“What the fuck are you?!” he screamed.
Amber raised her brow at that, she figured the man would have known her class already, but it seemed that that wasn’t the case. She glanced at the room and saw the dead knight, she hadn’t seen his death but she was well aware the man had given him a painful death. And now, she was going to do exactly the same.
“I’m not really a fan of doing this, but I’ll make sure your death is painful,” she spoke simply.
“What?!” The man raised his staff. “Don’t speak to me that way— [Bind]!”
Amber looked down as she saw the binds from before, but this time all she did was— step forward and they broke apart as if they were paper. The man’s eyes widened for a moment and she used the 3rd Rank of Quick Step.
In a blink, she arrived behind him and used Cursed Supreme Momentum, swinging her sword with a burst of speed. The man’s eyes went wide and he side-stepped but even then part of his arm was cleaved. Blood splattered and he took numerous steps back clutching his arm.
“This doesn’t make sense! Even a normal Cursebearer would be overwhelmed by that attack!” he cried.
“Is that so?”
Amber used Cursed Stomp and some cuts appeared across the man; he seemed to be rather resistant to curses but she didn’t care about that. She capitalized on him being discombobulated and arrived at his side with the use of Quick Step. It was enough of a gap for her to grab his arm, and—
“[Deflect]!” he called.
Amber held him and slammed him against the ground. The man coughed and she raised her foot and used Cursed Stomp again— this time right into his rib cage.
His ribs shattered in a single moment, being pulverized as he took the full brunt of the attack. The man coughed up blood and screamed in pain. He looked up gritting his teeth and in response, Amber raised her sword. But just as she was about to stab down, he whispered, and with a tap from his staff, he appeared across the room.
“I don’t—” He coughed, almost falling. “What are you?!”
Amber was confused. “A Cursebearer, your worst enemy.”
“Nonsense!” He waved his hand off. “Even if you were, you shouldn’t be able to survive that! A Cursebearer has a limit to how many curses they can absorb, that would exceed anyone’s!”
“Is that so?” Amber tilted her head.
“You monster!” he shrieked raising his staff. “Fine, if curses won’t affect you, then I’ll do this— [Summon]!”
Amber blinked and watched as numerous circles appeared on the ground, they were a sickly purple and evidently, they were demon summoning circles. Amber watched as the first demon seemed to be emerging from it— it was akin to a naked man but with red skin and horns, and Amber— dashed.
She appeared in front of the demon whose eyes went wide and then— she stabbed. Her sword pierced through its throat and with a swing, it was decapitated. Its head flew, and her Cursed Cleave-laced slash hit another demon that was just being summoned.
Amber turned her gaze to the rest of the room where there were still a dozen of them and she made her decision. She could use Flamethrower but that would certainly be boring and she wouldn’t learn anything from it. So instead, she used Cursed Cleave again and beheaded the demon afar, then with Quick Step and Cursed Stomp she stunned five demons at once.
Amber sent a flurry of slashes that easily defeated another five demons, the 3rd Rank of Cursed Cleave making everything trivial. But even then, another six demons were summoned and the man laughed with glee.
“You certainly lack firepower in area attacks! Kill her!”
And with his orders, all six demons jumped on Amber and she shook her head. They were all slightly under level 100, and yet— Amber raised her sword— they were weak.
“Flamethrower.”
She whispered and a sea of red flames engulfed them as she slashed. The crimson deluge disappeared as soon as it came, not lasting more than a second, but when it cleared, all that remained were the ashes of her enemies. She turned towards the mage, he was supposed to be strong.
[Mage. Lvl. ???]
And yet he seemed terrified of her. He backed off apprehensively, his eyes widening at her.
“Those flames are cursed, everything on you is cursed— you…” He gritted his teeth. “You are the same woman that messed with the Risnar family aren’t you?!”
Amber smiled at that. “The one and only.”
He spat on the ground. “You greatly delayed our plans, but no matter. It is time for revenge, it is time for me to put an end to you once in for all.”
She raised her brow at that and a moment later he raised his staff up high, his fist facing the ceiling as it the staff began to glow a purple light. Amber wasted no time and rushed, she swung at the man but a purple barrier blocked her hit. It didn’t so much as crack, and the man met her gaze with a smile.
“Let me show you the peak of demon magic!”
He screamed and a moment later, Amber noticed the man’s skin was becoming ashen and rugged, horns were beginning to grow out of his head by the second, and he spoke.
“The next stage, a way to ascend beyond humanity, one that doesn’t require a Legacy Branch!”
With his words, his body shifted and Amber even heard his bones crack. He was clearly powering up and yet— she just let him. And the reason was simple.
