A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 20

【Who… are you?】

A voice that could not be explained away as merely cold.
It felt as though it bypassed his ears entirely, projecting directly into his soul.

Aion gripped the hilt of his Short Sword, ready to draw it at any moment, and turned toward the source of the voice.

Pallid moonlight poured through a breach in the ceiling. Against that backlighting, a silver fox shadow the size of a house loomed over him, gazing downward.

【So you are not Dante… An uninvited guest, then.】

Hissssss.

The very air transformed into a weapon, pricking his skin. This was no ordinary killing intent.

A primal terror born from pure existence.

【You have no right to remain in this place.】

Shrieeeeeek—

Wind Fang.

A dozen blades of wind materialized in empty space, converging on Aion’s throat.

Gulp…

It was a situation where he could lose his life ignominiously if he made a single mistake.
Yet as if this urgency were not unfamiliar to him, Aion’s eyes soon turned ice-cold.

‘What in the world is this thing?’

He had to survive. He could not die here, bewildered and without answers.

‘Tell me something—anything!’

The Extreme Points responded at once, flooding him with whatever information might aid him.

【Flame: It’s Sien! Sien! How is he here at all…?】
【Earth: Damn it! He’s a Great Spirit of the winds! And worse—a notorious Calamity Beast!】
【Water: Wind… what have you done? Are you trying to kill Aion!? Fix this situation now—!】
【Magic: Aion, say something. At this rate, the odds of your death are extremely high.】

Information tangled together in confusion.

Aion sifted through the cacophony, extracting only what he needed.

‘A Great Spirit of the winds… Sien…?’

In all his life, Aion had never heard such a name.
The only Spirit he knew of was Ratanor, said to hold back the avalanches in the Northern Region.

‘Dante… didn’t he just say Dante a moment ago!?’

Though the name Dante was new to him as well, this was not the moment to dwell on such details.

“Great Spirit Sien!”

【…Do you know my name?】

Whoooosh—

Wind engulfed Aion’s entire body. That sickening sensation of a predator licking with its tongue.

【Then you must also know the end that awaits you now.】

“…How have I offended you?”

Through the window, only the silver fox’s eyes were barely visible.

Even Aion, whose fear had dulled through arduous training, found his body trembling without his consent in this moment.

【How dare you set your filthy feet upon the Place of Promise, and then question your crime?】

‘The Place of Promise?’

Aion’s mind began to race.

Dante… Promise… Place… Home.
Aion wove together these crucial words and formed a single hypothesis.

【Now, enough….】

“That’s a pity.”

The moment he spoke those words, Aion’s demeanor shifted entirely. He no longer trembled, no longer faltered.

【…What do you mean by that?】

Aion calmly ignored the wind blade’s edge aimed at his throat and shrugged his shoulders.

“If I die, this place will only be abandoned once more.”

【…It is no abandoned place. And it is not your concern to meddle in.】

The conversation must not break.
Aion pressed on, careful not to sound hurried or desperate.

“The previous owner of this house was attached to it, but it seems they left in haste.”

Drawing on the information he’d gathered, Aion spoke words calculated to shake Sien.

“They left without even wiping away the bloodstains.”

…It faltered.

The sharp edge of the wind’s fury paused for a moment. Beyond the window, Sien’s eyes narrowed.

【……That’s quite a long final message.】

A low, rumbling voice. But not the blind, murderous intent from before.

Surely, the Great Spirit was wavering.
Aion seized the opening.

“When the master of this house someday returns and sees it in ruins… they will be terribly lonely. Dante, wasn’t it?”

【That name is not yours to speak so carelessly!!!】

Whoooosh—!

The wind rose up again with terrible fury.

“Perhaps… perhaps then, I might have to turn back.”

【And what exactly are you trying to say to me?】

The Great Spirit’s momentum would not yield so easily. Sien’s patience had reached its limit, and he growled.

Aion pointed toward the hole torn through the ceiling—that gaping wound where starlight poured in.

“A house must have people living in it.”

【…….】

A moment of silence fell.

“An empty house is no different from a sick one.
Someone must dwell here, mending what is broken, patching what is shattered, breathing life back into it.”

Sien let out a bitter laugh and spoke.

【I come here often enough, even now.】

“This house is not for you.”

A Spirit in Spirit Form and a human with flesh and blood—the difference was absolute.

【Nor is it for a contemptible thing like you.】

“I understand. And yet, this space is meant for humans.”

A house is where people dwell.
Where they shelter from rain, where they sleep, where they find safety.

And where they keep the wind at bay.

【…….】

A silence stretched out—fleeting and eternal all at once.

Sien stared at Aion with an intensity that seemed to bore holes through him. Only his eyes were visible, yet the scales upon which he weighed death and life trembled with terrible clarity.

‘I must press harder.’

Aion spoke again.

“Someone must remain here. If this house is the place you await for someone—for Dante to return.”

