The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 30

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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 30.
Three vanished in an instant.
Impossible.
It should never have happened.
A war of the Deities.
Since that dark age when Asgard’s history was written in blood, never had the Deities fallen in such rapid succession.
“…This cannot be.”
The Investigators recoiled in shock.
They mobilized immediately.
Coordinates: 18th Floor, 15th Floor, 12th Floor.
The territories of the slain Deities.
The crime scenes were not gruesome.
Rather, they were far too clean.
That very cleanliness amplified the dread.
“There are… no traces.”
18th Floor, Plague Swampland.
An Investigator reported in a trembling voice.
Not a single sign of struggle remained.
There was no indication of resistance whatsoever.
It was as though the killer had strolled in casually, severed a neck, and vanished.
“We must have issued warnings?”
Unit Commander Abdulla furrowed his brow.
After Kartal and Caligo’s deaths, an emergency directive had swept through all of Asgard.
The lower Deities had been especially warned.
Reinforce territorial defenses and strictly control all outside access.
Yet it happened anyway.
The defensive barriers remained intact.
The traps had not been triggered.
The killer had passed through walls like a phantom and reached the bedchamber.
“Commander! The 15th and 12th Floors show the same pattern!”
“They’ve vanished! Not even a fragment of divine essence remains!”
Reports cascaded in.
Abdulla clenched his fists tightly.
‘The God Hunter.’
That creature moved like a phantom.
It mocked the Deities’ entire defensive apparatus.
Then it came.
Ding!
[We bring grave tidings.]
[The master of the 9th Floor of the Tower, the Lower Thorn Deity, has been slain.]
Another one.
While investigating, another fell.
A chill ran down Abdulla’s spine.
This was no hunt.
It was a massacre.
He was descending through the Layers, erasing the Deities like a master breaking through a dojo.
“Why? Why can’t they even counterattack?”
Abdulla’s mind raced.
The opponent was a Lower Thorn Deity.
No matter how weak, the true body’s power cannot be ignored.
Yet they died without even a scream?
There was only one reason.
Their consciousness was focused elsewhere.
“Amusement.”
Abdulla muttered.
Episode 3 had just begun on Earth.
A massive calamity had occurred, and sweet rewards called “Runes” were falling.
The Lower Thorn Deities must have lost their minds.
“They’ve abandoned awareness of their true bodies.”
It was a chronic problem among the Lower Thorn Deities.
They became obsessed with their avatars.
Runes and Mythic-grade equipment obtained on Earth were attractive reinforcement methods for them as well.
Especially when an opportunity like this opened up, they minimized consciousness of their true bodies and concentrated all mental power into their avatars.
Like a logged-in gamer abandoning their physical body in reality.
“Breaking into empty houses…”
The culprit had aimed for exactly that.
He knew.
That now was when the Lower Thorn Deities were most vulnerable.
That their most greedy moment was their easiest moment to die.
“We cannot continue like this.”
The Adjutant cried out urgently.
“Four in a single day. We cannot simply suffer this without knowing who the culprit is!”
“…You’re right. We must discover his identity.”
Abdulla’s eyes gleamed.
I had grasped his hunting method.
He targets Deities distracted by amusement, their consciousness scattered.
Then I could narrow the targets.
The avatars currently logged into Earth.
They were the next prey.
But there was a problem.
Anonymity.
The Deities never revealed their avatar information.
It was an unspoken rule of the game and a matter of pride.
No one—not even the Investigation Team—could know who was where doing what.
Without information, they couldn’t protect anyone or use them as bait.
“We can retreat no further.”
Abdulla made his decision.
At this rate, the lower Deities would be annihilated.
Rules meant nothing now.
This was a matter of survival.
“I will petition the higher authorities.”
He swirled his cloak and turned away.
His destination: the Garden of Gods.
The conference hall where the highest-ranking Deities dwelled.
“I will request forced enforcement.”
“W-wait, Unit Commander? Surely you don’t mean….”
“Yes. I will disclose the avatar list of every lower Deity participating in the game.”
Frost crept into Abdulla’s voice.
“The God Hunter clearly knows the names of the Deities engaged in the game.”
There was no other explanation.
Which meant.
“We need to know who is on Earth, where they are, and what names they’re using if we’re to catch this bastard.”
Breaking taboo.
Even if it meant forcibly exposing the Deities’ identities, he had to catch this mad hunter’s tail.
Abdulla was certain of it.
The culprit was inside the Tower.
And perhaps very close by, savoring this situation.
