The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 111

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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 111.
I leaned back against the Jade Throne and let out a soft chuckle.
‘This is entertaining.’
Playing the role of a troublemaker was far more enjoyable than I’d anticipated.
The first Secret Auction.
That’s when I confirmed the perfect anonymity of this System.
No matter how exalted a Deity might be, they couldn’t uncover my identity—I was certain of it.
Thanks to that certainty, I’d properly committed to the concept during the second auction.
I mocked the Deities freely, provoked them, and toyed with them relentlessly.
Scratching that fragile pride of theirs proved far more delightful than I’d imagined.
‘If I use this anonymous System well, I could shake the very foundations of the Deities.’
Going forward, I could manipulate them more effectively, bend them to my will.
The enraged lose their sight to tunnel vision.
Chasing invisible phantoms, they’ll trip over their own feet.
…Regardless.
The amusement was over. Now came the time to inspect my spoils.
I opened my inventory and retrieved the items I’d won.
First, Fenrir’s soul.
This required no explanation—it was supreme-grade material.
How to utilize it could wait; there was no rush.
My gaze settled on a blood-tinged dagger.
The Divine Artifact of the Plague Deity.
[Item: Dagger of Plague]
[Grade: Divine Artifact]
[Inherent Authority: Black Plague (Ancient)]
“…Ancient grade, then.”
My eyes gleamed.
Far superior to what I’d expected.
The inherent authority’s rank was nothing less than ‘Ancient.’
The same tier as my primary weapon, ‘Annihilation’s Gale Wind.’
This meant I’d acquired excellent material for the Authority Combiner.
I read through the authority’s description.
It could spread a devastating plague wherever I desired.
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
A tempting notion suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘The Palam Kingdom.’
Where Akan serves as the guardian deity.
An enemy nation preparing to march its armies into the Orga Kingdom.
What would happen if I unleashed this plague there?
The war would end before it ever began.
They wouldn’t even have the strength to raise their weapons—they’d collapse, coughing blood, before any sortie could begin.
The simplest and most efficient method.
I could cripple their forces without spilling a drop of blood on my hands.
But.
I shook my head.
‘Innocent people would die too.’
A plague has no eyes.
It doesn’t discriminate by rank or station.
It would sweep indiscriminately—not just soldiers bearing arms, but elderly wandering the streets and newborn infants alike.
If I were an ordinary Deity, I would have used it without hesitation.
I would have savored their screams of despair and drunk Nectar to their anguish.
But I am not like these wretched Deities.
I cannot be.
To achieve my purpose through the massacre of the innocent.
That would be no different from the methods of those who destroyed my world.
“There’s no use for the dagger then.”
I tightened my grip on the blood-crimson blade.
Using this divine artifact as-is would be dangerous anyway.
The aura of plague could be traced back, leading them to my trail.
So there was only one answer.
‘Consume it.’
Uuuuuuung!
The golden rune in my right palm twisted grotesquely, its maw yawning wide.
A ravenous devourer.
Without hesitation, I thrust the dagger into the golden vortex.
Crack! Snap!
A crunching sound echoed.
The malevolent energy tried to backflow through my veins, but the golden rune’s overwhelming pull instantly ground it to dust.
Ding!
[You have consumed the divine artifact, ‘Dagger of Reversal’.]
[You have permanently acquired the authority, ‘Black Plague’!]
A new authority coiled within me.
“Ah.”
I clenched and unclenched my fist, exhaling in wonder.
I could feel it.
The depth of sensation was entirely different from wielding it as a divine artifact.
I’d felt this before when I consumed Heimdall’s staff, but absorbing it directly as an authority was far more devastating than using it as a divine artifact.
Freed from the constraints of a divine object, I could wield it entirely by my own will.
‘So this is my first authority from the Biological Faction.’
Typhoons and frost from the Natural Faction.
Earthquakes and fire from the Material Realm, and collapse.
Now I’ve even obtained the plague from the Biological Faction.
On top of that, there’s also the extraordinary fortune called Causality-type.
The breadth of my divine authority has expanded even further.
I immediately summoned the System window into the empty space before me.
‘Authority Combiner.’
This was the moment I’d been anticipating most.
The time to blend my newly acquired materials with the ones I already possessed.
A cauldron hologram materialized before my eyes.
[Checking combinable authorities.]
[1. Black Plague (Ancient)]
[2. Annihilation Gale (Ancient)]
[3. Living Primordial Flame (Primordial)]
Combination was possible.
I could mix it with either the Ancient-grade gale or the Primordial-grade Primordial Flame, the system indicated.
I first simulated a combination with the gale.
[Analyzing compatibility between authority ‘Black Plague’ and ‘Annihilation Gale’.]
[Warning: Combination compatibility is poor.]
[Details: While wind spreads the plague, the absolute-zero cold of the gale inhibits the plague’s activation. Power may be halved.]
“…Hmm.”
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
Indeed. The System is quite scientific.
It was fine for the plague to spread on the wind, but the ‘extreme blizzard’ attribute of the Annihilation Gale was the problem.
It was so cold that the pathogens would freeze to death.
What about fire, then?
[Analyzing compatibility between authority ‘Black Plague’ and ‘Living Primordial Flame’.]
