57 – Was I a Human? (1)
I lowered my holy sword for a moment.
It wasn’t because I thought we wouldn’t fight, but because I felt the need to have a conversation.
For some reason, my heart raced. Just from hearing a few words.
I know the curses. I recognized the curses that were stuck all over my body.
The one who revealed the curses that pushed my social status to the bottom and devoured my sanity has finally appeared.
And it seems to have a much greater impact on my emotions than I thought.
I asked in a trembling voice,
“How…?”
How on earth did he notice?
It’s a curse that not even the Holy Maiden of the Continent, the Knights of the Empire, the centuries-old Elves, or the genius sorcerers could detect.
There are already tens of thousands affected by this curse. Yet, none of them have been able to see through these shackles.
But how did this man notice as soon as he saw them?
When I asked, he chuckled and replied,
“I am a master of dark magic. And curses happen to be my specialty. Do you really think someone like me wouldn’t recognize a curse that’s so tightly stuck to you?”
He clicked his tongue and continued,
“By the way… it’s a truly wicked curse. It’s related to fate. Now that I think about it, it makes sense why you’re so stuck at the bottom.”
His three eyes turned towards me. They were eerie and red, but strangely, they contained a peculiar sympathy.
“It must have been tough.”
My throat tightened.
The moment I heard that, I felt a slight sting in my nose. It wasn’t a calculated response; it just happened.
Of course, I didn’t burst into tears, but I had to control my emotions for a while.
I never expected to receive comfort from one of the Four Heavenly Kings’ subordinates, whom I had just met for the first time in my life.
Was it because I was intrigued by something unusual after a long time? The man asked me in a softer tone.
“What happened for you to be cursed like that? Even I can’t get caught in high-level curses…”
“…It just happened.”
I held my tongue.
“In many ways, he was different from the previous legendary heroes. He seemed like someone who embodied the justice of the entire world. With his courageous and sacred appearance, exceptional sociability, and splendid talents, many people liked him. But in the end, he was hollow inside.”
It seemed like he had met the previous legendary hero before. Well, Guireosa was one of the senior members among the Four Heavenly Kings.
As I was briefly thinking about him, he opened his mouth again.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen something interesting, so I’m glad… But unfortunately, we have to pass through this place now. Can you step aside?”
“…I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
I held up my holy sword again. The short conversation time was over.
Anyway, he was an enemy. Now it was time to have a conversation with the sword.
“It’s a pity. Our positions are so different that we can’t compromise. So, we’ll have to break through with force.”
That’s when the monsters started rushing in.
Goblin King Knight, Shaman, Mutant Kobold, Lizard Warrior, and the Alpha of the Werewolves.
Among the monsters, these guys, who could be considered elite soldiers, rushed in a heap.
I targeted the Bright Ryu Cavalier.
The levels of the visible enemies were not to be taken lightly.
They were definitely lower than me, but that didn’t mean there was an overwhelming difference.
If several of them rushed in, they would definitely have formidable skills.
“It’s fortunate that the space is narrow.”
Because of the limited space, there was also a limit to the number of monsters rushing in.
He seemed to have considered that and had monsters with relatively small builds as elite soldiers, but that didn’t change the spatial advantage.
And so, I swung my sword.
I fend off the soldiers flying in from all directions and counterattack, breaking through their ranks in an instant.
The sorcerer’s magic, coming from afar, breaks through the barrier.
After defeating a few of them, other monsters fill the space again. There were still plenty of named monsters left in the sewer.
It was definitely tough to face them alone, but I was able to hold my own.
“It’s worth a try.”
I had this thought when suddenly my body stopped responding. As if the muscles in my whole body were refusing orders, I suddenly felt a sensation of my body ‘slowing down’ a step.
I could immediately realize what this was as soon as it happened.
The curse of deceleration.
“I told you. I am a curse sorcerer.”
Suddenly, as I looked beyond, I saw him calmly drawing a magic circle.
Yeah, it wouldn’t be that easy.
The curse on him didn’t end with deceleration.
Attack power reduction, defense decrease, sensory disturbance, and more. Numerous curses engulfed me.
The frustrating sensation I felt when I first prepared with my power resurfaced after a long time.
Thud!
To make matters worse, I allowed a strike to my side.
Maybe because my body was slowing down, a monster managed to strike my side.
Blood burst from the torn flesh on my side, but I didn’t hesitate and slashed the monster with my sword.
“Oh, you’re tough.”
It’s better this way. I never intended to take on all those guys with just my swordsmanship.
It seemed like a good opportunity to try out a new skill.
[Activating ‘Blood Manipulation’!]
Blood Manipulation (血流操縱).
Literally a skill that moves and controls blood. It was an item I received from Matapju a few days ago as part of a trade.
In fact, it was one of the most basic spells of blood magic, but somehow I only learned it now.
The blood flowing out of my body rises up into the air. Not only my blood, but also the blood of the guys I’ve cut. Anything related to blood, I have absolute control over.
