Possessing Nothing

The undead in the way were not Abel’s opponents. He only strode forward. He didn’t bother to even cast a spell, let alone a chant or hand sign.

Nevertheless, the undead could not reach Abel.

When approaching, an explosion blew their bodies to bits before they could even reach him. As if there were some sort of divine intervention that blocked them.

It was a boundary of mana alone. Originally, Abel had only developed this technique to catch mosquitoes in summer, but one controlled amount of mana that swelled around them, the person using the technique could catch much bigger things than mere mosquitoes.

“You’re such a fool.”

“Just admit it. This technique is useful.”

At Frau’s grumbling words, Abel shrugged and replied with a nonchalant expression as if saying ‘told you so’. This spell was meant to burn mosquitoes within a radius of 5 meters around Abel.

All he did was increase the amount of mana swelling around him, and designated the targets to undead instead of mosquitoes.

In the end, no matter how hard they tried, the low-level undead would burn down as soon as they crossed the 5-meter line. The smell of burning corpses was bad, but this technique was a great way to move forward without much difficulty.

“It’s noisy.”

Woraahhh!

Again, with the sound of an explosion, a huge vibration shook the ground as the ghouls and zombies nearby shrieked and screamed in pain. Abel glanced in the direction of the sound as he corrected his drooping figure.

This was the direction in which Lee Sungmin and Volander flew off in. Black fog and purple lightning bolts were constantly tangling with each other, causing explosions and tremors like there was a storm passing by.

“I agree.”

Abel stopped walking as he heard the words.

The words came from someone other than Frau.Very slowly, Kim Jonghyun descended from the sky. His black robe fluttered as he came down and laughed at the sight before him. Hundreds of zombies faltered and knelt down as they stepped back with bizarre sounds.

Amidst the worship of the undead, Kim Jonghyun stopped his descent just above their heads. Abel looked at Kim Jonghyun with a cold look.

“Guild Master.”

Abel examined Kim Jonghyun’s attire. Kim Jonghyun’s robe looked like an ordinary black robe, but it was clearly not as ordinary as it appeared. At first glance, Abel could immediately detect more than ten different complex enchantments engraved on it.

“I tried to find out about you in many ways back in the past, but you were much more secretive than I thought…… As the Guild Master of the Wizard Guild I thought I would surely be able to find out more about you since I was a Tower Master at the time, but even back then it was difficult.”

“Do you remember then? It’s already been a few years since the last time you’ve probably heard me talk over one of the magic crystals in those old meetings. I had been suspicious of you from the very beginning. They were nothing more than groundless suspicions, but now that I see you here now, I was right. I should have just beat you up then.”

“Hahaha!”

Kim Jonghyun laughed loudly at Abel’s sarcastic words. Seeing Kim Jonghyun grip the staff in his hands, Abel could feel the extraordinary within Kim Jonghyun’s staff. If he tried to pressure Kim Jonghyun in a battle of pure firepower alone, he and Frau would be at a clear disadvantage in terms of specs alone. Abel was conscious of this as he took out the Weiss he had kept in his robe. As Abel did this, Kim Jonghyun’s left hand reached inside his own robe and pulled out the Grimoire.

“Can you tell me your name”?

“Abel.”

Abel answered without hiding anything. It wasn’t difficult to tell Kim Jonghyun his name.

“It’s the first time you’ve met me in person, but you have met my brother.”

“What?”

At Abel’s words, Kim Jonghyun’s eyes widened in surprise. There were few things that Kim Jonghyun did not know about in this world now, but he didn’t know that Abel was the younger brother of Envirus.

“I know you were present that day in the City of Endless Night. Arbeth, one of the Five Black Stars, had tried to change his vessel that day when you met him.”

“What are you talking about?””

“Did you forget the name ‘Envirus’? Or will I have to say ‘Cain’ for you to understand?

“Oh!”

After hearing that, Kim Jonghyun couldn’t help but know who he was talking about. Kim Jonghyun, who was blinking his eyes in disbelief, burst into laughter.

The hood over Kim Jonghyun’s head fell down from the laughter.

“Ohhohoh! I see. I was wondering what you were talking about.… your brother. I didn’t expect you, the Guild Master of the Wizard Guild, to be Envirus’ brother. Do you know… do you know just how terrible of a job he did in the City of Endless Night?”

“I do”.

Abel nodded his head. He knew everything that had happened to the City of Endless Night. Envirus failed to overpower Arbeth at the most crucial moment. Of course, the situation was absolutely disadvantageous to Envirus from the start.

He had been stagnant for a hundred years because he had not been able to use his original powers and grow during that period, while Arbeth had been active during those hundred years and grown significantly and had even developed his own signature magic.

Spirit magic, the main focus of Envirus’ magical abilities, was on par with that of Arbeth’s own dark magic, which was also boosted by the entire mana he was collecting from the fear from the havoc he wreaked. Even with the matchup advantage of spirit magic over dark magic, Envirus had still lost.

