At Liraeth's side…
Deep violet hands, filled with dark, fog like smoke charged at Liraeth.
She jumped aside, rolling across the dirt to dodge them.
"I can't let those touch me," she muttered under her breath.
One of the hands lunged close — inches from her face. She leapt back, landing on a tree trunk, but another hand followed, swiping upward. Liraeth flipped into the air again.
In midair, two more hands rushed from opposite sides. She landed hard, crouching, just as another hand erupted before her.
"It's pointless to resist them," Gluth's voice echoed, low and distorted.
"These are too fast…" Liraeth hissed, scanning the writhing swarm.
She realized she was surrounded, dozens of those hands closing in like a cage of nightmares.
"Go back to where you came from!" Liraeth shouted, raising her arm. A surge of anti-magic burst out from her, and the dark hands evaporated into mist.
But in an instant, Gluth summoned them again.
"Tsk… no matter how many times I revert them, he keeps bringing them back," she gritted her teeth.
"I'm hungry," Gluth growled. "Why don't you surrender and let me feast?"
"If you want to feast that badly, then feast on my fist!" Liraeth roared, dashing toward him.
"Oh, a yummy feast coming my way," Gluth said with a twisted grin.
Her fist smashed across his face — the impact forcing him to stumble a step back. But in that split second, his clawed hand shot out, grabbing her arm.
"Feast."
Liraeth's eyes widened as she felt her mana being drained, flowing into Gluth like a stream into a void.
"Revert!" she shouted, forcefully pulling her energy back and leaping away to gain distance.
"Taking food from my mouth?" Gluth licked his lips, his grin stretching wider.
"Tsk… I can't get close to him," Liraeth thought, tightening her stance.
"Keeping your distance, I see," Gluth said, voice dripping with mockery. "I know how to make you come closer."
He reached down, grabbing a fallen guard. Liraeth's eyes widened in horror as Gluth began to absorb the man's mana — far beyond his limit — until his skin clung to bone.
"You monster! Leave them alone!" she shouted.
Gluth grabbed another guard.
Liraeth's pulse raced — she knew if she didn't stop him now, all the guards would die.
"Revert!" she cried, trying to restore their mana, but nothing happened. Their bodies fell lifeless.
"Got you now," Gluth sneered.
Before she could react, those hands coiled around her — binding her limbs, holding her in place.
"No—!" Liraeth struggled, but the hands dragged her toward Gluth.
"Now for the main dish," he whispered, pressing his palm toward her chest.
A surge of pain tore through her as her mana began to drain rapidly.
"Revert!" she gasped, trying to reclaim her energy — but the harder she pulled, the faster Gluth devoured it.
Her knees trembled. Her vision dimmed. The strength in her body was fading.
"So… delicious," Gluth murmured, his eyes gleaming with hunger as Liraeth's aura began to flicker and fade.
"The one who drains the mana of others shall be cursed by divine punishment."
A glowing sigil appeared in the air — a cursed word that struck both Gluth and Liraeth like a divine echo.
Suddenly, Gluth's right hand — the very hand he used to drain Liraeth's mana — exploded, scattering blackened flesh and mist. Liraeth fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
From behind them, it was Orion. He stood tall, his eyes glowing with divine light — the curse still humming in the air.
"How dare you!" Gluth roared, clutching his bleeding arm.
Snarling, he grabbed a fallen guard and began to drain mana once again. The guard screamed — until his body withered, his skin shrinking to bone. Gluth's right hand slowly regenerated, while the guard's arm disintegrated into ash.
"What a disgusting spell…" Orion muttered in disgust.
"You'll pay for this!" Gluth shouted in rage.
He summoned his dark hands again and hurled them toward Orion.
"Revert."
With a flick of his hand, the shadowy arms vanished into smoke.
"Did you forget about her?" Orion said coldly.
Liraeth was still lying on the ground, barely able to move — but her trembling hand glowed faintly with anti-magic. She had reversed Gluth's spell once more.
"You can still cast?" Gluth snarled, fury twisting his face.
"If you focus on her," Orion's voice came from behind him, "you give me a perfect opening."
Gluth froze.
