The People Of Baengnyeong Forest (23)

‘That bastard’s about to be finished, too.’

Ye Hyeonseong checked the lich’s Blood Jade. Ever since the door was opened, its color had grown even duller. It was no longer dark crimson—it was closer to black.

“Just a little more…!”

“Hah—!”

Craack

Craack

As if they had noticed something, everyone’s attacks grew even fiercer. Every time a blow landed, cracks spread across the Blood Jade at a frightening pace.

Krrgh…!

The lich let out a resentful groan.

Regardless, the Blood Jade was now covered in thick fissures. It looked like they could shatter it completely any moment now.

And that was exactly when it happened.

‘Yeah. If you’re going to pull a prank, now’s the time.’

Hyeonseong scowled at the Constellation message that appeared as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Right before her eyes, the lich’s Blood Jade started to restore itself.

‘That thing alone is already trouble…’

Hyeonseong’s gaze slid back. The ghosts that had come through the train were turning into grudge wraiths. Soon, the grudge wraiths would probably swarm in as well.

On top of that, the Constellations’ monster sponsorships kept coming. Just as the Usurper wanted, skills that increased possession success rates were sponsored one after another.

Hyeonseong could quickly guess what kind of picture they wanted to see right now.

‘They really want to watch someone get possessed and have allies start fighting each other, huh?’

“Kwon Seojin! Is there a way?”

Someone asked Kwon Seojin. They remembered how he had defended with buff items whenever similar situations came up.

“Right now, even I…”

Kwon Seojin answered in a troubled voice. For Hyeonseong, who had reflexively expected more, it was a disappointing reply.

‘Honestly, if it weren’t for that possession risk, we could’ve just ignored it and started hitting again.’

In this raid team, including Milena, there were a few people with skills that removed possession or curse debuffs. But with only their strength, they couldn’t block every possession attack from the ghosts now charging in.

‘If it were normal levels, maybe. But right now their abilities have been boosted one after another.’

So here, it was correct to deal with the ghosts first instead of the lich. If even one person got hit by a possession skill, the dungeon run would fail.

‘And the problem is, it won’t end with just one. Even if we clean up everyone that came in, more are obviously going to pour in.’

“Let’s take out the ones getting close first!”

It seemed the Baengnyeong Forest people had decided to handle the grudge wraiths first instead of the lich.

Either way, the lich still hadn’t finished activating the sponsored skill. Until that activation ended, neither side could attack, so it was better to clear the urgent side first.

‘What do I do?’

Hyeonseong frowned as she drove a grudge wraith away with her pickaxe.

‘There has to be a way to clear this in one shot. They wouldn’t have unleashed this absurd quantity of monsters if we were meant to kill them all one by one.’

But even while fighting the lich, she still couldn’t find anything like a device mechanism she’d expected to exist. That meant the way to use the Green Crystal of Mercy differed from how it worked when awakening the lich.

‘Then the only method left is…’

Kihihit!

Right after she drove another grudge wraith back with her pickaxe, Hyeonseong checked the lich again.

The sponsored skill’s application looked like it was nearly complete.

‘…If I’m going to try, it’s now.’

She swung her pickaxe hard at the grudge wraith rushing her again. Struck by the consecrated blade, it flew off into the distance.

The moment she cleared it away, she pulled out the Green Crystal of Mercy from the Infinite Corridor and gripped it in her hand.

“Hyeonseong?”

Someone nearby reacted when she brought the Green Crystal out. But there was no time to answer.

‘The skill activation is about to finish completely. If I wait until then, it’s too late.’

Instead of replying, Hyeonseong kicked off the ground and sprinted. Her destination was right in front of the lich.

“Hold them back so they don’t get blown that way!”

She heard Kwon Seojin shout from behind her. It sounded like he’d noticed Hyeonseong was trying something.

‘Not yet.’

Closing the distance, Hyeonseong fixed her eyes on the Blood Jade. Black energy—not dark crimson—was flowing out of it.

Black energy was the kind emitted by many dark-magic and necromancy-type skills. So the attempt to “load” extra life force through Life Vessel had succeeded.

But that was all. The Blood Jade’s distinctive dark-crimson aura wasn’t visible at all. Its color, too, remained a dull near-black.