“My brother was a fool.”

Abel didn’t stand up for Envirus. Nobody but Envirus, had been responsible for his own poor decisions.

Envirus knew about the fate of the Apocalypse, but tried to run away from it rather than fight it.

“If it was me, not my brother, who was in the City of Endless Night. I would have killed both you and Arbeth then and there.”

“Hahaha!”

Kim Jonghyun smiled again at Abel’s words.

Frau squinted and looked at Kim Jonghyun with cold eyes to examine him. Her eyes were able to see things that Abel could not. All the souls that dwelled throughout the city were linked to Kim Jonghyun like a puppeteer and his strings.

“I heard it from Lee Sungmin. What you’re trying to do.”

“Right, I’m trying to do something crazy according to everybody else’s standards.”

“I’m a necessary evil for the sake of this world. The Apocalypse… Huhu! To avoid the Apocalypse, I’m just trying to do the best I can.”

“No, that’s a lie. You‘re doing this for your own enjoyment. You, who attained the powers of a Devill, are…… in the best position compared to anybody else in this world if you connect the Demon Realm to this one. I’m guessing they probably promised you great things if you are successful too.”

“How can I welcome something like a promise from a Demon if I’m such a humble being?” I was not promised anything.”

“Then in the end, you’re doing this for your own enjoyment. But still, I’m asking just in case. If you and I work together, with your help, we could surely break the fate of this world and avert the Apocalypse without connecting it to the Demon Realm. Would you be willing to do that?”

“I refuse. I don’t think that’s going to be fun.”

Abel’s proposal was not something to think about for Kim Jonghyun.

‘Crazy bastard.’Abel muttered with a bitter smile. In the end, there was no reason for a crazy idiot like Kim Jonghyun to want to work with him to stop the Apocalypse.

It was understandable. He had an easy way out in terms of avoiding the Apocalypse. With his power, connecting this world to the Demon Realm would be the easiest choice to make for anyone,

“He’s just crazy.”

Abel muttered under his breath and stepped forward.

Whooooosh…

The barrier of mana that was covering the area around Abel disappeared. Kim Jonghyun smiled as he saw the change in the concentration of mana around Abel. There was nothing to fear for him.

WROAHHHH!

The zombies, who were bowing their heads down at Kim Jonghyun’s entrance, roared and ran forward.

“Frau.”

Abel spoke, raising both of his hands for a spell. Frau sighed.

Her hair slowly rose up as she already knew she couldn’t back out now after coming so far. To be honest, she hated being involved in this kind of thing. Behind her back, Aladdur faltered and stepped back, unable to keep up with her massive amount of mana that was swelling from her body.

Frau’s hands lifted up in unison. Kim Jonghyun’s eyes twitched as he noticed her presence.

Frau the Arch-Sorcerer.

Kim Jonghyun knew that much about her. However, he didn’t know exactly what the depths of her powers were.

A small circle of sorcery started to tremble under Frau’s feet. Opaque and gray-colored spirits rose from the circle.

She slowly reached out and sent out the malevolent spirits towards the rushing zombies. Dozens of evil spirits rushed at the zombies and tore them apart. These malevolent spirits were intangible existences that the physical realm could not touch.

The evil spirits wandered among the zombies with unpleasant laughter.

The bodies of the ghouls and zombies started to tremble as the spirits suddenly passed through their bodies. Suddenly, the undead turned around with a bizarre sound and stood stiff.Then, what happened next was completely unexpected.The zombies and ghouls suddenly started to attack each other not knowing which was friend or foe.Kim Jonghyun’s eyes sparkled ominously with interest as he saw the sight unfold before his eyes.

‘It’s an ability that completely takes away the key power of the undeads : their numbers. If she had been put forward in the beginning, the fight against ghouls at the gate would have been overwhelmingly against me.’

Yet, she was only acting now. That was enough for Kim Jonghyun to realize that something was crucial to her being here. 

In fact, it was the first time the world’s best Arch-Sorcerer had come out into public like this. How could he not be surprised with her skills?

“What are you looking at?”

Abel interrupted Kim Jonghyun’s thoughts.

Abel had already gotten rid of the several zombies and ghouls that had surrounded him and was now preparing to attack Kim Jonghyun,

‘Oh..!’

Kim Jonghyun berated himself for not paying attention to Abel amidst his admiration of Frau’s skills. This was not the time to worry about Frau. The Guild Master of the Wizard Guild, who was kept secret all this time and was in possession of the Weiss, was right before his very eyes.

Kim Jonghyun quickly lifted the staff. While he had been staying in Germane, he didn’t neglect his preparations at all.

Kim Jonghyun hoped everything would be alright on Volander’s side and that he would defeat Lee Sungmin, but he was fully prepared in case such a clash did not go favorably between Volander and Lee Sungmin. Kim Jonghyun’s staff shook and trembled as dark mana swelled around it.

