Arbeth did not know that Kim Jonghyun’s spell was being aimed at him. It was partly because Arbeth had already turned into a spiritual body, leaving behind his possessed corpse on the ground as he turned into the black mist. However, not only that, but Kim Jonghyun was a very secretive man by nature.
Kim Jonghyun had been aiming for this moment ever since he entered the Predator and met Arbeth.
He had been following Arbeth with a subservient attitude up till now.
Simply put, he was lucky right at this moment. If Arbeth hadn’t performed the soul-switching magic, he would have to wait a seriously long time to wait for the right opportunity.
‘I really am quite lucky.’ , Kim Jonghyun thought to himself.
The situation was in total favor of Kim Jonghyun at this moment and nobody knew it but him. The intervention of Envirus and Lee Sungmin had forced Arbeth into a corner, and in a dangerous situation for the Arch Lich, forcing him to reveal his cards early and giving an opportunity for Kim Jonghyun.
It was as if all the circumstances were flowing in the right direction just for this moment.
Kim Jonghyun burst into laughter as he thought of this flow of fate.
Kim Jonghyun was different from your ordinary Dark Wizard. Lee Sungmin was also a person who knew of this, as Dark Wizards are forced to enter a contract with a demonic being from an alternate dimension, selling their souls. However, Kim Jonghyun’s contractor had disappeared suddenly and he had regained his soul.
When he regained his soul that had traversed dimensions with his former contractor, it also gave him the power to see people’s souls. And… his hidden card he had kept a secret to everybody. He also had the power of the demon that disappeared.
He couldn’t use it freely. Even though he was part of the organization, Predator, which was an organization for monsters, he was still a human and a human’s body could not feely wield the demonic power. His soul could suffer irreparable damage if he was rash.
But there was too much to gain right now, thus being worth the risk.
Pao-ang
A black light started to shine from Kim Jonghyun’s fingertips. Arbeth, who turned into a soul form and was headed for Aine’s body, belatedly realized the sudden spell was aiming for him, as the eerie black light flashed towards him.
‘THAT BASTARD! IT’S… BETRAYAL!’ , Arbeth screamed to himself in his mind as the light came at him.
Arbeths soul started to churn and the tension started. No matter how he wanted to avoid this and kill Kim Jonghyun, he couldn’t as he was in a helpless and defenseless state right now.
But that didn’t mean he would just let himself be destroyed right here. Arbeth tried to block the light that Kim Jonghyun fired by swelling his mana around his spiritual body and focused it around himself like an armor.
However, Kim Jonghyun’s spell right passed through Arbeth’s coated mana. It didn’t even leave a mark of penetration, it simply passed right through it and hit his soul directly.
Arbeth’s soul form shrieked in horror as he was hit hard.
[Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!], he screeched.
The spiritual body of Arbeth’s, pierced by the eerie spell, trembled. Kim Jonghyun’s light spell was almost a tailor-made spell for this situation.
Every Dark Sorcerer was soul-bound to their demonic contractors. Although Kim Jonghyun’s demon was by no means a high ranking demon and could only use a small ounce of its power, it was fatal to Arbeth who was in a defenseless soul form, and the demon’s powers dealt directly with souls.
Arbeth’s whole body trembled in shock like he had been electrocuted. He didn’t die right there, but his soul was in a miserable and pitiful state.
His soul could not handle the shock anymore in a manifested form and his mana was sent back to his life vessel far away from here.
Normally if a Lich loses his body, or is forced back to his life vessel, it wasn’t the end of the world for the Lich. It would steadily be able to recover it’s mana smoothly and it lost power. However, this case was different, as Kim Jonghyun’s spell wasn’t directed at the physical body and did irreparable damage to his soul, which was already weakened by the descent of his own demon’s magic which left him in a shocked state.
Arbeth would not be able to recover his lost power here even if he returned to his life vessel unless he performed a miracle.
The spell Kim Jonghyun used, was a unique spell for demons that was used to reclaim souls of the living who contracted with them. It was called ‘Soul Retribution’.
It would only be effective against Dark Wizards, who had dark souls and made contracts with demons themselves, and the risk of backlash was so great that it was impossible to use the spell more than a couple times.
