Chapter 1042: The Magic Curse
“Your healing ability… stopped working?” Nightingale’s eyes cut to Maggie. “Was Lightning hurt by a Senior Demon?”
“Coo…” Maggie mumbled.
“What?”
“No.” This time the word was clear. “It was me. I pecked her on the chest. Coo.”
Roland and Nightingale exchanged a look, then asked together: “What happened? From the beginning.”
After Maggie finished, Roland pressed his fingers to his brow.
According to the pigeon, Lightning had been frightened by a demon—something that looked nearly human—which had stared directly into her eyes from a distance while she was testing her new ability. Roland could not easily picture how a demon managed to fix its gaze on a witch moving at the speed of sound. The detail sat uneasily beside everything else that had emerged recently: demons fighting demonic beasts on the snowfield, the revelation that skeleton monsters were manufactured weapons. None of it fit neatly into what they thought they knew.
Maggie had pecked Lightning to rouse her from the trance. Without that, she would have kept flying forward into the enemy’s reach.
As for why the wound would not close—Maggie’s beak had nothing to do with it. She had neither the ability to cause such an injury nor the inclination to harm her best friend. So the cause lay elsewhere.
Roland exhaled slowly. Before Lightning had left, he had said, more than once, that safety was the priority. Had told her not to use her new speed to venture into dangerous ground. But she was an explorer’s daughter, and the urge ran too deep.
Not the time to reproach her. He needed to understand what had been done to her.
He sent Nightingale for Wendy, Lily, Agatha, and Nightfall—the last to plant a Seed of Symbiosis in Lightning, so any accidental injuries during the examination could be caught. By evening, when Lightning finally woke from her coma, the examination was complete.
“You’re saying she’s uninjured?” Roland glanced at Lightning’s pale face where she lay curled in Wendy’s arms.
“She passed out from exhaustion—prolonged flight.” Agatha kept her voice level. “Nightfall can confirm it. After planting the Seed of Symbiosis, she felt no discomfort. Lightning’s body is healthy. The coma was mental in origin. A few days of rest and she’ll recover.”
“And the wound?”
“That is what I need to tell you.” Agatha lowered her voice. “The problem is in her magic power. When I examined her with the Stone of Measuring, I detected a feedback that did not belong to her.”
Roland waited.
“Magic power is everywhere. To use it, a witch must cohere it—make it her own. After awakening, cohered power takes a characteristic shape, like a cyclone. The same is true for demons, but the signature is completely different. Through the Stone, a witch’s power reads clear, like water. A demon’s reads muddy.” Agatha paused. “The foreign feedback inside Lightning reads exactly like a demon’s.”
A chill moved through the room.
“You’re saying the demon corrupted her magic power without touching her?”
“How is that possible?” Nightingale said. “I can distinguish different types of magic in the mist. If she’d been eroded, I would have seen it.”
“It’s small—far smaller than Lightning’s own power. Easy to overlook.” Agatha shook her head. “I’m reporting what the Stone of Measuring found. Whether to call it an erosion, I can’t yet say.”
The implication arrived without difficulty. “You’ve never seen this kind of ability before.”
“No. Many demons can affect opponents through their eyes—Fearsome Demons do this. It is not strange that a Senior Demon would have such a capability. Demons, unlike witches, can acquire new abilities by absorbing Magic Stones. Their range is broader.” She considered for a moment. “But I have no record of an ability that prevents healing. If the foreign feedback represents a small quantity of the demon’s power attached to the wound itself, that would explain everything.”
It would explain Nana’s failure, too. Healing a wound was one thing. Dispelling a demon’s embedded power was another matter entirely.
“Can you remove it?”
“I don’t know,” the Ice Witch said, plainly. “Ordinarily, a God’s Stone of Retaliation can nullify magical effects. But a Senior Demon’s power may not be ordinary.” She raised a hand before he could speak. “And before you ask: don’t cut out the wound. If the power can expand with the injury, the cut will remain open after surgery, and her recovery will only be harder.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Let her stay in the Third Border City for now. Observe how it develops. Pasha knows more of the old records than we do. She may find something.”
Roland nodded.
