The confrontation with Lyra was brief. The moment Si-Yoon accepted the duel against Baron Kryll, he was locked in.
There was no time for frantic research, only for preparation.
He raced back into the study, the adrenaline making his bones feel cold and shaky. His internal panic was a siren.
Duel! Duel! High-level tank! Annihilation!
He slammed his hands onto the System panel. He had precisely one hundred Stage Presence Points.
He knew his power was barely 10% of Kallian's potential, but if he could break one of those damn seals, the resulting power spike might be enough to survive Kryll's initial attack.
He navigated the upgrade menu, the sheer terror of annihilation overcoming his usual fiscal caution.
[SHADOW MAGIC APTITUDE UPGRADE COMMENCED: +100 SPP allocated. Grade F to Grade D.]
[Current SPP: 0]
A massive surge of cold power rushed through his skeletal body, a sensation that was startlingly intense yet entirely contained.
The power flow through his Bone Marrow Network widened, making the magic feel raw and violently unstable.
Next were the damned seals.
[SEAL 1: TEMPORAL INHIBITOR]
STATUS: Active.
COST TO BREAK: 100 SPP + Shadow Magic Aptitude (Grade C).
I am short on Aptitude, Si-Yoon realized with a sinking feeling.
I need 100 more points, and I only have a few hours.
He couldn't break the seal, but the Aptitude upgrade would make his existing spell, the Void-Flicker Flame, much more potent and dangerously erratic.
His strategy was set.
Spam until the System rewards victory...
The arena beneath the castle was a vast, circular pit, its floor stained black from millennia of duels.
Massive crowd of assembled undead soldiers lined the walls, silent witnesses to the coming change of power.
The nine vassals of the Obsidian Council, including Mortem and Lyra, sat in a high viewing box.
Baron Kryll descended the steps first, his golden armor gleaming with arrogant confidence.
He held his colossal scythe easily, radiating raw, focused Dark Essence;a beacon of classic, reliable tyranny.
Si-Yoon emerged from the opposite tunnel, striding out slowly, projecting the full 99% of his theatrical confidence.
He clutched the Scepter, which looked like a supportive walking stick against his frail frame.
In the viewing box, the vassals were whispering.
"His power signature is stronger than yesterday, but erratic," whispered General Varr, the Orc-Lich.
"He is slow; his movements lack the old Lord's effortless speed," observed Lord Phoros.
"...he is unstable, relying on sheer madness."
Lyra gripped the railing, a look of grim anticipation on her face.
"He is not mad. He is simply performing the deepest, most terrifying role of his life: the Unstable Catalyst."
Kryll raised his scythe, ready for the attack.
"You look frail, Lord Kallian. I see no fear, but I detect a distinct lack of substance.
Your reign ends now!"
Si-Yoon ignored the insults; he raised the Scepter.
He focused the entirety of his D-Tier Essence flow into the tip, charging the Void-Flicker Flame.
The purple fire sputtered, refusing to consolidate into a cohesive blast, instead erupting in a shower of tiny, unpredictable sparks.
Kryll laughed, a dry, dismissive sound.
"A sparkler! You will strike me down with cheap parlor tricks, Lord Kallian?
AHA!...Your weakness is confirmed!"
Kryll lunged, the scythe cutting through the air with a terrifying roar.
Si-Yoon ducked, channeling the grace of his former dance classes, narrowly avoiding annihilation.
No. No, this is good. They see weakness. This fool will be punished for his pride.
Si-Yoon thought, his internal panic fueling his manic performance.
He began spamming the Void-Flicker Flame with frantic, desperate speed, channeling the powerful Dark Essence flowing through his newly widened Bone Marrow Network.
Flicker! Flicker! Flicker!
Tiny, pathetic purple sparks erupted from the Scepter's tip, peppering Kryll's armor like a swarm of angry, impotent insects.
[+10 SPP: Execution of the 'Lord Spams D-Tier Magic to Taunt Superior Opponent' Act.]
[+1 SPP: Successful Skill Use (x15)]
Kryll roared in fury, but the sheer volume of low-grade chaos confused his senses; it was beneath him, yet annoyingly effective at disrupting his concentration.
