Shatter the Life Vessel
“Good heavens…”
“Every single time I see it, it still leaves me speechless.”
Watching countless formless swords streak across heaven and earth, Geomhwang and Dohwang—standing far off—gaped in open astonishment. They had witnessed the same spectacle decades earlier, yet every fresh sight of it still sent shivers racing through their entire bodies.
Could that truly be the martial might of a mere human?
He was snatching falling meteors out of the sky as casually as if they were balls and hurling them back, while conjuring hundreds of formless swords—each one of which ordinary masters struggled to control even a single blade of.
Once again they understood, with visceral clarity, why the world called Baek Do-ha the Absolute One, a natural disaster, a walking catastrophe.
“By the way… how did Canteas end up like that?”
Dohwang—Heo Ung—glanced at the unconscious Canteas. That the King of the Underworld could be reduced to such a state was almost unthinkable. Even if the enemy had also been a lich, Canteas’s accumulated experience was on an entirely different level. He had spent decades at the Absolute One’s side; how could he possibly be the same as any ordinary lich? And yet here he lay, thoroughly defeated. It made no sense.
Whoosh.
Thud.
“Are both of you unharmed?”
Having annihilated the remaining enemies in a matter of minutes, Do-ha flew over to where Geomhwang and Dohwang stood.
“We’re fine. Nothing serious.”
“That’s right. Heo Ung nearly died, but I didn’t.”
“Why does this guy keep picking on me?!”
“Because you were the only one who got completely bewitched and puppeted by a mere succubus.”
“Ugh, just stop already. You’ve known each other for decades and you’re still bickering.”
Do-ha let out a long sigh at the familiar sight. Geomhwang and Dohwang had been friends for decades already. Roughly fifteen more years had passed since Do-ha’s own disappearance, so the two had been comrades for at least thirty years. And still they fought the moment their eyes met.
“You’re one to talk…”
“Don’t you start fighting with Canteas either.”
“Ah…”
At their words Do-ha could only nod. He was in no position to lecture anyone. Come to think of it, he was exactly the same, wasn’t he?
“So do you know how Canteas ended up like that?”
“He lost his power. Or rather—he didn’t lose it so much as that body isn’t his true vessel.”
“Huh? Not his true body?”
Both men tilted their heads at Do-ha’s explanation. Not his true body? Had he been sealed again the way he once was?
In the end Do-ha told them everything—how he himself had lost power fighting the Demon God, and how Canteas had transferred his soul into another body.
“….”
“You understand now?”
“No.”
“Not at all.”
“Damn it, I’ll explain it one more time—”
“That’s not what we mean. We understand what happened. We just don’t understand you.”
“Same here.”
“Me? Why me?”
“So you lost the Life-or-Death Realm… and then recovered it in just a few years?”
“I didn’t recover it. What have you two been listening to? I’m still only at the Profound Realm.”
“That’s basically the same thing!”
“How is that the same thing?! The Profound Realm and the Life-or-Death Realm are completely different!”
“….”
Geomhwang and Dohwang both pressed their hands to their foreheads. Of course they knew the difference! Who was talking about that right now?
Geomhwang, Dohwang, and Do-ha—none of them could quite understand the others.
KWAHHHHHH!
“Hahaha! Truly worthy of the human who contracted with me. Already handling power at this level.”
Watching Baek Chul wield spirit arts, the Spirit King Ariel burst into laughter. He had been learning spirit arts for only a few months at most, yet he already commanded Ariel’s power with practiced ease. Ordinary elves needed more than a decade of training to reach that stage; this human had done it in mere months.
“Hoo…”
As the last of the energy drained from his body, Baek Chul began regulating his breathing. The Spirit King’s power was immense, but the physical toll was equally severe.
“We should stop for today.”
“Just a little longer…”
“I was wondering who the Absolute One took after. Turns out it was all you.”
“Haha, well, that’s true.”
“…That wasn’t a compliment.”
Baek Chul scratched his head sheepishly while Ariel regarded him with a flat look. Still—thanks to that very stubbornness, his growth had been this rapid.
“If we push any further your body will break. And if that happens, the Absolute One will not leave me alone.”
The Absolute One’s renown had already spread thoroughly through the Spirit Realm. Ariel had no desire to anger that mad Absolute One. After spending several months together, he had come to understand just how deeply Baek Do-ha cherished Baek Chul.
Step, step.
“I’m not some thug… You really think I’d do that?”
Do-ha approached carrying a bottle of water. Why did the Spirit King keep looking at him as if he were a street gangster? He hadn’t even particularly tangled with the Spirit Realm.
“Drink this.”
“Aigoo, thank you.”
Baek Chul accepted the bottle and ruffled Do-ha’s hair.
Gulp.
Sssss…
“Hm? Suddenly my body feels…”
“It’s water diluted with Mi-ta-seong-su.”
One drop diluted into ten thousand liters of water. A single five-hundred-milliliter bottle would restore a considerable amount of stamina—and expel the heat building in the body as well.
“Do-ha, is it really all right to use such a precious elixir like this?”
“It’s only one drop. Don’t worry about it.”
“By the way, Canteas hasn’t shown his face at all lately.”
“….”
At Baek Chul’s words Do-ha said nothing, merely turning his gaze toward Canteas’s house. A full week had already passed since they rescued Geomhwang and Dohwang and returned home. In all that time Canteas had not once stepped outside.
“Is he at least eating properly…?”
“Should I call him?”
