“…It was about time for you to show up.”

The clear condition window that had appeared the moment we set foot in the Gate.

‘Defeat 10,000 Specters’

‘Defeat the Ruler of the Specter Swamp’

Having seared those two conditions into my mind, I wasn’t flustered. I looked at the Lich with admiration.

“Who would have thought the Gate boss would be a Lich.”

A Lich.

It first appeared in a Gate ten years ago, and hundreds of hunters lost their lives. At that time, the Lich’s name was the Immature Lich. Even the dungeon where that thing appeared received a top-tier A-rank evaluation, but the Lich before me showed no signs of immaturity or incompleteness.

That is the perfect form of a Lich.

I instinctively knew it and gathered all the information I had about Liches in my head. Even considering that the hunters of the past were not as high-level as they are now, it’s not easy for a single monster to kill hundreds of hunters. And this was the completed form of such a creature. The Lich before me could probably slaughter thousands of nobodies.

Without even thinking, my grip on my sword tightened. It was a feeling similar to the one I had experienced when the Gate opened at the Festival of Harmony.

So there was a reason they all died.

Adelia, and the other hunters.

The truth of Adelia’s Tomb, which had remained uncleared for years, was finally revealed.

I swallowed the breath I was about to let out and drew a relaxed arc with my lips. If tension consumes the body, it’s a losing move. You never know until you try, so there was no need to be on guard already.

No, do I even need to try?

“I’ll win anyway.”

The Lich was undead, but I was immortal. Thanks to the gift from the System, I could even engage in suicidal combat with no delay if need be. I was confident I could show them a battle that would make my opponent flee, thinking, ‘What kind of monster is this?’

What’s a monster, anyway? Something like this is a monster.

I hid my self-deprecating laugh under a sneer and my eyes curved.

“How does it feel to make your grand entrance?”

I taunted, still holding onto Geon-joo. The light in the creature’s eyes intensified. In the suffocating silence, I sized up my opponent’s skill and then let out a low exclamation at the sight of the murky swamp that had come into view.

Come to think of it, I had forgotten.

A white hand pulled a bundle of potions from my inventory. I threw it to Lee Han. He, who had been on high alert, wary of the newly appeared enemy, caught the items with a baffled look.

“There are ten top-grade potions in there.”

“What?”

“Heal him.”

I gestured towards the swamp with my eyes.

An S-rank hunter doesn’t die instantly even if their throat is pierced. If you catch the golden time, you can even recover from a pierced heart with a few top-grade potions. I glanced towards Ho-cheol, who had fallen into the swamp. Lee Han, giving me a look that said he didn’t like this new superior-subordinate relationship, went down to the swamp. I watched him and let out a small laugh.

What’s he going to do, even if he doesn’t like me?

Knowing his personality, he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he saved who could be saved.

Lee Han stepped on the specter corpses and the Death Knights’ armor, walked over, and plunged his hand into the swamp, grabbing Ho-cheol and pulling him up to the surface. A top-grade potion cleanly washed over Ho-cheol’s neck. As the solution flowed into the wound, Ho-cheol’s body began to twitch.

One bottle to clean it, two to save him. He’s pouring 100 milliliters every 10 seconds.

Watching a billion won disappear every second, I added nonchalantly.

“I’ll be billing you for the potions separately, so be prepared, Ho-cheol.”

Who did he think I was, providing such expensive potions for free?

At my remarkably calm and cold words, Lee Han gave me a look that said, ‘Of course, you would.’ In my arms, Geon-joo squirmed like a bug. Knowing his personality, he was surely criticizing my actions.

Saying things like, ‘Do you have to say it like that?’ or ‘Do you have to talk about that now?’

I could predict that level of nagging even without hearing it. I chuckled, and Geon-joo’s hand pressed down on my shoulder. It was his way of telling me to stop laughing.

“Alright, I’ve had my fun.”

I rolled my neck once and checked on Ho-cheol, who was recovering from his wounds. New flesh was growing from the pierced area, bubbling up to fill the empty space.

“The one who needs saving will be sa—.”

That bastard.

My eyes flew open, and I threw my body back to dodge a beam of light that came flying at me. The edge of the beam grazed my black hair, barely missing. There was no time to rest. I immediately combined air-stepping with a mile-shrinking technique¹ and flew to Mijeong, pulling her arm to the side. The woman, who had been maximizing her senses since she couldn’t see, was startled, and in that moment, a black beam cut through the empty air where she had been.

“Lee Han!”

The last of the three consecutively fired beams was aimed at Lee Han, who was treating Ho-cheol. At my shout, Lee Han, grabbing Ho-cheol who was hovering between life and death, jumped into the swamp. The beam cut across the surface of the swamp. I narrowed my eyes.

How is that idiot going to get back?

Once you fall into the swamp, it’s difficult to get out on your own. It was a rash decision, no matter how urgent the situation. I was about to click my tongue, but then something caught my eye. Lee Han’s shadow was shimmering on the surface of the swamp.

Don’t tell me.