“This is my [Ascension].”
With those words, the barrier fell down. He had long black horns that matched the sclera of his now golden eyes. His skin had become gray and his strength had increased. The man laughed looking at his hand and then turned to Amber.
“It’s time for round two!”
In a single moment, he dashed and Amber swung—
It happened in a blink, first was blood, then there was a scream, and a moment later the sound of something hitting the ground. Blood dripped onto the ground and it wasn’t Amber’s. The man was clutching the stub of what had once been his arm. It clearly didn’t make sense to him as he backed off, gritting his teeth.
“H-how?!”
Amber shook her head and began to walk towards the man, he panicked and knelt for his staff that was on the ground. The reason she allowed him to do it, is because nothing would change. He grew stronger physically, and perhaps got more mana— but his spells, his magic— it all remained the same.
Amber watched as the man grabbed his weapon, all while she kept the same pace of walking towards him. He scrambled and raised his staff to attack her.
“[Dismember]!”
She felt the curse ripple through her body and do absolutely nothing but heal her. In fact, every single curse made her feel better. The man gritted his teeth.
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“[Distort], [Break], [Annihilate]!”
Numerous powerful curses passed through her and did absolutely nothing. The man began to panic, swinging his staff wildly as he cast more and more spells.
“[Tear], [Discombombulate], [Destroy], [Kill]!”
Her steps were drowned by the rapid casting of the mage, but he continued backing off until— he hit the wall. He looked at her with fear and screamed.
“[Fireball]!”
Amber was engulfed by flames that singed her skin, but the burns basically disappeared in the time it took her to raise her sword.
“You know, that attack that tore apart the room?” she asked and the man’s eyes flashed with surprise. “It felt really refreshing, almost as if I took the best nap of my life.” She smiled.
The man’s eyes widened in absolute shock and then— she swung.
His head went flying with a splatter of blood, and Amber shook her head. A thud sound echoed from his head hitting the ground, and another followed signaling that his body had met the same fate.
And just like that, he had died.
[You have defeated a [Mage. Lvl. 140].]
For defeating an enemy 20 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!
Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group.
She ignored her notifications for now, intending to look at them after the battle was done. But, she had reached level 122 from that. Instead, she turned towards Ave, who had already tended to her wounds.
“I don’t suppose that was their leader?”
“Of course not,” she snorted. “They are further inside.”
Amber nodded at that. “You know, I thought you were stronger.”
“And I thought you were weaker,” the knight said back. “However, it is a fact that most people fare poorly against curses, me included. Especially against such a strong curse user.”
Amber nodded at that.
Then she turned to the dead knight, staring at him for a few moments.
“How many rituals do you think are left?” she asked the captain.
“That I don’t know, but shouldn’t be many with all the extra help.”
Amber nodded. The reinforcements had long arrived after all.
“I’ll be counting on you to deal with all the curses,” she stated. “So, I’ll be in your care, Amber.”
Amber lightly smiled and then turned toward the end of the hall. Knights were fighting in the other room, and this time, Amber wasn’t going to let them die. Without pause, she began to run in that direction.
“Let’s go then.”
The captain followed after her, and just like that, she was now leading the charge, more knights joining after her moments later.
* * *
His name was Xander, unlike a lot of his fellow knights, he was someone of common birth. But ever since he could form his own thoughts, he knew that he wanted to be a knight. That it was his calling. But it wasn’t easy, his parents couldn’t afford any kind of training equipment. So he trained with a wooden branch, and when it gave out he found another one, and another—
He spent endless nights training and trying to reach for higher levels of strength, and eventually, it paid off. He saved a wealthy merchant from some monsters, even though it had been a brutal fight, he came out on top and as a reward, he asked for a sword. From there, he slayed monsters, participated in swordsmanship tournaments, and eventually, proved himself in recruitment.
And from there, it was history. He fought in the tower and became a Royal Knight, a knight that directly worked under the king, and with such a job title he was able to grant a better life to his family. To the family that raised him and encouraged him, to the family that gave him advice when he needed it. There wasn’t a single night where he didn’t think about them.
And even now, in his final moments, he thought about them.
He thought of his mama, the woman who gave birth to him and taught him how to write and read. Even though they were poor, his mama had been from a wealthy family; she eloped to be with his papa. His papa, on the other hand, was an honest man. He chopped wood for a living, nothing else, and nothing more. And yet, even though he had such a simple job, Xander admired him.
When he woke up for training, his papa was outside chopping to the moment he went to sleep. It was something he had never seen before, and something he had to convince his papa to stop due to worsening health. Now, he was the head of the household, the one responsible for ensuring that his family was safe.
