Episode 314

The King of Ghouls, as before, easily dispersed his form to dodge the lightning.

But this time, things were different.

Fwoooosh!

The flames, grown so fierce as to be beyond Lee Han’s control, filled the vast expanse of the cave.

The fierce hellfire carrying the mage’s power was something even the King of Ghouls could not ignore so easily.

Already suffering from heavy expenditure of strength, if he were caught in those flames and burned, the damage would be…

I’ll start. With the worms.

Instead of trampling Lee Han, the King of Ghouls decided to chase and kill those who had just fled to the rear.

“…Flash!”

But of course, Lee Han did not allow it. He relentlessly fired bursts of lightning along the trajectory the King of Ghouls might move, forcing him back step by step.

Crack, crack, crack, cra-crack!

The relentless barrage of deadly spells even made the King of Ghouls flinch.

Such a wild barrage was close to self-destruction. Wouldn’t his magic be exhausted in less than ten seconds?

The King of Ghouls, with much experience facing mages, was once again flustered by Lee Han’s actions.

But Lee Han neither ran out of magic nor collapsed. Instead, he cleverly used the time the King of Ghouls paused.

Fwoooosh!

He positioned himself in front of the passage his friends had just escaped through and filled it with flames.

Only then did the King of Ghouls realize Lee Han’s true intentions and became furious.

How dare you.

“As I said, you should have negotiated when I offered it.”

With things as they were, Lee Han no longer hid his true self. He glared harshly at his enemy and swung his staff.

The still-remaining power of the Phoenix’s mark infused Lee Han’s hand with strength.

The wild, uncontrollable fire around him shrank away, retreating instead of engulfing Lee Han, and returned to his control once more.

‘Go!’

In this kind of hellfire, shape-manipulation or control was unnecessary. Lee Han charged head-on.

Several surging waves of colossal fire rolled toward the King of Ghouls.

Blasphemy, against the master of all ghouls and terror of mortals.

The King of Ghouls realized he could no longer buy time. Their positions had now completely reversed from earlier.

Even if it meant losing power, there was no choice.

No death. Could repay this.

Just as when he tried to possess Buldahak and descend, a powerful bluish dark energy condensed and blasted toward the surging waves of fire.

The wild flames finally couldn’t withstand it and began to die out.

But even now, the King of Ghouls misjudged his opponent.

This was not an opponent where binding or canceling spells like with other mages would finish things.

“Burn!”

If the King of Ghouls had eyes, they would have widened in shock.

The flames that had been fading under the bluish energy roared back to life, using magic as fresh fuel, and the King of Ghouls was lost for words.

Only then did he realize.

That trying to conserve strength and draw things out was a mistake from the start—it had been exactly what the enemy was aiming for.

Whatever kind of artifact his opponent had, he clearly had a way to recover magical power.

Presump…tuous…

The King of Ghouls’ form sharpened, and then suddenly shot forward like an arrow. As he pierced through the flames filling the cave, his form made a burning sound.

But the King of Ghouls endured the damage and pressed closer to Lee Han.

Mage. You wield a sword.

Lee Han swung Morningstar with one hand. The King of Ghouls took the blow and moved in even closer.

Just as. You wished!

Clench!

Just as he had possessed Buldahak, the King of Ghouls now caught Lee Han tightly in his form.

Most of his powers were lost, but the King of Ghouls still had this one left.

He opened a door to the void, linking the body he grabbed to that dimension.

The empty, void dimension acted like a vacuum, endlessly draining the mage’s power.

A mage’s greatest fear is running out of magic.

And this connection didn’t end even when magic was depleted. The mage’s very life force would be converted to magic, draining away until nothing was left.

The King of Ghouls waited, expecting to see the mage collapse, bleeding from eyes, nose, and mouth.

But the next scene defied expectation.

“Thank you. For giving me what I wanted.”

Lee Han spoke coldly, aiming his staff.

At this range, with the enemy holding onto him, there was no way to miss.

“Gather and condense…”

Sle—

“…Explode!”

-Phiblicus’ Insane Magic Explosion- hit dead-on at close range.

Already exhausted from using his dimension-linking power, the King of Ghouls was silently ripped to shreds, screaming.

• * *

“We need to find it! Hurry!”

Deorgyu cried urgently.

Lee Han had risked his life to buy them time—having any to spare would be stranger still.

Angrago and Raphadael knew this and tore through every inch of the cave. Sharkan, Lee Han’s summoned beast, slashed through obstacles and guided their way.

“Here… damn! False alarm!”

“You idiot! Are you blind?! Even a blind man would do better than you!”

Deorgyu snapped as Angrago made a mistake.

Angrago was so flustered he couldn’t even protest.

He hadn’t expected Deorgyu to act this way.

Usually Deorgyu was the friend who’d say, ‘It’s fine, it wasn’t on purpose,’ no matter the mistake…?!

“Sorry!”

“Less talking, more searching!”

Up ahead, Raphadael was so cowed by Deorgyu’s energy he shrank back. It felt like if he made even one more mistake, Deorgyu might stab him.

-Grrrrrr!

Luckily, Sharkan cleared a path.

Scenting the magical residue, Sharkan banged an empty section of the cave wall to signal the trio.

“Here?”

