The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 80

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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 80.
Over two months had passed since the catastrophe began.
It was an era of chaos.
Monsters emerged, dimensional gates tore open across the sky like lightning, and Awakeners wielding superhuman power appeared.
Yet humanity was not a weak species that would passively await annihilation.
The government moved swiftly into action.
They classified this series of invasions as an unprecedented natural disaster.
The Disaster Management Headquarters was established, and the Awakener Management Bureau—a special agency created to safeguard national security—was founded.
With each new Episode, they distributed guidelines containing shelter locations and safety protocols nationwide.
Furthermore, they worked in close cooperation with the empowered Awakeners to establish some semblance of order within this descending hellscape.
And then.
The moment the message announcing Episode 5, the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, appeared before the eyes of the entire nation.
“Emergency assembly! Summon all top-tier Awakeners from across the country to headquarters!”
Kim Jun-tae, the director of the Awakener Management Bureau, slammed his desk and issued the urgent command.
Prioritizing the strongest.
Focusing on the large factions built around these powerhouses.
Though they were all civilians, this was now a national emergency.
Instead of resisting government control and directives, behind-the-scenes negotiations had already concluded, guaranteeing them massive benefits including various tax incentives.
And less than two hours later.
Seoul, Awakener Management Bureau Conference Room.
“….”
“….”
Korea’s most renowned powerhouses gathered around an enormous circular table.
The purpose was to assess the situation regarding this Hundred Ghosts Night Parade crisis and discuss national-level countermeasures.
Among them.
‘Those two—are they Park Ji-hoon and Park Ha-yan?’
‘3rd and 4th place in the Hall of Fame, right?’
‘What difficulty level did they even clear?’
‘They don’t look particularly skilled.’
Park Ji-hoon and Park Ha-yan were there.
The two who had boldly set the remarkable records of 3rd and 4th place in the Hall of Fame for Episode 4, the Abyss Invitation, and made their names known across the entire world.
The gazes directed at them were filled with curiosity and wariness.
However, before the briefing began, the atmosphere in the conference room was extraordinarily heavy.
Or rather, a chill directed at a specific faction was pressing down upon the space.
“Tsk.”
Someone clicked their tongue openly.
The gaze was directed at the Black Tiger Guild, led by Park Ji-hoon.
The executives of the Black Tiger Guild, including Park Ji-hoon, were all dressed in black suits and exuded a menacing impression.
It was common knowledge among those in the know that most of them were former organized crime members who had been involved in the underworld even before the great upheaval.
“How are we supposed to sit at the same table as these rootless punks?”
A sharp voice pierced through the silence.
The ‘Light Guild’—known as the most powerful and financially dominant force in South Korea at present.
It was Heo Young-ho, the guild master leading that guild.
A scion of one of Korea’s most prominent conglomerates, a man born with a silver spoon so deeply embedded in his mouth that it had become part of his very bones even before his awakening.
Heo Young-ho regarded Park Ji-hoon with the same contemptuous gaze one might cast upon filth clinging to the sole of a shoe.
“How utterly beneath us.”
A brazenly insulting remark delivered without restraint.
Several awakeners in the conference room exchanged glances and cleared their throats nervously.
The atmosphere had grown so tense that violence seemed imminent.
And yet.
“….”
Park Ji-hoon, the subject of the insult, remained utterly unmoved.
With his fingers interlaced atop the table, he gazed silently and steadily toward the empty platform before him.
The Park Ji-hoon of old would have immediately overturned the table, spewed curses, and seized the man by his collar.
But he was different now.
He carried within him the soul of Garcia’s Sword Saint, and he served a deity far greater than anyone else—as his elder brother.
His vessel was not so shallow as to be shaken by the provocations of some shallow-minded chaebol heir.
‘My brother told me not to act out. I must endure, Ji-hoon.’
Park Ji-hoon closed his eyes and repeated the words like an incantation within his mind.
Meanwhile, Park Ha-yan, observing the scene from a distance, was growing increasingly anxious.
She did not belong to the Black Tiger Guild.
She was part of a party called the ‘Flower Party’.
The party consisted of ten members in total.
Yet each and every one of them boasted utilities optimized for dungeon conquest and formidable firepower, making them an elite party of skilled individuals renowned as Korea’s ‘dark horse’.
Though Heo Young-ho had openly disregarded Park Ji-hoon, it was different with Park Ha-yan.
“Miss Park Ha-yan.”
Heo Young-ho flashed a thin smile and directed his voice toward Park Ha-yan in a gentle tone.
“Once this Hundred Ghosts Night Parade crisis is resolved, shall we arrange a dinner together with our Light Guild? With the capabilities of the Flower Party, we can certainly promise you extraordinary treatment.”
Third place in the Hall of Fame, an overwhelmingly talented spirit summoner.
It was an overt recruitment offer—an attempt to absorb her talent and popularity to elevate his guild’s standing.
“Ah… that is….”
Park Ha-yan was about to evade the question with an awkward expression when it happened.
Creak.
The heavy door of the conference room swung open, and Kim Jun-tae, the director of the Management Bureau, entered with a stern expression.
