I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM

Chapter 783: Coalition of the bandits

The Duke chuckled and responded, "You missed the most important member of our family. He has brought us the greatest achievement, and we could never hope to catch up to him."

The captain’s brows rose at that.

"What do you mean, Your Grace?" he asked.

The Duke gestured toward Kraven, clear pride shining in his eyes.

"My son here has reached the rank of Arch Mage."

The captain and his three knights’ mouths fell open at that statement. They could not believe what they were hearing.

"Arch... Mage?" the captain murmured, his voice filled with disbelief. "Surely, you are joking, right?"

The Duke laughed, though there was a faint hint of seriousness beneath it.

"No, I am not joking. You may check it yourself."

The captain did not waste any time. He quickly turned toward Julian and concentrated his aura on him, attempting to sense the young lord’s power. Julian did not interrupt and simply sat where he was, allowing the captain to do his task. He kept his own aura calm and controlled, revealing only what he chose to reveal—an aura of an early Sovereign Mage.

He had no particular reason to hide his true power at this moment. He was simply testing how the captain would react.

Would the man sense the deception? Would he push further? Or would he accept the surface level and move on? Julian wanted to see exactly how perceptive this envoy truly was, and how much of the Servant of Death’s influence had shaped him.

Initially, the captain’s expression was filled with skepticism.

His pride would not allow him to accept that a young man barely in his early twenties had already broken through to the Arch Mage realm. No matter how talented someone might be, reaching such heights was utterly beyond reason. It defied common sense, common logic, and every known record of cultivation history.

The captain’s eyes narrowed as he focused his senses on Julian, probing deeper and deeper into the young lord’s aura.

..

...

But no matter how deeply he tried to penetrate, he could sense only the weak, unremarkable presence of early Sovereign Mage mana.

Was the Duke mistaken? the captain wondered, his skepticism beginning to shift into doubt.

But why would the Duke say such things in an open hall? If this Kraven were truly not an Arch Mage, then the Duke would be ridiculing his own son in front of all the nobles and knights. That did not make sense for a man as calculated as the Duke.

His eyes narrowed further as he stared intently at Julian, searching for even the slightest crack in the young man’s aura. The longer he observed, the more certain he became.

"This young brat is testing me," he realized, a spark of irritation flashing in his gaze.

For some reason, it did not sit well with the captain. Perhaps it was the possibility that this young man had truly reached the realm of an Arch Mage—or perhaps it was simply his own inferiority complex—but he found Julian’s behavior deeply offensive.

"You have meddled with the wrong person,"

Suddenly, Julian felt a chill spread across his entire body.

A cloud of pure black mana began to envelop him from every direction, attempting to drown his senses. It was subtle at first, like cold air seeping beneath his skin, but it quickly grew denser, wrapping around his mind and soul with malicious intent.

He is using that black energy, Julian realized instantly.

The captain had not moved a single muscle. His face remained perfectly respectful, his posture straight and disciplined, but beneath that composed facade, he had already unleashed this hidden power. The black cloud swirled around Julian’s aura, attempting to seep in, to corrupt—or simply to force a reaction.

Julian, however, remained completely still. He did not resist aggressively. Instead, he allowed a small portion of his own mana to meet the black energy. The contact sent a faint shiver down his spine, but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming terror he had experienced during his original death.

The captain’s eyes flickered with surprise when Julian did not react. He pushed harder, sending more of the black mana forward, attempting to overwhelm the young lord’s senses. The cloud grew denser and colder, wrapping around Julian’s form like countless shards of jagged ice.

But Julian simply observed.

The captain’s brow twitched ever so slightly. He had expected the young man to flinch, or at least show some sign of strain or panic. Instead, Julian sat there as if nothing were happening, his aura remaining perfectly calm at the early Sovereign level.

Impossible, the captain thought. No one at the Sovereign realm should be able to resist this.

Julian finally allowed a faint, almost imperceptible smile to touch his lips. He had seen enough. The captain was undoubtedly a carrier of the Servant’s power.

The captain withdrew his probing energy after a few more seconds, realizing that he would gain nothing further. He bowed his head slightly toward the Duke, his expression returning to one of polite respect.

"Your Grace," he said smoothly, "I apologize for my doubt. The young lord’s talent must indeed be extraordinary if even I cannot sense the depth of his power. The Astran family continues to astonish the kingdom."

The Duke nodded, satisfied with the response. The hall murmured once more, some nobles exchanging glances, while others nodded in approval at the captain’s swift recovery.

The Duke then leaned forward slightly in his throne-like chair.

"So go on," he said. "What has kept His Majesty busy at the kingdom?"

The captain cleared his throat with a polite cough.

"Cough... cough... Your Grace, you know the bandit coalition from the south, right?"

The Duke nodded in response. a

"Yes. The Black Vipers and their allied groups have grown bolder in recent years. They have been raiding trade routes and border villages for months. We have sent reinforcements to support the royal army in containing them. Has the situation worsened?"