Beating a Lich with a Lich
If there was one thing that set the Lich King apart from other undead,
it was that he had no visible weaknesses.
No matter how hard I looked,
the red dot that should have been revealed by Execution Eye was nowhere to be found.
Even when his desiccated flesh tore away and his bones shattered into splinters,
they always ended up knitting back together.
A powerful magic—one I couldn't even begin to fathom or comprehend—continuously restored the Lich King's destroyed body.
The more it did, the more disgust welled up inside me.
For some reason, undead always made my blood boil.
It wasn't because they were hard to kill.
The mere fact that these crazy bastards were moving around instead of staying dead was enough to trigger me.
I stomped on a severed arm bone of the Lich King, crushing it to powder, and looked up.
The jawbone that had been knocked loose by my previous strike was already reattaching itself to the Lich King's skull.
The Lich King's eyes still burned with a cold, blue fire.
Wondering if putting out those flames would end this, I had tried throwing Dan, but
the Lich King's eyes were nothing but pure flame. The flickering fire flared up again, staring back at me.
“Star of Death...”
“You cannot kill me...”
Man, should I break his jaw again? He's starting with the nonsense again.
“If you surrender that power...”
“I shall grant you an end along with this tower...”
“Muhahaha...!”
The Lich King burst into a maniacal laugh.
What kind of loser rambles about things only he knows and then laughs at his own jokes?
“You're seriously persistent.”
I gritted my teeth and tossed aside Dan and the crescent sword.
They weren't working anyway.
Nairin was the same level as me. Judging by the way she spoke, she seemed like a soldier. That meant the crescent sword was likely standard-issue military gear.
It might work against someone of a similar level, but it wasn't a weapon meant to damage a boss like the Lich King.
As for Dan, it was an S-rank weapon, so its attacks should naturally work. The problem was that I didn't have Jeol yet.
It was perfect for cracking open Orc skulls, but it wasn't enough to cut through this guy right now.
So, what did I have left?
“...”
Nothing.
Yeah. To put it coldly, that was the reality.
Although my attacks landed thanks to the defense-ignoring effect of Heavenly Strike, the Lich King's regeneration magic was simply faster.
In short, it was one step forward, two steps back.
I glanced around.
In the end, there was only one way.
To get fucking primitive.
I picked up the arm bone that had been cleanly snapped off the Lich King.
Thanks to the regeneration magic, the Lich King's purple mana was still flowing through the severed arm bone.
The dangling hand bones looked a bit unsightly, but hey, it wasn't like I had any other options right now.
I gripped the Lich King's arm bone tightly.
Is this the forearm? The grip isn't half bad.
Ah, is it rude to say that about someone else's arm bone? I mean it as a compliment, though.
The arm bone vibrated, trying to fly back to its owner. But what did that matter if I refused to let go?
Holding the surprisingly ergonomic bone in a firm grip, I muttered, “Let's see how this goes.”
With a light leap, I sprang toward the Lich King.
Whack!
What in the world was happening?
Thwack!
Even the forbidden knowledge accumulated over an eternity of immortality
Smack!
could not answer the question currently plaguing the Lich King.
CRACK!
Relentlessly battering the Lich King was none other than
Whack! Bam! Whack! Bam!
his own arm bone, coated in his own mana, beating him half to death.
“Just die already!” yelled Lee Taepyeong.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
The cheerful sound of bone clashing against bone echoed through the chamber.
Crack!
Followed by the refreshing sound of bones fracturing.
Against any ordinary attack, the Lich King would have scoffed and torn his opponent to shreds.
But this was neither magic nor a proper martial art. It was pure, unadulterated, one-sided violence. Nothing more, nothing less.
SMACK!
The Lich King desperately tried to block his own arm bone with his single remaining hand, but
Clatter!
the bone slipped past his guard and struck his skull, sending his glorious golden crown tumbling pitifully across the floor.
“A-Arghhhhh!”
Unable to bear the humiliation, the Lich King let out a rage-filled shriek.
Instantly, a massive surge of mana erupted from his entire body.
The only problem was that his “entire body” technically included the arm bone currently in Taepyeong's hand.
“Oh. Is this a buff?”
Lee Taepyeong smirked.
“Don't mind if I do.”
He raised the Lich King's arm bone high once more.
Tremble...
As if anticipating its fate, the arm bone shivered in the air.
The bone, now brimming with condensed mana, slammed directly into the Lich King's skull.
CRACK!
Clack! Clatter!
Unable to withstand the sheer force, finger bones broke off and scattered in all directions.
And then, clatter-clatter!
Like kernels of corn off a cob, the Lich King's teeth—or rather, his pearly whites—rained down onto the floor.
“S-Stop...!”
The Lich King gasped out a desperate plea.
Did he not hear it?
Or was he just pretending not to?
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Lee Taepyeong kept beating the Lich King until there were no more finger bones to break, nor any teeth left to knock out.
He beat him until the dust—no, the bone fragments—flew like snow...
“Phew...”
I wiped the sweat from my brow.