‘Damaging Arbeth’s soul is well worth the risk .’, Kim Jonghyun thought as he crudely grinned under his hood.
Arbeth’s soul has been dragged over Kim Jonghyun’s palm like a magnet, unable to resist in any way whatsoever. His small soul in it’s naked form, which floated at the top of Kim Jonghyun’s palm was a pitch black color.
Arbeth’s soul was writhing in pain, wriggling around trying to escape, as if it had never imagined it would be in such an open and vulnerable state like this.
It was important from here on out in terms of the steps Kim Jonghyun needed to take. If Arbeth’s soul was extracted like so, Kim Jonghyun would be able to force a soul contract on Arbeth taking control of his life and death on a whim.
It was a specification.
As far as Caladra had disappeared, she was free from the contract, but she did not want to sign with the devil again.
Kim Jonghyun grabbed Arbeth’s soul with both of his hands. The soul was shivering and it’s existence was very faint and weak, but nonetheless it was still alive
Kim Jonghyun carefully skimmed through Arbeth’s soul. He did not have possession of the soul itself, but took the information and power that it had.
“I’ll give you your soul back.”, Kim Jonghyun smiled with a grin as he muttered.Arbeth’s soul would go back to the life vessel, but he would no longer be a Grand Dark Wizard.
All Arbeth’s knowledge of magic and spells were transferred to Kim Jonghyun.
Kim Jonghyun carefully extracted the mana and information left over from Arbeth’s soul.
‘No, I can’t let it go back yet to the life vessel, I need to weaken it thoroughly here and take as much as I can.’ , he thought, as the soul writhed around uncomfortably.
It didn’t really matter in any way, since he got a lot out of the soul already.
Kim Jonghyun put the flickering orb that was Arbeth’s soul into his mouth.
A bright light gleaned from inside Kim Jonghyun’s head. The great magical knowledge and enormous mana that Arbeth had accumulated since he was a human being filled Kim Jonghyun’s body.
There was also a short brief moment of pain, as it really was quite the task to absorb all the knowledge Arbeth had.
“Ha ha…”, Kim Jonghyun let out a maniacal laugh as he rubbed his temples from the throbbing mental pain.
He realized once again how outstanding Arbeth was as a wizard.
He was also proud to be on a high level as a Dark Wizard, holding the title of Archmage, but compared to Arbeth, who had been practicing magic for hundreds of years, he was still a child.
‘Extinction Magic. This is great. Fortunately, I think I can use it, too.’ , Kim Jonghyun smiled and thought of Arbeth’s specialty magic he gained knowledge of.
The same could be said true with Arbeth’s Necromancy magic he inherited.
Arbeth utilized dead mana to perform both extinction magic and the necromancy magic and the amount of mana it cost was great. But the problem of mana for Arbeth was solved by his demon contractor he had signed his soul to.
Kim Jonghyun smiled as he checked Arbeths memory. After finishing memorizing all he needed, he sent the shabby little soul of Arbeth into the sky.
“Good-bye.”, Kim Jonghyun said with a sarcastic voice as he waved his hands at Arbeth’s fluttering soul.Arbeth would surely just die at this point since, his soul was returned to the life vessel and had no body to inhibit.
After that, he would probably have his soul rot in the afterlife, since it had committed so many evil deeds while being in the mortal realm of Eria.
That was none of Kim Jonghyun’s business. Rather, he thought it was right to be causal.
Arbeth, the 2-faced bastard.
Was he not known to be cruel to his subordinates, also responsible for several massacres of humans in the past and not only that but several cruel and horrific experiments?
Yes, so of course. Even after death, he should be punished.
“What did you do?!”
Unable to even keep his posture stable, and his feet staggering, Envirus noticed what Kim Jonghyun had done. But even though he saw it for himself, he couldn’t believe it.
Even he did not think of catching Arbeth while in his spirit form and ruining him that way.
However, it really did happen. It was only because Arbeth was a Dark Wizard who messed around with souls, that he would meet his end like so.
Kim Jonghyun stretched out his limbs casually, as he checked out the knowledge he attained in his head.
With this, Kim Jonghyun’s theoretical knowledge in magic was far beyond his level, and had an outline of how to advance further in his magical field. Kim Jonghyun looked at Envirus and smiled leisurely.
