The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 32

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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 32.
I was not merely attacking the avatar.
I was touching the very divinity of the true body itself.
I was devouring its divine authority.
I did not know the exact mechanism, but I could not simply endure this passively.
The Flame Deity immediately accessed the System.
‘Logout.’
There was no response.
He entered a forced termination command.
But the System remained unresponsive.
The connection to the true body would not sever.
It felt as though invisible chains were strangling his soul.
‘So that’s why.’
A chill ran down his spine.
Kartal, Caligo, and the lesser deities who had vanished in rapid succession recently.
Now he understood why they had disappeared without so much as a scream.
They could not escape.
The moment this terrible predator had sunk its fangs into them, the very conduit that connected them became poison, dragging their true bodies down into the abyss.
But.
‘I am different.’
Venom gleamed in Choi Tae-min’s eyes.
I am a superior deity.
I am in an entirely different league from mere lesser deities.
The magnitude of my divinity and my mastery over it are incomparable.
If I cannot sever the connection, then I will simply abandon it.
“Ugh…!”
He made his decision.
He would sever a portion of his divinity connected to the avatar.
Like a lizard casting off its tail, he would destroy a fragment of his soul to preserve his true body.
His rank would diminish.
He might even fall to the rank of a mid-tier deity.
But that was better than annihilation.
As long as he lived, he could scheme for the future.
‘Sever!’
He concentrated his will and struck at the spiritual tether.
Snap.
He should have felt something breaking.
But.
“…?!”
It would not work.
It didn’t sever.
No—it couldn’t sever.
Something was holding it fast.
His right palm.
The golden runes spinning there were forcibly grasping and dragging even the divine essence’s tail that I had been trying to slice away.
‘This… this is… gravitational pull?’
Not absorption.
An absolute attraction.
Before a force that drew everything in like a black hole, even a superior deity’s resistance proved meaningless.
“Release it! I said release it!”
I thrashed desperately.
But he didn’t budge an inch.
Instead, the hellfire erupting from his left hand pressed down even more ferociously.
‘Wait.’
Only then did I see it.
His bizarre combat method.
His left hand poured forth divine authority while his right hand devoured it.
An infinite cycle.
Destruction and regeneration occurring within a single body.
And.
…it felt familiar somehow.
This impossible sight was not unfamiliar to me.
‘Hellfire… and a holy blade.’
Choi Tae-min’s gaze fixed upon the white sword hovering beside him.
Abriel.
The rumor that a noble archangel had become a blade herself.
The hot topic that had set the Garden of Gods ablaze not long ago flashed through my mind.
-They say an extraordinary seed has appeared.
-Killed Mad Deity Tulkacha and obliterated the Sacred Realm entirely?
-I heard Heimdall himself personally shelters that one.
A tempest.
Hellfire.
And a holy blade.
Every puzzle piece fell into place.
This creature is no avatar.
No puppet created by some deity.
This creature is ‘him’.
The monster defying all reason, climbing the Tower.
“You…”
Choi Tae-min’s lips trembled violently.
I finally figured it out.
The identity of this mad hunter.
I remembered his name.
“Rag…!”
The moment he spoke that name aloud.
A brilliant blue light flickered from within his helmet.
…Yes. It’s him.
A mere Seed who just ascended the Tower of Gods is the God Hunter!
A chill ran through me.
It was incomprehensible.
How could a deity manifest in the Earthly Realm?
The Tower of Gods hasn’t even appeared yet.
This violates the rules.
No—it’s an attitude that disregards the rules entirely.
‘The Mad Deity.’
It must be the Mad Deity.
One who transcends the Tower’s rules.
Heretics who have cast aside their qualifications and dignity as deities.
And such a creature is ascending the Tower.
‘I must inform them.’
Choi Tae-min trembled.
The danger is immense.
Not merely because of strength.
This creature will corrupt the Tower.
It will collapse order and destroy the system.
Everyone is deceived.
Heimdall certainly doesn’t know this creature’s true nature.
“Kugh…!”
I tried to open my mouth and scream.
But no voice emerged.
I couldn’t escape.
My soul was being pulled in faster than I’d anticipated.
