There was an old saying passed down among Hunters.
Mages came in two kinds: Grand Mages, and everyone else.
Magic Johnson had proven that saying true firsthand.
Among the seven billion people on Earth, there were only three Grand Mages.
And of those three, he was the strongest War Mage. During the Great Cataclysm, he had slain countless monsters and led innumerable battles to victory.
Yet even Magic Johnson, for all his incredible achievements, had encountered a being before whom he was forced to swallow his pride.
I hate to say this, but the Arch Lich’s magic is a cut above mine. Be careful, Jin.
That was how powerful the Arch Lich was. There could be no hesitation or carelessness—not even for an instant—when facing him.
—Human, hurry!
I know, damn it.
I let the Skeleton Warlord’s shriek go in one ear and out the other as I poured internal energy into both legs.
Crack-crack-crack!
The solid concrete floor sank beneath me, unable to withstand the pressure transmitted into it. I bent my knees slightly, then kicked off with all my strength.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar like an exploding bomb, I shot into the air like a streak of light.
A fierce wind tore across my body, and the Arch Lich rapidly drew closer, his black robe spread like wings.
—You…
I could see them.
His trembling red eyes.
White Flame, launched with all my strength, had shattered the invisible barrier surrounding the Arch Lich and was now falling with everything it had.
Come.
I stretched out my hand. Seizing an Object Through Empty Space caught White Flame’s shaft from several meters1 away and pulled it into my grasp.
Now!
I thrust the spear with all my strength. Three jiazi2 of Scorching Yang Qi surged up from my dantian and raced forward without restraint. Force like blue hellfire erupted over the transparent spearhead.
Fwoooooom!
And just as I became certain I had succeeded—
—Gravity.
Fwoosh!
“Hngh!”
With that sinister voice, something invisible pressed down on my entire body.
No.
It struck me.
I swallowed a breath and reached out as far as I could, but before the spearhead brimming with Force could touch the Arch Lich’s foot, my body was already falling toward the ground.
The Arch Lich, who had seemed close enough to touch, receded in an instant.
“You fucking—”
Booooom!
I crashed down like a meteor. Above my head, laughter like scraping metal rang out.
—Not bad. Amusing in its own way.
Damn skeleton bastard.
I spat out a wad of phlegm and looked up at the Arch Lich looming over me like a god.
“Good to hear. It’s only going to get more entertaining from here.”
—Humans are always dreaming futile dreams. I have seen it countless times. Driven by anger and longing, you challenge what cannot be surpassed, only to confront reality at last and fall into despair.
“That sounds a lot like the bullshit spewed by all the guys who’ve died by my hand… Do you people share a Hundred Questions and Answers for Dealing with Jin Taekyung or something? Hold study sessions every now and then?”
—Even so, those who died by your hand were still insignificant humans. But I am different.
“Of course you’re different, you son of a bitch. You’re already dead.”
—…!
The Arch Lich fell silent for a moment, so I continued.
“Looking at you now, someone must’ve killed you, too. Was it a human? Is that why you’ve been flaunting your inferiority complex this whole time?”
—You…
“Yep. This bastard was killed by a human.”
—Will you shut your mouth!
At his thunderous shout, the magic surrounding the Arch Lich surged violently. His red eyes, far brighter than before, glared down at me.
—I am a servant of a great king. I am not a being who can be compared to insignificant creatures like you!
I was about to fire back when the unexpected word stopped me.
Wait. A king?
Did I hear that wrong?
As the question flashed through my mind, the Skeleton Warlord answered in a trembling voice.
—This commander heard it clearly, too, wretched human. Th-then, could it be…
No way. It can’t be.
I swallowed dryly and asked,
“Is the great king you just mentioned the Demon King Asmodeus?”
—Do not speak the name of His Highness.
So much for no way.
It really was the Demon King Asmodeus.
The Skeleton Warlord sucked in a breath despite not needing to breathe, while I muttered in disbelief,
“Huh. Asmodeus? Seriously?”
—The name of His Highness…
“But I was sure Asmodeus had been destroyed.”
—The name of His Highness…
“Is Asmodeus still alive? As an Arch Demon King or something?”
—His Highness…
“Yeah, yeah, I get it—he’s fucking adorable. Now answer me. Asmodeus died back then, didn’t he? Or did he come back to life? If he was resurrected as an undead like you, where is he, and what’s he doing now?”
At that moment, the Skeleton Warlord murmured fearfully,
—At this hour, he might be asleep…
What the fuck are you talking about? You don’t sleep, either.
—I do not, but His Highness might be different.
What is the Demon King, some good little schoolboy? Do you think he turns off the television, brushes his teeth, and goes to bed when the sun goes down? And why are you using such an honorific?
—Ah! I did not even realize… But from this commander’s perspective, is that not only natural?
That’s true.
—Indeed. Because I am a monster.
Then don’t use it.
—Why not…?
The Demon King is far away, and my fist is close.
—Ah.
The Skeleton Warlord let out an exclamation of enlightenment, then added,
—But, human. It seems the Arch Lich’s magic will be getting closer in a moment.
Damn it. He’s right.
I hurriedly threw myself aside. A green mist grazed me by a hair and engulfed the spot where I had been standing moments earlier.
Ssssssssss!
Stone, steel, even concrete—everything within a radius of dozens of meters1 melted away, leaving a gaping hole.
