Chapter 256
Chapter 256: Calamity Knight?
Viktor pulled Erika into his arms in one swift motion, holding her tightly.
The gazes of the surrounding nobles were drawn to Viktor's bold behavior, their eyes going wide with shock.
The media reporters were utterly stunned, their hands trembling slightly as they gripped their Magic Stones, wishing they could shove one into Viktor's mouth the very next second.
Rumors had long circulated that Viktor harbored feelings for a certain young woman—and today, everyone witnessed it firsthand.
And the girl Viktor was currently holding happened to be the very subject of those rumors—Erika, the Duke's daughter whom Viktor had once confessed to.
Confessing one's feelings wasn't against the law, of course, but Viktor had previously been a Viscount with a rather unsavory reputation.
Openly pursuing the Duke's daughter.
That was, morally speaking, somewhat problematic.
Though now... no one dared say much of anything about it.
Times had changed.
If Viktor truly had feelings for someone, the nobles present would have gladly sent their own daughters to his side.
Though the nobles were deeply shaken, they dared not breathe a word in Duke Livi's presence—they stood frozen in place, holding their breath.
The air around them seemed to congeal, dropping to a freezing point.
Claudia sat poised in her chair, one leg crossed over the other, a fan held in her hand to conceal the corner of her mouth, the edges of her eyes curved ever so slightly. She watched Viktor and Livi with focused attention, as though anticipating a splendid performance.
The corners of her lips curled faintly:
"Quite unexpected."
Watching Viktor act with such reckless abandon, Livi was already struggling to contain his emotions.
His body trembled slightly, betraying visible anger.
Moisture gathered in the air around him, white mist spreading outward in all directions.
"Count Viktor."
His voice was icy, carrying a tremor.
His expression darkened, the corners of his mouth and eyes completely rigid.
Witnessing this, those present couldn't help but shudder.
Everyone knew that Livi was a famously devoted father.
Having a daughter late in life, he cherished Erika above all else.
No matter how exceptional Viktor might be, he had one serious problem.
That was:
Viktor already had a Fiancée.
As a Duke, Livi would never allow his daughter to compete with another woman for the same man.
At that moment, hearing her father's voice, Erika gradually regained her senses.
She quickly raised her head, fixing her gaze on Viktor, and hastily said, "Professor."
"Don't..."
Sensing Erika's struggle, Viktor's arms tightened instead.
Once he'd reached a force that left Erika completely unable to break free, he turned to Livi and said calmly:
"Duke, do you have something you'd like to say?"
Upon hearing Viktor's question, the assembled nobles were left gaping in stunned disbelief where they stood.
Outrageous!
You're holding another man's daughter and you have the nerve to ask him something like that?
You truly have no regard for Duke Livi whatsoever!
Duke Livi's body seemed to tremble with fury—yet the very next second, he went completely still.
Because he noticed it.
Without knowing when it had happened, the entire surroundings had been swiftly enveloped by a nebula-like violet hue.
For a moment, his consciousness seemed to slip into another world entirely.
In this world, it seemed as though only Viktor and he remained.
Livi raised his head and looked behind Viktor.
There, 3 enormous, colossal beasts had appeared, each resting upon a separate continent.
A massive beast wreathed entirely in red roamed across molten lava, its body covered in crimson patterns.
Between those patterns, lava and intensely burning flame flowed slowly.
Ember-laden dust drifted above the continent, yet the beast showed not the slightest fear of the scorching lava fragments.
It slowly approached a volcano, thrust its enormous claw into the base of the crater, gave it a stir, then withdrew a large piece of flowing magma and sent it into its mouth.
After swallowing the lava down, the beast let out a tremendous roar.
The other expanse of land presented an entirely different scene.
Across the land blanketed by dense vegetation, almost no sign of living creatures could be seen.
Until the soil trembled faintly—and a serpentine beast with 3 pairs of compound eyes rose upright from the earth.
Its soft green body was almost translucent, moving nimbly through the undergrowth, all 3 pairs of compound eyes ceaselessly surveying the towering trunks.
A small insect burrowed out from a crack in a great tree, waving its antennae as though searching for direction.
Then the great serpent twisted its body and moved behind the insect, all 3 pairs of compound eyes fixing intently upon it.
Like an observer within the forest, watching the countless creatures that dwelt within.
Observing them—watching where they would go.
As for the final continent, its full form could not be made out at all.
The entire landmass was completely obscured by thick layers of dark clouds, with storm after storm churning within the rolling masses.
Across the land, currents of air spiraled endlessly.
The dark clouds surged like breaking waves, raising crest after crest across the surface of a sea.
Between the cloud layers, a vast black serpentine form could be dimly discerned.
Its elongated body rolled between the clouds, cutting through the murky haze without pause.
Livi could see it clearly now—it was an enormous black dragon, its entire body covered in black, razor-sharp scales.