“Of course it’s here! He’s not just playing around! Swing, now!”

Deorgyu reversed his grip on his sword and, using it like a pickaxe, began hammering at the wall in anger.

“S-sorry!”

“Got it!”

The White Tiger Tower students swung their weapons frantically. With reinforcement magic active, and knowing how to imbue a measure of magic, their attacks were formidable.

Sharkan joined in, and together they battered the cave wall.

Clang, clank-clang, clank-clank-clank—

The repeated sharp sounds finally made the wall seem thinner.

“Hah, hahh. Haa…”

Angrago was soon drenched in sweat, gasping for air.

He’d been running and now swinging with all his might, so it was inevitable.

“Don’t stop!”

Deorgyu roared encouragement.

“O-okay…!”

Angrago barely forced a reply. But try as he might, his movements slowed.

“Then just collapse while swinging! Don’t stop!”

“Khak. Hah. Huff.”

Deorgyu drove his friends like mad.

Time passed.

When cracks appeared in their weapons and the students’ palms were bloody, at last, the wall cracked further.

Crash, crackle!

“It’s done!!! We did it!!!!!”

“Get in and smash the artifact already!!”

At Deorgyu’s shout, the students kicked through the broken wall.

Inside was an empty tomb.

No artifacts save one: a crystal skull radiating malignant magical power atop the grave.

Clearly an artifact inhabited by some evil, interdimensional being.

Raphadael drew his sword.

“Smash it!”

Clang!

But the sword bounced off, making not a scratch. Raphadael recoiled in horror at the evil energy flowing up through his hand.

“Kh… urgh…”

His hand went numb and lifeless, and his grip on the sword weakened until it fell.

Deorgyu shouted a battle cry and swung his weapon.

“If you can’t do it, then move!”

“S-sorry…”

Deorgyu’s ferocity was such that Angrago honestly thought for a moment he might kill Raphadael.

Thud!

Even as the weapon struck, the crystal skull stubbornly endured. Deorgyu pulled out bandages and wrapped his hand tightly.

And then barked,

“Wrap your hands! Now!”

“O-okay!”

“Swing! Take turns!”

The three students of the White Tiger Tower began hitting the skull in turns.

Their weapons cracked and their hands turned numb, but they didn’t stop.

“Think of Lee Han!”

“O-okay!”

“He’s risking his life fighting that thing right now!”

“Y-yeah!”

“Swing! Faster!”

“O-oh…”

And then Lee Han appeared behind them.

With a very tired, worn-out face, he said,

“Guys. We’ve already taken down the doppelganger. It’s fine to take your time breaking it.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

The three White Tiger Tower students froze mid-swing.

Wait…?!

• * *

Lee Han wasn’t quite sure what attack the King of Ghouls had used. Probably some method to sap his magic.

However, it barely did him any damage. What did hurt Lee Han was his own spell.

The -Phiblicus’ Insane Magic Explosion- he claimed was a magic missile.

Even though he cast it as carefully as possible, the backlash hammered his entire body.

A mage getting hurt by his own magic—if Headmaster Skull saw, he would have laughed himself silly.

With no body, reliant only on the artifact, and now even the doppelganger destroyed, no matter how strong the evil entity, it would be powerless for a while—so it was safe for now, but…

…Lee Han couldn’t relax.

‘I’m never using fire magic again.’

The wild fires he’d unleashed were still burning everywhere.

On top of that, the Phoenix’s mark had faded, its power used up and reverting to its original state.

In the end, there was only one thing Lee Han could do.

Go around desperately dousing the flames, like a maniac.

He kept summoning lumps of water, dumping them on the flames.

The hellish fires, which had raged in terrifying fusion, gradually died down under the relentless assault.

Having finally finished putting out the fire, Lee Han moved to where his friends were.

They had apparently managed to find the artifact housing the King of Ghouls and were attacking it.

“Guys. We’ve already taken down the doppelganger. It’s fine if you take your time breaking it.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

As the shocked friends fell silent, Lee Han compressed and spun an orb of water.

With time, he could prepare a truly destructive spell.

‘It’s a pity to destroy such an artifact, but…’

If he got careless and tried to take it with him, only for a problem to arise, it would be a nightmare.

It was always when you thought all enemies were defeated and pocketed the evil artifact that things went wrong.

Lee Han was not stupid enough to leave loose ends.

“Everyone, step back.”

“O-okay.”

Smash!

With a single blow, the crystal skull shattered. The evil being within screamed and was banished back to another dimension.

Raphadael was deeply impressed by Lee Han’s decision to destroy an evil artifact without a second’s hesitation.

“Wardanaz… admirable.”

“Wait. Your hand… what happened?”

Lee Han was horrified as he looked at Raphadael’s hand. The bandages were blood-soaked, and the exposed skin was blackened and necrotic.

Deorgyu answered on his behalf.

“It’s like a medal.”

“A medal?”

“Yeah, Lee Han. While you were fighting that bastard, it’s proof we did our best.”

At Deorgyu’s words, the other two friends nodded.

Of course, Deorgyu’s earlier anger had left a slight bruise on their hearts, but now wasn’t the time to bring that up—it would feel petty.

“No. Deorgyu, don’t say nonsense. Seriously, what happened to your hand?”

“Uh… that artifact…”