Chapter 82

“Uaaah… I think I’m going to die.”

Orgin looked at the long-eared human writhing on the ground, making sounds of suffering.

The high elf Saraswati was holding her head in pain, overwhelmed by a headache and hallucinations.

The elf’s beautiful face was marred by traces of blood from her mouth and nose, and her once high-quality green clothing, which was rare to see in human cities, was now dirty and ruined as it lay on the ground.

In contrast, Orgin appeared unharmed and composed, which made it clear to anyone nearby that Saraswati was the one suffering.

However, Orgin’s face was tense as he watched the elf rolling in front of him.

Even Orgin, who looked vaguely fearful, saw Saraswati quiet down slightly and attempt to stand up, ceasing her moans.

“H-ha… ha-ha…”

The situation that had repeated countless times since the battle began was now before Orgin.

“… No… no more…? The magic from the east.”

Despite her defeated state, Saraswati asked with a smile if there were any other spells left, and Orgin felt an indescribable madness emanating from her.

What had caused this?

Just moments ago, Orgin had labeled the sudden appearance of this creature as an enemy.

As soon as he judged that the unannounced Saraswati was an extraordinary being, he halted the ‘Collective Madness Spell’ he intended to unleash on the originally hostile humans, instantly marking Saraswati as his top priority for exclusion.

Thus, after crossing over to the west through Algul’s shadow, he selected a curse from the powerful charms he hadn’t used since then and cast it directly on Saraswati.

Using such a powerful spell to curse someone was something Orgin had reserved solely for beings of extraordinary caliber among the direct subordinates or blood relatives of other Einherjar within the Eastern continent.

Yet, he had utilized valuable charms against an enemy he faced for the first time without a moment’s hesitation.

This instinct and intuition, forged over more than a hundred years of living as Algul’s bloodline in the ominous eastern continent, led Orgin to realize Saraswati’s essence.

She was no mere direct subordinate or bloodline of an Einherjar.

She was comparable to, or perhaps superior to, the Einherjar themselves.

Foolish individuals who were deceived by her beautiful and fragile appearance would not survive in the Eastern continent.

Those who could not see the essence would inevitably be hunted by those masquerading as the weak.

As the charm shattered, a horrifying curse engulfed Saraswati.

Yet, Orgin thought that until that moment, things were not so bad.

For even as the curse enveloped Saraswati, she showed no signs of resistance or action.

Curses were, in essence, a mass of energy and will that harmed living beings, a force that any normal life form would instinctively detest.

Yet, she felt no abnormality and merely awaited the curse to cover her.

There was a strange sense of expectation in his gaze, which made Orgin uneasy, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

‘She must have become dulled to danger, having grown complacent.’

Orgin scoffed at Saraswati.

Compared to the immense effort, mental strength, and power required to merely survive in the Eastern continent, this Western land was far too comfortable.

The sentient beings, as well as the beasts, were astonishingly tamer here compared to the Eastern continent.

If one possessed the omnipotent power of an Einherjar in such a place, it would be difficult to experience threats to one’s life.

‘If things go well… maybe I could devour her.’

As Orgin watched Saraswati’s enormous potential and essence reflected in her, he felt exhilarated.

That essence remained intact, still naïve as an Einherjar.

How sweet of a tale was that?

Though slightly tainted by the curse, if he could consume her flesh and blood and claim the mana and essence within, he could rise to a level near that of an Einherjar.

It might even be good to use his leftover fingers to create another charm to replace the one he’d consumed.

“Cough- Hic- Hehehe- Hic- The fragrant beauty… it’s a thought.”

Saraswati, overwhelmed by Orgin’s ‘Curse of Collapse,’ made a grotesque expression and emitted strange sounds.

“… What…?”

She received the ‘Curse of Collapse’ head-on without any preparation.

What sort of curse was ‘Curse of Collapse’?

The beasts that become charms experience indescribable pain until their deaths.

Physical suffering was basic, but the mental torment of being forced to watch their offspring being devoured by other beasts was even worse.

The endless torture continued until the beast, consumed by hatred and denial of the world, perished.

In most cases, creatures lost their will to live and died long before reaching that stage, so only the strong and noble beasts who could withhold their degradation long enough survived to become the target of the ‘Curse of Collapse’.

The negative thoughts left behind by such beings that deny the world would, in turn, deny the very existence of the one cursed.

As their existence was denied, the moment they were consumed by the curse, their being collapsed.

But Orgin’s panic wasn’t caused solely by that.

Saraswati was an overwhelmingly powerful existence.

Even if she were a charm made from a beast with outstanding sensory abilities, Orgin had not imagined that he could destroy her entire being.

