Don't Die So Easily

"…A human? How did you get in here?"

"Ah, and I was enjoying the show, too."

Do-ha tossed a snack into his mouth with a look of genuine regret. He really should have been watching this with popcorn — but all his subspace had left was cookies.

"Baek Do-ha?!"

"Baek Do-ha, you say?!"

At Geomhwang's words, Dohwang whipped his head around to stare behind them. Rumors that the Absolute Being still lived had floated around from time to time, but they had always dismissed them as empty talk.

"Hey there, old-timers. Living the good life, I see?"

"You little bastard! Does this look like the good life to you?!"

"If it looks so good, why don't you take our place and get yourself tied up!"

"Seeing you two still kicking, I guess I don't need to worry."

"Baek Do-ha… how exactly did you get in here~?"

Simelisa tilted her head slowly and began to spread her aura. Judging by how Geomhwang and Dohwang had reacted, this man was clearly someone formidable. No room for carelessness — she would have to seize his mind with everything she had from the start.

A low, crawling pressure filled the air.

She glided closer.

"Would you look into my eyes for me?"

Aura pouring from her, Simelisa stepped in close and gently cupped Do-ha's cheek. No matter how powerful a being might be, the moment their eyes met hers directly, they fell.

"That's it."

Do-ha lowered his gaze to meet hers, and Simelisa smiled.

And in that instant—

"Where do you think you're putting those filthy hands?"

A sharp rush of air—

CRACK!

The moment she closed the distance, Do-ha headbutted her square on.

"Kyaaah!"

Her nose caved in under the impact. She screamed and staggered backward.

What had just happened?!

Had she… actually been headbutted? By a human?!

"I'll kill you!!! How dare you… how dare you touch this beautiful face of mine…!"

"You sure do love the word 'beautiful.'"

Do-ha snorted at her outburst.

Succubi were grotesque by nature — among the most repulsive-looking creatures even by demon standards. Everything about the form she wore now was fake. Not illusion magic, either. She had stolen another body. Put simply, she was wearing a human's skin like a coat.

"The reason succubi obsess over looks is because they know perfectly well how disgusting they really are."

"Shut your mouth!"

A torrent of demonic energy exploded from Simelisa's outstretched hand and surged toward him.

Do-ha barely moved.

A dull, heavy impact rang out as he stopped the entire blast with one hand. Simelisa's eyes went wide.

Her demonic energy was not something that could be blocked like that.

"Just cranking up the output doesn't make you strong, you know."

A low, resonant hum filled the air.

Then a massive arm erupted behind Do-ha's back and smashed into Simelisa.

The impact was catastrophic. Perhaps because he had reached the Profound Realm, all six arms now held their complete form without strain.

"Ghk…!"

Blood poured from her mouth under a single punch. Do-ha looked down at her.

"This is boring. How about you show yourself already?"

"What nonsense are you—"

"Not you."

Do-ha regarded Simelisa with a blank expression.

No matter how skilled a succubus she was, she could never have seduced Dohwang. Geomhwang had only been captured because of the controlled Dohwang — but Heo Ung had been under Simelisa's influence from the very beginning. And as he had already noted, even a powerful succubus could not so easily dominate the Saber Emperor.

"You actually thought you could hide from my eyes."

"What are you even talking about—"

Then it happened.

Simelisa's shadow rippled and writhed, and from within it a figure began to take shape.

Something tore free.

"Wh…?"

As someone burst out of her own shadow, Simelisa's face went slack with shock.

Standing before her was a Duke — Sitri, twelfth in the demonic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hierarchy. Duke-class demons were rare even in the Demon Realm, and she had never once sensed that one had been hiding inside her shadow.

"Long time no see."

"…Absolute One."

"?!?!"

At Sitri's words, Simelisa's jaw dropped. The human standing in front of her was the Absolute Being she had only ever heard of in rumors?!

"A Duke, of all things, hiding in the shadow of a worm like that… impressive, in a pathetic sort of way."

"Wh… who are you calling a worm…!"

Sitri moved.

A sickening crack rang out as he snapped Simelisa's neck without hesitation.

Her body crumpled.

"Too loud. Who do you think you are, raising your voice in this presence?"

Sitri frowned and kicked the corpse aside. Opening her mouth without knowing her place, in a situation like this—

"Cold. And here I thought she'd been following your orders so well."

"Puppets like her are a dime a dozen."

He had been concealed in Simelisa's shadow the entire time, directing her without ever being noticed. He hadn't seized her body outright — he had simply been feeding instructions into her consciousness, telling her what needed to be done.

"That Lich outside. You made it, didn't you?"

Sitri said nothing.

"Still holding a grudge over what Canteas did to you all those years ago?"

