A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 68

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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 68

Aion regarded the elderly man before him for a moment.

‘This person….’

The headmaster of Excion.

The most powerful mage in this academy city, and the holder of one of the eight seats on the Magic Council that governed the magical order of the continent.

The name Theoban Berniell carried considerable weight.

Yet there he sat, smiling with the leisured ease of an old man taking a brief rest during his stroll.

The sight struck Aion as oddly dissonant.

【Hwayeom: Why is this old man here?】
【Suryu: Alone without a single attendant. Either he has no sense of caution, or….】
【Daeji: Who in Excion could stand against that old man? Unless we’re within the reach of a Magical Storm, he’s untouchable.】

Aion silently concurred with the assessment.

The mana that surrounded them seemed to have stilled its breath in the old man’s presence, as though the very air itself deferred to him.

“I offer my greetings again. I am Aion Iskar.”

Aion bowed slightly at the waist.
Theoban’s eyes narrowed as he watched the gesture.

“Heh, heh, heh….”

A soft laugh.

“I’ve already heard that a child of Iskar has entered Excion.”

Aion’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

“You know of the Iskar family?”
“It would be a lie to say I don’t.”

Theoban rested one hand upon his knee as he remained seated on the steps.

“I crossed paths with your father a few times long ago. A man of few words and stubborn will, though curiously he never seemed able to avoid putting himself at a disadvantage.”
“…….”
“Looking at you, I’m beginning to understand why.”

Aion did not respond.
He could not summon an apt reply.

Leonhardt bowed quietly.

“Headmaster.”
“Yes, Leonhardt.”
“You’ve come without your attendants today? The entire academy is on alert at the moment….”

Theoban chuckled softly at that.

“The essence of Excion is that it is a magical academy.”

He rose to his feet with deliberate slowness.

“And I have walked these halls for decades.”

The old man descended the stairs.

Click—

In that instant, the guardian knights around him naturally stepped back in unison.

No command had been given, yet all of them parted to let him pass.

“So there is no problem.”

Theoban regarded Leonhardt.

“Besides, you are here, are you not?”

Leonhardt blinked once.
This was surely meant as a jest.

“Those who gather around an old man like me are typically flatterers. The genuine practitioners keep their heads buried in their craft, never bothering to look up.”

Theoban smiled faintly.

“So I prefer to walk alone.”

【Hwayeom: Tch tch… I can sense that peculiar character deterioration you find in old mages.】
【Daeji: You’re an old mage yourself.】
【Hwayeom: I was never quite so deteriorated.】
【Daeji: Your self-awareness is pathetic.】
【Hwayeom: …Rot.】

“Follow me.”

With those words, Theoban turned and stood before the door to Erebos.

A door bearing the scars of a tempest.
Several of the Sealing Formulas still emitted an unstable glow, and one side of the door bore a long, deep scratch as though clawed by something razor-sharp.

Aion studied the mark.
The place where Irgas’s trio had breached that night.

Theoban traced the scar on the door lightly with his fingertip.

“They did bite quite deep.”

Hummmmm—

The Sealing Formulas of Erebos began to glow one by one.

Clang—

Clang—

The countless layers of enchantments woven together unraveled in sequence.

Rumble—

Creak-eeeeeek—

The door swung open, and cold air spilled out from within.

Aion’s heart gave a small, tight flutter.

【Daeji: This place still feels so unpleasant.】

‘I haven’t the faintest idea….’

Why had Theoban Berniell, the headmaster of Excion, suddenly appeared before him? And why was he now leading him into the Erebos Vault?

Whoosh—

The interior was darker than the space beyond, though a gentle luminescence lit the corridor.

‘It’s an improvement over last time, I suppose. At least I can see properly now….’

On either side of the long corridor stood sealed doors, arranged in orderly ranks.

Some doors exhaled a frost-like vapor, bitterly cold; others issued low metallic sounds from within.

Before certain doors stood guardian knights in pairs, and each time Theoban passed, they bowed their heads in wordless reverence.

‘I felt it before, too… this place has the air of a prison.’

Not a repository for artifacts—but a cage, meant to keep them from the world.

“Most of them were objects of fear,” Theoban said, his words arriving without preamble.

Aion turned to him, curious. “The artifacts here, you mean?”

“Yes.”

Theoban did not slacken his pace.

