Why Did You Mess With Him? He’s the Evil God’s Lackey! Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Honor of a Power Leveler

A Natural Disaster like a volcanic eruption could only be stopped by Mages intervening directly.

This eruption of Mount Vesuvius in particular appeared to be on an extraordinary scale—after all, a pillar of fire shooting a hundred ters out of a Crater was not sothing that could be considered normal in any era.

Once the lava from an eruption spread across hundreds of miles, villages and crops alike could be destroyed.

Not only would it deal an enormous economic blow to the Royal Capital, it would threaten the lives of countless living creatures in the vicinity of the volcano.

The Royal Capital took the matter with the utmost seriousness and imdiately mobilized every available Mage within the city.

The Imperial army dispatched wave after wave of Mages, who made their way to Mount Vesuvius in a steady stream.

Duke Livi and Erika were no exception.

After nearly a full day of travel—including an overnight journey—everyone had grown quite weary.

In the small hours of the morning, the company finally reached their destination, and all personnel rested on the spot.

Due to the Knight Company's full-scale evacuation, every resident of Sanchez had gathered outside the town.

Even the livestock—chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and even cats and dogs—had been herded out without exception.

Outside the town, the whole scene was utter pandemonium.

The villagers watched as vast numbers of soldiers and Mages poured into the town, none of them knowing what on earth was happening.

At that mont, the atmosphere around the camp was wound to a breaking point.

Duke Livi was among the last few batches of Mages to arrive. When he stepped down from his Carriage, a number of Mages from other noble families greeted him with smiles and ca forward eagerly.

"It has been far too long, Duke Livi."

A white-haired noble walked toward Duke Livi with the aid of a cane, surrounded by Mages from other noble families.

"It's been a while, Mr. Beck."

Duke Livi gave a polite reply.

"Since the last ti the Kingdom convened us, I don't believe we've t since."

Beck reminisced, speaking to the Duke.

The Duke gave a nod and smiled in agreent.

"This must be your daughter—what a graceful young lady."

"Not at all, you're too kind."

Beck's eyes fell on the badge pinned to Erika's chest—the emblem marking her as a 2nd-Tier Mage.

He adjusted his glasses and continued.

"As expected, your daughter has already reached the 2nd-Tier."

"It seems the Academy's praise was no exaggeration."

Erika knew all of this was simply the kind of pleasantries adults exchanged.

But hearing assessnts of herself from other renowned Mages still brought a quiet warmth to her heart.

No one dislikes being praised, and Erika—who had grown up surrounded by complints—was no exception.

Duke Livi smiled warmly at his daughter. She was his pride.

"Haha, your daughter's magical talent is sothing we old n can only envy."

The adults laughed with one another, and the mood gradually settled.

In the world of Mages, there were almost none who didn't know each other.

Duke Livi was 1 of the very few 3rd-Tier Mages. The remaining families with 3rd-Tier Mages were likewise all noble.

In the Kingdom of Carencia, high-tier Mages were almost entirely monopolized by the nobility.

Among commoners, even a single 2nd-Tier Mage was a rarity.

At that mont, a silver-white figure appeared before the assembled group.

Duke Livi glanced at her and recognized her as the second daughter of the Delin Family.

Currently serving as the commander of the Royal Knight Company in the Royal Capital.

"Gwen Delin reporting."

The Mages watched Gwen approach them with a heavy expression, and sothing tightened in their chests. Could the situation with the volcano be looking grim?

"Esteed Mages, since the volcano began showing unusual activity yesterday, it has remained in a relatively stable state up to this point."

Gwen gripped the silver sword in her hand tightly, a bead of sweat tracing its way down her forehead.

The Mages collectively exhaled with relief upon hearing the news. The white-haired Mage patted his chest, and the hand gripping his cane relaxed noticeably.

This ant their task here would be one of prevention rather than expending enormous effort to confront a Natural Disaster head-on.

At this mont, Erika stood quietly beside Duke Livi, watching everything unfold.

"Father, who is this……?"

Duke Livi leaned close to Erika's ear and said quietly, "The current commander of the Royal Knight Company."

Erika gave a nod. Seeing the Knight Company's commander for the first ti, she felt a flicker of surprise—she hadn't expected the Knight Commander to be a woman.

She didn't know Gwen, and had no idea that Gwen was Viktor's Fiancée. Gwen, however, knew who she was.

