A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 42

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

Episode 42

Bang!

The moment the waiting room door swung shut, Mark drove his fist into the wall with brutal force.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh—!!!”

Crash! Crash! Crash!

A bestial roar echoed through the waiting room.
The sound that tore from Mark’s lips was grotesque, hideous—utterly unlike the graceful, measured man he always presented himself to be.

Renar, who had been sprawled arrogantly across the sofa with his legs crossed, jolted to his feet in shock.

Only the two of them occupied the waiting room now.

“M-Mark? What’s gotten into you? What happened?”
“Aion… Iscar…!”

The names ground out between Mark’s teeth like a curse.

Rage had already stripped away his reason. His eyes burned crimson with burst blood vessels, and blood seeped from his right knuckles where he’d struck the wall.

“I’ll kill that bastard. Completely. This time.”

At the murder in his voice, Renar hesitated for only a moment before bursting into laughter as he always did.

“Ha-ha-ha! You scared me there. Yeah, that’s right! We’ve got the matchup rigged anyway—why not strip that bastard’s very soul and grind him into dust? With Gares as our secret weapon in the Kingdom, if we put him on his knees this time….”

But Renar’s laughter died away inevitably.

Mark’s expression had not softened in the slightest.

Those serpent eyes fixed on him held no bloodlust for victory in battle.

A chill ran down Renar’s spine, cold sweat beading on his skin.

“…M-Mark? You….”
“I’m going to disable the Pain Limiter on his Soul Projection Device.”

Suffocating silence.

Renar’s pupils dilated, trembling as if the ground itself had cracked beneath him.

The Soul Projection Device was a Magitech Engineering device that cast a user’s consciousness into virtual space.

Removing the Pain Limiter—a safeguard meant to protect the physical body—was something one should never even conceive of doing.

“W-what? Hold on… Mark! That crosses the line! If you disable the Limiter, any damage taken in the virtual space transmits directly to the physical body—!”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
“…You’ve lost your mind? You want to commit murder?”

Renar stumbled backward, his face drained of color.
But Mark stepped forward and seized him roughly by the collar.

“You pulled the same stunt in the Breeding Ground, didn’t you?”
“That was… you were just trying to scare me….”
“Afraid? You really thought two people who’d fallen in front of a freed Salamander would just feel a little scared and that’s it? Are you an idiot? No, wait… that’s it. You’re just pretending to be an idiot, aren’t you?”
“…….”
“You already tried to kill him once. If it’s hard the first time, the second time’s easy, isn’t it?”
“I don’t… I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to become a murderer.”

At those words, Mark called his name with a blank expression.

“Renar.”

His cold voice hinted at what was coming next.

“Whether you intended it or not, you’re already complicit in murder. If you don’t listen to me here… I can always say you were the mastermind behind the Breeding Ground incident.”
“Ugh… B-but you ordered all of it! I just did what you told me to!”
“Who would believe that?”
“…….”
“Would they believe the words of a minor noble heir with a worthless territory? Have you forgotten who I am?”

Thick beads of cold sweat dropped from Renar’s forehead. His trembling lips pressed tight as he tried to read Mark’s expression.

Mark’s eyes held absolute sincerity.
The atmosphere felt as though if he couldn’t kill that northern commoner, Renar would become the hunted.

“When I give an order, you just do it.”

He stroked Renar’s head as he spoke.

“That’s what a hunting dog is supposed to do.”

The one thing Renar had always ignored.
That he and Mark were not friends.

Master and servant.

Having grasped this truth, Renar finally let his head drop, powerless.

“…What do you want me to do?”

***

As countless students who’d heard rumors that the Basic Magic Combat evaluation would take place today filled the spectator seats row by row,

“Well, may I have everyone’s attention?”

In the center of Arcane Soul’s vast waiting hall,

Professor Donabel clapped her hands together, flashing her characteristically fluffy and bright smile.
The murmuring subsided, and every student’s gaze locked onto her.

“The Bosco Plain combat evaluation will begin very soon. You’ve all had a chance to practice your coordination with your Kingdom units, I’m sure?”

She gestured toward the dozens of silvery Soul Projection Devices arrayed behind her as she continued her explanation.