‘They used that as the medium for Life Vessel, but the Blood Jade itself is still mostly drained—just like before.’

If so, Hyeonseong judged she still had a chance.

‘Good.’

The black energy leaking from the Blood Jade faded rapidly. And by the time Hyeonseong reached the lich, only three steps remained.

Tadak

Using her sprinting momentum, Hyeonseong leapt. Her body briefly sailed through the air.

Right after she jumped, the black energy vanished completely. Then she landed right in front of the lich.

‘Now!’

The lich, having completed its skill activation, raised its staff. At the same time, Hyeonseong thrust forward the hand gripping the Green Crystal.

Kiiit…!

The lich swung its raised staff. The tip slowly dropped toward Hyeonseong’s head.

And at that instant, the Green Crystal touched the lich’s Blood Jade.

Click

A hard, crystalline clack rang out as the two crystal spheres collided.

The staff aiming for Hyeonseong’s head stopped dead as well.

Kiiiik…?

As if it sensed something was wrong, the lich let out a flustered cry.

‘So this was the answer.’

Hyeonseong shoved the Green Crystal hard against the Blood Jade. As if being absorbed, the Green Crystal was sucked into the Blood Jade. The moment it left her hand, Hyeonseong immediately sprang back to widen the distance.

Krrgh…! Kgh…!

The lich hurriedly grabbed at its Blood Jade. Its bony hand—without a scrap of flesh—scratched violently at the surface. It seemed desperate to pull the Green Crystal back out.

But there was no way it could extract a crystal that had already fully absorbed.

Aaah…! Aaaargh!

The lich screamed and threw its staff away. Then, as if struck by a splitting headache, it clutched its skull with both hands.

“That reaction doesn’t look normal.”

“Did it work?”

While killing grudge wraiths, the Baengnyeong Forest people spoke in wary voices as they watched.

Kkyaaaaargh!

Kkyaaaaargh!

The lich screamed even louder. As if responding to that scream, the grudge wraiths also stopped attacking and began screaming.

‘Ugh, my ears are going to fall off.’

The attacks had stopped, but the noise pollution was no joke. Hyeonseong hurriedly pulled earmuff items out of the Infinite Corridor.

Aaah…!

Once she put the earmuffs on, the screams dulled dramatically. Now she could check the situation with a cooler head.

‘First… I should check the Blood Jade.’

Hyeonseong examined the lich’s Blood Jade. Black energy was draining out of it after it swallowed the Green Crystal.

But it didn’t return to that dark crimson, bloodlike hue like before.

‘It’s turning into a clear red.’

The Blood Jade’s color rapidly shifted into a vivid scarlet. Along with that, the screaming began to die down. When the sound finally vanished completely, Hyeonseong pulled off the earmuffs and tossed them back into the Infinite Corridor.

Uaaagh…!

The grudge wraiths’ screams had almost disappeared, but the lich’s screaming still continued. It was loud, but not enough to inflict a debuff like before.

“Is it… over?”

The Baengnyeong Forest people approached and asked.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Hyeonseong answered while continuing to watch the monsters.

The lich was still wailing in pain, and the grudge wraiths—now quiet—were circling aimlessly as if confused. They didn’t seem intent on attacking them.

“So do we just cut that lord bastard’s head off now?”

“Shouldn’t we wait a little longer?”

“Uh…? Hyeonseong, was that doing that from earlier?”

“Hm?”

Someone pointed at Hyeonseong’s outer jacket pocket. She lowered her gaze with a puzzled look.

The pocket where she’d stored the holy relic was glowing faintly.

‘Since when was it like this?’

Hyeonseong pulled the holy relic from her pocket. It was emitting a soft white light—clearly as if an effect was active.

‘I don’t remember using this. I didn’t even know how or where to use it in the first place.’

Just in case, she checked the item info again.

A status tag had been added beside the name. But she couldn’t confirm any further details.

-Krrr… Uaaaargh! Don’t make me laugh!

‘Huh?’

As Hyeonseong checked the relic’s info, a sudden voice reached her ears. She looked back at the lich.

-Die! Just die already! Uaaaargh!

It was brief, but the lich had unmistakably spoken actual words. That was clearly different from the earlier, purely wailing cries.

