Jaenis

Jaenis is an ancient Alphen archmage, a self-made Lich, and one of Kang Woojin's most powerful Familiars. He was Woojin's teacher before voluntarily joining the Immortal Army, having recognized both Woojin's exceptional potential as a Necromancer and his ability to survive Thrash's power. Feared across Alphen as the Lord of Pestilence, Jaenis combines catastrophic fire and meteor magic with strategic knowledge of Trahnet, the dimensional system, and Thrash's Executioner. (Chapters 16, 50, 58, 65, 68, 71)

Biography

The Lich's return

Jaenis begins his long war as Alphen's greatest scholar and Archmage. When Trahnet's advance threatens the planet, he transforms himself into a Lich so that he can continue resisting beyond a mortal lifetime. The effort lasts two hundred years and saves no clean moral boundary: Melody attributes tens of millions of deaths to him and says his arrival was treated like a plague. The text also describes him as having fallen into madness. His brutality is therefore not separate from his protective purpose; endless war turns saving Alphen into an exterminating hatred of anything connected to Trahnet. (Chapters 58, 65, 68, 71)

Before Woojin leaves Alphen, Jaenis becomes his teacher, adviser, and Familiar. The choice is voluntary rather than an act of creation by Woojin: Jaenis had already existed independently for centuries. He judges Woojin to be one of the rare people capable of reaching the pinnacle as a Necromancer and later explains that this potential, not a blessing Woojin already possessed, made him special. Jaenis also believes Woojin can withstand Thrash's curse and eventually wield the Executioner, the only course Jaenis sees for ending the Dimensional Lords' recurring invasions. Serving a younger Necromancer thus becomes the final extension of his own attempt to save Alphen. (Chapters 65, 68, 71)

Earth's leveling reset seals Jaenis in Woojin's Summoning Room, leaving only an ownerless tower and repeated memories of the firepower he once supplied. Woojin cannot call him until reaching the required level during the Golden Dragon Rajakui's attack on Seoul. Jaenis' first concern on returning is whether Alphen was saved; his second is the disappearance of his former strength. Woojin immediately raises Lich Summon from rank one to ninety-nine, restoring a transformed staff, magical robes, and enough power for Jaenis to reflect the Dragon's Breath away from the city before counterattacking with hellfire and mass Hydra summons. (Chapters 16, 40, 44–45, 50–51, 58, 64–66)

Restoration renews both Jaenis' usefulness and the danger of giving him freedom. He can place a meteor with extraordinary precision, but Woojin must explicitly order him not to kill Seoul's inhabitants; without that command, his hatred of Trahnet would make civilian destruction acceptable collateral. During the campaign against Colonies, Jaenis burns obstacles, controls Skeleton Magicians, and treats ruined cities as familiar scenery. At the same time, he supplies Woojin with historical context about Thrash and keeps urging him to find the Executioner. His role is consequently more than artillery: he is the old adviser whose knowledge points Woojin toward a permanent answer, even when his own preferred methods require restraint. (Chapters 65–68, 71)

Jaenis also takes Hong Sunggoo as a living pupil after recognizing magical instincts that may exceed Woojin's. His teaching recreates the lethal pressure under which Woojin himself grew: Jaenis attacks without warning, gives Sunggoo no time to think, and forces him to absorb and control foreign fire magic or die. This cruelty produces real development, including the ability to accept Jaenis' explosive magical energy, but it never becomes safe instruction. Jaenis frames fear as a material a magician can burn and pursues Sunggoo day and night until he is satisfied that the student can survive independently. The result is Alandal's first living mage trained directly in his tradition. (Chapters 69–71, 73, 75–76)

Meteor magic and the final war

During the return to Alphen, Jaenis becomes the expedition's most destructive battlefield asset. He uses flight and mass fire to clear swarms, applies unrivaled debuffs against Water Dragons, and coordinates a meteor strike that vaporizes a monster army. The tactic demonstrates his relationship with Woojin at its most practiced: Jaenis prepares the strike while Woojin holds the enemy in place, then erects a barrier as Woojin dismisses vulnerable undead before impact. It also exposes the scale of Jaenis' magic as a liability. The meteor does not distinguish allies from enemies, and even his barrier fades after containing the blast, leaving the plan dependent on precise timing and Woojin's command. (Chapters 77, 79, 82–83)