Choi Tae-min gazed one last time at his right hand.
Only at the edge of annihilation did I finally perceive it.
What existed beyond those golden rune characters.
‘…It’s alive.’
This is no mere pattern.
It’s a living creature.
A predator with its maw wide open, prepared to devour me whole.
That grotesque presence that even consumes divine essence.
If I had to define it precisely.
‘The End.’
The ultimate, the worst calamity.
The end of the world.
With that thought, Choi Tae-min’s vision went dark.
Roooaaarrr!
A massive pillar of flame was sucked into the palm of that hand.
Grand Flame Deity Grande.
That colossal being vanished completely without even a scream.
* * *
It was massive.
Heavy.
The mass itself was different from the lesser deities I had consumed thus far.
My wrist throbbed with pain.
Choi Tae-min. No—the thing wearing that shell.
It was definitely in a different league.
For a mere avatar to drive me this far into a corner.
The devouring was slower than usual.
My throat felt choked and suffocated.
I had to be serious about this.
I focused all my consciousness into my right hand.
But deep within, I was screaming.
‘Please.’
I pleaded.
I begged this cursed right hand.
Take only the divine essence.
Do not touch him.
Leave behind the soul of my friend, Choi Tae-min.
The greedy golden rune devoured every last drop regardless.
Roooaaarrr!
The feast had ended.
The massive pillar of flame vanished completely into me.
Ding!
A message appeared before my eyes.
[Calamity has devoured ‘Grand Flame Deity Grande’.]
[Absorbing immense divine essence.]
[You can now permanently use the authority ‘Living Superior Flame’.]
[The power of the class ‘Devourer of Calamities’ has been strengthened!]
[You can now manifest 2 calamities simultaneously with your left hand.]
[Your level has increased!]
“Phew….”
I exhaled softly.
Class enhancement, was it.
An unexpected windfall.
The more divine essence I consumed, the larger the vessel itself became.
Its functions expanded.
‘Two simultaneously.’
The scope of application increased exponentially.
I could lay down hellfire and unleash a typhoon at once.
Defense and offense could be executed in tandem.
It was nothing short of a tactical revolution.
‘I was fortunate.’
Layering hellfire over the Holy Sword Abriel.
It was a mad gamble.
I thought the Holy Sword would shatter, or I would burn to ash—one or the other.
But it held.
It must have been thanks to the hidden trait, ‘The Transcendent One’.
I had dissolved the boundary between magic and martial arts, harmonizing forces that were fundamentally opposed.
I lowered my gaze.
A man collapsed in the ashes.
Choi Tae-min.
His chest rose and fell faintly.
“…He’s alive.”
He was breathing.
The shock of having his divine essence torn away left him in critical condition, but life still clung to him.
Relief washed over me.
Simultaneously, a question mark materialized in my mind.
‘How?’
Every avatar that had consumed divine essence before had died.
Yet Choi Tae-min was alive.
Was it because he was an avatar of a high-ranking Deity?
If not that, could it be because I had pleaded with my right hand?
Had the golden rune somehow heard my desperate prayer to spare his life?
…Regardless.
‘Saving him comes first.’
I had to save him.
I couldn’t let him die here.
I reached toward my inventory.
Kuoooooo!
That was when it happened.
A deafening crack split the air and assaulted my eardrums.
The ground convulsed beneath me.
[Warning! The Great Calamity has been completed.]
[‘Black Greed’s Claw’ has descended (100%).]
I looked up at the sky.
At the center of the black lightning.
A colossal monster loomed over Seoul.
As it roared, buildings crumbled like cookie crumbs.
There was no time.
If I left that thing unchecked, Choi Tae-min and everyone else would perish.
I had to deal with it first.
I needed a more devastating strike.
‘Authority Fusion.’
The materials were ready.
The existing Mythic-grade Authority: ‘Land Where Hellfire Rages.’
The freshly acquired Authority: ‘Living Superior Flame.’
Both were fire.
But they were of different calibers.
One was a calamity that melted the earth; the other was divine flame imbued with will.
[Will you fuse these two Authorities?]
I did not hesitate.
“Fuse them.”
A cauldron began to boil violently.
