Chapter 153 - Curse Veteran
The First Son’s faction, Skeleton Giant Horse.
The dwelling, which looked like a giant skeleton horse sitting down, was the only hill and mountain on this plain.
The First Son sat on the head of the Skeleton Giant Horse, looking down at the plain.
He hadn't moved for days, just watching the horizon where the sun rises and sets.
Chief Secretary Luda ca up to report several tis a day.
“The maintenance of the Undead Knight Legion, which was damaged during the advance on Eclipse, has been mostly completed by the sorcerers under your command. It seems it will be finished without issue before election day.”
The election day when the General Manager cos to Dusk Citadel. One week from today.
The First Son, who was quietly tending his sword, asked.
“What is the youngest doing?”
“It seems he is preparing to welco you at Eclipse, Youngest Son-nim. Lately, he hasn't been coming out of D-District.”
“What is he doing inside D-District?”
“…I apologize. D-District is so exclusive that even the informants couldn't find a way in.”
First Son Hiler let out a hollow laugh.
“So even in a cesspool like Dusk Citadel, there is clear water. That must be the youngest's base in the citadel.”
“That is so.”
“We'll see about that place after I've taken the chairman's head. Is the Black Giant Castle still quiet?”
“Yes. The Daughters-nim and the Fourth Son-nim are not showing much reaction to Dusk Citadel.”
The gray eyes reflected on the lake-clear gray blade narrowed ever so slightly.
“Do they believe in him that much? Or do they look down on ?”
The Daughters and the Fourth Son had bet on the youngest's victory in this invasion.
So, instead of helping, they had disgraced their eldest by staying still.
Even if we don't help, you'll lose to the youngest anyway.
That nuance was strongly felt in the current situation.
“The youngest wants Dusk Citadel for his next goal. That goal must be related to the Dark Elixir.”
“Shall we bribe the collateral branches assigned to the Potion Developnt Departnt?”
“Any thod is fine.”
“As you wish.”
The chief secretary, having received the order, hesitated before continuing.
“There is one more thing to report. It is my conjecture, but the knight in bone armor who stood as the Fifth Son-nim's guard…. could he perhaps be─”
“sher Attica.”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly at the na he recalled after a long ti.
“To think the family's best cursed knight, who I thought had died and disappeared on so battlefield, would be by the youngest's side.”
“Shall I find out what happened?”
“No need. He has always had a good eye, so it wouldn't be strange for him to have recognized the youngest's talent early on.”
“He seed to want to hide his identity in front of you, Youngest Son-nim.”
“It's understandable. He's the one who tore away my swordsmanship just because I'm a direct blood relative. Would he want to face and bow his head?”
The First Son laughed lowly and gestured for him to leave.
“You may leave now. It seems another guest has arrived.”
“…Understood. Then.”
Chief Secretary Luda sublimated into several crows and disappeared.
As the crows disappeared, a living ghost took their place.
“Your senses are as sharp as ever.”
“Have you co to deliver Father's ssage, ssenger?”
“Always.”
“Then deliver it and get lost.”
“Still as cold as ever.”
Wiping the blade with a cloth, the family's greatest sword talent replied coldly.
“I have no interest in things I cannot cut.”
“Then what about a story about the Fifth Son-nim, whom you are interested in, Your Highness?”
“……”
The First Son's gray eyes turned to Ransis.
She smiled brightly and continued.
“The Family Head-nim has very high expectations for both you, First Son-nim, and the Fifth Son-nim. He predicted that you will play a big role in the future war with Wisdom.”
“So he's setting himself up as a shield so that as many direct blood relatives as possible can survive?”
“Yes. The blood relatives of this generation are rare in that they all have the qualities of a Family Head. And everyone was greatly stimulated by the Fifth Son-nim's achievents.”
At the emphasis on ‘greatly stimulated’, Hiler smirked.
“What do you want to say?”
“He thinks it would be good if the Youngest Son-nim were also stimulated. The Family Head-nim does.”
Ransis held out her hand.
An amulet made of carved bone was on it.
First Son Hiler's gray eyes saw the scale pattern engraved on the amulet.