I can manipulate any blood that has already lost its ownership.
I spread the blood floating in the air widely to those guys.
Ssshhhhh!
Crunch?
Krrr?
The guys who suddenly got splattered with blood looked bewildered.
From Noble mtl dot com
They would never have dreamed of what would happen next.
[Activating ‘Blood Transfusion’!]
[Combining with ‘Fireball’!]
[All the blood you control has the fire attribute!]
Whoosh!
Flames ignite. The agonizing screams of the monsters ricochet off the walls, resonating throughout.
In an instant, more than 10 monsters died, and Ollek exclaimed in awe.
“The abilities they use are peculiar.”
Chiiik…
The torn side of my body was already regenerating.
“They even have perfect countermeasures.”
“Why do all the people I fight talk so much?”
“hehehehe, it’s natural for things to end up like this when you live for a long time.”
Despite losing quite a few monsters at once, he still seemed calm.
Is it because there are still many monsters left behind? Or does he still have plenty of means to show?
The answer was the latter.
He raises his black magic power and casts a spell.
“Corpses have always been good offerings.”
And that magic was directed towards the just-defeated corpse.
And then, it quickly began devouring the corpse. It was as if the magic itself was greedily seeking out their bodies.
After carefully extracting magic power from the corpse, Ollik finally threw a spell at me.
Shiik!
A black, dark mass came towards me.
I tried to defend myself with the holy sword, but I couldn’t.
It was another curse-based magic this time. However, it was even more malicious than before.
“Grrr!!!”
Zing!
In an instant, a massive headache surged through my mind. It felt like someone was striking the inside of my skull with a hammer, causing excruciating pain.
With this level of pain, my pain resistance should have kicked in, but strangely, my skills didn’t react at all.
“No matter what, the curse’s flower is undoubtedly a mental system.”
I wondered what it was, and it seemed like a magic related to the mental system, unrelated to the physical body.
Damn it. Even the things I use are wicked, as if someone cursed them.
Clearly, this pain was far from being physical.
As I listened closely, I could hear numerous voices murmuring inside my head. It was a multitude of voices, possibly numbering in the tens of thousands or even more.
The voices chattering away at each other were as chaotic as a bustling marketplace. With so many voices speaking at once, I couldn’t even concentrate on what they were saying.
The amount of incoming information was so overwhelming that my head automatically started to ache.
As I held my head in agony, the creature opened its mouth.
“Do you know this? Our brains remember more than we think. It’s just that most of it is unnecessary information that doesn’t come to our consciousness. Our unconscious mind is filled with countless pieces of information.”
“Ugh…! So what the hell is this bastard…?”
“Right now, in your mind, the words you’ve heard before are being played back.”
The moment I heard that, I understood what these marketplace-like words meant. Various slanderous and malicious remarks about me.
Words that I had heard at some point but had deliberately pushed aside were now replaying in my mind.
“Ugh…ugh…!!”
Realizing this, I quickly made a decision.
I had to ignore them. They were nothing but harmful words that would do no good for my sanity.
Rather than listening to such things, it would be more beneficial to swing my sword once again.
And so, I swung my sword.
Chwak! Chwak!
To forget the words flowing into my head.
To concentrate my mind on another place.
I erased the monsters that rushed at me, while trying to ignore the feeling of my head about to explode.
“Oh, you’re quite impressive. It must not be bearable pain.”
Every time, blood pooled around me.
“You are undoubtedly an extraordinary human. Strong, calm, and with great mental strength. It’s understandable why the king was defeated.”
The stench of corpses and sewage filled the air.
“But I find something strange.”
Suddenly, my surroundings were filled with countless corpses.
Haah… Haah…
The sound of my breath echoed in the underground, rough.
Perhaps it was because I was constantly fighting while under numerous debuffs. My condition was far from normal. My body received wounds and regenerated repeatedly, and the decreasing mana constantly brought a sense of fatigue in real-time.
Yet the monsters still remained for a long time.
Still, I couldn’t retreat like this… It was when I raised the holy sword again, thinking that.
“Why do you side with humans even after suffering like this?”
I paused. My body, which was about to draw the sword, stopped.
Despite the countless criticisms still echoing in my head, strangely enough, his words were clear.
Reflexively, I retorted.
“What…?”
“Isn’t that right? No matter how hard you try, all that will come back is criticism. Why do you strive so much?”
···As expected, this guy talks too much.
I wanted to tear him apart right away, but there were too many monsters around.
No matter how strong I am, I couldn’t break through all of them and rush at him in one breath.
As I frowned, he spoke.
“I really liked you. Your spirit, abilities, mental strength. Everything was even more impressive than I thought!”
He spread his arms wide.
His three eyes were filled with a strange anticipation and excitement.
Finally, he took a deep breath and said to me.
“What do you say? Join the Demon Army now! Our Demon Army will warmly welcome you!”
“?”
I tilted my head.