And at the end of the silence, Sien’s sharp fangs were laid bare.

A single canine was larger than Aion himself.

Thud.

Sien stepped back, then spoke.

【Your words are rather eloquent, for a mere trainee of this second-rate Magic Academy.】

The Great Spirit Sien opened her mouth slowly.

Whoooosh—!

“Ugh?!”

An irresistible maelstrom of wind coiled around Aion’s body.

Screeeee—!

He crumpled like tissue paper and was sucked out through the window.

“Gah…!”

Caught in the whirlwind and suspended upside down in midair, Aion found himself unable to move.

Beneath the moonlight, the true form of the presence was revealed.

A silver fox far larger than the Mountain Lodge itself.
Three tails drifted like mist, and those golden eyes gleamed with an arrogance that seemed to survey the entire forest from above.

‘This is… the Great Spirit of the Wind, Sien…!’

An overwhelming presence unlike any creature he had ever seen. An absolute gulf in power—with his own strength, he could not inflict even a scratch.

A primal terror crawled up his spine at the thought that he might die, torn apart by those enormous claws, without being able to do anything at all.

Yet instead of bringing those claws down, this mysterious fox brought her massive snout so close that Aion could feel her breath.

【Today shall not be the day of your death.】

“Hhgh… h-hggh….”

He could barely breathe. His lungs compressed under crushing pressure.

【But perhaps soon enough, it may be.】

Sien’s golden gaze pierced straight through Aion.

【…I shall watch.】

With those words.

Fwooosh—.

Just as the wind that had been scattering dead leaves died away in an instant, the form of the great fox dispersed and vanished.

The moment the force sustaining him released, gravity seized Aion.

“Wh—?”

Thud!

“Oof!”

“Cough, cough….”

The taste of dirt lingered bitter on his tongue.

The meeting in the dead of night still felt like a dream—hazy, unreal.

***

“……Sigh.”

The next morning, Aion splashed water on his face with hollow eyes. He hadn’t slept a single hour all night. Couldn’t have, really.

“What in the….”

A fox larger than the Mountain Lodge had tried to take his life. No amount of roughing it in the Northern Region would let him sleep through that.

“At least the weekend starts today. Small mercies.”

Aion rubbed his dry eyes and muttered to himself.

【Flame: Tch. You’re a sight. Though I suppose there’s reason enough.】
【Earth: At least you survived. Whether calamity or not, that you lived through last night—that alone is heaven’s favor.】

The Extreme Points whispered their encouragement from within his mind.
Praise followed too—that he’d matched something terrible and responded with composure beyond his level.

【Water: Quick thinking, well-used.】
【Flame: Improvisation that impressive? Hah, hah, hah!】
【Earth: So what’s the plan now, you old fools! That Calamity Beast Sien is living right in front of his house!?】
【Flame: Why ask us? There’s someone else who owes the answers.】

Aion knew full well who that someone was.

“Wind—don’t think you’re getting away without an explanation this time.”

Silence.

“If you won’t talk, then I’m heading straight back to the Dormitory.”

That’s when the awaited voice came.

【Wind: What… are… you… curious… about?】

“Calamity Beast, Sien, Great Spirit—I don’t care about any of it. Why did you bring me here?”

The answer came swiftly, unlike the wait that had preceded it.

【Wind: Thought… we’d… get along… well….】

Several Extreme Points erupted in protest at those words.

【Flame: Get along? With a Calamity Beast that was mankind’s enemy?】
【Earth: Bold dreams indeed! Why not just push the whelp off a cliff right now?】
【Life: This was… reckless.】

With the Extreme Points in uproar, Aion—who could barely wedge in a word—still had something he needed to confirm.

“But what exactly is all this about Calamity Beasts and Great Spirits anyway?”

【Water: You don’t know Sien? …I see. Even I didn’t know at this stage of things.】
“The Earth Spirit tells you: Sien is a Great Spirit of Wind. Among the spirit realm, he’s called nobility among nobility. Any ordinary mage he could slice to pieces and toss into a stew within moments—that’s the sort of creature we’re discussing.”

The more I heard, the less sense it made.

‘Why would the Wind Spirit arrange for me to meet someone like that?’

“The Flame Spirit cuts in: Hold on, Mage. Does speaking of Sien itself invite calamity?”
“The Mage Spirit replies: In this case, it’s somewhat ambiguous. He’s already encountered Sien and conversed with him. But I think it’s safe to say something.”
“The Earth Spirit: Why is that?”

A moment of silence fell.

“The Mage Spirit: Because you’ve already told him multiple times that Sien becomes a Calamity Beast.”
“The Life Spirit: Ah….”
“The Flame Spirit: Damn it.”

A heavy weight pressed down inside my skull.