I watched without taking my eyes off it. The shimmering shadow stretched like a rubber band and then plunged into the swamp. A moment later, rescued by the black shadow, Lee Han wiped himself off and washed his face with a potion. Ho-cheol is footing the bill, so he’s using it so freely.

Well, putting that aside.

Clever bastard.

I thought he had jumped in impulsively, but his foresight in controlling his shadow in anticipation of this outcome was brilliant. A man of science, indeed, I whistled. Just as I was revising my assessment of Lee Han, I felt a presence behind me. Perhaps annoyed by the whistling, the Lich that had been floating in the air moved a little closer to me.

I turned my head to confirm its location and gave Mijeong a heads-up. The woman waved her fan, creating a black hand. I moved Mijeong onto it, then gripped Geon-joo tightly as I watched the creature, which was standing still as if to gauge my strength.

“Hey, Han Geon-joo. Look and learn from that. The skill of ambushing someone while they’re talking, it’s your role model, right there.”

Even villains give you time to transform, but the way it attacked without waiting was a spitting image of Geon-joo and the Lich. I chuckled and teased him. The squirming in my arms intensified.

“Uh-uh.”

I told him he would die instantly if he fell, and his movements became a little more docile.

A moment ago he was acting like he wouldn’t fall even if he died, but now he’s trying to fall after being teased a few times. Such a man has no persistence.

As I was clicking my tongue, the Lich’s aura intensified. I lifted my head and saw the purple flame in its eyes turning black.

As if to say it hadn’t been at full power until now, its presence exploded.

Chill.

A fear I hadn’t felt in a very long time ran through my senses like a jolt.

I held onto Geon-joo tightly, lest I drop him, and spun the Half-Baked Conviction in my hand.

My body tingled. I could feel the Lich’s vicious killing intent pricking my sensitive skin.

What pure malice this is.

It wasn’t dirty, it wasn’t corrupt, it was a killing intent not tied to anything but death itself. It was the pure emotion of wanting to kill an opponent. At this highly concentrated killing intent, I felt a sensation close to ecstasy.

It’s stable. Because it was one of the dead, there was certainly none of the human emotions like fear or anxiety. That made me realize the difference between the Lich and all my previous enemies, and a question suddenly occurred to me.

“Can you kill me?”

The Specter Swamp.

The tomb of countless hunters, of heroes and eternity.

A place that had swallowed tens of thousands of people over the years.

If I were given the right to choose my own grave, this place would be perfect. I thought this and swung my sword. The frost aura that had been scattered in the atmosphere gathered on the blade.

“Let’s see who wins.”

I lost last time, but I don’t know about now. Because this time, I’m going for double.

Muttering lowly, I released my aura, and frost formed on the blade imbued with the chilling energy. As I swung it at the swamp floor to re-form the frost zone, the Lich’s staff drew an arc in the air, as if it had been waiting for the timing. Immediately, a sinister aura closely pursued the descending frost energy.

It knows, too. That the moment the frost zone is laid down again, the tide could turn.

The two energies collided. I could see with my own eyes the frost energy rapidly dissipating every time the black energy touched the blade.

A power befitting the title of ‘Ruler.’ I bared my teeth at the power that disintegrated everything it had not permitted and gripped the one remaining earring tightly. Though only half, the Siren’s Earring was still faintly exerting its effect.

Damage increase.

And mana recovery speed increase.

Those were the two things I needed most at this moment. I pressed the earring tightly. By forcibly infusing the frost aura, which boasted a friendly compatibility with the earring, I amplified the effect of the artifact that had been weakened by being only a half. As a matter of course, the song grew louder, but I paid it no mind.

“Han Geon-joo. If I lose my mind, you hit me. I’ll give you one chance.”

Because this time, I have a tranquilizer in my arms.

At the words I muttered while gripping his waist tightly, Geon-joo, knowing I was talking to him, nodded. Satisfied with that, I pulled my power to the maximum. The blue energy that was being eaten away by the black energy grew stronger. Along with it, my control also became more delicate.

As my energy suddenly intensified, the Lich swung its amethyst staff as if flustered. I matched it by swinging my sword and shouted.

“If you don’t want to get caught up in this, get out of the way on your own!”

It was a statement directed at Ho-cheol, Lee Han, and Mijeong below.

Once again, the two energies clashed fiercely. The black energy the amethyst kept supplying was formidable, but I was confident in my firepower too.

“Han Geon-joo. Take out all the potions you have and periodically pour them on my body.”

Drinking them would be most effective, but I didn’t have the luxury to uncork a potion while delicately controlling my energy. As if he understood properly, he uncorked a potion.

And then.

Poke.

Something blunt pressed firmly against my lips. I shifted my eyes slightly and saw it was a potion bottle.

“Well, look at you.”

It seems he knows that pouring it on my body is a great waste.

Well, if he’s going to feed it to me, who am I to refuse? I opened my mouth, and a mana recovery potion flowed in. Feeling my depleted mana filling up again, my eyes flashed. Just in time, the Lich turned to look at me as if to say, ‘What kind of creature are you?’ I gave it a refreshing smile.

First time dealing with a madman?