Chapter 1043: A New Challenge
“A curse?” Roland repeated the word and felt its weight.
“Please come with me.” Pasha turned and led them into an adjacent cave—a library, Roland realized. Grooves had been cut into every wall and packed with books and scrolls. “Celine, His Majesty is here.”
I’m coming. The voice arrived in everyone’s heads before the speaker did. A moment later, a main tentacle snaked from the depths of the cave, swept a cascade of books from a shelf, and immediately retracted into darkness.
Before it vanished, it dipped briefly toward Roland—a nod.
“Ahem. I apologize, Your Majesty. When she finds a new subject of study, the rest of the world ceases to exist.” Pasha retrieved the fallen books with practiced calm. “As we believe it: the demon laid a curse on Lightning, yet she suffered no serious injury. That is itself unusual.”
Roland’s mind caught on subject of study and composed a brief image of laboratory mice. “What does she intend to do?”
“Please be assured. Observation and recording are our principal methods in magic research. With her magic core, Celine can track the movement of Lightning’s power with precision.” Pasha opened one of the books—yellowed pages, old witch script—and indicated two sections. Small paper notes were folded inside at each point. Celine’s translations. “These passages.”
He read.
“In a siege battle during the Land of Dawn campaigns, eight wounded witches were rescued by reinforcements. None of them recovered. Their wounds would not close regardless of treatment. Over time they weakened from blood loss, then from infection. They suffered long before they died. Two chose to end it themselves.” Pasha’s voice was slow and careful. “The records of that battle are fragmentary—even the writer knew little beyond the bare facts. But the phrase ‘the demon’s magic curse’ appears there, for the first time.”
She turned to the second passage.
“The other mention comes from a battle nearer to our own age. In Lakes City, on the edge of the Fertile Plains, a Senior Demon fought the witches’ army. It could attach its magic power to black stone spears. Any witch struck by one began to wither—weakening, fading. The Union named this demon Dementor.” Pasha paused. “It killed three Extraordinaries. Inside each one, the Quest Society found the same strange foreign power.”
“From the demon,” Roland said.
“Yes. We believe these are the same type of ability. A fragment of the demon’s power remains inside the target and causes continuous damage. It cannot be cured by conventional treatment, and it resists elimination.”
“That is why you call it a curse,” Wendy said quietly. “It’s terrible.”
Nightingale had stood still throughout. Now her hands closed slowly into fists. “You said hard to eliminate. That still implies a way.”
Pasha turned to the next page. “If our reading of the records is correct—yes.”
Roland read the rest.
When Lakes City was on the verge of falling, a witch named Samantha had stepped forward to face Dementor alone. In that battle she achieved a high awakening—became a Transcendent. She cleaved the demon in two. And afterward, the curse on her disappeared. She survived. The city fell anyway a year later, the Red Mist too close to hold; but Samantha had bought the time needed for the population to withdraw. She went on to force a restructuring of the Union and built the Three Chiefs system. She was among the first Three Chiefs.
Roland understood.
If Lightning was truly afflicted with a magic curse, the only path to curing her was to kill the demon that had placed it. This was not straightforward. Every engagement at the snow mountain camp and the Northbound Slope had already demonstrated how difficult Senior Demons were to bring down. In open battle, the First Army held an advantage. But a Senior Demon that chose not to fight directly—that stayed mobile, surrounded by soldiers, avoiding a decisive confrontation—became almost impossible to hunt.
For the Taquila witches, the problem had been essentially insurmountable.
Senior Demons were military commanders. They moved with armies. Reaching one—truly reaching it, killing it—required sacrificing far more than any single cursed witch’s life was worth to the Union’s calculations.
He thought of the unknown witch and her letter to Natalia. She had written directly to one of the Three Chiefs. She had stood near the top of the Union. Even she had found no solution, only the final acceptance.
Nightingale’s fists stayed closed.
“It is difficult,” Roland said. “But I will not give up any chance to cure her.”