Do-ha smiled thinly as his gaze settled on the left half of Sitri's body.

That half was fake. Decades ago, Canteas had taken half of him. Sitri should have died by Canteas's hand then and there — but he had sacrificed his own subordinates and fled in the most wretched way imaginable.

"Did you want a Lich as a subordinate because you liked the look of them? Or did controlling one just make you feel superior?"

Sitri's teeth ground together.

"You think I feel superior from something like—!"

Lightning cracked.

A rush of air—

"Still falling for bait as easily as ever."

The instant Sitri opened his mouth, Do-ha closed the distance and drove the Geukma Noegwon into his face.

The detonation was deafening.

Then and now, Sitri took the lightest provocation and ran with it. That same temperament had cost him half his body to Canteas — and decades later, he still hadn't fixed the habit.

Sitri smashed through the wall and went flying.

Chains clattered and fell away as Do-ha cast the spell and freed Geomhwang and Dohwang at once. The bindings holding them were curse-type magic — something two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pure martial artists could never have undone on their own.

"Appreciate it."

"Aigoo, my shoulders…"

"You two head outside and give Canteas a hand."

"So that's why Canteas vanished years ago… he's been with you this whole time."

"Understood. Come on — we need to find our weapons first—"

An explosion tore through the wall.

Something came whistling through the air and hit the ground hard. Geomhwang and Dohwang both flinched in alarm.

"Ca… Canteas!"

"What the hell happened to him?!"

It was Canteas. The damage was severe — bone shattered in place after place, fragments crumbling and falling from his frame.

Do-ha said nothing.

He simply looked at the badly wounded Canteas and, without a word, poured energy into him.

"I told you to call me if things got dangerous."

"I can still fight…"

Canteas trembled as he forced himself upright.

A dull impact.

Do-ha knocked him out cold.

Barely clinging to life, and he still wanted to fight?

"Old man. Take this idiot and get out of here."

"We should stay and—"

Geomhwang caught Dohwang's arm and shook his head.

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

"We do as Do-ha says. We leave."

Geomhwang slung Canteas over his shoulder and pulled Dohwang into motion at once.

From the expressionless Do-ha, a bone-chilling killing intent was beginning to pour.

Bones rattled as the Lich stepped through the hole Canteas had come flying out of. Do-ha turned his head slowly toward it.

"I'm pretty pissed off right now… so don't die too easily."

Power erupted from him, and heaven and earth began to shake.

Blood ran freely.

"Haa… looks like I'm about to lose a Lich I worked hard to make."

Sitri wiped the blood away and let out a long breath. His original plan had been to turn Geomhwang and Dohwang into Liches as well — which was why he had kidnapped them and locked them up instead of killing them. And of all people, the Absolute Being had to show up.

"For now, I'll use the Lich I already have to buy as much time as—"

The world convulsed.

A cataclysmic blast followed, and the entire building where Geomhwang and Dohwang had been held was obliterated. Amid the flying wreckage, the fragments of the Lich he had crafted scattered like dust on the wind.

"You son of a—"

Looking at the enraged Absolute Being, Sitri spat a curse. He had never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intended to make Baek Do-ha angry. He had planned to stall just long enough to escape. So why was the man this furious?

The Lich crumbled into powder. High above, Do-ha slowly turned his head toward the undead legion.

"You did well."

Of the more than a hundred million undead, over half were already gone. Even incomplete, even with a Lich in the mix, Canteas had fought with everything he had.

"I'll handle the rest."

"Damn it!"

Multiple meteors plummeted from the sky. Sitri scrambled into motion. Behind Do-ha, the enormous arms he had manifested were twitching — which meant he was preparing to unleash something else entirely.

"I have to run!"

Sitri, who already knew that power firsthand, screamed.

All six colossal arms behind Do-ha seized the meteors and hurled them straight into the earth.

They fell like baseballs at impossible speed, annihilating the undead legion in sequence.

"You won't be running this time."

Around Do-ha, hundreds of formless swords began to take shape.

Jinhwa Cheongeom carried the principle of commanding the blade with pure qi. Every one of those hundreds of formless swords moved exactly as Do-ha willed.

They scattered across the sky in every direction, skewering the undead still hidden throughout the field — and streaked toward the abdomen of Sitri, who was fleeing into the distance.

A wet, brutal impact.

"Gaaaaah!"

A formless sword traveling at impossible speed punched clean through his gut. Sitri screamed and tumbled across the ground. He had been running full tilt without looking back — how had he been hit so precisely?

A soft descent.

Do-ha, who had been in the sky, slowly set foot on the earth.

"Hah… hah… A-Absolute One. Listen to me. If you spare me—"

A clean, merciless cut.

Something hit the dirt.

With an expressionless face, Do-ha had severed Sitri's head.