‘Wait, God Hunter.’
Crunch!
Abdulla ground his teeth.
If he couldn’t find this one, the Investigation Team’s credibility would plummet.
All the reputation they’d built would become worthless scraps.
The Investigation Team couldn’t ignore this crisis.
‘Whoever you are, I will find you and tear you to shreds.’
* * *
As expected.
The golden rune on my right hand vibrated wildly.
It pointed like a compass.
The locations of the avatars causing disasters were being pinpointed in real time.
I didn’t hesitate.
Episode 3, the prelude to the Great Calamity.
I seized the opportunity amid the chaos and began my hunt.
First, the earthquake in Gangnam.
Second, the tsunami at Haeundae.
Third, the wildfire on Seorak Mountain.
And finally, the collapse in Daejeon.
I hunted down four avatars in succession.
They were careless.
So consumed with orchestrating the Great Calamity, they never noticed Death itself standing at their backs.
The hunt was effortless.
If anything, it was disappointingly easy.
I severed their necks and absorbed their divine essence.
The powers within me stirred with hunger.
Earthquakes, tidal waves, infernos, collapse.
New abilities accumulated within me, layer upon layer.
But it was not yet finished.
One thread remained.
A thick one, vivid and brilliant—a golden thread of immense power.
The final puzzle piece.
The one who would crown the Great Calamity’s apex.
Roooaaarrr!
The sky above Seoul tore open.
A black beast of greed descended.
At that same moment, the golden thread guiding me snapped abruptly.
Once the Great Calamity was complete, it ceased channeling its power.
I could no longer pinpoint its location.
‘Damn.’
I bit my lip.
Had I missed it?
No, that was impossible.
It had to be nearby.
It would come to hunt its own creation, the black beast of greed.
It would come to monopolize the rune.
I leaped onto a building’s rooftop.
I surveyed the battlefield below.
It was pandemonium.
Buildings crumbled under the black lightning the beast unleashed.
People screamed and fled, while the military proved helpless.
And within that chaos, one figure stood out distinctly.
“Khahahaha! It’s mine!”
A laugh tinged with madness.
A man hurled himself directly at the beast.
In his hand, he clutched a vial filled with golden liquid.
Nectar.
And not just any Nectar—this was the genuine article, brimming with divine power in its purest form.
‘Insane bastard.’
Drinking Nectar so openly?
He wasn’t even attempting to conceal his identity.
Or was he simply that confident?
The arrogance of one who believed no one could stand against him.
The man drained the Nectar in one gulp.
Whoooosh!
Crimson flames erupted from his body.
This was no mere flame spell.
It was divine authority itself—calamity incarnate.
I caught sight of his face.
And my breath caught in my throat.
“…Choi Tae-min.”
I knew him.
Far too well.
A friend of ten years.
The one who had patted my shoulder at my parents’ funeral and wept alongside me.
The only companion who had stood by my side during my darkest hour.
And later, a comrade who had joined the Final Party and vanished while climbing the Tower.
‘You too.’
Betrayal welled up inside me.
After Kim In-soo, now Choi Tae-min.
Those who had been at my side during life’s most crucial moments—they were avatars of the Deities all along.
No, it was different.
Choi Tae-min was no avatar.
He had been human—truly human.
I still carried memories of those days when we drank together and shared our burdens.
If that was true, there could be only one answer.
‘Possession.’
A Deity had seized his body.
It had consumed Choi Tae-min’s soul and taken his place.
‘When did it happen?’
I couldn’t know.
But one thing was certain: the creature burning within those crimson flames was not my friend Choi Tae-min.
‘Damn it all.’
I clenched my fist with all my might.
My nails dug into my flesh.
A monster wearing my friend’s face.
A Deity trampling upon my precious bonds and reveling in its cruel games.
I could not forgive this.
I could not let it live.
Yet if I consumed the Deity’s divine essence, Choi Tae-min’s body would perish as well.
Just as Kim In-soo had.
Rapid aging would consume him until death claimed what remained.
But if I spared it, the creature would continue deceiving humanity.
It would only grow harder to capture later.
It would become humanity’s hero, steadily accumulating power in the shadows.
By then, reclaiming Choi Tae-min’s body would be nearly impossible.
Perhaps it was already too late.
Yet I could not abandon the attempt without trying.
I bit down on my lips until they bled.
The taste of blood filled my mouth.
My hesitation had been long, but my decision came in an instant.
The answer had always been predetermined.
‘I will kill it.’
First, I would slay the Deity.