“The rules are simple. Once you board these Soul Projection Devices, your consciousness will be projected into a virtual Bosco Plain. However….”

Professor Donabel’s smile faded ever so slightly. A cool weight settled into her otherwise bright voice.

“Just because it’s virtual doesn’t mean you should take it lightly. The devices have your pain sensitivity limited to five percent of the real thing to protect your brains.”
“Five percent? That’s basically just a mosquito bite, isn’t it?”
“Aren’t you treating us like children?”

Someone let out a light scoff, and Professor Donabel fixed that student with a steady gaze.

“If you think five percent of the agony of burning alive or having your entire body crushed beneath a massive boulder is comparable to a mosquito bite, you’re gravely mistaken.”
“……!”
“In fact, every year at this basic evaluation, there are always freshmen who can’t endure even that five percent of sensation—who develop trauma or abandon their dreams of becoming a mage. So please, don’t let your guard down.”

A chilling warning. The air in the waiting room froze instantly.

Several students swallowed dryly, their tension unmistakable.

“Well then, shall we set aside the scary talk? I’ll announce the first match-up now.”

Professor Donabel unfolded the parchment inscribed with names.

“The first battle will be between the Kingdom led by Dorothea of the Van Meyer Household and the Kingdom led by Barbosa of Count Jerome’s House.”
“Barbosa? You mean that guy? The one they called a prodigy down south?”
“This match might drag on longer than we’d expect.”

As speculation circulated about the outcome, Professor Donabel addressed the contestants.

“Those whose names have been called, step forward and proceed to the waiting room bearing your Kingdom’s name, then board the Soul Projection Device.”
“Woooooo—!”

The waiting room erupted with deafening cheers. Dorothea—granddaughter of the Archmage Granbel Van Meyer.

She had been lauded since before enrollment as the most exceptional mage of her generation, and as she took the stage first, the noble students’ gazes burned with intensity.

“Isn’t she already on the verge of reaching Tier 4?”
“Meeting that monster? Barbosa’s luck is absolutely abysmal.”

Through the commotion, Dorothea walked forward, her old, wide-brimmed witch hat pulled low over her head.

“…She’s shorter than I thought?”
“What’s with that oversized hat?”
“That’s supposed to be the Dorothea?”

From the back of the crowd, Aion watched her small silhouette in silence.

‘What kind of magic will she show?’

Aion already knew Dorothea was strong. But how strong, he couldn’t say.

Among mages of his own age, she was the only one who came closest to being a fully realized practitioner of the craft.

Dorothea was someone for whom the title “mage” fit without a shred of awkwardness.

Soon, Dorothea and the members of the opposing Kingdom made their way to their respective waiting rooms and boarded the Soul Projection Device.

Immediately after, the massive display panel filling one wall of the waiting room flickered to life.

【Magitech: Just seeing something like this, you can tell that a true golden age of Magitech Engineering is about to begin.】

Magitech was accomplishing what had once been unimaginable, what magic alone could never achieve.

A tension so thick you could hear the students’ breath catch.
The screen began to broadcast a crystal-clear image of the sprawling Bosco Plain.

“Huh……?”
“What is that?”

But from the students watching the screen came a confused murmur.

‘Something’s… off?’

The broadcast was clearly showing the plain, yet there was no sign of combat, no dazzling display of magic in motion.

‘Nobody’s moving?’

More precisely—everyone seemed frozen, as if time itself had stopped.

“Is it a glitch? Nothing’s moving.”
“Have they entered effective range? I don’t see any signs of defensive magic….”

As the students murmured among themselves, the broadcast zoomed in on the center of the Bosco Plain.

And there.

“……Good Lord.”

In the middle of the plain, less than ten seconds after the signal to begin combat had sounded.

The king of Barbosa Kingdom captured on screen—Barbosa de Jerome—was not in one piece.

As if struck down by a colossal hammer with surgical precision, the ground at the point where he had stood was smoothly excavated in a radius of several meters.

And in the center of that grotesque crater, Barbosa’s King had become nothing but a lump of meat.

“Hrrghh….”
“Uuh… b-bathroom….”