The Arch Lich had fired a poison cloud of terrifying power. His eyes were not merely clear—they burned like torches.
—I intended to take you under my command.
“Uh, what brought that on all of a sudden?”
—I would have subdued your body and soul and used you as the vanguard of my glorious undead army.
“How much does it pay?”
—But I have changed my mind.
“No, I asked how much it pays. Don’t tell me you people pay in passion,3 too?”
—Your flesh will be torn to pieces, and your soul will wander the River of Death for all eternity.
“Are you acquainted with the deacon at the church I went to as a kid? He said something similar to me. Said a devil like me would go to hell. If my mom hadn’t stopped me, he would’ve become the first martyr in that church’s history.”
—You insignificant human. Pay the price for insulting His Highness and defiling his name.
“For once, we agree on something. Paying the price. I like that.”
I nodded and lowered White Flame at an angle.
“So I’m planning to make you pay the price, too… What do you think?”
The Arch Lich opened his mouth.
The four-syllable incantation, uttered in a voice deeper and more sinister than ever, was not an answer to my question.
It was a curse that called forth death.
—Dark Hand.
Whoooom!
A pair of black hands burst through the thick fog. They hurtled in from both sides as if coming together in prayer.
I leaped to avoid the Dark Hands—and another spell was waiting for me.
—Curse.
I twisted to evade the black fog descending like a net, but this time, I was too late.
No.
Perhaps the Arch Lich had anticipated my movement.
The fog had already been closing in before I even finished dodging the Dark Hands.
Shhk.
Only a paper-thin margin.
At the instant the sticky fog grazed the tip of my little finger—
Beep!
System
- You have been afflicted with the status effect Curse!
- Due to Curse, all physical attributes have been temporarily reduced!
- Strength has temporarily decreased by 20!
- Stamina has temporarily decreased by 20!
- Agility…
The System notification had barely sounded when my body grew heavier. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Damn it.
I was already short on points, and now a curse had slapped me with a debuff.
This wasn’t a loss of one or two points, either. With twenty points stripped from each attribute at once, I could clearly feel the difference.
But even with a debuff, I was not so helpless that I could do nothing but take his attacks.
Just like now.
—Dark Vine.
Crack! Whoooosh!
Hundreds of thorny vines burst through the ground, filling the air in every direction as they shot toward me.
I exhaled sharply and swung my spear.
Shhk!
A line of blue flame cut through the air, severing every vine formed from magic.
—Dark Vine. Dark Vine. Dark Vine.
Shwoooooosh!
From the severed ends of the thorny vines, which had been collapsing after losing their strength, new vines began to grow.
They budded, grew thorns, and swelled even larger in barely a second.
But to me, one second was as good as a minute.
Fwoom! Shhk!
A thorny vine several meters1 around was severed in a single blow.
Cut off from its magical connection, the dark plant toppled onto a half-collapsed high-rise building.
Amid the cloud of dust rising from the thunderous impact, I sensed an ominous fluctuation of energy.
Magic.
My prediction was right.
Shhh-shhh-shhh-shhh!
A spear stained a dull black.
A Bone Spear made entirely of bone became a streak of light and shot toward me.
No.
That wasn’t it.
There isn’t just one.
—Be careful, human!
Along with the Skeleton Warlord’s desperate shout—
Boom!
The dust cloud exploded outward with a blast of compressed air.
More Bone Spears than I could possibly count surged toward me.
Some flew in straight lines. Some fell like meteors. Others curved through the air.
“Huh…”
—Ah.
The Skeleton Warlord and I groaned at the same time.
How many are there? Hundreds? No, thousands?
The overwhelming sight left me speechless for a moment.
A chill ran down my spine, and my mouth fell open on its own. A bead of cold sweat that had formed on my forehead slid down the bridge of my nose.
And then…
Everything stopped.
This is…
It was that same phenomenon that had sometimes come to me in moments of crisis.
My five senses sharpened to a razor’s edge, and the world slowed down. Into the space between those moments crept something unfamiliar.
A new sense.
A sixth sense that science could not explain.
I knew its name.
The sixth sense.
At the same time, something inside me shed its shell.
My gaze traveled more and more slowly across the enormous net formed by hundreds—thousands—of Bone Spears.
Because I had already given up everything?
No.
What mattered was the essence.
Appearances could be layered over it, but the essence itself did not change.
And at that very moment, I could see it.
My parched lips parted, and an exclamation slipped out.
“Ah.”
So that was it. That’s what it was.
It was something I had yet to understand, even after reaching the Supreme Peak.
A flash of enlightenment streaked through my mind like lightning, and the slowed world resumed its proper speed.
Before the rain of spears pouring in from every direction, I raised my spear almost in a daze.
Then I brought White Flame down along the path I could see.
Heavenly Strike.
Fwoooooom!
The erupting flames swallowed everything.
The Bone Spears, too numerous to count, vanished.
No.
The things that vanished the instant the flames touched them were illusions made of magic.
Only the essence collided with my strike, and unable to withstand its power, it burned away.
Shhhhhhh.
Ash scattered in the wind that blew from somewhere.
Carried on that breeze, I heard a bright, cheerful ringing.
Ding. Ding. Ding…
It was such a pleasant sound that I found myself smiling without realizing it.
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