'... it's finally gone.'
After thoroughly examining his creation, this was the conclusion that he came to. That grey ray of light had vanished entirely, all of its power worn away via endless refractions.
'Initially, I wasn't too sure what this attack truly was, but by now, I'm almost certain that it was a curse.'
After understanding the surrounding forces and circumstances of the second round–especially the upper limit when it came to cultivation stages–Theodore felt confident in this judgement.
The Heavenly Succession's restrictions wouldn't be allowed to be circumvented, therefore somebody of far higher personal power who could attack him in such a manner could not exist here.
There was always the possibility that an extremely potent and special Talent was responsible for it, but that too was unlikely. After all, it would also necessitate the capability of detecting him as well as the threat that he posed in advance, and from a different part of the event venue.
'Then there's the fact that no other attacks of this sort have come my way since that initial assault. It's a trademark sign of a curse!'
Although there were countless different kinds of curses, they all had a few things in common. In general, whilst someone was already burdened with a curse, no others would follow in its wake. There naturally were some curses that did attack their victim multiple times–or even endlessly–but it was still just a singular curse at the end of the day.
Amongst the Named Families, Pillars and Supreme Pillars, there were quite a few which specialized in this sort of covert warfare. Because of this, an unspoken consensus had been reached countless eons ago: If one's target had already been cursed by someone else, then one wouldn't interfere.
This wasn't because they were trying to be good sports about it, but rather due to the fact that recklessly coming into contact with whatever curse had been forced upon a person by unknown parties could backfire. It was a matter of self-preservation.
To those who dabbled in these arts, it was very simple to discover whether or not someone was currently laden with a curse. Therefore, whenever they detected this, they would steer clear and hope that they wouldn't have to dirty their hands themselves.
The reason for this was quite straightforward: Every single curse required for a price to be paid by the initiator before it began to affect the target. Of course, there were a number of techniques that allowed one to benefit in some ways after a curse proved successful, else far fewer families would have devoted themselves entirely to this kind of practice.
'Now that I've survived this first one, it's possible that the same person or group will try again. Alternatively, someone else could make an attempt on my life. Fortunately, I still have a third save point to play with.'
Pretty much every day, he had been making sure to lock in his progress in this manner. So even if he ended up biting the dust again, he wouldn't be forced to return to the end of the first round, unless something went unprecedentedly horribly wrong.
'I'll stay vigilant for now. However, I doubt that many will still be 'wasting' their time on me this far into the second round. They would have to keep track of my status regularly to figure out that I'm now fair game again, and they could spend their days far more productively than that.'
With Improved Threat Perception in his back pocket and his reliable intuition, he would very likely take note of any further plots against him. They were inevitable, and would eventually arrive–but there was no need to let these potential dangers dominate his thoughts and alter his plans.
'Enough about this. Time to make some more progress!'
With the Holos Acclimation Stage's Core Connection Realm around the corner, he was eager to take another step forward.
-----
Ever since he had been tasked with imprecating Theodore Winter by his older brother Firouz, Daniyal had been hard at work. Obviously, he absolutely didn't want to lose his own life on this, which was why he had done his utmost to ensure that his curse would be as lethal as possible, cutting off all potential paths of escape.
At the same time, he was aware that he would at most cause his target to lose a layer of skin. Either, the single use life-saving item would be activated, or some sort of Talent would be triggered. If his vastly more gifted siblings were tasked with this, then there was a chance of truly resolving the threat of the Winter Saint in its totality. But ultimately, the Nefrin Family's ace in the hole wouldn't rashly waste his treasured 'ammunition' on a 'small fry' like Theodore if there was no real need for it.
With a terrified yet resolved expression on his face, Daniyal awaited the beginning of the second round. All of his preparations had been made, and the instant that the competition resumed, he would try to catch the other party unawares.
'It's my best and only shot.'
Firmly determined, he counted down the seconds, then immediately activated the curse the very moment that he was finally able to do so. Feeling almost the entirety of his amassed power, Energy and life force drain away in a fraction of a second, he staggered backwards before lowering himself into a seated position and closing his eyes.
He could feel the emotionless gaze of Firouz lingering on him and the five other siblings who had been chosen to contribute this time. It filled him with both a sense of security–as he wouldn't need to worry about any surrounding threats–as well as suppressed hatred and a hint of dread.
However, there was no opportunity for him to get lost in his emotions. He needed to be fully focused on his task if he wanted to avoid anything going awry.
'So far, so good...'
Finding that his devastating attack had been launched successfully, he was on tenterhooks as he awaited the result. Not much later, he felt some sort of feedback, indicating that his target had been struck–and then this sensation disappeared without a trace, as if it had never even existed in the first place.
'Huh!? What's going on? Didn't it make contact? Was I just imagining that?'
Although his mind was filled with confusion, try as he might, he never actually managed to figure out what had occurred. Eventually, he reluctantly came to the rational conclusion that it all had to have merely been in his head.
'... but come to think of it, this Theodore is really astonishing. How did he manage to evade my curse for this long?'