The noisy atmosphere in the hall fell silent in an instant.
Heo Young-ho closed his mouth, and Park Ji-hoon slowly opened his eyes.
Director Kim Jun-tae took his position at the center of the platform.
Dark circles shadowed his eyes as though he had gone sleepless for days, and his voice was heavy with exhaustion, yet resolute.
“Thank you all for gathering despite your busy schedules.”
He projected a holographic map into the empty air.
“I’ll be direct with you. The difficulty of Episode 5, the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, has completely exceeded our Management Bureau’s predictions.”
Red dots saturated the map.
Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon.
Predicted outbreak zones for monsters spreading like bloodstains across the nation’s major metropolitan centers.
“We’ve determined this differs fundamentally from previous demonic beast invasions. We anticipate all manner of demonic beasts will pour forth from those Pillars of Light.”
Director Kim Jun-tae wiped his dry mouth.
“You’ve all seen the warning messages. If we fail to eliminate them before dawn breaks, they’ll transform into Grim Reapers. When that happens, the damage becomes incalculable. The nation—no, the entire Korean Peninsula could become a ghost city overnight.”
A suffocating tension permeated the conference room.
“The government’s military strength alone is woefully insufficient. We need your power—the absolute firepower of you Awakeners.”
Director Kim Jun-tae pressed both palms against the table and bowed toward the assembled group.
“I implore you. Please lend us your strength so we might safely survive this night.”
Then, raising his head, he cast the most crucial bait.
He knew well that appeals to mere patriotism alone couldn’t move these battle-hardened masters.
“Of course, I’m not asking empty-handed.”
His eyes gleamed.
“To the group that eliminates the most yokai during this Hundred Ghosts Night Parade defense operation and achieves the greatest ‘results’ in saving civilian lives,”
Every Awakener in the conference room held their breath.
“I will grant transfer of government-owned land and buildings, along with 100% tax exemption benefits for the next three years.”
It was an extraordinary offer.
But the director’s true bait came next.
“Furthermore, I will grant priority access rights to ‘A-rank and above Dungeons’ under government control.”
“…!”
Every Awakener’s eyes in the conference room blazed.
Dungeons.
The essential cradle where Awakeners leveled up, farmed skills, and obtained rare equipment to grow stronger.
Among them, the high-tier upper Dungeons were currently under strict government control.
Partly because they were too dangerous to open to civilians, but in reality, they functioned as the nation’s secret weapons facility for exclusively cultivating powerful soldiers and special operatives.
To open those places to private guilds.
Money was irrelevant.
A once-in-a-lifetime stepping stone to elevate an organization’s military might to an entirely new dimension.
“….”
Particularly, Park Ji-hoon’s eyes hardened with resolve.
He clenched his fist beneath the table.
‘I’ll bring the Black Tiger Guild to the top.’
An organization built on the foundation of my older brother Kim Jung-seok’s vast financial resources and artifact support.
Yet the world still saw them as nothing more than a gang of thugs with yakuza origins.
Just moments ago, Heo Young-ho from the Light Guild had openly poured out contempt and ridicule.
This was the perfect opportunity to crush that filthy treatment in one blow.
‘I can’t lose to someone like Heo Young-ho.’
Yet he remained without arrogance.
I won’t accept my brother’s help either.
I can’t keep asking him to clean up my messes and clinging to his pant legs begging for salvation every time danger strikes.
‘For my brother, I’ll make the Black Tiger Guild one of the world’s greatest.’
The only way to repay him.
Park Ji-hoon’s gaze drifted toward the other side.
She too was burning with determination.
Park Ji-hoon knew better than anyone what the source of that fighting spirit was.
‘Park Ha-yan. I’ll make it crystal clear this time that I alone deserve to monopolize my brother’s affection.’
A competition for loyalty to Kim Jung-seok had begun.
Naturally, there would be no compromise.
I hadn’t performed well in the previous episode.
‘But this time, I will definitely win.’
When this night passes and dawn breaks, I will carve my name high upon the Hall of Fame.
* * *
Countless pillars of light tearing through the sky and pouring down.
From a distance, they might appear as nothing more than a mystical and brilliant miracle.
But.
‘They’re composed of divine power.’
My eyes saw it differently.
Having wielded divine power countless times through Rag’s body, I understood it better.
They only resembled each other in appearance—all were fundamentally different.
The waves they emitted, the scent of their mana, and even the overwhelming pressure crushing the space itself.
‘This isn’t an ordinary disaster.’
This was unmistakably a calamity imbued with ‘divine power.’
It must be because the Twelve Chief Deities and the Supreme Tier Deities had deliberately poured Nectar in torrents to descend their avatars.
But the true Hundred Ghosts Night Parade hadn’t begun yet.
The sky was turning crimson, but the demons hadn’t yet crawled out from within the pillars.
Then.
‘Could I devour the avatar of the deity creating this disaster before it even starts?’
Before they fully shaped their shell.
If I infiltrated within the pillar through this defenseless gap and severed its neck?
I might be able to consume Episode 5, the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, entirely without effort.