If she were a strong being, surely she would endure somewhat.

“What…! What are you doing?!”

The long-eared one wasn’t merely holding on.

Blood trickled from her nose and mouth, and despite her beautiful green eyes being bloodshot, they were filled more with curiosity than pain.

It seemed as though she was observing ‘something’ with those eyes.

‘She isn’t just overpowering the energy!’

The energy emanating from the long-eared being didn’t resist the ‘Curse of Collapse.’

Instead, it delved into the curse, analyzing it like a healer examining wounds.

Despite bleeding from her nose and mouth, Orgin felt it.

His curse was being analyzed and countered.

‘This is dangerous!’

Feeling threatened, he had unleashed one of his strongest curses.

If such a curse were easily dispelled, he couldn’t guarantee the effectiveness of any other spells.

His judgment and execution were swift.

Orgin freely pulled forth magic and began chanting.

As the charms crumbled, their power flew toward Saraswati each time, and with each one, she exclaimed “Ooh,” accepting the curses as they were.

Once the previous curses had ensnared her body, she began her ritual, shaking her staff as if calling for a simple offering.

A massive spell, achieved through a ritual akin to the ‘Collective Madness Spell,’ was solely focused on Saraswati.

Was it arrogance, or was it confidence?

Having accepted over twenty curses with her bare body, Saraswati finally began to writhe in pain.

It was no single curse, but a multitude intertwined.

It was like frost descending upon snow.

To deal with each curse one by one would be manageable, but a barrage of curses would leave no room for other spells.

The completed loop of malice.

From the start, it wouldn’t even give one an opportunity, and with such a curse, even her father Algul wouldn’t easily be able to break it.

Watching the writhing Saraswati, Orgin pulled out a sharp stone knife he had crafted from a rock.

It was a ceremonial stone knife for cutting open the belly of sacrificial offerings to present their hearts to the fallen warriors.

Not showing any sign of negligence against an existence that showed such an uncanny appearance, he thought to finish her off in her moment of weakness.

While he couldn’t absorb the essence since she was drenched in curses, he intended to make her heart or another part of her body into a charm to compensate for the loss.

But just as he tried to approach with the knife, Saraswati’s hand suddenly shot upwards, and a foreboding intuition flashed in Orgin’s mind.

Zheng-!

The space that had existed moments ago began to ripple and froze, sucking away the surrounding temperature.

“Ah… the sensation… is wonderful…”

Seeing Saraswati raise her face slightly to look at him while spitting up blood, Orgin was horrified.

As a sorcerer performing such rare magic, he realized.

Magic is ultimately just a charm filled with prepared thoughts or a phenomenon re-cast into reality through rituals, based on the shared history collectively remembered by a group.

But this extraordinary feat was carried out too effortlessly, without preparation or cost.

That power resembled that of an Einherjar or even greater beings.

It brought to mind the power of Elder Roa.

‘It can’t be! There’s no way anyone can perform such an act without a cost. Surely something’s amiss!’

He shook off the ominous thoughts that crept into his mind and awaited an opportunity, gripping the stone knife tightly.

However, despite her writhing in agony from the curse, a moment in the dangerous realm brought forth fire, coldness, and sharp winds.

And after a brief period, Orgin gazed in astonishment as Saraswati stood up with a blank expression.

Having accepted all the charms and spells he had gathered in a single moment, this long-eared creature wore a chilling smile and asked, “Are there no other spells?”

This creature, who casually acted wildly driven solely by curiosity, could only be fittingly described as a manifestation of curiosity.

As Saraswati took a step forward, Orgin realized, unknowingly, that he was backing away.

“… What…? Is it over?”

At that moment, Saraswati staggered.

“Ah… Did I overdo it a bit?”

Her remark changed Orgin’s expression.

So that monster had indeed found it burdensome to bear all those curses!

In that case, it was possible that he had a chance!

Just as he thought this, the space surrounding Saraswati began to ripple once more, just as it had before.

But this rippling did not produce flames like when it approached him, nor did it freeze the air into ice, nor did it create sharp winds that tore through space.

Beautiful particles of light began to cling to Saraswati.

Suddenly, her once brutally scraped skin, the claw marks from her suffering, the blood vessels that had burst and bled, and the necrotic skin all returned to the pure, pristine complexion it had initially possessed.

Only the bloodstains and the tattered clothing remained, proving the traces of the curse.

Orgin, watching the miracle unfold with a look of disbelief, could do nothing as Saraswati began to loosen her tense body by turning her neck and shoulders.

“… Ha. Aarti is going to scold me for getting my clothes dirty.”

Letting out a weary sigh as she looked at Orgin, he flinched and took a step back once more.