“…Not like this. I will seize what is mine myself.”
“Yes. The Family Head-nim also said you would answer that way.”
The ssenger withdrew her hand.
But she gently placed only the amulet in front of her and behind the First Son.
“Whether you use this or not is your choice, First Son-nim. You said you won't use it now, but will you feel the sa after the Dusk Citadel expedition?”
──!
A blade passed through the ssenger's spot.
That alone created a biting wind and a deafening sword strike crashed like a wave.
But the cross-shaped sword could not cut the soul dinsion.
The ssenger, who had stepped back into the spot where the sword strike disappeared without a problem, said gently.
“This is the Family Head-nim's will. Then I wish you good luck.”
“…Stop.”
“Oh my. Have you taken a separate interest in ?”
“Have you seen the youngest?”
“We were together at the banquet. Have you forgotten?”
“You know what I an.”
The ssenger smiled slightly before those wolf-like gray eyes.
The one First Son Hiler called the youngest, and ssenger Ransis called her first student.
It wasn't that she had never taught anyone, but none of them were up to par.
But the family's youngest sotis taught his teacher, surprised her, and even got one over on her.
Could she expect that from the First Son?
ssenger Ransis replied to his question without dropping her smile.
“That the family's greatest talent is not you, First Son-nim. I know at least that much.”
“……”
“At least, that's what I think. I don't know if that answered your question, but I will take my leave now.”
The ssenger stepped back gracefully and withdrew.
Fuuuuu─
Only the plain's wind blowing on the summit of the Skeleton Giant Horse brushed past his lone blade and the amulet.
Because it was dark, even a tiny light stood out more.
The fingernail-sized red glow was an eye-shine, and such a blood-red eye-shine was not sothing one sees often.
“…As expected of the Queen's bloodline. I should have kept my body hidden from the beginning.”
An old gentleman walked out of the darkness.
He too wore a black cloak-like robe, but the aristocratic clothes revealed underneath were dignified and dark red.
With his pure white hair slicked back, he pointed to the Youngest Son's palm.
“That…. could you tell what it's called?”
“This caught your interest?”
As if to confirm, the vampire noble didn't take his eyes off the Blood Stream Sorcery's magic circle.
He licked his lips as if in front of high-quality blood, and his pupils trembled occasionally.
“Why is a vampire noble in the Great Sorcery Archives and watching ? Answer that, and I'll tell you.”
“It is the Queen's command. Also, I am a vampire noble, but I was previously a sorcerer of Millesdusk.”
“So you followed into the Great Sorcery Archives?”
“To be precise, I was waiting here and was not watching you. The Queen's command is to infiltrate various parts of Millesdusk and observe the Fifth Son-nim's movents.”
The noble in front of was on duty at the library.
Then he saw the Blood Stream Sorcery and, unable to contain his thirst for knowledge, even struck up a conversation.
It seed that even after becoming a vampire noble and gaining eternal life, the thirst for knowledge could not be quenched.
Because new knowledge was born every day. Just like what was in this pale hand right now.
“It's called Blood Stream Sorcery. It's made by creating Samche, a pure Water Attribute magic, with the Blood Attribute magic power of a Magic Assimilator, then mixing it with a desired curse.”
“Oh, ohh….”
His voice of admiration trembled slightly.
From the perspective of soone who was once a student, he definitely didn't understand that.
For the sake of his noble dignity, he was clearly feigning admiration because he didn't understand.
Well, that wasn't my business, so I moved on.
“Let's go back to what we were talking about earlier. What about my state?”
“Hmm….”
The vampire old gentleman walked out of the darkness.
“Still, I am before a descendant of the Queen, so I will pay my respects first.”
Kneeling smoothly on one knee, he placed a hand on his chest.
“I am called Viscount Kapus. I have lived as a mber of the night clan for about three centuries, and in the past, I was a curse sorcerer of Millesd-usk.”
Curse sorcerer? A peculiar history.
Most people who ca to Millesdusk were crazy about the Four Sorcery Orders.
Seeing my reaction to ‘curse sorcerer,’ Kapus smiled.