A magically gifted student known throughout the entire Kingdom—Gwen had naturally heard of her.

Not to ntion that the incident with Viktor had firmly fixed Erika in her mory.

Gwen looked at the golden-haired young woman before her and thought privately.

'So this is Duke Livi's daughter? She really is beautiful. No wonder Viktor acted so impulsively and confessed to her.'

Before this, she had only ever seen Erika in the newspapers. Seeing her in person now, even Gwen was struck by her presence.

At first glance, she gave people the feeling of falling in love.

"Now then, Knight Commander Gwen—what exactly happened at the volcano?"

Gwen gave Duke Livi a brief rundown of the Knight Company's investigation since arriving at the volcano.

***

"What? You're saying you heard a great roar even from the Mid-slope?"

"After the Knight Company investigated the Summit, the volcano's temperature shot up imdiately? And then a fire pillar a hundred ters high erupted from it?"

Beck and the other 3rd-Tier Mages listened with bewildered expressions, looking at one another.

"What on earth is going on?"

"I have no idea—do you?"

"Not a clue. I've never even heard of anything like this."

The Mages looked at each other blankly, unable to find words.

Duke Livi listened to Gwen's account and sank into thought as well. Like the other Mages, he had no idea what to make of it.

Gwen recalled sothing else and added.

"We had arranged for an accompanying Mage on this mission. He went ahead of us to the Summit, saying he was going to investigate sothing—and then he vanished. His whereabouts remain unknown even now."

"What?"

That stunned all of them. Such a statent was far too easy to cast suspicion on.

Erika heard it too and was taken aback, seeming to realize sothing. For the first ti, she spoke up from where she had been standing quietly.

"Who is this Mage?"

Gwen looked at her with a puzzled expression and answered.

"You should all know him. His na is Viktor Clavena."

The mont that na was spoken, it sent an imdiate uproar rippling through the assembled Mages.

Several Mages who harbored ill will toward Viktor seized the opportunity at once, speaking with righteous indignation.

"This has to be sothing Viktor did!"

"Exactly! He's done all sorts of terrible things before—this is definitely his doing too!"

Everyone present knew of Viktor's "notorious" reputation. Given any chance to slander him, they showed no restraint whatsoever.

Duke Livi was equally at a loss, though he still turned to the other Mages and urged restraint.

"Everyone, let's not be hasty. The most important thing right now is to prevent the volcanic eruption—first, we must minimize the damage that could be caused!"

At the Duke's words, the assembled Mages stopped their bickering.

Just as Duke Livi said, at this point, tracking down the person responsible was the least of their concerns.

Getting through the imdiate crisis was what mattered most.

"ROOOOAAAARRRRR!!!!!"

Mid-conversation, a furious roar suddenly rang out from above the volcano.

This ti, every single person heard it with perfect clarity.

The Mages all turned as one to look at the Summit of the volcano, falling into a silence from which not a single word erged.

Was that sound……from a living creature?

"Ma'am! You cannot go through!"

The voices of nearby Knights drew everyone's attention. All eyes turned that way.

It was an old woman. She was trying to push past the Knights' blockade and enter the camp.

"Soone has angered the Volcano God! Soone has surely angered the Volcano God!"

She shouted from behind the line of Knights blocking her way.

"It's all over! We are all finished!"

The Mages looked at each other. Duke Livi raised his hand and spoke to the Knights.

"Let her through."

"Yes, my lord!"

The Knights stood aside. The old woman quickly shook off the Knight's grip, and ca hobbling over with her cane, step by step.

"Grandmother, what is the Volcano God?"

Duke Livi asked her kindly. But the Mages around them, having witnessed her frantic behavior monts before, began muttering among themselves.

"What can we possibly get out of a woman who was just raving like that?"

"Volcano God? I've never heard of such a thing."

"She's probably here to cause trouble. Duke Livi, we'd be better off sending her away."

Duke Livi paid no heed to the Mages' counsel, and continued to look at the old woman with gentle patience.

"Grandmother, if there's sothing you'd like to say, please go ahead and tell ."

The old woman looked the Duke up and down, then dropped the frantic act entirely. In a hushed, mysterious tone, she began to speak.

"Several hundred years ago, soone sealed a burning, fla-wreathed demon god beneath this volcano. That sealing enraged the Volcano God, and caused the eruption here."

"But after that eruption, the volcano showed not the slightest sign of activity for the next several hundred years."