“Leave him be.”
Baek Chul shook his head at Do-ha’s suggestion. He had already heard what happened and understood how Canteas must be feeling. Better to let him stay alone for now than drag him out. Being defeated by another lich—how deeply must that have wounded his pride? Canteas had become almost like a son to him, so the worry was real. Of course, the age difference was considerable, but still.
“Then shall we go another round?”
“…Ugh.”
At Baek Chul’s words the Spirit King could only shake his head.
Sssss…
In the pre-dawn hours beneath a full moon, Do-ha sat cross-legged in the courtyard, circulating his energy. On nights when the full moon hung in the sky he always came outside like this to absorb pure vital force.
Sssk.
“Have you eaten?”
Do-ha slowly opened his eyes and turned his head toward the figure approaching him—Canteas. Nearly two weeks had passed since the lich last left the house.
“Do-ha.”
“Feeling any better?”
“I have a request.”
“?”
Seeing Canteas’s unusually serious expression, Do-ha tilted his head and rose to his feet. After two full weeks of isolation, what request could he possibly have?
“What kind of request needs a face that serious?”
“…Kill me.”
“?”
At the sudden words Do-ha’s brow furrowed. He walks up out of nowhere and the first thing he says is “kill me”?
“You’re not about to tell me you lost once and now you don’t want to live anymore, right?”
“…I’m not an idiot. Of course not.”
Canteas let out a hollow laugh. He had already been defeated by Do-ha long ago and had begged for his life; there was no way he would do something like that now.
“Then you need to explain why you’re making a request like that.”
Canteas valued his own life more than anyone. From the very first meeting, when he had pleaded to be spared, he had already been different from other liches. And now that same Canteas was asking to be killed of his own free will. Do-ha needed a reason.
“After I lost the other day, I spent two weeks researching nonstop in the basement.”
Honestly, his pride had been wounded. If he had lost to Do-ha or Dimerof he could have accepted it—those two had always been stronger than him. But another lich? That was different. He had fought other liches in the past and, with his original power, had defeated them without difficulty. This time he had lost. He had lost to a creature far weaker than the liches he had faced before. The humiliation was unbearable.
“I kept researching how I could reclaim my original body. Why Soul Change wouldn’t work.”
“And the method you found is dying?”
“Exactly.”
Canteas nodded. This was no joke. To reclaim his true body, he truly had to die.
“Two weeks of intensive research showed me the truth. My soul has completely settled into this body.”
Because of that, the current body was gripping his soul and refusing to let go. He had long since brought his original body to the house and attempted Soul Change countless times. Every attempt failed because the present vessel would not release him.
“I have to sever the connection completely. And for that…”
“This body has to die completely.”
“Simply dying isn’t enough. The soul must remain intact while only the body dies.”
That was why he was asking Do-ha. Only someone of Do-ha’s caliber could kill the body cleanly without touching the soul.
“You’re certain?”
Do-ha folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. If Canteas’s judgment was wrong, he would be killing a friend with his own hands. Because Canteas was undead, death now would mean he could never return. It was entirely different from performing Soul Change himself.
“I’m certain.”
“Hoo… All right.”
In the end Do-ha sighed and nodded. It was Canteas’s own body; he would know far better than anyone else.
Sssk.
Churrrrrr.
Canteas stepped back slightly and spread his arms. A magic circle began forming in the empty air—far smaller than usual, of a new design, with iron chains coiling densely around its edges.
“This is my vessel.”
“Your Life Vessel is a little unusual.”
Liches were essentially immortal. That did not mean they were without weaknesses. Destroy their vessel—their Life Vessel—and they died. The lich Do-ha had killed not long ago had fallen the same way.
“I don’t leave mine lying around.”
Other liches hid their vessels. That created problems. Under normal conditions the vessel remained invisible, but the moment they suffered serious injury or their mana dropped, the Life Vessel would reveal itself. That was how so many liches had met their end—battle wounds and drained stamina would force the vessel into the open.
“So I spread mine throughout my entire body.”
In simple terms, he liquefied the Life Vessel and coated every part of himself with it. That way, even when stamina and mana plummeted, the vessel never floated free in the air.
“But if you use it that way, won’t you die the moment your whole body is destroyed?”
Even if the body was annihilated, as long as the Life Vessel remained, regeneration was possible. Used Canteas’s way, however, the vessel would be destroyed the instant the body was.
“If a being of a lich’s level has its entire body destroyed, the Life Vessel wouldn’t last long anyway.”
“Fair point.”
Do-ha nodded. Put that way, Canteas’s method might actually be superior.
Chzzzzz.
The chains wrapping the Life Vessel gradually dissolved, releasing a radiant light. What had once been spread through his entire body was now taking solid form for the first time in a long while.
“Hoo… Once this is destroyed…”
Crack.
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Fourth Step: Extreme Demon Thunder Fist
Thud!
CRACK!
“?”
Before the sentence could even finish, Do-ha’s fist punched straight through the Life Vessel. Canteas stared at him with a blank, stunned expression.
“What?”
When Canteas continued to gape, Do-ha tilted his head. Why was he looking at him like that?
“You bastard, you could at least give me time to prepare myself—”
Fsssss…
Before he could finish speaking, Canteas’s body crumbled into scattering ash.
And then—
PAAAAAAAAAH!
From Canteas’s house in the distance, a colossal surge of power erupted. A pillar of light tore straight through the roof and shot into the sky.