A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 53

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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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Episode 53

【…You’ve had quite an enjoyable time, haven’t you?】

A cool voice resonating directly through the soul—the speech of a great wind spirit.

As mentioned before, the cavern Aion had entered was impossibly vast, yet Sien’s presence was so overwhelming that it filled the entire space.

Whoooosh…

The wind sweeping past Aion’s body felt like a finely honed blade dancing through the air.

Yet he lowered his guard and faced Sien without hesitation.

‘Just as well.’

If this ley line had belonged to some other entity, it would have been far more dangerous.

‘At least this creature won’t launch a surprise attack.’

It was fortunate that he’d established his relationship with Sien clearly beforehand.
Otherwise, by now his entire body would have been sliced into pieces by that blade-like wind.

Even under the crushing pressure bearing down on him, Aion simply nodded calmly.

“The spring water was excellent. More importantly, that ley line outside—is it yours?”

As Aion cautiously probed to confirm, Sien answered immediately.

【It is mine. Everything in this forest belongs to me.】

Nod.

“Of course. That makes sense.”

Who would dare to covet what was his in a place where the great wind spirit Sien dwelt?

Everything in this forest certainly served him and lay beneath his feet.

Aion met the gaze of the enormous silver fox with a dry stare.

“I thought I’d stumbled upon this place by chance. Was I mistaken?”

At his question, the silver fox’s mouth opened in what seemed like a delighted grin, baring its fangs.

【Nothing in this forest can be obtained without my permission.】

In other words—Aion had reached the ley line only because Sien had allowed it.

“Surely you don’t mean all the mist blanketing the Mistwell Forest is…”

Aion phrased the question diplomatically—’Is all this mist covering the forest your doing?’—and asked.

【Half of it, perhaps. Though the forest has been shrouded in mist since long before.】

It seemed the Mistwell Forest had always been wreathed in fog, but the thickness now present had come only after Sien began dwelling here.

At that answer, the Extreme Points all had something to say.

【Daeji: Something about this place… the mist was always oppressively thick, wasn’t it?】
【Noejeon: Hehehehe! A haunted forest! How scary!】
【Suryu: Strangely, the mist stayed contained within the forest and never spilled beyond it—so it was Sien’s doing all along. Now it all makes sense.】

Aion let the chatter wash past him, unheeding, and fixed his steady gaze on the enormous silver fox crouched in the darkness before him.

‘Now that I think of it… there is something I need to ask.’

There had always been one question he resolved to pose if ever he faced this being again—the forest’s master, the great spirit Sien.

“Then, if I may, there is one thing I wish to ask you, master of this forest.”

At Aion’s unwavering gaze, Sien’s three massive tails froze, suspended in the air.

【…And what might that question be?】

“Dante.”

The moment he spoke the name without hesitation, Sien’s brow contorted exactly as Aion had foreseen.

【…You dare speak that name.】

Exactly as expected.
He had known Sien would react with keen sensitivity to any mention of this figure.

Aion did not shrink back. He addressed Sien directly.

“I understand that you and he shared a bond of considerable intimacy. Yet, if I am to dwell in this region without defacing his memory, I must…”

【Are you saying you need to know more of what passed between Dante and myself?】

“I am.”

Rather than burst into fury at Aion’s boldness, Sien gazed back at him with composure.

“Should you find my question presumptuous, I…”

【Dante….】

A brief silence hung between them.

【To hear that name spoken by a voice not my own… so this is what it feels like.】

The vast golden eyes grew distant and shadowed. The blade-keen wind that had circled the space, sharp enough to flay flesh, suddenly ceased.

【Human—do you know the origin of all emotion?】

“…What?”

【At times, longing sweeps over me. Yet I do not know the reason from which it springs.】

“…What do you mean?”

Sien’s gaze shifted past Aion, toward some distant point in the void.

【I long for Dante. And yet…】
【That does not mean I understand much about him.】

‘…What?’

For a moment, Aion doubted his own ears.

‘So… Sien longs for Dante, but doesn’t know much about him?’

【Dante… awakens in me a longing without purpose. I yearn for him, yet cannot hold him fully in memory. Why, I do not know.】

Aion listened closely to the conversation unfolding between the Extreme Points in his mind.

【Hwayeom: Sien yearns for someone he doesn’t even remember? Why?】
【Daeji: Is it amnesia? But a being of Sien’s caliber—a great spirit—has lost his memories? Why?】
【Noejeon: Hehehehehehe! Why! Why! Why! Why!】
【Saengmyeong: …Something is strange. There’s something more here.】

Their thoughts aligned with Aion’s own.

‘Should I tell them what I know about Dante?’

None of the information Aion had uncovered about Dante was certain. Yet the atmosphere demanded that he speak, even if only fragmentary knowledge.

After a moment of deliberation, he opened his mouth.

“Dante is….”

【You may have uncovered something about him as well. Will it answer my question?】

Aion shook his head.

“…No, sir.”

That Dante had attempted to create something called a Mana Devouring Synthesis Body, and that he had fled the mountain lodge in haste, trailing blood as though pursued by something.

Interesting details, perhaps, but they remained mere fragments.

【Listen, boy. A curious thought has occurred to me.】

A chill rippled through the air.

Sien looked down at Aion, his voice resonating through the cavern.

【You shall investigate Dante.】

“Investigate Dante? …Myself?”

【Yes. Why he had to leave this place. What happened between him and me. Humans know humans well. Should I take it upon myself, rivers of blood would flow without end.】

In other words, a threat wrapped in courtesy—if he pursued this himself, countless humans would die.

The great spirit’s weighty words crashed against Aion’s mind.

【Will you refuse?】

Sien bared his fangs, drawing his snout closer.

