At the Fiera Clan Estate.
Aeon and Ines were both suspended in mid-air as the curse aggressively rushed inside Aeon's body. The terrifying sight was enough to send violent chills down anyone's spine.
Elizabeth, Zennid, and Cato watched in horror as the curse took over Aeon's physical form. The grotesque, shadowy body of the Root Devouring Tree Curse aggressively forced its way inside him, making the scene incredibly gruesome to witness.
Thick, black tentacles of the curse forced their way into Aeon's mouth, ears, and nose. Elizabeth was furious as she saw the tormenting state of her student. She clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, and she gritted her teeth until her jaw ached. Her face was a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.
"Just how long do I have to watch this ugly thing torment my student like this?!" Elizabeth demanded in seething vexation.
"You need to hold back, Headmaster. The curse still hasn't completely left Ines's body. When it stops coming out from her mouth, we can save both of them," Itzayana said, standing tensely beside Elizabeth.
"It is more gruesome to watch something like this than seeing a monster ripped apart from the inside out," Zennid muttered, his fists trembling. "It is still hard to believe that a thing like this was living inside my daughter's body."
"This is fascinating," Cato thought, his eyes gleaming with greedy intrigue. "What those poeple told me was true in the end."
He continued his internal monologue. " My initial plan was to 'save' Ines and use it as leverage to marry her to my son, Damian. That way, I could use her massive mana pool and this ancient curse for my own research. I wanted to disguise my actions, secretly sealing the curse inside her body while showing Zennid that I had saved her. But Elizabeth and her damn student ruined everything. Because of this old hag Elizabeth, I lost the Doroka clan that was working undercover for me, and now I am losing Ines as well."
"I cannot let it happen. I must take the curse. When it fully comes out of Ines's body, I'll attack it and seal it for myself," Cato plotted.
After a few agonizing minutes.
The thick, cursed fog that was pouring out of Ines's mouth finally stopped. As the last trace of the curse left her body, the magical suspension broke, and she fell heavily to the floor.
BAM.
"Ines!" Zennid shouted, immediately trying to run toward her.
"Stop!" Itzayana warned sharply. "Kayle is still up there, and the curse is still in the air. First, we need to destroy the curse!"
Elizabeth, who had been waiting for exactly those words, quickly raised her hand to unleash her magic. But before she could cast her spell, Cato launched his power.
A massive, venomous hand made of toxic aura moved rapidly toward Kayle.
Seeing Cato attacking the boy, Zennid shouted, "Cato, what are you doing?!"
"Saving the boy," Cato replied with a smirk.
BOOOOM.
A massive blast occurred. A blinding flash of poisonous green light covered the room.
As the flash died down, everyone looked toward Kayle.
But they were utterly surprised. The curse energy had stopped Cato's attack. The venomous hand he launched was completely nullified; the curse had formed a dense, black shield to protect Kayle's suspended body.
With a shocked look on his face, Cato muttered, "How can this be possible? I didn't use my full power, but that wasn't an attack that can be blocked so easily."
With sudden rage in his eyes, Cato attacked again. This time, his venomous aura violently twisted and turned into a giant snake dragon, lunging straight at the curse.
ROOAAAR.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
This time, the impact was so tremendously powerful that it completely blew the rooftop off the three-story building. Every single warrior of the Fiera Clan and the Xoppica Clan stationed outside heard the massive blast.
"This is the Patriarch's mana," Tryphaina said from the courtyard below, looking up at the shattered roof. "Let's go!"
On the top floor, the rooftop had been obliterated by Cato's attack. A massive cloud of dust particles and debris filled the environment.
Zennid ran straight to Cato and aggressively grabbed him by the collar. "Are you trying to kill the kids?! My daughter was right beside Kayle! Cato, if anything happens to Ines, I swear I will destroy the entire Xoppica Clan!"
"Shut up and look over there," Cato sneered, pointing his eyes behind Zennid's back.
Zennid turned, and as he did, his eyes widened. The curse energy had once again formed a shield, but this time it was even bigger and thicker than the last one, entirely shielding both Kayle and Ines from the destruction.
The shield slowly dissolved, and the giant, grotesque Cursed Eye floated in the air, glaring down at Elizabeth, Zennid, and Cato.
"Just what kind of existence is this?" Itzayana asked in sheer horror.
"It took my two attacks as if they were absolutely nothing," Cato said, his shock quickly shifting to desire.
They were right. With this curse, I can be invincible. I can complete all my dreams, Cato thought, a twisted smile forming on his face.
