Episode 314
Episode 314
The Ghoul King dispersed his body lightly once more to evade the lightning, just as before.
But the situation was different now.
Whooosh—!
Flames, raging beyond Lee Han's control, filled the vast hollow of the cave.
The fierce blaze imbued with the mage's mana was not something even the Ghoul King could easily ignore.
Already in a state of severe energy depletion, if he were to get caught in the flames and burn, the damage would be...
The insects first.
Instead of crushing Lee Han, the Ghoul King changed his mind—he would first chase down and kill those who had slipped away moments ago.
"...Flash!"
But Lee Han, of course, had no intention of letting that happen. He madly unleashed bolts of lightning along the trajectory the Ghoul King was likely to take, stepping forward one step at a time.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACKLE!
Even the Ghoul King flinched at the relentless barrage of deadly spells.
Such insane spell-spamming was akin to self-destruction. Surely his mana would be depleted in less than ten seconds.
Having faced many mages before, the Ghoul King was once again baffled by Lee Han's actions.
But Lee Han neither ran out of mana nor collapsed. Instead, he made excellent use of the brief moment the Ghoul King hesitated.
Whooosh—!
He blocked the passage his friends had just escaped through, filling it with flames.
Only then did the Ghoul King realize Lee Han's scheme, and his fury reached its peak.
How dare he.
"Like I said, you should've negotiated when I offered."
Now that things had come to this, Lee Han no longer hid his true nature. He glared fiercely at his enemy and swung his staff.
The still-empowered phoenix emblem in his palm channeled energy to him.
The uncontrollable flames that had threatened to engulf him recoiled and fell back under his command once more.
'Go!'
In this inferno, there was no need for transformations or precise control. Lee Han charged head-on.
Layers of towering flame surged forward like waves, rushing toward the Ghoul King.
Against. The Lord. Of All. Ghouls. The Terror. Of Mortals. Such. Insolence.
The Ghoul King realized he could no longer afford to stall. The tables had turned completely from before.
Though it pained him to expend more energy, he had no choice.
This. Will not. Be forgiven. Even in death.
Just as when he had possessed Buldahak to descend into this world, a deep blue Yin energy condensed intensely before shooting toward the raging flames.
The ferocious fires, unable to withstand it, began to sputter and die.
Yet the Ghoul King still failed to accurately assess his opponent.
This was no ordinary mage who could be defeated simply by suppressing his magic.
"Burn!"
If the Ghoul King had pupils, they would have widened in shock.
The flames, which had been extinguished by the icy Yin energy, reignited, fueled by mana, leaving the Ghoul King speechless.
And only then did he realize—
His initial strategy of conserving energy and prolonging the battle had been a mistake. That itself had played right into his opponent's hands.
Though he didn't know what artifact the boy possessed, it was clear that his enemy had a means of recovering mana.
Insolent. Wretch...
The Ghoul King's form solidified before suddenly darting forward like an arrow. As he pierced through the inferno engulfing the cave, the sound of burning came from his body.
Yet the Ghoul King endured the damage and closed in on Lee Han.
A mage. Wielding. A sword. How amusing.
Lee Han swung Morning Star with one hand. The Ghoul King took the blow and pressed even closer.
As you. Wish!
THUD!
Just as he had with Buldahak, the Ghoul King seized Lee Han firmly in his grasp.
Though most of his powers had faded, the Ghoul King still retained some abilities—among them, this one.
Opening a gate to a void-filled dimension and tethering his captive's flesh to it.
The empty, hollow dimension sucked in the mage's mana endlessly, like a vacuum.
A mage's greatest fear is the depletion of mana.
Moreover, this connection didn't end even when the mana was exhausted. It continued until the mage's life force was converted into mana and completely drained.
The Ghoul King waited eagerly, expecting to see the captured mage collapse with blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
But the scene unfolding before him defied all expectations.
"Thanks. For doing exactly what I wanted."
Lee Han spoke coldly as he aimed his staff.
At this distance, with the opponent holding onto him, there was no way he could miss.
"Gather, condense..."
Boom...
"...and explode!"
<Piblicus' Insane Mana Explosion> struck point-blank with perfect accuracy.
The Ghoul King, already severely drained from using his dimensional connection ability, silently screamed as he was shattered into pieces.
"We have to find it! Hurry!"
Durgyu shouted urgently.
Lee Han had bought them time at the risk of his life—if they showed any complacency now, that would be the real absurdity.
Angrago and Lafadell understood this too, frantically searching every nook and cranny of the cave. Sharkan, the summon Lee Han had sent, tore through the surroundings with razor-sharp precision, guiding their way.
"Here... Damn it! Wrong spot!"
"Hey, you idiot! Are you blind?! Even a blind man would do better than you!"
Durgyu exploded in anger when Angrago made a mistake.
Angrago was too stunned to even retort.
He had never seen Durgyu like this before.
Normally, no matter what mistake anyone made, his friend would just say, 'It's fine, it wasn't intentional'...?!
"Sorry!"
"Don't apologize—shut up and keep searching!"
Lafadell, standing ahead, was thoroughly intimidated by Durgyu's fury. If he made even one more mistake, he felt like Durgyu might just stab him with his sword.
-Krrrrrrumble!
Fortunately, Sharkan cleared a path.
Sensing the residual mana, Sharkan pounded relentlessly against what seemed like an ordinary cave wall, signaling the three.
"Here?"
"Must be!! Why else would it act like that?! Swing faster!"
Durgyu flipped his sword upside down and struck the wall like a pickaxe, venting his frustration.
