The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 101
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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 101.
The next day.
Before the Heavenly Demon Cult Dungeon, on the outskirts of the Orga Kingdom.
A pitch-black rift yawned open, exhaling malevolent demonic energy in thick waves.
“R-Rag!”
The King of Orga came rushing over, breathless and flustered.
Behind him, hundreds of heavily armored knights stood in formation.
Silver plate armor gleamed brilliantly under the morning sun.
The kingdom’s elite knight order.
“Our knights shall escort you and carve a path through the dungeon!”
The king spoke with pride, yet his eyes still darted nervously.
“It is the custom of Asgard. We dare not allow the great Protector Deity to sully their hands with the blood of base demons!”
That damned custom.
I stroked my chin and surveyed their pathetic state.
The knights’ eyes burned with grim resolve.
More precisely, it was the desperation of those prepared to meet death.
They understood how perilous this dungeon truly was.
Yet still, they were willing to throw their lives away as kindling to forge a path for the deity.
‘So that’s how it works.’
The puzzle pieces clicked into place in my mind.
Only a deity could destroy and purify the dungeon’s core.
But the journey to reach that core—slaughtering demons, overcoming traps, navigating that treacherous path—
was entirely the burden of mortals.
‘So the deity simply stands back with hands clasped, watching from the sidelines.’
Conserving their own power.
Paving the way with mortal blood and flesh.
Then calmly strolling through to claim the spoils and seize the core?
All while wearing the title of Protector Deity and extorting massive tributes and sacrifices?
“Ha.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
This was no deity—just a common brigand.
I’d anticipated much of this, but the mortals’ lives in Asgard are an endless parade of suffering.
The deities’ tyranny far exceeded what I’d imagined.
I shook my head.
“Not necessary.”
I refused outright.
“B-but Rag, the custom—”
“Don’t speak to me of customs.”
I fixed the king with a sharp gaze.
“I never agreed to be your Protector Deity, nor did I promise to conquer this dungeon flawlessly.”
The King’s face drained of all color.
He looked terrified that I might suddenly change my mind and leave.
“Besides.”
I gestured with my chin toward the hundreds of Knight Commanders lined up behind me.
“Taking those fools along will only slow us down.”
“…!”
The Knight Commander’s face flushed crimson with rage.
They were the Orga Kingdom’s most formidable military force.
Yet they had just been openly dismissed as dead weight—a blow to their pride that was entirely justified.
But I didn’t care.
Because it was the truth.
Standing at my back were Turan, Kalak, Barkan, and Urk.
The Barbarian Four Brothers.
“Could a hundred of your knights defeat even one of my subordinates?”
Silence.
The Knight Commander glared at Turan with bloodshot eyes, but he had no rebuttal.
Before that wild, primal aura—one that made your legs tremble merely from meeting his gaze—the Knight Order’s silvered armor was nothing more than cheap tin.
“Don’t foolishly tag along and meet a dog’s death. Stay here and guard the Royal Castle like good little soldiers.”
I turned away from them without another word.
Leaving the King and his knights standing in stunned silence, I pivoted and walked forward.
Baek-un trembled as he took his place beside me.
“Are you ready?”
“Y-yes….”
Baek-un swallowed hard and nodded.
The Barbarian Four Brothers moved with heavy, deliberate steps.
Turan led the way at the front, his greatsword raised high.
Urk and Kalak flanked us on either side, while Barkan covered our rear.
A diamond formation.
Baek-un and I stood at its center.
“Let’s go.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, we stepped into the rift of the Heavenly Demon Cult Dungeon.
* * *
Whoooosh!
The moment we crossed the rift, my vision flickered.
Simultaneously.
Sting.
An unpleasant sensation—like needles piercing my skin—engulfed my entire body.
Ding!
[You have entered the Dungeon, ‘Heavenly Demon Divine Sect’.]
[Warning! The debuff ‘Heavenly Demon’s Oppression’ is permanently active.]
[Life force and divine power decrease by 1% every second.]
“Ugh…!”
The Barbarian Four Brothers flinched, groaning in pain.
Baek-un’s face turned ashen as well, his legs threatening to give way beneath him.
No matter how pure the Heavenly Demon’s bloodline ran through their veins, it seemed they couldn’t completely nullify this vicious demonic energy.
I could feel my life force and divine power being stripped away in real time.
Pouring water into a bottomless vessel.
But.
‘I think I understand the countermeasure well enough.’
What drains away can be replenished.
I opened my inventory.
Then I retrieved a glass vial filled with shimmering golden liquid.
It was Nectar.
I tossed the vials of Nectar to the Barbarians and Baek-un.
“Drink.”
Turan caught the vial in a panic, his eyes widening.
“M-my lord! This is…!”
“Nectar. Don’t hold back—drink it down.”
At my words, even Baek-un was startled, nearly dropping the vial.
“N-Nectar?! How could I possibly…!”
An elixir more precious than the blood of the Deities themselves.
It was hardly surprising that mortals were astonished to be told to drink like water a treasure they’d struggle to even glimpse in a lifetime.
But I had Nectar in abundance.