"When did he—"
Before he could finish, he looked down — his left hand was already lying on the ground, severed, blood spilling across the dirt.
Panicked, Gluth reached for another guard to drain mana again.
"I don't think so," Orion said sharply.
Gluth's eyes widened — his right hand was gone too.
"One final spell," Liraeth whispered weakly, forcing her body to move. "Reverse!"
A wave of energy burst outward — all the mana Gluth had stolen from the nearby guards surged back to them. Their eyes fluttered open; they were alive, though pale and weak.
Gluth staggered, his body trembling. His strength was fading fast. He fell to his knees.
"Now to finish you off," Orion said, stepping forward.
He raised his sword high — but before the strike could fall, Gluth's right arm regenerated again, lashing out and catching Orion's blade mid-swing.
"What—?"
Before Orion could react, Gluth shattered his sword with one brutal squeeze. Shards of metal scattered across the ground.
Orion jumped back, but Gluth lunged, grabbing him by the chest.
Only his right arm had returned — yet its power was monstrous.
"You didn't touch anyone… how did you absorb mana?" Orion demanded through gritted teeth.
"You insect," Gluth hissed. "I can also absorb mana… by inhaling."
"Then I'll just have to break your nose," Orion snapped, slamming his fist into Gluth's face.
But Gluth didn't even flinch. Instead, his grin widened — and he began draining Orion's mana.
"Stop it!" Liraeth cried, struggling to rise. She chanted her reversal spell again, but it was useless — Gluth's absorption wouldn't stop.
Soon, his left hand regenerated, his body pulsing with stolen energy.
"So much power…" Gluth gasped, his voice trembling with greed.
But then — his expression changed. His hands turned black. Deep cracks began spreading across his arms, his skin splitting open as smoke rose from within.
"What's… happening to me?" he screamed.
"Did you know…" Orion said darkly, "…that I'm cursed?"
"Huh?" Gluth's voice wavered in confusion.
"Yeah…" Orion smiled faintly, his eyes dimming. "My mana… is cursed. My entire self… is cursed."
Gluth's body convulsed violently. His flesh began to burn from the inside out — smoke and embers bursting from his skin as his screams filled the surroundings.
He released Orion and stumbled back, clawing at his melting flesh.
Orion fell to the ground, gasping — a huge portion of his mana gone. His vision blurred, his body weak.
And as he struggled to breathe, fragments of his past began flashing before his eyes…
When Orion was born…
It was a small, isolated village — quiet, surrounded by endless plains and mountains. The people lived peacefully under the rule of Orion's father, the village chief. Life there was simple… and happy.
Until the day Orion came into the world.
Desperate for an heir, Orion's father once prayed at the Shrine of the Demon, begging for a child. The shrine answered — and granted his wish.
But that blessing came with a curse.
The day Orion was born, the sky turned pitch black. Winds howled like spirits. The rain fell in furious torrents, drowning the fields and flooding the roads. Crops were washed away. Animals died. Lightning split the skies again and again — and amidst that chaos, Orion's mother took her final breath as she gave birth to him.
His father, rushing through the storm to reach the hospital, was struck by lightning before he arrived.
By dawn, the once-happy village lay in ruins.
And from that day on, they whispered his name with fear , "The Cursed Child."
Born under a demon's wish. A boy whose body radiated curse mana, his very existence tainted by it. His entire being was a vessel of misfortune.
Present time…
"Didn't think this cursed luck of mine would ever save me," Orion laughed faintly, his body too weak to move.
Gluth screamed in agony — his flesh burning from the inside — until nothing remained but a pile of blackened ash.
The surrounding went silent.
"Are you alright?" Liraeth asked softly, dragging herself beside him, still trembling from exhaustion.
"Yeah…" Orion smiled faintly. "I'll live to see a new day."
His eyes dimmed, but there was peace in his voice now.
"In the end, I'm cursed… and I've accepted it," he murmured quietly to himself.
"What did you say?" Liraeth asked, leaning closer.
Orion exhaled slowly, looking toward the distant horizon. "Just wondering… how everyone else is handling things."
The wind brushed across the burned ground — carrying away the ashes of Gluth, and the faint echo of Orion's cursed laughter.