“It's not that I didn't study the other Four Sorcery Orders, but curses were very charming to . So I wrote quite a few papers and books related to curses.”
His hand pointed to the curse book section right next to him.
[The Limits and Transcendence of Curse Range -Kapus-]
Sure enough, just by turning my head, I could see his na.
To have his na listed in the Great Sorcery Archives ant he was a curse sorcerer whose skills could not be ignored.
“So it's not a lie.”
“Before whom would I tell a lie?”
Being from three centuries ago, he seed to be an NPC who wasn't written into the ga's story.
Kapus continued.
“Also, to answer your earlier question….”
He carefully stood up.
“Youngest Son-nim, you are using curses, no, even this Blood Stream Sorcery, and all the curses you have practiced until now, chanically.”
“…chanically?”
Kapus stroked his head after speaking, as if finding it strange himself.
“Yes. Just as a bullet is fired through an internal process when you pull the trigger, that process is cold like a machine.”
“Is that not how it should be?”
“It's not that it shouldn't be. If it were, you wouldn't have been able to use curses at all. Would you try following my lead?”
He completed a curse on his hand. It was in the blink of an eye, much faster than a second.
The curse of slashing, which cuts and tears the opponent.
It was a low-grade curse often used by back-alley sorcerers, but at this level, it could be used for assassination on a main street.
The Youngest Son also erased the Blood Stream Sorcery and created the sa curse as him.
Kapus, who was watching the process closely, said.
“As I thought. Youngest Son-nim, you are leading the curse with your survival instinct. Rather than the will to kill others, you are using the curse for self-defense, with the will to live.”
The vampire noble and forr famous curse sorcerer of Millesdusk shook his head.
“Curses were not created to be used like that. It is a well-known fact that curses were made to kill the opponent painfully.”
“Are you saying that the will to kill the opponent must be imbued in the curse for the fastest and strongest curse to erge?”
“Sincerely. The will to sincerely kill the opponent must be imbued in the magic power for the most perfect curse to erge.”
“……”
The Youngest Son stared blankly at his palm.
Because I thought I knew why Kapus called it cold.
‘I perceive curses as skills. Unlike others who consider curses and sorcery their life, to , this is just one of many other skills.’
It seed that while other skills might not, curses could clearly distinguish that difference.
Kapus had said that curses were a power with even less structure than sorcery.
Wisdom of the West disliked such uncertainty and created formulas and magic circles made of runes.
“Can I break my current limit just by correcting my mindset?”
“In theory. If not, casting the curse of madness on yourself is also a good thod.”
“You're saying that swinging power around like the berserkers of the North without being able to tell front from back is a good thod?”
“But it imbues emotion into the curse astonishingly well.”
The Youngest Son shook his head and changed the subject.
“I'm looking for high-grade curses. One with a wide range, and one with strong power. I'm looking for two like this. Is there anything you can recomnd?”
“The answer will differ depending on what you're facing.”
“A Magic Dragon.”
“…Follow .”
At the short answer, Kapus quietly guided the Youngest Son.
As I walked into the darkness from which he had erged, the books on the bookshelves beca fewer and the dust beca thicker.
“It's embarrassing, but among the high-grade curses recognized by that fastidious librarian here in the Great Sorcery Archives, there isn't one that my hand hasn't touched.”
After a hollow laugh, a natural self-praise followed. Two books were caught in his hand.
“Furthermore, since you are a vampire blood relative like , Your Highness, and can also handle curses, I would like to recomnd these.”
“Give them to .”
“However.”
His hand holding the books moved a hand's breadth away.
“Curses bring the fastest power to the user, but the side effects are also great. High-grade curses don't just end with waste products.”
Kapus's pale index finger tapped his temple.
“It drives people mad.”
“So what. In the end, you're going to test , aren't you?”
“This is unavoidably carried out because I do not wish to harm the Queen's descendant with my curse, so please forgive generously.”
That was a lie.
I could tell from that pure smile.
Wasn't this just a curse veteran getting giddy at the appearance of a newbie?
“Go on. I'll play along.”
The veteran, being treated like a novice after a long ti, gladly decided to answer.
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