“Some were once revered; others, cursed. Some have stood witness to the founding and fall of kingdoms alike.”

A shimmer of silver light skimmed across his face.

“Those who felt afraid of them sought to seal them away somewhere.”

Theoban paused before one door in particular—something about it was different.

Hmmm—

From within issued a sound like the faintest singing—so faint it was nearly imperceptible.
Whether it was true song, or wind, or merely the vibration of an artifact’s mana resonance, Aion could not say.

“And yet, sometimes, they seem almost pitiable to me.”
“Pitiable? The artifacts, you mean?”
“Yes.”

Theoban resumed walking.

“Because, in the end, they are only tools.”

Aion said nothing, only listened.

“Most of the artifacts sleeping in this place possess no will. Neither benevolence nor malice. They were merely wielded according to the intentions of those who claimed ownership.”

Theoban’s voice was low, yet it resonated through Erebos.

“Children who met tragic fates because they fell into the hands of the wrong masters.”

Whoosh—

He turned, speaking as he did.

“Condemned to eternal imprisonment in this place.”
“…….”

Aion’s gaze swept across the doors lining both sides of the corridor.

Sealed artifacts.
They must have been confined here since ages past.

And it seemed unlikely they would ever see the world beyond these walls in any foreseeable future.

“And sorcerers are no different.”

Aion’s gaze found him without breaking stride.

“The age calls forth war anew. Steel and knights. Gunpowder and the stench of blood. The old wounds marked by such things are reopening. All under the name of magic.”

One step.

Theoban’s footfalls echoed softly through the cold hallway.

“How will magic be remembered in history? And by what name will sorcerers be known?”

Whoosh—

Theoban turned his head slowly to face Aion.

“Consider it well, young one of Iskar.”

He seemed not to expect an answer, and descended the stairs at an unhurried pace.

Thud—

Aion and Leonhardt followed in his wake.

One level.
Then another.

As they descended, the density of mana grew more concentrated.

The formulae adorning the walls became denser still, and the light of the Sealing Formula turned progressively colder.

‘Is this the lowest level?’

【Hwayeom: It isn’t. The true lowest level of Erebos is hidden.】

The party halted in a vast circular hall. From its center, several corridors branched outward.

Each passage was blocked by a different seal-gate, standing with lips pressed shut.

‘…I see. A storage sector for artifacts of higher hazard classification.’

Of all of them, only one door remained agape.

The Sealing Formula had been torn away, and one side of the black door bore deep gouges, as if something had clawed at it from within.

This was undoubtedly where the Keraunos Coffin had been stolen last night.

“This is where the Keraunos Coffin was kept.”

Just as he’d suspected.

Leonhardt bowed his head at once.

“Forgive me.”
“Leon. You did everything in your power. What is there to apologize for? What is lost cannot be recovered. But….”

Theoban spoke while gazing at the torn Sealing Formula.

“Those who have once broken through a path will return again.”

Aion listened in silence.

“Threats such as this will only multiply in the days ahead.”

Theoban turned to face Aion.

“The remnants of Irgas. Eclipse. And those whose names we do not yet know.”

His voice was gentle, yet carried within it an old, settled certainty.

“Malice has already risen to our throats. Enemies yet unseen set their sights on Excion’s most precious things.”

He gazed upon the sealed doors.

“Young mages. And the artifacts slumbering in this place.”

A moment of silence fell.
Then Theoban asked:

“Child of Iskar. Can you guess why I summoned you here?”

Aion paused to think.

Artifacts.
Mages.
Things that malice covets.

He sensed vaguely what Theoban was driving at. Yet how it connected to him remained unclear.

“I don’t know, sir.”
“Yes. I thought as much.”

Theoban smiled kindly.

“I hear you endured much hardship last night. And that by the end of it, you accomplished something for Excion.”

Had Aion failed to stop Ruana Belmora last night, Excion could have ceased to be a safe place for its students.

“Yet we cannot make that tale public. There are truths best left unknown to the world.”

The moment it became widely known that the one who threatened the students’ lives was a student himself, the resulting backlash would be immense.

‘The existence of Eclipse is one thing. But above all, the fact that an artifact from Erebos was stolen at all.’

He hadn’t acted in expectation of reward.

“I understand.”
“Good.”

Amusement deepened at the corners of Theoban’s eyes.

“Officially, that is.”
“…….”
“Kindness must always be repaid. Otherwise, who would walk the path of righteousness?”