“I don’t intend to kill you. So rest assured.”, he spoke towards Envirus who was greatly weakened.
“What…?”, Envirus couldn’t believe his words and stayed vigilant against him.
“Killing you as you are severely wounded would be incredibly easy for anybody right now, but I don’t want to be cursed by the existence protecting you if I did.”, he responded nonchalantly.
As if to show off, Kim Jonghyun unfolded the magic of extinction, and behind him the same black hands Arbeth had called on earlier materialized.
He had simply replaced the mana needed from the demon he had contracted with a long time ago, and that had perished.
Through Kim Jonghyun’s show of magic, Envirus fully realized that Kim Jonghyun had completely robbed Arbeth of everything he had.
“I got what I wanted.”, Kim Jonghyun spoke with satisfaction.
With this, Kim Jonghyun would also gain a tremendous position within Predator.
Although he was not a Lich, Kim Jonghyun would almost certainly become one of the 5 elders of Predator, taking over Arbeth’s vacant position and standing atop all the Dark Wizards and undead within Predator.
The other elders would most certainly have to recognize Kim Jonghyun’s strength and give him the position. Although he was not a human, and yet still a human, the other elders would not pledge loyalty to him though.
“AHHH!”
Since Arbeth had died, and the imprint of obedience was erased on Aine, the chimera girl who only had half a body right now screamed.
Woooooooooongggg
The dark night sky resonated with Aine’s scream as the air swirled around. Envirus was startled by the sudden scream and looked back at Aine.
“Oh, my Goddamn it!”, Kim Jonghyun burst into a giggle.
He deliberately didn’t imprint a seal of obedience on Aine. He didn’t think it was necessary, and didn’t want to intervene with such a risky specimen for no reason.
Aine’s body twitched and spasmed with a scream. The body of the overturned Aine rose up into the air unnaturally, like a marionette being pulled by a series of strings.
“I don’t intend to kill you, but I don’t know what that poor chimera will do.”, Kim Jonghyun spoke in a joyful voice to Envirus.
There was no consciousness in Aine currently. Nevertheless, Aine’s body was moving.
Arbeth’s magic circle and his team was destroyed, but the strength of the city that Aine had inherited was surprisingly huge.
The ownerless forces and violent energy inside her body were screaming for violence and gore, completely shattering any sort of rationality Aine might have had.
A force composed of evil magic and power that dwelled within the black heart, moved her body.
Quack, quack, quack!
Aine’s body suddenly exploded. At least it looked like it was exploding. Her body started to break apart from the appearance of a girl and looked like a human porcupine with several blades protruding, as the force swept up everything in the vicinity of Aine.
[Heads up idiot!], Heoju shouted at Lee Sungmin in wariness of the sudden indiscriminate violent power surging from Aine.
In the aftermath of absorbing the remainder of the evil energies of the City, Lee Sungmin was losing consciousness.
Heoju hurriedly gave strength to Lee Sungmin’s body forcing it to rise and stand up. Lee Sungmin’s body could not be moved like it was doing so before, but it was possible to protect his body by swelling a large force within it to protect him.
Quang!
Heoju’s power collided with Aine’s in a rough manner.
It was pretty much helpless.
Heoju gritted his teeth. He missed the days when he had a body. If he had one, he’d be able to destroy that power completely.
“Ugh!”, Envirus groaned in disgust at the huge power from Aine.
Envirus was also feeling helpless at the situation and tried to recall spirits one after to the other, casting a basic defensive barrier.
The defense barrier was only a basic one and not strong at all. Envirus, who was hit by the the evil energy from Aine, flew back and rolled several times on the ground
Spirit magic was an efficient magic, but the risk and backlash one could suffer from the spirits being forcibly removed and sent back to the spirit realm was tremendous.
In fact, of the three remaining highest grade spirits he called upon earlier, the Earth Spirit was forcibly removed once more from Aine’s attack.
Even with such high grade spirits, and prowess of a Grand Wizard, Envirus was hit hard earlier and was undeniably weak. The existence he contracted with, the Spirit Queen, could not do anything for him right now.
“Hahaha!”, Kim Jonghyun who flew up into the air to avoid the mayhem caused by Aine, burst into laughter as he observed the scene below.