‘I consume roughly 10 Nectar per second, by my calculations.’
This was based on my divine power as the standard.
600 per minute, 36,000 per hour.
My inventory contained over a hundred ‘Fragments of the Broken Golden Ratio’ alone.
In other words, I had accumulated over 100 million Nectar.
“It doesn’t matter. I have plenty.”
I spoke calmly and took a sip.
The divine power that had been draining away refilled instantly, warmth spreading through my body.
The Barbarian Four Brothers gripped their vials with faces full of emotion.
“Ah… My lord’s grace, I shall carve it into my very bones!”
They drank the Nectar down with trembling fervor.
Baek-un brought the vial to his lips with shaking hands.
The debuff was neutralized.
Now only the breakthrough remained.
I swept my gaze across the surroundings.
An endless expanse of mountain ranges and sheer cliffs.
But I sensed no immediate presence.
As I walked, I turned to Baek-un beside me and asked.
“What manner of man is the King of Orga?”
Baek-un startled slightly, looking up at me.
“The King of Orga, you mean?”
“Yes. From what I observed outside, his people seem to follow him with rather blind devotion.”
“Ah….”
Baek-un hesitated for a moment before answering with measured composure.
“He is a virtuous man. A sage king, truly.”
A sage king.
An incongruous phrase in this mad realm of Asgard.
“At the very least, he does not plunder his people indiscriminately. The taxes are light, and he has ensured that even displaced orphans like myself do not starve.”
Baek-un offered a faint smile.
“Honestly, serving under Kartal was truly arduous.”
The moment he spoke Kartal’s name, he froze in alarm, clamping his mouth shut.
“Ah, forgive me! I meant no disrespect to the Deity….”
“It is well.”
I shook my head.
“Speak freely. I will not punish you for it.”
After all, I had already annihilated that wretch.
Baek-un’s eyes widened, but he soon exhaled deeply and continued.
“When Kartal served as the Protector Deity… the King of Orga made truly immense sacrifices.”
The boy’s voice grew somber.
“He emptied the royal treasury to offer vast tributes… and even surrendered Princess Melia herself.”
“A princess?”
“Yes. Have you not heard of Princess Melia?”
Baek-un gazed at me with earnest eyes.
“She was called the flower of the kingdom—beautiful and wise—but Kartal designated her as a sacrifice, and she departed for the Tower.”
I did not answer.
I merely shook my head slightly.
She had likely been consumed by purifying flames and transformed into Nectar.
Just as Cryos had sought to incinerate the Frost Tribe.
Of course, I saw no need to elaborate on that point.
“In any case… the King of Orga does not demand sacrifice from his people.”
Baek-un clenched his fists.
“He offers from his own first. Unlike other kingdoms, he sought to protect us even by surrendering his most precious princess.”
Tears welled in his eyes.
“That is why, no matter how fiercely the demons rampage or how arduous life becomes, mortals do not abandon the Orga Kingdom. Because we trust our king.”
The boy looked up at me.
“That is why I prayed. If someone would call upon me, and if I could end this dungeon’s curse by sacrificing my very life… I wished to repay the kingdom’s grace.”
A resolve to die.
That youthful face bore a resolute determination that was unmistakably genuine.
Indeed.
I nodded inwardly to myself.
‘A far better king than I expected.’
If such a thing as a sage-king existed, perhaps this was what it felt like.
After all, he had climbed the Tower of Gods himself.
He had knelt and steeled himself for death.
That solemn expression remained vivid in my mind.
I paused to consider.
‘With a king and kingdom like this.’
It seemed I would not mind becoming their guardian deity.
Not merely a forward outpost, but a true people of my own, a territory worthy of nurturing and developing.
‘Though that discussion comes only after resolving this dungeon’s crisis.’
It was in that moment.
“My lord!”
Turan, who had been leading the way, came to an abrupt halt.
His greatsword cleaved through the empty space, releasing a sickly aura of killing intent.
“They’re here!”
From all directions where no presence had been detected, crimson eyes began flickering wildly.
From atop the cliffs, from the shadows of the mountain range, even from beneath the crimson sand.
Uttering grotesque cries, the demonic beasts swarmed toward us like an ant colony.
“Slay the enemies of the Heavenly Demon…”
“Protect the Divine Sect…”
“We can still fight…”
Undead warriors clad in black martial robes.
And grotesquely mutated demonic beasts surged toward us.
“Hold formation!”
Turan roared and swung his greatsword.
Kwaaaang!
The demonic beasts at the vanguard burst apart, but their numbers were overwhelming.
An absolutely crushing tide.
Yet I remained unperturbed.
Calmly, I extended the Grand Sage’s staff into the empty space.
The soul of Grand Sage Plutonium, bound at the staff’s tip, blazed with azure light.
Magical power exploded and condensed.
‘Calamity descending from all sides.’
The power I had used to annihilate the demonic beasts climbing the city walls.
And.
‘Absolute Annihilation Gale.’
I summoned forth at once a vicious catastrophe—a fusion of flesh-searing cold and blade-like winds that carved away bone and sinew.
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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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