[Decomposing Authority ‘Land Where Hellfire Rages’.]
[Fusing Authority ‘Living Superior Flame’.]
[Analyzing the synergy between the two calamities.]
[Synergy erupts!]
[A new Authority is born!]
[The Authority’s rank is being recalibrated.]
[Reaching the ‘Primordial’ grade.]
[Authority Name: Living Primordial Flame]
Primordial.
The root and beginning of all things.
Transcending Myth, far surpassing the Ancient, returning to the very genesis of existence.
A rank I had never witnessed before.
Yet I understood instinctively.
This was the true domain where the genuine ‘Deities’ dwelled.
A resonant hum filled the air.
Flames bloomed from the palm of my left hand.
They had no color.
So intensely pure that even color itself was denied—a transparent shimmer dancing at the edge of perception.
It was alive.
It read my will, resonated with my killing intent, and moved in perfect synchrony.
‘Primordial fire, breathing with life.’
I extended my hand.
Toward that distant maw of black greed yawning to devour Seoul itself.
Roooaaarrr!
The transparent wave leaped across space.
Distance became meaningless.
The power that left my palm instantly engulfed the creature’s colossal form.
Kiiee…?
It couldn’t even scream.
The beast’s body vanished as if erased by an eraser.
The black lightning, the calamitous aura that had shrouded it—
Before the primordial fire, not even ash remained. It was annihilated.
Overwhelming erasure.
The word ‘destruction’ fell short.
It was a force that negated existence itself.
“…Ugh!”
In that instant, a splitting headache crashed down upon me.
My vision spun.
My legs nearly buckled beneath me.
‘Mana depletion.’
Merely one second.
I had only channeled the power for a single breath, yet—
The vast reserves of mana within me had hit bottom.
This was no mere pitcher with a hole in it.
It was a black hole.
Even my life force was being consumed.
‘Dangerous.’
My instincts screamed a warning.
If I lost consciousness here, it was over.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself upright.
My trembling body moved by sheer willpower alone.
I grasped at my fading consciousness and concealed myself in the darkness.
Home.
My safest fortress.
* * *
“Gasp!”
My eyes snapped open.
A familiar ceiling came into view.
Moldy wallpaper. A musty stench.
My studio apartment.
‘I survived.’
Relief washed over me, followed immediately by crushing exhaustion.
But there was no time to rest.
Golden messages were erupting before my eyes like fireworks.
Ding! Ding!
[You have obliterated the ‘Black Greed’s Claw’ with a single strike.]
[This is an impossible Achievement!]
[Episode 3, ‘Prelude to Catastrophe’ has concluded.]
[Calculating results.]
[The Hall of Fame has been updated!]
The ranking announcement followed.
[1st Place: NONAME]
[Score: 1,000]
[2nd Place: Yamamoto]
[Score: 950]
[3rd Place: Aritolte]
[Score: 800]
[4th Place: Plunum]
[Score: 660]
[Bonus: Experience gain increased by 50%]
[Title: ‘Consecutive Champion’ acquired]
1,000 points.
A perfect score.
It was only natural—I had erased a catastrophic entity alone, and with a single blow at that.
But the real reward came next.
[Episode clear reward is being distributed.]
[Rolling the dice (1~200).]
‘200?’
My eyes widened.
Last time it was around 66 or 100.
This time the range had expanded all the way to 200.
The dice range supposedly expands based on the episode’s difficulty and my contribution.
But still, 200.
What kind of monstrous reward were they trying to give me this time?
Clatter.
The dice tumbled through the air.
I swallowed hard.
Click.
The dice came to a stop.
The number revealed itself.
[200!]
[Jackpot!]
[The highest-tier reward has been granted!]
[Reward (1): Ancient-Grade Equipment Chest]
[Reward (2): Rune – ‘Berl’]
[Reward (3): 20 Shards of the Broken Golden Ratio]
Relief flooded through me.
I exhaled a breath of inner reassurance as I examined the rewards.
And then I was astounded.
The Ancient-Grade Equipment Chest was remarkable enough.
“B-Berl…!”
I never dreamed I would obtain the Berl Rune.

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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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