He crossed to the bed. Lightning looked up at him, and something in her face buckled—the careful composure of someone who had been holding steady and found the weight suddenly heavier.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry—I…”
“You don’t have to apologize.” He touched her head. “Rest. I promise I’ll find a way to cure you.”
She pressed her lips together, trembling, and held back the tears by force of will alone. After a long moment, she managed a yes.
Three days later, the Taquila witches sent word. Roland went to the Third Border City inside the North Slope Mountain with Nightingale and Wendy.
Pasha received them at the entrance of the main hall.
“How is she?”
“Much better. Elena has been with her these past days—telling stories from the Dream World. The little girl has almost managed to stop thinking about the Senior Demon.” Pasha’s tone carried something like warmth. “Today she even flew a few circles inside the hall with Maggie. The wound doesn’t seem to limit her movement at all.”
Roland let out a slow breath. He had kept Lightning’s injury quiet—known only to a small circle. He had not told Thunder, not wanting to pile more weight onto a father already far from home. But he could not hide her absence much longer.
“Have you learned anything about what the demon did to her?” Wendy asked.
Pasha’s tentacles moved, a gesture Roland had come to read as careful deliberation. “Celine re-read all of Taquila’s literature. There is no record that matches what Lightning described. We believe it is a new ability—something the demons have developed that the Union never encountered.” She paused. “That said, we have found older records of something similar in effect. Something that resembles it closely enough to warrant the comparison.”
“What?”
“We call it the magic curse,” Pasha said, the words measured and firm.
Chapter 1042: The Magic Curse
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“Your healing ability… stopped working?” Nightingale was startled and then turned to look at Maggie. “Was Lightning injured by a Senior Demon?”
“Coo…” Maggie mumbled.
“What?”
“No…” She replied. This time they finally heard what she said. “It was me. I pecked on her chest, coo…”
“What?” Roland exchanged a surprised look with Nightingale, and then they asked simultaneously. “What happened at the time? You’d better tell us the story from beginning to end.”
After hearing the whole story, Roland knitted his eyebrows tightly.
According to Maggie, Lightning had just been terrified by a mighty demon who looked like a human being. It had looked directly into her eyes from a distance to intimidate her when she had been trying her new ability. Roland could not help wondering how the demon managed to stare at a witch flying at the speed of sound. This sounded even more incredible than the news about the demons fighting the demonic beasts on the snowfield and the new discovery which suggested that skeleton monsters were also a kind of weapon.
Maggie said that back then, she had just wanted to wake Lightning up by pecking at her. Otherwise, she would have kept flying forward until she bumped into the enemy.
As for the reason why Lightning’s wound remained unhealed, it probably had nothing to do with Maggie. She was not capable of causing such an injury, and even if she was, she would never hurt her best friend Lightning.
Given that, they decided to give the little girl a thorough examination to identify the cause.
Roland sighed secretly. Before her departure, he had told her repeatedly that safety was the most important thing and had warned her that she should never take advantage of her new capability to go deep into a dangerous place. However, it turned out that as a daughter of an explorer, she just could not control the urge for exploration.
Roland knew that it was not a proper time to reproach Lightning. Now, he needed to find out where the problem was.
He asked Nightingale to fetch Wendy, Lily, Agatha and also Nightfall who could plant the Seed of Symbiosis in Lighting in case that some accidental injuries would happen during the examining process. In the evening, when Lightning finally woke up from her coma, the witches finally finished the examination and told Roland the results.
“You mean she’s all right?” Roland gave a hasty glance at Lightning’s pale face when she was curling up in Wendy’s arms. “She doesn’t look alright, does she?”
“She passed out of exhaustion caused by the prolonged flight. Nightfall can prove it. After she planted Seed of Symbiosis in Lightning, she didn’t feel any discomfort. That means, her body is healthy and her coma only happened for some mental reason. She’ll recover after resting a few more days.”
“What about the wound?”
“This is exactly what I wanted to tell you next,” Agatha said in a low voice. “Her problem is in her magic power. When I checked her power with the Stone of Measuring, I felt a hint of feedback that didn’t belong to her.”
“What… do you mean?” Roland was puzzled.