At that moment, it seemed to revel in the churning clouds, twisting its body back and forth.
Those yellow slit-pupil eyes blinked slowly, the entire dragon's body utterly relaxed.
Viktor stood with both hands in his pockets, likewise gazing at the enormous creatures behind Livi.
"Have you still not understood, Duke?"
Behind Livi, an illusory ocean stretched out into the distance.
A fierce wind blowing from nowhere stirred it into savage turbulence.
A sky of dark, brooding clouds blotted out the sun, and the surface of the sea had taken on a blackened hue.
The water was draped in a thick, heavy shroud of mist, and through the haze one could only hear the crashing of waves, endlessly surging and swelling.
Deep within the fog, something seemed to carry the faintest glimmer of luminescent blue.
In the depths of the ocean below, a colossal beast seemed to be roaming—its low reverberations mingling with the crashing of waves.
Livi likewise saw the extraordinary scene that had manifested behind himself. He then turned back, looked at what lay behind Viktor, and said with composure:
"The true... Cores of Origin of the Calamities."
Viktor raised his head with satisfaction, his gaze settling on Livi:
"Finally dropping the pretense?"
Long before now, Viktor had already asked Livi whether he knew of the Calamities.
But back then, Viktor had not been worth Livi's serious attention.
And now, bearing the power of 3 Calamities, Viktor stood before Livi once more.
He was certain that the other man would not brush him off so casually this time.
Livi narrowed his eyes, glancing behind Viktor, then said slowly:
"What is it you want from me?"
Viktor looked at Livi calmly, letting out a faint laugh:
"Don't misunderstand—you don't have anything worth my attention yet."
At that, he snapped his fingers.
In an instant, the 3 great beasts behind Viktor began to dissolve, the continents collapsing alongside them, transforming into 3 streams of natural elements, each a distinct color.
These 3 differently colored elemental worlds began to collide with one another, and ultimately fused together.
The sun hung high in the sky, radiating warmth and brilliant light.
A dense forest rose slowly from the earth, a gentle breeze drifting through the gaps between the trees, branches swaying.
Across the entire continent, life flourished at last.
This continent had unmistakably merged into an extraordinarily real world.
Livi paused in faint surprise as he heard Viktor continue:
"Does it feel familiar?"
In that moment, Duke Livi experienced a brief flicker of dazed recognition.
He suddenly understood why Viktor had posed that question to him.
Because just moments ago, he had seen a world almost identical to this one.
That was right—the Dungeon world.
That world had been imperfect.
Just as the world behind Viktor now was.
There was wind, dense forest, and a blazing sun hanging high in the sky.
Yet every place it passed through held only a single, eternally lush forest; the wind's speed rarely changed, most often drifting through as a gentle breeze.
The sun rose and set in the same fixed arc, but no clouds ever came to shroud the sky—never bringing so much as a simple overcast.
That Dungeon world had been extraordinarily real.
And yet—it simply could not compare to the genuine world.
Because the entire world contained only those 3 elements.
In that moment, Livi felt as though he understood what Viktor was truly trying to do.
"You want to... create an entirely new world?"
"Honestly, my ambitions aren't quite that grand."
Viktor shrugged, and the entire space behind him collapsed back into nothingness.
"But having already made a start, to not collect all of them—"
"How could I ever be satisfied with that?"
Livi's eyes went wide.
Viktor spoke as though the matter were something of little consequence.
"Wouldn't this serve your purposes just as well, Duke?"
"The Calamities are part of this world—even stripped of their Cores of Origin, somewhere in any corner of this world, a new Calamity will always emerge."
"And the moment a Calamity is reborn—then—"
Viktor swept his hand, and a scene wreathed in flame appeared before Livi.
The person enveloped within it was Erika.
Her eyes were closed, her body surrounded by a sacred light.
In 6 different directions around her body, there were 6 rings of light, each a different color.
2 of the rings were especially bright.
One was a white ring, representing the Wind element.
The other was a green ring, representing the Wood element.
And last of all, the red ring was gradually growing brighter.
As though sensing the existence of something being reborn, slowly recovering its power in response.
Then, beneath the scorching of the flames, the scene turned to ash, burning apart bit by bit.
Livi stared blankly skyward, as though he hadn't fully come back to himself yet—when Viktor's voice rang out once more:
"Erika is your daughter. I trust I don't need to remind you of what makes her special."
Livi came back to his senses and looked at Viktor:
"Just how much... do you know?"
Viktor looked beyond Livi and spoke quietly:
"Not much—but enough."
"For instance, the 【Blessing of Water】 you carry."
When he had seen the wounds on Safirose, a conjecture had already formed in his mind.
If before, Viktor's certainty about Livi's identity had been nothing more than suspicion—then now, as he held Erika in his arms—
Viktor was certain.
Livi's power could only have come from one source.
The Calamity of Water—Dozarel.