Though, now that didn’t matter. Now he was going to die.
At least, the king should give my family financial aid after my demise.
Everything he had done, everything he worked for, had been for his dreams, but also— it had been to take care of his family. And Xander didn’t regret it.
He smiled clutching the open wound in his stomach. It was bad, and worst of all his flesh was actively dissolving due to a powerful curse. His remaining time in Vir was numbered, and that was fine. Though—
His vision began to fade.
He was hoping to live long enough to see the cultists have their heads bashed in. They were near the main room at this point, their large force had torn through a large chunk of their hideout. Unfortunately, however, that didn’t seem like it was going to happen— and a crimson blast engulfed his vision. He squinted his eyes before a voice brought him to reality.
“Drink this, it’s a High Quality potion.”
He immediately chugged the liquid, even if he had already drank one or two potions, it didn’t matter. He was going to cling to his life with every last breath. His eyes slowly opened and he saw the silhouette of a woman right in front of him, her face wasn’t visible but he could’ve sworn she was like an angel.
His vision recovered a moment later and— it was the woman warrior that had accompanied them. It was the friend of the Primordial Spirit, the girl that had joined them at the last minute. He remembered doubting her, thinking she was too fresh, thinking that she must have gotten lucky to befriend a Primordial Spirit.
He even remembered thinking she wasn’t worth any respect — after all — so long as she didn’t get killed, it’s not as if the Primordial Spirit would do anything. But now, in a single moment, his perspective of her shifted. She was unscathed. On such a battlefield, she had yet to sustain injuries and yet she was in the front lines.
Xander’s eyes grew wide and then he saw a shadow—
“Be careful!” he spat some of the liquid in his mouth.
She shook her head, forced the vial on his mouth again, and then— raised her arm. A sword was brought down, it cleaved well into her arm and she snorted. With a maneuver that he was barely able to detect, she pulled the sword and slammed the cultist onto the ground, incapacitating him immediately.
Xander didn’t understand, but he was forced to drink until nothing remained. And once that was done, she turned towards the room. It was still the same battlefield except three people were coming for her.
He thought she was done for, but she parried one of the swords and then cut the man’s arm off without her blade even touching him. Then, with a punch of her fist she broke the sword of a different man before pulling him close. The third person, the mage fired a powerful curse that struck his companion.
Then Amber pushed them forward and then aimed her sword before torching them alive.
Xander couldn’t believe it, he would have struggled to fight all three at once and yet she did it effortlessly. And then— a purple blast engulfed her. His eyes widened and then— she emerged unscathed.
The woman vanished and appeared behind the mage that had cast the spell. Her sword went through his back, stabbing him in the heart and killing him. And then there was silence.
Xander blinked as he realized something, all the enemies had died and the knights— his companions — were… alive.
He craned his head and watched all of the reinforcements arrive, and he knew that the demon cultists were as good as over with so many knights near the center of it all. The main ritual was going to be stopped.
Then, he looked towards Amber, the browned-haired woman, and as she sprinted into the darkness followed by the rest of the reinforcements, he couldn’t help but feel deep admiration towards her. She was his savior— she was the savior of all the knights that were present here. And more than anything, she was the one that was going to put a stop to this all.
She was going to be the savior of the capital.
* * *
Oracle smiled, while more knights had arrived, that was only a trivial thing. Emil was out there dealing with them, unlike his other disciples Emil should have no problems dealing with the Royal Knights. After all, even if the knights were over level 140, Emil had the advantage of wielding curses as his weapon.
He was essentially the perfect counter to all those pesky knights. While eventually he’d meet his demise, Oracle was sure that Emil wouldn’t go down without a fight, greatly delaying the knights in the process. And even then, he thought that Emil was more likely to survive than to meet his demise, which meant.
“The ritual will finish without a hitch,” he spoke, glee in his voice.
Now, it was only a matter of minutes before the Demon of Genesis was summoned, and when that happened, the new era would begin.
He smiled looking at the people around him, every single person here was gathered for a single dream, a dream of a better future, a dream where humans were their own gods. And it was now coming to fruition.
It was simply—
And the door across the room exploded, knights burst into the room and— one of his members was pierced by a flaming sword being wielded by a brown haired woman, interrupting the ritual in a single blink. Oracle recognized her as he felt rage well up inside of him.
It was the same woman that had intervened with his plans in Laria, the same woman that had killed the Risnar’s family heir, and the woman that had just ruined his ritual—
“Amber the Cursebearer!” he screamed.