“As you know, magic power is everywhere, but if you want to use it, you must make it your own first. We call this process cohering. After awakening, the magic power cohered inside our bodies will look like some objects, such as a cyclone. This is also true for demons. However, a demon’s magic power looks completely different from a witch’s. Seeing through the Stone of Measuring, a witch’s power is clear like water while a demon’s power looks muddy.” She paused for a moment before adding, “The different feedback I received from Lightning’s body looked exactly the same as a demon’s power.”
Roland was shocked, as this matter seemed to get quite tricky now. “Do you mean that the demon somehow eroded Lightning’s magic power without touching her?”
“How is this possible?” Nightingale asked. “I can easily distinguish different types of magic power in the misty world. If she was eroded, I’d be able to see it.”
“It’s too small compared to Lightning’s magic power, and thus can be easily overlooked.” Agatha shook her head. “I just told you the test results of the Stone of Measuring. As for whether it’s an erosion, I can’t be sure now.”
Roland quickly understood the implication of Agatha’s statement. “You’ve never seen this kind of ability before, have you?”
“No, many demons have similar capabilities and are able to affect their opponents with their eyes, such as Fearsome Demons. It’s not a strange thing that a Senior Demon has this kind of ability. After all, unlike witches, whose ability types are determined during their awakening, demons can get new abilities by absorbing Magic Stones. However, I’ve never heard about such an ability, which could stop the wound from healing up.” Agatha thought for a while. “If the feedback came from a small amount of magic power that the demon attached to the wound, everything would make sense.”
“Indeed, that also explains why Nana’s healing ability suddenly became ineffective. She can heal wounds, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s able to dispel a demon’s evil power,” Ronald thought and then asked, “Do you know how to remove this power from Lightning?”
“I don’t know,” the Ice Witch replied plainly. “Normally, a God’s Stone of Retaliation can eliminate effects of the magic power, but this Senior Demon’s power isn’t that simple.”
“Since it may work on the wound, how about we remove the wound and the flesh around it first and then heal the cut?”
“No, I suggest you don’t do that. This small wound isn’t deadly, but what if the demon’s evil power can expand with the wound? In that case, the cut will still remain unhealed after the operation, and it’ll be even more difficult for Lightning to recover,” Agatha vetoed the suggestion immediately. “In the next few days, we’d better let her stay in the Third Border City and observe her changes. Pasha knows more than us. Maybe she can think of some way to dispel the demon’s power.”
“I see.”
Roland nodded and slowly walked to the bed.
Seeing him, Lightning dropped her head and sounded as if she was about to cry. “Your Majesty, sorry…I’m…”
“You don’t have to apologize.” Roland touched her head. “Have a good rest. I promise I’ll find a way to cure you.”
Lightning sobbed and trembled, trying her best to hold back her tears. After a long time, she finally managed to squeak out a yes.
“Good.”
…
Three days later, Taquila witches informed Roland of Lightning’s recent situation.
Right after receiving the message, he went to the Third Border City inside the North Slope Mountain together with Nightingale and Wendy.
Pasha received them at the entrance of the main hall.
“How’s Lightning?”
“She feels much better now. Elena has been taking care of her these days. By telling the little girl her interesting experiences in the Dream World, she made her almost forget about her encounter with the Senior Demon,” Pasha said with a smile. “Today, Lightning even flew a few circles in the main hall with Maggie. The small wound on her chest doesn’t affect her actions at all.”
Hearing that, Roland breathed a sigh of relief. At present, he still kept Lightning’s injury as a secret, which was only known to a small number of witches. He had not even told Thunder about it, lest it caused stress and anxiety for him. However, he could not hide her forever since her disappearance would inevitably cause everyone to worry and bring even more attention to this matter.
“Have you figured out what the Senior Demon did to her?” Wendy asked anxiously.
Pasha waved her tentacles. “Celine has re-read all the literature left by Taquila but still can’t find a record that matches her experience. Given that, we reckon that it must be a new ability of the demons. We’ve never seen this ability before but we’ve found some similar abilities. In fact, based on its effect, we think it resembles a very rare ability.”
“What’s that?”
“We call it the magic curse,” Pasha replied in a measured but firm tone.