"Now the volcano has stirred again. The sleeping Volcano God must have awakened in fury once more—it is about to break free of its seal and incinerate both sky and earth."

The assembled Mages listened with stunned expressions, and quickly moved to speak.

"Duke, pay no attention to this. It's nothing more than folk mythology."

But Duke Livi's expression grew deeply grave.

He had caught a familiar scent within this story.

And at that mont, Erika glanced toward the Summit.

She pressed a hand to her chest, as though deep in thought, then turned to Duke Livi and said.

"Father, I want to go up to the Summit and take a look."

"I feel it……there is sothing up there at the Summit."

"Absolutely not!"

Hearing Erika's request, the Duke raised his hand sharply and spoke with stern finality.

"Erika, I can grant you many things, but this—there is no room for discussion!"

Erika refused to give up and continued to appeal to her father. "Father! I'm already a 2nd-Tier Mage—I'm capable of holding my own!"

"Unless your strength surpasses mine, I will not allow you to set foot anywhere near the Crater!"

Seeing Duke Livi's position, Erika had no choice but to fall silent.

This was an utterly unreasonable demand.

Her father had been deeply entrenched at the 3rd-Tier for over 30 years.

Everyone said that if a new 4th-Tier Saint Mage were ever to erge, that person would undoubtedly be Livi du Chloe.

Erika thought to herself that she couldn't even surpass Viktor—how could she possibly leap 2 full tiers straight to the 4th?

But……

Erika felt a tightness in her chest.

Within that roar just now, she had heard a voice.

'There was a sound……saying it was in pain.'

And Duke Livi had already begun issuing orders to the assembled Mage formation.

The volcano's restlessness was growing more and more pronounced. The 3rd-Tier Mages took their positions in formation, while the 2nd-Tier Mages served as support, channeling magic in shifts.

They were to draw Magic Formations and, before the eruption occurred, summon powerful war magic to blanket the entirety of Mount Vesuvius.

At that point, whether it was lava erupting outward, or whatever ca leaping out of the volcano—

All of it would be wiped out without exception!

***

"Finally……I've been hurt, haven't I?"

Weija stared with blank eyes, looking at Viktor in disbelief.

His condition right now could not be described as good.

Half of his Coat had been burned away, and the wounds on his body where the lava had struck kept burning with fla.

And yet—this was the first ti Viktor had taken any damage after a full day of grueling combat……

Monster. That was the only word it could offer.

Facing sothing as devastating as a Calamity, he had fought it for an entire day, and had even managed to wound it.

In all that ti, he had only taken damage once.

And even that was because his concentration had slipped for a mont, and the edge of one of those devastating fire pillars had grazed him.

A single graze, and it had dealt him no small amount of damage.

If the pillar had struck him full-on, there probably wouldn't even be bones left to find.

"This really was pushing it too far……"

But being injured was absolutely not good news. It ant Viktor's focus had begun to slip and fatigue was setting in.

The prolonged battle was gradually making it harder for him to concentrate.

"Why not just call it here—while you still have enough magic, Teleport out and escape."

Weija urged him beside his ear. Even though it understood perfectly well that Viktor was not the type to give in easily.

His condition, though, was far from reassuring.

Viktor didn't answer. He simply applied a Fire Resistance Buff to himself with a sweep of his hand to stop the burning, while dodging yet another devastating fire pillar.

"If I leave now, this beast will break free of Mount Vesuvius in an instant."

"And that is when the real devastation would begin."

"Weija, do you understand?"

Weija went still.

After saying that, Viktor rembered that Weija was an Evil God, and so continued.

"Sorry—I forgot that you probably don't care about any of that."

"But I do."

Viktor stripped off his Coat, now burned through and completely beyond salvaging.

He let it drift away on the wind and fall into the lava.

The Coat dissolved into scattered sparks in the air and vanished entirely.

"I don't particularly want to be a good person. But I also have no desire to let this unstoppable beast break free of its cage, only to have the world pin the title of 'World-Ender' on my head."

He had already shaved away a 3rd of Gulton's health bar—a record he could be proud of.

As long as he could break through the great beast's defenses, there was no Boss he couldn't kill.

Viktor was just as resolute as he had been at the start, staring down the raging Gulton, his excitent only growing.

It was only in battles of this intensity that he felt like himself again.

"It's only 1 hit. I haven't lost yet."

Because this was a battle fought on the honor of his na as a Power Leveler!