"Zennid, I will take care of this curse. In the meantime, move Ines away from there," Elizabeth commanded, her voice turning as cold as ice.
"Okay," Zennid agreed.
"Hey, I am also here," Cato chimed in.
Elizabeth, Zennid, and Cato stood side-by-side, looking up at the Cursed Eye hovering in the air.
Elizabeth's eyes turned a deep, dark blue, radiating absolute frost. She raised her hand gracefully.
FROST BLADE.
Dozens of razor-sharp blades made of condensed, freezing ice shot toward the Cursed Eye.
The Cursed Eye rapidly launched its thick tentacles to block the incoming Frost Blades.
BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM.
Amidst the chaotic clash, Zennid dashed toward Ines. As he got close to her, one of the curse's tentacles abruptly shifted shape, turning into a massive black Axe, and swung brutally at Zennid.
Zennid didn't falter. He simply raised his bare fist and punched the incoming Axe.
BOOOM.
He tore the cursed Axe apart with just his sheer physical force.
POISON STRINGS.
Cato launched his attack next. From beneath the floorboards, countless highly toxic, venomous strings shot upward and tightly bound the curse in place.
Finding the opening he needed, Zennid ran to Ines, scooped his daughter into his arms, and powerfully jumped from the ruined floor.
JUMP.
BAM.
Zennid landed heavily on the main training ground right before the mansion.
"Father!" Ren came running toward him, accompanied by dozens of Fiera Clan warriors.
"Take Ines," Zennid ordered, passing her over.
"Yes," Ren said, carefully holding his unconscious sister.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM.
A massive bang erupted from the ruined rooftop. Everyone on the ground turned their eyes upward. From within the thick smoke, the giant Cursed Eye came crashing down. Kayle's body was still tightly bound by its dark tentacles. Right behind it, Elizabeth and Cato came flying down in pursuit.
BAM.
They landed gracefully on the training ground.
Every warrior of the Fiera and Xoppica clans immediately surrounded the area. They all stood on the vast stone training ground. In the center was the humongous Cursed Eye with its writhing tentacles holding Kayle, and circling it were the warriors, Elizabeth, Zennid, and Cato.
"What is this, Father?" Ren asked in horror, stepping back.
"The curse that was placed on Ines. It has now transferred to that boy," Zennid explained grimly.
"So this is the damn thing which was tormenting my little sister," a strong voice came from behind.
Ren turned and saw a man wearing a red Fiera Clan warrior suit with a blue belt tied around his waist. He was heavily built, with a sharp, piercing look in his eyes, and he held a long spear firmly in his grasp.
"Brother Hans," Ren said in relief.
"Ren, take care of Ines. Father and I will take care of that thing," Hans declared confidently.
Ren took ines to safe place.
Both father and son stood side-by-side, their auras synchronizing. Then, they charged at the exact same moment.
Zennid moved fast and closed to gap.
[Fiera Style, Wind Fist Technique, 8th Level: Void-Fist: Still Air]
Zennid used the high-tier Fiera martial arts. The air surrounding Zennid's fist was completely removed, creating a perfect vacuum. Because there was absolutely no air resistance, Zennid's punch reached the speed of light.
Then.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
A massive shockwave exploded. The stone ground was violently ripped apart, the surrounding air pressure vanished, and the cursed tentacles binding Kayle instantly burst into nothingness from the sheer, devastating impact of the punch
.
"Hans, now!" Zennid roared.
Hans used his father's shockwave to jump high into the air. He reached the perfect height where he had a clear view of Kayle falling.
[Fiera Style, Water Spear Technique, 1st Level: Point Drill]
Hans's spear became completely coated with pressurized, rotating water. He launched his spear downward like a high-speed drilling machine
.
BOOOM.
Hans's spear pierced straight through the Cursed Eye, blasting a massive hole through its center. The remaining tentacles lost their grip, and Kayle's body was finally released, falling limply onto the ground.
Elizabeth immediately ran toward Kayle.
But then, the curse started rapidly regenerating itself. A large, dark circular orb generated out of nowhere and completely covered Kayle's body.
"No!" Elizabeth shouted in panic.
The dark orb wrapped entirely around Kayle's body, trapping him inside it once again.
Seeing Kayle getting trapped right before her eyes made Elizabeth snap. Her anger boiled over.
FROST LAND.
Instantly, the entire Fiera estate started freezing over. Feeling the terrifying drop in temperature, Zennid shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Everyone, move!" he commanded.
