The Birth of a Lich

Cain doubted his ears. A Lich? If a wicked and powerful dark mage fell as far as they could possibly fall, they either became Kim Tae-hyun... no, usually they became a Lich. Becoming a Lich meant discarding one's living flesh in exchange for immense power. Of course, great power came with a great price. Usually, becoming a Lich meant losing whatever humanity they had left, growing increasingly wicked and vicious. Just like Kim Tae-hyun... No.

Why do I keep doing this? Cain shook his head. Now is not the time to curse Kim Tae-hyun! There are far more urgent matters! I'll curse him later!

Anyway, Liches were renowned as some of the most powerful undead monsters, and since they were born from exceptionally skilled dark mages, they possessed incredible magic. Once summoned, they could turn the entire continent upside down! Back in Pan-On 1, a single Lich summon had brought down an entire small kingdom.

"Wait... isn't that a bit much?" Cain, still clinging to a shred of sanity, raised a common-sense objection. No matter how desperate they were, was summoning a Lich in their own base really the right move? Sure, it would fight on their side for now, but if the Lich turned on them later, it would be an absolute disaster.

"No! This is the only way!"

"What do you mean, the only way? That's just a lack of imagination! Let's think about this! If you have that kind of power, wouldn't it be better to summon more undead, buff them, and try to break through the siege instead?"

Without realizing it, Cain was digging his own grave. The Guild Alliance had already laid traps specifically for such a scenario. Their plan was to wear down the besieged forces, and then completely annihilate anyone who tried to break out to escape. That was the Guild Alliance's strategy.

Because he was in a panic, Cain's vision was naturally narrow. But the dark mages were different.

"Break through the siege?"

"Yes!"

"But isn't that just running away?"

"...Is running away not allowed?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Why?!" Cain truly couldn't comprehend.

"Running away would tarnish our honor."

"Whose honor?!"

"The honor of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Count Kim Tae-hyun, and the honor of the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower's dark mages!"

"Oh, for crying out loud..." Cain felt like he was going to die of frustration. Kim Tae-hyun abandoned you guys and ran away!!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

While the two of them bickered, the ritual began.

Rumble!

Black lightning struck, and a dark aura poured from Chese-do's body like a tidal wave.

A Lich threatening the continent...

What do you want me to do about it?!

Cain slammed the quest window shut. It felt like every single entity in Pan-On was out to torment him! What if he went in right now and killed Chese-do? Even if it were possible—which was highly doubtful—he absolutely couldn't do it. If he did, the undead army would collapse, the dark mages would stop listening to him, and the Guild Alliance would march right in to take his head.

"I'm not doing it! No way! Decline!"

"Sigh..." Cain looked up at the sky and let out a deep sigh. The sky was exceptionally dark today, perfectly matching his mood.

The notification about the birth of a Lich didn't just appear to Cain. It popped up for the Guild Alliance waiting outside as well.

"A-A-A Lich is coming out?"

"Is Kim Tae-hyun becoming a Lich?!"

"Stop it! Get in there right now!"

"U-Um, excuse me, but there's a lot of discontent brewing among the guild members right now."

"What discontent?!"

"They're saying the rankers are just hanging back in the rear while they're the ones doing all the bleeding..."

The rankers' faces flushed red. They couldn't refute it. Of course, not all rankers were thin-skinned. Some had faces as thick as iron plates.

"What do you mean! We were staying back to monitor the situation! If you're fighting on the front lines, you can't see the bigger picture!"

"Ah, yes. I'm sure that's it. At any rate, the guild members are saying they won't go in unless the rankers lead the charge."

"Is this how poorly you manage your guild members?!"

"Watch your mouth. I'm doing my best to manage them. I know you rankers get treated like royalty, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. If you receive a lot, shouldn't you contribute just as much?"

"What did you say?!"

"Did I say something wrong? Should I call all the guild members over so we can debate this?"

"Hey, hey. Stop it."

Other rankers stepped in to hold back the outraged ranker. If things escalated now, they would be the ones in trouble. The guild members had the moral high ground. In reality, the rankers received the best support from the guild simply because of their rank. Quite a few guild members harbored resentment over this. If a scene broke out under these circumstances, that pent-up resentment would likely boil over, and the rankers would take the fall.

"We apologize. It seems our attempt to assess the situation was misunderstood. We will step forward now."

"We would appreciate that," the guild member replied coldly before turning away.

Watching him leave, one of the rankers muttered in irritation, "That annoying bastard..."

"Hey, I told you to drop it. Do you want all of us to suffer because of you?"

"Suffer? From those nobodies?!"

"Are you completely brainless? Do you think you could survive if thousands of guild members banded together to turn on you? Just stay quiet!"

"More importantly, how do we decide who goes first?"

"Well... rock-paper-scissors?"

"Let's roll dice."

Instead of thinking about scaling the walls as quickly as possible, they were busy trying to figure out how to dodge the vanguard duty even in this situation! Thanks to their stalling, Chese-do was able to smoothly complete his transition into a Lich.

"They're doing wonderfully," Su Ning muttered, watching the guild's situation.

Su Ning had not participated in this attack. He wanted only one thing: for his rivals to make a mistake! That was why he had left this siege to them. The more mistakes they made, the stronger his own position would become.

