Chapter 282
Chapter 282: How Lucky It Is to Work for Mr. Viktor
3-colored colossal Magic Power erupted and poured from the jaws of that sky-blotting, sun-obscuring beast.
Rolling black clouds and surging waves were cleaved apart, ripped open into an enormous chasm.
The rampaging Magic Power, in this moment, seemed to transform into the fury of the world itself—heaving the ocean floor up from the deepest depths in a single violent lurch.
The earth cracked apart. The clouds reversed.
Even the air fell into boundless stagnation. Only the energy, compressed together, remained—punching a colossal, vast corridor clean through the entirety of space.
The enormous Formation chanted into existence by countless Mages expanded fully. Its intricate and chaotic patterns and Runes intertwined with one another.
A thousand streams of Magic Power flowed in a rushing torrent toward the center of the Formation. The dense, converging Magic Power spilled a dazzling white light downward, pouring Magic Power in a continuous cascade.
In this moment, the Formation reversed—draining every last drop of Magic Power from within the bodies of all the Mages sustaining it.
The attack formed from Natural Energy seemed as though it would scatter the entire world apart.
Alien-colored light bled and churned together, swelling endlessly outward. At the center, a pitch-black void took shape—a dark star that devoured all things.
The thick clouds and the ocean, already split in 2, were now swallowed whole by that void.
For a hundred miles in every direction, the surrounding sea looked as though a colossal pit had been scooped out of thin air.
Dozarel and Reileis couldn't even mount a resistance. The next second, that energy—carrying the breath of annihilation—swallowed both Calamities whole.
Even the Natural Sparrow, which had been observing the battlefield, dissolved under this terrifying assault, its form vanishing, submerged in that boundless void.
The people who had been watching the battle with full concentration stared fixedly at the pale-blue projected image—but the next second, the entire image flickered and wavered.
A faint flash of light passed through it. Then the entire image was consumed by pitch-black darkness, severing all connection to the Padalenbu Sea completely.
People stared at the screen that had gone completely dark for a few seconds, dumbfounded. Then they fell into unspeakable frustration.
They pounded their chests, overwhelmed with dissatisfaction.
What happened next?! Where's the rest of it?!
That instant.
Heim Horn watched the white light surging toward him, and his expression remained utterly composed.
"Sure enough."
"【Arbiter Who Strips Away All Phenomena】—that title really is—"
Not a wrong one.
The next second, the white light detonated, as though swallowing even his voice along with everything else.
The world fell completely silent. Not even the sound of a roar could be heard anymore.
Even the wind, even the beating of one's own heart—it was as though they had never existed.
The passage of time slowed to an almost imperceptible crawl. Light pierced through the eyes. A blazing, radiant warmth gradually buried everyone whole.
A dense and terrifying pressure flooded into the entire world.
As though every inch of soil, every inch of skin, was twisted and withered away in that churning, chaotic expanse.
Everything sank into an ocean of shock—as though the interior of all things had been packed completely full by that terrible, crushing force.
And then—the rain stopped.
The entire sky of the world looked as though it had been blasted open. In an instant, ten thousand miles of land became incomparably pure and still.
Not a cloud in the sky.
The sky had cleared.
A gentle breeze accompanied warm spring sunlight, shining down upon everyone's faces.
The Mages raised their hands to shield their eyes—and they saw the somewhat dazzling sunlight.
They were alive.
Coming back to themselves from the lingering shock, the Mages turned their gaze toward the center of the ocean.
The entire expanse of the sea had been scooped out—a colossal empty void, fathomless and bottomless.
The energy had finally broken through its limits, and even that underwater forest could no longer withstand it.
The terrifying Magic Power still lingered across the entire sea, drifting faintly like wisps of cloud.
The dense, turbulent elemental Magic Power that had blanketed this stretch of ocean had vanished in an instant, as though it had simply ceased to exist.
The surrounding seawater poured endlessly toward the colossal pit, as though trying to fill it completely—yet all that could be seen was the abyss drinking in the ocean currents. The sea surface never rose.
The seawater had been hollowed out?
Everyone stared at the scene before them, feeling a deep, wordless awe.
For a long moment, only silence could answer.
What kind of Magic had that been, exactly?
Perhaps... only the one who cast it would ever know.
Countless Mages turned their gazes toward the center of the sea's surface.
That was where Viktor had been standing.
But now, both Viktor and the golden-haired young woman were nowhere to be found.
Duke Livi stared at the spot where Viktor had disappeared. His emotions became a tangled knot—now anxious, now settling into something like relief.
***
A small island somewhere in the Padalenbu Sea.
The place seemed to have been conjured out of thin air by some mysterious magic. Amid the vast, restless expanse of ocean, this spot felt remarkably quiet and serene.
Even the crabs still clawed at the sand, crawling toward the churning sea.
Heni stood on the island, her wide black Mage's Robe drifting in the sea breeze.
She stood atop a towering rock, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
The moment the Calamity of Water was summoned, she had already left the City of the Sea that lay in ruins.
When that violent white light suddenly blazed in the distance, it was as though the entire world had lost all its color.
"Is it over?"
The murmur left her lips quietly. In Heni's eyes was a trace of something complicated.
She had watched the Professor's battle. It had been extraordinary.
Heni felt proud—she had helped the Professor, and that made her happy.
And yet, when she saw Erika appear as well, Heni found herself falling into a daze.