All the warriors of the Fiera Clan and the Xoppica Clan ran as far away from Elizabeth as possible
.
The entire massive training area, the stairs, and the surrounding walls were frozen solid in an instant
.
"Thank God she held back," Cato muttered, shivering slightly.
"What do you mean she held back? She froze the entire training ground and the stairs in a second!" Tryphaina argued, frantically knocking the creeping ice off her legs.
"If she had truly wanted to, she would have frozen the entire Fiera mansion and the mountain behind it," Cato said, his eyes narrowed. "She didn't get the title of the strongest 8th-circle mage for nothing."
Hearing her father's serious tone, Tryphaina realized just how unfathomably strong and capable Elizabeth truly was.
– – –
Inside the dark orb.
Aeon was lying comfortably on the ground. The tentacle that had been shoved down his throat pulled out. The Cursed Eye floated close to Aeon's body and started staring at him intently.
After a few seconds of silence.
"Just confirming if I am dead or not, aren't you?" Aeon said calmly.
Then, he simply clenched his palm.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The Cursed Eye cried out in sudden, submissive pain
.
Aeon casually stood up from the ground and dusted himself off.
"Elizabeth has frozen all of the training ground," Aeon observed, sensing the mana outside. "Well, it's expected from the Ice Sage."
He looked directly at the trembling Eye. "Now I should end this. When I absorbed this curse inside the consciousness space, I completely took over it. So, it has to obey my every command. Don't you?"
The Cursed Eye nervously bobbed up and down, nodding.
"I can feel that Bellatora can no longer do anything," Aeon calculated. "He tried to forcefully break the curse, but I had already taken over the curse's core inside the consciousness. What everyone outside just saw was merely the theatrical act I prepared. Now, no one will ever doubt me, and it bought me the perfect amount of time to deal with Bellatora. I held the curse in my palm and didn't let him break it forcefully. Now, I don't feel the link between me and Bellatora at all... he must have exploded from the immense power gathered in his heart."
Aeon smiled, a chilling, perfectly calculated expression. "Now, Ines is saved, and I have decisively dealt with Bellatora. There is only one last thing for me to do," Aeon said, looking deeply at the Cursed Eye.
"You're going to help me with it, right?" he asked the curse.
The Cursed Eye saw a literal devil in Aeon's smile and cried out in pure terror.
– – –
Outside the orb.
Elizabeth moved urgently toward the frozen dark orb. She pointed her index finger, and a highly condensed ice needle formed on her fingertip. She pressed that needle against the surface of the orb.
Break.
The orb instantly shattered into countless pieces of dark glass. As it broke apart, Elizabeth rushed inside. Before her, Kayle was lying motionless on the ground. As she took a frantic step toward him, a rogue tentacle suddenly appeared from behind her, aiming to strike.
Freeze.
Without even looking, Elizabeth froze the tentacle solid. "I am not in a mood to play around," she stated with a voice colder than the ice itself.
She reached Kayle's body. He was lying face down on the ground. Elizabeth carefully and gently picked him up. She touched his face, frantically examining his front to see if he had any fatal wounds. Finding none, she moved her hand behind his head to support his neck.
Suddenly, her fingers touched something wet and hollow.
Zennid and Cato also rushed over to Elizabeth's side.
"How is he, Elizabeth?" Zennid asked with deep concern.
"Where is the curse?" Cato demanded, looking around greedily.
But Elizabeth didn't answer them. She was completely frozen.
THUD.
A small, sickening sound of something plucking out of flesh was heard by everyone in the dead silence.
"What was that?" Zennid asked, his eyes widening.
Then, Elizabeth slowly brought her hand out from behind Kayle's head.
Everyone widened their eyes in absolute horror. The thing which had been stuck in Kayle's back head fell to the ground—it was a sharp, broken tentacle, as sharp as a finely honed blade. Elizabeth, her hands trembling violently, quickly turned Kayle's head to look.
What she saw was utterly terrifying.
Aeon's head was bleeding profusely from behind, and a small, deep hole had been pierced straight into his skull.
Elizabeth's eyes turned dark. The shock and grief instantly morphed into something apocalyptic.
Just then...
Whoosh
.
The severely injured Cursed Eye quickly darted out from the shadows, appearing right before the eyes of Elizabeth, Zennid, and Cato.
The curse was desperately trying to flee. Seeing the very thing that had just 'killed' her beloved student trying to run away, Elizabeth—who was already lost in deep, traumatic shock—could no longer hold herself back. Something inside her completely snapped.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH.