However, I soon realized that was impossible.
‘It’s invulnerable.’
I narrowed my eyes and examined the surface of the pillar.
A shimmering veil of light.
An absolute barrier where the authority of the Deities was densely concentrated.
Even if I shattered the Fragment of the Golden Ratio here and descended as Rag’s true body, I couldn’t force my way through that overwhelming wall of divine power.
Especially.
Uuuuuuuung!
The golden rune inscribed on my right palm thrummed with frenzied yearning, pointing toward a single Pillar of Light.
It radiated an intensity that transcended all others by an entirely different dimension.
‘I cannot discern which deity’s avatar dwells within that luminous tower.’
At minimum, a Supreme Tier Deity.
Or perhaps even the shell of one of the Twelve Chief Deities themselves.
They must have poured forth an astronomical quantity of Nectar on a scale incomparable to anything before.
The body itself was likely sculpted from the soul of a formidable ancient hero—much like Garcia’s Sword Saint or Grand Sage Plutonium.
Doubtless, the fusion of a transcendent physique with the maddening density of Nectar had birthed this colossal Pillar of Light.
‘So I must simply wait.’
Several hours of reprieve remained before the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade would commence in earnest.
‘Mere waiting does not suit my nature.’
Yet I harbored no intention whatsoever of squandering those precious hours.
Invincibility granted by divine power.
The System’s absolute defense.
‘I know the method to shatter it.’
My lips twisted upward into a smile.
A single flawless diagram crystallized in my mind.
The method I had employed to slay Cryos—forcibly tearing through invincibility itself.
‘The Divine Retribution magic circle.’
If I could only inscribe it around that towering pillar.
By disrupting divine power and shattering its cohesion, I could pierce through that fortress-like barrier and breach its interior.
The problem, however.
‘If I draw it myself, I will be caught.’
Though civilians had retreated into shelters, I could not achieve complete control over the heart of Seoul.
Security cameras installed in every alley.
Dashcams in abandoned vehicles.
I could not evade every watchful eye by running on my own two feet.
Should I make even the slightest mistake and have ‘Kim Jung-seok’ recorded drawing a magic circle, my identity would be exposed to the entire world.
But I possessed an excellent instrument.
A soft metallic whisper.
I summoned Abriel, the evolved blade of Kwon Cheonsa.
A dazzling white sword materialized in the empty air.
I rummaged through my inventory, retrieved a scrap of black cloth, and wrapped Abriel thoroughly within it.
The purpose was to obscure her radiant brilliance from view.
Then.
A soft clink.
I uncorked a prepared vial of Nectar and saturated the cloth-wrapped blade’s edge with it.
Upon ascending to Kwon Cheonsa, the spiritual connection between her and me had become incomparably more robust and refined than before.
‘I will control Abriel directly.’
I closed both eyes.
I blocked out my vision and synchronized my consciousness entirely with the flow of mana and Abriel’s senses.
My will became the edge of her blade, and my imagination became her trajectory.
Whoooosh!
Abriel, draped in black cloth, tore through the air and shot forward in perfect silence.
Standing in the small room with my eyes closed, I moved my fingers through the empty space like a conductor leading an orchestra.
Following the path I traced, Abriel flew around the distant Pillar of Light and began drawing lines on the ground with Nectar.
She carved through the blind spots of the CCTV cameras and deftly avoided the sight lines of the dashcams.
I continued drawing in the air for quite some time.
By the time cold sweat beaded on my forehead and my breathing grew ragged.
“…I’ve finished.”
I opened my eyes.
Uuuuuuung!
From the base of the distant, towering Pillar of Light, a golden magic circle began to glow and vibrate softly.
The Divine Punishment magic circle.
The heretical formula that tears through miracles.
Crack!
The binding force of light that enveloped the pillar weakened minutely, and fissures appeared.
The invulnerability judgment had been lifted.
“You did well, Abriel.”
I retrieved my blade and immediately moved into action.
I slipped into the alley without catching anyone’s eye.
Quietly, yet with lightning speed, I thrust my body into the fractured Pillar of Light.
Whoosh!
My vision flickered with blinding radiance.
Then the light parted, and the interior space of the pillar was revealed.
‘I found it.’
I held my breath and fixed my gaze forward.
But immediately, I furrowed my brow.
“….”
I had expected to find the avatar of The Deity.
Naturally, I had anticipated an arrogant human form based on a colossal heroic body, radiating overwhelming divine power.
But.
Standing in the center of the Pillar of Light, directly beneath the waterfall of Nectar, was.
‘Not human.’
A massive ‘skull’ draped in a tattered black cloak, its gaunt bone joints laid bare.
Within the hollow eye sockets burned an eerie, bluish flame of a soul—the very embodiment of death itself.
In that moment.
Ding!
[Commander-in-Chief of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade.]
[One born from ‘Death’ itself.]
[The God of Death, Thanatos, is watching you.]
The moment I saw that name.
‘….’
I couldn’t help but stiffen.
‘Thanatos…!’
It was a name that absolutely could not appear at this point in time.

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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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