And looking at how things were going, he felt he was already halfway to success. The gladiator ranker Mike had tried to make a name for himself in a one-on-one duel only to be utterly humiliated, while the other rankers were cowering in fear of Kim Tae-hyun's assassinations while their guild members cleared the path... Discontent was already erupting from all sides.

"Wait, a Lich?"

Su Ning, who had been watching with satisfaction, was suddenly taken aback. A Lich?

"No, they have to stop that! Those idiots..."

Su Ning wanted them to fail moderately, not catastrophically. Because he hated Kim Tae-hyun just as much! What Su Ning envisioned was a scenario where they suffered massive casualties but ultimately succeeded in the siege, though failing to capture Kim Tae-hyun himself.

But now, a Lich had suddenly appeared in Odan Castle.

...Surely that army won't lose to a Lich, right? Those idiots?

Even Su Ning couldn't have imagined that Tae-hyun was currently marching toward Arene City.

A Lich threatening the continent...

"What's this?" Tae-hyun casually swiped the notification window away, looking annoyed.

"What is it?"

"Looks like a Lich has appeared on the continent. I don't know where, but the players over there are going to have a rough time."

"A Lich?! Well, I suppose it is about time for one to show up in Pan-On 2," Lee Da-bi said, intrigued. "Do you think the players can defeat it?"

"It might be tough if it's just players, but once a Lich appears, NPCs usually step in to help, so they'll probably manage."

As the Avatar of Archisus, Tae-hyun had also received a quest to stop the Lich. Of course, being incredibly busy, Tae-hyun simply ignored the quest window.

"Uh, wait, Tae-hyun?"

"Ah, seriously. They'll handle it on their own. Why does the system keep bothering me?"

"No, it's not that... It says the Lich appeared in Odan Castle?"

"What?! The Guild Alliance summoned a Lich?! Those wicked bastards... I should pray for Cain's soul." Tae-hyun shook his head. Even though he had deployed the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower's dark mages, he hadn't expected the Guild Alliance to fight fire with fire by bringing out a Lich. He figured the Guild Alliance must be truly desperate and toxic. Well, they were going to get even more toxic once they saw what he was about to do.

"No, that's not it... It says the dark mages of Odan Castle summoned it."

"!"

Tae-hyun gasped, genuinely shocked for the first time in a long while.

"Who?"

"The Odan Castle dark mages."

"That makes no sense. Sure, they're wicked, have terrible personalities, and have gathered a massive amount of death essence because of all the casualties, but they aren't crazy enough to suddenly perform a Lich transformation ritual..."

Tae-hyun trailed off. As he spoke, it actually started to sound incredibly plausible.

"...Did they really ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠summon it in Odan Castle?"

"Look at the livestream!"

"Hmm..."

Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. In truth, he had been prepared to abandon the dark mages of the Magic Tower in the worst-case scenario. Of course, doing so would ruin his relationship with the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower, but Tae-hyun wasn't a mage anyway. He had already obtained his divine Authority, and if his relationship with the Magic Tower soured, he could just avoid going there! Unlike other mages, Tae-hyun had the luxury of being completely shameless about such things.

But now, cornered, those dark mages had gone and turned into a Lich.

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing... Tae-hyun smacked his lips.

For now, it was beneficial. A dark mage turned Lich was an astronomical boost in combat power. The problem was the aftermath. Would a dark mage who had become a Lich continue to side with Tae-hyun? Even after losing their humanity?

I hope we didn't summon an even greater enemy just to deal with the Guild Alliance... Ah, whatever. It's not like it's near my territory anyway. The Guild Alliance can deal with it.

After a brief moment of worry, Tae-hyun coolly dismissed it. This was the Guild Alliance's territory anyway! Even if the Lich went completely wild, the Guild Alliance would be the ones suffering the damage, not him.

"What's going on? Is this really okay?"

"Hmm, it should be fine."

"Fine? Gasp! Don't tell me... you calculated all of this beforehand? You can actually control a Lich?! Unbelievable!" The Woodstock Guild Leader stared at Tae-hyun with eyes full of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sheer terror. If that were true, Tae-hyun was a player on an entirely different dimension.

"No, I have no confidence in controlling it. I'm just saying that even if it goes wild later, I won't be the one taking damage, so it's fine."

"..."

He truly was on an entirely different dimension.

"We're here."

"Uh... Tae-hyun?"

"Ah, why do you keep calling my name? Do you have a crush on me or something?"

"N-No, that's not it... Sorry to bother you, but... isn't this Arene City?"

"Yeah, it's Arene City."

"Why are we... Ah! You're planning to use the transportation network here to move somewhere else!"

Since Arene City was a metropolis carefully developed by the Guild Alliance, it possessed various advanced transportation systems.

"Ah, we should destroy those transportation networks too. Good point, Stonestock."

"It's Woodstock," Lee Da-bi whispered.

But the Woodstock Guild Leader and his guild members didn't even have the energy to get angry. They had finally realized why they were brought here.

K-Kim Tae-hyun, this crazy bastard... He brought us here to attack this place...!

Is he insane?!

We have to run away right now!

"Oops."

Tae-hyun suddenly drew his sword. He then turned his gaze toward the guild members.

"My hand slipped and I accidentally drew my sword. If it slips again, I might accidentally strike down anyone trying to run away."

"..."

"..."