destruction?

It didn't make sense.

Either the Myriad Demon Assembly was that terrifying, or a restriction was placed on him.

I glanced at the Clown's mask lying on the ground.

Crush—!

At the same time, I sensed someone's presence beyond the cliff.

As soon as I picked up the Clown's mask from the ground and put it on, someone leaped up onto the cliff.

"Tower Head! I heard an explosion from above..."

It was another masked figure.

The masked figure briefly scanned the surroundings, but finding nothing but Karios's corpse, he looked at me again.

"Are you alright? But your clothes..."

"Don't worry about it."

My own voice sounded foreign to me.

The Clown's low, baritone voice emerged from my mouth.

"What about the Attendant...?"

"I met him. He decided to betray the Phantom Thief and side with me."

"Really?"

Since things had turned out this way, I deliberately imitated the Clown's speech and tone.

"Of course. I can finally get back at that lousy Phantom Thief bastard."

I pretended to be dizzy for a moment and subtly probed the masked figure.

"No. 9?"

"It's No. 3."

"Right, No. 3."

No. 3 tilted his head, puzzled.

"Weren't you with No. 9?"

"I gave him a task."

"Ah, I see."

I took the opportunity to examine No. 3's mana.

A scabbard hung at his waist.

A mercenary?

Judging from the circumstances, No. 3 was likely the highest-ranking among the Clown's subordinates.

"I have a lot on my mind, so my head is a bit dizzy."

"Shall I escort you to the residence?"

"No need."

"There's an intruder in Lile."

He must be referring to the Crazy Mage Squad.

"I'll take care of them, so you return to the residence."

"Understood."

"Where's our base?"

"...Pardon?"

No. 3 suddenly stared at me intently.

"I asked where our base is."

"...Pardon?"

"Hey, you son of a bitch."

Anger surged within me, and I unleashed Dark Lightning at him.

No. 3 narrowly dodged it at the last moment and, upon seeing the aftermath of the Dark Lightning, was startled and prostrated himself.

There was no longer any trace of suspicion in his eyes.

"T-Tower Head! I apologize! The base is here, in the cave below the cliff."

"Don't do anything for now and just wait."

The crystal ball hanging in front of me caught my eye, but I shook my head inwardly.@@novelbin@@

"I'll be in Keplan, so if you need to contact me, send a letter through the Attendant."

"Understood."

"Go."

After No. 3 left, I looked up at the sky for a moment, still wearing the 〈Clown〉 mask.

...So this is how it is.

Here was a man who had been instantly promoted from Attendant to Clown. That was me.

I was now the 〈Clown〉.

***

The magic the Clown used.

It was definitely magic I knew.

The Demon King, Verkes.

I remembered his words in his dying moments.

—You were an unexpected variable. I have no choice but to admit it. Where did you learn our clan's magic?

The source of the magic used by the demonic race was also the condensed energy of negative emotions like fear, despair, and screams.

It was only natural that it felt similar to Yin-dimensional mana.

However, even if they were similar, they were still fundamentally different.

It was like the difference between the origin and a mere imitation.

Their magic lacked the most crucial element: madness.

Even Verkes was like that.

"Commander!"

As soon as I descended back to the basin and saw the fools, I quickly explained what had happened.

After I finished, Zion, who had been listening silently, asked,

"That's crazy. So, the Leader of the Myriad Demon Assembly... is that Demon King from the previous expedition?"

"I don't know."

"He mentioned a 300-year-old revelation, right?"

"I can't be sure. I need to think about it. Anyway, it's not good to stay here, so let's collect Karios's body and return to Keplan."

The squad members moved busily, and I turned to leave, but suddenly stopped.

Zion's words kept echoing in my mind.

Revelation...

A 300-year-old revelation?

A sudden sense of unease washed over me.

Something was strange.

No matter how many plausible assumptions I came up with, none of them fit.

The more I thought about it, the only conclusion I reached was:

Contradiction.

Fwoosh—.

I immediately kicked off the ground and ran towards the bottom of the basin.

I had to check it out right away.

[TL/N: Some Confirmed Changes: Demon Tribe→Demonic Race, Demonic Soul Human→Demonized Human.]

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]