Chapter 332: Calamity
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 332: Calamity
"What... what is that...?"
In the middle of the forest, Muen stood as stiff as a wooden post, his voice trembling with uncontrollable dread.
That blindingly brilliant golden eye reminded him of the moment he first saw the Withered King upon that scorched earth—a giant sun hanging in the sky, looking down upon all creation with cold indifference.
Yet, the two were fundamentally different.
The Withered King had indeed manifested as a giant eye, but it was one filled with violence, ferocity, and despair, radiating an aura of destruction that threatened to incinerate the world.
This golden eye, however, was pure—extraordinarily so. It exuded only the nobility and majesty that drifted out with its golden light, like a golden throne perched atop a mountain peak.
The gaze extending from that golden eye swept across the entire forest, like an emperor inspecting his domain.
Then, abruptly, the golden eye vanished.
Behind the rift, only pitch-black darkness remained.
But Muen could clearly feel a colossal entity shifting within that profound darkness. The shadows of the mountains suddenly collapsed, and a misty phantom, like the night that shrouds the world after the sun sets, came pressing down with a suffocating sense of despair.
The rift expanded rapidly, as if intent on splitting the very firmament in two, and black mist began to pour out from the tear.
Soon, a new sun rose.
The golden vertical pupil reappeared. This time... there were two.
A chilling silhouette emerged from the darkness.
A massive head, possessing a ferocious beauty; a long, slender neck, like the world-swallowing serpent of legend; cold scales, interwoven like plates of steel. Wings broke free from the shackles of space, nearly tearing the sky and earth asunder.
That was...
A dragon.
A majestic, terrifying, ferocious, and predatory black dragon!
With a mere spread of its wings, countless gales answered its call, buoying it into the air like humble subjects.
The once-clear sky had been blanketed by dark clouds at some unknown point. This wasn't a localized weather change like the one the priest had conjured using Divine Grace; rather, as far as Muen’s vision could reach, the entire sky had been transformed into a cold, iron curtain.
Black mist drifted through the eerie woods, swallowing their two tiny figures. Even the giant trees nearby became blurred. Yet, no matter how thick the mist grew, it could not obscure the terrifying silhouette of the dragon.
"This... this is... a dragon... the Death-Calamity Dragon."
Liya’s trembling, disbelieving voice echoed in Muen’s ear. Through the small hand he held tightly, he could feel the girl’s inner turmoil and terror.
"This is... that Calamity."
"Gulp."
In the unnatural silence, the sound of him swallowing was jarringly clear. Muen didn't realize his own voice was shaking as he clung to a sliver of hope.
"Are... are you sure? Is it possible it's just a normal dragon passing by?"
"How could a normal dragon be this terrifying?"
Liya shook her head, her face deathly pale. "Besides, this forest is that Calamity’s territory. Other dragons wouldn't even dare to come near, let alone pass through."
Hope shattered.
No, that hope had never existed in the first place. It was nothing more than self-deception.
But...
"Why...? Hasn't that Calamity been dormant for centuries?" Muen muttered to himself, unable to understand.
The forest forbade the entry of Crown Bearers because it was seen as a provocation. That was natural; no beast would allow another predator into its territory.
But would even the most savage beast care about an ant accidentally wandering into its domain?
Of course not.
To a Calamity—the ceiling of this world's power—his previous battle with the priest was nothing more than a brawl between ants.
Even though the Love God had made a brief cameo, He hadn't actually used any of His abilities. With a level of power that hadn't even managed to scare Muen himself, he didn't believe it was enough to wake a long-slumbering Calamity.
"Could it be..." Muen’s eyes lit up as he whispered.
Was the Calamity just passing through?
Like someone who had slept too long and decided to take a stroll in their backyard, not even noticing the little bugs? Was its appearance here purely a coincidence?
But... Muen’s naive hope was quickly crushed.
Above the infinite black mist, the black dragon’s massive head tilted up slightly, like someone stretching after waking up, before slowly lowering.
The vertical pupils, radiating golden light like ancient brass lamps, pierced through the thick black mist and landed... on Muen.
In an instant, all his delusions vanished. Muen’s blood froze; his body went cold.
Staring into that cold, majestic gaze, Muen felt a shudder that reached his very soul.
He had been stared at by many terrifying eyes before.
The Love God.
The Withered King.
The Silent Moon.
But none of those instances had filled him with as much fear and instability as this one.
It wasn't because the Evil Gods were inferior to the Calamity before him, but because no matter how terrifying the Evil Gods were, their true bodies could never truly descend.
But now...
The being known as a Calamity—an existence whose mere leaking aura could cause the ecology of an entire forest to evolve in a completely different direction, an existence that had destroyed an ancient civilization in the distant past—
The Death-Calamity Dragon, Hamulein, was watching him.
From right in front of him.
"Go, quickly."
Muen let go of Liya’s hand.
"Its target seems to be me."
The majestic golden eyes were fixed squarely on the ant that was Muen; it seemed to pay no mind at all to the other tiny ant beside him.
"If I leave... what about you, Muen?"
"I have a way."
"...Liar."
Liya bit her lip. She didn't even dare to look directly at the Calamity, only stealing cautious glances at the ferocious scales through her peripheral vision. Even that was enough to make it difficult for her to stand; she felt as if she might collapse to her knees at any moment.
That was a Calamity...
What could Muen possibly do?
"I really do have a way."
Muen repeated himself, trying his best to sound confident as he pushed Liya away.
"Go! Now!"
"..."
The space beside him went silent for a moment. Muen didn't look back, but he could feel the girl’s presence receding.
The dragon didn't care.
Muen breathed a sigh of relief.
But then, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. In this moment of crisis where his own strength was useless, he unhesitatingly turned to his final trump card.
You forced my hand!
Take this!
—【Black Book, save me!】
The incredibly sincere plea echoed within Muen’s mind, desperate for Darkemon to act once again and save him from despair in this moment of peril.
But...
This time, there was no reaction.
Why say "this time"? Because this scene seemed to have happened more than once.
No matter how Muen called out, the Black Book gave no response. It even retracted the faint, eerie glow surrounding it, hiding its physical form deeper within Muen’s consciousness.
It was playing dead with practiced ease.
As if it were afraid of being discovered by the Calamity before them.
"You've got to be kidding me. You're that unreliable?"
Muen’s heart sank, and his lip twitched.
This situation reminded him of the Black Book’s reaction when he first met Teacher Mela—it was almost identical.
However, Teacher Mela had only been testing him back then. What were this Calamity’s intentions?
"Wait."
Muen seemed to remember something, and his face suddenly turned as white as a sheet.
Speaking of Teacher Mela...
When she was carving the magic circuits into his back, what was one of the most important materials she used?
It seemed to be called—
Ancient... Dragon... Heart... Blood...