A terrifying, overwhelmingly powerful surge of freezing mana exploded from her body. Elizabeth slowly lifted her gaze to the sky.
The gentle snowfall in the atmosphere instantly stopped mid-air. The natural wind started flowing backward, twisting unnaturally. Then, slowly, the speed of the wind increased to a catastrophic level.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The fleeing Cursed Eye was forcefully dragged back down toward the earth because of the sheer, crushing wind pressure.
Everyone on the ground was suddenly having a very hard time just keeping their feet planted.
"Hold onto something so you don't get swept away in the tornado!" Zennid shouted over the roaring wind.
Zennid and Cato quickly backed far away from Elizabeth. They both had to cover their faces with their arms as the violently swirling snow rapidly transformed into a massive, destructive Ice Tornado.
"Shit! She completely lost her mind after seeing that boy injured like this!" Cato thought, grinding his teeth. "If this continues, I'll lose my chance of capturing the curse. I need to take it by force right now!"
He aggressively thrust his hand toward the trapped curse. But suddenly, a massive, impenetrable ice wall erupted out of the solid ground, completely blocking Cato's view and path.
"How the hell can she control her power so precisely in this chaotic state?!" Cato shouted in utter frustration.
The Ice Tornado grew exponentially in size. The Cursed Eye was trapped right in the dead center, unable to move a single inch. Then, from within the swirling vortex, hundreds upon hundreds of massive ice spears were generated, all aiming directly at it.
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD.
Every single spear attacked at the exact same moment. The Cursed Eye was brutally and mercilessly torn apart into absolute nothingness.
Down on the ground, every warrior clung to each other or held onto whatever heavy stone pillars they could find to survive the pulling force.
Finally, the tornado slowed down, and the roaring wind completely stopped.
Every warrior slowly planted their feet back on the solid ground and looked up at the sky in complete awe. The scene was majestic, a terrifying testament to the absolute pinnacle power of an 8th-circle mage.
The Ice Tornado that Elizabeth had summoned was so massive that it had physically torn the winter clouds apart, banishing every single cloud from the sky over Ivic City. The bright sun came to light, its warm rays shining down clearly over the Fiera estate and the city below.
The shredded remnants of the Cursed Eye started vanishing into the air like dust. The fading eye looked down at Aeon one last time.
On the ground, Aeon lay perfectly still in Elizabeth's trembling arms. Secretly, where no one else could see, he slowly opened his left eye and looked up at the dying curse.
Looking at the sky, he gave a small, highly satisfied smile and subtly showed a thumbs-up from behind Elizabeth's back.
The Cursed Eye saw Aeon's thumbs-up. Realizing its torment under this absolute devil was finally over, it vanished into the air, almost happily.
"So... this is the true power of an 8th-circle mage," Tryphaina whispered, her dual-colored eyes wide with disbelief.
From Elizabeth's side, a desperate scream broke the silence.
"Bring a healer! Bring healing potions right now!" Elizabeth shouted, her voice breaking.
Zennid came running to her side instantly.
"How is he, Elizabeth?!" Zennid asked, panic in his voice.
"He's alive! He is still breathing. Quickly, fetch a healer or a priest!" Elizabeth cried out, pressing her glowing hands to his wound to slow the bleeding.
"Ren! Hans! Take the kids inside the mansion immediately and bring every single healer within the city to the estate!" Zennid roared his orders.
"Yes, Father!" they shouted in unison.
Ren and Elizabeth carefully took Ines and Kayle inside the warm mansion, while Hans sprinted off with maximum speed to gather the healers.
Everyone else quickly left the ruined training ground. Only Cato, his clan's warriors, and Tryphaina were left standing amidst the frozen destruction.
Cato stood perfectly still, silently clutching his fists so hard his gloves creaked.
"Patriarch... are you okay?" Tryphaina asked cautiously.
Cato slowly turned his head to Tryphaina. "Do I look okay?" he hissed venomously.
"That bitch Elizabeth got in my way again! Because of her, I completely lost my chance to take the curse!" he shouted, his composure finally breaking.
"What do we do now, Patriarch?" Tryphaina asked.
Cato took a deep breath, forcing his raging anger down. "That boy, Kayle... the curse put a literal hole in his head, and Elizabeth completely destroyed the main body. Ines is also free from it now. We can only do one thing..." Cato said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "...Hope that there is still a tiny trace of the curse left inside their bodies to extract."
With a sweep of his Baraboon-scale coat, he turned and moved toward the Fiera mansion. Tryphaina and his warriors quietly followed him inside.