The defense of Sauraus Colony pushes those limits further. Jaenis can Blink himself and Woojin within sight, but a long-distance teleport consumes his magical reserve and briefly prevents him from blocking an incoming Dragon's Breath. Once replenished, he resumes fighting and later layers barriers around the World Tree. When Woojin must focus entirely on preserving Sunggoo's soul, he transfers command of every Familiar to Jaenis and orders him to eradicate Trahnet's forces on Alphen. Jaenis trembles with joy because the command offers what his undeath was created to achieve: a genuine chance to save his world, alongside unrestricted destruction of the invaders he hates. (Chapters 82–84)

As field commander, Jaenis unites the Death Knights and thousands of Skeleton Magicians behind a direct assault. His murderous enthusiasm frightens the coalition's heroes, but his command remains disciplined around Woojin's objective. He later helps contest Ibrit and turns sections of Seoul into a field of Hell Hydras during the fight with Iello. Even at the height of that destruction, he continues watching for Thrash's missing weapon. When the completed five-piece set and level ninety-nine still fail to produce the Executioner, Jaenis begins to mention Earth's Master Code. Woojin stops him before he can finish, and Jaenis yields immediately, showing that his apocalyptic solution remains subordinate to the lord whose judgment he chose to follow. (Chapters 84, 87–90)

Woojin's disappearance during the final crisis tests that obedience without his presence. Jaenis initially votes to retreat from Black Armor because Woojin's last order is to protect Sooah, and he treats preservation of the force as the literal way to comply. Kiba argues that victory is the only protection the Immortal would accept. Jaenis admits that he had forgotten this and joins the decision to fight. When Alandal's energy is exhausted, he taps his own Life Vessel and pours every remaining measure of magical energy into Ryongryong, restoring the Blood Dragon for one last attack. The transfer leaves Jaenis depleted, but the supplied ending does not explicitly state that it destroys his Life Vessel or ends his undead existence. (Chapter 93)

Appearance and personality

Jaenis appears as a skeleton in a black robe, with red light burning in his eye sockets and a harsh buzzing voice compared to a train braking. After Woojin raises Lich Summon to rank ninety-nine, magical circles glow across the robe and five differently colored gems crown his black staff. He frequently travels or reforms as black smoke, while dense magical energy can make his skeletal face appear crimson. The visual simplicity of a Skeleton Magician contrasts with an oppressive presence strong enough to frighten veteran Alphen heroes. (Chapters 65, 67–68, 84, 88, 90)

He is gleefully destructive, proud of his magic, and darkly playful around killing. Jaenis laughs at ruins, calls screams heartwarming, and treats fear as part of a spellcaster's stage. His madness does not eliminate intelligence or loyalty: he reads magical talent accurately, executes complicated timing, advises Woojin about unfamiliar system mechanics, and revises his own conclusion when Kiba identifies a better interpretation of their order. His affection is expressed through ordeals rather than reassurance. Both Woojin and Sunggoo survive because he pushes them toward greater power, but neither is permitted to mistake tutelage for gentleness. (Chapters 65–71, 73–76, 83–84, 90, 93)

Abilities and class

Jaenis is a Lich who converted himself to undeath rather than being raised by Woojin. His continued existence is tied to a Life Vessel that can provide magical energy, although the corpus does not fully explain its location, recovery mechanics, or destruction conditions. As Woojin's Familiar, his accessible strength also depends on the Lich Summon skill: he first returns weakened, then changes repeatedly when the skill is raised to ninety-nine. This makes his current manifestation system-dependent without erasing the two centuries of knowledge and power he possessed before joining the Immortal Army. (Chapters 65, 68, 71, 93)

Fire and mass-destruction magic

Fire is Jaenis' principal demonstrated element. He casts black hellfire with exceptional speed, ignites targets and terrain, absorbs or manipulates magical flame, and summons Hell Hydras from pools of lava. A single Inferno can cling to a Dragon despite its attempts to extinguish the fire, while a mass Hydra invocation creates hundreds of bodies and enough heads to bombard an entire battlefield. These spells excel against armies and fortified areas but are dangerous near civilians, allies, or infrastructure. Woojin's orders, rather than an inherent safety mechanism, are what make Jaenis cast precisely or limit indiscriminate destruction. (Chapters 65–67, 70, 77, 82, 87–90)