“Still, knowledge is something that becomes yours only by experiencing it rather than just seeing and speaking. It wasn’t that remarkable.”

Despite her disheveled state, Saraswati spoke with grace, and Orgin halted his backward retreat.

“… It was nothing remarkable…? My curses?”

“Ah? Well… the method itself was novel since it was the first time I encountered it, but… it was exceedingly primitive.”

Saraswati shrugged her shoulders.

Of course, it didn’t look good with dried blood flowing from both nostrils.

“You… you… how could you… know of my curses…?”

Her tone seemed to stab at Orgin’s pride, leaving him momentarily speechless, but Saraswati regarded him with a look of disdain.

“It seems like you yourself are the one who doesn’t understand what you wield.”

Saraswati extended her palm forward.

On that palm, the same rippling from earlier began to emerge.

“Whether it’s my method or your spells, fundamentally, we both use the same essential resource that forms this world: ‘mana.’

What differed between you and me was merely how well we understood this mana.

Mana is an all-purpose substance. Its characteristics are determined by what it is ‘observed’ as and how. This ripple is a distortion caused by the mana, which began to manifest in the phenomenal world according to the images I envisioned.”

Saraswati continued her explanation, in a chatty manner, and then sighed.

“I have a younger sister who’s so outstanding that it’s almost laughable. Since she was born, she has been accumulating this mana in her body and has created a theory of manifesting phenomena and thoughts through her physical form. Moreover, not only her foundational theory but that she has also applied it to achieve further depths.

Thanks to her, by the time I want to do something, she usually takes credit for half of it, and it’s been tough for me to find something else?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Yet I am also the greatest genius! For I am Saraswati. As I strive day and night to gain new inspiration, I find that for low-level sorcery, I can glean most of its workings after just one experience.”

Saraswati snapped her fingers with her thumb and middle finger, continuing her explanation.

“You, have you never once failed in the spells you’ve written yourself?”

“Of course not!”

“Oh? That wasn’t intended as a compliment.”

The smile vanished from Saraswati’s face.

“Then that must mean you used the curse recklessly without a plan.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I told you. A curse is, after all, just another way to use mana. If you were to endlessly deconstruct the essence of the concept of a curse, it would amount to ‘a collective thought that denies the essence of the opponent.’ But what happens if that curse fails? Would it vanish? I think differently… Oh? Has it already begun?”

“Cough—cough cough—wh-what…?”

Orgin’s vision swayed.

His sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell became chaotically intertwined.

Chills, heat, sweetness, spiciness, bitterness, the stench of blood, nausea, sharp pains, and a heavy pain that felt like it would crush his bones.

In addition to that, a multitude of negative sensations dominated his entire body.

“Is it a bit painful?”

A bit? Was this labeled as ‘a bit’?

Did he not have the power to even blink through such pain?

“Shall I continue what I was saying earlier? Those targeted by curses aren’t mere inanimate objects; they are ‘observers that constitute a thought.’ The curse negates the existence of such observers. But even if the one casting the curse fails to negate the essence of such an observer, the mana that has transformed into the ‘denial of existence’ fails to achieve its purpose. So where does that curse end up? The mana observed through the curse only remembers two entities: the cursed target and the one casting the curse.”

Orgin looked down with a cold gaze at Saraswati, who gazed back at him.

“The next target is the ‘observer that failed to negate the other observer’— the caster of the curse itself. A valuable lesson learned. If you wish to curse someone else, you must also be prepared to receive a curse yourself. Oh? Have you already died?”

Orgin gradually melted away into a black, viscous liquid due to the last of the numerous curses, the ‘Curse of Collapse.’

As the pungent stench of his dissipated remains overwhelmed the surroundings, Saraswati pinched her nose and stepped back.

“Ugh… the smell. This cleanup is dreadful, so curse magic isn’t really my taste. While my knowledge has increased, it doesn’t seem particularly useful.”

Saraswati scratched her head and sighed.

“At this rate, when will I ever surpass Araya’s achievements…”

She didn’t harbor any inferiority complex like her younger brother might harbor towards Araya, but still, as an older sister, wouldn’t she want to uphold her dignity?

“That guy Algul seems a bit dangerous though.”

However, with a knockoff elf following around like a puppy, nothing truly dangerous should occur.

After dissecting the remains of Orgin, which was now polluting the ground, Saraswati surveyed the battlefield.

While many areas were being cleaned up, her gaze fell upon one spot, causing her to furrow her brow.

“What are they doing, idly in the middle of this chaos?”

At the end of Saraswati’s gaze were Alia and her younger sister Anya, looking at each other with smiles.

But from a distance, it wasn’t certifiable that their eyes were equally smiling.

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