Frieren: Attribute Hero Chapter 85: The Bloodthirsty Curse

The mont those words left his mouth, both Frieren and the Countess froze.

Shane had no intention of beating around the bush.

Since the Countess was a clear-headed person, she could play a very important role in this plan.

"Madam, right now, Aura and her Undead Army are hiding sowhere beyond our reach. We have no way to quickly trace them. Every extra day we waste ans another innocent soldier, or perhaps many more, will die and beco undead puppets."

As he spoke, Shane noticed the Countess instantly clench her fingers.

He continued, "Rather than waiting passively for them to attack whenever they please, or sche behind the scenes, it's better for us to take the initiative."

"I'm sure you recognize the person beside . This is none other than the legendary mage, Frieren. Eighty years ago, she was the one who drove Aura into retreat."

Suddenly being dragged into the conversation, Frieren looked montarily confused.

What was he bringing that up for?

At that mont, Shane deliberately softened his tone. His voice beca calm, magnetic, and strangely persuasive.

"Madam, we've co here this ti to completely eradicate her. Please trust us."

To strengthen the effect of his persuasion, Shane intentionally used Charm.

The Countess stared into Shane's eyes for several seconds before suddenly smiling.

"Were you just trying to use ntal-control magic on ?"

"..."

"..."

Shane imdiately felt his face heat up.

What was going on? Did this spell only work on boys like Stark?

Why was it useless against both Fern and the Countess?

And how were they exposing him on the spot every single ti?

"My apologies, Madam, I—"

"It's alright. I understand what you're trying to do."

The Countess interrupted him gently.

"As long as your goal is to destroy the demons, then we're allies. There's no need to use such thods on . I was once quite an accomplished mage myself..."

As she spoke, the Countess slightly lifted her skirt.

Only then did Shane notice that beneath the dirt-stained hem, one of her legs was made of wood.

The Countess had once fought demons herself.

The way he looked at her instantly filled with respect.

After that...

The three of them reached an agreent.

According to Shane's plan, Graf Granat would pretend to agree to negotiations, drawing Aura's attention. The mont Aura herself or any of her subordinates showed up, they would seize them imdiately.

Then Shane would use Charm to interrogate them for information, or Frieren would use tracking magic to locate the enemy headquarters.

One sweep to wipe them all out.

After discussing the plan, the Countess deliberately left behind one of her guards.

"Guards can move freely throughout the city, and he knows the layout of the Count's estate well. He can remain in the village for now and assist you whenever necessary, just in case."

Shane nodded.

With that, the plan beca even more airtight.

After seeing the Countess off, Shane and Frieren prepared to return to their camp in the forest.

At that mont—

A sudden disturbance erupted within the previously peaceful village.

Then, an elderly man ca stumbling out, shouting for help as he ran.

Chasing behind him was a child around three or four years old.

"Graaaah—"

The child let out a beast-like growl and lunged toward the old man.

The old man failed to dodge in ti, fell to the ground, and imdiately had his arm seized by the child.

Hearing the commotion, villagers erged from their hos in twos and threes to investigate.

Then a horrifying scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.

The child bit into the old man's arm, then violently shook his head like a predator tearing apart prey, trying to rip the flesh clean off.

Blood instantly poured from the old man's arm.

Frieren reacted imdiately.

Binding Magic activated in an instant.

A golden magical chain shot out, restraining the child and lifting him into the air.

The child flailed wildly with both hands and feet, making muffled growling noises like an enraged beast. After struggling for a long while without breaking free, he simply hugged his own hands and began licking the blood remaining on them.

The villagers were utterly stunned by the sight.

"A demon!"

"It's a demon!"

Soone in the crowd cried out with a trembling voice.

The soldier left behind by the Countess drew his sword and imdiately stepped in front of the villagers protectively, his gaze locked tightly onto the floating child.

"No! No, he isn't!"

At that mont, a middle-aged woman with disheveled hair and blood stains all over her clothes rushed out from the crowd.

She threw herself in front of the soldier, spreading her arms wide to block the sword aid at the child.

"He isn't a demon! My child isn't a demon!"

Thud—

The woman dropped to her knees.

"He's just sick, really! All of you watched him being born and growing up here. How could he possibly be a demon...?"

Her words caused the villagers to hesitate.

Shane raised his head and looked at the floating child.

The boy bared his teeth like a beast.

He licked blood like a demon.

Judging from the state of his mother, before attacking the old man, he had likely bitten her first...

At the sa ti, as Shane focused his attention, a line of gray text appeared above the child.

[Cursed Child]

Status: Hungry

Attributes:

[Bloodthirst (Gray/Inferior)]: A "near-demonization" trait caused by excessive exposure to or ingestion of demonic energy. Bloodthirsty, violent, difficult to calm.

Evaluation: Stay away from suspicious filthy things.

After reading the attribute description, Shane frowned.

Ingestion of demonic energy?

"Madam, how long has the child been like this? What was he doing beforehand?"

Hearing Shane's question, the woman glanced nervously at the soldier. Only after seeing no reaction from him did she turn back toward Shane.

"It started about an hour ago. The weather was hot earlier, and he refused to take his afternoon nap, so I gave him a bath."

"..."

"Where did the bathwater co from?"

"The stream in front of the village."

Shane and Frieren exchanged a glance.

Both of their hearts sank.

The group imdiately headed toward the stream.

Shane signaled for everyone to stay back before crouching down beside the water to inspect it carefully.

The river was crystal clear. Even the shrimp crawling along the riverbed could be seen clearly.

Shane slowly scanned the water.

Then suddenly, sothing caught his attention.

At the bottom of the stream was a black substance resembling tar.

At first glance, it looked completely ordinary.

But upon closer inspection...

It was moving.

Shane drew his sword and poked it lightly with the tip.

Instantly, the tar-like mass wrapped itself tightly around the blade and began crawling upward along the sword tip.

With a flick of his wrist, Shane flung the thing out of the river and onto the ground before everyone.

The mont it left the water, the black mass rapidly twisted, writhed, rged, and reshaped itself continuously, as though it were alive.

"Shane!"

"Don't touch it. That's an extrely evil form of energy."

Frieren's warning ca from behind him.

The familiar warning instantly reminded Shane of the dream he had witnessed on the second floor of Demon Bastion.

In that dream, the Mad Sage Sharl seed to have extracted this very thing from the Venom Dragon...