How should I put it? I felt the refreshing post-workout high.
Had I been carrying around some latent stress lately?
Come to think of it, whenever I tried to do anything, most things just died in a single hit. It had been ages since I could just let loose and beat something up like this.
What was it called again? The alien thing back in the Hide-and-Seek Map. I think that was the last time.
Who would have thought I'd find such pure joy here?
Talk about stress relief!
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
I downed a health potion and turned my head to look at the Lich King.
Or rather, what was left of his skull.
Thanks to the relentless beating that drained every last drop of his regenerative mana, his entire body had shattered into pieces. Only his head remained.
Even that was missing most of its teeth, with the jaw hanging by a thread. He was barely maintaining even this state with his precious “regeneration magic.”
Clink!
I kicked the Lich King's crown, which was rolling around on the floor, far into the distance. Then, I squatted down and looked down at the skull.
“Hey.”
“D-Did you... haff your fill...?”
Maybe because he was missing all his teeth, but his pronunciation had gone completely down the drain.
“Yeah, thanks to you, I got some stress out.”
“T-Thank you... It is an honor...”
“I take it you're ready to talk now?”
“O-Of courfe...”
“Earlier, you mentioned something about a ‘Star of Death’.”
“Y-Yef, I did.”
“Explain it in detail.”
“The Ftar of Death... rulef over all death...”
It was a bit hard to decipher, but I managed to piece it together.
Whether it was Western astrology or something else, there existed a concept called the Star of Death. It possessed immense power, and obtaining that power supposedly allowed one to escape this tower.
The Star of Death. Was it referring to my Heavenly Slaughter Star trait?
The Lich King tried to explain further, but since magic wasn't my area of expertise, most of it went over my head.
But the core takeaway was simple: the power I held was far greater than I had imagined.
It could literally kill “anything.” That was the Lich King's explanation.
If that's the case, I won't have to worry about my future prospects.
Not only the special floor in China, but clearing the rest of the tower would be a breeze, wouldn't it?
Of course, that was assuming I kept leveling up diligently. If I could smoothly blast through the 30s, 40s, and 50s...
Wait, will I end up becoming a national hero? Like Choi Muryeong?!
“Hehehe...”
As I chuckled at the pleasant thought,
the Lich King's skull rattled in sheer terror.
Man, this tower thing really wasn't all that, was it?
Who knows? Maybe I'd be the one to clear the very top floor...
Haha! Okay, that was getting a bit too far ahead of myself.
I was only just clearing the 30th floor. The top floor was still a long way off.
“Man, this is almost too easy...”
Was it really okay for things to go this smoothly? I thought I'd struggle on the 30th floor, but there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
“Thanks,” I said, meeting the Lich King's gaze with a grin.
His jawbone began to chatter violently.
“T-Then...”
“Yeah.”
“T-Thank you! Thank you!!!”
“I'll kill you right away.”
I stood up, brushing the bone dust off my clothes.
“T-Thank you for killing me!!!”
I stomped down on the Lich King's already cracked skull.
CRACK!
And just like that, I granted his final wish.
Frizzle...
The shattered bone fragments dissolved into fine dust and drifted away.
And then, along with the pleasant sound of coins accumulating, a reward chest dropped in front of me.
“Oh, it's a diamond chest?”
Was it because I killed the Lich King? I thought I had taken too long, but to think it would give me a diamond chest.
Click.
◈ Effect: Grants a passive blink movement with a 7-second cooldown.
Oh! A blink skill!
Looking closely, the soles of the shoes were translucent.
No, they weren't translucent; the soles were actually vibrating.
This is incredibly good. I didn't have any shoe items yet anyway.
I immediately took off my sneakers and put on the Echo Walkers.
Bzzzz...
As soon as I put them on, the vibration changed. Did it adapt to the wearer?
According to the description, it couldn't pass through magical barriers. I just had to be careful of that.
To test it out, I tried blinking.
Zap!
With a brief vibration, my body teleported.
The distance was about five meters. The range was shorter than I expected, but this was still huge. It would save me a lot of physical stamina.
“Nice, very nice.”
After thoroughly testing the Echo Walkers, I picked up Dan and the crescent sword I had tossed aside.
Time to head back.
Just as I turned around, my toe bumped into something.
That was...
Glint!
The Lich King's crown.
It looked like it was made of gold, but it didn't shine. Instead, it looked quite worn.
I picked it up and examined it. Various magic stones were embedded around its circumference. They all seemed to be of different types...
I bet this will be useful for something if I take it.
Of course I had to take it. I tossed the Lich King's crown into my inventory.
I had plenty of money now, so I probably wouldn't need to sell it. Maybe I could use it for trading?
Haha. I thought I'd barely manage to clear the floor, but I ended up killing the Lich King and getting some sweet loot to boot.
Now all that was left was to go back and drop a “big bro is back” on Choi Muryeong.
I couldn't wait to see the look on his face.
“Hehehe...”
Letting out the same chuckle that had terrified the Lich King, I muttered, “Return.”
And with that, I left the 30th floor.