#90
Fortunately, that curse that had briefly appeared in Sercil’s eyes was incomparably insignificant compared to the completed highest-grade curse that had been cast on him before regression.
Perhaps because of nullification magic, I was quite accurate when it came to detecting the scale of curses this way.
‘That’s why I couldn’t even attempt it before.’
“Lift it.”
Theodore hyung’s blazing eyes.
The color they possessed was incomparably red, and he was someone who rarely got excited.
Part of it was because he had to manage himself due to the curse, but he was naturally a rational person.
Such a person had snapped at me with a disheveled expression at that time.
A voice cracked haphazardly. Trembling hands. Hyung’s face, pale white with fear.
“Since you caused this, clean it up with your own hands…!”
Hyung was affectionate.
The him in the original work couldn’t casually overlook losing not only his beloved Sercil but also his friends, father, and even his subordinates.
The him I knew was the same.
Not wanting to lose precious people ever again, he even asked me to use nullification on him, knowing that I had provided the cause that led to Sercil being afflicted by that highest-grade curse.
Someone who looked the most prideful, yet could set aside that pride any amount for those he cherished.
“…Please. Ersen.”
He even called my name, which he had refused to use, saying he would never treat me as a person.
Yet I couldn’t do it.
Because just by looking, I could tell that curse was more powerful than the one previously cast, and unlike ordinary curses, it was one where something ominous had additionally intervened.
Without even being able to attempt it, I reported the reality while pale white.
That with my magic, I couldn’t lift that curse.
…After that, hyung didn’t look at me.
He looked at me for a long while with lifeless eyes, then quietly composed himself. And he focused on organizing matters for those who would be left behind after he and Sercil departed from Sercil’s side.
Having abandoned hope…
Whether it was Sercil or Crown Prince hyung, they were all equally kind-hearted, so they didn’t even retaliate against me.
“……”
I bit the inside of my lower lip hard.
When I tasted blood, my concentration increased.
‘Sercil, if you betray me, if that’s your choice, I was planning to follow it.’
Going inside half-demon society through that flow would have been a good flow too. The fact that I was their target wouldn’t change.
But once traces of that ominous highest-grade curse were discovered, I couldn’t just watch.
I jumped down from the railing, waited briefly for the dizziness to disappear, then began continuing on my way.
While receiving the gazes of them who were probably following, those who weren’t broken yet.
* * *
I drank a bottle of painkillers with mana-stabilizing effects among the medicines Crown Prince hyung regularly provided.
It was what I had gathered by drinking only one bottle a day for several days instead of the required twice daily.
Though that probably wasn’t the intended use, once I drank this, the mana lacking due to depletion syndrome would momentarily accumulate in my body.
Before the mana that had accumulated in my body could drain away, I took out Amara’s Seal and infused it with mana.
The seal was an item that could be used with blood alone, but when directly infusing mana like this, it could change forms.
Before regression, while using this seal, I had once infused it with mana to see if it had other functions.
At that time, my mana depletion syndrome symptoms had worsened to the point where I had to risk my life, but Sercil’s situation was very poor then, and the hyungs and the Archduke were also in such bad condition that they couldn’t leisurely lift curses.
‘I was desperate.’
After flowing in mana and waiting a bit, the form transformation finished somewhat precariously.
‘At most an hour.’
I gripped the seal that had become a dagger and stamped the seal carved on the pommel into the air.
‘There’s a place I can only enter in this state.’
It would have been easier if that was where Eris’s corpse was located.
I opened the gap that appeared in the air and entered conspicuously.
‘Will he be able to track and follow me?’
Actually, I didn’t fully know the extent of the Archduke’s abilities either. Because he had more abilities sealed or hidden due to curses than what was revealed.
If he had been royalty, even curses might not have worked on him…
‘He followed.’
When the seal was in a form-transformed state like this, I could clearly detect his mana if I tried to sense it.
“Cough, ah…”
I quickly covered my mouth.
It seemed my insides were shocked from using mana for the seal’s form transformation. Blood gathered again in the small pouch I kept in my sleeve.
‘It’s worse than I thought.’