Pasha was silent for a moment. ”…If that is your decision.”
“Before we plan anything, I need to understand the full scope of this threat.” He kept his voice level. “The Senior Demon Lightning encountered can place a curse without physical contact. If it cursed an ordinary person—not a witch—what would happen?”
Celine’s voice came from deeper in the cave, sudden and precise. “The outcome would be worse. Magic power grants witches enhanced immunity and accelerated healing—this is why we do not fall to demonic plague, which your books describe as bacterial infection. An ordinary person has no such protection. The wound would not close. Infection would follow quickly.”
“Can God’s Stones of Retaliation prevent the curse?”
“They can. Dementor’s ability to kill three Extraordinaries depended on its superior combat strength—had it been unable to overpower them directly, the Stones would have protected them.” A pause. “However, based on Lightning’s description, we cannot rule out the possibility that the demon she encountered is a Magic Slayer. If it is, God’s Stones of Retaliation provide much less protection.”
The most powerful demons resembled humans most closely. Two Battles of Divine Will had confirmed the pattern.
Roland drew a slow breath.
He agreed with Celine. By Lightning’s account, this Senior Demon might be stronger than anything they had yet faced. Killing it would require preparation—more careful, more thorough than any operation they had mounted before.
The expedition to Taquila could not be rushed.
Chapter 1043: A New Challenge
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“A curse?” Roland repeated the word in an ominous tone.
“Please come with me.” Pasha turned around and led everyone into an adjacent cave, where the Taquila witches stored books and scrolls. They had gouged many grooves in the walls of the cave, and it seemed that this library cave had even more volumes than the Secret Temple’s library. “Celine, His Majesty is here.”
“I’m coming.” Celine’s voice rang in everyone’s head before she came out. The next moment, her main tentacle stuck out from the depths of the cave, knocking lots of books off before quickly shrinking back into the darkness.
Before it retreated, it greeted Roland by giving him a nod.
“Ahem— I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Every time she spots a new study object, she’ll get totally absorbed in the research like this,” Pasha explained with a slight embarrassment. “The demon seemed to use a curse on Lightning, but she wasn’t inflicted with any serious injury. That’s indeed a rare thing.”
“What’s she going to do?” The moment Roland heard the phrase, “study object”, he thought of mice used in experiments, who would suffer various unfair treatments in labs.
“Please rest assured. Observing and recording are the principal study methods we use in magic power research. With the help of the magic core, Celine can clearly capture the movement of Lightning’s magic power,” said Pasha while picking up the books that fell on the ground. She opened a book and showed it to everyone. “Look at this here… and here.”
Roland reckoned that this book was probably an ancient book passed down from the Taquila age, since most of its pages had already turned yellow with age. It was written in the witch’s ancient language. Next to the two parts pointed out by Parsha, there was a note tucked inside the book, which explained the content of the ancient writings. Apparently, Celine had already translated these two parts for them.
He took a closer look and found that it was about two battles.
“In a siege battle in the Land of Dawn, eight wounded witches were rescued by the reinforcements, but in the end, none of them recovered from their injuries. Their wounds just could not heal no matter what. All treatments were ineffective on them. As time went by, they became weaker from loss of blood and their wounds got infected. They suffered a lot before death, and two of them even chose to commit suicide,” Parsha said slowly. “This battle happened so long ago that even the writer of the book did not know many details about it, except that this was an incredible incident. The phrase ‘the demon’s magic curse’ first appeared in this story.”
“The other part where the magic curse is mentioned was in the records of a battle that happened not that long ago. A Senior Demon fought a fierce battle against the witches’ army in Lakes City, which was situated on the edge of the Fertile Plains. It could attach its magic power to black stone spears. Once a witch was wounded by such a spear, she would become feeble and wither up. The Union called this cruel monster Dementor.” Pasha paused a moment before adding, “It killed three Extraordinaries, and within all three Extraordinaries, the Quest Society found a strange magic power.”