Kryll missed his next swing, the scythe digging harmlessly into the arena floor.
The vassals watched, their initial scorn freezing into confusion.
"He is deliberately using the weakest fire possible," whispered General Varr.
"He is not trying to kill Kryll..he..this mad man is trying to psychologically disassemble him with contemptible magic."
"A new level of sadism," Lyra confirmed, her voice laced with terror.
"He is telling Kryll that his power is so vast, he doesn't even need to use it to defeat him."
Si-Yoon was overjoyed; the spamming was working! He had to keep going to hit that 100 SPP goal.
Flicker! Flicker!
Burn, you budget fraud!
The accumulated purple sparks finally found a seam in Kryll's antique gold armor, right where the leg plating met the torso.
A small, persistent spot of purple fire, fueled by the accumulated Dark Essence and Si-Yoon's chaotic control, locked onto the plate.
Kryll screamed, a sound of genuine pain.
"AAAHHH!"
The concentrated Dark Essence was toxic to his reinforced skeleton.
Kryll staggered, dropping his scythe and attempting to swat the localized fire with his armored hands.
"WHU-WHU!"
Si-Yoon saw his chance; one last, decisive blast! He focused his remaining Essence, channeling everything he had left into a single, massive Void-Flicker Flame.
The flame shot out, but as Kryll stumbled and fell, face-first onto the arena floor, the magic, unstable from the high spam rate and the volatile Essence flow, locked onto the most exposed part of Kryll's body...
...the exposed, fleshy, silk-covered area where his pants met his ancient skeleton butt.
Flicker! The purple fire immediately intensified, clinging to the spot, charring the silks and Kryll's bone posterior with persistent, low-level magical heat.
Kryll let out a high-pitched, inhuman shriek of pain and humiliation, his butt now visibly smoking on the arena floor.
[+40 SPP: Execution of the 'Lord Delivers Ultimate Humiliation and Physical Disfigurement' Act.]
[Current SPP: 155]
Lyra shot up from her seat, her voice ringing out across the silent arena.
"Submission! Baron Kryll has submitted! The duel is concluded!"
Kryll, his butt smoking, was in too much agony to argue.
He weakly tapped the floor.
Si-Yoon sighed in relief; he had won.
He started to lower the Scepter, but the Void-Flicker Flame on Kryll's rear would not stop.
The spell, fueled by the recently widened but still uncontrolled Bone Marrow Network, was locked on, continuing its low-level, burning punishment
.
Stop! Stop, you stupid fire!
Si-Yoon commanded mentally.
He tried every technique he knew shaking the Scepter, waving his hand...nothing worked. The purple flame continued to cook Kryll's backside.
The vassals in the viewing box were shuddering, their suspicion entirely evaporated.
"He is not stopping," General Varr muttered, his voice hoarse.
"He leaves him alive, but charred and humiliated, eternally marked by the Lord's fire.
We were wrong... he is not weak..
This guy is Demonic!"
Si-Yoon focused his entire will, not on the spell itself, but on the Bone Marrow Network in his arm.
He violently choked the pathway, cutting the Dark Essence supply to the Scepter entirely.
The crude, powerful action worked. The purple flame sputtered and finally died.
He had won, and, in doing so, he had learned the first lesson in Essence Control.
Forceful Choking of the Network, the crude equivalent of turning off the tap.
He stood over the smoking, whimpering Kryll. The perfect, cold punishment was clear.
"Kryll," Si-Yoon boomed, projecting a voice heavy with bored, infinite contempt.
"Your challenge was accepted.
...your soul is mine; but I find little value in broken toys."
He used his newly learned, crude control to force a tiny, painful trickle of Dark Essence back into Kryll's body.
"I sentence you to remain here, Baron of the Burned Posterior.
Your duty is now to personally scavenge the entire North for nails for the Naglfar project.
You will report only to Lyra; fail to provide your quota, and I will personally deliver the next round of Existential Misery, aimed slightly higher."
Mortem and Lyra rushed down to collect the groaning Kryll.
The other seven vassals watched, their suspicion replaced by absolute, chilling terror.
"Purely evil...this man..."