The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 98

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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 98.
A day had passed.
I sat upon the throne and, after deep deliberation, reached my conclusion.
‘Let’s go.’
The Orga Kingdom.
And the Large-Scale Dungeon that had appeared there.
There was no reason to refuse.
If I recovered the ‘Core’—the heart of the dungeon—I could obtain vast quantities of Nectar and resources.
Moreover, I was told I could proclaim that place as my territory.
It was an excellent opportunity to witness firsthand how the true ‘Asgard Mainland’ operated, beyond the Tower.
But.
‘Who should I bring with me?’
That was the problem.
For a Floor’s master to leave their territory vacant for extended periods within the Tower of Gods was hardly wise.
Of course, the 61st Floor now bore an immense ‘Mark of the Typhoon’ inscribed upon it.
An unmistakable symbol—the Apostle Deity of Heimdall.
Unless they were utterly deranged lower or mid-tier deities, none would dare attempt to plunder my territory.
Still, complacency was dangerous.
‘My absence from the Tower itself could become an opening.’
Skadi and the other deities who harbored resentment toward me.
The pride I had trampled at the Divine Banquet, leaving dozens of Apostle Deities drenched in blood.
They could not possibly be ignorant of my departure from the Tower.
On the Asgard Mainland, beyond the Tower’s jurisdiction, the likelihood of them dispatching assassins or striking from the shadows was considerable.
And yet.
‘I cannot spend my entire life cowering within the Tower out of fear.’
I had no intention of becoming a frog in a well.
Beyond these walls, across the vast expanse of Asgard, lay mountains of knowledge and cosmic secrets I had yet to discover.
To grow stronger, I had to venture outward ceaselessly and consume what lay before me.
I decided to divide my forces.
“Turan. Kalak. Barkan. Urk.”
I summoned the four ancient warriors—the Barbarian Four Brothers.
They knelt before me, their heavy armor clanking with each movement.
“You called for us, my lord?”
I gazed down at them and spoke.
“You will accompany me to the Orga Kingdom.”
They were the force that would guard me.
Though imperfect in form, they were four monsters with strength approaching 800.
Any pack of demonic beasts or assassins would be reduced to mere meat by a single swing of their greatswords.
Then.
“Master….”
Seria’s voice, standing behind me, trembled ever so slightly.
Her azure eyes glistened with profound regret and disappointment.
“Are we… unable to stand by your side?”
The Elves wore sorrowful expressions as well.
Their eagerness to follow me onto the battlefield and earn merit was painfully evident.
I chuckled softly and gazed at Seria.
“Do not feel slighted.”
I gestured with my chin toward the colossal blue pillar visible through the window.
“You have a far more critical duty.”
“…A duty, my lord?”
“Yes. While I am away, you shall defend this Layer in its entirety.”
At my words, Seria’s expression hardened instantly.
“Should any vermin attempt to slip in, thinking this place abandoned—”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Let not a single one escape alive. Pierce them all through with your arrows.”
Seria bit her lip firmly.
She dropped to one knee and declared with unwavering resolve.
“I shall remember this well! I swear upon my life—not even an ant shall breach my Master’s Territory!”
Her loyalty burned with such fervent intensity.
I felt assured.
I nodded and immediately summoned the King of Orga.
The Throne Hall of the Golden Temple.
The King of Orga, along with his Pilgrimage Group, prostrated himself before me once more.
He waited for my answer, his eyes fraught with anxiety.
The air hung heavy with tension, not even a breath disturbing the silence.
I reclined against the jade throne and spoke with measured calm.
“I shall go.”
At those words alone.
“Ah…!”
Thick tears streamed down the King of Orga’s cheeks.
“Thank you! Your benevolence knows no bounds, great Rag!”
Unable to contain his joy, he struck his forehead against the ground repeatedly.
The knights and priests prostrated behind him wept continuously, offering prayers of gratitude.
The ecstasy of salvation from the brink of annihilation.
But.
I drew a cold line.
“Do not misunderstand.”
At my frigid voice, the Pilgrimage Group’s jubilant movements froze instantly.
The King of Orga startled and lifted his head.
“I have not yet agreed to become your guardian deity.”
I rested my chin on my hand and looked down at him.
“I never promised to remove the dungeon.”
“B-but that statement….”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
I rose from my seat.
The Barbarian Four Brothers fell into formation behind me with a heavy, resonant sound.
“I’m simply going to observe the situation firsthand.”
My lips twisted upward into a smile.
“If that dungeon isn’t worth my effort, if your kingdom doesn’t seem sufficient for me to become its guardian deity.”
I drove the point home.
“Then I’ll simply turn back.”
A world of absolute give and take.
I had no intention whatsoever of engaging in charity without benefit.
The King of Orga swallowed hard.
Yet he did not despair.
Instead, he nodded urgently.
“O-of course! The mere fact that you would grace our kingdom with your presence and inspection is an infinite honor!”
His priority was clearly to draw me onto his territory by any means necessary.
I slung the Sage’s staff across my shoulder.
“Then, show me the way.”
* * *
The road toward the Orga Kingdom.
The Pilgrimage Group’s procession stretched endlessly.
Hundreds of knights escorted us front and rear, and the carriages were nothing short of magnificent.
Yet throughout this long journey, not a single beast or bandit gang appeared to obstruct our path.
It was only natural.
The ferocious aura emanating from the Barbarian Four Brothers flanking me was enough to suffocate even the most formidable creatures into fleeing for their lives.