* * *
Choi Tae-min wiped his lips clean.
He hurled the empty bottle to the ground.
The glass shattered with a sharp ring.
Shards scattered across the floor.
“Haah…”
He exhaled a scorching breath.
His veins writhed as though they might burst.
A massive dose of Nectar.
An ordinary avatar would have ruptured under such a concentration.
But he had absorbed it completely.
His true form—the Higher Flame Deity—was far too greedy to refuse.
‘This time, I will win.’
Choi Tae-min’s eyes blazed with fervor.
The humiliation from Episode 2 burned in his mind.
Fourth place—a ranking that had scarred a Deity’s pride.
It was unbearable.
To be surpassed by some nobody called NONAME, an unknown wretch, infuriated him.
‘Hall of Fame, first place.’
That position is mine.
It should have always been mine.
Roooaaarrr!
Flames erupted from his body.
Calamitous fire infused with divine essence.
He took a step forward.
Into the eye of the tempest where black lightning crackled.
Crackle! Boom!
A streetlight shattered.
The electronic billboard went dark.
Inside the Great Calamity.
A realm where civilization itself was rejected.
All electronic devices ceased functioning, and communications were severed.
Darkness so absolute that human eyes could not pierce even an inch ahead.
But Choi Tae-min could see.
His eyes were the eyes of a god.
“Found it.”
Far in the distance.
Between the Collapsed Building Forest.
A colossal shadow writhed and twisted.
The claws of black greed.
The protagonist of this Episode 3, and a treasure chest brimming with vast runes.
“Kekeke….”
Laughter escaped his lips.
No one else was here.
The other avatars were surely floundering outside the barrier.
Only I, who have consumed high-concentration Nectar, can penetrate this dense calamitous miasma.
‘Monopoly.’
Capture that monster and I obtain the runes.
With that power, I strengthen my main body and elevate my avatar’s status.
Then I can crush NONAME and everything else beneath my feet.
A perfect scenario.
Choi Tae-min reached out his hand.
The moment he was about to conjure a massive fireball.
Whoosh!
A bone-chilling tearing sound.
Not the sound of wind being cleaved.
The sound of space itself being rent asunder.
“…!”
He instinctively twisted his head to the side.
Otherwise, my head would have been blown clean off.
Slice.
A cool sensation grazed my cheek.
Followed by a stream of searing liquid.
Blood.
“…What?”
Choi Tae-min touched his cheek numbly.
The wound wasn’t deep.
But something was wrong.
It wasn’t healing.
I had consumed Nectar, activating my divine essence.
A scratch of this magnitude should have regenerated instantly.
Yet the wound burned with searing pain, and the blood refused to stop flowing.
‘Divine power?’
I turned my head.
The object that had grazed my cheek and passed through.
It was embedded in the ground, humming ominously.
A sword.
A holy blade radiating blindingly white light, noble and pure.
“A holy blade…?”
Doubt crept in.
There was no way an avatar at this point in time could wield a holy blade.
A holy blade was an artifact blessed by an Archangel.
A holy blade that followed an avatar—not even a true deity’s form—would be virtually unheard of.
“Who are you?”
Choi Tae-min growled.
I lifted my gaze upward.
Tracing the trajectory of the blade’s flight.
The rooftop of a Collapsed Building.
Someone stood there.
A man clad in black armor.
His face was hidden behind a helmet.
But I could sense it.
The aura radiating from him.
‘Divine essence.’
Unmistakable.
He carried the same scent as myself.
No—perhaps an even denser, more ferocious aura.
‘An avatar?’
My mind raced with calculations.
Did that bastard also drink Nectar?
Is that how he managed to enter this barrier?
Then he’s a competitor.
A hyena prowling for the beast.
But there was something I couldn’t understand.
His killing intent.
It wasn’t directed at the beast—it was aimed precisely at me.
‘Why me?’
If he wanted the rune, he could simply hunt the beast.
There was no reason to touch a fellow avatar, especially one strengthened by Nectar like myself.
The risk was far too great.
Yet he hurled the holy sword without hesitation.
As if he’d come from the start to kill me.
“Could it be….”
A name flickered through my mind.
An overwhelming score gap.
Ranking 1st with no name revealed.
It made sense if he was a holy sword user.
No one else could achieve such a score without being a holy sword user.
A bitter smile played across Choi Tae-min’s lips.
Simultaneously, his eyes gleamed with malice.
“…So it’s you.”
Flames ignited in his hand.
“You’re NONAME?”

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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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