“The Earth Spirit: Then let’s speak plainly, kid. Sien will stand against humanity in the future. He’s a terrible, nightmarish thing.”
“The Thunder Spirit: Hehehehehehe! Kill many! Very many!”

Which brought the question back to its origin.

“The Flame Spirit: So then, why did he arrange for you to meet Sien now? A Great Spirit who became a Calamity Beast in every world?”
“The Wind Spirit: No… u… a.”

The Extreme Point of Wind denied it.

“The Wind Spirit: Sien is… Calamity Beast… No. That’s wrong….”
“The Water Spirit: What are you saying?”
“The Wind Spirit: Sien… is a Guardian Spirit….”

The Extreme Points could not hide their shock at those words.

“The Flame Spirit: That slaughterer Sien… sided with humanity?”
“The Earth Spirit: You damned senile old wretch! Where in the nine hells are you dredging up such lies?”
“The Wind Spirit: Sien… is noble… I know… I heard it….”

“…You heard? Heard what? From whom?”

A name suddenly surfaced in my mind, and I spoke it aloud immediately.

“Could it be… Dante?”

A long silence stretched out. The Wind Spirit’s Extreme Point said nothing more.

“The Flame Spirit: Hah… stubborn bastard. Says only what he needs to and vanishes.”
“The Water Spirit: Sien as a Guardian Spirit… I honestly find it hard to believe.”
“The Earth Spirit: It’s just making my head spin!”

I wanted to pursue the matter further, but since the Wind Spirit—the one who could actually answer—had sealed his lips, there was nothing left to do but turn to something else.

“For now… I need to move. There’s too much work to do.”

Early in the morning, I headed to the City Marketplace and placed an order for materials. With Exion’s financial backing, I received a substantial quantity without shortage.

“Let’s begin.”

The materials arrived before afternoon, and I changed immediately into my work clothes.

Bang!
Clang!

The sound of hammering shattered the forest’s silence.

Crack—

He tore away the rotted floorboards and nailed fresh timber in their place.
The hole in the roof he’d left covered with thick cloth for now, a temporary measure until proper repairs could be made.

“Phew…”

After hours of labor, beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
The exhaustion of work seemed to push away the terror from last night, if only slightly.

Then it came.

Rumble-rumble—

Creak…

Boom!

From the forest’s entrance came the sound of something enormous being dragged forward.
It wasn’t the rolling of wheels so much as a tremor, as though something massive were grinding across the earth itself.

‘What is that? Could it be a monster?’

Aion’s hand moved to the Short Sword at his waist as he turned to look.
The moment the source of that sound emerged through the mist, he doubted his own eyes.

“…Huh?”

A Cargo Cart as large as a house.
Piled upon it was so much cargo that even two ordinary oxen would strain under the weight.

And what was pulling it.

“…I’m here.”

A single, delicate arm.

A girl in a dust-covered uniform, her hair tinged with blue.
She was dragging that enormous cart along with one hand as though it were something she did every day.

Aion already knew who the girl was.

“…Laila?”

Aion’s jaw went slack. This was inhuman strength.

‘So when I passed out at that fire, she really did carry me out in her arms… It was true.’

When he’d first heard of Laila’s extraordinary strength, he hadn’t believed it. But seeing it with his own eyes, disbelief was no longer an option.

Upon spotting Aion, she raised her free hand in a casual wave.

“Hello.”
“Why… are you here…?”

Aion asked blankly, but instead of answering, Laila set down the cargo cart for a moment.

Thud—

She rummaged through the pile of goods and pulled out a roughly hewn Wooden Nameplate.

The name inscribed on it read: Laila Draconis.

Crunch, crunch.

Without hesitation, she approached the building beside Aion’s Mountain Lodge—it looked marginally better kept, though it was still little more than a ruin.

Tap.

She held the nameplate against the pillar beside the door,

Pong—

Crack!

With just a light tap, the nameplate half-buried itself in the pillar.

The meaning of this absurd act was unmistakable.

“……?”

Aion’s eyes moved between the nameplate, Laila, and the Cargo Cart behind her.
Before he could even ask,

“I’m going to live here.”

Laila declared this with a radiant face, dust still clinging to her clothes.

He couldn’t make sense of it. Why abandon the well-appointed Dormitory for a decrepit structure like this?

‘Though I suppose I’m doing the same thing….’

Yet his circumstances were different from Laila’s. He had his own reasons, drawn by the Extreme Point of the Wind.
He should have stopped her at once.

“I hear you live here, Aion Iskarl.”

But before he could speak, Laila beat him to it.

“…So?”

Nod.

Laila nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. She looked straight at Aion.

“I’m going to live here, Laila Draconis.”

The Talentless Mage Swallows a Catastrophic Future—Episode 20

Author
Wangmotchi
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yeon
Cover Page
Daringly

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0020

© 2026, Wang Mozzi

※ This electronic book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of the contents of this work may be reprocessed in any form without permission from the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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