Clatter. Clatter.
Inside the carriage, I rested my chin on my hand and gazed out at the landscape beyond the window.
An endless expanse of desolate earth and grotesquely jutting crimson stone formations.
This was the true ‘Asgard’.
Suddenly, memories of my first login to this world after regression flashed through my mind.
‘I was behind bars.’
Bound in chains.
Soldiers clad in golden armor were transporting countless slaves like myself.
They too must have been inhabitants of this Asgard.
Likely regular military forces.
The army of some massive organization—a kingdom or something even greater.
But they were attacked by Heimdall.
-That’s the ‘Annihilation Typhoon’!
The soldiers caught sight of the typhoon and fled in terror, calling out its name with perfect accuracy.
‘Why had Heimdall unleashed the Annihilation Typhoon upon them?’
And how did they know the name of such a power?
‘Perhaps… it was a place aligned with a deity hostile to Heimdall.’
A nation under the protection of a Rival Faction like Skadi.
Or perhaps they had trespassed upon Heimdall’s territory and incurred the wrath of the divine.
Either way, it meant that this continent called Asgard was far more than a mere wilderness where monsters roamed—it was a complex political arena entangled in the power games of the Deities themselves.
“Rag.”
The Knight Commander, riding alongside the carriage on horseback, spoke carefully through the window.
“We are approaching the Boundary Line.”
“The Boundary Line?”
“Yes. Beyond this point lies the true territory of Asgard.”
The Knight Commander pointed ahead.
“Until now, we have been under the influence of the Tower of Gods, where spatial constraints are severe. But once you cross that line, you can use special warps that connect to each kingdom and territory.”
Indeed.
The mana around the Tower of Gods was so densely concentrated that one could not tear through space carelessly.
But once we entered the mainland, everything changed.
We arrived before a stone altar inscribed with an enormous magical formation.
As the kingdom’s mages infused their mana, a blue light enveloped the entire procession.
Uuuuuung!
The sensation of spatial displacement.
When the light faded and my vision cleared, the sight that unfolded before me was worlds apart from the wasteland we had just left.
‘…Magnificent.’
The Royal Capital of the Orga Kingdom.
Massive city walls encircled the metropolis.
Not merely humans, but beastmen, Elves, Dwarves—all manner of races walked freely through the streets.
A civilization built by survivors from destroyed worlds.
Its scale was far more systematic and vast than I had imagined.
“His Majesty has returned!”
Trumpet fanfares blazed through the air.
As the royal carriage passed through the Fortress Gate, tens of thousands of citizens lining the streets fell to one knee in unison.
It was a magnificent sight.
But the King of Orga descended from his carriage and cried out to his people.
“Lower your heads! For I have not returned alone—I bring one far greater!”
He turned and opened the door to my carriage.
Then he prostrated himself upon the ground, clearing a path.
“The Deity has descended!”
I stepped slowly from the carriage.
Black demonic armor adorned my form. In my hand, the Sage’s staff.
On either side of me, the Barbarian Four Brothers—each towering over three meters—marched with thunderous footfalls as my escort.
That overwhelming divine pressure blanketed the Royal Capital.
“Ahhh…!”
“Great one!”
Tens of thousands of non-humans who had been kneeling now prostrated themselves entirely, their foreheads striking the marble floor with resounding thuds.
It was fundamentally different from the reverence shown to a king.
Primal terror, and blind devotion to a savior.
‘So this is the majesty a deity commands in Asgard.’
It was blind faith on an entirely different scale from popularity or power on Earth.
I accepted their worship with indifference as I made my way toward the Royal Palace.
Upon arriving at the grand banquet hall, the King of Orga approached with a bow.
“Rag. The journey must have taxed you greatly, so perhaps you would consider resting here for a day before venturing to the dungeon tomorrow?”
The implication was that he would provide the finest cuisine and pleasures.
But I let out a scoff.
“A waste of time.”
I tapped my staff against the floor.
“We depart immediately.”
The king looked flustered at my resolute answer, but he dared not object.
“O-of course! I shall have the knights assembled at once!”
The king hastily summoned his knights, and we set out once more beyond the Royal Capital.
Remarkably, the dungeon lay not far from the Royal Capital.
After riding for barely an hour, the landscape around us transformed dramatically into something sinister.
The sky was stained crimson, and the earth rotted black, exhaling a putrid stench.
And.
“There it is.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Between mountain ranges, in the heart of a vast valley.
A massive black fissure gaped open, the space itself torn and warped.
Its scale was overwhelming.
A colossal chasm spanning several kilometers across.
The demonic energy pouring forth from within defied imagination.
“Rag.”
The King of Orga answered, trembling.
“Every night, ferocious demonic beasts pour out from that place and ravage my territory.”
Indeed. So this is the ‘Remnant of Destruction.’
A place where countless bitter resentments and vast demonic energy churned and boiled together.
A fragment of some destroyed world touching the earth of Asgard, rotting and decomposing, creating a wound of apocalypse.
The massive spatial rift was grotesque and terrible, as if witnessing the end of the world itself.
I led the Barbarian Four Brothers to the very edge of the fissure.
Black lightning struck ceaselessly across the surface of the rift.
I reached out and gently touched the undulating veil of demonic energy.
Ding!
[Dungeon, ‘Heavenly Demon Divine Sect’ — do you wish to enter?]
Wait.
Heavenly Demon Divine Sect?
Could it be….
‘…Is the Heavenly Demon inside there?’

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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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