Chapter 100: Curse

Rallaka was very optimistic about this grand scheme.

Ever since he signed the deal with the one who tricked him into becoming a dungeon boss, he had always felt like he had begun this silly 'evolution' plan that went out of the scope he controlled. Like his body was no longer his and had a completely different working system than what he understood of himself. It changed without notifying him in any way, sort, or form.

At first, it was a very bizarre feeling that led to him being dispirited and somewhat negatively affected. However, now that he was much more stable and was able to meet someone like Aria, who opened the doors to him getting more resources, things were looking up to him.

Now, he was prepared to do a mass scale absorption. This entire dungeon was about to be sucked in by him. The forests, the dead bodies, all of that could be converted as 'life'. Because they all contained a hint of magic, he would be able to gain so much more than normal, when he could only absorb the corpses due to them being the only ones containing 'life'. The previous dungeon were all comprised of rocks, with no life in sight.

This dungeon was different. He was able to set up a collection point that he could freely manipulate to gather the energies just in time before they had to leave the dungeon. He wanted to maximize the time frame, knowing that absorbing everything would be a hefty process that took up a lot of time.

He came back because he sensed that the fight had ended, but didn't expect such a sight to greet him once he arrived. Alena was down on the floor and suffering, while his master was at a loss and couldn't tell what was happening.

Rather than the dungeon enemies giving them trouble, it turned out to be their own internal conditions that set them up for a disaster.

"Hey there, if it was a normal disease, do you think I would be asking you what it is? I would've known if that was the case. Come on, even though you're supposed to be a Great Spirit, you haven't actually given me any valuable information I don't know, have you?" Aria huffed her breath, her eyes tired as she gently combed Alena's strands of hair.

"No.. I didn't mean it like that. By abnormal, I mean.. it's not a disease you are supposed to get judging from the conditions. Well- in truth, it's not even a disease. So the matter about you 'healing' this case wouldn't be possible," Rallaka said, his tone serious as he got closer to the collapsed child and observed her status.

Alena's black marks were still prominent and even tried to spread its influence throughout the rest of her skin.

"..If so, then what is it?" Aria paid attention to Rallaka as he spoke.

"A curse.. A sinister curse. When did you say she got this condition?" Rallaka trailed the girl's blistering marks and covered it with his magic to investigate further.

"Five years ago," she answered, having asked the child this same question before she collapsed.

Rallaka let out a sound of surprised, but quickly calmed himself down and started to explain his viewpoints on this matter.

"Five years ago.. The dungeons shouldn't have existed, and the System also hadn't started to work. But do you know something? Five years ago, I was already inside my dungeon, being trapped inside with no visitors at all. Like me, the monsters I placed on the dungeon were sent gradually and lived a life inside that cramped up place," Rallaka sighed. "I don't know exactly what caused this curse, but I can tell you that it's not something a human would be capable of doing. It's impossible for a powerless human from five years ago to execute, and it's also not possible for this little girl to have developed the curse on her own. It had to have been placed on her by some unknown person.. an unknown entity who wants harm to inflict her,"

"As you know.. Curses don't only plague the target, but also the caster. These kinds of strong curses needs a sacrifice of some sort. It couldn't have been carelessly placed. I don't know why this girl got such a stroke of bad luck, or who exactly she offended to be granted such a condition, but this particular ailment will be hard to dispel even for high leveled skills. Unless we find out the perpetrator and force them to spill what they had sacrificed for the curse, and dispel it using.. the destruction method,"

The Destruction method. It was a rather well known solution for dispelling curses. It was quite forceful, and involved getting the caster to essentially rewind the curse by sacrificing the same price he paid in addition to the caster's everything. Their life, their possessions, their soul, it will all be incinerated. Only by doing that will the curse gain the ability to be dispersed.

If the caster was dead, however, this method could be transferred into another source of payment. They had to obtain an item that the caster had strong attachments to, figure out the price range he paid somehow, and reverse the curse by themselves.

It was a simple process if listed down in words, but to do it in reality would be challenging since the curses wouldn't have left any traces on who the caster was unless they came to face the perpetrator and sensed a resonation from the curse.

Aria wasn't all that knowledgeable about curses because it was hard to get the in depth information on this subject. Normally, she could only come across some rough documentary and notes about specific curses. There were so many types and methods of curses that diagnosing one was very hard to begin with.

But aside from that, Aria's attention went to another section on the meaning Rallaka's words implied.

"Wait, wait, wait. You.. are you telling me that.. even before this world was attacked by the gates, people with powers already roamed about?" Aria furrowed her brows. "Five years.. Her first condition was five years ago. There weren't any reported people with powers, but.. what if these people sprout out before the dungeons even started appearing?" Aria questioned.

"..That would indeed seem to be the case here. If else, I don't know how to explain the things that are happening to this child," Rallaka heard Alena's pained cries and wanted to soothe her, but was unable to find means to do so. "There is absolutely no way a normal person with cursing powers could attempt this. The perpetrator has to be a truly.. talented being,"

After keeping the silence for a couple minutes, he finally got an answer to the dilemma they were facing.

"Aria. I sensed the presence of a high ranked Ice spirit just now. It couldn't have been you, so it must've been this child's doing, right?" Rallaka excitedly brought up, thinking that he had finally came across a hope.

"..Right. She has a puppet named Ilyin, but the spirit isn't too susceptible to the puppeteer magic, so she has to suffer from backlash each time she calls the spirit out. Is there something about it?"

Aria's confirmation fueled up Rallaka's emotions even more, but it disappeared into smithereens in seconds the moment he realized that it wasn't going to work smoothly. There were consequences. Harsh consequences.

"It's going to be very risky, but this child's life force is slowly dimming out. If we don't take actions right now, she's not going to survive in the outside realm.." Rallaka grimly said. "If the curse is still active, then when she is taken out of an environment with high mana concentration, then the effects will worsen. The curse will run amok and destroy her mana circuits. Then, she could truly be considered dead,"

"I think that.. the ice spirit could be used in this situation. Whether or not this girl's constitution could last through it, however, is a different story,"

"So.. we have little choices to work with here. Either we take the risk and possibly make her suffer through the pain of a thousand deaths or let her die peacefully... by doing her a favor and taking her life," Rallaka stated bluntly, although the contents of his words were heartbreaking.

"That.. can't be," Aria's eyes trembled as she couldn't focus her mind straight. "There aren't any other ways?"

"No. This curse is probably a grudge curse. These types are very troublesome, even high ranked spirits could be entangled in these and not be able to get out of it. The curse lasts as long as the target lives, unless it is broken. The caster will have to pay a high price.. and sometimes even borrow the help of Dealer Spirits to channel the curse. Even if the caster dies, the curse stays on. It has to be powered by intense emotions and will, which typically stems from a grudge, hence why it's called a grudge curse," Rallaka explained.