[Warning: Combination compatibility is catastrophic.]
[Details: The Primordial Flame completely annihilates the plague’s source. There is a high probability that the two authorities will collide and self-destruct.]
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
These were fundamentally opposed to each other.
The Primordial Flame possessed the nature of purification and annihilation.
My flames would incinerate all the pathogens before the plague could even spread.
‘Unfortunate, but there’s no helping it.’
I closed the combiner window.
Authorities of Ancient grade and above were rare.
I wasn’t foolish enough to ignore the compatibility warning and forcibly press the combination button.
“For now, I’ll have to use them individually.”
However, how they would manifest was still unknown.
Reading about something and experiencing it in practice are different things.
Divine authority, by its very nature, produces vastly different results depending on the wielder’s will and the surrounding circumstances.
I needed to test it myself.
The problem was.
This was the power of the Plague Deity.
‘If I use it wrong, everything falls apart.’
The 61st Floor.
My territory.
The World Tree I planted was flourishing abundantly, and the Priestesses who offered their unwavering devotion, Baek-un, and my retainers all drew breath in this place.
If I made even the slightest mistake and the plague spiraled beyond my control?
I could end up annihilating my own territory with my own hands.
But there was a way.
I approached the crystal at the center of the floor.
I opened the shop tab.
[Beginner’s Training Chamber]
-Price: 5,000 Nectar
-Description: A special space for Deities to verify and train their abilities. Completely isolated from the outside world, and no phenomena occurring within will leak beyond its boundaries.
“This will do.”
I pressed the payment button without hesitation.
A low hum resonated.
A doorway surrounded by a transparent barrier materialized in one corner of the Divine Temple.
Before entering the chamber, I needed a test subject.
I walked toward the World Tree.
Beneath the tree, the Priestesses knelt in reverent prayer.
“Rag….”
“Great Master.”
The Priestesses greeted me shyly as I approached.
Without responding, I snapped off a large, beautifully blooming flower growing near the World Tree.
“Oh!”
One of the Priestesses gasped in surprise.
But it didn’t end there.
I reached out and snapped off a rather thick branch from the World Tree’s lush canopy.
Crack!
“…!”
“Ahhhhh….”
The Priestesses’ faces drained of color.
Thud.
Some of them collapsed as if seized by vertigo.
They were children who had eaten the World Tree’s leaves since birth.
The World Tree was both their lifeline and their faith itself.
Seeing that branch torn away so brutally, tears welled up in their eyes.
“M-Master… why would you….”
Even Seria seemed flustered, her words stumbling.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I want to run an experiment.”
The Priestesses gazed at the broken branch with sorrowful eyes.
The atmosphere felt as though they might burst into tears at any moment.
“Don’t cry.”
I spoke matter-of-factly.
“You speak kind words to it every day, don’t you? Give it one more word of encouragement, and it will grow back soon enough.”
At my indifferent consolation, the Priestesses nodded with sniffles.
I felt sorry, but what could I do?
I didn’t bother saying that I couldn’t use them as test subjects.
For some reason, I had a feeling one of the Priestesses would genuinely volunteer to be an experimental subject.
Besides, to properly measure the power of this authority, I needed a test subject with the most tenacious vitality.
In Asgard, nothing possessed life force as stubborn and vast as the World Tree.
I took the broken flower and branch and headed toward the Training Chamber.
As I passed through the veil, a sealed space composed of white cubes on all sides appeared before me.
‘Very well, then.’
I set the flower and branch down on the floor.
I stepped back several paces.
I steadied my breathing and focused on the new force coiled within me.
The power of the Biological Faction.
The authority of Corruption.
“Black Plague.”
I intoned quietly.
Uuuuuuuung!
In an instant, a dark mist crept upward from beneath my feet.
The very mana suspended in the atmosphere became blackened and corrupted, emanating a putrid stench of decay.
The domain of Black Plague activated rapidly in a circular pattern centered around me.
Ssssshhhhh!
“….”
I fell silent at the sight before my eyes.
The flower that had been resting on the ground.
That vibrant bloom, nourished by Asgard’s fertile mana.
The moment it touched the mist—one second.
No, not even 0.1 seconds had passed.
Psssshhh.
It withered to blackened char, then crumbled into ash scattered across the floor.
Not a trace of its form remained.
‘The flower is one thing.’
My gaze shifted to the World Tree branch placed beside it.
It was on an entirely different level than a flower.
The very essence of tenacious vitality—nourished by primordial resentment that even The Deities themselves struggled to bear.
But.
Crackle! Snap!
Foam erupted across the surface of the branch.
The verdant bark that had gleamed with emerald light began melting away like blackened pus.
The World Tree’s formidable mana surged forth in azure waves, desperately resisting the plague.
‘It’s being overwhelmed.’
Before the destructive force of an Ancient-rank authority, such resistance was meaningless.
The plague devoured even the mana that fought against it, gnawing deeper and more viciously into the branch.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
With each passing moment, the branch’s form crumbled further.
And.
Exactly ten seconds.
Thud. Crumble.
Even the World Tree’s branch transformed into blackened charcoal and disintegrated.
In the sealed chamber where no wind blew, it scattered into dust and vanished completely.
Witnessing this, I could only force out a single word.
“…Insane.”

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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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