As the minutes trickled by, he furrowed his brows, a highly uncomfortable feeling wrenching his gut. No matter how outstanding someone was, at their current stage of power, they shouldn't have the ability to run away from his means for this long. Either, he should have failed, or he should have succeeded. This in-between state was anything but the norm.
Unbeknownst to him, two of his siblings had already dropped dead, very evidently not having erased the lives of their targets. They never even had a chance to resist, having flown too close to the sun. Meanwhile, the other three had awoken with smiles on their lips, practically glowing. The Nefrin Family's Cultivation Technique was considerably high-risk, high-reward–and their gamble had paid off.
By now, Daniyal was the sole one still locked in a tug of war with the one who he had been tasked to get rid of. Because of this, he stuck out like a sore thumb.
"This Theodore Winter isn't simple. If Daniyal doesn't succeed, you'll be going after him next round, Nader."
Taking note of the anomaly, Firouz raised an eyebrow, then turned to face his second least favourite brother, who was still rejoicing at the fact that he had made it through today's ordeal.
"U-Understood, brother!"
Taken aback, Nader didn't dare to speak up for himself. Instead, he internally prayed for Daniyal's success, any and all relief at his own hard-won, continued survival evaporating on the spot.
Days came and went, and the situation began to feel increasingly absurd. The pitiful Nefrin descendant was very slowly losing more and more of his last remaining remnants of Energy and life force, withering away in plain sight. There was no way to stop the curse, and to keep it going, it had to be 'fed'.
'This doesn't make any sense! It's clearly still chasing after him, but it hasn't caught up. Is this a test of endurance!? And the one who gives out first loses?!'
Wanting to cry but not having the strength to shed a single tear, Daniyal's expression progressively worsened. Even as someone with plentiful illusory life experience and a resilient mind, he slowly felt despair creeping in, strangling him insidiously.
He wasn't unfamiliar with death, and had been on its doorstep–nay, even beyond it–a fair number of times. However, this excruciatingly slow sense of wasting away with no hope in sight was still devastating. At some point, he wasn't even sure what kind of swift end to all of this that he was wishing for the most. Anything that would put him out of his misery became increasingly tempting.
In his distraught state, the exact amount of time which had passed was impossible to keep track of, and every second felt like it got stretched out into eternity. Had it been a week since the new round had begun? Or two? Maybe five? Or a year? A decade? A century? He genuinely had no clue.
One day, he suddenly felt the last vestiges of his sanity snap. After teetering on the edge for what had seemed like ages, it happened without any warning, or any drastic, immediate changes. From one moment to the next, his coherent thoughts became a jumbled mess, unable to make a lot of sense of anything that he was experiencing.
The curse that he had initiated should have grown unstable at this point, but due to some very unfortunate 'miracle', he instinctively kept it all together perfectly. If it wasn't for his body having grown too emaciated and weak, then a creepy grin would have stolen itself on his lips.
Ultimately, his 'eternal' hell did come to an end, as the curse fizzled out without ever having hit its target. Thereupon, Daniyal–or rather, whatever was left of him–collapsed to the ground, attracting the attention of one of his siblings, who had been tasked with keeping an eye on him.
"... he's still alive, but barely."
Muttering to himself, the black-haired man employed all healing methods at their disposal, but came up empty. Eventually, he had to admit that none of this would work at all.
"He's still more fortunate than the others, at least he'll have another chance."
Sighing to himself, he helped his unconscious brother activate the single use life-saving item on his person, feeding it with his own Energy. This would leave him weakened for a time, but it was absolutely vital for them to find out what exactly had gone wrong with this particular curse, therefore he was more than willing to pay such a small price.
'... why is he smiling so strangely?'
As Daniyal's body was being reconstructed to its peak state without any issue, the weird grin on his face immediately caught his attention. Feeling that something was profoundly wrong, he was just about to distance himself when he suddenly halted in his tracks... and dropped dead.
'One down, many more to go. Firouz, you better wash your neck!'
Giggling to himself silently, Daniyal rose to his feet. Gone were his usual restraint and any concerns that he normally would have had. The one who had forced him into this dead end was his older brother, and nobody else had spoken out against it. Why shouldn't they all die for this?
But even insane as he was, he knew that he couldn't take them all on immediately. He intended to dispose of the corpse and pick them off one by one in secret.
Right as he knelt down to search his brother's remains for anything of use, he felt overwhelming fear grip his heart, even surpassing the terror which he had been immersed in throughout his 'eternity'. There was only one thought fully occupying his mind, firmly suppressing his desire to take revenge and his irrationality: Run!
"... what a waste."
Glancing at the never once fired 'ammunition' on the ground with a hint of annoyance, a sigh escaped Firouz's lips. Daniyal's panicked flight was inconsequential in his eyes. With a single wave of his hand, his dud of a sibling was wiped off the face of the earth.
'There is no reliable information to be gained from a madman. Considering what just happened, my original plans will have to be revised. It would be best to ignore Theodore Winter for now and hope that somebody else can take him out instead. Only if he's still around in a couple of rounds will I involve myself again.'
Knowing when to take a step back to avoid unnecessary losses, Firouz returned to his residence, shutting himself away from the hustle and bustle of the second round for the time being. Most in positions like his would leave all of the legwork to their Subordinates and family members.