She had seen it—Erika and the Professor, fighting side by side, unleashing that powerful, breathtaking Magic together.
When she spoke again, a faint thread of bewilderment ran through her voice:
"Mr. Crocodile... do I need to atone?"
Through the mechanism of the City of the Sea, she had offered up all those Sea Folk who had no choice but to obey orders.
Although they had already been living as fodder for the Calamity of Water—their existence and their death amounting to little difference—
This was different.
Because of what she had done, their deaths had come faster.
And even after death, their souls could not rest in peace.
They had been forced to become tools, giving one final flicker of use from their own souls.
And yet, in truth, Heni did not regret it.
She still remembered what the little fish City Lord had told her, and she understood clearly what those people had done in life.
They had polluted the ocean. They had earned their end, and their deaths were no cause for grief.
Yet their deaths had still passed through Heni's hands.
In this moment, Heni's heart could not settle—could not find the slightest calm.
Her body even trembled faintly.
But Professor Viktor had needed her to do it.
Only through sacrifice could the ocean's avatar be summoned. Only through sacrifice could she have helped the Professor.
For the Professor's sake, by her own hand, she had extinguished the flame of 100,000 lives.
Even though her heart was gripped with fear—
If she had to do it again, she would still make the same choice.
At that moment, Mr. Crocodile spoke. His low, rumbling voice broke the silence:
"I have to say—this time."
"You surpassed even what I had imagined."
Heni blinked, caught off guard:
"Huh?"
She stood frozen in place, letting the sea breeze toss her hair.
A red-scaled crocodile sat still behind Heni, one enormous crimson claw resting lazily over its stomach.
Since coming out, it had not gone back. It had lingered comfortably in the outside world for a very long time, thoroughly pleased with itself.
It had been ages since it had enjoyed such a prolonged, leisurely stay outdoors—it even felt a vague urge to drift into the sea for a little swim.
Unfortunately, Laiton had eaten far too much, and right now had absolutely no desire to move.
In the battle between Calamities, the fury produced had likewise taken the form of emotion—and emotion was Laiton's sustenance.
Laiton had discovered that being a member of the Clavena Family, working for Viktor, was truly an extraordinary stroke of fortune.
A full belly, and on top of that, a girl like Heni—who looked fragile but got along remarkably well with Demons—nearby. It found the whole arrangement deeply comfortable.
There was only 1 thing that left Laiton mildly displeased.
Viktor would not allow it to kill people at will.
But over this stretch of time, Laiton—as a Demon of genuine intelligence—had come to understand 1 rule.
In the current human society, one simply could not go around slaughtering humans as one pleased.
And it wasn't just Viktor. Even Heni, the one it was attached to, was far too gentle.
So this time, Heni sending 100,000 people away—to Laiton, it was nothing short of cause for a standing ovation.
Laiton spat with vicious relish:
"I've said it a long time ago—in this world, if you don't like someone, just beat them up. There's no reason you need more of a reason than that!"
"Ah, but... but..."
"Because your fists are hard enough!"
Before Heni could even finish, Laiton cut her off.
Its ferocious voice continued thundering beside her:
"The most important thing about being a Demon is doing exactly as you please."
"Stop goddamn holding yourself back!!"
Heni blinked faintly, something uncertain stirring in her heart:
"I..."
Laiton looked visibly impatient. It opened its enormous jaws.
"Listen here, little girl."
"In this world, no one ever speaks fondly of an obedient child."
It lowered its head and settled down flat, like a real crocodile.
But it was no ordinary crocodile—instead, it spoke in the tongue of men, and its voice carried with it something unmistakably coaxing, almost seductive.
"Obedient children don't get candy."
***
"As expected—you really are just like the Professor described."
The moment the voice fell, the crocodile froze. Its 2 torch-bright, blazing eyes went wide.
But Heni, at that exact moment, suddenly broke into a smile. In the warm sunlight, that smile looked particularly intoxicating.
"Every Demon is skilled at seducing the heart."
"And so the Professor taught me—I must stay vigilant against the words of Demons like you, and hold fast to my own heart."
As her words settled, Heni placed one hand on the buttons of her black Mage's Robe and gave a firm yank. The Robe slid off her shoulders.
It fell onto the surface of the sea, soaked through by the waves.
Heni brought a hand behind her neck and lifted her hair. She gave her head a toss—composed, graceful, and unhurried.
Her beauty ignited like a bonfire beneath the night sky, overflowing from her body and spreading in every direction.
Those bright, amber-gold eyes gazed into the distance, and within their brightness lurked a light of anticipation—deep and dazzling as a field of stars.
"Your powers of seduction seem to be working rather well."
The crocodile looked at what stood behind Heni—and went a little blank.
It could feel it. Within Heni's heart, something—a particular kind of desire—seemed to have taken shape.
"I've already killed 100,000 people."
She smiled softly, her golden eyes reflecting the glittering sea.
The curve at the corner of her lips was like a sharp, curved blade—pressed deep into the world.
She tilted her head, smiling gently, her gaze lifting toward the sea surface where golden light danced. The smile at the corner of her mouth seemed to have turned into a sharp curved blade, plunged into the heart of the world.
That wide, pitch-black Mage's Robe drifted away as though guided by her gaze, until it was swallowed and dragged under by the surging ocean.
"So why can't I try—"
"To be a bad girl?"
Heni
Lv29—→Lv30
3rd-Tier Mage