“You must have laid an array in advance.”’

Demonic energy and mana were rooted in the ground as if they had been there beforehand. Starting out as a very small movement, the ground lit up and then shone. Kim Jonghyun’s spell unfolded immediately.There was a reason there was a saying that said not to let a Wizard have time. If one was against a fully prepared Wizard, with time allotted beforehand, they would surely reduce their casting time and increase their firepower as much as possible.

Abel knew this fact better than anyone else.

And Kim Jonghyun didn’t know Abel. Abel was an entirely different kind of Wizard from his brother, Envirus. From natural talent all the way down to disposition. Envirus invented the very existence of Spirit magic, but Abel had no such talent.

Abel didn’t know what Envirus thought of him, but for Abel, Envirus was nothing but an annoying dog in his eyes. He didn’t once like the fact that Envirus was more talented than him in magic, and more than anything, hated Envirus’ personality.

“What a dog.”

Abel’s eyes widened in concentration, swearing at Envirus, who was not even present.

Abel himself knew best what to be wary of in a fight against another Wizard. Most of Abel’s life was nothing but devotion to practice and more practice. And like other wizards… Abel had a goal he wanted to fulfill in the world of magic.

Abel’s goal was to tear down all the magic of his older brother Envirus and trample on it with the basics.

Abel’s eyes flashed. Just before Kim Jonghyun’s pre-installed magic spell was implemented, he was able to see that there were 100 attack spells installed in this space, and nine of them were currently trying to activate according to Kim Jonghyun’s will.

Seeing this, Abel could surely intervene. Abel’s lips fluttered at high speeds. It was 9 different high-level spells that were being activated simultaneously, but Abel immediately acted and dispelled all 9 of them in a flash.

Kim Jonghyun was utterly surprised when he noticed that his mana stopped corresponding to the spell models and was dispelled in a matter of seconds. To dispel 9 different spells of dark magic in less than a single second was nigh-impossible.

But as long as Kim Jonghyun had not completed the spell in time, it was technically possible.

Abel sighed with relief. It was never an easy task to have to read the magic formulas of a spell in a matter of seconds and forcefully dispel them. All nine spells were dispelled simultaneously. That wasn’t the end. Abel had also gone ahead and analyzed every single one of the hundred spells installed in the space before them that Kim Jonghyun had pre-cast before coming. By prioritizing which ones were workable with, Abel sighed because as long as he stayed calm, he would be able to stop Kim Jonghyun’s prepared spells just fine.

This much was easy for Abel. Most of his life was focused on learning and re-learning the basic magic spells that were foundational because he didn’t have the talent to learn in depth or create new things.

* * *

“…Huuuuu…”

Lee Sungmin’s rough breath sounded out in the barren area. He slowly lowered the outstretched spear down.

Volander stood in front of him wordlessly. Lee Sungmin had been moving his spear nonstop, unfolding spear technique after the other without a break.

All Volander’s attacks were smashed by Lee Sungmin’s spear, and his armor was full of holes at this point and was crushed beyond repair.

[But he didn’t die.]

Heoju clicked his tongue. It was important that Volander didn’t die. In the first place, he was  already technically dead, so it would be right to use the word ‘annihilated’.

“……Ah.”

A ragged and tired voice leaked out from underneath the black helmet. Volander slowly lifted his head by moving his creaking body. The blurry will o’ wisps flashed briefly.

“It would have been nice if I were able to become a human being again.””

Volander muttered silently and slowly stretched his feet. The crushed armor was restored to its original state. By taking a few steps, he became fully intact once more. As a Death Knight, he didn’t feel pain or fatigue. As long as his soul was still intact, his physical state could always nbe restored.

“If I was still human, I could have been granted a satisfactory death from you just now.”

[What a resilient bastard.]

Heoju admired Volander despite the rough words. Lee Sungmin examined himself. His body… was alright. It was still able to move just fine. There was still lots of internal energy in his dantian still usable. Physical fatigue? There was no problem with his body that was already a mutated half-monster.

Lee Sungmin slowly lifted the spear.

‘Rather, the fight has gone a lot better than I thought it would.’

Lee Sungmin really thought so. Even as his body was constantly ripping and repairing itself from the inside out. The more he was able to move the spear against such a powerful opponent like Volander, the more he was able to integrate and assimilate the leftover martial arts and power he had inherited from his master.

[But it’s still dangerous. The regenerative power you have is not infinitel. As it goes on and on, you are slowly turning into a higher risk of losing yourself completely.]

Because it was a power that no human would ever possess, the more that Lee Sungmin used this regenerative power, the closer he was to turning.

“I know.”

Lee Sung-min slowly rotated the spear in his hands. There was still more to do with the opponent in front of him.

Would Volander break or would his mind lose itself first?

In the sound of the spear cutting through the air, Lee Sungmin seriously contemplated the situation at hand.