Theoban gazed slowly at the sealed doors.

“We have just been discussing the artifacts housed here.”

At those words, Aion’s gaze wavered slightly.

“Surely not…?”

【Daeji: Wait, hold on. What is this old man doing?】
【Hwayeom: Something feels off about this… it can’t be what I think it is, can it?】

“Yes.”

Theoban spoke.

“I shall entrust one of these children to you.”

In that instant, Aion’s mind erupted into chaos.

【Hwayeom: He’s lost his mind.】
【Suryu: Theoban Bernier. I knew the old madman was eccentric, but not to this extent…】

【Saengmyeong: Truly? Truly giving an artifact to a first-year student?】
【Daeji: Hehehehe! This old fool really has lost his senses.】
【Mado: Be quiet. There may be conditions.】

Their reactions barely differed from Aion’s own thoughts.

An artifact of Erebos.
The things kept here were no mere magical tools.
Objects that had been worshipped and cursed, that had risen and fallen with kingdoms.

And he meant to entrust one of these to a first-year student?

“Of course, when you graduate from this place, the artifact will return to Erebos.”
“Why would you entrust such a thing to me?”
“Why, you ask… I’m not certain myself. It might be a passing whim, or perhaps…”

Theoban let out a soft chuckle.

“Intuition, perhaps…?”
“…….”

What was Theoban thinking? Aion found him utterly incomprehensible.

“All the artifacts here are worth their weight. Which one you take is yours to decide.”

Leonhardt grinned brightly and placed a hand on Aion’s shoulder.

“Congratulations. As far as I know, this is the first time a student from Excion has ever been given guardianship of an artifact from Erebos.”
“…That’s a heavy honor.”

【Hwayeom: I, I!!】
【Daeji: Shut your mouth! Close it right now!】

The Extreme Points scrambled over each other to clap their hands over Aion’s mouth as if it were their own business.

“The matter is already settled. Aion.”
“There’s no refusing, then.”
“Haha! You’d be the only one in Erebos to turn down an artifact like that.”

A whisper of movement—

Theoban raised his hand lightly, and seven Sealing Formulas encircling the circular chamber glimmered faintly.

A faint hum rose—

There had been eight seals originally.
One had crumbled together with the Keraunos Coffin, leaving seven intact.

Aion stepped slowly to the center of the circular chamber.

Each door emanated a different aura.

A chiming sound—

From the gap of one door spilled a silvery chill.

Beyond it, the faint echo of chains striking against each other tolled.

A soft rustling—

Another door held a ruddy heat within it.

A distant ringing—

Before yet another door came a sound like a temple bell.

The moment that sound reached his ears, the Runic Script on the walls twisted into unfamiliar characters for an instant.

A hissing whisper—

Black mist seeped from beneath another door like a living thing, only to scatter the moment it touched the Sealing Formula.

A deep thud.

And from before one final door came a very low vibration.

The tremor climbing through his feet drummed against the marrow of his bones.

That door was black.
And it was far too quiet.

Before it, Aion’s gaze came to rest.

【Daeji: …Aion.】

Daeji’s Extreme Point spoke in a low voice.

【Daeji: That’s it.】

‘…That one?’

【Daeji: What I said I must protect from the Irgas triumvirate.】

Aion gazed at the door in silence.

Under normal circumstances, the artifact inside that door should no longer have been here.

But Aion’s intervention had altered the future.

The Keraunos Coffin had vanished instead, and this remained.

In that moment.

【Daeji: ……Wait.】

Daeji’s Extreme Point trailed off oddly.
Aion had arrived at the same realization.

【Daeji: Right now, we’re thinking the same thing, aren’t we?】

Aion did not answer.

He only moved forward deliberately, as if he had made a decision.

He soon stood before the quietest black door.

Thud.

Once more, a low vibration echoed beneath his feet.

“Hmm?”

And the present that had already diverged.

Whoosh—

Aion brought his hand to the black door.

“Someone will be able to set that future right.”

He turned his head slightly, gazing back as he spoke.

“The future cannot be changed by them alone.”

Creak—

The black door swung open.

The Talentless Mage Devours a Catastrophic Future — Chapter 68

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

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0068

ⓒ2026, Wang Mozhi

※ This e-book is protected under the Copyright Law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or whole of this work may be reproduced or modified 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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