It was none other than Lee Sungmin that was starting to move his shoulders that Kim Jonghyun was watching.
Kim Jonghyun did not think Lee Sungmin would die here at all. However, he did not intend to help Lee Sungmin in any way whatsoever.
He had taken everything he wanted already under the present circumstances. From now on, he just wanted to observe and watch which direction Lee Sungmin’s grand fate would flow.
‘Is it fate that I’m sitting on the sidelines now? Or would it be my fate to step forward?’, Kim Jonghyun thought to himself.
He did not know which way fate would flow here.
Kim Jonghyun’s eyes, which could see many things, could not see his own destiny, nor could he know the direction of his own destiny.
Kim Jonghyun decided to stick to his role as a spectator.
‘If the world now is a giant story…… then, the main character is you.’, Kim Jonghyun held back his crazed laughter.
If it really was a giant story, Kim Jonghyun was well aware that he was not at all lacking in qualifications to become the main character himself. He had been special in many ways, and had always been in special circumstances creating several opportunities.
But alas, he was not the main character.
‘But…If you die here, the story will be over.’, Kim Jonghyun was certain that would not happen.
[Wake up!], Heoju cried aloud inside Lee Sungmin’s head, as Lee Sungmin was losing his consciousness bit by bit from exhaustion and outside interference.
Lee Sungmin opened his closed eyes. He didn’t feel good at all. It reminded him of his hellish training on the mountain of mush, where everything, from breathing to sleeping was incredibly difficult.
Lee Sungmin endured the nausea that was bubbling inside of his stomach as he shut the corners of his mouth tightly. His view shook like he had been drunk. The ground and his weight felt as if it were shaking at every second.
[Are you feeling better?], Heoju spoke with a bit of hopefulness.
Lee Sungmin staggered up as he gasped. His consciousness came back, but so far he was grasping at straws for strength in his body right now.
Quang! Aine’s blow was blocked on the behalf of Heoju creating a swelled protection of aura around Lee Sungmin’s body.
“……what happened?”, Lee Sungmin spoke in between breaths of air.
[I don’t know!], Heoju roared in anger at the desperate situation before them.
Lee Sungmin looked down at his empty hands.
There was no spear in his hands. It was because he had thrown it at Aine’s body earlier to disrupt the absorption and didn’t recover it.
His heart continued to beat fiercely and his left eye still felt like it was burning with pain. The sore muscles and ruptured blood vessels creaked inside his body with pain.
He groaned, holding onto his chest tightly. He felt a sense of vagueness, like his body had a separate blood flow pumping inside of him, that wasn’t his own.
He felt a sharp pain in his head. Unknowingly, Lee Sungmin raised his hand and covered his face.
His eyes. He felt like his right eye was being pulled out of its socket.
When Lee Sungmin’s hand came down and was lowered from his face, a faint glow appeared in his right eye, matching his left. Both his eyes were completely golden.
[No!], Heoju cried out in a panicked voice.
Heoju knew well that Lee Sungmin did not want to throw away his humanity, and he respected Lee Sungmin’s will greatly.
But now it was getting to the point where he might just lose it. Lee Sungmin’s eyes were both bright gold.
His consciousness was floating adrift in his own head, and his internal energy placed within his dantian was completely silent and unmoving. But… there was a power coursing through him right now. It was the ownerless evil energy from the magic circle that was digested through his black heart.
Thud, thud. Kreee-ack.
A grotesque sound began to ring inside of Lee Sungmin’s body.
Heoju hurried back into Lee Sungmin’s body and tried to push his strength inside of it.
But it didn’t work. Lee Sungmin’s body was rejecting Heoju’s power. As if it wanted to remain like this as a monster.
[Get ahold of yourself! It was none other than you who said you didn’t want to be a monster and give up your humanity!], Heoju cried out in vain, as his shouts weren’t registered in Lee Sungmin’s head.
Lee Sungmin’s consciousness was preparing to fall asleep amidst the dangerous situation in front of them.
The wild and boundless energy felt like a warm bed and cradle for Lee Sungmin to rest.
‘I don’t want to.’ , a faint thought popped up inside his head.
But contrary to his faint thoughts and emotions, his body was preparing itself for a bloodbath and massacre.