Meteor, barriers, and movement

Jaenis can call a meteor with enough precision to hit a designated area and enough force to leave a massive crater without bodies behind. The spell is not selective, so it is paired with evacuation, unsummoning, or a barrier plan. His barriers range from a concave shield that reflects most of a Dragon's Breath into the sky to nested defenses around the World Tree, but concentrated attacks can break them and sustained impacts make them fade. He also flies and uses Blink, a short teleport to anywhere within sight whose range depends on magical control. Extending Blink to a distant target empties his magical reserve, temporarily preventing other defenses until that energy is replenished. (Chapters 65–67, 77, 82–84)

Debuffs and summoned-magician command

Woojin calls Jaenis unrivaled in debuff magic, particularly when preparing to fight multiple Water Dragons. As a level-ninety-nine Lich he can directly control ten Skeleton Magicians per level, initially giving him a force of 990 whose elemental attacks can be coordinated separately from the Death Knights' warriors. Later battles place several thousand Skeleton Magicians behind him when he commands the broader army, though the exact source of that increased total is not specified. This command function lets Jaenis turn personal spell knowledge into artillery at army scale, but it remains linked to Woojin's summon system and available forces. (Chapters 67, 79, 84)

Magical instruction and strategy

Jaenis teaches through live magical pressure. With Sunggoo, he uses lethal fire attacks to force rapid sensing, absorption, and control of magical energy belonging to another caster. He also teaches intimidation as a tactical principle and evaluates whether a pupil can survive without protection. Beyond instruction, Jaenis recognizes dimensional threats, advises Woojin about Thrash's curse, coordinates delayed meteor strikes, and assumes command of other Familiars when ordered. His expertise does not make him infallible: his tunnel vision toward destroying Trahnet can overlook civilians or encourage a literal interpretation of orders until another commander challenges it. (Chapters 65–71, 73–76, 83–84, 90, 93)

Limits and latest condition

Jaenis has a smaller magical reserve than Woojin because he cannot steal souls to replenish himself. Powerful Blink, meteor, barrier, and mass-summoning work can exhaust that reserve, while the absence of Woojin and depletion of Domain energy force him to conserve spells. Against Black Armor, he concludes that his attacks cannot exceed the threshold needed to prevent its immediate regeneration. He finally commits all magical energy available through his Life Vessel to restoring Ryongryong. That act demonstrates access to the vessel as an emergency reserve, but the ending establishes depletion rather than explicitly confirming permanent death or the loss of his Lich form. (Chapters 83, 91, 93)

Power progression

Relationships

• Kang Woojin: Jaenis is Woojin's former teacher, old friend, most trusted magical adviser, and voluntary Familiar. He follows because Woojin can reach necromancy's pinnacle and potentially end Trahnet through the Executioner, while Woojin restrains the indiscriminate methods produced by Jaenis' hatred. (Chapters 50, 58, 64–71, 82–84, 90, 93)
• Hong Sunggoo: Jaenis recognizes exceptional magical talent in Sunggoo and trains him through attacks that threaten his life. The pupil survives, learns to absorb hostile flame, and ultimately becomes a Dragonoid whose growth Jaenis evaluates with the familiarity of an old teacher. (Chapters 69–71, 73, 75–76, 80, 83, 93)
• Melody: Melody remembers Jaenis as a catastrophe responsible for enormous losses on Alphen, while his undead nature recoils from her Holy Power. Their alliance under Woojin is functional rather than affectionate and reflects the uneasy coalition between former enemies. (Chapters 65, 68)
• Kiba and the Death Knights: Jaenis can command the Death Knights when Woojin delegates the army. In the final crisis, Kiba corrects his literal reading of Woojin's retreat order, and Jaenis accepts that fighting to win better serves their master. (Chapters 84, 93)
• Ryongryong: Jaenis fights alongside the Bone and Blood Dragon and knows its capabilities well enough to compare battlefield results. He ultimately feeds the Dragon every available measure of his magical energy, enabling its last breath against Black Armor. (Chapters 83–84, 87, 90, 93)
• Dolsae: Dolsae and Jaenis are repeatedly deployed together as heavy Familiars who open paths and break massed enemies. Their abilities differ—physical golem force and high-order magic—but both provide the large-scale destruction Woojin lacks when they are sealed. (Chapters 45, 65, 71, 77, 82)

Items

• Thrash's Executioner: Jaenis does not possess this hidden weapon. He identifies it as the only course capable of ending Trahnet's Dimensional Lords, urges Woojin to search for it, and uses clues from Thrash's curse and Earth's Master Code to guide that search. The authority finally manifests through Woojin rather than Jaenis. (Chapters 65, 68, 71, 82, 90, 93)