“And the strange magic power came from the demon, right?” Roland blurted out.
“Yes,” Pasha nodded her main tentacle. “We think these abilities are of the same type. The strange magic power can somehow remain inside the target and cause continuous damage, which can’t be cured by any conventional medical treatment. And it’s also hard to eliminate the strange magic power.”
“That’s why you call it a curse,” said Wendy, sadly. “It’s terrible…”
Nightingale understood Pasha’s implication and asked, “You said it’s hard to eliminate it. Do you mean… there’s still a way to erase it?”
Pasha turned to the next page and answered, “Yes, if what we’ve inferred from these records is correct.”
Roland skimmed through the rest of the story. “When Lakes City was at stake, a witch named Samantha stood out to fight Dementor. In this battle, she went
through a high awakening and became a Transcendent. After she cleaved the demon in half, the curse on her somehow disappeared and she miraculously survived. Samantha tried her best to defend Lakes City, but one year later, the city still fell, since the Red Mist was already too close to the city. Fortunately, she gained enough time for the people to withdraw from the city. After that, Samantha forced a radical change in the Union and successfully built the Three Chiefs system. She herself was among the first batch of Three Chiefs.”
Now, Roland understood what Pasha meant.
If Lightning was really affected by the magic curse, the only way to save her was probably killing the demon who exerted this effect on her. It was not an easy thing. The previous battles in the snow mountain camp and in the Northbound Slope had already proven that Senior Demons were exceptionally difficult opponents. If they went head to head with the First Army, human beings would have a better chance of winning the battle. However, if they deliberately avoided head-on confrontations, it would be very difficult and risky to chase and fight them.
And this was virtually impossible for the witches in the Taquila age.
Senior Demons usually acted together with their armies. As military leaders, they were often surrounded by many demon soldiers. Back then, it had been extremely difficult for the Taquila witches to win a battle against the demons, let alone completely annihilating the enemy soldiers and getting close to the Senior Demons.
Roland could not help thinking of the unknown witch and her last words in her letter to Natalia.
She probably also died from this kind of magic curse.
Since she had been able to write directly to one of the Three Chiefs, she must have been at the upper levels of the Union. But even she had not been able to do anything about the curse except accepting the final outcome of it.
To save such a cursed witch, the Union would have to find and kill the Senior Demon who had inflicted the curse upon her from amongst the numerous demons. During this process, they had to sacrifice even more witches. Apparently, for the Union, saving a cursed witch was not worth the risks and sacrifices.
Nightingale gradually clenched her hands into fists while weighing the gains against the losses.
After a moment of contemplating, Roland said, “Indeed, it’s difficult to kill the demon, but I’ll never give up any chance to cure Lightning.”
“…” Pasha remained speechless for a moment. “If this is what you want.”
“Before we take action, I need to sort some things out. The Senior Demon Lightning encountered has the ability to lay a curse upon anyone without
direct contact. If it curses a common person, what will happen to that person?”
“The outcome will be even worse.” Celine suddenly interrupted. “The magic power gives witches better immunity and greater healing abilities, so we won’t be affected by the demonic plague, which was bacterial infections mentioned in your book. As for common people, they’ll quickly die from the infections since their wounds can’t heal up.”
“Can God’s Stones of Retaliation protect them from the curse?”
“Of course, they can. If Dementor hadn’t been a match for an Extraordinary in strength, it would’ve never caused such huge losses to the Union. However —” Celine paused a moment before continuing, “Based on Lightning’s description, we cannot rule out the possibility that the demon she met is a Magic Slayer. If it is, wearing God’s Stones of Retaliation won’t be very helpful.”
The more powerful a demon was, the more it would resemble a human being. This rule was verified by the Union in the previous two Battles of Divine Will.
Roland took a deep breath.
He had to agree with Celine on this point. According to Lightning’s description, this Senior Demon might be stronger than all the enemies they have encountered in the past.
Given that, to kill the Senior Demon, he would have to plan the expedition to Taquila very carefully.