"S-sorry!"
"Got it!"
The White Tiger Tower students swung their weapons frantically. Enhanced by magic and capable of channeling mana to some extent, their strikes packed considerable force.
With Sharkan joining in, they relentlessly hacked away at the cave wall.
Clang, clang-clang, clang-clang-clang—
The sharp sounds repeated, and gradually, the wall began to thin.
"Gah, huff... huff... ugh..."
Angrago felt sweat drenching his entire body, his breath ragged and throat burning.
It was only natural—he had been running at full speed and swinging his weapon without rest.
"Don't stop!"
Durgyu growled like a beast.
"Ugh...!"
Angrago barely managed to squeeze out a reply. Still, his arms were slowing down, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Collapse from swinging if you have to! Just don't stop!"
"Kuh... huff... huff..."
Durgyu pushed his friends like a madman.
How long had it been?
By the time cracks formed in their weapons and the White Tiger Tower students' palms were bloodied, they finally heard the sound of shattering.
Crack, craaack!
"Got it!!!! We did it!!!!"
"Get in there and destroy that relic already!!"
At Durgyu's roar, the White Tiger Tower students kicked down the broken wall.
Inside, they found an empty tomb.
There were no other relics—just one glaring difference: a crystal skull sat atop the tomb, radiating sinister mana.
Anyone could tell it was a vessel for some malevolent Otherworld entity.
Lafadell drew his sword.
"Destroy it!"
Clang!
But the blade bounced off without leaving a scratch. Lafadell recoiled in horror as a wave of vile Negative Energy surged up through his arm.
"Guh... ugh..."
His hand lost its vitality and strength, causing the sword to drop naturally.
Durgyu swung his weapon with a battle cry.
"If you can't do it, then get out of the way!"
"S-sorry..."
The ferocity was so intense that Angrago momentarily thought Durgyu was trying to kill Rafael.
Crash!
Despite the sword swings, the crystal skull stubbornly held on. Durgyu pulled out bandages and tightly wrapped them around his hand.
Then he barked orders.
"Wrap it up! Quickly!"
"Uh, uh-huh!"
"Swing! Take turns!"
The three White Tiger Tower students began taking turns swinging their weapons.
Their weapons cracked and their hands lost vitality, but they refused to give up.
"Think of Lee Han!"
"Uh-huh!"
"He's probably risking his life fighting that bastard right now!"
"Uh... huh!"
"Swing faster, damn it!"
"Uh-huh..."
Then Lee Han appeared from behind.
With an utterly exhausted face, Lee Han spoke.
"Kids. We've already taken care of the doppelganger, so you can break it slowly now."
"......"
"......"
"......"
The three White Tiger Tower students, who had been about to swing their swords, froze solid.
Wait... what?!
Lee Han didn't know exactly what kind of attack the Ghoul King had used. It seemed the creature had employed some method to drain his mana.
But the attack had barely done any damage. Ironically, the damage Lee Han sustained came from his own spell.
The so-called <Piblicus' Insane Mana Explosion>, which its creator insisted was just a Magic Missile.
Even while controlling it as much as possible, the backlash from the mana explosion had lashed across Lee Han's entire body.
A mage taking damage from his own spell—now that was something the Skeleton Principal would've cackled at.
Since the Ghoul King had no true body, relied on artifacts, and had its doppelganger destroyed, it wouldn't be able to do anything for a while. So they could relax for now...
...But Lee Han couldn't.
'Never using Fire Magic again.'
The insane flames Lee Han had unleashed were still spreading everywhere.
Moreover, the Phoenix emblem seemed to have run out of time, losing its power and reverting to its original form.
In the end, there was only one thing Lee Han could do.
Putting out the fires like a madman, again.
Lee Han summoned water orb after water orb, dumping them onto the flames.
Even the stubborn inferno, which had been emitting unbearable heat, couldn't withstand the relentless assault and eventually began to die down.
Having barely managed to extinguish the fires, Lee Han headed toward where his friends were.
Miraculously, they had found the artifact housing the Ghoul King and were swinging their weapons at it.
"Kids. We've already taken care of the doppelganger, so you can break it slowly now."
"......"
"......"
"......"
While his friends stood frozen in shock, Lee Han compressed and spun a water orb tightly.
With time on his side, he could prepare a properly destructive spell.
'It's a shame to destroy an artifact like that...'
But underestimating the enemy and keeping it around would only lead to trouble later.
It was always after defeating all enemies that someone would foolishly pocket a cursed artifact, only for things to go horribly wrong.
Lee Han wasn't stupid enough to leave behind such future troubles.
"Everyone, step aside."
"Y-yeah."
Crash!
The crystal skull shattered into pieces with a single strike. The evil entity within screamed as it was banished back to another dimension.
Rafael was deeply impressed by Lee Han's decisive action to destroy the cursed artifact, not hesitating for even a second.
"Wardanaz... that was impressive."
"Wait. You... what happened to your hand?"
Lee Han stared at Rafael in shock. The tightly wrapped bandages were soaked in blood, and the exposed skin beneath was blackened and necrotic.
Durgyu answered instead.
"It's a medal."
"A medal?"
"Yeah. Lee Han. While you were fighting that bastard, we gave it our all. This is our medal."
At Durgyu's words, the other two friends nodded in agreement.
Of course, Durgyu's earlier outburst had left a slight emotional scar, but bringing it up now would make them seem petty.
"No. Durgyu. Stop talking nonsense. What happened to your hand?"
"Uh... that artifact..."