But this much is no problem for moving.
I looked around my surroundings.
This was a half-demon ritual site abandoned long ago.
“Why, why me.”
“Even vermin has found a use, so be grateful.”
“What do you mean!”
“That person is coming.”
“That person is coming!”
“Ah, finally!”
When I was dragged here by those completely covered in black robes before regression.
Those who kept repeating incomprehensible words, the half-demons, had placed me on that visible altar and restrained me.
‘That “person” back then was probably that human.’
I didn’t know until I heard the truth from the Archduke, but during the period I was tortured by him, I learned.
That the half-demons dreamed of Eris’s resurrection.
That was one of the half-demons’ goals not revealed in the original work.
Narrowing the scope further, there might be other goals not revealed in the original work.
But what was important in the end was that they were targeting the four protagonists including the Archduke.
To me, only that was important.
“No. No, let go of this! Skyle, sob, Archduke,”
“Being vermin, you really don’t know how to be quiet. Put a gag on it. Though cloth pieces should be minimal, it can’t be helped.”
Recalling memories from that time, I forced my frozen body to move toward the altar in the empty gray space.
“……”
And trying not to show anything through my expression, I looked around carefully.
I could see traces of use.
“Ha…”
I briefly closed and opened my eyes heavily.
At that time, this seal had opened a way back for me, but because I looked too unharmed, I was misunderstood when I returned.
The protagonists saw me with no injuries except worsened mana depletion syndrome and misunderstood that I had sold them out.
When I desperately denied that wasn’t the case, the Archduke said to me:
“Your Highness. Do you know where you just went?”
“Uh, huh?”
“When half-demons cast powerful curses, they sometimes need vast spaces. That’s one of the places used for such times. And among them, there’s one special place.”
This was exactly that special place he mentioned.
“The only place effective when cursing multiple transcendents.”
He said it was information learned through Marcus hyung.
Muttering that it was meaningless information obtained after the three’s curses had intensified uncontrollably, he then said:
“Among us, I wonder who could enter there now… Getting out after entering would be even harder.”
…That day he looked a bit tired.
Since he was someone who didn’t easily show such things, I could tell he was in a very difficult situation that day.
‘It wouldn’t have been tiredness from my being captured, so it must have been because of the intensified curses then.’
That makes sense.
The curses on Theodore hyung, Sercil, and the Archduke would really turn them into beast forms for certain hours of the day when they worsened, and since they couldn’t use magic in animal state, the danger of death increased.
‘What animals they transformed into wasn’t shown in the original work… but anyway, the beastification was an event that happened in the original work too. So I know the solution method.’
Fortunately, it was within the range of what could be handled.
Though the timing was too early, it was fine. It would probably be useless for Theodore hyung who already had his curse lifted.
…So rather, if those traces visible there were attempts to intensify the three’s curses, I would be able to stop them.
“……”
I looked straight ahead and sighed.
Forbidden patterns were visible. Traces of mana that hadn’t been completely erased remained in the air, stimulating me. Phenomena that appeared momentarily when depletion syndrome worsened came rushing all at once.
Enduring that, I made a wound on my fingertip in front of the old altar. The moment I touched the center of the altar with bleeding fingers, vibrations spread through the air.
Reading traces with the minute mana in my blood.
Red patterns gradually rose in my vision.
“Kuk, urk…”
Swallowing the blood that kept rising, I concentrated on infusing mana into the seal.
‘The events that happened in this place. Show me that past in order from the most recent.’
…Amara.
When I called silently, visions finally appeared.
Old paper scraps were scattered on the floor. Only a few lines of writing were visible, but all the important parts showed. It was correspondence from Duke Marsien’s estate. The sender was Isabella Marsien.
…Isabella Marsien?
But that handwriting was.
“…?”
I hesitated. And forgetting to manage my appearance for the Archduke, I ended up showing some blood.
“How, ah…”
Handwriting I’d seen several times.
Handwriting that only the protagonists or I could recognize unless they had directly experienced that person, now half-forgotten handwriting.
It was the evil spirit Eris’s handwriting.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