‘Damn.’

A troublesome burden had just been foisted upon him.

In that instant, a blue system window from Yggdrasil flickered before Aion’s eyes, framed by an unprecedented border.

Ding!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[!] A special quest has been assigned.
[!] Special quests can proceed simultaneously alongside existing quests.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
『Special Quest: Who is Dante?』
― 『Quest Overview: The Grand Spirit of Wind, Sien, has requested that you investigate all truths related to Dante.』
― 『Objective: Obtain critical information about Dante.』
― 『Designated Reward: All Attributes +3』
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Aion stared silently at the new form of system window floating before him.

He harbored questions of his own anyway, and there was no real reason to refuse.

‘Well, refusing might get my head lopped off on the spot.’

But if that were the case, couldn’t he squeeze out a few conditions of his own?

“If I accept this…”

【You may use the ley line as much as you wish.】

“……”

【So there’s more you want.】

Hmph.

Sien exhaled a sharp breath through his nostrils, then curled the corners of his mouth upward.

【Think of something reasonable, then.】

Aion nodded.

“I’ll look into Dante for you.”

***

When Aion finally returned to the mountain lodge late in the evening, he found an unexpected scene.

“Hm?”

Laila’s closest friend—and for some reason, she was still here well into the night.

“Thank you. But… shouldn’t you head back to the dormitory?”

Laila, sitting beside him, shook her head while a hot mushroom still rested on her tongue.

“Luana, come sleep here.”
“…Huh?”

Her mouth was so full of mushroom that it was hard to make out what she was saying.

Gulp.

“Luana’s staying here tonight.”
“…Did you ask permission?”
“Stop nagging—of course I did! I told her I’d stay at Laila’s mountain lodge for a night.”
“Then all is well.”

Crunch.

As Aion bit into the mushroom Laila had roasted,

“…Huh? Sniff, sniff… Did you take a bath or something?”

Luana narrowed her eyes, studying Aion intently.

Aion faltered without meaning to, his words trailing off.

“No, just… a little…”
“Your face is all shiny. Did you sneak off into the forest and wash up?”

At Luana’s mischievous question, Aion felt an unbidden flush of embarrassment and turned his gaze away. That peculiar lightness lingering from his conversation with Sien seemed to have been caught red-handed by her sharp intuition.

“You can’t do that in the open. You’ve been hanging around Cassius too much—didn’t his shamelessness rub off on you?”
“That’s… not it.”

Just as Aion awkwardly opened his mouth to clear his throat, Laila—sitting beside him—caught his eye.

‘Ah?’

Aion blinked in surprise, his eyes widening.
Laila’s long hair, usually worn loose and neat, had been braided back tightly today.

The neat braid, which bared her pale nape, gave her an entirely different impression. The usual flatness had vanished, and in its place hung an air of subtle, captivating allure.

“Ah, you noticed? Ta-da! What do you think? I showed off my touch.”

Luana shrugged proudly, stroking Laila’s braided hair with evident satisfaction.

“Thank you, Luana.”
“It’s nothing. Laila’s hair is so lovely, but she never adorns it. Actually, she doesn’t even need to—she’s already perfect! Right, right?”

She had a real gift for such things.
Recalling how she’d helped with lunches and repairs to the mountain lodge before, he’d benefited from her handiwork more than once.

“Mm-mm~.”

Luana hummed contentedly, clearly delighted with her own handiwork as she adorned Laila, even humming a little tune.

Aion’s gaze drifted to Luana’s hair. Hers too was braided in the same way as Laila’s.

“…….”

Luana noticed his stare, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks.

“Ah… this…? Is it… strange? I just tried it myself while Laila was at it….”

Luana twisted a strand of hair around her finger, lowering her head with embarrassment.

Aion swallowed the mushroom in his mouth without fuss and answered flatly.

“No, it suits you quite well.”
“……!”

At those brief words, Luana’s eyes widened. Then she broke into a radiant smile.

Their first night together—the three of them.

As the night deepened, Luana tossed out a question in her offhand manner.

“Oh, that’s right. You two are preparing, aren’t you?”
“……Preparing?”
“…For what?”

Aion and Laila, both with mushrooms in their mouths, turned their heads toward Luana simultaneously.

“Yeah, the mana storm.”
“…A mana storm?”

Aion had no knowledge whatsoever of mana storms. In the north where he’d stayed until now, one had never passed through even once.

“It was in the official notice. A mana storm is going to pass through Excion in a few days. So they’re planning a complete suspension of classes.”

Laila asked, still holding a mushroom in her mouth.

“What happens when the storm arrives?”
“Well, all of Excion will temporarily enter a mana vacuum state, so normally magic wouldn’t work. But fortunately, the Mana Maintenance Device will operate throughout Excion during the storm, so magic can still be used.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“But the Climate Control Device can’t operate at the same time, so heavy rain and strong winds are unavoidable.”
……

It was exciting news for the academy students, but for the two living in this mountain lodge, it was different.

Aion’s gaze turned toward the lodge. The barely repaired mountain lodge.

If torrential rain poured down, it would definitely leak. No—the strong winds might even bring the lodge itself crashing down.

Laila seemed to share the same thought, staring at the shabby mountain lodge.

After a moment’s hesitation at their silence, Luana asked again.

“I’m asking again… you are preparing… right?”

Aion’s gaze shifted to Laila. Laila’s gaze shifted to Aion.

…You too?
……You too?

The two exchanged a look and turned to Luana, speaking in unison.

“No.”

The Talentless Mage Swallows a Catastrophic Future — Chapter 53

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

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0053

ⓒ2026. Wang Moji

※ This e-book is a work protected by the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or whole of this work may be reprocessed in any form without the permission of 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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