Several students hurried away from their seats at the sight of that gruesome spectacle.

A single strike—of an attack no one could even fathom.

Fzzzzzzzzz—

And then even Barbosa’s ghastly avatar remains scattered into digital fragments and fell uselessly to the ground.

『Barbosa de Jerome’s avatar has been destroyed.』
『Victor: Dorothea Kingdom.』

The mechanical text appeared on the panel.

“…….”

Silence.

A perfect dread and hush—the kind where you couldn’t hear a pin drop—pressed down upon the waiting room.

“…It’s over?”
“What magic did she even use…?”
“That’s Dorothea? …Impressive, I’ll admit.”

The shortest match time in the history of Aion’s Basic Magic Combat evaluations.

No one could tell how she’d defeated him, what tactics she’d employed.

Dorothea and the members of her kingdom slowly walked out of the waiting room.

Tap-tap—

She tapped the brim of her wide-brimmed hat casually and walked toward the waiting area without the slightest hesitation.

Her composure was serene, as though she’d merely taken a leisurely stroll—not a bead of sweat on her skin.

As she walked, the students instinctively parted to let her pass.

But Dorothea’s unhurried gait came to a halt near Aion.

Whoosh—

She tilted her head slightly beneath the wide brim, and in that instant her golden gaze found Aion’s eyes through the crowd with perfect precision.

Dorothea raised one hand to her chest and, unnoticed by the others, spread two fingers toward him.

A V-sign.

Satisfied, Dorothea turned and took her seat.

“…Do you know her?”

Aion nodded in response to Cassius’s question.

“Somewhat.”
“It seems like rather more than that, but I won’t pry.”

Whoosh—

Aion glanced toward the entrance of Arcane Soul.

“Aria isn’t coming?”

Cassius chuckled softly before answering.

“Well, it’s something we prepared ourselves for, to a degree. It must have been a cruel choice for her. We shouldn’t press her any further.”

Daren and Vera’s expressions darkened noticeably.

“All the effort we’ve put in up until now…”
“It can’t…end like this.”

Though they spoke thus, they already knew there was no alternative—and when Professor Donabel called their names, they moved slowly toward the waiting area.

As they passed the second floor where the spectator stands were located, an unusually loud cry struck Aion’s ears.

“Aiooooon—! Come on! You can’t lose!”

Turning his head, he saw Luana pressed against the spectator rail, swinging her arms enthusiastically in vigorous support.

And beside her—

Layla stood with her usual expressionless face, but her gaze was fixed entirely on Aion as she gave him a slight, almost imperceptible nod.
Aion nodded back lightly in acknowledgment. Then, turning his gaze slightly to the side without thinking—

‘…Kael?’

His eyes met precisely with Kael Pairon, who stood in one corner of the spectator stands with arms crossed, leaning against the wall at an angle.

The moment their gazes locked, Kael curled his lips in a sharp grin and brought his thumb to his own throat.

Shhk—

A throat-cutting gesture with the thumb—brutal and visceral in its immediacy.
It was Kael’s characteristically fierce and unvarnished exhortation: don’t half-ass it, slit that snake Mark’s throat for real.

Aion stepped into the waiting room, carrying that ominous yet reassuring bloodlust at his back. They stood before their respective Soul Projection Devices, awaiting the confrontation about to unfold.

Then, at that moment—

Tap.

An incongruous sound echoed from the corridor.

Tap-tap-tap.

The sound of someone running.

Every eye turned toward the entrance of the waiting room.

Burst—!

“Haa… haa….”

Pink hair disheveled in a way it never usually was, someone gasped for breath.

“Did I… haa… make it in time?”

Aria.

She had chosen.
This very moment.

Aion spoke to her.

“No.”

Whatever difficulties she’d faced in getting here remained unknown to him, but not yet—

“You’re not late.”

The Talentless Mage Devours a Calamitous Future — Episode 42

Author
Wang Mozhi
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yeon
Cover Design
Dali

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0042

ⓒ2026. Wang Mozhi

※ This e-book is a copyrighted work protected under the Copyright Law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of this work may be reproduced, adapted, or modified in any form or manner without the prior permission of the author and publisher.

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