“Did it regain its senses now of all times?”

“Hmph. Even back when it was alive, it probably wasn’t sane. So even if it ‘comes back’…”

“Is that the Green Crystal’s purification effect?”

The Baengnyeong Forest people naturally voiced their questions as well.

Kehek…?

Uuu…

The grudge wraiths, too, seemed caught off guard. All of them were staring at the lich. Their cries sounded oddly deflated.

‘Let’s watch a little longer…’

Just because you’re a god, you think you’re something? You’re dead anyway…! Just because I did whatever I wanted with some worthless things… Uaaagh!

Leaving it alone for a moment made the lich’s speech grow even more fluent. It kept yelling alone, pouring out a stream of rambling shouts.

Kiiit…?

Kihihi…

The more the lich spoke, the more the grudge wraiths’ reactions changed. That characteristic eerie, skin-crawling laughter began leaking from their mouths again.

“Damn it…!”

Hearing that laughter, the Baengnyeong Forest people tensed again.

Kihihihihit!

Soon the grudge wraiths burst into manic laughter and began moving. The Baengnyeong Forest people all took up combat stances.

But the grudge wraiths weren’t targeting them.

-Damn it, you filthy…! Krah!

The grudge wraiths swarmed the lich. The lich screamed as it was assaulted.

-You insolent wretches!

The lich raged and flailed both hands wildly. Given what it was, the grudge wraiths’ attacks didn’t seem to deal real damage—but it looked profoundly offended by the fact it was being challenged.

Kyahahahahahahaha!

Krrgh…!

A fight broke out between the grudge wraiths and the lich. They could barely deal any physical harm to each other. It was just noisy laughter and shouting.

“…It’s over, right?”

Someone muttered as they watched the monsters start fighting among themselves.

“At this point, I think so.”

Even Hyeonseong had to admit it now. Since the monsters had all lost the will to fight them, the run was practically finished.

“Now what’s left is what we do with that lich bastard.”

Someone else spoke up.

“Right. The ghosts don’t look like they can kill the lich.”

“Even if its control dropped, the connection should still be there.”

“Should we wait until that fully purifies?”

Someone pointed at the Blood Jade. Its color had already shifted past red, closer to orange—and it was still changing.

Since the monsters were busy fighting among themselves, they were safe for now. So among the group, the prevailing opinion was to watch the change a little longer.

“Then let’s wait a bit more. While we do, we’ll sort out what needs sorting.”

“Sorting what?”

“The things you left with me. You should collect them now.”

Hyeonseong opened an entire section at once—the one where she’d stored the Baengnyeong Forest people’s loot. Items she’d kept inside poured out in a heap.

“I gathered everything that dropped. Distribute it however you want.”

At Hyeonseong’s words, a few of the Baengnyeong Forest people began checking the pile. The rest kept watching the monsters warily.

“Can we divide Kwon Seojin’s share after we get back?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

After the brief exchange, Hyeonseong focused again on the Blood Jade’s changing state.

‘From red to orange… now it’s starting to look yellow.’

In just that short time, most of the red tint had drained away. Now it was a color that barely even deserved to be called Blood Jade.

From the progression, the destination was easy to predict.

‘Once it becomes the same color as the Green Crystal, it’ll be done.’

-You wormlike trash…! I let you live on my land and…! Ngh!

-Kihihihihi, garbage!

-You die first! Hihihi!

The lich and grudge wraiths were still fighting. Now even the grudge wraiths had started speaking like people. It seemed to be the purification’s influence.

‘This is just a complete mess now.’

With a brawl and a shouting match layered together, there was no better description.

‘Either way, that should end soon too.’

The crystal sphere that had been the Blood Jade was now shifting into a pale green. It wouldn’t take long to become the exact same color as the Green Crystal. Hyeonseong waited a little longer.

And soon, the moment she’d been waiting for arrived.

KRAAAARGH!

The instant the sphere’s color matched the Green Crystal exactly, the lich screamed. At the same time, green radiance erupted from the sphere.

-Damn it, damn it…! You said you were dead! You said you were dead and yet…! AAAAARGH!

Behind the green glow, the lich raved without end.

And those became the lich’s final words.